Kid Charlemagne
I am the Very Model of a Modern Moderator
Incidentally, this thread is a great resource!
Undead Origins
Alzrius
The EN World kitten
Check out "Birth of the Dead: Origin of the Walking Dead" by Ari Marmell (our own Mouseferatu) in Dragon #336. In it, he gives ways in which various types of undead can be created (though I'm not sure how much the "recipes" there jive with what's listed here). It's really a great article.
Tangentially posting...
I always liked the way DarkSun handled Undead. There really weren't distinct types, just a few certain ways by which they arise, along with a toolbox of how to build them. That way, each undead was potentially unique.
I always liked the way DarkSun handled Undead. There really weren't distinct types, just a few certain ways by which they arise, along with a toolbox of how to build them. That way, each undead was potentially unique.
Thanael
Explorer
There's also one or two older Dargon articles during the 1E/2E era that deal with undead origins.
"A Touch of Evil" in #126 is probably one.
"Beyond the Grave" in #198 could be one too.
"Too Evil to Die" in #120 could be one.
2E's The Complete Book of Necromancers has a chapter on Undying Minions that lists some origins.
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Voadam
Legend
I got the pdf of it for this type of stuff and though I hope to get to posting 1e stuff I'm going to start off with 3.5 stuff first and I have a ton.
Voadam
Legend
I heard that is the description in the Epic Handbook and I was dissapointed to find it not included in the srd section as I don't have the EH.
Voadam
Legend
I'm glad you find it useful.
The next additions I plan to add are from thee 3.5 monster books that I think are 100% text OGC: Complete Minons from Bastion Press, Tome of Horrors Revised by Necromancer Games, and Complete Denizens of Avadnu by Inner Circle Games.
Voadam
Legend
Tome of Horrors Revised
Tome of Horrors Revised:
3.5
Apparitions: Apparitions are undead spirits of creatures that died as the result of an accident. The twist of fate that ended their life prematurely has driven them totally and completely to the side of evil.
Any humanoid slain by an apparition becomes an apparition in 1d4 hours.
Barrow Wight: A humanoid slain by a barrow wight becomes a barrow wight in 1d4 rounds.
Bhuta: When a person is murdered, the spirit sometimes clings to the Material Plane, refusing to accept its mortal death. This spirit possesses its original body and seeks out those responsible for its murder.
Bloody Bones: Their true origins are unknown, but they are believed to be the undead remains of those who desecrate evil temples and are punished by the gods for their wrongdoings.
Bog Mummy: When a corpse preserved by swamp mud is imbued with negative energy, it rises as a bog mummy.
Any humanoid that dies from bog rot becomes a bog mummy in 1d4 days.
Coffer Corpse: The coffer corpse is an undead creature formed as the result of an incomplete death ritual.
Crypt Thing: Crypt things are undead creatures found guarding tombs, graves, crypts, and other such structures. They are created by spellcasters to guard such areas and they never leave their assigned area.
Create Crypt Thing Spell
Darnoc: The darnoc are said to be the restless spirits of oppressive, cruel, and power hungry individuals cursed forever to a life of monotony and toil, forbidden by the gods to taste the spoils of the afterlife they so desperately craved in life.
Any humanoid slain by a darnoc becomes a darnoc in 1d4 rounds.
Demiurge: The demiurge is the undead spirit of an evil human returned from the grave with a wrathful vengeance against all living creatures that enter its domain.
Orcus: Orcus is the Prince of the Undead, and it is said that he alone created the first undead that walked the worlds.
Draug: The draug is the vengeful spirit of a ship’s captain who died at sea, thus being denied a proper burial. If an entire ship sinks at sea with the loss of all hands, the ship itself and its entire crew may return as ghostly wanderers. The captain usually rises as a draug and his crew rises as brine zombies
When a ship sinks beneath the waves, it and its entire crew may return as ghostly wanderers, especially if the captain and crew had a less than scrupulous profession (as pirates, for example). A sunken ship of this nature may undergo a transformation from the negative energy and evil surrounding it. When this happens, the ship rises from the deep, piloted by a draug and manned by skeletons, brine zombies, zombies, and lacedons.
Ghoul-Stirge: The origin of the ghoul-stirge has been lost, but it is believed to be the result of a failed magical experiment conducted in ages past by a group of evil and (thought to be) insane necromancers.
Groaning Spirit: The groaning spirit is the malevolent spirit of a female elf
Haunt: The haunt is the spirit of a person who died before completing some vital task.
Huecuva: Huecuva are the undead spirits of good clerics who were unfaithful to their god and turned to the path of evil before death. As punishment for their transgression, their god condemned them to roam the earth as the one creature all good-aligned clerics despise — undead.
Mummy of the Deep: It is the result of an evil creature that was buried at sea for its sins in life. The wickedness permeating the former life has managed to cling even into unlife and revive the soul as a mummy of the deep.
Undead Ooze: When an ooze moves across the grave of a restless and evil soul, a transformation takes place. The malevolent spirit, still tied to the rotting flesh consumed by the ooze, melds with the ooze.
As a full-round action, an undead ooze can expel 1d6 skeletons from its mass.
Vampiric Ooze: The vampiric ooze is thought to have been created by a great undead spellcaster using ancient and forbidden magic. Some believe the vampiric ooze was formed when an ochre jelly slew a vampire and absorbed it.
Any humanoid slain by a vampiric ooze becomes a zombie in 1d4 rounds.
