So they would take full damage from psychic attacks
There's no such thing as "mind-affecting spells" in 5E, but the various creature types have absolutely no rules at all aside from existing - monster entries will specify if they have special defenses, such as psychic resistance, psychic immunity, or psychic reduction, and spell entries will specify if they interact with types in a special way. As a corollary, if you look up online suggested builds for amassing an undead army, they will typically recommend you use enchantment spells rather than necromancy spells to do it, as you can use several of them to force undead to do your bidding.
Related: as types have no rules, undead also need to eat, drink, breathe, and sleep unless their entry says otherwise. However, also related: monsters may have rules text which is in their entry but not in their statblock. Here are two examples:
Zombies have this in their entry, but not in their statblock: "Undead Nature. A zombie doesn't require air, food, drink, or sleep."
Vampires have this in their entry, but not in their statblock: "Undead Nature. Neither a vampire nor a vampire spawn requires air."
So if you want to know if a given undead creature has special interactions with a spell or set of spells, you need to read the entire entry to be sure, not just the statblock.
There are some Undead that I believe are listed as being immune to charm, but it's not standard across all Undead. I don't recall seeing any that are resistant or immune to Psychic damage, though... usually only Constructs get called out as being fully immune to it.
It seems odd to me that most Undead in 5E are not immune to psychic damage. I could see intelligent, self-willed Undead - Vampires, Liches, Death Knights - as taking psychic damage but your run of the mill Ghoul or Skeleton is basically just an animated husk.
It seems odd to me that most Undead in 5E are not immune to psychic damage. I could see intelligent, self-willed Undead - Vampires, Liches, Death Knights - as taking psychic damage but your run of the mill Ghoul or Skeleton is basically just an animated husk.
The Ghoul has immunity to being Charmed, which affects a bunch of mind-related spells. Both it and the Skeleton are immune to poison and exhaustion. Neither of them are considered mindless (if below-average INT) and are capable of tactics. Both are forces to be reckoned with, especially in numbers.
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It seems odd to me that most Undead in 5E are not immune to psychic damage. I could see intelligent, self-willed Undead - Vampires, Liches, Death Knights - as taking psychic damage but your run of the mill Ghoul or Skeleton is basically just an animated husk.
The Ghoul has immunity to being Charmed, which affects a bunch of mind-related spells. Both it and the Skeleton are immune to poison and exhaustion. Neither of them are considered mindless (if below-average INT) and are capable of tactics. Both are forces to be reckoned with, especially in numbers.
If by tactics, you mean being told to attack en masse or to not fire their bows until ordered to, I would hardly call that a tactical thinking on their part. It's the controlling entity that does the tactical thinking. Now a Ghast is described as having cunning, but they are not Ghouls.
It's very possible that the magic is simply creating something that makes the creature want to get away - doesn't have to be called mind affecting to take on turn undead for undead creatures and simply an emotional based fear for living creatures. Kinda easier way to handle and makes the spells more useful. and then you can say "it's magic"
It's very possible that the magic is simply creating something that makes the creature want to get away - doesn't have to be called mind affecting to take on turn undead for undead creatures and simply an emotional based fear for living creatures. Kinda easier way to handle and makes the spells more useful. and then you can say "it's magic"
Yeah, maybe think of it as nerve damage versus mental damage (though this doesn't help with skeletons). But they can "think" enough to use their bodies and obey their commands; it's not as if whoever controls them is actually telling them how to swing a sword or walk. So whatever allows them to think is what is taking the damage.
Okay, but how is that different from a Construct? A Stone or Clay Golem also "thinks" to the degree that it can receive and follow thru on certain commands. They have psychic damage immunity, though.
From what I can tell they are not.
So they would take full damage from psychic attacks
A spell or feature that affect the mind will say so if it doesn't affect undead. Phantasmal Force is one example.
Helpful rewriter of Japanese->English translation and delver into software codebases (she/e/they)
There's no such thing as "mind-affecting spells" in 5E, but the various creature types have absolutely no rules at all aside from existing - monster entries will specify if they have special defenses, such as psychic resistance, psychic immunity, or psychic reduction, and spell entries will specify if they interact with types in a special way. As a corollary, if you look up online suggested builds for amassing an undead army, they will typically recommend you use enchantment spells rather than necromancy spells to do it, as you can use several of them to force undead to do your bidding.
Related: as types have no rules, undead also need to eat, drink, breathe, and sleep unless their entry says otherwise. However, also related: monsters may have rules text which is in their entry but not in their statblock. Here are two examples:
Zombies have this in their entry, but not in their statblock: "Undead Nature. A zombie doesn't require air, food, drink, or sleep."
Vampires have this in their entry, but not in their statblock: "Undead Nature. Neither a vampire nor a vampire spawn requires air."
So if you want to know if a given undead creature has special interactions with a spell or set of spells, you need to read the entire entry to be sure, not just the statblock.
There are some Undead that I believe are listed as being immune to charm, but it's not standard across all Undead. I don't recall seeing any that are resistant or immune to Psychic damage, though... usually only Constructs get called out as being fully immune to it.
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So it is something that got lost in 3rd or 4th edition. Back then they were immune
It seems odd to me that most Undead in 5E are not immune to psychic damage. I could see intelligent, self-willed Undead - Vampires, Liches, Death Knights - as taking psychic damage but your run of the mill Ghoul or Skeleton is basically just an animated husk.
The Ghoul has immunity to being Charmed, which affects a bunch of mind-related spells. Both it and the Skeleton are immune to poison and exhaustion. Neither of them are considered mindless (if below-average INT) and are capable of tactics. Both are forces to be reckoned with, especially in numbers.
Helpful rewriter of Japanese->English translation and delver into software codebases (she/e/they)
If by tactics, you mean being told to attack en masse or to not fire their bows until ordered to, I would hardly call that a tactical thinking on their part. It's the controlling entity that does the tactical thinking. Now a Ghast is described as having cunning, but they are not Ghouls.
Ghouls are basically the fast zombies people like to see in movies. They have both the speed and the hunger for flesh.
I am glad they changed this... most undead are not mindless, and some are pretty much nothing but mind (e.g. incorporeal undead)
It's very possible that the magic is simply creating something that makes the creature want to get away - doesn't have to be called mind affecting to take on turn undead for undead creatures and simply an emotional based fear for living creatures. Kinda easier way to handle and makes the spells more useful. and then you can say "it's magic"
Okay, but how is that different from a Construct? A Stone or Clay Golem also "thinks" to the degree that it can receive and follow thru on certain commands. They have psychic damage immunity, though.
I think there's a good argument that "dumb" undead should be at least resistant to psychic damage if constructs are outright immune.