Necromancy: How Many Minions Can One Corpse Make?

[unseenmage]

My Google-fu is failing me today. This has been a blast; now I'm especially interested in finding the really obscure 3.x legal stuff. Third party, Dragon, Dungeon, and 3.0 definitely allowed. I shy away from Homebrew but still welcome the suggestions.

I'm looking for how many different kinds of undead can be made from a single corpse. Edit: And constructs too I suppose; but they gotta' be grisly!

I've got uses for severed hands already. I remember seeing flying skin somewhere. Check. Is there a use for Blood? Also check.

Edit: Can a ghost be forced into existence?

Ideas Playground?
Thank you to everyone who's contributed. I'll be adding page numbers to my list soon.


What I've got so far:

Single Death:
Head: Brain in Jar (LM), Crawling Head (FF, if victim is a giant), Flameskull (LEoF, if victim was a spellcaster)
Hands: Crawling Claw (MoF), Grim Revenge (BoVD)
Skin: Skin Kite (LM), Forsaken Shell (LM)
Blood: Blood Golem of Hextor (FF), Blood Amniote (LM)
Bones: Skeleton (MM), Dragonbone Golem (D, if victim is a Dragon)

Mostly Intact Corpse: Zombie (MM), Flesh Golem (MM), Bloodrot (HoH, if victim is dissolved to death)
Extra Bits: Tomb Mote (LM), Skulking Cyst (LM), Animated Object (MM), Minor Servitor (SS)

Clothes: Raiment (LM117)
Spirit: Ghost (MM), Allip (MM)


Many Deaths:
Hands: Crawling Claws (LEoF, 300 victims)
Corpses: Necrosis Carnex (MM4, several corpses bound together)
Psyche: Dream Vestige (LM, if victim is an entire city)

Useful Parasite:
Body cavity: Gutpuppet (http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/mm/20011215a) (web)

Useful combo:

Infinite minions, no corpse... not that you could ever control all of them

Wall of Stone (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/wallOfStone.htm)
Fabricate (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/fabricate.htm) (statue)
Stone to Flesh (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/stoneToFlesh.htm) "but an ordinary statue would become a corpse"
Animate Dead (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/animateDead.htm)

I guess there could be a rules argument about whether or not a corpse created in this manner counts as a dead creature... but :/
Animate Objects on the statue then kill it. Now it's technically, "...the corpse of a dead creature..."

[Darth Stabber]

I remember a creature in LM called "blood mote swarm". There is also a zombie like creature in the same book that requires extra blood to make. Skeletons only require the skeleton. And there are two skin only monsters in LM, the forsaken shell and the skin kite. What to do with all the muscles and organs is where the real mystery lies.

There are no rules I know of for it, but an animated digestive tract would be interesting, some kind of snake like creature (intestines are very long) perhaps.

[unseenmage]

I remember a creature in LM called "blood mote swarm". There is also a zombie like creature in the same book that requires extra blood to make. Skeletons only require the skeleton. And there are two skin only monsters in LM, the forsaken shell and the skin kite. What to do with all the muscles and organs is where the real mystery lies.

There are no rules I know of for it, but an animated digestive tract would be interesting, some kind of snake like creature (intestines are very long) perhaps.

Thanks. Bloodmote Swarm is undead mosquitoes evidently. I found Brain in a Jar but I'm hoping to find some sort of Heart Monster or something. :smallbiggrin:

Blood Amniote! Is in LM and is victim blood.

[captain fubar]

any left over bits can become a tomb mote or sulking cyst as nether requires any one specific part.
also no incorperal undead are mentioned thus far

[Darth Stabber]

any left over bits can become a tomb mote or sulking cyst as nether requires any one specific part.
also no incorperal undead are mentioned thus far

So grab a ghost or allip.

So we can grab

Skeleton
skin kite
brain in a jar
Ghost
And several tomb motes (lets say 4)

That's a pretty good haul for 1 "donor", netting you 8ish undead from one corpse, with enough juice leftover to make a weird zombie variant.

If the victim is a gaint, you can make a death's head (animate head that walks on it's hair).

[unseenmage]

So grab a ghost or allip.

So we can grab

Skeleton
skin kite
brain in a jar
Ghost
And several tomb motes (lets say 4)

That's a pretty good haul for 1 "donor", netting you 8ish undead from one corpse, with enough juice leftover to make a weird zombie variant.

If the victim is a gaint, you can make a death's head (animate head that walks on it's hair).

