Death States

Prepare yourself for the fight against the living

Revenant of the Ashen Ring

He told us that a Templar of the Ashen Ring stood at the gates, and Harwin and I exchanged glances. Even in those days, few of the Ashen Ring remained, and each of them was invaluable in the war against the dead. We sped at once to the gates and saw the armored figure standing silently in the rain. A gray mantle covered his head and draped from his shoulders, and on his breastplate was the emblem of the Ashen Ring, unmistakable even in the downpour. In one hand hung a mighty war maul.

Death as the Undead

Our Death System is designed to be philosophically aligned with occult literature. One cannot simply kill a spirit without proper exorcism rituals. Modern examples of this standard can be seen in excellent shows like Supernatural, where the remains of a ghost need to be burned or destroyed to completely remove the entity from the realm of the living, or in Dungeons and Dragons, where the phylactery of a Liche needs to be destroyed before it can truly be put to rest.

A long-held belief of necromancy posits that death and life are not binary states, but rather a smooth and permeable continuum along which many beings can wander. The liminal nature of death has deep roots in the occult, such as the stories of St. Cyprian, patron saint of necromancers, and the Ghuede of Vodoun (the loa of death and fertility), like Baron Samedi. These principles are applied consistently for all classes of undead in Deadhaus Sonata.

That is not dead which can eternal lie,
And with strange aeons
even death may die.

― Howard Phillips Lovecraft

Trinary Archetype System

Material

​Metal, stone, flesh, and bone, that which is material is born from the physical world of Malorum itself. To gain mastery over the material is to become a monster among men.

Physical

The Undead can walk the earth, as they once did in life, in physical form. In this state, they are bound to the laws of the material plane, and therefore vulnerable to physical attacks, such as steel weapons. Non-magickal creatures, such as simple beasts and common humans, exist solely in this state.

Magick

Magick is a primal and chaotic force that flows through the world of Malorum. To seek its power is to seek the truth; to wield it is to speak truth into existence.

Ethereal

​Many undead can assume an incorporeal form. In this state of being, they may resist gravity, pass through physical obstacles, and are immune to physical attacks, but cannot exert physical force. Only magickal weapons, spells, or uncommonly powerful enemies can harm an ethereal being.

Essence

When flesh fails and magick fades, essence remains. It is the medium of the soul itself. From essence arises sentience, whether that of a mortal, the undead, or even a god.

Essential

Stripped of flesh and magick, all that remains is the soul. This fundamental essence of a being moves unseen by most, but cannot remain exposed for long without fading away. Souls must seek temporary housing, and can possess a wide variety of objects, contraptions, or if powerful enough, even bodies. A soul can neither be harmed by physical nor magickal attacks, but exorcism rituals can banish them from the world.

Foundational Overview

When in a particular state, the Undead takes damage to the corresponding resource bar. When the corresponding resource bar is depleted, the Undead cannot exist in that state any longer.

While the Undead has anyone resource remaining, they can potentially continue to exist by moving into the corresponding state.

Each Undead class has unique rules about when they can change states. Some exist perpetually in one state, some can move between several states freely.

When all resources are depleted, the Undead is finally turned to Ash (this is ‘True Death’).

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