Burial Rites

[BluWolf]

I have been working on some of the ritual aspects of the religions that dot my world (simiar to ours with a pluralistic doghma of Monotheism), and it sort of has me asking the question:

Wouldn't most religions in a world where undead are a posibility (if not an eventuality) practice cremation as a burial standard??

Discuss?

 

[Crothian]

I say yes. A cemetary is an invitation for a necromancer to come on over and create an army.

 

[Rostek]

Of course, if you as a DM wanted to get around that, it would be easy to say that fire is associated with [insert "Satan" figure/lord of the underworld/Hell] and to burn your dead is representative of their burning in Hell, and thus avoided.
Other than that, yes, I would imagine so- some other good ideas are found in the Midnight setting, where the cultures in the setting have to counter their dead becoming undead.
There are several excellent rites in there that could be easily adapted to your world's cultures.

 

[The Shaman]

Wouldn't most religions in a world where undead are a posibility (if not an eventuality) practice cremation as a burial standard?

Something to keep in mind is that cultures don't always adopt the most "logical" practice for any number of reasons.

In the game-world I put together, a few cultures practice cremation while others inter only the bones in elaborate ossuaries in catacomb complexes, in part to deter undeath. However, in some societies, particularly where the goddess of death and the guardian of the dead are each comng the more popular deities, it would be considered "defiling" a corpse to destroy it in such manner - one of the roles of the priesthood for each of these deities is protecting graveyards from necromancers and protecting the citizenry from undead creatures that could possibly result from this emphasis on interring the whole corpse.

 

[adwyn]

IMC the undead are still bound to their bodies. Yes cemetaries could be looted but cremation and other techniques leave the spirits "homeless" and makes them easier to capture by those with a bent for necromancy.

Also as has already been said those buried in cemetaries will have received rites intended on keeping the body and spirit from being turned into undead. This makes it extra hard on the poor grave robbers who must find the corpses that haven't received rites - the poor, murder victims and the like.

 

[sword-dancer]

Would the powers of an necromancer work in the cemetery?
Or would the blessings of the priests, the holy ground protect the rest of the dead ?

 

[carpedavid]

I use the taint mechanic in my campaign, which is fueled by the negative energy of the Land of the Dead. When the spirit of an intelligent creature dies, it travels to the land of the dead, thus opening a conduit for negative energy to flow back through. The corpse immediatly becomes tainted, and, if it isn't cremated, rises as a ghoul in 1d4 days.

The only exceptions to this are "enlightened" individuals, whose spirits travel directly to the High Plains of Heaven upon their deaths.

I suppose, in a world like I've described, one might also have specific ceremonies that break the tie to the Land of the Dead, such as burial in consecrated ground, or bathing the body in purified water, but I like my option better.

 

[sniffles]

If you like to have lots of undead, your religion could practice exposure, as have many cultures throughout history. Leaving bodies out to be devoured by carrion-eaters is perfectly reasonable in a religious context (returning the body to the earth from which it was formed) and means your necromancers don't even have to dig anything up to get supplies.

BTW, if your thread title is regarding burial rituals, then it's "Burial Rites", not rights. Unless you're talking about the right to be buried.

 

[BluWolf]

If you like to have lots of undead, your religion could practice exposure, as have many cultures throughout history. Leaving bodies out to be devoured by carrion-eaters is perfectly reasonable in a religious context (returning the body to the earth from which it was formed) and means your necromancers don't even have to dig anything up to get supplies.

BTW, if your thread title is regarding burial rituals, then it's "Burial Rites", not rights. Unless you're talking about the right to be buried.

Excellent point. Thats what I get for posting at work and not engaging the brain housing group.

 

[The Grackle]

I use the taint mechanic in my campaign, which is fueled by the negative energy of the Land of the Dead. When the spirit of an intelligent creature dies, it travels to the land of the dead, thus opening a conduit for negative energy to flow back through. The corpse immediatly becomes tainted, and, if it isn't cremated, rises as a ghoul in 1d4 days.

The only exceptions to this are "enlightened" individuals, whose spirits travel directly to the High Plains of Heaven upon their deaths.

I suppose, in a world like I've described, one might also have specific ceremonies that break the tie to the Land of the Dead, such as burial in consecrated ground, or bathing the body in purified water, but I like my option better.

That would make warfare really, really dangerous. Do both sides have time outs so they can burn bodies?