Poltergeist: Poltergeists are undead spirits that haunt the area where they died. A poltergeist has no material form and cannot manifest on the Material Plane. Most poltergeists are evil, as they are “trapped” in the area where they were killed and can never leave this area unless they are destroyed. This “prison” drives them mad and they come to hate all living creatures.
Shadow Rat Common: ?
Shadow Rat Dire: ?
Lesser Shadow: According to ancient texts, an arcane creature known only as the Shadow Lord created beings of living darkness to aid him and protect him. These beings, called shadows, were formed through a combination of darkness and evil. He also created other beings of darkness, lesser beings, not quite as powerful as his original creations. These creatures became known as lesser shadows.
Skulleton: Skulletons are undead creatures believed to have been created by a lich or demilich, for the creature greatly resembles the latter in that it is nothing more than a pile of dust, a skull, and a collection of bones. The gemstones inset in its eye sockets and in place of its teeth are not gemstones at all, but painted glass (worthless).
The skulleton is thought to have been created to detour would-be tomb plunders in to thinking they had desecrated the lair of a demilich.
To create a skulleton, the creator must be at least 9th level. The following ingredients are required.
— The skull of a humanoid or monstrous humanoid.
— A few bones from a humanoid or monstrous humanoid.
— A small quantity (at least 1 pint) of earth (dirt).
Powder the bones (but not the skull) and mix with the earth or dirt in an iron bowl. Pour the powdered mixture over the skull. Cast the following spells in this order: contagion, fly, stinking cloud, and animate dead. Within 1 hour, the skulleton animates and comes to “life.”
Ghoul Wolf: ?
Dire Ghoul Wolf: ?
Shadow Wolf: ?
Brine Zombie: Brine zombies are the remnants of a ship’s crew that has perished at sea.
The draug is the vengeful spirit of a ship’s captain who died at sea, thus being denied a proper burial. If an entire ship sinks at sea with the loss of all hands, the ship itself and its entire crew may return as ghostly wanderers. The captain usually rises as a draug and his crew rises as brine zombies
When a ship sinks beneath the waves, it and its entire crew may return as ghostly wanderers, especially if the captain and crew had a less than scrupulous profession (as pirates, for example). A sunken ship of this nature may undergo a transformation from the negative energy and evil surrounding it. When this happens, the ship rises from the deep, piloted by a draug and manned by skeletons, brine zombies, zombies, and lacedons.
Bleeding Horror: Created by the axe of blood, these foul creatures drip with the blood they were so willing to sacrifice to the hungry blade.
“Bleeding horror” is an acquired template that can be added to any humanoid, monstrous humanoid, giant, magical beast, or outsider (hereafter referred to as the “base creature”) that dies as a result of feeding the axe of blood.
Any creature slain by the blood consumption attack of a bleeding horror becomes a bleeding horror in 1d4 minutes
Bleeding Horror Minotaur: ?
Skeleton Warrior: The skeleton warrior is a lich-like undead that was once a powerful fighter of at least 8th level. Legend says that the skeleton warriors were forced into their undead state by a powerful demon prince who trapped each of their souls in a golden circlet.
“Skeleton Warrior” is an acquired template that can be added to any humanoid creature.
Skeleton Warrior Sample: ?
Spectral Troll: “Spectral troll” is an inherited template that can be added to any troll.
Any humanoid killed by a spectral troll rises 1d3 days later as a free-willed spectre unless a cleric of the victim’s religion casts bless on the corpse before such time.
Spectral Troll Sample: ?
Juju Zombie: Juju zombies’ hatred of living creatures and the magic that created them are what hold them to the world of the living. When a humanoid or monstrous humanoid is slain by an energy drain, enervation, or similar spell or spell-like ability, it may rise as a juju zombie.
“Juju zombie” is an acquired template that can be added to any humanoid or monstrous humanoid.
Juju Zombie Sample: ?
Undead Type: Undead are once-living creatures animated by spiritual or supernatural forces.
Ghouls: Humanoids who die from a demonling nabassu's death gaze attack are transformed into ghouls within 1d4 rounds.
Humanoids who die from a mature nabassu's death gaze attack are transformed into ghouls within 1d4 rounds.
Lacedons: When a ship sinks beneath the waves, it and its entire crew may return as ghostly wanderers, especially if the captain and crew had a less than scrupulous profession (as pirates, for example). A sunken ship of this nature may undergo a transformation from the negative energy and evil surrounding it. When this happens, the ship rises from the deep, piloted by a draug and manned by skeletons, brine zombies, zombies, and lacedons.
Skeletons: When a ship sinks beneath the waves, it and its entire crew may return as ghostly wanderers, especially if the captain and crew had a less than scrupulous profession (as pirates, for example). A sunken ship of this nature may undergo a transformation from the negative energy and evil surrounding it. When this happens, the ship rises from the deep, piloted by a draug and manned by skeletons, brine zombies, zombies, and lacedons.
Spectre: Any humanoid killed by a spectral troll rises 1d3 days later as a free-willed spectre unless a cleric of the victim’s religion casts bless on the corpse before such time.
Zombies: When a ship sinks beneath the waves, it and its entire crew may return as ghostly wanderers, especially if the captain and crew had a less than scrupulous profession (as pirates, for example). A sunken ship of this nature may undergo a transformation from the negative energy and evil surrounding it. When this happens, the ship rises from the deep, piloted by a draug and manned by skeletons, brine zombies, zombies, and lacedons.
Any humanoid slain by a vampiric ooze becomes a zombie in 1d4 rounds.
Tome of Horrors Revised:
3.5
Apparitions: Apparitions are undead spirits of creatures that died as the result of an accident. The twist of fate that ended their life prematurely has driven them totally and completely to the side of evil.