Nice catch on the Crawling Head, reminded me of the Drakebone Golem. I thought I remembered another race specific undead but the memory bits of my brain fumbled it. :smallfrown:

[Karnith]

Do a corpse's clothes count as part of its body for this exercise? Because a Raiment (Libris Mortis 117) is the animated clothing of a victim of a horrible crime. Yes, it's a little silly.

[Deophaun]

Flameskull (LEoF) requires the skull of a humanoid spellcaster. After you're done extracting that brain to put in the jar, why not make a flying pyromaniac?

[unseenmage]

Do a corpse's clothes count as part of its body for this exercise? Because a Raiment (Libris Mortis 117) is the animated clothing of a victim of a horrible crime. Yes, it's a little silly.

Definitely, the more undead from one death the better!


Flameskull (LEoF) requires the skull of a humanoid spellcaster. After you're done extracting that brain to put in the jar, why not make a flying pyromaniac?

Sweet! Now to figure out how to get the skull out of a Giant spellcaster's head so both a Crawling Head and a ginormous Flameskull can be made at once... :smallbiggrin:

[Darth Stabber]

Sweet! Now to figure out how to get the skull out of a Giant spellcaster's head so both a Crawling Head and a ginormous Flameskull can be made at once... :smallbiggrin:

That would result in a pretty mushy death's head.

[Darth Stabber]

Bloodrot is an ooze-like undead made from the remains of a creature killed by acid.

[Coidzor]

I believe there's a nice little bit of homebrew dedicated to just this premise. I don't believe this (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=278418)is the exact bit I was thinking of, but it's a similar premise. Might be relevant to your interests.

[The Viscount]

Dream Vestige is made out of the dreams and thoughts of people, but it requires a village, not just one being.

Necrosis Carnex is made out of a bunch of assorted limbs.

[ramrod]

How many clowns can you fit in a popemobile? :smalltongue:

[Gerrtt]

I seem to recall someone recently linking a monster on the wizards site, some kind of massive heart parasite that basically took control of the host. I'm not sure it was undead, but it's thematically appropriate.

Edit:

Found it...as I thought, not an undead but an abberation. Still.

Link to Gutpuppet (http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/mm/20011215a)

[unseenmage]

Bloodrot is an ooze-like undead made from the remains of a creature killed by acid.

Cool find! Thanks!


I believe there's a nice little bit of homebrew dedicated to just this premise. I don't believe this (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=278418)is the exact bit I was thinking of, but it's a similar premise. Might be relevant to your interests.

Also a nice find, totally saved for next time I want to DM some horror.


Dream Vestige is made out of the dreams and thoughts of people, but it requires a village, not just one being.

Necrosis Carnex is made out of a bunch of assorted limbs.

It's entry says it's made of bound together bodies, not limbs. But I'll probably still find more than enough use for it. Especially if I try to make some Dream Vestige and some Crawling Claws swarms.


How many clowns can you fit in a popemobile? :smalltongue:

Do I really even want to know?


I seem to recall someone recently linking a monster on the wizards site, some kind of massive heart parasite that basically took control of the host. I'm not sure it was undead, but it's thematically appropriate.

Edit:

Found it...as I thought, not an undead but an abberation. Still.

Link to Gutpuppet (http://wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/mm/20011215a)

Still very useful. Even made a new category for it.

[ramrod]

I don't know how many clowns you can fit into a popemobile but we are now the number three ranking on google for that question. It would be rude not to stipulate an answer.

I beleive that answer would be 42. There.

[gooddragon1]

Infinite minions, no corpse... not that you could ever control all of them

Wall of Stone (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/wallOfStone.htm)
Fabricate (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/fabricate.htm) (statue)
Stone to Flesh (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/stoneToFlesh.htm) "but an ordinary statue would become a corpse"
Animate Dead (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/animateDead.htm)

I guess there could be a rules argument about whether or not a corpse created in this manner counts as a dead creature... but :/

[unseenmage]

Infinite minions, no corpse...

Wall of Stone (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/wallOfStone.htm)
Fabricate (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/fabricate.htm) (statue)
Stone to Flesh (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/stoneToFlesh.htm) "but an ordinary statue would become a corpse"
Animate Dead (http://www.d20srd.org/srd/spells/animateDead.htm)

I guess there could be a rules argument about whether or not a corpse created in this manner counts as a dead creature... but :/

In which case you just Animate Objects and kill the Wall of Flesh first so it's now "the corpse of a dead creature".