Mindless undead, will they use fly spell if cast on them

[jpreem]

I was making a villain for my campaign. A necromancer wizard. And then i got myself in thought. If a wizard that uses a flight spell to get on a rock/pillar/mountain whatever. The wizard casts flight on himself and on his pet zombie. He starts to rise from the ground upwards straight towards the sky, then he commands hes pet zombie to come to him. Will the zombie float upwards or will it just shamble there all zombielike bakc and forth on theground, maybe looking stupidly upwards to the sky towards its master?

[Sir Swindle89]

It will fly if you tell it to. Basically it's will is your commands.

[Marnath]

Think of a zombie as a remote controlled RC car. If you cast fly on it, you could drive it straight up. Same with a zombie.

[jpreem]

Well then maybe-just-maybe my players dont have to face BBEG with a zombie dragon or a zomie rock :D
( they might have to anyway becouse those ones sound cool)
Still a zombie hydra with flight spell not bad either.

[Terumitsu]

In my mind, there is this buzzing swarm of zombies nearly filling the room. And then the PCs walk in after busting down the door, take a loooong look, and then slowly back out of the room, making sure to replace the door.

Flying zombies, man.. Flying zombies...

At least, that's what this topic makes me think

[jpreem]

Well thats a pretty interesting mental image:smallbiggrin:

[Marnath]

Well then maybe-just-maybe my players dont have to face BBEG with a zombie dragon or a zomie rock :D
( they might have to anyway becouse those ones sound cool)
Still a zombie hydra with flight spell not bad either.

Keep in mind, the hydra loses its fast healing as an undead, so it becomes much less of a threat.

[jpreem]

Hmm, i was thinking about pimping up my zombies. If they are humanoid, then you'll probably can equip them with most of the magical items possible but what about monsters.
Can a wyvern for example wear rings, brooches, scarabs etc?
( I plan for my players to encounter the villain looting around in a golem infested abandoned city - would make sense to give his zombie a scarab of golembane)

[Keld Denar]

Keep in mind, the hydra loses its fast healing as an undead, so it becomes much less of a threat.

You don't make zombie hydras for the fast healing, you make them for the fact that they can make multiple attacks as a standard action. Zombies' prime limiter is their single standard action per round. A zombie can't full attack, ever. Hydras have the EX ability to attack with all heads as a standard action, which they keep through the zombification process.

[hamishspence]

How about combo-ing Hydra with Zombie Dragon template from Draconomicon?

It says "any dragon of at least adult age"- however- in Cormyr- Tearing of the Weave, it's added to a Dragon turtle.

So by implication, any adult creature with the dragon type, can take the template.

And unlike normal zombies, zombie dragons retain breath weapons (though at half-strength). And don't double HD, and have no HD cap.

Give it to a half-dragon pyrohydra or cryohydra (for the breath weapon that can be used more than once per day) and you have a very, very nasty zombie.

Especially since it "retains any exceptional special attacks of the base dragon" (though not spell-like or supernatural) and "retains any exceptional special qualities, such as immunities or blindsense". It loses subtypes, but retains immunities based on subtypes.

So a half-red dragon cryohydra (zombie dragon), or half-white dragon pyrohydra (zombie dragon) would retain immunity to fire and cold despite losing both subtypes.

[CockroachTeaParty]

Think of a zombie as a remote controlled RC car. If you cast fly on it, you could drive it straight up. Same with a zombie.

There is no 'drive straight up' button or nob on most RC car controllers, however...

[jpreem]

There is no 'drive straight up' button or nob on most RC car controllers, however...

That's a really good wording - my doubts put into a metaphor.

[Coidzor]

Zomblebees and Skelingmatons are better thought of as really, really dumb computer programs controlling an automaton rather than as undead creatures of the night, I've found.
Ok, or maybe I just bought into frank and k's interprematation.

So, I'd say, yes. Depending upon my mood/campaign set up, I would require the computer nerd err, Necromancer, to make a note of adding in the capability to recognize that order during the creation process.


Well then maybe-just-maybe my players dont have to face BBEG with a zombie dragon or a zomie rock :D
( they might have to anyway becouse those ones sound cool)
Still a zombie hydra with flight spell not bad either.

Zombie Rock? no, no, no, Skeleton Rock! (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yAgSWR8u-v8)

[hamishspence]

I checked Frank & K's Tome of Necromancy- it does have two options. One sticks with the Negative Energy Plane as written- and skeletons and zombies are basically like robots.

The other, allows them to be Evil despite being mindless- and default to attacking anything living, if they have not been taken control of.

However, doing it that way required the Negative Energy Plane to be Evil.

[Marnath]

There is no 'drive straight up' button or nob on most RC car controllers, however...

Invisible ramp?

[TreesOfDeath]

Invisible ramp?

You mean like this?

http://www.polyvore.com/cgi/img-set?.out=jpg&id=9Daqxv7p3RGlLXD9z-RHjg&size=l


Sillyness aside, your the gm, but it makes sense that if the necro tells his zombie they can fly, they'll fly

[Keld Denar]

remote controlled RC car

BTW, the Redundant Department of Redundant Redundancy Department called. They want their acronym back.

RC is short for remote controlled. You said remote controlled remote controlled car...

[jpreem]

LOL-ing out loud.

[Sir Swindle89]

There is no 'drive straight up' button or nob on most RC car controllers, however...

Theres no controller at all on a zombie. They are mindless, they don't even know that they can walk straight forward, let alone that they cannot fly. It's not like you can make them realize that they can fly by making them walk off a cliff either because they are mindless and thusly lack the logic to have realizations.

[Kobold-Bard]

There is no 'drive straight up' button or nob on most RC car controllers, however...

You're using magic. The spell makes a new joystick appear for the up/down control.

[FMArthur]

So can you command your undead to fly when they actually can't? :smallbiggrin:

[Sir Swindle89]

it would try it's darndest

[Lhurgyof]

it would try it's darndest

Ha, the image that gave me kinda made my day.