80
votes
Accepted
What happens to a Revenant that loses its purpose?
The lore on 5e Revenants is pretty limited, being pretty much just the 3 paragraphs in their Monster Manual entry, which makes it hard to tell. We essentially have 2 things in there to work with, ...
- 80.2k
78
votes
Necromancer PC Insisting On "Disguising" Undead Minions
In some sense, the problem you're having is that your necromancer is holding your plot hostage.
He's decided to try to bring these undead into the city. If you call him on it and have the undead ...
- 88k
75
votes
Accepted
Is there precedent for spontaneous reanimation?
Definitely. It's literally in the description of the Zombie in the Monster Manual (p. 315):
Some zombies rise spontaneously when dark magic saturates an area.
- 80.2k
69
votes
Accepted
Necromancer PC Insisting On "Disguising" Undead Minions
Dan B raises a good point - having your PC's undead troupe called out and identified is likely only going to cause issues.
However, if you have a way of controlling this - perhaps when they do get ...
- 23k
63
votes
What happens if a vampire tries to enter a residence without an invitation?
They cannot enter
You've put in the relevant quotes in your answer, they simply can't enter and that's all the info that 5e has given us. With no details provided by source books, the DM is free to ...
- 124k
60
votes
Accepted
Can a prisoner invite a vampire into his cell?
I would say "yes". If the prohibition was that the vampire had to be invited in by an owner of the residence, then that would not work. But it only says "occupant", so anyone who ...
- 2,732
59
votes
Accepted
What is the maximum number of PC-controlled undead?
Unlimited (even if you don't want to be a Beholder)
While the concept is bizarre to me, some people might not want to spend their time as a Beholder... For them, the process is actually simpler.
...
- 925
56
votes
Accepted
What happens to a lich's soul when it dies with a Ring of Mind Shielding?
It's not clear that the ring would even activate
The operative part of the Ring of Mind Shielding's description is:
If you die while wearing the ring, your soul enters it, unless it already ...
- 60.5k
53
votes
Accepted
How does the Great Weapon Master feat's bonus-action attack work against a zombie that survives thanks to Undead Fortitude?
You don't get a second hit
Undead Fortitude says (emphasis mine):
On a success, the zombie drops to 1 hit point instead.
This indicates that Undead Fortitude interrupts damage. Similar to damage ...
- 9,470
53
votes
Accepted
Can I attune a Circlet of Human Perfection to my animated skeletons to allow them to blend in and speak?
A skeleton cannot attune to the circlet
The circlet's description says:
This circlet is an uncommon magic item called a circlet of human perfection. Only humanoids can attune to it. The circlet ...
- 65.6k
51
votes
What happens to vampire spawn when the vampire is slain?
They remain vampire spawn, but free from the creator vampire's control
MM p. 253:
Born from Death. Most of a vampire's victims
become vampire spawn- ravenous creatures with a
vampire's hunger ...
- 19k
51
votes
Accepted
When is a vampire in sunlight?
As there is no general rule, the best I can give is what I do.
Can you see the sun?
I rule that if the creature can see the (image of) the sun, they're in sunlight. How would this fit your examples? ...
- 27.5k
50
votes
Accepted
Does the Cure Wounds spell damage undead?
Nope, this is no longer the case!
Spells (and all features etc) do only what they say they do. Cure wounds very specifically says:
This spell has no effect on undead or constructs
So in fact it ...
- 27.7k
48
votes
Are undead and creatures immune to charm excluded from the HP count of Sleep?
Looking at those two fragments:
Creatures within 20 feet of a point you choose within range are affected(...)
A creature’s hit points must be equal to or less than the remaining total for that ...
- 2,870
46
votes
Can a PC be a lich?
Outside materials for particular campaigns, there is only one official way for a PC to become a lich. The Book of Vile Darkness is detailed in the 5th edition Dungeon Master's Guide (p222). It doesn't ...
- 53.9k
46
votes
Are all Liches innately evil?
