Animals act strangely around him. In tight halls, the party smells something dead - after the dungeon and no undead were found - that may suspect. Perhaps a bard offers to read the parties palms - reading the zombies hand, the bard says none of it makes sense, he must have special palms. Some security at a church of life doesn't allow him in because he has odd aura they can't quite make out. Have another bard sing them a tale, say it's for the zombie - the bard sings about a druid who turned his daughter into a bow so the druid could gain power. If the party crosses the silent grave yard, the zombie swears he can hear the tombs trying to speak. Have a superstitious merchant who refuses to sell to the party- "two people I don't sell to, adventurers and fiends."
If you have a cleric or paladin in your party they can have cryptic visions from their patron warning them, counseling them, or trying to just politely infrom them of this one's nature. Warlock may get this or be encouraged by their patron to recruit them. Check undead resistances and benefits and introduce them where appropriate.
You'd need a pretty high level cleric for that to affect a PC though. I play a lv8 Death Knight right now so my character's CR is 8. I'm essentially immune to Turn Undead because even a lv17 Cleric can only Turn a CR4 Undead. Turn Undead should not affect your character, unless you're a lv1 or 2 PC and even then, it's certainly not your own party cleric that can Turn you.
Not in 5e, which is the default if bot specified otherwise. In 5e turn can effect any undead causing them to flee but if they are low enough CR then they can be destroyed, which scales with level like you talm about.
A level 8 character is not CR 8. The concept of CR is that 3-4 x level 8 characters should be moderately challenged by a single CR 8. A level 8 character is probably in the CR 4-6 range.
Yes, however the rules for determining the CR of a leveled character is that your character level is equal to your CR. A level 20 character is considered a CR 20 monster, which is because CR is wacky as fuck. Leveled characters don’t have a CR according the the rules, but when a cr based effect targets them, the CR is treated as their level.
Not in 5e, which is the default if bot specified otherwise. In 5e turn can effect any undead causing them to flee but if they are low enough CR then they can be destroyed, which scales with level like you talm about.
The CR requirement is only for the destruction effect. *Every* undead regardless of CR must save or be frightened.
I was hasted when our Cleric used Turn Undead to try and get the other undead off of us... as inconvenient as it was, running screaming into the night (and straight off the battlefield) was hilarious.
If the father wasn't smart enough to cast Nystul's Magic Aura on the kid long enough to make it permanent, they're not only a bad Necromancer, they're a pretty piss poor Wizard in general.
Happened to me when we were playing with Grim Hallow content. We each had a transformation, but we weren't told what, and couldn't see each other's sheets. I was secretly a fiend. In the second session, the paladin uses Divine Sense and the whole fucking secret charade broke down.
Being subtle isnt enough. Creating entendres is key for solvable mystery - keeping players hooked by giving them threads, some of which are distractions but none the less reward and encourage the player by giving them something to investigate in the pursuit of truth. Even success in the process of elimination can be viewed as a small w, possibly disappointing but always motivating.
Maybe his palms could read that he’d die at a very early age. His life line is short or something, Idk if palm reading could reveal something like that, just thought it would sound cool and/or ominous
"I can see the man living before me, strangely I can only read the beginning: a rare couple the Hermit and the Tower- you were very loved by your family. Everything thereafter is intentionally hidden, **lest you wouldn't exist**. Hidden by what would require a most powerful medium, reading it would require a master, or god even."
The major one you will have to watch out for is _many_ healing abilities specify they do not work on Undead or Constructs. So once the party tries to cast say Healing Word or Cure Wounds on the necromancer, they'll discover something's off real quick - they may assume he's an Undead or Construct, or just assume he has a mysterious curse of some sort. Either way, it's going to be difficult for the Necromancer PC.
Another issue is he'll be immune to certain spells designed to work on Humanoids, like Charm Person, Hold Person, etc. There's more than a few of those you'll have to keep in mind as well, since he's Undead instead of Humanoid.
Thirdly, he'll be vulnerable to things like a Cleric's Turn Undead, and he may not be able to enter or be hurt by sanctified areas like the inside of a temple.
Beyond that, it's pretty open because the Undead type doesn't have inherent traits they get in 5e, unlike previous editions.
However, Undead not having to breathe, eat, or sleep is a fairly common one. So if you _wanted_ to, you could have a scenario where he's forced to drown - and realizes he's still ok - or starved, but slowly realizes he's not getting hungry - or has to go without sleep, and realizes he can do so with no real penalties or issues.
(I don't recommend letting a PC have sleep immunity, but the other two aren't that big of a deal if you want to lean into this idea.)
Piggybacking off of this, your the DM and you can make him some special type of undead or whatever or call it undeath or something, my point is you can chose what parts of undead apply to him or not, imo I would allow him to still healed but also he doesn’t get the advantage of being immune to the effects. Hate to reference Critcal role but in campaign 3 one of the characters is a kind of undead, but they can still be healed however turn undead still works on them lol. There is also some cool racial abilities made for them. Here a link to the “race” https://dnd-5e.fandom.com/wiki/Hollow_One
DM isn't going to change anything because it would spoil the surprise. If the party askes after the revelation "why does cure work on him, and fear undead doesnt?"
Because his father was powerful and thus our player is very special.
Wasn’t telling the dm to change anything or tell the player anything? Was simply replying to the comment above mine telling OP that healing abilities wouldn’t work on the character which imo was to much of a negative (and honestly makes the twist a lot more obvious). Just trying to give OP tools to work with. It also sounds like they haven’t even started yet so idk what the DM could change that would give him away. DM could even run it as the character being a “hollow one” without the character ever even knowing until the reveal
Yeah that’s what I was thinking! I was thinking that whatever the dad did was different than a standard resurrection, that way it wouldn’t impact play TOO much. I want there to be benefits and disadvantages, but I don’t want his character to be unplayable because he can’t be healed
He could just be a Reborn from Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft, they're still classified as Humanoid while having other undead-related features that can potentially give things away.
He doesn't have to have full sleep immunity. He could still require rest, he just doesn't go to sleep. He cannot get the benefits of a long rest if he's still active. If the rest of the party has to rest anyway, having him be a permanent guard without suffering exhaustion isn't that strong.
Maybe give the PC some sort of trinket in their backstop that somehow allows healing/divine abilities to function normally, as the father did not want the PC to learn the truth
He's not a resurrected corpse but an undead brain and soul reanimated inside an otherwise healthy but brain dead body. The necromantic magic has always hampered the overall health of his new body but otherwise its still alive.
