Undead Origins
Voadam
Legend
Hungry Little Monsters, Template Troves II and III, Book of Templates Deluxe, Bane Leger I, Frost and Fur, Kaiser’s Garden, Hallows Eve, and Hallows Eve Demo are each all OGC and I'm going to stick with the OGC ones first with Green Ronin's Advanced Bestiary and Testament and then E.N. Publishing's EN Critters Series next on my list.
Bestiary Malfearous was like Complete Book of Denizens and is mostly OGC but PI'd the entries titled on Amberos (their world) and the specific gods and kingdoms/places referenced.
Ravenloft, Manual of Monsters, and the Creature Collections have a ton of good ones, but the scanned image pdfs I bought on rpgnow over the years paste terribly for copied text so they will be a lower priority for me than things that are easy to grab and organize.
Bestiary Malfearous was like Complete Book of Denizens and is mostly OGC but PI'd the entries titled on Amberos (their world) and the specific gods and kingdoms/places referenced.
Ravenloft, Manual of Monsters, and the Creature Collections have a ton of good ones, but the scanned image pdfs I bought on rpgnow over the years paste terribly for copied text so they will be a lower priority for me than things that are easy to grab and organize.
Last edited:
Voadam
Legend
Advanced Bestiary
Advanced Bestiary:
3.5
Blood Knight: Blood knights are the damned souls of fierce warriors who died in a particularly bloody manner. Cursed to walk the earth until their warlike ways lead to their destruction, blood knights seek always to fight and conquer.
“Blood knight” is an acquired template that can be applied to any living creature that is proficient with light, medium, and heavy armor, wears full plate armor, and has blood
Altered Blood Knight: Ignore the required proficiency with armor and change the name of the template to the blood gaunt. In this form, the template could be applied to the temple guardians of a god of murder. Alternatively, blood knights could result from a curse that animates great quantities of spilled blood into a strange new form.
The blood knights could be unique. Perhaps a group of paladins that unwittingly participated in a highly evil act were cursed to become blood knights.
Make the template self-propagating. Creatures killed by Constitution damage from a blood knight’s attacks rise as blood knights in 1d4 rounds.
Morden Thrallhammer: Morden Thrallhammerer was once a dwarf hero of some fame. Loyal to his clan and a staunch defender of its sovereignty, he was ruthless to the point of sadism in combat with its enemies. When some giants took up residence near his clan’s territory, Morden provoked conflict with them, beginning a long and unnecessary feud that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of his kin. In the final days of the war, Morden led a vicious attack on wounded and noncombatant giants while a decoy force of dwarves distracter their warriors. When Morden dealt the killing blow to a mother protecting her child, he could not get out of the way of her falling body fast enough. The rest of Morden’s force retreated, leaving him trapped beneath the she-giant’s body. By the time the giant warriors returned, Morden had drowned in his foe’s blood. The giants cast his body off the mountain, cursing his name and praying to their gods to punish him. Thus, he returned to haunt the world as a blood knight, wearing the ornate, dwarf-made armor in which he died.
Dread Allip: Babbling, whispering, screaming, and muttering, dread allips pass through walls and strike at living creatures, hoping to gain companions in undeath and madness. A dread allip is a crazed incorporeal undead created when a sentient creature follows an order to commit suicide against its own wishes. The angry spirit that rises from the corpse is insane because its mind was conflicted at death, and it seeks to inflict a similar fate on others.
“Dread allip” is an acquired template that can be added to any living creature with an Intelligence score of 3 or higher that commits suicide because of domination by a dread allip or at the command of some other creature.
A creature that dies while dominated by a dread allip rises as a new dread allip in 1d6 rounds if it committed suicide, or died fulfilling an obviously self-destructive command, or had 0 Wisdom and was within 30 feet of the dread allip at the time of death.
Dread Allip Spirit Naga: ?
Dread Bodak: Bodaks are extraplanar undead created when living beings are touched by ultimate evil.
A dread bodak is sometimes created when an intelligent creature turns traitor and kills an ally or murders a friend. In particular, the use of the death knell spell on a friend seems most likely to create a dread bodak. A dread bodak is consumed with the desire for revenge on everyone it knew in life and anyone who gets in the way. Worse still, it can create more of its vile kind. Its gaze brings foes to the brink of death, and its voice then snuffs out their life force and turns them into dread bodaks.
“Dread bodak” is an acquired template that can be added to any living creature (referred to hereafter as the base creature) that was killed by a dread bodak or murdered by an ally via a method such as use of the death knell spell.
Any creature killed by a dread bodak’s death knell ability rises as a dread bodak in 1d6 rounds.
Dread Bodak Tyrannosaurus: ?
Dread Devourer: Few know how these dread devourers originated, but some sages speculate that they form as ethereal or astral “shadows” of creatures on coexistent planes that die from energy draining effects.
“Dread devourer” is an acquired template that can be added to any living creature that has a chest cavity or similar body part.
Dread Devourer Purple Worm: ?
Dread Ghast: The first ghouls were humans who rose as undead because they had indulged in unwholesome pleasures in life. The original ghasts rose as undead for similar reasons, but their sins were of vaster scale. A man who broke a taboo by consuming dead bodies to avoid starvation might rise as a ghoul, but a man who murdered his wife and children, then cooked them up as a delicious meal for himself and his mistress would instead rise as a ghast. Cursed with a terrible stench of death and corruption that serves as a warning to the living, the ghast’s greater sins in life grant it greater power in undeath.
The first dread ghasts were villains of still broader scope. Leaders in life, they influenced the actions of scores of others and led them to participate in terrible atrocities. Today, the dread ghast “race” of undead perpetuates itself through the transmission of vile power. A creature killed but not consumed by a dread ghast rises as another dread ghast.
“Dread ghast” is an acquired template that can be added to any living creature.
Any creature killed by a dread ghast that lies undisturbed until the next midnight rises as a dread ghast at that time.
Dread Ghast Gnoll: ?
Dread Ghost: Like normal ghosts, dread ghosts are restless spirits that exist on both the Material and the Ethereal Planes. Unlike many other dread undead, dread ghosts have no special power over others of their kind, but some mystery of their creation makes them more powerful than standard ghosts.
“Dread ghost” is an acquired template that can be added to any living creature that has an Intelligence score.
Dread Ghost Medusa: “Dread ghost” is an acquired template that can be added to any living creature that has an Intelligence score.
Dread Ghoul: Eaters of the dead that hunger for the living, the first ghouls were the undead remains of humans who had indulged in unwholesome pleasures, such as cannibalism or necrophilia, in life. The original dread ghouls came into being because they had exhorted or compelled others to such acts while alive.
“Dread ghoul” is an acquired template that can be added to any living creature.
In most cases, dread ghouls feast on the bodies of the fallen. However, any creature killed by a dread ghoul that lies undisturbed until the next midnight rises as a dread ghoul at that time.
Dread Ghoul Frost Giant: ?
Dread Lacedon: Dread lacedons are corpses animated by the restless spirits of those who drowned or were killed but not devoured by a dread lacedon.
“Dread lacedon” is an acquired template that can be added to any living creature.
In most cases, dread lacedons feast on the bodies of the fallen, or sea creatures such as sharks devour them. However, any creature killed by a dread lacedon that lies undisturbed until the next midnight rises as a dread lacedon at that time.
Dread Lacedon Cachalot Whale: ?
Dread Lich: Like normal liches, dread liches are powerful undead spellcasters who used vile magic and dreadful ceremonies to prolong their time in the living world. However, the process of becoming a dread lich is a greater secret than the evil ceremonies required to become a normal lich. Although powerful spellcasters sometimes discover this secret while preparing for lichdom, most dread liches were once normal liches who spent centuries researching arcane lore in search of the secret.
“Dread lich” is an acquired template that can be added to any living creature capable of creating the required phylactery, or to any standard lich.
