George Laking

 

Widow's Share & Weregeld	-	-	-	Discussion
Dragon	-	Restless Dead	-	Dragom 40

Suppose your D&D adventurer dies; your companions are unable—or unwilling!—to resurrect you. What happens then?
Does that Lawful Good Paladin, who just a few minutes ago was
smiting the enemies of God and Mankind, suddenly turn ghoulish
and begin rifling your body? Does that holier-than-thou Cleric lay
claim on your horse, saddle, blanket and all, while your best friend
steals your purse and your fellow adventurers roll dice over your
dungeon-faring gear?

Do they leave your body to rot, riding off to their next adventure
merrily counting their ill- but easily gotten gains???!
This type of ghoulish behavior happened once too often in the
D&D adventures hosted by the Mid-Columbia Wargaming Society
of Richland, Washington, prompting the following rules on funeral
customs in our latest campaign.

Burial or cremation of the dead is customary. In the field, burial is
the preferred method of disposing of dead characters and/or NPC’s,
especially where a pillar of black smoke would draw unwanted
attention to the party! Fighters (Paladins and Rangers included),
however, do prefer cremation over burial.
In any event (with the exception noted below), the final choice is
left up to the dead character’s companions and the situation at the
moment.

Digging the burial mound or building the funeral pyre requires
1-6 hours of labor, depending on the softness of the soil and the
availability of firewood. Another 1-3 hours is required for preparation of the body, final rites and actual interment or cremation.
Preparing the body includes washing it with the finest brandy,
wine or water available (usually a flagon full will suffice); dressing it
with the character’s finest robes (if Cleric or Magic-User), clothes (if
non-fighter) or armor (if Fighter, Paladin or Ranger); and placing
three coins—platinum is preferred but the most valuable in any
case—one each upon the dead adventurer’s eyes and lips.
Final rites include pouring a flagon of the finest brandy, wine or
water available on the grave or pyre as a libation, with a funeral
banquet lasting 1-6 hours afterward. While required by custom, the
funeral banquet may be postponed—depending on circumstances—until the party reaches a safe haven for proper mourning.
If the character or NPC is cremated, the dead character’s companions are expected by custom to gather his ashes and return
them—along with his Widow’s Share or Weregeld—to his next of
kin.
 

The “dead” player may designate one (1) item of his character’s
possessions to be given to each of his comrades as a parting gift. All
other possessions—including his horse—become “grave goods” or
are returned to his next of kin. In addition, these grave goods must
also include a flagon of the finest brandy, wine or water available,
along with rations sufficient for a week.

The sole exception to these rules occurs upon the death of a
high-level (10+-level) character.
In that event, field burial—or cremation—is absolutely forbidden: The “dead” player’s comrades must return the body intact to
the character’s holding, monastery, guild hall or whatever for proper
interment. Preserving the body in such a case will require either
pickling it in a tub of brandy or fine wine or packing it into a chest or
hogshead with a mixture of camphor and sea salt covering it.
As noted above, the point of delivery depends entirely on the
dead character’s class. A Fighter, for example, might wish to join his
ancestors in the family vaults below his castle; a Cleric or Monk might
designate interment among his brethren in the crypts beneath a
famous cathedral, while a Magic-User may desire to be interred in his
tower along with his magical devices, tomes and treasures. Since the
“dead” player is to designate the final disposition of his character’s
body, a will is absolutely vital!

Such a will should be prepared with care since—in the case of all
high-level characters—the conditions of the will are binding on all of
that character’s comrades. In addition, the disposition of a dead
character’s Widow’s Share or Weregeld may also be treated.

Widow’s Share and Weregeld
Depending on whether the dead character or NPC is married or
not, the surviving members of a party must either pay Widow’s
Share (to his wife and immediate family) or Weregeld (to his next of
kin).

Widow’s Share is defined as the normal share of treasure, plus
200 gold pieces, which the dead character or NPC would have
received had he survived the adventure. Any potions, wands, scrolls
or the like which are acquired will be converted into cash values for
purposes of calculating the Widow’s Share, the widow receiving the
money while the party retains the magical items-unless one or
more of them must be sold to make up the necessary amount.
This amount—the entire Widow’s Share—will be calculated and
deducted first from any booty the party gains before the DM calculates experience.
At first glance, Widow’s Share may seem a bit too steep. Consider, however, that there was no Social Security program or life
insurance to speak of in these days. Thus, Widow’s Share is a
customary way of insuring that a dead character’s/NPC’s family can
survive.