Any humanoid slain by an apparition becomes an apparition in 1d4 hours.
Barrow Wight: A humanoid slain by a barrow wight becomes a barrow wight in 1d4 rounds.
Bhuta: When a person is murdered, the spirit sometimes clings to the Material Plane, refusing to accept its mortal death. This spirit possesses its original body and seeks out those responsible for its murder.
Bloody Bones: Their true origins are unknown, but they are believed to be the undead remains of those who desecrate evil temples and are punished by the gods for their wrongdoings.
Bog Mummy: When a corpse preserved by swamp mud is imbued with negative energy, it rises as a bog mummy.
Any humanoid that dies from bog rot becomes a bog mummy in 1d4 days.
Coffer Corpse: The coffer corpse is an undead creature formed as the result of an incomplete death ritual.
Crypt Thing: Crypt things are undead creatures found guarding tombs, graves, crypts, and other such structures. They are created by spellcasters to guard such areas and they never leave their assigned area.
Create Crypt Thing Spell
Darnoc: The darnoc are said to be the restless spirits of oppressive, cruel, and power hungry individuals cursed forever to a life of monotony and toil, forbidden by the gods to taste the spoils of the afterlife they so desperately craved in life.
Any humanoid slain by a darnoc becomes a darnoc in 1d4 rounds.
Demiurge: The demiurge is the undead spirit of an evil human returned from the grave with a wrathful vengeance against all living creatures that enter its domain.
Orcus: Orcus is the Prince of the Undead, and it is said that he alone created the first undead that walked the worlds.
Draug: The draug is the vengeful spirit of a ship’s captain who died at sea, thus being denied a proper burial. If an entire ship sinks at sea with the loss of all hands, the ship itself and its entire crew may return as ghostly wanderers. The captain usually rises as a draug and his crew rises as brine zombies
When a ship sinks beneath the waves, it and its entire crew may return as ghostly wanderers, especially if the captain and crew had a less than scrupulous profession (as pirates, for example). A sunken ship of this nature may undergo a transformation from the negative energy and evil surrounding it. When this happens, the ship rises from the deep, piloted by a draug and manned by skeletons, brine zombies, zombies, and lacedons.
Ghoul-Stirge: The origin of the ghoul-stirge has been lost, but it is believed to be the result of a failed magical experiment conducted in ages past by a group of evil and (thought to be) insane necromancers.
Groaning Spirit: The groaning spirit is the malevolent spirit of a female elf
Haunt: The haunt is the spirit of a person who died before completing some vital task.
Huecuva: Huecuva are the undead spirits of good clerics who were unfaithful to their god and turned to the path of evil before death. As punishment for their transgression, their god condemned them to roam the earth as the one creature all good-aligned clerics despise — undead.
Mummy of the Deep: It is the result of an evil creature that was buried at sea for its sins in life. The wickedness permeating the former life has managed to cling even into unlife and revive the soul as a mummy of the deep.
Undead Ooze: When an ooze moves across the grave of a restless and evil soul, a transformation takes place. The malevolent spirit, still tied to the rotting flesh consumed by the ooze, melds with the ooze.
As a full-round action, an undead ooze can expel 1d6 skeletons from its mass.
Vampiric Ooze: The vampiric ooze is thought to have been created by a great undead spellcaster using ancient and forbidden magic. Some believe the vampiric ooze was formed when an ochre jelly slew a vampire and absorbed it.
Any humanoid slain by a vampiric ooze becomes a zombie in 1d4 rounds.
Poltergeist: Poltergeists are undead spirits that haunt the area where they died. A poltergeist has no material form and cannot manifest on the Material Plane. Most poltergeists are evil, as they are “trapped” in the area where they were killed and can never leave this area unless they are destroyed. This “prison” drives them mad and they come to hate all living creatures.
Shadow Rat Common: ?
Shadow Rat Dire: ?
Lesser Shadow: According to ancient texts, an arcane creature known only as the Shadow Lord created beings of living darkness to aid him and protect him. These beings, called shadows, were formed through a combination of darkness and evil. He also created other beings of darkness, lesser beings, not quite as powerful as his original creations. These creatures became known as lesser shadows.
Skulleton: Skulletons are undead creatures believed to have been created by a lich or demilich, for the creature greatly resembles the latter in that it is nothing more than a pile of dust, a skull, and a collection of bones. The gemstones inset in its eye sockets and in place of its teeth are not gemstones at all, but painted glass (worthless).
The skulleton is thought to have been created to detour would-be tomb plunders in to thinking they had desecrated the lair of a demilich.
To create a skulleton, the creator must be at least 9th level. The following ingredients are required.
— The skull of a humanoid or monstrous humanoid.
— A few bones from a humanoid or monstrous humanoid.
— A small quantity (at least 1 pint) of earth (dirt).
Powder the bones (but not the skull) and mix with the earth or dirt in an iron bowl. Pour the powdered mixture over the skull. Cast the following spells in this order: contagion, fly, stinking cloud, and animate dead. Within 1 hour, the skulleton animates and comes to “life.”
Ghoul Wolf: ?
Dire Ghoul Wolf: ?
Shadow Wolf: ?
Brine Zombie: Brine zombies are the remnants of a ship’s crew that has perished at sea.
The draug is the vengeful spirit of a ship’s captain who died at sea, thus being denied a proper burial. If an entire ship sinks at sea with the loss of all hands, the ship itself and its entire crew may return as ghostly wanderers. The captain usually rises as a draug and his crew rises as brine zombies
When a ship sinks beneath the waves, it and its entire crew may return as ghostly wanderers, especially if the captain and crew had a less than scrupulous profession (as pirates, for example). A sunken ship of this nature may undergo a transformation from the negative energy and evil surrounding it. When this happens, the ship rises from the deep, piloted by a draug and manned by skeletons, brine zombies, zombies, and lacedons.
