Dragon 42
Dragon 42
1e
Skeleton: Burial or cremation of the dead is customary in our campaign. These rites are, in fact, necessary as any character or NPC who dies while adventuring—and remains unburied—will return from the dead to visit his unfeeling comrades with plague, disaster and misfortune until his spirit is put to rest!
Even if buried, if his fellow adventurers refuse to pay his Widow’s Share or Weregeld, he will also haunt them until such monies are paid. (Note that lack of burial or refusal to pay Widow’s Share must be deliberate in order to create a restless spirit.)
If the body is beyond recovery (swept away by an underground river, devoured by a Green Slime. blasted by a fireball or the like); or would require a suicide mission to recover: or if the party simply lacks the funds to pay, the dead character’s spirit will be satisfied provided (a) some kind of funeral service is observed when time and safety permit and/or (b) an effort is made to pay some-if not all!—of the Widow’s Share or Weregeld.
Stealing from a character’s “grave goods” or withholding items from a burial/cremation-even if done without the knowledge or consent of other players-will also bring back a dead character’s spirit as fierce and vengeful as ever!
A thief, however, may attempt to steal from the dead. The Dungeon Master should judge the success and the possible repercussions of the attempt on the type and amount of grave goods taken, precautions—magical and otherwise—taken by the thief, methods used and other significant variables.
Note that robbing any burial mound of recent manufacture (defined as up to ten centuries old) will bring back the dead spirit 10-100% of the time, depending on the age of the burial mound. The DM rolls a d10 to determine age. then percentile dice to see if the spirit responds.
Not all such burials need be of human bodies!
Under certain circumstances—as noted above—a dead character may return as a Restless Spirit. Exactly what form that spirit takes depends entirely on the dead character’s alignment in life.
All Good types—Lawful. Neutral or Chaotic—will return from the dead as a Haunt. Those of Neutral alignments (again, Lawful, True or Chaotic) will come back as a Zombie/Skeleton, while those of Evil nature (L, N or C) will arise as a Vampire of the AD&D Monster Manual variety.
A physical manifestation of the dead in the material world. The Restless Spirit literally animates his lifeless corpse.
Vampire: Burial or cremation of the dead is customary in our campaign. These rites are, in fact, necessary as any character or NPC who dies while adventuring—and remains unburied—will return from the dead to visit his unfeeling comrades with plague, disaster and misfortune until his spirit is put to rest!
Even if buried, if his fellow adventurers refuse to pay his Widow’s Share or Weregeld, he will also haunt them until such monies are paid. (Note that lack of burial or refusal to pay Widow’s Share must be deliberate in order to create a restless spirit.)
If the body is beyond recovery (swept away by an underground river, devoured by a Green Slime. blasted by a fireball or the like); or would require a suicide mission to recover: or if the party simply lacks the funds to pay, the dead character’s spirit will be satisfied provided (a) some kind of funeral service is observed when time and safety permit and/or (b) an effort is made to pay some-if not all!—of the Widow’s Share or Weregeld.
Stealing from a character’s “grave goods” or withholding items from a burial/cremation-even if done without the knowledge or consent of other players-will also bring back a dead character’s spirit as fierce and vengeful as ever!
A thief, however, may attempt to steal from the dead. The Dungeon Master should judge the success and the possible repercussions of the attempt on the type and amount of grave goods taken, precautions—magical and otherwise—taken by the thief, methods used and other significant variables.
Note that robbing any burial mound of recent manufacture (defined as up to ten centuries old) will bring back the dead spirit 10-100% of the time, depending on the age of the burial mound. The DM rolls a d10 to determine age. then percentile dice to see if the spirit responds.
Not all such burials need be of human bodies!
Under certain circumstances—as noted above—a dead character may return as a Restless Spirit. Exactly what form that spirit takes depends entirely on the dead character’s alignment in life.
All Good types—Lawful. Neutral or Chaotic—will return from the dead as a Haunt. Those of Neutral alignments (again, Lawful, True or Chaotic) will come back as a Zombie/Skeleton, while those of Evil nature (L, N or C) will arise as a Vampire of the AD&D Monster Manual variety.
Zombie: Burial or cremation of the dead is customary in our campaign. These rites are, in fact, necessary as any character or NPC who dies while adventuring—and remains unburied—will return from the dead to visit his unfeeling comrades with plague, disaster and misfortune until his spirit is put to rest!
