Bordering upon, and even separating the Abyss and the Nine Hells is plane known only as the Shadow Realms. The Shadow Realms, Hades (see p. 99), and the Nether Realms (see p. 96) are collectively known as the Infernal Realms.
The Shadow Realms are the home of creatures and beings that are neither alive nor dead, but somewhere in between. The beings and creatures that live in the Shadow Realms are collectively known as the Undead. They are usually the remnants of evil souls that remain behind, trapped in between life and death for all eternity. Many are not even aware of their previous lives, only the most powerful of such creatures retain any memories.
There are two main categories of Undead, Created and Natural. Created Undead are those Undead which are created through the use of spells, rituals, or through a transformation process initiated by another Undead, such as a Vampire turning another person into a Vampire. Natural Undead are those that form spontaneously, such as a Ghost forming when a person dies horrible and violent death. In either case, the Undead forms on the mortal plane, but it always has a connection to the Shadow Realms, since it is the Shadow Realms that supplies its animating force.
When an Undead creature is destroyed on the mortal plane, it isn’t truly destroyed. It is, instead banished to Shadow Realms, there to spend eternity, unless summoned forth by some daring or unwary spell caster.
Undead upon the mortal plane feed off the life energies of the living by draining them of their life-force. In fact, if an Undead has not fed for extended periods of time, it may appear to be crazed, mad, or even an unthinking creature bent on mindless destruction. Any Undead in such a maniacal state will attack any living beings that it encounters regardless of the odds against its survival.
All Undead have the following attributes in common:
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Immune to venoms and poisons.
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Immune to non-magical weapons (damage heals instantly), see individual descriptions for exceptions.
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Hurt by Holy Oil and Holy Water as described in the Bless Water/Oil spell description (p. 66).
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Repulsed by Holy Symbol: Undead must make Save vs. Will or avert its gaze and be unable to approach wielder for 1 minute.
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Failing a Save versus a Repel Undead spell by 10 or more points will “destroy” an Undead, sending it back to the Shadow Realms.
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Immune to all influence/control spells that are not specifically designed for controlling/influencing Undead.
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Stat Drain: Each type of Undead will feed upon the living in its own manner. However, all Undead are alike in that they must absorb 2 points of life-force (i.e. Constitution or Strength) for each level that it has in order to be healthy and strong. It must absorb at least 1 point of lifeforce each day simply to retain control of itself.
An Undead creature can go a maximum number of days, equal to its Hits without feeding.
This is known as his feeding counter and it starts counting down whenever the Undead misses more than 5 days of feeding in a row. Once, the feeding counter has begin counting down, the only way to reset it is for the Undead to absorb twice the normal amount of lifeforce that he is required to absorb in a single day.
However, should the Undead go a number of days equal to his hits without feeding or without resetting his feeding counter, the creature will be mad and will attack mindlessly, regardless of its chances of survival until it has absorbed 3 times the amount of life-force that it normally requires on a daily basis.
Specific Undead
Anwyn
