D&D 5E Necromancer Archetypes For PCs

[GSHamster]

There's the "Mr. Freeze" archetype. In this scenario, the wizard isn't looking to raise undead generally. She is looking to return one specific person back to life. A lover or child, usually. To do this however, to return someone to true life, she needs to study and understand death. Such a wizard would focus less on undeath, and more how death itself works, and how the underworld and life after death is handled.

See Orpheus and other similar myths. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Descent_to_the_underworld)

 

[Kinneus]

I think we've had enough on the subject of morality about summoning undead.

What I was originally concerned with is what sort of character concepts, backstories and other roleplaying material would some PC Necromancers have? I don't care about if it's bad or anything objectively in your campaign either, many characters can be delusional too about any objective campaign truths, so it wouldn't matter.

Fair enough! You're the OP and everything. Here are my contributions:

The Redeemer
Maybe you're naive, or maybe you come from a family or culture where there simply isn't a taboo on the use of necromancy. While it's true your spells spawn evil, soulless creatures, you take personal responsibility for undead creature you create, making sure not to call up what ye cannot put down. Additionally, no one can deny that your expertise in this admittedly obscure and necessarily arcane area of study makes you a perfect ally in the hunt for rogue undead. You have no qualms about ending the experiments of your less scrupulous colleagues, if not putting down the colleagues themselves. You adventure to reform the practice of necromancy itself; to convince good-hearted people that evil is not defined by the spells you cast, but instead by your intent when you cast them. And, of course, to slay those undead creatures and the power-mad despots that control them, before they can continue giving your noble craft a bad name.

The Obliterator
Necromancy, at its core, is irredeemably evil. That is why you must study it. You must perfect the dark arts so you can turn it against those who would kill and enslave the weak. You've made it your life goal to hunt and destroy liches, necromancers, and their twisted, piteous creations. While you may temporarily summon skeletons and zombies to aid you, you do so only because you believe it is wisest or most efficient to fight the proverbial fire with more fire. One day, when you have finally reduced the last necromancer's bones to cinders and smashed the phylactery of the last lich, you will break your own staff, burn your own book, and cut your own throat. You know you will die in your quest. And the practice of necromancy from this world will die with you.

 

[Nergal Pendragon]

I think we've had enough on the subject of morality about summoning undead.

What I was originally concerned with is what sort of character concepts, backstories and other roleplaying material would some PC Necromancers have? I don't care about if it's bad or anything objectively in your campaign either, many characters can be delusional too about any objective campaign truths, so it wouldn't matter.

Genius Ditzomancer
You're not necessarily the wisest person around, but you've got talent! You've got amazing talent! Sadly, that talent is for raising the dead, which gets a lot of people side-eyeing you and edging away. You don't mean to do it! It's just the affinity comes naturally to you. Plus, those guys who were mean to you last week absolutely deserved to get beaten into submission by the skeletons of their grandfathers! Maybe a few adventures where you show people you're not evil and they'll leave you alone about that whole raising the dead thing.

 

[Ahrimon]

I like this idea, but the cognitive dissonance in this sentence makes my head hurt. I wish we could just give up the idea that "necromancy = evil." Creating a skeleton to drive a sword through somebody's gut is badwrongevil, but summoning an elemental (which, explicitly in the rules, can also go rogue and start hacking up commoners) is perfectly neutral? Making some zombies out of soldiers that died on the battlefield is evil, but permanently crippling the enemy ranks with a fireball is a-OK?

There's no cognitive dissonance here at all. Traditionally, creating undead involves using negative energy, the anti-thesis of life. Stuff that seeks to destroy all life. And in the gods walk the earth, good and evil are tangible forces, DnD then using the stuff is an evil act. Hence why my dwarves are using arcane rituals and not necromantic rituals.

I see where you are coming from and understand your argument. I just don't agree with it. You are saying that doing evil for good's sake is ok, and I don't agree. It's a slippery moral slope. How far can you go down the path of doing evil for goods sake before you're doing more harm than good? I'm keenly aware of the subject because it's something that I have to deal with every day. I'm in the military and I have to always be aware of what I, and my people are doing. Regardless of the outcome, we have to always uphold the highest values. So, if 100 die because we wouldn't sacrifice 10 then that is ok. Because we stayed on the high ground. Destroying your foes with fire and lightning is ok because those forces are entirely neutral and natural. Creating forces of pure evil, even ones that you can control, isn't.

That's my opinion and the way I approach the game. I'll never expect others to conform to my way, but if I'm playing in a game, expect my character to act appropriately and that means convincing the necromancer to change his tactics, walking away from the group, or taking him out, it's how I'll play.

 

[Kinneus]

Hence why my dwarves are using arcane rituals and not necromantic rituals.

Explain to me the difference between an "arcane" ritual and a "necromantic" ritual.


Also, germane to the conversation:
http://dictionary.reference.com/browse/necromancy?s=t

 

[Ahrimon]

Explain to me the difference between an "arcane" ritual and a "necromantic" ritual.

In the general DnD scheme of things, raising a skeleton is easy. You summon up some negative energy and allow it to infuse unlife into some bones. It has a will of it's own that you can control but constantly strives to devour life. The arcane rituals that my dwarves will use are closer in scope to animating a golem. There's no necromantic energy involved at all. The ritual creates a minor echo of the original, willing, dwarf insomuch as it can understand and follow orders. The rituals imbue it with combat skills pulled from the great dwarven ancestors and the "skeleton" serves it's people.

It's entirely a fluff description for my campaign, but it fits the way I look at things and keeps my dwarves from skirting the line.

 

[Kinneus]

Would you be comfortable with a player whose PC is (mechanically) a Wizard Necromancer, but in-character uses these same "arcane" rituals? Maybe a dwarven character who only raises the bodies of his ancestors?

 

[Ahrimon]

In my game, I'd be willing to allow any player to play a necromancer. The animate dead spells would be considered evil acts, but I would be more than willing to allow a PC to have a ritual to animate a skeleton via arcane means. It wouldn't be something that they could do in combat though. But I'm still working on a lot of the details so I'm not sure what all it would entail.

Of course, to counter the new expansion of the dwarves, the elves have created the warforged. =)

 

[Kobold Avenger]

Genius Ditzomancer
You're not necessarily the wisest person around, but you've got talent! You've got amazing talent! Sadly, that talent is for raising the dead, which gets a lot of people side-eyeing you and edging away. You don't mean to do it! It's just the affinity comes naturally to you. Plus, those guys who were mean to you last week absolutely deserved to get beaten into submission by the skeletons of their grandfathers! Maybe a few adventures where you show people you're not evil and they'll leave you alone about that whole raising the dead thing.

One idea I had floating around in my head was someone who was better dealing with dead people than they were with the living. And that possibly all people living or dead are mostly tools, similar in the way some Enchanters would see most people as tools.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

There's the "Mr. Freeze" archetype. In this scenario, the wizard isn't looking to raise undead generally. She is looking to return one specific person back to life. A lover or child, usually. To do this however, to return someone to true life, she needs to study and understand death. Such a wizard would focus less on undeath, and more how death itself works, and how the underworld and life after death is handled.

See Orpheus and other similar myths. (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Descent_to_the_underworld)

I think more of a Dr. Victor Frankenstein in some depictions (the ones more removed from the novel) where that's his motivation behind creating the Bride of Frankenstein, though in some ways the Necrologist idea was based off the depiction of Victor Frankenstein from Penny Dreadful.