| The Unknown Elder |
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Understanding the general implications of undeath in its many Pathfinder iterations, I still don't see becoming undead as an absolute imperative to become evil as a result, unless the form of undeath is unintelligent and not free-willed.
As an example, I'll focus on the Lich. In the description of becoming a lich, there is no part of the process that requires a specifically evil act. Any evil in the process would come solely from the ultimate intent of the person going down that path.
As an example, imagine a human mage (appropriately short-lived in the grand scheme of things) who has been tasked with the duty of guarding something - a location, or object of power, for example. As the mage ages and begins to see that there doesn't appear to be an apparent heir to the duty coming to the fore, yet his/her life is coming towards its inevitable end. That person may make the decision to sacrifice all to continue performing their duties well beyond their natural life spans... at least until another qualified person comes along.
More relevant to an adventuring party, another human mage might see themselves as the guide to the rest of a youthful party (or one made up of beings with much longer life spans) and feels he/she should linger on to continue helping them.
Perhaps the story arch is an intentionally long and complex one, and the character (which, btw, apparently doesn't even need to be a caster, let alone a mage, if they have access to one... warrior liches exist) just can't let death get in the way of saving the world from the end-game bad guy.
Part of my reasoning stems from an appreciation for the potential difficulties of playing such a role. As a lich, one doesn't instantly turn into a rotten corpse-like pile of bones and parchment-skin. That takes decades... even centuries to happen. One could go for years as just an arcane oddity who makes people feel uncomfortable because of a notable aura of something... other.
But all of that just touches upon the subject. Even with NPC's, a ghost might not be even remotely evil; seeking, rather, to see their murderer brought to justice, or even just keep people from falling into the bog that had killed them.
Long story short, I tend to dislike absolutes like, "This can only ever be evil."
Thoughts?