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Dennis
Great Reader
    
9933 Posts |
Posted - 31 Aug 2011 : 07:03:36
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quote: Originally posted by Ayrik
Why don't D&D Necromancers need to worry about keeping their undead pets in prime health?
Magic---that has to be reinforced every now and then---pretty much does all the trick. |
Every beginning has an end. |
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Quale
Master of Realmslore
   
1757 Posts |
Posted - 31 Aug 2011 : 08:53:10
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There are cheap substances that keep the undead servants like new |
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Dennis
Great Reader
    
9933 Posts |
Posted - 31 Aug 2011 : 09:24:51
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Like what exactly? Ground roaches? |
Every beginning has an end. |
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Ayrik
Great Reader
    
Canada
6734 Posts |
Posted - 31 Aug 2011 : 09:30:06
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Formaldahyde? Varnish? Concrete? |
[/Ayrik] |
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Quale
Master of Realmslore
   
1757 Posts |
Posted - 31 Aug 2011 : 12:16:54
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Some kind of salt, don't remember the details, maybe from the quasi-plane of salt |
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Marc
Senior Scribe
  
618 Posts |
Posted - 31 Aug 2011 : 14:19:46
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Male necromancers are usually creeps. I'd vote for Lashyr Maerdrym, white necromancer-ess of the Numos Order.
Keraptis if he was a necromancer, if not then Asphyxious the Iron Lich. |
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Edited by - Marc on 31 Aug 2011 14:29:52 |
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Dennis
Great Reader
    
9933 Posts |
Posted - 31 Aug 2011 : 14:42:59
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quote: Originally posted by Marc
Male necromancers are usually creeps. I'd vote for Lashyr Maerdrym, white necromancer-ess of the Numos Order.
Most female necromancers that I know of are either good-aligned or neutral. So they're mostly not depicted as walking bones (lich), but rather as sexy (and at times in an eccentric way) magic-users. |
Every beginning has an end. |
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Marc
Senior Scribe
  
618 Posts |
Posted - 31 Aug 2011 : 15:57:09
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White necromancy has too few practitioners, You know any other? Kazarabet from the Isle of Sahu is evil. Aumvor's cousin is evil. |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief

    
USA
31838 Posts |
Posted - 31 Aug 2011 : 18:12:44
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quote: Originally posted by Marc
Male necromancers are usually creeps. I'd vote for Lashyr Maerdrym, white necromancer-ess of the Numos Order.
Keraptis if he was a necromancer, if not then Asphyxious the Iron Lich.
Oooh, good choice with Asphyxious!  |
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Old Man Harpell
Senior Scribe
  
USA
473 Posts |
Posted - 01 Sep 2011 : 01:05:38
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I chose Velsharoon (yeah, I know, easy way out). But I would also argue that a Black Robe of High Sorcery (Dragonlance ) is by default a necromancer (they are the only wizards in Ansalon that can use necromancy, AFAIK, without being squished by the Orders, anyways).
Thus, Dalamar, Raistlin, and so on, would have been eligible to appear in the poll - in my opinion, of course. While Dragonlance itself has become a disappointment for me, Raistlin is, bar none, still my favorite slinger of death magic. |
Edited by - Old Man Harpell on 01 Sep 2011 01:06:25 |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High

    
Australia
31701 Posts |
Posted - 01 Sep 2011 : 01:42:41
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quote: Originally posted by Old Man Harpell
But I would also argue that a Black Robe of High Sorcery (Dragonlance ) is by default a necromancer (they are the only wizards in Ansalon that can use necromancy, AFAIK, without being squished by the Orders, anyways).
I wouldn't say they're necromancers by default. While Black Robes can easily take up the practice of necromancy, that doesn't mean all of them do. It's still a personal choice, like specialising in divination or evocation for example. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High

    
Australia
31701 Posts |
Posted - 01 Sep 2011 : 01:55:46
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quote: Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote: Originally posted by Marc
Male necromancers are usually creeps. I'd vote for Lashyr Maerdrym, white necromancer-ess of the Numos Order.
Keraptis if he was a necromancer, if not then Asphyxious the Iron Lich.
Oooh, good choice with Asphyxious! 
Agreed.
I'd also offer up the majority of "necrophiles" exampled in 2e's Complete Book of Necromancers, as I've used them all, in varying degrees, throughout many different campaigns. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
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"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
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Ayrik
Great Reader
    
