Undead Origins

[Voadam]

SRD 3.0

SRD 3.0
3.0
Undead: Undead: Undead are once-living creatures animated by spiritual or supernatural forces.
Allip: ?
Bodak: Humanoids who die from a bodak's death gaze are transformed into bodaks in one day.
Devourer: ?
Ghoul: In most cases, ghouls devour those they kill. From time to time, however, the bodies of their humanoid victims lie where they fell, to rise as ghouls themselves in 1d4 days. Casting protection from evil on a body before the end of that time averts the transformation.
Create Undead spell.
Ghast: Create Undead spell.
Mohrg: ?
Mummy: Create Greater Undead spell.
Nightshade:?
Nightwing: ?
Nightwalker: ?
Nightcrawler: ?
Shadow: Any humanoid reduced to Strength 0 by a shadow becomes a shadow under the control of its killer within 1d4 rounds.
Create Undead spell.
Skeleton: Animate Dead spell.
Spectre: Any humanoid slain by a spectre becomes a spectre in 1d4 rounds.
Create Greater Undead spell.
Vampire Spawn: A humanoid or monstrous humanoid slain by a vampire’s energy drain attack rises as a vampire spawn 1d4 days after burial. If the vampire instead drains the victim’s Constitution to 0 or less, the victim returns as a spawn if it had 4 or fewer HD.
Wight: Any humanoid slain by a wight becomes a wight in 1d4 rounds.
Create Undead spell.
Wraith: Any humanoid slain by a wraith becomes a wraith in 1d4 rounds.
Create Undead spell.
Zombie: Animate Dead spell.
Creatures killed by a mohrg rise after 1d4 days as zombies.
Ghost: "Ghost" is a template that can be added to any aberration, animal, beast, dragon, giant, humanoid, magical beast, monstrous humanoid, or shapechanger. The creature must have a Charisma score of at least 8.
Create Greater Undead spell.
Lich: "Lich" is a template that can be added to any humanoid creature, provided it can create the required phylactery.
An integral part of becoming a lich is creating a magic phylactery in which to store its life force. Unless the phylactery is located and destroyed, the lich reappears 1d10 days after its apparent death.
Each lich must make its own phylactery, which requires the Craft Wondrous Item feat. The character must be a sorcerer, wizard, or cleric of at least 11th level. The phylactery costs 120,000 gp and 4,800 XP to create and has a caster level equal to that of its creator at the time of creation.
Vampire: "Vampire" is a template that can be added to any humanoid or monstrous humanoid creature.
If a vampire drains a victim’s Constitution to 0 or less, the victim returns as a vampire if it had 5 or more HD.
Create Greater Undead spell.

Animate Dead
Necromancy [Evil]
Level: Clr 3, Death 3, Sor/Wiz 5
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 action
Range: Touch
Targets: One or more corpses touched
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No
This spell turns the bones or bodies of dead creatures into undead skeletons or zombies that follow the character's spoken commands. The skeletons or zombies can follow the character, or can remain in an area and attack any creature (or just a specific type of creature) entering the place. The undead remain animated until they are destroyed. (A destroyed skeleton or zombie can't be animated again.)
Regardless of the type of undead, the character can't create more HD of undead than the character has caster levels with a single casting of animate dead.
The undead the character creates remain under the character's control indefinitely. No matter how many times the character uses this spell, however, the character can control only 2 HD worth of undead creatures per caster level. If the character exceeds this number, all the newly created creatures fall under the character's control, and any excess undead from previous castings become uncontrolled (the character chooses which creatures are released). If the character is a cleric, any undead the character might command by virtue of the character's power to command or rebuke undead do not count toward the limit.
Skeletons: A skeleton can be created only from a mostly intact corpse or skeleton. The corpse must have bones. If a skeleton is made from a corpse, the flesh falls off the bones. The statistics for a skeleton depend on its size; they do not depend on what abilities the creature may have had while alive.
Zombies: A zombie can be created only from a mostly intact corpse. The creature must have a true anatomy. The statistics for a zombie depend on its size, not on what abilities the creature may have had while alive.
Material Component: The material component must be worth at least 50 gp.

