Animate Dead? What can they do? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Animate Dead? What can they do? [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Taylon
05-26-06, 10:44 PM I'm wanting to create a ship that is captained by an evil wizard and the ship itself is ran by animated dead. Is that possible? The books say that skeletons and zombies have to have very simple commands. Is doing the duties of sailing a ship simple enough? Especially if before they were dead, they were sailors to begin with . . . ?
Magicianguy131
05-26-06, 11:16 PM Ya, if you are the DM you can make them be like that. That would be kinda cool if you think about it. Just remember the bigger the ship the more the undead minons. If you have Stormwrack you should make the wizard a Sea Witch or something.
DeadEye19
05-27-06, 01:41 AM While skeletons\zombies lose all their knowledge of their life, you can do so- you are the DM, and as one, you can play with the rules- to some degree. No player should have complains about this.

Ah... skeletal crews. A little fleshier than your ghost ship crew, but they will do the trick.
Seeker95
05-27-06, 07:34 AM All the command that can be completed with minimal "thought" can probably be completed by a skeleton crew (or perhaps we should say 'crew of skeletons' so as not to limit you in number!) But most of the positions for which we generally know the name (captain, first mate, pilot) would need intelligent crewmen. Skeletons and zombies won't cut it. But there are intelligent undead. Maybe a crusty old sea captain became a vampire?
Thiez
05-27-06, 09:21 AM If the guy can cast 7th level spells, you might want to give him Awaken Undead. It gives unintelligent undead 4+1d6 intelligence, and some other nice stuff.

It's from Libris Mortis.
ronyon
05-27-06, 09:43 AM Since the limit on what they can do is their Mindlessness, I would look to better defined Mindless creatures and effects for guidelines.
For example, any task that an Unseen Servant could attempt, an Mindless Undead servant should be able to attempt.
In combat, any manuver a Mindless Vermin could attempt, a Mindless Undead should be able to attempt.
Yes the Vermin are hard to train and the Unseen Servant is a spell effect, but with the lack of clearer guide lines, these would seem to be good limits to me.
Skeemer
05-27-06, 11:07 AM Why not just create a feat that says undead you create can perform the work of a typical sailor and have 4 ranks in Profession (Sailor...or whatever it's called). Call it Ghost Crew or something and leave it at that. Hmm...maybe give them additional abilities when fighting on a preferred ship or at sea to make the feat more tempting. Hmmmm....now i'm getting ideas...

wait...this is sounding like pirates of the carribean...lol
Thiez
05-27-06, 12:56 PM Hehe, give yer BBEG a new type of undead: The Sailor Ghosts Skeletons of ultimate PH34R!

Come to think of it, a new type of skeletons...

With a swim speed?
Int 6?

Skeleton Crew
Medium Undead
Hit Dice: 4d12 (26 hp)
Initiative:
Speed: 30ft. (6 squares), swim 10ft., climb 20ft.
Armor Class:
Base Attack/Grapple: +2/+
Attack: Claw +4 melee (1d4+1)
Full Attack: 2 claws +4 melee (1d6+6)
Space/Reach: 5ft./5ft.
Special Attacks: -
Special Qualities: Damage Reduction 5/Bludgeoning, Darkvision 60ft., Immunity to Cold, Undead Traits, Call Fog
Saves: Fort +1, Ref +3, Will +4
Abilities: Str 13, Dex 14, Con -, Int 6, Wis 10, Cha 1
Feats: Improved Initiative, Weapon Focus (Claw)
Skills: Profession(Sailor) +7, Spot +4, Listen +3, Swim +9*, Climb +9*
Environment: Ghostships
Organization: Yes! :P
CR: Get the guys from the monster's board to look at it.
Treasure: A ship.
Alignment: Always evil (any)
Advancement: 5-12 HD (medium)

*Skeleton Crew Skeletons have a +8 racial modifier on these skills.

These are the skeletons of sailors who have come back from the dead to sail once more the endless sea. Their swim speed prevents them from sinking to the bottom of the sea and their climb speed allows them to get anywhere on their ships.

Call Fog (Su): When 8 or more members of a skeleton crew are present on the same ship, their presence has a strange effect on the local weather. The skeleton crew generate a cloud of fog around their ship. This cloud has a radius of 10ft. per HD of the Skeleton Crew generating the fog.

