New OOTS products from CafePress
New OOTS t-shirts, ornaments, mugs, bags, and more
Results 1 to 10 of 10
  1. - Top - End - #1
    Ogre in the Playground
    Join Date
    Nov 2005
    Location
    Worcestershire, UK

    Default Good "undead" type

    Before I go and homebrew my own take on the idea, I'm sure I 've read somewhere that there's some creature type that's effectively like an undead, but good aligned - like a friendly ghost, that sort of thing.

    Anyone got any clues? I'm looking for Pathfinder 1st Ed, but D&D 3.x would be simple enough for a bit of conversion.

  2. - Top - End - #2
    Ettin in the Playground
     
    Zanos's Avatar

    Join Date
    Jun 2013
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Good "undead" type

    You're probably thinking of the Eberron specific Deathless type, which are essentially undead powered by positive energy instead.

    The lore for elves worshiping their unliving ancestors is neat but I thought the type itself was a bad idea.
    If any idiot ever tells you that life would be meaningless without death, Hyperion recommends killing them!

  3. - Top - End - #3
    Barbarian in the Playground
     
    Imp

    Join Date
    Jul 2009

    Default Re: Good "undead" type

    Quote Originally Posted by Altair_the_Vexed View Post
    Before I go and homebrew my own take on the idea, I'm sure I 've read somewhere that there's some creature type that's effectively like an undead, but good aligned - like a friendly ghost, that sort of thing.

    Anyone got any clues? I'm looking for Pathfinder 1st Ed, but D&D 3.x would be simple enough for a bit of conversion.

    In Pathfinder there's the prana ghost, which is essentially a ghost that isn't directed towards being evil, powered by positive energy.

  4. - Top - End - #4
    Firbolg in the Playground
     
    Metastachydium's Avatar

    Join Date
    Jul 2020

    Default Re: Good "undead" type

    The deathless type (good undead running on positive energy) is also featured in BoED (pp. 157–158), by the way (and that version has precious little to do with elves).

  5. - Top - End - #5
    Titan in the Playground
     
    Kurald Galain's Avatar

    Join Date
    Jun 2007

    Default Re: Good "undead" type

    Ectoplasmic creatures are usually evil but not mandatorily evil; that's probably closest to what you're looking for. Ghosts and Wyrmskulls have no alignment restriction either.
    Guide to the Magus, the Pathfinder Gish class.

    "I would really like to see a game made by Obryn, Kurald Galain, and Knaight from these forums. I'm not joking one bit. I would buy the hell out of that." -- ChubbyRain
    Crystal Shard Studios - Freeware games designed by Kurald and others!

  6. - Top - End - #6
    Titan in the Playground
     
    Prime32's Avatar

    Join Date
    Nov 2008
    Location
    Ireland
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Good "undead" type

    Quote Originally Posted by Zanos View Post
    You're probably thinking of the Eberron specific Deathless type, which are essentially undead powered by positive energy instead.

    The lore for elves worshiping their unliving ancestors is neat but I thought the type itself was a bad idea.
    It's been around before Eberron, it just was never a big thing. IIRC "positive-energy undead" started with 2e mummies, then was extended to some Forgotten Realms creatures (including a type of good-aligned lich). Though Deathless as a separate type didn't exist until 3.0.

    Both the FR- and Eberron-specific varieties of deathless are reminiscent of sokushinbutsu monks, and Eberron's undying/ascendant councillors also resemble depictions of Chinese xian (particularly the part about first achieving a "body of pure yang", then evolving further into "vapour" and gaining the ability to travel between realms).

  7. - Top - End - #7
    Dwarf in the Playground
     
    HalflingRogueGuy

    Join Date
    Jun 2016
    Location
    Pennsylvania
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Good "undead" type

    Well, you could always take a look at Ghostwalk...

  8. - Top - End - #8
    Ettin in the Playground
     
    GreenSorcererElf

    Join Date
    Jun 2006
    Location
    Oregon
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Good "undead" type

    Quote Originally Posted by Altair_the_Vexed View Post
    Before I go and homebrew my own take on the idea, I'm sure I 've read somewhere that there's some creature type that's effectively like an undead, but good aligned - like a friendly ghost, that sort of thing.

    Anyone got any clues? I'm looking for Pathfinder 1st Ed, but D&D 3.x would be simple enough for a bit of conversion.
    I expect what you're looking for specifically is the Sacred Watcher template, from Book of Exalted Deeds (unless Pathfinder made their own version). It's a one-for-one copy of the Ghost template, except deathless, with a different set of not-spooky-evil special attacks, and they're created when an particularly virtuous person dies protecting someone- continuing to protect that person until someone else can take over.

    There's one more "friendly ghost" that I can't remember the name of, but I don't think it was deathless, and it was more of an "I like fighting so much I'm going to latch onto people and make them better at fighting even if it kills them!" sort of thing.
    Fizban's Tweaks and Brew: Google Drive (PDF), Thread
    A collection of over 200 pages of individually small bans, tweaks, brews, and rule changes, usable piecemeal or nearly altogether, and even some convenient lists. Everything I've done that I'd call done enough to use in one place (plus a number of things I'm working on that aren't quite done, of course).
    Quote Originally Posted by Violet Octopus View Post
    Quote Originally Posted by Fizban View Post
    sheer awesomeness

  9. - Top - End - #9
    Titan in the Playground
     
    Rynjin's Avatar

    Join Date
    Sep 2016

    Default Re: Good "undead" type

    That would be...a Ghost, the basic template. They're not required to be Evil or even necessarily angry or unfriendly in Patfhinder.
    Last edited by Rynjin; 2021-02-23 at 05:56 AM.

  10. - Top - End - #10
    Ogre in the Playground
     
    RedMage125's Avatar

    Join Date
    Mar 2008
    Location
    I'm on a boat!
    Gender
    Male

    Default Re: Good "undead" type

    Quote Originally Posted by Prime32 View Post
    It's been around before Eberron, it just was never a big thing. IIRC "positive-energy undead" started with 2e mummies, then was extended to some Forgotten Realms creatures (including a type of good-aligned lich). Though Deathless as a separate type didn't exist until 3.0.
    2e mummies were still undead, just not always evil. Namely because so many were created voluntarily for the sole purpose of defending a tomb from potential grave robbers.

    The good-aligned liches in FR (baelnorns) were also still undead, and not animated by positive energy. Becoming a baelnorn was considered a sort of self-martyring sacrifice, because it required the individual to turn its back on a great deal of what elves stand for (being an abomination of nature), and never get to go to Arvandor (elf afterlife) in order to protect a place or family line forever. They were absolutely still undead, and not deathless.
    Red Mage avatar by Aedilred.

    Where do you fit in? (link fixed)

    RedMage Prestige Class!

    Best advice I've ever heard one DM give another:
    "Remember that it is both a game and a story. If the two conflict, err on the side of cool, your players will thank you for it."

    Second Eternal Foe of the Draconic Lord, battling him across the multiverse in whatever shapes and forms he may take.

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •