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It's a really, really, really, really long shot, but we have no idea what Zo! was doing before the Gap... We don't know if Zo! is that old, but we don't know that he is not either. Zo! doesn't seem like a spellcaster, but he could have forgotten because of the Gap. If nothing else, A Zo! iconic Necromancer pregen PDF would be a great April Fool's joke. It would be fun to have a set of joke pregens that are only playable on April Fool's and Halloween.
It's a really, really, really, really long shot, but we have no idea what Zo! was doing before the Gap... We don't know if Zo! is that old, but we don't know that he is not either. Zo! doesn't seem like a spellcaster, but he could have forgotten because of the Gap. If nothing else, A Zo! iconic Necromancer pregen PDF would be a great April Fool's joke. It would be fun to have a set of joke pregens that are only playable on April Fool's and Halloween.
I believe Zo! briefly showed up during the one PF1 AP, though I could not for the life of me tell you which one.
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I really hope the iconic, whoever they are, is a nonstandard kind of necromancer. Nonstandard in that they aren't overly creepy or macabre, and don't see the undead as tools like villainous necromancers tend to. Really what I think is an iconic necromancer who sees the dead and undead as people first and foremost, and is maybe a bit of a dorkus who finds it easier to talk to them than with living people.
You know what I'd find rather funny, is if the Iconic Necromancer was a follower of Pharasma.
"Oh, I don't create undead," they explained to Imrijka, who was trying to wrap it around her head how this NECROMANCER was a faithful devotee of the Lady of the Grave, "these spirits are souls awaiting judgement. I'm merely borrowing them temporarily. The Psychopomps know where each soul belongs in the line, and will call them back before their number comes up."
I really hope the iconic, whoever they are, is a nonstandard kind of necromancer. Nonstandard in that they aren't overly creepy or macabre, and don't see the undead as tools like villainous necromancers tend to. Really what I think is an iconic necromancer who sees the dead and undead as people first and foremost, and is maybe a bit of a dorkus who finds it easier to talk to them than with living people.
That seems pretty likely given how the playtest Necromancer worked. It's not like it was doing any hardcore "yanking souls and trapping them into an undead horde" type stuff, and it certainly wasn't out trolling graveyards for quality raw material.
It was heavily sanitized to be able to fit into parties with other players that don't like Undead, and the iconic is probably going to be deeply misunderstood.
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A socially awkward person who's shut out in polite company but is a happy go lucky, can't shut up introvert when hanging out with their returned or spirit friends. Emo/punk/goth with a heart of gold.
Abby Sciuto. Can Abby be the iconic necromancer?
If I had my druthers, I’d be up for a necromancer who is not overly macabre, but also has zero interest in spirits or feelings. Bodies are exceptional pieces of bio-architecture, and once vacated of messy things like souls and emotions are eminently suitable for repurposing to achieve the most splendiferous array of goals. It’s simple recycling.
Sure, name your thralls if it helps tell them apart or if humorous nicknames occur to you or if you need to go through the motions of having acquaintances, but really, numbers work just as well as appellations.
And given the turret-style necromancy evinced in the playtest…there’s not really any…personality to the raised dead. But a lot of viscera.
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If I had my druthers, I’d be up for a necromancer who is not overly macabre, but also has zero interest in spirits or feelings. Bodies are exceptional pieces of bio-architecture, and once vacated of messy things like souls and emotions are eminently suitable for repurposing to achieve the most splendiferous array of goals. It’s simple recycling.
Sure, name your thralls if it helps tell them apart or if humorous nicknames occur to you or if you need to go through the motions of having acquaintances, but really, numbers work just as well as appellations.
And given the turret-style necromancy evinced in the playtest…there’s not really any…personality to the raised dead. But a lot of viscera.
I could go in two directions.
I loved the idea in the Scarred Lands setting that the not-so-evil necromancers of the city of Hollowfaust would only use skeletal dead, removing the flesh from bodies, and even mixing and matching bones from horses and people to make skeletal guardsmen that *appeared* to be centaur skeletons (but were just cobbled together from horse and human parts). A bonecrafter, from a society that approved of such a practice (such as a non-evil gnoll faction like the kholo), could be fun. Using alchemy to strengthen bone to be like iron, or wrapping skeletal bones in leather, to reinforce it and make 'masterwork skeletons' with the equivalent of the Toughness feat or DR 1/-, could be funky. (or adding other features like bone spurs that allow them to stab for 1d6 instead of claw for 1d3, for instance, or extra shoulder-blade plate and ribs from other skeletons to 'armor' and reinforce their armor class, all sorts of funky options to make 'mere skeletons' more interesting)
And I also love the idea of a 'wbite necromancer' who uses his own (and his living allies) spiritual energies and essences to scout, taps into lingering spiritual residues left behind to learn about an area, channel skills from the previous users of an item, etc. All spirit lore stuff, zero interest in bodies or corpses, although they'd be quite interested in hanging around mausoleums and graveyards, to learn more about the folk interred there, and what sort of useful lore and skills they'd be able to impart!
Necromancers that focus on blood and meat, eh. Feels more fun for a villain, but I don't really feel that's as viable for a protagonist. That's perhaps personal taste, tho.
(In a game set in Hollowfaust, I drew a pretty strict line between the various forms of necromancy approved of in the city, and a villain who was fascinated by getting the most use out of a single corpse, which she would drain the blood from and animate that as a small ooze, remove the skin from, and animate that as a 'skin phantom' that would wrap around and entangle (and try to strangle) people, remove the viscera and animate that as another hungry ooze type creature, and animate the skeleton itself as a fourth minor undead, all from one body. She was working on a manner to extract the brain and eyes and nervous system, and make a *fifth* undead from that, but was still in the grisly experimentation phase...)
to be fair the actual iconic necromancers are either Geb or Tar-baphon. Those two are the most powerful and most famous necromancers though I doubt either will be the iconic.
