RPT Newsletter #629 | How to Make Undead Scary

[Stephan Hornick]

Flesh Currency​

James Singaram

I thought of a possible mechanism for advancing undead. In a similar way to how souls grant power to fiends, flesh could grant power to undead. All undead would have the capability to cast a Flesh Harvest Ritual on humanoids and beasts slain within the last ten days. For each minute, one unit of flesh is collected, up to a maximum amount determined by the target's size:

• Tiny - 5
• Small - 20
• Medium - 50
• Large - 200
• Huge - 500
• Gargantuan - 1000

The ritual would preserve the flesh harvested with necrotic magic to prevent decay. Harvested flesh would be used for currency with undead as well a system for advancement. All undead would have a second ritual, Consume Flesh, that would allow them to merge flesh with their body at a rate of 1 unit per minute. Undead would then advance through the ranks by how much flesh they have cumulatively grafted onto itself.

• Skeleton - 0 (all undead start here)
• Zombie* - 50
• Ghoul - 200
• Ghast - 500
• Mummy or Wight - 1000 (undead's choice)
• Vampire Spawn (if Mummy) or Wraith (if Wight) - 2500
• Vampire (if vampire spawn) - 5000
• Lich (if vampire) - 15000

At a cost of 250 flesh a Mummy may be transformed into a Wight, or vice versa.

Weapon and skill proficiencies are retained upon advancement. For example, a zombie would be able to wield weapons after advancing from a skeleton.

Flesh could also be used to create more specialized undead, taking one minute per flesh consumed in the ritual.

• Shadow (Wraith only) - 100
• Specter (Wraith only) - 200
• Will-o'-wisp (Wraith only) - 500
• Banshee (Wraith only) - 1000
• Flameskull (Vampire Spawn, Vampire, or Lich) - 1000 + humanoid skull
• Revenant (Vampire Spawn, Vampire, or Lich) - 1000 + humanoid body, decays after one year
• Flesh Golem (Vampire Spawn, Vampire, or Lich) - 2500
• Demilich (Vampire or Lich) - 10000 + ashes of a slain lich*
• Dracolich (Lich only) - 25000 + skeleton of a dragon

* Phylactery destroyed

All undead created through these rituals are bound to the undead that created them. There is no limit on how many creatures an undead can raise, giving rise to entire armies created over centuries.

All undead above ghasts are able to create a skeleton using a fresh corpse. There is no cost in flesh to raise a creature, however the flesh on the corpse cannot be harvested before or after the ritual. The time taken is two minutes per available flesh on the corpse. For instance, a mummy could raise a recently slain human by casting a 100 minute ritual. No flesh would be collected or consumed during this process.

Undead follow a hierarchy in a similar fashion as devils. Lesser undead would collect flesh for and carry out the will of its leaders, who would in turn reward skill or loyalty with flesh and advancement. A lich would rule over an entire undead realm with a dozen or so vampire underlings. Each vampire would lead a city, assisted by a half dozen vampire spawn and upwards of twenty wraiths. Vampire spawn and wraiths would both lead mummies and wights, who would in turn command ghasts. They would direct ghouls. With only the faintest spark of intelligence, zombies and skeletons would be at the bottom of the ladder.

Ghasts and higher undead would deal with disobedient or treasonous underlings by using the Flay Flesh ritual, taking one flesh per minute cast from the target undead, possibly demoting the victim in the process. Skeletons and zombies possess neither the cunning or inclination to cheat their masters for their own progression, so such measures would primarily be used against higher undead.

Because demotion is a real possibility for undead who fail their master, some commanders will flay their underlings to advance themselves and complete their objective. Having its flesh stolen is the only time undead feel pain. Upon being demoted to a skeleton an undead will lose all memory of its previous existence. These memories will be missing even if the undead advances in the future. Because of the violent nature of this ritual, only 50% of flesh taken is salvageable.

Certain undead enlist mortal followers in their armies. Often these mortals appear slender and gaunt. To prove their loyalty they are required to make a flesh sacrifice to their master. In addition to providing useful skills, such as spell casting, they do not require payment in flesh and are more easily able to infiltrate mortal settlements. In times of need, these mortals can be harvested for flesh.

Some undead prefer a peaceful existence over that of domination. In these rare circumstances, undead will seek out alternative methods of flesh collection. Cattle farms and fishing ships crewed by skeletons are not unheard of. More advanced undead might seek employment in a morgue where they can steal flesh from their clients. In exceptional cases, advanced undead will live with subterranean humanoids, such as kobolds. In exchange for the colony's dead, they provide magical support in times of need and alleviate the need for corpse disposal pits.

