Industrialized Necromancy in a Setting With No Alignment... "Moüd: City of Bones" is Waiting For You!

The city was once lost to the annals of history, the ruins forgotten in the dust and sand of an ever-expanding desert. The tumbledown stones faded into legend, and the legend became myths spoken of in hushed tones by the nomads who traveled the rim of the empty quarter. It wasn't until someone stumbled across the ruins, and managed to survive the dangers that lurked there, that the place was discovered again. And once it was discovered, the Silver Wraiths descended to claim it as their own.

The guild of necromancers used their arts to reclaim the city, and to rebuild it. Not only that, but it is through their endeavors that the necropolis has become a metropolis where the living and the dead now exist cheek-by-jowl. From the massive sand trains pulled by skeletal mammoths (with gray-robed necromancers sitting in the rib cage as their drovers), to the undead servants who clean the gutters, haul the garbage, care for crops, and more, the bodies of the dead were the tools used to build Moüd into the city it is today.

- Historian Demarcles Heralds, "The History of Great Cities"

The City of Bones has spun the raw stuff of death, turning it into a necessity for life.

For those who didn't see the announcement when it first came out, the second city in my fantasy RPG setting Sundara: Dawn of a New Age is finally out! Moüd: The City of Bones is available in both a Pathfinder Classic version, as well as in a Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition version, whichever suits your style of play. And while this supplement made a bit of a splash when it first dropped, I wanted to talk a bit about some of what's going on between the covers, and how it fits into the overall vision I have for the setting as it develops!

Alternatively, if you're a DIY sort of person when it comes to world building, I'd recommend taking a look at 5 Tips For Creating Fantasy Towns and Cities, which gets into the process of how I've been building all these unique locations!

As usual, if you haven't signed up for my weekly newsletter, consider doing that to get all of my updates and fresh content as it drops. Also, if you missed the first supplement that introduced this new setting Ironfire: The City of Steel is also available both in a Pathfinder Classic and in a Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition format!

Treating Necromancy as Just Another Tool

As I mentioned in What is "Sundara: Dawn of a New Age" All About?, one of the signature elements of this new setting is that it completely jettisons the traditional alignment system. While I have a more detailed guide regarding how that changes the rules (particularly for Pathfinder Classic, where alignment is so intimately tied to a lot of classes, spells, and concepts), the starting goal was to throw out the white hats and black hats that so many players reflexively reach for when they tell their stories.

This should be especially appealing for players who never get to really dig into all that necromancy has to offer, because so much of the really fun stuff comes with an Evil label on the spells.

This desert will strip your hide. Bess, here, don't got to worry none about that.

To lay the foundation for a new perspective on necromancy, I used the Silver Wraiths guild from my 100 Fantasy Guilds supplement that dropped a while back. Traditionally employed to stop random upsurges of undead, and to deal with angry spirits as exorcists (since necromancer is a profession, and one held by a wide variety of classes), the guild also put their magic to use in unexpected ways that have proven quite beneficial to commerce in general. Preserving the corpses of slaughtered animals for long journeys, ensuring they remain fresh, is one example. When the guild has needed to use corpses to complete its tasks (such as disaster relief, search and rescue, and more), they have strict rules about how bodies are acquired, what compensation must be rendered (inspired by The Taskmaster Necromancer), etc.

Moüd takes this idea of necromancy as a tool, which can be used for positive or negative ends, and ratchets it up to an industrial scale.

At first it was because the expertise of an entire guild of necromancers was needed to undo the remnants of a disastrous ritual that had been performed in the depths of the ancient city centuries ago (more on that in the history section), but once the immediate danger was passed the Silver Wraiths found themselves uniquely suited to solving the issues presented by the inhospitable environment surrounding Moüd. Because the city was still located in the midst of a forgotten trade route, but it was far too dangerous for living creatures to make the journey.

To reinvigorate the ancient trade route, the guild used undead beasts of burden to haul first supplies, and then passengers, across the wastes (similar to what I put in The Veterinarian Necromancer). The heat and dangers make labor dangerous for living men, so teams of undead workers handle menial tasks efficiently and effectively. The amount of labor means the guild declared it their new headquarters, which means apprentices are now trained there. The city grows, with new industries and new trade coming in every day, until Moüd is nearly as prosperous now as it was in its ancient days.

Digging Deeper Than Alignment

The key to remember with the City of Bones, and with Sundara as a whole, is that cultural beliefs will vary widely across the setting. For some people, and even some faiths, the body is sacred and must be respected. For others it's an empty husk once the soul has departed, no more holy than any other inert matter. Even individuals within an organization like the Silver Wraiths will have differing views and opinions regarding these subjects.

While I included a tracking system with consequences for over-use of certain spells (and of negative energy in general), that is meant as a way of showing the effects of living people dealing with energies that are antithetical to life; a purely physical toll, rather than a spiritual one. For folks who want necromancy to still have that edge of danger, but who would rather see it treated like radiation poisoning instead of a corruption of the soul.

What, me? No, I haven't been casting necromancy spells today... why are you asking?

The idea is that players and game masters should have the freedom to explore these ideas, traditions, and beliefs through that lens of differing cultural views, rather than with a single, divine rule that decided which actions are inherently good, or inherently evil across all cultures, species, and religions. Because, as so many folks have said, necromancy spells (even the dread and dire ones) could be used as tools to achieve good ends. Even the "harmless" spells could be used to perform some dire deeds, used to seriously hurt people. Alignment isn't concerned with motivation and uses in many cases, though, because things that are inherently good or inherently evil are good or evil in the moment the act is performed rather (or often in addition to) the ends they were meant to achieve.

And in this dawn of a new age, I'd like to see all of us choosing to think outside the boxes we've so often been stuck inside when it came to limits on our stories and character options.

Like, Follow, and Stay in Touch!

That's all for this week's Moon Pope Monday. To stay on top of all my content and releases, make sure you subscribe to my newsletter at the bottom of the page!

Again, for more of my work, check out my Vocal archive, and stop by the YouTube channel Dungeon Keeper Radio. Or if you'd prefer to read some of my books, like my cat noir thriller Marked Territory, my sword and sorcery novel Crier's Knife or my latest short story collection The Rejects, then head over to My Amazon Author Page!

To stay on top of all my latest releases, follow me on Facebook, Tumblr, Twitter, and now Pinterest as well! To support my work, consider Buying Me a Ko-Fi, or heading to The Literary Mercenary's Patreon page to become a regular, monthly patron. That one helps ensure you get more Improved Initiative, and it means you'll get my regular, monthly giveaways as a bonus!