# Purple Skulls & Scythes ___ A fan supplement for The Old World Roleplaying Game by Cubicle 7. Expanded rules for Necromancy, describing the arts of the Proto-Amethyst mages of the empire. Last updated: See changelog at the end of this document. Check out [Glorious Portents](https://gloriousportents.blogspot.com/) for more The Old World RPG fan material.

## Introduction I like the way that The Old World RPG takes the magic schools of first edition Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay and reframes it as the magical traditions of the empire prior to Teclis, while still retaining the _underlying_ way that magic works, through winds and so on. We know from various lore that there were many different traditions of mages before Teclis and Magnus founded the colleges of magic. The tradition that is perhaps most easily tied to a college is that of Necromancy, which likely contributed many early recruits to the Amethyst College. But that also means it is very likely that some more careful, scholarly Necromancers could have stumbled on some of the signature abilities of Amethyst mages before that. Building on that thought, this document presents new spells for the Necromancy lore. They can be learned in the same way as the formalized Necromancy spells listed in the Players Guide. **Note:** Some spell effects in this document was written with the help of ChatGPT. ## Spells ### Ashen Ledger ___ * **CV:** 1 * **Target:** Book or Scroll * **Range:** Touch * **Duration:** Potency Hours * **Effect:** In faint violet script, in a language known to you, the spell records the names of any creatures who die within Close range during the duration, along with a brief impression of the cause (violence, illness, accident, etc.). ### Borrowed Years ___ * **CV:** 3 * **Target:** Creature * **Range:** Touch * **Duration:** Immediate (one effect lasts Potency Hours) * **Effect:** You draw upon your own vitality to sustain another. The target immediately heals Potency wounds. You immediately suffer one of those wounds, chosen by the GM - usually the worst one. If cast again before Potency Hours, both caster and target must pass an Endurance Test or both suffer all each others wounds, as their life-threads tangle dangerously. ``` ``` ### Capture the Last Breath ___ * **CV:** 1 * **Target:** Willing Dying Creature * **Range:** Touch * **Duration:** Immediate * **Effect:** You capture a creature’s final exhalation in a small vial or token. For Potency Days, the breath may be released to replay the creatures final words in their voice. ### Covenant of Ash ___ * **CV:** 3 * **Target:** Structure or Encampment * **Range:** Close * **Duration:** Potency Days * **Effect:** You mark a boundary in ash and grave-dust. Restless spirits cannot enter the warded area unless they pass a Willpower Test. Living creatures who attempt violence within the boundary must also pass a Willpower Test or suffer the Staggered condition as a heavy sense of mortality weighs upon them. ### Dust to Dust ___ * **CV:** 2 * **Target:** Object * **Range:** Short * **Duration:** Immediate * **Effect:** You accelerate the natural decay of a small mundane object (no larger than a chest). Wood rots, cloth frays, iron rusts, and paper becomes brittle. The object is broken beyond usefulness and easy repair unless reinforced by magic or exceptional craftsmanship. ### Echoes of the Departed ___ * **CV:** 2 * **Target:** Zone * **Range:** Touch * **Duration:** Potency Minutes * **Effect:** You attune yourself to lingering spiritual residue. You may ask a single question concerning a death that occurred within the target Zone in the past Potency Weeks. If an echo remains, you receive a brief, symbolic vision or whisper that truthfully reflects the final moments. Particularly violent or chaotic deaths may produce fragmented or unsettling imagery at the GM’s discretion. \page ### Form of the Passing Shade ___ * **CV:** 5 * **Target:** Yourself * **Range:** Close * **Duration:** Potency Turns * **Effect:** Your body becomes half-insubstantial, like a soul hesitating between worlds. You appear strangely translucent, an effect that is extremely unnerving to behold - some might say you appear as a wraith or apparition. You may move through Difficult Terrain without penalty and ignore non-magical armour when making Melee Attacks. Your attempts at opposing attacks with Athletics become *Glorious*. However, sunlight or consecrated ground causes you to become *Staggered* at the start of each Turn. ### Funeral March ___ * **CV:** 3 * **Target:** Zone * **Range:** Medium * **Duration:** Potency Turns * **Effect:** A slow, oppressive dirge seems to echo through the target Zone. All enemies within it count as Burdened and suffer -1d to all Initiative and Agility Tests. Allies within the Zone become immune to Fear and Terror, grimly accepting the inevitability of death. ### Gentle Repose ___ * **CV:** 1 * **Target:** Corpse * **Range:** Touch * **Duration:** Potency Days * **Effect:** You still the unraveling of flesh and spirit. The corpse does not decay, bloat, or attract vermin for the duration. Funeral rites performed upon the body during this time gain +1d to any relevant Tests. Particularly useful for transporting the honoured dead long distances. ### Grave Chill ___ * **CV:** 2 * **Target:** Creature * **Range:** Medium * **Duration:** Potency