Flames And The Undead

[Diamond Cross]

I put this question to you:

Is it actually the flame that harms undead?

OR....

Is it actually the light from the flames that harm the undead?


This is something I've been thinking about lately but I haven't quite made up my mind on the matter.

So I'd like to hear your thoughts on the matter.

 

[3d6]

I don't actually think of light burning undead as being all that common. Vampires seem to the prominent example, but it seems like most undead stick to the dark because they're horror movie monsters and darkness is scary rather than any physical aversion to light.

 

[RedTonic]

I would say it's the flame that hurts them. Daylight generally harms only vampires, though other undead traditionally hew to twilight and night. The latter is usually handwaved away as a link between nightfall and the otherworld/land of the dead being closer to the world of the living. If it were simply the light, the light of a torch (electric or burning!) would be enough to damage them.

If you mean 'mechanically,' I have yet to play a game where a simple light spell or the emanation from a light-casting device (which is not magically enhanced by something like a daylight spell) is enough to actually get rid of undead, with the exception of a videogame where you snapped photos of ghosts and that somehow banished them. I think that may have been a quality of that particular camera, though, which doesn't make the game much of an exception; I can't remember the title.

I'm assuming you mean "harm" and are not talking about blinding...

 

[Umbran]

As I understand it, typically the mythology or stories have undead inconvenienced or injured not just by light, but by the light of the sun, specifically.

So, I'd generally say the damage from fire is from the actual destruction of the physical body by burning it, rather than by exposure to the light of the flames.

 

[Diamond Cross]

I would say it's the flame that hurts them. Daylight generally harms only vampires, though other undead traditionally hew to twilight and night. The latter is usually handwaved away as a link between nightfall and the otherworld/land of the dead being closer to the world of the living. If it were simply the light, the light of a torch (electric or burning!) would be enough to damage them.

If you mean 'mechanically,' I have yet to play a game where a simple light spell or the emanation from a light-casting device (which is not magically enhanced by something like a daylight spell) is enough to actually get rid of undead, with the exception of a videogame where you snapped photos of ghosts and that somehow banished them. I think that may have been a quality of that particular camera, though, which doesn't make the game much of an exception; I can't remember the title.

I'm assuming you mean "harm" and are not talking about blinding...

Yes, I mean harm and not banish. By harm I mean turn to ash.

 

[IronWolf]

Yeah - I definitely think it is the flame that hurts them not the light. Fire burns!

 

[Dragonwriter]

...with the exception of a videogame where you snapped photos of ghosts and that somehow banished them. I think that may have been a quality of that particular camera, though, which doesn't make the game much of an exception; I can't remember the title.

I believe it was the Fatal Frame series.

As for my thoughts on the subject, it's definitely the flames of the fire that do the damage. After all (to quote Belkar), 'When in doubt, set something on fire.'

 

[the Jester]

I'll buck the trend slightly and say "Depends on the undead."

More specifically, generally it's the fire burning that is doing the damage; but I could buy the light argument for undead shadows or similar types of creatures.

(Granted that shadows are only undead in certain versions of D&D.)

 

[Wycen]

You could make it both, but generally it is the fire that burns and does the damage.

Of course some undead, like the effigy are immune to fire.

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

They're dead, they're dry, they're dessicated; they're twiggy; they burn. Particularly mummies.

Wraiths and specters, on the other hand, would be fun to have appear in fires.