I don't want to summon just any *normal* skeleton...

[Wormtail_]

Go berserk against the master and then become a normal monster, I think you mean.

Anyway, perhaps the creator could feel disgusted at first at the mutations of flesh and bone. Unless they\'re deep in the Dark Way, they should feel deep revulsion at what they\'re doing, and depending on how little skill they have in the Dark Way, they might stop doing the combining altogether. Also, walking around with rotting creatures for an entourage would make NPCs less trustful of you, and might make players/NPCs alike steer clear of you and/or the stench emitted by your entourage. Comments?

[ShadowFish]

alright the disturbed feeling based on the dark skill but trust is a little complicating

[Xanaroth]

and how about deceases? rotting flesh and bones are usually infected, so those monsters should also have a certain % of chance to be carrier of a decease. if they are carrier, they should be able to transfer it to other players and monsters (except for his own master) and thus infecting them with a decease. That could be with a chance with each strike the monster make, and when he hits there is a % chance that the defending thing gets infected (unless it is immune or so). A other option is that for a certain time you are near the monster you get a chance of being infected, so if you stand 20 minutes next to it and you are not its creator you can be sure you are infected unless you are immune.

[SnowWolf]

I think it would be neat if the master could also catch the disease. Then necromancer types would have to develop their resistance to poison and disease as a job requirement.

(And I use those terms loosely - I know there are no classes....)

[ShadowFish]

corpses arent diseased unless they died from disease or became desease after they died which probably wouldnt happen immediately after the were killed by the player....maybe if they were poisoned at death or had been sitting there a long while then they would become diseased

[Kraxton]

I think this is an excellent and fresh idea, and I wish I\'d thought of it myself. Ah, but I didn\'t, and so my proverbial hat is tipped to the one who did.

[Kereshin]

Things would certainly be interesting... Undead roaming the lands of the living? I like it! *Hobbles off to evil spell book* (It doesnt necessarily have to be so complicated as it sounds)

[Djaggernaut]

This is too much to take on only one thing. Imagine if any spell/skill/action takes as much stats like that.

Actually the amount of work to do that is far too big. Perhaps in 2010...

[Stydracos]

Sounds interesting, I know in morrowind (referencing it again ) all those books and skeletons in game made me wish you could do something similiar - in fact I think there is a mod that allows you to do that!.

Anyway back to planeshift... I think it needs to be simplified a bit, make it more of a generic process to begin with. Perhaps separate to getting more powerful undead who could be better summoned and controlled that way (you rip them from somewhere else, the results could be interesting if you are weakened or they more powerful).

Having only read the first post I no doubt are repeating some of the posts that followed, anyway :

1. you need the bones of a creature (named bones) or a body.

(requires skill maybe? better the skill more knowledge more bones? )

2. you need a spell to animate the bones or body.

(maybe a preserving component if it has flesh?)

3. success comes from your successful cast of the spell modified by the creature to be animated.

(simplist thing I could thing off, solely success relies on the magic spell)

4. creature stats are standard to the creature, maybe resistance and vunerability if bones (eg. takes more damage if hit with a blunt smashing weapon.. depends on combat? no idea)

(base it off the original creature may save time depending on what is possible to be brought back)

5. the mana you are instilling in the creature sustains the flesh creating a limit on undead numbers.

(also saves hassle to do with decay, modeling etc)

6. possibily to help provide a limit to undead armies, the more creatures you control the more unstable the casting of the spell.

(success becoming harder as you are already maintaining another of the same spell? I just don\'t want to have dozens of skeletons to be rendered on my screen thats all).

7. undead behaviour, simpler is best. Treat these lowly constructs as expendable guards. Not sure on giving orders, maybe standard.... they follow and protect their master. Any repairs on undead are done by the player using more bones or whathave you (bonedust putty ) ).

Not sure but I think that may be simplier a bit, there is probably a better method then I suggest.

However it touches on something I wold like to see, artificing. Perhaps it would be more worthwhile if some generic ideas were used that allowed anything to be made? other contructs and clockwork machines resulting from some basic rules... unlikely but I can wish .

[Kereshin]

Maybe it doesnt have to be a skill Djagger. Maybe it could just be a one time thing in a quest or something, like to resurrect an ancient creature or something rather...