Bleeding Horror: Created by the axe of blood, these foul creatures drip with the blood they were so willing to sacrifice to the hungry blade.
“Bleeding horror” is an acquired template that can be added to any humanoid, monstrous humanoid, giant, magical beast, or outsider (hereafter referred to as the “base creature”) that dies as a result of feeding the axe of blood.
Any creature slain by the blood consumption attack of a bleeding horror becomes a bleeding horror in 1d4 minutes
Bleeding Horror Minotaur: ?
Skeleton Warrior: The skeleton warrior is a lich-like undead that was once a powerful fighter of at least 8th level. Legend says that the skeleton warriors were forced into their undead state by a powerful demon prince who trapped each of their souls in a golden circlet.
“Skeleton Warrior” is an acquired template that can be added to any humanoid creature.
Skeleton Warrior Sample: ?
Spectral Troll: “Spectral troll” is an inherited template that can be added to any troll.
Any humanoid killed by a spectral troll rises 1d3 days later as a free-willed spectre unless a cleric of the victim’s religion casts bless on the corpse before such time.
Spectral Troll Sample: ?
Juju Zombie: Juju zombies’ hatred of living creatures and the magic that created them are what hold them to the world of the living. When a humanoid or monstrous humanoid is slain by an energy drain, enervation, or similar spell or spell-like ability, it may rise as a juju zombie.
“Juju zombie” is an acquired template that can be added to any humanoid or monstrous humanoid.
Juju Zombie Sample: ?
Undead Type: Undead are once-living creatures animated by spiritual or supernatural forces.
Ghouls: Humanoids who die from a demonling nabassu's death gaze attack are transformed into ghouls within 1d4 rounds.
Humanoids who die from a mature nabassu's death gaze attack are transformed into ghouls within 1d4 rounds.
Lacedons: When a ship sinks beneath the waves, it and its entire crew may return as ghostly wanderers, especially if the captain and crew had a less than scrupulous profession (as pirates, for example). A sunken ship of this nature may undergo a transformation from the negative energy and evil surrounding it. When this happens, the ship rises from the deep, piloted by a draug and manned by skeletons, brine zombies, zombies, and lacedons.
Skeletons: When a ship sinks beneath the waves, it and its entire crew may return as ghostly wanderers, especially if the captain and crew had a less than scrupulous profession (as pirates, for example). A sunken ship of this nature may undergo a transformation from the negative energy and evil surrounding it. When this happens, the ship rises from the deep, piloted by a draug and manned by skeletons, brine zombies, zombies, and lacedons.
Spectre: Any humanoid killed by a spectral troll rises 1d3 days later as a free-willed spectre unless a cleric of the victim’s religion casts bless on the corpse before such time.
Zombies: When a ship sinks beneath the waves, it and its entire crew may return as ghostly wanderers, especially if the captain and crew had a less than scrupulous profession (as pirates, for example). A sunken ship of this nature may undergo a transformation from the negative energy and evil surrounding it. When this happens, the ship rises from the deep, piloted by a draug and manned by skeletons, brine zombies, zombies, and lacedons.
Any humanoid slain by a vampiric ooze becomes a zombie in 1d4 rounds.
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Voadam
Legend
Complete Minions
Complete Minions:
3.5
Bone Sovereign: Bone sovereigns are the accumulated remains of skeletons whose animating enchantments have coalesced over the years to form a single, self-aware undead entity.
When skeletal undead are left to stand unguided over centuries in concentrated groups, their animating forces and physical forms occasionally merge together and achieve a type of sentience. Whether this is brought about by the gradual failure of their individual enchantments or caused by the will of malevolent outsiders remains unknown. It is even speculated that a god of death may create these monsters from abandoned undead to increase his domain.
Cacogen: The cacogen is a deformed human, typically a leper, hunchback, or clubfoot, but sometimes a scarred or branded rogue, who has been brought back to life to serve an evil sorcerer or wizard as a necromantic guardian.
Heart Stalker: A humanoid victim who has its heart removed by a heart stalker begins to decompose rapidly, rising as a heart stalker on the following night
Hearth Horror: A hearth horror is the ghost of a dead place, horribly corrupted by evil, and obsessed with restoring itself to its former glory.
A hearth horror cannot form just anywhere. It forms in a location where great or terrible events have taken place. The horror takes on the personality and alignment of the events that happened there, and is typically evil.
Ka Spirits: In many ancient cultures, people were sacrificed during the burial of important individuals. It was believed that their spirits would serve that of the deceased in the other world. The ka spirit is the soul of one this unfortunates.
In order to create a ka spirit, ancient necromantic rituals must be performed, involving the victim being killed by a special cursed scarab of death.
Undead Warlord: This creature is the spirit of a powerful ancient warlord, who long ago lost his life through an act of betrayal.
Wraith Skin: Skinwraiths are the remains of torture victims flayed alive on the rack, animated by their own pain and suffering.
Skeleton: As a standard action, a bone sovereign can create any number of skeletal monsters from its body.
Zombie: Any creature killed by Constitution damage from the ka spirit’s rotting possession ability rises as a zombie under the ka spirit’s control after 1d4 rounds.
Complete Minions:
3.5
Bone Sovereign: Bone sovereigns are the accumulated remains of skeletons whose animating enchantments have coalesced over the years to form a single, self-aware undead entity.
