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Is necromancy evil or only as harmless as talking to your dead grandmother?
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<blockquote data-quote="Barastrondo" data-source="post: 5190466" data-attributes="member: 3820"><p>Technically, I disagree. I see it as much like a sword. A sword serves no other purpose whatsoever than to injure or kill human beings: it isn't a hunting implement, or a utility tool. It's a weapon, nothing but. And you can do a hell of a lot of evil with a sword, and you can even have a setting which is very gritty and emphasizes how bloodshed never brings anything but misery. But D&D isn't really that setting. It allows for glorified violence that turns out to be right and necessary — so I figure schools of magic can be portrayed as the same. </p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>If people who kill other people with swords are playable, so are necromancers. </p><p></p><p>So, money where my mouth is. Here's some examples of non-evil necromancer PCs in fantasy games I've been involved in. (Feel free to skip over if uninterested.)</p><p></p><p>- <strong>The Witch's Apprentice:</strong> Mundrun Sigrikkr, from a Nordic-style game. Second son of a huscarl, given over to a witch as her apprentice in exchange for her saving the life of the huscarl's first son. Learned a style of necromancy that is tied to winter and cold; a bit of an outcast who still labored under the burden of serving his clan. Last seen fighting against a cruel and rapacious raiding band of ice elves with an animated polar bear skeleton at his side. (AD&D 2e; might have been 3e. I forget.) </p><p></p><p>- <strong>The Sorcerous House Scion:</strong> From a game loosely inspired by Renaissance Italy, a young woman of low status adopted into one of the five great Sorcerous Houses, a House focusing on shadow magic and necromancy. Her mentor and only real friend within the House was murdered shortly before play started, and although his soul has moved on, she carries his willing animus within her to give her guidance. Her most "evil" trait is that she is quite willing to pursue the cultural tradition of vendetta to avenge her teacher. (D&D 4e. Mechanically a reskinned vestige pact warlock; her primary "vestige" is the animus of her deceased mentor. Definitely inspired by Garth Nix's Abhorsen books.) </p><p></p><p>- <strong>The Reclusive and Macabre Gentlewoman:</strong> The youngest scion of a family of eccentric necromancers; the great-grandparents and other aged relatives are essentially liches by this point. One part Addams Family, one part Jane Austen drawing-room comedy, and doses of Bradbury, Poe and Peake throughout. A reluctant hero archetype who nonetheless has a very strong ethical center; she developed a cure for vampirism at one point during the campaign largely because she felt sorry for some vampirized animals she encountered. Most of her solo adventures involve trying to put restless spirits at peace, or defend people from the undead. (Champions, but with a fantasy setting.)</p><p></p><p>I love having evil necromancers around. Love love love 'em. But putting it off-limits to PCs seems to close more doors than it opens, at least to my tastes. The possibility of neutral or even good necromancers doesn't remove the possibility of truly evil ones, just as the possibility of benevolent priests or lovable rogues doesn't remove the possibility of blasphemous hierophants and rapacious cutthroats. The Dia de los Muertos and the Sedlec Ossuary weren't created by bad people; I'm basically pretty enthusiastic about letting players explore that kind of attitude toward death and its trappings.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Barastrondo, post: 5190466, member: 3820"] Technically, I disagree. I see it as much like a sword. A sword serves no other purpose whatsoever than to injure or kill human beings: it isn't a hunting implement, or a utility tool. It's a weapon, nothing but. And you can do a hell of a lot of evil with a sword, and you can even have a setting which is very gritty and emphasizes how bloodshed never brings anything but misery. But D&D isn't really that setting. It allows for glorified violence that turns out to be right and necessary — so I figure schools of magic can be portrayed as the same. If people who kill other people with swords are playable, so are necromancers. So, money where my mouth is. Here's some examples of non-evil necromancer PCs in fantasy games I've been involved in. (Feel free to skip over if uninterested.) - [B]The Witch's Apprentice:[/B] Mundrun Sigrikkr, from a Nordic-style game. Second son of a huscarl, given over to a witch as her apprentice in exchange for her saving the life of the huscarl's first son. Learned a style of necromancy that is tied to winter and cold; a bit of an outcast who still labored under the burden of serving his clan. Last seen fighting against a cruel and rapacious raiding band of ice elves with an animated polar bear skeleton at his side. (AD&D 2e; might have been 3e. I forget.) - [B]The Sorcerous House Scion:[/B] From a game loosely inspired by Renaissance Italy, a young woman of low status adopted into one of the five great Sorcerous Houses, a House focusing on shadow magic and necromancy. Her mentor and only real friend within the House was murdered shortly before play started, and although his soul has moved on, she carries his willing animus within her to give her guidance. Her most "evil" trait is that she is quite willing to pursue the cultural tradition of vendetta to avenge her teacher. (D&D 4e. Mechanically a reskinned vestige pact warlock; her primary "vestige" is the animus of her deceased mentor. Definitely inspired by Garth Nix's Abhorsen books.) - [B]The Reclusive and Macabre Gentlewoman:[/B] The youngest scion of a family of eccentric necromancers; the great-grandparents and other aged relatives are essentially liches by this point. One part Addams Family, one part Jane Austen drawing-room comedy, and doses of Bradbury, Poe and Peake throughout. A reluctant hero archetype who nonetheless has a very strong ethical center; she developed a cure for vampirism at one point during the campaign largely because she felt sorry for some vampirized animals she encountered. Most of her solo adventures involve trying to put restless spirits at peace, or defend people from the undead. (Champions, but with a fantasy setting.) I love having evil necromancers around. Love love love 'em. But putting it off-limits to PCs seems to close more doors than it opens, at least to my tastes. The possibility of neutral or even good necromancers doesn't remove the possibility of truly evil ones, just as the possibility of benevolent priests or lovable rogues doesn't remove the possibility of blasphemous hierophants and rapacious cutthroats. The Dia de los Muertos and the Sedlec Ossuary weren't created by bad people; I'm basically pretty enthusiastic about letting players explore that kind of attitude toward death and its trappings. [/QUOTE]
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