All listed undead above were created using the 5E MM.

 

[Stephan Hornick]

Check Rolemaster​

Alex Ulmer

You might want to check out Rolemaster's treatment of undead. They use many levels of the same basic undead type (5 or 6 skeleton levels). As the undead gain strength they also gain powers. Rolemaster also says the stronger undead drain constitution points. In a d100 system, draining 1-5 points per round doesn't kill the PC quickly, but it does drive home the point that the constitution drain will be deadly in the long run. For a D20 based system, you might increase the time before the drain happens, maybe points lost per minute instead of per round.

Another thought would be to have monsters imitate undead. In my campaign, I have a band of goblins that prey on grave robbers, using a puppet ghost, chains, and moaning horns. They selectively target victims one at a time, picking them off. The goblins use the dark of night and tombstones to hide their actions and gain cover.

 

[Stephan Hornick]

Evolve Through Death​

Mark of the Pixie

I have used a slightly different method in one of my games: undead get more powerful when they are destroyed. Doesn't work well on the lesser undead, but a wight (weakest of the higher undead in my game) who is killed can later come back as a spectre or a wraith (both more powerful types of undead). If the soul of the person is so strong it can come back from death, then odds are it can do it again.

 

[Stephan Hornick]

Go Mythic​

Paul Frische-Mouri

I too wanted to have an evolution mechanic that would make the lesser zombies still a threat. My solution is using the Pathfinder Mythic rule set. I'm treating the zombies as being reanimated and sustained by a magical disease that will be the source of their mythic powers. Perhaps the PCs share a genetic anomaly that allows them to resist the transformation, or they discover an ancient antidote in the crypts of the castle that halts the progress of the disease but doesn't leave them completely unaffected. Either way, the players will be infected early on as the city is quickly overtaken. Their mythic progression represents the disease evolving in them, and thus will be the tracker for the rest of the infected (think Resident Evil).

For the lower minions I'm planning on making a progressive template. For a few tiers it will be universal in adding some buffs to the base creature. But it soon begins to branch into different "species" of undead creating fast zombies, strong zombies, smart zombies, zombies with extra limbs, zombies that explode, zombies that cast random magical spells, flying zombies, invisible zombies. I plan on making a table and rolling for the templates used. This means each encounter could have some nasty surprises if the players aren't careful and don't scout.

The big bads will have their own tiers in addition to the templates. What I hadn't considered until your email was the idea of having these different species creating a society. This opens up so many possibilities! I could see clan wars or even civil wars sprouting from this.

And since the undead will be animated from a disease and not from negative energy, positive energy will not harm them (and might actually heal their wounded, dead flesh). This is my explanation as to how the disease spreads so easily, catching those wielding positive energy completely off guard as they are overwhelmed by undead that defy all their training! Should be a good initial surprise to the party.

Have you ever used any kind of sanity rules? I haven't but would like to incorporate that with the PCs and NPCs as the destruction of their way of life and the horrors of the evolving undead weigh on them.

Reply From Johnn: Just in a Cthulhu game. We went crazy pretty fast.

A simple mechanic would be a pool based on PC WIS score. After any horrific event, PCs make a save. If they fail they get +1d3 Insanity. If Insanity ever matches WIS the character is insane but can be healed. If Insanity exceeds WIS the character is permanently insane.

Then I would create several adventure-based triggers for healing Insanity, like elven glens and halfling parties and magic pools. Maybe an ancient potion or two.

I would also make an insanity table that allows players to continue playing their insane PC, but like the Confusion spell where a roll determines how a PC behaves temporarily, a roll on the Insanity table determines PC actions for awhile. Also add some triggers so the player knows when insanity rolls can be expected.

Hope this helps!

 

[Stephan Hornick]

This was a bunch of suggestions. Thank you all.
But I am very surprised by this. Almost all of the suggestions go towards improving game mechanics. (System pillar)
I would actually go for an improvement in the description, scene, portrayal or setting to make them more scary. (Setting pillar)
And I would provide for cruel and morally difficult decisions and new developments on basis of the PCs' decisions to make them more scary. (Story pillar)
After all, I don't need the PCs to be scared, I want the experience itself to be scary, thus, I want the players to be scared. (Social pillar)

I will describe my techniques in more detail in future AFTER I run a session that I planned for my players to not spoiler them here.
Remind me, if I forget.