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Documentation Area

Document Path: /doc/monsters/skeleton

Name:
	Skeleton  (Undead Creature)

Stats:
	No. Appearing  : 3-30
	Climate/Terrain: Any
	Frequency      : Rare
	Organization   : Band
	Activity Cycle : Any
	Diet           : Nil

Description:
	All skeletons are magically animated undead monsters, created as guar-
	dians or warriors by powerful evil wizards and priests. Skeletons ap-
	pear to have no ligaments or musculature which would allow movement.
	Instead, the bones are magically joined together during the casting of
	an animate dead spell. Skeletons have no eyes or internal organs. Ske-
	letons can be made from the bones of humans and demihumans, animals of
	human size or smaller, or giant humanoids like bugbears and giants.

Combat:
	Man-sized humanoid skeletons always fight with weapons, usually a rusty
	sword or spear. Becuase of their magical nature, they do not fight as
	well as living beings. Animal skeletons amlmost always bite, unless
	they would obviously inflict less. Monster skeltons, always constructed
	from humanoid creatures, use giant-sized weapons which inflict the same
	damage as their living counterparts but without any strength bonuses.

	Skeletons are immunte to all sleep, charm and hold spells. Because they
	are assembled from bones, cold-based attacks also do skeletons no harm.
	The fact that they are mostly empty means that edged or piercing wea-
	pons (like swords, daggers, and spears) inflict only half damage when
	employed against skeletons. Blunt weapons, with larger heads designed
	to break and crush bones, cause normal damage against skeletons. Holy
	water inflicts 2-8 points of damage per vial striking the skeleton.

	Skeletons are immune to fear spells and need never check morale, usu-
	ally being magically commanded to fight the death. When a skeleton
	dies, it falls to pieces with loud clunks and rattles.

Habitat/Society:
	Skeletons have no social life or interesting habits. They can be found
	anywhere there is a wizard or priest powerful enough to make them. Note
	that some neutral priests of deities of the dead or flying often raise
	whole armies of animated followers in times of trouble. Good clerics
	can make skeletons only if the dead being has granted permission (ei-
	ther before or after death) and if the cleric's deity has given express
	permission to do so. Otherwise, violating the eternal rest of any being
	or animal is something most good deities disapprove of highly.

	Skeletons have almost no minds whatsoever, and can obey only the sim-
	plest one- or two-phrase orders from their creators. Skeletons fight in
	unorganized masses and tend to botch complex orders disastrously. It is
	not unheard of to find more than one type of skeleton (monsters with
	animals, animals with humans) working together to protect their mas-
	ter's dungeon or tower.

Ecology:
	Unless the skeleton's remains are destroyed or scattered far apart, the
	skeleton can be created anew with the application of another animate
	dead spell. Rumours of high-level animate-dead spells which create ske-
	letons capable of reforming themselves to continue fighting after being
	destroyed have not been reliably confirmed.