Post/Author/DateTime	Post
R.M.G.C.L.F. 10-08-03, 06:46 AM	As a Monster, as a servant, from a DM's view, PC's view, we're here to list reason's why we think skeletons do better than zombies. I'll start things off. 1. Zombie's can't dance. 2. Skeletons don't leave ichor stains on the carpet. 3. Skeletons have initiative high enough so they actually get a chance to deal some damage before being hacked to peices, unlike a certain other mindless undead. 4. Skeletons are immune to cold
Arilou_skiff 10-08-03, 07:15 AM	5. Skeletons can be dressed in black cowls and armed with scythes for a stylish effect. 6. Skeletons can be polished 'till they shine. 7. Skeletons have this nifty DR against piercing weapons.
d_nychus 10-08-03, 10:27 AM	Originally posted by Arilou_skiff 7. Skeletons have this nifty DR against piercing weapons. Zombies have that same DR, you know. Skeletons have DR 5/bludgeoning while zombies have DR 5/slashing, meaning both iof them resist piercing damage equally.
lukelightning 10-08-03, 10:33 AM	8. Skeletons can folded up and boxed for ease of shipping. Also: 9. Skeletons weigh less so if you are Fed-exing them you save some money. 10. If you're watching TV (or whatever) and a skeleton gets in your way it doesn't block your view as much.
bitnine 10-08-03, 10:34 AM	11. We've got like 50 figures of skeletons with scythes in our old Heroquest box, and so should you.
Joe Gold 10-08-03, 10:35 AM	12. Get rid of that slow old zombie, try a skeleton, now with 90% less stank!
lukelightning 10-08-03, 10:45 AM	13. Skeletons are harder to identify as a specific person (i.e. if you make a zombie out of Aunt Bertha, someone might recognize her....but if you make a skeleton out of her only her x-ray radiologist or osteologist will know....)
ikkonoishi 10-08-03, 11:15 AM	14. They count as items for continual light/flame (I had a DM use this once as a trap. a skeleton with CL on it and a medalion in its breastbone that cast cure light wounds when it hugged you. He described it like it was this celestial skeleton and had it hug/cure the first guy after which we all wanted a chance. :angel: Each hug only cured one HP so it took a few times to heal up. It turned out the skeleton was coated in slow-acting contact poison :b: it attacked once we started getting sick.)
lukelightning 10-08-03, 11:28 AM	Actually, they don't. Undead are creatures, not items. Of course you could always a pebble or something with continual flame on it in the skull and have it shine out the eyes like headlights (maybe add a mirror too..) Originally posted by ikkonoishi 14. They count as items for continual light/flame
ikkonoishi 10-08-03, 11:59 AM	Originally posted by lukelightning Actually, they don't. Undead are creatures, not items. Of course you could always a pebble or something with continual flame on it in the skull and have it shine out the eyes like headlights (maybe add a mirror too..) Hmm I didn't ask the DM for details. Maybe the necromancer had painted it first then CLed the paint. The DM is known around here for his attention to details like that. (or his ability to bulls**t his way out of explaining)
SmiloDan 10-08-03, 12:00 PM	15. Skeletons have less carrion-hungry critters crawling all over them. 16. Skeletons can be used a big, giant skeleton keys. 17. Skeletons make nifty mounts for wannabe-lich cloakers.
wdarkk 10-08-03, 12:25 PM	18. You can use skeletons as manequins without staining everything. 19. You can use skeletons to train a dog not to chew bones it finds :smirk: 20. You can use skeletons to feed animals without worrying that they'll try to eat the animals.
Joe Gold 10-08-03, 01:04 PM	21. Ha,ha. I don't need decaying muscles to move.
Xaxor 10-08-03, 02:41 PM	22. Skeletons don't need to moan like a cheap zombie. 23. Skeletons defy basic biological laws better than zombies. :D 24. Skeletons don't leave messy trails of blood or organs. 25. Skeletons don't need 'Brainzzzz' like most worthless zombies.
Raistlin the Black 10-08-03, 03:46 PM	26. you can take an arm/leg/skull etc. off a skeleton and beat him senseless with it.