Create Undead
Necromancy [Evil]
Level: Clr 6, Death 6, Evil 6
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 hour
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target: One corpse
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No
This evil spell allows the character to create powerful kinds of undead: ghasts, ghouls, shadow, wights, and wraiths. The following types of undead can be created by casters of the specified levels:
Cleric Level Undead Created
------------ --------------
11 or lower Ghoul
12–13 Shadow
14–15 Ghast
16–19 Wight
20 Wraith
The character may create less powerful undead than the character's level would indicate if the character chooses.
Created undead are not automatically under the control of their animator. The character may attempt to command the undead as it forms with a turning check.
This spell must be cast at night.
Material Components: The spell must be cast on a dead body and uses a material component worth 50gp per corpse.

Create Greater Undead
Necromancy [Evil]
Level: Clr 8, Death 8
Components: V, S, M
Casting Time: 1 hour
Range: Close (25 ft. + 5 ft./2 levels)
Target: One corpse
Duration: Instantaneous
Saving Throw: None
Spell Resistance: No
This spell allows the character to create powerful and intelligent sorts of undead. The type of undead created is based on the character's level. The following types of undead can be created by casters of the specified levels:
Cleric Level Undead Created
------------ --------------
15 or lower Mummy
16–17 Spectre
18–19 Vampire
20 Ghost*
*Ghosts created by this spell have three ghostly powers in addition to manifestation: malevolence, horrific appearance, and corrupting gaze.
Certain types of undead, such as liches, cannot be created by this spell.
The character may create less powerful undead than the character's level would indicate if the character chooses.
Created undead are not automatically under the control of their animator. The character may attempt to command the undead as it forms with a turning check.
This spell must be cast at night.
Material Components: The spell must be cast on a dead body and uses a material component worth 50gp per corpse.

 

[Voadam]

SRD 3.0 Psionics

SRD 3.0 Psionics
3.0
Caller in Darkness: ?

 