Turns * **Effect:** You draw a thread of warmth from the target, filling them with the stillness of the grave. The targets Athletics Tests become *Grim* and they count as one step slower for the duration (Fast becomes Normal, Normal becomes Slow). Slow creatures suffer the Burdened condition instead of becoming slower. ### Measure the Mortal Thread ___ * **CV:** 2 * **Target:** Creature * **Range:** Short * **Duration:** Immediate * **Effect:** You briefly perceive the tenuous strand that binds a soul to its flesh. You learn whether the target is Healthy, Wounded, Gravely Injured, or near death. You may also detect if the creature is Undead, soulless, or sustained by unnatural means. At the GMs discretion, you might also learn other particulars about its health. ``` ``` ### Memento Mori ___ * **CV:** 1 * **Target:** Creature * **Range:** Medium * **Duration:** Potency Minutes * **Effect:** You cause the target to perceive faint signs of decay upon themselves — greying hair, hollow eyes, skeletal reflections. The target gains +1d to any Test involving humility, repentance, or resisting temptation, but suffers -1d to Fellowship Tests requiring confidence or charm. ### Pall of Quietus ___ * **CV:** 1 * **Target:** Yourself * **Range:** Close * **Duration:** Potency Turns * **Effect:** A faint violet haze clings to you, muting sound and presence. Your Stealth Tests become *Glorious* and while motionless you can hide even in plain sight. Animals become uneasy in your presence, and your tests to interact with them become *Grim*. ### Quietus of Vermin ___ * **CV:** 1 * **Target:** Zone * **Range:** Close * **Duration:** Potency Hours * **Effect:** You instill a sense of ending into a small area. Rats, insects, and other mundane vermin instinctively avoid the Zone. Existing infestations grow lethargic and may be easily driven out. ### Sable Brand ___ * **CV:** 2 * **Target:** Weapon * **Range:** Close * **Duration:** Potency Turns * **Effect:** For the duration, your weapon becomes wreathed in a dim violet sheen visible only in shadow. Foes Wounded by this weapon suffer the Drained condition while the spell lasts, in addition to the normal effects of being wounded. If the foe is slain while drained in this manner, you immediately heal a single Wound as stolen vitality flows into you. ### Seal the Threshold ___ * **CV:** 1 * **Target:** Doorway or Opening * **Range:** Touch * **Duration:** Potency Hours * **Effect:** You ward a doorway with a subtle mark of finality. Spirits and incorporeal beings must pass a Willpower Test to cross the threshold. The living feel a faint reluctance to pass through, though they are not prevented from doing so. \page ### Still the Pain ___ * **CV:** 1 * **Target:** Creature * **Range:** Close * **Duration:** Potency Turns * **Effect:** You quiet the body’s protest against injury. The target ignores (postpones) the penalties of its Wounds for the duration, with the exception of death or actually removed or destroyed body parts. When the spell ends, all deferred pain returns at once; the target must pass an Endurance Test with at least as many successes as they have Injuries, or become Staggered. ### Testament of Doom ___ * **CV:** 1 * **Target:** Written Document * **Range:** Touch * **Duration:** Immediate * **Effect:** You bind a written will, contract, or oath with the solemnity of death. Anyone who has signed the document and willingly and knowingly violates its terms during the Duration must pass a Willpower Test or suffer the Drained condition for Potency days, haunted by dreams of their own funeral rites. ### Unmoored from Time ___ * **CV:** 3 * **Target:** Creature * **Range:** Short * **Duration:** Immediate * **Effect:** You tug the target slightly out of the present moment. The creature must pass a Willpower Test or dissapear for a moment - they reappear at the end of their next turn (having missed their chance to act) and are then *Distracted* by their strange experience until the end of their next turn. Even on a success, they suffer the *Distracted* condition until the end of their next turn, as an odd dread clouds their mind. ``` ``` ### Veil of the Last Breath ___ * **CV:** 2 * **Target:** Self or Ally * **Range:** Close * **Duration:** Potency turns * **Effect:** A thin shimmer of amethyst light surrounds the target, blurring them like heat over a funeral pyre. Attacks against the target suffer a -1d penalty. ### Weight of Years ___ * **CV:** 2 * **Target:** Zone * **Range:** Short * **Duration:** 1 turn * **Effect:** A number of creatures you choose in the target Zone equal to the Potency of this spell must test Endurance or Willpower to resist a Hazard(2). Those who fail suffer a wound as per the rules for hazards, and count all Opposed Tests as Grim for one Turn as their limbs stiffen and their sight dims with phantom age. ### Whisper of the Fading Echo ___ * **CV:** 1 * **Target:** Object * **Range:** Touch * **Duration:** Potency Minutes * **Effect:** By handling a personal belonging, you may glimpse the emotional residue left upon it. You learn the strongest emotion felt by its last owner within the past Potency Days. Particularly intense moments may manifest as fleeting sounds, scents, or impressions at the GM’s discretion. \page # Change log

- 2026-02-27: Initial version.

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