Dungeons and Dragons Lore: Skeleton

Skeletons are a basic form of Undead, one of the first an adventurer is likely to encounter, and my favorite form of Undead critter. Let's find out why.
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[@markusnavergard2387]

I blame Jason and the argonauts movie for skeletons appearing in basically every fantasy game there is

[@Im-Not-a-Dog]

Ray Harryhausen was a legend. His skeletons are still top notch creepy.

[@thelegendaryhalo460]

Necrons ftw

[@tie-dyedracinomicon7627]

I love that movie

[@donashcroft93]

Such a classic image I think we can all picture even if we didn't want to.

[@claytonhusted]

The Seventh Voyage of Sinbad.

[@dbensdrawinvids8390]

A skeleton, a boneless, and a ghost all made from the same corpse, with the ghost giving commands to the two mindless undead.

[@Bluecho4]

Exasperated ghost trying desperately to get his former body parts to obey.

[@magusthebard1929]

Pull yourself together I'm trying !

[@PrototypeSpaceMonkey]

Inside all of us there's a skeleton just *dying* to get out!

[@Average_____enjoyer]

Omfg... ok fine alright

[@Mortablunt]

There's a wet skeleton trapped in darkness inside you right now!

[@elementalarrow8431]

After watching this I talk to my sister about a human skeleton that had no legs but extra sets of arms allowing it to crawl around like a spider. She nope the F*** out the room. So I definitely using that in a campaign. Thank you for the video and the inspiration.

[@matteussilvestre8583]

Ah yes, the Bone Spider. A product of overly creative Necromancers.

[@soupforthefamily8378]

That idea about the floor tiles being held up by skeletons is absolutely brilliant

[@hircenedaelen]

I once had a concept for a temple of Juiblex where the 'stone' it was made from was actually petrified gelatinous cubes, and a trap in the centre would cast greater restoration on all of them, and re-petrify them afterwards

[@mikegould6590]

The variety of Skeleton and Zombie possibilities is limited only by whether the source creature had flesh and bones. Brilliant. Under appreciated and thoroughly entertaining.

[@Xenolord]

Me: "HOw the hell do you make a twenty five minute video on skeletons? They're reanimated corpses!" Video: E X I S T E N T I A L D I S C U S S I O N Me: "Whoa..."

[@AJPickett]

Welcome, its what I do :)

[@That80sGuy1972]

@@AJPickett And it was awesome!

[@jmhaugen4757]

Narration: "The article says that an intact dragon skeleton is not necessary for creation of this undead type. The skull, spine and claws of the dragon are the only things required."

[@supremecaffeine2633]

Save the skulls. They can be used in a ritual to summon a tarrasque.

[@robouteguilliman6662]

Here’s an idea for a Necromancer/Enchanter. Several low level mages that constant make scrolls of things such as animate dead or magic missile. Another undead nearby is assigned to re-cast command undead a set amount of time between castings (a little over the approximate time it takes to scribe the scroll in question. Lesser bound creatures such as Imps or Homunculi restock supplies and gather the finished scrolls once they are done. With a suitable number of these undead in place you could very easily get several dozen scrolls a day. Or to be more lucrative just use them as a printing press to mass-produce books while still charging the same as a book made by a monk.

[@semi-useful5178]

There are so many ways necromancy can benefit man, If only those superstitious fools of the church would let us!

[@corneredbadger]

Fun way to mess with your players is have the skeletons attacking them actually be animated through the use of animate objects, so now there's 'undead' shambling towards them that pay no attention to the clerics attempts to turn them or the holy water thrown on them

[@johntheherbalistg8756]

You're crazy, but I think it works 😂

[@flibbernodgets7018]

On 4chan there was a discussion on how a lich might make a computer using mindless undead as logic gates as they're tireless and can be made to do simple repetitive tasks. I don't understand computers well enough to run an adventure into the lair of a lich whose entire dungeon base is a massive necromantic computer calculating the mysteries of the universe, but the idea intrigues me.

[@AJPickett]

Fascinating!

[@semi-useful5178]

Throw in tunnels and peasant railguns and you have a necromantic email server.

[@johntheherbalistg8756]

It's simplified into something digestible in several minecraft videos floating around out there

[@warpdkirby]

Skeletons also believe themselves to be the best dancers among the undead. It is contested by a few others.

[@mestreweeaboo425]

The critcs claim their performance is bare-bones.

[@florenmage]

That boneless thing is absolutely horrifying.

[@MrGraz_ArtTeacher]

Ever since the Amonkhet series for Magic the Gathering, I love the idea of Skeleton farmers running large plantations with skeleton cats keeps the fields clear of birds and mice.

