Is Necromancy evil? Not every person on REALMS OF REFUGE thinks so—in fact, it is perfectly legal in some places.

However, Necromancy is illegal in most parts of the world because many people believe it draws upon the decaying and dying aspects of the Earth and thus prevents the Earth from acting “naturally.” Further, those who cast Necromancy often tend to get, shall we say, “power mad.”

The most accepted IG explanation is this: Imagine the planet going through its seasons normally from year to year. Healing spells go with the flow of this cycle and do not disrupt the orderly process of living and dying that are part of this orderly system. Necromancy goes against the flow of this cycle by tapping into the chaotic forces that are not part of this system. Creating Undead, for example, requires that a spirit behave in ways that are contrary to the orderly flow of the cycle.

This IG theory has been used in the past to explain large numbers of Undead randomly appearing (“The Chaos in this area is so strong that the cycle is being completely disrupted!”) as well as aberrant weather (“This cold wave this time of year can only be caused by too much Necromancy being cast!”).

Of course, there are many scholars who believe that this theory is a load of goblin dung and that bad weather and Undead rising are all part of the normal cycle. It is up to you to decide as your character how you feel about the issue.

Assume for game purposes that there are many learned treatises on both sides and that people have been arguing the point for many thousands of years (although the people arguing in favor of Necromancy not being harmful usually have, shall we say, ulterior motives). Characters debate this issue often, and we encourage this; gray areas are always more fun than black and white issues.

Necromancy may be legal in some of the Cast countries that exist on the world of REALMS OF REFUGE, but it will always be illegal in the main area in which the game takes place. The main reason Necromancy is illegal is for game balance; if characters were allowed to throw these powerful spells without restriction, well, why wouldn’t everyone be a healer, able to harm better than a Celestial caster and be able to heal as well?

IG your character can try to get your local authorities to make Necromancy legal, but you the player must understand that OOG, this will never be done.

The existence of laws against Necromancy are an unalterable rule of the game. Further, you cannot complain if your character is caught casting Necromancy and is sentenced to a death (or worse) because of it. You have been warned, and it’s the risk you decide to take on your own.