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Creatures of Rokugan

Creatures of Rokugan
3.0
Gaki: Gaki are often called the “hungry dead,” the spirits of evil individuals whose spirits passed into the realm of Gaki-do as punishment.
Skull Tide Gaki: Any humanoid victim who dies to the skull tide gaki’s Constitution drain is completely consumed by the swarm, except for his skull, which becomes a gaki and joins the tide.
Shikko-Gaki: Shikko-gaki are the spirits of those who defiled the graves of the dead.
Kwaku-Shin-Gaki: Kwaku-shin-gaki, or “cauldron bodies,” are the spirits of wicked men who allowed others to die in the cold rather than share their warmth.
Gakimushi: Only those whose lives were consumed with mindless, violent evil become gakimushi. These creatures are created close to Jigoku's dark reaches, and thus can draw upon the power of the Shadowlands.
Hyakuhei: The name hyakuhei means “all evils,” a name which these creatures have earned; they are believed to be animated by a combination of all the vices known to man.
Ikiryo: Ikiryo are the spirits of failed guardians, doomed to spend eternity making up for their failure.
The Lost: Samurai born beyond Rokugan who willingly serve the Shadowlands.
Mokumokuren: The story of Mokumokuren (“the ghost of a thousand hungry eyes”) and the tablet of Hagakure, which the ghost protects, is shrouded in mystery. Over a hundred and fifty years ago, Hagakure was a minor diplomat and shugenja of the Isawa on a diplomatic mission in the Imperial Palace.
One night he was murdered as he slept, his throat slit from ear to ear. The kder was never found, nor was any motive uncovered.
News of an assassination within the Imperial Palace was kept secret to preserve the honor of the Hantei. No one was allowed to speak of it, except the Asako and Ikoma families, who could only argue about how it was to be recorded in the histories. The emperor finally commanded them to cease arguing, and to record only this: “Hagakure has passed in his sleep. The Empire shall miss his watchful eye.”
Two months after the murder, two assassins stole into the emperor’s chambers - and were never seen again. The next morning, the emperor discovered a black stone funeral tablet with the name “Hagakure” engraved on one side and the word “Guardian” on the other. Every Emperor since then has kept the tablet beside his bed, and has been protected by Mokumokuren.
Plague Zombie: Plague zombies are the corpses of those who
died from exposure to disease, particularly magical diseases spread by foul maho.
Anyone touching or attacked by a plague zombie is exposed to the disease it carries. This disease typically inflicts Id8 permanent Constitution damage, with an incubation period of one day. The Fortitude DC to resist the effects is 20. Anyone who dies from this disease rises as a plague zombie within minutes.
Shiyokai: They are spirits who entered Yume-do, the Realm of Dreams, through the dark realm of Jigoku. Before their deaths, shiyokai were humans who died bitterly, their dreams unfulfilled.
Creatures reduced to zero or fewer experience levels as a result of having their dreams stolen die, and their souls return the next evening as shiyokai.
Shuten Doji: The shuten doji are the most seductive and corrupting of the evil spirits spawned by the Shadowlands.
Shuten doji first came into being during the first war with Fu Leng during the dawn of the Empire. Three immensely powerful spirits, the first shuten doji, were sent from Jigoku to aid Fu Leng in his war. These spirits, known as Fear, Desire, and Regret, wrought havoc through the Empire until the conclusion of the war, at which time they returned to Jigoku. Their spawn, however, remained in the mortal realm and have spread corruption throughout mankind ever since.
