Hey folks, I'm thinking of proposing a little player plot and would like some feedback! I'd like to have Ilias organize the necromancers in game to support the upcoming mod plot battle in Ghislain, and vis-a-vis touch on some of the moral issues surrounding necromancy. But before I propose anything, I wanted to toss out some ideas to see which approach sounds the most fun to you guys to actually RP. I'd love to get some feedback and/or brainstorm with any players who are interested in the subject, whether you play a necromancer or just someone who'd have an opinion about it.
WHAT SOUNDS MORE FUN TO RP:
Planning Ahead: If our in-game necromancers are the sort to ask permission first, we could brainstorm ways they could try to prepare to raise an undead army — i.e. does Ghislain already have any dead bodies they could refrain from burning and/or place strategically? Could the Inquisition convince anyone to let them use the bodies of first-fallen soldiers (or would it be interesting to try? if so how?)? Could PC necromancers poll the crystal network first to test out their arguments on other PCs and give us an excuse to RP about it? Could they take volunteers ("if I die please throw my corpse at my enemies etc.")? Should we have an IC brainstorming session to consider issues of consent ahead of time? Maybe some training montages? Do you have other ideas about fun ways to RP this?
By the Seat of Our Necropants: We could wait until the bodies hit the floor (or grass) during the battle, and propose that some of the necromancers in game just decide to make use of that opportunity in the moment. (In which case I'll need a headcount, so please tell me if you have a necromancer who is down for this.) Given necromancy flies directly in the face of non-Nevarran Andrastian beliefs about respect for the dead (and also: it's creepy), the families of those dead soldiers may very well not appreciate their loved ones' remains being used as weapons without their consent! RP-wise, this would mean threading primarily during and after the battle, and focusing more on that moral shitstorm, perhaps touching on the issue of war crimes, etc. I don't have specific ideas yet for what RPing that would look like — action threads during the battle?? concerned network post afterward??
To be clear, this is just brainstorming about what to propose, and nothing is certain until the mods sign off on it. I'm guessing that raising a bunch of soldiers from the dead is going to be controversial regardless of whether you ask first, and also it's completely possible any attempts to elicit cooperation or permission would 100% fail, and our necromancers would then have to decide whether to go ahead anyway. (Fun!) Those things would all be at the mods' discretion. Option #1 seems unlikely to prevent the moral complications of Option #2, it might just create some different moral complications.
So my question is more, does it sound fun to RP about asking permission first, or about making other preparations, or would you rather focus on the aftermath? Do you have any ideas or concerns about either approach? Or feel free to drop any other thoughts here!
OPEN | necromancy interest check / brainstorming??
WHAT SOUNDS MORE FUN TO RP:
To be clear, this is just brainstorming about what to propose, and nothing is certain until the mods sign off on it. I'm guessing that raising a bunch of soldiers from the dead is going to be controversial regardless of whether you ask first, and also it's completely possible any attempts to elicit cooperation or permission would 100% fail, and our necromancers would then have to decide whether to go ahead anyway. (Fun!) Those things would all be at the mods' discretion. Option #1 seems unlikely to prevent the moral complications of Option #2, it might just create some different moral complications.
So my question is more, does it sound fun to RP about asking permission first, or about making other preparations, or would you rather focus on the aftermath? Do you have any ideas or concerns about either approach? Or feel free to drop any other thoughts here!