09-10-2005, 07:18 PM
The old sage looked up from the paperwork on his desk âAh! Phawlmawth! Come in, come in. Please have a chairâ
The gaunt, meek looking youngster, sank quietly into the chair in frot of the headmasters desk. âYou wanted to see me?â
âYesâ, said the head of the necromancers school âI heard from Professor Theodocious that there was a disruption today in your ethics class. I wanted to hear what happened in your own words before I made a decision on the matterâ
Phawlmawth felt a sinking in his stomach. He somehow suspected that the headmaster had already made up his mind as to what to do but was merely steeping through the formalities. âProfessor Theodocious is a foolâ he hissed under his breath.
âHow so?â asked the headmaster âHis views on the necessity of battling demons and the undead are highly regarded, even outside of the school. It would be wise for you to listen and learn from himâ
âHe is not the only voice in the matterâ answered Phawlmawth âSurely you have read the later works of Maldar the Magnificent? His view is also very widely praised. How if we resort to killing indiscriminately that we become no better than the evil we fight against?â
The headmaster leaned back in his chair and folded his arms sternly across his chest âI had heard rumors that you had been reading the works of Maldarâ he said. âHe was one of the greatest students this school ever produced until his so called awakening. You know that his teachings are not in line with what we hope to accomplish in this schoolâ
âI know his views are not warmly welcomed here. However, that doesn't detract from the soundness of his viewsâ
âPhawlmawth! There is an evil upon this land. One so terrible it stands to destroy us all. How are we to defend ourself unless by destroying those beings that are to destroy us.â
âHave you not even read Maldars works yourself? He did quite well by advanced use of curses. I have been studying these skills myself extensively. It is my belief that we can turn the mind of our foes against each other and thuss spare ourselves of any guilt.â
âI had suspected you might say as muchâ. The headmaster leaned forward placing his hands on the desk in front of him âYou leave me no choice but to have you expelled from necromancer school. You are to have your things packed and off of the school grounds by tomorrow morning. You may keep the wand the school provided for youâ
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I have been playing oddball builds for as long as I have been into the game. The idea for a curse-only necromancer had been at the back of my mind for quite some time now and the new patch sparked my interest enough to get back into playing again.
But I wanted something with a bit more of a story to it than simply being a one tree character build. When I read the report MongoJerry did of Maldar, the Pacifist Hero I began to wonder if it was possible to go through the whole game without killing anything directly myself. So I thought out some ground rules for the build .....
1)Kill nothing myself. If I get as far as the ancients, Direct damage against them would be ok as I am not actually âkillingâ them as much as I am being tested in battle.
2)Use of mercs is ok as long as they are granted by quest reward. Hiring a merc to kill for me is am morally wrong as doing the killing myself. But if the merc just wants to âtag alongâ that is fine.
3)Only put points into the curse tree. Items that grant a bonus to the summoning tree is ok under the idea that the undead are just fighting among themselves. But I cant put skill points into that tree. Items that give any points to the poison and bone tree are not permitted.
4)Attempt a full clear. Rather contradictory to the spirit of the build, but it has been years since I did a full clear and I figure it might be fun.
5)Play in /players 1 and hardcore mode. Every quest and waypoint must be done in order.
I picked the name Phawlmawth as it is a phonetic spelling of âfoul mouthâ. Get it? Cursing is all he ever does? Nuck nuck!
I should point out that I dont ever play hardcore, so my ability to play this character through norm is highly doubtful. I just dont have the personal experience. I am also not that used to playing single player. As I go along feel free to speculate as to just how far thic character can be pushed.
The gaunt, meek looking youngster, sank quietly into the chair in frot of the headmasters desk. âYou wanted to see me?â
âYesâ, said the head of the necromancers school âI heard from Professor Theodocious that there was a disruption today in your ethics class. I wanted to hear what happened in your own words before I made a decision on the matterâ
Phawlmawth felt a sinking in his stomach. He somehow suspected that the headmaster had already made up his mind as to what to do but was merely steeping through the formalities. âProfessor Theodocious is a foolâ he hissed under his breath.
âHow so?â asked the headmaster âHis views on the necessity of battling demons and the undead are highly regarded, even outside of the school. It would be wise for you to listen and learn from himâ
âHe is not the only voice in the matterâ answered Phawlmawth âSurely you have read the later works of Maldar the Magnificent? His view is also very widely praised. How if we resort to killing indiscriminately that we become no better than the evil we fight against?â
The headmaster leaned back in his chair and folded his arms sternly across his chest âI had heard rumors that you had been reading the works of Maldarâ he said. âHe was one of the greatest students this school ever produced until his so called awakening. You know that his teachings are not in line with what we hope to accomplish in this schoolâ
âI know his views are not warmly welcomed here. However, that doesn't detract from the soundness of his viewsâ
âPhawlmawth! There is an evil upon this land. One so terrible it stands to destroy us all. How are we to defend ourself unless by destroying those beings that are to destroy us.â
âHave you not even read Maldars works yourself? He did quite well by advanced use of curses. I have been studying these skills myself extensively. It is my belief that we can turn the mind of our foes against each other and thuss spare ourselves of any guilt.â
âI had suspected you might say as muchâ. The headmaster leaned forward placing his hands on the desk in front of him âYou leave me no choice but to have you expelled from necromancer school. You are to have your things packed and off of the school grounds by tomorrow morning. You may keep the wand the school provided for youâ
----- ----- ----- ----- -----
I have been playing oddball builds for as long as I have been into the game. The idea for a curse-only necromancer had been at the back of my mind for quite some time now and the new patch sparked my interest enough to get back into playing again.
But I wanted something with a bit more of a story to it than simply being a one tree character build. When I read the report MongoJerry did of Maldar, the Pacifist Hero I began to wonder if it was possible to go through the whole game without killing anything directly myself. So I thought out some ground rules for the build .....
1)Kill nothing myself. If I get as far as the ancients, Direct damage against them would be ok as I am not actually âkillingâ them as much as I am being tested in battle.
2)Use of mercs is ok as long as they are granted by quest reward. Hiring a merc to kill for me is am morally wrong as doing the killing myself. But if the merc just wants to âtag alongâ that is fine.
3)Only put points into the curse tree. Items that grant a bonus to the summoning tree is ok under the idea that the undead are just fighting among themselves. But I cant put skill points into that tree. Items that give any points to the poison and bone tree are not permitted.
4)Attempt a full clear. Rather contradictory to the spirit of the build, but it has been years since I did a full clear and I figure it might be fun.
5)Play in /players 1 and hardcore mode. Every quest and waypoint must be done in order.
I picked the name Phawlmawth as it is a phonetic spelling of âfoul mouthâ. Get it? Cursing is all he ever does? Nuck nuck!
I should point out that I dont ever play hardcore, so my ability to play this character through norm is highly doubtful. I just dont have the personal experience. I am also not that used to playing single player. As I go along feel free to speculate as to just how far thic character can be pushed.