Necromancer
Miscellaneous Notes
Outrage
>>Is this a theoretical discussion or is there a necro-meter in place based on actions they take, spells they cast etc?
In the same way that Thieves have confidence, Paladins have soul state, and so on, Necromancers will have "necro-meters." The tentative title for this is Outrage.
Necromancers are measured both on divine outrage (how much they're been annoying the gods lately) and social outrage (how badly society wants them dead right now).
-Armifer (01/07/2008)
>>Will the Outrage scale also be used to determine a necromancers relative position to Perversion?
Yup. Its 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.
-Armifer (01/07/2008)
>>It seemed to me like it was more of everyone else's outrage at you, rather than your outrage at the world.
Correct. Divine Outrage would be a measure of how upset you've made the gods. Social Outrage would be a measure of how upset you've made society.
Since your character is a unique snowflake, I will not attempt to create a measure for his own, personal angst.
-Armifer (01/07/2008)
>>You make it sound as though any 'Necro' action will build outrage; I can see this as a rather crippling hinderance, if they can't perform any action without making people want to kill them.
Depends on the situation.
Divine Outrage is not necessarily bad, depending on how you wish to play your character. He acquires a certain set of supernatural weaknesses as he falls, but at the same time his ability to employ some of his spells and Scarification is amplified. If you think you can mitigate the negative sides of Divine Outrage, it is entirely possibly that flipping the bird to the gods is the right thing to do. If you prefer your play experience to be a little more predictable and unburdened, it is in your interest to keep your character's blasphemy to a low simmer.
Social Outrage is, indeed, entirely a negative experience. It never benefits the Necromancer to be caught in the act, unless he enjoys being persecuted.
-Armifer (01/08/2008)
>>would divine outrage just apply to necros?
Yup, divine outrage is specific to a Necromancer's relationship with the gods.
>>I can think of many times, many people have flipped the gods the bird..
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.
The Perverse and Redeemed take it for granted that the gods are jerks/infinitely wise, but the Philosophers in particular are interested in a treacherous question, "Why us?" We'll explore this a little more in the future.
-Armifer (01/08/2008)
>>Are there any plans to really explain why the gods hate Necromancy?
Yup.
>>But Divine outrage seems a bit unexplained, and arbitrary, in a 'it's bad don't do it GRRR' sense.
It does, doesn't it? At this point, the Immortals have not gone to great length to explain themselves.
-Armifer (01/10/2008)
Religion
>>Will Necros have a patron diety or pantheon all thier own?
Necromancy does not come with its own religion. Most Necromancers, like most adventurers, work within the theological framework of the Thirteen Immortals. They just happen to be on the wrong side of it.
>>Will they have heroes, idols, etc?
They're just as likely to indulge in hero worship as the next person.
-Armifer (01/10/2008)
Favors
There are currently no plans to give Necromancers an auto-resurrection spell or ability.
Before a certain point and while Redeemed the Necromancer is treated as a normal character for all death and favor issues.
After a certain point, the Necromancer will...have difficulties. They will still be able to acquire favors, but it will be in a roundabout fashion. Clerical assistance will become increasingly more unlikely to work.
-Armifer (01/04/2008)
>>If a necromancer-to-be were to acquire, say, 99 favors while still a commoner, would there be a time when they would have to sacrifice those favors, or would they be able to keep them until such time as they do the "lich" quest, whatever that ends up being?
There will be no real value in stocking up favors; if you've gotten to the point where the gods don't want to give you favors anymore, they're libal to start taking them away too.
Again, Necromancers will face difficulties in this regard. Other than assuring you that Necromancers will have a playable way to get "extra lives" like everyone else, the exact mechanism behind Necromancer favors is going to remain unexplained for now.
-Armifer (01/04/2008)
>>Would not the deity of death be able to give necro's favors?
The gods are pretty uniform on this whole Anti-Necromancer Pro-Necromancer-Burning issue. It's one of the few things the pantheon seems to agree on.
