So reading all this... I tried to avoid my two cents. Maybe tossing in a quarter here. But in a Gothic Survival Horror surrounded by the mythos of evil, dead, dread, and fear why is Necromancy considered a theme of roleplay than a character choice like paladins which is also themed in roleplay but has powers balancing it due to its limitation of roleplay? Couldn't there be something similarly done to say improve the choice of Necromancy making it as powerful as a class say..... wait I'm looking for D&D books here.... gimme a second you guys love Core Book stuff.... Aha!!! *inserts drum roll*
Dread Necromancer Class found in the Heroes of Horror D&D adaptation base on the Ravenloft 3.5 Book Series. on Pg. 84
Since it's insisted upon that Necromancy is just a theme and the summons are only set to roleplay why not instead encourage an introductory class to all your Necromancy needs beyond the Pale Master with out demi-lichdom!
From the Pages: “Necromancy is not just one school of magic among many. It is an Art, one that requires the Artist’s entire devotion.” —Kazerabet, Angel of the Dark
A specialist wizard who calls himself a necromancer or a cleric with the Death domain has significant power over undead and the forces of negative energy, but a dread necromancer is their true master. A practitioner of vile and forbidden arts, the dread necromancer roots about in graveyards, searching out moldering components for her obscene spells. She calls upon restless, tormented spirits of the dead, seeking their arcane secrets. She might be a consummate villain, or perhaps a tortured hero whose obsession with death leads her along questionable moral paths.
CHAPTER 5 HEROES AND ANTIHEROES pg.85
MAKING A DREAD NECROMANCER A dread necromancer is similar to other arcane spellcasters such as wizards, sorcerers, bards, or war mages. She does not learn spells as quickly as wizards do, nor have access to such a great variety of spells, but she excels at her primary repertoire—necromantic, evil, and fear-related spells. She is a combat caster, with more resilience than a wizard or sorcerer and a definite emphasis on combat-oriented necromantic spells.
Abilities: Charisma determines how powerful a spell a dread necromancer can cast, how many spells she can cast per day, and how hard those spells are to resist. Like a sorcerer or wizard, a dread necromancer benefits from high Dexterity and Constitution scores.
Races: Of the standard races, humans are most likely to become dread necromancers. They seem by nature to be more preoccupied with death than longer-lived races, and hence more apt to drift into a necromantic career. Elf dread necromancers, while rare, are not unknown, and a few half-orcs inherit a morbid interest in death and gore from both sides of their lineage. Among other races, dread necromancers are most common among the githyanki and the drow. The githyanki actually hold dread necromancers in high esteem, while drow society shuns them—more because they dare to worship deities other than Lolth than because of any real revulsion toward them and their practices.
Alignment: Not all dread necromancers are evil, although the best of them could easily be described as evil-tolerant. No dread necromancer can have a good alignment. Performing evil acts is a basic feature of the class, but some dread necromancers manage to balance evil acts with good intentions, remaining solidly neutral (most PC dread necromancers fall into this category).
CLASS FEATURES
Spellcasting is your greatest strength, although your rate of spell acquisition is closer to that of a sorcerer than a wizard.
You make up for slower spellcasting progression with a wide array of special abilities, including a touch attack that uses negative energy to harm your foes. This attack increases in strength and gains additional effects as you gain levels. Because many of your abilities rely on your entering melee, you are proficient with light armor and have the ability to cast your spells while wearing light armor. You also gain a resilience to damage that wizards or sorcerers do not possess.
Weapon and Armor Proficiency: A dread necromancer is proficient with all simple weapons and with one martial weapon of her choice. Her choice of martial weapon is made when the character takes her first level of dread necromancer and cannot be changed. Dread necromancers are also proficient with light armor, but not with shields. The somatic components required for dread necromancer spells are simple, so members of this class can cast dread necromancer spells while wearing light armor without incurring the normal arcane spell failure chance. She still incurs the normal arcane spell failure chance for arcane spells derived from other classes. In addition, if a dread necromancer wears medium or heavy armor, or uses a shield, she incurs the same chance of arcane spell failure as any other arcane caster if the spell in question has a somatic component (and most do).
Spellcasting: A dread necromancer casts arcane spells, which are drawn from the dread necromancer’s spell list (see page 87). Like a sorcerer, she can cast any spell she knows without preparing it ahead of time. When a dread necromancer gains access to a new level of spells, she automatically knows all the spells for that level given on the dread necromancer’s spell list. Dread necromancers also have the option of adding to their existing spell list through their advanced learning ability as they increase in level (see below).
https://kolidascope.fandom.com/wiki/Dread_NecromancerSome or less of these are reflected in a Pale Master. However though the class itself does not extend the duration of Necromancy Summons it does empower them through the class than countless of feats with the player eventually at level 20 becoming a lich themselves throwing their mortality away to practically build themselves into an A/MPC. Which in my belief would encourage more Necromancy play.
Now I know a lot of these P&P things would need to change to fit or effectively be workable in the Ravenloft setting but the Dev's team work with the recent Prestige Classes was phenomenal. And much like Paladins Dread Necromancer role play would be very ingrained in their creation as well very fitting into the Ravenloft Gothic Horror Scheme. I personally believe adding more dread to a horror game is always a bonus. Though its just me it's food for thought and give something to those in suggestion for better Necromancy Summons to at least have a class focused upon Necromancy with suitable spells, summons improvement, and select Necromantic spells fitting for the theme of this suggested role play.
*Please proceed with opinions