R.M.G.C.L.F. 10-08-03, 03:55 PM	Originally posted by wdarkk 18. You can use skeletons as manequins without staining everything. 19. You can use skeletons to train a dog not to chew bones it finds :smirk: 20. You can use skeletons to feed animals without worrying that they'll try to eat the animals. Zombies don't eat either unless you use some homebrew movie undead variant. Although with the skeleton you don't have to worry about the animals (if you're raising guard-monsters like worgs and giant spiders) trying to eat your 50gp undead as much, since most monsters prefer flesh.
d_nychus 10-08-03, 04:22 PM	Originally posted by R.M.G.C.L.F. Zombies don't eat either unless you use some homebrew movie undead variant. Although with the skeleton you don't have to worry about the animals (if you're raising guard-monsters like worgs and giant spiders) trying to eat your 50gp undead as much, since most monsters prefer flesh. Aww, you don't want your zombies shambling around and crying out "BRAAAAIIINSSSS!!!" every few minutes? The zombie picket line: "What do we want!!" "Braaaiiinnnss!!" "When do we want them!!" "....Braaaaiiinnns!!"
Joe Gold 10-08-03, 04:51 PM	:rofl:
Riggoras_44 10-08-03, 05:08 PM	27. You can take a little piece of bone from a skeleton and use it to floss your teeth. 28. You can use the head as a helmet. 29. They're safer and more fun for the kids to play with. 30. You can make a "100 reasons why skeletons are better than zombies" list and brag to your friends about it. 31. They have a technical support service that is avaible 24/7.
Rotipher 10-08-03, 05:23 PM	32. Skeletons make good improvised ladders. 33. Skeletons have a chance to surprise opponents with the Scent ability. 34. Skeletons that "play dead" to ambush enemies don't give themselves away by moving their eyes to watch their targets. 35. Ray Harryhausen never did zombies! :-) 36. From a PC's POV, skeletons are better foes because when you toss holy water on the first one, some may splash right *through* the bones and hit the skeleton behind it. 37. From a Great Cleave-user's POV, skeletons are better because scattered bones are easier to take your 5-foot step over, after they've dropped, than a felled zombie.
ThePo 10-08-03, 07:17 PM	38. Skeletons always have that mean scowl becuase their face is a skull!! 39. Jack Skellington is a cool anti-hero. (go see The Nightmare before Christmas ) 40. Skeletons can take off body parts for weapons if PC's get disarm or sunder happy. 41. Skeletons have a much cooler, Rise from the bog/ground effect. 42. when skeletons get bull rushed the DM can have them do piercing damage because of bones breaking off. (Fun times!!)
split infinitude 10-08-03, 07:18 PM	43. If you're having a barbecue, and a lot of uninvited barbarians came over, and you're out of hamburgers, hot dogs, and even the veggie-burgers you brought for the druids, you never, never, never, never are tempted to put a little Zombie on the grill and hope they don't notice. 44. Windchimes. 45. Never have to figure out if their eyes are green, blue-green, or hazel. 46. You can paint, like, 50 good skeletons in a night. With only 4 colors of paint. 47. Skeletons mean never having to say you're sorry your zombie let a festering, half-rotted liver on your girlfriend's dress when she comes over. (And even BBEG's gots girlfriends (or boyfriends).
Incenjucar 10-08-03, 07:39 PM	48. They come with nice, clean storage compartments -- their ribcages. 49. Your familiar can hide in their skulls 50. They can scratch your back without giving you a disease. 51. You can cast "Bone to Steel" on them and have a spiffy minion. 52. As Mickie taught us, skeletons are musical. 53. Assembly required. 54. Necrophiles rarely go after them, unless they're stuck on a 'bone' joke. 55. You can paint them. 56. You can make them look like a huge number of much more powerful undead (liches, death knights, skeleton warriors, reapers, etc) 57. Other undead don't try to eat them very often. 58. They're a natural addition to any closet. 59. You can jam a bunch of them together and watch as they try to seperate without breaking. 60. Anatomy Lessons are much easier, "The leg bone connects to the..."
Boondoggle 10-09-03, 04:55 AM	61. When hit with electricity or fire, you don't have to put up with that burnt flesh smell. 62. Skeletons remain fresh even after being submerged in water for years. 63. Adventurers prefer swords, not clubs so your skeletons last longer. 64. The sound of cracking bones is soooo much cooler than the sound of chunks of flesh falling on the floor. 65. When you animate them, you get the joy of watching them claw off their old flesh. Watching a corpse stand up is just booring.
