Necromancer in a sci-fi campaign trouble

[NecroDancer]

For a sci fi campaign my DM is running I want to play a necromancer and eventually fly around in a spaceship piloted by skeletons but my DM has said that robots could basically do anything better than the undead. Also he said that it would be impossible to find a bunch of dead bodies to reanimate because "people usally cremate bodies". I mentioned possible corpse from a battle field but my DM said that everyone uses robots to fight wars because it is "more human and cheaper than using people". He also said that assuming I did get enough bodies the undead would be killed by almost any robot opponent they meet.

My DM has more or less said that necromancy is useless, using it in combat is even more useless, and that I'm almost never going to find any bodies to raise at all.

[Segev]

As cool as necromancy is, your DM clearly doesn't want you to use it. So...play a roboticist?

[The Glyphstone]

Yeah, not every campaign is suited for every character. A necromancer is appropriate for a fantasy setting, but it's clear that necromancy doesn't have a place in your DM's sci-fi campaign.

[Segev]

I would seriously consider revamping your PC as a roboticist. Build robots instead of undead minions. Play him otherwise similarly.

[Fri]

So why... do you plan to play necromancer in a sci fi campaign in the first place?

[Koo Rehtorb]

Two words. Nanobot zombies.

[LibraryOgre]

Yeah, it seems Necromancy isn't going to fly. I agree that recasting him as a roboticist, possibly partially cybernetic, would be a cool option.

Check out Racter in the list of team members from Shadowrun: Hong Kong. If you don't mind a bit of spoilage....

Spoiler: Racter's Backstory

Show

Racter is a character like Dexter... a homocidal maniac who has been trained to not kill people inappropriately. He also is a transhumanist, believing that, eventually, everyone will become man/machine hybrids, and that his research into AI will speed things along.

[NecroDancer]

Interesting, I'll check with my DM to see if the artificer class is allowed

[Traab]

I wonder if you could refluff it into a technopath sort of class. Throw in a little terminator 3 with her ability to hack and control robots and you could have a class that basically works like a technological necromancer. Animating and controlling various robotics instead of undead characters. I dunno if a class like that already exists or not, or how hard it would be to balance it out but it might be worth a shot.

[Kami2awa]

Necromancy has its place in sci fi. Cybernetics or nanotechnology can make the dead (or nearly dead) walk, like Borg Drones or the Cygnus crew in The Black Hole. Red Dwarf has the holograms - computer simulations of dead people, so basically artificial ghosts (I don't know if this was a thing before RD did it).

However, I don't know of any animated skeletons in sci fi worlds. Is there magic in this sci-fi setting? If not, I wouldn't try to hammer elements into a GM's game that they don't want.

It sounds like this setting is going to be heavy on robots and so you should try to build a character more in keeping with that. I'd agree a roboticist or hacker might be a better fit while still being able to do most of what a necromancer can do.

A necromancer with a ship piloted by animated skeletons is a cool concept - I'd save it for another campaign, maybe Spelljammer?

[Kane0]

They arent zombies, they're cyborgs. The man part just happens to be dead.

Those arent skeletons, theyre just wireframe androids.

You arent a necromancer, the proper title is Awakener.

[Berenger]

Ask your GM upfront if he is uncomfortable with undead and necromancy in his sci-fi setting or if he is just worried that a necromancer won't perform well and won't be fun. In the latter case, ask if something like the servitors, servo-skulls and cherubs from the Warhammer 40.000 universe are a viable alternative to more traditional undead. Their abilities span a large enough variety to be appropriate for most tasks and their CR can be augmented with further upgrades as you level up. If not, just play a morbid robot engineer with a personal servo-skull familiar - it doesn't need to be undead, it's just an utility drone with eccentric case modding.

http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Servitor
http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Servo-skull
http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Cherub
http://warhammer40k.wikia.com/wiki/Arco-Flagellant

[Mastikator]

There's more to necromancy than just controlling zombies. Maybe your necromancer creates zombies that can pass off as real live humans. Maybe he can extract information from the dead, communicate with ghosts, become a ghost.

Basically don't use magic to solve mundane boring problems.

[Anonymouswizard]

For a sci fi campaign my DM is running I want to play a necromancer and eventually fly around in a spaceship piloted by skeletons but my DM has said that robots could basically do anything better than the undead. Also he said that it would be impossible to find a bunch of dead bodies to reanimate because "people usally cremate bodies". I mentioned possible corpse from a battle field but my DM said that everyone uses robots to fight wars because it is "more human and cheaper than using people". He also said that assuming I did get enough bodies the undead would be killed by almost any robot opponent they meet.

My DM has more or less said that necromancy is useless, using it in combat is even more useless, and that I'm almost never going to find any bodies to raise at all.

First off, if you're using D&D for science fiction, I recommend finding something else. There are free systems out there, professionally published like d6Space (a generic and slightly reworked version of Star Wars d6), or homebrew like Fifth Age (a game that takes the core of D&D 5e and adds a bunch of science fiction races and classes). Actually if your GM is planning to use D&D I recommend you have them look at 5th age, 5e races and classes can still be used (especially as core aliens are really restricted) but it's actually a really interesting build of 5th edition d20.

Another problem is that you might be attempting to use magic in a setting where technology is supposed to be supreme (this is why I think D&D sucks at science fiction, it's assumed magic is stronger than tech). From a purely physical standpoint, there is likely to be next to no point to animating skeletons and zombies, whatever task you want to do a robot is likely to just be better at it, and even generic worker drones might be as smart and versatile as skeletons while being tougher. While you could in theory enhance a skeleton or zombie to the point where it becomes as good as a robot, you're essentially putting a lot of effort into playing catch up when it's just cheaper and easier to build or print a drone and upload the required AI.

That's ignoring the fact that it might actually be feasible for characters to own and operate several robots even if they aren't a roboticist, and so you might be able to buy anything short of a kill-droid in any major city.

Now, if you focused more on ghosts you'd have a major advantage in intelligence gathering and the ability to send minions through solid objects.