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Shemeska said:
Gnn, potentially more posting later when I'm not sleep deprived... but this has just reminded me of a nasty trick I saw someone pull with a ravid in a graveyard....
How do I make Necro =/= Evil ?
- Thread starter Tatsukun
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Gnn, potentially more posting later when I'm not sleep deprived... but this has just reminded me of a nasty trick I saw someone pull with a ravid in a graveyard....
Andor
First Post
I don't think there is anything([Evil] descriptor aside) that makes the creation is non-willful undead inherantly evil. Creating self-willed undead usually is since you are knowingly bringing something evil and predatory into the world.
That having been said, non-evil necromancers makes some people brains break. I remember an IFGS game we had where there was an informational encounter with a creepy and slightly crazed necromancer who worked for the city. It was a fairly nasty city, and so he'd fish bodies out of the river, animate them and send them to work cleaning the sewers. (A neccesary but deadly job, but not to zombies. And it's not like they were making the sewers fouler.) In spite of the fact that he did not detect as (and was not) evil, the zombies weren't evil, and he was performing a civic service, almost all the parties tried to off him. (And failed, he was REALLY powerful, and just sat behind a 13th level Sanctuary spell.) Some of the player couldn't believe the Game Designer put in a necromancer they weren't allowed to kill.
That having been said, non-evil necromancers makes some people brains break. I remember an IFGS game we had where there was an informational encounter with a creepy and slightly crazed necromancer who worked for the city. It was a fairly nasty city, and so he'd fish bodies out of the river, animate them and send them to work cleaning the sewers. (A neccesary but deadly job, but not to zombies. And it's not like they were making the sewers fouler.) In spite of the fact that he did not detect as (and was not) evil, the zombies weren't evil, and he was performing a civic service, almost all the parties tried to off him. (And failed, he was REALLY powerful, and just sat behind a 13th level Sanctuary spell.) Some of the player couldn't believe the Game Designer put in a necromancer they weren't allowed to kill.
Tonguez
A suffusion of yellow
Um think Egypt and Osiris - right there a Good UNDEAD god
so you now have a Necromancer who is a priest of said Undead god. He knows there is a divine hierarchy which applies in life and extends into death (it strats with the Divine King, second his priest (the Necromancer), third the aristocrats and fourth the workers)
the culture thus beleives that it is acceptable to raise those of the workers caste after death in order to fulfil their divine mission to work (in service of the Divine King and his priests).
Now it is still evil to bring back a priest or aristocrat as a zombie (although Mummy is fine) and a lot of undead are sill off limits (eg Ghouls)
but having a cadre of zombie servants who were all servants in life anyway is perfectly acceptable as such is their place in the divine order, and since it is done in the service of the god it must be good - right....
so you now have a Necromancer who is a priest of said Undead god. He knows there is a divine hierarchy which applies in life and extends into death (it strats with the Divine King, second his priest (the Necromancer), third the aristocrats and fourth the workers)
the culture thus beleives that it is acceptable to raise those of the workers caste after death in order to fulfil their divine mission to work (in service of the Divine King and his priests).
Now it is still evil to bring back a priest or aristocrat as a zombie (although Mummy is fine) and a lot of undead are sill off limits (eg Ghouls)
but having a cadre of zombie servants who were all servants in life anyway is perfectly acceptable as such is their place in the divine order, and since it is done in the service of the god it must be good - right....
Gold Roger
First Post
I've played a good Nekro for quite some time. He once was a evil wizard , but was turned to the good side. He didn't rise Undead, but he would still use stuff like ray of enfeeblement and vampiric touch for assassinations and still kill helpless oponents, as long as they where evil.
My soap box: define evil in your game, players need to know why it is evil.
That being said, why would Necro be evil?
Now that you know why they could be evil can you not work around that?
That being said, why would Necro be evil?
1. Goes against the laws of church
2. Goes against the laws of state
3. Goes against the laws of guild
4. Dead are unclean - Plague
5. Undead rights - Does the soul/spirit stay attached to the body and suffer by being brought back? Who owns the body of the dead?
6. Dead are Ugly - In life you would find that if something revolts people it is sometimes labeled evil.
2. Goes against the laws of state
3. Goes against the laws of guild
4. Dead are unclean - Plague
5. Undead rights - Does the soul/spirit stay attached to the body and suffer by being brought back? Who owns the body of the dead?
6. Dead are Ugly - In life you would find that if something revolts people it is sometimes labeled evil.
Now that you know why they could be evil can you not work around that?
grimslade
Krampus ate my d20s
Prius: powered by ancient dead
I was thinking about this the other day. Oil and Gasoline are derived from decaying plant and animal remains of millions of years ago. Our cars and lawn mowers are powered by dead things and we don't think much about it. In your campaign the dead can be another resource to be used. The necromancer can be a guide for the dead to their next destination, a mortal psychpomp. The left over material, i.e. dead bodies or spirit energy, are the wages of the necromancers trade. This can mesh with the ancestor spirits nicely. The negative energy used in most Necro spells can be derived from vengeful spirits that the Necro is attuned to. He can deliver retribution ala Ghostrider or the Crow.
How the rest of your campaign world views Necromancy is anther story.
Grim
I was thinking about this the other day. Oil and Gasoline are derived from decaying plant and animal remains of millions of years ago. Our cars and lawn mowers are powered by dead things and we don't think much about it. In your campaign the dead can be another resource to be used. The necromancer can be a guide for the dead to their next destination, a mortal psychpomp. The left over material, i.e. dead bodies or spirit energy, are the wages of the necromancers trade. This can mesh with the ancestor spirits nicely. The negative energy used in most Necro spells can be derived from vengeful spirits that the Necro is attuned to. He can deliver retribution ala Ghostrider or the Crow.
How the rest of your campaign world views Necromancy is anther story.
Grim
Wraith Form
Explorer
"Your Undead Employee is from ___(insert 3rd world country here)___, but I only support companies that reanimate American Undead. Darn you."Andre said:
There's one thing I think is seriously being overlooked here... animated animals.
Alot of the moral dilemma comes with animating humans, which is the general norm for most evil necros, having many zombie ans skeletal humans bumbling around their lairs, but perhaps a good necro would abstain from re-animating anything that had a soul?
A skeletal wolf or a zombie bear would still be an excellent cohort to have following you around, and since skeletons and zombies aren't really that intelligent to begin with, you don't lose much in raising a non-intellegent creature instead.
Alot of the moral dilemma comes with animating humans, which is the general norm for most evil necros, having many zombie ans skeletal humans bumbling around their lairs, but perhaps a good necro would abstain from re-animating anything that had a soul?
A skeletal wolf or a zombie bear would still be an excellent cohort to have following you around, and since skeletons and zombies aren't really that intelligent to begin with, you don't lose much in raising a non-intellegent creature instead.
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