Wild Talents

Because of their association with forbidden and mysterious powers, it is not surprising that some necromancers might develop unusual mental abilities. After all, most necromancers, by right of their unusual mental faculties—high Intelligence and Wisdom—already have a natural aptitude for psychic disciplines. In the campaign, these skills may greatly increase a NPC’s mystique and perceived level of ability. For instance, players may take alarmed note of a necromancer’s 1st-level apprentice who can apparently sense their thoughts without visibly casting a single spell. With a single wild talent, an otherwise minor necromancer can appear to have strange and exotic powers without resorting to dangerous pacts with evil, lower-planar entities and the terrible consequences of such bargains.

As discussed in the Complete Psionics Handbook (CPH), the base chance for gaining a wild talent is 1%, subject to these modifiers:

Each Int, Wis, or Con score of 18	+3%
Each Int, Wis, or Con score of 17	+2%
Each Int, Wis, or Con score of 16	+1%
Character is 5th–8th level	+1%
Character is 9th level or higher	+2%
Character is a wizard or priest	x1.5

Thus a 10th-level necromancer, with a 17 Int and a 16 Wis has a (1% (base) + 2% (Int) + 1% (Wis) + 2% (>9th level) = 6%) x 1.5 (wizard) = 9% total chance.

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