Is there in myth, legend, or lore any animal that any or all undead are afraid of or repelled by?
"Undead" as a type of creature are relatively rare in actual mythology, so you'd want to consider more general protections from evil. Lions are a good candidate -- more exotic than dogs, generally a sun symbol, associated with bravery, plenty of examples of them being symbolically as protectors against evil.
I can't think of any. Not for ghosts or undead in general anyway.
If there are, the animal probably wasn't exotic, so cats and dogs are a safe guess.
You might ask the DM if their world has any such superstitions or if you can make one up for your character's region. Then it can be whatever you want (you know, made up world ergo made up myths).
In D&D, your best bet is likely to be Raven feathers on behalf of the Ravenqueen who hates intelligent undead. There is no direct link between ravens and repelling undead, but with a spiritual link, it could support lore for future cleric abilities.
Well I mean .... skeletons would have every reason to fear dogs.
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Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
In egyptian mythology, the cats protected from evil. If your campaign is less serious, you can also go with hyenas/vultures or other animals that would feed on corpses...
In 3e, there was a variation of bulette from Eberron called the Karrnathi Bulette. It actively hunted and consumed the undead soldiers Karranth used during the Last War, which in turn made it into a spiky disease carrier.
In mythology, ghosts and spirits are often not fans of cats and dogs due to varying degrees of "they can see through the disguises and see us for what we really are" (Kitsune of Japanese myth are notorious for being afraid of dogs for this very reason).
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Formerly Devan Avalon.
Trying to get your physical content on Beyond is like going to Microsoft and saying "I have a physical Playstation disk, give me a digital Xbox version!"
In 3.x IMHO it might be any animal with a celestial template.
You might ask the GM or rule animals from a specific plane would be foes of undead and thus can be enchanted with various properties.
I might take some inspiration from your gods favorite animal and ask the GM if it would be ok if you do what you want to do.
Also remember at times people believe things are are not true so it may be a societal belief but without factual benefits just perceived benefits. If you want to be more cynical maybe the the gods church sells such items (that have no actual value) to the mass's in areas that have lots of undead. On a more positive note maybe the items with blessed by a cleric have some longer lasting benefit but not a constant one. Such as a cloak that when blessed in the appropriate way gives +1 AC vs a set of undead this effect last for 3 days before needing to be reblessed. Or the item could only be magical/magical effect in a specific area. Note: this idea can seem like poor GMing to some players as it has conditional magic items and a way for a GM's NPC's to have powerful items that the group may not be able to use.
Great Danes specifically are supposed to protect from Ghosts.
Cerberus guards the gates of the underworld. Not to stop the living from coming in, but to stop the dead from getting out.
Many have already mentioned Fu-Dogs.
Anubis is a jackal man who weighs your heart and feeds it to a crockadile if you were a jerk... and jackals are dog-ish.
We bury our dead specifically because of dogs who rip them up... so hopefully it isn't worth it if they're deep enough. Literally we protect the dead from dogs.
Crows carry the spirits of the dead to the underworld, so giving the undead a PTSD flashback of losing their soul would be pretty neat.
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Normally my Google-Fu is pretty good but i am coming up blank.
Is there in myth, legend, or lore any animal that any or all undead are afraid of or repelled by?
For background and RP purposes i want my Grave cleric to have a cape made of the fur of an animal he believes will protect him from the undead.
There are some references to vampire not liking cats, but can anyone think of anything else?
"Undead" as a type of creature are relatively rare in actual mythology, so you'd want to consider more general protections from evil. Lions are a good candidate -- more exotic than dogs, generally a sun symbol, associated with bravery, plenty of examples of them being symbolically as protectors against evil.
I can't think of any. Not for ghosts or undead in general anyway.
If there are, the animal probably wasn't exotic, so cats and dogs are a safe guess.
You might ask the DM if their world has any such superstitions or if you can make one up for your character's region. Then it can be whatever you want (you know, made up world ergo made up myths).
In D&D, your best bet is likely to be Raven feathers on behalf of the Ravenqueen who hates intelligent undead. There is no direct link between ravens and repelling undead, but with a spiritual link, it could support lore for future cleric abilities.
Well I mean .... skeletons would have every reason to fear dogs.
Blanket disclaimer: I only ever state opinion. But I can sound terribly dogmatic - so if you feel I'm trying to tell you what to think, I'm really not, I swear. I'm telling you what I think, that's all.
In egyptian mythology, the cats protected from evil. If your campaign is less serious, you can also go with hyenas/vultures or other animals that would feed on corpses...
In 3e, there was a variation of bulette from Eberron called the Karrnathi Bulette. It actively hunted and consumed the undead soldiers Karranth used during the Last War, which in turn made it into a spiky disease carrier.
In mythology, ghosts and spirits are often not fans of cats and dogs due to varying degrees of "they can see through the disguises and see us for what we really are" (Kitsune of Japanese myth are notorious for being afraid of dogs for this very reason).
Formerly Devan Avalon.
Trying to get your physical content on Beyond is like going to Microsoft and saying "I have a physical Playstation disk, give me a digital Xbox version!"
Maybe Fu Dogs protectors of temples.
In 3.x IMHO it might be any animal with a celestial template.
You might ask the GM or rule animals from a specific plane would be foes of undead and thus can be enchanted with various properties.
I might take some inspiration from your gods favorite animal and ask the GM if it would be ok if you do what you want to do.
Also remember at times people believe things are are not true so it may be a societal belief but without factual benefits just perceived benefits. If you want to be more cynical maybe the the gods church sells such items (that have no actual value) to the mass's in areas that have lots of undead. On a more positive note maybe the items with blessed by a cleric have some longer lasting benefit but not a constant one. Such as a cloak that when blessed in the appropriate way gives +1 AC vs a set of undead this effect last for 3 days before needing to be reblessed. Or the item could only be magical/magical effect in a specific area. Note: this idea can seem like poor GMing to some players as it has conditional magic items and a way for a GM's NPC's to have powerful items that the group may not be able to use.
Good Luck
I think maybe a dog would be good against a skeleton because they like bones
Dogs and cats are super common.
Great Danes specifically are supposed to protect from Ghosts.
Cerberus guards the gates of the underworld. Not to stop the living from coming in, but to stop the dead from getting out.
Many have already mentioned Fu-Dogs.
Anubis is a jackal man who weighs your heart and feeds it to a crockadile if you were a jerk... and jackals are dog-ish.
We bury our dead specifically because of dogs who rip them up... so hopefully it isn't worth it if they're deep enough. Literally we protect the dead from dogs.
Crows carry the spirits of the dead to the underworld, so giving the undead a PTSD flashback of losing their soul would be pretty neat.