Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Next
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
Twitch
YouTube
Facebook (EN Publishing)
Facebook (EN World)
Twitter
Instagram
TikTok
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
The
VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX
is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
[Setting idea] Undead Society
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="Dausuul" data-source="post: 5209053" data-attributes="member: 58197"><p>Hmm, okay. Here are a couple of approaches I'd consider in creating such a setting.</p><p></p><p>1) Re-enactment. The undead aren't really aware that they are undead; they're acting out the rituals of daily life that they observed when alive, so the whole society is a mockery of the living society from which it sprang. Actual living people go more or less unnoticed by the undead except when they try to interfere with the re-enactment, which provokes a violent response.</p><p></p><p>A handful of undead have realized the truth; some seek to be truly resurrected (probably a futile quest), while others embrace undeath and seek to increase their power and influence.</p><p></p><p>A world like this is probably the result of a single cataclysmic event that wiped out most of humanity, and then resurrected them as undead for some reason. Though it could perhaps arise from a zombie apocalypse as well (see below).</p><p></p><p>2) Autocracy. The whole undead world is the creation of a single individual, probably a lich or mummy, who is pursuing some insane and grandiose ambition which requires the resources of the whole earth to accomplish. All the lesser undead are enslaved to this one mighty tyrant, which is not to say they don't have agendas of their own (and many might resent their forced servitude).</p><p></p><p>3) Zombie apocalypse. This is the classic scenario where the principle of "those killed by undead become undead themselves" is taken to its logical conclusion, and the world is now swarming with undead spawn. If you think zombies are overdone, substitute wraiths, ghouls, or whatever.</p><p></p><p>Most of the undead are mindless predators, but some may be developing an intelligence of their own... probably a hateful, hostile intelligence bent on exterminating the last survivors.</p><p></p><p>4) Dying world, Dark Sun style. Instead of the apocalyptic scenarios above, the undead-ruled world has arisen naturally--er, organically--uh, well, it emerged without any special prompting, the logical result of undead being more powerful than people. This world is ruled by warring lich-kings, death knights, and mummy lords, who marshal legions of mindless undead against one another and suck the last vestiges of life from the earth to fuel their sorcery. The living huddle in the shadows and try to survive.</p><p></p><p>(Or, if you want something more high-tech, you could go for an undead cyberpunk dystopia. A corporatist state, shorn of all concern for the environment or human rights, with undead-run megacorporations waging war against each other in both the economic and the literal sense. Technology races ahead, driven by insane lich-scientists who have long ago dispensed with any need for sleep, food, sex, or the other "distractions" of human life. Humans eke out a wretched existence in the urban core, surviving by killing undead minions and using their bodies as fertilizer for vat-grown algae. <em>Soylent Black is made of zombies!</em>)</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Dausuul, post: 5209053, member: 58197"] Hmm, okay. Here are a couple of approaches I'd consider in creating such a setting. 1) Re-enactment. The undead aren't really aware that they are undead; they're acting out the rituals of daily life that they observed when alive, so the whole society is a mockery of the living society from which it sprang. Actual living people go more or less unnoticed by the undead except when they try to interfere with the re-enactment, which provokes a violent response. A handful of undead have realized the truth; some seek to be truly resurrected (probably a futile quest), while others embrace undeath and seek to increase their power and influence. A world like this is probably the result of a single cataclysmic event that wiped out most of humanity, and then resurrected them as undead for some reason. Though it could perhaps arise from a zombie apocalypse as well (see below). 2) Autocracy. The whole undead world is the creation of a single individual, probably a lich or mummy, who is pursuing some insane and grandiose ambition which requires the resources of the whole earth to accomplish. All the lesser undead are enslaved to this one mighty tyrant, which is not to say they don't have agendas of their own (and many might resent their forced servitude). 3) Zombie apocalypse. This is the classic scenario where the principle of "those killed by undead become undead themselves" is taken to its logical conclusion, and the world is now swarming with undead spawn. If you think zombies are overdone, substitute wraiths, ghouls, or whatever. Most of the undead are mindless predators, but some may be developing an intelligence of their own... probably a hateful, hostile intelligence bent on exterminating the last survivors. 4) Dying world, Dark Sun style. Instead of the apocalyptic scenarios above, the undead-ruled world has arisen naturally--er, organically--uh, well, it emerged without any special prompting, the logical result of undead being more powerful than people. This world is ruled by warring lich-kings, death knights, and mummy lords, who marshal legions of mindless undead against one another and suck the last vestiges of life from the earth to fuel their sorcery. The living huddle in the shadows and try to survive. (Or, if you want something more high-tech, you could go for an undead cyberpunk dystopia. A corporatist state, shorn of all concern for the environment or human rights, with undead-run megacorporations waging war against each other in both the economic and the literal sense. Technology races ahead, driven by insane lich-scientists who have long ago dispensed with any need for sleep, food, sex, or the other "distractions" of human life. Humans eke out a wretched existence in the urban core, surviving by killing undead minions and using their bodies as fertilizer for vat-grown algae. [i]Soylent Black is made of zombies![/i]) [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
[Setting idea] Undead Society
Top