Web searches have turned up several discussions about stacking the bloody and burning skeleton templates. Most folks seem to think that stacking them is legal. Most folks also seem to think that the Hit Dice cost to animate such a creature should be tripled though FrankTheDM feels it should be quadrupled (and maybe he’s right for all I know)
I’d be interested to know if there’s a general consensus on the HD cost, but there’s also another question which I haven’t seen addressed. What Charisma score would a skeleton which was both bloody and burning have? Since skeletons usually have 10 Charisma but adding these variants can increase that to 12 or 14 I’d guess that the highest value is the one which counts. Maybe that’s just the viewpoint of a self-serving necromancer though. What do folks think?
Given the season I'm kind of imagining explosive undead turkeys and "flaming turkey wings".
I'm in love with that visual. I'd go with the highest value, myself.
"Skeleton" is an acquired template that can be added to any corporeal creature (other than an undead) that has a skeletal system (referred to hereafter as the base creature).
Bloody and Burning templates cannot target the creature with the other template applied. You cannot combine skeleton templates.
It then states:
Each of the following skeleton types modifies the base skeleton in a few key ways. Except as noted, these variations can be stacked with one another—it's possible to have a bloody burning skeletal champion.
Specific overrides general.
I would go with the Doubled Double is a Triple rule.
/cevah
Bloody Burning Skeleton is definitely legal as a monster template combination, but whether it's legal as an option for the animate dead spell is unclear. The rules simply don't say one way or the other. Bottom line, different GM's are going to interpret this one different ways.
Most folks also seem to think that the Hit Dice cost to animate such a creature should be tripled though FrankTheDM feels it should be quadrupled (and maybe he’s right for all I know)
Both of these are valid interpretations by RAW, in my view. Both multiplicative and additive stacking have precedents in Pathfinder, and there is nothing quite similar enough to this case to make a direct comparison. Heck, you could even make an argument that the HD cost change doesn't stack at all and they stay at x2. Equally valid by the (very vague) RAW we have at our disposal, although I can't see any GM going with that ruling.
What Charisma score would a skeleton which was both bloody and burning have? Since skeletons usually have 10 Charisma but adding these variants can increase that to 12 or 14 I’d guess that the highest value is the one which counts
It depends on the order in which you apply the templates, which is completely arbitrary. Whichever template is applied second overrules the template that is applied first, and it's nothing but GM fiat as to which order the templates are applied in.
@Cevah - I hadn't noticed that the bloody and burning variants could be used with the skeletal champion. The cost might quickly get prohibitive though. In any event, the rules you quoted seem to settle the issue of whether bloody and burning can be stacked.
Bloody Burning Skeleton is definitely legal as a monster template combination, but whether it's legal as an option for the animate dead spell is unclear. The rules simply don't say one way or the other. Bottom line, different GM's are going to interpret this one different ways.
In the link above, there is the text:
"Numerous variant skeletons exist, such as those whose bones burn with an unending fire and those who drip with gore and reassemble themselves over time. Both of these variant skeletons can be created using animate dead, but they count as twice their normal number of Hit Dice per casting."Each by itself can be done with animate dead. If you can do the HD, I see no reason to prohibit the combined version with that spell.
/cevah
I guess Dasrak (or somebody) might say that the fact you can make a Bloody Burning Skeletal Champion with Create Undead doesn't necessarily mean that you can make a Bloody Burning Skeleton with Animate Dead. Since none of the rules attribute the ability to combine multiple variants with one spell or deny it to another I feel fairly safe assuming that Animate Dead can be used to combine multiple variants.
As far as the Charisma of the resulting creatures goes I guess maybe I'll just have to assume that the highest value counts. I'm pretty sure that the DMs I'm dealing with won't have a problem with that though I always kind of wonder what the official ruling on things would be.