Toshigoku: The faceless spirits of Toshigoku are the final remnants of those who died thirsting for blood, revenge, and death.
Ubume: Ubume are the spirits of women who have become lost on their journey to Meido and returned to mourn the tragedies of their life. Sometimes they are widows, sometimes mothers of sons lost in war, sometimes the mothers of unborn or kidnapped children.
Uragiri: Once, Kitsu Uragiri was an honorable shugenja serving the great general Akodo Godaigo as hatamoto. Sadly, Uragiri had the misfortune of stumbling over Kenshin’s Helm, a cursed artifact that twisted the shugenja’s mind. Uragiri led Godaigo to ruin and became a raving madman. After Godaigo’s downfall, uragiri ran into the Shadowlands where the power of Fu Leng transformed him into a hideous abomination, an enormous undead creature covered with twisting, writhing tentacles.
Uragiri is a unique creature, the demented undead remains of Kitsu Uragiri himself.
Uragirimono: The Uragirimono are the tentacle extensions of Uragiri.
Yokai: Yokai are among the strangest ghosts in Rokugan. They are spirits of anger and fury, lingering traces of unfulfilled emotion. The most peculiar thing about yokai is that they are not the ghosts of the dead, but the ghosts of the living. A person who is overly frustrated or occupied with hatred might unconsciously create a yokai. This wandering spirit rises while its host sleeps, inflicting pain and misery as it seeks vengeance in the waking world.
Yorei: ?
Zashiki Warashi: They are the spirits of dead children, wandering the mortal realm because they do not know where else to go. Usually, this is due to improper burial or desecration of their grave.
Any opponent reduced to 0 Wisdom by the zahiki warashi's wisdom drain attacks immediately becomes a zashiki warashi.
Goryo: Goryo are the spiritual remnants of humans who have been murdered.
The goryo is a template that can be added to any human individual who has been murdered.
If the goryo slays its killer, and its killer is truly guilty of murder, the killer then becomes a goryo.
Sample Goryo: ?
Shadow Samurai: Occasionally, when a samurai dies in the Shadowlands, his soul does not pass peacefully to Meido. Some spirits become trapped in Jigoku and are forced to fight their way out of the hellish darkness. Unfortunately, this leads many of these lost souls through Gaki-do, the Realm of Hungry Ghosts. The journey transforms these poor spirits into a unique creature with many powers in common with shiryo, gaki, and oni. Most are driven mad and return to Ningen-do seeking vengeance against the living. These creatures are called kagemusha, or shadow samurai.
“Shadow samurai” is a template that can be added to any humanoid creature provided it has at least one level of the samurai character class
Sample Shadow Samurai: ?
Shiryo: Not all visitors from the Spirit Realms are capricious or malevolent. Many, in fact, are extremely beneficial. Primary among these are the shiryo, the spirits of blessed ancestors who have earned the right to eternal bliss in Yomi, the Realm of the Blessed Ancestors.
“Shiryo” is a template that can be added to any non-dishonorable human character.
In rare cases, a shadow samurai is able to return to the mortal world unscathed by its journey through the darkness. Most of these individuals continue on their journey, enter Yomi, and become powerful shiryo.
Sample Shiryo: ?

