Why are animated skeletons such frequent enemies? Shouldn't they shatter absurdly easily?
Its magic, I ain't got to explain shit.
>>44603044
>dat comic
>dat painting
>dat clock
>>44603044
Ray Harryhausen probably has a lot to answer for
>>44603044
They are usually pretty weak.
>>44603044
As the number of available skeletons tends upwards, the chance of encountering one that has been animated similarly rises.
How many dead people do you suppose there are?
>>44603044
Skeletons, like many fantasy stuff, were made for look, not logic.
>>44603044
One assumes the reanimation comes with reinforcement
>>44603114
Surely. But even with reenforcement... D12 hit die? I mean cmon.
0dmg, not even mad
>>44603044
Logically speaking - they shouldn't even move, or stick in piece to begin with. No tissue.
But necromancy that binds the bones toghether also works like some sort of a force field. A layer of magic that reinforced the whole structure, else it would crumble under its own weight.
>>44603091
Depends on the setting, but each city likely has a graveyard with enough bodies for an army big enough to fight said city.
>inb4 but a setting with undead would cremate their dead
And if that was the case, necromancy wouldn't have arisen; logically, the art of undeath is more complex than burial beliefs and likely to be developed after said practices consolidated into a culture.
People didn't start cremating the dead when the fear of vampires was common place.
>>44603044
What bothers me is that you'd think that it takes way more effort to animate a skeleton than, say, a zombie, but it's always a low-level spell. Like, a skeleton doesn't have muscles or anything unlike a zombie, how does it move except by magic?
>>44603127
HP is abstract and is a summary of stamina and health.
They don't feel pain, couldn't care less about poisons or fire. You can't shock or stun them, they don't need to rest.
>>44603160
Same goes for zombies but they have similar hp.
See this post,
>>44603150
Why are they the same level spell when zombies are infinitely more padded and sturdy for the same amount of magic?
>>44603244
>Why are they the same level spell when zombies are infinitely more padded and sturdy for the same amount of magic?
Zombies are slower, can't hold weapons, and can't climb.
>>44603244
Skeletons are faster and can fight like a regular person while zombies are usually shambling meat shields.
>>44603150
>>44603244
You are thinking of magic like electricity or something. That isn't how it works.
The reason necromancers animate skeletons in particular is that bones channel necromantic power easier, so in fact the fleshlessness is a boon, not a bane. Yes, zombies have more muscle, but that is compensated by how muscle does not channel negative energy as efficiently as bone.
Magic is a matter of symbolism and sympathetic appropriateness, not just force/distance. What may seem more efficient isn't necessarily so. That's why necromancers have to work with corpses in particular, rather than just using whatever material is at hand. Think about it: can a necromancer animate a skeleton made of wood? No. Why not? It doesn't suit necromancy.
>>44603150
Muscles ain't moving shit, the power is magic and skeletons are tighter packages of just as much power.
>>44603296
>>44603317
>yfw as you cut chunks off a zombie it starts to speed up and fight more competently since its becoming closer to being a skeleton.
>>44603371
Hey, I remember that! Ogre Battle, I think. If you hit a Zombie with a fire attack, it became a faster but weaker skeleton. Similarly, if you cast Petrify on a Clay Golem, it became a Stone Golem.
>>44603044
Necromancy binds them together. And since they lack any organs or anything, stabbing them doesn't work. You need to completely destroy their skeletal structure, which is a lot harder than you might think. Especially since magic keeps holding them together.
>>44603044
>Why do the most common and easily animated mooks break so easy
That's sorta the point.
>>44603044
Spookyness factor
>>44603044
They do in a setting I'm working on, but since they're held together with magic they just reform. You have to keep smashing it apart till the magic is all spent. Some are made with actual reinforcement rather than the capability to reform, but they're considered a type of mummy.
