Very intersted in these ideas. What are the key characteristics (in words, not game mechanics) of a Barrow Wight/Gjenganger? How does this differ from the Norse Draugr? What would be the key characteristics of a Ring (or other artifact) Wraith?
IMG undead are (usually) once-dead creatures who are reanimated in such a way that they are no longer part of the natural ebb and flow of magical energy (which in RQ game terms means that they do not regenerate POW, like the traditional RQ vampire or mummy).
Some manage this challenge by taking something from others to maintain their spiritual energy (vampires, incubi and succubi, wraithes, hellions), whereas others have no easy way of doing this, so they just have to hang on to what they've got (mummies). Automata have 1 (non-regenerable) POW and can't really use it or (easily) lose it -- if that.
Most undead have bodies, but it isn't compulsory. Wraithes and Redcaps don't have proper bodies (or individual hit locations) IMG, but they can be attacked physically using magical weapons. But then IMG I have adopted the MRQ idea of spirit combat, as my players thought all those POW v POW rolls were a bit monotonous. Spirit combat is now more like 'normal' melee using magical weapons or a special skill known only to spirits, shamans, spirit-talkers and special creatures like Goldeneye horses (damage dice on a sliding scale according to attacker's magic points). Successful attacks directly damage the target's magic points, (Fireblade andFirearrow were rewritten to make them less powerful in this milieu)
Some demons from Hell don't regenerate their own magic points either, so they might be taken to be undead, whether or not they 'died' before. Hellions come into this category, as do Porphyrs (lesser demons that look a bit like Nosferatu-style vampires, and have vampire-like powers), Incubi and Succubi.
Not sure if I would call Whirlvishes undead or just spirits -- though I have a pet theory that many dead Gagarthi end up as Whirlvishes in arid regions. What might they become in Sartar?
Lamiae are cut off from the ebb and flow of spiritual regeneration like undead, but I am unsure of their origins in Glorantha. Are they born or made? Have they died before? I half-remember/mis-remember a posting from Mr Metcalfe suggesting that they have a place in beastman myths.
Not sure about Ghouls -- they are transformed by cannibalism and their other bad habits, but have they died? Am sure most Gloranthans would treat them as undead, but maybe Ghouls are more interesting if this is a common misconception?
Spirits and demons which still regenerate POW normally are not undead, even if they have died before.
So IMG some/most Ghosts are not undead -- a Ghost is a traumatised spirit of a dead person, bound to a place or person, object or idea (thirst, hunger, revenge or some unfulfilled mission) by fate or magic.
Whilst I expect they come to share some of the personality traits of powerful undead (and whilst their enemies almost certainly see them as equally offensive to nature), I wouldn't call the wizard who has made himself immortal by magic(or a Heroquester who doesn't age much, like Hofstaring Treeleaper?) as undead unless they became a mummy, vampire or similar to gain their dubious immortality.
Maybe orthodox Mostali and Brithini don't truly live (at least not as most other cultures would understand the term), but that does not make them Undead to me.
Richard Hayes
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Subject: Re: Is Spell Trading the hallmark of a vampire squid?
May I toss the term "barrow-wight" into the ring? One of the undead used by grandmaster Tolkien, who most certainly was not influenced by terms like zombie, but rather like "gjenganger".
Tolkien's concept of ring-wraiths might be taken over as well - not necessarily restricted to loopy objects of metal, but to any kind of heavy duty artifact. That Babeester Gor axe from the Munchroom scenario might get close to this.
Another variation might be the mighty magician who hides away his life in a sealed object. Not too far away from a properly prepared mummy, really...
One type of monsters that impressed me in Tekumel were those undead who never had lived (at least not in that shape). In Glorantha, those would be another class of beings from hell, unlike trolls, Black Horse demons and andins not alive.
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