Well I'd argue that there IS upkeep for characters, the simple fact of having to heal their injuries is "upkeeping", which made me think depriving undead of healing was a way to upset that.
True, but I just think that's a bit too harsh.
Leeching life to other party members seems interesting. But then again, it's pretty much the same as simply healing the character. Have the undead leech life on the toughest living party member, then heal her back up to full health with traditionnal methods.
I'd have no quarry with eating corpses but I'd feel there might be a missed opportunity to do something a bit different than usual. We don't get to play undead so often, but when we do, they're pretty much always the same.
Yeah, you're right about the Leeching Life thing being too similar to standard healing, but isn't that a point in favour of corpse-eating? That's not something you see often either. It could also have conditions like "bodies must be intact, not destroyed into ash/goo/ice cubes".
Thanks for the interesting ideas.
