Sorcery or Necromancy

Sorcery or Necromancy?

  • Sorcery

    Votes: 0 0.0%

  • Necromancy

    Votes: 0 0.0%
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    0
magnificentmomo

magnificentmomo

That Guy
Now excuse me if this a doppleganger thread, my search-fu is weak. But What do you think is more powerful? Sorcery or Necromancy? I was reading through the Black and White Treatise and it seemed that Necromancy was mainly potent with planning and ghosts. While Sorcery seems to have more things they can just whip out. Don't get me wrong, raising hordes, creating horrors, and summoning dead behemoths(or becoming one) is pretty cool and all but where is the Death of Obsidian Butterflies, Flight of the Brilliant Raptor, Flying Guillotine, Lightning Whip Smites the Water, or the obvious Total Annihilation.


I mean unless you are in the Underworld against ghosts, there are far less blatant "I am fucking shit up!" spells that you can just pull out of your ass. I am only begrudged by this because it keeps saying that Necromancy is feared equally in the Underworld and Creation.


I am not saying I couldn't have missed something or am wrong. By all means this is intended to be a catalyst for discussion more than a soapbox or complaint box.


tl;dr See title of thread!
 
Which is better? Neither. They both have their own strengths. Sorcery IS more broadely useful, but generally slightly less powerful in its own specific field of influence. Neither is particullarly useful when it comes to direct in combat use, even less so at the upper levels. You have to live long enough to cast the higher circle spells...and with no charm defense and no reflexive actions...you're not going to be too happy by the time you cast Solar or Void spells...even less so when your target/targets give you the finger with a perfect or semi-perfect defense. If you want to deal with the Underworld, death and so forth, Necromancy is damn useful. If want to delve into the realms of sorcerous powerful, that can be damn useful too. For most, Sorcery is likely to be a better choice, but for those that like what Necromancy is good at, it's hard to beat.
 
Clarification: Sorcery and Necromancy are not much good for personal combat. In Mass Combat, they can be the bomb. Literally.
 
That I can potentially agree with, both because of the difference in time scale, the scope of effect, and the fact the sorceror can hide in the corner while other people give their lives so they can cast.
 
I know that Sorcery isn't supposed to be combat able (I am not looking for DnD sorcery here:LOL MAJICK MISSLED!...no), but I am fairly certain that all of the spells I listed (except Total Annihilation obviously) are first circle, which means it is only a speed 5 shape sorcery action which doesn't take very long.


P.S. Is it just me or can a zombie not hit shit? According to Ex2e they have an accuracy pool of 4 for their attacks. I had some zombies up against heroic mortals and they did little more than swing and miss.
 
"only a speed 5 action" + a join battle roll afterwards... that means you are vulnerable for a minimum of 6 ticks... in which you have no access to perfect defenses of any kind. You should be at least flying a cirrus skiff if you want to use sorcery in combat.
 
So really the only combat abilities are the 5 combat abilities? But sorcery can augment it, like scene long, with spells like Wood Dragon's Claw and Incomparable Body Arsenal.
 
I am not saying you can't use sorcery in combat, but when you choose to do so, do so from a high point (or even better while flying) our of melee range, have a personal bodyguard of elementals and demons and be prepared to still be outclassed casually by the first invincible bow bunny that crosses your path.


perhaps I am really saying that sorcery is not for combat ^^
 
The Black Treatise puts it best: sorcery is a knife, but necromancy is a stiletto.


And while I agree that under conditions where speed is of the utmost importance, either one is hard to wield effectively in personal combat, both have one-hit-one-kill spells, i.e. Flying Guillotine and Shattered Void Mirror. Clever or well-prepared characters can find ways to mitigate the slowness of sorcery and use it to devastating effect.
 
I like necro better, more spirit in it than in sorcery... besides Necromancy does aggravated damage on the Fair Folk !
 
Clever or well-prepared characters can find ways to mitigate the slowness of sorcery and use it to devastating effect.
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True indeed.  In a game I played a Solar sorceror-muse was performing a grand opera on stage, her anima burning the entire time.  Its energies swirled about as she sang and rhymed, the spirits in the audience (Twas performed in Yu-Shan...long story) enraptured by her magnificence.  None even considered the possibility that her anima was lit for reasons besides artistic elegance.  


