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New Necromancer DND Dice "Necromancer's Brew Sharpedge Dice"

by Riley Rath on Sep 27, 2024

New Necromancer DND Dice Set From Awesome Dice

Inspired 5e Necromancer Dice

Get Your Own Black Dice Set Here

By Riley Rath

Witch of Endor from the Book of Samuel

What Is a Necromancer?

Historically, a necromancer is someone who raises dead spirits in order to speak with them (divination). The origin of the word is literally translated as "black magic." It assumes the survival of the human soul after bodily death, and the special insight they gained about mortal lives after becoming spirits.

In fantasy, a necromancer is a practitioner of the arcane arts that focuses on the magical forces surrounding death. Specifically, the raising up, speaking to, and manipulation of those that have died. In virtually every fantasy setting this is SUPER EVIL... not a "Lazarus come out!" moment of joy.

Tragic, fallen heroes that resort to necromancy usually do so out of a desperate attempt to avoid feeling the pain of loss. Rather than process the trauma, grieve something gone that cannot be replaced, and grow into a more mature human, they obsessively seek the knowledge and power to reverse the natural course of life. Even those hat simply have a "lust for power" are doing so out of a fear of their own death or lack of destiny.

In other words... the road to necromancy is often driven by FEAR.

"People" that are raised by a necromancer are no longer people in any sense of the word. Yes they may be moving around, but they are soulless, mindless, willess slaves. More often than not, whoever is "raised" is raised as a zombie or skeleton. The arcane energy of the necromancer either commands the undead creature or controls them directly. Regardless, the necromancer controls them similarly to a puppeteer controlling a puppet.

© Yuchen Wang
(Diablo 3 Fanart)

What Is a Dungeons and Dragons Necromancer?

A D&D 5e necromancer is a type of wizard that practices magic from the school of necromancy.

While the majority of them have evil inclinations, the Players Handbook explains that good natured necromancers do exist. Indeed, necromancy is taboo in most Forgotten Realms cultures as necromancy in dnd is about forced of 1) death, 2) undeath, and 3) life. As a result, 5e necromancers are not necessarily evil, as they could be studying undeath in order to gain a better understanding of the nature of life.

Furthermore, the school of magic is different from the class. While only a wizard can be a proper necromancer, many classes can cast necromancy spells. These spells often require constitution saves, animating dead, decay, and sucking the "life force" right out of creatures.

An interesting detail about 5e necromancers: they are almost exclusively humans. This is probably due to their shorter lifespans, relentless worth ethic, and sometimes-unhealthy ambition (especially compared to other races).

Open a new window to learn more about D&D 5e Necromancers here.

Get Your Own Set Here

Details Behind These Necromancer DnD Dice

Black and Green Resin Base

Now while these dice are not fluorescent, the best way to describe this type of bright green would be to call it "neon green." For just like necromancy, the green in these dice is anything but natural. Necromancy is filled with the dark, twisted secrets of peering in the blackest black of moral corruption. As a result, black and green are the perfect base colors, hearkening to to the ancient, forbidden secrets of old.

Blue and Gold Foil

Foil of blue and gold glitters in the murky depths of black and green, providing brief glimmers of light as one examines the dice from different angles. similar to the empty promises of necromancy that have lured so many wizards to their doom. It allures arrogant, bright minds with immortality, yet robes them of their very dignity and souls...

Purple Script

Finally, the PURPLE font:

Magic: Purple does not often occur organically in the natural world. And since magic is inherently supernatural ("beyond nature"), it is often associated with the arcane.
Power: So many arcane masters seek hidden knowledge not for love of wisdom, but out of a pursuit of POWER. The ancient world associated the color with the great power of kings who often, just like necromancers, had limitless ambition.

Together, the unique design represents the evil, unnatural, powerful, tempting, and forbidden... so much of what it means to be a necromancer in dnd 5e or any other fantasy TTRPG. The green and black layers of colored epoxy and acrylic blend perfectly to create functional art. Bran your set of Necromancer dnd dice!

Ideal Classes, Races, and Monsters for Our 5e Necromancer Dice

Get Your Own "Nightshade" Necromancer Dice Set Here

Wizard, School of Necromancy

I mean, it's in the name, right? If you're a wizard walking around Faerun casting Animate Dead and Enervate and Insect Cloud and all sorts of spells that do horrible things to people... then these dice are downright perfect. They aren't wizard dice... but then again, your character isn't your average wizard.

