DEAD SOULS AND WALKING CORPSES By Sean M. Punch Additional Material by Alison Brooks, C.J. Carella, Steve Jackson, Caroline Julian, Phil Masters, Janet Naylor, S. John Ross and Daniel U. Thibault Edited by Jack Elmy Illustrated by Dan Smith, Kurt Brugel, Kent Burles and Matt Cavotta Additional Illustrations by John Borkowski, Norman Doering, Neil Melville, Shea Ryan and Ray Snyder Cover by Rogério Vilela GURPS System Design wSteve Jackson GURPS Line Editor wSean Punch Design, Production and Typography wJack Elmy Print Buying wPaul Rickert Art Direction wAlain Dawson GURPS Errata Coordinator wAndyVetromile Additional Input: Scott Nickell, Bill Oliver, Mark Reynolds, T. Carter Ross and Emily Smirle Playtesters: Steven Anderson, Peter Dell’Orto, Christopher Dicely, Steve Dickie, James Dunson, Leonardo Holschuh, Robert Huss, Anthony Jackson, Martin Kelly, Peter Meilinger, Mark Reynolds, Brett Slocum, David Summers, Otis Viles, Phillip Weiss and Aerron Winsor . and our thanks to the dozens of great folks, too numerous to list here, who helped out on the Pyramid playtest board. GURPS and the all-seeing pyramid are registered trademarks of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. Pyramid and Illuminati Online and the names of all products published by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated are registered trademarks or trademarks of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated, or used under license. GURPS Undead is copyright © 1998, 2001 by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. All rights reserved. ISBN 1-55634-352-3 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 STEVE JACKSON GAMES INTRODUCTION ............... 4 Using this Book ......................................4 About the Author....................................4 About GURPS ...................................4 1. AT THE DOOR OF THE CRYPT ..............5 RELIGION AND THE UNDEAD...................6 Spiritualism ......................................6 Eschatology......................................6 Thanatology .....................................6 Funerary Rites .................................7 The Soul ..........................................7 Necromancy....................................38 A BRIEF HISTORY Spells for Raising the Dead............39 OF THE UNDEAD ......................................8 The Enslaved Dead: The Earliest Beliefs..........................8 Zombies, Duppies Ancient and Classical Beliefs ..........9 and Undead Minions..................40 Death, Earth Poseurs ...........................................42 and the Mother Goddess............10 THE UNDEAD CONDITION ................... 44 Eastern Beliefs ...............................12 Undead Strengths ...........................44 Death Gods ...................................12 Undead Weaknesses ......................45 The Middle Ages............................14 The Cost of Undeath ..................... 45 Pre-Columbian America ...............15 Undead Repellant ..........................45 The Age of Reason.........................15 KILLING THE UNDEAD ..........................47 Demons and Angels........................15 Spells Against the Undead .............47 The Age of Industry ......................16 The Killing Blow ...........................48 The Modern World ........................16 Keeping ’em Down .......................48 TODAY’S UNDEAD..................................17 Cinematic Undead......................... 17 3. THE MECHANICS OF Iconography of Undeath ................17 REANIMATION............49 Fantasy Undead..............................18 FORM ....................................................50 Horror Undead ...............................19 Corporeal Undead ..........................50 THE TRAPPINGS OF UNDEATH...............20 Spectral Undead .............................51 Mortal Remains .............................20 MOTIVATION..........................................55 The Pathology of Death .................20 Restless Dead .................................55 The Tomb .......................................23 Willful Dead...................................55 Embalming and Enslaved Dead................................56 Mummification...........................23 SPECIAL POWERS ..................................56 Deep Freeze ...................................25 Attribute Modifiers ........................57 Grave Robbery .............................. 26 Advantages ....................................57 Tomb Trappings ............................29 New Advantages ...........................59 Mitigating or Removing 2. DEALING WITH Disadvantages ................................60 THE DEAD ..................33 Innate Spells...................................61 AWAKENING THE DEAD ........................ 34 Inherent Magic (Knacks) .............. 