Only a willing evil creature can become a dread lich.
An integral part of becoming a dread lich is creating a magic phylactery in which to store its life force. Unless the phylactery is located and destroyed, the dread lich reforms next to its phylactery 1d4 days after its apparent death. It does not matter how far away the dread lich is from its phylactery, but the two must be on the same plane. If the phylactery is on a different plane, the dread lich reforms 1d4 days after the phylactery is brought to the plane on which the dread lich was destroyed.
Each dread lich must make its own phylactery—a task that requires the Craft Wondrous Item feat. The base creature must be able to cast spells or use spell-like abilities, and its caster level must be at least 15th. The phylactery costs 200,000 gp and 8,000 XP to create and has a caster level equal to that of its creator at the time of creation.
The most common kind of phylactery is a Tiny mithral box that has hardness 20, 40 hit points, and a break DC of 40. Other types of phylacteries, such as rings, amulets, or similar items, can also exist.
Dread Lich Titan: The rare evil titan that learns the secret of lichdom in its youth cannot help but seek out and follow that dark path.
Dread Mohrg: Some say that a dread mohrg is the restless spirit of a sentient creature that perished from starvation and never received a proper burial. Others say that it is all that remains of a mortal punished by the gods for gluttony or for starving other creatures.
“Dread mohrg” is an acquired template that can be added to any evil living creature with a mouth and a digestive tract that includes intestines.
Dread Mohrg Seven Headed Cryohydra: Native to the colder climes, it was created when a normal cryohydra slew an entire village of humans.
Dread Mummy: “Dread mummy” is an acquired template that can be added to any living corporeal creature.
Any creature killed by a dread mummy’s mummy rot ability turns to dust and blows away on the wind. If the dread mummy that infected the creature with the disease is not destroyed within 1 week, the dust reforms next to it as a new dread mummy.
Dread Mummy Harpy: ?
Dread Shadow: Like normal shadows, they are sentient pools of darkness and negative energy that drain strength and life from living creatures.
“Dread shadow” is an acquired template that can be added to any living, intelligent creature with a Charisma score of 15 or higher that was killed by a shadow or dread shadow.
Any creature with a Charisma score of 15 or higher that is killed by a dread shadow rises as a dread shadow in 1d4 rounds. Any other creature slain by a dread shadow instead rises as a normal shadow in 1d4 rounds.
Dread Shadow Achaierai: ?
Dread Skeleton: “Dread skeleton” is an acquired template that can be added to any living creature with a skeleton or exoskeleton.
Dread Skeleton Blink Dog: ?
Dread Spectre: Like ghosts, dread spectres are the incorporeal spirits of living beings that continue to act after death.
“Dread spectre” is an acquired template that can be added to any living, intelligent creature killed by a spectre or a dread spectre.
Any creature with a Charisma score of 16 or higher that is killed by a dread spectre rises as a dread spectre in 1d4 rounds. Any other creature slain by a dread spectre instead rises as a normal spectre in 1d4 rounds.
Dread Spectre Nymph: ?
Dread Wight: Dread wights are the animate remains of creatures that were terribly violent and hateful in life.
“Dread wight” is an acquired template that can be added to any living corporeal creature.
Any creature killed by a dread wight’s energy drain ability rises as a dread wight in 1d4 rounds.
Dread Wight Gargoyle: ?
Dread Vampire: “Dread vampire” is an acquired template that can be added to any living creature with an Intelligence score of 3 or higher.
Dread vampires can create spawn only if their victims are kept in coffin homes, a special receptacle, until they rise. A coffin home can be any container capable of accommodating the corpse.
Under these conditions, a humanoid or monstrous humanoid slain by a dread vampire’s energy drain attack rises as a vampire 24 hours after death. Any creature with an Intelligence score of 3 or higher whose Constitution score reaches 0 from a dread vampire’s blood drain attack returns as a dread vampire 24 hours after death.
Dread Vampire Night Hag: ?
Dread Wraith Sovereign: “Dread wraith sovereign” is an acquired template that can be added to any living creature with 10 or more Hit Dice killed by a dread wraith sovereign.
Any creature slain by a dread wraith sovereign’s Constitution drain or incorporeal touch attack rises as a dread wraith in 1d4 rounds. A dread wraith created in this manner is under the command of its creator and remains so until either it or the creator is destroyed. When a dread wraith sovereign is killed, one of its dread wraith spawn that had 10 or more character levels in life becomes a dread wraith sovereign.
Dread Wraith Sovereign Trumpet Archon: When a trumpet archon falls to the touch of a dread wraith sovereign, gods and angels weep. Dread wraith sovereign trumpet archons are heinous undead beings composed in equal parts of sacrilege, cruelty, and hate.
Dread Zombie: Dread zombies are created when the magic used to animate a zombie or other corporeal undead goes awry, or when a dread mummy breathes death on a living creature. Sometimes when the ceremony to create a lich fails, the would-be lich instead becomes a dread zombie, attaining eternal unlife at an unexpected cost—the loss of some of the intelligence it had in life.
“Dread zombie” is an acquired template that can be added to any living creature.
Once every 1d4 rounds, a dread mummy can breathe a 30-foot cone of tomb gas, sand, and dust. Each living creature in the area must succeed on a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 dread mummy’s character level + dread mummy’s Cha modifier) or gain 1d4 negative levels. A creature killed by a dread mummy’s breath of death ability rises as a dread zombie in 1d4 rounds.
Dread Zombie Aasimar: ?
Negative-Energy-Charged Creature: Through dark magic, a spellcaster can strengthen an undead creature’s link to the chilling source of its unnatural existence.
“Negative-energy-charged creature” is an acquired template that can be added to any undead creature.
Empower Undead spell
Negative-Energy-Charged Wight: ?
Any humanoid slain by a negative-energy-charged wight becomes a wight in 1d4 rounds.
Nightmare Creature Undead: Make nightmare creature an acquired template gained when an evil individual is killed in a particularly torturous manner by good creatures.
Poltergeist: A poltergeist is created when a creature dies under traumatic circumstances in a place of great importance to it. Often the locations that house poltergeists are places where they felt a sense of ownership and security. A simple death, even a murder, is rarely enough to cause the victim’s spirit to remain as a poltergeist—the death must intimately involve the location. A gravedigger buried alive in his graveyard might become a poltergeist, as might a ferryman who drowned beneath his dock, or a steward crushed beneath his desk.
“Poltergeist” is an acquired template that can be added to any living, intelligent creature with a Charisma score of 3 or higher.
Dread Poltergeist: ?
Athach Poltergeist: ?
Alternate Sonic Creatures: Ghosts: Sonic creatures might be ghosts or a specific form of undead. In this case, the template should change the creature’s type to undead, and the sound the sonic creature makes should be mournful wailing.
Changed Swamp Lord Template: ?
Ghoul: The first ghouls were humans who rose as undead because they had indulged in unwholesome pleasures in life.
Ghast: The first ghouls were humans who rose as undead because they had indulged in unwholesome pleasures in life. The original ghasts rose as undead for similar reasons, but their sins were of vaster scale. A man who broke a taboo by consuming dead bodies to avoid starvation might rise as a ghoul, but a man who murdered his wife and children, then cooked them up as a delicious meal for himself and his mistress would instead rise as a ghast. Cursed with a terrible stench of death and corruption that serves as a warning to the living, the ghast’s greater sins in life grant it greater power in undeath.
Shadow: Any creature with a Charisma score of 15 or higher that is killed by a dread shadow rises as a dread shadow in 1d4 rounds. Any other creature slain by a dread shadow instead rises as a normal shadow in 1d4 rounds.
Spectre: Any creature with a Charisma score of 16 or higher that is killed by a dread spectre rises as a dread spectre in 1d4 rounds. Any other creature slain by a dread spectre instead rises as a normal spectre in 1d4 rounds.
