VeX
30th October 2006, 05:39 PM
Death. Life's unsightly opposite. A somewhat undesirable state, to say the least. Some cannot so much as bear it's thought... and yet still it lurks around every corner.
And when I say lurk... I really mean it.
So what of those that live in a state of death? What of these anomalies enraptured by the reaper's poison siren song?
I love the undead. Even as I present a 'study' of it, still I marvel at the immense versatility of the undead.
And I would firstly ask you not to blame zombies for being completely pathetic, or vampires for being completely insanely powerful. The fault lies in their creators. Remember, that which allures these people to construct undead, is also that which allures those who have created amazing, and even terrifying, twists to the timeless ideas of those who have fallen and rise again.
The first and most obvious thing I want to talk about here is zombies. One of the most versatile of all dead things. Don't be quick to dismiss these fleshbags as shambling and mindless. Anyone who has seen 28 Days Later knows the sheer amount of speed and, more importantly, vicious instinct that can be packed into them without making them any less of a zombie. However, on the other end of the scale, the stereotype of a meek wad of flesh that knows nothing more than hunger is a very useful creative device. They make the perfect mob with which to swarm a frantic protagonist and an even more perfect object of humiliation (Or alternatively, gratuitous violence).
They can also be used in a slightly more obscure way, as a juggernaut, which never stops coming at you, no matter how many shells you load into it's face (especially effective when severed limbs from said zombie get a 'mind of their own', if that term may apply to zombies...). This technique is a rather oldschool application of the zombie. The reason for this is that these days there are far more twisted concepts lurking in peoples minds that may serve as juggernauts for whatever storyline one may have.
You never see a zombie as a master or servant though. This is because it would ruin the image of them being unintelligible, which lends to them a bestial terror (give them a break, their brains are rotting!). Though personally, I'd love to have a zombie as a servant...
One more mention before I move away from zombies... Cyborgs. The person who dies, but is revived as a half-dead, half-robot creature hailed as a 'miracle of modern science'. What can I say? Cyborgs are rarely anything other than overrated. I do believe it's possible to make a zombie-cyborg character that is well-constructed to the point of art. But I must stress that I do NOT believe it's worth the effort it would take to attempt such an act. It would be like painting the Mona Lisa with macaroni elbows. (I know, I've tried.)
Next on my list is the headless horseman. Truthfully I view him as particularly useful, I just wanted to touch on the actual origins of the headless horseman. Which... I actually don't remember all that well. *ahem* Anyway, the horseman is actually a creature from Irish mythology (they're myths are very unique). A headless man who travels in a carriage drawn by two headless horses (naturally, black horses give the best effect.), he'd ride up and knock on people's doors, and when they open it, throw a bucket of blood on them. As you can see, his image is rather misconstrued, he didn't actually kill anyone, though as you probably guessed, the whole bucket of blood thing is an omen of death. Sorta like life flashing before your eyes, only I'd tend to believe that would be slightly more pleasing (unless your life sucks REAL bad).
I guess I'm going to have to mention vampires eventually. The mary-sue of all things dead *rolls eyes*. For those who don't know, the term mary-sue is a reference to a movie (I think it was also called Mary-Sue) about a girl (just guess) who always gets what she wants. Hence the term mary-sue, a character who always gets what s/he wants. The sentiment is best expressed by a five-year old who gets shot, then says, 'nuh-uh I had my invisible-bullet-proof-shield up!!1!11!1'...
*BACKTOTOPIC!*
So... those who are well-versed in vampires should know that there are far too many overly-powerful vampire character in rpg's and movies. That's not such a bad thing though. If you want to make a balanced vampire character, there are many attributes you could be well justified in giving him/her. Of course, the attributes, inspiration, or justification can all be gained from the multitude of examples, just don't overdo it.
Also, a vampire can just as easily be weaker than a human, simply grant the ability to not age, as long as s/he keeps drinking blood, along with the inherent weakness to light and repulsion from onions/crosses/holy water.