I'm sure your players will forgive you for inventing your own monsters... as long as they don't slay the party.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Taylon 05-26-06, 10:44 PM	I'm wanting to create a ship that is captained by an evil wizard and the ship itself is ran by animated dead. Is that possible? The books say that skeletons and zombies have to have very simple commands. Is doing the duties of sailing a ship simple enough? Especially if before they were dead, they were sailors to begin with . . . ?
Magicianguy131 05-26-06, 11:16 PM	Ya, if you are the DM you can make them be like that. That would be kinda cool if you think about it. Just remember the bigger the ship the more the undead minons. If you have Stormwrack you should make the wizard a Sea Witch or something.
DeadEye19 05-27-06, 01:41 AM	While skeletons\zombies lose all their knowledge of their life, you can do so- you are the DM, and as one, you can play with the rules- to some degree. No player should have complains about this. Ah... skeletal crews. A little fleshier than your ghost ship crew, but they will do the trick.
Seeker95 05-27-06, 07:34 AM	All the command that can be completed with minimal "thought" can probably be completed by a skeleton crew (or perhaps we should say 'crew of skeletons' so as not to limit you in number!) But most of the positions for which we generally know the name (captain, first mate, pilot) would need intelligent crewmen. Skeletons and zombies won't cut it. But there are intelligent undead. Maybe a crusty old sea captain became a vampire?
Thiez 05-27-06, 09:21 AM	If the guy can cast 7th level spells, you might want to give him Awaken Undead. It gives unintelligent undead 4+1d6 intelligence, and some other nice stuff. It's from Libris Mortis.
ronyon 05-27-06, 09:43 AM	Since the limit on what they can do is their Mindlessness, I would look to better defined Mindless creatures and effects for guidelines. For example, any task that an Unseen Servant could attempt, an Mindless Undead servant should be able to attempt. In combat, any manuver a Mindless Vermin could attempt, a Mindless Undead should be able to attempt. Yes the Vermin are hard to train and the Unseen Servant is a spell effect, but with the lack of clearer guide lines, these would seem to be good limits to me.
Skeemer 05-27-06, 11:07 AM	Why not just create a feat that says undead you create can perform the work of a typical sailor and have 4 ranks in Profession (Sailor...or whatever it's called). Call it Ghost Crew or something and leave it at that. Hmm...maybe give them additional abilities when fighting on a preferred ship or at sea to make the feat more tempting. Hmmmm....now i'm getting ideas... wait...this is sounding like pirates of the carribean...lol
Thiez 05-27-06, 12:56 PM	Hehe, give yer BBEG a new type of undead: The Sailor Ghosts Skeletons of ultimate PH34R! Come to think of it, a new type of skeletons... With a swim speed? Int 6? Skeleton Crew Medium Undead Hit Dice: 4d12 (26 hp) Initiative: Speed: 30ft. (6 squares), swim 10ft., climb 20ft. Armor Class: Base Attack/Grapple: +2/+ Attack: Claw +4 melee (1d4+1) Full Attack: 2 claws +4 melee (1d6+6) Space/Reach: 5ft./5ft. Special Attacks: - Special Qualities: Damage Reduction 5/Bludgeoning, Darkvision 60ft., Immunity to Cold, Undead Traits, Call Fog Saves: Fort +1, Ref +3, Will +4 Abilities: Str 13, Dex 14, Con -, Int 6, Wis 10, Cha 1 Feats: Improved Initiative, Weapon Focus (Claw) Skills: Profession(Sailor) +7, Spot +4, Listen +3, Swim +9, Climb +9 Environment: Ghostships Organization: Yes! :P CR: Get the guys from the monster's board to look at it. Treasure: A ship. Alignment: Always evil (any) Advancement: 5-12 HD (medium) *Skeleton Crew Skeletons have a +8 racial modifier on these skills. These are the skeletons of sailors who have come back from the dead to sail once more the endless sea. Their swim speed prevents them from sinking to the bottom of the sea and their climb speed allows them to get anywhere on their ships. Call Fog (Su): When 8 or more members of a skeleton crew are present on the same ship, their presence has a strange effect on the local weather. The skeleton crew generate a cloud of fog around their ship. This cloud has a radius of 10ft. per HD of the Skeleton Crew generating the fog. I'm sure your players will forgive you for inventing your own monsters... as long as they don't slay the party.