Necromancy and general evil spell questions.

[Blackman D]

who let the gnomes out?

[White Raven]

Knowledge comes with your death release. Blessing deaths is to bring smiles!

Labor force needed in White Hands

[K'yon Oblodra]

In ethos, Jergal is colder and more inhumane than his master, sanctioning the use and creation of undead by his followers, provided they serve the cause of advancing death in the world. He is not evil or malicious, but impassively records the death of all things.

The Lord of the End of Everything

I know there is a cleric of myrkhul... I think it's myrkhul will check and edit...

Interesting. I've never thought of playing a cleric or whatever of Jergal, are there any active players doing this?

Elder Doom has a cleric of the lord of death... Think that's myrkhul though... Not an expert on the topic though

[Vermilion]

Bear in mind, and use as a defence if confronted by the pious, that necromancy itself is not evil by default in the realms. There are several new custom spells (plus old favourite Undeath's Eternal Foe) where you can use your Necromancy focus around paladins and the other righteous without any (legitimate) implications.

Jergal even allows paladin followers himself, though this grants one the somber responsibility of preventing tombs from being raided - an anti-adventurer

[Rhifox]

its necromancy isnt it? but i dont think he is the evil tag on it?

either way most would say the act of killing someone is evil in itself

I agree, I would think any spell designed to take away life would be considered evil. Slay living also has a pretty ominous name, probably hinting at what the answer is.

EVIL SPELLS
Only a few spells in the Player’s Handbook have the evil descriptor, but almost all the spells in this book have the evil descriptor. Spells have the evil descriptor because they do one or more of the following things.

• They cause undue suffering or negative emotions.
• They call upon evil gods or energies.
• They create, summon, or improve undead or other evil
monsters.
• They harm souls.
• They involve unsavory practices such as cannibalism or
drug use.

WHAT’S EVIL?
Some would point out that a fireball spell is likely to cause undue suffering, and it could be used to kill a group of orphans. Does that make fireball an evil spell?

Fireball, by itself, simply creates a blast of fire. Fire can be used for evil purposes, but it is not inherently evil. Contrasted with a spell such as shriveling, whose only purpose and only possible use is to wither the flesh of another living creature in a painful and debilitating fashion, it becomes easier to see why shriveling is an evil spell.

So Slay Living would not be (and isn't) Evil. It's Death. Death by itself is not evil. Finger of Death in 3.5 is the same, it is Death but not Evil... but in 5th edition Finger of Death is given a 'raise the killed person as a ghoul' component, which would make it Evil in that edition.

Indeed, for spells that kill people, Slay Living and Finger of Death are some of the most merciful. They are quick and instant if you fail the saving throw. Compare that to something like Drown, which exists solely to kill someone by filling their lungs with water so they drown. That's a pretty awful way to go (the druid version does not have the Evil descriptor because, in pnp, it knocks the person unconscious in the first round. There is a Wizard/Sorc version that does not do that and is Evil). It's like beheading someone versus flaying them. They both result in death, but one does it quickly and painlessly.

[Marathados]

And is Slay Living not doing divine damage on a save?

[Deathgrowl]

And is Slay Living not doing divine damage on a save?

Magic.