Dracomeander said:
Hope they have spells to do that with. That or they have Improved Unarmed Strike or improvised weapons available. Undead are not subject to non-lethal damage which is what unarmed, unarmored characters are limited to without those other conditions.
Here's the sitation: My players've been stranded on an uncharted island, kidnapped by a pirate revenant ("Jack Sparrow" for simplicity' sake) and his undead crew that is pissed at Our Heroes--they stole a McGuffin from Jack, and he wants it back. He's bringing the McGuffin to his "boss," a ghost pirate captain, anchored to the island (no pun intended), that provided Jack Sparrow with advice. (Jack wasn't a very experienced pirate in life.) In return for advice, Sparrow had been searching for the McGuffin that the PCs managed to nab from him.
So, Sparrow (as revenant) and his undead crew knocked them out (non-lethal damage) and brought them to this island, where Sparrow keeps his booty in cliffside caves, accessed by stairs carved into the rock. The caves are riddled with piratical traps to prevent anyone from stealing his booty. The McGuffin will complete a Bad Artifact that will do Something Awful to the Flanaess, which is what the ghostly pirate "boss" wants.
Stripped of gear & weapons, they've managed to slip out of Sparrow's boat and onto the shore of the island. (Queue LOST theme here.) That's where next week's adventure begins.
Yes, the wizard has a few spells memorized.
Aslo, they'll have to use improvised weapons. Or they'll have to steal weapons. Or the 18 STR fighter will have to arm-wrestle a sword from an undead pirate.
....Or, if they're smart, they'll have to collapse part of the caves the undead pirates are in.
Their gear is stashed within the caves, so once they have their gear the situation will change.
And yeah, my players' characters just turned second level.
I never said it'd be easy...
(Do I qualify for rat-bastard DM-dom yet?)