>>2292339
I don't want to get in trouble with Chris Hanson so I am picking
>Lesser Reanimation

>>2292339
>Mass Minor Reanimation
WE BACK BABY

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>>2292346

>>2292352
You're looking for this >>2292347 guy, a known enthusiast of the mass reanimation of minors.

>>2292339
>Mass Minor Reanimation
We back boys, and we vermin lord

Squeeze our bits, are we a boy or a gurl, also mass minor, more weak summons is the first stepping stone too achieving SKELETON ARMY

>>2292355
I've always been of the opinion that dead kids need to get a life.

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>>2292364

>>2292364
We could reanimate teen goths, no one would be able to tell the difference

>>2292339
>Lesser Reanimation
The path to true resurrection

>Mass Minor Reanimation

You don't want to push your luck, and having flexed your muscles in Minor Reanimation already, you have the best understanding of it. Additionally, it doesn't require the conspicuous... supplies... that a Lesser Reanimation would.

You make yourself some sandwiches, have a glass of milk, and wander back down into the basement, Necronomicon in hand. Your rats have returned, a small army of 23, dragging the corpses of about ten of their formerly-living brethren with them.

"Over there, out of my way."

The rats drag their prizes - your supplies - into the corner and go still.

You take a piece of chalk and add to the spell circle, keeping a close eye on the design in the Necronomicon as you go. It takes about ten minutes to add all the necessary details - symbols to multiply the magic across multiple bodies, to draw power from the black candles you've set at the points of the circle's central star, and, of course, the symbols to bind the creatures to your will.

"Up here, all within the circle. Don't disturb the candles."

The rats obey, clambering up the surrounding furniture to get to the circle, carefully avoiding the candles. They unceremoniously dump the bodies in the circle, then look expectantly to you.

"Back into the corner."

They obey.

"Mass mino-"

One of the rats in the circle stirs. A faint squeak emerges from its mouth. That won't do. Necromancy doesn't work on the living. Unthinkingly, you reach out and snap its neck. It's quite easy.

"Ahem. Mass Minor Reanimation."

The candles flare, then dim as their power is snuffed. A wave of exhaustion hits you, roughly triple what you felt from your last Minor Reanimation. The candles' light seems to sink into the spell circle, causing it to radiate dark power.

As one, the rats rise, trembling slightly. A success.

"In the corner, with the others."

It seems your use of the candles, like the Necronomicon recommended, mitigated the exhausting effects of casting a spell. You wish the Minor Reanimation spell could accept modifiers like that, but the authors of the Necronomicon hadn't seen fit to include instructions on how to modify the spell circle that way.

You're exhausted, not simply from the spellcasting. You've been up for... 20 hours, now? You find it difficult to sleep, even though magic leaves you drained. You probably need to see someone about that.

You go and collapse into your bed. You toss and turn for an hour before you finally pass into sleep, and the last thing you hear is the skittering of rats...

+++

>>2292439
Do necromancers dream of undead sheep

>>2292439
It's been two days since you first cast the Mass Minor Reanimate spell. You've cast it three more times since then, amassing about sixty rodents. You've grown bored of the rodents, though. It's time to move on.

Lesser reanimate requires more... powerful ingredients than mere rats. You'll need something about the size of a dog.

The neighbors have a dog.

But that may draw suspicion. You could hunt down a deer; there are quite a few in the forest nearby, and you have your grandfather's hunting rifle...

>Dog
>Deer

>>2292439
Are the rats zombies or moving skeletons?

>>2292454
>Deer
Also, being good at shooting might come in handy

>>2292455
Only the first mouse was skeletonized when you found it. The rats are... mostly flesh.

>>2292459
Any notable difference between the bone creations and the zombie ones?
Or do they all work the same for the sake of simplicity

>>2292454
No need to draw heat just yet. A deer will do just fine.
I'd personally prefer something predatory, though. A cat, a fox, a badger...

>>2292464
A zombie deer could attract possible predators and then kill them. The smell of gangrene and the sight of an alive deer combined will make any passing wolf think of "wounded easy prey"

>>2292462
Bone creations are generally less stable, and require more power to reanimate due to more of their frame needing magical power to hold together. However, according to a man a few centuries back named Tavier, they can be used to great effect because they don't catch fire and most piercing weapons can't do much.