Vampire: Dread vampires can create spawn only if their victims are kept in coffin homes, a special receptacle, until they rise. A coffin home can be any container capable of accommodating the corpse.
Under these conditions, a humanoid or monstrous humanoid slain by a dread vampire’s energy drain attack rises as a vampire 24 hours after death.
Wight: Any humanoid slain by a negative-energy-charged wight becomes a wight in 1d4 rounds.
Dread Wraith: Any creature slain by a dread wraith sovereign’s Constitution drain or incorporeal touch attack rises as a dread wraith in 1d4 rounds.
Zombie: Any creature killed by a dread mohrg rises as a zombie in 1d4 days.
Empower Undead
Necromancy [Evil]
Level: Clr 6, Sor/Wiz 6
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Target: Undead creature touched
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No
This spell grants the touched undead the negative-energy-charged creature template. The target is immediately empowered with the benefits of the template and knows how to utilize all the abilities it grants.
Material Component: A gem worth at least 10 gp that has spent a night within the body of an undead creature.
Advanced Bestiary:
3.5
Blood Knight: Blood knights are the damned souls of fierce warriors who died in a particularly bloody manner. Cursed to walk the earth until their warlike ways lead to their destruction, blood knights seek always to fight and conquer.
“Blood knight” is an acquired template that can be applied to any living creature that is proficient with light, medium, and heavy armor, wears full plate armor, and has blood
Altered Blood Knight: Ignore the required proficiency with armor and change the name of the template to the blood gaunt. In this form, the template could be applied to the temple guardians of a god of murder. Alternatively, blood knights could result from a curse that animates great quantities of spilled blood into a strange new form.
The blood knights could be unique. Perhaps a group of paladins that unwittingly participated in a highly evil act were cursed to become blood knights.
Make the template self-propagating. Creatures killed by Constitution damage from a blood knight’s attacks rise as blood knights in 1d4 rounds.
Morden Thrallhammer: Morden Thrallhammerer was once a dwarf hero of some fame. Loyal to his clan and a staunch defender of its sovereignty, he was ruthless to the point of sadism in combat with its enemies. When some giants took up residence near his clan’s territory, Morden provoked conflict with them, beginning a long and unnecessary feud that resulted in the deaths of hundreds of his kin. In the final days of the war, Morden led a vicious attack on wounded and noncombatant giants while a decoy force of dwarves distracter their warriors. When Morden dealt the killing blow to a mother protecting her child, he could not get out of the way of her falling body fast enough. The rest of Morden’s force retreated, leaving him trapped beneath the she-giant’s body. By the time the giant warriors returned, Morden had drowned in his foe’s blood. The giants cast his body off the mountain, cursing his name and praying to their gods to punish him. Thus, he returned to haunt the world as a blood knight, wearing the ornate, dwarf-made armor in which he died.
Dread Allip: Babbling, whispering, screaming, and muttering, dread allips pass through walls and strike at living creatures, hoping to gain companions in undeath and madness. A dread allip is a crazed incorporeal undead created when a sentient creature follows an order to commit suicide against its own wishes. The angry spirit that rises from the corpse is insane because its mind was conflicted at death, and it seeks to inflict a similar fate on others.
“Dread allip” is an acquired template that can be added to any living creature with an Intelligence score of 3 or higher that commits suicide because of domination by a dread allip or at the command of some other creature.
A creature that dies while dominated by a dread allip rises as a new dread allip in 1d6 rounds if it committed suicide, or died fulfilling an obviously self-destructive command, or had 0 Wisdom and was within 30 feet of the dread allip at the time of death.
Dread Allip Spirit Naga: ?
Dread Bodak: Bodaks are extraplanar undead created when living beings are touched by ultimate evil.
A dread bodak is sometimes created when an intelligent creature turns traitor and kills an ally or murders a friend. In particular, the use of the death knell spell on a friend seems most likely to create a dread bodak. A dread bodak is consumed with the desire for revenge on everyone it knew in life and anyone who gets in the way. Worse still, it can create more of its vile kind. Its gaze brings foes to the brink of death, and its voice then snuffs out their life force and turns them into dread bodaks.
“Dread bodak” is an acquired template that can be added to any living creature (referred to hereafter as the base creature) that was killed by a dread bodak or murdered by an ally via a method such as use of the death knell spell.
Any creature killed by a dread bodak’s death knell ability rises as a dread bodak in 1d6 rounds.
Dread Bodak Tyrannosaurus: ?
Dread Devourer: Few know how these dread devourers originated, but some sages speculate that they form as ethereal or astral “shadows” of creatures on coexistent planes that die from energy draining effects.
“Dread devourer” is an acquired template that can be added to any living creature that has a chest cavity or similar body part.
Dread Devourer Purple Worm: ?
Dread Ghast: The first ghouls were humans who rose as undead because they had indulged in unwholesome pleasures in life. The original ghasts rose as undead for similar reasons, but their sins were of vaster scale. A man who broke a taboo by consuming dead bodies to avoid starvation might rise as a ghoul, but a man who murdered his wife and children, then cooked them up as a delicious meal for himself and his mistress would instead rise as a ghast. Cursed with a terrible stench of death and corruption that serves as a warning to the living, the ghast’s greater sins in life grant it greater power in undeath.
The first dread ghasts were villains of still broader scope. Leaders in life, they influenced the actions of scores of others and led them to participate in terrible atrocities. Today, the dread ghast “race” of undead perpetuates itself through the transmission of vile power. A creature killed but not consumed by a dread ghast rises as another dread ghast.
“Dread ghast” is an acquired template that can be added to any living creature.
Any creature killed by a dread ghast that lies undisturbed until the next midnight rises as a dread ghast at that time.
Dread Ghast Gnoll: ?
Dread Ghost: Like normal ghosts, dread ghosts are restless spirits that exist on both the Material and the Ethereal Planes. Unlike many other dread undead, dread ghosts have no special power over others of their kind, but some mystery of their creation makes them more powerful than standard ghosts.
“Dread ghost” is an acquired template that can be added to any living creature that has an Intelligence score.
Dread Ghost Medusa: “Dread ghost” is an acquired template that can be added to any living creature that has an Intelligence score.
Dread Ghoul: Eaters of the dead that hunger for the living, the first ghouls were the undead remains of humans who had indulged in unwholesome pleasures, such as cannibalism or necrophilia, in life. The original dread ghouls came into being because they had exhorted or compelled others to such acts while alive.
“Dread ghoul” is an acquired template that can be added to any living creature.
In most cases, dread ghouls feast on the bodies of the fallen. However, any creature killed by a dread ghoul that lies undisturbed until the next midnight rises as a dread ghoul at that time.
Dread Ghoul Frost Giant: ?
Dread Lacedon: Dread lacedons are corpses animated by the restless spirits of those who drowned or were killed but not devoured by a dread lacedon.
“Dread lacedon” is an acquired template that can be added to any living creature.
In most cases, dread lacedons feast on the bodies of the fallen, or sea creatures such as sharks devour them. However, any creature killed by a dread lacedon that lies undisturbed until the next midnight rises as a dread lacedon at that time.
Dread Lacedon Cachalot Whale: ?
Dread Lich: Like normal liches, dread liches are powerful undead spellcasters who used vile magic and dreadful ceremonies to prolong their time in the living world. However, the process of becoming a dread lich is a greater secret than the evil ceremonies required to become a normal lich. Although powerful spellcasters sometimes discover this secret while preparing for lichdom, most dread liches were once normal liches who spent centuries researching arcane lore in search of the secret.
“Dread lich” is an acquired template that can be added to any living creature capable of creating the required phylactery, or to any standard lich.
Only a willing evil creature can become a dread lich.
