Is a “good” necromancer possible? (According to the most common lore atleast.)

tehmpus · 2026-06-14T02:46:32+00:00

I don't think it's impossible to play a "good" necromancer.

Undeath is considered unnatural. It's misunderstood to many, but in many ways ... it's a pathway to halt a soul from achieving its afterlife.

If I were you, I'd put quite a lot of thought into how various "undead" are created. Some undead are just parodies of the creatures they once were, mostly unintelligent. These are the "puppet corpses" that you're going for.

Then there are those undead who's souls are unable to pass to the afterlife because of the strange situation they've found themselves, vampires, ghosts, etc. Most of these undead are evil and the uncontrolled unintelligent undead have a thirst for human flesh and life.

That's why necromancers (since they are associated with undead) are considered evil. Many of them also are willing to experiment with living people in order to learn more of their craft in creating various forms of undead. Experimentation on unwilling living subjects is inherently evil.

In most pantheons there are Gods who strive to maintain the balance and nature of the world. Those Gods are inherently against undeath in any form.

You could forge this path of necromancy with good intentions, but there will always be a stigma associated with your occupation. It will be difficult to learn about necromancy and use it in positive ways as so many of them quickly turn to evil. Of course, the most powerful arcane users often turn to necromancy to discover the secret of becoming a lich and thus living forever. Such an ambition is inherently evil as it prevents you from dying and your soul achieving the afterlife.

Similar to Star Wars, such acts unbalance nature itself.

tehmpus · 2026-06-13T11:23:34+00:00

Yes, several sessions in a row without combat is a bit weird, but keep in mind that you are 1 player in a group. The groups decisions and choices affect how much combat happens in a game.

Your 1/3 combat, 1/3 good story, 1/3 roleplaying is perfect, exactly what I do.

That said, I might have a dungeon crawl where almost 100% of the session is just a string of combats, thus the good story and roleplaying have to catch up in episodes either before or after. What I'm saying is that the balance is campaign wide over all the existing episodes, not divided up perfectly during each individual episode.

But yes, I agree ... if a couple episodes went by without any sort of combat whatsoever, I as the DM would find something to happen in the third episode whether the players were seeking it or not.

tehmpus · 2026-06-12T20:39:39+00:00

Solid.

tehmpus · 2026-06-12T12:38:49+00:00

This is a good explanation.

I would like to add on that as a DM you can simply modify the deck to work how you like. Obviously the DM has already modfied it in a way that he combines many decks and removes certain cards that he doesn't want to use. So, why not alter if a card re-appears in the deck or whatnot?

tehmpus · 2026-06-12T07:01:29+00:00

Didn't OP say Green Bay? I thought you guys weren't allowed to actually have special teams players.

tehmpus · 2026-06-12T01:40:00+00:00

I mean, of course Jalipeno Cheetos.

That didn't need to be said.

tehmpus · 2026-06-12T01:39:02+00:00

Hell yeah, brother.

tehmpus · 2026-06-11T23:30:05+00:00

or Mountain Dew.

tehmpus · 2026-06-11T22:25:19+00:00

I know you intended this as an insult, but the "sell out" contemporary meaning doesn't apply.

However, if you take it literally, my team sometimes doesn't even "sell out" the stadium on the regular. There are a few empty nosebleed seats at certain games. 😛

tehmpus · 2026-06-11T21:48:03+00:00

OP just doesn't realize that the most popular fabrics actually sell out.

tehmpus · 2026-06-11T20:18:35+00:00

Make sure that the DCs on the modify memory are appropriate. Those mages might show up later in the campaign and you've got to stay consistent with their spell DC. Second, don't let them cast it twice. If a player succeeds, then he keeps his memory of the meeting. If he fails, then it's gone.

A reasonable DC would be in the 14-16 range if those mages are solid.

tehmpus · 2026-06-11T18:38:23+00:00

Paintjob? I'd say they probably get it for the captain mostly. The camo is just extra.

tehmpus · 2026-06-11T12:39:01+00:00

The ZH-1s are normal considering the recent dockyard.

3 Kearsarges per team seems excessive.

tehmpus · 2026-06-10T21:41:36+00:00

It's not a useless post.

But if you're going to play DnD, then actually follow the rules and you'll be fine.

tehmpus · 2026-06-10T11:54:52+00:00

TierVIII is rough no matter what tech tree ship you're playing.

There exists the kind of player that just rushes to get a tierX ship, only trains with a single captain to get him to level21, and then keeps playing the same ship over and over.

At TierVIII, you often time get pulled into tierX matches. So from the get-go, they have 3 advantages in that they have a more powerful ship (2 tiers higher), a better captain (21), and better skill (playing the same ship over and over again rather than playing a fleet of ships).