Weregeld, on the other hand, is a cash amount based strictly on
the dead character’s/NPC’s experience level. The base amount is
200 gold pieces plus an additional 100 gold pieces per experience
level of the dead character or NPC. Weregeld for a first-level character, for instance, would be 300 gold pieces, while for a fifth-level
NPC it would be 700 gold pieces.
Like Widow’s Share, Weregeld is calculated and deducted first
from the party’s loot before experience is calculated. There is no
additional Weregeld paid for class, however: a 20th-level Thief and a
20th-level Magic-User would each have the same Weregeld.

Discussion

As noted above, the primary purpose of these rules is to limit the
kind of ghoulish activity which usually occurred immediately upon
the death of a D&D character: grave-robbing and corpse-stripping in
which even those of Lawful Good alignment took fiendish delight!
In addition, these rules serve a number of secondary purposes.

For one, they reward good leadership, tactical ability and common sense.
A group leader who can accomplish the group’s objectives with few (if any) casualties will gain more treasure and experience for all members of the party, himself included.
Resorting to combat, then, becomes the last alternative chosen when all other
methods—negotiation, bribery, trickery and the like—have failed.

Second, they reward cooperation among the players themselves. A player is more likely to rush to the rescue of a comrade in
distress, knowing that more experience and a larger share of the
booty is in store for him by preventing his friend’s death.

Third, they introduce the concept of conservative play into the
game. Players must balance losses against possible gains to determine their future actions. A dungeon expedition, for example, is
more likely to cut its losses after suffering 50% casualties rather than
attempt to clean the dungeon out in a single try.

Fourth, these rules reduce the “David and Bathsheba” effect
considerably.

In previous D&D adventures hosted by MCWS, it was the highlevel characters’ habit to view first- and second-level characters as so
much monster fodder. Such characters were forced out in front—often at swordpoint!—to meet the monsters first and be slain, so that
(Turn to page 49)

their mangled bodies could be looted at leisure later.
Not only was the attrition rate among first-level characters incredibly high in these adventures, but—needless to say—players
became reluctant to again start a character at first level after such a
short time.

Using these rules, high-level characters tend to go first in any
battle simply because they can take more punishment and deal out
more damage, while first-level characters are relegated to the rear as

 missile-fire or pole-arm troops until they gain enough experience to
qualify for front-line duty.
High-level characters. on the other hand, know that—should
they run into trouble—the low-level characters will try to bail them
out, if for no other reason than to avoid paying an exorbitant Widow’s Share or Weregeld!

Finally—a benefit from the DM’s point of view--both the Widow’s Share and the Weregeld bleed money from the campaign,
reducing the chances for runaway inflation which seems to plague
most ongoing games of D&D. In addition. it also provides the DM
with any number of easy mini-quests for the group, such as sending
them across country to return a dead character’s body, ashes or
possessions to his next of kin

Restless Dead
George Lakey
 
 

(A) Haunts	(B) Zombies / Skeletons	-	(C) Vampires	Playing the Restless Dead
Dragon	-	-	-	Dragon 42

In an article in a previous issue of this magazine, rules were
proposed covering funeral rites and customers in AD&D (see
“Funerals and other deathly ideas” in Dragon #40). These rules
were found necessary by members of the Mid-Columbia Wargaming
Society of Richland, Wash., to prevent both the habitual looting of
dead characters or NPC’s and dampen the ghoulish enthusiasm of
their fellow (surviving) adventurers!

As was noted in that article, burial or cremation of the dead is
traditional and customary in the Society’s AD&D campaigns. Daredevil characters, however, can often set both tradition and custom
aside in their disregard for the consequences.
So that even the rash might hesitate, the following rules were
proposed covering The Restless Dead.
Burial or cremation of the dead is customary in our campaign.
These rites are, in fact, necessary as any character or NPC who dies
while adventuring—and remains unburied-will return from the
dead to visit his unfeeling comrades with plague, disaster and misfortune until his spirit is put to rest!
Even if buried, if his fellow adventurers refuse to pay his Widow’s
Share or Weregeld, he will also haunt them until such monies are
paid. (Note that lack of burial or refusal to pay Widow’s Share must
be deliberate in order to create a restless spirit.)
If the body is beyond recovery (swept away by an underground
river, devoured by a Green Slime. blasted by a fireball or the like); or
would require a suicide mission to recover: or if the party simply
lacks the funds to pay, the dead character’s spirit will be satisfied
provided (a) some kind of funeral service is observed when time and
safety permit and/or (b) an effort is made to pay some-if not
all!—of the Widow’s Share or Weregeld.

