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[Neonivek]

Not a huge suggestion but basically there is a lot of death and decay in the world.

It would be a bit more interesting if some necromancers weren't so passive (unless they have a coincidental advantage).

Here are some actions I think would be interesting for Necromancers to take if they are so inclined.
1) They can actively seek out deceased beasts like megabeasts to make them their undead slaves
2) They could raid towns for their graveyards and tombs (I believe they already raid ancient battlefields)
3) They could eventually advance further then a tower and make an undead citadel
4) Slaughter small villages and hamlets for extra corpses.
5) Take over towns turning them into ruins filled with zombies

Sure Necromancers like to keep to themselves but they could have their apprentices be their generals.

[mate888]

I think that should be partial, like some necromancers do keep to themselves in their cozy tower filled with unspeakable undead horrors with their sex slaves apprentices, and some others would try to conquer the world (or X site, or Y region, or Z civ).

[JohnieRWilkins]

It is inevitable.

[palu]

It is terrifying.

Do they really need them to be more ambitious. Have you seen some of the worlds? They're packed with towers.

[GavJ]

Have you seen some of the worlds? They're packed with towers.

That's probably a bug. If so, it should be fixed sooner or later, and this suggestion will be relevant for the intended game still. (if it's a bug)

[Neonivek]

They don't ALL have to be ambitious.

But currently they seemed more then happy to just sit back, relax, and try to compete with Steven King for most prolific author.

[FallenAngel]

It should depend on their personality.
Ones with martial inclinations should attack cities for more bodies, while more passive-natured ones sit in their tower and revive the bodies of things that try to kill them.

[Neonivek]

Would be nice if Necromancers could write more meaty books then just introspective on society and occasional books on the nature of life and death.

I mean they are immortal wizard-like entities... They can write anything but they are almost like romance novelists.

[Blastbeard]

Necromancers have the potential to conquer the world with endless armies of corpses, but they're just content to lollygag around their towers for all time. They've got all that power, they really should do something more than sit around and write bad fan fiction all eternity.

You could take the obvious route and cast the necromancer as the evil mastermind. The scale they operate on now is nothing compared to the damage they could do with the proper motivation. My homeland of Warcraft-Land is a prime example of what a well-orchestrated necromancer threat can pull off.
The Cult of the Damned was an organized group of necromancers who attempted to raise an army of the dead, and their success left the world staggering for decades after, wiping out an entire nation and reshaping the political map of their world. It was a prime example of how suddenly the balance of power can shift when the dead start walking the earth.

You could go the Reanimator route too. Necromancy is inherently an evil and destructive force, but that doesn't mean people can't get the notion to try and use it for good. The label 'secrets of life and death' implies that it's a way to restore someone you care about to life, and that's enough to rope some people in with the hopes of being reunited with that special someone. Bringing the dead back as mindless killing machines isn't exactly perfect, but maybe the necromancer can do better. So they try again, and maybe, eventually, they'll get it right. At least, that's what the necromancer has convinced himself. The road to hell is paved with good intentions.

Better yet, leave it up to chance, let the necromancer's unique personality and dreams decide the outcome. Dwarf Fortress has proven time after time that when you give the game the reins, it never fails to entertain. Left to its own devices, we could find ourselves presented with literally anything. If the necromancer's one goal in life was world domination, we'll probably have some corpse mangling to do. But if the necromancer just wanted to have a family, maybe we'll sneak into his tower to find him in the midst of a tea party with all his zombie friends. The possibilities could be as varied as the possible personalities a necromancer may have.

As long as they're doing anything more important than idling at a tower and waiting to die, progress has been made.

[FallenAngel]

I like that concept.
Not all necromancers should laze in their towers and write stories about themselves, zombies, other necromancers, and people they used to know.
Some should, although that should be limited to the ones whose goals were related to industry (is there a novel-related goal?). Those same should also be able to take over mountainhomes, because industry.
I like the concept of the necromancers who just want a darned family sitting at a table with some named zombies. Those very same necromancers wouldn't be hostile to you and would even welcome you.
It should be possible for necromancers to "call off" their corpse armies - sort of like the player can do with his or her companions.
That should only be done by friendly necromancers, or necromancers you've scared the immortal crap out of.
It's the little things.

[Dirst]

My impression of the passive(ish) necromancers was that the process of becoming a necromancer affects the mind.  It doesn't really happen to adventurers under player control because of player control, but otherwise it's easy to imagine that necromancy has a profound effect on the necromancer's personality.  They've gone way past "doesn't care about anything any more."

Some flicker of the original personality should remain, which may cause a necromancer to meddle with the outside world, but as a general state of affairs having an unnatural immortal sit around in solitude doesn't seem too far-fetched.

[FallenAngel]

I thought that adventurers were immune to the super-passive-inducing effects because they are inherently strong-willed, even with Very Low Willpower. Mental will, if you will. Not the "mind over matter" anti-pain will, but the will to resist magic stuff.
It just so happens that all typical necromancers have poor mental will, and therefore become extremely passive and just write novels ALL THE TIME.

[Deepblade]

Perhaps it's just cause the Necromancers watched a little bit too much Death Note?

[Puzzlemaker]

I think this is planned when individual characters have goals and such.

[Blastbeard]

There's one other thing to consider with necromancy. Liches. If you've never heard of them before, a lich is an undead sorcerer, a necromancer that has become undead and binds their soul to a phylactery, a vessel the soul can return to whenever the lich's body is destroyed. What's more, they often gain an array of offensive magical abilities to use, which can be anything from intense cold, diseases, or general evil stuff depending on the setting and persuasion of the lich in question.
This makes them a royal pain in the ass to kill regardless of the setting, because they can come back from any form of destruction to their physical body, up to and including disintegration. You have to track down and destroy the lich's phylactery, then kill its physical form to put an end to them. All the while, you have to put up with its undead minions and whatever magic it throws at you. Slaying a lich is not for the weak of heart.

An enemy like that would present a few unique difficulties in Dwarf Fortress. Up front, you're fighting an upgraded necromancer who is just as durable as its zombie minions and has magic attacks to defend itself with. Considering the lich would probably have the [EXTRAVISION] tag, and as such is able to see through walls, it would be able to raise the corpses in a fortress's graveyard without even walking through the front door. The extravision alone is enough to spice up an undead siege, but then you have the fact that the necromancer is supporting its minions with magic attacks. That's not a threat to be taken lightly.
Then you have the phylactery to consider. If the fortress defence force manages to kill the lich, they've broken the siege but the battle is not over. The lich's soul returns to the phylactery, it regains physical form and prepares to try again. That guarantees recurring undead sieges, with resulting recurring Fun, until someone goes and takes out the phylactery.
All in all, liches could make formidable opponents and a very worthy test of skill for fortress and adventure mode players alike.