Skeleton, Mordite
| Statistic | Value |
|---|---|
| Climate/Terrain | Any |
| Frequency | Rare |
| Organization | Band |
| Activity Cycle | Night |
| Diet | Nil |
| Intelligence | Non (0) |
| Treasure | Nil |
| Alignment | Neutral evil |
| No. Appearing | 3d10 or more |
| Armor Class | 7 |
| Movement | 9 |
| Hit Dice | 1 |
| THAC0 | 20 |
| No. of Attacks | 2 |
| Damage/Attack | 1d4/1d4 |
| Special Attacks | Poison |
| Special Defenses | Immune to mind-affecting spells and cold-based attacks |
| Magic Resistance | Nil |
| Size | M (5-6' Tall) |
| Morale | Special |
| XP Value | 175 |
Description
These skeletal remnants of plague victims are often animated by mordulants and priests of Tybboch to carry out simple tasks or to serve as warriors. They appear as gnarled, menacing skeletons with a sickly green tint to their normally bleached white bones. The mordite's phalanges and teeth are twisted into sharp claws and fangs, and they drip with sickening, yellow ichor.
Combat
In combat, mordites advance en masse with their strange, shuffling gaits, then attack with lightning speed, using their claws, each of which causes 1d4 points of damage. On a successful hit, the target must roll a save vs. poison. Failure means the wound festers unnaturally and will only heal if treated by magical healing.
Like other undead creatures, mordites are immune to sleep, charm, and hold spells. Cold attacks do no damage, and edged and piercing weapons do only half damage. Holy water splashed on a mordite inflicts 2d4 points of damage.
Being animated creatures, Mordites are immune to fear and have no need to check morale. They will fight as commanded until they are either called off or destroyed. Mordites can be turned as ghouls.
Habitat/Society
Mordites are mindless creatures who follow their orders blindly and simply. They are generally led by a mordulant or a priest of Tybboch. On rare occasions, unsupervised groups of mordites are encountered, and they will still be attempting to carry out the last orders they received from their controller.
Ecology
Mordites are not a natural part of the world. They are created by a special version of the 3rd-level priest spell, animate dead, which is granted only to priests of Tybboch. Mordulants possess an innate magical ability which duplicates the effects of this spell.