An integral part of becoming a dread lich is creating a magic phylactery in which to store its life force. Unless the phylactery is located and destroyed, the dread lich reforms next to its phylactery 1d4 days after its apparent death. It does not matter how far away the dread lich is from its phylactery, but the two must be on the same plane. If the phylactery is on a different plane, the dread lich reforms 1d4 days after the phylactery is brought to the plane on which the dread lich was destroyed.
Each dread lich must make its own phylactery—a task that requires the Craft Wondrous Item feat. The base creature must be able to cast spells or use spell-like abilities, and its caster level must be at least 15th. The phylactery costs 200,000 gp and 8,000 XP to create and has a caster level equal to that of its creator at the time of creation.
The most common kind of phylactery is a Tiny mithral box that has hardness 20, 40 hit points, and a break DC of 40. Other types of phylacteries, such as rings, amulets, or similar items, can also exist.
Dread Lich Titan: The rare evil titan that learns the secret of lichdom in its youth cannot help but seek out and follow that dark path.
Dread Mohrg: Some say that a dread mohrg is the restless spirit of a sentient creature that perished from starvation and never received a proper burial. Others say that it is all that remains of a mortal punished by the gods for gluttony or for starving other creatures.
“Dread mohrg” is an acquired template that can be added to any evil living creature with a mouth and a digestive tract that includes intestines.
Dread Mohrg Seven Headed Cryohydra: Native to the colder climes, it was created when a normal cryohydra slew an entire village of humans.
Dread Mummy: “Dread mummy” is an acquired template that can be added to any living corporeal creature.
Any creature killed by a dread mummy’s mummy rot ability turns to dust and blows away on the wind. If the dread mummy that infected the creature with the disease is not destroyed within 1 week, the dust reforms next to it as a new dread mummy.
Dread Mummy Harpy: ?
Dread Shadow: Like normal shadows, they are sentient pools of darkness and negative energy that drain strength and life from living creatures.
“Dread shadow” is an acquired template that can be added to any living, intelligent creature with a Charisma score of 15 or higher that was killed by a shadow or dread shadow.
Any creature with a Charisma score of 15 or higher that is killed by a dread shadow rises as a dread shadow in 1d4 rounds. Any other creature slain by a dread shadow instead rises as a normal shadow in 1d4 rounds.
Dread Shadow Achaierai: ?
Dread Skeleton: “Dread skeleton” is an acquired template that can be added to any living creature with a skeleton or exoskeleton.
Dread Skeleton Blink Dog: ?
Dread Spectre: Like ghosts, dread spectres are the incorporeal spirits of living beings that continue to act after death.
“Dread spectre” is an acquired template that can be added to any living, intelligent creature killed by a spectre or a dread spectre.
Any creature with a Charisma score of 16 or higher that is killed by a dread spectre rises as a dread spectre in 1d4 rounds. Any other creature slain by a dread spectre instead rises as a normal spectre in 1d4 rounds.
Dread Spectre Nymph: ?
Dread Wight: Dread wights are the animate remains of creatures that were terribly violent and hateful in life.
“Dread wight” is an acquired template that can be added to any living corporeal creature.
Any creature killed by a dread wight’s energy drain ability rises as a dread wight in 1d4 rounds.
Dread Wight Gargoyle: ?
Dread Vampire: “Dread vampire” is an acquired template that can be added to any living creature with an Intelligence score of 3 or higher.
Dread vampires can create spawn only if their victims are kept in coffin homes, a special receptacle, until they rise. A coffin home can be any container capable of accommodating the corpse.
Under these conditions, a humanoid or monstrous humanoid slain by a dread vampire’s energy drain attack rises as a vampire 24 hours after death. Any creature with an Intelligence score of 3 or higher whose Constitution score reaches 0 from a dread vampire’s blood drain attack returns as a dread vampire 24 hours after death.
Dread Vampire Night Hag: ?
Dread Wraith Sovereign: “Dread wraith sovereign” is an acquired template that can be added to any living creature with 10 or more Hit Dice killed by a dread wraith sovereign.
Any creature slain by a dread wraith sovereign’s Constitution drain or incorporeal touch attack rises as a dread wraith in 1d4 rounds. A dread wraith created in this manner is under the command of its creator and remains so until either it or the creator is destroyed. When a dread wraith sovereign is killed, one of its dread wraith spawn that had 10 or more character levels in life becomes a dread wraith sovereign.
Dread Wraith Sovereign Trumpet Archon: When a trumpet archon falls to the touch of a dread wraith sovereign, gods and angels weep. Dread wraith sovereign trumpet archons are heinous undead beings composed in equal parts of sacrilege, cruelty, and hate.
Dread Zombie: Dread zombies are created when the magic used to animate a zombie or other corporeal undead goes awry, or when a dread mummy breathes death on a living creature. Sometimes when the ceremony to create a lich fails, the would-be lich instead becomes a dread zombie, attaining eternal unlife at an unexpected cost—the loss of some of the intelligence it had in life.
“Dread zombie” is an acquired template that can be added to any living creature.
Once every 1d4 rounds, a dread mummy can breathe a 30-foot cone of tomb gas, sand, and dust. Each living creature in the area must succeed on a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 dread mummy’s character level + dread mummy’s Cha modifier) or gain 1d4 negative levels. A creature killed by a dread mummy’s breath of death ability rises as a dread zombie in 1d4 rounds.
Dread Zombie Aasimar: ?
Negative-Energy-Charged Creature: Through dark magic, a spellcaster can strengthen an undead creature’s link to the chilling source of its unnatural existence.
“Negative-energy-charged creature” is an acquired template that can be added to any undead creature.
Empower Undead spell
Negative-Energy-Charged Wight: ?
Any humanoid slain by a negative-energy-charged wight becomes a wight in 1d4 rounds.
Nightmare Creature Undead: Make nightmare creature an acquired template gained when an evil individual is killed in a particularly torturous manner by good creatures.
Poltergeist: A poltergeist is created when a creature dies under traumatic circumstances in a place of great importance to it. Often the locations that house poltergeists are places where they felt a sense of ownership and security. A simple death, even a murder, is rarely enough to cause the victim’s spirit to remain as a poltergeist—the death must intimately involve the location. A gravedigger buried alive in his graveyard might become a poltergeist, as might a ferryman who drowned beneath his dock, or a steward crushed beneath his desk.
“Poltergeist” is an acquired template that can be added to any living, intelligent creature with a Charisma score of 3 or higher.
Dread Poltergeist: ?
Athach Poltergeist: ?
Alternate Sonic Creatures: Ghosts: Sonic creatures might be ghosts or a specific form of undead. In this case, the template should change the creature’s type to undead, and the sound the sonic creature makes should be mournful wailing.
Changed Swamp Lord Template: ?
Ghoul: The first ghouls were humans who rose as undead because they had indulged in unwholesome pleasures in life.
Ghast: The first ghouls were humans who rose as undead because they had indulged in unwholesome pleasures in life. The original ghasts rose as undead for similar reasons, but their sins were of vaster scale. A man who broke a taboo by consuming dead bodies to avoid starvation might rise as a ghoul, but a man who murdered his wife and children, then cooked them up as a delicious meal for himself and his mistress would instead rise as a ghast. Cursed with a terrible stench of death and corruption that serves as a warning to the living, the ghast’s greater sins in life grant it greater power in undeath.
Shadow: Any creature with a Charisma score of 15 or higher that is killed by a dread shadow rises as a dread shadow in 1d4 rounds. Any other creature slain by a dread shadow instead rises as a normal shadow in 1d4 rounds.
Spectre: Any creature with a Charisma score of 16 or higher that is killed by a dread spectre rises as a dread spectre in 1d4 rounds. Any other creature slain by a dread spectre instead rises as a normal spectre in 1d4 rounds.