When skeletal undead are left to stand unguided over centuries in concentrated groups, their animating forces and physical forms occasionally merge together and achieve a type of sentience. Whether this is brought about by the gradual failure of their individual enchantments or caused by the will of malevolent outsiders remains unknown. It is even speculated that a god of death may create these monsters from abandoned undead to increase his domain.
Cacogen: The cacogen is a deformed human, typically a leper, hunchback, or clubfoot, but sometimes a scarred or branded rogue, who has been brought back to life to serve an evil sorcerer or wizard as a necromantic guardian.
Heart Stalker: A humanoid victim who has its heart removed by a heart stalker begins to decompose rapidly, rising as a heart stalker on the following night
Hearth Horror: A hearth horror is the ghost of a dead place, horribly corrupted by evil, and obsessed with restoring itself to its former glory.
A hearth horror cannot form just anywhere. It forms in a location where great or terrible events have taken place. The horror takes on the personality and alignment of the events that happened there, and is typically evil.
Ka Spirits: In many ancient cultures, people were sacrificed during the burial of important individuals. It was believed that their spirits would serve that of the deceased in the other world. The ka spirit is the soul of one this unfortunates.
In order to create a ka spirit, ancient necromantic rituals must be performed, involving the victim being killed by a special cursed scarab of death.
Undead Warlord: This creature is the spirit of a powerful ancient warlord, who long ago lost his life through an act of betrayal.
Wraith Skin: Skinwraiths are the remains of torture victims flayed alive on the rack, animated by their own pain and suffering.
Skeleton: As a standard action, a bone sovereign can create any number of skeletal monsters from its body.
Zombie: Any creature killed by Constitution damage from the ka spirit’s rotting possession ability rises as a zombie under the ka spirit’s control after 1d4 rounds.
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Voadam
Legend
Complete Book of Denizens
Complete Book of Denizens:
3.5
Aszevara: Aszevara are creatures touched by chaotic forces, their bodies warped by fell magics and wracked with terrible suffering.
The exact method by which a creature is transformed into an aszevara is unknown. Such an event is a rare occurrence, brought on by terribly destructive magics. Often, the creature is exposed to these magics as a result of its own tampering with powers beyond its control, but witnesses to such magics may be tainted by them, as well. The unleashed energy leaves the creature both physically and spiritually devastated, and the dark magics replace everything that has been lost.
“Aszevara” is an acquired template that can be added to any corporeal aberration, animal, dragon, fey, giant, humanoid, magical beast, monstrous humanoid, plant, undead, or vermin.
When the xxyth rose up from the oceans of the north, the mistji responded by delving into forbidden tomes and devising spells which would rend the fabrics of energy and life. By creating a storm of overwhelming destruction, they thought would lay waste to the xxyth. Somewhere in their souls they knew that by their spells, Avadnu would be marred, but it seemed a small price to prevent the world’s utter demise.
The great storm rose with unbridled fury called from the depths of the universe. Those surviving during those dark times saw a cloud of swirling red, hanging as a sign of doom over Kaelendar’s northwestern skies. Stones melted under the cloud’s lightning, and lakes evaporated beneath its rain. But it was all a waste. The xxyth remained, and moved over the blasted land as easily as they had the formerly fertile valleys.
The mistji had failed.
But the storm of alien energies did not kill all. Some creatures were changed, life clinging to deformed, withering shells and changing as the xxyth passed. Minds and souls twisted beyond hope, the aszevara wander the Kaarad Lands, working madness with the powers that the storm that birthed them was meant to destroy.
Bhorloth Raging Spirit: The innate fury of bhorloth leads some that are slain to return as ghosts. Raging spirits have arisen from the fallen mounts of warriors, the leaders of slaughtered herds, and bhorloth driven from their homes.
Carcaetan: A carcaetan is created by magic designed to remove a creature from the cycle of life. The ritual is sometimes used as a punishment or a powerful curse, but some evil individuals undergo it intentionally.
Found throughout Avadnu, the Izgrat Witches perform bizarre rituals of self-mutilation, and revere Vérthax as their lord and master. Through their meddling in necromancy, they created the carcaetans to further their evil influence over the world.
Flame Servant: Born from dark necromancy, flame servants are tools of violence and hatred.
Every flame servant is created by a spellcaster to complete a particular task.
The creation of a flame servant is a long and taxing process and must begin no later than seven nights after the host body’s death. The body is prepared by replacing its innards with leaves and wet mud, stuffing its throat with dried insect larvae, pouring fresh blood into its mouth, painting it with runes, and soaking it in oils. These special materials cost 500 gp.
Preparing the body requires a DC 13 Craft (leatherworking) or Heal check, and can be done by the spellcaster or another party. After the body is readied, it must be animated through an extended magical ritual that requires a specially prepared laboratory similar to an embalmer’s workshop and costing 200 gp to establish. If personally preparing the body, the creator can perform the preparations and ritual together.
The cost to create listed below includes the cost of all the materials and spell components that are consumed or become a permanent part of the flame servant.
A flame servant with more than 8 Hit Dice can be created, but each additional Hit Die adds 4,000 gp to the base price and another 50 gp to the market price. The price increases by 20,000 gp if the creature’s size increases to Large, or 50,000 gp if the creature’s size increases to Huge. The cost to create is modified accordingly.
CL 14th; Craft Construct, Spell Focus (necromancy), burning hands, create undead, fire shield, fireball, caster must be at least 14th level; Price 60,900 gp; Cost 30,900 gp + 2,400 XP.