Vampires also make good mastermind characters. 'Nuff said.
Another creature that's often somewhat omnipotent is the lich. The main difference here is that the lich usually makes the best mastermind and can add some real meat to dialogue (even though they don't have any on them), if you're clever. If you're gonna have one for a main antagonist, it can be difficult to give it intentions that are anything more than vague, but sometimes that can work for you. Obscure intentions suit the lich very well.
Speaking of animated bones, we come to the skeleton, perfect minion of the undead. Apart from serving you cocktails when you're tanning in your fortress of eternal evil, they also make good fodder. Though they aren't as fun to mob with as zombies, they're still rather effective. Especially good for shifting combat balance from archer characters, though a good shaft to the spine would shatter a couple of vertibrae, rending it in two. This is a good opportunity for the scare-tactics style GM to do the old 'top-half-of-the-body-still-crawling-toward-you' thing, which doesn't usually do much good really, UNLESS you leave it to lay still for a while until no-one's looking and then spring it onto the nearby adventurer's ankle. (fun ^^)
For a slightly more realistic look, always have your skeletons lurch forward a little. Don't forget, with their flesh they lost, they also lost a fair bit of body weight, mostly from their chest and stomach, so they would probably fall backwards if they stood straight (I'm assuming this). Either way, it makes them far creepier when they lurch forward.
Ghosts. Ghosts are awesome because there are so many different things you can do with them. Their intentions may be to maim, kill, scare, drive people mad or something entirely different. Let's face it, you can do almost anything with a ghost. They even make good protagonists.
There are many different sorts of ghosts you could use. Especially if you look into shintoism. My personal favourite is the zubera; A faceless hermit spirit that seeks to devour the faces of travellers in order to have the face themselves. Could you imagine throwing one of those at your chosen group of adventurer's, without any explanation or obvious weaknesses?
Another ghost-type creature that is especially useful for scare-tactics is the banshee. The one that screams a howl of pain, despair and terror. It's always good to have a banshee in your pocket, if only for the sake of atmosphere.
That's all for now...
*Walks back to his crypt*
And when I say lurk... I really mean it.
So what of those that live in a state of death? What of these anomalies enraptured by the reaper's poison siren song?
I love the undead. Even as I present a 'study' of it, still I marvel at the immense versatility of the undead.
And I would firstly ask you not to blame zombies for being completely pathetic, or vampires for being completely insanely powerful. The fault lies in their creators. Remember, that which allures these people to construct undead, is also that which allures those who have created amazing, and even terrifying, twists to the timeless ideas of those who have fallen and rise again.
The first and most obvious thing I want to talk about here is zombies. One of the most versatile of all dead things. Don't be quick to dismiss these fleshbags as shambling and mindless. Anyone who has seen 28 Days Later knows the sheer amount of speed and, more importantly, vicious instinct that can be packed into them without making them any less of a zombie. However, on the other end of the scale, the stereotype of a meek wad of flesh that knows nothing more than hunger is a very useful creative device. They make the perfect mob with which to swarm a frantic protagonist and an even more perfect object of humiliation (Or alternatively, gratuitous violence).
They can also be used in a slightly more obscure way, as a juggernaut, which never stops coming at you, no matter how many shells you load into it's face (especially effective when severed limbs from said zombie get a 'mind of their own', if that term may apply to zombies...). This technique is a rather oldschool application of the zombie. The reason for this is that these days there are far more twisted concepts lurking in peoples minds that may serve as juggernauts for whatever storyline one may have.
You never see a zombie as a master or servant though. This is because it would ruin the image of them being unintelligible, which lends to them a bestial terror (give them a break, their brains are rotting!). Though personally, I'd love to have a zombie as a servant...
One more mention before I move away from zombies... Cyborgs. The person who dies, but is revived as a half-dead, half-robot creature hailed as a 'miracle of modern science'. What can I say? Cyborgs are rarely anything other than overrated. I do believe it's possible to make a zombie-cyborg character that is well-constructed to the point of art. But I must stress that I do NOT believe it's worth the effort it would take to attempt such an act. It would be like painting the Mona Lisa with macaroni elbows. (I know, I've tried.)