Vampire: Dread vampires can create spawn only if their victims are kept in coffin homes, a special receptacle, until they rise. A coffin home can be any container capable of accommodating the corpse.
Under these conditions, a humanoid or monstrous humanoid slain by a dread vampire’s energy drain attack rises as a vampire 24 hours after death.
Wight: Any humanoid slain by a negative-energy-charged wight becomes a wight in 1d4 rounds.
Dread Wraith: Any creature slain by a dread wraith sovereign’s Constitution drain or incorporeal touch attack rises as a dread wraith in 1d4 rounds.
Zombie: Any creature killed by a dread mohrg rises as a zombie in 1d4 days.
Empower Undead
Necromancy [Evil]
Level: Clr 6, Sor/Wiz 6
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 standard action
Range: Touch
Target: Undead creature touched
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No
This spell grants the touched undead the negative-energy-charged creature template. The target is immediately empowered with the benefits of the template and knows how to utilize all the abilities it grants.
Material Component: A gem worth at least 10 gp that has spent a night within the body of an undead creature.
Last edited:
Voadam
Legend
Testament
Testament: Roleplaying in the Biblical Era:
3.0
Rephaim: Rephaim are the shades of those nephilim who drowned in the Flood. Because of their semi-divine heritage, death transformed them into terrifying spirits.
Accursed Ka-Spirit: When one seeks divine knowledge forbidden to mortal man, such as the secret of life that belongs to Amun-Ra alone, he runs the risk of being transformed into a ka-spirit, a ghost that cannot pass beyond the grave into the next life.
Accursed ka-spirits typically serve as tomb guardians, such as those who protect the books of Thoth (see p. 114), most of whom were mages who failed in attempts to wrest divine secrets from the texts themselves.
“Accursed ka-spirit” is a template that can be added to any humanoid.
Testament: Roleplaying in the Biblical Era:
3.0
Rephaim: Rephaim are the shades of those nephilim who drowned in the Flood. Because of their semi-divine heritage, death transformed them into terrifying spirits.
Accursed Ka-Spirit: When one seeks divine knowledge forbidden to mortal man, such as the secret of life that belongs to Amun-Ra alone, he runs the risk of being transformed into a ka-spirit, a ghost that cannot pass beyond the grave into the next life.
Accursed ka-spirits typically serve as tomb guardians, such as those who protect the books of Thoth (see p. 114), most of whom were mages who failed in attempts to wrest divine secrets from the texts themselves.
“Accursed ka-spirit” is a template that can be added to any humanoid.
Last edited:
Voadam
Legend
E.N. Critters 1 Ruins of the Pale Jungle
E.N. Critters - Ruins of the Pale Jungle:
3.5
Animus: An animus is the spiritual remains of a humanoid, intelligent magical beast or dragon that remains behind to guard a site long after the body has crumbled to dust.
An animus comes into being when a creature, often a humanoid of average intelligence, dies while attempting to guard or protect a particular site, object, or being.
An animus is created when a creature, usually a humanoid, dies while attempting to protect something and continues to try to do so after its death.
Baya Tumbili: It is said that it was once a flesh and blood creature, an awakened ape turned into an undead monster by a powerful evil druid researching necromantic rituals. However, the baya tumbili proved to be too chaotic and too unstable for even the druid to tolerate. Its master destroyed its pet’s body while it was on the Material Plane, and then set in place powerful wards that prevented the creature’s essence from reconstituting itself back on the druid’s home plane.
An ape slain by a baya tumbili’s energy drain rises as a baya tumbili spawn 1d4 days later. If the baya tumbili instead drains the ape’s Constitution to 0 or lower, the ape returns as a spawn only if it had 4 or less hit dice. An ape with greater than 4 hit dice cannot be transformed into a spawn in this manner.
Baya Tumbili Spawn: Baya tumbili spawn are apes that have been turned into undead spawn.
An ape slain by a baya tumbili’s energy drain rises as a baya tumbili spawn 1d4 days later. If the baya tumbili instead drains the ape’s Constitution to 0 or lower, the ape returns as a spawn only if it had 4 or less hit dice. An ape with greater than 4 hit dice cannot be transformed into a spawn in this manner.
Haze Horror: Heat and humidity often manifest as a visible haze and many people have survived the dangers of a hostile environment only to succumb to heat exhaustion. A haze horror is that fate manifested.
Any humanoid slain by a haze horror becomes a haze horror in 1d4 rounds.
Haze horrors are most likely the creation of some necromancer.
Although the origin of the haze horror is unknown, it is known that they tend to remain near where they died, and sometimes where their corpse is.
Leafling Ancestor Lesser: Leafling ancestors are the undead life forces of leafling shamans occupying their own shrunken, disembodied heads. Most every leafling shaman is honored by having their head shrunken and worn as a totem in battle, but only a select few have the power in life to live on in undeath as a lesser ancestor.
Leafling Ancestor Greater: On occasion, this lesser form of ancient will attract such a following that it achieves a god-like status among several clans or tribes. Their combined devotions empower the Ancestor to become one of the greater variety.
Revered Ancestor: Revered ancestors are psionically endowed members of ancient cultures, sacrificed by friends and family to protect them in this life through powers of the afterlife.
Often they were entombed with the treasure they had in life as well as with psionic enhanced items in the hope that it would increase their chances of awakening after the sacrificial ritual was done to create them. They always have a jade knife as it is a standard requirement of the ritual to create them.
The ancient cultures of the Pale Jungle sacrificed and entombed their family members in an attempt to gain protection over their house and sometimes even over their village. The tombs were often cornerstones of buildings, columns, and even carefully dug holes in the ground. The family member would be sacrificed (sometimes to a balam chac), the body wrapped in cloth and mummified with sacred herbs, and then placed in the prepared location. The location was then sealed according to ritual. Those family members with latent psionic ability so entombed became active revered ancestors with those powers fully awakened and directed toward kineticism.
Shetani: Legends speak of a great wizard called Eldaar, known for exploits of great daring and acts of equally great cruelty. It is said that this mage took great delight in his arcane experimentation, and that the Shetani or Children of Eldaar are the result of one such experiment.
When a living monkey is brought down by a shetani, its corpse is left alone by the pack for reasons that are unknown. The newly dead monkey will then rise 24 hours later as a new shetani.
Any monkey slain by shetani will rise as one in hours unless their corpse is destroyed.
Their origin is through arcane experiments in an attempt to create a bestial zombie.
E.N. Critters - Ruins of the Pale Jungle:
3.5
Animus: An animus is the spiritual remains of a humanoid, intelligent magical beast or dragon that remains behind to guard a site long after the body has crumbled to dust.
An animus comes into being when a creature, often a humanoid of average intelligence, dies while attempting to guard or protect a particular site, object, or being.
An animus is created when a creature, usually a humanoid, dies while attempting to protect something and continues to try to do so after its death.
Baya Tumbili: It is said that it was once a flesh and blood creature, an awakened ape turned into an undead monster by a powerful evil druid researching necromantic rituals. However, the baya tumbili proved to be too chaotic and too unstable for even the druid to tolerate. Its master destroyed its pet’s body while it was on the Material Plane, and then set in place powerful wards that prevented the creature’s essence from reconstituting itself back on the druid’s home plane.
An ape slain by a baya tumbili’s energy drain rises as a baya tumbili spawn 1d4 days later. If the baya tumbili instead drains the ape’s Constitution to 0 or lower, the ape returns as a spawn only if it had 4 or less hit dice. An ape with greater than 4 hit dice cannot be transformed into a spawn in this manner.
Baya Tumbili Spawn: Baya tumbili spawn are apes that have been turned into undead spawn.
An ape slain by a baya tumbili’s energy drain rises as a baya tumbili spawn 1d4 days later. If the baya tumbili instead drains the ape’s Constitution to 0 or lower, the ape returns as a spawn only if it had 4 or less hit dice. An ape with greater than 4 hit dice cannot be transformed into a spawn in this manner.
