Undead Origins

[Voadam]

Tome of Horrors II

Tome Of Horrors II
3.5
Cadaver: Cadavers are the undead skeletal remains of people who have been buried alive or given an improper burial (an unmarked grave or mass grave for example).
A creature slain by a cadaver lord rise in 1d4 minutes as a cadaver.
Cinder Ghoul: A creature that is burned to death by magical fire may rise again as a fiery undead being called a cinder ghoul.
Crucifixion Spirit: Crucifixion spirits are the ghostly remains of living beings executed through crucifixion. Their soul having not entirely departed the Material Plane, has risen to seek vengeance on the living, particularly clerics or other divine spellcasters whom they blame for forsaking them and allowing them to die in such a ghastly manner.
Fear Guard: Fear guards embody evil in its blackest conjuration. They are summoned from some unknown place by evil wizards and clerics to guard prized possessions or a valued location.
Any living creature reduced to Wisdom 0 by a fear guard becomes a fear guard under the control of its killer within 2d6 hours.
Fire Phantom: When a creature dies on the Elemental Plane of Fire, its soul often melds with part of the fiery plane and reforms as a fire phantom; a humanoid creature composed of rotted and burnt flesh swathed in elemental fire.
Grave Risen: They are created from a normal corpse in an area where the blood of a spellcaster is spilled and permeates the ground. The blood fuses with a corpse which sometimes animates as a grave risen.
Hanged Man: A hanged man is the restless corpse of an evil humanoid that was hanged or the spirit of one wrongfully accused of a crime and hanged.
Hoar Spirit: Believed to be the spirits of humanoids that freeze to death either because of their own mistakes or because of some ritualistic exile into the icy wastes by their culture.
Murder Born: Spawned of hatred when both mother and child are murdered, the rapacious soul of the unborn sometimes rises as a foul and corrupt spirit.
Phantasm: While many undead creatures are the undead form of once living creatures, phantasms have no real material connection to living creatures; they are spirits born of pure evil.
Red Jester: Red jesters are thought to be the remains of court jesters put to death for telling bad puns, making fun of the local ruler, or dying in an untimely manner (which could be attributed to one or both of the first two). Another tale speaks of the red jesters as being the court jesters of Orcus, Demon Prince of the Undead, sent to the Material Plane to “entertain” those the demon prince has taken a liking to. The actual truth to their origin remains a mystery.
Black Skeleton: Black skeletons are the remnants of living creatures slain in an area where the ground is soaked through with evil. The bodies of fallen heroes are contaminated and polluted by such evil and within days after their death, the slain creatures rise as black skeletons, leaving their former lives and bodies behind.
Black skeletons speak Common and Abyssal (leading some to believe that the evil that first created these creatures was the product of the demon prince Orcus).
Corpsespun Creature: Corpsespun are undead creatures formed when a living creature is slain by a corpsespinner. The poison of the corpsespinner interacts with the slain creature’s body and animates it as a corpsespun creature; a zombie–like automaton sheathed in webs whose insides have been replaced with thousands of tiny spiders.
“Corpsespun” is an acquired template that can be added to any corporeal creature slain by a corpsespinner.
Creatures slain (and not devoured) by a corpsespinner rise in 1 hour as creatures known as corpsespuns.
Corpsespun Fighter: ?
Corpsepun Minotaur: ?
Spellgorged Zombie: Created with the use of a create greater undead spell, a spellgorged zombie is a programmed being, which appears much like a normal zombie. It must be made from a corpse that was in life an arcane or divine spellcaster.
“Spellgorged Zombie” is an acquired template that can be added to any character capable of casting arcane or divine spells.
Sample Spellgorged Zombie: ?
Undead Lord: “Undead Lord” is an inherited template that can be applied to any undead creature.
A creature slain by an undead lord rises in 1d4 minutes as an undead creature of the same type as the undead lord.
Cadaver Lord: ?