Flame Soul: Some orders of monks embrace the “burning soul,” a set of spiritual beliefs epitomizing the destructive power of flame. Certain initiates in these orders go to their deaths prepared to be raised by their brothers as flame servants, and emerge from the transformation with their minds intact.
During the civil uprising of Iipon Hurr, Lord Tholust’s only son Feitruin was slain in the very battle that he thought would end the conflict. King Lonthbeern sent Feitruin’s body to Tholust’s castle as a warning to either cease the attacks and reopen trade routes, or face the wrath of his army. Enraged, Tholust summoned the necromancer Slithbourne to exact his revenge.
Slithbourne took Feitruin’s body deep into the bowels of Lord Tholust’s keep, and for seven days and nights the necromancer worked his dark magics. On the eighth day, Slithbourne emerged with the reanimated corpse of Feitruin. Feitruin marched across the Tuath Plain and into Iipon Hurr, and none could stand against him as he stalked through the streets. He proceeded to Lonthbeern’s castle, and sought out the king’s chamber, where he wrapped his smoking hands around Lonthbeern’s neck. Both man and corpse were reduced to ash in a flash of light.
The burnt and blackened path left by Feitruin’s journey to Iipon Hurr became known as the Path of Sorrow, and to this day, the floor in King Lonthbeern’s old chamber has a charred spot which cannot be removed. And though Feitruin was the first flame servant created by Slithbourne, he was not the last. In time, other necromancers learned Slithbourne’s ritual, though it remains a guarded secret.
Inscriber: Every inscriber was once a living scholar who obsessed over a certain field of study. Some inscribers devoted their lives to particulars of occult lore, while others strove to catalog every species of plant in existence, or to learn the secrets of creating perfect wine. Regardless of their missions, they shared the same end: after death, their lust for knowledge overcame the laws of nature, driving them to search the world for further information.
Magickin Necromantos: The necromantic powers infusing the necromantos can bring it back from death. If the necromantos is killed and its body is not destroyed, it makes a level check (1d20 + necromantos’s HD) against DC 16. If it succeeds, it returns to life in 2d4 days. There is a 10% chance that the necromantos will not return fully alive, and permanently gain the undead type.
Malison: A malison is a spiteful undead formed by the union of a man’s fury with the dying curse of a god.
The first malisons were born when a god took his final breath, and cursed the world that had destroyed him. That breath, those words, held so much power that they lingered in the air. They spread apart, and each syllable was drawn to a dead human whose hatred resembled its own. The humans rose, empowered and enraged. They remembered little of their lives, but their personalities and quirks remained, as well as their memory of what they had hated. When each was finally destroyed, its empowering breath sought out a new host, creating a new malison.
Soulless One: Soulless ones are the product of unbearable lament, the spirits of stillborn children who were taken by darkness. These spirits are raised by evil entities, learning to hate the living and grant strength to undead.
In one of the last cycles of the seventh arc, a young woman from Falas claimed to have been ravaged by a demon. A child would be born, she’d been told, and that child would bring about the damnation of the world. The woman fell into a nightmare of delusion and self-destruction, wishing to end her life rather than inflict such a terror upon Avadnu. She carried the child within her womb for six weeks, until a skarren raid cut through Falas. Skarren warriors fell upon the village in waves, and the young woman was slain by a skarren thar-chak. The skarren slaughtered every resident of the village, never knowing the horror they destroyed. Though the child was never born, it was transformed and rose as the world’s first soulless one. In time, the soulless one reached out to other stillborn spirits, and began raising them as its servants.
Swallowed: The swallowed are the transformed remains of drowned men and women, forced into the service of a watery master.
When a human drowns in an ocean ruled by magical forces, there’s a chance he or she will rise again as one of the swallowed. The swallowed retain a few fragmented memories, but none of the personality of their old selves—sages believe that a drowned victim’s body and soul are reshaped, used like clay by a powerful being who lacks the knowledge to create life from nothingness.
Swallowed are born in the seas surrounding the Broken Isles, and local shamans say that their master is the daughter of a mysterious sea god.
Vohrahn: Created by spellcasters by binding dead spirits to the bodies of recently-slain warriors, vohrahn are lost souls trapped within corpses, whose distress over their predicament only furthers their masters’ goals.
After decades or centuries of existence certain vohrahn’s animating magics have worn a hole between the realms of life and death. The vohrahn’s passion is gone, but its power causes creatures slain by its claw attacks to rise as zombies under the vohrahn’s control after 1d4 rounds. They do not possess any of the abilities they had in life. A vohrahn with 7 or more HD can raise creatures as wights, instead.
The spell to create these creatures was originally developed by members of xxyth cults, and the practice dates back to the Time of Dust. Since then, creating vohrahn has become a common practice among many students of the black arts, but until the War of the Shadow had never been used on such a grand scale.
Bind Vohrahn Spell
Wraithlight: Theologians, historians, and hunters of the undead are unsure of wraithlights’ true origins. Their actions suggest that they may be earthbound spirits who refuse to pass into the afterlife, but some spellcasters claim that they are the ghosts of a strange and ancient race from another plane, trapped in a foreign world after theirs was destroyed and trying to continue their existence.
Mouleji, the infamous sulwynarii explorer whose observations on unusual creatures were as often wildly inaccurate as they were insightful, believed that wraithlights were the only peaceful creatures ever to have been born in the Void, and that their souls had come to Avadnu after their swift extinction. Mouleji’s contemporaries were quick to point out holes in his theory, but only halfheartedly defended their own proposal that wraithlights were the ghosts of the gods’ first, failed attempts at creating life.