>>2292466
Can we reinforce the joints with leather straps or hinges?
How about making something out of the bones of a creature that doesn't behave as said creature?
Like, making a bone spider from the skeletons of a few dogs, or a centaur with a human and horse skeletons

>>2292465
I like this. I like this a lot.

>>2292466
It seems to me like they would move faster than fleshy creations as well, having less mass to shift.

>>2292472
Eh, the difference is negligible. There are reasons, but not really important ones.

>>2292479
Op you still waiting for votes?
If so >deer

>>2292490
Nah, just lazy.

You can't risk alarming your neighbors against you so soon. Plus, you might be able to draw out some larger predators with a reanimated deer. You grab your grandfather's rifle, throw on a jacket, and have your rats follow in your wake as you wade into the forests around your meager home...

>1d20 please. DC is always 12 for rolls unless I state otherwise.

Rolled 8 (1d20)

>>2292499
We have to roll over 12 or under 12 to succeed? Just curious

Rolled 1 (1d20)

>>2292499

>>2292504
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WdJg6Duzzf4

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Rolled 16 (1d20)

>>2292499
Big bucks, no __does__

>>2292504
Shit. Looks like we're taking home a skunk.

>>2292503
Over.
>>2292504
That's not over.


The hunting trip goes wrong.

It's an hour into the hunt, and you've been tracking a deer trail that seems somewhat fresh. Your rats surround you, ordered to bring warning if something is in the woods.

When you feel three of their tiny lights snuff out, you know something is wrong.

A massive dog comes bounding from the bushes, snarling at you. It looks... rabid? Hostile. Definitely...

CRACK!

Hostile.

The dog charged, and you reacted. Well... at least you have some fodder for Lesser Reanimate.

The dog is heavy, but you manage to carry it back to the house with minimal difficulty. You unceremoniously dump it in the corner of your basement before working on adding the necessary components for a Lesser Reanimation to your spell circle.

You supplement the Reanimation by using an additional five of your rats in the circle.

"Lesser Reanimation."

You hardly feel a thing as the circle glows and the rats vanish into ash. The dog stirs in a moment.

"Sit."

It does.

An army of rats and a dog. Glorious.

However...

You could use this to snowball your power. There are deer in the forest, and now you have a hound...

Or you could perhaps try your luck at Limited Reanimate.

Which uses humans.

>Deer
>Humans

>>2292540
>Deer
We are going to be The Zookeeper
Ot the Big Game Hunter

>>2292540
>Deer
Perhaps we should find out what bodies we have access to before we go making them our own. We might be able to find an unoccupied body, if we're lucky, or otherwise a body occupied by someone we don't like.

Calling it for tonight, may resume in the morning.

>>2292549
Thank you for running, op

>>2292549
Thanks for running, Rictus Mortis!

>Deer

With the dog loping grimly by your side, it's much easier to track the deer.

That, and since you've been casting so much lately, your mental bond with your thralls has strengthened from a loose feeling of their unliving status and their direction to a solid sense of the same, plus a loose idea of what they're doing. You can even give basic commands (stop, come back) now without having to say a word.

The dog keeps its ability to track scents, and it's not long before you find a deer - a small group, in fact. You'll be able to get one shot off guaranteed - which one are you going to go for?

>Buck
>Doe
>Fawn

>>2293168
>Buck
>Try to hit it at all, the command the dog to finish the job

An adult male might have some fight in him, even with a gunshot

>>2293168
>Buck
If we attack the doe, the buck might get territorial and the fawn is a bit too small for my liking.

>>2293168
>Buck
Hello, summon that we've totally not met before!
In the words of Alan Quartermaine, we have all the time in the world. Demanding of ourselves a heart shot or a head shot is perfectly reasonable.

>Buck

You breathe in, out, in, half out...

The sharp crack of the rifle splits the air. The bullet tears through the buck's heart, killing it instantly. The fawn and doe are spooked and flee deeper into the woods.

You move to carry the buck, but have a thought.