[@RantingRagingRelks]

I'm sure this will lost in the deluge of comments from this wonderful community, but: I just want to say thank you, AJ. Deeply and truly, thank you. Your videos have given me so much more insight into the worlds of D&D and different monsters and revolutionized my campaigns with new and exciting creatures and applications of them over the years. Your consistent uploads are always of fantastic quality, and your pleasant narration a soothing balm to my mind on my most stressful days. Though we are likely never to meet, I consider you a friend and you would always be welcome to my hearth and gaming table. Keep doing what you're doing, because in this time of chaos and strife in our world, your channel has been a calming grounding point for me and a doorway into incredible new worlds for me and my players. Not if you excuse me, this video has given me dozens of new ideas for the nation ruled by a benevolent necromancer in my setting. Thanks again, AJ, and have a wonderful day. May your cups and coffers fill to the brim, and may you always have quality cheese.

[@AJPickett]

Thank you! Warms my heart to hear this :)

[@-kenik9629]

I had a dream once where a colossal skeleton made of lava climbed out of a volcano. Being me when I woke up I came up with the backstory that a necromancer decided to test whether or not create undead could work on a pile of 1,000 skeletons in a pool of magma.

[@purplehaze2358]

I feel like a skeleton’s experience on the prime material plane is overall reflective of my analogy for my view of morality. Too much darkness can indeed leave the world a frozen, empty husk, but too much light can incinerate anything in it’s path.

[@honkthegoose3543]

It's quite humerus how much people rib on skeletons. And people wonder why they have a bone to pick with the party.

[@AJPickett]

There's so many solid puns you can sink your teeth into in this joint.

[@chumplestiltskin7927]

I once heard someone on the Internet say that skeletons communicate with one another using skelepathy. This is also how they find beings in their lairs.

[@noahtipton7302]

I cut out dark vision on skeletons (as well as several other undead). Instead they have blindsight out to 30 ft and life-sense out to 120ft. I love the idea that it is impossible to hide from the dead by noon-magical means. They might not know how to get to you but they KNOW you are there always.

[@colerobinson1422]

That one picture of the skeleton at the bar made me laugh and create a character known as Jeff who was essentially a cowboy skeleton who was constantly depressed that he was a skeleton and we try to drink but it went through him he was essentially the mascot to the party and everybody loved it

[@BleakNote]

I played a necromancer once that kept 6 full skeletons with weapons to match in a bag of holding (i think i had 2 of them actually). When a fight broke out, id just dump out my bag and summon some minions to fight for me. I paralyzed a vampire once and ordered my minions to casually carry the bloodsucker into the daylight (it was in an abandoned mine.)

[@TacDyne]

On a stage: 5 skeletons in a line with Otto's irresistible dance, fumble and permanency cast on them... The DM said, "You do realize those spells won't work that way on undead..." to which I replied, "Yes, but I don't care. it isn't hurting anyone and it's funny as hell!" The DM agreed and let it happen. :D

[@AJPickett]

and thus, tap dancing was invented.

[@Scantronimus466]

Maybe the real skeletons were inside us all along?

[@Dan-rw2dq]

Those crafty little bastards.

[@AspenBrightsoul]

So your saying the boneless don't have friends?

[@BrettCaton]

I like the skeletons in Planescape: Torment. They'd been around for so long, they just became normal npcs, and just wanted to be left alone.

[@purplehaze2358]

“Boneless are among the most versatile undead species known” *I’ll have uuuuuh boneless pizza.*

[@AJPickett]

*dry heaves*

[@That80sGuy1972]

@@AJPickett At least it's not a pizza with pineapples and-or anchovies... and Boneless have meat and are not grotesque food in a classical form needing melty cheese and at least one meat OR hot pepper to bake into that bread product. Boneless are monsters. Pizza that has the only quality standard as being boneless are created by monsters.

[@krispalermo8133]

@@That80sGuy1972 Star Trek episode of fly alien suckers that killed off Kirk's brother's colony and infected Spoke which to kill the parasite left Spock temporary blinded. New Far Realm alien monster, the flying Pineapple Anchovies flying Pizza monster, trust me you really don't want to know what it can do to your PCs, just hearing about it they must make a Fear/wisdom check roll DC:20 for half damage of 5d4 temporary mental Int/Wis: damage. Any ability score temporary reaches Zero loses one point of that given ability state and gain a derangement to seek out the PAP.

[@That80sGuy1972]

@@krispalermo8133 I've done some nightmare things but none that violate pizza as a DM. The closest I came to it was pancakes. I'm not a breakfast guy. People eat that when I sleep. Kudos on your diabolical wit on this.

[@krispalermo8133]

@@That80sGuy1972 What movie was it that one of the co-stars said after pretend acting being knocked out and waking up ? " Please mommy, I'm hungry ! Slide another pancake under the closet door."

[@brandongillis545]

Id like to hear about about bone creatures and other high ranking skeletons creatures like can a skeleton become a lich or a high ranking skeleton

[@purplehaze2358]

Human skeletons are actually extremely resilient, comparable to concrete. Which is something I love to include when I run skeletons, the bladed weapons my party uses not doing more than slightly chipping them.

[@krispalermo8133]

I did some bone carving before, dry bone is surprising strong. Fresh animal bone that are still wet are a little flexible when a can bend slightly. There is a reason why pro boxers wear padded gloves, cause you can push the bones out of place in your hand when you punch a living person in the face. Now punch the Undead ?

