Undead Origins

[Voadam]

Monstrous Compendium Ravenloft Appendices I & II

Monstrous Compendium Ravenloft Appendices I & II
2e
Bastellus: Any being reduced to below level 0 by the preying of a bastellus will die in its sleep, seemingly of a heart attack. If the body is not destroyed (via cremation, immersion in acid, or similar means), its spirit will rise in a number of days equal to the number of levels it lost to the bastellus. Thus, a 14th level wizard would rise up in two weeks. The new spirit is also a bastellus, but it has no connection with the monster that created it.
Bat Skeletal: keletal bats are created by the use of an animate dead spell and are often associated with necromancers or evil priests.
Bowlyn: Bowlyn are undead spirits who, like the poltergeist, do not rest easily in their graves. Without exception, they were sailors on ocean-going vessels who died due to an accident at sea. In life, they were cruel or selfish persons; in death they blame their shipmates for the mishap that took their lives. Thus, they return from their watery grave to force others beneath the icy waves.
Bussengeist: A bussengeist is the spectral form of someone who died in a great calamity brought on by their own action or inaction.
As a rule, only those persons who feel remorse for their actions will become bussengeists. For example, a traitor who allowed an invading force to gain access to a walled city and was himself slain in the ensuing battle might become a bussengeist. If he was killed without warning and felt no pity for those his actions had brought misery to, he would not be transformed. If, on the other hand, he knew that he was about to die and had reason to feel that he had acted in error, he might well become a bussengeist.
Ghoul Lord: It is rumored that they were first created at the hands of an insane necromancer in some other dimension, but that they were so evil as to instantly draw the attention of the Dark Powers.
Mummy Greater: Also known as Anhktepot’s Children, greater ,mummies are a powerful form of undead created when a high-level lawful evil priest of certain religions is mummified and charged with the guarding of a burial place.
The first of these creatures is known to have been produced by Anhktepot, the Lord of Har’akir, in the years before he became undead himself.
he process by which a greater mummy is created remains a mystery to all but Anhktepot. It is rumored that this process involves a great sacrifice to gain the favor of the gods and an oath of eternal loyalty to the Lord of Har’akir.
Skeleton Giant: Giant skeletons are similar to the more common undead skeleton, but they have been created with a combination of spells and are, thus, far more deadly than their lesser counterparts.
In actuality, they are simply human skeletons that have been magically enlarged.
The first giant skeletons to appear in Ravenloft were created by the undead priestess Radaga in her lair within the domain of Kartakass. Others have since mastered the spells and techniques required to create these monsters; thus, giant skeletons are gradually beginning to appear in other realms where the dead and undead lurk.
The process by which giant skeletons are created is dark and evil. Attempts to manufacture them outside of Ravenloft have failed, so it is clear that they are in some way linked to the Dark Powers themselves. In order to create a giant skeleton, a spell caster must have the intact skeleton of a normal human or demihuman. On a night when the land is draped in fog, they must cast an animate dead, produce fire, enlarge, and a resist fire spell over the bones. When the last spell is cast, the bones lengthen and thicken and the creatures rises up. The the creator must make a Ravenloft Powers check for his part in this evil undertaking.
Strahd's Skeletal Steeds: Strahd’s skeletal steeds are magically animated undead horses, created as guardians and warriors by the master vampire Strahd Von Zarovich.
Further, only Strahd Von Zarovich knows the arcane ritual necessary to make them. He can make them only from horse skeletons where 90% of the bones and the skull are present. It is not known if other animals can be animated from the same spell, but given the power of the Lord of Barovia, and his ties to the evil forces of necromancy, this seems probable.
Treant Undead: When an evil treant sees that its many years are soon to come to an end, it seldom accepts this fate quietly. For most, this means a final, wild orgy of violence and death. For a few, however, it means death and resurrection as a thing so dark and evil that even the Vistani will not speak of it.
Undead treants seem to be a natural stage in the life cycle of some evil treants. No doubt this is given as a “reward” for their evil lives by the Dark Powers.
Valpurgeist: The valpurgeist, or hanged man, is an undead creature that is sometimes manifested when an innocent man or woman is wrongly hanged for a crime. Unable to prove its innocence in life, it returns after death to claim the lives of those who sent it to the gallows.
Vampire Dwarf: Those dwarves that fall prey to the undead will often become themselves undead. Three days after any character dies from the vampire’s vitality draining, they will rise again if certain conditions are met. First, and most importantly, the victim must have been a dwarf. Vampire dwarves who kill elves or humans will not create new vampires, for only their own kind can be brought back to unlife by them. Further, the body must be intact. Second, the body must be placed in a stone coffin or sarcophagus and then entombed in some subterranean place. A typical burial service will meet this requirement, while placement in a crypt on the surface will not. Finally, the dwarven vampire must visit the body of its victim on the third night after burial and sprinkle the body with powdered metals. As soon as this is done, the new vampire is born.
Vampire Elf: Any elf or half-elf who falls to the essence draining attack of an elven vampire will rise again as an elven vampire so long as the body is intact after three days. If the body has been destroyed or mutilated, the transformation is averted, and the dead character may rest in peace. However, any attempt to revive the slain character (with a resurrection spell, for example) has a flat 50% chance of transforming the character into a vampire once the spell is cast.
Vampire Gnome: Gnomish vampires seldom create others of their kind. When they opt to do so, however, the process is not without risk. The vampire must first slay a victim with its debilitating touch and then move the body to the sarcophagus in which the vampire itself sleeps. For the next three days, the body must lie in the coffin while the vampire rests atop it, allowing its essences to seep slowly into the evolving vampire. At the end of this time, the slain gnome rises as a fully functioning vampire, completely under the control of its creator. While the gnome vampire rests atop its coffin, it is unable to regenerate any lost hit points or employ any of its spell-like abilities. Thus, the creature is far more vulnerable to attack at this time than it normally might be. In addition, it cannot interrupt the creation process once it has begun or both the would-be vampire and its creator will die.
Vampire Halfling: The vampire can make more of its kind only by slaying other halflings with its energy-sapping attack. In order to create a new vampire, the halfling need do nothing more than keep the body of its victim intact for 7 days after death and a new vampire will be created.
Vampire Kender: The strange and foul magics that created them have forged an unbreakable bond between them and the realm of Lord Soth.
Knowing the revulsion that the elves who live in his domain feel for all manner of unnatural things, Soth felt that he could find no better slaves than a band of undead. Aware that undead elves might pose a threat to his own power, Soth set about the creation of a new breed of undead. Drawing a small kender village through the misty veils of Ravenloft and into his domain, he had them killed one by one so that he could study their sufferings and invoke carefully designed magical rituals over their bodies in attempts to make them rise as undead. By the time he had finished with these sad kender, fully half of them had died horrible deaths and suffered unspeakable torment at the hand of the dreaded deathknight. The results of his experiments were, however, satisfactory to Soth, for he discovered a formula that would create a race of vampires utterly loyal to him. It is believed that Soth has created no fewer than 10 such monsters and no more than 30, although hard evidence to support any given estimate is hard to come by.
Kender vampires can exist only within the confines of Lord Soth’s domain of Sithicus. They are tied to that dark land in some mystical way that, no doubt, relates to the evil magic used in their creation. It is possible that Lord Soth was required to invoke the favor of the Dark Powers in his creation of these dreaded monsters and, thus, that he has paid some horrible price for their loyalty to him.
Zombie Lord: The zombie lord is a living creature that has taken on the foul powers and abilities of the undead. They are formed on rare occasions as the result of a raise dead spell cast while in the demiplane of Ravenloft.
The zombie lord comes into being by chance, and only under certain conditions. First, an evil human being (the soon-to-be zombie lord) must die at the hands of an unread creature. Second, an attempt to raise the slain character must be made. Third, and last, the character must fail his resurrection survival roll.