Zombie: Although standard iron golems have a breath weapon, an iron maiden does not; it has the ability to usurp the essence of any humanoid being enclosed within, however. The corpse of the unfortunate victim trapped in the iron maiden golem is transformed into an undead being similar to a zombie.
Once a victim trapped within an iron maiden has died, it reanimates as a zombie in the next round (as if by an animate dead spell). It cannot escape, however, and serves only to fuel the iron maiden and provide it with skills and abilities. While it is trapped, the zombie cannot be attacked, damaged, turned, rebuked, or commanded, and it doesn’t suffer any damage from the bladed lid. If the lid of the golem is somehow forced open, the zombie has the normal abilities of a Medium zombie (as detailed in the MM). The victim of an iron maiden golem must be alive when it is placed inside and the lid is closed or the golem’s animate host ability fails.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

This thread reminds me that I still need to pick up Beyond the Campfire.

 

[Voadam]

This thread reminds me that I still need to pick up Beyond the Campfire.

I liked the entire EN Critters line, great terrain themed monster books with plenty of flavor.

 

[Voadam]

Tome of Horrors III

Tome of Horrors III
3.5
Blood Wight: When a living creature bleeds to death on unholy ground, its corpse sometimes returns to life as a blood wight. Evil priests of Orcus, Jubilex, Lucifer and various other demon
princes and devil lords often hold dark rituals where they bleed a living creature to death in order to create a blood wight.
Bogeyman: Bogeymen are the stuff of legends: creatures created in the minds of parents who relayed stories about incorporeal ghosts coming to carry their children off if they didn’t go to bed when they were supposed to, didn’t do their chores when asked, and so on. The apparitional bogeyman’s ties to the land of the living are a result of these stories.
Brykolakas: Their true origin remains a mystery to even the most learned of sages though stories among the learned speak of dark necromantic arts involving ancient magicks and packs of ghouls.
Demilich: When the life force of a lich ceases to exist and the material body finally decays (often after centuries of undeath), the soul lingers in the area and slowly over time possesses all that remains of the lich—its skull.
Fetch: When a murdered person is buried on frozen ground, it often returns from the grave as a fetch, an evil undead monster with a hatred of fire and the living.
Fye: When a traumatic event occurs within the vicinity of a temple or other holy place, energy often lingers in the area polluting and contaminating an object or the ground itself. This sometimes leads to the formation of a mindless entity—the fye.
Ghoul, Dust: When a humanoid creature dies on the Parched Expanse on the Plane of Molten Skies, there is a good chance it returns from the afterlife as a dust ghoul—an undead flesh-eating creature composed of dust and earth.
Lantern Goat: Lantern goats are undead wanderers thought to be the coalescence of souls of people who died while lost in the wilderness. Just as normal goats sometimes drift from the shepherd’s care and fall prey to the dangers of the wild, so too do humans and demihumans often meet with a dire end while trekking alone in the hills. Whether they die of exposure or become a predator’s meal, these lost travelers usually journey in spirit form to the afterlife. Some, however, if they perish too close to a lantern goat, find their souls drawn into the fell receptacle the creature wears around its neck. The scarred and battered lantern that depends from the goat’s neck serves to channel souls into the creature itself.
Soul Capture (Su): Any living creature reduced to 0 or less hit points while within 60 feet of a lantern goat must succeed on a DC 15 Will save or have its soul drawn into the lantern goat’s lantern. The DC increases by +1 for every hit point the character is below 0 (e.g., a character at –3 hit points must save at DC 18). Once captured, the lantern goat slowly digests the creature’s soul over a period of 1 hour, using it to fuel its dark energies. The save DC is Charisma-based.
A creature slain in this manner can only be returned to life by a resurrection, true resurrection, wish, or miracle. Raise dead has no effect on such a slain creature.
Lich Shade: During the dark rituals invoked to achieve lichdom, the caster sometimes errs in his or her calculations or unleashes mystic forces best left untapped. When such an event occurs, the spellcaster is usually destroyed outright. