Danse Macabre??

[GrimJesta]

Greetings.

 

I have a question for all you rules-masters out there, since Im just getting the hang of the system:

 

How would one build an ability that raises a skeleton or corpse into an undead servant?

 

 

Mind you, me and my posse are playing 4th edition. I dont know if theres something new in 5th that handles it.

 

I was thinking it might have to be a summon linked to a transform? The transform creates the "living" skeleton, and the summon gives it stats? I'd explain that as summoning the soul of the dead into its husk... or something.

 

Does anyone have a way to handle this?

 

I *should* be getting Fantasy Hero 5th ed for Xmass, and I dont know if the answer is in there. But regardless, I want to see how to build it with just the core rules...

 

Thanks,

 

-=Grim=-

[Monolith]

Just buy it as a Summon with an OIF-Skeleton of Opportunity Limitation. No skeleton, no ability to summon it back to unlife. No Transform attack needed.

[Sociotard]

I agree with monolith. This is a summon.

 

This gives me a thought, though. Is there any way to summon a critter inside another one? I ask because the following scenario just came to mind

 

GM: Okay, the Kings Guards have spotted you and are comming straight for you. They don't have an action this phase and you do.

 

Player: I use my "summon skeleton" spell.

 

GM: Um, that requires a skeleton. This is the Palace courtyard, and I can't think of any imaginable way there would be a skeleton present anywhere near here.

 

Player: Sure there is! Inside the first guard.

 

Okay, that would be a straight up NO from any GM. Cool idea though. Maybe if you bought a usable as attack adavantage . . .

 

Sounds like a great way to give a star campaign character a parasite that plans on emerging out his stomach cavity! Or to do the Bruce Almighty "anus dwelling Butt monkey" trick.

[caris]

Originally posted by Sociotard

I agree with monolith. This is a summon.

 

This gives me a thought, though. Is there any way to summon a critter inside another one? I ask because the following scenario just came to mind

 

GM: Okay, the Kings Guards have spotted you and are comming straight for you. They don't have an action this phase and you do.

 

Player: I use my "summon skeleton" spell.

 

GM: Um, that requires a skeleton. This is the Palace courtyard, and I can't think of any imaginable way there would be a skeleton present anywhere near here.

 

Player: Sure there is! Inside the first guard.

 

Okay, that would be a straight up NO from any GM. Cool idea though. Maybe if you bought a usable as attack adavantage . . .

 

Sounds like a great way to give a star campaign character a parasite that plans on emerging out his stomach cavity! Or to do the Bruce Almighty "anus dwelling Butt monkey" trick.

 

Depending on a lot of things it would be the special effect of something else like the skeleton one could be a special effect for mind control or an odd TK effect. The others could be an attack of some sort for the parasite. I'm not sure what an "anus dwelling Butt monkey" is, and pretty sure I don't want to find out.

[Sociotard]

Originally posted by caris

Depending on a lot of things it would be the special effect of something else like the skeleton one could be a special effect for mind control or an odd TK effect. The others could be an attack of some sort for the parasite. I'm not sure what an "anus dwelling Butt monkey" is, and pretty sure I don't want to find out.

 

An attack for the parasite. hmm, perhaps a teleportation, 1 charge, only to enter host? Except that the teleportation rules state that the characters 'safety system' kicks in, getting him away from the physical object he tried to get inside. Even if it could stay inside, it can't apply any defenses to the shock damage. It would be almost impossible for the thing to survive.

 

It can't be tunneling. The tunneling rules specify that you can't use tunneling to tunnel inside living things to damage them.

 

The Bestiary has rules for getting swallowed and fighting your way out, but that involves getting swallowed, and wouldn't be very useful for simulating a critter summoned within another.

 

Perhaps the best way (for the parasite, anyway) would be a disease that has a summon linked to it. Summon doesn't take effect until the victim dies of the disease. If he doesn't die, the patients immune system has nullified the parasite.

 

If you ever decide you are curious about the monkey, rent "Bruce Almighty" IMO, the monkey scene is the only good part of the whole movie.

[caris]

Originally posted by Sociotard

An attack for the parasite. hmm, perhaps a teleportation, 1 charge, only to enter host? Except that the teleportation rules state that the characters 'safety system' kicks in, getting him away from the physical object he tried to get inside. Even if it could stay inside, it can't apply any defenses to the shock damage. It would be almost impossible for the thing to survive.