Haze Horror: Heat and humidity often manifest as a visible haze and many people have survived the dangers of a hostile environment only to succumb to heat exhaustion. A haze horror is that fate manifested.
Any humanoid slain by a haze horror becomes a haze horror in 1d4 rounds.
Haze horrors are most likely the creation of some necromancer.
Although the origin of the haze horror is unknown, it is known that they tend to remain near where they died, and sometimes where their corpse is.
Leafling Ancestor Lesser: Leafling ancestors are the undead life forces of leafling shamans occupying their own shrunken, disembodied heads. Most every leafling shaman is honored by having their head shrunken and worn as a totem in battle, but only a select few have the power in life to live on in undeath as a lesser ancestor.
Leafling Ancestor Greater: On occasion, this lesser form of ancient will attract such a following that it achieves a god-like status among several clans or tribes. Their combined devotions empower the Ancestor to become one of the greater variety.
Revered Ancestor: Revered ancestors are psionically endowed members of ancient cultures, sacrificed by friends and family to protect them in this life through powers of the afterlife.
Often they were entombed with the treasure they had in life as well as with psionic enhanced items in the hope that it would increase their chances of awakening after the sacrificial ritual was done to create them. They always have a jade knife as it is a standard requirement of the ritual to create them.
The ancient cultures of the Pale Jungle sacrificed and entombed their family members in an attempt to gain protection over their house and sometimes even over their village. The tombs were often cornerstones of buildings, columns, and even carefully dug holes in the ground. The family member would be sacrificed (sometimes to a balam chac), the body wrapped in cloth and mummified with sacred herbs, and then placed in the prepared location. The location was then sealed according to ritual. Those family members with latent psionic ability so entombed became active revered ancestors with those powers fully awakened and directed toward kineticism.
Shetani: Legends speak of a great wizard called Eldaar, known for exploits of great daring and acts of equally great cruelty. It is said that this mage took great delight in his arcane experimentation, and that the Shetani or Children of Eldaar are the result of one such experiment.
When a living monkey is brought down by a shetani, its corpse is left alone by the pack for reasons that are unknown. The newly dead monkey will then rise 24 hours later as a new shetani.
Any monkey slain by shetani will rise as one in hours unless their corpse is destroyed.
Their origin is through arcane experiments in an attempt to create a bestial zombie.
Last edited:
Voadam
Legend
E.N. Critters 2 Beyond the Campfire
E.N. Critters - Beyond the Campfire:
3.5
Bereft: A Bereft is the undead remains of a dryad that was forced to watch as its bound tree was cut down or destroyed and was unable to do anything to prevent it. With its tree gone, it slowly perished within the next day full of suffering, unrelenting grief and remorse. Unable to accept that it failed to protect its home, it now wanders the land untied to any particular tree, guilt-ridden and irrational. These creatures are twisted mockeries of their former selves, deformed by hate and self-loathing.
The Bereft are created when forced to watch their bound tree destroyed and then left to wither in its absence.
Blighter: Blighters are undead specially created from the corpses of humanoid druids.
Centuries ago, a conflict arose between a circle of druids and a powerful city-state that was seeking to expand into areas under the druids’ protection. The druids were powerful, but too few in number to effectively combat the legions of the city-state. One of the circle, a brash druid known for his eccentric ideas, proposed that they use their powers to create warriors of their own, an army of guardians that could be used to defend the wilderness. Intrigued, but cautious, the elder druids began experimenting in the creation of a being that could serve to defend different areas of their territory. In the end, they succeeded and created what they began calling a Nature’s Avatar. Fearful that their creation could be perverted to some dark purpose, the elder druids purposely tied the creature to one specific area, charging it with the defense of that area and no more.
The brash druid who had initially proposed the idea was outraged. Since the Nature’s Avatar was bound to one area, it could only serve as a defensive creature. The druid believed strongly that the fight should be taken to the city-state itself, and thus in secret he began experimenting with his own designs in an attempt to create a mobile foot soldier, one that could wreak havoc among the farming communities and travel routes that led to and from the city-state.
The druid became obsessed and began tapping into dark powers in order to complete his creation. Instead of constructing a being made from the elements of nature, he turned towards transforming and re-animating the remains of dead comrades. The forces that he was manipulating began to affect his mind, turning him from the path of protector of nature to the creator of something malevolent and undead. (Some sages have theorized that a powerful devil or demon lord was manipulating the druid without his knowledge, but this theory has never been proven.) In the end, he created what would come to be known as the blighters.
Blighters were created to cause death and destruction to the citizens of the threatening city-state.
Their powers were designed to be able to combat the city-state’s soldiers while also being able to raze farms and harry merchant caravans. They were created with a desire to destroy the humanoids that dwelled in the opposing community.
They were originally created long ago by a corrupted druid using necromantic powers.
The druid responsible for the creation of these creatures strayed from the true path of druidism. He was first obsessed and then possibly became insane as his project evolved. Dark powers took an active interest in this foolhardy venture and twisted it to serve their own ends.
Nightshade Nightflyer: Like other nightshades, it is a powerful undead composed of equal parts shadow and absolute evil, reeking of malevolence and an absolute hatred for all living things, with the faint scent of carrion on its breath.
Nightflyers originate from the plane of shadow and are formed from the darkness therein, resembling any of a number of raptors all combined into one creature.
Sages speculate a nightflyer is a dream reflection of all such birds of prey given form and substance, its undead nature a result of its plane of origin more than by any spell or spawning.
While it is unknown for sure how they are created, it is believed they are incapable of reproduction or spawning, which implies they may be limited in number, but exactly how large that number is as yet remains unknown.
It serves as aerial spy for greater night shades and is incapable of reproduction, including creating spawn.
Nightshade Nightguard: Nightshades are powerful undead creatures with a variety of devastating abilities that hail from the plane of shadow. It is not known if any true ecology exists for them, since being undead creatures is it presumed they are incapable of true reproduction, but it is apparent the nightguard were created to serve as the shock troops for the nightshades. They are the equivalent of elite guardsmen serving powerful nobles, only with no small amount of power themselves.
They are believed to be incapable of reproduction or spawning, but it is rumored that more powerful nightshades are able to create nightguards by capturing the souls of particularly powerful evil warriors and empowering them with negative energy from the plane of shadow, binding them to their forces while doing so.
It serves as an advance scout for greater nightshades and is incapable of reproduction, including creating spawn.
Nightshade Nighthound: Believed to be fey hounds from the plane of shadow, they only appear during the hour of twilight when the sun has just set and before night fully encompasses the land. They resemble hunting dogs composed entirely shadows, and are thought to be shadow reflections of once-living hounds. Some say they are the magically created crossbreed of nightstalkers and shadow mastiffs, if such could breed.
The more common belief is they are the souls of guard and attack dogs summoned by dark forces and empowered with negative energy from the plane of shadow. Regardless of how they were created, it is believed nighthounds are incapable of reproduction or spawning, have no interest in anything other than hunting and killing, and are incapable of remorse, sympathy, or compassion for any living creature.
Nightshade Nightstalker: Like other nightshades, it is a powerful undead composed of equal parts shadow and absolute evil, reeking of malevolence and an absolute hatred for all things living, its foul breath bearing the scent of death and decay.
Nightstalkers originate from the plane of shadow and are formed from the darkness therein, resembling large hounds or wolves in form but composed entirely of shadow. Sages speculate that a nightstalker is a dream reflection of all such beasts given form and substance, its undead nature a result of its plane of origin more than by any spell or spawning.
Others believe they are the souls of worgs and other evil wolf-like creatures summoned by dark forces and given substance by negative energy from the plane of shadow, ruthless hunters with little regard for the living except as prey which they take great pleasure in hunting and killing.