Ghost: The innate fury of bhorloth leads some that are slain to return as ghosts. Raging spirits have arisen from the fallen mounts of warriors, the leaders of slaughtered herds, and bhorloth driven from their homes.
Wight: After decades or centuries of existence, certain vohrahn’s animating magics have worn a hole between the realms of life and death. The vohrahn’s passion is gone, but its power causes creatures slain by its claw attacks to rise as zombies under the vohrahn’s control after 1d4 rounds. They do not possess any of the abilities they had in life. A vohrahn with 7 or more HD can raise creatures as wights, instead.
Zombie: After decades or centuries of existence, certain vohrahn’s animating magics have worn a hole between the realms of life and death. The vohrahn’s passion is gone, but its power causes creatures slain by its claw attacks to rise as zombies under the vohrahn’s control after 1d4 rounds. They do not possess any of the abilities they had in life. A vohrahn with 7 or more HD can raise creatures as wights, instead.
Complete Book of Denizens:
3.5
Aszevara: Aszevara are creatures touched by chaotic forces, their bodies warped by fell magics and wracked with terrible suffering.
The exact method by which a creature is transformed into an aszevara is unknown. Such an event is a rare occurrence, brought on by terribly destructive magics. Often, the creature is exposed to these magics as a result of its own tampering with powers beyond its control, but witnesses to such magics may be tainted by them, as well. The unleashed energy leaves the creature both physically and spiritually devastated, and the dark magics replace everything that has been lost.
“Aszevara” is an acquired template that can be added to any corporeal aberration, animal, dragon, fey, giant, humanoid, magical beast, monstrous humanoid, plant, undead, or vermin.
When the xxyth rose up from the oceans of the north, the mistji responded by delving into forbidden tomes and devising spells which would rend the fabrics of energy and life. By creating a storm of overwhelming destruction, they thought would lay waste to the xxyth. Somewhere in their souls they knew that by their spells, Avadnu would be marred, but it seemed a small price to prevent the world’s utter demise.
The great storm rose with unbridled fury called from the depths of the universe. Those surviving during those dark times saw a cloud of swirling red, hanging as a sign of doom over Kaelendar’s northwestern skies. Stones melted under the cloud’s lightning, and lakes evaporated beneath its rain. But it was all a waste. The xxyth remained, and moved over the blasted land as easily as they had the formerly fertile valleys.
The mistji had failed.
But the storm of alien energies did not kill all. Some creatures were changed, life clinging to deformed, withering shells and changing as the xxyth passed. Minds and souls twisted beyond hope, the aszevara wander the Kaarad Lands, working madness with the powers that the storm that birthed them was meant to destroy.
Bhorloth Raging Spirit: The innate fury of bhorloth leads some that are slain to return as ghosts. Raging spirits have arisen from the fallen mounts of warriors, the leaders of slaughtered herds, and bhorloth driven from their homes.
Carcaetan: A carcaetan is created by magic designed to remove a creature from the cycle of life. The ritual is sometimes used as a punishment or a powerful curse, but some evil individuals undergo it intentionally.
Found throughout Avadnu, the Izgrat Witches perform bizarre rituals of self-mutilation, and revere Vérthax as their lord and master. Through their meddling in necromancy, they created the carcaetans to further their evil influence over the world.
Flame Servant: Born from dark necromancy, flame servants are tools of violence and hatred.
Every flame servant is created by a spellcaster to complete a particular task.
The creation of a flame servant is a long and taxing process and must begin no later than seven nights after the host body’s death. The body is prepared by replacing its innards with leaves and wet mud, stuffing its throat with dried insect larvae, pouring fresh blood into its mouth, painting it with runes, and soaking it in oils. These special materials cost 500 gp.
Preparing the body requires a DC 13 Craft (leatherworking) or Heal check, and can be done by the spellcaster or another party. After the body is readied, it must be animated through an extended magical ritual that requires a specially prepared laboratory similar to an embalmer’s workshop and costing 200 gp to establish. If personally preparing the body, the creator can perform the preparations and ritual together.
The cost to create listed below includes the cost of all the materials and spell components that are consumed or become a permanent part of the flame servant.
A flame servant with more than 8 Hit Dice can be created, but each additional Hit Die adds 4,000 gp to the base price and another 50 gp to the market price. The price increases by 20,000 gp if the creature’s size increases to Large, or 50,000 gp if the creature’s size increases to Huge. The cost to create is modified accordingly.
CL 14th; Craft Construct, Spell Focus (necromancy), burning hands, create undead, fire shield, fireball, caster must be at least 14th level; Price 60,900 gp; Cost 30,900 gp + 2,400 XP.
Flame Soul: Some orders of monks embrace the “burning soul,” a set of spiritual beliefs epitomizing the destructive power of flame. Certain initiates in these orders go to their deaths prepared to be raised by their brothers as flame servants, and emerge from the transformation with their minds intact.
During the civil uprising of Iipon Hurr, Lord Tholust’s only son Feitruin was slain in the very battle that he thought would end the conflict. King Lonthbeern sent Feitruin’s body to Tholust’s castle as a warning to either cease the attacks and reopen trade routes, or face the wrath of his army. Enraged, Tholust summoned the necromancer Slithbourne to exact his revenge.
Slithbourne took Feitruin’s body deep into the bowels of Lord Tholust’s keep, and for seven days and nights the necromancer worked his dark magics. On the eighth day, Slithbourne emerged with the reanimated corpse of Feitruin. Feitruin marched across the Tuath Plain and into Iipon Hurr, and none could stand against him as he stalked through the streets. He proceeded to Lonthbeern’s castle, and sought out the king’s chamber, where he wrapped his smoking hands around Lonthbeern’s neck. Both man and corpse were reduced to ash in a flash of light.
