Ghul Lord
Ghul Lords are necromancers who channel the dangerous energies of the Negative
Material Plane. These necromancers do not cast spells like normal wizards.
Instead, they employ raw manipulations of negative energy that can be used to
attack, defend, provide transport, and yield information. These manipulations are
not like normal spells, and are powered by the wizard’s own life force. However,
since their powers come from the Negative Material Plane, Ghul Lords can only
duplicate the effects of spells from the school of Necromancy. Once they reach
10th level, they also gain a limited ability to turn or command undead.
These considerable powers do have a drawback. The Ghul Lord pays a terrible
price for them. The negative energy slowly twists and corrupts the user’s body,
eventually turning it into a hideous monstrosity as the wizard progresses in
experience. In addition, since the Ghul Lord’s powers involve the channeling of
negative energies, the wizard cannot try manipulations that duplicate spells
outside the school of Necromancy.
Since the Ghul Lord does not memorize and cast spells in the standard
fashion, he or she is a unique type of necromancer, akin to the sha’ir wizard native
to the Land of Fate (of course, the DM can easily transplant the Ghul Lord to
any arid or desert climate). While he or she might serve as a spooky “speaker of
the dead” for a secluded village or town, the wizard will usually be a
reclusive loner because of his or her progressively horrendous, undead appearance. As
the kit’s name implies, the mysterious wizard will probably be encountered in
the wild, commanding a pack of ghouls.
Like the Arabian sha’ir, the Ghul Lord is at a disadvantage in melee when
compared with standard wizards who need only a few moments to unleash a memorized
spell. The Ghul Lord, in contrast, needs at least one round of uninterrupted
concentration to prepare a manipulation. When designing a combat encounter, make
sure to include numerous allies (undead or otherwise) to protect the Ghul Lord
while the wizard prepares his or her manipulations.
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