Ghoul The death of a darkling usually (90%) draws the attention of the nearest Vistani group. Within a week, they arrive at the location of the demise, bury the body (if such is still available), and perform an ancient rite designed to soothe the spirit of their tortured brother and allow him to rest in eternal peace. If this ritual is not completed, there is a 90% chance that the darkling will return in 1 to 6 weeks as a ghast (if the body is intact) or as a wraith (if the body has been destroyed). This undead creature then hunts down those men who served it in life and kills them, transforming them into ghouls (if the darkling returns as a ghast) or wights (if it is a wraith). Thus, its evil band will again plague the lands.
Any human or demihuman slain by Hesketh will become a ghoul; only if the body is blessed is this horrible fate averted. If the victim is raised or resurrected without being blessed, he or she will rise at once as a ravening ghoul. Of course, if the body is destroyed – for example, if Hesketh and his associates eat their victim – it cannot become a ghoul.
Ghoul Ghast: The death of a darkling usually (90%) draws the attention of the nearest Vistani group. Within a week, they arrive at the location of the demise, bury the body (if such is still available), and perform an ancient rite designed to soothe the spirit of their tortured brother and allow him to rest in eternal peace. If this ritual is not completed, there is a 90% chance that the darkling will return in 1 to 6 weeks as a ghast (if the body is intact) or as a wraith (if the body has been destroyed).
If the body of a ghoul lord's rotting disease victim is not destroyed, they will rise as a ghast on the third night after their death.
Long ago, Hesketh was a senior priest in the cult of the false god Zhakata led by Yagno Petrovna, the lord of G’henna. As Petrovna’s chief Inquisitor, among his horrid duties were dreadful arts of torture and sacrifice; secretly, he practiced cannibalism on the corpses of his hapless victims. Over the years, these unholy practices warped his soul and, upon his death, transformed him into an undead fiend.
When Hesketh died, a terrible curse fell upon him. The origins of this curse may lie in his own taste for human flesh or in the dying oaths of his countless victims. Whatever the source, this curse saw him transformed into a foul thing of the night.
Lich Bardic: Throughout the domains of Ravenloft and in countless other worlds, there are few creatures more terrible than the lich. In most cases, these diabolical creatures seek out the means by which they attain unread status, willingly sacrificing their humanity in the quest for forbidden knowledge and unchecked power. In rare cases, the curse of eternal life has been thrust upon somone quite accidentally. Such tragedies are few and far between, but sadly they do occur.
As Andre Duvall explored this terrible place, Azalin discovered his trespasses and confronted him. Enraged at this violation of his hospitality, the lich unleashed a stroke of magical lightning at the bard. Reacting quickly, Duvall attempted to shield himself with the great book he had been about to examine. The lightning struck the tome, which happened to be one of Azalin’s most potent books of spells, and a terrible explosion shook the castle. Showers of blazing fragments ignited fires around the room and thick, acrid smoke boiled into the air.
Dazed, but amazed that he had survived at all, Duvall fled. Azalin, intent on saving his magical laboratory, did not pursue. Thus, Duvall escaped and went into hiding.
As the days passed, it became more and more clear to Duvall that the accident in the laboratory had made some great change in his body. To his horror, he found that his heart no longer beat and that he did not breathe. He had not survived the attack, after all.
Mummy Greater: Most greater mummies were created by the dread lord of Har’Akir himself and are wholly loyal to that vile creature. Senmet, however, was given his power and undead stature by Isu Rehkotep, a priestess who stumbled upon a magical scroll.
A young priestess named Isu Rehkotep discovered a magical scroll. She saw at once that it was the process by which Anhktepot created his dreadful greater mummies.
Now a minion of evil, Rehkotep recovered the mysterious scroll that she had hidden away so long ago. She began to study it and to make plans for its use. What Rehkotep did not fully understand at the time was that her scroll fragments were incomplete. She was able to awaken Senmet, but not to exercise complete control over his actions as she had expected.
Spectre: With her last breath, she cried out for someone, anyone, to save her from death, swearing that she would do anything to keep her existence from ending like this. Then she closed her eyes and felt the bitter cold around her steal the pitiful remains of her body’s warmth.
Somewhere in the darkness of Ravenloft, her pleas were heard. A strange darkness, deeper than the blackness of the cave, seeped out of the soul of the mountain. It coiled around the young woman’s body like an ebony snake. Two pinpoints of red light like eyes smoldered to life, yet drove away none of the darkness. Then, like a cobra striking, the blackness plunged into Jezra’s body.
As the last traces of the shade vanished into the corporeal flesh of the woman, Jezra twitched and her face contorted in agony. Unseen in her tomb, her body thrashed about violently for several seconds and then was forever still.
Gradually, a cold glow filled the cave. Jezra blinked and opened her eyes. She could feel her hands and her feet again. The air no longer choked her. The cold, however, was redoubled. Her flesh seemed to tremble endlessly, and her bones pounded with an arthritic ache. She cried out in agony and rose to her feet.
Her only thought was to somehow escape from this icy darkness; had she looked down, she might have seen her own body, unmoving in death. Instead, she plunged desperately into the rocks and ice blocking her escape, passing through them as if they were but fog to her.
Vampire Illithid: Athaekeetha, like all of the vampire illithids, was created in a foul experiment conducted by the vampire Lyssa Von Zarovich and the High Master of the mind flayers.
Vampire Eastern: In the end, the samurai was triumphant. Sadly, he too was dying. The vampire had tasted his life essence and left his soul drained and tainted. With a final prayer to his ancestors, he died.
To his surprise, he awoke a day or so later. His wounds, it seemed, were completely healed. Indeed, he felt better than he ever had before. He left the vampire’s lair and headed out of the cave. With luck, he hoped to rejoin his sisters before they left the island. As he reached the cave’s mouth and stepped out into the sunlight, he found himself wracked with horrible pain. He turned and tossed himself back into the cool darkness of the cavern just in time. With horror, he realized that he himself had become undead.
Wight: The death of a darkling usually (90%) draws the attention of the nearest Vistani group. Within a week, they arrive at the location of the demise, bury the body (if such is still available), and perform an ancient rite designed to soothe the spirit of their tortured brother and allow him to rest in eternal peace. If this ritual is not completed, there is a 90% chance that the darkling will return in 1 to 6 weeks as a ghast (if the body is intact) or as a wraith (if the body has been destroyed). This undead creature then hunts down those men who served it in life and kills them, transforming them into ghouls (if the darkling returns as a ghast) or wights (if it is a wraith). Thus, its evil band will again plague the lands.
Wraith: The death of a darkling usually (90%) draws the attention of the nearest Vistani group. Within a week, they arrive at the location of the demise, bury the body (if such is still available), and perform an ancient rite designed to soothe the spirit of their tortured brother and allow him to rest in eternal peace. If this ritual is not completed, there is a 90% chance that the darkling will return in 1 to 6 weeks as a ghast (if the body is intact) or as a wraith (if the body has been destroyed).
Zombie: Zombie Lord odor of death ability.