-Armifer (01/09/2008)
Changing Ideologies
>>This raises a question for me though, will the various 'groups' of Necros have different mechanics placed on them, and will one be able to swap between groups?
The Redeemed have a mechanical definition. Your character needs to actively seek out the state, and then be mindful that they do not let it slip (ever; a Necromancer can only enter the state of redemption once).
The Perverse is a bit more fuzzy. You never officially "join the club" or anything, but if your Outrage meters pass a certain point, various NPCs will consider you one of the Perverse for better or worse -- usually worse.
The Philosophers are a little different, and we'll discuss them in more detail as we get closer to the release of the guild.
-Armifer (01/09/2008)
Skills
>>The art of scarification somehow qualifies as a survival skill instead of a lore skill, yes.
Since there may be some confusion here:
Survival Primary Magic and Lore secondary Armor and Weapons tertiary
Scarification is a guild-specific Magic skill, which they will learn at a secondary rate.
-Armifer (01/15/2008)
Spells
>>How many spells are we looking at before Necros get released?
Probably none. A few may be released on scrolls prior to the release of the guild, but it is likely that the vast majority will be released concurrently instead.
>>Are you able to tell us how many of the "Planned" spells are actually completed now (or just ballpark it, like 50% of planned Necro launch spells are already coded and QCed).
Nope.
-Armifer (01/10/2008)
>>Have any of the Necromancy spells we know about changed significantly from their teaser descriptions (or been thrown out the window completely)?
Yup.
-Armifer (01/11/2008)
Sorcery Subset
>>Moonmages and warrior mages have been toying around with some of the other things for some time. EM for one and some of the others that are on scroll. I do believe Blackfire is available on scroll and have seen it for sale in numerous places. If it's so offensive why has there never been a mechanic in place to trash a player casting it. IC of course like a favor loss or something of the sort.
Sorcery is dangerous and unstable magic that society abhors and that may or may not have some intrinsic evilness about it. Blackfire is an example of this.
Necromancy is a subset of sorcery. It is dangerous and unstable magic that society abhors and that most definitely has some intrinsic evilness about it.
-Armifer (01/09/2008)
>>So are the old descriptions of Evocation and Domination Sorcery as Necromancer spellbooks being thrown out?
Yup.
-Armifer (01/10/2008)
>>Does this eliminate them as spellbooks entirely, or just eliminate them as Necromancer spellbooks?
The Sorcery spellbooks still exist, they are just not a part of the Necromancer selection of spells.
-Armifer (01/10/2008)
Combat Abilities
>>Also I didn't see a reply on what exactly would be the hunting capacity of a necro?
Nothing particularly noteworthy. They may get spells that are exceptionally potent versus corporeal undead, but nothing special against the non-corporeal. No reason they wouldn't be able to use a blessed weapon if a Cleric wants to give them one handle-first.
-Armifer (01/08/2008)
Detection
>>Will clerics be able to tell a Necromancer by perceiving them?
Depending on the state of the Necromancer, Clerics and Moon Mages may be able to detect them via the PERCEIVE ability.
The Perverse are a dead giveaway, while the Redeemed cannot be detected at all in this manner. The Philosophers are iffy, based largely on how close to being Perverse they happen to be at the moment.
-Armifer (01/07/2008)
Racial Issues
>>Will there still be racial weaknesses/strengths against Necros?
No. I would argue that a Rakash or Prydaen that cares at all about his culture becoming a Necromancer is terrible roleplaying, but there's likely to be members of those species who are so dead inside that they feel nothing for the plight of their fathers. You can do it if you want.
>>I recall hearing something about how Prydaens would be more vulnerable to Necromancy magic or something. Is this true?
There was a single spell planned wherein one of the quirks of the spell was that Rakash and Prydaen were more vulnerable to it. That spell is no longer planned for release.
-Armifer (01/08/2008)