 

It can't be tunneling. The tunneling rules specify that you can't use tunneling to tunnel inside living things to damage them.

 

The Bestiary has rules for getting swallowed and fighting your way out, but that involves getting swallowed, and wouldn't be very useful for simulating a critter summoned within another.

 

Perhaps the best way (for the parasite, anyway) would be a disease that has a summon linked to it. Summon doesn't take effect until the victim dies of the disease. If he doesn't die, the patients immune system has nullified the parasite.

 

I'm assuming that the primary goal of the parasite is to do harm to the target. There for some sort of advantaged RKA would be most appropriate. If having the critter around to do other stuff after damaging the target is important, than I would link a summon to the RKA.

[Monolith]

For the parasite I would probably look at something along these lines:

 

Parasite: Summon Parasite, Ranged: +1/2, Totally Devoted: +1

 

The parasite itself would have Desolid 0 END, Clinging Affects Real World, a 1 pip HKA NND Does BODY with Affects Real World, and +10 levels with HKA. Not doing the math, it could probably be done for about 150-200 points.

 

The affect would be that he summons the parasite at range inside of the other person's body, and then it begins eating its way out.

[JmOz]

Originally posted by Sociotard

I agree with monolith. This is a summon.

 

This gives me a thought, though. Is there any way to summon a critter inside another one? I ask because the following scenario just came to mind

 

GM: Okay, the Kings Guards have spotted you and are comming straight for you. They don't have an action this phase and you do.

 

Player: I use my "summon skeleton" spell.

 

GM: Um, that requires a skeleton. This is the Palace courtyard, and I can't think of any imaginable way there would be a skeleton present anywhere near here.

 

Player: Sure there is! Inside the first guard.

 

Okay, that would be a straight up NO from any GM. Cool idea though. Maybe if you bought a usable as attack adavantage . . .

 

Sounds like a great way to give a star campaign character a parasite that plans on emerging out his stomach cavity! Or to do the Bruce Almighty "anus dwelling Butt monkey" trick.

 

In a High FANTASY game, with no lims, I would allow that ability as the following construct:

 

10d6 RKA, NND, Does Body

 

and a Linked summons (RKA must kill guard)

[Vondy]

Monolith hit in on the head.

 

From the title it sounds like you are trying to do an Anita-Esque style of rasing the dead.

 

If that's the case buy the summon up to the most powerful type of undead the character can do and then apply the expanded class of beings modifier (a plug for buying FRED right there).

 

Her ability to deal with vamps (pushing them aside and taking over their body like puppets, or raising their sleeping forms and using them like puppets would probably be a huge mind control with some serious lims revolving around the fact that she has to be in constant control, and that the vamp doesn't have a mind of its own (follows simple instructions, that is all...)).

[dugfromthearth]

a nifty alternative "undead" I had a GM use was a desolid undead that had the naked power advantage for strength "affects solid" linked to OIF-bones of opportunity. It haunted a graveyard. Bones would rise up and attack us, we would smash them or "disarm" them and it would then have to grab another.

 

It also had a base move of something like 4" but had +4" bought OIF-bones of opportunity as well. So it would pick up leg bones so it could walk.

 

Not being able to affect desolid we couldn't kill it, but we could literally disarm it. It was very cool for a chase (we were the ones running away).

[GrimJesta]

Heh, cool. A simple Summon it is. Thanks for the answers, plus I got a nasty idea or threee from the rest of this threads responses.

 

-=Grim=-

[badger3k]

Originally posted by Monolith

For the parasite I would probably look at something along these lines:

 

Parasite: Summon Parasite, Ranged: +1/2, Totally Devoted: +1

 

The parasite itself would have Desolid 0 END, Clinging Affects Real World, a 1 pip HKA NND Does BODY with Affects Real World, and +10 levels with HKA. Not doing the math, it could probably be done for about 150-200 points.

 

The affect would be that he summons the parasite at range inside of the other person's body, and then it begins eating its way out.

 

I don't know if that would be legal - summoning something inside something else sounds a little to iffy. If you can't use transform as an attack, why can summon do it? Even at 200 points for the creature (making 100 active points), giving an automatic attack/hit and damage is a little powerful. Maybe if it were linked to an attack (RSR - attack roll), something like that.

 

I'd go as an uncontrolled/continuous NND does body (or something similar) attack (for the parasite, def is not having internal organs/stomach) with a linked summons (alien) with trigger: after character takes x body or dies (to simulate the alien popping out).