Metal Skeletons?

[tadkins]

My necromancer wizard character has an interest in "hard" things, so to speak. Bone, crystals, metals, etc. As part of her character background, she runs a mining operation of mindless skeletal workers and funds her studies with the ore and gems they produce. She'll never create zombies or any kind of "fleshy" undead due to her feeling that they would be soft, smelly, and distasteful. She generally sticks with creating skeletons and occasionally incorporeal undead for specialized purposes.

So I had this crazy idea for an experiment she might undertake. What if the bones of a skeleton were cast in metal before being raised? Bronze or steel might be the first materials to be attempted, but others could come later. Picturing the end result looking something like this (though not as mechanical-looking).

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What do you guys think of this character angle? Could something like this even work? If you were a DM and I presented this idea to you, how would you take it?

[Shoat]

Sounds cool, as long as one doesn't overdo it with the mechanical effects on the stats of the minions.

NPCs will very often (at least in my campaign) be allowed to do unusual stuff that isn't covered by the rules and I generally approve of players trying to think outside the box like that (as long as their intention is 'this would be cool and my character has an in-game reason to want this' and not 'this makes my character overpowered').

[Dusk Eclipse]

There is a spell in the Spell Compendium which is aptly named Iron Bones, I can't recall the effects offhand but it has an ilustration

[Chronos]

To make it simple, I'd just treat it the same as if the skeletons were wearing armor.

[Dusk Eclipse]

The thing is that skeletons (for the most part) can actually wear armour. One option could be re-fluffing the benefits from the Corpsecrafter feat-chain to come not from magic, but from actual mechanical modifications (be sure to pick one or two ranks in K: Engineering). Hardened Flesh is pretty obvious, you reinforce the skeletons with metal bits giving them more natural armour, deadly chill... you used magically infused cold iron or something like that, IDK.

[Venger]

There is a spell in the Spell Compendium which is aptly named Iron Bones, I can't recall the effects offhand but it has an ilustration

boosts one corporeal undead's NA by 6 for 10 min/lvl. it's... not very good for a 4th. skeletons' ACs are so poor that this won't really make much of a difference.

[Oberon Kenobi]

I thought about doing that with a Spheres of Power necromancer / transmuter recently. What I was going to pitch to the GM was to apply either the Metal-Clad or Ironskinned template, depending on what metal they were plated in (or in my case, transmuted into). Just have them be treated as having a higher HD than their base versions for the purposes of determining how many undead you can control; should work out okay?

[tadkins]

Thanks folks. :)

Yep, I was picturing it as a little system that would only affect things in a small way. At the cost of skill investment (appropriate knowledges and crafts), money (for materials) and perhaps even feats (the Corpsecrafter refluff is a great idea) I could modify my normal summoned minions to be a little tougher and more unique than usual.

Steel skeletons could have extra natural armor. Silver and cold iron skeletons would deal appropriate damage against those who have that DR. Lead skeletons would be invisible to divination, potentially hiding the true numbers of her undead army. As the process is refined and research brings new techniques to light, more exotic metals and even gems could be used to enhance the skeletons further.

[DrMotives]

I think Libris Mortis is the book with the stone skeleton template. It's for animating fossils as skeletons, but you could adapt it to your needs.

[Coidzor]

I think Libris Mortis is the book with the stone skeleton template. It's for animating fossils as skeletons, but you could adapt it to your needs.

Revived Fossil, IIRC. Pretty nifty, but requires DM fiat to have access to as a player.

[FocusWolf413]

I'm not sure if skeletons have a slam attack, but I'd give metal skeletons one. Something like one die above the standard could work well.

They should all be especially vulnerable to acid attacks, but resistant or immune to another kind of element. Maybe copper/bronze makes them immune to electricity, but iron/steel makes them resistant to fire. If you want to get super complicated, they could have resistance to fire and DR/Adamantine, but if they take fire damage, for every 5 points or so, they temporarily lose 1 point of DR.

