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[Fieari]

Right now, there are some things that worldgen simulates via RNG, rather than by procedural methods, and I think it'd be more interesting to see them procedural.

Grief, and obsession as a result, to be specific.

Right now, individuals will randomly become "obsessed with their own mortality" in order to become necromancers.  What if instead of random, this became simulated...

First, it would calculate how much the individual loved the one they are mourning, and how much of their own ego and psyche they put into their relationship based on their personality traits.  Did they define themselves based on being a parent of their child, or of being the spouse of their partner?  Or was it a part of their lives, but not the entirety thereof?

Then there would be the mourning process.  Every mourner would go through the 5 stages of loss and grief.  Each stage would have an intensity based on the depth of their love as the baseline, and then modified based on personality traits.  If the sum of the two passes a threshold, then they do something extreme based on the stage they reached, and never get past that stage. (the stages would come in an order based on their personality traits, modified by a random factor, since while pretty much everyone goes through the stages, the order varies)

• For extreme denial/isolation, the individual might either go insane, OR, they might become a hermit.  And as a hermit, they'd be more vulnerable to being picked up by a night creature... so more night creature spouses might have a more tragic backstory.
• For extreme anger, the individual might go on a rampage, a quest of revenge... or they might go and desecrate a temple in anger at the gods.  Finally, a REASON to do so and thus become cursed!
• For extreme bargaining, this is where I think that they should "become obsessed with mortality" and become necromancers.
• For extreme depression... suicide.

If they manage to get past these four stages, then they reach acceptance and move on with their lives.

Now, note that not every person in mourning would have such extreme results.  MOST people should go through the stages and come out the other end into acceptance.  I think it should be the combination of extreme love and extreme personality only that causes obsession.  An extremely angry person who loved shallowly?  No temple defiling.  A love story for the ages but not enough willpower to demand a bargain?  No necromancer.  You need both.  But the two extremes coming together will help create more memorable stories, I think.

I mean, right now, why would anyone defile a temple?  Who really cares when it happens, since there's no story to it?

[therahedwig]

An extremely angry person who loved shallowly?

I don't know, that fits a psychopath's bill right there. They'd do the temple defiling as well, though not really because of love, but just because they are megalomaniacs. So sometimes, people only become obsessed with their own immortality, not because they saw someone else die, but because they are afraid of dying, have illusions of grandeur, or are paranoid.

That said, more deepened out motivation would be nice. You think there's other regions where we can apply this?

[Romegypt]

I'm confused as to what you mean by bargaining.

[darknessofthenight]

its one of the stages of grief
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/K%C3%BCbler-Ross_model