Stealing from a character’s “grave goods” or withholding items
from a burial/cremation-even if done without the knowledge or
consent of other players-will also bring back a dead character’s
spirit as fierce and vengeful as ever!
A thief, however, may attempt to steal from the dead. The
Dungeon Master should judge the success and the possible repercussions of the attempt on the type and amount of grave goods
taken, precautions-magical and otherwise-taken by the thief,
methods used and other significant variables.
Note that robbing any burial mound of recent manufacture (defined as up to ten centuries old) will bring back the dead spirit
10-100% of the time, depending on the age of the burial mound.
The DM rolls a d 10 to determine age. then percentile dice to see if the
spirit responds.
Not all such burials need be of human bodies!

* * *

Under certain circumstances-as noted above-a dead character may return as a Restless Spirit. Exactly what form that spirit takes
depends entirely on the dead character’s alignment in life.
All Good types—Lawful. Neutral or Chaotic—will return from
the dead as a Haunt. Those of Neutral alignments (again, Lawful,
True or Chaotic) will come back as a Zombie/Skeleton, while those
of Evil nature (L, N or C) will arise as a Vampire of the AD&D
Monster Manual variety but with the dead character’s hit points.
prime requisites and personal characteristics as in life.

(A) Haunts

A Haunt is visible only in shadow. indoors or at night. It may
move at double normal rate and Shift Planes at will while retaining
the hit points, prime requisites and personal characteristics of the
dead character. It may only be hit with silver or magical weapons.

“Destroying” a Haunt will send it away for 1-6 days (DM’s
determination), during which time it will regenerate its hit points and
return. For this reason, no experience is earned for destroying a
Haunt!
While it cannot attack, move objects or affect the material world
in a direct sense, it does have the following capabilities:
(1) Curse—Visit a -1 to -5 “to hit” curse on all characters
directly or indirectly responsible for its return from the dead;
(2) Misfortune—Reduce all experience bonuses to zero and/or
reduce experience gained by 10-50% for each adventure until it is
laid to rest;
(3) Corrupt Food and Drink—Done magically, the Haunt must
touch the food or drink to be spoiled. This can be reversed by a
Purify Food and Drink spell or by other means which might be at a
character’s disposal.

(4) Create Fear in Animals—This affects horses and mules in
particular, but all other animals (including Familiars) are also affected. Exactly what form this fear takes—panicked flight, freezing in
place, throwing a rider or the like-is left up to the DM’s discretion.
The Haunt must be visible to the animals in order to affect them;
(5) Disturb Slumber—Through actual “chain rattling” or
nightmares, slowing the natural recovery of hit points or reducing
Strength and Dexterity bonuses due to lack of sleep;

(6) Reduce Charisma—While the Haunt “lives,” NPC’s will
greet his unfortunate comrades with reactions ranging from openly
hostile (pelting the party with stones to drive them away) to merely
neutral (sullen withdrawal at the earliest opportunity). In addition,
each character directly or indirectly involved with the creation of the
‘Haunt will suffer a – 25% reaction modifier when dealing with their
own henchmen and hirelings;

(7) Other abilities—As assigned by the DM appropriate to the
dead character’s class.

An Exorcise spell may send a Haunt away for 1-3 months, but it
will always return! The only sure way to lay a Haunt to rest is to
recover the body (or bones), perform a proper burial/cremation with
all due ceremony, pay any Widow’s Share or Weregeld due, recover
any grave goods stolen and return them to the burial site, and
otherwise correct whatever the original condition was for creating
the Haunt in the first place.

