B.A.N.E membership

[Victim]

Good Necro spells

disrupt Undead

Healing Touch (MaoF) (reverse vampiric touch)
Life bolt (MaoF) (super disrupt undead, powered by your HP loss or 1 point per 2d4 RTA bolt)

There was a Life field spell in second edition too.

Good Necros blow the crap out of undead, evil ones raise them back up.

 

[Tsyr]

Yes, I never did figure out why healing and so forth would be anything but necromancy... It's necromancy, darnit. I can only figure it's some form of Political Correctness creeping in. I wish we could get someone from WotC to comment on it.

I havn't house-ruled it per say, but I did have a player playing a wizard who was a necromancer and created his own spells... exact duplicates of the clerical spells, but necromantic arcane spells. I think I might house rule that, actualy, in the future.

*We had no cleric and two wizards. One was a good necromancer, and our healer. One was a more normal mage. Considering the wizard has a lower BAB, HP, and more restrictions on weapons and armour, I'm one of (I guess) the few people who have no real problem with a wizard who wants to learn healing magic, at least not if they are a necromancer.

 

[evileeyore]

A friend of mine created a Lord in his game world that was an LG Necromancer. He paid peasants to train one day a week as a warrior, and when they died they would be raised to fill spots in his undead army. The peasants knew that not all would be chosen (and of course the smarter or better trained would return as stronger more free willed undead as needed...), but those that did would serve to protect their descendents for a really long time.

I always thought it was a really good idea...


Of course under 2nd Ed I once created a CG speciality mage/necromancer with the Witch template... He was a nobleman driving from his home for the unlawful study of Necromancy... He could never really stay in any one town due to the increasing % of a spontaneous mob forming to lynch him, but it was a fun concept to play...


TTFN

EvilE

 

[Jasperak]

I am stealing the Nethremancer idea. It is just what I have been looking for. Shame on me for not thinking of it myself.

 

[Deedlit]

I wish to join B.A.N.E. Though I find Necromancers make excellent villains, they aren't always evil.
And I do know of one good-aligned necromancer. Wizarmon from digimon adventure.

 

[Xandercrisp]

Check out the book Hollowfaust: city of necromancers. It details a city run by 7 guilds of non-evil necromancers. The leaders of the seven guilds are LN,LN,NG,LG,N,LN, and N, with the LG one being a lich in charge of the secret police. The city had a political showdown in which the evil necromancers were exiled. The history and laws are well detailed, and I love this book.

In life Hollowfaust protected you, in death you will protect Hollowfaust.

 

[Humanophile]

Yes, I never did figure out why healing and so forth would be anything but necromancy... It's necromancy, darnit. I can only figure it's some form of Political Correctness creeping in. I wish we could get someone from WotC to comment on it...

...Considering the wizard has a lower BAB, HP, and more restrictions on weapons and armour, I'm one of (I guess) the few people who have no real problem with a wizard who wants to learn healing magic, at least not if they are a necromancer.

First, a me too. Conjuration-healing seems, if anything, even more arcane-learnable than Necromancy-healing. It's a stretch that a mage can't channel/handle positive energy in the right way to rejuvenate someone already, but that she can't create new bodymass? (By that token, healing should be Alteration based, and I see no reason whatsoever why a polymorph-based Heal wouldn't work.)

OTOH, since everyone thinks that having to heal is one of the drawbacks of the cleric, you might want to pump up your mages a tad to even them up. Especially wizards, who have to prepare and heal without the benefit of a cleric's trade-out, thus putting them on the "you prepared a non-cure spell?!?!" spot that made 2e clerics so bothersome. Just a word to the wise...

 

[Carnifex]

Check out my story hour for a lawful neutral necromancer PC. He's interested in death because of the death of his own mother when he was young, and then was taken in by a necromancer tutor. He's not the 'raise armies of shambling undead and conquer the WORLD!' maniac type, rather being someone who wants to study death and understand it.

 

[Kamard]

I once made a LG puritan necromancer. He was interested in punishing the followers of chaotic and evil deities, generally by casting enervations and other necromantic type things to show them the error of their ways.

He talked a lot, and when other characters did unlawful or sort of neutral things, he would shun them.

So when he died, they figured he went to whatever god he went to, and didn't feel like they should raise him.

And that was the end of him.

 

[abri]

Thanks for all the answers: I'm glad to see I'm not the only one with neutral or good necromancers.
Always been a little worried about giving clerical healing spells to necro (just gives them to much power, IMO), and never liked the crappy necromantic healing spell (where you transfer your HP to someone)...
Just bought Hollowfaust and found Arcane healing (L2, sacrifice x spells levels to heal someone X/2 times 1d8+1) and I think it helps a lot a good necromancer.
Because let's be honnest there aren't many good oriented necromantic spells around.
1)Good without any question: arcane healing, false life, damage transfer, detect undead, disrupt undead...
2)Can often be used for good but not always: command undead.
3)Used for killing: almost all of the rest.
4) Not for killing but tend to be regarded as evil: armor of undeath, animate dead (and the lesser versions)...

In the necromancer handbook in 2E they introduced the concept of necromancers that studied life, I know that this aspect of necromancy as dissapeared from 3E, but let's try to bring it back.
Anyone got ideas for new necromantic spells of this kind.

There was also the concept of necromancer that served as link between the deads and the living, and this kind of necromancer have been brought back: speaker of the deads, undead loremaster (although the name as nothing to do with the class...).
Playing one right now actually, and I'm the only good character in the party of neutral character... They are GREAT for mystery solving scenarios.
Ok let's continue gathering ideas.