>Because I think nit-picking is the best, are you also saying
>that a necro who powers to 51 and THEN spends a significant
>amount of time PKing, exploring, observing, etc., etc. has
>just as good of odds as someone who "played it slow" sub hero,
>or is that actually a factor that some people simply throw
>away and cannot make up for?

Technically, you can only power to 47.

But sure, if you want to do that and then make your mark, I don't see any reason why that wouldn't work just as well. Without enumerating every relevant factor (if I could even remember every relevant factor), they're the kinds of ducks that a veteran character will tend to have in line and a 20 hour hero (not that Corvalah was that) won't.

Thematically, risking permanent death for the sake of immortality (and being enough of an expert in necromancy to succeed) is more an old man's wager than a young man's.