Caster's skeleton becomes animated while still in his body [Archive] - Wizards Community

Caster's skeleton becomes animated while still in his body [Archive] - Wizards Community

Post/Author/DateTime Post
Yade
11-14-04, 12:28 AM One of my friends is using my d10000 wild surge table and one of his spellcasters had a surge that resulted in "Caster's skeleton becomes animated while still in his body."

How would you guys rule this?

:confused:
kSquared
11-14-04, 12:33 AM How would you guys rule this?
By not letting it happen in the first place. Animate dead requires that the target be a corpse. If he's already alive, then nothing happens. If the caster's already a zombie or some other undead with an intact skeleton, then his current form dies and he becomes a skeleton.
Yade
11-14-04, 12:55 AM By not letting it happen in the first place. Animate dead requires that the target be a corpse. If he's already alive, then nothing happens. If the caster's already a zombie or some other undead with an intact skeleton, then his current form dies and he becomes a skeleton.Well it is a wild surge, meaning that anything is possible. I agree that animate DEAD requires a corpse. :) But he was very much alive when the wild surge happened.

Forgot to add, thanks for giving me some options.
toomre
11-14-04, 01:24 AM I'd interpret this "animation" not as the one similar to the animation of undead, rather to the animation of an inanimate object, so the caster starts doing things as if being physically controlled by a confused and blind marionette. You can proabably quickly write up a list of effects that could happen and roll each round until the duration is over. Some options would be stand still and immobile, move in a random direction at a random speed, attack self with random weapon, attack random creature with random weapon, and if the effect didn't state a duration then of course one of the options on this list ought to be the end of the effect.
Failut
11-14-04, 03:19 AM I could also see it as his skeleton fights back a little, resulting in him having -x on str and dex as he has to really push harder to get his body to move.

As for the -x, well it depends on how much you want it to fight back.. I would say a min of -2 myself.
Passer
11-14-04, 03:39 AM Wow, 10000 surges. Do you mind sending me a copy of that?

As for the animated skeleton, I guess it would make him a bit lurchy having a moving skeleton in him so it would probably lower dexterity a bit. make somatic spells harder to complete and lower his intimidate skill because of the spasms. On the othe hand it might him a bit harder to hit, or make him hit a little harder once in a while.
darczero
11-14-04, 05:03 AM One of my friends is using my d10000 wild surge table and one of his spellcasters had a surge that resulted in "Caster's skeleton becomes animated while still in his body."

How would you guys rule this?

:confused:
I'd say you have to solve your own problems, that's how.
Yade
11-14-04, 12:19 PM Wouldn't the PCs muscles still be under his control? If that's true then he would have his base str vs the str of the standard skeleton to see who controls who. In the end as soon as he gets tired and falls asleep the skeleton would keep on moving.

How sentient will the skeleton be?
TyraaloftheFist
11-14-04, 01:23 PM I would have his skeleton start ripping away his flesh and make him an undead with skeleton stats, except his brain still works, and he gets control of his skeleton again after it finishes removing his skin/muscles. :devil:
:OMG!He's unlucky!
RaspK FOG
11-14-04, 01:37 PM First thing off the bat, you said "my d10000 wild surge table", but they you ask it seems you did not build this table yourself and have not even checked it out first.

Bad form as a DM, if you ask me: if you use outside sources, always make a thorough research of them - you may not be able to pull a trick to correct the result that drops on your shoulders!

If I were you, I would reroll for a more suitable choice, or remodel the table to suit my needs.

And where is that table, anyway?
toomre
11-14-04, 01:54 PM How sentient will the skeleton be?sentient? I'd not give it any, just make it flail around and move as if moved by an invisible force.
Phrennzy
11-14-04, 02:53 PM How would you guys rule this?

Instant death.
Carpe DM
11-14-04, 05:19 PM He should get a fortitude save vs Death. If he fails he becomes a skeleton with flesh on it.
Yade
11-14-04, 05:24 PM First thing off the bat, you said "my d10000 wild surge table", but they you ask it seems you did not build this table yourself and have not even checked it out first.