So if we are to assume paizo won't create their own new character. I think it is either Nyctessa or Zenda Modic. Modic was made for Rival Academies as one of the people attending the Convocation of magical schools and the repersentive on behalf of Synostosis Academy her focus is on Osteology so bone magic.
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I kinda feel like Paizo will showcase an entirely new Iconic that is in line with their ever-changing and evolving diverse and inclusive campaign setting.
Emo/punk/goth with a heart of gold.
Abby Sciuto. Can Abby be the iconic necromancer?
Abby did sleep in a coffin...
Anyway, there are more types of necromancers than the insane/megalomaniacal "kill everyone and incorporate them into my undead horde" ones.
Even within Golarion, Geb created an entire society where the "quick" and the "dead" coexist (somewhat) harmoniously. Yes, the laws are relatively harsh and favor the "dead" over the "quick;" but much of that is because the rich and powerful tend to be or become undead and stay in power for much longer.
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I really hope the iconic, whoever they are, is a nonstandard kind of necromancer. Nonstandard in that they aren't overly creepy or macabre, and don't see the undead as tools like villainous necromancers tend to. Really what I think is an iconic necromancer who sees the dead and undead as people first and foremost, and is maybe a bit of a dorkus who finds it easier to talk to them than with living people.
Awww c'mon now, this is our one chance for a brooding creep or a goth baddie. Sometimes playing to a type is fun too!
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I kinda feel like Paizo will showcase an entirely new Iconic that is in line with their ever-changing and evolving diverse and inclusive campaign setting.
Someone from Osirion or Geb might fit that design more, and nicely move away from the 1st edition art coincidence that so many of the characters associated with evil or necromancy (or both), in collections like Paths of Prestige, the NPC Codex or Faction Guide were chalk-white or guys wearing 'girl stuff' like lipstick or veils. I have no doubt that was totally a coincidence, but one I'd be happy to not see again.
My personal favorite type necromancer is the guy who just talks to dead people and has ghost buddies/pets.
Like Luke Skywalker
The nature of the Necromancer Class is closer to being a necro-kinetic than a character that has an actual relationship with dead beings.
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I hope Paizo's bold with their ancestry. I was really delighed by the commander and guardian, and would love to see something with a different relationship to death and corpses than typical. So, an iruxi or kholo would be neat.
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I hope Paizo's bold with their ancestry. I was really delighed by the commander and guardian, and would love to see something with a different relationship to death and corpses than typical. So, an iruxi or kholo would be neat.
I have to admit, the first thing that popped into my head when prompted with the question of what cool ancestry might make a great iconic Necromancer was a kholo dressed in the bones of her ancestors. I mean, probably fair to say that the bones-ancestors association is a bit stronger with iruxi, but I've read Digger webcomic, so I'm about to make Boneclaw Mother some kind of kholo oracle in my homebrew game.
Either way, it would be cool, although I'll try not to get my hopes up too much that I'm disappointed if it turns out not to be anything like that at all.
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Leshy.
Plants have always been good at putting corpses to good use.
And the spirit part is there too.
Evokes memories of classic D&D stuff like yellow musk creepers and their yellow musk zombies as well, or myconid kings using spores to animate animal and humanoid corpses to defend their communities.
I was a really big fan of Nyctessa in Wake the Dead so would love to see her return as the PF2 iconic Necromancer, though I do understand it's probably unlikely. Outside the iconics who were in the PF1 CRB, three of the four iconics in the PF2 APG, and Yoon, none of the PF2 classes kept their PF1 iconics. Yoon does suggest they might be getting more willing to bring back PF1 iconics now, but she's also very likely a special case.
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Leshy.
Plants have always been good at putting corpses to good use.
And the spirit part is there too.
A fungus leshy works too, if not too on the nose. But at this point, I'm so desperate for a leshy iconic that I'll take it.
A fungus leshy works too, if not too on the nose. But at this point, I'm so desperate for a leshy iconic that I'll take it.Leshy.
Plants have always been good at putting corpses to good use.
And the spirit part is there too.
In before gourd leshy runesmith
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It's a really, really, really, really long shot, but we have no idea what Zo! was doing before the Gap... We don't know if Zo! is that old, but we don't know that he is not either. Zo! doesn't seem like a spellcaster, but he could have forgotten because of the Gap. If nothing else, A Zo! iconic Necromancer pregen PDF would be a great April Fool's joke. It would be fun to have a set of joke pregens that are only playable on April Fool's and Halloween.I believe Zo! briefly showed up during the one PF1 AP, though I could not for the life of me tell you which one.
I did some searching looks like Zo! was in the Bestiary in Rise of New Thassilon. Sounds like he was doing game shows even back then.
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A fungus leshy works too, if not too on the nose. But at this point, I'm so desperate for a leshy iconic that I'll take it.
I'm honestly genuinely surprised we haven't received an adorable leshy iconic yet. Think of the merch, Paizo!
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A fungus leshy works too, if not too on the nose. But at this point, I'm so desperate for a leshy iconic that I'll take it.I'm honestly genuinely surprised we haven't received an adorable leshy iconic yet. Think of the merch, Paizo!
I love the Wizkids pumpkin leshy figure. If they made that an iconic I'd play the pregen at PFS all the time lol.