Necromancer new player guide

This is a page for the Necromancer specific page for the Newbie Help Guide. Whenever possible, overlap with the general guide should be minimized.

Note: This guide is subject to all the standard rules involving Necromancers, including restrictions on naming secret NPCs, locations and entry methods for any guild, and generally anything spoiler. See Necromancer Policy for more details.

For details, rules, and the other pages involved, see Category:Newbie Guide Contest.

Start

(I will probably edit this down a bit, and welcome suggestions)

Congratulations, you've decided you want to be part of the Elanthia's most unforgiving guild! Maybe you're a glutton for punishment, maybe you harbor delusions of grandeur, maybe you just never grew out of Hot Topic. Whatever your reasons for joining the guild, the first order of business is getting you squared away with the lore behind it, as while it would be adorable to have a bunch of fledgling Necromancers running around the Crossing, cackling behind broken teeth, in flowing black capes, while twisting their oiled mustachios, perhaps while trying to tie some hapless victim to carriage tracks or telling Mr. Bond that they simply expect him to die, the guild does not condone such childish foolishness, and you will be at best simply offered to the Hounds of Rutilor to be made an example of. That hapless victim will probably kill you first though, so wise up.

The guild has loftier ambitions. To be brief, the guild is interested in liberating mortals from the yoke of mortality, an inequality held by the Immortals. To this end, Necromancers study the recently living (but now dead) to train Thanatology, which is a general method for The Great Work of Transcendence, of Immortality. However, the road is fraught with peril, naturally. Necromancers are, mildly, wrong. The goal of seeking the Transcendence via hacking up the dead, via pursuing Arcane magic, it's a doomed enterprise. As the Necromancer progresses, they will undergo a few stages of advancement, some of which are by choice, some which are not.

The first stage is Forsaken. By a certain set of actions, the Necromancer can draw the attention of the Immortals, and anger them sufficiently that they will no longer bestow favors to the Necromancer. While in OOC terms, the Necromancer character is not in danger of being lost forever if they die, not having favors makes death potentially more detrimental, as dying with no favors imparts the greatest Deaths Sting. Around this time, you may also find yourself unable to be healed by Empaths due to the Arcane corruption you've built. For any other guild, this would be a pretty problematic endeavor, however, Necromancers, for all their weaknesses, also have some of the most impressive tools at their disposal.

First amongst those tools is the ability to heal their own wounds by magically consuming the bodies of their recent victims. This is done with the spell Consume Flesh and later, with Devour. Additionally, a Necromancer can self-resurrect, forcing their beaten body to mend to the point of sustaining life with Spiteful Rebirth. The latter, it should be mentioned, is one of the spells that will start garnering the attention of the Immortals and leading the Necromancer to become Forsaken.

The other spell is Call From Beyond, which will resurrect a recently slain creature as a zombie under your command. These zombies can be immensely powerful, and can be equipped with weapons and armor to make them even more potent in combat. The first time you cast either Spiteful Rebirth or Call from Beyond will be a strike against you by the Immortals. The second time you cast either of those spells will be all the reason they need to forever turn their backs on you, and you they will show their indifference and disappointment in you by smiting you dead. But fear not, for now you are one step closer to pursuing the Great Work!

The next stages of 'advancement' are choices. They are Redeemed, the Philosophers, and the Perverse. Only Philosophers are currently implemented into the game.

The Redeemed are those who have realized the error of their ways, and turned their backs on Transcendental Magic and pursuit of the Great Work. They are effectively recovered Necromancers, though the call of their previous lives is never far from their minds. Society may or may not recognize their decision to become Redeemed.

The Philosophers represent the Necromancers everyone joins in the beginning. They are scholars who believe they are pursuing the Great Work, for the good of all mortals. A few mortals will have to die in the process, naturally, but what is the cost of a few innocents in the face of greatness?

The Perverse are those who have grabbed the full scope of power Necromancy entails, at great cost to their souls. Their power has grown immensely, though they may not be in control of it anymore. All Liches are Perverse.

All Necromancers are shunned by society, and should be keenly aware of the prevalence of the law wherever they are, via the JUSTICE command. If you are somewhere the law keeps an eye on, using most Necromancer spells will be spotted by a wary populace, and guards will be dispatched to deal with you. Additionally, anytime you are within the borders of a town, any adventurer can ACCUSE you of Necromancy, which subjects you to a check against how long you've been in town (the longer the worse), how Charismatic you and your accuser are, and if you foolishly have any Necromancer buffs visible (this would be most unwise). If you fail this check, you will be arrested or killed on the spot. Towns are not for Necromancers; this is a mostly lonely existence, remember that.

You may have already looked at the Necromancer skill placement, and noticed that they are Survival Prime, Lore and Magic Secondary, and Weapon and Armor Tertiary. To this end, you will forever have a difficult time moving weapons and armors, while Evasion and Stealth will most likely be your most potent allies in combat. The strength of your zombies and constructs are determined by your skill in Targeted Magic, so always keep the skill moving. Against a like circled opponent, you will lose in a contest of weapons. Weapons and armor are good to train, but will not be your strongest tool.

(more to come)