At first I made the "Ancient Tome of Dark Magic" for my personal use,
for I found the Great Net Spellbook and I was only interested in necromantic
spells...so I took the spells which were there and I gathered them in
one file...
As months passed I was striken by a "Necromantic fever" and I begun searching
all over the net for netbooks and webpages with new spells of my favourite
school of magic and, since I liked the distinction in black, red and white magic
I've found in the "Complete Book of the Necromancer" more than the standard
"the casting of this spell is an evil act...", I've put near every spell name
the category I thought it was in.
I've to admit I'd deleted the author's name even if I knew I took them from the
Net for I needed to make my book shorter to print it or it'd have taken me
tons of paper just for author's names...
Almost two years are passed and I've begun not playing AD&D as much as I was 
"younger"...so I thought it was very sad for such material to be wasted and
take dust on my hard disk...for there was a lot younger people that could have 
enjoyed it...and I know web pages tend to "die"...so it was possible that some
nice spells'd be forgotten...and some people's just not the time and the will
(and, may be, the insanity...) to search the Net for new necromantic spells...
so I thought that I could post it somewhere, with a readme attached to tell 
that (apart from editing, Skarm's spells, white/red/black magic distinction and
some changes...for some authors forgot some basical parts of the description...
such as material components...or made too generical spells...or just named the
spells as another [in which case...yes...I changed the name of the spell]) most
of them weren't my work but other people's.
Well...as for sources...
Most spells come from Great Net Spellbook (the last version) and 
the Book of the Damned v.2...other sources are :
* Realm of Evil webpage (www.realmofevil.com - a great page...now unreachable)
* Ars Magica Spellbook (Conversion to Ad&d)
* Complete Book of Half-Elves
* A netbook about Babylonian - like setting (sorry...I don't remember the name...it begins
  with K...I'm pretty sure)
* The Complete Handbook of Nik Nak (I've heavily edited the Revenant spell for it was too
  powerful and with a too short description)
* An handbook about Cormyr War Wizards ("Cormyr" is right?)
* Spells taken from the Traveller's Server (-personal comment- I really hate html handbook!...
  they take tons of space and aren't easily printable!...some spells' descriptions from this 
  source were edited for they weren't in a proper format or descriptions were lacking)
* Many netbooks...Pilpin's&Noska Trades, many html spellbooks,ecc...
* Spell of the Month Contest
* Various pages...sorry I don't remember (I hardly can find out the same pages with the same
  search engine after a few days...fancy yourself after months!).
However...to keep it short...If you read the book and you find a spell you recognize as yours...
well...it's your work and I'm not trying to hide that.

BLACK/RED/WHITE MAGIC

To not break TSR's copyright (and its powerful army of lawyers far...), I'll keep the 
explaination short.
In the Complete Book of the Necromancer spells from official sources were catalogued in
Black, Red and White Magic.

Black Magic : Whose only end is to cause undue suffering and untimely death to living people.
Most plague - based and death magic - based spells fall under this category. All spells that
kill people and turn it in undead are of this kind. Most energy-stealing spells (included 
energy-draining-monster summoning spells) are of this kind. Even paralyzation spells 
are of this kind, if they don't seem painless.
To choose what's black magic, think what would you think of someone should he/she use it,
in real world, on someone you've nothing against (and feel nothing for)...should it 
shock it or should you label its user as 'evil'...that's black magic.
These are the kind of spells evil necromancer use a lot and that other necromancer'd like
to use.
If you use it (and you're not a NPC), you've to roll a Power Check (see below).

Red Magic : Generic purpose necromantic spells fall under this category...disguise/divination
necromancy spells and most animation spells are 'generic purpose necromatic spells'...in few
words : if you're not sure to put it in black or white magic, put it in this category.
This kind of spells aren't good or evil in itself, but if they are used for evil ends or 
with malice, they're to be treated just like black magic (read "roll Power Check").
Most neutral necromancers use these spells often and use black magic if needed.

White Magic : Spells which are powered by caster's life force, that incapacitate undeads, 
destroy them, that have useful healing powers (usually by draining hp from caster and 
giving to target), that cure or resurrrect in any way (without damaging other beings, but 
the caster) are of this kind. To be quick...the kind of spells you wonder who'd-be-the-fool
-who-memorizes-it-since-we've-the-most-powerful-cleric-of-the-area are of this kind.
Most good necromancers use these spells...and use red magic if needed and black magic nearly
never (however who's going to play the good necromancer???? Is boring!). White Magic never 
need power checks and neutral/evil casters use it too (they've to cure themselves after all...).

Power Checks : When a Pc casts a black magic spell or uses red magic spell for an evil end
(of with a lot of malice), you've to roll 1d100. If the roll is more than 100 - (spell level),
the corrupting necromantic magic's done something strange to the character...choose whatever 
you wish (new strange <monstrous> habits, change in shape <horns, smells like sulphur...
something makes him/her less human, uglier or more likely to attract a mob>, new weakness,
a disease <lower ability scores...don't be too nasty...use this with care>, ecc...). This
power check doesn't affect alignment, but if one uses black magic a lot he/she'd not like
it! (for most players have their Pc become Chaotic Evil is a reward, for they feel free 
to do whatever mess they like...but none sane would like him/her to become an hunchbacked, 
blood-drinking monster with long fangs and claws...for even if they'd like at first...
they'd be bothered when they've to stay all-night-long out of the inn where other Pcs 
are eating and drinking...and do nothing while other players are talking to people in the
inn!)

CHANGES FROM VERSION 1.0

I've added I-don't-know-how-many spells...but, as the first, no index (too bothersome).
There is an appendix with one new undead taken from Realm of Evil page (and in MY version
there is also something "necromantic" taken from some old Dragon Magazine, not included
in public one for obvious copyright, or better, for TSRian-Army-of-Lawyers problems...)
Some spells were changed before being put here due to a lack in description or just a
too much used name (read "Life Transfer"/"Hellfire"/"Licanthropy").

I hope you'll find this netbook useful,

Skarm The Warlock


