Holy swordings, Badman!!

[Elder-Basilisk]

If I'm houseruling here, it's much easier and IMO better to say that they just die and don't come back as anything.

Anyway, good wights create far more of a problem than good liches since the lich description includes rational thought and average intelligence but the wight description implies unnatural malevolence and feral cunning as a part of the wight description. Strip those from the wight and you don't have a good wight, you have a good undead creature with energy drain slam attacks; its resemblance to the wight is only in its stats. (A distinct difference from "good" vampires like Angel who share vampiric weaknesses (sunlight, invitations, stakes, holy water, etc) and cravings (blood), or good liches like the Baelnorn whose general pattern of activity (powerful rational undead spellcasters who engage in boring spell research for millenia) bears a strong resemblence to that of ordinary liches).

Make them neutral if it bothers you.

Or if you have the BOEM, substitute a Deathless creature similar in power to the wight. (Good- or Neutral-aligned, your choice.)

 

[Darkness]

If I'm houseruling here, it's much easier ...

You want easy? Then go with the DMG and make them evil.

 

[Endur]

The slain evil npc does not rise the next night. They only rise if energy drained by a "creature," not a holy sword.

DMG p.293, Energy Drain and Negative Levels: "A character with negative levels at least equal to her current level, or drained below 1st level, is instantly slain. Depending on the creature that killed her, she may rise the next night as a monster of that kind. If not, she rises as a wight."

 

[HeavyG]

Yeah, it seems rather odd that the sword would naturally create evil undead. I suppose one could think of it as an external manifestation of their internal evil's reaction to the sword's holy energy but it does seem rather odd.

What seems every bit as odd is that a 2nd level evil farmer will react to the sword with only a slight discomfort that will pass as soon as he lets go of the sword, but a 1st level evil farmer will DIE instantly and then rise as an evil undead.


"But I only had 100 xps less than dad !!!"

 

[Darkness]

The slain evil npc does not rise the next night. They only rise if energy drained by a "creature," not a holy sword.

That's one possible interpretation and a useful one at that. I like it.

But it's hardly the only - or even the most likely - interpretation. Hm.

 

[D+1]

I guess they get level drained to 0th level. Although not permenantly...

Do they die, explode, melt, pass out, spawn as something else?

Well the level loss is temporary and "doesn't cause ACTUAL level loss." I'd say that definitely rules out the idea of causing the victim to spawn as undead. It's clearly attempting to imply that not all the normal rules regarding level loss are applicable. But it CAN kill you - at least in a sense. Just as temporarily losing a point of Con can kill you from the hp loss, the hp loss from a temporary level reduction will kill you just as effectively. Otherwise you simply suffer the listed effects of level loss - minuses to hp, saves, attacks, spell loss, etc. Still, the effect of [negative levels = current level] and [1st level + 1 negative level] is specifically death. The "temporary" aspect of the level loss is what needs to be addressed.

That temporary level loss lasts while the weapon is wielded according to the DMG. As soon as you "die" because you pick up and try to wield the weapon, you must obviously black out. You are also no longer wielding the weapon when you do black out and thus promptly regain the lost level and associated hit points. IMO, the practical result is that a 1st level evil character "dies", falls to the ground, drops the weapon in the process, and assuming nothing else bad happens to him in the meantime he can stand up the next round and/or act normally because his lost level has been immediately restored - unlike a normal level draining which has a 24 timeframe and fort saves for recovery. It is a possible alternate conclusion that the character is still dead because of the level loss, but because the level loss was temporary and is immediately eliminated upon death, there is no danger of rising as an undead.

 

[Inconsequenti-AL]

Go away for a weekend and this carried on being busy!

That temporary level loss lasts while the weapon is wielded according to the DMG. As soon as you "die" because you pick up and try to wield the weapon, you must obviously black out. You are also no longer wielding the weapon when you do black out and thus promptly regain the lost level and associated hit points. IMO, the practical result is that a 1st level evil character "dies", falls to the ground, drops the weapon in the process, and assuming nothing else bad happens to him in the meantime he can stand up the next round and/or act normally because his lost level has been immediately restored - unlike a normal level draining which has a 24 timeframe and fort saves for recovery. It is a possible alternate conclusion that the character is still dead because of the level loss, but because the level loss was temporary and is immediately eliminated upon death, there is no danger of rising as an undead.

That makes sense...

Although I guess you could make the weapon a gauntlet. That way, they couldn't drop it when they died. That does get into the argument of what 'wielding' actually means? Given that you carry on doing other things (like raging) while unconcious it doesn't seem unreasonable?

Even if it worked, you'd have to leave the weapon there until after nightfall... slows down the rate of wight/holy sword production markedly. Not good.

 

[Kae'Yoss]

I am just questioning the fact that an holy weapon would cause the creation of an evil undead, maybe the wight created is good.

Disturbing

Well, now at least we know how the undead were really created. Orcus that lying cheat took all the glory for that one!

 

[Kae'Yoss]

Don't the good guys usually wear wight?

I'm dreaming of a wight christmas!

 

[andargor]

Anybody seen Vanna Wight in Wight-Men Can't Jump?

Andargor