62 The Restless Dead: Psionics and Super Powers ............63 Ghosts, Revenants and Skills ..............................................63 Tomb Guardians ........................34 SPECIAL WEAKNESSES ..........................63 Rising from the Dead ....................34 Needs..............................................63 Tomb Violations .............................35 Repulsions......................................64 Contagion.......................................36 Vulnerabilities ................................64 The Willful Dead: Vampires, Liches Missing Advantages.......................65 and Wraiths................................37 Other Disadvantages ......................65 Making Zombis ..............................37 FINE TUNING.........................................66 CONTENTS 2 CONTENTS 4. THE MORTUARY.....67 5. CHARACTERS..........95 GHOST ............................................68 CHARACTER TEMPLATES ...............95 LICH ...............................................70 LIVING CHARACTERS .....................96 MUMMY ..........................................72 Advantages...............................96 REVENANT ......................................73 New Advantages.....................102 SHADE .............................................75 Disadvantage .........................102 SHADOW..........................................77 UNDEAD CHARACTER ...................103 SKELETON.......................................78 Buying Undead SPECTER ........................................80 Racial Templates ...............103 VAMPIRE .........................................82 Magical Undead.....................104 WIGHT ............................................84 Psionic Undead ......................104 WRAITH ..........................................86 New Disadvantage .................104 ZOMBIE...........................................88 Skills.......................................104 Special Powers.......................105 Free Will and the Undead ..... 119 Undead Character Undead and the Law..............119 Templates...........................106 Hunters...................................120 New Skills...............................108 Dark Lords.............................120 Magic and the Undead...........109 Zombie Labor ........................120 UNDEAD HEROES ..........................121 6. CAMPAIGNS ...........111 Forbidden Ground..................121 DEFINING THE UNDEAD ...............112 Passing Through the Veil.......121 Origins ...................................112 Race or Monster? ..................121 Defining Your Campaign .......112 Undead, Undead Types......................................113 Everywhere....................... 122 Power Level ..........................114 In the Company of Corpses: Interactions ............................115 Mixed Groups ........................122 USING THE UNDEAD......................116 Setting the Scene: Quantity & Rarity .................116 A Brief History of Location .................................116 Undead Imagery ................122 Sample Campaigns ...............116 USING UNDEAD WITH OTHER SOCIETY AND THE UNDEAD .........117 GURPS BOOKS ............................123 Myth, Legend Books of the Dead..................123 OTHER UNDEAD..........89 & Folklore vs. Fact ................117 Ghost in the Machine.............124 NONHUMANS ...................................89 Attitudes Toward Undead in the BEASTS........................................... 90 the Undead.........................118 Mass Combat System ........125 Sample Beasts..........................90 You Know Too Much: Dealing Zombies & Chainsaws ..........125 Undead Swarms.......................91 With Player Knowledge ....118 WEIRDER UNDEAD..........................92 Using and Abusing BIBLIOGRAPHY .........126 Undead Microbes.....................92 Preconceptions.......................118 SUGGESTED READING ...................126 Undead Plants ..........................92 UNDEAD FOES...............................119 FILMOGRAPHY ..............................126 Undead Vehicles ......................93 Monsters ................................119 Variant Zombie Spells .............94 Minions of Evil......................119 INDEX .........................127 CONTENTS 3 ABOUT GURPS INTRODUCTIONSteve Jackson Games is committed to full support of the GURPS system. Our Introduction address is SJ Games, Box 18957, Austin, TX 78760. Please include a self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE) any time you ampires, zombies, ghosts . they haunt our folklore, our fiction and write us! Resources now available include: now our games. Why are we intrigued with the undead, with those who Pyramid (www.sjgames.com/pyramid). Our online magazine includes new rules and have passed beyond the veil of death and somehow