I also agreed that the first was up to role-play. Imagine a Shaman who is primarily Druidic but accidentally discovers necromancy... Or a good warlock who studies the dark art to defeat and understand its practioners.
 
But then, in that regard, why not the same thing for a straight-up necro? Any restrictions on alignment can be bent (remember the Chaotic Good and Lawful Evil Paladins in Dragon mag?) but in the sense that the rules define the campaign setting, I'd be curious about the author's thoughts.

Personally I would allow a CG shaman to practice necromancy because IMO shamans have a "friendly" relationship with spirits of the dead.  In other words, the dead choose to aid them; the shamans don't rip them from their tombs and enslave them as actual necromancers do.  But that's just my interpretation.

Ghul wrote:

Blackadder23 wrote:

Personally I would allow a CG shaman to practice necromancy because IMO shamans have a "friendly" relationship with spirits of the dead.  In other words, the dead choose to aid them; the shamans don't rip them from their tombs and enslave them as actual necromancers do.  But that's just my interpretation.

Well, if that were the case, and if it was what the player really wanted, we'd have to take a hard look at some of the spells and say certain ones can't possibly be evoked without affecting alignment. IMC, of course.
 

Yeah, my take (on your game!) so far is that necromancy is basically antithetical to life. Think the standard of the Granbreton baron in the Hawkmoon books: black letters on a black field proclaiming death to life! Shamans, druids, they might all be really weird and not value individual human lives necessarily, but they are basically life-positive professions, at least at some angle, whether clan, tribe, or animal. Necromancers serve a realm of silence.
 

Handy Haversack wrote:

Ghul wrote:

Blackadder23 wrote:

Personally I would allow a CG shaman to practice necromancy because IMO shamans have a "friendly" relationship with spirits of the dead.  In other words, the dead choose to aid them; the shamans don't rip them from their tombs and enslave them as actual necromancers do.  But that's just my interpretation.

Well, if that were the case, and if it was what the player really wanted, we'd have to take a hard look at some of the spells and say certain ones can't possibly be evoked without affecting alignment. IMC, of course.
 

Yeah, my take (on your game!) so far is that necromancy is basically antithetical to life. Think the standard of the Granbreton baron in the Hawkmoon books: black letters on a black field proclaiming death to life! Shamans, druids, they might all be really weird and not value individual human lives necessarily, but they are basically life-positive professions, at least at some angle, whether clan, tribe, or animal. Necromancers serve a realm of silence.
 

To me it's the creepiness factor.  The shaman has some benefit to the locals and so dipping into death magics may be forgiven.  The necromancer will not be liked regardless of his alignment and would probably find himself on the wrong end of a rope. 

There is no demon summoning class in the book so I use this as my truly evil type of sorcerer and hand wave specifics.  They start as something else such as a necromancer, and sign greater pacts with evil servants of Thaumagorga.  They don't adventure nor do they make great companions so I keep them as NPCs and background villains.