Animate Dead
(Necromantic)
(default: cleric, mu: magic-user)
Animate Dead
(Necromantic)
(default: cleric, mu: magic-user)
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Effect: This spell
creates the lowest of the undead monsters,
skeletons
|| zombies, from the bones or bodies of
dead humans.
The effect is to cause these
remains to become animated and obey the
commands of the cleric
casting the spell. The skeletons or zombies will
follow, remain in an AREA
and attack any creature (or just a specific type of
creature) entering the place,
etc. The spell will animate the monsters until
they are destroyed or until
the magic is dispelled. (See dispel
magic spell).
The cleric is able to animate
1 skeleton or 1 zombie for each level of
experience he or she has
attained. Thus, a 2nd level cleric can animate 2
of these monsters, a 3rd
level 3, etc. The act of animating dead is not
basically a good one, and
it must be used with careful consideration and
good reason by clerics of
good alignment.
DMG:
It is, of course, possible to animate the skeletons or corpses of demi-human
and humanoid, as well as human, sort.
If creatures with more than
a basic 1 HD (or 1 + HD) are so animated,
the number of such skeletons
or zombies will be determined in HD rather
than total numbers.
Thus, a spellcaster of 6th
level could animate 6 skeletons of human or humanoid sort which in life
had less than 2 HD,
3 such undead which in life
had less than 3, but 2 or more HD, or a single undead creature which had
6, but less than 7, HD.
For each such additional
HD, the skeleton or zombie will gain another die.
Thus, the animated skeleton
of a fire giant, an 11 HD monster,
is 10 over the norm for a skeleton normally animated, so it would have
1 + 10 HD (11d8).
Likewise, a fire giant zombie
would have 10 dice over and above the sort of creature typically made into
a zombie, so it would have 2 + 10 HD (12d8).
N.B.: This does not enable
a spellcaster to make skeletons or zombies of characters of 2nd or higher
level have more HD;
such undead are simply human
skeletons or zombies with 1 or 2 HD, nothing more.
Animate Dead: An important
additional
point in the DMG
is that skeletons &
zombies of monsters
can be created with
this spell. These
undead have the same
number of HD as the original
monster
(skeletons) or 1 more (zombies).
Only
demi-humans and humanoids
can be
animated in this way.
Thus a fire giant
skeleton has 11HD+2-5hps
and a fire
giant zombie has 12HD+2-5hps.
However
the PH description
of how many skeletons/zombies
can be created with this
spell needs restating in
terms of HD.
So, for the purposes of
this spell, a fire
giant zombie would be the
equivalent of
6 normal (2HD) zombies,
and only a
cleric of 6th level or higher
could animate
such a monster.
The DMG
does NOT say whether such
monster undead would have
the hit rolls
of the normal varieties
of undead or those
of a monster of an equivalent
number of
HD; DMs should allow the
latter (thus the
fire giant zombie hits as
a 12+HD
creature). Nor does
the DMG state
whether the the damage shuld
be for a
'normal' zombie or the same
as the living
creature. Where the
damage is caused by
natural body weaponry which
would
survive death, damage should
be done by
the monster as it was in
life. In other
cases, the DM might wish
to reduce the
damage to reflect the more
sluggish
nature of the undead.
Finally,
when animating characters,
levels of experience and
ability scores are
irrelevant. A 1st
level thief and a 17th <add Level Titles>
level fighter will both
become a 2HD
zombie.
(Imagine #30)
Note: animate dead
may be used to create animal skeletons
as well. <>
Note: animate
dead may be used to create monster
zombies as well. <>
Animate Dead: See
comments on the
3rd level clerical spell
animate
dead
(next issue)
(Polyhedron #29)
MC: It requires a
drop of blood, a piece of human
flesh,
and a pinch of bone
powder or a bone shard to
complete the spell.
Animate dead created
these skeletons.
Wu
Jen: The wu jen wielding this spell may create skeletons and zombies
from dead bodies, which are then subject to the commands of their creator.
The wu jen may create one
skeleton or zombie for each level of experience, and these undead creatures
last until destroyed or dispelled.
Wu Jen.MC: A burial shroud.
Q: Can a human be
cleanly killed,
enlarged, have permanency
cast on
him,then be raised or animated
without the caster of the
permanency
losing a constitution point?
How about animating the
corpse,
then enlarging it and making
it
permanent-would the caster
of the
permanency spell lose a
constitution
point then?
A: Enlarged corpse:
A corpse is
an object. Use the rules
for nonliving
objects when adjudicating
the results of enlarge
or permanency spells. A
zombie, however, is a
creature (even if it is
biologically dead). In the
AD&D® 1st Edition
rules, a mage who enlarged
a corpse and cast
permanency on it would
have only a 5% chance to
lose
point of constitution (see
the
1st Edition DMG, page 46),
because
he was working with an object.
The AD&D 2nd Edition
game does
not make a distinction between
permanent
effects on objects or creatures,
but I think
it?s safe to assume this
is an oversight. In
either game, the enlarged
corpse could be animated
as a huge, 1-HD zombie.
(156.55)
Q. In what circumstances
can a priest of
a Good or Lawful alignment
CAST an
animate dead spell
or something
similar?
A. Spells like animate
dead are usually
associated with evil priests,
mostly
because of their unhealthy
connotations.