[@the_wanderer8898]

FINALLY AN UPDATED UNDEAD LIST!! I have waited for some time for darker knowledge and the living in my realm shall tremble before the ruin.

[@fishinatube9028]

I think it would be interesting if skeletons are so sensitive to anything that isn't negative energy, that they can sense the differentiation of energy of the world around them, and thus see.

[@ernestlam5632]

Trick your players w/ non-undead skeltons that created as stone elementals. Animated rocks.

[@halfmask3]

Maybe petrified skeletons? Maybe even petrified dinosaurs?!

[@mrl9418]

Could be statues of skeletons too

[@jgr7487]

Clerics: "oh, no! you can't see Skeletons as free labour!" Necromancer: "automaton-like bone boi goes doot doot"

[@SicFromTheKush]

They don't have eyes. They know where you are because your own bones call to them via Skelepathy. Credit to Thor's chat

[@chrissoto7187]

Boneless terminator!!! Combine a skeleton mage with a boneless to make an an infiltrator undead

[@Menzobarrenza]

That's clever. I'm stealing that.

[@alexandarvoncarsteinzarovi3723]

Skeletons are perhaps one fo the most useful of undead minions, they do not stink nor eat random people or animals like zombies and can learn to do things in a certain way, buuut do think you can teach them to fix a broken chandelier any time soon, But the main benefit, undead labor forces,

[@mist3rmaniac]

7:19 Time for a tactical withdraw. This was fantastic. There was a Heavy Metal Magazine I read many years ago about only skeletons. Everyone becomes a skeleton after death wandering an endless desert. Ever since, I've wondered what it would be like to be a sentient skeleton.

[@gammagong9435]

That picture of a skeleton pirate with the wheel on it's back is a character skin from a now(sadly) defunct game called Paragon. I miss it :(

[@Tengu125]

Raising an undead is basically the same as summoning an elemental; you cast a spell that grabs an elemental from their home against their will to do your bidding...except you're abducting an entropic un-life force from the ass-end of multiversal spacetime, locking it inside of a dead body, and then telling it not to follow its urge to wander wherever it pleases and indiscriminately extinguish any and all life it encounters. Such fun! 😃

[@kingmasterlord]

I was thinking more of an Animate Object/Unseen Servant type of situation

[@ethanblair981]

Love the metal skeleton in the lower left at 9:37

[@mattnerdy7236]

lol, I noticed that too. Was hoping someone would point that out.

[@Weirdoid]

Their ate skeletons all around you, cleverly disguised in a suit of flesh.

[@madaxe606]

The library of severed, undead heads is GENIUS.

[@redfaux74]

There was an old Dragon Magazine from the mid 90s that had an assassin skeleton in it.... I loved them. ☠ Called Bloody Bones....

[@rahovartiv3464]

That description of the negative energy plain is terrifying...

[@AJPickett]

When I think of hell, that is what comes to mind.

[@jacobfreeman5444]

Here is an idea. Skeletons do not have senses. They have the memory of senses. Just as you said the spirit that is inhabiting those bones tastes the memories within. Part of that is the memory of how they percieved the world around them. So those with eyes in life can see. Those with ears can hear. So on and so forth. But it is more like an illusion they construct for themselves to make sense of the information they are receiving through some spiritual sensory ability they have.

[@TheWonkster]

One of my NPC necromancers deals almost exclusively in skeletons and mummified wights, he has a very sensitive nose and can’t stand strong smells, dry skeletons mostly just smell like dust

[@AJPickett]

I'd be the same.

[@abdullahalghanimi379]

You forgot the organs, which I would definitely use in a cutscene encounter. I can imagine a crafty necromancer, torturing an NPC in front of the players, making a skeleton, a boneless, and a Living Inards. A necromancer's three for one deal.

[@3XC4L1B3R]

Don't forget the spirit! A shade or a spectre makes four-for-one!

[@DIEGhostfish]

@@3XC4L1B3R A Shadow isn't a soul-undead by the way. So throw one in!

[@mathiasseverin5673]

Who says a skeleton needs a skull? Go go flameskull!

[@mathiasseverin5673]

Why stop here? Crawling Claw? Sure. We can get two of those as well.

[@abdullahalghanimi379]

We are creating one eco-friendly necromancer here 😆

[@kishinasura1989]

I Role Played a skeleton once I managed to survive long enough to become ever more powerful undead by the end I was so strong the necromancer who raised me couldn't control me and when the Paladin tried to kill me well let's just say he joined the army I was making by the end I had the abilities of a skeleton,Wright,wraith,and Death Knight and was called the Wraith King and became the next BBEG it was fun

[@wagz781]

I personally enjoy skeletons as my surprisingly intelligent, slap-stick jobbers. Where it's common place to launch a skeleton's skull across the room only for it to spend it's next turn, disengaging to go hunt it down via holding up a finger and then wandering off. Often times, skeletons left to their own devices tend to pick up the message cantrip so they can speak with each other, or simply use bark tablets for writing should they be posted/forgotten somewhere with access to trees. Skeleton unions are not unheard of should a necromancer grow slack in their efforts to maintain control. Amusingly, bands of free-bones tend to get on well with elves and dwarves, as they share a commonly long-lived perspective and appreciation for long-lived works of artisanry such as the subtle cultivation of a forest over centuries or stonemasonry.

