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Hello again folks, been awhile since I last posted on the forum, been terribly busy. For those who responded to my previous question about Necrotic Cysts and about one of my players who opted to get them and the game kind of just tapered off because of his reaction to me dumbing it down.

I've got a question that's tied to me this time. I'm joining up in a D&D game, an evil Pathfinder game that is, and we have an Anti-Paladin, an evil Fighter, an evil Ranger, and my character, who'd I'd like to go with a Necromancer. Reason behind this is I get to channel spells, have minions to bolster the fight should we encounter things (starting level is 4th and the DM is doing a 30-point buy system for our characters).

I was looking through the forums, and other threads on other sites for the best build for a "Minionmancer", and the thread usually devolved into debates on a Wizard/Sorcerer beating out Oracle/Clerics, but one of my friend's claims that each class is underpowered. I'm also interested in some way of obtaining a familiar-esque undead companion? If there isn't a way to do that, I'm fine with not having one if it isn't possible.

I'm probably going for a Human/Aasimar for my race, just want to know what class I could use to maximize my skills/abilities. Thanks in advance, I will try to respond as soon as possible.

You make it sound as though the PC is stealthy infecting people with a necrotic cyst, how is he doing that? Verbal and somatic components and touching the target. How has he done this multiple times without arousing suspicion?

I'd have a higher level NPC notice someone that he has infected with a cyst. That NPC then tracks down the group and explains to them what their necromancer friend has done. If the PC group is okay with his tactics, then they're complicit in his evil. The higher-level NPC rallies a lynch mob and takes the necromancer (or entire party) out.

In the adventure, the group encountered a group of Xvargs dwelling under the hamlet they ventured to. He decided to infect their food supply so they would eat the tainted meat and obtain cysts themselves. He wanted to place cysts on the settlement's food supply, but my campaign's magical law-enforcers kind of made him retract that idea.

What I have are a group of witch-hunters that kind of keep things in balance, so I may have a small detachment track him down, like you said.

1. I agree with Pupsocket about the cyst. I know what they are.

As for your questions, dont make any special rules for him, and I would let him know that he might get in trouble for doing too much necromancy. I am not saying go out of your way to give him trouble, but if the NPC is fairly important the friends/family might hire someone to look into the disappearance.

The campaign setting that I've used for years has set laws on necromancy, and pretty common sense laws, stealing, murder, etc. is bad. For some reason, he seemed during the game to get upset whenever someone would be looking at him or mentioning him moving the dead out of town and claimed that I was just doing it because of his class/my preference for not having evil characters in-game.

I've had evil characters work within a party of good-aligned players, just not such an overtly evil character such as his. In this single session, he attempted to infect the food supply of the hamlet, for his own devices, as well as collect the twelve Bugbears they were sent to slay for raising. I spent an hour long conversation with him over how he's already causing a large schism in the group over his doings, as they've all shown disapproval.

But I'm thankful for all of your help and advice on the matter.

What are these "Necrotic Cysts"?

I need to know because reasons.

Necrotic Cyst

Necromancy [Evil]
Level: Cleric 2, Sorcerer 2, Wizard 2,
Components: V, S, AF,
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Target: Living creature touched
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: Fortitude negates
Spell Resistance: Yes

The subject develops an internal spherical sac that contains fluid or semisolid necrotic flesh.
The internal cyst is noticeable as a slight bulge on the subject's arm, abdomen, or face (wherever you chose to touch the target) or it is buried deeply enough in the flesh of your target that it is not immediately obvious—the subject may not realize what was implanted within her.
From now on, undead foes and necromantic magic are particularly debilitating to the subject—the cyst enables a sympathetic response between free-roaming external undead and itself.
Whenever the victim is subject to a spell or effect from the school of necromancy, she makes saving throws to resist at a -2 penalty.
Whenever the subject is dealt damage by the natural weapon of an undead (claw, bite, or other attack form), she takes an additional 1d6 points of damage.
Victims who possess necrotic cysts may elect to have some well-meaning chirurgeon remove them surgically.
The procedure is a bloody, painful process that incapacitates the subject for 1 hour on a successful DC 20 Heal check, and kills the subject with an unsuccessful Heal check.
The procedure takes 1 hour, and the chirurgeon can't take 20 on the check.
Protection from evil or a similar spell prevents the necrotic cyst from forming.
Once a necrotic cyst is implanted, spells that manipulate the cyst and its bearer are no longer thwarted by protection from evil.
Focus: Caster must possess a mother cyst (see page 28).

Sounds like a poor candidate for a necromancer, with the inexperience and "gimme-gimme" attitude. This is a problem player, regardless of class. Tread carefully, but remain in charge without being directly confrontational. You are the referee, and as such, the rules will play him out if you enforce them.

