Race

As noted in the PHB, of those races open to player characters, only humans may normally specialize in the Dark Art. Compared with other demihuman races, humans have by far the shortest life span and are hence more likely to be concerned (or in the case of necromancers, obsessed) with death. Indeed, many human societies have revolved around a preoccupation with death and the afterlife, and one might argue that the study of necromancy was instigated by certain humans to help prolong their own lives. Other demihuman races, such as the elves and dwarves, have such long lives that death (of natural causes, at least) is usually a much less pressing concern. However, as we shall see in Chapter Two, this rule can be relaxed for some of the monster races when creating powerful NPCs to challenge a high-level party.

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