(B)Zombie/Skeletons
A physical manifestation of the dead in the material world. The
Restless Spirit literally animates his lifeless corpse and seeks out
those responsible—directly or indirectly—for bringing him back
from the dead! If the body of a Zombie or Skeleton is destroyed the
spirit will return either as a Haunt or a Vampire, depending on the
character’s overall actions while alive as determined by the DM.
While the animated corpse has the same hit points as the living
character in addition to the special characteristics of an AD&D
Zombie, it does not have magical protection from decomposition
like a “normal” Zombie. Therefore, the flesh will putrify and slough
off in seven days plus 3-30 days, leaving a fleshless—and mobile—
skeleton.

Of course, if the spirit returns to a fresh corpse in winter‚ decomposition will not set in until the spring!
In the Zombie state. the spirit can infect anyone-character or
NPC—with a slow. fatal rotting disease which it will attempt to
transmit by touch to every character responsible for its return. As it.
must walk (Zombies Create Fear in Animals as do Haunts), it may
not be able to reach all such characters before decomposition terminates this ability.
As a skeleton, the restless spirit has the same characteristics as an
AD&D Monster Manual Skeleton. It will attack. obstruct and harass
each character in turn until laid to rest.

In either condition. the Zombie/Skeleton will reduce a character’s Charisma to the lowest number normally possible for that
character while it is present. NPC’s, for example. will react with open
hostility to the unfortunate character. while all his henchmen and
hirelings will flee with their animals and possessions as soon as the
Zombie/Skeleton appears!

The Zombie/Skeleton may be attacked and destroyed-even
ground to dust or burned— but it will always return in 1-6 days in the
same state as before its “destruction.” An Exorcise spell will drive it
away for 1-3 months but, like the Haunt, it will always return. (It must
be remembered that-unlike the AD&D Zombie or Skeleton-this
spirit is an independent, intelligent entity whose sole purpose is to
return to the dead).
An alternate-though risky-method would be to resurrect the
dead character on the spot.
It may be laid to rest in the same manner as a Haunt with one
exception: Since the body is already present in the form of the
Zombie/Skeleton, no attempt need be made to “recover” the
corpse. The body need only be carried to the place of death or-in
the case of a character dying in a dungeon, for instance-the general
vicinity thereof, and the proper rites observed.
This would first require a Restoration spell to return the corpse to
the same condition it had at the moment of death, followed by a
Resurrection spell to restore the dead character’s spirit to the Material Plane. While in itself this procedure is risky enough, the true risk
would be the “dead” character’s reaction to being restored to life.
After being abandoned by his comrades, having his possessions
stolen and forced to suffer the unspeakable agonies of being trapped
midway between the worlds of the living and the dead, he might
prove less than grateful for a second chance! At the very least, he
would probably choose his sword-brothers more carefully in the
future.

(C) Vampires
Evil characters always return from the dead with all the capabilities of an AD&D Vampire, in addition to the hit points, prime
requisites and personal traits of their character while living. Due to
the circumstances of their creation, they are completely independent
of any other vampire.
While it is possible that they may seek revenge against those
characters responsible for their vampiric condition, it is not necessay for them to do so. They will, however, absolutely resist any
attempt to return them to the Dead!
(Note that a character of any alignment who commits suicide will
return as a vampire unless the appropriate steps are taken at his
burial: stake through the heart, head cut off, mouth stuffed with
garlic and the like. Such suicides must be purposeful-unrequited
love or a point of honor, for example—with the DM’s discretion
strongly advised).

Playing the Restless Dead
Restless spirits may be handled in one of two ways at the DM’s
pleasure: either continued as player characters or “recreated” as
NPC’s.

It is strongly advised that the restless dead be treated as NPC’s.
Allowing a player to run his “Undead” character has this major
disadvantage: If he is successful, he will have killed off all the other
player characters in the campaign while (if he fails) his character will
be utterly and irrevocably dead!

In the campaign hosted by MCWS, the undead are treated as
NPC’s with one additional “turn of the screw”: a player cannot
return to the campaign with a new character until his old character’s
spirit is finally laid to rest.

Using these suggestions to enforce a (minimum) respect for the
dead should eliminate much of the ghoulish-not to mention Chaotic!-behavior from your campaigners. Your players will be quick
(though not necessarily keen!) to observe customary rites and the
payment of Weregeld.
Thus armed, you as a Dungeon Master can now teach your
players a new meaning to those sad and final words:
REST IN PEACE!