Canada
6734 Posts |
Posted - 01 Sep 2011 : 02:46:50
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Most Necromancers on Krynn are Black Robes, although many are not. The badly grammared wiki page Mages of High Sorcery states "as apprentices, mages may choose to specialize in any [one school] ... but it's not mandatory" "Newly accepted Wizards of High Sorcery may benefit from (further) specializing in one of the schools favored by his chosen order." "Specialized wizards tend to enter the order whose favored school they have already chose, but they are not forced to - though moral problems could arise from a necromancer's joining the White Robes"
Brown-Robes (Renegades) and Gray Robes (Knights of Takhasis/Neraka, Order of the Thorn) are not bound by the laws of the Conclave; they may choose to specialize in any one school, it is apparently common for Nuitari-worshipping Gray Robes to be Necromancers.
I must say the idea of a double-specialized Black Robe (say, a Conjurer/Necromancer or Invoker/Necromancer) could turn out quite nasty, at least within the 2E ruleset. |
[/Ayrik] |
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Old Man Harpell
Senior Scribe
  
USA
473 Posts |
Posted - 01 Sep 2011 : 03:05:44
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quote: Originally posted by Ayrik
Most Necromancers on Krynn are Black Robes, although many are not. The badly grammared wiki page Mages of High Sorcery states "as apprentices, mages may choose to specialize in any [one school] ... but it's not mandatory" "Newly accepted Wizards of High Sorcery may benefit from (further) specializing in one of the schools favored by his chosen order." "Specialized wizards tend to enter the order whose favored school they have already chose, but they are not forced to - though moral problems could arise from a necromancer's joining the White Robes"
Brown-Robes (Renegades) and Gray Robes (Knights of Takhasis/Neraka, Order of the Thorn) are not bound by the laws of the Conclave; they may choose to specialize in any one school, it is apparently common for Nuitari-worshipping Gray Robes to be Necromancers.
I must say the idea of a double-specialized Black Robe (say, a Conjurer/Necromancer or Invoker/Necromancer) could turn out quite nasty, at least within the 2E ruleset.
Goodness...that shows you how long it's been since I went back and took a walk through Ansalon. I admit I have not collected Dragonlance material with the fervor I have gathered All Things Realms to me (the Realms is the only 4th Edition campaign world material that I have gone out of my way to obtain, for example).
I will have to go back and peruse that. Thank you for the updates, gentlemen, I genuinely was not aware of some of those facts. |
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Fellfire
Master of Realmslore
   
1953 Posts |
Posted - 01 Sep 2011 : 23:12:51
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Ah, the Necromancer's Handbook. One of my favorites. I've read it cover to cover many times, yet, strangely never run the Isle of Sahu. A pity. In my opinion twas one of the best books from 2e, even though it's not a Realms handbook. Anybody ever ''Realmsify'' it? I'd be interested in hearing the details. |
Misanthorpe
Love is a lie. Only hate endures. Light is blinding. Only in darkness do we see clearly.
"Oh, you think darkness is your ally? You merely adopted the dark. I was born in it, molded by it. I didn't see the light until I was already a man, by then it was nothing to me but.. blinding. The shadows betray you because they belong to me." - Bane The Dark Knight Rises
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althen artren
Senior Scribe
  
USA
778 Posts |
Posted - 01 Sep 2011 : 23:20:35
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I can't believe Larloch got no love on this thread. |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief

    
USA
31838 Posts |
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Ayrik
Great Reader
    
Canada
6734 Posts |
Posted - 02 Sep 2011 : 02:40:54
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It is not stated in the sources I've read. It is stated that Larloch is a kind of super-mage, having achieved mastery in every area of magic which surpasses that of normal specialists, he studies all forms of magic and has crafted powerful artifacts which involve almost every one of the magical schools (including those which oppose Necromancy). He is an uberlich who commands an army of liches and he is noted for writing Kirasect's Necrofolio (whatever that is); this suggests that he is certainly very adept at Necromancy, yet it doesn't actually require he be a Necromancer. I would think that if Larloch actually does possess any form of specialization (and attendant restrictions) then it would be shaped by his origins as a Netherese arcanist; ie, a modernized version of a Variator, Inventor, or Mentalist.
Having said that, Szass Tam's stats (at least in 1E and some 2E) described him as being a nonspecialist mage with a sort of "free" specialization in Necromancy because he's an undead lichy bastard "who understands undead as no living spellcaster can"; an annoying detail which always irritated me since it was established that Szass was Zulkir of Necromancy long before he actually liched himself up. If this quirky logic applied to all masterfully old liches then Larloch could indeed claim necromancy among his specialties, it could possibly even be said that Vampshoon gains a free Necromancer specialty as well.
FR Wiki links to some famous Necromancers who haven't yet been mentioned in this thread. |
[/Ayrik] |
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Wooly Rupert
Master of Mischief

    
USA
31838 Posts |
Posted - 02 Sep 2011 : 05:22:06
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quote: Originally posted by The Sage
quote: Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote: Originally posted by Marc
Male necromancers are usually creeps. I'd vote for Lashyr Maerdrym, white necromancer-ess of the Numos Order.
Keraptis if he was a necromancer, if not then Asphyxious the Iron Lich.
Oooh, good choice with Asphyxious! 
Agreed.
I'd also offer up the majority of "necrophiles" exampled in 2e's Complete Book of Necromancers, as I've used them all, in varying degrees, throughout many different campaigns.
I'm now thinking Lord Exhumator Scaverous might be a better necro than Asphyxious. Iron Lich Wheezy prolly has the edge in raw arcane firepower, but after re-reading his description just now, I think Scaverous prolly has more knowledge of necromancy than Wheezy does. |
Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
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I am the Giant Space Hamster of Ill Omen!  |
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The Sage
Procrastinator Most High

    
Australia
31701 Posts |
Posted - 02 Sep 2011 : 05:47:06
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quote: Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote: Originally posted by The Sage
quote: Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote: Originally posted by Marc
Male necromancers are usually creeps. I'd vote for Lashyr Maerdrym, white necromancer-ess of the Numos Order.
Keraptis if he was a necromancer, if not then Asphyxious the Iron Lich.
Oooh, good choice with Asphyxious! 
Agreed.
I'd also offer up the majority of "necrophiles" exampled in 2e's Complete Book of Necromancers, as I've used them all, in varying degrees, throughout many different campaigns.
I'm now thinking Lord Exhumator Scaverous might be a better necro than Asphyxious. Iron Lich Wheezy prolly has the edge in raw arcane firepower, but after re-reading his description just now, I think Scaverous prolly has more knowledge of necromancy than Wheezy does.
Mortenebra is a curious choice as well.
I know she's female, and technically outside the scope of this scroll, but it's said that Mortenebra is a paragon of the necrotech-craft, and that's always ensured that she would rate highly on my list of favourite necromancer-types.
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Candlekeep Forums Moderator
Candlekeep - The Library of Forgotten Realms Lore http://www.candlekeep.com -- Candlekeep Forum Code of Conduct
Scribe for the Candlekeep Compendium -- Volume IX now available (Oct 2007)
"So Saith Ed" -- the collected Candlekeep replies of Ed Greenwood
Zhoth'ilam Folio -- The Electronic Misadventures of a Rambling Sage |
Edited by - The Sage on 02 Sep 2011 05:48:12 |
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Dennis
Great Reader
    
9933 Posts |
Posted - 02 Sep 2011 : 09:30:15
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I didn't include Larloch because he's not a Necromancer per se. Larloch specializes in ALL types of magic. |
Every beginning has an end. |
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Marc
Senior Scribe
  
618 Posts |
Posted - 02 Sep 2011 : 17:55:20
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quote: Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote: Originally posted by The Sage
quote: Originally posted by Wooly Rupert
quote: Originally posted by Marc
Male necromancers are usually creeps. I'd vote for Lashyr Maerdrym, white necromancer-ess of the Numos Order.
Keraptis if he was a necromancer, if not then Asphyxious the Iron Lich.
Oooh, good choice with Asphyxious! 
Agreed.
I'd also offer up the majority of "necrophiles" exampled in 2e's Complete Book of Necromancers, as I've used them all, in varying degrees, throughout many different campaigns.
I'm now thinking Lord Exhumator Scaverous might be a better necro than Asphyxious. Iron Lich Wheezy prolly has the edge in raw arcane firepower, but after re-reading his description just now, I think Scaverous prolly has more knowledge of necromancy than Wheezy does.
It is his name that wins :), funnier than Mydianchlarus the ultroloth. That reminds me Inthracis from Resurrection is one of the necromancers. |
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Edited by - Marc on 02 Sep 2011 17:55:46 |
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Penknight
Senior Scribe
  
USA
536 Posts |
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Ayrik
Great Reader
    
Canada
6734 Posts |
Posted - 02 Sep 2011 : 21:02:34
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Same thing as Larloch: people assume powerful undead characters are all Necromancers.
But is Strahd even a mage? |
[/Ayrik] |
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Artemas Entreri
Great Reader
    
USA
3085 Posts |
Posted - 02 Sep 2011 : 21:21:31
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quote: Originally posted by Ayrik
Same thing as Larloch: people assume powerful undead characters are all Necromancers.
But is Strahd even a mage?
I think at the end of the 2nd edition Strahd was a 16th level Necromancer. But his whole presence in Ravenloft was based on his vampirism, not the necromancy side. |
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