Carlsen Chris
Explorer
Boring. This is fantasy after all. It can be whatever you want. It could be as simple as two undead loving each other very much and having a baby together. Why not.Undead from birth is a contradiction.
Boring. This is fantasy after all. It can be whatever you want. It could be as simple as two undead loving each other very much and having a baby together. Why not.Undead from birth is a contradiction.
A pretty good definition of a monster.desire for action without consequences.
Reproduction is a characteristic of living things. How are they undead, rather than simply not-dead?Boring. This is fantasy after all. It can be whatever you want. It could be as simple as two undead loving each other very much and having a baby together. Why not.
"I want to eat fresh, hot pizza without burning my mouth."A pretty good definition of a monster.
Self-Locomotion is also a characteristic of living things.Reproduction is a characteristic of living things. How are they undead, rather than simply not-dead?
I believe you meant birth specifically here but your phrasing struck me as particularly off for D&D.Reproduction is a characteristic of living things. How are they undead, rather than simply not-dead?
I suppose they stop being undead and become unlife, like how life became more than just chemistry and pseudo-life like viruses?Reproduction is a characteristic of living things. How are they undead, rather than simply not-dead?
undead are like viruses they need something already built to make more of itself, these jump to cellular life they can build more of themselvesI believe you meant birth specifically here but your phrasing struck me as particularly off for D&D.
Possibly a majority of D&D undead specifically reproduce and create more undead through spawning. Vampires, Wraiths, Wights, Shadows. In older editions Ghouls and Spectres. It is one of their big horrific characteristics that is not uncommon for D&D undead.
The Sumerians believed in a rather bleak afterlife where everyone, regardless of their actions in life, was consigned to an eternity of misery eating and drinking nothing but dust. In The Descent of Ishtar into the Underworld, when the gatekeeper refuses to open the gate for Ishtar to enter, she threatens to destroy the gate and "lead up the dead, that they may eat the living" if he does not allow her entry. He lets her in, because the destruction of the gate would be disasterous.where in mythology is undead pure hate the living kill on sight?
I used to feel the same way, but then I saw the response many of my fellow Americans had to COVID, refusing basic safety measures like social distancing and mask wearing, and uddenly the Romero zombie apocalypse became much more believable.God, I hatezombieghouls--they are freaking ghouls, Romero-clones-- fiction. They're such garbage monsters you have to start with them already having won so you can explain how an animal dumber than a lemming killed off an animal known for its automatic weapons.
Yes, but the second people have half an excuse to shoot, stab, chainsaw human-shaped things with no repercussions? (the point of zombie media) no more zombies.I used to feel the same way, but then I saw the response many of my fellow Americans had to COVID, refusing basic safety measures like social distancing and mask wearing, and uddenly the Romero zombie apocalypse became much more believable.
It's something undead are pretty good at too.Self-Locomotion is also a characteristic of living things.
What rules? What is it that makes undead different from the living? Just a word written in the creature type line?Undead play by their own rules.
Different power source.What rules? What is it that makes undead different from the living? Just a word written in the creature type line?
What does that MEAN? There are lots of different kinds of living things, they are not all powered by "the same biomechanical action". If it walks like a living thing and quacks like a living thing it is a living thing.Different power source.
They're powered by negative energy while life is powered by positive. It means they don't tend to need the same biomechanical action living beings do. That doesn't preclude undead from having their own means of constructing new versions of themselves internally.
Unless it's a virus.What does that MEAN? There are lots of different kinds of living things, they are not all powered by "the same biomechanical action". If it walks like a living thing and quacks like a living thing it is a living thing.
who made the misfortune choice of being fairly tasty.Also, no living thing quacks.
Yes, I am aware of ducks. I'm also aware that ducks are engines of terror beyond our kin.
What it means to be alive has is something scientists have been arguing about for over a hundred years, and the current definition is coming under attack from both virologists and exobilogists (I'm a science teacher, I stay current). The deep sea bacteria that get their energy from geothermal vents being an example of "a different energy source". Who knows what might exist elsewhere in the universe?Unless it's a virus.
See, there's actually a number of characteristics science requires to define life (a lot of which were added to prevent fire from counting as a living thing). Per Study.com:
So pretty much all undead already hit 3, 6, and 7.
- Reproduction - For something to be considered alive, it must be able to reproduce and create offspring.
- Heredity - Heredity is the ability to pass on genetic material (DNA) from parent to offspring. This can be in the form of phenotypic traits (the way a living thing looks on the outside) and genotypic traits (the actual genetic code that determines how something behaves and looks).
- Cellular Organization - All living things are composed of one or more cells.
- Growth and Development - All organisms develop over time to become more physically and mentally mature.
- Adaptation Through Evolution - Every living thing has evolved at some point in time, and continues to do so in order to adapt to an everchanging environment.
- Response to Stimuli - Living things respond to stimuli in their environment.
- Homeostasis - Homeostasis is a living thing's ability to maintain stable internal factors, such as blood pressure, body temperature (thermoregulation), and water balance within cells.
- Metabolism - An organism must use chemical reactions to process and/or use resources from the environment in order to continue functioning.
There's really no reason they can't also do 1 and still be comfortable considered Not Alive since fire does 1,4*,6,7, and 8 and viruses do 1,2,3,5,6, and 7
*asterisk
geothermal is not a different energy source as they sill you biochemistry which is what they run on, otherwise, plants and aminals would be different kinds of things instead of both being types of life.What it means to be alive has is something scientists have been arguing about for over a hundred years, and the current definition is coming under attack from both virologists and exobilogists (I'm a science teacher, I stay current). The deep sea bacteria that get their energy from geothermal vents being an example of "a different energy source". Who knows what might exist elsewhere in the universe?
But what "alive" means is irrelevant. The question is, "what does undead mean?" Unless you can come up with some sort of equivalent list for undead it is useless as a descriptor.
It's different scientifically - plants and animals (and most kinds of bacteria) get their energy from the Sun. The exact biochemical pathways by which the energy conversion takes place is irrelevant to the concept of life, and non-biochemical life is possible, and undoubtedly exists in D&D.geothermal is not a different energy source as they sill you biochemistry which is what they run on, otherwise, plants and aminals would be different kinds of things instead of both being types of life.