Necromancy and AL

[Inconnunom]

As for the argument that Necormancers are inherently evil...no. Just, no.

And I quote, from the PHB:

"Most people see necramancers as menacing, or even villainous, due to the dose association with death. Not all necramancers are evil, but the forces they manipulate are considered taboo by many societies."

Read the description of Animate Dead. Want to know what it DOESN'T say? That the spell is inherently evil. Just like the Conjuration spells don't do that either. So no, Necromancy isn't by definition Evil, and it is perfectly allowable by AL rules.

Hell, you might have motivated me to make a Necromancer just for the new season.

PGB Page 203 "Schools of Magic"
"Creating the undead through the use of necromancy spells such as animate dead is not a good act, and only evil casters use such spells frequently."

That being said, I play a good RP Necromancer bard. The madness of the demons twisted his Revivify spell into Animate Dead when he casted it.

 

[RCanine]

PGB Page 203 "Schools of Magic"
"Creating the undead through the use of necromancy spells such as animate dead is not a good act, and only evil casters use such spells frequently."

To be fair, neither is walking into a house and murdering all of the inhabitants, which is what 90% of adventures are. It's just that usually, from the PCs' perspective, their actions are justified.

 

[KahlessNestor]

You can be a necromancer and just never use animate dead.

 

[Eltab]

An 'LG necromancer' is more-or-less what Dr. Frankenstein thought of himself. And we all know how THAT turned out.

In the Ravenloft context, this could be really interesting. Or it could go up in flames, possibly taking the rest of the group with it.

 

[jrothwell]

JRothwell "The GM he wants to play with next session is very anti-evil player characters and does not want a necro but may make some compromises. If the player really wants to play a full necro then he will have to choose one of the other GMs to play with or accept his choice GM's limitations (no raise dead, no evil spells) and expectations that he start actually role playing his character."

kalini "AL DMs must remember - this isn't a home game, and that they should leave their personal feelings at the door when it comes to DMing for AL characters. The variability of DM/player feelings/preferences is precisely why we have an ALPG which clearly outlines what is(n't) allowed in AL (in respect to character options)."

I try to seat players with GM's they will work best with, each GM has their own unique style that they bring to the table. Getting GM's to commit to running a non-home game for 2-3 hours every single week with the restrictions AL provides is not easy, especially now that the support has lessened and there are no more free adventures. Also, you don't get a say in who you play with so I think allowing the GM's a little leeway in what they like and don't like helps to make stuff go smoother at the table and requires less mediation from me.

Since there is no APLG for CoS we are trying hard to figure out what is and isn't allowed. One of the players requesting the necromancer is following this message board, he has informed me that based on this so far "I can play a zhenterim fire genasi, lawful-evil necromancer and cast raise dead and the GM can't stop me."

 

[kalani]

The ALPG for CoS should be out some time during the next week (assuming there are no delays). The CoS season doesn't start officially until March 1st (DDAL 4-1) and March 4th (CoS). Even then, the Season 3 ALPG does not expire until March 15th (or when the Season 4 ALPG is released, whichever happens first). Until such time as the Season 4 ALPG is released, the Season 3 ALPG is valid and should be used.

In respect to a LE Fire-Genasi Necromancer raising the dead - your friend is correct (in part).
DMs must allow any legal character option available to a character based on their story origin. There are no exceptions to this rule - precisely to avoid situations of DMs prohibiting variant humans, Elven Bards, Necromancers (or any other character option/combination the DM has personal issues with); in addition to avoiding issues of power creep.

• As such, playing a LE Fire Genasi Necromancer is perfectly legal, providing the character is a member of the Zhentarim or Lords Alliance and has the Elemental Evil story origin.
• The character can legally choose any spell from the PHB available to their character (at the appropriate levels), including animate dead and create undead.
• This character is prohibited from using any material out of the Sword Coast Adventurers Guide (including green-flame blade) as characters cannot mix content from the SCAG and EEPC

The DM does however, have a say as to how NPCs react to any spells cast, and is under no obligation to honor spells cast in previous games (or at tables with previous DMs). As such, the DM is well within their rights to say the character cannot start the adventure with one (or more) undead in tow, and instead ask them to collect each corpse (and cast each spell) during the adventure itself. In fact, this is recommended due to the fact that the DM has no proof regarding the HPs of any given undead (except what the player says).

Depending on the spell, the DM may also be in control of the actions of any summoned creature. While the creature itself will follow instructions to the best of their ability and remain loyal to the PC, unless the PC has an option to take full and precise control of a creatures actions, usually they will use very simplistic tactics (and will often take the shortest, most direct path to a target even if it provokes Opportunity Attacks).

Finally, the DM can ask the player to tone down any behavior that is becoming disruptive to the table. Casting spells or playing classes that the DM disapproves of is insufficient grounds to call the behavior "disruptive", but should the character hog the spotlight or their turns take too long (leading to boredom from other players), the DM is well within their rights to step in at that point. As a guideline, I don't let any single character take more than 2-3 minutes on their turn before I instead ask them to take the "dodge" action. This is how long a summoner's turn should take as well.

 

[RulesJD]

What sort of methods have you all seen to deal with commanding large number of NPCs/Units at a time? Personally I figure just using 3d20s divided into the number you have (rounding to one die) and go with that. Then roll damage for all of them at once. Makes things like Advantage/Disadvantage much easier.

Also, I'm sorry but AL is going to have to come up with ways of tracking high expense/time consuming tasks. After all, if I'm a high level caster and I drop the coin for the Clone spell in my own special Demiplane, there needs to be a way to track that.

 

[RCanine]

After all, if I'm a high level caster and I drop the coin for the Clone spell in my own special Demiplane, there needs to be a way to track that

I'm not sure why you think that the AL needs a way to track that. You have another option: choose a different spell. The AL owes you nothing.

 

[RulesJD]

I'm not sure why you think that the AL needs a way to track that. You have another option: choose a different spell. The AL owes you nothing.

Ah yes, the good ol' screw the players attitude that I love so much in AL forums. *clap clap* It would just be soooo much effort I know, ugh so hard. Good thing we don't already have a system for tracking items purchased with a lot of gold (plate barded up elephant), renown, downtime, etc.

Anyways, suggestions on the above?

 

[CapnZapp]

An 'LG necromancer' is more-or-less what Dr. Frankenstein thought of himself. And we all know how THAT turned out.

In fairness he didn't cast Animate Dead repeatedly. Just once. And he didn't even know it as a spell - more of a "scientific ritual".

(Not saying I agree with the good doctor that he's... good)