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Is necromancy evil or only as harmless as talking to your dead grandmother?
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<blockquote data-quote="Arkhandus" data-source="post: 5196509" data-attributes="member: 13966"><p>1. Necromancy just means "speaking with the dead." And before 3rd Edition, as far as I know, D&D included healing spells and resurrection spells and such as part of the Necromancy school of magic. Even in 3rd Edition, a few positive energy spells like Gentle Repose and Disrupt Undead belong to the Necromancy school, along with various others that do not animate or control undead. I do not think most Necromancy spells and effects are evil in nature. Only those that make undead and perhaps those that slay the living, among a few other things. Most Necromancies don't actually disturb the dead (heck, even the Divination spell Speak With Dead only contacts a sort of mental or spiritual imprint on the skull of a dead creature, not the actual soul itself in the Outer Planes or what-have-you).</p><p></p><p>Now, whether or not spells like Raise Dead or Resurrection are evil depends on your view of the natural order and how it pertains to the game setting. Generally they're not evil (they may, in some sense or some settings, be Chaotic effects in that they defy or interfere with the natural cycles of life and death, but not evil). Animate Dead or Create Undead would, of course, be evil; those kinds of Necromancies actually do entrap the soul of the deceased (preventing them from being Raised or Resurrected) and desecrate their corpses or spirits.</p><p></p><p>Controlling the undead is morally gray.......freeing them of their undead state and returning their souls to the Outer Planes or nature or whatever would be Good, but using spells like Command Undead isn't necessarily evil, especially if they're used for good purposes. Still never a Good act, but not necessarily Evil either. Sometimes it could be evil, and probably is most of the time.</p><p></p><p>2. Agreed on the Silver Flame and such. Though they did go too far at some points in Eberron's setting-history, the Silver Flame and most of its followers are not evil. Some are definitely neutral, but others are good and few are likely to be evil.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Arkhandus, post: 5196509, member: 13966"] 1. Necromancy just means "speaking with the dead." And before 3rd Edition, as far as I know, D&D included healing spells and resurrection spells and such as part of the Necromancy school of magic. Even in 3rd Edition, a few positive energy spells like Gentle Repose and Disrupt Undead belong to the Necromancy school, along with various others that do not animate or control undead. I do not think most Necromancy spells and effects are evil in nature. Only those that make undead and perhaps those that slay the living, among a few other things. Most Necromancies don't actually disturb the dead (heck, even the Divination spell Speak With Dead only contacts a sort of mental or spiritual imprint on the skull of a dead creature, not the actual soul itself in the Outer Planes or what-have-you). Now, whether or not spells like Raise Dead or Resurrection are evil depends on your view of the natural order and how it pertains to the game setting. Generally they're not evil (they may, in some sense or some settings, be Chaotic effects in that they defy or interfere with the natural cycles of life and death, but not evil). Animate Dead or Create Undead would, of course, be evil; those kinds of Necromancies actually do entrap the soul of the deceased (preventing them from being Raised or Resurrected) and desecrate their corpses or spirits. Controlling the undead is morally gray.......freeing them of their undead state and returning their souls to the Outer Planes or nature or whatever would be Good, but using spells like Command Undead isn't necessarily evil, especially if they're used for good purposes. Still never a Good act, but not necessarily Evil either. Sometimes it could be evil, and probably is most of the time. 2. Agreed on the Silver Flame and such. Though they did go too far at some points in Eberron's setting-history, the Silver Flame and most of its followers are not evil. Some are definitely neutral, but others are good and few are likely to be evil. [/QUOTE]
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