Skeleton: Any creature killed by the kansen’s Constitution drain will rise as undead (a skeleton or zombie) within 2d20 hours after death unless the head is removed from the body.
Zombie: Any creature killed by the kansen’s Constitution drain will rise as undead (a skeleton or zombie) within 2d20 hours after death unless the head is removed from the body.
A uragirimono can burrow into a corpse as a standard action, animating it as a zombie while it inhabits the body.

 

[Voadam]

Penumbra Fantasy Bestiary

Penumbra Fantasy Bestiary
3.0
Akyanzi: They are the damned remains of those souls who faked bravery in life and ruined the dignity represented by the sword.
Bloodwraith: The bloodwraith is an undead creature originally created by the Longfoot shamans. The minions of the old empire tyrannically dominated the Longfoots, and so the shamans gathered to pool their knowledge of necromancy and the spirit world to create a creature to avenge themselves. They used spells to capture the spirit of a just-slain victim and give it the mission of destroying a particular target.
Bog Slain: The peat bogs of the colder climes have claimed many travelers, dragging them down into murky waters and death. The corpses float in these mires, slowly decomposing, and sometimes they claw their way back out again, seeking to destroy all life in their rage.
Not all victims of bog drowning become bog slain. In many cases, those who return are travelers who were looking forward to arriving at their destination, and died angry at the unfairness of not achieving it. Another primary cause is the remnants of evil magic within the peat bog itself, seeping into the corpses and bringing them to an unholy mockery of life.
Dark Voyeur: ?
Dreadwraith: Legends tell of unfaithful priests who betrayed not only their people, but also their gods. These treacherous souls were condemned by the gods they served, cursed to never again be trusted or welcomed anywhere.
Jikininki: These demons are often the spirits of dead men or women whose greed prevented their souls from entering a more peaceful existence after death.
Limbo Infant: Into every age a collection of heroes is born to battle evil, to enforce the will of the gods, and to inspire the common people with their deeds and words. Some call them “god-born”; others call them the “fated.” Regardless of appellation, these heroes are the stuff of legend. Unfortunately, the world is a cruel place and not every destiny goes according to plan, even if it is a divine one. When the forces of evil gain the upper hand the world suffers for it. War rages, countless thousands die, and among the casualties lay the corpses of these would-be heroes, struck down in their most vulnerable hour — during their infancy. While the souls of most children transcend the world of the living, the souls of these slain young fated are trapped between life and death. Called “limbo infants” by the ecclesiastics, these ghost children are all that remain of the legendary heroes they would have one day become.
Orphan of the Night: The murder of a child is no small crime. When the soul of a young one slain before her time cries out, sometimes that cry is answered. When this occurs, it creates an entity known as an orphan of the night.
Swordtree: When a creature is cut by a swordpod, a tiny seed is left behind in the wound. If the creature dies while a swordseed remains within it, it becomes a zombie that wanders to an area rich in iron at least one mile from the nearest swordtree and buries itself; a sapling swordtree soon rises from this site.
On a successful swordpod attack, the swordtree’s victim is implanted with a swordseed. Swordseeds can be dug out of injuries for the first three days, which costs 1 hp per day the seed has been burrowing, or can be washed out with holy water, which does no additional damage. Swordseeds can also be removed with a remove disease or heal spell, even after the first three days. The seed itself does no damage to its host. However, when the creature dies, it rises after three days as a zombie of the same size as the original creature; use the standard SRD stats for zombies. This zombie is drawn to the nearest iron-rich location at least one mile from another swordtree, where it buries itself; a sapling swordtree springs from the earth within one month.
Abyssal Plague Host: An abyssal plague host is an undead creature created by an abyssal worm plague’s corrupting attack.
“Abyssal plague host” is a template that can be added to any living creature
affected by an abyssal worm plague’s Corruption attack.
The most dreaded power of the abyssal worm plague is its ability to turn a creature into an abyssal plague host, and use it as food to create a new abyssal worm plague. To do this, the worm plague must draw a creature into its space and hold it using its Improved Grab ability (simply entering another creature’s range will not work). The round after the abyssal worm plague puts the creature in a hold, it may attempt to Corrupt the creature as a full-round action. A creature being corrupted makes a Fortitude save (DC 19). It is easier for the abyssal worm plague to Corrupt creatures who are of the same alignment it is, and harder to Corrupt those of a diametrically opposed alignment. Creatures gain a morale bonus or penalty to their save based on their alignment: +4 lawful good, +2 chaotic or neutral good, –2 lawful or neutral evil, –4 chaotic evil. Chaotic, lawful, and true neutral creatures receive no bonus or penalty. If the save fails, the abyssal worm plague has “seeded” the creature with its larvae; these will eventually grow into a new worm plague. The creature is automatically slain, and the abyssal plague host template is applied to him; 1d4 rounds later, the creature becomes an abyssal plague host.
Sample Abyssal Worm Host: ?
Barrow Wight: The gods have many terrible penalties for breaking holy prohibitions, but the curse of undeath is one of the most dire. The punishment for breaching the vaults of the dead and plundering their riches is to exist as a barrow wight, an undead creature that burns with hate for all intruders in its realm.