 

[Voadam]

Monstrous Compendium Ravenloft Appendix III

Monstrous Compendium Ravenloft Appendix III
2e
Akikage, Shadow Ninja: The akikage (ah-ki-ka-gee), or shadow ninja, is the spirit of an oriental assassin who died while stalking an important victim. In life, the akikage was obsessed with duty and discipline.
Boneless: Boneless are without doubt the most foul result of all dark inquiries into necromancy. Created out of corpses from which the bones have been stripped, these mindless creatures exist only to execute the commands of their creator.
These creatures are the result of dark experiments conducted by the wizard Faylorn while staying as a guest of the lich lord Azalin at his keep in Darkon. He found that, under the right conditions, he could animate the bones and body of a corpse quite independently. Since that time, Faylorn’s methodology has spread and others have learned how to create these foul things.
Boneless have no role in nature and are purely the result of dark magic. It is said that the magic by which they are created is similar in many ways to the well-known animate dead spell, but that its material components are somewhat different. There is much evidence to support the belief that this spell functions only within on the Demiplane of Dread.
Cat Skeletal: Skeletal cats are the ambulatory remains of pets who have clawed their way back from the grave to avenge themselves upon masters who treated them poorly or ended their lives.
It can scarce be argued that cats are the most noble and majestic of household pets. When one of these stately creatures suffers and dies from the abuse of a cruel master, it sometimes returns in the form of a skeletal cat.
Cloaker Undead: The undead cloaker is a foul and dangerous creature that is believed to be the earthly remains of a resplendent cloaker that has had its life drained away by the living dead.
Corpse Candle: The corpse candle is the undead spirit of a murdered man or woman that coerces the living into bringing its killer to justice.
Familiar Undead: An undead familiar is a sinister being that is created whenever a wizard is directly responsible for the death of his own familiar. By betraying the mystical bonds that link the spellcaster to his companion, the wizard brings into existence a vile creature that seeks only to destroy him.
Geist: A geist is created when a person dies traumatically. Usually there is some deed left undone or some penance to be paid. The spirit of the person refuses to leave the plane (or demiplane) on which he died, becoming a geist instead.
Geist Greater: ?
Ghost Animal: Animal ghosts are the spirits of woodland creatures that died under some unusual circumstance. In the case of pets, they may have been killed while attempting to serve their masters. For wild beasts, it may be that they died while in a panic or other emotionally charged state.
Ghost Animal Bear: ?
Ghost Animal Boar Wild: ?
Ghost Animal Horse Wild: ?
Ghost Animal Lion Mountain: ?
Ghost Animal Stag: ?
Ghost Animal Wolf: ?
Hag Spectral: A spectral hag is the undead spirit of a hag who died during an evil ceremony.
Hag Spectral Annis: ?
Hag Spectral : ?
Hag Spectral : ?
Hound Phantom: A phantom hound is a dog so devoted to its former master that it returns after its death to guard that master’s property or final resting place.
First noted in Sanguinia, a phantom hound is always some very large dog such as a mastiff, wolfhound, or Great Dane. Due to the corrupting influences of the Demiplane of Dread, the faithful canine is transformed into a terrifying, coal black creature with spectral eyes that glow a deep green.
Hound Skeletal: Skeletal hounds are the magically animated skeletons of dogs created as guardians by evil wizards or priests. Originally created by Spelaka of Mordent, a reclusive necromancer, the creatures appear to have no ligaments, muscles, or joinings that would hold their bones together and allow movement, They lack internal organs, flesh, and eyes. They are given the semblance of life and held together by the magic of an animate dead spell.
Animate Dead spell.
Jolly Roger: A jolly roger is the undead spirit of a pirate or buccaneer who died at sea. These foul creatures were usually captains or officers while living, and retain their taste for command after death.
Jolly rogers are evil, undead creatures native to the demiplane of Ravenloft. For some reason, they are tied to that region and are never encountered elsewhere.
Lich Defiler: In life, defiler liches were spellcasters of great power who learned to garner their magical energies from the very land around them.
No one seems to know where the first defiler lich came from. With the many gapes and portals existing in the demiplane, it is most likely that the foul things came from some other place far removed from Ravenloft. Rumors abound that the world of their origin was blasted into desert by their ilk, but thus far no proof has been offered of this theory.
Defiler liches gain their status in the same way that other liches do. This includes the construction of a phylactery and its enchantment.
Demi-Defiler: ?
Lich Drow: Both drow and drider liches are created in the same manner as their human cousins, including the creation and enchantment of a phylactery.
Lich Drow Drider: A very few driders have escaped to continue their studies, and perhaps even to seek revenge on those who twisted their bodies into their present state. Of these, a few have eventually pursued their black arts into the realm of lichdom.
Driders are the forlorn of Lolth. Years ago these pathetic wretches failed the cruel tests of their spider goddess and were sentenced to a lifetime of suffering in the miserable half-form of spider and drow. A few of these creature’s fates were tragic enough to attract the attentions of the Demiplane of Dread, and there the pitiful driders found a home. A very few of these continued in their magical research and eventually mastered the magics that made them liches.
Both drow and drider liches are created in the same manner as their human cousins, including the creation and enchantment of a phylactery.
Lich Drow Wizard: ?
Lich Drow Priestess: Devout followers of the drow spider-goddess, Lolth, are sometimes rewarded with immortality through the transformation into lichdom.
Demilich Drow: Wizard and priest drow may become demiliches in the usual manner.
Lich Elemental: Elemental liches are diabolical wizards who studied and mastered the use of Ravenloft’s strange elements before or during their undeath.
An elemental lich’s phylactery must first be buried in a nearby grave. Then a great fire of burning bones is ignited on that spot. Blood is then poured over the ashes and allowed to soak into the ground. If the elemental powers decide to grant the lich its powers, the mists of the demiplane will roll in and obscure the site from prying eyes.
Demi-Elemental Lich: ?
Lich Psionic: There are few who dare to argue that the power of a master psionicist is any less than that of an archmage. Proof of this can be found in the fact that the most powerful psionicists are actually able to extend their lives beyond the spans granted them by nature, just as powerful wizards are known to do.
Psionic liches are powerful espers who have left behind the physical demands of life in pursuit of ultimate mental powers.
Although the power that transformed them is natural (not supernatural, as it is with other liches), the extent to which psionic liches have pursued their goals is not natural. By twisting the powers of their minds to extend their existence beyond the bounds of mortal life, psionic liches become exiles. Cast out from the land of the living, these creatures sometimes lament the foolishness that led them down the dark path of the undead.
By far the most important aspect of the existence of the psionic lich is the creation of its phylactery. To understand this mystical device, it is important to understand the process by which a psionicist becomes a lich. Before a psionicist can cross over into the darkness that is undeath, he must attain at least 18th level. In addition, he must be possessed of a great array of powers that can be bent and focused in ways new to the character.The first step in the creation of a phylactery is the crafting of the physical object that will become the creature’s spiritual resting place. Phylacteries come in all shapes, from rings to crowns, and from swords to idols. They are made from only the finest materials and must be fashioned by master craftsmen. Generally, a phylactery is fashioned in a shape that reflects the personality of the psionicist. The cost of creating a phylactery is 5,000 gp per level of the character. Thus, a 20th level psionicist must spend 100,000 gp on his artifact.
Once the phylactery is fashioned, it must be readied to receive the psionicist’s life force. This is generally done by means of the metapsionic empower ability, with some subtle changes in the way the psionicist uses the power that alters its outcome. In order to complete the phylactery, the psionicist must empower it with each and every psionic ability that he possesses.
