Necromancy barely felt like a school to me in Oblivion, I mean I know the player couldn't be one, but even the Necromancers just used summon zombie spells and killed people to trap their souls in black soul gems. Both things the player character could technically do.

As for transformation spells, I think that would be a cool bonus to Alteration. Seeing as Alteration was kind of a useless skill in Oblivion it'd be a good way to spice it up.

alteration doesn't change your appearance. Illusion does.

Good poll.

Agreed on the alteration. Never thought of it, it is a nice idea that its effect on yourself should be taken further. Necromancy, now, why not, but only if it gets you in some serious trouble. Why not work it like vampirism or bounty is worked - tough luck if you're found out.

*edit* that post goes by what I've vaguely heard in the Mages' guild, so that's tentative. I kinda flunked magic and magic-related lore.

Only if it's fake. If you transform into a bear with the strength of the bear then that's more than illusion magic.

Those are both really cool ideas! I'd love to see them implemented!

Alteration is for altering the world physics.
Restoration is for enhancing your flesh.
Illusion is for altering yourself to others. If there were to be a "disguise" kind of spell, it should fall in this school of magic. I don't think the kind of things you get from restoration could be used to "alter" yourself....
Also, if there was a spell for physical alteration, it would probably be very taboo considering how most feel about vamps, werewolves and other physical altering and enhancing effects.

Necromancy is a combination of doing bad things with conjuration / mysticism / enchantment

I would say there should be a necromancer plot line, sort of like being a vampire. ie: There is not a necromancy school, but you can become a necromancer through quests, where you learn to create black soul gems, steal "humanoid" souls, and then use them to power the creation of custom spells attributes / equipment.

eg: A "necromantic" zombie conjuration spell would make you a permanent sidekick zombie when used on a dead body, powered by a black soul gem... and be highly taboo. Compare this to a standard "acceptable" conjuration zombie, which pops in for a short time from another dimension.

I think full transformations should have longish cooldowns, for use of a better term. Say you gain the greater power "Transformation: Wolf" when you hit 50 in alteration. Like all greater powers you could only use this once a day, discouraging you from relying on it too heavily. When you do use it there would probably be a flash of blinding light, with you emerging as a powerful beast, with drastically increased combat abilities. It would only last for 5 -10 or so seconds at first, but would scale with your alteration skill. A master of alteration could probably hold the form for 20-30 seconds.

You get the picture. Transformation would act as a powerful spell that you can only use once a day, but when you do use it you will be very powerful, albeit for a short duration.

As for necromancy, I kinda viewed conjuration as its less evil form. Perhaps different quests that teach you dark arts, if you choose to go down that path?

Yes to necromancy. Alteration should remain as the school that alters the physical world around you. Better to have a separate school for self-alteration/transformation.