There are many ways such wights can be created: the gods can touch an area so that its dead will rise up if disturbed; priests can recite the prayers to invoke such a guardian of the grave; and it is also said that men of power and will can rise by their own accord to avenge themselves. In addition, when a wight’s victim is drained of its life, the creature will rise as a wight the next night.
“Barrow wight” is a template that can be added to any sentient creature with an organic body and a soul who comes from a culture with death rituals and has recently died either by a barrow wight’s Energy Drain ability or naturally; if naturally, the creature must be raised as a barrow wight by some magical force. The creature’s possession of a soul is a determination for the game master to make, but in most campaigns it will include any dragon, giant, humanoid, monstrous humanoid, or shapechanger. Fey, elementals, and other such creatures will depend on the campaign’s cosmology; creatures that are a type of spirit are not subject to being raised as a barrow wight.
Any sentient creature with a soul and death rituals that is slain by a barrow wight’s Energy Drain rises as a barrow wight the next night.
Sample Barrow Wight: ?
Blackbones: Blackbones are undead spellcasters, usually fanatic clerics devoted to a deity of fire, who have used fell magical rites to become undead.
“Blackbones” is a template that can be added to any humanoid creature with an affinity for fire magic who completes the transformation ritual.
Sample Blackbones: ?
Fossegrim: They are typically the spirits of dead bards, who in life enjoyed the presence of the waterfall they now guard. When they died their spirits sought out the waterfall and became one with it.
“Fossegrim” is a template that can be added to any good-aligned giant, humanoid, monstrous humanoid, or shapechanger who has recently died. The base creature must have a Charisma score of at least 10, and a love for the waterfall to which he is to be joined.
Sample Fossegrim: ?
Ghoul: There are some universal percepts, the philosophers say, that apply to every culture of sentient beings. Among these is a prohibition against cannibalism. To consume one’s own kind goes against the natural order and is a desecration that shocks the conscience of both gods and men. Such degeneracy can call down a foul curse that clings to the cannibal’s soul, preventing it from passing on to an afterlife upon its death. Instead, it is condemned to an unlife in which its corruption is reflected in body and mind as it rises as a ghoul.
“Ghoul” is a template that can be added to any sentient creature with an organic body and a soul who was killed by a ghoul and affected by its Create Spawn ability, or who ate the flesh of creatures of its type in life and recently died.
In most cases, ghouls devour those they kill. From time to time, however, the bodies of their victims lie where they fell, to rise as ghouls themselves in 1d4 days. Casting protection from evil on a body before the end of that time averts the transformation. The Create Spawn ability can only apply to sentient creatures with an organic body and a soul, as required for the template.
Sample Ghoul: ?
Plaugueling: Plaguelings are the wretched victims of a magical disease called plague rot.
“Plagueling” is a template that can be applied to any living creature with a functioning anatomy and a Wisdom of 6 or higher who has been killed by plague rot.
If the victim’s Constitution is reduced to 0 or less from plague rot, the victim dies and becomes a plagueling.
Sample Plagueling: ?
Shadow Lich: Shadow liches are undead spellcasters who have used their magical powers to seal their souls into their own shadows, which they then solidify and separate from their bodies.
The first step in becoming a shadow lich involves removing the spellcaster’s soul and sealing it in its solidified shadow. This is a task equivalent to that of crafting a normal lich’s phylactery, requiring the use of the Craft Wondrous Item feat by a sorcerer, wizard, or cleric of at least 11th level. At least 120,000 gp and 4,800 XP must be invested in the removal process, and the solidified soul shadow becomes an item with a caster level equal to that of the creator at the time of creation.
“Shadow lich” is a template that is added to a spellcasting humanoid creature who has undergone the above process of removing his soul and transforming it into a soul shadow.
Sample Shadow Lich: ?
Thrall of the Pale King: When a pale king — the servant of the fey god Arawn — finds a useful living creature, he tries to claim it as a thrall; see the court of the pale king entry in the Creatures section. This process has two stages. First, the pale king must kill the creature using his Death Gaze ability. Once the creature is dead, the pale king may then call back the spirit and bind it into servitude within the body it originally inhabited. The process for calling the spirit back takes five full minutes, and requires that the pale king be touching the body of the prospective thrall. At the end of this time, the creature returns to life as a thrall of the pale king.
“Thrall of the pale king” is a template that can be added to any humanoid, monstrous humanoid, or animal slain by a pale king’s Death Gaze.
Any creature slain by the pale king’s Death Gaze may be called back and forced to serve as the pale king’s thrall. Calling back a slain creature takes five full minutes of the pale king touching the corpse.
Sample Thrall of the Pale King: ?
Unknowing One: Unknowing ones are a strange type of undead created by the death of someone who doesn’t quite notice for some reason. This usually happens when a person of great will is killed very quickly and unexpectedly, and just doesn’t get the message. He continues on with his life, not aware of the fact that he is now dead. He will go to great lengths to deny that he is now undead, and rationalize any indications of his demise away. It is only the unknowing one’s denial to accept that he is dead that keeps him from passing completely from the realm of the living.
“Unknowing one” is a template that can be added to any humanoid or monstrous humanoid creature who has recently died a sudden, unexpected death.
Sample Unknowing One: ?