lthough an object cannot normally be empowered with psychic abilities in more than one discipline, the unusual nature of the phylactery allows this rule to be broken. However, before “opening” a new discipline within the object, the would-be lich must transfer all of his powers from the first discipline into it. For exampie, if a character has telepathic and metapsionic abilities, he must complete the empowering of all of his telepathic powers before he begins to infuse the object with his metapsionic ones. Once a discipline is closed it cannot be reopened.
During the creation of the phylactery, the psionicist is very vulnerable to attack. Each time that he gives his phylactery a new power, he loses it himself. Thus, the process strips away the powers of the psionicist as it continues. Obviously, the last power that is transferred into the phylactery is the empower ability. The effort of placing this ability within the phylactery drains the last essences of the psionicist’s life from him and completes his transformation into a psionic lich. At the moment that the transformation takes place the character must make a system shock survival roll. Failure indicates that his willpower was not strong enough to survive the trauma of becoming undead; his spirit breaks up and dissipates, making him forever dead. Only the powers of a deity are strong enough to revive a character who has died in this way; even a wish will not suffice.
Odem: Vicious or murderous characters of great willpower may become odems when they die.
Radiant Spirit: A radiant spirit is the ghost of a powerful paladin or lawful good cleric killed while pursuing a holy cause. The anguish that fills his heart traps his spirit on the demiplane and taunts him with the failure of his quest.
A priest or paladin who dies while pursuing a just cause may rise as a radiant spirit 2-8 (2d4) months after his death. In order for a radiant spirit to be formed, however, the quest that the character was on must be one of extreme importance. As a rule, the failure of this mission must result in something as terrible as the utter collapse of the character’s church.
Remnant Aquatic: Remnants are the spirits of humans and humanoids whose former bodies have been thrown into an unconsecrated, watery grave after they have died of acute stress and exhaustion. The callous way in which they have been disposed of after a torturous and miserable life leaves them in a state of such sorrow that they cannot completely leave the material world behind, and they lurk in the pools and rivers where their bodies were abandoned.
Rushlight: Rushlights are formed when an evil being is burned alive on a funeral pyre. The soul flees the smoldering shell and attempts to escape into the night. Before the spirit can break free of its earthly bonds, it merges with the all-consuming fires and acquires their power.
Skeleton Archer: Archer skeletons are magically animated humanoid undead monsters created as guardians or warriors by powerful evil wizards and priests. Such creatures are crafted from the bones of dead archers using an animate dead spell. The creator must also bond a blooded arrowhead to the skull of each skeleton. During the animation process the arrowhead fuses with the skeleton’s skull.
Archer skeletons are said to have first been created by a zealous necromancer named Karakin. Karakin wished to murder all the people of his land so that he would be the only human living there. Once this was accomplished, Karakin would surround himself with undead courtiers far more loyal than any living vassals. Creating a vast army of archer skeletons and other undead, Karakin prepared to march, but the sheer force of his malice proved virulent enough to carry him instead through the mists and into Ravenloft.
Where Karakin resides now is unknown, but his skeletal archers and the secret of their construction have come into the hands of a growing number of nefarious individuals.
Skeleton Insectiod: These nightmarish automatons are the animated exoskeletons of dead insects. Evil priests and wizards, bent on manipulating nature for their own nefarious purposes, create these chitinous monstrosities with animate dead spells in a process almost identical to that used in the creation of normal skeletons.
Insectoid skeletons are created with the use of a special version of the animate dead spell. It is believed that this spell was created by a drow necromancer, but the truth of that supposition is unknown.
Skeleton Insectiod Giant Ant: ?
Skeleton Insectiod Giant Tick: ?
Skeleton Insectiod Stag Beetle: ?
Skeleton Strahd: Strahd skeletons are magically animated undead monsters, created as guardians or warriors by Count Strahd Von Zarovich, the vampire lord of Barovia.
Only Strahd Von Zarovich knows the arcane ritual that brings about their creation. For raw material, he requires human skeletons that still include the skull and 90% of the bones. What other foul components might be required are known only to the dread master of Ravenloft.
Spirit Psionic: Two theories exist as to the origin of psionic spirits. The first states that such monsters are actually psionicists who somehow become trapped within their shadow form. Eventually the torment of their hideous half-existence drives such individuals into madness, evil, and at the last into the arms of the Dark Powers, who grant the psionicist its ghostly form. The second theory simply asserts that psionic spirits were once evil psionicists who suffered a violent death while using their mental powers. Somehow the spirits of such psionicists remain in the world in the form of psionic ghosts.
Vampire Drow: ?
Vampire Nosferatu: Those who die from the nosferatu’s bloody kiss rise again as half-strength creatures subject to the will of their creator.
Vampire Oriental: Any human slain by the life draining attack of an oriental vampire is doomed to become such a creature himself. The victim rises the night after burial, a powerful pawn to its evil creator. If the victim is never buried, he will not become a vampire. This is the reason it is traditional to cremate the bodies of those suspected to have lost their lives to a vampire.
Zombie Cannibal: Anyone bitten by a cannibal zombie must make a saving throw vs. poison. Success indicates that the creature’s poisonous saliva has had no effect. Failure means that the victim will soon become a new cannibal zombie himself unless a cure disease spell is cast upon him quickly. Within 2-8 (2d4) rounds after failing the saving throw the victim begins to feel a gnawing hunger. Every other round thereafter the victim must make a Constitution check. When this check fails, the victim is killed by the fast-acting poison in his veins and moves to join his new brethren in attacking the fully living. Once this happens, a cure disease spell will have no effect on the new zombie. A slow poison spell will retard the poison’s onset, but this only delays the inevitable.
It is not known how cannibal zombies first came into existence.
Zombie Desert: Desert zombies are animated corpses controlled by their creator, the evil mummy Senment. In recent years, rumors have arisen that other powerful spellcasters in the domain of Har’Akir have begun to create these things, but this has yet to be proven.
The greater mummy, Senmet, created the first desert zombies. He sacrificed all of his spell casting power to be able to create and control an army of these nightmares, as well as to take limited control over the domain of Har’Akir.
Any character who dies from the disease transmitted by the touch of the greater mummy becomes a desert zombie. It takes a full day after death for the corpse to animate. If the body is destroyed during that time, it will not be animated.
Zombie Strahd: Strahd zombies are a unique form of undead created only by Count Strahd Von Zarovich, the vampire lord of Barovia.
They are created with an arcane formula known only to Strahd Von Zarovich. He can create them only from the dead bodies of humans.
Zombie Wolf: Zombie Wolves are not created by a wizard or a priest, but are a creation of the domain of Forlorn itself.
Zombie wolves rise from the dead when the body of any regular wolf in the domain of Forlorn is not decapitated after it is killed. If this gruesome task is not carried out, the corpse of the wolf rises as a zombie 2d8 days after it has died.
It is generally thought that the creatures gain this strange form of existence from contact with the land itself, which channels energy from the Negative Material Plane. Some sages speculate that simply preventing the wolf carcass from having any contact with the ground for a full eight days will prevent it from rising as a zombie, but in the absence of any practical application of this theory, it remains unproven.