Tenzhi 10-09-03, 05:15 AM	Incidentally, skeletons only count as creatures AFTER you animate them. There's nothing to say you can't enchant the bones before you animate them, or that such enchantments will disappear afterwards.
Duskey 10-09-03, 06:26 AM	Originally posted by Tenzhi Incidentally, skeletons only count as creatures AFTER you animate them. There's nothing to say you can't enchant the bones before you animate them, or that such enchantments will disappear afterwards. Clever...
The Gray 10-09-03, 07:36 AM	66. It's cooler to watch a skeleton fall apart into a pile of bones, then reform when your PCs are crawling out of the dungeon tired and battered from that dragon at the end, than to have a zombie just . . . well, get up. 67. There are more monsters that look like skeletons, but are really someting completely different (another kind of undead, a construct made to look like a skeleton). 68. You can gamble with their knucklebones with little work in getting them. 69. They're easier to make evil magic dust out of. 70. The skeletal drummer in your undead band never has to worry about dropping his sticks.
Gez 10-09-03, 10:27 AM	71: Zombies can't dance the Bone Song (from Monkey Island 2). 72: A well-cleaned skeleton don't stink. A well-cleaned zombie becomes a skeleton. 73: The hollow build of a skeleton allow for easy safekeeping, for example you may hang them to hooks on the ceiling without deteriorating them. 74: Skeletons are not bigoted. Zombies keep their skin colors, corpulence, and other features that allow other to breed fear and hatred. Skeletons have less reasons to discriminate. 75: Skeletons are what their name says. Zombie are actually not undead, but voodoo-drugged slaves put in a narcoleptic sleep to look dead and then unearthed by the voodoon, awaken, and drugged into submission.
nghtsngr 10-09-03, 11:18 AM	76: You can use a skeleton as flavoring for a soup and still have a skeleton afterwards. 77: Endless games of bowling for rib-cages ( my those skulls roll well ). 78: Always win the 200meter femur relay. 79: Bone is easier to turn into other forms (animated bone thrones, doors and celing fans). 80: Way more bad puns use the word bone than the words "rotting flesh".
Joe Gold 10-09-03, 12:06 PM	81. Skeletons are easily stored in the overhead compartment. 82. Zombies always give you "that look" 83. "Night of the Living Dead" or "Army of Darkness", is it even a choice?
bitnine 10-09-03, 12:14 PM	84. Better nicknames. I'll take "bonesy" any day of the week over "racid flesh-sy."
Hammurabi 10-09-03, 02:39 PM	85. Skeletons always smile. They're the upbeat choice for all your undead needs. 86. You can easily number them with a magic-marker. 87. You can camoflage them by stuff ing them with shrubbery and straw.
aclys 10-09-03, 04:14 PM	88. Zombies go: move, move, strike! Skeletons go CHARGE! 89. skeletons make great musical instruments (as long as it involves drums). 90. Undead up close, once the fear effect wears of, go *crunch*, Skellies with bows go IYAYAYAYAYAY while firing arrows from affar (at least they do if you program them properly) 91. folds for easy storage and traveling
Nived 10-09-03, 04:37 PM	92) Skelletons let the BBEG pun a lot more often. "Ah heroes, so good of you to join me, I've got a bone to pick with you." Cue hoard of Skells rushing the heroes. 93) Two words, "Hat rack"
Joe Gold 10-09-03, 04:43 PM	Originally posted by aclys 91. folds for easy storage and traveling This one seems to be fairly common. Is our biggest concern really getting skeletons through airport security?:)
bitnine 10-09-03, 04:49 PM	94. Skeletons represent racial equality. It doesn't matter what color their skin was, now you can see everyone's really the same on the inside. Aw.
ikkonoishi 10-09-03, 05:12 PM	Originally posted by Joe Gold This one seems to be fairly common. Is our biggest concern really getting skeletons through airport security?:) Racial equality is popular as well...
shmeg 10-09-03, 05:41 PM	95. Having your dire wolf familiar fetch a femur is more amusing than having him bury the corpse.
the Horc 10-09-03, 06:10 PM	96. Soup
DrakeRunner 10-09-03, 08:25 PM	97: Eye sockets make better bottle openers in a pinch
Dark Kurgan 10-09-03, 08:50 PM	98. It's easier to rebuild skeleton minions after they get trounced by adventurers than a bunch of zombies. 99. If you live in catacombs (ala Paris), the skeletons can be guards and decoration 100. You can hide stuff inside a skeleton's skull (like beads of force) that are triggered by being bashed, zombies have to be bloated with gasses or something like that - and they leak it all over the castle, killing the maintenence - dammit, do you know how hard it is to find a decent maid that will work for a evil warlord?