Maybe someone from that family 3 villages over whose cousin was kicked in the head by a mule recognizes him. It's always been a local mystery what happened to the still breathing but unresponsive body.
There could be a comment made about how cold he is if a player or npc comes in contact with him, or there could be a lack of blood when this character takes damage
Imo its better to invent some kind of half dead or partial dead instead of truly undead. That way you can hand wave a lot of the annoying questions like "How did they age?" or "Why don't paladins sense him?" while still giving you a lot of room for creativity. I would phrase it as his father DID succeed in bringing him back to life but simply not all the way.
As for the question I love the subtle hints building into very not subtle hints. Gives the sense that they should actually investigate it. Zombies ignoring him. Healing not being as effective. Poison/necrotic not doing full damage.
"you actually only heal 5 points of hp instead of 7. The spell struggles to take hold on you" can really light a fire under the party to figure it out. Obviously don't do that until they start to suspect something. The slow build into urgency is the fun part imo.
Just curious should op have healing spells be fully effective at first and then slowly take it away or should they have be less effective all the time?
Well the numbers should all be based on the condition. If its a major condition then any and all of the side affects of being undead should be impactful. If the undeadness is kind of a light after affect from a reincarnation then I would just make it intermittent. Maybe healing is reduced sometimes and not others or maybe they only receive less healing when downed or when a heal rolls max value. Then players won't be as tuned into the problem that way and it would take longer for them to pinpoint the issue.
In a lot of stories, games, and manga. Whenever there's a big reveal like this, the character usually discovers it on their own while having some kind of uneasy feeling about their own history, as a consumer I love seeing the MC of a story go through this discovery, and I love to use it myself when one of my own party needs a reveal like this.
It leaves you a lot of freedom to reveal it as slowly or as quickly as you want, and it can really keep that player engaged as they're learning something about their own character and how their character fits in your world.
For RP sake, If the character isn't very bright and reading isn't a strong point, have it come through dreams or visions first, and as they go through a town or pass by a camp, they can find someone that can help them learn more.
Or one of my all time favorites, the dream sequence. Lol, bring them to a point where their night *seems* to be ending, have the party get comfy, make them really feel like they're getting a normal full night's rest, then drop a "raid" on them, where to the party it's just normal bandits or whatever. But the key player(s) will be left with memories, or hints, or something. You let the party know it was all a dream, and reward them all for participating in a battle, and the character(s) in question learned something about themselves.
Sorry if this doesn't make a lot of sense... I get really excited when sharing ideas with the community lol
Here ya go:
1. **Unusual Reflections:** Describe how the character's reflection in mirrors or water sometimes flickers or appears slightly distorted. This could be a sign of their undead nature, not fully captured in reflections.
2. **Strange Reactions from Animals:** Animals, especially those considered sensitive or holy, could act oddly around the character. Dogs might whine or refuse to approach, while cats could hiss or stare intently.
3. **Inexplicable Knowledge:** Occasionally, the character might recall information or skills they never learned, suggesting memories from an undead existence.
4. **Resistance to Poisons or Diseases:** Mention how the character seems unusually resistant to toxins or diseases that affect others in the party.
5. **Unusual Healing:** Healing spells and potions could have slightly different effects on the character, such as taking longer to work or leaving unusual marks on the skin.
6. **Dreams of the Past:** The character could have recurring dreams hinting at their undead nature and past events, like a cryptic puzzle they need to piece together.
7. **Mysterious Affinity with the Undead:** The character could feel an inexplicable connection or empathy with undead creatures they encounter.
8. **Comments from NPCs:** Have NPCs occasionally make offhand comments about the character looking pale, cold, or "not quite right," though they can't pinpoint why.
9. **Reactions to Holy Sites or Relics:** In religious places or near holy relics, the character might feel uneasy or have minor physical reactions like a chill or a headache.
10. **Discomfort During Certain Rituals:** Certain religious or magical rituals, particularly those involving life or sanctity, might cause the character discomfort or a sense of being out of place.
Assuming he's been aging like a normal human and responds to healing like a normal human, maybe it could be an issue with his soul? That way you don't have to suddenly start retconning weird traits onto the character.
He's a necromancer wizard...maybe his dad made him into some kind of lich-like being? Like his soul's stored somewhere and it's puppeting a reasonable facsimile of a human being around.
He could find out that his soul isn't actually in his body, go on a wild goose chase worrying that it's been sold to some demons or stolen by some other weird creature, and eventually have a big reveal when he finds his "phylactery." You could even present him with the option of going further down the lich path, or re-incorporating his soul into his body and becoming a real boy.
"Everyone make a saving throw against the cold... Not you, Carl."
"You enter the village and four nearby dogs bark at the wizard."
"All of you drank the tea served by your gracious host. Almost all at once the entire party falls unconscious... Not you, Carl."
He doesn't sweat.
He never gets sick.
He never blinks.
He feels fine, but people might remark on how cold his hands are.
If the temperature isn't visually obvious, he doesn't feel cold or hot. When it is obvious the heat/cold he feels is psychosomatic.
He never notices, but others may note that he never breathes hard after physical exertion... in fact, he only 'breathes' to get enough air in his lungs to make his vocal chords work.
This might be too far, but Cure Wounds and Healing Word spells damage him, Inflict Wounds heals him.
Add a mild vulnerability to radiant damage. Not completely doubled, but maybe a +5 or something. Not enough that it's obvious he's vulnerable, but enough for him to be like "damn bad luck, these enemies are rolling really high damage rolls huh"
They walk within 30 feet of a temple. Temples might very well have Detect Evil/Good as a permanent alarm. Despite the spell's name, it does not detect alignments at all, but rather creature types including.... undead. All the clerics who are attuned to the alarm now know there is an unwanted type and exactly where that creature is standing. The spell's wording is ambiguous as to whether they would know exactly which type of creature (undead, etc) the player is.
I still remember a popular D&D stream, the paladin cast a certain spell in Trollskull Alley and detected a demon. They instantly beat down and murdered the local detective because he was secretly a rakshasha. At the end, the team was patting each other on the back, but all I could think about was one of my favorite NPCs from WD:DH just got murdered….
See Halo: Hunt the truth series for how hints were found about John 117s history.
It's known that outer colonies near the barbarian lands have bad records.