Bad form as a DM, if you ask me: if you use outside sources, always make a thorough research of them - you may not be able to pull a trick to correct the result that drops on your shoulders!

If I were you, I would reroll for a more suitable choice, or remodel the table to suit my needs.

And where is that table, anyway?Oh I read through the table and some of the options were eliminated. This one was just wacky enough to consider.
Seeker95
11-14-04, 07:18 PM I wouldn't allow it, for reasons already given.

And I too would be interested in this table. Any chance we can get a link to it (if you can post it) or have it sent to us or even posted here?
Shard of Suzail
11-14-04, 07:27 PM There is a magical disease in "The tome of horrors" by necromancer games that does just this. It is carried by dancing skeletons and they infect with bites and scratches. Anyone infected slowly loses control of their body and eventually their skeleton bursts out, killing them, and begins dancing about.
SgtHulka
11-14-04, 07:49 PM You should play it as close to the "hand" in Evil Dead II as possible :devil:

Maybe resolve it as a grapple check every round between the character and its skeleton.

Of course, it would be great if the character's carrying a bunch of alchemist's fire or acid and the skeleton's slowly trying to force the character to open it and pour it on himself.
Yade
11-15-04, 12:10 AM If you email me I will send you the file, otherwise go to this link to find it.

http://www.fortunecity.com/victorian/byzantium/55/index2.htm#bluetroll

The net Libram of Random Magical Effects. It is a huge file being 86 Pages single spaced at font 10.

The website that i listed is incredible for D&D player resources.
Psyker Nel'Restynn
11-15-04, 01:47 AM you COULD do all this other technical devily these crackas are talking about, OR you could go the way of.....

IDLE HANDS!!!!!! With the hand randomly grabbin an a$$ or a foot suddenly kick the adjacent rouge in the leg while hes trying to do a balance check or something equally chaotic and humorous!!!!
Psyker Nel'Restynn
11-15-04, 01:48 AM awww yeeeaah!!!!
Thomar_of_Uointer
11-15-04, 10:04 AM Opposed strength check against an animated skeleton whenever he has to do something (even stand still). Remove curse would unundead the caster's skeleton. Enough cure spells to kill the skeleton would work too.
Yade
11-15-04, 10:28 AM I contacted the author of the Wild Surge table and he is an experienced 2nd ed DM. I gave him a link to this post and this is what he had to say about this specific surge.

That's pretty cool. Some of the responses were good, even if KSquared and Darczero
seemed to be missing the spirit of the thing. Failut, TyralloftheFist, and Carpe DM had
particularly good suggestions IMO.

Somewhere on my hard drive I have the description of a homemade Necromantic spell called,
blandly enough, "Animate Living," which does exactly what this Surge describes. If
I recall the spell correctly, the skeleton is assumed to be granted a nominal strength
characteristic (maybe 1d4+10, or something like that--I'll have to check).

The spell has a finite duration, but during this time the victim is assumed to be struggling
against his skeleton. The description calls for a strength contest between the victim and
his bones at the beginning of each round, and the "victor" in the contest has control of the
body during that round (possibly with penalties to DEX, ToHit, etc.) The only time I ever
used the spell in an actual game, we found it simpler to go with an on/off effect; if the victim
won the strength contest, then he was in full control for that round, and vice versa.

If your game includes horror checks or whatnot, then I suppose the sensation of a
disobedient skeleton would be at least mildly disconcerting.

Make of that what you will. It could be argued that a successful Turn Undead might terminate
the effect; ditto a Dispel Magic or Remove Curse, depending on how you run things.

In any case, I would suggest that the Surge NOT cause instant death, as suggested by
Phrennzy. Sure, realistically it might be hard to breathe if you're not in control of your ribcage,
but this is fantasy, after all. And even with a disobedient jawbone, I'd probably also rule that
normal speech is possible for the victim, but maybe not singing or verbal spellcasting. I know
nothing about 3rd Ed, so any effects under those rules are up to you.
KP91
11-15-04, 03:46 PM Make him make a fortitude save or a stregnth check. If he loses the skeleton controls him that round. Which since the skeleton controls him can't recieve commands so it would stand there.

