Death Magic

Rules system: D&D 3.5-based homebrew (the 2014 archive, November 2014). Legacy design material, not canon for play.

Lore page: Death Magic.

The spell list of the Death meta-college of the 2014 spellcasting rules, the study "of extracting energies from or manipulating ethereal souls", which draws on the Abjuration, Spirit and Corporeal colleges. "Death Magic deals with the destruction and consumption of lifeforce and life energies. A hallmark of death magic is the dark energy it commands. Black, insubstaintial smokey trails and creatures are the products of death magic." Its spells run on souls: a soul vessel holds captured souls, and most spells consume one, measured in its hit dice (Soul HD). Cantrips to 4th order are fully written; 5th to 9th are unformatted notes.

The Sancturi-era college of Expulvation, also nicknamed Death Magic, is a separate design: see Arcane Colleges. The earlier soul-capture spells of 2013 are on Wizard Spell Spheres.

Cantrips

Spell	Casting	Effect
Prepare Soul Vessel	10 min ritual; enchantment; lasts 2d4 + 1 days per level	Turns any non-living item into a container that can store souls for future use. You may hold only (Int + level) × 2 hit dice of souls at a time, and only one soul vessel. If you try to take and hold too many, the most powerful soul escapes.
Dark Empowerment	Minor; self; consumes soul	Your next spell attack glows with a black, dark energy. Your next damaging spell attack deals an additional Soul HD × 2 necrotic damage (the modified attack's rules for saves, half damage and to-hit apply).
Dark Sacrament	Standard; self; consumes soul	You are surrounded with dark energy, which suddenly implodes into you. Consuming a powerful soul lets you cast a spell from a spellbook higher than you can normally cast: a soul 2 levels above yours allows 1 spell level higher, 4 levels above, 2 higher, and so on. The soul is consumed when the spell is cast, but may also power the spell if it consumes a soul.

1st order

Spell	Casting	Effect
Capture Soul	Standard; touch	You touch the target and a burst of dark shadowy energy exits their lifeless body, making the body arch briefly before falling back to lifelessness. The soul saves vs Will to avoid capture. Captured souls power other Death spells; the caster needs a soul vessel with sufficient capacity.
Soul Knife	Standard; touch attack; consumes soul	You strike your opponent from behind with your hand. Just before striking, a blade of dark energy springs from your hand and buries itself deep in your target's body. A frontal attack that is not a surprise provokes an opportunity attack; flanking attacks are at +2. 1d6 necrotic damage per hit die of the consumed soul, up to 6d6. On a surprise attack the target saves vs Fort or the damage is doubled.

2nd order

Spell	Casting	Effect
Soul's Echo	Standard; self; consumes soul	Your eyes turn solid black as your body absorbs the dark energy of a consumed soul to strengthen itself. Gain any of the captured soul's primary stats that are higher than yours for 1 hour per level.
Dark Fire	Standard; blast 6; consumes soul	Dark Fire springs from your fingertips causing creatures caught in its path to writhe in the agony of their soul's burning. 1d4+1 damage per hit die released, save vs Fort for half. Up to your level in hit dice may be released, to an absolute maximum of 12d4+12.
Death's Shadow	Standard; range 60 + 5/level ft; lasts Soul HD rounds; consumes soul	A dark shadow surrounds the target, darkening the shadows that they cast. A look of hopelessness fills their eyes. The target saves vs Will, or any damage it takes during the effect carries an additional 1d6 + Int necrotic damage.

