Insectoid

[alhoon]

But this is my point, Mephisto. They would not necessarily be "useless". The reason I brought up a 2000 years old skeleton is that such skeletons are very very brittle and have no tenonts. But a skeleton made from them is as tough as the caster makes it.

Same with the Exuviae. With the right spell, that transparent, thin layer of chitin could be a CR4 creature with 120 hp and AC 17.

[Mephisto of the FoS]

But this is my point, Mephisto. They would not necessarily be "useless". The reason I brought up a 2000 years old skeleton is that such skeletons are very very brittle and have no tenonts. But a skeleton made from them is as tough as the caster makes it.

My bad, I somehow read it wrong.

Same with the Exuviae. With the right spell, that transparent, thin layer of chitin could be a CR4 creature with 120 hp and AC 17.

CR4 creature with 120 hp and AC 17?
I think you are exaggerating...

[alhoon]

CR4 creature with 120 hp and AC 17?
I think you are exaggerating...

5th edition CR4... With low damage.

[Baron Von Stanton]

The "mechanical" properties of the animated corpse / exoskeleton / exuv-? are of little interest when it comes to the undead creature. A skeleton doesn't have tenonts and still moves. A 2000 years old skeleton used to animate dead is as tough as a fresh skeleton.

It's not the mechanical properties that's the problem, it's the structural properties of the exuviae/molts that will cause problems, that is, they're too soft, too brittle and deteriorate too quickly. It's not a matter of "old bones" vs "fresh bones," it's a matter of "toenail clipping" vs "bone"

[alhoon]

It's not the mechanical properties that's the problem, it's the structural properties of the exuviae/molts that will cause problems, that is, they're too soft, too brittle and deteriorate too quickly. It's not a matter of "old bones" vs "fresh bones," it's a matter of "toenail clipping" vs "bone"

Ghosts and spectral creatures don't even have that.
Nail chitin may not sound impressive but there are undead monsters made of just the skin of flayed creatures.
The exuviae of an insectoid that is 7 feet tall, will be more impressive than your toenails but again, how strong it would be, depends on the magic to animate it, not the actual mechanical and structural properties of it. I will repeat: Skeletons walk without tenonts. This is magic.