1. Read the many posts on necromancers that I have defended them in, and note the opposition. While collecting and reanimating minions is "normal" for the class, it cannot be done blatantly without social repercussions (or a LOT of explaining, Bluff and Diplomacy checks). He will need to use discretion, else mobs of outraged villagers are likely to burn him at the stake. Make his cool powers worth something to him by the inherent risk

2. Underpowered? Hardly. There are tons of crippling spells and combos available to an experienced necromancer, like the create undead spell that spawns everything from ghouls to devourers. Don't give him everything he wants or he'll overpower your game. Make him earn the spell he wants, listed above, at the appropriate level. His character is not underpowered, just not yet powerful enough to bowl over the GM. Yet.

3. Necrotic Cysts are D&D 3.6, yes? That can be your first restriction, as they may not prove fully balanced for Pathfinder. How are they unlimited in use? It's a 2nd level spell, am I right? How often can he cast it, and does he not have to succeed in a touch attack to deliver it?

Control your allowed content, if your newish, start simple and add options (as far as 3rd party or D&D3.5, use caution). Make players at least feel like they're responsible for solving their own power issues- want more power? Quest for it, gain experience, research spells, etc. No gimme's. Also, evil characters in a mixed aligned group usually yield difficulty.

What level are you starting/currently playing at?
What are the other players classes/alignments?
What content is permitted in your game?

Starting level is 3rd-Level.

The party as of right now are:

CN Bard, NG Hedge Witch, CG Oracle, CN Viking, NG Ranger, and NE Necromancer.

I'm a fairly open-ended DM, and if I don't see a problem with it, I'll let it slide. With this player, he seemed to simply build the character without letting me see the sheet until the night of our first game, which was last week. As for Diplomacy, his Charisma is a 16, the rank is a 3, so out of the gate it is a +9 since it is a class skill for his Wizard build.

The reason why I said it was unlimited in use, was that he can cast it four times per day, without the target having any saving rolls, and if he were trying to infect an entire town, he could do it over the matter of a few weeks if he asked to spend a few weeks in said town.

I've been holding him back from getting his Animate Dead variant spell, because I have explained to him how mechanically lopsided Necromancers/Summoners can be, but he seems to simply let it go in one ear an out the other. I've dealt with players like this, but they've at least given some ground in the few years that I've DMed. I've tried laying down ground rules for the things he has on his character sheet, but I'm met with overly dramatic sighs, and complaints about why he never plays these sort of games.

Greetings, I have been searching your forums for several questions that have been swirling in my head. Hopefully, both DM and PC alike can answer said questions for me, and give me some pointers to deal with the issues I am having.

So, where to begin? I have just started off my latest campaign setting with a seven-person party. Several of the players are varying colors of alignment, mostly neutral with either chaotic, true, or good alongside that. However, I have a Neutral-Evil character within the party, who has chosen to build his character into a Necromancer.

I have never dealt with a PC who played a Necromancer, and to be quite frank, I'm not in favor of having a Necromancer in the party because of my dealings with the PC in a campaign I played alongside him in. The player tends to try and bend the campaign setting to him whim because of his class, ie. collect every corpse, create flesh-warped creatures after encountering them (such as a goblin tribe, group of human bandits, etc). He is also quite new to the game, having been in one major campaign before joining mine.

Now here comes my questions for you all since I have tried to explain the position I am in. He considers Necromancers to be very under-powered. I however, do not think that, and have tried to explain that to him. He has Necrotic Cysts and the varying abilities that come with it, and has on several occasions in the very first adventure, used it to infect dozens of NPCs. He has asked for me to home-brew a variant on Animate Dead that allows him to summon Ghouls, alongside Skeletons and Zombies because he considers Animate Dead to be under-powered.

1) How should I handle his attitude both out of game and in-game when it comes to his decisions? I don't want to cause an argument between me and him.

2) How should I handle his asking for a home-brewed variant of a spell? I am against home-brewing a whole lot of things when it comes to Pathfinder/Dungeons & Dragons, because I feel like it's favoritism and over-powering.

3) Is there any restrictions to the Necrotic Cyst rules? It seems fairly over-powered with the near unlimited times it can be used over the course of a few weeks in-game.

I guess my biggest worries is there being a falling out between him, the party, and myself because of the restrictions I have towards it. I allowed it because I was hoping that he would be considerate and play a tamed Necromancer, not nearing Chaotic Evil when it comes to his character.

If anyone needs more information or questions are put forth for me to answer or clarify, I'll be ready to respond.

Thank you in advance.