The White Necromancer is all my son’s fault!

You see, my son plays in our weekly Pathfinder games and (says the proud father) is an extremely good, knowledgeable player. In fact, I often bounce ideas off him when I am working on freelance projects. But, I digress ….

My son was really intrigued with the idea of playing a necromancer character. He liked the idea of undead minions doing his bidding, fighting for him, and so on. As we talked about it, though, we realized that necromancers were almost always evil, nefarious types that are pretty hard to fit into an otherwise good-aligned party. The idea of a good, or “white” necromancer quickly surfaced and then lodged itself in my brain.

The idea slowly gained shape and form and eventually the white necromancer debuted in Kobold Quarterly #19. I was extremely happy with how the class turned out and even more pleased with all the positive response the white necromancer got. Later, with the popularity of Kobold Press’s New Paths line, it was only logical that the white necromancer would eventually get the expanded, New Paths treatment!

Thus, New Paths 7: The Expanded White Necromancer was born!

The Expanded White Necromancer, due to be released Tuesday, September 
17th, contains the full class that appeared in Kobold Quarterly of course, but it also contains new feats, new spells (be sure to check out chain of bones) and even two white necromancer archetypes. In fact, I’m perhaps most excited about those archetypes. Let me tell you a little about them!

With their innate connection to life and death, all white necromancers make great healers. That said, the Necrotic Healer archetype turns that up to 11! It tones down some of the focus on undead and replaces it with some cool, flavorful healing abilities. The next time your party needs a healer but no one wants to play a cleric, let ’em give a Necrotic Healer a try instead!

Next is the Grave-Bound archetype. Instead of reducing the white necromancer’s focus on undead like the Necrotic Healer does, the Grave-Bound white necromancer is all about undead. In fact, the Grave-Bound archetype’s coolest feature is that it gives the white necromancer an actual, fully detailed undead companion. And, not just a boring, run-of-the-mill skeleton or zombie! The Grave-Bound archetype presents six different options for an undead companion, each of which scales in power and adds abilities as the white necromancer gains levels, much like a druid’s or ranger’s animal companion. I’m really happy with this one and I can’t wait for people to give this archetype a try!

I could go on and on, but that’s probably enough for now. Be sure to check out New Paths 7: The Expanded White Necromancer in a few weeks and let me know how it goes with your vampire, ghost, or super-charged skeleton companion. :)