Gray or Neutral Necromancy
The DM should refer to Appendix Two for a complete listing of spells in the
necromantic school. Except for the few listed in Table 10, the majority of necromantic spells fall into a gray category of moral
uncertainty. These spells are not intrinsically evil per se, but they certainly can
be put to inherently wicked uses.
Take animate dead, for instance. Raising up a zombie to carry one’s luggage is not considered
an evil act, but animating the dead for the purpose of attacking a merchant
caravan is another matter entirely. While appropriate for neutral wizards,
animation of the dead should be distasteful and perhaps even forbidden to chaotic good
and lawful good wizards. Spells of gray necromancy rarely advance the cause of
good.
While casting spells of black necromancy always requires the wizard to make a
powers check, neutral or gray necromancy only requires a powers check when it
employed for an evil purpose. Gray necromancy thus carries an element of risk
and uncertainty: depending upon the caster’s intent, the spell may or may not
have a chance of attracting the attention of an evil god. It is left for the DM to
decide which spells belong to the category of neutral necromancy. It is
suggested that all divination/disguise magics (see Appendix One) and certain special
use spells (such as animate dead animals, undead mount (FOR), bone dance, skull watch (FOR), and so on) fall into this largest grouping of necromancy. Of course, the DM
may decide that certain spells (such as animate dead and magic jar) have too much potential for evil. The DM should feel free to augment Table 10 as necessary for the campaign.
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