>>96060621
In games like D&D 4/5E and Pathfinder 2E, I tend to prefer "clean" necromancy. Easy to work into a party of good-aligned adventurers and nothing too under/overpowered or inconvenient. Boring, sterile, safe. Just like everything else in those games.
But in older editions, or literally any other game, I want necromancy with actual power, terrible costs, and vile consequences. It should require human sacrifice, desecrate the land, and taint the soul. It should require dark forbidden knowledge and painstakingly careful preparation. And beyond all things, it must give power commensurate with its costs. Necromancers should be feared for good reason.