Undead World

[Kassil]

It was noted previously that mostly only the weaker undead were dropped here - so dracoliches, mummies, and the like probably wouldn't exist. Vampires certainly wouldn't, as they'd have starved to death.

[manfred]

Seems like someone actually reads this! I am glad.

Yep, it was by purpose that only weaker Undead are sent to Undead World, for sooner or later some player WOULD choose a dracolich to play himself.
 

Then again, if it makes you happy, powerful Undead can arrive here, but it is extremely improbable. Such a thing would be unique, use as a plot hook only.


Hey, a Vampire could work! One arriving here would:
a) mix up the local power structure
b) slowly starve to death, thus not changing Undead World forever
c) possibly be quite mad and dangerous in his last moments

(And as I see dracoliches, such creature would soon rule over the whole world.)

[Kassil]

A vampire would be less than dangerous, if the legend of needing to sleep in the earth of their grave is held true. In a case such as that, They're as good as dead the moment the sun rises...

As for a dracolich - they'd be powerful enough to cave a cave for themselves with their claws and spells, and they would end up ruling the world in short order.

[manfred]

What are Undead?

Undead are creatures, that should not be alive anymore. For one reason or another, something makes their bodies partially immune to Time, and even able to move and act, almost as if they were still living...

And the something is most often Magic.


Hit points

Magic powers the Undead, it makes them work, it holds their body parts together. If you hack an arm away, the flow of magic ceases, the Undead cannot use it anymore. Luckily, in a magically rich world the magic does not diffuse very fast. The poor Undead simply reattaches the arm, and magic circullates again freely. It even can 'heal' the rotting flesh partly.

So it is that magic in undead bodies is the hidden equivalent of Hit Points. If magic leaves the body, it looses the last similarities to the Living (movement and hate). There are known spells and abilities to achieve this effect.

Undead in well-preserved bodies have thus more Hit Points than others. If physically (or otherwise) damaged, a part of the magic is lost.

[manfred]

Combat in Undead World

Undead World is a zero-magic world. Don't try to find what the term means, I have just invented it.

As such, it has no magic of its own, but is not hostile to magical creatures.
(A "negative"-magic world would drain all magic present, possibly even from magical creatures. A "positive"-magic world has magic spread eveyrwhere, ready to be used by magic-users.)

The bad thing is, once the magic is used, it dissolves, and it is impossible to get it back anymore. It is lost forever.


To be wounded in Undead World means to be weakened forever. If you are sewn and nailed together, your Hit Points may increase beyond your former maximum. But this is only armor, that protects the magic hidden inside. If you are wounded enough, then you will be weakened again. (DM should note the number of Hit Points at arrival, and may assign penalties as the magic gets weaker.)

Combat is deadly, and to be wounded is dangerous. So is Undead World.

[manfred]

Note on magic and spells etc.:

No spells were cast yet in Undead World, and no special abilities were used. Should it ever happen, be aware the magic is lost once used. After running out of that magic, the DM may (or may not) allow to use one's own magic for this... think of it as bleeding voluntarily, without a chance to heal.

Hmmm... this becomes a non-magic world. And magic is at the core of fantasy. If desired, alternative sources of magic might be found. Will think about it, and the price. Anybody ideas?

[MoonHunter]

Magik as in "wonder" and "supernatural" are the core of fantasy, tropes so to speak.  Spell magik is not, but something we frequently see.  The LotRs has very little in the way of spell magik, when compared to many fantasy novels. Many fantasy books have only a touch of spell magik, but still have the sense of wonder and wow.  Connan is fantasy, and you seldom see spells in there.

Besides... maybe the God of the Undead will be drawn to this sphere... he will provide the magik for his undead minions.  Any living visitors might be in trouble.... After all, if it requires magik to get home and there is no magik... well you get the idea.

[manfred]

Sure, fantasy has to be 'magical' and wondrous, it is not about casting n-th level spells. And living beings (as we know them) would be in trouble either way, for they would simply choke.

[manfred]

...God of Undead

Yes, a deity is a traditional resource of magical powers (at least in RPGs...) And at least a few Undead will worship something, for many remember doing this from their lives.

But before we allow a deity to enter Undead World, we better ask a few questions:


1.Is it?

If someone claims to hear voices in their head, or feel an unearthly guidance, madness is often the first suspect. Even strange events, or downright miracles may not be enough to make everyone believe. As for Undead World, mistrust is strong, but any miracle would surely attract followers. (Reminder: The False Priest plot option.)

So if there is nobody, it's just your mind that plays with you, you are getting mad, or you lie. Any additional miraculous happenstances are mere chances, faked, or perhaps really effects of magic, just not from the expected source. Or the effects are limited to a place, where even your mind is not reliable anymore.


2.Is it God on the phone?

