The intensely personal and subjective nature of metaplaner Quests makes classifying the "World Of The Dead" extraordinarily difficult: Is there ONE plane of the Dead? Is there EVEN one? Or is the subjective experience one that's merely to the Metaplane of Man, shaped by the fact that to contact Spirits of the Dead, one MUST have a Ghost as guide? Like many such questions in the Shadowrun universe, this is one that may or may not be relevant: REGARDLESS of its ultimate nature, neither Ancestor Shaman nor Necromancer can reach ANY Metaplane of Death without a guide, and the place reached will ALWAYS be the Underworld of their own cultural upbringing. Of Note to Necromancers is that while Ancestor Shamans are protected, one supposes, by the Spirits of their People, Necromancers have no such protection, and make the dangerous trip more often, as they seek the True Names of the Dead to bind them in service. Any Astral Quest MUST be Guided by a Ghost of a Force level equal to or greater than the Quest Rating, AND the Necromancer best keep CLOSE count of the Services owed: Guiding to the Plane of the Dead is *A* Service. Guiding home FROM the Plane Of The Dead is ANOTHER service. Accompanying the Necromancer on his Quest (for consultation or Assistance) counts as one service per PLACE. >;-) Scared yet? Also of note is that for a necromancer, all damage accrued on a Quest applies to both his physical form and aura damages. And such damage is NOT healed upon return to his body. Also Note: Hellbound or Ichor-Tainted Necromancer's suffer a +2 to ALL Tgt#'s related to Questing to the (Meta)Plane(s) of the Dead.
Dangers having been stated, now onto the rewards: Many Free Ghosts will agree to meet a Necromancer in The Citadel to bargain: for the True Names of Lesser Ghosts, for Divination services (subtract 1/2 the Quest Rating from the base Tgt# for the Divination roll), or for Necromantic Training (Though if trained by a Ghost in this way, the ghost may add they TOTAL levels/Force of ANYTHING taught as dice in a Control Contest using the Necromancer's Necrosis Rating). A Necromancer can, in fact, use such a Quest to assume voluntarily the Deathbound (cf "The Chains Of Death") state. Doing so allows him to double the Ordeal value for that particular Initiation Grade, but, of course, he cannot ALREADY be Deathbound, and cannot (also of course) use it more than once.
The normal (Meta)Planes of the Dead aren't the only places a Necromancer can get to... they can also go to Hell. A Hellbound or Ichor-tainted Necromancer does so with no penalty, other Necromancer's may do so with a +2 Tgt# penalty to ALL tests, AND, if ANY test fails, they automatically become tainted AND Hellbound. So why go? Well, first, it's the ONLY way to get the True Name of ichorous Ghosts. It's also possible to get an Oracle at the Citadel that will be effective WITHOUT the target of the Oracle knowing about it (cf Oracle Power). And, for the Hellbound, well... it's the Home Office. Trips to Hell and back aren't always as dangerous for Hellbound Necromancers, simply because as Lackey's of a Power of the Realm, their Boss can and often does ease the way for them. As long as they're doing a good job, of course. Typically, a Hellbound Necromancer doesn't know, BEFORE he Quests, what his status is. He simply gets a "The Boss wants you" message, and he must struggle to the Citadel to discover the situation. Many of the most powerful Ichorous Ghosts find the fading effects on them to be too great to desire to manifest on the Material or Near Astral for simple message passing. Particularly when each trip into Hell binds the Necromancer more firmly to them.
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