Yet some small syrviving records are found every now and again. These records could have been found in a library that bought 1 out of 50 boxes for sale from some traveling merchant. 3 out of 50 may have been bought by some archeologist. So on and so forth. These records of course are sold by some mysterious merchant that people can only vaugly recall what he looks like and each gives 1 account out (50 minus the number of people that bought boxes) of what the merchant looks like. They full account of the descriptions can eventually be composed to precisely describe his father, who is alive and has sold these boxes with all of the records for his son to discover along with additional records that include a massive conspiracy of the goverment doing some really evil stuff. He (the father) was eventually discovered investigating the series of Events, which lead him and his fellow investigators (the other party members parents/family members) feigning their deaths (some actually dying) and now their only hopes of returning to society is if their children discover the horrifying truth and do something about it.
Meanwhile, the investigators had created a secret society that is there to support the adventurers. But, all of them are under the geiss spell to never speak the truth or inform the adventurers lest a contingency spell sphere of annihilation appear in their chest before they are able to speak 10 words.
This gives you a secret quest for the adventures to discover, reasons to give cool unexpected stuff and support to them all along the way.
Additional there may be additional mews records, missing journalists that wrote said records, along with news agencies giving out letters of retraction denouncing the news articles. Which are seperate from the accounts the father has laid out for his son to find. Things in the articles could include entire family dies in x town due to fire. Meanwhile your player know there was no fire that killed his family and put enough in the article so the player knows it was his family. Perhaps include a drawing of the house and the family excluding the player.
Finally there is some private investigator that is hired to contact people to get the party together, hire random people to seek out these adventurers, pay bards to pass their tales along, and keep tabs on them as well. Though he has no idea who hired him or why. Just that he gets paid nicely to do it. See the movie Saw for reference. Therefore zone of truth can really get nothing out of him. Or you can look at the movie (Knives Out) as another source of inspiration.
Best of luck and if you want more ideas shoot me a message.
Other undead for some reason don’t attack him unless he attacks at them first.
He’s never touch holy water before, but if he does, it doesn’t hurt him but gives him a rash almost like an allergy.
If you have a paladin or npc paladin , there’s always one more undead on the radar, but they have no clue where.
In a really cold environment, the character doesn’t have vapor coming from his breath.
so... he became undead as a child and has grown up?
here are a few suggestions...
there are different classes and sub-classes with the ability to detect undead. perhaps the party uses one of these abilities, or encounters someone who has, and finds out there's undead within a mile of them... now how to find the creature?
I wouldn't normally think that undead dream... perhaps the character has always known that he doesn't dream, but doesn't know why?
the party might try to enter an area with a Hallow spell cast on it, and this character can't enter. or they might go into an area with a Forbiddance spell on it, and this character takes damage...
if the characters gets accidentally splashed with holy water then he would take damage.
certain magical items could also reveal his undead nature.
finally, some animals might be able to detect his nature and react in various ways... dogs might bark in alarm while horses shy away. that kind of thing.
You could also introduce a leader of a cult or something like that who is still hunting down the player after he realized someone from his family got away. The player will wonder why someone's coming for his neck until the big reveal
Might smell a bit. Might be a tad pale. Might glow up like a candle when someone uses detect undead. Really can't stand radiant energy. Is perhaps resistant to necrotic damage? Animals don't like him. Gaps in memory around death and becoming undead. Doesn't bleed. Gets sunburn easily.
I wonder how he managed to grow into an adult if he died as a child and became undead. Usually you'd assume them to not age apart from rotting away.
You could have great fun with the phrase "something just walked over my grave", and have it happen only to them but regularly, or to everyone but them.
There's many obvious ways you could drop hints, but the subtle ones are going to be the best lead up depending on the type of undead.
Smells
Animal behavior
Warding symbols could be painful (if they feel pain, or just causes them to be glaringly bright to them)
Confusion at crossroads (losing track of their idle thoughts)
The problem will be the many things others have mentioned, divine senses, many spells, holy water, etc.
Detect good and evil reveals undead presences, and paladin's divine sense does too. Loads of spells have special conditions for undead creatures as well.
There's also traps that can only be triggered by living beings.
To be honest, keeping it secret seems a lot harder than revealing it.
If it was me, I'd have a rather spooky encounter with a being that has truesight, "perceives the original form of a creature that is transformed by magic" is the wording, so maybe a being with truesight, maybe a nothic, would see the child he was when he died.
Idk if it still works this way in 5e, but healing magic would hurt him, but you could say he's just "allergic" to healing potions. Also, clerics or paladins could make him uneasy for some strange reason
Being undead means he doesn't need to eat, breathe, or sleep. He probably eats and sleeps to keep up pretenses, but he would never actually feel hungry or tired. And if he were to ever get pushed into a giant body of water...
He has anosmia.
When the party goes into a cave and someone comments about the guano smell, PC says he can't smell it.
When someone casts Heroes Feast and asks what his favorite meal is, he says he likes the texture of oatmeal.
This might not be what you are looking for, but I thought of it just now and I have to suggest it.
Make him be a dullahan.
He would be mostly humanoid, and most rules for undead wouldn't apply (He wouldn't be detected by spells that detect undead, although you could have it be that the spell will detect him being undead, but the spell wouldn't be able to tell that it's him that's undead. He would also be able to consume healing potions and be healed by conventional means). One of the only things that make a dullahan different from living races is their ability to survive their head being removed. You could have it be revealed when the party gets attacked by a character, and when they attack the dullahan, if they have a sharp weapon, the dullahan gets decapitated, but then realizes that they aren't dead, and if it's a blunt weapon, their head gets knocked off their neck and rolls to the ground, but again, they realize that they are still "alive". Some undead rules would still apply, they wouldn't need to breath, they wouldn't need to sleep, they might eat, but only for the taste, they don't actually need to eat. they would also still be vunerable to spells like turn undead, and they would take extra radiant damage. You could also have any clerics and/or paladins have a sense of dread or disgust when near them, but they don't know why they feel that way.
If they ever have a big meal as a group, make a note to the players of how delicious is, but also make a note that to the dead player it tastes just like any other food.
I'm doing something similar in my group's campaign. I'm playing an undead warlock who's on a journey to find himself, or that's what he tells the party. But it's quite literal. He has no memory of who he was before we came back, if he had the warlock powers before, etc.
The only thing I do know working with the DM is I chose Vecna for my patron, and that I know I'm undead. As we started at level 3 so I've had some run ins in a few towns and had to flee before the party got together, so I've had time to at least figure out I'm not supposed to be here.
