Rise up, you dead, slain of the hydra. Rise from your graves and avenge us. Those who steal the golden fleece must die.
Ahhh, the skeleton, archetypal servant of the necromancer and my favorite minion. Low level threat or high level set dressing, there’s always a use for reanimated bones.
The bones don’t have to be naked, though. Here are a few skeleton crews with a different flavor than the Harryhausen standard, handy if you’re populating a temple of darkness or if the evil sorcerer just needs new litter-bearers today.
| Roll | Condition | Equipment |
|---|---|---|
| 1 | The wet bones are still dripping blood. | Leg bones of previous victims used as clubs. |
| 2 | The dusty bones have yellowed with age. | Tattered gray robes and gnarled quarterstaves. |
| 3 | The bones are half-covered with patches of green mold. | Rotting peasant clothing. |
| 4 | Crude symbols are etched into the larger bones. | Animal hide caps and roughly carved short spears. |
| 5 | Words are inked on the back of each skull. | Black linen robes and black-handled daggers. |
| 6 | The bones are unusually thick and knobby. | The decaying remains of what might have been leather armor long ago. |
| 7 | Several cracked bones are held together with tied leather scraps. | Thick wooden clubs. |
| 8 | The ends of the fingers have been sharpened to points. | Dangling scraps of mildewed cloth. |
| 9 | A few ragged chunks of desiccated flesh still cling to the bones. | Rusting axes with smooth wooden handles. |
| 10 | Several pieces are missing: ribs, a jaw, a few fingers. | Short swords with broken and bent blades. |
| 11 | Tiny centipedes crawl over the dry bones. | Crude tunics cut from course cloth, covered in dirt. |
| 12 | All of the bones have been polished to a reflective shine. | Shining longswords in excellent condition. |
| 13 | Nesting beetles scuttle between bones and through openings. | Dirt-encrusted burial sheet remnants cling to the limbs. |
| 14 | The bones are almost black with caked dirt and dried gore. | Nothing but bones. |
| 15 | A translucent fungal slime drips off of the bones. | Some loose scraps of rusting chain mail and dented metal helmets. |
| 16 | The teeth are all made of copper. | Long, thin daggers of bone. |
| 17 | Tattered scraps of colored cloth are wrapped around the eye sockets like blindfolds. | Bloodstained maces with leather-wrapped handles. |
| 18 | The bones are exceptionally clean with a slight scent of acid. | Common clothing in surprisingly good condition. |
| 19 | Soot stains form dark blotches on a few of the bones. | Burning torches. |
| 20 | Cobwebs fill the spaces between the bones. | Rotting leather bracers dangle from the arms. |