It serves as a hunting hound for greater nightshades and is incapable of reproduction, including creating spawn.
Owl Howler: Owl howlers were first created by a necromancer nearing lichhood that devised a ritual to bring along his familiar with him to the life of the undead. It was so effective that other owls were used to create guardians for his lair.
The ritual it takes to create an owl howler is quite painful. It is at the height of pain when the creature is about to pass on, that its essence is captured and stored into a gem. This gem is then placed inside the skull of the recently dead owl. The gem used must be at least 100gp in value and needs to be yellowish in coloring like a topaz or a piece of amber. The gem is not destroyed in the creation process and can be collected from the creature’s skull after it is slain. It is said that its screech is caused by the immense pain that the creature has endured and now releases in a horrifying attack.
They are created through a horrific ritual and serve necromancers as familiars.
E.N. Critters - Beyond the Campfire:
3.5
Bereft: A Bereft is the undead remains of a dryad that was forced to watch as its bound tree was cut down or destroyed and was unable to do anything to prevent it. With its tree gone, it slowly perished within the next day full of suffering, unrelenting grief and remorse. Unable to accept that it failed to protect its home, it now wanders the land untied to any particular tree, guilt-ridden and irrational. These creatures are twisted mockeries of their former selves, deformed by hate and self-loathing.
The Bereft are created when forced to watch their bound tree destroyed and then left to wither in its absence.
Blighter: Blighters are undead specially created from the corpses of humanoid druids.
Centuries ago, a conflict arose between a circle of druids and a powerful city-state that was seeking to expand into areas under the druids’ protection. The druids were powerful, but too few in number to effectively combat the legions of the city-state. One of the circle, a brash druid known for his eccentric ideas, proposed that they use their powers to create warriors of their own, an army of guardians that could be used to defend the wilderness. Intrigued, but cautious, the elder druids began experimenting in the creation of a being that could serve to defend different areas of their territory. In the end, they succeeded and created what they began calling a Nature’s Avatar. Fearful that their creation could be perverted to some dark purpose, the elder druids purposely tied the creature to one specific area, charging it with the defense of that area and no more.
The brash druid who had initially proposed the idea was outraged. Since the Nature’s Avatar was bound to one area, it could only serve as a defensive creature. The druid believed strongly that the fight should be taken to the city-state itself, and thus in secret he began experimenting with his own designs in an attempt to create a mobile foot soldier, one that could wreak havoc among the farming communities and travel routes that led to and from the city-state.
The druid became obsessed and began tapping into dark powers in order to complete his creation. Instead of constructing a being made from the elements of nature, he turned towards transforming and re-animating the remains of dead comrades. The forces that he was manipulating began to affect his mind, turning him from the path of protector of nature to the creator of something malevolent and undead. (Some sages have theorized that a powerful devil or demon lord was manipulating the druid without his knowledge, but this theory has never been proven.) In the end, he created what would come to be known as the blighters.
Blighters were created to cause death and destruction to the citizens of the threatening city-state.
Their powers were designed to be able to combat the city-state’s soldiers while also being able to raze farms and harry merchant caravans. They were created with a desire to destroy the humanoids that dwelled in the opposing community.
They were originally created long ago by a corrupted druid using necromantic powers.
The druid responsible for the creation of these creatures strayed from the true path of druidism. He was first obsessed and then possibly became insane as his project evolved. Dark powers took an active interest in this foolhardy venture and twisted it to serve their own ends.
Nightshade Nightflyer: Like other nightshades, it is a powerful undead composed of equal parts shadow and absolute evil, reeking of malevolence and an absolute hatred for all living things, with the faint scent of carrion on its breath.
Nightflyers originate from the plane of shadow and are formed from the darkness therein, resembling any of a number of raptors all combined into one creature.
Sages speculate a nightflyer is a dream reflection of all such birds of prey given form and substance, its undead nature a result of its plane of origin more than by any spell or spawning.
While it is unknown for sure how they are created, it is believed they are incapable of reproduction or spawning, which implies they may be limited in number, but exactly how large that number is as yet remains unknown.
It serves as aerial spy for greater night shades and is incapable of reproduction, including creating spawn.
Nightshade Nightguard: Nightshades are powerful undead creatures with a variety of devastating abilities that hail from the plane of shadow. It is not known if any true ecology exists for them, since being undead creatures is it presumed they are incapable of true reproduction, but it is apparent the nightguard were created to serve as the shock troops for the nightshades. They are the equivalent of elite guardsmen serving powerful nobles, only with no small amount of power themselves.
They are believed to be incapable of reproduction or spawning, but it is rumored that more powerful nightshades are able to create nightguards by capturing the souls of particularly powerful evil warriors and empowering them with negative energy from the plane of shadow, binding them to their forces while doing so.
It serves as an advance scout for greater nightshades and is incapable of reproduction, including creating spawn.
Nightshade Nighthound: Believed to be fey hounds from the plane of shadow, they only appear during the hour of twilight when the sun has just set and before night fully encompasses the land. They resemble hunting dogs composed entirely shadows, and are thought to be shadow reflections of once-living hounds. Some say they are the magically created crossbreed of nightstalkers and shadow mastiffs, if such could breed.
The more common belief is they are the souls of guard and attack dogs summoned by dark forces and empowered with negative energy from the plane of shadow. Regardless of how they were created, it is believed nighthounds are incapable of reproduction or spawning, have no interest in anything other than hunting and killing, and are incapable of remorse, sympathy, or compassion for any living creature.
Nightshade Nightstalker: Like other nightshades, it is a powerful undead composed of equal parts shadow and absolute evil, reeking of malevolence and an absolute hatred for all things living, its foul breath bearing the scent of death and decay.
Nightstalkers originate from the plane of shadow and are formed from the darkness therein, resembling large hounds or wolves in form but composed entirely of shadow. Sages speculate that a nightstalker is a dream reflection of all such beasts given form and substance, its undead nature a result of its plane of origin more than by any spell or spawning.
Others believe they are the souls of worgs and other evil wolf-like creatures summoned by dark forces and given substance by negative energy from the plane of shadow, ruthless hunters with little regard for the living except as prey which they take great pleasure in hunting and killing.
It serves as a hunting hound for greater nightshades and is incapable of reproduction, including creating spawn.
Owl Howler: Owl howlers were first created by a necromancer nearing lichhood that devised a ritual to bring along his familiar with him to the life of the undead. It was so effective that other owls were used to create guardians for his lair.
The ritual it takes to create an owl howler is quite painful. It is at the height of pain when the creature is about to pass on, that its essence is captured and stored into a gem. This gem is then placed inside the skull of the recently dead owl. The gem used must be at least 100gp in value and needs to be yellowish in coloring like a topaz or a piece of amber. The gem is not destroyed in the creation process and can be collected from the creature’s skull after it is slain. It is said that its screech is caused by the immense pain that the creature has endured and now releases in a horrifying attack.
They are created through a horrific ritual and serve necromancers as familiars.
Last edited:
Voadam
Legend
I think you mean the vohrahn entry in the cumulative one right after the wight srd origin descriptions. The vohrahn from Complete Book of Denizens turn people into wights so I included them in the wight section in the cumulative listing (with a parenthetical source citation after the new entry).
Sources outside of the core make core srd undead too through lesser spawning or other methods so I included those in the cumulative description so you could see all the various ways to make that undead.
Voadam
Legend
E.N. Critters 3 Tulenjord Land of the Fallen One
E.N. Critters - Tulenjord: Land of the Fallen One:
3.5
Frostbitten: The frostbitten are the animated corpses of those who die from exposure. Oftentimes their last prayers of salvation will go out to any deity that will listen. Evil deities are not above twisting these final pleas, and as the elements take the life, they fill the husk with a spirit from whatever plane they call home.
