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<blockquote data-quote="Umbran" data-source="post: 6271578" data-attributes="member: 177">Right.&nbsp; So, in the real world there no zombies chewing off your face!&nbsp; Kinda figures that a culture without zombies is apt to be less harsh on the matter of undead than the cultures who do have to deal with them.&nbsp; But, this line of argument is kind of silly, insofar as there's no way that fantasy would should or shouldn't be, except insofar as the structure makes or uses interesting tropes.&nbsp; What's interesting about necromancy that doesn't have darkness attached to it?&nbsp; Yippee.&nbsp; Dead, stinky bodies move around.&nbsp; You can do damage.&nbsp; Those can be accomplished by a bazillion other spells that aren't necromantic.&nbsp; Telekinesis, ray of frost, unseen servant, and so on.&nbsp; I submit that making necromancy &quot;neutral&quot; then reduces it to just one more power.&nbsp; Fire is cool because things tend to burn - there's a threat of destroying more than you intend.&nbsp; If necromancy is all fluffy-bunny... what's special about it?&nbsp; It loses it's flavor.&nbsp; Anyone here play White Wolf games?&nbsp; Their Werewolf game had a lost tribe - the White Howlers - in the world backstory.&nbsp; They had turned evil (into &quot;Black Spiral Dancers&quot;) so by the time the game started, you could not play a White Howler.&nbsp; Which, of course, meant that everyone *wanted* to play one. Everyone wanted to play the one remaining good White Howler.&nbsp; But, of course, if everyone could play them, then they'd cease to be special, and we'd not want to play them any more than any of the other tribes.&nbsp; It sounds really awesome, until everyone gets it, and then nobody really cares anymore.Which is to say - enforced rarity is a thing that can enhance savor.&nbsp; Don't toss it away lightly.Only if they know without reasonable doubt they're going to a positive reward.&nbsp; If they fear (or in this case, maybe even know) that the *eternal* afterlife is going to suck, they're not going to be sprinting to the finish line to get to what's next.Here's the #1 reason to be a lich.&nbsp; You had impulse control problems in your life, so that you know sure as anything that you're going to the Abyss, and the life of a human soul there isn't fun.&nbsp; So, you make sure you never go there....Or magic.&nbsp; I've not seen too many fantasy games that worry all that much about germ theory.</blockquote>

[QUOTE="Umbran, post: 6271578, member: 177"] Right. So, in the real world there no zombies [I]chewing off your face![/I] Kinda figures that a culture without zombies is apt to be less harsh on the matter of undead than the cultures who do have to deal with them. But, this line of argument is kind of silly, insofar as there's no way that fantasy would should or shouldn't be, except insofar as the structure makes or uses interesting tropes. What's interesting about necromancy that doesn't have darkness attached to it? Yippee. Dead, stinky bodies move around. You can do damage. Those can be accomplished by a bazillion other spells that aren't necromantic. Telekinesis, ray of frost, unseen servant, and so on. I submit that making necromancy "neutral" then reduces it to just one more power. Fire is cool because things tend to burn - there's a threat of destroying more than you intend. If necromancy is all fluffy-bunny... what's special about it? It loses it's flavor. Anyone here play White Wolf games? Their Werewolf game had a lost tribe - the White Howlers - in the world backstory. They had turned evil (into "Black Spiral Dancers") so by the time the game started, you could not play a White Howler. Which, of course, meant that everyone *wanted* to play one. Everyone wanted to play the one remaining good White Howler. But, of course, if everyone could play them, then they'd cease to be special, and we'd not want to play them any more than any of the other tribes. It sounds really awesome, until everyone gets it, and then nobody really cares anymore. Which is to say - enforced rarity is a thing that can enhance savor. Don't toss it away lightly. Only if they know without reasonable doubt they're going to a positive reward. If they fear (or in this case, maybe even know) that the *eternal* afterlife is going to suck, they're not going to be sprinting to the finish line to get to what's next. Here's the #1 reason to be a lich. You had impulse control problems in your life, so that you know sure as anything that you're going to the Abyss, and the life of a human soul there isn't fun. So, you make sure you never go there.... Or magic. I've not seen too many fantasy games that worry all that much about germ theory. [/QUOTE]

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