Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Socially Acceptable Necromancers?
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Hawk Diesel" data-source="post: 7806533" data-attributes="member: 59848"><p>As Bitbrain mentioned, Eberron is a good resource to see ways in which necromancers can be tolerated within a society. I don't think anyone actually accepts them, but they can still be seen as a necessary evil or means to an end. Karrnath likely would have fallen in the Last War were it not for the undead created to bolster their depleted defenses. The citizens of Karrnath know this and so they accept it to a degree. They don't really want to see the undead and avoid interacting with intelligent undead. Even during the Last War undead battalions were separated from living battalions, only mixing together in battles when it was absolutely necessary. Outside Karrnath, there may be individuals that see the value a necromancer can bring through their undead creations, others that don't like them but respect them, others that are afraid or traumatized by their direct encounters with undead during the war, others that aspire to the power a necromancer can bring, and still others who are content knowing that should they fall in battle protecting the country they love, their body might be able to continue to fight on even after death.</p><p></p><p>Also in Eberron you have the elven continent of Aerenal, where the undead are not only integrated into society, but are held in a place of esteem and treated as a class of nobility. In their society, necromancers serve as the curators and custodians through which the ancestors may continue to live on, providing the means for the elders to continue to provide guidance and wisdom for far longer than their natural bodies would allow.</p><p></p><p>Within Eberron, there are many opinions about necromancers. But ultimately necromancy is a tool. A means to an end. Some see it as distasteful. Others as evil or abhorrent (such as Thrane and the followers of the Silver Flame). Others see it strictly for its utility. And still others see the act of necromancy as a sacred rite that is to be respected and protected as any other religious practice.</p><p></p><p>The difference between Eberron and other settings is that Eberron takes the time to establish a complex view of necromancer and morality in general. There are few things that are considered absolute good or evil. Thus it is up to society, culture, and taboo to determine how people may interact and perceive this practice. But Eberron is also different because the gods do not directly interact with the world. They are not concrete beings that can make statements about what absolutes may exist in the world.</p><p></p><p>So ultimately it depends on how your game world views morality in general and necromancy in particular. Are there absolute things that are clearly good or evil? Is the practice of necromancy one of them? If not, what are the cultural and societal taboos and mores that shaped your character, and how might they differ from those where the character ia traveling and adventuring?</p><p></p><p>Here's a couple articles by Keith Baker on Undead in Eberron in case it helps:</p><p></p><p>[URL unfurl="true"]http://keith-baker.com/dragonmarks-karrnathi-undead/[/URL]</p><p></p><p>[URL unfurl="true"]http://keith-baker.com/qa-5-18-18/[/URL]</p><p></p><p>[URL unfurl="true"]http://keith-baker.com/dragonmark-the-blood-of-vol/[/URL]</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Hawk Diesel, post: 7806533, member: 59848"] As Bitbrain mentioned, Eberron is a good resource to see ways in which necromancers can be tolerated within a society. I don't think anyone actually accepts them, but they can still be seen as a necessary evil or means to an end. Karrnath likely would have fallen in the Last War were it not for the undead created to bolster their depleted defenses. The citizens of Karrnath know this and so they accept it to a degree. They don't really want to see the undead and avoid interacting with intelligent undead. Even during the Last War undead battalions were separated from living battalions, only mixing together in battles when it was absolutely necessary. Outside Karrnath, there may be individuals that see the value a necromancer can bring through their undead creations, others that don't like them but respect them, others that are afraid or traumatized by their direct encounters with undead during the war, others that aspire to the power a necromancer can bring, and still others who are content knowing that should they fall in battle protecting the country they love, their body might be able to continue to fight on even after death. Also in Eberron you have the elven continent of Aerenal, where the undead are not only integrated into society, but are held in a place of esteem and treated as a class of nobility. In their society, necromancers serve as the curators and custodians through which the ancestors may continue to live on, providing the means for the elders to continue to provide guidance and wisdom for far longer than their natural bodies would allow. Within Eberron, there are many opinions about necromancers. But ultimately necromancy is a tool. A means to an end. Some see it as distasteful. Others as evil or abhorrent (such as Thrane and the followers of the Silver Flame). Others see it strictly for its utility. And still others see the act of necromancy as a sacred rite that is to be respected and protected as any other religious practice. The difference between Eberron and other settings is that Eberron takes the time to establish a complex view of necromancer and morality in general. There are few things that are considered absolute good or evil. Thus it is up to society, culture, and taboo to determine how people may interact and perceive this practice. But Eberron is also different because the gods do not directly interact with the world. They are not concrete beings that can make statements about what absolutes may exist in the world. So ultimately it depends on how your game world views morality in general and necromancy in particular. Are there absolute things that are clearly good or evil? Is the practice of necromancy one of them? If not, what are the cultural and societal taboos and mores that shaped your character, and how might they differ from those where the character ia traveling and adventuring? Here's a couple articles by Keith Baker on Undead in Eberron in case it helps: [URL unfurl="true"]http://keith-baker.com/dragonmarks-karrnathi-undead/[/URL] [URL unfurl="true"]http://keith-baker.com/qa-5-18-18/[/URL] [URL unfurl="true"]http://keith-baker.com/dragonmark-the-blood-of-vol/[/URL] [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*Dungeons & Dragons
Socially Acceptable Necromancers?
Top