Age of Conan has a necromancer class as well. I haven't the faintest how the game's classes are balanced in general but remember the necromancer was pretty good for damage output and staying alive. Lots of minions to summon, dark arts upon which to call to slay your enemies, etc.
Skyrim isn't bad for necromancy though the options are limited. A novice necromancer (conjuration tree) can reanimate a corpse up to a given level for a short time. As the conjuration skill improves, so too does the power of the reanimated corpses which last longer and can be of a higher level. The master conjurer can have two perma-undead raised from corpse of practically any humanoid in the game, with bonus health (they retain spells and fighting skills from their living form). Vampirism and Vampire Lord (DG) synergise very well with the necromancy playstyle.
In addition, there is the ritual stone [http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cJeSmTwnNAo] to raise multiple slain foes once per day (and an "exploit" that enables preposterous sized armies of undead minions). Add to this various other things to be summoned, such as liches, Bone Men, Duur'Neviir (an undead Dragon from the Soul Cairn, if you have Dawnguard) and the other magic schools (illusion, alteration, restoration, destruction), there's a lot of fun to be had. (One side benefit of high conjuration skill is that conjured "Bound" weapons are very powerful). Be sure to pick up the Necromage perk for bonus effects to all your undead minions (and yourself if you play a vampire).
If you play it on PC, there are also some cool mods [http://www.nexusmods.com/skyrim/mods/searchresults/?src_order=1&src_sort=0&src_view=1&src_tab=1&src_name=necromancy&src_language=0&src_showadult=1&ignoreCF=0&page=1&pUp=1] to make your favourite of the arcane arts even deeper. It can be made more challenging, rewarding, interesting, new perks/spells, increased variety in what you can "bring back" (eg. mummies, infected zombies, wraiths/ghosts, etc).
If you wanted to give necromancy a try in Skyrim, you'll want to concentrate on Conjuration, Illusion and probably alchemy and enchanting too. You could use a (soul trap) weapon/spell if you want, or use a shield in one hand and spell in the other but really would be better off keeping your minions alive and buffed with illusion spells and your enemies debuffed with negative illusion spells. You can raise archers or melee fighters as you like, or other mages. You can even raise enemy necromancers who can then raise a thrall of their own! You'll want to find the Ritual Stone too for the extra death defying goodness. Restoration shouldn't be ignored for healing your minions and the Necromage perk. Consider going vampire too and roleplay the master of undeath.
About NWN, I'm with you on the Pale Master. While it had some interesting benefits, I think the cost of them was too high. You could try a Warlock from NWN2. You'll never had numerous minions but (and it's a good but) Warlocks can cast their Invocations unlimited times per day and one of the lesser ones is a summon undead that grows in power (up to about level 18 IIRC). The Hellfire Warlock gets Summon Baatezu once per day too and one of the top invocations is an unlimited Shapeshift ability to change into a Devil with a flaming sword. It's seriously awesome.