[@grizzlybear6377]

Skeleton unions?! Those ungrateful bags of bones! Roll to sell them to a museum

[@strangent404a7]

I like the idea of a village where, upon the death of a person, can have their body taken to the town necromancer to be reanimated so that their skeleton can help the village long after the person's soul has moved on to the afterlife, I mean imagine a party encountering skeletons in farming clothes tilling the fields like nothings wrong?

[@AJPickett]

This is certainly a recurring theme in a few fantasy novels... it generally ends badly.

[@strangent404a7]

@@AJPickett either the king/necromancer goes mad with power or the paladin turns lawful stupid

[@BrettCaton]

Planescape: torment had a very similar idea. From memory, you sold your body to these neutral necromancers, who would turn it into essentially a robot. They only did so in a lawful manner. You later meet free-willed undead, who are not malicious. They don't remember being alive, and are neutral about the living, wishing merely to continue their existence. I think they might kill to protect the secret? Been a long time but there was a way to be an ally to them without it being an evil act. The zombies were mostly mindless but not at all the hungry undead stereotype, and the skeletons seemed to be a lot more intelligent and somehow free of the burdens of being undead. As if that had gone with the flesh.

[@empoleonmaster6709]

@@BrettCaton Where was this?! I NEED MORE!

[@BrettCaton]

@@empoleonmaster6709 It's from a very old computer game called "Planescape: torment". I am not sure how much fun it would be to start playing now, but at the time it was huge. It is still selling.

[@SirSpycrab]

ive never heard someone describe undead this way, i love it

[@almitrahopkins1873]

A skeleton was the first encounter in my first game session just about 40 years ago. I blame Ray Harryhausen for making my mind able to see them so vividly that it still stays fresh in my memory so many years later.

[@danzka86]

14 hours ago I startet writing on a small undead arc for my campaign and now you drop an undead series. Flawless. Perfect timing

[@Demonica2539]

Yesssss!!!! It's been a long time coming, here's to more undead to come. Personally I want a LIVESTREAM where we make weird custom undead. Like those entrails that act like snakes, or undead soaked in oil with gunpowder pots in their chest. Or horrific bone abominations or mutated flesh constructs

[@OutlawAutotheism]

haha I love to imagine this Necromancer who is just trying to use his farmhand skellies to help him with the crops but them dang neighbors and the clergy wont get off his propertay and leave him alone.

[@justinjacobs1501]

I'm imagining them in overalls sitting on the porch with a blasting staff in their lap and a piece of straw hanging from their lip. They are constantly being harassed by a gang of adventurers and their dog.

[@handlebarfox2366]

"I don't even remember why they went there" .. yeah. By the time they got out of there, they were probably asking themselves that same question.

[@BlackWingedSeraphX]

These are the most cliche enemies in most campaigns I've been through lol. Well, these guys and Orcs.

[@olorinmagus4479]

Have you ever heard the story of the Great Skeleton Supercomputer?

[@heavenbot]

Oh God the math, each skeleton is 10 bits, floating skull punch card makers, good times.

[@olorinmagus4479]

Holy Robot where are you getting 10? Just curious, not saying you’re wrong

[@RatBoyDunce]

It was truly amazing

[@overestimatedforesight]

It's not a story a DM would tell you.

[@darrylviljoen6227]

For maximum efficiency. Skeleton Boneless Forsaken shell Raiment Ghost Wraith (if you use the lore from 4e's open grave) Blood amniote The animated organ monster who's name I can't remember. Crawling claw Sculleton (animated scull, 3d party, pathfinder I think) I actually made a character, currently an NPC, a necromancer called the butcher for what he would do to corpses. Also loves to cook.

[@mattnerdy7236]

Hey Darryl I'm taking a shot in the dark here, gibbering mouther? Not sure if thats undead or an abomination. If you remember lets us know, thanks & have a great day.

[@zachariaravenheart]

That severed head library thing is cool and I might steal that idea. My BBEG is a Lich, so that might work as a location for one of his phylacteries, or something

[@thomasdavidson2919]

One of my favorites was a mad necromancer with to much free time that made skeleton spiders out of spare bones

[@Necromancist]

Your description of the negative energy plane, the beings therein, and how they suffer whether they stay or leave, is some of the best D&D fluff I have ever seen. Amazing work!

[@briancorvello3620]

Da back bone connects to the shoulder bone, Da shoulder bone connects to da neck bone, And da neck bone connects to da head bone, And dats the way it goes! Dem Bones, Dem Bones Dem Dry Bones, Dem Bones, Dem Bones Dem Dry Bones, Dem Bones, Dem Bones Dem Dry Bones, And dats da way it goes!

[@Mare_Man]

Dust Skeletons seem to be something a Myconid necromancer would make great use of

[@AJPickett]

Yessss!

[@darthshivvis956]

This video really rattles my bones

[@That80sGuy1972]

What? No bone to pick?

