Bone Creature
Sometimes creatures that rise as undead skeletons retain their intellect and abilities. Bone fighters wield deadly weapons and clank about in ancient armor. Bone sorcerers cast dreadful spells and are often confused with liches. Bone wyverns darken the skies and threaten with their poisoned, skeletal tails.
Bone creatures cannot be the result of a simple animate dead spell, but could arise from a create undead or create greater undead spell, as undead of their equivalent Hit Dice.
Creating A Bone Creature
"Bone" is a template that can be added to any non-undead, corporeal creature that has a skeletal system (referred to hereafter as the base creature). The creature's type changes to undead. It retains all type modifiers and subtypes, if applicable.
The bone creature uses all the base creature's statistics and special abilities except as noted here.
Hit Dice: Increase to d12.
Speed: Winged bone creatures retain the ability to fly, now, however, the flight is magical, as the fly spell, but it still uses the creature's original fly speed.
AC: Natural armor bonus changes to a number based on the bone creature's size.
| Size | Bonus |
| Tiny or smaller | +0 |
| Small | +1 |
| Medium-size | +2 |
| Large | +3 |
| Huge | +4 |
| Gargantuan | +6 |
| Colossal | +10 |
Attacks: A bone creature retains all the natural attacks and weapon proficiencies of the base creature, except for attacks that can't work without flesh, such as a mind flayer's tentacle attacks. A creature with hands gains one claw attack per hand; a bone creature can strike with all of them at its full attack bonus. If the creature already had claw attacks with its hands, use the bone creature attack format and damage, if they're better. The base creature's base attack bonus does not change.
Damage: Natural and manufactured weapons deal normal damage. A claw attack deals damage depending on the bone creature's size.
| Size | Damage |
| Diminutive or Fine | 1 |
| Tiny | 1d2 |
| Small | 1d3 |
| Medium-size | 1d4 |
| Large | 1d6 |
| Huge | 2d4 |
| Gargantuan | 2d6 |
| Colossal | 2d8 |
Use the base creature's claw damage if it is greater.
Special Qualities: Same as the base creature. In addition, all bone creatures gain darkvision with a range of 60 feet, undead traits, and various immunities.
Immunities (Ex): Bone creatures have cold immunity. Because they lack flesh or internal organs, they take only half damage from piercing and slashing weapons.
Saves: Same as the base creature, modified by ability score adjustments.
Abilities: Modify the base creature as follows: Str +0, Dex +4, Con -, Int +0, Wis +0, Cha +0.
Skills: Same as the base creature, modified by ability score adjustments.
Feats: Same as the base creature, plus the bone creature gets the Weapon Finesse feat with any one weapon for free.
Sample Bone Creature:Bone Bugbear.