Death's Door

Death's Door (minor) by Senator Cybus

If the hero is so severely injured that he is at the very point of death, he can draw upon the necrotic energies of the netherworld and transform into a being neither living nor dead! When reduced to zero Hit Points or below, the super being immediately changes into an undead state: his skin becomes inhumanly pallid and his eyes turn as black as midnight. This transformation provides the following bonuses:

• The undead super being has a S.D.C. score of 45 +5 per level of experience - this is not added to the hero’s regular score, it only applies once he has lost all of his normal S.D.C. and Hit Points.
• The character gains the power of Extraordinary Physical Strength. If he already has Ext. P.S. (or better), he receives a bonus of +10 P.S. instead.
• Horror Factor of 10 (or a bonus of +3 if he already has the power).
• The character is impervious to pain and suffers no penalties due to fatigue or injury. His wounds do not bleed.
• Cannot be stunned, and not vulnerable to death blows or critical hits.
• Immune to psionics (not including physical psionic attacks, like Mind Bolt and Psi Sword), illusions and mind control.
• Impervious to extremes of temperature and ambient radiation.
• Immune to poisons, drugs and toxins.
• Does not need to eat, drink, sleep or breathe.

Note: while undead, the character’s normal metabolic activity is suspended - unfortunately, this means that any regenerative superpowers he has (Healing Factor, Super-Regeneration, etc.) will not function. He can still use psionic abilities/spells to heal himself and can be healed by others. The super being will immediately revert to mortal form when he has healed back up to at least 1 Hit Point or the transformation has run its course (see Duration below), whichever happens first. If the duration runs out and the hero still has zero/negative Hit Points, he will drop into a coma and may soon die: see Surviving Coma and Death on page 18 of the HU main book.

If all the S.D.C. of his undead form is depleted, it indicates that the character has been torn to pieces, beyond any hope of revival or resurrection.

Range: Self.

Duration: The character can remain in an undead state for 2 minutes per level of experience (2 minutes at level one, 4 minutes at level two, etc).

Attacks Per Melee: None; the character transforms as soon as his Hit Points reach zero, even if he is unwilling or unconscious (immediately awakens).

Bonuses: The hero is immune to the paranormal/mystical attacks of the undead, though they can still strike him physically. Cannot be turned into a vampire.

Limitations: While transformed, the hero takes double damage from any weapon made of silver. Additionally, he is vulnerable to any attack or effect that specifically targets the undead (such as the wizard spell Turn Dead) and will register as undead to anyone with the ability to detect such creatures (psychics with Presence Sense or See Aura, super beings with Sense Death & Destruction, etc).

The super being can only use this power a number of times per day equal to half of his experience level (round fractions up); once at levels one and two, twice at levels three and four, etc. Additionally, due to the strain of channelling necrotic energy, he can only use it once per hour, regardless of the number of daily usages remaining.

While the transformation allows the hero to ignore most injuries, it cannot compensate for dismemberment; severed limbs will not magically regenerate. Equally, it cannot save the hero from decapitation - if he loses his head, he’s dead for good.

If the hero is reduced to negative Hit Points by an attack that causes massive damage, it’s possible that he may be destroyed outright rather than transform, his power overwhelmed by the sheer force of the attack: if the strike that kills him would also be enough to immediately deplete all of his undead S.D.C., then he dies for real and the power cannot help him.