Fantasy "fluff" question: undead fetishizing death?

[shadowbeast]

Forget marching on your enemies, achieve necromantic economic superiority over neighboring kingdoms with skeletal sweatshops!

Dan Chambeaux investigated one necromancer who made a sweatshop with golem, mimeographing their life spells so as to have a good supply of short-lived slaves. He got a good telling-off in court, and a probation.

It's all just Gameplay And Story Segregation. No-one made anything up to explain this, the sculptors were just let loose and no-one bothered to question them.

[snitcythedog]

Dan Chambeaux investigated one necromancer who made a sweatshop with golem, mimeographing their life spells so as to have a good supply of short-lived slaves. He got a good telling-off in court, and a probation.

It's all just Gameplay And Story Segregation. No-one made anything up to explain this, the sculptors were just let loose and no-one bothered to question them.

The Golem Trust will have something to say about that!!

[shadowbeast]

Well, it turned out the law had something to say about it. He goes legit and ends up working at a storage facility.

Unfortunately for him, there is something in one of the storage units of importance to the Big Bad, so he is himself dead by the end of the book.

[Munindk]

After considering these same issues, I've opted for completely blank heraldry and minimal equipment for my undead. My liche/necromancer/whatever is raising an army, not working on a craft project. 

I'd argue that raising an undead army is itselft a craft project :p

Forget marching on your enemies, achieve necromantic economic superiority over neighboring kingdoms with skeletal sweatshops!

Is it a sweatshop when the skeletons dont sweat?

[Brandlin]

Thinking about older Games Workshop models in particular prompted this question. Supposing that undead skeleton units consist of raised warriors, where would their ubiquitous skull and bone insignia and heraldry have come from? They can't all have been death fetishists before they were slain. Would necromancers and vampires have workshops of undead craftsmen?

Glad I am not the only one that has a problem with this. They should all have mixed heraldry and weaponry.

Also why are they always human skeletons?  Surely if you can resurrect a human skeleton then a dwarf wont be much harder, or a troll. The interesting question would be whether a troll skeleton is any harder to kill than a human skeleton if they are all held together by magic?  It then leaves the question open that why no just resurrect a herd of cows... much bigger and tougher than a man and a stampeding herd is probably harder to stop if it charges than a few human skeletons swinging swords around. And an abattoir would be an easy place to get cattle - hell the farmers even herd them their ready for you to take over.

A wizard did it.

Good fantasy and story telling requires internal logical consistency.


I fielded a small group of skeletons in an RPG once and deliberately painted the shields and cloth shreds and made the weapons to match those of the players.  It was about half way through the encounter that the penny dropped when the fighter said "I'll attack the one with the shield that looks just like mine... wait a minute... where did you get that?"

[ZeroTwentythree]

I'd argue that raising an undead army is itselft a craft project :p
Is it a sweatshop when the skeletons dont sweat?

Haha! No sweat glands? See someone's previous comment about lungs & muscles. 

Also why are they always human skeletons? 

You have to search around a bit, but there are non-human skeletons.  Beastmen are easy to fake with skull swaps, though the legs will likely be wrong. I've got skeletal orcs, dwarfs, lizardmen, ogres, etc from a few different manufacturers. Plus larger beasts.

I like your idea of a stampede of undead cattle! Rotting zombie cattle might be even better than skeletal ones, and easy to convert! I may have to steal that idea. 

[snitcythedog]

I like your idea of a stampede of undead cattle! Rotting zombie cattle might be even better than skeletal ones, and easy to convert! I may have to steal that idea. 

If you do then check out Brandlins page.

[Brandlin]

If you do then check out Brandlins page.

[snitcythedog]

Sorry,

Mixed you up completely with PhilH who has Bears Head minis.  I would blame my glasses but I was wearing them.