Outrage

In the same way that Thieves have confidence, Paladins have soul state, and so on, Necromancers will have three different "necro-meters." Two of these are forms of Outrage and the other is state of being. For each form of Outrage, there is also a shorter lasting version called Corruption, which non-Necromancers can suffer from.

Outrage will be used to determine a Necromancer's relative position to Perversion. It's intended to be as fuzzy as possible, but as you accumulate more Outrage you accrue more of the supernatural and social qualities of being one of the Perverse, such as the ability of Clerics to easily sniff you out.

Outrage will decay gradually as you are logged in, but you can only get a total of 2.5 hours worth of drain per day.

Divine Outrage

Divine Outrage would be a measure of how upset you've made the gods, and is specific to the Necromancer's relationship with the Thirteen Immortals. If someone wants to say that a never seen, pagan god of a distant continent thinks necromancy is the bee's knees, that's swell. But the actual, verifiable gods that grant your character favor and claim authority over the Starry Road will take exception.

In general, the gods are a pretty mellow bunch. They're usually content to ignore casual blasphemy, probably because they figure the person that yells "Screw Kertigen!" on the gweths is a moron that can't actually do anything to injure them or disrupt their religion.

For whatever reason, necromancy is different. There is some quality to necromancy that causes the gods to react and react hard. And when you put it in perspective, it's just a little weird. The Immortals are perfectly fine with Warrior Mages creating pyroclastic clouds of death; Moon Mages get a pass even when they're bringing extraplanar monstrosities into reality through a field of broken spatial planes; Barbarians never have a problem, even if they raze entire villages and slaughter nations of innocent life. Yet if you raise one little corpse as an undead minion, you're public enemy #1.

• There will be signs as you are nearing the top end of Divine Outrage. If you hit endzone on Divine Outrage, casting any further spell causing Outrage will have a >5% chance of being slain on the spot in entirely undramatic fashion.
  • Liches or people who have achieved some measure of true Transcendence (though not necessarily full) are above being struck down by the gods' whimsy.
  • The struck dead penalty is an expression of the gods' contempt. You are being struck down with as much concern and effort as you would swat a bug on your computer desk. The living, mortal Necromancer is within the Immortals' control.
  • When a Necromancer has taken the Descent, and especially if a Necromancer ever managed to complete the Great Work, the Necromancer is not so much anymore. They're Something Else and the gods cannot simply wish them away anymore. The gods have to approach them as legitimate threats, demonic pawns...or, the Philosophers would argue, equals.

Causes of Divine Outrage

First off, there's three ways a spell can give you Divine Outrage.

1. Being in the Animation spellbook.
2. Being in the Transcendental Necromancy spellbook.
3. Being an especially nasty spell.

When speaking of this mechanic in the fiction, we refer to a spell that triggers any of these conditions as "evil spells."

For conditions #1 and #2, after you cast your first spell from that spellbook, you do not gain any more Outrage for doing so in the next five minutes. Cast Butcher's Eye and you can cast any other Transcendental spell for the next five minutes without pissing the gods off further. Animation and Transcendental Necromancy are tracked seperately for this (casting Quicken the Earth and Butcher's Eye back to back is two hits, casting Butcher's Eye and Kura-Silma back to back is one).

3 can vary on a spell by spell basis, but will usually give you a hit every single time its cast, in addition to any Outrage gained from the first two categories. Also note that spells outside those two spellbooks can be flagged as evil, but usually aren't.

Also bear in mind that spells that require the Transference link will also get nailed by Outrage for doing Thanatology, in addition to the spell based Outrage. Thanatology Outrage accrues per ritual performed.

In addition, simply the act of leveling will increase in Divine Outrage, raising the minimum amount of DO that a Necromancer is capable of dropping to.

Effects of Divine Outrage

The following happen as more Divine Outrage is accrued.

1. Clerics are unable to cast beneficial magic upon the Necromancer.
2. The ability to gain new favors is lost, though any already possessed remain.
3. The Necromancer is now detectable as such to Clerics, Moon Mages, and Empaths. (Use AVOID TOUCH to avoid being outed by Empaths.)
4. Empaths are no longer able to heal the Necromancer (even with Rite of Contrition) and may receive a very small amount of Empathic shock for TOUCHing a Necromancer with high levels of Divine Outrage.
5. Harm Evil will now be usable on Necromancers?
6. The Necromancer now counts as a cursed being for the purposes of holy magic.
7. Their alternate spell preparation is unusable.
8. Each time more Divine Outrage is accrued, there is a small chance of the Gods simply killing the Necromancer outright.

Unfortunately, some of these levels may occur at the same time, and the exact order may be incorrect. Data currently is scarce.

Checking Divine Outrage

The current design is that there is no explicit way to check Divine Outrage. There is an indirect method of doing so, by determining which effects of DO are present, but it is innaccurate at best.