[DrMartin]

if you awaken (libris mortis) the skeletons they can use their newly acquired skill points to grab some ranks in perform (electric guitar)

[5w337x7007h]

I'm not sure if skeletons have a slam attack, but I'd give metal skeletons one. Something like one die above the standard could work well.

They should all be especially vulnerable to acid attacks, but resistant or immune to another kind of element. Maybe copper/bronze makes them immune to electricity, but iron/steel makes them resistant to fire. If you want to get super complicated, they could have resistance to fire and DR/Adamantine, but if they take fire damage, for every 5 points or so, they temporarily lose 1 point of DR.

Aren't there types of metal that a Rust Monster can't eat? You could find a strong metal among those to gain resistance/immunity to acid, but you'll probably end up with a vulnerability to fire or cold damage.

[DrMotives]

I don't think there's any metal called out that a rust monster can't eat. IRL, the only non-oxidizing metal is gold, unless a chemist here wants to correct me on that. Fantasy metals, tough to say. Mithral is some sort of superlative silver, and in some supplements I've seen it listed as tarnishing black as silver does. Adamantium is sometimes made out to be meteoric iron or steel, but not always. Although the image of half-rusted meteoric iron skeletons is pretty cool, in a very necromancer's nuclear winter sort of world. Like Terminator's dark future translated to high fantasy.

[5w337x7007h]

I don't think there's any metal called out that a rust monster can't eat. IRL, the only non-oxidizing metal is gold, unless a chemist here wants to correct me on that. Fantasy metals, tough to say. Mithral is some sort of superlative silver, and in some supplements I've seen it listed as tarnishing black as silver does. Adamantium is sometimes made out to be meteoric iron or steel, but not always. Although the image of half-rusted meteoric iron skeletons is pretty cool, in a very necromancer's nuclear winter sort of world. Like Terminator's dark future translated to high fantasy.

stainless steel, chrome, nickel, iron, copper, cobalt, molybdenum, tungsten, and titanium. These metals are more likely to resist corrosion, and properly treated, would be practically immune. So an army of Copper Skeletons would be pretty bad ass. Could call em' "The Coppers of the Penny Forge".

[Frostthehero]

I would simply treat it as a weaker (or stronger) iron bones spell. Normally, the spell gives a natural armor bonus of +6, which you could adjust to meet your needs based on how tough the metal was.

[FocusWolf413]

stainless steel, chrome, nickel, iron, copper, cobalt, molybdenum, tungsten, and titanium. These metals are more likely to resist corrosion, and properly treated, would be practically immune. So an army of Copper Skeletons would be pretty bad ass. Could call em' "The Coppers of the Penny Forge".

Stainless steel doesn't really count. It's an alloy. Iron and copper aren't corrosion resistant. Iron and steel rust easily, and copper turns bright green when exposed to moisture for a while. Those two metals definitely aren't resistant to acid erosion.

Also, to answer the other person, no, gold isn't the only non-oxidizing metal. Platinum is also highly unreactive, but both are poor choices for coating skeletons. They're too soft, too heavy, and too valuable.

[Segev]

You could treat it as increasing the skeletons' hit dice. The metal makes them tougher, harder to destroy (more hp), and a little bit better at clawing through other things' armor (higher BAB), but also is a step away from the "natural" corpse with which necromancy normally works, requiring more power to animate (more onyx, more impact on your HD cap for animation and controlling). Maybe makes their natural weapons "masterwork" and further enchantable; makes them inelligible for spellcarving (since you can't get to the bone anymore).

No need to spend a feat on it; you're expending more money and other undead-control-related resources.

[danzibr]

Stainless steel doesn't really count. It's an alloy. Iron and copper aren't corrosion resistant. Iron and steel rust easily, and copper turns bright green when exposed to moisture for a while. Those two metals definitely aren't resistant to acid erosion.

Also, to answer the other person, no, gold isn't the only non-oxidizing metal. Platinum is also highly unreactive, but both are poor choices for coating skeletons. They're too soft, too heavy, and too valuable.

I can imagine a rich necromancer making an army of gold and platinum skeletons and calling it the Bling Squad.