Post:Structured Suggestions - 3/4/2009 - 15:00:48

Structured Suggestions · on 3/4/2009 3:00:48 PM	16
Since we have a number of new posters that have not been with us since the start of the conversation last year, it'll benefit all of us to go through a list of core elements of the Necromancer guild design. This is not to chill anyone's desire to bring continued suggestions and alternate points of view to the process, but rather to make sure we are all on the same page and not attempting to reinvent the wheel after we've installed the V4. 1: Necromancy has no influence over spiritual forces. While some Necromancers in DragonRealms' history have had significant impact on the setting's cosmology, they are exceptions to the rule that PCs will not follow. There is a story behind this, and one you will learn over the course of the introductory events and initial bits of guild lore once the guild is completed. No suggestion that is themed around summoning ghosts, spirit walking, or otherwise screwing with the soul is going to gain traction. 2: "Disgused" Necromancy Zeyurn and I have already found the limit of "Necromancer disguises" we are currently comfortable with. I cannot stress enough that we desire that the impetus for keeping yourself hidden, should you choose to be, is on you. Necromantic deception tools are focused heavily on allowing your character to remain discrete in the face of tells you have no control over. Tells you do have control over, such as using Blood Burst in public or bringing your dead aunt to the pond, are entirely your own business. 3: Caught Necromancers and other "C" words No energy should be spent worrying about Necromancer consent, beyond acknowledging that previous schemes discussed by the original conceivers of the guild are no longer valid. I do not wish to be coy about this, and will go into as elaborate detail as you wish when I am allowed to. In general, no suggestion for mitigating the effect of a Necromancer's outcaste status when he's discovered will gain traction. It is intended to be a disadvantaged state, and it is one you will have almost full control over (see #2). The primary accepted solution to Necromancers in exile is to not do stupid things to get yourself publicly known and exiled. 4: Design themes 4a: Necromantic elements. The "elements" of the Necromancers are the materials that their powers are patterned around or have control over. Major elements are those that the guild excels in, minor elements are those that they can influence, but typically in a restricted or reduced capacity compared to some other group. Major Elements: Bodily change, disease, (magical) poison Minor Elements: Alchemy, the Mind, Vitality/Life Force 4b: Sorcery & Thanatology considerations Necromantic powers are either a product of sorcery (a violent form of magic) or thanatological rites (a violent perversion of the Transference Link). Astute readers will notice "violent" in both those parenthetical statements. Necromancy is not nice. It shares in sorcery's overall theme of instability and violence: everything a Necromancer does supernaturally can be described in terms of a corruptive effect, or violence against something, albeit possibly abstract. Necromancers can have buff and utility spells, but there will never be any confusion on where it comes from, or that it is fundamentally wrong and broken on a cosmological level. 4c: Skillset considerations Necromancers are Survival Primary. When the option is available, their abilities will take on a pragmatic air rather than an overtly supernatural one. To paraquote an early (and now defunct) brainstorming session, "Then the player can use a teleportation orb to unwittingly enter the guildhall." "Instead of a teleportation orb, why not have a small group of Necromancers leap out from behind, club him over the head, and drag his unconscious body to the guildhall?" Necromancers are Weapons tertiary. The emphasis on knives and Light Edge are entirely based around the fiction of the guild -- the knife is symbol, scalpel, and magical tool. There are no plans for Necromancer weapon feats. -Armifer
This message was originally posted in The Necromancers \ Game Master and Official Announcements, by DR-ARMIFER on the play.net forums.