Necro: Am I going to have tail envy?

[ReoDobbs]

Starting here on project 1999. Where I am in life need a self sufficient character to solo 95% of the time.

I'm looking at the necro, but with that in mind I'm also not overly interested in playing a an iskar necro. I've always enjoyed the gnome asthetics as my main used to be a gnome mage back in the day.

My questions are:

Is not going Iskar going to gimp me? Is going gnome going to be the difference between having to lifetap more frequently (no problem with this), or is it more like going to be 10-15 minutes more downtime per hour (umm, that would suck)? I know there are numbers posted but, for someone who has never played with lich form I have no idea what those numbers actually "feel" or mean, in the long run.

If I stick with my current gnome (not even lvl 4 yet so no biggie on the reroll), do I have anything besides asthetics to show for it? Are there factions that I won't be KOS in skellie form that an Iskar may?

Lastly, I'm enjoying this server so far. Getting whacked 8 times (first 3 times I couldn't figure out wtf was going on, the following 5 trying to get my newbie equipment) in a row by the same npc right outside of the entrance to Ak, because I was a necro.


TLDR:
Not going Iskar and having the Regen going to gimp me. Besides numbers what does it really mean?
Going Gnome, do I get any faction bennies (other than Ak) that Iskar don't, even in skellie form?