D&D General have we had a player race of undead?

[Vaalingrade]

Sure. And the made up rule for the made up monster is "in order to be undead you must have previously been alive".

I don't think even all the undead in the MM follow this.

 

[Paul Farquhar]

I don't think even all the undead in the MM follow this.

Which of course, brings us back to the question of what is undead? Does it have any meaning at all?

 

[Vaalingrade]

Look, I tried to start the ball roiling with explaining what life is and that wasn't good enough, so you're on your own now.

 

[Voadam]

Which of course, brings us back to the question of what is undead? Does it have any meaning at all?

Things animated by necrotic/negative energy works for me. This can account for things like the Avatar of Death which has no indication it was ever alive and other pure spirits of death that have shown up, while the majority are the interactions of negative energy and death. I generally treat mummies, deathless, archliches, good ghosts, and such as being negative energy powered and connected in my games.