Skeleton, Crimson Bones
- Armor Class
- 7 [12] (special, see below)
- Hit Dice
- 2
- Attacks
- Strike or Weapon (1d6)
- Special
- undead, immune to sleep/charm/hold
- Move
- 15
- HDE/XP
- 3/60
Description
A Crimson Bones is a special type of undead created through a combination of alchemy and necromancy. It appears as a normal skeleton in all regards, save that it is blood-red in color, looking as if its bones are covered in a gleaming wet coating of fresh blood. A crimson bones will obey the commands of its creator, or in their absence will obey the commands of the most powerful free-willed undead creature nearby.
Each time a crimson bones is reduced to 0 HP, it will appear to be destroyed as normal; however, it will rise again 1d4 rounds later with half its previous HP allotment (round up). It will continue to rise when struck down, always having a minimum of 1 hit point, unless targeted during its inactive period with a Bless (Curse) spell or doused with holy water, or otherwise subjected to holy powers as determined by the GM.
Unlike lesser skeletons, a crimson bones will "heal" at a rate of 1 hp per day. Damage caused by holy water while a crimson bones is active will not be recovered, either by reanimation or by this healing effect. When a crimson bones partially-damaged by holy water reanimates, deduct all holy water damage from the "previous hit points" before calculating the new total. A crimson bones destroyed entirely by holy water will not arise again.
Like an ordinary skeleton, it only takes half-damage from edged weapons, and only a single point from arrows, bolts, or sling stones (plus any magical bonus). As with all undead, it can be Turned by a Cleric (as a zombie), and any destroyed in this way will not return. It is immune to Sleep, charm, and hold spells. Being mindless, no form of Detect Thoughts (ESP) is of any use against it. A crimson bones never fails morale and always fights until destroyed.
See Also
Other creatures grouped under Skeleton: Skeleton, Diseased, Skeleton, Gellybone, Skeleton, Haunted Bones, Skeleton, Lake, Skeleton, Lava Lake, Skeleton, Pitch.
Source note: This creature is converted from The Basic Fantasy Field Guide of Creatures Malevolent and Benign – Omnibus Edition, 1st Edition Release 4, © 2010–2025 Chris Gonnerman, R. Kevin Smoot, James Lemon, Matt Sluis, and Contributors. The Basic Fantasy Field Guide textual material is licensed under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International; this page adapts that creature to White Box.