[@nicholasschoonbeck6866]

I'm not sure if you wrote the bit about how skeletons feel & perceive living beings or if that was one of the direct readings you do but goddamn that changed how I see undead forever.

[@lynguerro7972]

Hey AJ! Have you considered doing a video on Samaster's journey to discover the method of creating the dracolich? I remember a series of novels that detailed how the dracorage mythal was destroyed (the year of rogue dragons series), which has in it a vampiric smoke dragon who's name escapes me. He was the first attempt Samaster made to creating the undead dragon master race. It's cool stuff!

[@AJPickett]

I'm adding it to the list!

[@Sneemaster]

Yeah I remember that series. It was great. There was also a giant Linnorm, called the Hermit, or something in one of the books. Like a Dragon-related Wyrm species without legs or wings that could create undead I think. Creepy but fun series. I think AJ talked about Linnorms once but I can't recall exactly.

[@That80sGuy1972]

Only a semi-related comment. A skeleton walks into a bar. It says to the bartender "I'd like an ale... and a mop."

[@PrototypeSpaceMonkey]

Why did the skeleton walk into a bar? ... ... ... Because it had no eyes.

[@That80sGuy1972]

@@PrototypeSpaceMonkey And if he had thick skin and any guys, that would not bother him,

[@johntheherbalistg8756]

The letters are bones. Nice touch

[@gargoyles9999]

Emperor of Man: *Skeleton shriek*

[@forever-raine]

Thanks for covering skelly bois My favorite bois

[@dominicjohnson7972]

Love the Libris Mortis and everything in it. 💕 Content request: once you're done with this project, since Forgotten Realms is made by the people who made Numenera, and since Numenera has a good conversion book now (Arcana of the Ancients, I believe), you may find some good content from their monster ecologies too.

[@dominicjohnson7972]

Also I have most Numenera pdfs, so if the conversion book does not offer enough lore/content worth talking about, you can have some official books to make videos with as well.

[@havokmusicinc]

Libris Mortis is a fantastic splatbook; I use MANY elements from it in my Pathfinder games

[@Ghastly_Grinner]

I like the idea of a necromancer getting to chose what to do with a fresh corpse skeleton or zombie if zombie it just gets up and does its thing if Skeleton it the skeleton rips it self free from the meat bag and reports for duty

[@mattstuart5336]

Skelton cadet 856 reporting SIR; clickety clickety clackety clack.

[@zacharyhawley1693]

Played a skeletal champion once. It was hilarious since he never took off his armor so no one ever figured out he was undead. The entire campaign.

[@That80sGuy1972]

If your character was named "Sir Goodwin" with the king being "Erdrik II", I was the DM. If you are that player, please don't out who I really am in this comments section.

[@krispalermo8133]

@@That80sGuy1972 OMG, ..I .. loves .. this.

[@gekido27216]

Skeletons exist in any form of media as long as something living is in it. You just may not recognize them due to the meat suit they wear.

[@odinulveson9101]

Undead, elementals, pure constructs. Among my favorites. Why? Well some of the best extermination tools against illithids, mind flayers

[@nonyabisness6306]

Played a PC game where a mage would experiment on Skeletons, trying to get them to be stronger....so he coated the bones in metal. Blew my mind back then.

[@jackbauer7849]

Great video! I love how much depth and nuance you added to what I had previously considered to be a simple, boring creature. Cheers!

[@angrygardengnome8383]

The negative energy plane as a magical setting that has undergone heat death is chilling to think about. Skeletons seem a lot more unsettling to me after watching this. Can't wait to use or encounter some in a game.

[@jacobfreeman5444]

Another think of it as the end point of vital energy. The positive plane is the begining. Thus why either can animate. It is the same energy but seen from a different perspective. When positive it is eminating from the begining. When negative it is being drawn from the end. And why the undead are so opposed to life is because to spirits from the end being disturbed from the rest of the end is torturous and they lash out in a mindless rage at the world that would draw them back. Even intelligent undead feel this anger but can keep it in check should they choose to as they possess enough of a sense of purpose to self-motivate.

[@Bluecho4]

I talked about this over on one of Questing Beast's videos, but I love the image of skeletons pulling - under their own power or with bicycle pedals - land vehicles, like a rickshaw, cart, chariot, or coach. While the skeletons could be that of normal pack animals (or a reasonable substitute, if horses or dogs aren't available), they could just be humanoid skeletons. It scarcely matters, if you have enough of them pulling or pedaling. Put a more powerful unit in the driver seat - a necromancer, vampire, revenant, lich, skeletal knight, or just a skeleton with a whip - to complete the effect. You could take the base premise in weirder directions, by having many skeletons or bones cobbled together and animated into a greater undead creature. Dozens of arms and legs, clusters of skulls, spines connected end to end like a grotesque, bony centipede. Or have a load of skeletons not pulling or pushing a vehicle, but carrying it from below. Consider a band of skeletal pirates manning rowboats, with a cluster of skeletons (or even a roiling mass of loose, animate bones) underneath, helping it glide over the ground. Any of these ideas could make for an interesting and terrifying road encounter. Like an undead version of Mad Max. Works great for _Ultra Violet Grasslands._

[@AJPickett]

Skele-Mecha NecroGundam

[@florianw.9545]

Love your improved quality remakes. Pushes your channel so much 😍

[@glorbojibbins2485]

The boneless is definitely the best lol, what a rad idea.

[@mattnerdy7236]

Hey AJ, forgot how good this video is, by accident I came across a couple of different skeletons. So glad you said at the end of the video you would be discussing skeleton's again in the future, if it hasn't happened already. Strahd skeleton and archer skeleton (mojobob), also found a phantom warrior archer (5etools). I believe the phantom warrior is an updated archer skeleton. The two old school skeletons get some nice abilities. The strahd skeleton has magic resistance, two attacks and moves 30' ft. Archer skeleton has a sinister bow and bone arrows, said they dig up bodys to make their own arrows. Bow & arrows are considered magical and on a miss the bone arrow turns into a skeleton, one round, and they can see invisible creatures out to 30 ft. Looks to me they get the same stats as a regular skeleton just with a couple of buff's. So if you ever cover these creatures please let me know, if possible, lol. Thanks AJ you have a wonderful day!

[@AJPickett]

Will do

[@mattnerdy7236]

@@AJPickett Thanks AJ your the best!!

[@halfmask3]

I love using skeletons as menial labor, or enmass as a horrid tide under the control of an evil taskmaster. However, here the standard spells for accomplishing this really hinder the endeavor. It requires a 5th level caster to create any of the generic skeletons, and in a world where most people are not even 1st level, that poses a problem; doubly so since there are hard limits on how many skeletons can be created, and how autonomous they aren't. You would be hard pressed to have enough high level (5th is high to me) necromancers willing to sacrifice all their top spells slots for farming or maintaining a city militia long term. It seems like each edition has struggled with this too. As I recall in 3e wondering just how the Karrnathi managed to field vast armies of undead, especially as each cost 50gp worth of obsidian to make, way more than the long term cost of hiring, training, and paying a living soldier.

[@jacobfreeman5444]

You have to supply food and shelter for a living army. Also a living army would demand to be paid its wage. An undead army only needs that initial investment. Also undead do not fear death, both dealing it and recieving it. A living soldier may flee in fear when death presents itself and the job of killing can cause incredible trauma for a living being. That is if they can even bring themselves to perform the action. With all these advantages one can see why someone would prefer the undead to the living for an army and thus be willing to invest the time and material into creating them.

[@blackgriffinxx]

Simple answer. make one undead then have them mine obsidian for you . Gold cost removed

[@halfmask3]

@@blackgriffinxx Mining obsidian might work, but you have to convince those 5th level necromancer's to spend all their time and spells managing skeleton miners. Which is expensive. That said, skeletal miner's might be a good idea due to the negative work conditions of mining.

[@halfmask3]

@@jacobfreeman5444 You are correct I wasn't thinking of the psychological warfare aspect. However it likely starts to look a lot like the USA modern usage of Drones for killing. Your skeleton's won't get PTSD but the necromancers will. Skeletons would not require food, but would require storage, and maintenance. In addition they might require a large force to maintain their equipment if they can't be trained to do that themselves. The cost of bone repair/replacement would go up, and you'd need competent grave robbers to loot replacement parts after your homefront graveyards run dry (assuming the spell even allows for replacement parts, otherwise you have to cannibalize old skeleton warriors and reanimate them with the new parts.

[@jacobfreeman5444]

@@halfmask3 Living beings require shelter that will protect them from changes in temperature and allow them to rest. Something the undead do not care about. Any dry place is as good as another. So already superior to the living. Necromancers would not be required to actually do more than command the undead to go to a location and fight what they find. Thus distancing themselves enough they might never see the actual action. As to bone repair...isn't there spells that could actually do that? Finally maintenance of equipment...pretty sure the same spells that could repair the undead could be used here. But even if not it would not take nearly as many living people to service the weapons if the undead could not be trained to do it.

[@jameswhite-pv3sq]

Returnes to the classic. My favorite mob ever .in like every rpg setting

[@That80sGuy1972]

Great video AJ, you made skeletons far more interesting than I did back in my day and I played the hell out of those monsters. My sick sense of humor added to my creativity. During one campaign, I played a Necromancer who had a few tinker-type proficiencies. I would attack all sorts of tech-looking stuff to a skeleton, making the skeleton completely covered in those "mechanical parts" before casting Animate Dead on it. I had my party and home town completely unaware that I was a Necromancer pretending to be a Tinker. When casting spells I made it look like I was using a device to do it, pretending to have no real magical talent. Nowadays, I think that would be called a "faux artificer". The whole town was horrified that the "Mechanical Golems" I fully integrated (over time) to our town's economy were actually my skeletons... all because one instance of someone casting "Detect Undead" and making just about everything light up to that character. I burst out into laughter. Oh, and my favorite skeleton is the "Dry Bones". Those are basically skeletons that just keep coming back. You can bash them up, even grind them into powder, and they will reform. I think I adopted them from a Dragon Magazine article in the 90s.

