Is there precedent for spontaneous reanimation?

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My player characters killed some fire giants near an evil altar and then left the area. When they returned, I told them the fire giants were zombies now.



My players were confused. They kept wanting to know who cast the spell.



I told them nobody cast the spell. If a creature dies in a horrible way, especially in close proximity to a source of evil, and if the corpse isn't properly buried or given last rites, then sometimes you just get undead.



Is there any rules precedent for this?






dnd-5e undead







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  • Earlier editions acceptable? Also, I fail to understand why a DM would be required to justify something like this, especially if there are world reasons to support it, that is entirely DM fiat. What spell were they expecting to have been cast to animate giants out of curiousity?
    – Slagmoth
    1 hour ago







  • 2




    Earlier editions are fine. No, I'm not required to justify it -- this is my world and my house rule -- but I'm curious if it is justified.
    – Dan B
    1 hour ago














up vote
4
down vote

favorite












My player characters killed some fire giants near an evil altar and then left the area. When they returned, I told them the fire giants were zombies now.



My players were confused. They kept wanting to know who cast the spell.



I told them nobody cast the spell. If a creature dies in a horrible way, especially in close proximity to a source of evil, and if the corpse isn't properly buried or given last rites, then sometimes you just get undead.



Is there any rules precedent for this?






dnd-5e undead







share|improve this question





















  • Earlier editions acceptable? Also, I fail to understand why a DM would be required to justify something like this, especially if there are world reasons to support it, that is entirely DM fiat. What spell were they expecting to have been cast to animate giants out of curiousity?
    – Slagmoth
    1 hour ago







  • 2




    Earlier editions are fine. No, I'm not required to justify it -- this is my world and my house rule -- but I'm curious if it is justified.
    – Dan B
    1 hour ago












up vote
4
down vote

favorite









up vote
4
down vote

favorite











My player characters killed some fire giants near an evil altar and then left the area. When they returned, I told them the fire giants were zombies now.



My players were confused. They kept wanting to know who cast the spell.



I told them nobody cast the spell. If a creature dies in a horrible way, especially in close proximity to a source of evil, and if the corpse isn't properly buried or given last rites, then sometimes you just get undead.



Is there any rules precedent for this?






dnd-5e undead







share|improve this question













My player characters killed some fire giants near an evil altar and then left the area. When they returned, I told them the fire giants were zombies now.



My players were confused. They kept wanting to know who cast the spell.



I told them nobody cast the spell. If a creature dies in a horrible way, especially in close proximity to a source of evil, and if the corpse isn't properly buried or given last rites, then sometimes you just get undead.



Is there any rules precedent for this?






dnd-5e undead




dnd-5e undead






share|improve this question













share|improve this question











share|improve this question




share|improve this question










asked 1 hour ago









Dan B

32.9k758126




32.9k758126











  • Earlier editions acceptable? Also, I fail to understand why a DM would be required to justify something like this, especially if there are world reasons to support it, that is entirely DM fiat. What spell were they expecting to have been cast to animate giants out of curiousity?
    – Slagmoth
    1 hour ago







  • 2




    Earlier editions are fine. No, I'm not required to justify it -- this is my world and my house rule -- but I'm curious if it is justified.
    – Dan B
    1 hour ago
















  • Earlier editions acceptable? Also, I fail to understand why a DM would be required to justify something like this, especially if there are world reasons to support it, that is entirely DM fiat. What spell were they expecting to have been cast to animate giants out of curiousity?
    – Slagmoth
    1 hour ago







  • 2




    Earlier editions are fine. No, I'm not required to justify it -- this is my world and my house rule -- but I'm curious if it is justified.
    – Dan B
    1 hour ago















Earlier editions acceptable? Also, I fail to understand why a DM would be required to justify something like this, especially if there are world reasons to support it, that is entirely DM fiat. What spell were they expecting to have been cast to animate giants out of curiousity?
– Slagmoth
1 hour ago





Earlier editions acceptable? Also, I fail to understand why a DM would be required to justify something like this, especially if there are world reasons to support it, that is entirely DM fiat. What spell were they expecting to have been cast to animate giants out of curiousity?
– Slagmoth
1 hour ago





2




2




Earlier editions are fine. No, I'm not required to justify it -- this is my world and my house rule -- but I'm curious if it is justified.
– Dan B
1 hour ago




Earlier editions are fine. No, I'm not required to justify it -- this is my world and my house rule -- but I'm curious if it is justified.
– Dan B
1 hour ago










1 Answer
1






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7
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Definitely. It's literally in the description of the Zombie, in the Monster Manual:




Some zombies rise spontaneously when dark magic saturates an area.







share|improve this answer
















  • 1




    LOLz, here I was scouring a references to something I read about a necropolis from 3.X or something...
    – Slagmoth
    54 mins ago










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1 Answer
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1 Answer
1






active

oldest

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active

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up vote
7
down vote













Definitely. It's literally in the description of the Zombie, in the Monster Manual:




Some zombies rise spontaneously when dark magic saturates an area.







share|improve this answer
















  • 1




    LOLz, here I was scouring a references to something I read about a necropolis from 3.X or something...
    – Slagmoth
    54 mins ago














up vote
7
down vote













Definitely. It's literally in the description of the Zombie, in the Monster Manual:




Some zombies rise spontaneously when dark magic saturates an area.







share|improve this answer
















  • 1




    LOLz, here I was scouring a references to something I read about a necropolis from 3.X or something...
    – Slagmoth
    54 mins ago












up vote
7
down vote










up vote
7
down vote









Definitely. It's literally in the description of the Zombie, in the Monster Manual:




Some zombies rise spontaneously when dark magic saturates an area.







share|improve this answer












Definitely. It's literally in the description of the Zombie, in the Monster Manual:




Some zombies rise spontaneously when dark magic saturates an area.








share|improve this answer












share|improve this answer



share|improve this answer










answered 56 mins ago









Erik

41.9k11143214




41.9k11143214







  • 1




    LOLz, here I was scouring a references to something I read about a necropolis from 3.X or something...
    – Slagmoth
    54 mins ago












  • 1




    LOLz, here I was scouring a references to something I read about a necropolis from 3.X or something...
    – Slagmoth
    54 mins ago







1




1




LOLz, here I was scouring a references to something I read about a necropolis from 3.X or something...
– Slagmoth
54 mins ago




LOLz, here I was scouring a references to something I read about a necropolis from 3.X or something...
– Slagmoth
54 mins ago

















 

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