The description in the MM seems to indicate that yes, all liches are necessarily evil:
Wizards that seek lichdom must make bargains with fiends, evil gods,
or other foul entities. [..] A lich ...
- 61.4k
45
votes
Does a Ranger’s Favored Enemy bonus apply against an Undead version of that creature?
No, it wouldn't
Favored Enemy states:
Choose a type of favored enemy: aberrations, beasts, celestials, constructs, dragons, elementals, fey, fiends, giants, monstrosities, oozes, plants, or undead. ...
- 36.3k
45
votes
Accepted
Can player characters get turned into zombies? And if they can, what changes?
Yes, but maybe not like you think
In Dungeons & Dragons, zombies are not contagious and being bitten by one does not turn you into a zombie. This is why you do not see anything in the Monster ...
- 80.2k
43
votes
Can a Succubus use its Charm action to make my undead minion attack me?
No, a succubus can't use the Charm action on undead creatures
Succubi have the power to charm humanoids. Zombies are undead; they are not classified as humanoids.
The "Type" section of the ...
- 25.6k
43
votes
Accepted
How can the PCs determine if an item is a phylactery?
A lich is exceptionally intelligent and careful, so this is likely to be a challenge. There are two main approaches:
Use divination magic
Use the unique properties of the phylactery to rule out which ...
- 79k
42
votes
If my world-building makes undead not intrinsically evil, what rules changes would I need to make?
You don't need to change anything
As far as the rules are concerned, the alignment of NPCs is under the complete control of the DM. In the DM basic rules, page 3 under alignment, we are told (similar ...
- 26.4k
42
votes
Accepted
Can a Mace of Disruption kill a Vampire with its ability?
A Mace of Disruption can kill a vampire outright.
You've already quoted and stated the most relevant details.
The Mace of Disruption says:
If the target has 25 hit points or fewer after taking ...
- 56.8k
42
votes
Can True Resurrection bring a lich back to life?
A dead lich may be resurrected if its phylactery is also destroyed
When discussing whether true resurrection can raise a lich, there are 3 distinct cases that must be considered.
Undead/Not dead lich -...
- 94k
42
votes
Can you become a vampire from the kiss of a succubus?
The lore that you're describing here is technically D&D lore, but it doesn't cover all of D&D, and it isn't 5th Ed.
The only place it shows up at all is the old Forgotten Realms book Lords of ...
- 25.4k
41
votes
Accepted
Does forcing a Vampire indoors count as an invitation?
Easy bit first ...
Forbiddance. The vampire can't enter a residence without an invitation from one of the occupants.
The vampire can't - other people or circumstances can force a vampire inside. ...
- 207k
41
votes
Accepted
Can you raise your original body as an undead after moving to a clone?
You should be able to raise your own, other, body.
Clone only states that your other body is "inert and cannot be brought back to life", not that it is no longer a corpse.
The requirement ...
- 21k
41
votes
What if a revenant (monster) gains fire resistance?
Nothing changes, except that the Revenant takes half damage from fire.
The Regeneration trait states:
If the revenant takes fire or radiant damage, this trait doesn't function at the start of the ...
- 26k
40
votes
Accepted
Does a humanoid possessed by a ghost register as undead to a paladin's Divine Sense?
RAW indicates No.
The phrase
the ghost then disappears
in the description of Possession, together with the following listing of untargetability indicated that the ghost for the duration of the ...
- 5,656
40
votes
Accepted
Why are skeletons lawful evil while zombies are neutral evil?
While not outright stated as a justification, this can be inferred from the description given in the monster manual:
Skeletons have traits like Obedient Servant which indicates that they mindlessly ...
- 12.1k
39
votes
How are the skeletons in Tresendar Manor created? And by whom?
NPCs (and the DMs who run them) are not bound by the same rules that PCs (and the players who run them) are.
For the skeletons in the Redbrand Hideout, the two possibilities are:
The skeletons were ...
- 10.6k
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