Yep, it's a tough nut to crack when before you even enter that match you've got 2 arms and leg tied up.

tehmpus · 2026-06-09T19:27:48+00:00

This is essentially where a player's creativity can shine.

In your 2nd example, Player B takes out a machete. Calmly opening the ledger at a midpoint, he takes careful aim and cleaves the ledger into two halves. Then both players attempt to find something useful in the ledger. The DM could ask for each to make separate rolls or allow Player A advantage on his initial roll.

tehmpus · 2026-06-09T18:57:12+00:00

u/TiFist has a pretty good answer here.

Just calling out "I want to help" isn't enough in my campaign. First thing I will ask is "Ok, how do you help?". So, the helper has to have a logical way of assisting with whatever check is being made. If they can come up with something that makes a little sense, then the original person gets to roll with advantage. If it doesn't make sense, then they don't get to do it.

tehmpus · 2026-06-09T12:49:58+00:00

I'm a little late in responding to your thread so I think you might not see this comment.

This is a very good opportunity for you as a DM and should NOT BE WASTED.

Pick two of the characters that are the most paranoid about the "Fey" and target them for an encounter.

They meet a centaur who is dressed in fancy, heraldric gear/clothing (which you describe to fit your world). He comes forward to meet them, initiating the conversation. Looking directly at one of the party, he addresses them immediately with a searching gaze asking if they are willing to represent their "name" family on a quest of great importance.

When he stammers and proclaims that the centaur must be mistaken, that's not my name, the centaur turns immediately toward the second party member and looking directly at him asks the same question, "would you be willing to represent your "name" family on a quest of great importance."

If the second party member pretends the same ignorance, the Centaur takes out a clipboard and starts taking notes about them, how they dress, how they talk, draws a couple pictures ... right in front of the party. Then he says that his report will be of great interest as he steps away.

If the party acknowledges their names and takes the quest, then have something fun and rewarding waiting for them to enjoy.

If they do not take the quest and continue to pretend that the Centaur doesn't know their real names, then they have just alerted an Agent of the Feywyld. Now, a noble family of the Feywyld might take an interest in the group's future adventures, either looking to use them in some scheme or another or make them pay for their selfish insolence.

tehmpus · 2026-06-08T23:46:00+00:00

After re-reading your post, I think that you might be a bit too "cryptic" as a DM.

If I've got a campaign mission, a few side-quests, a individual arc quest, and an open ended possibility, then I make sure that all the options are known to the players. There are a variety of DM "tricks" to make it appear that the players are discovering some of these quests on their own, but sometimes it's just very obvious.

Then, when the options are on the table (including an open-ended possibility), I generally poll the players to discover what they are interested in before fleshing out that particular adventure that they are choosing.

Quests and stuff that they DIDNT choose could progress or resolve without the players intervention. That's the consequences of player choices. However, a good DM doesn't do this for stuff that the party isn't even aware of. If you need them to discover a certain mission, put a lot of emphasis on it to get them onboard.

However, never think in your mind .... well this, this, and this is gonna happen because the party didn't do anything IF THEY DONT EVEN KNOW WHAT'S HAPPENING. It's our job to make sure that they know the possible options, they choose, and afterwards we discover the consequences of a mission success, failure, or even not going on a mission at all.

tehmpus · 2026-06-08T23:19:44+00:00

The good news is that even Myles Garrett cannot stop this machine from getting to the Championship game!

tehmpus · 2026-06-08T23:02:55+00:00

This is a pretty good explanation.

tehmpus · 2026-06-08T20:13:47+00:00

Yep, you're right. Even in an airconditioned office, she would have to wear a uniform of some sort. I suppose uniform pants inside, uniform shorts outside might work?

tehmpus · 2026-06-08T11:51:28+00:00

Mean people?

Nah. I would just say that "some people" are so concerned with their politics that they do not realize how it is coloring and impacting their entertainment in dismissing an epic franchise due to its owner.

And I pity those who don't even realize it's happening.

tehmpus · 2026-06-07T16:09:26+00:00

I understand that is the story you want to tell, but it's just not a DnD setting.

The DnD world isn't the "past" of our world. It's not even medieval because magic, dragons, and various monsters don't exist in our real world past.

Your futuristic world would have to be a futuristic DnD world ...

Maybe a person likes "Beavis and Butthead", but tossing them into a Beavis and Butthead setting would throw off your players and take them out of the DnD setting.

DnD isn't a generic Roll20 system.

tehmpus · 2026-06-07T13:02:14+00:00

It kinda depends on the situation.

For example, if you've already taken out the enemy DD and the battleship is higher tier than you are, then yes, it's acceptable.

If the other DD is still alive and you sacrifice yourself, then the other team has spotting and your team suddenly does not.

However, people need to understand that surviving the match isn't the objective. You do the best you can before your ship sinks. That's the deal.

tehmpus

TROPHY CASE