However, there are circumstances
under which a Lawful priest
might need to CAST such
a spell. Take,
for example, the case of
a village or
castle which is under siege
by overwhelming
numbers of CE
nasties. After the
1st assault there
are lots of bodies lying
about, and
another attack is expected.
The defenders
have no chance of Survival
unless they have some allies...
The result
is that the local priest
spends the night meditating
on the
spell animate dead,
and then casts
this on the boides.
The ends (defence
of the good people of the
village/castle)
justify the rather distasteful
means (an animate dead
spell). Of
course, in some campaigns
the DM
may rool that priests of
certain
religions -- say a priest
of a harvest
god -- will be completely
unable to
CAST this kind of spell.
(Imagine #23)
Undead Fire Giant
Q. Will the spell
animate
dead work on
the corpses of monsters,
for example
kobolds or minotaurs, and
animate
them as 2HD zombies? <cf.
monster
zombie>
A. The answer as
far as the AD&D Game
is concerned is very simple
-- YES,
despite the fact that the
description
of the 2nd level
priest spell <3rd level>
indicates that it will only
work on the
bodies of humans.
The notes in the
DMG (p41)
are quite clear, and
contradict the PHB, but
as usual the
DMG takes precedence.
(Imagine #25)
Gandalf Istari wrote:
Would this include undead created via an animate dead spell, such as skeletons and zombies? It's been asserted that you always held undead such as skeletons and zombies to be nothing more than automatons, powered by magical force with no "spirit possessing the remains" as you put it.
Thanks in advance for any clarification.
Col_Pladoh wrote:
Not that any of this matters
a jot or tiddle, but...
Right you are about mindless
skeletons and zombies.
They operate as golems,
by magical energy, although some malign intellect might direct them.
Animated dead are not akin
to the true undead--ghouls and wights and
the rest.
This is not to say thet a malign spirit could not possess a skeleton or a corpse, so as to make something more potent and dangerous than the usual. the juju zombie was an example of such a concept, and skeleton "lords" are likewise.
Cheers,
Gary
DMPrata wrote:
Hey Gary, you still around
here? 
What's your position on the
effectiveness of dispel magic on animated skeletons and zombies?
Can a mid-level magic-user
essentially destroy large swathes of weak undead by simply countering the
spell that empowers them in the first place?
As the undead are animated
by negative energy from the lower planes,
the dispel
magic used by magic-users is absolutely ineffective against it.
Only clerics can affect
that energy.
Cheers,
Gary
The Welshman wrote:
Welcome back, Big G. Sorry
about your Bears, I was rooting for them.
Anyway, I have always wondered
something about the AD&D spell Animate Dead.
Is there any limit to how
many skeletons/zombies a cleric may animate and retain control of?
As written, a cleric can
animate 1 skeleton or zombie per level of the spell-caster.
But can he cast another
Animate Dead the next day to animate another amount equal to his level?
If so, a mid-level cleric
could soon have his own undead army.
Much of the time the Bears
played as if they were semi-zombies 
The Animate Dead spell is
as written, the cleric can animate and control only one per level, casting
another Animate Dead spell would not change the fact that only one Dead
could be animated and controlled.
OTOH, using a Permanent
spell on a controlled corpse(s) would make another Animate Dead meaningful.
Cheers,
Gary
The Welshman wrote:
Thanks for the answer.
If a 10th level cleric cast
Animate Dead to animate 10 zombies, and
left them in a dungeon and went to some other location and cast the spell
again on 10 other corpses, what would happen? Would the spell have no effect
since the cleric already controls the limit of what he can? Could the cleric
relinquish control over the 10 previously existing zombies to create 10
more with the new casting? In that case, would the 10 zombies first animated
simply become inanimate again?
Welcome,
My opinion is that a cleric creating zombies and then leaving, casting another Animate Dead spell elsewhere, would, at the DM's option, either return the animated corpses to their former state or else leave them as uncontrolled zombies. I rather prefer the idea of the latter happening with clerics above say 8th or 9th level.
Cheers,
Gary
The Welshman wrote:
Col_Pladoh wrote:
My opinion is that a cleric
creating zombies and then leaving, casting another Animate Dead spell elsewhere,
would, at the DM's option, either return the animated corpses to their
former state or else leave them as uncontrolled zombies. I rather prefer
the idea of the latter happening with clerics above say 8th or 9th level.
So the Original DM has spoken... thanks for the input! I was expecting an either/or answer, but I like your suggestion better. I think this is an excellent house rule: have the previously created zombies or skeletons remain animated but become uncontrolled if a new animate dead spell is cast by a cleric of 8th level or above, or a magic-user of 12th level or above (i.e., 3 levels above the class level needed to cast the spell). Otherwise, they slump or rattle to the floor, inert...
"I am no great fan of turnstiles
run by demihumans." -- Vendavous.
Very Well...
And that allows for zombies showing op unaccompamied by clerical guardian :lol:
Cheers,
Gary
Quote:
Originally posted by Geoffrey
Gary, what are your thoughts
on non-human undead?
I for one think they strike
a discordant note.
Kobold vampires, halfling
mummies, gnomish wraiths, etc. all seem ridiculous to me rather than fantastical.
Non-human undead of the
skeleton and zombie sort are fine.
Others of the class might
be possible too.
The main objection is that
some few members subsume possession of a soul.
this is a matter of personal
taste, IMO.
If you dislike having such
undead in the campaigm, then exclude
them, and you are not wrong.
Cheers,
Gary