Lore: Spirits of Habit
Raised by dark magic, skeletons can either be summoned as a necromancer’s minion or simply by their own accord. Skeletons retain nothing of their former lives, though they can still be revived, rejuvenating flesh and soul while banishing the spirit that possessed them.
Those raised by necromancer’s are bound to the will of their master, obeying orders without question. While simple-minded, skeletons are capable of surprisingly complex tasks. However, it may take careful instruction depending on the complexity of said task.
Independent skeletons sometimes mimic actions they frequently took in their past lives. For example, a skeletal dog might remain guarding over the ruins of their former home. When they encounter a living creature, they are automatically driven to kill unless ordered not to. If not, they will fight until they are destroyed.
This lore is full of fun, maybe even creepy, potential! Perhaps the players wander into a dilapitated mansion, where a horde of skeleton nobles are trapped in an eternal dance. Or maybe the BBEG is a necromancer, and they raise a beloved NPC as a skeleton for them to fight; do they put down their friend again, or take the chance to try fully resurrecting them?
Can you make a skeleton into the BBEG and write a full campaign around them? No. They’re just another flavor to use in undead-themed campaigns. Still, they’re a nice flavor. Like adding paprika to your taco meat!
Design: Dude, For Real?
It’s a skeleton. You already know what it looks like.
Stats: Skeletons Smash!!
We’ve got three different flavors of skeleton to go over. There’s the regular humanoid skeleton, a skeletal minotaur, and a skeletal warhorse. Luckily for us, they’re all more or less the same, so this won’t take that long at all.
None of these guys are particularly durable. Their AC ranges from 12-13, and their HP is really low. Except for the minotaur skeleton; its HP is fairly high for a low-level monster. They sort of make up for this with their immunity to poison.
But that doesn’t really matter, considering they’re vulnerable to bludgeoning damage. Anyone in the party got a hammer? They automatically win.
Regular skeletons have two weapons: a shortsword and a shortbow. Neither are all that dangerous. The warhorse skeleton only has their hooves; these do a bit more damage, but that’s all they’ve got.
The minotaur skeleton is the most dangerous of the lot by far. It has two actions: its Greataxe and Gore. Both do a fair bit of damage. Even more so if you add on the Charge ability, which adds even more damage and can knock its opponent prone.
Even then, all three of these enemies are exceptionally simple. They make for good enemies early on in undead-themed campaigns, but they get pretty boring pretty quickly. If you’re looking for a truly memorable or terrifying fight, the skeleton minotaur might fill the bill early on. Beyond that, however, you’ll need to find another monster.
Placement
As you might have expected, this is a fairly plain monster. Its lore was surprisingly strong! But the rest was as basic and flat as you might expect. I wouldn’t call it bad. Just basic. Like vanilla ice cream.
With all that in mind, the Skeletons are going to #116 on the Best of the Bestiary!
- Beholder
- Death Tyrant
- Mind Flayer
- Dragon Turtle
- Mummy/Mummy Lord
- Nagas (all three of ’em)
- Green Dragons
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- Couatl
- Behir
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- Lamia
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- Gibbering Mouther
- Kraken
- Intellect Devourer
- Shadow
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- Death Knight
- Fomorian
- Bone Devil
- Dracolich
- Faerie Dragon
- Gelatinous Cube
- Lich
- Peryton
- Remorhaz
- Orcs (all four of ’em)
- Magmin
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- Kobold
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- Black Pudding
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- Minotaur
- Dao
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- Scarecrow
- Drow (all four of ’em)
- Shadow Demon
- Modrons (all five of ’em)
- Marilith
- Drider
- Aarackockra
- Azer
- Demilich
- Spectator
- Gray Ooze
- Ochre Jelly
- Hydra
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- Marid
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- Otyugh
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- Animated Armor
- Roper
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- Yochlol
- Bulette
- Cloaker
- Darkmantle
- Doppelganger
- Revenant
- Ghoul and Ghast
- Sahuagin (all three)
- Ettin
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- Erinyes
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- Mimic
- Djinni
- Merrow
- Nalfeshnee
- Glabrezu
- Chasme
- Grell
- Barlgura
- Horned Devil
- Balor
- Skeletons <———————-
- Shadow Dragon
- Myconids (all four of ’em)
- Piercer
- Werebear
- Lizardfolk
- Vrock
- Dretch
- Pseudodragon
- Gnolls (all three)
- Goristro
- Hezrou
- Manes
- Quaggoth
- Frost Giant
- Weretiger
- Werewolf
- Duergar
- Quasit
- Dryad
- Shambling Mound
- Flumph
- Goblin
- Nightmare
- Rust Monster
- Wereboar
- Wererat
- Githyanki
- Owlbear
- Planetar
- Imp
- Ogres/Half-ogres
- Roc
- Clay Golem
- Flameskull
- Displacer Beast
- Carrion Crawler
- Githzerai
- Grick
- Invisible Stalker
- Rug of Smothering
- Bugbear Chief
- Bugbear
- Flesh Golem
- Vine Blight
- Twig Blight
- Needle Blight
- Mephits (all six of ’em)
- Bullywug
- Hellhound
- Ettercap
- Gas Spore
- Cockatrice
- Lemure
- Homonculus
- Merfolk
- Solar
- Deva
- Gorgon
- Hippogriff
- Griffon
- Cyclops
- Centaur
- Ghost
- Pegasus
- Fire Elemental
- Water Elemental
- Air Elemental
- Stone Giant
- Deep Gnome
- Dinosaurs (All six of them)
- Iron Golem
- Stone Golem
- Earth Elemental
- Galeb Duhr
- Helmed Horror
- Flying Sword
- Crawling Claw
- Violet Fungus
- Shrieker
- Gargoyle
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