Ghoul: If the mage is slain by his undead familiar he will rise again as a ghoul.
Skeleton: Whenever an archer skeleton's arrow fails to hit its target, the DM should make a saving throw vs. crushing blow for the arrow. If the saving throw fails the shaft simply breaks and becomes useless. If it is successful, however, the arrow remains intact and rapidly (1 round) grows into a skeleton with all the normal abilities of those undead.
Zombie: Any creature that is drained to zero level by an undead cloaker or its host will return from the grave in 1d4 days as a common zombie.
Zombie Sea: Those slain by a jolly roger’s touch will rise as sea zombies in 24 hours unless their bodies are blessed and then committed to the deep in a traditional burial at sea. Raise dead, resurrection, or wish will also counter this if used carefully and promptly.
Anyone living who attempts to board the jolly roger’s ship must save vs. death magic or be transformed into a sea zombie.

 

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Monstrous Compendium Planescape Appendix II

Monstrous Compendium Planescape Appendix II
2e
Sword Spirit: Sword spirits are the undead spirits of powerful warriors who perished in useless battles.

 

[Voadam]

Monstrous Compendium Dark Sun Appendix II Terrors Beyond Tyr

Monstrous Compendium Dark Sun Appendix II Terrors Beyond Tyr
2e
Dhaot: Dhaots are incorporeal undead that are sometimes created when people die far away from their homes. The spirits of the deceased feel an overwhelming compulsion to return to their homes they had in life.
Fael: Faels are ravenous undead beings who never quenched their need for material consumption during life.
Rich humans and demihumans are often subject to this form of undeath.
Kaisharga: In life, defiler liches were spellcasters of great power who learned to garner their magical energies from the very land around them.
No one seems to know where the first defiler lich came from. With the many gapes and portals existing in the demiplane, it is most likely that the foul things came from some other place far removed from Ravenloft. Rumors abound that the world of their origin was blasted into desert by their ilk, but thus far no proof has been offered of this theory.
They voluntarily sought undeath, believing it to be a form of immortality.
Demi-Defilers: ?
Krag: Krags are undead created when a cleric aligned to an element or para-element dies in the medium diametrically opposed to his own. The anguish and trauma of dying to the very force he devoted his life to opposing is sometimes enough to transform a cleric into a wicked and bitter undead.
Kragling: Kraglings are creatures who have perished from the elemental transfusion attack of a krag. Anything that dies in this manner has a 45% chance of coming back as a kragling in 1-4 days.
Any creature can become a kragling if it was killed by the elemental transfusion of a krag. Silt spawn, humanoids, demihumans, humans, and even nonhumanoid monsters are all subject to the transfusion attack and thus can become kraglings. What type of kragling and how powerful it is depends on the creature’s Hit Dice.
A character bitten by a krag must make a saving throw versus death, or his blood will slowly turn into the krag’s element. As the blood changes, the victim suffers 1d4 additional points of damage per round. If death results, there is a 45% chance that the victim will become a kragling in 1d4 days. This infection counts as a poison or a disease for purposes of countering, so sweet water or even a cure disease spell will halt the process instantly.
Kragling Lesser: Lesser kraglings are created when creatures with less than 4 Hit Dice are killed by a krag’s elemental transfusion.
Kragling Greater: Greater kraglings are created when creatures with more than 4 Hit Dice are killed by a krag’s elemental transfusion.
Meorty: Meorties were created long ago through the necromancies of high priests and through the use of long-lost psionic abilities for the purpose of serving as the protectors of various Green-Age domains.
Raaig: ?
Raaigs are incorporeal spirits sustained by their unwavering belief and sense of duty to ancient gods that no longer exist on Athas.
Racked Spirit: Racked spirits are the evil remnants of persons who committed acts during their lives that violated the very nature of their being.
Racked spirits vary in race, but dwarven banshees are the most common. Dwarven banshees are created whenever dwarves forsake their life purpose.
A being drained of all its life energy by a racked spirit becomes a lesser racked spirit.
Racked spirits single out happy individuals, attempting to ruin their lives through “bad luck”. They appear to those they have ruined to offer their help in exchange for services. The services they require always conflict with the strongest beliefs of the victims. If the victims refuse to do what the spirit requests, the spirit descends on them and drains their life energy. Those who agree and go against their own beliefs become full-strength racked spirits upon their deaths.
Thinking zombies might return as racked spirits because they were unable to complete their tasks as thinking zombies.
Racked spirits are incorporeal undead animated by their own guilt over committing some act that violated their basic nature. The dwarven banshee, created when a dwarf forsakes his life purpose, is the most common.
T'Liz: T’lizes are undead defilers whose spirits have outlived their bodies.
T’lizes are powerful defilers who died before completing their magical studies.
Undead: Freewilled undead once belonged to an intelligent species and in undeath continue to think for themselves. They are often referred to simply as undead. Controlled undead are animated corpses such as skeletons and zombies that may not belong to an intelligent species.
The type of undead a creature becomes upon death is based upon the motivation or event that caused the undead to resist death. While certain races are more likely to become certain types of undead, this is because members of that particular race often share similar motivations.
Wraith Athasian: In the Gray, the spirits of the dead slowly dissolve and are absorbed. Some spirits, like wraiths, don’t suffer this fate. They are sustained by a force even more powerful than the Gray – their everlasting faith in a cause greater than themselves.
All wraiths need something important from their lives to serve as magnets for their spirits. These items can be candles of faith, like in the Crimson shrine, or brilliant gems full of life force, such as the gems used by the Dragon’s wraith knights.
Athasian wraiths differ from other wraiths in that they voluntarily embraced undeath as a form of existence.
Zombie Thinking: A thinking zombie is a creature who has died and its spirit cannot rest until it has completed the task.
Creatures who die before completing an important task (often under the compulsion of a geas or quest spell) often become thinking zombies.

