Archer Skeleton

Archer skeletons are undead built from the remains of dead archers by evil wizards and priests with animate dead. During creation a blooded arrowhead is bound to each skull and fuses with it, leaving the only outward difference from an ordinary human or demihuman skeleton: a black, arrowhead-shaped mark on the skull.

Each carries a longbow of ash and human sinew and a hide quiver of bone arrows. These silent bowmen cannot speak or communicate at all, and they follow only short, plainly worded commands from their master.

An archer skeleton fires one arrow per round for 1-6 points. The arrows deal no bonus damage but count as magical weapons, so they can harm creatures immune to normal ones. Each skeleton carries 20, and can make more by raiding graves and whittling the bones.

The real horror comes when an arrow misses. Each missed shaft rolls its own save vs. crushing blow, made by the game master. On a failure it simply snaps and is useless. On a success it stays whole and over 1 round grows into a full skeleton with all the usual abilities, which immediately attacks the nearest living creature.

Only when shooting is impossible does it fight hand to hand, clubbing with its bow for 1-4. Without a bow, it claws for 1d3.

Like ordinary skeletons it ignores sleep, hold, charm and fear spells, takes no harm from cold, suffers half damage from edged and piercing weapons but full damage from blunt ones, and takes 2-8 points per vial of holy water. Usually commanded to fight until destroyed, it never checks morale.

Legend credits a fanatical necromancer who meant to slaughter every person in his homeland and rule alone over a court of undead more loyal than any living subject. As he readied his army of skeletal archers and other dead to march, the sheer weight of his malice carried him off through the mists into the misty dread realm. His whereabouts are unknown, but his bowmen and the secret of making them have spread to many wicked hands.

They usually lead the advance of an evil host, anywhere from 2-20 strong up to an entire army, or stand guard for their masters. A lich-king is said to command a great many.

Like all lesser undead they have no part in nature; they are perversions of life used by those who have abandoned virtue. When destroyed, the skeletons crumble to dust and ash, but their bows and arrows survive and can be used by anyone. Arrows fired by a player character work exactly the same way, but each time one spawns a skeleton, the shooter must make a dark powers check for adding to the world's corruption.