Shadow: Any humanoid reduced to 0 Strength by a shadow lich’s Incorporeal Touch becomes an undead shadow within 1d4 rounds.
Zombie: When a creature is cut by a swordpod, a tiny seed is left behind in the wound. If the creature dies while a swordseed remains within it, it becomes a zombie that wanders to an area rich in iron at least one mile from the nearest swordtree and buries itself; a sapling swordtree soon rises from this site.
On a successful swordpod attack, the swordtree’s victim is implanted with a swordseed. Swordseeds can be dug out of injuries for the first three days, which costs 1 hp per day the seed has been burrowing, or can be washed out with holy water, which does no additional damage. Swordseeds can also be removed with a remove disease or heal spell, even after the first three days. The seed itself does no damage to its host. However, when the creature dies, it rises after three days as a zombie of the same size as the original creature; use the standard SRD stats for zombies. This zombie is drawn to the nearest iron-rich location at least one mile from another swordtree, where it buries itself; a sapling swordtree springs from the earth within one month.

 

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Shadows of a Dying World

Shadows of a Dying World
3.0
Corphal Ghost: When a Corphal eventually dies through violence or after long years of neglect and isolation, its unholy will to live seldom allows its spirit to rest quietly.

 

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Into the Green

Into the Green
3.0
Arborgeist: When a treant meets a gruesome end at the hands of fire and great evil, the pain and horror of this fate sometimes proves too intense for the benign spirit to find rest even in death.
Autmunal Mourner: As the lingering spirits of the neglected dead, autumnal
mourners appear during the gray mists of autumn. Deprived of a proper funeral, burial, or even commemoration, they now mourn the summer’s annual passing and the subsequent death of the trees’ falling leaves.
Autumnal mourners arise from the bodies of the unburied and forgotten dead.
Bracken Corpse: Bracken corpses are the reanimated remains of murder victims hidden or dumped in the wilderness by their killer. Whether their creation results from arcane power or the whim of a vengeful deity, bracken corpses are fearsome shambling abominations.
On very rare occasions, the victims of a mass murderer arise as bracken corpses all searching for the same killer.
Lostling: Lostlings are the pitiful souls of creatures or lost individuals who died in the wilderness from starvation or madness.
Creatures dying from starvation or thirst after being turned catatonic from a lostling's wisdom drain transform into lostlings within 1d3 days.
A solitary lostling is usually the sole survivor ofsome catastrophe, while larger gatherings of these creatures consist of entire parties that lost their way in the woods or a lostling’s transformed victims.
Uragh Dhu: Some scholars insist these creatures are the remains of dead treants reanimated by a dark and forbidden evil ritual.
Blightsower: During trying times when drought plagues the land and the hot, oppressive sun bakes the dry earth into infertile clay, long forgotten legends recall the sudden appearance of a mysterious stranger swathed in a dark, hooded cloak. Amidst the inescapable blight surrounding him, the enigmatic, otherworldly charlatan peddles his far-fetched promise of seven years of prosperity and bountiful harvests throughout the desperate farming communities. Most scoff at the outlandish boast, but some downtrodden farmers eagerly and rashly seize the crumb of hope offered by the shameless huckster. The fast-talking, charismatic swindler easily convinces them to sign his voluminous contract to receive their reward. Without hesitation and forethought, most succumb to temptation and agree to his terms.
Within hours of reaching their agreement, the drought lifts, and the soil once again yields plentiful crops. For seven years afterwards, the cycle of prosperity continues, as the formerly destitute farmer now reaps abundant wealth and riches. Finally, seven years later to the day, the farmer’s soul suddenly departs from this world, fulfilling the terms of the contract signed with the malevolent confidence man. While the farmer’s spirit suffers endless torment in the realm of the dark forces, his body rises from death and assumes its new undead existence as a blightsower.

 

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Elemental Lore

Elemental Lore
3.0
Drought: Droughts look like massive, desiccated draft horses. They range from six to eight feet tall at the shoulder. The process of transformation into a drought darkens their hides to sooty black, no matter what color they were in life. Their manes also turn dark, usually either burnt brown or black. Everything soft weathers away from these creatures when they rise from the grave, leaving behind only hard bone, leathery skin, and flickering flames.
Not even the greatest necromancers know for sure how they come into being. Many speculate that they appear when thousands of animals die of thirst due to unnaturally long droughts. Others feel that they may be punishments sent into the world by particularly demented gods.
Rime Wraith: Rime wraiths are the spirits of hunters, fishermen, and others who drowned in the dead of winter after slipping under the ice.

Shadow: A humanoid reduced to zero Strength by a rime wraith becomes undead. Within 1d4 rounds, it rises as a shadow with the cold descriptor.

