The Vellum of the Last Vigil
A meticulous grave-scholar's folio gathers the few established WFRP 4E necromancy spells alongside clearly marked original workings for protecting the living and commanding the dead.
Spellbook · Necromancer · Level 20
The Vellum of the Last Vigil
A meticulous grave-scholar's folio gathers the few established WFRP 4E necromancy spells alongside clearly marked original workings for protecting the living and commanding the dead.
Ex librisMarta KesselDark Magic, Lore of Necromancy
At a glance
Level
20
Necromancer
Spells
8
At the table
A margin note
Plot hook
Spells
8 spells4th level
1- A thin veil of Shyish wraps one willing living person, granting a modest protective ward for the stated duration. This is a proposed effect, not canonical rules text.
- Duration
- One Round.
- Target
- One willing living person other than the caster.
- Components
- A silver stylus and a clean, unbroken strip of linen. These are invented requirements for this original spell.
- Save or attack
- No attack roll; the protected person must consent.
- Higher levels
- No scaling rules established. The GM may adapt the standard overcasting rules if desired.
- Source
- Original Creation
5th level
1- A proposed séance-like rite that invites a nearby dead spirit to offer a brief, uncertain sign or answer. Its effects are not canonical rules text.
- Duration
- One Round.
- Target
- The remains or grave of one deceased person, if their spirit is available and willing to answer.
- Components
- A pinch of ash from a funeral pyre. This is an invented requirement for this original spell.
- Save or attack
- No attack roll; the GM determines whether a spirit is present and what it can communicate.
- Higher levels
- No scaling rules established; any expanded communication is for the GM to adjudicate.
- Source
- Original Creation
6th level
2- A canonical Necromancy spell that drives undead with unnatural speed. Consult the cited entry for its exact mechanics.
- Duration
- As per the published spell entry.
- Target
- Undead, as specified in the published spell entry.
- Components
- As per the published spell entry; no additional component assigned here.
- Save or attack
- As per the published spell entry.
- Higher levels
- Use the published spell rules; do not treat the CN as a spell level.
- Source
- Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4E Core Rulebook, p. 257
- A proposed ward of cold mist covers a small group, offering a brief defensive barrier. Its specific mechanical benefit is intentionally left for the GM to define before play.
- Duration
- One Round.
- Target
- A group of willing allies within Willpower Bonus yards of the caster.
- Components
- A ring of salt and grave earth, and a small bell rung once. These are invented requirements for this original spell.
- Save or attack
- No attack roll; allies in the area are protected, but enemies are not excluded unless the GM approves that detail.
- Higher levels
- No scaling rules established. The proposed area is Willpower Bonus yards; the GM should set any overcasting effects.
- Source
- Original Creation
8th level
3- A canonical Necromancy spell that animates a corpse as an undead servant. Consult the cited entry for its exact mechanics.
- Duration
- As per the published spell entry.
- Target
- A corpse, as specified in the published spell entry.
- Components
- As per the published spell entry; no additional component assigned here.
- Save or attack
- As per the published spell entry.
- Higher levels
- Use the published spell rules; do not treat the CN as a spell level.
- Source
- Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4E Core Rulebook, p. 256
- A canonical Necromancy spell for raising the dead. Consult the cited entry for exact targets and effects.
- Duration
- As per the published spell entry.
- Target
- Corpses, as specified in the published spell entry.
- Components
- As per the published spell entry; no additional component assigned here.
- Save or attack
- As per the published spell entry.
- Higher levels
- Use the published spell rules; do not treat the CN as a spell level.
- Source
- Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4E Core Rulebook, p. 256
- A canonical Necromancy attack that sends a shrieking skull against its victims. Consult the cited entry for exact range and damage.
- Duration
- Instant, as specified in the published entry.
- Target
- As specified in the published spell entry.
- Components
- As per the published spell entry; no additional component assigned here.
- Save or attack
- As per the published spell entry.
- Damage
- Magic missile; use the published damage profile.
- Higher levels
- Use the published spell rules; do not treat the CN as a spell level.
- Source
- Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4E Core Rulebook, p. 257
CN 16
1- This high-CN spell raises nearby fresh, unsanctified corpses as Skeletons or Zombies under the caster's control until sunrise, as detailed in the published entry.
- Duration
- Until sunrise, as specified in the published entry.
- Target
- Fresh corpses within the chosen area that have not been properly prepared and sanctified for burial.
- Components
- As per the published spell entry; no additional component assigned here.
- Save or attack
- No attack roll specified in the published entry.
- Higher levels
- The area can extend up to Willpower Bonus x 100 yards; use the source's Corruption rule for each 100 yards of radius, rounded up.
- Conditions
- Corruption gained as described in the published spell entry.
- Source
- Ubersreik Adventures II: Deadly Dispatch, p. 11
In the margins
4 notes
WarningNever promise the dead they will be remembered. They will ask you to prove it.
DiaryThe first time I raised a child-sized skeleton, I could not make it stop holding my finger. I left it in the ossuary.
DiagramDraw the boundary with salt, then dust it with grave earth. The living stand within; the dead stand without.
FormulaA spell's Casting Number is not a tier of power or a character level. These entries retain their WFRP 4E CN values.
The book itself
The book's leaves whisper when turned near a fresh grave.
Its diagrams show how to draw circles around the living without crossing the dead.
The owner's careful, elegant hand grows increasingly cramped in the later pages.
The caster
Dark Magic, Lore of NecromancyMarta Kessel
Studies: Necromancy, with a particular interest in funerary rites, spirits, and undead control.Manner: Soft-spoken, impeccably courteous, and unsettlingly attentive to names and dates of death.Focus: A silver stylus made from a coffin nail, used to trace sigils on bone tablets or directly in the soil.Quirk: She writes the date beside every grave she passes, then taps her stylus twice against her teeth before casting.Wants: Find the original ledger of the plague dead and learn whether her brother's spirit is truly among the voices answering her rites.Marta Kessel was once a hospice clerk who recorded the names of the dying and the unclaimed dead. After a plague emptied her town, she sought forbidden knowledge to learn why some spirits lingered and how to keep the living safe from them.
The book
A calfskin folio bound in blackened grave-iron, its pages stitched from funeral shrouds and marked with a map of old burial grounds. The ink smells faintly of wet earth. The binding is cold even beside a fire.
Its wards · GM only
About the book
FormatIron-clasped folio of funeral vellum
ThemeNecromancy
Written by aNecromancer
Caster level20
SystemWarhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition
Plot hooks
1A village's unprepared dead rise whenever the folio is opened, and one corpse repeatedly points toward a sealed crypt beneath the church.
2A witch hunter has learned that the folio contains Vanhel's Invitation and is closing in on its current owner.
3The necromancer insists that a beloved relative's spirit is trapped in the folio, but the handwriting in the margins belongs to someone else.
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