Character Idea: Necromancer who wants to convince slaving cultures undead are more effecient

[Zhaleskra]

Yes, but "consistent with the laws of physics in a setting that includes magic" takes too long to say.

Not to get too cosomolgy-y here, but with the Great Wheel Cosmology--which I do have some issues with, but I digress--I basically see the energy planes as the two poles of a battery: without either, the multiverse doesn't work.

 

[Eltab]

For a game I'm running I've done up a culture that is basically Ancient Egypt but with necromancy.

In this case, the peasants become skeletons but the nobles &c are turned into mummies.

 

[aramis erak]

I just had this idea of creating a necromancer character skilled in diplomacy who hates slavery (yeah, raising armies of the undead is just slavery with more steps), and wants to convince slaving cultures the benefits of using undead instead of slaves. Of course, one of this character's obvious arguments would be the lower upkeep cost: you don't have to feed skeletons. What other points would be valuable to this character's arguments?

That idea pops up every new generation of gamers. It goes back to the early 80s or before... the number of times I've had players suggest it runs over 20...

 

[Zhaleskra]

I’ve been gaming for around 30 years.

 

[aramis erak]

I'll note that western societal fear of the dead is not universal...

Many cultures interact with the bodies of their dead in various ways.

Some, they mummify and keep grandpa or grandma around as long as someone remembers them, and they're not being eaten by the bugs. Others let the flesh decompose, but then go have lunch with the skeletons of the family monthly. Still others let the scavengers pick the bones clean, then inter any remaining bones. Others still leave it all to scavengers. Many simply bury the body deep enough not to smell, and leave it be.

And in Washington state, USA, you can now opt to be composted. (There's a facility for body composting in a safe and sanitary manner.)

So the western "ick factor" may not apply... unfortunately, many of the cultures lacking the ick factor are even more likely to take exception to the undead...

 

[Zhaleskra]

There may also be some difference between "naturally arising" undead and those that are purposely animated. For example, in the Viking Sourcebook from 2E, there were some undead who were fully themselves in their animation and may visit their family to announce their own deaths, or visit their enemies to avenge themselves.

At least a couple RPGs have "Speak with (the) Dead" spells. Last I checked, in D&D the corpse had to answer truthfully. The HARP version appears to let the corpse answer however it wants.

This does move us away from undead slaves vs. living slaves. So suppose you have a good/neutral necromancer whose buddies lost a nasty fight, yet somehow the necromancer survived. If the necro is a polite sort, I can see them asking their buddies through Speak with Dead "So, that really sucked, and I'm alone now. There's no way I can make it out alone. May I animate your corpses until I get out and we can get you a proper resurrection? Who knows, on the way out, maybe you can avenge yourselves?" Then the necro's dead buddies can answer however they want.

Depending on how soon soul departure happens in the given world, different complications can arise. Take the idea of Petitioners from 2e Planescape. "So, can I use your corpse to help me fight?" This can go many different ways. The most obvious of which is the necromancer having to convince the petitioner that they know each other. Once that's established, it can go many ways. But I'll take me personally: Let's imagine I'm dead, I'm in an afterlife and enjoying it. My living buddy calls me on a necro call and asks to use my corpse. "Why not, I'm never going to be using that body again."

 

[aramis erak]

There are other factors, as well...

• does the undead process preserve the body to any degree
• is the soul tied to the body?
  • until some specific period of time after death?
  • until the body is unrecognizable?
  • until only the bones are left?
  • until resurrection spells no longer work?
• is there proof of an afterlife?
  • does undead creation affect attaining it?

The ruleset in use, if one uses it as a physics/metaphysics engine for one's setting, may give some answers.

AD&D's great wheel, for example, explicitly allows visiting the lands of the afterlife. Need to talk to great-grandpa? You can have someone cast speak with dead. Need him to sign his will? A high enough level caster can take you to him, so he can sign it. Ensouled undead explicitly prevent going to one's eternal reward plane; this may or may not be a good thing, depending upon alignment and how impressed the planar ruler is...
And reincarnation spells only work when the soul isn't happy where it is, and it hasn't been too long...

 

[Zhaleskra]

Given various rules for certain undead arising--usually ghosts and zombies--three days from time of death or soul departure is a common one. It is telling that in HARP for instance, someone who died from zombie infection cannot become a zombie until 72 hours after their soul has left.

Generally Type I's (skeletons and zombies) you don't have to worry about souls too much. Past that, well, "here's your sign".

 

[Iry]

The biggest issue is that undead are not especially intelligent and would require more frequent oversight than a living person unless the job is literally mindless. For example, they would be great in an assembly line where they repeatedly pick up a part and place it somewhere, but terrible in a mine where they would need to assess danger, focus their mining efforts in certain locations on an hourly basis, etc. Similarly, they would be great pulling a wagon from City A to City B, but terrible doing anything on a farm besides tilling fields.

There's also the cliche factor. Necromancer Who Wants To Replace Slavery has been done so many times it's basically a trope at this point. But that shouldn't stop you. A well executed cliche is much better than a poorly executed original idea. Just be prepared for some groans from your table.

 

[Zhaleskra]

Depends a bit on what the controlling undead rules are for the system. As for intelligent undead, does the spell create an undead soul or pull the person's original soul back to their now undead form?