Monday, October 15, 2018

4 Elementally Challenged Undead

Dry-Vine Skeleton (1+2 HD, +2 AC, 1d6+1 rusted sword, vine entangles on hit, immune to arrows, takes only 1 damage from spears, weak to fire)
Numbers- 2d6+2 in places overgrown by nature, 1d6 everywhere else

The Dry-Vine skeletons are animated by necromantic energies and magic, but are primarily animated by the dead and dried out vines entangled through their bones. This gives them more structure and speed then normal skeletal undead, as well as advanced strength. Also, whenever they successful hit a target, the target must save or be entangled in vines, which take a round to cut themselves out of or they cannot move or attack for the next turn.

As with all skeletons, they are not hurt by arrows or spears, as they have no organs or flesh to stab. Blunt weapons are required to effectively fight skeletons. Unlike normal skeletons though, the vines help hold these ones together, meaning a simple bash on the head with a club usually isn't enough to scatter their bones across the crypt.

However; these skeletons are weak to fire. Any fire damage at all ignites their vines, dealing 1d6 fire damage against them each round; once their vines are burned away the skeletons fall apart from losing all structure. The Dry-Vine skeletons naturally fear fire, as much as an undead can fear anything, and a confident priest can use a torch or lit candle as a substitute for a holy symbol.

Dust Wraith (2 HD, +4 to hit, 1d4 damage touch, save or level drain, Ethereal, blown away by wind)
Numbers- 1 or 2 in a closed dusted casket, 1d6+1 everywhere else

Dust Wraiths appear as ghostly wraiths animated as clouds of dust. The dust that make up their bodies are the dust from old human graves and the dust of crypts; as such their features are vague as they are probably reanimated from the dust of several dead humans and animals, lacking any sort of personality or resemblance to their living past self.

The Wraiths can float and touch people to deal damage; the life draining energy can cause characters to have their levels drained. Whenever you are hit by a wraith, take the 1d4 damage roll and drain a level if you fail a save. The save is either unmodified or modified by save vs death.

As they are made of dust; treat their AC is 20 vs nonmagic weapons, giving a very low chance to harm them without magical weapons or spells. The dust that makes up their bodies can be easily blown away by the wind or flow of air; as such the dust wraiths only appear in the deepest levels of a catacomb and fear the open spaces of the surface. If you use something like a palm fronds, billows, or hand fan you deal 1d6 damage against them each round if you try to blow them away. Spells that create winds or blast of air kill them instantly, their dust scattered back to the floor of the tomb.

Lotion Zombie (3 HD, +4 AC, 1d6 flabby slaps, easy to smell, sliding motion, water weakness)
Numbers- 1d8 in a loft, 1d3 everywhere else

Loton Zombies appear as regular, bloated zombies with extremely smooth skin. Their whole skin has a pale white thin cream or lard spread across it, which gives them an unusual and distinct smell; doesn't smell like rotting flesh, so it makes them easy to pick out in a crypt. This makes getting surprised by them impossible, along with their wet slapping feet and constant blubbering groans.

Because of both their fat, smooth skin, and unusually powerful method of animation, lotion zombies are very hard to kill. Many attacks may just slide right off their skin from how slippery their lard is. In the same vein, the lotion zombies can slide across the ground, especially smooth tile, very easily. If at a full run and stopped by a warrior's shield or spear, the zombie might just be able to slip underneath to attack the backline. They can build to great speeds if marching downhill, and will deal 1d4 damage plus bowl anyone over who stands in their way.

Lotion Zombies have a weakness; water. Any amount of water splashed on their skin washes away the lotion, and unanimates that area of their body. If their hand is dipped or splashed with water, then it falls limp and instantly begins to rot, losing its power. A bucket full of water deals 2d6 damage to the zombie, and being submerged in water or being put out in the rain will end their animation. Because only very fresh bodies can be animated by the magic cream, once a zombie is washed off it can't be used again as a lotion zombie.

Clay Mask Mummy (1 HD, +2 AC, +2 to hit, 1d8 old weapons, magic shield blocks 1d8 magic damage each round, cunning, fragile)
Numbers- 1d4 in sealed tomb, 1 anywhere else

Clay Mask mummies are specially preserved undead, retaining almost all of their intelligence and skill after death through special preservation methods. However, their entire body is covered by a clay covering to preserve their flesh, especially their face, and they have become so brittle as any physical damage could kill them. Despite being quite powerful, they only use a single hit die for HP, and physical attacks that normally wouldn't do much damage, such an unarmed punch or an improvised weapon, do a minimum of 1d6 damage again them. Any weapon that deals less then 1d4 damage, like a sling or dagger, does 1d6 damage against them as well.

The Clay Mask mummies sit in sealed rooms to avoid all potential damage from animals or other undead; as well as to meditate on the nature of their powers. Clay Mask mummies also carry a magic hide shield that grants them +1 AC and absorbs the first 1d8 magic damage they take each round. This is rolled when the first spell or attack that hits them deals magic damage, and lets them absorb that much of it and all further attacks.

While very fragile, they are also very cunning and prefer to use the dungeon environment or ranged weapons to fight. Some may also carry around a magic scroll that can rot flesh or drain levels, and use that before leading intruders into larger hoards of lesser undead.

1 comment:

  1. > Can level drain you
    > Can be killed by getting sneezed on
    Classic

    ReplyDelete