[RPG] Are there RAW mechanics that a Necromancy Wizard can use to animate dead with consent

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I want to create a necromancer in the Forgotten Realms setting. One that gets some kind of consent for their necromancy when it comes to using other creatures' corpses, be it from each creature that once inhabited their respective vessel, or be it from the deities and forces of the multiverse that are responsible for things like that. And before I talk to a DM about house ruling this, I want to know which options are there for achieving it with RAW.

From what I've researched, one option would be Cleric multiclass and using spells such as Speak with Dead. However, investing enough levels into Cleric for that is a big character progression investment. Are there simpler alternatives?

Best Answer

Speak with your DM about adding speak with dead to your spell list.

Adding speak with dead to your spell list would not be a big deal. This is affirmed by guidance from the Dungeon Master's Guide:

Modifying a class’s spell list usually has little effect on a character’s power but can change the flavor of a class significantly. In your world, paladins might not swear their oaths to ideals, but instead swear fealty to powerful sorcerers. To capture this story concept, you could build a new paladin spell list with spells meant to protect their masters, drawn from the sorcerer or wizard lists. Suddenly, the paladin feels like a different class.

Obviously, it requires permission from the DM, but drawing on my experience as a DM and a player, I can foresee no problems arising from this particular change (your mileage may vary with other spells). Sure, it's technically a house rule, but it is a house rule that is explicitly encouraged in the published material with published guidance on making it work. Call it HRAW: house rules as written.

Speak with dead may still present an ethical dilemma for you.

Speak with dead states:

The corpse knows only what it knew in life, including the languages it knew. [...] This spell doesn't return the creature's soul to its body, only its animating spirit. Thus, the corpse can't learn new information, doesn't comprehend anything that has happened since it died, and can't speculate about future events.

At best, speak with dead can tell you if, at the moment the creature died, they would have been willing to be reanimated. The spell does not allow you to communicate with the proper soul of the creature, and so you have no way of knowing if the creature's soul has since changed its mind and withdrawn consent. If you're exploring the ethics of consent with this character, this is something to consider. Thanks to Carcer for making this observation in comments.

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