Divine Corruption

It is possible for non-Necromancers to pick up the taint of Necromancy without actually practicing it. So far, the only demonstrated way is for Moon Mages to attempt to align their predictions to the thanatology skill. Though it may have more severe levels, currently, this results in approximately 30 minutes of being immune to beneficial holy spells.

Social Outrage

Social Outrage would be a measure of how upset you've made society (and how badly society as a whole wants you dead right now). Social Outrage is, entirely a negative experience. It never benefits the Necromancer to be caught in the act, unless he enjoys being persecuted.

Note: Social Outrage is universal. Moving to another town will not affect it in any way.

Causes

• Getting accused of Necromancy. You receive a large amount for a successful accuse and a small amount for an unsuccessful one.
• Having a Necromancer title up.
• Having Transcendent Necromancy spells active in a justice zone. If accused, success is automatic.
• Having a construct or Risen with you in a justice zone. If accused, success is automatic.
• Acquiring warrants for any crime.
• Gwething (possibly only if in a justice zone).

Justice

The justice system was written to allow anyone to ACCUSE others of necromancy. Pretty hefty penalty for being wrong. (And you can be 'wrong', even if somebody is a Necromancer, there will have to be some kind of proof the system can notice, to among other things discourage well monied people from just accusing anyone because they can.)

• If not having the traits that result in an automatic success, Charisma will be a factor in seeing whether or not the posse is sent after you (and in sentencing if you get caught). The posse will not be the automatic one you get for in-town murder, so escaping will help somewhat. False (or unsuccessful) accusations will end up with the accuser being charged with forbidden practices, so you don't get perma-outed as a necro for having that on your rap sheet. Social Outrage is not province-specific.
• If successfully accused, the Necromancer is locked into PvP Open for 2 hours, or 6 hours if they are Perverse.

• The Analogous Patterns Spellbook are legal, and not considered to be the use of sorcery or necromancy.

Perverse

If you have more than 50% of the maximum possible Social Outrage, you are considered to be one of the Perverse.

Currently the only effects of this are that you are treated slightly different by some NPC Necromancers, and if you are successfully accused, you are locked on PvP Open for 6 hours, rather than 2.

Checking Social Outrage

The current design is that there is no explicit way to check Social Outrage. By speaking to one of the Guildleaders about the Perverse, it is possible to learn whether a Necromancer posseses at least 50% of the maximum Social Outrage possible. That is the only check, beyond being arrested.

Social Corruption

When successfully accused of Necromancy, both Necromancers and other suffer from a short term condition in which they are treated as if they had 100% Social Outrage. This condition will message when it ends, but it is not 100% accurate. The gaining or ending of this effect does not, in and of itself, affect a Necromancer's true Social Outrage level.

In addition, non-Necromancers suffer Social Corruption instead of Social Outrage, primarily through wearing of especially special necromancer-related items.

States of Being

Beyond these meters there is your state of being, and they are independent of social or divine outrage. They represent deliberate and knowing changes in the path of a Necromancer. The known states of being are Unsullied, Forsaken, Redeemed, Lichdom, and Transcendence.

All beginning Necromancers and non-Necromancers characters are Unsullied. Once a Necromancer has twice raised the dead, either themselves (Spiteful Rebirth) or others (Call From Beyond), they enter into the Forsaken state, in which they lose all favors and can never gain another.

The methods to achieve the other states can only be guessed at, as they have not been revealed at this time.

Favors

Unsullied (newbie, pre-damnation) and Redeemed necromancers gain favors and can depart like every other player in the game. An unsullied necromancer might have enough Divine Outrage to prohibit Clerics from successfully using their corpse-assisting spells on the Necromancer, but even then they retain full use of DEPART and favors. Redeemed never have any problems here.

Forsaken Necromancers lose all their favors upon their damnation and... never get any more. The secret of the necro favor is that there is no such thing as a necro favor. Instead, they can have access to up to three options.

• 1: They may do a favorless depart like everybody else. This lands them in the exact same spot and with the exact same penalties as anyone else that departed there with 0 favors.

• 2: They may DEPART GUILD. This is almost exactly like the favorless depart, except that the destination is the Necromancer guildhall. Useful if you can't be seen at a nearby shrine, just bear in mind the complications you're setting up for yourself if your grave happens to be on Mer'kresh.

In #1 and #2, the messaging is different for forsaken Necromancers, reflecting the intervention of a "patron" which protects their soul from judgment long enough to reincarnate.

• 3: With knowledge of the 4th tier, transcendental metaspell "Spiteful Rebirth," they may DEPART DEATH to resuscitate themselves. This temporarily cripples the Necromancer with a potent version of Death's Sting and brings him back at the very brink of life, but it allows him to remain in full control of his possessions and location.

There are limits to how often a living necromancer can DEPART DEATH: there's a hard limit per 24 hour period based on his spirit health and Stamina, and a short-term limit that he cannot use it again while still laboring under the Death's Sting from a previous death.

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