[@AJPickett]

I love the idea of a Bone Swarm :)

[@That80sGuy1972]

@@AJPickett I have a homebrew monster of that name and it's exactly what you are thinking of.

[@krispalermo8133]

Debate years ago when 3e came out and later with 3.5e, 5th-level wizard spell Animate Dead calls in spirits to animate the dead. Unlike the spell 4th-level Lesser Planar Binding which has a time limit of one day per caster level, the negative spirit binding is permanent till host is destroyed. " cough, cough," a ghoul is a cannibal spirit which animates a corpse and spread infections till it spell duration ends or host is destroyed. Along with vampires ... a.) Love the concept of a metal golem really being a skeleton or ghoul. " MtG slithers." Tried stuff like instead of making six 2hd skeleton/zombies with 5th-level Animate Dead in AD&D, just reuse the spell to create a single 12hd skeleton and then get more Xp that way cause it was a single high hd monster, and had those gate keeping thirty to forty year old c0ck block me in at my first game shop in my early twenties. It is sad when the shop owner has to tell grown men, if you want to call them men .. to leave the young guys to ran the game as they like. Then 3e came out, and to by pass the 5th-level spell, we just used the 4th-level spell Lesser Planar Binding as a magic trap permanent item to call an 8hd outsider with intelligence to operate the plate armor gadget covered skeleton , with may be a wight spirit to drain energy levels. The twist to the story was it was a spirit wight that could call other wights into the prime material plane and function as a 8th-level sorcerer. Well undead and wizards shared the same base attack bonus. So who knew ... The d@m science project gained its own Xp and started creating more of itself like a self replicating Terminator. b.) As for Dry Bones, Nintendo video game Castlevania had Red Skeletons which would reform themselves after being knock down then raise again to throw a bone at your back to knock you off balance and fall to your death when jumping, and this was a mid to late 1980's game. We used Castlevania & Zelda games along with Conna as a justification in middle school to play D&D. Mostly the school had a problem with .. dice.. , dumb as parents had the problem with wizard magic, and azz hole cops with the thief class. Well people are dumb and just cause you are an adult doesn't make you smarter or better than a teenager. As adults we just have a bit more .. training not to f-ck up, when not drinking .. G*D , .. I had my moments. Now as 13 year olds with no clear understanding of AD&D, which did not have the spells listed. ReD SkeletoN, throws its own rib bones at the PC doing piercing/slashing, and bashing dmg, roll 1d6/1d12 divide by 3 for which result on impact. doing 1d4 impact, +1d4 blood sapping dmg, + 1d4 hell fire dmg. 3d4 for short. Depending on one of three ways to die from the attack, of which dmg type kills the PC turns into one of three different skeleton monsters. Blood sapping, the PC skeleton rips itself out of its own body in a bloody manner with steaming blood dripping up to the ceiling or sky till it is out of sight. In a room with a ceiling the blood pools on the ceiling and drips down. The skeleton always drips blood, fore telling what is in the room before you see it. Throws it burning blood dripping ribs at the PCs. Hell Fire Skeleton, the f-cker tries to hug the PC and dance around till both of you are in full flames. Bashing Skeleton, .. it punches the PC and on crit hits or killing blows pulls out the PC ribs, even if they are wearing plate armor. All three types of Skeletons have 4d8 hd and Thac0:17. Problem, with the Castlevania game those dam skeletons jump around too much and can dodge your attacks, well 13 year old reflexes of hand and eye are not that sharp to begin with. So we threw Jump and Haste onto them ... AC and Hp were as needed depending on how good the dice rolls to hit was. If they hit often, then more Hp, if they can't land any hits then drop skeleton Hp to go down with one hit. But like the video game, they will be back up in a few rounds. What was meant to be a game with multiple skeletons inside a gate keep just turn into one to keep from having a TPK. My/our grandmother laugh her backside off as a group of 13 year old boys get so worked up over a dice game. When my grandmother tried to play the video game herself and got killed a few times by said red skeleton we heard a string of swear words that would make a sailor blush ! To up the game with some slap stick and terror, the skeleton throws the rib bone for touch hit, so even with armor you still have to made a strength check to keep from being knocked down, which causes no damage. Then the skeleton jumps on PC to strangle and stab/ bash them. End result after multiple attempts in game. When the skeleton went down they put its bones into different bags and buried them under chucks of rock from the stone walls to keep the thing from reforming. Follow with bring back chests to safely transport the monster to a different location to release on that last noble who didn't pay them for a job. There is something thrilling about making the die roll to hit something in just the right moment before landing like a baseball swing. My cousin in law, " Here's the plan, .. I will roll with the skeleton throw rib and go down. Right before it lands on my and starts strangling my PC. You hit it like a baseball bat with your club." My second cousin removed from my dad's mother, " Alright I got you !" ( Of coarse my cousin just let the skeleton land and start strangling the other.) As country kids we would just walk into the house and toss a snake onto someone sitting on the couch. My granny would catch a mouse and hold it in a cup with a playing card acting like a lid. Then tell a ghost story to slowly build up tension in her listeners. Then at the right moment toss the mouse into someone's face. It runs in the family. 2.) Then there is the story of using Polymorph Other to turn the PC into an Ettin, killing its/their second heart and follow with turning the dead half into a ghoul to self eat the PC. That was my cousin Matt's ideal. Matt & Mike are fraternal twins of the same height, so they did Ettin zombie for Halloween more than a few times.