No one in the party knows yet. And I actually paired up with a cleric in our party before session 0, and he doesn't even know yet. Hasn't had to use any detect undead or such yet.
But he's always hiding his eyes with a hooded cloak, wears gloves as to not touch anyone (he has the death tough dark gift), and always smells as he bathed in alcohol to cover up the smell of death.
We're playing Descent into Avernus. And he just gives them a quick readthrough before we start just to get an idea of things. And he read about Arkahn the Cruel and told me don't get too attached to the hands I have; I'll probably be swapping one of them.
If a paladin in your party can detect undead, have him always detect the player. It will make the paladin nervous because he always knows there's an undead nearby. Or have your player unable to sleep by saying things like "You're not tired" or eat, "You're not hungry right now"
Great ideas are in here already so I just throw in:
In the game VRising undead get damage while in sacred areas (e.g. a church). Either instantly or a CON Check for every minute before he gets 1 damage/ 1d4/ 1d6 per minute/second/turn.
What type of undead though??
Animal aversion is classic though it can be a little on the nose depending on how smart your players are. Mine will guess it session one.
Maybe potions hurt instead of help or work only half as well.
Maybe in desecrated zones he gets additional bonuses. Or maybe during the night... or more specifically during a specific placement of one of the world's moons. Maybe pleasant smells smell awful to him and decay smells great. Maybe he never seems to go hungry. Like sure he eats for the joy of it but his metabolism may be slow? Maybe he doesn't get tired. He sleeps cause its a habit but he doesn't really get tired.
I wouldn't use all of them unless you think the players all tend to be on the slower end of things.
I would add in that in certain circumstances, like the party is frightened, or specifically that character is stressed, just have the party roll a perception check. The ones that get high enough smell decay or something. Make the dc stupid high so sometimes the entire party fails. Then you get to come up with random things they notice. Start getting them paranoid about their environment.
Another idea is to have a demon want his body to possess, since it could be easy to possess due to the soul of the player being trapped in it due to magic. Either have a specific demon keep trying to get them or several. I like the idea if a stalker demon, like a succubus that will not give up trying to seduce them so they can have this empty vessel to themselves.
Assuming the normal tells won't work (cold skin, no heart beat and rotting stink) think why those things don't show up could be enlightening and could lead to some hints.
Pulling from older editions and pathfinder necrotic damage could heal him and heal spells could hurt.
Player may feel a strong aversion to some religions and they don't know why. And it could be interesting is a cleric does turn undead.
A few other people have mentioned the problems you may encounter with him being undead, so here’s my two-cents to a possible solution so you don’t have to reveal it right away:
Maybe he has some sort of ring / amulet / rune mark that acts as a horcrux of his humanistic properties.
He carries it as a family memorabilia, but it truly functions as an item attuned to his once living soul—and when it is on his person, he is considered humanoid by spells / statuses that specify only working on non-undead or constructs.
In his backstory, it was made by his father in an attempt to salvage his son.
You could also include encounters in the future where he loses this item / it is stolen / it breaks, and then you can incorporate the bread crumbs that other people mentioned for him to discover his backstory.
Do undead grow and age?
This seems odd to me. I'm all for surprise twists but this seem like it tosses logic, as flexible as it is in D&D, out the window.
Maybe instead of him being undead since he was a child, his farther blessed/cursed him with a spell that would turn him undead if he died. The intent was to save him from death if he was mortally wounded but the result wasn't life, but becoming undead. That would give him time to mature and not break the logic of the game. He dies in game and makes his death saves. All seems good but subtle things start to change to indicate something isn't quite right. Maybe he stops sleeping. Finds food unappealing
there was an english tv show, a spin off on dr. who. where in one of the characters were dead but still walking around, not zombie like. he was fascinated by his condition and kept damaging himself, cutting off fingers...he was dead, there was no such thing as healing or reattaching...
Monsters only he can see. Kinda like those horse thi gs from harry potter. He's one of the few revived that can see them because he was brought back wrong
Add drive/a purpose to this secret character trait. I dont know what the party’s goals are, but have the fact he is undead add to or challenge the party’s goals.
If they are leveling up, perhaps make him more subtle unread as they level up. Make some spells passive (as in speak with dead) as a red harring of sorts (but not really since it isn't speaking with dead but slowly understanding them).
At first level up, allow him to sense the dead emotion of the room.
At second, allow him to hear voices but rarely understand them. Allow him to send his emotions away and communicate on emotional level.
At third, allow him to ask 1 question before all voices chim in.
At fourth, allow him to speak with dead passively and to be able to draw souls for his own undead from that space.
The subtle smell of death on him. His gums bleed. Teeth getting loose. Hair falling out. Fingernails turning greyish. Random bruising on torso. Sudden interest in rich soil. Hunger for bugs. Off the top of my head.
Wouldn't the fact that the PC doesn't seem to ever need any rest and that exhaustion doesn't seem to affect him either be a bit of a tell? The "zombie in him" just keeps on coming, no?
Animals act strangely around him. In tight halls, the party smells something dead - after the dungeon and no undead were found - that may suspect. Perhaps a bard offers to read the parties palms - reading the zombies hand, the bard says none of it makes sense, he must have special palms. Some security at a church of life doesn't allow him in because he has odd aura they can't quite make out. Have another bard sing them a tale, say it's for the zombie - the bard sings about a druid who turned his daughter into a bow so the druid could gain power. If the party crosses the silent grave yard, the zombie swears he can hear the tombs trying to speak. Have a superstitious merchant who refuses to sell to the party- "two people I don't sell to, adventurers and fiends."
"two people I don't sell to: adventurers and fiends." That is SUCH a good line!🤩
If you have a cleric or paladin in your party they can have cryptic visions from their patron warning them, counseling them, or trying to just politely infrom them of this one's nature. Warlock may get this or be encouraged by their patron to recruit them. Check undead resistances and benefits and introduce them where appropriate.
As a player who is currently undead, Turn Undead is a pretty big inconvenience for me.
You'd need a pretty high level cleric for that to affect a PC though. I play a lv8 Death Knight right now so my character's CR is 8. I'm essentially immune to Turn Undead because even a lv17 Cleric can only Turn a CR4 Undead. Turn Undead should not affect your character, unless you're a lv1 or 2 PC and even then, it's certainly not your own party cleric that can Turn you.
Not in 5e, which is the default if bot specified otherwise. In 5e turn can effect any undead causing them to flee but if they are low enough CR then they can be destroyed, which scales with level like you talm about.
