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MukkTB
2015-01-18, 05:17 AM
Necromancy is one of the best schools of magic. It certainly has better long term prospects than the ability to pull things out of a hat, no matter how impressive those things are, or the ability to control one or more elements. It provides more reality alteration than transmutation itself. It’s often more insightful than divination. It’s related closely to the healing arts. But most importantly wielding it protects the caster from the great forces of entropy. Only magic that controls time truly outshines necromancy, and temporal magics are hard spells generally only mastered by powerful casters. In addition, necromancy is iconic. It’s trendy. Powerful villains and a few heroes have wielded necromancy and made a name for it. However there are a few pitfalls a necromancer may encounter on his path to eternity. So let me present:


The Top 42 Things I’ve Learned as a Necromancer

#1 I can come back from the dead. As such my final destruction will involve imprisonment or spiritual dissolution. These I will guard against.

#2 I will insure that I have a minion who will begin to search for me if I do not check in on a regular basis. I don’t want to be trapped in a bottle against my will for 100 years.

#3 Just because I can create Zombies and Wights doesn’t mean I should.

#4 I will not make war on civilization. High technology levels and strong nations correlate with high standards of living. These benefits transfer directly to me in the form of fine goods, a high number of qualified mates/concubines, an extensive entertainment industry, and numerous skilled specialists.

#5 If magic calls for a sacrifice I will use a non-sentient. If I it must be sentient I will use the life energy of an enemy I would already need to kill.

#6 I will not make pacts with entities whose only desire is my corruption and downfall.

#7 I will not sacrifice sanity for power. If I am sane I can generally slowly approach my goals. If I am not, I can’t reliably get anything done regardless of the raw power I have.

#8 I am however willing to work with unsavory individuals whose motivations I understand as long as they are self-interested and I understand the nature of that interest.

#9 My powers can be used to create wealth without needing to harm anyone, kill anyone, or even break any laws. I will use these methods as default and pick my fights with the authorities and powers that be when I actually want to.

#10 Five minutes of conversation with the right knowledgeable dead man is worth more than thousands of mindless zombie minions.

#11 If I am trying to recover a deceased loved one I will not break faith with their morals or values. Nothing would suck more than expending all that effort, stooping so low, and then being rejected after I crossed the finish line. It would be better to fail to resurrect my loved one. At least then I would have the hope that I might one day succeed.

#12 I will not leave debris behind that eats people. I will properly dispose of the things I am done with. This will prevent me from making enemies accidentally.

#13 If I’m powerful enough to curse somebody with a meaningful curse, I’m powerful enough to hit them with a death spell.

#14 The only time I will use curses are when they are necessary to somehow overcome someone’s defenses before delivering a killing blow.

#15 Additionally cursing someone’s bloodline is right out. Forget the totally immorality of attacking an unborn child who is not responsible for anything. The practical matter is that kind of curse just turns the unborn into future enemies for no good reason.

#16 Death spells are useful in the crunch, but when I have time I will drain my enemy’s life energy. That way I don’t have to go looking for the stuff from random innocents if I happen to need it later.

#17 I will treat other deathless things with respect. We have eternity to put up with each other.

#18 I will not set a precedent of destroying the souls of those who can overcome death.

#19 Neither will I hand them over to vengeful gods who have been denied.

#20 If I must fight such a person, I will attempt to imprison them for long periods of time. Thus I will not be unduly hated within the supernatural community, but possible opponents will perceive becoming my enemy as inviting terrible boredom.

#21 Things that have been made undead, that cannot uplift themselves, deserve no such respect or constraint.

#22 When I fight them, those I cannot take direct command of, I will destroy. Then I will claim I did the world a favor.

#23 If I am (temporarily) killed nothing says I have to come back with the same name, appearance, or at the same place. I can even take a break for a few hundred years if I feel like it.

#24 My strongest weapon against any obstacle is not zombies, specters, death spells, or curses. It’s the relentless passage of time.

#25 When I hate an enemy I will consider taking a break for a few hundred years, then showing up and laughing at their tombstone. I will only take more direct means of attack if that doesn’t feel sufficient.

#26 If a coalition of the forces of good come against me, I don’t need to break them. In fact breaking them would probably involve breaking civilization and all the goodies that entails. I will evade them for a long period of time, or better yet, let them think they have won, and then evade them for a long period of time.

#27 It’s better to be one wealthy man in a crowd of many in a bustling city than overlord of an endless desert.

#28 I’m not kidding. Many necromantic practices produce endless dessert. Particularly those *******s who suck every last bit of life out of the land for the instant power that provides.

#29 Those necromancers are my enemies. Anybody willing to destroy the world in order to conquer it is clearly not someone with whom you can live and let live. Eventually they will come for you. In the meantime they’re wrecking all the nice stuff that civilization provides.

#30 If I ever need massive quantities of mana I will turn to the cultivation of dense jungle. This provides all the benefits of green life magic with the highest concentration of dead or dying organisms. It may not be as powerful as stripping land bear in the short run, but it’s a constant power supply. Additionally it’s nice to have another sort of magic on call.

