"The magic we use enables us to understand the mortal world in a way that other practitioners of magic cannot fathom. I was once party to a servant of Holy powers, a Paladin of great stature and greater renown who fervently berated me at every opportunity for using my Necromancy, then he died and was raised from the dead by a friend of his of the Clerical persuasion. I took great pride in telling him Necromancy had restored him to life, what? is that true? Oh yes my fellow necromancers, although our magic is commonly associated with the animation of the dead such as skeletons, zombies, ghouls and the like, even the most holy and goodly worshipers of the celestial powers must turn to our school of magic when their servants fall."
So should your DM fall into the "Raising undead is an evil act"....kindly point out that Raise Dead etc are in the Necromancy school.
EDIT: also worth noting the Druid spell "Reincarnation" is a Transmutation spell that not only brings someone back but also gives them a new body which may not even be the same race/gender as the original which could be much more traumatic.
Restoring life is a lot different than creating evil creatures that, when left to their own devices, attack the living on sight. Necromancy in and of itself is not evil, no more than Evocation in my opinion, but the act of creating evil creatures is.
So, in 3rd ed I had a "good" necromancer, he believed in love eternal, worshipped and was in love with the goddess Evening Glory. He brought back friends and old heroes, and helped others speak with loved ones that have passed. Focused mostly on the debilitating necromancy spells.
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Whether Necromancy is good or evil is always DM dependent, however (to quote myself from my Primer for those thinking of becoming a necromancer post) https://www.dndbeyond.com/forums/class-forums/wizard/45953-a-primer-for-those-thinking-of-taking-up):
"The magic we use enables us to understand the mortal world in a way that other practitioners of magic cannot fathom. I was once party to a servant of Holy powers, a Paladin of great stature and greater renown who fervently berated me at every opportunity for using my Necromancy, then he died and was raised from the dead by a friend of his of the Clerical persuasion. I took great pride in telling him Necromancy had restored him to life, what? is that true? Oh yes my fellow necromancers, although our magic is commonly associated with the animation of the dead such as skeletons, zombies, ghouls and the like, even the most holy and goodly worshipers of the celestial powers must turn to our school of magic when their servants fall."
So should your DM fall into the "Raising undead is an evil act"....kindly point out that Raise Dead etc are in the Necromancy school.
EDIT: also worth noting the Druid spell "Reincarnation" is a Transmutation spell that not only brings someone back but also gives them a new body which may not even be the same race/gender as the original which could be much more traumatic.
Restoring life is a lot different than creating evil creatures that, when left to their own devices, attack the living on sight. Necromancy in and of itself is not evil, no more than Evocation in my opinion, but the act of creating evil creatures is.
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So, in 3rd ed I had a "good" necromancer, he believed in love eternal, worshipped and was in love with the goddess Evening Glory. He brought back friends and old heroes, and helped others speak with loved ones that have passed. Focused mostly on the debilitating necromancy spells.