The burnt and blackened path left by Feitruin’s journey to Iipon Hurr became known as the Path of Sorrow, and to this day, the floor in King Lonthbeern’s old chamber has a charred spot which cannot be removed. And though Feitruin was the first flame servant created by Slithbourne, he was not the last. In time, other necromancers learned Slithbourne’s ritual, though it remains a guarded secret.
Inscriber: Every inscriber was once a living scholar who obsessed over a certain field of study. Some inscribers devoted their lives to particulars of occult lore, while others strove to catalog every species of plant in existence, or to learn the secrets of creating perfect wine. Regardless of their missions, they shared the same end: after death, their lust for knowledge overcame the laws of nature, driving them to search the world for further information.
Magickin Necromantos: The necromantic powers infusing the necromantos can bring it back from death. If the necromantos is killed and its body is not destroyed, it makes a level check (1d20 + necromantos’s HD) against DC 16. If it succeeds, it returns to life in 2d4 days. There is a 10% chance that the necromantos will not return fully alive, and permanently gain the undead type.
Malison: A malison is a spiteful undead formed by the union of a man’s fury with the dying curse of a god.
The first malisons were born when a god took his final breath, and cursed the world that had destroyed him. That breath, those words, held so much power that they lingered in the air. They spread apart, and each syllable was drawn to a dead human whose hatred resembled its own. The humans rose, empowered and enraged. They remembered little of their lives, but their personalities and quirks remained, as well as their memory of what they had hated. When each was finally destroyed, its empowering breath sought out a new host, creating a new malison.
Soulless One: Soulless ones are the product of unbearable lament, the spirits of stillborn children who were taken by darkness. These spirits are raised by evil entities, learning to hate the living and grant strength to undead.
In one of the last cycles of the seventh arc, a young woman from Falas claimed to have been ravaged by a demon. A child would be born, she’d been told, and that child would bring about the damnation of the world. The woman fell into a nightmare of delusion and self-destruction, wishing to end her life rather than inflict such a terror upon Avadnu. She carried the child within her womb for six weeks, until a skarren raid cut through Falas. Skarren warriors fell upon the village in waves, and the young woman was slain by a skarren thar-chak. The skarren slaughtered every resident of the village, never knowing the horror they destroyed. Though the child was never born, it was transformed and rose as the world’s first soulless one. In time, the soulless one reached out to other stillborn spirits, and began raising them as its servants.
Swallowed: The swallowed are the transformed remains of drowned men and women, forced into the service of a watery master.
When a human drowns in an ocean ruled by magical forces, there’s a chance he or she will rise again as one of the swallowed. The swallowed retain a few fragmented memories, but none of the personality of their old selves—sages believe that a drowned victim’s body and soul are reshaped, used like clay by a powerful being who lacks the knowledge to create life from nothingness.
Swallowed are born in the seas surrounding the Broken Isles, and local shamans say that their master is the daughter of a mysterious sea god.
Vohrahn: Created by spellcasters by binding dead spirits to the bodies of recently-slain warriors, vohrahn are lost souls trapped within corpses, whose distress over their predicament only furthers their masters’ goals.
After decades or centuries of existence certain vohrahn’s animating magics have worn a hole between the realms of life and death. The vohrahn’s passion is gone, but its power causes creatures slain by its claw attacks to rise as zombies under the vohrahn’s control after 1d4 rounds. They do not possess any of the abilities they had in life. A vohrahn with 7 or more HD can raise creatures as wights, instead.
The spell to create these creatures was originally developed by members of xxyth cults, and the practice dates back to the Time of Dust. Since then, creating vohrahn has become a common practice among many students of the black arts, but until the War of the Shadow had never been used on such a grand scale.
Bind Vohrahn Spell
Wraithlight: Theologians, historians, and hunters of the undead are unsure of wraithlights’ true origins. Their actions suggest that they may be earthbound spirits who refuse to pass into the afterlife, but some spellcasters claim that they are the ghosts of a strange and ancient race from another plane, trapped in a foreign world after theirs was destroyed and trying to continue their existence.
Mouleji, the infamous sulwynarii explorer whose observations on unusual creatures were as often wildly inaccurate as they were insightful, believed that wraithlights were the only peaceful creatures ever to have been born in the Void, and that their souls had come to Avadnu after their swift extinction. Mouleji’s contemporaries were quick to point out holes in his theory, but only halfheartedly defended their own proposal that wraithlights were the ghosts of the gods’ first, failed attempts at creating life.
Ghost: The innate fury of bhorloth leads some that are slain to return as ghosts. Raging spirits have arisen from the fallen mounts of warriors, the leaders of slaughtered herds, and bhorloth driven from their homes.
Wight: After decades or centuries of existence, certain vohrahn’s animating magics have worn a hole between the realms of life and death. The vohrahn’s passion is gone, but its power causes creatures slain by its claw attacks to rise as zombies under the vohrahn’s control after 1d4 rounds. They do not possess any of the abilities they had in life. A vohrahn with 7 or more HD can raise creatures as wights, instead.
Zombie: After decades or centuries of existence, certain vohrahn’s animating magics have worn a hole between the realms of life and death. The vohrahn’s passion is gone, but its power causes creatures slain by its claw attacks to rise as zombies under the vohrahn’s control after 1d4 rounds. They do not possess any of the abilities they had in life. A vohrahn with 7 or more HD can raise creatures as wights, instead.
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