Through bubbling test tubes and sparking electrodes, you have discovered the true heart of necromancy: mad science. You’ve experimented in far-reaching disciplines of surgery, alchemy, and physics, using your animated minions as gruesome test subjects and walking surgical dummies. Most crucially, you have discovered that lightning can imbue almost anything with a semblance of life, from the smallest severed muscle to the most towering and soulless golems.
Skilled Surgeon
Beginning when you choose this ambition at 3rd level, you gain proficiency in the Medicine skill, if you did not already have it. You can use your Intelligence, instead of Wisdom, for Wisdom (Medicine) checks.
Mad Science
At 3rd level, you can spend 10 minutes installing a monstrous graft on one of your thralls that doesn’t have the Incorporeal Movement trait. Additionally, your thralls don’t lose hit points or Hit Dice from installing or removing grafts, and it takes them no time to recover after the attachment of a new graft. See Monstrous Grafts for the list of grafts.
Charnel Voltage
At 3rd level, you supplement your necromantic energies with arcing bolts of electricity. You can choose to deal lightning damage instead of necrotic damage with your Charnel Touch. When you hit with a Charnel Touch attack that deals lightning damage and expends 5 or more points, you can cause the energy to arc to a second creature within 5 feet of the target. The creature must make a Dexterity saving throw against your spell save DC, taking lightning damage equal to half the number of Charnel Touch points expended on a failed save.
Lazarus Bolt
Starting at 6th level, as an action, you can drive a bolt into the torso of a creature within 5 feet of you that has died within the last minute and shock it back to life. That creature returns to life with 1 hit point. This feature can’t return a creature to life if it lacks a heart, has died of old age, or is missing vital organs. Once this creature returns to life, you can restore hit points to it using your Charnel Touch for 1 minute, as if the creature were Undead.
Once you use this feature, you can’t use it again until you finish a short or long rest.
Arcane Stitching
Starting at 10th level, you’ve learned how to inscribe magical effects on your thralls using gruesome arcane stitches. You can expend 10 points from your Charnel Touch pool to apply an arcane stitch to one of your thralls in a process requiring 1 minute of work with a needle and thread. You can only apply arcane stitches to one of your thralls at a time, and your thrall can only have one of each type of stitch.
Your thrall can use arcane stitches to gain a benefit in combat. An arcane stitch lasts until your thrall uses it, your thrall is killed, or you finish a long rest.
Augmented Incision. The thrall gains advantage on attack rolls and ability checks until the end of its turn (no action required).
Bulwark Backstitch. The thrall casts the spell shield when it is hit by an attack.
Fleet Threads. The thrall’s speed is tripled until the end of its turn (no action required).
Voltaic Suture. When the thrall hits a creature with an attack, it deals an extra 3d6 lightning or necrotic damage (your choice).
Lichdom: Patchwork Golem
At 20th level, you have reached the pinnacle of necromancy and transformed yourself into a lich. Through abominable works of alchemy and surgery, you have constructed yourself an artificial body to act as the vessel for your soul.
Golem Form. Your Strength, Dexterity, and Constitution scores become 20 if they weren’t already higher, and you have resistance to bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from nonmagical attacks that aren’t adamantine. Additionally, you don’t lose hit points or Hit Dice from installing or removing grafts, and it takes you no time to recover after the attachment of a new graft.
Magic Resistance. You have advantage on saving throws against spells and other magical effects.