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So necromancers can animate the dead pretty cheaply, as can a lot of deities, as well as the spell - the only problem is your standard, animated dead human isn't terribly useful in Rifts. Sure, you can dress them in armour, or strap fusion blocks to them, but that isn't always feasible, and 80 SDC isn't going to win many fights.

Has any book presented stats for animating dead that are a little more potent? Maybe dead subdemons, dinosaurs or MDC monsters?

Talavar wrote:So necromancers can animate the dead pretty cheaply, as can a lot of deities, as well as the spell - the only problem is your standard, animated dead human isn't terribly useful in Rifts. Sure, you can dress them in armour, or strap fusion blocks to them, but that isn't always feasible, and 80 SDC isn't going to win many fights.

Has any book presented stats for animating dead that are a little more potent? Maybe dead subdemons, dinosaurs or MDC monsters?

That's why you skip run-of-the-mill Animated Dead and go straight to the Zombies.

Talavar wrote:Has any book presented stats for animating dead that are a little more potent? Maybe dead subdemons, dinosaurs or MDC monsters?

No, not really.
But check out the necromancers from Rifts Africa; IIRC, they can make more powerful animated dead.

The zombies in Dead Reign are much tougher,even if I do not agree with some of the MDC conversions. Another option would be make them hit point creatures like vampires, and give them Enhanced Strength.That would make them a little more formidable.

Body Armor will do the trick.

But as a house rule, you can say, that S.D.C. beings can only be S.D.C. animated dead, while M.D.C. beings will have some M.D.C. (e.g. have of the S.D.C. the spell will give them). M.D.C. Animated dead can only be created then in P.P.E. rich environments like Rifts Earth but not e.g. on Palladium.

Ice Dragon wrote:Body Armor will do the trick.

But as a house rule, you can say, that S.D.C. beings can only be S.D.C. animated dead, while M.D.C. beings will have some M.D.C. (e.g. have of the S.D.C. the spell will give them). M.D.C. Animated dead can only be created then in P.P.E. rich environments like Rifts Earth but not e.g. on Palladium.

That's pretty much how we run it. If the dead is SDC, you have an SDC dead. If it's MDC, you have MDC dead.

gadrin wrote:Can Animated Dead talk ? meaning puppet-wise.

A fiend kills a guard, and vamp-ppe's him to feed, then has the guard sit at his station and
say check in on the radio, or to someone who comes up ? I think since they can move, you
could/should be able to get them to inhale and get air into the lungs/voicebox...

>

I would say no. It might be physically possible to get them to moan, but the lingual and labial gymnastics in even a relatively simple word are beyond them.

The First thing most people over look about Animated dead is that they are usualy Conjured in Numbers. the Invocation spell Allows 2 per Caster level, Necomancers can have 4 per level, Even at Low levels this can a great help on combat if used right.
Second, you have to remember that recently animated dead have mass, this added with numbers and you have a nasty combination. Look at any Zombie movie, One-on-One the dead arn't that great and are almost comical, but in swarms they are frightning, they dont try to pummel you, they drag you down by shear numbers. you have 3 150lbs animated dead all giving you a bearhugs your looking at 450lbs hanging off of you, making any fancy Dodging or parrying kinda hard to do.
Sure by the rules they only have 80SDC, but that is each, lets say you got laser pistol and 6 attacks with 10 animated dead comming at you in a dead end hall. what are you going to do? you blow the first 6 all to Hell but then you have 4 left all with 2 attacks each left to go with a total combines weight of 600lbs while you out of any actions but trying to parry their hold attacks. Sure you might be safe from their clawing and biting in your nice MDC Armor, but your stuck with 4 animated dead holding you down using their actions to hindering your actions for whatever duration is left in the Animate Dead Spell. 5 Minutes per level of caster, 10 minutes per level if a Necromancer