Making The Undead Hotter

The ideal body type. You may not like it, but this is what peak performance looks like.

Undead and Skeletons in TTRPGs should be more threatening. They simply don't deserve to be killed with just a few weapon hits. Some games make them more special by giving them immunity to slash/pierce weapons or receive damage only from blunt/magic weapons, but I would like to go even further. Here are a few notes on Undead I'm developing for my game Dungeon Reavers!

First, undead is not a specific monster, but a class/tag. The undead is a monster that was reanimated by someone after becoming a corpse. They can only be killed again by destroying the necromancer who brought them or by completely incinerating their bodies. Monsters with the undead TAG gain the following abilities on top of what they already have:

• Reassemble - After reaching 0 hit points, they reconstruct their skeletal body in D6 turns.
• Elemental Soul - Can only be destroyed by specific elemental damage, the standard being FIRE. If you use a weapon enchanted with the proper element, the damage is doubled.
• Rotten Flesh - Specific to fresh corpses that still have meat. Wounds exposed to rotten flesh become necrotic in D6 turns and need to be closed with fire or another element, or the disease will spread forward into the body. Even after closing the wound there's a 1/6 chance of contracting the Undead Curse, so the safest option is to cut off the whole limb.

Undead Curse

These same abilities apply to player characters who become undead by a monster curse. When that happens, the character's body starts to rot and fall a piece every session. The player has six sessions to undo the curse, after that, the character becomes a full skeleton and the curse cannot be broken. An undead character doesn't need to eat or sleep but is always tired of existence. After each session, the character has a 1/6 chance of losing their conscience and becoming hostile.

Wraiths

A stronger version of the Undead. The wraith is incorporeal and immune to physical damage. They can only be harmed with spells or enchanted/magical weapons. The rotten flesh is replaced by rotten touch, which drains HP of their victims and turns them into loyal specters after dying.

Necromancy

Most necromancers are alive and well, so you can take care of them normally. But the Undead Necromancer is a menace! It can reanimate and control all the corpses in a 666ft radius and can only be killed by destroying its phylactery, which is not something they usually carry around (1/6 chance). When they carry its phylactery, they have double HP and damage. Player Characters reanimated by necromancers become loyal servants until their Master is defeated.

By the time you see the undead basilisk, it's already too late.

And here are three undead-related factions to use in your sessions:

THE SIX-EYED CROW - Heralds of Death

Crows have the duty to carry the souls of the dead to the afterlife, so they have a particular distaste for Necromancy. Reavers who pledge their weapon to the Six-Eyed Crow, gain the ability to banish unliving things to the afterlife. Those who collect phylacteries and offer them to the Six-Eyed Crow receive a magical trinket or a new spell.

CHURCH OF GOGH - Blessed Inquisitors

Fanatical zealots who hunt down necromancers and demons. They wear heavy armor and blunt weapons enchanted with fire. Their method to track and reveal necromancers also leads to magic users, demi-humans, and owners of magical items, which they don't care to distinguish from necromancers. To become an Inquisitor, one must offer a living phylactery and devote their life to Gogh.

SECT OF BONES - Mad Cultists

An ancient cult that holds the secrets to reanimate corpses and to create phylacteries. To enter the cult one must pledge allegiance to Bune, Duke of the dead, and offers a living soul as payment. After creating the phylactery, the Necromancer becomes immortal and their flesh only starts to rot after the first time they are killed.

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