Half-Dead (3.5e Race)

Summary::Sometimes when you raise a zombie they aren't always mindless corpses...

=Half-Dead=

Not every undead falls into the category of mindless minions or master necromancer - every so often a certain phenomenon occurs wherein a corpse once raised from the dead will retain most or even all of his or her previous memories, personality and behaviors. These are called the Half-Dead as whilst they may appear to be badly degraded human bodies they have both the presence of free will and a near-perfect semblance of their former selves - though their former aquaintances might have something to say about this.

Half-Dead have a common trait of a strong personality and are usually raised after a great sacrifice such as removing themselves by choice from those they care about in order to prevent spread of infectious disease resulting in death. Regardless of how close they may mimic their living selves, the Half-Dead are outcasts of society, their gruesome appearance (though varying greatly in stages of decomposition) repulsing those around them, no matter how close they were in their previous life. Half-Dead are often mistaken for zombies on first sight but can end up being highly intelligent and helpful in comparison to the mindless flesh-eating habits of the greater portion of Undead. As a result of their consciousness and the nature of their body, Half-Dead carry mixes of both human and undead traits such as a zombies physical resilience but not their complete lack of sensation.

Half-Dead is a title reserved exclusively for human corpses due to their abundance in comparison to other races, dying in greater numbers and the larger undead population created from their dead bodies. A Half-Dead will usually retain his or her former name but after certain ages of wandering the earth, rotting and scaring the general population they may attempt to reconstruct themselves with more modern titles. Half-Dead are usually found near but not so often in large zombie populations, finding the pursuit of "Brains..." to be somewhat outdated after the first decade or so, but zombie populations are better used by the Half-Dead as protection against the outside as those that wander alone are usually hunted and destroyed.

Half-Dead are not known to age or to gain any greater knowledge from their second life, trapped in a form of 'mindlock' in the sense of their capabilities and their bodies are not known to overly degrade to the point where it is not longer functional - in essence they do not change from the day they were raised but nonetheless they may share experiences to the fullest possible extent a sentient zombie can. Sometimes bitter at society for being outcasts Half-Dead can take the form of recluses, fearful of contact with actual life but the opposite is just as likely, the presence of intelligent conversation giving them much joy and perhaps even bringing back memories of life before death, returning some warmth to their otherwise clammy, dead flesh.

Half-Dead have also been known to volunteer for gravekeeping duties - though towns do not openly advertise this - and often have extensive knowledge of how the undead function and can be valuable allies in infiltrating and gathering scope of undead movements as well as disclosing their many weaknesses (which in most casts happen to be their own). You may not know a Half-Dead from a pack of mindless zombies at a glance but its always a piece of good advice not to kill the ones saying "I'm not a zombie!" or anything more articulate than "Brains..."

Racial Traits

 * ,, : The advantage of the undead body is its resilience in adverse conditions and lack of need to sustain it but their gruesome appearance and dulled perception are another result of their raising.
 * (Subtype::Living Dead): Unlike other Undead, the living dead have a Constitution score. A half-dead does not need to eat, sleep, or breathe but must rest for 8 hours before preparing spells.
 * : As Medium creatures, half-dead have no special bonuses or penalties due to their size.
 * Half-Dead base land speed is 20 feet. However, half-dead can move at this speed even when wearing medium or heavy armor or when carrying a medium or heavy load (unlike other creatures, whose speed is reduced in such situations).
 * Darkvision out to 60 feet.
 * Half-Dead are not subject to nonlethal damage but are still vulnerable to critical hits.
 * Immunity to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, disease, energy drain, death effects as well as to fatigue and exhaustion effects.
 * Heals damage on its own as it has an Intelligence score. Negative energy (such as an inflict spell) can heal undead creatures.
 * Unlike Undead a half-dead may be affected by raise dead and reincarnate spells or abilities. However Resurrection and true resurrection do not restore them creatures back into the living creatures they were before becoming undead.
 * Automatic Languages: Common.
 * Bonus Languages: Any (other than secret languages such as Druidic). See the Speak Language skill.
 * Favored Class: Favored Class::Any
 * Level Adjustment: +Level Adjustment::0
 * Effective Character Level: Effective Character Level::1