 

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Basic Set Moldvay

Basic Set Moldvay
Basic
Undead: Any victim who dies from having his or her blood drained by a giant vampire bat must save vs. Spells or become an undead creature 24 hours after death. (If D&D EXPERT rules are used this may be a vampire.)
Ghoul: ?
Skeleton: Animated skeletons are undead creatures often found near graveyards, dungeons, or other deserted places. They are used as guards by the high level magic-user or cleric who animated them.
Thoul: A thoul is a magical combination of a ghoul, a hobgoblin, and a troll.
Wight: Any person totally drained of life energy by a wight will become a wight in 1-4 days.
Zombie: Zombies are undead humans or demi-humans animated by some evil cleric or magic-user.

 

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Expert Set Cook

Expert Set Cook
Basic
Mummy: ?
Spectre: A character slain by a spectre will rise the next night as a spectre.
Undead: Undead are evil creatures whose forms were created through dark magic.
Vampire: A character slain by a vampire will return from death as a vampire in 3 days.
Wraith: Characters slain by a wraith will become wraithes under the control of the one that killed them after one day.

Skeleton: Animate Dead spell.
Zombie: Animate Dead spell.

FIFTH LEVEL MAGIC-USER AND ELF SPELLS
Animate Dead Range: 60'
Duration: indefinite
This spell allows the caster to make animated skeletons or zombies from normal skeletons or dead bodies within the range of the spell. These animated dead will obey the caster until they are destroyed or dispelled by a cleric or dispel magic.
The spell animates 1 hit die of skeletons or zombies for every level the caster has. Thus a 12th level magic-user could animate 12 human skeletons or 6 human zombies. Skeletons have AC 7 and the same hit dice as the original creature. Zombies have AC 8 and one more hit die than the living creature had. Character levels are not counted when a character is animated, thus a first level magic-user animated as a zombie will have 2d8 hit points. Animated creatures do not have any spells or special abilities.

 

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Rules Cyclopedia
Basic
Undead: The undead are creatures that were once alive but now owe their existence to powerful supernatural or magical forces upon their spirits or bodies.
A 1st level character hit by an energy drain attack is killed and often returns as an undead under the control of the slayer. If not specified, this occurs 24-72 hours after death.
Any victims who die from having their blood drained by a giant vampire bat must make a saving throw vs. spells or become an undead creature 24 hours after death.
Create Magical Monsters spell.
Beholder Undead: An undead beholder is similar to a living one, but is a construct created for some specific evil purpose. All undead beholders are constructs; "real" beholders never become undead.
Ghoul: ?
Haunt: A haunt is an undead soul of some creature (usually human) unable to rest.
Haunt Banshee: It is rumored that a banshee is the soul of an evil female elf, atoning for its misdeeds in life.
Haunt Ghost: A Neutral ghost is a human soul who has become trapped, unable to rest, either because the body remains unburied, or because the being was greatly betrayed, harmed, or cursed.
Haunt Poltergeist: ?
Lich: A lich is a powerful undead monster of magical origin. It looks like a skeleton wearing fine garments, and was once an evil and chaotic magic-user or cleric of level 21 or greater (often 27-36).
Mummy: Mummies are undead monsters; the carefully-prepared and bandage-swathed remains of long-dead nobles and guardians—who lurk near deserted ruins and tombs. Mummies are often created as guardians for these tombs; they are charged with the task of killing anyone who breaks into the tomb, even if they must follow the trespassers to the very ends of the earth.
Nightshade: They are all extremely rare, usually created or summoned for a specific purpose by a more powerful being.
Nightshade Nightcrawler: ?
Nightshade Nightwalker: ?
Nightshade Nightwing: ?
Phantom: ?
Phantom Apparition: Any human or demihuman slain by an apparition will become one in one week; the only way to avoid this fate is to cast a dispel evil spell on the body before casting a raise dead (all within the week's time). If a raise dead is cast without the dispel evil, the character will revive, apparently none the worse for the experience—but will begin to fade a week later, turning into an apparition.
Phantom Shade: ?
Phantom Vision: ?
Skeleton: Animated skeletons are undead creatures often used as guards by the high level magic-user or cleric who animated them, or by greater undead creatures who command them.
Animate Dead spell.
Spectre: A character slain by a spectre will rise the next night as a spectre.
Spirit: Spirits are powerful evil beings inhabiting the bodies (or body parts) of others; they are among the nastiest of undead monsters.
Spirit Druj: ?
Spirit Odic: ?
Spirit Revenant: ?
Vampire: Any character slain by a vampire will return from death in three days.
Wight: Any
person totally drained of life energy by a wight will become a wight in Id4 days.
Wraith: A victim slain by a wraith will become a wraith in one day.
Zombie: They are empty corpses animated by an evil magic-user or cleric.
Animate Dead spell.

Fourth Level Clerical Spells
Animate Dead
Range: 60'
Duration: Permanent
Effect: Creates zombies or skeletons This spell allows the caster to make animated, enchanted skeletons or zombies from normal skeletons or dead bodies within range. These animated undead creatures will obey the cleric until they are destroyed by another cleric or a dispel magic spell.
For each experience level of the cleric, he may animate one Hit Die of undead. A skeleton has the same Hit Dice as the original creature, but a zombie has one Hit Die more than the original. Note that this doesn't count character experience levels as Hit Dice: For purposes of this spell, all humans and demihumans are 1 HD creatures, so the remains of a 9th level thief would be animated as a zombie with 2 HD.
Animated creatures do not have any spells, but are immune to sleep and charm effects and poison. Lawful clerics must take care to use this spell only for good purpose. Animating the dead is usually a Chaotic act.

Fifth Level Magical Spells
Animate Dead
Range: 60'
Duration: Permanent
Effect: Creates zombies or skeletons This spell allows the spellcaster to make animated, enchanted skeletons or zombies from normal skeletons or dead bodies within range. These animated undead creatures will obey the cleric until they are destroyed by another cleric or a dispel magic spell.
For each experience level of the cleric, he may animate one Hit Die of undead. A skeleton has the same Hit Dice as the original creature, but a zombie has one Hit Die more than the original. Note that this doesn 't count character experience levels as Hit Dice: For purposes of this spell, all humans and demihumans are 1 HD creatures, so the remains of a 9th level thief would be animated as a zombie with 2 HD.
Animated creatures do not have any spells.