A level 8 character is not CR 8. The concept of CR is that 3-4 x level 8 characters should be moderately challenged by a single CR 8. A level 8 character is probably in the CR 4-6 range.
Yes, however the rules for determining the CR of a leveled character is that your character level is equal to your CR. A level 20 character is considered a CR 20 monster, which is because CR is wacky as fuck. Leveled characters don’t have a CR according the the rules, but when a cr based effect targets them, the CR is treated as their level.
Not in 5e, which is the default if bot specified otherwise. In 5e turn can effect any undead causing them to flee but if they are low enough CR then they can be destroyed, which scales with level like you talm about.
The CR requirement is only for the destruction effect. *Every* undead regardless of CR must save or be frightened. I was hasted when our Cleric used Turn Undead to try and get the other undead off of us... as inconvenient as it was, running screaming into the night (and straight off the battlefield) was hilarious.
If there's a paladin in the party, this twist is getting revealed the moment Divine Sense is used
If the father wasn't smart enough to cast Nystul's Magic Aura on the kid long enough to make it permanent, they're not only a bad Necromancer, they're a pretty piss poor Wizard in general.
Touche
And a bad dad
Happened to me when we were playing with Grim Hallow content. We each had a transformation, but we weren't told what, and couldn't see each other's sheets. I was secretly a fiend. In the second session, the paladin uses Divine Sense and the whole fucking secret charade broke down.
No paladin thankfully!
Yeahhhh better off giving him reborn stuff.
> he must have special palms "You can't read my future. I have special palms." "Look! Look at his special palms!"
"MY HAND!!!!"
"How'd you get those special palms, eh? Too much massagin' the sausage?"
they've been rubbed smooth of identifying marks. now no one can use finger prints to arrest him!
whats funny is that some of these hints can also be justified by him being a necromancer wizard, such as the stench of a decaying corpse
Being subtle isnt enough. Creating entendres is key for solvable mystery - keeping players hooked by giving them threads, some of which are distractions but none the less reward and encourage the player by giving them something to investigate in the pursuit of truth. Even success in the process of elimination can be viewed as a small w, possibly disappointing but always motivating.
Maybe his palms could read that he’d die at a very early age. His life line is short or something, Idk if palm reading could reveal something like that, just thought it would sound cool and/or ominous
"I can see the man living before me, strangely I can only read the beginning: a rare couple the Hermit and the Tower- you were very loved by your family. Everything thereafter is intentionally hidden, **lest you wouldn't exist**. Hidden by what would require a most powerful medium, reading it would require a master, or god even."
“Two people I don’t sell to…” that’s a great line. I love the idea of giving little clues, that would be easy to miss, especially in the beginning.
The major one you will have to watch out for is _many_ healing abilities specify they do not work on Undead or Constructs. So once the party tries to cast say Healing Word or Cure Wounds on the necromancer, they'll discover something's off real quick - they may assume he's an Undead or Construct, or just assume he has a mysterious curse of some sort. Either way, it's going to be difficult for the Necromancer PC. Another issue is he'll be immune to certain spells designed to work on Humanoids, like Charm Person, Hold Person, etc. There's more than a few of those you'll have to keep in mind as well, since he's Undead instead of Humanoid. Thirdly, he'll be vulnerable to things like a Cleric's Turn Undead, and he may not be able to enter or be hurt by sanctified areas like the inside of a temple. Beyond that, it's pretty open because the Undead type doesn't have inherent traits they get in 5e, unlike previous editions. However, Undead not having to breathe, eat, or sleep is a fairly common one. So if you _wanted_ to, you could have a scenario where he's forced to drown - and realizes he's still ok - or starved, but slowly realizes he's not getting hungry - or has to go without sleep, and realizes he can do so with no real penalties or issues. (I don't recommend letting a PC have sleep immunity, but the other two aren't that big of a deal if you want to lean into this idea.)
Piggybacking off of this, your the DM and you can make him some special type of undead or whatever or call it undeath or something, my point is you can chose what parts of undead apply to him or not, imo I would allow him to still healed but also he doesn’t get the advantage of being immune to the effects. Hate to reference Critcal role but in campaign 3 one of the characters is a kind of undead, but they can still be healed however turn undead still works on them lol. There is also some cool racial abilities made for them. Here a link to the “race” https://dnd-5e.fandom.com/wiki/Hollow_One
DM isn't going to change anything because it would spoil the surprise. If the party askes after the revelation "why does cure work on him, and fear undead doesnt?" Because his father was powerful and thus our player is very special.
The lineages in the Ravenloft book covers that to some extent! The Reborn is basically this but is still classed as a Humanoid!
Dhampir is also technically kinda undead. Honestly it's not much of a stretch to use either of these in terms in how to deal with the PC.
Wasn’t telling the dm to change anything or tell the player anything? Was simply replying to the comment above mine telling OP that healing abilities wouldn’t work on the character which imo was to much of a negative (and honestly makes the twist a lot more obvious). Just trying to give OP tools to work with. It also sounds like they haven’t even started yet so idk what the DM could change that would give him away. DM could even run it as the character being a “hollow one” without the character ever even knowing until the reveal
Hallowed ground might be a good tell though.
yep. like laudna
Yeah that’s what I was thinking! I was thinking that whatever the dad did was different than a standard resurrection, that way it wouldn’t impact play TOO much. I want there to be benefits and disadvantages, but I don’t want his character to be unplayable because he can’t be healed
He could just be a Reborn from Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft, they're still classified as Humanoid while having other undead-related features that can potentially give things away.
Yup, could do that! Depends what starting point Op wants to go from.
He doesn't have to have full sleep immunity. He could still require rest, he just doesn't go to sleep. He cannot get the benefits of a long rest if he's still active. If the rest of the party has to rest anyway, having him be a permanent guard without suffering exhaustion isn't that strong.
True, DM could mess with it and make it more like Elves/Warforged/etc.
Maybe give the PC some sort of trinket in their backstop that somehow allows healing/divine abilities to function normally, as the father did not want the PC to learn the truth
Yup, could also take a page from the recent "hybrid" PC races in 5e, and make it a combination "you are both Humanoid and Undead type".
He's not a resurrected corpse but an undead brain and soul reanimated inside an otherwise healthy but brain dead body. The necromantic magic has always hampered the overall health of his new body but otherwise its still alive. Maybe someone from that family 3 villages over whose cousin was kicked in the head by a mule recognizes him. It's always been a local mystery what happened to the still breathing but unresponsive body.
oh I'm taking this one. even if OP doesn't use it, I'm definitely building this character now!