The green orb that descended into the audience a few moments later taught them otherwise.
 
If a sorcerer is a part of a circle, and has the opportunity to work with them in planning things out, it can be a deadly combination.  The spellcaster lingers back and shapes the spell while his companions play blocking force, then he lets fly and watches shit die.  You are being attacked by a swarm of Wyld-twisted birds?  Obsidian Butterfly will clear the sky.  An asshole archer is blocking a path from on high?  Flying Guillotine.


That spell even works well in mass combat.  It lets you pinpoint and take out unit leaders and lower their effective ability to fight.
 
The green orb that descended into the audience a few moments later taught them otherwise.
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Oh you mean terrorist bastard, you nuked Yu- Shan... that is sooo not cool  :twisted:
hope you had a good escape plan / lots of athletics charms to make it out alive.


Actually I can't but agree that sorcery IS more efficient in single and massive damage dealing than necromancy. But necromancy's sooooooo much more about fun and style.


Ain't nothing like a good old curse that makes your hometown look like dawn of the dead  :twisted:
 
I love it all, but I agree that it can be a real pain in the ass to get things done when you are going solo. It is definitely a plus when you have some buddies to back you up.
 
Personally I much prefer Necromancy.  When playing a sorceror I tend to look at the available spells and sigh.  For whatever reason my creativity fails me when trying to think of things to do with sorcery.


However, with Necromancy it's a lot more narrow in scope.  I like that.  Lets me fill out that role in the group.  And as for sorcery being better at killing things...eh.  I think that is supremely debatable.
 
magnificentmomo said:
Oh I love Necromancy too, they just didn't give it many attack-esque spells.
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Shattered Void Mirror, Hungry Creeping Shadow, Flesh-Sloughing Wave, Bone Puppet Dance, Flesh and Bone Winds and many others hurt/ kill people. And that's just Shadowlands.
 
I knew about Shattered Void Mirror and Flesh-Sloughing Wave. The others I was familiar with but overlooked. There is another one that makes an arrow but it is pretty weak against living beings. Those round it out a bit more. If anything in my search I was hasty, not biased. I actually prefer Necromancy (I swear I am not a goth kid, I only have this avatar because it is a shoop of Jude Law *swoon* in fantasy armor).
 
And as for sorcery being better at killing things...eh.  I think that is supremely debatable.
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Actually, sorcery's more efficient to do massive damage to units or buildings, generally it has a larger AoE than necromancy.
There's nothing in necromancy as lethal as Total Anihilation.
 
cyl said:
And as for sorcery being better at killing things...eh.  I think that is supremely debatable.
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Actually, sorcery's more efficient to do massive damage to units or buildings, generally it has a larger AoE than necromancy.
There's nothing in necromancy as lethal as Total Anihilation.
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Mouth of the Void is close.
 
The Black Treatise puts it best: sorcery is a knife, but necromancy is a stiletto.
And while I agree that under conditions where speed is of the utmost importance, either one is hard to wield effectively in personal combat, both have one-hit-one-kill spells, i.e. Flying Guillotine and Shattered Void Mirror. Clever or well-prepared characters can find ways to mitigate the slowness of sorcery and use it to devastating effect.
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Sorcery-Holding Cords come to mind. Those really hurt when you, the shoddy beggar, have two Flying Guillotines hanging on your seemingly tattered clothing...
 
Basically wind capturing cords, they're distilled Terrestrial level magic in knotted cord form. Want a spell? Infuse into the cord during x ritual *can't recall right now* and when you need to use take an action to unthread it with a jerk. BAM! Instant spell. You could be a real dick and distill the instant suicide spell as one of the cords and just happen to let your enemies get ahold of it.


I believe Jukashi or Thorn suggested that once.
 
You could be a real dick and distill the instant suicide spell as one of the cords and just happen to let your enemies get ahold of it.
I believe Jukashi or Thorn suggested that once.
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Saw it.  Liked i.  Wanted it.  Yoinked it.  And left.
<.<  >.>  o_o


*runs for the hills*
 
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