Eighth Level Magical Spells
Create Magical Monsters
Range: 60'
Duration: Two turns
Effect: Creates one or more monsters This spell is similar to the 7th level create normal monsters spell, except that it can create monsters with some special abilities (up to two asterisks). The range and duration are double those of the lesser spell. All other details are the same: the creatures are chosen by the caster, appear out of thin air, and vanish at the end of the spell duration.
The total number of Hit Dice of monsters appearing is equal to the level of the magic-user casting the spell (again, dropping fractions if the caster's level is not an exact multiple of the creatures' Hit Dice). The spell does not create humans or demihumans, but can create undead. Creatures of 1-1 Hit Die count as 1 Hit Die; creatures of 1/2 Hit Die or less count as 1/2 Hit Die each.
Special Note: This spell can create a construct (as defined in Chapter 14) if the spellcaster uses the materials normally required for the construct's creation. Only one construct will appear, regardless of the caster's Hit Dice; but it is permanent, and does not vanish at the end of the spell duration—though it still may be dispelled at normal chances of success. This construct may have only two asterisks (special abilities) or less; see Chapter 14 for lists of the known types of constructs and the number of special abilities they have. The cost of materials is a minimum of 5,000 gold pieces per asterisk (or more, depending on your campaign). Chapter 16 contains more rules for enchanting magical items (including constructs), and has suggestions regarding nondispellable constructs.

 

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DMR2 Creature Catalogue

DMR2 Creature Catalogue
Basic
Darkhood: ?
Dragon Undead: An undead dragon is the body of a dead dragon animated by an undead spirit.
Ghoul Elder: ?
Gray Philosopher: A gray philosopher is the undead spirit of a chaotic cleric who died with some important philosophical deliberations unresolved in his or her mind.
Gray Philosopher Malice: Over the centuries, the evil notions of the philosopher take on substance and gain a will of their own. These animated thoughts are known as malices.
Haunt Lesser: Like the greater haunts (banshees, ghosts and poltergeist, described under Haunt in the D&D® Rules Cyclopedia), the lesser haunt is the ghost-like spirit of some dead character or creature which is unable to rest for some reason (the need to pass on some message or to fulfill a broken oath, for example).
Mesmer: ?
Topi: Topis are undead human or humanoid creatures similar to zombies. Before these creatures are animated, however, the corpses are shrunk until they are only two feet tall, giving them dark, wrinkled, leathery skin. This process is long and complex, and is known only to certain primitive tribes.
Vampire Nosferatu: The nosferatu's victims return from the dead three days later only if the nosferatu intended for them to do so.
Velya: A creature can only become a velya through an ancient and forgotten curse.
Velya Swamp: The swamp velya's origin is identical to its ocean cousin.
Wyrd Normal: A wyrd (pronounced weerd) is an undead spirit inhabiting the body of an elf.
Wyrd Greater: It is the result of a powerful undead spirit entering the body of a high-level elf.

Wight: Any character slain by a velya will return from death in three days as a wight.

 

[Voadam]

Monstrous Compendium Mystara Appendix

Monstrous Compendium Mystara Appendix
2e
Agarat: No one knows how these creatures came into being.
Agarat Greater: ?
Darkhood: Legends say that darkhoods are the restless life forces of those who died in a state of extreme terror, especially terror of death itself. To maintain its connection to its territory, the darkhood feeds on the terror of other sapient beings, thus replenishing its own energies. No one has yet found a way to communicate with or adequately study a darkhood, and so the truth behind the legends remains unsubstantiated.
Gray Philosopher: A gray philosopher is the undead spirit of an evil cleric who died with some important philosophical deliberation yet unresolved in his or her mind.
Gray Philosopher Malice: These vindictive creatures are actually the gray philosopher’s evil thoughts, which have taken on substance and a will of their own.
Certain clerics and academicians speculate that any powerful evil cleric who, at death becomes a gray philosopher may have been attempting to become one of the Immortals.
Sacrol: They are spawned in sites of great death.
Sacrols are the collected angry spirits of the dead.
Sacrols arise in places of mass death, such as battlefields, sacked temples, and plague-ridden cities or countrysides.
Spirit: Spirits are powerful undead beings which inhabit the bodies, or body parts, of others.
Spirit Druj: Druj appear as body parts – a hand, an eye, or a skull – floating or crawling around in a horrible way.
Spirit Odic: Odics are formless creatures that take possession of normal plants, usually shrubs or small trees.
Topi: Topis are tiny undead humanoid creatures similar to zombies. Before these creatures are animated, however, the corpses are shrunk until they are only 2 feet tall. The process gives them dark, wrinkled, leathery skin Their eves are wide and bulging, and their lips are usually curled back, freezing their faces into permanent toothy grimaces (occasionally, however, the lips are sewn shut).
Unlike zombies, topis do not have a rotting stench, as the shrinking process also preserves their flesh.
The dead body of any humanoid creature can be made into a topi. Only a few tribal spell casters know bow to shrink the corpses, however. The few travelers who have observed the process and have been lucky enough to return to tell the tale report that the corpse is boiled for several days in a mixture of water, herbs, and animal organs, then dried in the sun and animated, presumably with a variant animate dead spell.
Vampire Velya: They were once surface dwellers who became undead through an ancient curse.
Only a transfusion of the velya’s blood or the original curse, now forgotten, can make a velya.
Vampire Velya Swamp: Swamp Velyas origins are identical to ocean velya.
Wyrd: They are created when an evil spirit inhabits the dead body of an elf.
The process that creates wyrds is a mystery. It seems to be clear, however, that the spirit that animates a wyrd prefers to occupy elves who have died violently and been left unburied. Elves who have been abandoned by their fellow elves and left to die alone seem to be the most likely to become wyrds. Certain locales near places of ancient evil, such as ruined temples, battlefields where evil forces were once victorious, and scenes of great treachery also seem to be prone to produce wyrds.
Wyrd Greater: This more hideous variety of wyrd is created when an undead spirit occupies the body of an exceptionally high-level elf.
Zombie Lightning: Lightning zombies are undead creatures created when the bodies of dead humans, demihumans, or humanoids are bathed in exceptionally strong magical auras.
Zombie Lightning Greater: These creatures are created when a powerful character or leader dies and the body is exposed to awesome magical energies.

Wight: Characters slain by a velya return from death after three days and become wights.