[@AKNeal81]

I'll never look at a skeleton the same way again! AMAZING work!

[@AJPickett]

Wow, thanks!

[@AKNeal81]

I had to rewatch immediately and then a full page breakdown of my next character spilled out onto my paper. This one is saturated with inspiration!

[@That80sGuy1972]

I did a bunch in my day playing with Skeleton undead monsters. I homebrewed a LOT and made many amazing stories that my friends (player games loved) loved. Given that, I totally agree. I wish my past self had AJ Pickett videos to make them far better. This guy even made Kobolds more interesting than I could imagine and this skeleton video put that to shame.

[@JayLeePoe]

>Necromancer makes additional commands of skeletons just to assuage the local townsfolk-- humanizing them with "normal" behaviors like drinking after a shift in the field. They can reply, if prompt, with charming retorts. Send a few off for "walks by themselves to admire nature." All the while, dead inside and orchestrated by a Necromancer that's not being run out of another sleepy borough by some bumpkins with crude pitchforks.

[@diegodankquixote-wry3242]

Rattle me bones, rattle me bones. Take what ye will but don't rattle me bones!

[@carloss3499]

Thank you AJ, near the end you inspired more monster ideas that are floating in my head.

[@wacktastic1]

Let's say you die a hero and your bones become skeletons but after a few centuries later you get resurrected and meet with your boney former self what happens?

[@scottmcley5111]

Burnbones! I used the heck out of them in Ruins of Zhentil Keep! Awesome!

[@Dimizar]

Name: Skeleton Archer Creature type : Skeleton Archer Profession : Skeleton Archer

[@AJPickett]

He's off to Arch some Skeletons.

[@That80sGuy1972]

You obviously purchased the unofficial AD&D "Land of the Dead" module in the 90s when 1st Ed was transitioning to 2nd Ed and hobby stores released a LOT of expansions during the quiet time.

[@jonathangibson9482]

Gosh, this is SUCH a neat exploration of skeletal undead! Thank you for sharing this with us. I got so much new information to use in my games. I especially like that core idea of the undead entities being incredibly overstimulated by the material plane. Like dancing on fire.

[@Madalovin]

A good watch, glad to see the boneheads are covered more, and I learned alot that I did not already know of the undead skeletons! and here I had thought they were all 'resurrected individuals being mind-controlled' :o

[@empoleonmaster6709]

Please do a video on Good Undead next! There's next to nothing about them in 5e despite them being a VERY important part of D&D history, look at Baelnorns for instance, Elven Liches that retain their Good alignment and one of the most famous of them literally shaped D&D history/lore as she was that powerful and that Good of a person.

[@Stormeris]

Baelnorn and Archliches are the good aligned liches that don't need to eat souls to survive, right?

[@empoleonmaster6709]

@@Stormeris This is correct. Some Good liches (I don't know of any canonically but I welcome someone to provide examples) would feed only on the souls of SUUPER evil people aka not "dave the douche that tried to mug people down the street." More like "Butt Munch The Red who goes around towns setting orphanages on fire and laughs the entire time." HOWEVER I do not know if that is merely suggested D&D homebrew for Good liches or if there are actual, concrete examples of that happening. For Good undead there are also the Undying which canonically in their stat blocks say that there are sustained purely on Love and Light. Basically that the soul is gone (I think) but the people around them loved them so much that their body keeps going in order to help the people or community that they cared about so much. However, I am not entirely sure if the soul is still present in the Undying or not. I know it is for SOME like The Undying Court (think Undying that keep going on to be repositories of knowledge and scholarly debate but for the community that they're a part of.) where their soul being there is an essential part of their existence.

[@toastertech1181]

never knew i would feel sad for skeletons

[@RVR121]

Ever had a wet towel thrown at you and it seems to stick to you? that is what it is like to get grappled by a boneless.

[@baronbeat2210]

My headcanon is that undead in general gain more energy from hurting other beings, physically or emotionally. Attacking them directly, or more intelligent undead destroying crops and livestock. Burning down the home of a new family. That kinda evil.

[@harryrcarmichael]

I like the art credits .

[@mattnerdy7236]

Hey AJ, great video! I have so much to say (lol). I will keep it short. Dust Skeleton wasn't aware of them (I've heard of Ash Zombie). The armor thing: piece armor +1 AC. Gladiator's armor, if you read the description he or she has some metal armor, a leather shirt and bare skin but in the stat block it's called studded leather. In older edition skeletons were resistance to piercing damage. Really excited for this series, cant wait for the next video! You are on fire AJ! Thanks AJ & have a great day.

[@AJPickett]

Thanks Matt!