Thoughts on Zombies and Skeletons

[JohnPaulB]

I'm sure this has been discussed to death, but hey, its undead....

John Paul's thoughts on this ITL zombs:

Zombies-(Not the Night-of-the Living-Dead types)

• I think of necromancer created zombies as slow moving (half of original living MA).
• I agree that the zombie ST should be capped to the character’s original ST (the ability to use a weapon rated that ST.) However, the wizard can boost more ST past this point for purposes of endurance. Thus ST 12/20 would be a broadsword toting zombie that could endure 21 hit points of damage before destroyed.
  
  (A zombie with ST 7 will weal a cutlass at an additional -3 DX. Per ITL, If your ST is less than that required for the weapon you are using, your DX is -1 for each ST point you lack, and the damage done is -1 for each 2 ST (round damage down) that you lack.) So how do you get around this penalty? Do you ignore it for zombies?

(If a wizard is controlling his zombie, then what can he do with it? Can he make it dance? Can he make it cook (while under the wizard’s manipulation)? Can he make it speak like an audio-animatronic head?)


Skeleton – (Like Jason and the Argonauts)

• Since Skeletons are a form of Zombie, I would apply the same ST cap and endurance hitpoints to it as I outlined above.
• I think skeletons are a bit slower than living, so I would make skeletons -2 MA.
• As far as DX goes, for most of the skeletons, I would use the DX-2 concept. However, the agility of the Argonaut Skeletons makes me dream that some skeletons could have the DX of their original owners.
• I envision the right tool for the job of destroying skeletons is a crushing weapon, so I would give a bonus of +1 damage for Hammer and Mace, +2 damage for Morningstar & Great Hammer.
• I like the comment in ITL about Skeletons immune to arrows (and rocks and bullets) as they pass through or ricochete off the bones. Well actually, I would say that if you critically hit with a missile weapon, you can score normal damage. But an Aimed Shot has full affect. And an Arbalest or heavy crossbow has more size to hit with so it can be used normally.