D&D 5E Necromancy School - Any ideas?

[doctorhook]

If necromancers are very undead focused, I could see them ending up in the DMG instead of the PH(B).

That thought crossed my mind too, but we already got some confirmation it'd be in the Player's Handbook didn't we?

At any rate, DMG is shaping up to be a 5E Unearthed Arcana + Book of Vile Darkness in brief.

 

[steeldragons]

My guesses [as good as any] are that, even if they try to steer PC's clear of being undead factories, the associations of the Necromancer class with the undead will still haunt the class [pun intended]. At least not without a good chunk of spell renaming.

Ghoul Touch. Vampiric Touch. Spectral Hand...Animate Dead (obviously, and possibly a renewable class ability rather than an actual spell!). Halt/Disrupt/Command/Create Undead...etc... F'I were making the class, I'd probably give them Turn/Command/Rebuke powers [dependent on arcane energies, of course, not a divine ability] instead of a half dozen "what to do with undead around" spells.

You're not going to have a Necromancer class without the undead baggage.

I would expect [and 5 editions in, certainly HOPE for, by now] to see Speak with Dead in their repertoire.

Necromancer means [in D&D as much as real life] a caster who deals with the dead.

Will you be able to make a shiny-happy-white-robed "necro-healer"...for this "White Mage" guy I've heard a lot about...Sure. I would expect so. Not for "cleric level" healing, but a good secondary healer? Sure. But they're still going to have access to a support staff of bony minions and talk to spirits.

My two coppers.

 

[Kobold Avenger]

Certainly my expectation the Necromancer would deal a lot with the undead. I'd generally ignore the alignment implications of the necromancer and make up my own justifications. Some might be the typical undead-obsessed (and evil) who seek to becomes liches, but there could be room for the speaker of dead ancestral spirits (as "druidic/shamanic" as that concept might sound) or for a Doctor Frankenstein like concept very interested in the study in the nature of life and death.

The other type of "dark" wizard the Nethermancer/Shadowcaster is probably going to be something else reserved for a splatbook that deals with the more esoteric subclasses.

 

[gyor]

Spoiler Alert!!!!










I've seen the leaked alpha now, and while it is subject to change in the final draft, the Wizard does in fact have a necromancer subclass and it is one of the best in my honest opinion.

And they do create and improve undead, control them, and when they kill something by spell, they heal themselves almost vampire like.

The Blackguard sadly on the other hand has been dumped into the DMG, although fluffwise, the Avenger has kind ofabsorbed the none evil, lawful evil, blackguards and the greyguards.

The closest one comes to a blackguard in the alpha phb, is multiclassing Necromancer and Avenger.

 

[Joe Liker]

I just thought I'd point out that alignment in 5e -- as far as we've seen, anyway -- is a description, not a mandate. You are not locked in to acting a certain way just because of a two-letter code written on your character sheet.

Obviously, your DM might ask you two rethink the two-letter code you've chosen if you act in certain ways, but I don't think you'll be penalized for it.

In any case, necromancy in D&D has always been mostly about undead and death (and, to an extent, life-stealing). I would not get my hopes up in terms of cure wounds spells for wizards or any such thing.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

I, like Evenglare, think that 5E necromancers will use magic of life and death.

Actually, I have it on good authority that the Dread necromancer will use the magic of posts and forums.

The "D" rune is pronounced "Th" in Common, correct?

 

[jadrax]

Actually, I have it on good authority that the dread necromancer will use the magic of posts and forums.

The "D" rune is pronounced "Th" in Common, correct?

Dreath Necromancer? I don't get it...

 

[Dausuul]

You know, something just occurred to me. Traditional Vancian necromancers have always suffered when facing undead: Their attack spells and debuffs mostly don't work or even heal the enemy. They have a handful of charm undead-type spells, but how many of those are you going to prepare? The result is that the class which specializes in undeath is at its weakest against the foes it should be best armed to face.

With the new pseudo-Vancian system, that changes. You only have to prepare a single anti-undead spell now, and you can cast it all day.

 

[doctorhook]

Dreath Necromancer? I don't get it...

He obviously meant threath necromancer. "Threath", for those who aren't aware, is short for "threat of h.", the "h." referring to Preparation H. Thus, the threath necromancer is a wizard who can raise (lower, actually) problematic hemorrhoids in people who have a history of them. Niche character, to be sure.

 

[Thaumaturge]

He obviously meant threath necromancer. "Threath", for those who aren't aware, is short for "threat of h.", the "h." referring to Preparation H. Thus, the threath necromancer is a wizard who can raise (lower, actually) problematic hemorrhoids in people who have a history of them. Niche character, to be sure.

Hemorrhoiths.

Daumaturge.