3rd order

Spell	Casting	Effect
Drain Life	Standard, channeled; range 60 + 5/level ft	You weave your hands in slow circular pattern drawing a black dark energy out of the target. 3d8 + Int damage per turn, save vs Fort for half; two saves in a row end the channeling. A missed save gives the target −2 to hit and damage that turn. Each missed save gives you 2d8 of dark bolt, each made save 1d8, releasable as a minor action within level rounds of the channeling ending; a dark bolt never exceeds your own HD, to an absolute maximum of 12d8, and its targets save vs Fort for half.
Soul's Energy	Standard; self; consumes soul	You briefly light up with shadowy dark energy. Regain spell levels equal to half the hit dice consumed (up to your level). You choose which souls to consume and which spells to restore.
Soul's Power	Minor; self; lasts Soul HD turns; consumes soul	Your hands are covered in dark shadowy energy. For that many rounds your damaging spells deal +Int damage or +1 per die (whichever is better), and targets' saves against your spells are at −1.

4th order

Spell	Casting	Effect
Create Shadow	15 min ritual; permanent summoning; consumes soul	Consumes 10 hit dice of souls to create a shadow, given a purpose at creation ("guard this area, kill X individual"). It acts only for that purpose and cannot communicate. A target or place not present needs something connected to it at creation: a hair, a piece of clothing, dirt from the location.
Deathfiend	Standard; summoning, 1 round per Soul HD; consumes target soul	You make a slight gesture and mutter some incomprehensible words at a recently fallen figure. Suddenly, a dark, shadowy wraith-like animal claws its way out of the corpse. An uncaptured soul in a recently deceased being becomes a deathfiend, "a strong but unstable wraith-like fiend" that obeys you and lasts 1 round per hit die of the target before breaking apart.
Soul's Vitality	Standard; self, enchantment; consumes soul	Temporary hit points equal to the hit dice consumed, lasting 1 hour per level or until exhausted; never more temporary than actual hit points.

Higher orders (notes)

These entries are filed as 5th to 9th order "Spirit/Death".

Spell	Order	Effect
Extinguish Life	5th	You lock your eyes on a target and thin black wispy tendrils of dark energy are pulled from their eyes, mouth and ears. Suddenly a burst of dark energy surges forth from their body as they collapse motionless to the ground. 4d12 + Int damage, save vs Will for half. On a failed first save, ongoing level necrotic damage (save vs Will ends) and a save vs Fort or die instantly (−5 if bloodied). If the target dies within 3 rounds of taking damage, its soul is captured.
Death Shroud	5th; consumes soul	Absorbs 1 damage per turn per 2 hit dice of souls consumed (up to twice your level). Immunity to necrotic and death magic; melee attackers save vs Fort or take 3d6 + Int necrotic damage; unintelligent undead consider you undead. Lasts 1 round per level.
Create Wraith	6th; ritual; consumes soul	As Create Shadow, but creates a wraith that cannot be commanded after creation; 16 hit dice of souls.
Anchor Spirit	6th; ritual; consumes soul	Anchors your spirit to an object, living or otherwise, on the Material Plane, using a soul at least as powerful as yours. If your body dies your spirit goes to the object instead of the afterlife, and from it you can attempt to possess its owner or holder. With a soul twice as powerful as yours you do not lose a level adjusting to the new form.
Soul's Mantle	6th; consumes soul	Take on all characteristics of the deceased: attacks, special abilities, health, armor. "A black smokey image of the deceased fully equipped appears juxtaposed on top of the caster." Lasts level × 3 rounds minus the deceased's level. Its spells, even above your level, consume an equal number of your spell levels.
Deathfiend, Mass	7th	As Deathfiend, on up to level corpses within 200 ft.
Angel of Death	8th	"??"
Extinguish All Life	9th	Thin black wispy tendrils of dark energy are pulled from the eyes, mouth and ears of everyone around you ... When the dark energy reaches your body, you explode in waves of darkness and black fire. As Extinguish Life on all living creatures within 60 ft, allies included. Each hit die of soul captured that cannot be held explodes for 1d6 to all within 60 ft (save vs Fort for half), 12 hit dice per turn, each round until all are released; meanwhile the caster may take only a minor action, stays in place and is flat-footed, and takes the damage too if moved or interrupted.

Gap

Angel of Death has no text, and no 5th-order or higher spell gives a casting time or range.

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