Just picture casting Animate Dead while these dice roll across the table for a nat 20... you can almost imagine the black and green magician death energy bringing the skeleton mini onto the table! What better way to use that dark power than with dice that seem to glow with necromantic energy?

© Pavel Kolomeyets

Perfect for a Lich BBEG

So it is "pretty easy" for a DnD wizard to practice some necromancy spells. Heck, even the goody-two-shoes life clerics practice it every time they cast Revivify! But becoming a lich? That is a whole other ball game...

While there can be some good-leaning necromancers in official dnd 5e lore, liches are unquestionably evil. To become a lich, one has to be able o cast 9th level spells and spend extensive time studying potion crafting. Then, they must take the potion... WHICH WILL KILL THEM... but if they did everything right, they will reanimate in 48 hours, their soul now housed in a phylactery. Then, to grow in power, they have to consume souls.

Really nothing says "I am a powerful ancient evil" like a lich. They are smart, powerful bad guys that no only lost their souls, but force others to give up their souls so they an keep doing evil crap.

So if you have a lich as your main villain in a game, as a DM, you gotta have these dice. Nothing will freak out your players more than when you bust out these special dice for a combat encounter with a brand new, terrifying enemy. You an roll them any time players fight his minions or when you are using random tables to build their super deadly lair that houses their phylactery. And, of course, you can use the dice when the party fights the lich over and over again since they failed to destroy the phylactery first! ...only to fail to kill them.

Death and Grave Domains Cleric

Clerics are a mixed bag. On the one hand, they are associated with light and life and healing. On the other hand, what kind of cleric you are depends entirely on what kind of god you serve. If you serve Pelor... then you are a cleric of light! If you serve the Raven Queen... yeeeeeah you are going to be doing a lot more death stuff than you are life stuff. Which means you will probably choose from one of the two following domains:

© Matthias Frank

Grave Domain Cleric: A Grave Domain cleric focuses on the delicate balance between life and death. They are not focused on life... or death... but on the crossing over process. While being associated with death, they despise undeath, as they demand the cycle of life be respected. They believe both life and death are sacred, and want to make sure that anyone that is about to make that journey is prepared and sanctified. For this reason, they are often found near battlefields or places of pestilence.

Their abilities allow them to protect their allies from death's clutches and vanquish those who would defy the natural order. With spells like Spare the Dying and Revivify, and features such as Path to the Grave, Grave Domain clerics embody the solemn duty of maintaining balance between the realms of the living and the dead.

Death Domain Cleric: If the Grave Domain cleric is about the good aspects of death, the Death Domain cleric is all about the evil side. They are aligned with deities of death, darkness, or murder, embracing necrotic magic to bring about destruction. They are often found in the company of powerful undead like vampires, death knights, and liches. Their abilities abilities may include Touch of Death and Divine Strike (necrotic). They gain access to 10 necromancy spells not usually given to clerics, including Animate Dead, which they can use to command undead and inflict fear and decay upon their enemies, making them feared and respected. The Death Domain cleric walks a dangerous path, one that blurs the lines between life and the inevitable embrace of death.

Anyone in a Vecna: Eve of Ruin Campaign

Of all the great DnD 5e liches... all the great necromancers of the Forgotten Realms... none are as famous as Vecna. He is the lich of liches... the lich every single lich wishes they were. He is so powerful that at least THREE legendary magic items are associated with him (Hand of Vecna, Eye of Vecna, and Sword of Kas).

The newest adventure module from Wizards of the Coast involves high level players chasing him across the outer planes before Vecna, you guessed it, destorys all of creation and remake it in his own horrid image. To do this, players will need to assemble the lawful good legendary magic item "The Rod of Seven Parts" as they encounter some of the most powerful heroes and villains from past DnD adventures (yes, villains... Vecna has A LOT of enemies).

And if you're the DM, rolling these dice will help your players keep their eye on the prize. By the end of the campaign, they should be screaming "DIE VECNA DIE!!!!" with every roll.

FAQ

How do I care for sharpedge dice?

Taking care of these good quality, sharp-edge dice is very easy! They are made from good-quality materials. Just use a soft cloth (preferably microfiber) to wipe them down. If you want to preserve their sharp edges as long as possible, always roll them on a felt or leather dice tray.

Any unique shipping details?

Nope. Standard Awesome Dice shipping promises: your order in the mail in one to two business days. Way better than Etsy!