Considerations on Undead and healing spells"

LYCANTHROPES in RAVENLOFT






PentaclePentacleConsiderations on Undead Regeneration and Healing Spells

Do undead regenerate? and What is the effect of a "Cure X Wounds" spell on Undead?

These are the questions I'm trying to answer.

Undead do regenerate, even those without a regeneration rate given can "heal" their wounds just as humans do, resting undisturbed and still for a period of time equal to one day per hit point to be healed.

Logically this goes only for lower undead (zombies, skeletons, etc.) more powerful undeads (like vampires) heal at a much faster rate.

Healing Spells are a different thing altogether: many foolish adventurers think that a cure X wound spell should damage the undead, this isn't always true. Undeads are tied to the Negative energy plane and as such they're channelers of positive energy force: i.e. Vampires are strongly tied to the Negative plane but they feed on life force (levels, wisdom, constitution, and so on) so they should be actually HEALED by the variouse "cure X wounds".

As a rule of thumb I would say that if an undead is able to drain anything from a mortal a curing spell cures it, and, due to the link to the negative plane, a "cause X wounds" spell doesn't work altogether.

On the other hand an undead that does't have the draining ability (say a zombie) is harmed by a "cure X wounds" spell and healed by a "cause X wounds" spell.

Epitaph


LYCANTHROPES in RAVENLOFT

No lycantrope can be hit by magical weapons alone.
Any magical weapon can hit a lycantrope but the damage dealt is only the magical modifier, thus a two handed sword +5 will deal only 5 H.P. to a lycantrope, no strenght bonus added.
Only weapons of the proper material (i.e. cold iron, silver, etc) will affect completely the werebeast and only those weapons will allow a P.C. to add their strenght bonus.

Another house rule regarding creatures hit only by magical weapons or with a special weackness is that they actually CAN be hit in bare hand combat even by those below 4+1 hit dice. This may seem odd, but I thought that the emotions driving a manwho tries to save his life against the forces of evil should be enough to grant the possibility to hit even the toughest of the fiends. Obviously as punching damage is so low, this will not be enough to kill whatever is hit, but maybe it will give the P.C. a chance to flee the confrontation while the enemy recovers from the blows.


EVEN THOSE LIVING IN DARKNESS LOOK FOR ENLIGHTENMENT
Yours in Lichdom...

LASCIATE OGNI SPERANZA O VOI CH'ENTRATE

(abandone hope
all ye who enter here)

ZIO