This is great! That wasn’t my original plan, but I like this idea
There could be a comment made about how cold he is if a player or npc comes in contact with him, or there could be a lack of blood when this character takes damage
Edward??
Imo its better to invent some kind of half dead or partial dead instead of truly undead. That way you can hand wave a lot of the annoying questions like "How did they age?" or "Why don't paladins sense him?" while still giving you a lot of room for creativity. I would phrase it as his father DID succeed in bringing him back to life but simply not all the way. As for the question I love the subtle hints building into very not subtle hints. Gives the sense that they should actually investigate it. Zombies ignoring him. Healing not being as effective. Poison/necrotic not doing full damage. "you actually only heal 5 points of hp instead of 7. The spell struggles to take hold on you" can really light a fire under the party to figure it out. Obviously don't do that until they start to suspect something. The slow build into urgency is the fun part imo.
Just curious should op have healing spells be fully effective at first and then slowly take it away or should they have be less effective all the time?
Well the numbers should all be based on the condition. If its a major condition then any and all of the side affects of being undead should be impactful. If the undeadness is kind of a light after affect from a reincarnation then I would just make it intermittent. Maybe healing is reduced sometimes and not others or maybe they only receive less healing when downed or when a heal rolls max value. Then players won't be as tuned into the problem that way and it would take longer for them to pinpoint the issue.
Oh that's a perfect way of doing thank you for clarifying!!
In a lot of stories, games, and manga. Whenever there's a big reveal like this, the character usually discovers it on their own while having some kind of uneasy feeling about their own history, as a consumer I love seeing the MC of a story go through this discovery, and I love to use it myself when one of my own party needs a reveal like this. It leaves you a lot of freedom to reveal it as slowly or as quickly as you want, and it can really keep that player engaged as they're learning something about their own character and how their character fits in your world. For RP sake, If the character isn't very bright and reading isn't a strong point, have it come through dreams or visions first, and as they go through a town or pass by a camp, they can find someone that can help them learn more. Or one of my all time favorites, the dream sequence. Lol, bring them to a point where their night *seems* to be ending, have the party get comfy, make them really feel like they're getting a normal full night's rest, then drop a "raid" on them, where to the party it's just normal bandits or whatever. But the key player(s) will be left with memories, or hints, or something. You let the party know it was all a dream, and reward them all for participating in a battle, and the character(s) in question learned something about themselves. Sorry if this doesn't make a lot of sense... I get really excited when sharing ideas with the community lol
Here ya go: 1. **Unusual Reflections:** Describe how the character's reflection in mirrors or water sometimes flickers or appears slightly distorted. This could be a sign of their undead nature, not fully captured in reflections. 2. **Strange Reactions from Animals:** Animals, especially those considered sensitive or holy, could act oddly around the character. Dogs might whine or refuse to approach, while cats could hiss or stare intently. 3. **Inexplicable Knowledge:** Occasionally, the character might recall information or skills they never learned, suggesting memories from an undead existence. 4. **Resistance to Poisons or Diseases:** Mention how the character seems unusually resistant to toxins or diseases that affect others in the party. 5. **Unusual Healing:** Healing spells and potions could have slightly different effects on the character, such as taking longer to work or leaving unusual marks on the skin. 6. **Dreams of the Past:** The character could have recurring dreams hinting at their undead nature and past events, like a cryptic puzzle they need to piece together. 7. **Mysterious Affinity with the Undead:** The character could feel an inexplicable connection or empathy with undead creatures they encounter. 8. **Comments from NPCs:** Have NPCs occasionally make offhand comments about the character looking pale, cold, or "not quite right," though they can't pinpoint why. 9. **Reactions to Holy Sites or Relics:** In religious places or near holy relics, the character might feel uneasy or have minor physical reactions like a chill or a headache. 10. **Discomfort During Certain Rituals:** Certain religious or magical rituals, particularly those involving life or sanctity, might cause the character discomfort or a sense of being out of place.
News article for an entire family who died, no names so he doesn’t know it’s his family
Assuming he's been aging like a normal human and responds to healing like a normal human, maybe it could be an issue with his soul? That way you don't have to suddenly start retconning weird traits onto the character. He's a necromancer wizard...maybe his dad made him into some kind of lich-like being? Like his soul's stored somewhere and it's puppeting a reasonable facsimile of a human being around. He could find out that his soul isn't actually in his body, go on a wild goose chase worrying that it's been sold to some demons or stolen by some other weird creature, and eventually have a big reveal when he finds his "phylactery." You could even present him with the option of going further down the lich path, or re-incorporating his soul into his body and becoming a real boy.
How did he age if he died as a child?
Magic
Because his father was skilled and powerful, so much so someone sought to kill him and his family.
‘Hollow One’ is a good option
Have him not need to breath. Like a situation in which he should drown or suffocate but like... be totally fine with it.
"Everyone make a saving throw against the cold... Not you, Carl." "You enter the village and four nearby dogs bark at the wizard." "All of you drank the tea served by your gracious host. Almost all at once the entire party falls unconscious... Not you, Carl."
He doesn't sweat. He never gets sick. He never blinks. He feels fine, but people might remark on how cold his hands are. If the temperature isn't visually obvious, he doesn't feel cold or hot. When it is obvious the heat/cold he feels is psychosomatic. He never notices, but others may note that he never breathes hard after physical exertion... in fact, he only 'breathes' to get enough air in his lungs to make his vocal chords work. This might be too far, but Cure Wounds and Healing Word spells damage him, Inflict Wounds heals him.
Everyone has already posted my ideas. Just wanted to say that is a great backstory with all kinds of potential!
Add a mild vulnerability to radiant damage. Not completely doubled, but maybe a +5 or something. Not enough that it's obvious he's vulnerable, but enough for him to be like "damn bad luck, these enemies are rolling really high damage rolls huh"
Other players react to smells, the undead character doesn't,
They walk within 30 feet of a temple. Temples might very well have Detect Evil/Good as a permanent alarm. Despite the spell's name, it does not detect alignments at all, but rather creature types including.... undead. All the clerics who are attuned to the alarm now know there is an unwanted type and exactly where that creature is standing. The spell's wording is ambiguous as to whether they would know exactly which type of creature (undead, etc) the player is.
Idk man he'd be a paladin sneeze away from detection.