Joe Gold 10-10-03, 01:33 AM	That was pretty fast.
Riznar 10-10-03, 01:37 AM	Does it end now? :(
PcSpider 10-10-03, 04:19 AM	101. With a skeleton around you always have a chair ready. This is the tread that goes on and on my friend, because this is the tread... etc. etc. etc.
Boondoggle 10-10-03, 05:29 AM	Now: 101 Skeleton puns!! 1: The afformentioned "bone to pick" 2: "Throw me a friggin bone here." 3: "Boneheaded minions" 4: "Bonefied threat"
R.M.G.C.L.F. 10-10-03, 06:12 AM	You know, we could just try to count up the repeats and add on that many.
Arilou_skiff 10-10-03, 07:38 AM	"Actually, I don't have bones, my body is supported by a system of fluid-filled bladders..."
Mr.Waesel 10-10-03, 11:19 AM	so call yourself bladderboy
Dark Kurgan 10-10-03, 02:53 PM	Originally posted by Arilou_skiff "Actually, I don't have bones, my body is supported by a system of fluid-filled bladders..." "Dear Diary, Today I made love for the first time..." Futurama rocks!
Raymond_Luxury_Yacht 10-10-03, 03:25 PM	102. Murray (From Monkey Island 3 and 4) was a skeleton.
airwalkrr 10-11-03, 02:49 AM	Originally posted by R.M.G.C.L.F. 1. Zombie's can't dance. Somebody never saw "Thriller."
Tevish Szat 10-11-03, 03:38 AM	103: The smell 104: Skeletons are easily nad more flavorfully upgraded to Skeleton warriors, baneguards, and what have you. Zombies just get better disease spreading 105: Skeletons are mute, where as zombies groan. Mute is creepier. 106: Skeletons can move and attack 107: The smell 107: Skeletons are easier to put in suits of armor for a disguise. 108: Skeletons look better in a not so fresh crypt 109: Skeletons are more agile 110: The smell 110: That unearthly glow in their eye sockets... as opposed to dead eyes
Adrez Nesnsid 10-11-03, 05:28 PM	Originally posted by R.M.G.C.L.F. 1. Zombie's can't dance. The music industry disagrees. I can cite examples: -The music video "Thriller" -The song "Monster Mash" uh, uhhhhhhhh.... oh, I guess that there weren't as many examples as I had thought...:D
Arilou_skiff 10-11-03, 05:31 PM	Originally posted by Dark Kurgan "Dear Diary, Today I made love for the first time..." Futurama rocks! Yeah, it does. And here's one from Murray: "THE FORCES OF HELL WILL APPLAUD YOU AS I STRIDE THROUGH THE GATES OF HELL; CARRYING YOUR HEAD ON A PIKE!" "Stride?" "Ok, OK, Roll, ROLL THROUGH THE GATES OF HELL!"
Nived 10-11-03, 11:06 PM	111) Hamlet Impressions, "Alas poor Yorik, I knew him Horatio, a fellow of infinate jest..." 112) Paint little smiley faces on them... confuse the heck out of your enemies.
Dragon Master 10-12-03, 02:17 AM	Originally posted by Arilou_skiff Yeah, it does. And here's one from Murray: "THE FORCES OF HELL WILL APPLAUD YOU AS I STRIDE THROUGH THE GATES OF HELL; CARRYING YOUR HEAD ON A PIKE!" "Stride?" "Ok, OK, Roll, ROLL THROUGH THE GATES OF HELL!" "So, what are you doing up there?" "I am standing as a testement!" "Standing?" "...HANGing as a testement!" :rofl:
wdarkk 10-12-03, 02:52 AM	This is strangely off-topic. 113: Paint the skeletons happy, cheery colors like bright blue. 114: Stuff the skeletons with rabid vermin of some sort, then cover them with duct tape to make them look zombies. Surprise the heck of the adventurers :D
Awake Forever 10-12-03, 03:26 AM	115) Which is seen as the bringer of death (coughgrimreapercough) skeletons or zombies. However which does Brooke Sheilds look more like.:mymy:
Joe Gold 10-12-03, 06:35 PM	116. Need a messenger? Skeletons never tire, and can't be distracted. Hmm, I may use this in a campaign.