Spells don't absolutely require spell circles, though the circles allow for more precise control over the spell, reduce the need for a complicated chant, and allow for supplementation of the caster's power with thaumaturgic objects (candles and the like). The Necronomicon recommends the next step after experimenting with the Lesser spells to be attempting one of the spells known to the caster without a circle.

You could try a circle-less spell on the buck now, or find another rat to try it on just to be safe.

>Here and now
>Wait and find a rat

>>2293203
>Here and now
Waiting is for schmucks

>>2293203
Nah, do the humane thing and only experiment on rats

We could mayse specialize in circle magic and laught at those Edward Elric wannabes who want all their magic circleless

Go for it! Whats the worst that could happen, we gonna KILL the thing twice?

>>2293203
>Wait and find a rat
This is gonna be the biggest thing we have raised to date, and it's gonna be a huge asset. While I'm curious about whether a circle scraped in the dirt with a stick would help or no, I don't think we should take chances with this body.

>>2293203
>Wait and find a rat

>>2293203
>Wait and find a rat

>>2293203
>>Here and now

>Rat

You can't waste this body on experimentation. You'll try the freehand spell on a rat when you get home.

The buck is much heavier than the dog, and his antlers are full, so it's a hassle making the trek all the way back to your house. Your thralls pool around your feet like rotting shadows, dry leaves crackling underneath their tread. They accompany you into the basement, where you heave the buck into the Lesser circle and begin the casting. To measure your magical power, you don't use any supplemental items.

"Lesser Reanimation."

The exhaustion hits you like a brick, but it passes momentarily.

The buck stirs, lifting its head before twisting in that way only animals can and hopping lightly to the floor. Without you giving it a verbal command...

Consulting the Necronomicon, it seems that this is the natural progression of your link to your thralls; they will begin obeying your subconscious desires, as long as they are uncomplicated. However, it warns that soon the link and your powers will have a much harder time improving. This is what your ancestors called the "skill cliff." Unfortunately, they stated that the only way to overcome this was to simply press on. Wait... your grandmother advised that a spell called "Awaken Shadow" could be used as a stopgap measure. It seems, however, that it requires a live creature (preferably human, she noted) to cast.

You have a few experiments in mind, now.

>Freehand casting
>Awaken Shadow
>Human Necromancy

>>2294561
>Awaken Shadow

>>2294561
We should also take care of our social life, it just wouldn't do for us to appear a shut in to our neighbors

>>2294561
>Awaken shadow

>>2294572
Let's bake them a quiche, everyone loves quiche.

>>2294561
>Awaken shadow

>>2294572
I'm a shut-in, and my neighbors are good friends with me.

>>2294667
Exchanging pleasantries with the neighbors and going to the occasional BBQ won't do us any harm
Making our neighbors wonder if we are dead or not will only attract unwanted attention. Be it well-meaning nosy old ladies or the police to check out if something actually happened to us

>Awaken Shadow

This circle is the most intricate you've drawn so far. Of course, it must include the instructions in mystic code to rip a living mind from a body and bind it into your own shadow. The design consists of a superior circle containing two subordinates, one for your and one for your victim.

And, on the subject of the victim...

The spell calls for a live human for best effectiveness. The person in question doesn't matter. You sit back and consider, knees digging into the cold stone floor. There are a few options. The neighbors, of course. Two elderly farmers, as far as you know. Nothing dangerous. Not since you took their dog.

Alternately, you could go into town. It's mid-size, twenty-five thousand people. A college town. An isolated student... easy pickings. A decisive strike to the head down a back alley. Slot them in the back of your cheap car and come home. Nothing too difficult.

>Neighbors
>Town

>>2296594
>Town
Now is not the time for spontaneity. This is a crucial point in time that will shape the future of our career as a master of the dark art of dancing with Charon.
We should go into town and see about finding the smartest, goth-est student at our disposal. If we choose right, we might find someone legitimately happy to become a part of the family.

>>2296594
>use a prostitute from town

>>2296594
Town.
We could find a hobo. Can we also buy a big piece of fabric and carry a circle that way?

>>2296663
I'm voting this if our town is sleazy enough, otherwise just wait till night and find some homeless person.

>>2296660
support