OSR: 1d100 Variant Skeletons

Back in the day, variant monsters were classic GM dick moves.

"Oh, you thought you were going to fight a red dragon, so you stocked up on potions of fire resistance. You were deceived! This is a pthumeriarian blue dragon, which appears identical to red dragon but breathes ice instead. Hah! Got you now! Looks like you should have read the Monster Manual VI and anticipated such a possibility!"

Etc.

Fred Augis

These days, that kind of behavior isn't well respected, and for good reason. Instead, I've tried to make 1d100 Variant Skeletons that are compact OSR-type challenges. Each type should be:
-interesting to fight
-exploitable
-memorable
-potentially telegraphed

They are low on detail but, hopefully, provide some interesting ideas for a room, a dungeon, a random encounter, or a summonable undead helper.

If you want more skeletons and more stats, Paper Elemental has a PDF here.

1d100	Skeletons	Description
Undead
1	Regular Skeleton	Grabby hands.
2	Armed Skeleton	Sword and shield.
3	Armed Skeleton	Big rusty axe. Swings overhand.
4	Armed Skeleton	Spear and shield. Circles and stabs.
5	Armed Skeleton	Bow and arrows. Shockingly accurate.
6	Armoured Skeleton	Rusty horned helmet. Unusually tough.
7	Armoured Skeleton	Scraps of leather and chain. Traps swords.
8	Armoured Skeleton	Full plate, hinged visor, sword, shield. Clang. Clang. Clang.
9	Valuable Skeleton	Gems in eye sockets.
10	Valuable Skeleton	Coated in gold foil.
11	Royal Skeleton	Wears a crown, carries a scepter, directs others.
12	Decorated Skeleton	Covered in brightly coloured paint. Smears easily.
13	Knight Skeleton	Skeleton with a sword on a skeleton horse.
14	Two-Headed Skeleton	Slightly smarter than average.
15	Four-Armed Skeleton	Additional attack. Lots of grappling.
16	Four-Armed Skeleton	With four curved swords. Like a blender.
17	Long Arm Skeleton	Attacks with whip-like many-jointed arms.
18	Ogre Skeleton	Thick skull. Big and dumb and mean.
19	Giant Skeleton	Crouched and bent. Way too fast for its size.
20	Gas Burst Skeleton	Hollow bones filled with toxic green fumes.
21	Dust Skeleton	Explodes into choking bone dust. Too easy to kill.
22	Floating Skelehead	Flying skull dragging a flail body.
23	Skeleton Jelly	Invulnerable skeleton coated in orange slime.
24	Vitrified Skeleton	Blasted into cloudy glass and carbon chunks.
25	Ash Skeleton	Coated in volcanic dust and stone.
26	Bloody Skeleton	Coated in blood and scraps of flesh.
27	Tar Skeleton	Coated in non-flammable sticky pitch.
28	Fire Skeleton	On fire, somehow. Lobs fireballs and hops around.
29	Seductive Skeleton	Poses against wall, waggles hips suggestively.
30	Beehive Skeleton	Swarm of bees in the ribcage.
31	Hibernaculum Skeleton	Tangle of snakes in the ribcage and skull.
32	Hibernaculum Skeleton	Cluster of bats in the ribcage and skull.
33	Droning Skeleton	Hive of stirges in the ribcage and skull.
34	Exo-Skeleton	Giant crab shell. Attack its weak spot.
35	Exo-Skeleton	Shed spider skin, coated in hair.
36	Dog Skeleton	Bites and hunts.
37	Bird Skeleton	Small. Tries to peck out your eyes.
38	Horse Skeleton	Panics. Not smart, but very leggy.
39	Giant Fish Skeleton	Maw full of sharp teeth.
40	Giant Snake Skeleton	Skitters on ribcage legs.
41	Nesting Skeleton	Skeleton with another smaller skeleton inside, etc.
42	Inverted Skeleton	Walks on hands, kicks you in the face.
43	Ball Skeleton	Fifty skeletons mashed together. Crawls and rolls.
44	Wheel Skeleton	Rolls at a blistering pace, runs people over.
45	Skelecopter	Spinning knife-edged arms let the skeleton fly.
46	Rocket Punch Skeleton	Fires one arm like a missile.
47	Ribcage Maw Skeleton	Tries to bite people to death with its chest.
