The World of Avlis

I'm curious about the mechanics of doing these things. As I understand it, animating a corpse would literally require a corpse to animate (thus, in this case, it's nice to RP this; ex *drags corpse out of sack, arranges on the ground, chants over it* and up pops a skeletal warrior).

Summoning, however, I'm not so sure about. I've taken it to literally mean that an undead creature is summoned from somewhere else (much like summoning an elemental or animal companion). Is that right? If so, are they summoned from the negative energy plane or from somewhere in the world (such as some crypt it was hanging out in)?

I think it depends on what spell you use. Animate Dead and Create Undead both imply that a body is used.

I dont give it much thought when I cast the spells, as I end up with a skeleton named Summoned Skeleton, rather than Animated Skeleton.

There are the following spells:
Animate Dead
Create Undead
Creater Greater Undead (divine only)

And the following pale master abilities:
Animate Dead
Summon Undead
Summon Greater Undead

I assume animate dead works the same in either case. But what is required by either of the create undead spells or the summon undead abilities? Or, rather, what goes on in those cases?

The palemaster Summon Undead abilities actually summon an undead creature from somewhere else, it pops in, fights, and then pops back out at the end of the duration or when it is "killed".

In PnP, Create Undead (both versions) technically requires a dead body as a material component, and Animate Dead requires one or more dead bodies as the target of the spell. Since we don't use material components on Avlis and dead bodies disappear...that creates an interesting situation. If you want an official answer to this, post it in Ask the Team and we'll get back to you.

I would actually carry a supply of bodies around with me if they were not so heavy.....

Need a greater magic casket!

Greater magic coffin maybe?