Ogrork the Mighty
Explorer
Probably comes from zombies/skeletons being thought of as mindless archetypes of undead, and then applied to undead in general.
Why are undead immune to mind-affecting effects?
There is no good reason why intelligent undead should be immune to mind-affecting effects. They have minds.
Unintelligent undead do not have Int scores, so they should be immune to mind-affecting effects, just like all creatures that lack Int scores.
As far as design reasons go, I would say the designers may have wanted only negative energy effects to be able to control the actions of undead.
I don't like it because it helps to nerf an entire school of magic.
If I ever DM D&D again, I am going to try to houserule that intelligent undead get Iron Will as a bonus feat but may be affected by mind-affecting effects. My inspiration would be the Kindred of the World of Darkness. The vampires in WoD can be controlled by the domination gaze of more powerful vampires.
Unintelligent undead do not have Int scores, so they should be immune to mind-affecting effects, just like all creatures that lack Int scores.
As far as design reasons go, I would say the designers may have wanted only negative energy effects to be able to control the actions of undead.
I don't like it because it helps to nerf an entire school of magic.
If I ever DM D&D again, I am going to try to houserule that intelligent undead get Iron Will as a bonus feat but may be affected by mind-affecting effects. My inspiration would be the Kindred of the World of Darkness. The vampires in WoD can be controlled by the domination gaze of more powerful vampires.
The undead race in WoW also has a racial power related to strength of will.
I agree, the undead type should not have that immunity. The immunity to mind affecting abilities should be a special quality of some undeads and not a general thing.
So then I don't get it. What makes them different from the rest of the work force?
Starbuck_II
First Post
Work force doesn't have much animation.
They just stand there talking to the other one say, " Brains....blah, blah, blah, brains..."
Kerrick
First Post
That makes sense too, but for some reason I just can't see undead getting hypnotized by a color spray or fascinated by a bard's song. Sure, under special circumstances, like a bard who has power over the undead, but in general? Nah. As for the vampire example you cited... that could just as well be a necromantic effect applicable to vampires only. YMMV.
In the World of Darkness, some vampires develop a supernatural discipline called Dominate. This discipline allows them to try to control the minds of both mortals and weaker vampires by making eye contact. It is similar to the domination gaze power of D&D vampires.
I would think that with their powerful senses, vampires would be vulnerable to things like color sprays and songs of fascination, which specifically attack through the senses. I'm not sure why any creature that relies on sight is automatically immune to the blinding effects of the color spray spell. Anne Rice's vampires were very sensitive to such things and emotional as well -it is hard to see the Vampire Lestat being immune to a bard's song.
Intelligent undead have Int, Wis, and Cha scores; I interpret this to mean that they have thoughts and feelings. IMO the presence of thoughts and feelings should create an inroad, however, slight, for mind-affecting effects. A very effective bard's song should have the possibility of bringing back some of the undead's memories of life.
Achan hiArusa
Explorer
In Ravenloft intelligent undead produced a "false mind" that held the thoughts they wanted others to precieve. Any mental effect only affected the false mind rather than the true one.
