D&D 5E Healing, Resurrection, and the "N" Word

[GX.Sigma]

Okay, real talk for a second.

Why aren't healing spells necromancy anymore? It made perfect sense--you're messing with life and death. Do people just get nervous whenever the "N" word is mentioned?

Having them as conjuration doesn't make any sense at all. Are you conjuring unwounded flesh to replace the damaged bits? Transmutation, I think, would make more sense.

It has seriously gotten to the point where raise dead is a conjuration spell. Raise dead--a spell that brings a dead person back to life. If that's not necromancy, kindly fax me a definition of what is.

I know this goes back to 3e, but it's not too late to change it for D&DN. Don't be afraid of the "N" word!

 

[Tony Vargas]

Yeah, that's kinda a late question. In 3e, I think the idea was that you were conjuring 'positive energy' with which to heal. In 4e, of course, there were no schools for cleric spells, anyway, so they just got the prosaic, but accurate, 'healing' keyword.

 

[GX.Sigma]

I think the idea was that you were conjuring 'positive energy' with which to heal.

That makes sense... but when you cast inflict light wounds, that uses negative energy, so why isn't that a conjuration?

 

[Shemeska]

Wasn't it a 3.5 change? At some point necromancy got a bad name and anything icky became evil. And healing isn't icky or evil so it obviously couldn't be necromancy.

*sigh*

One of the 3.5 changes I utterly, desperately want to completely roll back in its child editions.

 

[Tony Vargas]

That makes sense... but when you cast inflict light wounds, that uses negative energy, so why isn't that a conjuration?

The necromancers' PAC contributed more money to the evil deities' campaigns than the conjurers' did?

At that point it was putting wizard school labels on cleric spells, anyway, which wasn't making quite so much sense as it used to...

 

[Drowbane]

In my campaigns curing is ("white") Necromancy, my second choice would be Evocation, not Conjuration.

Conjuration: manipulates space/time (ok, more space and not so much time...) to bring creatures or objects to your location or to allow you to rapidly travel great (and small) distances. examples: teleport, d-door, summon creature X
Evocation: draws energy from other planes and shapes them to your whim. Examples: fireball, ligntning bolt, cone of cold.
Necromancy: allows you to manipulates the forces of life and death.

Curing spells becoming Conjuration is a 3.0 thing. 3e also gave Conjuration far more elemental damaging spells.

 

[howandwhy99]

IIRC only arcane spells were assigned to specific Wizarding schools in 2nd edition. Cleric spells were never necromantic or anything else. If it really bothers you, just change for your game.

 

[Ahnehnois]

Why aren't healing spells necromancy anymore?

They are in my campaign.

It's an unimportant issue, but clearly a bad change and one that I wish they'd fix.

 

[kerleth]

An excellent point about the inflict spells sigma. I would have xp'ed you if it would have let me.

 

[the Jester]

IIRC only arcane spells were assigned to specific Wizarding schools in 2nd edition. Cleric spells were never necromantic or anything else.

Sorry, your recollection is incorrect.

From the 2e PH, pg 199:

Cure Light Wounds (Necromancy) Reversible

This tradition of assigning schools to cleric spells goes back as far as 1e... before there were schools per se.

EDIT: On topic, I agree that healing ought to be necromancy, and raising the dead certainly ought to be.