The shorter version is I'm not convinced compendiums teaching Empathy makes sense, but have no desire to remove the Empathy gains due to Empath game play issues.

The longer version is that Thanatology is intended to require murder and mayhem to learn as normal day-to-day activity. There's more to Thanatology than just being the Transference link, and that "more" has a lot to do with the blood-soaked demonic rituals at the heart of what the Philosophers struggle to refine into a science.

-Armifer
"Perinthia's astronomers are faced with a difficult choice. Either they must admit that all their calculations were wrong ... or else they must reveal that the order of the gods is reflected exactly in the city of monsters." - Italo Calvino

>>Yea, the basic description of this thing screams thanatology and dissection. But of course if it makes sense it would never be implemented, or even considered

Knowledge of anatomy does not equal knowledge of thanatology, no matter how detailed or grisly the chart may be. Many rituals, including dissection, teach both first aid (broadly, knowledge of anatomy) and thanatology (knowledge of death, dying, occult rites). They are closely related but separate bodies of knowledge.

The road to necrolordhood is a deeply personal journey full of individual discoveries, failures, and triumphs. You cannot be merely be taught or study in a book how to transcend your mortal limitations.

That's my take on it, anyway. From a gameplay point of view thanatology is already super easy to learn. We don't really need an out of combat solution for it.

>>The road to necrolordhood is a deeply personal journey full of individual discoveries, failures, and triumphs. You cannot be merely be taught or study in a book how to transcend your mortal limitations.

Thanatology is an odd little beast. Is is the sole guild skill that cannot be taught, yet it can be learned from a physical book. Some of the MT almanacs will actually target it. That doesn't square with the lore as I understand it, but it is a thing that exists.

I'm not advocating one way or another. It seems, though, that like Necromancers themselves there's a few shades of grey mixed into this conversation.

- I

Following up on this, the same code could potentially be used for necromancers and zombies, or necros and their creatures. They could carve off little bits of their pet without DO (SO if in a justice area because ew), or necrotic reconstruction could (if it doesn't already) teach thanatology when used on zombies or corpses.

<<I would assume that's an oversight given statements made in the past about how thanatology must be learned through practice.>>

I think it is less of an oversight and more it is an MT item and felt unfair to lock one guild out of being able to fully use it. I find it a lot harder to hand wave how suddenly everyone became prodigious almanac readers overnight then a special book teaching something it maybe shouldn't for thematic reasons.

<<I don't think the gains are really that great anyway>>

The gains are pretty awful. I will say though that the little trickle of empathy I get from using a textbook is the only reason my baby Empath is going to be viable. Healing others at low ranks suuuuuuuuuucks. It is so painfully slow. I feel bad for the people I'm trying to heal. Empathy classes are few and far between and generally require you to be at one of the gathering places and I'd rather gouge out my own eyes then hang around there in general let alone long enough to find an awake Empath to listen to. There is a desperate need for adding a better way to learn that starts day 1 that doesn't rely on other players or being in combat.


~Nexty