The frostbitten on Tulenjord are the direct result of the dead god’s lingering malevolence. Although any evil deity is capable of creating them, for some unknown reason the dead divinity has dozens of them roaming the island.
The souls inhabiting the frozen bodies are usually those of former priests. Oaths and promises of servitude along with past displays of faith are sometimes rewarded with this second chance upon the earth. Frostbitten are usually put in charge of a cult, or placed in the service of especially powerful priests. They will do anything to avoid heading back to the torment they have returned from, using every moment of their wretched existence to propagate the will of their deity. Those frostbitten raised by the dead god know only that they must find a way to revive him.
Its frozen body is inhabited by the soul of a fervent worshipper of an evil god.
Snow Spirit: A snow spirit is the undead life essence of someone who has died a cold and lonely death from exposure to the arctic elements.
The vast majority of snow spirits are chaotic neutral spending their time careening wildly and mindlessly through the arctic wastelands. A few are created from the death of a black-hearted and malevolent creature, who, once expired, leaves behind only its hateful spirit. This form of snow spirit will actively seek living creatures to suck the life and warmth from. Lastly, and most rare, are the wandering life essences of a soul so saintly that its beneficent nature withstands its cold and lonely death. This form of snow spirit will actually seek out dying creatures and protect them from the elements.
They are the lost souls of those freezing to death alone and helpless in the frozen wastes.
E.N. Critters - Tulenjord: Land of the Fallen One:
3.5
Frostbitten: The frostbitten are the animated corpses of those who die from exposure. Oftentimes their last prayers of salvation will go out to any deity that will listen. Evil deities are not above twisting these final pleas, and as the elements take the life, they fill the husk with a spirit from whatever plane they call home.
The frostbitten on Tulenjord are the direct result of the dead god’s lingering malevolence. Although any evil deity is capable of creating them, for some unknown reason the dead divinity has dozens of them roaming the island.
The souls inhabiting the frozen bodies are usually those of former priests. Oaths and promises of servitude along with past displays of faith are sometimes rewarded with this second chance upon the earth. Frostbitten are usually put in charge of a cult, or placed in the service of especially powerful priests. They will do anything to avoid heading back to the torment they have returned from, using every moment of their wretched existence to propagate the will of their deity. Those frostbitten raised by the dead god know only that they must find a way to revive him.
Its frozen body is inhabited by the soul of a fervent worshipper of an evil god.
Snow Spirit: A snow spirit is the undead life essence of someone who has died a cold and lonely death from exposure to the arctic elements.
The vast majority of snow spirits are chaotic neutral spending their time careening wildly and mindlessly through the arctic wastelands. A few are created from the death of a black-hearted and malevolent creature, who, once expired, leaves behind only its hateful spirit. This form of snow spirit will actively seek living creatures to suck the life and warmth from. Lastly, and most rare, are the wandering life essences of a soul so saintly that its beneficent nature withstands its cold and lonely death. This form of snow spirit will actually seek out dying creatures and protect them from the elements.
They are the lost souls of those freezing to death alone and helpless in the frozen wastes.
Last edited:
Voadam
Legend
E.N. Critters 4 Along the Banks of the River Vaal
E.N. Critters - Along the Banks of the River Vaal:
3.5
Bandalvis: A bandalvis is a form of undead created when a vissalia succumbs to the ancient curse upon it, feeding on the blood of the living but never able to completely sate its hunger. When this bloodlust curse overtakes a vissalia, it seeks out a victim to feed upon. Once it drinks the blood of a victim it slays for the first time, the transformation to a bandalvis completes and dark powers infuse the body.
Fortunately, a bandalvis is a unique form of undead unable to create spawn and only coming into being through the curse upon the vissalia.
It is created when a vissalia succumbs to a curse laid upon its race by the gods.
Those of the vissalia who had not been transformed became cursed by their gods to forever long for the land, but to never have it unless they drank of the lifeblood of the land-dwellers. At first, they believed this to be a fair trade, and hunted the land-dwellers who came to the water’s edge. It wasn’t too long before the vissalia understood the full extent of the curse as they spilled the blood of innocent creatures and in so doing were transformed into terrible monsters ever hungering for warm blood. Thus were the first bandalvis created.
Once the vissalia and terravis were of one race that dwelled in the deep waters of the seas and rivers, but a desire to become part of the realms above led the vissalia’s ancestors to involve themselves in forbidden magics, and to forsake the gods they worshipped to gain favor with the gods of the upper realms. The gods of the deep were justly angered by this, and punished the vissalia with the curse of bloodlust. Now they long for the warm blood of the land-dwellers, the smell of it awakening a primal hunger that if not kept in check threatens to consume them by leading them into a frenzy to attack the source of the blood to sate their hunger. This bloodlust can cause a vissalia to forsake its mortality and give itself over to the darker gods, becoming an undead abomination that exists solely to feed upon the living.
If it gives in to its bloodlust, a vissalia can turn into the undead bandalvis.
Blood Fountain Swarm: A blood fountain swarm consists of about 1,500 undead leeches.
They are created through a rather specific process over a number of days. First, a stone receptacle must be coated with the blood of a sacrificed humanoid. Then at least 1,500 leeches must be collected and each leech must suck a tiny amount of the necromancers blood. Next, each leech has its back quarter cut off and is placed into the receptacle to die. Once all have been cut and slain, 4 animate dead spells must be cast consecutively (either from memory or spell completion items) and the swarm rises and is released into the place it is to guard.
zombie: ?
ghoul: ?
E.N. Critters - Along the Banks of the River Vaal:
3.5
Bandalvis: A bandalvis is a form of undead created when a vissalia succumbs to the ancient curse upon it, feeding on the blood of the living but never able to completely sate its hunger. When this bloodlust curse overtakes a vissalia, it seeks out a victim to feed upon. Once it drinks the blood of a victim it slays for the first time, the transformation to a bandalvis completes and dark powers infuse the body.
Fortunately, a bandalvis is a unique form of undead unable to create spawn and only coming into being through the curse upon the vissalia.
It is created when a vissalia succumbs to a curse laid upon its race by the gods.
Those of the vissalia who had not been transformed became cursed by their gods to forever long for the land, but to never have it unless they drank of the lifeblood of the land-dwellers. At first, they believed this to be a fair trade, and hunted the land-dwellers who came to the water’s edge. It wasn’t too long before the vissalia understood the full extent of the curse as they spilled the blood of innocent creatures and in so doing were transformed into terrible monsters ever hungering for warm blood. Thus were the first bandalvis created.
Once the vissalia and terravis were of one race that dwelled in the deep waters of the seas and rivers, but a desire to become part of the realms above led the vissalia’s ancestors to involve themselves in forbidden magics, and to forsake the gods they worshipped to gain favor with the gods of the upper realms. The gods of the deep were justly angered by this, and punished the vissalia with the curse of bloodlust. Now they long for the warm blood of the land-dwellers, the smell of it awakening a primal hunger that if not kept in check threatens to consume them by leading them into a frenzy to attack the source of the blood to sate their hunger. This bloodlust can cause a vissalia to forsake its mortality and give itself over to the darker gods, becoming an undead abomination that exists solely to feed upon the living.
If it gives in to its bloodlust, a vissalia can turn into the undead bandalvis.
Blood Fountain Swarm: A blood fountain swarm consists of about 1,500 undead leeches.
They are created through a rather specific process over a number of days. First, a stone receptacle must be coated with the blood of a sacrificed humanoid. Then at least 1,500 leeches must be collected and each leech must suck a tiny amount of the necromancers blood. Next, each leech has its back quarter cut off and is placed into the receptacle to die. Once all have been cut and slain, 4 animate dead spells must be cast consecutively (either from memory or spell completion items) and the swarm rises and is released into the place it is to guard.
zombie: ?
ghoul: ?
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