OK, there is someone out there. And that someone not only listens, but answers, too! The question only is... WHAT is it?

a) A planet, and the very space can give birth to creatures that are hard to imagine, or even impossible to imagine. And some may be mistaken, or indeeed wish to be seen as Gods. Many reasons and plots/campaigns possible.

b) As mentioned elsewhere, the act of worshipping alone may create a deity.

c) The planet was inhabited before (or another planet in the same system), but they destroyed themselves a long time ago. Structures and/or strange artifacts may or may not stay behind. Or the deity was the destroyer.

c2) "And so was the Enemy cast out into the emptiness, never to return until the world ends." Does that remind you of something? (Morgoth/Melkor from LOTR) A deity that was forced to leave, lost its homeworld and/or all worshippers, might desperately seek some.

d) A deity active in the same solar system, discovers them and is glad to have new worshippers.

e) A deity from the former world of those undead, becomes linked to Undead World through their worship.

f) A deity from the former world of those undead, has actually caused this situation. Inspired the spell, and now reaps the benefits of the situation. Depends, whether it only wants to get those filthy undead as far away as possible, or has some other motives...


3.Thank you, oh Mighty One, could we now ask this leeetle favour?

Well, what is the benefit of having a deity? To be morally superior to unbelievers is fine, but what about something immediatelly useful? Some special abilities may do good, and power to cast spells might change Undead World deeply.

a) The being cannot grant, or is not willing to grant, any powers. It may have various powers of its own, and use them (or not) on behalf of its worshippers. The choices of 2.a) and 2.c) work fine here.

b) The being grants minor special abilities to selected few, creating priests. Even a simple Cure Light Wounds (for Undead) may do wonders.

c) Classical RPG (D&D-ish) priestly magic available, and any devout worshipper may ask for a godly favour, and may be granted it. Don't like this option, makes Undead World simply another place to cast 9th level spells.

[manfred]

4.We bow down before you... so what do you really want?

Depends on the being that is/plays God, a few possibilities I cover here:

a) ...seeks to gain more power from being worshipped.

b) ...wants to enjoy Power Over Others (tm), and play games with them. (An infant deity, perhaps? A place to learn how to rule over mortals?)

c) ...wants to unite them, and when the army is big enough, open a gate into the former world (or some other), and crush the enemy!

d) ...a god of Death had moral qualms: the Undead are an unnatural deformity to the process of death and birth. Since they are from parts of souls, they can be unique. And once created, they are self-suficient entities, in very rare cases able to turn to good. Simply destroying them may not be right. Thus was Undead World to happen: a place to keep undead safe (and living safe from them), and to observe their behaviour.

e) ...a god(des) of Nature did the same thing as in d) and the true mission is to bring life upon the dead planet. The Farmers already work towards this purpose. (Note for Kassil: Strange as it sounds, undead may be good for terraforming!)

f) ...has really no idea what to do with them, only observes at the moment... will decide for another option sooner or later.

[Morbrin]

How about a mythos that a great undead god had his minions banished to undead world and he/it wants a reconing with the other gods of living worlds.He chooses his undead champions (our heros)! This would invite the introduction of undead geared magic items and artifacts, also maybe a powerful lich as our decayed gods right hand man (not all fingers of course!)

[CirrusWind]

I saw this thread a while back and meant to check it out but I got distracted.  This is one of the coolest ideas I've seen in a long time.  It's unique and the possiblities for it are enormous.  The undead have always been my favorite plot pieces.  I never thought to make a WHOLE WORLD of them.  That's just brilliant.  If I can think of anything to add to it I'll be sure to do so.  Just wanted to give ya a big "Well Done!" while I remembered to.

[manfred]

Thank you. My ideas have left me here, I would gladly welcome any inspiration.

[nitouken]

Why not make their god an Atropal?

[Ria Hawk]

Huh?

[Captain insn't logged in]

Atropal is a monster from that D20 Epic book. Like a god's aborted baby come back to haunt the world with it's evil dead god-baby-ness.

[CirrusWind]

A gestalt entity composed of the consciousness of a number of the undead.  Their bodies rot away but their minds remain and pool together by a shared rage and hatred of those still "alive".  As their hatred grows, so does their power.  With simple willpower they can manipulate small objects around them.  Dust, bone fragments, bits of cloth.  They pull these small bits of detris together forming a shared "body" roaming the wastes and attacking anyone or anything that crosses their path.  Their cries of pain and rage are often mistaken for the howl of the wind.  Pity these poor creatures.

[manfred]

Location: The Storm Plains - a wild place full of craters and rocks, the wind does never stop here. Sometimes an unlucky fellow looses all flesh to the cruel winds, and the skelet is torn apart. Avoid this place.


Note: the monster CirrusWind mentioned is at home here. Luckily, it has no intelligence, nor does it seek undead by purpose. But if the sun does not shine, it looks for the Living, forever. If it comes upon you by chance, it will kill you anyway.