 

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Giant Lore

Giant Lore
3.0
Envy Giant: Giants believe that, when they die, their spirits return to the earth and the base elements from which they came, there to wait for the awakening of their gods. Some refuse to be conscripted into that long sleep and eventual war, however, and the power of their defiance animates their bodies.
Some say undeath can only lead to insanity. For giants, insanity can lead to undeath. These giants are so obsessed with their own mortality and with the supposed freedom of others, specifically humanoids, to escape this world after they die, that they let their bodies waste away in dark solitude. They never fully realize that they have died, however, and continue to exist in a vague haze of unreality.
“Envy” is a template that may be applied to any giant.
Sample Envy Giant: ?

 

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Monsters Handbook

Monsters Handbook
3.0
Undead Dragon: Called forth from beyond the mortal realm to once again fly through the night, undead dragons are amongst the most powerful creatures a necromancer or evil high priest can bring to unlife.
“Undead” is a template that may be added to any evil dragon.
Any wyrms killed by an undead dragon's breath weapon arise in 2d6 minutes as undead dragons
Bloated: “Bloated” is a template that may be added to any undead creature that has a corporeal form. Undead creatures that do not have fleshy bodies, such as skeletons, may not receive this template.
Cloaked: Some necromancers are capable of preserving their subject’s body, granting the undead creature they create a seemingly normal outward appearance.
“Cloaked” is a template that may be added to any Medium-size undead creature with a physical body. At the DM’s option, certain creatures that rely on a strange or alien appearance may not receive this template.
Relentless: “Relentless” is a template that can be added to any corporeal undead. A spellcaster who uses magic to produce undead creatures may grant them the relentless template by spending eight times the listed gp value for his spell’s material components.
Bone Guardian: The necromancer Rethoir Greybeard researched methods for enhancing the combat abilities of his undead minions. The bone guardian is his specially crafted skeleton designed for sentry duty at his castle.
The bone guardian is a Medium-size skeleton modified to serve as a sentry. A second skull is fused into its chest and its lower arms are replaced with two short swords. Normally, these creatures are designed by necromancers and set to watch over portals, gates, and other sensitive areas within their lairs.

Wight: Any creature killed by an undead dragon's breath weapon arises as an undead creature in 2d6 minutes. Humanoids and other non-wyrm living creatures arise as wights.

 

[Voadam]

Encyclopedia Arcane Necromancy

Encyclopedia Arcane Necromancy
3.0
Bone Delver: Bone delvers are a form of undead who were once grave robbers and died whilst performing their nefarious tasks. Some may have inadvertently awoken undead creatures in the grave, others are outwitted by cunning traps placed in well protected mausoleums.
Burning Ghat: The burning ghat is a rare form of undead, created in areas of unusually high negative energy saturation when a sentient creature is put to death by fire for a crime it was innocent of.
Death Knight: Doomed to devastate the world they once cherished and sought to protect, death knights are the result of damning curses visited upon once noble paladins who fell from grace at the moment of death.
The death knight is a template that may be applied to any humanoid or monstrous humanoid paladin.
Glacial Haunt: In the icy wastes of the north can sometimes be found the undead spirits of those who froze to death in the snows.
Grave Mount: The grave mount is the insult to all that is good and holy when a paladin’s steed is returned from the dead to wreak havoc upon the world. These undead creatures are rare and usually created when a death knight arises from the grave to ride the steed he owned in his former life, though a few necromancers are also able to raise a grave mount given time and study.
Skull Child: If a skull child manages to slay a juvenile humanoid by draining its Constitution to 0, the unlucky victim will rise in 1d4 days as a freewilled skull child. A bless cast on the body before that time will cease the transformation.
Slaugh: Negative energy is present in all things, even far out into the open sea. Thus, when a humanoid of particularly evil disposition is drowned, their will may be such that it is just possible that negative energies fuse in the water around them, reanimating their spirit as a slaugh.
Slaugh-Spawn: The slaugh-spawn is a grotesque form of undead formed when a slaugh merges with a slain victim.
A slaugh can merge with any humanoid it slays. The entire process takes four hours, after which the slaugh and victim both rise together as a slaugh-spawn.