#31 If I need to defend something I will deploy a sentient defender. Having a rigid defense may result in a number of mistakes. For example a mindless zombie that ate any trespassers may draw unneeded attention. Furthermore it would be too easily predictable by anyone seriously trying to overcome my defenses.

#32 The best defense I can deploy anywhere, is a hotline to call for my help. If I am capable of binding something to a place to defend that place, I am more powerful than that thing.

#33 I will not invest my power in any object or creation as a means of amplifying it. It creates a target for my enemies to attack.

#34 I will endeavor to commit anything I need to memory. Ideally I can take up habitation in some old bones in a graveyard somewhere, dig my way out, and be off to the races. I should not need to return to my lab, library, or whatever.

#35 If I have decided to make a phylactery as part of binding myself to this plane of existence, I will treat its defense as a battle of wits against those who may attempt to destroy it rather than as a battle of strength. As such I won’t put it in a death fortress. There is always someone stronger out there.

#36 I prefer to be alive. If I die and have to come back as a lich, I will get back into a living body as soon as possible. It’s better for interacting with civilization because someone won’t magically see through an illusion. It’s better for fighting enemies because it’s easier to come back from being made dead again than whatever they may choose to do to end an undead’s existence.

#37 I will cultivate a group of friends/minions that I can rely on. Anytime I do need an army, I can call on them, either as undead or the living. Either way I can ensure that defeat won’t be their end. They can be raised again.

#38 When I raise my banner, it’s much better to have willing veteran troops than mindless dregs. I will make sure that loyalty is adequately compensated.

#39 If I need the cooperation of an individual, rather than bending their mind to my will, (and possibly breaking it), I will consider evicting the current soul in residence in favor of one that is an ally of mine.

#40 I will maintain enough spellcasting ability that isn’t tainted by the dark arts, that I can impersonate a more benign caster.

#41 I will exercise craftsmanship when I make things. Particularly I will obscure the fact that I mostly make various forms of undead. It would be a terrible waste of time to get mobbed by villagers with torches and pitchforks because I made an ugly looking manservant. I will be totally aware of the desires, fears, and needs of the things that I create. The best outcome is for minions to be emotionally dependent on me and mentally unable to rebel. The next best is control by magic. And in situations where no hard methods of control exist, I will be aware that I am treating with creatures that have free will.

#42 Breaking souls up for energy is off the table. This activity will set all of creation against its perpetrator.

Erik Vale
2015-01-18, 05:44 AM
28 isn't a reminder or a rule without 29, those need to be combined, making it 41 things.

I may make submissions later, when I'm less tired.

Honest Tiefling
2015-01-18, 01:29 PM
I'd also say that the type to become necromancers aren't often the type to like other people. A desert is really just a big lawn you don't have to get the skeletons to mow. It is also thematic to have your tower in a desert of black sand.

And why would I care if I muck up a portion of the world? There's plenty of world over there! Heck, there's some new dimensions. Go get a hippy-dippy druid if you want sustainable practices. Not to mention, who heard of a rag-tag group of adventurers without booze and a good warm meal? It'll cut down on shenanigans involving a varied group of people bound in their desire to eliminate you.

Anonymouswizard
2015-01-18, 02:27 PM
The main problem with the list is that it expects a very specific type of necromancer, with the following qualities:

Immortality
Ability to cast discrete spells
Ability to command the dead
Able to use life energy


Most of which don't apply to necromancers in my setting, who have the following qualities:

Can see and interact with ghosts
Able to retain some control while being possessed by a ghost (known as fusion)
Able to bind ghosts


So in a setting like mine, the list of rules for necromancers is more like the following:

I shall remember that I serve the dead, not rule them. My job is to help them find peace.
I shall not bind a ghost to a location. Even though willing ghosts make useful spies, the people do not like being haunted.
I shall not stay near an area longer than is necessary, as other ghosts need my help.
I may not destroy a restless soul, it is not for me to decide their ultimate fate.
I may also not consume any of the restless dead, despite the power increase. I have no guarantee of holding onto it anyway.


Although the setting also uses a homebrew system, I'm just sharing due to this being outside the 3.5 subforum, and to provide a different perspective on necromancers (servants of the dead instead of lords over the dead).

Fable Wright
2015-01-18, 04:18 PM
#36 I prefer to be alive. If I die and have to come back as a lich, I will get back into a living body as soon as possible. It’s better for interacting with civilization because someone won’t magically see through an illusion. It’s better for fighting enemies because it’s easier to come back from being made dead again than whatever they may choose to do to end an undead’s existence.

Oh come now. A phylactery is much hardier and handier than a cloning lab, and the ability to pierce illusions is a rare thing indeed.

Also, if I may suggest an addition:

*I will strive to benefit those around me. Revitalizing a ruined part of town, taking care of orphans without harvesting spare parts, and helping others come to peace with the departed does wonders in keeping marauding adventurers off my doorstep, no matter what my appearance. The ones who don't care about my works are also the least likely to keep me from coming back.