Mage of Sembia 10-14-03, 10:22 PM	#117: the local druid of the forest is less likely to smell you out while in his bear form and attack the creatures that have "perverted" nature and the evil human that created them.
Joe Gold 10-14-03, 10:48 PM	If that druid is worried about perversions of nature, he has a lot more to worry about than a few undead;) .
Blind Seer 10-15-03, 01:52 AM	They can be folded for easy storage.
Mr.Waesel 10-15-03, 06:29 AM	.
wdarkk 10-15-03, 11:34 AM	118. Skeleton cooks never drop rotting parts of themselves into the stew. 119. Zombie stink warns the innocents of the coming undead army WEEKS in advance. 120. Skeletons do not bloat up when you march them through water. 121. Skeletons have less "bad horror movie" stigma, since they sell zombie costumes but skeletons require an animation budget and lousy directors don't have the money.
Lord of the Ninth 10-19-03, 03:33 PM	122. You can build a giant skeleton and then build a big comfy inside it's ribcage, giving you a mobile chair thing that can attack people. 123. You can dress them up in robes, give them all walking sticks, and with a little illusion here or there, you can amke the PCs think you have an army of liches at your command. Works best at levels where the PCs know they can't fight one lich, let alone a horde of them. 124. You can get 5 or six liches, hide them among your horde of lich-look-alikes and make PCs of a slightly higher level think they have found an army of liches.
Shifting Master 10-21-03, 04:42 PM	:bump:
Boondoggle 10-21-03, 06:05 PM	On a more serious note, skeletons in robes can be poorly disguised bodyguards, something a zombie could never pull off.
Incenjucar 10-21-03, 06:19 PM	For a lich illusionist, they could very easily be the latest and greatest in mirror image tricks.
Joe Gold 10-21-03, 06:19 PM	Originally posted by Boondoggle On a more serious note, skeletons in robes can be poorly disguised bodyguards, something a zombie could never pull off. Y'know, I did that once.
Jagyr Ebonwood 10-21-03, 06:49 PM	While entertaining other evil genuises, you can play the party game "Geuss What It Was When It Was Alive". Zombies give too much away... Also, you can put things in their ribcages that are triggered by being struck, like a thunderstone or bead of force like thingy. Then rule that whenever someone misses a skelly with a piercing or slashing weapon, it goes through the ribcage and boom! :D
Jagyr Ebonwood 10-21-03, 06:51 PM	Oh, almost forgot... Smell Storage Racial equality :P
vassalich 10-21-03, 07:42 PM	For number 122: I actually know a person who played a Brownie necromancer (Tiny Fae) who used a skeleton for just that.
Mr.Waesel 10-22-03, 07:11 AM	They can be folded for easy storage.
Endarire 10-22-03, 11:14 PM	125: Gather bones in a pile then use wind to blow them at something like spears. 126: Hollow the bones and use them as flasks. 127: Skels needn't be anatomically correct. 128: If properly painted and aligned, they can spell words, like "Go Evil!" 129: Hide bone chips or a skull in a snowball. 130: Cleaned skulls are more impressive headdresses. 131: Piano Keys -EE
lukelightning 10-23-03, 09:35 AM	A few quick questions: Can skeletons be folded for easy storage? Do zombies smell bad? What about racial equality? Do you think zombies are subject to more prejudice because you can see what race they were? Oh, one more question: Can skeletons be folded for easy storage?
dantedarkstar 10-23-03, 01:47 PM	132. Skeletons don't have guts to disobey you ;)
Shifting Master 10-23-03, 04:13 PM	An even better question would be if they would allow you to fold them for easy storage.
wdarkk 10-23-03, 04:46 PM	I just tried it out - they do :D
Raymond_Luxury_Yacht 10-23-03, 04:55 PM	They can be stored for easy foldage.
