A Question of Appropriate Guardians

[Silk_and_Steel]

So I'm building a tomb for a dwarven warlord who in life was renown for slaying orcs during a war. The tomb is very old now and has been in disrepair for at least one hundred years. This of course will result in the tomb being inhabited by a number of creatures and hazardous areas.

However, when the tomb was built, it was given a number of undead guardians to protect the warlord's resting place and the treasures buried with him. My question is, would it be more appropriate for the guardians to be the remains of the warlords victims, or the remains of his loyal soldiers?

[Doc Filth]

I can't think of any reason why the warlord's enemies would be given what would be seen as an honourable task, even in death. Their remains probably would have been burnt or otherwise unceremoniously disposed of.

"Loyal in life, loyal in death". It's got to be his followers.

[Berenger]

I also think it should be his loyal guard.

If the tomb is big enough and you want some orcs in it, there could be the remnants (still alive and fighting / trapped, long dead or undead) of an orcish war party that came to desecrate the tomb for fun and profit (or to retrieve the Skull of Great Old Warchief Orkul which was fashioned into the dwarven warlords favorite helmet / magical artifact / novelty beer mug and buried with him).

[Kol Korran]

Why not both?

His former enemies are made into horrible undead, who'se very existence is suffering, and are used mostly as sort of meat shields/ cannon fodder for the loyal guards, who've been transformed into more intelligent undead, in a more profound and fulfilling existence, with better equipment, protection and so on...

For example, in D&D 3.5, his former enemies could be turn into ghouls/ ghasts (Forever hungry), Allips (insane), Shadows (a mere shadow of their former selves) and so on. While the guards might be made into mummies, vampires and so on...

[Silk_and_Steel]

I should note that this will be a fairly low level adventure. The PCs will probably be around 3rd maybe 4th level by the time they reach the tomb. I was leaning toward skeleton guards, just lots of them.

[Doc Filth]

Vampires? Really?

As servants to anything else that isn't another vampire?

I can't see how that would work.

[Telesto]

On Earth it would be his loyal subjects, and being buried with your lord would be a position of great honor, serving in death as you did in life. Don't forget to describe some as older than others (if they still have their flesh), these would have been the ones who died after the warlord.

Mind that this is based on Earth, and different worlds and cultures nay have different customs. Bound servitude, forced upon the conquest, could be a great means of keeping subjects in line.

[5ColouredWalker]

Not much to add, but to scale back the unworthy orcs and loyal guards route, you could have there be orc zombies in rotted hide armor/etc, while there are dwarven skeletons in metal armor and with their bones only just starting to show the signs of aging as the polish previously applied to them by those still living has finally broken down.

[GungHo]

I can see dwarves dedicating themselves to serve their liege in death as in life.

I can't see dwarves (well, maybe duergar) resorting to necromancy to getting a bunch of dead orcs to serve their liege in death. That's just not what they do. They hate orcs. I don't see them entrusting tombs to their dirty hands, not even as fodder.

The closest I'd see dwarves to binding other things for this would be golems and elementals.

Maybe they might do it to dwarf criminals, but I see dwarves more as a summary execution on the spot if we liked you, exile you if we hate you. Maybe they'd entomb you if you were a really nasty bastard. That'd be a hell of a surprise to tomb raiders. "Yay, we found the tomb of the dwarf warlord McTavish. It says here that he is protected by someone named Hannibeard Lectern. I'm sure its just some guy. We'll be fine."

[MrZJunior]

Why not both?

His former enemies are made into horrible undead, who'se very existence is suffering, and are used mostly as sort of meat shields/ cannon fodder for the loyal guards, who've been transformed into more intelligent undead, in a more profound and fulfilling existence, with better equipment, protection and so on...

For example, in D&D 3.5, his former enemies could be turn into ghouls/ ghasts (Forever hungry), Allips (insane), Shadows (a mere shadow of their former selves) and so on. While the guards might be made into mummies, vampires and so on...

I second the "why not both?" Having multiple types of undead adds to the tactical possibilities.

[BRC]

Yeah, stick to undead Dwarves, the Warlord's guards pledged to serve him in death.

If you really want some Orcs in there, I would go with the opposite approach. One of the rooms in the tomb is a massive trophy room, filled with the shattered weapons and armor of the orcs the Warlord slew. An Orcish Warlock placed a curse on the tomb, now, every night, the spirits of the Orcs rise up, forming spectral bodies that wield their old weapons in an eternal quest to destroy the Warlord.
Each night, the Tomb's undead guardians slay these spirits (Their bodies are perfectly corporeal, and when they die the bodies simply vanish and the weapons drop to the ground). Then, seeking to protect the tomb, the guards simply put the weapons back in the trophy room, causing the whole cycle to repeat.

[Wardog]

The undead orcs weren't created by the dwarves.

They were merely lured into an unescapable room, and sealed behind a massive door. And then a series of levers and/or presure plates were set up, to release them upon any foolhardy tomb raiders that get in

[Joe the Rat]

You definitely want a higher tier of guardian - jack up some skeletons, or grab wights. Or spectres that sidle out from the suspiciously-arrayed-dead-bodies-which-are-totally-not-going-to-get-up-and-murder-you.

Really, it's about the character of the place. If it's supposed to be a sacred or honorable space, you wouldn't put orcs inside. You might have some orc-ghouls chained up outside to ward off interlopers, but not inside the Tomb. If the dwarf was notably cruel and callous, a horde of Orc zombies or skeletons, preferably with a couple of "boss" mooks would be good.

My inclination would be to have the Dwarflord himself be a monster-maker (Wight, shadow, wraith), and the guardians are past interlopers who have become part of his guardian army. Exactly what kind may depend on system. 3.5 Wights make more wights, 5e Wights make zombies.