Next on my list is the headless horseman. Truthfully I view him as particularly useful, I just wanted to touch on the actual origins of the headless horseman. Which... I actually don't remember all that well. *ahem* Anyway, the horseman is actually a creature from Irish mythology (they're myths are very unique). A headless man who travels in a carriage drawn by two headless horses (naturally, black horses give the best effect.), he'd ride up and knock on people's doors, and when they open it, throw a bucket of blood on them. As you can see, his image is rather misconstrued, he didn't actually kill anyone, though as you probably guessed, the whole bucket of blood thing is an omen of death. Sorta like life flashing before your eyes, only I'd tend to believe that would be slightly more pleasing (unless your life sucks REAL bad).
I guess I'm going to have to mention vampires eventually. The mary-sue of all things dead *rolls eyes*. For those who don't know, the term mary-sue is a reference to a movie (I think it was also called Mary-Sue) about a girl (just guess) who always gets what she wants. Hence the term mary-sue, a character who always gets what s/he wants. The sentiment is best expressed by a five-year old who gets shot, then says, 'nuh-uh I had my invisible-bullet-proof-shield up!!1!11!1'...
*BACKTOTOPIC!*
So... those who are well-versed in vampires should know that there are far too many overly-powerful vampire character in rpg's and movies. That's not such a bad thing though. If you want to make a balanced vampire character, there are many attributes you could be well justified in giving him/her. Of course, the attributes, inspiration, or justification can all be gained from the multitude of examples, just don't overdo it.
Also, a vampire can just as easily be weaker than a human, simply grant the ability to not age, as long as s/he keeps drinking blood, along with the inherent weakness to light and repulsion from onions/crosses/holy water.
Vampires also make good mastermind characters. 'Nuff said.
Another creature that's often somewhat omnipotent is the lich. The main difference here is that the lich usually makes the best mastermind and can add some real meat to dialogue (even though they don't have any on them), if you're clever. If you're gonna have one for a main antagonist, it can be difficult to give it intentions that are anything more than vague, but sometimes that can work for you. Obscure intentions suit the lich very well.
Speaking of animated bones, we come to the skeleton, perfect minion of the undead. Apart from serving you cocktails when you're tanning in your fortress of eternal evil, they also make good fodder. Though they aren't as fun to mob with as zombies, they're still rather effective. Especially good for shifting combat balance from archer characters, though a good shaft to the spine would shatter a couple of vertibrae, rending it in two. This is a good opportunity for the scare-tactics style GM to do the old 'top-half-of-the-body-still-crawling-toward-you' thing, which doesn't usually do much good really, UNLESS you leave it to lay still for a while until no-one's looking and then spring it onto the nearby adventurer's ankle. (fun ^^)
For a slightly more realistic look, always have your skeletons lurch forward a little. Don't forget, with their flesh they lost, they also lost a fair bit of body weight, mostly from their chest and stomach, so they would probably fall backwards if they stood straight (I'm assuming this). Either way, it makes them far creepier when they lurch forward.
Ghosts. Ghosts are awesome because there are so many different things you can do with them. Their intentions may be to maim, kill, scare, drive people mad or something entirely different. Let's face it, you can do almost anything with a ghost. They even make good protagonists.
There are many different sorts of ghosts you could use. Especially if you look into shintoism. My personal favourite is the zubera; A faceless hermit spirit that seeks to devour the faces of travellers in order to have the face themselves. Could you imagine throwing one of those at your chosen group of adventurer's, without any explanation or obvious weaknesses?
Another ghost-type creature that is especially useful for scare-tactics is the banshee. The one that screams a howl of pain, despair and terror. It's always good to have a banshee in your pocket, if only for the sake of atmosphere.
That's all for now...
*Walks back to his crypt*