Undead

> *“The armies of the Undead are unlike others. I have faced them many times and they exact a grip of fear on men’s hearts in a way that no other enemy can. People are more prone to fear when facing a host of the walking dead, and fear is a soldier’s worst enemy.” -* Gail McLachlan, Imperial officer.
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Technically, ‘Undead’ is not a singular race but in fact an umbrella term used for multiple groups. The term applies to any being that was once dead but has since risen from the grave, either by a magical anomaly or by the will and work of a necromancer. Zombies, Skeletons, Wights, Ghouls and more are all variations of Undead. It is commonly believed that the dreaded Witch Queen created the first Undead through her experimentation with dark magic, thus becoming the mother of all Undead. Since then, variations of Undead are common thralls for necromancers and Vampire Lords, who use these hordes for their own wicked machinations.

## **Physical Description - Dead and Decaying**

Undead that somehow are not enthralled to a master are forced to survive past their expiration date in a world that largely sees them as unnatural and abominations. As the remains of another race, their height typically persists as long as much of their structure is intact. A Human Undead, then, can stand between under 5 feet to over 6 feet. That said, they are typically a lot lighter than their living form, for much of their mass has degraded over time. A 200 pound individual in life might weight about 60-70 pounds as an Undead, for example.

The bodies of Undead are usually degraded and rotten. Their flesh might dangle from exposed bones. Their limbs might be shrivelled or missing entirely. Their organs might hang out of large wounds or be left behind, exposing the empty bowels of the Undead. Regardless of what colour their eyes were in life, the eyes of Undead are always a pitch black, a consequence of the dark magic that raised them from the grave. The hair of Undead are usually patchy or falling out, but also unkempt, long and dirty. Undead are unable to grow any hair that they might have been able to grow in life.

An Undead’s clothes and armour, to, are often tattered and falling apart from age and exposure. Metal armour is rusty and brittle. Cloth is shredded and loose. Unless an Undead is able to find and strip another individual of their attire, this is the best they have to cover themselves. Not that there’s a huge amount left to cover up anyway, at least in most cases.

## **Mentality - Puppets and Strings**

For an Undead to rise from the grave, they must first be imbued with magical energy. In some cases this can come from a magical anomaly but, more often than not, the magic necessary for their creation is channelled into them by another person. This person will usually use the Undead as a servant of thrall. When in this state, the Undead’s mind is controlled completely by their master. They lack emotion, memory and any higher thought - essentially a puppet on strings.

When an Undead’s master is killed, or should they desire it for whatever reason, their hold on the raised Undead is broken. The strings holding the puppet are cut. When this happens, most Undead will simply wither away over time, as the magical energy that binds their soul and body together weakens. Some, however, persist. Many of these Undead lack the cognitive ability to continue independently, and so wander the land until the release of a new death embraces them. Others might maintain at least a small fraction of their functioning, but are left purposeless and alone in a world that despises them.

For the Undead that are able to maintain control of their minds, they typically retain the opinions and viewpoints that they held in life - for the most part at least. This means that if an Undead did not trust Dark Elves in life, they will likely not trust Dark Elves in undeath either. That said, the experience of being enthralled to a master might change the way an Undead might perceive the world, for better or worse.

## **Society - Confusion After Death**

In the societies that accept Undead as part of it, of which there are few, the Undead are more often than not the bottom rung of the ladder. They are tools to be used, pawns to be employed, expendable extensions of their master’s will. In the Vampiric Union, for example, mass armies of lesser Undead (zombies and skeletons) are used in warfare and in the workforce. In this society, the Vampires maintain a clear and consistent level of dominance and control over the Undead they exploit.

Many nations reject Undead entirely as abominations and unnatural creations, and so it is next-to-impossible for Undead to create new lives for themselves in most lands. Plus, many lack the cognitive ability to build their own lives anyway. However, sometimes, enough magical energy is channelled into a corpse that it is able to retain its awareness, memory and brain functions. These Undead are known as Wights and are haunted by the knowledge of what they used to be, and the awareness of what they have become. They are also the ones most likely to successfully live independently in other lands, albeit in relative solitude and masking their true nature from others.

## **Undead Adventurers - The Absence of Purpose**

   Undead that turn to adventuring might have done so at the will of their master. After all, some necromancers become adventurers so it would only be logical for their Undead to follow suit. Independent Undead that turn to this life, though, usually do it out of a sense of purpose - or lack there of. Without an order to follow or a purpose to fulfil, they might turn to adventuring in an attempt to find something new for themselves.

## **Undead Names**

Considering that Undead are almost always seen as expendable tools to be used and discarded, they are not given names by their masters. Undead that have names will usually take these names from other people, a desperate attempt to humanise and understand themselves. Wights though, beings that retain their memories, will usually keep their life-given names in undeath.

## **Undead Traits**

Your Undead character has a number of traits in common with all Undead, regardless of if you’re a skeleton, a zombie, a ghoul or something else entirely.

* ***Ability Score Increase -*** your Constitution score increases by 2 and your Strength score increases by 1.
* ***Age -*** Undead do not age, for they are already dead. However, their bodies might wither and decay as the magical energy binding their body and soul together weakens.
* ***Alignment -*** Undead are beholden to the will of their master, and so their alignment will often match that of those that command them. If they survive into independence, they will become truly neutral until they can figure out their own perspective and destiny.
* ***Size -*** the size of an Undead depends on what race they were in life.
* ***Speed -*** your base walking speed is the same as the base walking speed of your former race.
* ***Darkvision -*** you can see in dim light within 60 feet of you as if it were bright light, and in darkness as if it were dim light. You can’t discern colour in darkness, only shades of grey.
* ***Slam -*** your unarmed strikes deal 1d4 + your strength modifier of bludgeoning damage.
* ***Deathly Visage -*** your Undead appearance is unnerving. You have a proficiency in the Intimidation skill.
* ***Relentless Endurance -*** when you are reduced to 0 hit points but not killed outright, you can drop to 1 hit point instead, unless the damage is radiant. You can’t use this feature again until you finish a long rest.
* ***Undead Nature -*** your creature type is considered to be both humanoid and undead. You don’t have to eat, drink, or breathe. Instead of sleeping, you enter an inactive state for 4 hours each day. You do not dream in this state and retain a limited awareness of your surroundings, giving you disadvantage on Perception checks.
* ***Undead Resistance -*** you are resistant to necrotic and poison damage, and you have advantage on saving throws against poison.
* ***Languages -*** you can speak, read and write the languages you knew in life. Since their vocal boxes have somewhat rotted away, most Undead speak with a strained and almost painful voice. Some can’t even speak at all.