The problem comes in when the necromancers promise skeletons for manual labor stuff to make society better, then they take public funding and ultimately the skeletons start making soulless derivative art and writing plays/stories that barely (or don’t) make sense.
The problem is getting an army of undead. If a level 20 wizard uses all their spell slots on reasserting Animate Dead every day, that’s 128 skeletons. They’d presumably be untrained laborers making 2 sp a day, so it’s 25.6 gp a day. You’d be the world’s poorest level 20 wizard.
If you want a proper army, your options are having a whole bunch of necromancers, a Lich using its Lair Actions to regenerate spell slots, the Wand of Orcus, or using Finger of Death to murder people for years. And that last one only gets you zombies.
Edit: It’s 142 skeletons if you’re a necromancer wizard thanks to Undead Thrall giving you an extra pile of bones.
Also, they work 24/7. Even if they worked for someone else, they’d do at least double or triple shifts, depending if they’re 12h or 8h, netting far more than 2sp.
You have to be a really good capitalist. If anyone could do that, they’d bid up the price of employees until the companies can barely turn a profit. And at that point, the skeletons barely help.
If you can make ten times the employee’s pay, then human employees vs skeletons is just a question of 10% of your income. But high-level necromancers are going to be more expensive than just paying commoners.
Maybe skeletons can have some benefit over a regular human employee. For example, you don’t have to worry about workplace safety. If they get crushed, well, just summon another tomorrow. There’s no risk of them unionising or revolting. They will not abandon you for an employer who does care whether they live or not. You can use them to do all the gross and dangerous stuff where you’d actually have to pay humans more to do it. They don’t slack off, they don’t need breaks, they don’t need sleep.
I think it would be possible to capitalize on that.
Poor. … A poor lifestyle means going without the comforts available in a stable community. Simple food and lodgings, threadbare clothing, and unpredictable conditions result in a sufficient, though probably unpleasant, experience. Your accommodations might be a room in a flophouse or in the common room above a tavern. You benefit from some legal protections, but you still have to contend with violence, crime, and disease. People at this lifestyle level tend to be unskilled laborers, costermongers, peddlers, thieves, mercenaries, and other disreputable types.
Mercenaries are a pretty unsafe job, and they can still only afford 2 sp a day, so I don’t think workplace safety factors in much.
Hmm.
The problem comes in when the necromancers promise skeletons for manual labor stuff to make society better, then they take public funding and ultimately the skeletons start making soulless derivative art and writing plays/stories that barely (or don’t) make sense.
We are working on making it better, we just need to use up more and more mana to train the skeletons
The problem is getting an army of undead. If a level 20 wizard uses all their spell slots on reasserting Animate Dead every day, that’s 128 skeletons. They’d presumably be untrained laborers making 2 sp a day, so it’s 25.6 gp a day. You’d be the world’s poorest level 20 wizard.
If you want a proper army, your options are having a whole bunch of necromancers, a Lich using its Lair Actions to regenerate spell slots, the Wand of Orcus, or using Finger of Death to murder people for years. And that last one only gets you zombies.
Edit: It’s 142 skeletons if you’re a necromancer wizard thanks to Undead Thrall giving you an extra pile of bones.
Only if you send them to work somewhere else and have them give you their pay.
If you are their “employer” you can make much more than 2sp per day from them.
A good capitalist can make 10x or even 100x of what they pay their employees off their work.
Also, they work 24/7. Even if they worked for someone else, they’d do at least double or triple shifts, depending if they’re 12h or 8h, netting far more than 2sp.
Do they? In 3.5, undead didn’t need to sleep, but 5e doesn’t seem to have rules for that.
Even if you’re making 85.2 gp a day, that’s a pittance for a level 20 wizard.
You have to be a really good capitalist. If anyone could do that, they’d bid up the price of employees until the companies can barely turn a profit. And at that point, the skeletons barely help.
Depends on how many high-level necromancers are there who can provide skelettons.
If you can make ten times the employee’s pay, then human employees vs skeletons is just a question of 10% of your income. But high-level necromancers are going to be more expensive than just paying commoners.
Maybe skeletons can have some benefit over a regular human employee. For example, you don’t have to worry about workplace safety. If they get crushed, well, just summon another tomorrow. There’s no risk of them unionising or revolting. They will not abandon you for an employer who does care whether they live or not. You can use them to do all the gross and dangerous stuff where you’d actually have to pay humans more to do it. They don’t slack off, they don’t need breaks, they don’t need sleep.
I think it would be possible to capitalize on that.
Mercenaries are a pretty unsafe job, and they can still only afford 2 sp a day, so I don’t think workplace safety factors in much.
Cast wish
Wish for army of undead
Done
oof ouch what did you do to my bones
A quick greater restoration should fix that
OOF OUCH NOT THOSE BONES
All you really need is some boy skeletons, some girl skeletons, a lot of alcohol and some sexy music
army of skeletons to conquer the world: capitalism style
This is functionally what Fellmarrow is doing in Narrative Declaration’s Kingmaker 2e actual play.