I would consider people being tainted by the Unlife (but not completely consumed) to be dual casters, with the caveat that their capability to manipulate the Essaence decreases as their capability to call the Unlife grows - in a way, the Unlife takes a part of their being and replaces it with a nothingness that is used to call it. The bigger the nothingness, the greater the capability to call the Unlife, but the less 'being' is left. People fully consumed by the Unlife would not be able to cast any normal spell, and would only have access to Unlife powers.
Sorry, but isn't that basically the rules for learning Unlife/Evil spell lists from the Shadow World books anyway? ;-)
I do think the dual casting thing is a Shadow World rule. The fact that opening oneself to the Unlife actually *consumes* part of you, including all development, I don't remember reading in the SW books (but maybe I just forgot). The Unlife feeds on everything, including memories. Evil lists don't consume anything, you're just an a**hole, and being an a**hole 1) gives more power and 2) exposes you to the risk of being out-a**holed by someone or something else. Just like the real world, really
When you think about it, there's not a world of difference between, say, the sorcerer destruction lists and some of the Evil Essence lists. They come from the same source - the intent is different, but the intent is in the caster, not in the magic.
Whereas Unlife is radically different and alien. It's more alien than the Void, more alien than the Agothu. And yet, it resonates within everything and everyone that lives, like a beautiful, soothing dirge. Like a whisper that says your life of pain and suffering, your life of anger and frustration, can end. Nihility is a powerful attraction.
My problem with Unlife as depicted in the rules is that, technically, it's just an OP set of lists. Same structure, same logic, same parameters and seemingly same limitations. It doesn't match the Unlife that is depicted in the flavour text and, frankly, does it a disservice.
I think Unlife powers should not be based on level, but should be based on how much you've sacrificed to it - how *hollow* you are. Spell lists are just baubles to attract those who seek power, but the real Unlife powers should be radically different in nature, mechanics, and effects. All based on annihilation - annihilation of emotions, annihilation of pain, annihilation of movement, annihilation of energy, annihilation of life, annihilation of matter. By letting the Unlife devours you, you forget what makes you a living being, what makes you real, and you can be a conduit for the Unlife to affect the surrounding world. But it's never *your* power - it's only how much room there is inside yourself for the Unlife to enter the world and consume it.
And in that way, 'using' the Unlife is truly Channeling - you open yourself to the Unlife. It merely asks for its pound of flesh in the process, but you don't feel it - of course you don't feel it, that was the point all along.
This way, true minions of the Unlife become more than sadistic bullies. They truly are the faithful, the devout, those who sacrifice of themselves to bring the world to an end and, at last, to eternal peace.
In other words, I think there is far too much "evil" in the Unlife as technically defined in Shadow World, and not enough nihilism. And the powers reflect that.
