Even though this was supposed to be a necromancer character (and I'm still going to pick perks following that type, I didn't moan about ash piles for nothing), I've seemed to latch on to a ranger/hunter-type roleplay with magic thrown in. I guess it could have come from playing as a Bosmer, it just seemed to fit. I've raised a few corpses and got the Ritual Stone power but the way I've been playing has been more akin to a hunter or ranger than a manipulator of the undead.

I've been wearing hide armour and using a hunting bow, sneaking around, and skinning my kills for profit. It may not be the most profitable activity in the game but it makes the world seem a lot less artificial. I'm going to need to enchant it though to compensate for not selecting perks in non-magic skills. I still only hunt dangerous wildlife with in-character justification of "there is no thrill in hunting something that can't hunt you" and it's really quite enjoyable having some sort of purpose and place in the world other than just following the main quest (even though I am following the main quest). On my last playthrough, just before patch 1.4, I had my character go mad, declare herself 'The Huntress' and run into the wild to punch bears with her bear hands even though she was a squishy mage. She got better though, a dragon fight reminded her of her true purpose as Dragonborn and then I deleted her. But now I'm getting off-track.

I suggest you guys try a character type that has purpose rather than just identity. I mean, what does a Necromancer do all day? Hang out in the Halls of the Dead chatting up corpses? Perhaps this is why there should be more day-to-day tasks in guilds rather than a storyline to justify you becoming the big boss then wandering off to become the big boss of some other organisation and never see the other guild again.