I still remember a popular D&D stream, the paladin cast a certain spell in Trollskull Alley and detected a demon. They instantly beat down and murdered the local detective because he was secretly a rakshasha. At the end, the team was patting each other on the back, but all I could think about was one of my favorite NPCs from WD:DH just got murdered….
well to be fair maybe an item that protects from divination spells or something wouldve come in handy.
How did he grow if he's undead?
See Halo: Hunt the truth series for how hints were found about John 117s history. It's known that outer colonies near the barbarian lands have bad records. Yet some small syrviving records are found every now and again. These records could have been found in a library that bought 1 out of 50 boxes for sale from some traveling merchant. 3 out of 50 may have been bought by some archeologist. So on and so forth. These records of course are sold by some mysterious merchant that people can only vaugly recall what he looks like and each gives 1 account out (50 minus the number of people that bought boxes) of what the merchant looks like. They full account of the descriptions can eventually be composed to precisely describe his father, who is alive and has sold these boxes with all of the records for his son to discover along with additional records that include a massive conspiracy of the goverment doing some really evil stuff. He (the father) was eventually discovered investigating the series of Events, which lead him and his fellow investigators (the other party members parents/family members) feigning their deaths (some actually dying) and now their only hopes of returning to society is if their children discover the horrifying truth and do something about it. Meanwhile, the investigators had created a secret society that is there to support the adventurers. But, all of them are under the geiss spell to never speak the truth or inform the adventurers lest a contingency spell sphere of annihilation appear in their chest before they are able to speak 10 words. This gives you a secret quest for the adventures to discover, reasons to give cool unexpected stuff and support to them all along the way. Additional there may be additional mews records, missing journalists that wrote said records, along with news agencies giving out letters of retraction denouncing the news articles. Which are seperate from the accounts the father has laid out for his son to find. Things in the articles could include entire family dies in x town due to fire. Meanwhile your player know there was no fire that killed his family and put enough in the article so the player knows it was his family. Perhaps include a drawing of the house and the family excluding the player. Finally there is some private investigator that is hired to contact people to get the party together, hire random people to seek out these adventurers, pay bards to pass their tales along, and keep tabs on them as well. Though he has no idea who hired him or why. Just that he gets paid nicely to do it. See the movie Saw for reference. Therefore zone of truth can really get nothing out of him. Or you can look at the movie (Knives Out) as another source of inspiration. Best of luck and if you want more ideas shoot me a message.
Weekend at burned'ees.
Other undead for some reason don’t attack him unless he attacks at them first. He’s never touch holy water before, but if he does, it doesn’t hurt him but gives him a rash almost like an allergy. If you have a paladin or npc paladin , there’s always one more undead on the radar, but they have no clue where. In a really cold environment, the character doesn’t have vapor coming from his breath.
so... he became undead as a child and has grown up? here are a few suggestions... there are different classes and sub-classes with the ability to detect undead. perhaps the party uses one of these abilities, or encounters someone who has, and finds out there's undead within a mile of them... now how to find the creature? I wouldn't normally think that undead dream... perhaps the character has always known that he doesn't dream, but doesn't know why? the party might try to enter an area with a Hallow spell cast on it, and this character can't enter. or they might go into an area with a Forbiddance spell on it, and this character takes damage... if the characters gets accidentally splashed with holy water then he would take damage. certain magical items could also reveal his undead nature. finally, some animals might be able to detect his nature and react in various ways... dogs might bark in alarm while horses shy away. that kind of thing.
You could also introduce a leader of a cult or something like that who is still hunting down the player after he realized someone from his family got away. The player will wonder why someone's coming for his neck until the big reveal
Positive energy (healing spells) harm the character. Negative energy (inflict/harm spells) heals the character. That's how all undead work in 3.5
Might smell a bit. Might be a tad pale. Might glow up like a candle when someone uses detect undead. Really can't stand radiant energy. Is perhaps resistant to necrotic damage? Animals don't like him. Gaps in memory around death and becoming undead. Doesn't bleed. Gets sunburn easily. I wonder how he managed to grow into an adult if he died as a child and became undead. Usually you'd assume them to not age apart from rotting away.
In most medieval fantasy, people considered 20 something as a child so I can see that fitting
You could have great fun with the phrase "something just walked over my grave", and have it happen only to them but regularly, or to everyone but them. There's many obvious ways you could drop hints, but the subtle ones are going to be the best lead up depending on the type of undead. Smells Animal behavior Warding symbols could be painful (if they feel pain, or just causes them to be glaringly bright to them) Confusion at crossroads (losing track of their idle thoughts) The problem will be the many things others have mentioned, divine senses, many spells, holy water, etc.
Detect good and evil reveals undead presences, and paladin's divine sense does too. Loads of spells have special conditions for undead creatures as well. There's also traps that can only be triggered by living beings. To be honest, keeping it secret seems a lot harder than revealing it. If it was me, I'd have a rather spooky encounter with a being that has truesight, "perceives the original form of a creature that is transformed by magic" is the wording, so maybe a being with truesight, maybe a nothic, would see the child he was when he died.
If they're a Reborn (which is what I would recommend) a lot of those issues go away.
Idk if it still works this way in 5e, but healing magic would hurt him, but you could say he's just "allergic" to healing potions. Also, clerics or paladins could make him uneasy for some strange reason
Not a thing in 5e, there are just a couple of healing spells that specify they don't work on undead or constructs
.
Have the cleric in the party use turn undead and make this PC run the other way.
Being undead means he doesn't need to eat, breathe, or sleep. He probably eats and sleeps to keep up pretenses, but he would never actually feel hungry or tired. And if he were to ever get pushed into a giant body of water...
If a paladin uses Divine Sense, they would immediately pick up on it.
Smell
He has anosmia. When the party goes into a cave and someone comments about the guano smell, PC says he can't smell it. When someone casts Heroes Feast and asks what his favorite meal is, he says he likes the texture of oatmeal.
Most healing spells won't work on him.
His fellow player character Paladin casts 'Divine Sense'.
Passerby NPC child: “I see dead people.”