Post/Author/DateTime	Post
Yade 11-14-04, 12:28 AM	One of my friends is using my d10000 wild surge table and one of his spellcasters had a surge that resulted in "Caster's skeleton becomes animated while still in his body." How would you guys rule this? :confused:
kSquared 11-14-04, 12:33 AM	How would you guys rule this? By not letting it happen in the first place. Animate dead requires that the target be a corpse. If he's already alive, then nothing happens. If the caster's already a zombie or some other undead with an intact skeleton, then his current form dies and he becomes a skeleton.
Yade 11-14-04, 12:55 AM	By not letting it happen in the first place. Animate dead requires that the target be a corpse. If he's already alive, then nothing happens. If the caster's already a zombie or some other undead with an intact skeleton, then his current form dies and he becomes a skeleton.Well it is a wild surge, meaning that anything is possible. I agree that animate DEAD requires a corpse. :) But he was very much alive when the wild surge happened. Forgot to add, thanks for giving me some options.
toomre 11-14-04, 01:24 AM	I'd interpret this "animation" not as the one similar to the animation of undead, rather to the animation of an inanimate object, so the caster starts doing things as if being physically controlled by a confused and blind marionette. You can proabably quickly write up a list of effects that could happen and roll each round until the duration is over. Some options would be stand still and immobile, move in a random direction at a random speed, attack self with random weapon, attack random creature with random weapon, and if the effect didn't state a duration then of course one of the options on this list ought to be the end of the effect.
Failut 11-14-04, 03:19 AM	I could also see it as his skeleton fights back a little, resulting in him having -x on str and dex as he has to really push harder to get his body to move. As for the -x, well it depends on how much you want it to fight back.. I would say a min of -2 myself.
Passer 11-14-04, 03:39 AM	Wow, 10000 surges. Do you mind sending me a copy of that? As for the animated skeleton, I guess it would make him a bit lurchy having a moving skeleton in him so it would probably lower dexterity a bit. make somatic spells harder to complete and lower his intimidate skill because of the spasms. On the othe hand it might him a bit harder to hit, or make him hit a little harder once in a while.
darczero 11-14-04, 05:03 AM	One of my friends is using my d10000 wild surge table and one of his spellcasters had a surge that resulted in "Caster's skeleton becomes animated while still in his body." How would you guys rule this? :confused: I'd say you have to solve your own problems, that's how.
Yade 11-14-04, 12:19 PM	Wouldn't the PCs muscles still be under his control? If that's true then he would have his base str vs the str of the standard skeleton to see who controls who. In the end as soon as he gets tired and falls asleep the skeleton would keep on moving. How sentient will the skeleton be?
TyraaloftheFist 11-14-04, 01:23 PM	I would have his skeleton start ripping away his flesh and make him an undead with skeleton stats, except his brain still works, and he gets control of his skeleton again after it finishes removing his skin/muscles. :devil: :OMG!He's unlucky!
RaspK FOG 11-14-04, 01:37 PM	First thing off the bat, you said "my d10000 wild surge table", but they you ask it seems you did not build this table yourself and have not even checked it out first. Bad form as a DM, if you ask me: if you use outside sources, always make a thorough research of them - you may not be able to pull a trick to correct the result that drops on your shoulders! If I were you, I would reroll for a more suitable choice, or remodel the table to suit my needs. And where is that table, anyway?
toomre 11-14-04, 01:54 PM	How sentient will the skeleton be?sentient? I'd not give it any, just make it flail around and move as if moved by an invisible force.
Phrennzy 11-14-04, 02:53 PM	How would you guys rule this? Instant death.
Carpe DM 11-14-04, 05:19 PM	He should get a fortitude save vs Death. If he fails he becomes a skeleton with flesh on it.
