Undead

Ohh, the Yellow Musk Zombies are cool too! They are not technically undead, and so they are immune to turning, which I imagine would frustrate the party who tries to deal with them that way.:p

I totally forgot about that (it has been a while since I cracked open my Fiend Folio). :p
 

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I can't say I have a favorite undead type- I use all of them.

However, I used to love the way they were handled in the original Dark Sun: there were some general categories, but essentially, each undead you encountered was unique.

That's something I think should be carried through for future editions of that setting.

([fist-shake]I want my fully fleshed-out 3.5 verson of Athas, WotC![/fist-shake])
 

However, I used to love the way they were handled in the original Dark Sun: there were some general categories, but essentially, each undead you encountered was unique.
This!

Imho, 4e actually has too many undead monsters making powers dealing radiance damage too good compared to powers dealing other energy damage types.
 

I use all kinds of undead and LM is one of my favorite rpg books. Probably the best one I used was an Eye of Fear & Flame that terrorized the party for months.:devil:
 

Not to derail the thread, but here's an undead-related question I pondered the other day. Suppose a PC dies and returns as an incorporeal undead, a ghost. Some time later, their corpse is animated as a corporeal undead. Assuming the corporeal undead has a Resurrection spell cast on it, returning it to life, what happens to the ghost?
 

Like you, I'm a big fan of the Sons of Kyuss (or Spawn of Kyuss if you prefer), though I have yet to actually use them. While D&D has traditionally had lots of spawning undead, something about the worm that burrows into your head and turns you into a rotting horror just fills me with malevolent glee. Plus they have their own soundtrack! Maybe in my next campaign...

Also yellow musk zombies (though not technically undead), and death knights, and the necrophidius... come to think of it, an awful lot of my favorite undead seem to come from the old Fiend Folio.

The lich, of course, is a classic and possibly my all-time favorite choice for archvillains. Vampires are all right but modern pop culture has done a hell of a number on them. I never used to like ghouls much, but the 4E ghoul is just fun... they seem weak, and then they get somebody immobilized in a spot where the whole pack can crowd around, and they just tear that poor sucker to shreds.

Not to derail the thread, but here's an undead-related question I pondered the other day. Suppose a PC dies and returns as an incorporeal undead, a ghost. Some time later, their corpse is animated as a corporeal undead. Assuming the corporeal undead has a Resurrection spell cast on it, returning it to life, what happens to the ghost?

Well, I'd be inclined to disallow the original scenario; either a corpse whose spirit has become a ghost can't be animated, or the process of animating it effectively destroys the ghost (the dead spirit is drawn back into the animated flesh).

However, if the situation is allowed, I would say you have to kill both the ghost and the corporeal undead before you can revive the person. Otherwise a vital element is missing.
 
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Well, I'd be inclined to disallow the original scenario; either a corpse whose spirit has become a ghost can't be animated, or the process of animating it effectively destroys the ghost (the dead spirit is drawn back into the animated flesh).


The traditional D&D answer is to follow where the soul/spirit goes; If they're a ghost, their body can't be animated into any intelligent undead; the body can be animated as a mindless skeleton or zombie, but nothing like a wight, ghoul, etc. In order to resurrect them, the mindless zombie would have to be destroyed, as well as the ghost; I think this was in one of those van richten's guides, maybe.

Nowadays, the answer is whatever the DM decides is just as canon as anything else. :) Maybe the 4E Undead guide has more info.
 

The traditional D&D answer is to follow where the soul/spirit goes; If they're a ghost, their body can't be animated into any intelligent undead; the body can be animated as a mindless skeleton or zombie, but nothing like a wight, ghoul, etc. In order to resurrect them, the mindless zombie would have to be destroyed, as well as the ghost; I think this was in one of those van richten's guides, maybe.

Nowadays, the answer is whatever the DM decides is just as canon as anything else. :) Maybe the 4E Undead guide has more info.

I seem to recall 4E positing three parts to a living being; flesh, animus, and soul. The animus is the animating force, which retains some of the memories and base instincts of the person but not the vital essence. Thus, undead without animus (skeleton, zombie) are mindless automatons; undead with animus but no soul (ghoul, wraith) are feral monsters with only dim recollections of human life; undead with souls (lich, vampire) are intelligent and possessed of full memory and will.

Thus it would be possible to create a zombie and a wraith out of the same person; the zombie is pure flesh and the wraith is pure animus. On the other hand, you couldn't make a ghoul and a wraith because you need both flesh and animus to make a ghoul. To resurrect the person, you need flesh, animus, and soul, so you'd have to kill both wraith and zombie before the spell would work.
 

The corporeal undead body, in this case, was a deathlock (Libris Mortis), undead "...born of the corpses of powerful spellcasters...Animate, but shorn of the spirit that once ruled their forms...". The deathlock became part of a composite undead creature known as the blackwater hag, comprised of a sea hag blood magus, a salt hag (daughter of a night hag and sea elf), and the deathlock - now animated by the forces of blackwater (Stormwrack).

The incorporeal undead was a spirit hag, a spectral hag (ghost-like, from the Van Richten Guides) who was weakened and banished to the Region of Dreams. Her spirit now resides in a construct, an eidolon made of ambergris.

I considered a scenario in which the incorporeal undead was resurrected, thus causing the destruction of the deathlock body now incorporated into the blackwater hag.
 

I like Liches too, but they seem a little old hat for villains now. I am thinking of making the BBEG in the next game I run an advanced Son/Spawn of Kyuss.
 

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