Joe Gold 10-23-03, 05:05 PM	Augghhh!!!
Shifting Master 10-23-03, 05:12 PM	So they can be folded for easy storage and stored for easy foldage. That can always be useful. But its not THIS useful: Folded for easy storage has been said three times this page. Stored for easy foldage has been said twice this page. It's a little out of hand, people! :turkey:!
Raymond_Luxury_Yacht 10-23-03, 05:17 PM	Originally posted by Shifting Master So they can be folded for easy storage and stored for easy foldage. That can always be useful. But its not THIS useful: Folded for easy storage has been said three times this page. Stored for easy foldage has been said twice this page. It's a little out of hand, people! :turkey:! I only said "stored for easy foldage" because someone repeated "folded for easy storage".
Shifting Master 10-23-03, 05:18 PM	Originally posted by Raymond_Luxury_Yacht I only said "stored for easy foldage" because someone repeated "folded for easy storage". It's still a little out of hand.
Getarnal_the_Drow 10-23-03, 05:22 PM	They can be folded for storey easage
Illithid Tentacles 10-23-03, 05:31 PM	They can be eased for storey foldage.
R.M.G.C.L.F. 10-23-03, 05:34 PM	You make me sad. :(
Joe Gold 10-23-03, 05:38 PM	Yeah, kinda lost the funny, so please we get the picture, no more.
Getarnal_the_Drow 10-23-03, 05:39 PM	"Why" said the Stored EZ-fold brand skeleton OUT NOW FOR ALL YOU BUDDING NECROMANCERS OUT THERE. NEW FROM NECRO-BRAND SKELETONS TTTTHHHHEEEE EZ-FOLD SKELETON. DESIGNED FOR EASY STORAGE
bitnine 10-23-03, 05:46 PM	133. Seriously, you never catch a glimpse of rank zombie genetalia through tattered clothes. That I can live without having to see.
Jagyr Ebonwood 10-23-03, 05:50 PM	Skellies require a skeletal structure to create, zombies require a "true anatomy". It's pretty easy to figure out whether or not something has a skeleton, but how does one define "true anatomy"? Some zombies have been known to fall apart unexpectedly when confronted with ambiguous spell wording. ;-)
ikkonoishi 10-23-03, 06:19 PM	You can leave skeletons hanging on a wall and the adventurers won't blink an eye, but if you leave a zombie hanging on the wall they will attack it before it can get off the surprise round.
Mr.Waesel 10-24-03, 11:17 AM	Must....resist.....urge.....store....aaa argh!!!!!
R.M.G.C.L.F. 04-01-04, 08:39 PM	*Kills Geternal, Ithillid Tentacles, Raymond, and a few others.* *animates them as skeletons, using a few suggestions from thread* There. I know appreciate the "mute" part of skeletons. Oh yeah, :bump: or something.
Mr.Waesel 04-02-04, 05:25 AM	You know what I want to say, don't you? :smirk:
R.M.G.C.L.F. 04-02-04, 06:23 AM	Yes v_v
gino 04-02-04, 10:15 PM	Actually the "i know appreciate the 'mute' part of skelettons" may well be the funniest post in the thread. a) In dire straits you can use skulls as cups or baskets. (seriously it is how the vikings drank : "skol !") b) Actually you can fill their skulls with nasty alchemical devices, and let the adventurers play nasty surprise skel-bashing... You can use them to draw skeleton maps. You can be the skeleton at the feast ! a) Skeletor is not a zombie. (nor a true skeleton you might answer) b) There is no such thing as Zombior, it sounds cheesy and plain stupid.
Riznar 04-09-04, 02:05 AM	Isn't Skeletor a lich? Also that badguy from the thundercats... I hate both those shows... Well, I like skeletor, he's a great villain. :D
wdarkk 04-09-04, 02:13 AM	Mum-Ra is a Greater Mummy or a Hunefer.
headlessfriar 04-09-04, 08:09 AM	#443 (or #12 if you don't count the repeats) Skeletons can carry amusing or confusing props like hairbrushes and combs. Zombies just don't have ironic props to equip themselves with. #444/#13 Zombies will never be cover models for supermarket magazines. #445/#14 Skeletons can keep clean with nothing more than a toothbrush and lots of toothpaste. This is also how to make refreshing mint-scented minions.