Yade 11-14-04, 05:24 PM	First thing off the bat, you said "my d10000 wild surge table", but they you ask it seems you did not build this table yourself and have not even checked it out first. Bad form as a DM, if you ask me: if you use outside sources, always make a thorough research of them - you may not be able to pull a trick to correct the result that drops on your shoulders! If I were you, I would reroll for a more suitable choice, or remodel the table to suit my needs. And where is that table, anyway?Oh I read through the table and some of the options were eliminated. This one was just wacky enough to consider.
Seeker95 11-14-04, 07:18 PM	I wouldn't allow it, for reasons already given. And I too would be interested in this table. Any chance we can get a link to it (if you can post it) or have it sent to us or even posted here?
Shard of Suzail 11-14-04, 07:27 PM	There is a magical disease in "The tome of horrors" by necromancer games that does just this. It is carried by dancing skeletons and they infect with bites and scratches. Anyone infected slowly loses control of their body and eventually their skeleton bursts out, killing them, and begins dancing about.
SgtHulka 11-14-04, 07:49 PM	You should play it as close to the "hand" in Evil Dead II as possible :devil: Maybe resolve it as a grapple check every round between the character and its skeleton. Of course, it would be great if the character's carrying a bunch of alchemist's fire or acid and the skeleton's slowly trying to force the character to open it and pour it on himself.
Yade 11-15-04, 12:10 AM	If you email me I will send you the file, otherwise go to this link to find it. http://www.fortunecity.com/victorian/byzantium/55/index2.htm#bluetroll The net Libram of Random Magical Effects. It is a huge file being 86 Pages single spaced at font 10. The website that i listed is incredible for D&D player resources.
Psyker Nel'Restynn 11-15-04, 01:47 AM	you COULD do all this other technical devily these crackas are talking about, OR you could go the way of..... IDLE HANDS!!!!!! With the hand randomly grabbin an a$$ or a foot suddenly kick the adjacent rouge in the leg while hes trying to do a balance check or something equally chaotic and humorous!!!!
Psyker Nel'Restynn 11-15-04, 01:48 AM	awww yeeeaah!!!!
Thomar_of_Uointer 11-15-04, 10:04 AM	Opposed strength check against an animated skeleton whenever he has to do something (even stand still). Remove curse would unundead the caster's skeleton. Enough cure spells to kill the skeleton would work too.
Yade 11-15-04, 10:28 AM	I contacted the author of the Wild Surge table and he is an experienced 2nd ed DM. I gave him a link to this post and this is what he had to say about this specific surge. That's pretty cool. Some of the responses were good, even if KSquared and Darczero seemed to be missing the spirit of the thing. Failut, TyralloftheFist, and Carpe DM had particularly good suggestions IMO. Somewhere on my hard drive I have the description of a homemade Necromantic spell called, blandly enough, "Animate Living," which does exactly what this Surge describes. If I recall the spell correctly, the skeleton is assumed to be granted a nominal strength characteristic (maybe 1d4+10, or something like that--I'll have to check). The spell has a finite duration, but during this time the victim is assumed to be struggling against his skeleton. The description calls for a strength contest between the victim and his bones at the beginning of each round, and the "victor" in the contest has control of the body during that round (possibly with penalties to DEX, ToHit, etc.) The only time I ever used the spell in an actual game, we found it simpler to go with an on/off effect; if the victim won the strength contest, then he was in full control for that round, and vice versa. If your game includes horror checks or whatnot, then I suppose the sensation of a disobedient skeleton would be at least mildly disconcerting. Make of that what you will. It could be argued that a successful Turn Undead might terminate the effect; ditto a Dispel Magic or Remove Curse, depending on how you run things. In any case, I would suggest that the Surge NOT cause instant death, as suggested by Phrennzy. Sure, realistically it might be hard to breathe if you're not in control of your ribcage, but this is fantasy, after all. And even with a disobedient jawbone, I'd probably also rule that normal speech is possible for the victim, but maybe not singing or verbal spellcasting. I know nothing about 3rd Ed, so any effects under those rules are up to you.
KP91 11-15-04, 03:46 PM	Make him make a fortitude save or a stregnth check. If he loses the skeleton controls him that round. Which since the skeleton controls him can't recieve commands so it would stand there.