D&D General A paladin just joined the group. I'm a necromancer.

[Marandahir]

If he does so often, yes he does have to be evil. Says so in the PHB - 'ONLY evil casters do so regularly'.

That's not open to debate. If you regularly animate the dead, you're evil. Says so in the PHB. Animating them is never a Good act (no matter why or for what reason you do so).

Whether that's a metaphysical consequence of using 'dark, foul unholy' magic (as described in the MM under the Zombie and Skeleton entries) to animate them (same as how a Jedi using the Dark Side in Star Wars gets corrupted), or a philosophical consequence of the choice to use 'black magic' to animate and bring into existence evil baby eating monsters powered by unholy dark energy, by defiling the corpse of a deceased sentient creature, is up for debate.

Barring DM intervention to say animating the dead is not, in fact, evil, you cant be someone who regularly animates the dead in 5E and be Good aligned.

What's more evil, the act or the motive? Can the ends justify the means? I wouldn't be so fast to deal out moral judgement, when you don't know this Necromancer and their purposes and what ends they'll come to. I imagine only the Necromancer can truly know what's in their heart and actions.

 

[ClaytonCross]

I know it's an old cliche, but this mess happened to me. I was all set to go with a necromancer. My guy was raising dead, the campaign was running smoothly, and then a buddy joined up at level 6. He wanted to roll a paladin.

What's the best way to make the two play nice in the same party? Is there a mechanical solution to the problem? Alternatively, how can I circumnavigate his ire?

Relevant comic.

If Necromancy is legal in the setting then a lawful paladin can be grumpy but otherwise support the group. If Necromancy is not legal, then their should be a back story reason for the paladin to support the necromancer based on the paladins oath.

 

[Flamestrike]

What's more evil, the act or the motive? Can the ends justify the means?

If you're asking me personally, motive rarely matters, and no the ends almost never justify the means. The road to Hell is paved with good intentions and all that.

That's just my own personal view however. And it's one that would be shared by a Good aligned PC in game; indeed I would expect the above view at a minimum from a Good aligned PC. Its quite likely a Good aligned PC would go even further to say the ends never justify the means.

For example, the Avengers were good. They wouldn't kill one innocent man to save trillions. Because they're good aligned.

I wouldn't be so fast to deal out moral judgement

I'm not passing moral judgement. I'm only quoting the PHB, where it says animating the dead is a 'non good' act, and ONLY evil creatures do so frequently.

 

[Flamestrike]

If Necromancy is legal in the setting then a lawful paladin can be grumpy but otherwise support the group.

Lawfully aligned Paladins (or any one else for that matter of a Lawful alignment) is under no obligation to follow the laws of the land.

They may very well follow a code of their own, or view the laws of wherever they happen to be as illegitimate.

They respect honour, family and tradition. Nothing about them having to follow (or indeed even respect) the laws of a land where they just happen to find themselves.

 

[Tonguez]

If he does so often, yes he does have to be evil. Says so in the PHB - 'ONLY evil casters do so regularly'.

That's not open to debate. If you regularly animate the dead, you're evil. Says so in the PHB. Animating them is never a Good act

I suppose it comes down to what is considered Regularly and thats pretty much GM fiat. Is one skeleton animation a week regular? Or does it require the Necromancy to be creating a daily army?

 

[Shadowdweller]

I've seen this sort of thing go badly many, many times. Immediately: Talk with both the DM and the paladin player about stepping on each others' toes with respect to character. Tell them that raising undead is part of your character concept. Do this BEFORE it gets played out in game and conflicts become engrained in character identity. Second off, try to play up a more respectful / non-evil variant of undeath in character unless you want the conflict (whether your're lying or not about it in game). Refer to your undead servitors as honored ancestors or loved ones; request their service rather than compel it or talk about trying to redeem them. Heading a problem like this off before it begins will generally result in better outcomes.

 

[Cap'n Kobold]

What's more evil, the act or the motive? Can the ends justify the means? I wouldn't be so fast to deal out moral judgement, when you don't know this Necromancer and their purposes and what ends they'll come to. I imagine only the Necromancer can truly know what's in their heart and actions.

Indeed. I can't see an undead-raising necromancer as being good aligned in most situations, but it is possible for them to be neutral: - Committing an evil act sometimes doesn't automatically make one evil.
I view the ends justifying the means is a common pathway to an evil alignment, particularly the attitude that evil acts are okay to do in a good cause if they make things easier.

I would generally view raising undead similarly to the use of landmines: It can be effective for specific purposes which makes it very tempting to do. However there is strong societal and legal issues that condemn it, and a very high chance of collateral damage to innocents unless done very carefully and conscientiously.

We're having to rely on the default assumptions of the game here, because the OP has not posted again to clarify if their setting is different, or if there was an outcome to their potential paladin infestation.

 

[Eltab]

Indeed. I can't see an undead-raising necromancer as being good aligned in most situations, but it is possible for them to be neutral

I offer a possible Good necromancer: in an Ancient Egypt cultural setting, a cleric who offers to make the newly-deceased into Mummies to guard their family's ancestral tombs. He gets their consent while they are still alive.

 

[Weiley31]

Well before we judge the Necromancer too much, Limitless Adventures had a website that was basically an obituary for dead PCs. One of the PCs got killed because of, and I quote, "Was sacrificed by the Paladin at the Durnst Manor."

Like.......wow man. Not everyday you hear of a Paladin sacrificing a person.

 

[Flamestrike]

I offer a possible Good necromancer: in an Ancient Egypt cultural setting, a cleric who offers to make the newly-deceased into Mummies to guard their family's ancestral tombs. He gets their consent while they are still alive.

He might get their consent, but he's still using magic described in the Monster Manual under the entry for Zombies and Skeletons as 'foul, dark, unholy, and black magic'. In the Mummy entry it specifically involves a priest of a 'dark deity' using an 'invocation to darkness' and mentions the Mummy being the subject of an 'unholy curse'.

That's gotta leave a stain on the soul just learning that kind of magic, let alone actually using it, consent or otherwise.

Additionally he's (intentionally) creating a Lawful Evil monster (Mummies are LE) powered by negative energy. One that can inflict horrible curses on others (causing them to rot from the inside out, in agony, over days or weeks), and kills without mercy or compassion. Eternally.

Thats... not exactly a 'good' act, consent given or otherwise.