Taxidermy and the undead

[FoxWander]

Wasn't sure if this belonged in House Rules or not, but as it has broader implications than just "rules", here seemed appropriate- plus it's just an interesting concept so it bears talking about.

I have a necromancer character with the Craft:Taxidermy skill. Here are some of the questions that have come up regarding this skill and undead created after its use. BTW, we realize that taxidermy actually uses only the skin of the creature (sometimes not even that) but, surely the process could be modified to use most of the dead creature thus making the finished product suitable for animation. That said, on with the questions...

1. What's an appropriate DC to produce a trophy that looks lifelike?
2. How much more difficult would it be to create a lifelike dead humanoid?
3. Would it be fair to say that having 5 ranks in Craft:Alchemy would give a +2 synergy bonus to Craft:Taxidermy checks?
4. Would undead created after a successful taxidermy treatment necessarily be any tougher than usual? (perhaps an extra hit point per die or a +1 bonus to AC)
5. What would be the effect, if any, of MasterWork crafting upon animating the subject?

And finally, a related question- in a d20 Modern Urban Arcana game, what would be the effect of plastination on undead? Aside form the obvious benefits of preservation and lifelike appearance (which would be the main benefits of taxidermy in general), I'd have to imagine the plastination process would create a much tougher undead creature. However, I'm unsure how to quantify that rules-wise.

 

[DMH]

Experts from Skirmisher has the skill and the answers are

1) Depends on creature type. A look at the range- vermin are 5, animals are 10, humanoids are 15, fey are 20, dragons are 25 and oozes are 30. Everything else is in that range.

2) see 1

3) Right there in black and white. As do tanning and tailoring.

4) It doesn't say. There are a few alchemical creations in Alchemy and Herbalists (Bastion) but those have a limited lifespan (days IIRC).

5) It doesn't have that either. The only advantage I would see is in disguise checks made by the undead to appear alive (+2 or +3).

 

[Privateer]

This is almost certainly House Rules material, and mostly the judgement of your DM. If I were to run it, I'd do the following:

1) DMH's DCs are about right, but I'd put vermin up at 10, as well, and modify things by size. A giant would be a good deal harder to stuff than a rat, and take longer (higher price).
2) I'd increase the DC by, oh, five, for every +2 on disguise checks to conceal the object's true nature. Eventually, the hefty penalty could be bought off; I'm not sure at what DC I'd set it at.
3) I'd probably allow it. I like synergy bonuses.
4) I'd give zombies another toughness feat and make their preserved, stuffed form susceptable to fire.
5) Good question. Maybe a +1 bonus to saves? Doesn't seem overpowered for a zombie, really.

 

[Desdichado]

Don't know about the rules question; I'd just wing it rather than worry too much about it. The answers already here sound reasonable to me.

I couldn't help but think about the "siege undead" in the Creature Collection (or was it CCII?) which certainly had interesting taxidermy implications -- basically three separate undead made from one corpse; one of the muscles bound with wire and wood framework, one of the skin filled with sand, (taxidermic filling would work great here, though) and one made from the skeleton riveted and wired together.

And as an aside, that webpage you linked to, with that image of the human muscular system holding it's own bag-like, empty skin, is pretty darn creepy.

 

[Umbran]

I dunno. Seems to me that use of taxidermy is really taking things away from the realm of undead, and into the realm of constructs. Flesh golems being the top example here.