Wiedergänger

The question what happens to us after death has been one that has been asked and answered many times ever since we started to think and noticed that sometimes when you bash someone hard enough they don’t get up again.

But… what if they would?

You know, when we look away? When we don’t see them?!

And roleplaying games have touched on this. A lot. A real lot. In fact so much that whole settings and game systems have been written about nothing but what happens to people after they die.

The question what happens to us after death also has been one of these inherent fears that have plagued humanity, well, I guess before we were even properly human.

So remember that thing you bashed and it didn’t get up again? That shadow over there, doesn’t it look like that thing?!

It was a post by I cast light that inspired me to think about some rules for what actually happens when someone is left for dead in the dungeon or wherever. That post is most likely a lot better than what I come up with, but it doesn’t quite fit what I want in my game. It’s a bit too deterministic.

There’s some pretty brilliant parts in it though. The head of a wizard becoming a floating proto-beholder? Chef’s kiss.

Anyway. The dungeon is a dangerous area. Quite deadly even. The wilderness also is a dangerous place. Sometimes people don’t come back.

That’s the good news.

Because sometimes they do come back.

My comrade/hireling just died, what do I do now?

Well, call dibs on their belongings/adhere to the will they left. But if you know what’s good for you take care of them.

• give them a proper burial. This involves getting their body out of wherever you are. Yes, that means carrying less loot. You heard me.
• give them an emergency burial. Ideally have someone bless the grave. That should do it. Otherwise there’s about a 50% chance it won’t take. It still has a chance to get desecrated in a dungeon or wilderness, so don’t count on it.
• put their body in a circle of salt. That won’t hold forever though, depending on moisture and other environmental effects that could break down after a week to ten years.
• yeah, don’t think about desecrating the body. That’s only going to make it worse.

But what’s the big deal? you ask. Well, I will tell you what’s the big deal. If someone dies in the shadowy places of the world… they might come back. It really depends how they feel about you, and that mostly means that every little grudge they have about you turns to hatred. Took the last donut and left the bard with none? That’s gonna haunt you. Literally.

I mean, how did you think all those places got so many undead?

Unless given a proper burial PCs and named NPCs that were lost in the dungeon have a chance to return to unlife. I want to give some 50% chance or so, but seriously, if you have the chance to use an old PC as an undead monster, would you not use it?

They will otherwise rise as an undead creature of same HD as their previous level. If their body was destroyed during their adventure they will of course rise as a spirit or possess a convenient other body/appendage/curse a magic item. If their soul for some reason was destroyed/eaten/removed or if they died without any grudges some other thing will take possession of their body. Whatever it is, there now is an undead enemy with a grudge.

In any case, they will be absolutely inimical to the characters that left them in the dungeon (if you use alignment they will now be chaotic or evil). They might otherwise be filled with the usual feelings their creature type has for the living. Largely hatred and hunger that is.

Or maybe they just hate the living.

The referee is encouraged to come up with appropriate undead, but the revenant should have the same HD range as the lost character. Level 0 NPCs will become lantern ghosts, skeletons, or similar. Higher level characters might end up as ghouls, wights, or even wraith. They might also have additional equipment or abilities based on the previous character’s.

Bonus: new characters might start with a higher rank/level than normal, if they take on a Quest (like the spell) regarding such a revenant. This is of course DM’s fiat, but a e.g. cleric sworn to slay her uncle’s revenant, or maybe a character out for revenge against a now undead murderhobo, might start with level 2 or 3.