According to our welcoming speech were just dudes trying to live forever. But going by recent GM posts were cackling crazy mass murderers. Of course what the philosophers themselves say can't excatly be trusted but still, I think something is amiss. It is my understanding that necromancers in general don't trust the gods and want to live forever and will do whatever it takes to achieve their goals. But they don't actually enjoy killing and go around kicking puppies.
Can't my necromancer be someone who's sane (mostly), disinfranchised with the gods, has delusions of grandeur, and wants to live forever? I will do whatever must be done but dont do "bad" deeds when their is no concrete gains. Sort of an Artemis Entreri view on life?

your sanity pretty much goes out the window during your "initiation".

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"If Elanthia can survive putting a dragon inside of its molten core, I think it can survive a few black-robed magicians sitting on Gibbet Hill"-<parshift>

When it comes down to it no one can tell you how to RP your character. My only suggestion is that you go back and read what happens after you type JOIN twice (the attunement already mentioned) and then very seriously think about how it would effect you the player if it happened to you. Then after that try and think about how it would effect your character if they were a real person.

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"The boundaries which divide Life from Death are at best shadowy and vague. Who shall say where the one ends, and where the other begins? " ~ Edgar Allen Poe

not on these boards, in case there's stuff there we aren't supposed to post -- but i'll post one on DRSECRETS.

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"If Elanthia can survive putting a dragon inside of its molten core, I think it can survive a few black-robed magicians sitting on Gibbet Hill"-<parshift>

Thanks for the reply Armifer!

I have no problem leaving a trail of corpses in my wake, I just got the impression that you made it sound like lots of those corpses were for kicks and not to improve our necromantic skills or otherwise gain something from it.

I think someone can be devoid of morale character without being "insane". I guess it goes more to the definition of crazy though. If a sociopath is a fully functional individual that simply has no conscious or regard for life then being a sociopath works for me.

>>I'm guessing the difference between this and say warrior mages, is that the corpses are still twitching.

A Warrior Mage of ethics could advance his entire career without actually killing anyone. Players simply don't spend money to play characters with ethics.

There's another distinction I've thought about making to help clarify that Thanatology is a bit "worse" than normal hunting, but I haven't felt compelled to do it yet, and people would still point out that it isn't really that offensive in contrast to the sociopathic madness of a normal PC.

-Armifer
"In our days truth is taken to result from the effacing of the living man behind the mathematical structures that think themselves out in him, rather than he be thinking them." - Emmanuel Levinas

Spin it this way: A warrior mage is defending his town and hunting for sport. A Necromancer is killing things because he has to.

>> A Warrior Mage of ethics could advance his entire career without actually killing anyone. Players simply don't spend money to play characters with ethics.

I pointed this out in another folder recently but I'm not sure how many people actually got it. :\

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Rev. Reene

<Szrael> Should have just gone for gorbesh again
<Szrael> And released the pirate guild or something
<Szrael> Tote would be an okay pirate

> I have no problem leaving a trail of corpses in my wake, I just got the impression that you made it sound like lots of those corpses were for kicks and not to improve our necromantic skills or otherwise gain something from it.

I would love to see where you got that from.


The closest thing I can think of is a philosopher asking you, before sacrificing a woman, "Are YOU worth her life?" while searching immortality/transcendence.

But that's not quite killing for kicks, if you think within their mindset, they genuinely believe that the study of death will lead to completing the Great Work.

<<If someone IRL was discovered with a mass grave with the corpses of 50 people in it and insisted that he was doing it because God told him it would save the world if he did it would you say "oh okay as long as it was for a good reason" or would you lock him up?

Depends, did he kill them by conjuring fire from his hands or did he do it by yelling so loud that all their hearts exploded?

So, what you're saying is: It doesn't matter how you kill people, or why you kill people. The point is if you kill people your a sociopath, correct?

Why is it you kill so many Necromancers? Nevermind we already established it doesn't matter :-)

<<The method doesn't matter.

The fact that you are murdering people is the point. It doesn't matter if you think it's for a good reason, you're still murdering people. Often times in great numbers.

I was flirting with the idea that current day morality doesn't necessarily apply in a world of magic. I'm in agreement with classifying what Necromancers do is ooombugga bugga evil, but to be frank most justifications of it being such oombugga bugga evil aside from it begin so "by design" would be based on a whole heap of "If's and's or but's".

Every guild that can use the combat system to the fullest kills stuff in droves. They peel skin leucros, cut tusks out of peccaries and cut claws off trolls.

The classification of all necromancers of sociopaths rests firmly with the rest of DR society agreeing that necromancy is bad, mmkay? So those engaging in it lack the social conscience furthered by their drive for their own knowledge and gain over that of virtually all else. Thus... sociopath.

One death is a tragedy; one million is a statistic.

jJoey "abs" Stalin

I would consider orcs and goblins self-aware and intelligent enough to be considered "people" on at least some level.

I understand not everyone will agree with this, but discussing it at length is probably best done in another folder.

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Rev. Reene

<Szrael> Should have just gone for gorbesh again
<Szrael> And released the pirate guild or something
<Szrael> Tote would be an okay pirate

as an aside goblins should totally be a playable race.

>an ethical Warrior Mage

I think it's amusing this came up, since this is one of the things I try to RP with my Warrior Mage. Killing beast type creatures only, and not sentient creatures if possible.

I am curious at what point a necromancer is required to kill something other than a beast that an ethical any other guild would kill.


Elemental Lord Opieus, Expert Warrior Mage of Elanthia
"For a bunch of radical empiricists, the Philosophers' system relies on a whole lot of faith." ~Armifer

Someone else mentioned it and as I recall they are correct that in prior years it was deemed that the vast majority of other "critters" in the game are sort of outside the moral fibers. The reason it's not considered murder or slaughter to go and kill huge swaths of goblins is, as was pointed out, that they can not make the distinction themselves between good and evil. I believe that they also do not maintain the ability to acquire and keep the gods favor (just like them evil forsaken necros!).

As riveting as a discussion as to whether or not Goblins or Trolls are sentient critters is, I am curious to know whether or not Necromancers prefer to practice their thanatological rites on bodies that house consciousnesses. Obviously the fledgling Necromancer will begin their path towards understanding life/death by dissecting and studying any 'ol corpse, but is there a point at which, at least in the RP of the manner, cutting up even the mightiest of war cats won't advance our understanding in a manner that even the lowliest of street thugs will?


I know this: if life is illusion, then I am no less an illusion, and being thus, the illusion is real to me. I live, I burn with life, I love, I slay, and am content.

<<Deemed by who?

No idea. I do recall this discussion minus the necromancer talk being had before. If I had to guess around the time frame it would be shortly after the web move-ish. It was in the neighborhood of 10ish years ago?

>> Presuming this is in response to my post

It wasn't. I was replying to the person directly above me saying it was deemed that murdering non-PC humanoids (i.e. critters) was somehow outside everyone's personal sphere of morality.

>> I am curious at what point a necromancer is required to kill something other than a beast that an ethical any other guild would kill.

They really should be forced to somehow.

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Rev. Reene

<Szrael> Should have just gone for gorbesh again
<Szrael> And released the pirate guild or something
<Szrael> Tote would be an okay pirate