 

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Pathfinder Bestiary

Pathfinder Bestiary
Pathfinder 1e
Undead: Undead are once-living creatures animated by spiritual or supernatural forces.
Devourer: Devourers are the undead remnants of fiends and evil spellcasters who became lost beyond the farthest reaches of the multiverse. Returning with warped bodies, alien sentience, and a hunger for life, devourers threaten all souls with a terrifying, tormented annihilation.
Ghost: When a soul is not allowed to rest due to some great injustice, either real or perceived, it sometimes comes back as a ghost.
"Ghost" is an acquired template that can be added to any living creature that has a Charisma score of at least 6.
Ghost Human Aristocrat 7: ?
Ghoul: A humanoid who dies of ghoul fever rises as a ghoul at the next midnight. A humanoid who becomes a ghoul in this way retains none of the abilities it possessed in life. A humanoid of 4 Hit Dice or more rises as a ghast.
Ghoul Ghast: A humanoid who dies of ghoul fever rises as a ghoul at the next midnight. A humanoid who becomes a ghoul in this way retains none of the abilities it possessed in life. A humanoid of 4 Hit Dice or more rises as a ghast.
Ghoul Lacedon: ?
Lich: The pinnacle of necromantic art, the lich is a spellcaster who has chosen to shed his life as a method to cheat death by becoming undead. While many who reach such heights of power stop at nothing to achieve immortality, the idea of becoming a lich is abhorrent to most creatures. The process involves the extraction of the spellcaster's life-force and its imprisonment in a specially prepared phylactery—the spellcaster gives up life, but in trapping life he also traps his death, and as long as his phylactery remains intact he can continue on in his research and work without fear of the passage of time.
The quest to become a lich is a lengthy one. While construction of the magical phylactery to contain the spellcaster's soul is a critical component, a prospective lich must also learn the secrets of transferring his soul into the receptacle and of preparing his body for the transformation into undeath, neither of which are simple tasks. Further complicating the ritual is the fact that no two bodies or souls are exactly alike—a ritual that works for one spellcaster might simply kill another or drive him insane. The exact methods for each spellcaster's transformation are left to the GM's discretion, but should involve expenditures of hundreds of thousands of gold pieces, numerous deadly adventures, and a large number of difficult skill checks over the course of months, years, or decades.
An integral part of becoming a lich is the creation of the phylactery in which the character stores his soul. The only way to get rid of a lich for sure is to destroy its phylactery.
Each lich must create its own phylactery by using the Craft Woundrous Item feat. The character must be able to cast spells and have a caster level of 11th or higher. The phylactery costs 120,000 gp to create and has a caster level equal to that of its creator at the time of creation.
The most common form of phylactery is a sealed metal box containing strips of parchment on which magical phrases have been transcribed. The box is Tiny and has 40 hit points, hardness 20, and a break DC of 40.
Other forms of phylacteries can exist, such as rings, amulets, or similar items.
"Lich" is an acquired template that can be added to any living creature, provided it can create the required phylactery.
Lich Human Necromancer 11: ?
Mohrg: Those who slay many over the course of their lifetimes, be they serial killers, mass-murderers, warmongering soldiers, or battle-driven berserkers, become marked and tainted by the sheer weight of their murderous deeds. When such killers are brought to justice and publicly executed for their heinous crimes before they have a chance to atone, the remains sometimes return to unlife to continue their dark work as a mohrg.
Mummy: Mummies are created through a rather lengthy and gruesome embalming process, during which all of the body's major organs are removed and replaced with dried herbs and flowers. After this process, the flesh is anointed with sacred oils and wrapped in purified linens. The creator then finishes the ritual with a create undead spell.
Although most mummies are created merely as guardians and remain loyal to their charge until their destruction, certain powerful mummies have much more free will. The majority are at least 10th-level clerics, and are often kings or pharaohs who have called upon dark gods or sinister necromancers to bind their souls to their bodies after death—usually as a means to extend their rule beyond the grave, but at times simply to escape what they fear will be an eternity of torment in their own afterlife.
Shadow: A humanoid creature killed by a shadow's Strength damage becomes a shadow under the control of its killer in 1d4 rounds.
Shadow Greater: Greater shadows are those undead shadows that have come to be particularly infused with negative energy, such as those that have spent vast lengths of time in areas of the Plane of Shadow awash in negative energy, or those that have drained the lives of thousands of victims
Skeletal Champion: "Skeletal Champion" is an acquired template that can be added to any corporeal creature (other than an undead) that has a skeletal system and a minimum Intelligence of 3.
A skeletal champion cannot be created with animate dead—these potent undead only arise under rare conditions similar to those that cause the manifestation of ghosts or via rare and highly evil rituals.
Skeletal Champion Human Warrior 1: ?
Skeleton: Skeletons are the animated bones of the dead, brought to unlife through foul magic.
"Skeleton" is an acquired template that can be added to any corporeal creature (other than an undead) that has a skeletal system.
Skeleton Human Warrior 1: ?
Skeleton Bloody: These variant skeletons can be created using animate dead, but they count as twice their normal number of Hit Dice per casting.
Skeleton Burning: These variant skeletons can be created using animate dead, but they count as twice their normal number of Hit Dice per casting.
Spectre: Any humanoids slain by a spectre become spectres themselves in 1d4 rounds.
Most are the remnants of murdered or evil humans, their anger preventing them from entering the afterlife.
Vampire: “Vampire” is an acquired template that can be added to any living creature with 5 or more Hit Dice.
A vampire can create spawn out of those it slays with blood drain or energy drain, provided that the slain creature is of the same creature type as the vampire's base creature type. The victim rises from death as a vampire in 1d4 days.
Vampire human sorcerer 8: ?
Vampire Spawn: A vampire can elect to create a vampire spawn instead of a full-fledged vampire when she uses her create spawn ability on a humanoid creature only. This decision must be made as a free action whenever a vampire slays an appropriate creature by using blood drain or energy drain.
Wight: Any humanoid creature that is slain by a wight becomes a wight itself in only 1d4 rounds.
Wights are humanoids who rise as undead due to necromancy, a violent death, or an extremely malevolent personality. In some cases, a wight arises when an evil undead spirit permanently bonds with a corpse, often the corpse of a slain warrior.
Wight Brute: Giants that are killed by wights become hunchbacked, simple-minded undead.
Wight Cairn: Some societies deliberately create these specialized wights to serve as guardians for barrows or other burial sites.
Wight Frost: Wights created in cold environments sometimes become pale undead with blue-white eyes and ice in their hair.
Wraith: A humanoid slain by a wraith becomes a wraith in 1d4 rounds.
Wraiths are undead creatures born of evil and darkness.
Wraith Dread: A wraith that exists for long enough and feeds on enough life force undergoes an unholy transformation, becoming a creature known as a dread wraith.
Zombie: Zombies are the animated corpses of dead creatures, forced into foul unlife via necromantic magic like animate dead.
"Zombie" is an acquired template that can be added to any corporeal creature (other than an undead).
Zombie Human: ?
Zombie Fast: Humanoid creatures killed by a mohrg rise immediately as fast zombies under the mohrg's control.
Zombie Plague: Anyone who dies while infected with zombie rot rises as a plague zombie in 2d6 hours.