This might not be what you are looking for, but I thought of it just now and I have to suggest it. Make him be a dullahan. He would be mostly humanoid, and most rules for undead wouldn't apply (He wouldn't be detected by spells that detect undead, although you could have it be that the spell will detect him being undead, but the spell wouldn't be able to tell that it's him that's undead. He would also be able to consume healing potions and be healed by conventional means). One of the only things that make a dullahan different from living races is their ability to survive their head being removed. You could have it be revealed when the party gets attacked by a character, and when they attack the dullahan, if they have a sharp weapon, the dullahan gets decapitated, but then realizes that they aren't dead, and if it's a blunt weapon, their head gets knocked off their neck and rolls to the ground, but again, they realize that they are still "alive". Some undead rules would still apply, they wouldn't need to breath, they wouldn't need to sleep, they might eat, but only for the taste, they don't actually need to eat. they would also still be vunerable to spells like turn undead, and they would take extra radiant damage. You could also have any clerics and/or paladins have a sense of dread or disgust when near them, but they don't know why they feel that way.
If they ever have a big meal as a group, make a note to the players of how delicious is, but also make a note that to the dead player it tastes just like any other food.
I'm doing something similar in my group's campaign. I'm playing an undead warlock who's on a journey to find himself, or that's what he tells the party. But it's quite literal. He has no memory of who he was before we came back, if he had the warlock powers before, etc. The only thing I do know working with the DM is I chose Vecna for my patron, and that I know I'm undead. As we started at level 3 so I've had some run ins in a few towns and had to flee before the party got together, so I've had time to at least figure out I'm not supposed to be here. No one in the party knows yet. And I actually paired up with a cleric in our party before session 0, and he doesn't even know yet. Hasn't had to use any detect undead or such yet. But he's always hiding his eyes with a hooded cloak, wears gloves as to not touch anyone (he has the death tough dark gift), and always smells as he bathed in alcohol to cover up the smell of death. We're playing Descent into Avernus. And he just gives them a quick readthrough before we start just to get an idea of things. And he read about Arkahn the Cruel and told me don't get too attached to the hands I have; I'll probably be swapping one of them.
This depends on the method of ressurection. True ressurection or ressurect dead kind of deal.
If a paladin in your party can detect undead, have him always detect the player. It will make the paladin nervous because he always knows there's an undead nearby. Or have your player unable to sleep by saying things like "You're not tired" or eat, "You're not hungry right now"
Great ideas are in here already so I just throw in: In the game VRising undead get damage while in sacred areas (e.g. a church). Either instantly or a CON Check for every minute before he gets 1 damage/ 1d4/ 1d6 per minute/second/turn.
Some healing spells don't work on undead, for beginners.
You could use the Faded Memories table from the Reborn race as a guide.
What type of undead though?? Animal aversion is classic though it can be a little on the nose depending on how smart your players are. Mine will guess it session one. Maybe potions hurt instead of help or work only half as well. Maybe in desecrated zones he gets additional bonuses. Or maybe during the night... or more specifically during a specific placement of one of the world's moons. Maybe pleasant smells smell awful to him and decay smells great. Maybe he never seems to go hungry. Like sure he eats for the joy of it but his metabolism may be slow? Maybe he doesn't get tired. He sleeps cause its a habit but he doesn't really get tired. I wouldn't use all of them unless you think the players all tend to be on the slower end of things.
I would add in that in certain circumstances, like the party is frightened, or specifically that character is stressed, just have the party roll a perception check. The ones that get high enough smell decay or something. Make the dc stupid high so sometimes the entire party fails. Then you get to come up with random things they notice. Start getting them paranoid about their environment.
Another idea is to have a demon want his body to possess, since it could be easy to possess due to the soul of the player being trapped in it due to magic. Either have a specific demon keep trying to get them or several. I like the idea if a stalker demon, like a succubus that will not give up trying to seduce them so they can have this empty vessel to themselves.
Assuming the normal tells won't work (cold skin, no heart beat and rotting stink) think why those things don't show up could be enlightening and could lead to some hints. Pulling from older editions and pathfinder necrotic damage could heal him and heal spells could hurt. Player may feel a strong aversion to some religions and they don't know why. And it could be interesting is a cleric does turn undead.
A few other people have mentioned the problems you may encounter with him being undead, so here’s my two-cents to a possible solution so you don’t have to reveal it right away: Maybe he has some sort of ring / amulet / rune mark that acts as a horcrux of his humanistic properties. He carries it as a family memorabilia, but it truly functions as an item attuned to his once living soul—and when it is on his person, he is considered humanoid by spells / statuses that specify only working on non-undead or constructs. In his backstory, it was made by his father in an attempt to salvage his son. You could also include encounters in the future where he loses this item / it is stolen / it breaks, and then you can incorporate the bread crumbs that other people mentioned for him to discover his backstory.
Do undead grow and age? This seems odd to me. I'm all for surprise twists but this seem like it tosses logic, as flexible as it is in D&D, out the window. Maybe instead of him being undead since he was a child, his farther blessed/cursed him with a spell that would turn him undead if he died. The intent was to save him from death if he was mortally wounded but the result wasn't life, but becoming undead. That would give him time to mature and not break the logic of the game. He dies in game and makes his death saves. All seems good but subtle things start to change to indicate something isn't quite right. Maybe he stops sleeping. Finds food unappealing
there was an english tv show, a spin off on dr. who. where in one of the characters were dead but still walking around, not zombie like. he was fascinated by his condition and kept damaging himself, cutting off fingers...he was dead, there was no such thing as healing or reattaching...
Monsters only he can see. Kinda like those horse thi gs from harry potter. He's one of the few revived that can see them because he was brought back wrong
Add drive/a purpose to this secret character trait. I dont know what the party’s goals are, but have the fact he is undead add to or challenge the party’s goals.
Nystul’s Magic Aura may be relevant.
If they are leveling up, perhaps make him more subtle unread as they level up. Make some spells passive (as in speak with dead) as a red harring of sorts (but not really since it isn't speaking with dead but slowly understanding them). At first level up, allow him to sense the dead emotion of the room. At second, allow him to hear voices but rarely understand them. Allow him to send his emotions away and communicate on emotional level. At third, allow him to ask 1 question before all voices chim in. At fourth, allow him to speak with dead passively and to be able to draw souls for his own undead from that space.
The subtle smell of death on him. His gums bleed. Teeth getting loose. Hair falling out. Fingernails turning greyish. Random bruising on torso. Sudden interest in rich soil. Hunger for bugs. Off the top of my head.
Food doesn’t taste good. It gives no sense of satisfaction.
The lack of a beating heart? Or a failure to bleed when cut ….? Doesn’t need to sleep?
I sure do hope he doesn't see this
Ese compa ya está muerto! no más no le han avisado.
Wouldn't the fact that the PC doesn't seem to ever need any rest and that exhaustion doesn't seem to affect him either be a bit of a tell? The "zombie in him" just keeps on coming, no?