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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