Twist on zombie decay

[hcobb]

Have zombies and skeletons automatically lose a point of ST on any day they're exposed to sunlight. Otherwise they get a 3/ST roll to avoid this.

So there is an evil wizard king (litch?) with a vast army of the undead, but they only come out of his underground empire at night. (In order to capture more strength drainies and future recruits.)

Your mission is regime decapitation, which is always a nice thing to do for the undead.

[Terquem]

You could also create "cursed" environments, like temples or dungeons to old gods, where the skeleton/zombies also get saves to avoid the ST loss.

[hcobb]

Curse of the Necropus setting:

Create Zombie enchantment: Cast on a specially crafted platform in the middle of a mega-mega-hex size room allows any wizard to cast the Zombie spell on a corpse (or skeleton) laid on that platform as if the wizard knew the spell. Any zombie in that room at the moment of their daily ST loss also gets a 3/ST roll to avoid that day's ST loss. (Enchantment procedure and costs unknown, please contact the local Wizard's Guild to investigate.)

Necropus is then an IQ 10 wizard.

[warhorse11h]

Originally Posted by hcobb

Curse of the Necropus setting:

Create Zombie enchantment: Cast on a specially crafted platform in the middle of a mega-mega-hex size room allows any wizard to cast the Zombie spell on a corpse (or skeleton) laid on that platform as if the wizard knew the spell. Any zombie in that room at the moment of their daily ST loss also gets a 3/ST roll to avoid that day's ST loss. (Enchantment procedure and costs unknown, please contact the local Wizard's Guild to investigate.)

Necropus is then an IQ 10 wizard.

I submit for your thoughts, the following:
IQ 20 Create Undead (S) Allows caster to create more powerful Undead servants or allies. Cost is as the Zombie spell, 5 ST plus 1 ST for each point of ST you put into the Undead. Undead created with this spell do not decay further. With this spell, you can grant 1 IQ or DX point for each point of ST you put in as well. But you cannot exceed the limits the Undead had in life. If the Undead is given IQ, as his IQ is raised, the abilities he had in life are returned to him. This applies to spells also. If one provides an Undead with IQ higher than his own, the Undead will save on 3D6 vs IQ to break free of control each time he is given an order. Undead that can be created with this spell include:

Vampyres (the undead variety, not the victims of a disease)
Ghouls
Wights*
Shadow Wight*
Night Gaunt*
Intelligent Skeleton
Intelligent Zombie
Skeletal Warrior
Mummy
Lich
Death Lord
*Non-corporeal Undead that can be created with this spell.

[TippetsTX]

Great! Now we have 'insta-liches'.
;)

[warhorse11h]

Great villains have to come from somewhere

[Shostak]

Yes, the spell list would definitely benefit from a spell to make better undead. I'd not lump liches in with this bunch, though; it should probably require its own spell and alchemical potion.

[warhorse11h]

Originally Posted by Shostak

Yes, the spell list would definitely benefit from a spell to make better undead. I'd not lump liches in with this bunch, though; it should probably require its own spell and alchemical potion.

The only thing I wil say in my own defense is that at the time I was thinking about this idea, I felt constrained by the location of the Zombie spell in the list of spells. It limited me to IQ 20 and for the sake of simplicity, I just created a common mechanic for all of them. Each form should probably have specific steps and ingredients to produce it. I just never got around to it.