48	Ghost Skeleton	Poltergeist manipulating bones. Floaty and wobbly.
49	Dancing Skeleton	Will try to dance with the living. May pull their arms off.
50	Fossil Dinosaur	Stuck halfway into the walls.
Not Undead
51	Painted Human	Skinny person in black and white paint. Realistic.
52	Disguised Human	Person in very deceptive black and white clothing.
53	Disguised Human	Person in black clothing with a skeleton tied to it.
54	Disguised Human	Person in skeleton armour.
55	Incredibly Old Human	Nearly transparent skin, stringy hair, knobbly fingers.
56	Cursed Human	Cursed by a witch to look like a skeleton. Can only say "Ack".
57	Wereskeleton	Human by day, skeleton by the light of the moon.
58	Cloth Skeleton	Animated by painted spells.
59	Paper Skeleton	Folded from one sheet of enchanted paper.
60	Chalk Skeleton	Carved and articulated golem. Squeaky and dusty.
61	Straw Skeleton	Tightly wound straw limbed golem. Rustic.
62	Wood Skeleton	Carved and articulated golem. Brass hinges.
63	Wired Skeleton	Controlled by electrified wires and a golem brain.
64	Wall Skeleton	2D cutout, slides along walls, takes over your shadow.
65	Ooze Skeleton	Bones motivated by transparent jelly.
66	Plant Skeleton	Bones motivated by parasitic vines.
67	Rat War-Engine	Skeleton controlled by rats with pulleys and levers.
68	Mimic Skeleton	Just another bizarre mimic disguise.
69	Puppet Skeleton	Controlled from above by invisible wires.
70	Puppet Skeleton	Controlled by a telekinetic wizard.
71	Illusory Skeleton	Stop-motion, projected via a magic gem lantern.
72	Illusory Skeleton	Realistic, but projected on a flat plane. Flickers between viewers.
73	Illusory Skeleton	Magic projects an image of your skeleton. All actions are mirrored.
74	Worm Skeleton	Bones motivated by flesh-eating red worms.
75	Delusion Skeleton	Created by a spell. Only exists in your mind.
76	Delusion Skeleton	Hallucinogenic dust from a rare plant makes you see skeletons.
77	Goblin Skeleton	Too stupid to know it's undead, sneaky enough to get away with it.
78	Skeleton Bird	Thin wading bird camouflaged as a hunched-over skeleton.
79	Skeleton Bird	Feathers and legs make a convincing illusion
80	Infernal Skeleton	Summoned from hell itself. Sulphurous, daemonic. Tiny horns.
81	Angelic Skeleton	Halo, wings, ragged white robes.
82	Ivory Skeleton	Incredibly valuable if captured undamaged.
83	Stone Skeleton	Golem carved from white marble. Beautiful. Loves to pose.
84	Ice Skeleton	Summoned from an arctic plane, forced into this shape.
85	Smoke Skeleton	Enchanted grey fog, forced into this shape.
86	Insect Skeleton	Stick-like catacomb insect camouflaged as a skeleton.
87	Rope Skeleton	Made of enchanted white rope, carefully knotted and coiled.
88	Glassflesh Creature	Clear living tissue surrounding a coincidentally humanoid skeleton.
89	Skeleton Lure	Anglerfish creature with wobbly skeleton lure.
90	Skeleton Hermit Crab	Skull-shaped crab manipulates other bones with spindly legs.
91	Skeleton Hermit Crab	Each bone is home to one small crab. They work together.
92	Inflatable Skeleton	Special bladder deployed by a small turtle. Scares away predators.
93	Bony Lizard	Armour plated in white. Skull looks very odd in profile.
94	Disguised Dryad	Hidden inside of bones so people leave it alone.
95	Lead Skeleton	White lead golem. Dense but soft.
96	Wax Skeleton	Candle golem with a macabre shape.
97	Paper Mache Skeleton	Enchanted and full of delicious candy. Candy may be cursed.
98	Rogue Anatomy Model	Clay organs inside an enchanted clay skeleton. Obeys commands.
99	Octopus Skeleton	Controlled by thin terrestrial octopus. Skittish.
100	Glass Skeleton	Enchanted artistry. Can use to deduce potion effects.