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[Ekaton]

My suggestion would be quite simple - there should be more caves in DF, and those should be quite attractive for those who wish to avoid prying eyes. As such, necromancers should use them to hide from the world. I remember how fun it was when, iirc, in Oblivion the necromancers were hiding in caves with all their books and equipment, to practice dark magic in seclusion. I would love to see something like that in DF. In an advanced civ which has settled vast lands, and possesses a large army, a necromancer tower seems odd - they should have tried to destroy it somehow, but making necromancers hiding in the shadows, kidnapping innocents and taking them to their caves to conduct their experiments - that seems much more immersive.

It would also be fun to make learning necromancy quite hard, having to learn different skills one by one - from the very basics of life and death, followed by simple spells, raising dead animals, then raising dead sentients, to summoning dark beings, which if not properly controlled, could kill you as well. To learn many things you could need sentient beings, which can complicate it a bit, to other you need corpses - that could complicate things too.

But basically - I love the idea of more secluded necromancers, unless of course the civ accepts dark wizardry, and for necromancers to be hunted by inquisition-like forces, and tortured upon capture. This would make being a necromancer much more challenging and FUN - you can potentially get great powers, but you may well die in the process.

Some examples of FUN for necromancers:
- From simple things such as having to practice dark wizardry on captured sentients - kidnapping them might not work at all, and you could be killed or captured. Also, they might escape and inform soldiers where your hideout is.
- To do wizardry you have to brew a lot of potions - those can explode in your face if not prepared correctly.
- You might mix words from an ancient language and screw up an ancient ritual - with many FUN outcomes - such as turning yourself into lice, a werebeast, turning your hands into hoofs, or disappearing in a pink cloud.
- And of course, you could summon powerful creatures that will not only kill you, but burn whole towns and fortresses as well.

To conclude - being a dark wizard could be a lot of fun.

[FantasticDorf]

This is a good idea, I approve and support you on this idea.

If i remember correctly, from the dev-notes and perhaps dwarf moot (dont quote me on that i think i heard it mentioned there for a FotF reply) more wizards will be moving around and into towers, so with all good reason necromancers should look to set up shop wherever they can out of sight if they can't have their own little space or angry neighbor wizards want to move in. (benevolent witch of the east looking to kill the 'wicked' fire witch of the west etc etc)

Recorded history

    >Bridge myth and recorded history by converting myth output to world generation start map
    >Wider variety of magical historical figures with new actions and powers, respecting myth
      >  New wizards beyond necromancers: by race, by skill, by object, by corruption, by deal with another power
      >  Wizards that wander
      >  Wizards that live in isolation
      >  Wizards that form groups (councils, covens, etc.), must have rationale (group magic, mutual protection, research, etc.)
      >  Wizards that involve themselves with civilization

So it seems your suggestion may take some form of iteration anyway. 

It'd also nerf how adventurers & resulting fortresses come across necromancy books if it was segmented into fractional teachings, which only the founding and head wizard (at any one time) possessing all the teachings (potentially on a binding slab to form the school?) would be in charge of, leading to epic confrontations in adventure mode against this all powerful immortal wizard almost like a boss fight or a demon at the top of a goblin tower being no small ask after beating through its underlings.

Here's a mock up ethic raw i made of what kind of thing you could probably expect that should also fit in comfortably

Code: [Select]

[ETHIC:MAGIC_LEARN:PERSONAL_MATTER]
[ETHIC:MAGIC_USE:ONLY_IF_SANCTIONED / JUSTIFIED_IF_EXTREME_REASON]
[ETHIC:NECROMANCY/DARK_MAGIC_LEARN:APPALLING / PUNISH_EXILE]
[ETHIC:NECROMANCY/DARK_MAGIC_USE:PUNISH_CAPITAL]

[Cormack]

You mean something like this:

Spoiler (click to show/hide)

[Ekaton]

Well, I guess that the second one, which is from Skyrim, not Oblivion, would fit best what I have in mind. I certainly don't like the idea of expensive furniture there. It should have very simple furniture, one that could be made on site, but also some cages for captured creatures, perhaps a makeshift altar, etc. Very humble and very simple. Also, those hanging bodies like in the last post would fit in well too.

As to the ethics, I think that civs should only allow dark magic, if they allow both murder of sentients, their enslavement and torture.

[IndigoFenix]

As to the ethics, I think that civs should only allow dark magic, if they allow both murder of sentients, their enslavement and torture.

The stance a civ has on magic should probably be tied to both the specific source of that magic and its effects, which will probably have a lot of variation given its procedural generation.  If a witch can cure diseases by mixing certain rare herbs together then most civs should be okay with it.  If a wizard gains the power to rot people's faces by sacrificing children to the gods of darkness then that's a different thing entirely.  I'm sure there could be some grey areas though - raising corpses as benign, docile slaves isn't necessarily hurting anyone, but it probably doesn't sit too well in most people's book, with the desecration of the dead and all that.

Toady's said that he doesn't want utilitarian D&D style magic, but I think having a few wise and benevolent (if possibly slightly creepy) wizards wandering around wouldn't be too out of place in the setting.