What is it like to be Undead?

[caudor]

I'm wondering what it might feel like to be undead and I need to decide how to handle this idea in my campaign. I noticed there seems to be a difference in the way zombies are portrayed versus vampires...and this confuses me.

Is being undead a state of torment or is it a state of non-awareness? Can undead feel pain or emotion? Do humanoids that become undead remember their former lives? Or do they move on to another plane and an evil force simply moves in and automates the body?

I'm thinking about buying Libris Mortis to gain more insight on the undead. Will this book answer some of these questions? Any input is appreciated.

 

[Crothian]

There are mindles undead like the zombie and intelligent undead like the Vampire. But most of the questions you ask have no correct answer and it can differe from campaign to campaign and from undead type to undead type.

 

[Rhun]

If you have ever read Greg Costikyan's "Another Day, Another Dungeon" it gives a (quite humorous) look at what it is like to be a lich.

 

[jerichothebard]

Much like life, there are many different states of being - some undead, like spectres or wraiths, I imagine to be in a constant state of torment, hence the whole haunting thing.

Others, like liches or vampires, are usually more dirven - they are aware, intelligent, and goal-oriented - much like life, in fact, though more distanced from the pain and pleasure of actual experiences and physical sensation.

Libris Mortis will help answer those questions, too.

jtb

 

[caudor]

There are mindles undead like the zombie and intelligent undead like the Vampire. But most of the questions you ask have no correct answer and it can differe from campaign to campaign and from undead type to undead type.

Ah, thanks for the replies. Crothian's tip led me to the most obvious place I failed to check...the monster manual 3.5. All the monsters have stats listed now and I see the Zombie has an intelligence score of: -- meaning it must be a mindless automaton. A Wight does has an intelligence score listed. This will at least will provide a guideline on how to answer my own questions (even if I have to make it all up).

If anyone has a tip on any good resources that delve into the undead--they are welcome. Thanks again.

 

[Hand of Evil]

Vampire - Sucks
Zombie - Meander
Ghost - Translucent

 

[Crothian]

If anyone has a tip on any good resources that delve into the undead--they are welcome. Thanks again.

http://www.enworld.org/reviews.php?do=review&reviewid=2121515

A reive I wrote on one. It is all about Vampires and they have a nice section on what it is like to role play one.

 

[ThirdWizard]

Think Pirates of the Caribbean.

 

[Henry]

Most sentient undead I think have a very similar experience, with minor variations.

As an experiment, exhale until all the air you can has been expelled from your lungs. (Don't kill yourself, now. ) Now, hold it a minute. Hold it 'til you get that queer sensation of running out of breath, before your body forces you to take a breath again. Imagine that sensation, of being able to talk, but not breathe, to not truly take the refreshment from that air that your body says you should have.

Now, Imagine true numbness. Imagine if you can (or have experienced) the feeling of dead weight of your limbs, your skin, your body, unable to feel the smallest pin prick or the deepest cut. You can move, you can be cut, you can see the needle, or knife, or instrument, enter your body, but it's like watching someone carve a haunch of meat. And it's not meat, it's YOU.

Combine those two with the sheer feeling of freefalling you get just before you fall, that queasy feeling of no-gravity before gravity kicks in. And imagine you feel this way ALL the time. Not just a moment, but every moment.

That's a concept of undeath. No hunger, no thirst, no desire for anything - except living again, because it feels like SOMETHING.

Vampires, Wights - these creatures have a blessing they can partake of. When you drain blood, or when you sap the life through the pores of the living at a mere touch, imagine the nectar of that former life of yours seeping back again. Then, it's gone again. But if you touch, if you drink, one more time, it comes back. It feels like there is no death, no undeath, it feels like you can breathe again! Your tongue tastes sweetness and even musk again!

...and then, the victim dead, it's gone. But it was soooo good that little bit. You may be horrified at first that your pleasure has killed another, but -- it DID feel good, just for those few seconds, didn't it? But you'll never do it again... until....

That's what I picture undeath as - a state of unease for eternity.

 

[eris404]

Wow, Henry. Very nice!