How to reanimate the dead without magic

[S@tanicoaldo]

I just had this idea for a adventure where a village hire the heroes to go after some horrible necromancer who lives in the castle near by and is capturing young maidens and lads to turn them into undead abominations.

As the heroes raid the castle and the clerics and paladins use the "turn undead" spells they realise that the monsters are indeed dead and walking but there is no magic involved. They were reanimated by SCIENCE!

Something similar to this:

Spoiler

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But with the whole corpse not just the skeleton. Is it possible? Is there a similar creature out there? Should I just use the flesh golem template or should I create something new?

I want that the creatures to be something like the original creature from the frankenstein novel and the Herbert West–Reanimator creations.

Empty corpses filled by an elemental after their dead tissues are renewed by magical herbs and electricity. Something more durable and resistant than normal undead creatures that can be turned, dispelled or destroyed with evocation spells(a school of magic golems has plenty resistance).

[bjoern]

I believe golems aren't magical anymore once they're constructed. Could be wrong

Also, maybe use warforged as a base except instead of metal robot guy , make it body parts and flesh.

[S@tanicoaldo]

I believe golems aren't magical anymore once they're constructed. Could be wrong

Also, maybe use warforged as a base except instead of metal robot guy , make it body parts and flesh.

But that kind of is the whole point! I don't want it to be a huge thing made of chunks of corpses. I want it to be a single human body that is re-animated not many parts of different corpses fashioned as one.

A flash golem out of a whole body not just chunks of it. Someone brought back to life not by magic but by the sinister use of science.

[Kid Jake]

Handwave it. Just make the Necromancer a Mad Scientist 6 (since animate dead is a 3rd level Experiment) and move on.

[cesius]

I think changing the creature's/person's original type to Construct would do the trick. I do it as a person would be a medium size construct with their original Str and Dex, Con set to zero, Int set to zero, Wis set to their Wis (if some semblance of them remains otherwise just set it to 11), and Cha to one.

Here's a thought though, what happens if someone casts Awaken Construct on one of these Frankenstein monsters and the party needs that body to resurrect someone? What happens to the sentience during the resurrection?

[Slipperychicken]

I believe there was some super-obscure item type called "devices" or "machines" or something like that. Basically, the idea is devices which non-magically emulate spell effects and require expensive fuel to function. I recall them being from Ravenloft or something, but I don't know the source. Once someone manages to dig up the source, we just make a Device of Animate Dead and say the necromancer built it.

[Fosco the Swift]

What system are you using? In Pathfinder the alchemist class (Pathfinder: Advanced Player's Guide) has a discovery called "Alchemical zombie" which creates zombies from corpses. The twist is that these zombies are creatures, not a supernatural effect. The discovery is found in "Pathfinder: Ultimate Magic" page 15. The only prerequisites is that the alchemist must be at least 8th level.

[Tvtyrant]

I believe there was some super-obscure item type called "devices" or "machines" or something like that. Basically, the idea is devices which non-magically emulate spell effects and require expensive fuel to function. I recall them being from Ravenloft or something, but I don't know the source. Once someone manages to dig up the source, we just make a Device of Animate Dead and say the necromancer built it.

I believe it is from Ravenloft. I'll see if I can look it up. Looks like I was wrong. There is an old 3.0 prestige class from Forgotten Realms that allows you to make none-magic items (Gnome Artificer) but it does not include animate dead.

[One Step Two]

There's a creature template in Complete Arcane called Effigy creature. It turns the creature into a clockwork replica of the living creature normally, but you can refluff it to replacing the innards with clockwork peices, or make it the Shelly's ingredients+lightning reanimation. It's a super easy way to make something a construct without changing it's size, gives it d10 hit dice, and a small armor boost, and DR as well.

[Cikomyr]

Make the baddy an Artificier, create a lesser version and flesh-only version of "craft construct", and just find science-y ways of making zombies involving lightning and animal brains.

As a flavor suggestion: adding weird details will go a long way toward making your players buy that these are SCIENCE creatures instead of undeads.

[Fable Wright]

I believe it is from Ravenloft. I'll see if I can look it up. Looks like I was wrong. There is an old 3.0 prestige class from Forgotten Realms that allows you to make none-magic items (Gnome Artificer) but it does not include animate dead.

It's in Ravenloft: Legacy of Blood, a third-party book.

As for the OP, I'd either go with the aforementioned Alchemist feature, handwave it, or try doing it the way real-life zombification works: they're drugged with a poison that makes them appear dead for a few days, then keeps them on another drug that causes them to have a wasted appearance. The evil wizard steals them from their graves while they appear dead, then casts Hypnotism with the request "you believe you are my zombie slaves." Then they have the Fanatic belief that they are, in fact, zombies under the control of the evil necromancer, without any lasting or dispel-able magic, and they have a wasted appearance.

As a bonus, they also get to take two actions a turn, unlike regular zombies, and get +2 Strength and Dex from their Fanatic state, and can show initiative serving their overlord in a manner they consider to be zombie-like. Then proceed to give them all Undead Grafts from Libris Mortis or Undying Grafts from Magic of Eberron, give them some character builds, and suddenly you have bizarre, powerful, resilient 'undead' monstrosities.

[S@tanicoaldo]

A lot of cool ideas here. The Alchemist part sure will work.

I think I will just change all of them to "Construct" and work with immunity to electricity.

The point kind of is that they don't look undead even though they are dead and reanimated.

[Tengu_temp]

Between this thread and the "how to become immortal without being a lich" one, I get the feeling that you're too bound by the existing rules.

You're the DM! You're free to make up new stuff on your own, and on the spot! If there's no official way to do something you want to put in your game, then you should just make your own. Don't let the limitations of pre-existing material get in the way of the game you want to run!

[S@tanicoaldo]

Between this thread and the "how to become immortal without being a lich" one, I get the feeling that you're too bound by the existing rules.

You're the DM! You're free to make up new stuff on your own, and on the spot! If there's no official way to do something you want to put in your game, then you should just make your own. Don't let the limitations of pre-existing material get in the way of the game you want to run!

It is not me my players are to blame.

They hate when I use monsters out of my head. I had to buy Bestiary 4 so I could add Nightgaunts in my camping.