[CirrusWind]

Perhaps this has been addressed already and I have missed it.  Is the population of the Undead World static or are there always more arriving?  And if so, where are they coming from and how do they get there?

Also, insects are a big problem for the undead.  They eat away at the flesh and lay their eggs for their ravenous young in their soft rotting skin.  A thriving business amoung the Animated could be balms and salves created from the moses and lichens of the Dusty Gardens.  These help repel insects and preserve the skin.  Or if it's too late and you've already become a nesting ground for vermin, you could visit the local groomer, a shop or parlor where a trained Animated with keen eyes (keen for an undead) and using delicate tools such as picks and scapels will attempt to remove the worst of the insectiod infestion.

[nitouken]

Why not have potions and unguents of assorted types that kill vermin and remove them from your system? That could be the equivalent of a remove disease type spell, but no magic required. Then you could have vermin and insect infestations that are "diseases" for a type of character that doesn't have diseases.

[manfred]

Perhaps this has been addressed already and I have missed it.  Is the population of the Undead World static or are there always more arriving?  And if so, where are they coming from and how do they get there?

It was, but let be clearer:

A mighty Necromancer failed to create a teleport-type of spell for undead only. Trying to find a way to transport packages with a certain special quality (undead), in reality was found a strange attunement of space to the undead energies (whatever it is). But a divine intervention is also possible.

Whatever, the undead come from a classical fantasy world, where the forces of Good use the 'Disintegrate Undead' spell to good effect. Sadly it works only on weaker undead, but mumble the words, and *Poof!* those zombies are gone.

My thoughts were that because of the strange space-time-continuum-warp-dingus-something, and due to some other interstellar reasons I will not explain here, most undead end up in one place (approximately), some could end up on the other side of the planet (a smaller colony _very far away), and a few unlucky souls can end up anywhere on the planet, anywhere.

Problems arise for those that come at day. If they can't find a shadow very fast...


So, the population is static in the sense undead cannot have any children, but new undead arrive every day. (Not counting those that get lost somewhere in space...)

[manfred]

Also, insects are a big problem for the undead.  They eat away at the flesh and lay their eggs for their ravenous young in their soft rotting skin.  A thriving business amoung the Animated could be balms and salves created from the moses and lichens of the Dusty Gardens.  These help repel insects and preserve the skin.  Or if it's too late and you've already become a nesting ground for vermin, you could visit the local groomer, a shop or parlor where a trained Animated with keen eyes (keen for an undead) and using delicate tools such as picks and scapels will attempt to remove the worst of the insectiod infestion.

Quite right, insects can get very annoying, and can eat you up literally. Do not forget to see the Undead Cosmetics, by the way. If you are undead and care about your preserving, buy our products and let our dedicated advisors and cosmeticians and morticians help you. Order NOW!!!


Oh... what did we speak about?

Undead World. Those that arrive here have a stressing journey after them (insert special effects), very likely through space with radiation, vacuum, etc. The enviroment is quite hostile to life as we know it, with the atmosphere shielding little from radiation (and sun...), low-pressure unbreathable air, and little to eat anyway. As was said before, simple plants could survive even these conditions, and slowly make this world living. 'Higher' creatures, even little critters would have a hard time to survive (no oxygen to breathe). If we want to keep things simple, I would say no insects survive the stress of travel, and the hostile enviroment.

But...

But 1.) Among the mosses and lichens some insects could survive, or arrive later and enrich the miniature ecosystem of the Dusty Gardens. I wonder how it will look in a few thousand years...

But 2.) What if some insect survives, and is quite hot on undead flesh? It could spread and become a horrible danger! Remember those movies with flesh-eating ants? Plot hook of the save-the-world kind.

[manfred]

Why not have potions and unguents of assorted types that kill vermin and remove them from your system?

Just by the way, the visitors of the Pub claim the Gas has these effects. It depends on you whether you believe them...

[manfred]

Location: The Pool of Tranquility

Newly discovered, this spot close to the Hill is covered in its shadow for almost the whole day! Except for short moments in the morning and evening, undead can move freely on the surface. The Preacher has made his home here.

This place is called after a smooth black, almost round rock close to the center. The Preacher stands on it when preaching, and travelers often sit on it.


NPC: The Preacher

A well-preserved, if somewhat thin ghoul. He has rejected his hunger for flesh, and now speaks to anyone that wants to listen, about a new chance to live and exist, and ways to repent for their sins. A group of trusty Undead follows him, and they try to build a place for all Undead to meet, a temple of sorts.

The Preacher is one of those that welcome newcomers to the Undead World. They are often sent here first, to learn the basics needed to "survive". Many ignore him, but he is one of the few authorities around.

[CirrusWind]

Nice character, Manfred.  The Preacher.  Maybe give him a write up in the characters section?