Even if buried, if his fellow adventurers refuse to pay his Widow’s Share or Weregeld, he will also haunt them until such monies are paid. (Note that lack of burial or refusal to pay Widow’s Share must be deliberate in order to create a restless spirit.)
If the body is beyond recovery (swept away by an underground river, devoured by a Green Slime. blasted by a fireball or the like); or would require a suicide mission to recover: or if the party simply lacks the funds to pay, the dead character’s spirit will be satisfied provided (a) some kind of funeral service is observed when time and safety permit and/or (b) an effort is made to pay some-if not all!—of the Widow’s Share or Weregeld.
Stealing from a character’s “grave goods” or withholding items from a burial/cremation-even if done without the knowledge or consent of other players-will also bring back a dead character’s spirit as fierce and vengeful as ever!
A thief, however, may attempt to steal from the dead. The Dungeon Master should judge the success and the possible repercussions of the attempt on the type and amount of grave goods taken, precautions—magical and otherwise—taken by the thief, methods used and other significant variables.
Note that robbing any burial mound of recent manufacture (defined as up to ten centuries old) will bring back the dead spirit 10-100% of the time, depending on the age of the burial mound. The DM rolls a d10 to determine age. then percentile dice to see if the spirit responds.
Not all such burials need be of human bodies!
Under certain circumstances—as noted above—a dead character may return as a Restless Spirit. Exactly what form that spirit takes depends entirely on the dead character’s alignment in life.
All Good types—Lawful. Neutral or Chaotic—will return from the dead as a Haunt. Those of Neutral alignments (again, Lawful, True or Chaotic) will come back as a Zombie/Skeleton, while those of Evil nature (L, N or C) will arise as a Vampire of the AD&D Monster Manual variety.
A physical manifestation of the dead in the material world. The Restless Spirit literally animates his lifeless corpse.
If the body of a Restless Spirit animated Zombie or Skeleton is destroyed the spirit will return either as a Haunt or a Vampire, depending on the character’s overall actions while alive as determined by the DM.
Evil characters always return from the dead with all the capabilities of an AD&D Vampire.
Note that a character of any alignment who commits suicide will return as a vampire unless the appropriate steps are taken at his burial: stake through the heart, head cut off, mouth stuffed with garlic and the like. Such suicides must be purposeful—unrequited love or a point of honor, for example—with the DM’s discretion strongly advised.
Haunt: Burial or cremation of the dead is customary in our campaign. These rites are, in fact, necessary as any character or NPC who dies while adventuring—and remains unburied—will return from the dead to visit his unfeeling comrades with plague, disaster and misfortune until his spirit is put to rest!
Even if buried, if his fellow adventurers refuse to pay his Widow’s Share or Weregeld, he will also haunt them until such monies are paid. (Note that lack of burial or refusal to pay Widow’s Share must be deliberate in order to create a restless spirit.)
If the body is beyond recovery (swept away by an underground river, devoured by a Green Slime. blasted by a fireball or the like); or would require a suicide mission to recover: or if the party simply lacks the funds to pay, the dead character’s spirit will be satisfied provided (a) some kind of funeral service is observed when time and safety permit and/or (b) an effort is made to pay some-if not all!—of the Widow’s Share or Weregeld.
Stealing from a character’s “grave goods” or withholding items from a burial/cremation-even if done without the knowledge or consent of other players-will also bring back a dead character’s spirit as fierce and vengeful as ever!
A thief, however, may attempt to steal from the dead. The Dungeon Master should judge the success and the possible repercussions of the attempt on the type and amount of grave goods taken, precautions—magical and otherwise—taken by the thief, methods used and other significant variables.
Note that robbing any burial mound of recent manufacture (defined as up to ten centuries old) will bring back the dead spirit 10-100% of the time, depending on the age of the burial mound. The DM rolls a d10 to determine age. then percentile dice to see if the spirit responds.
Not all such burials need be of human bodies!
Under certain circumstances—as noted above—a dead character may return as a Restless Spirit. Exactly what form that spirit takes depends entirely on the dead character’s alignment in life.
All Good types—Lawful. Neutral or Chaotic—will return from the dead as a Haunt. Those of Neutral alignments (again, Lawful, True or Chaotic) will come back as a Zombie/Skeleton, while those of Evil nature (L, N or C) will arise as a Vampire of the AD&D Monster Manual variety.
If the body of a Restless Spirit animated Zombie or Skeleton is destroyed the spirit will return either as a Haunt or a Vampire, depending on the character’s overall actions while alive as determined by the DM.
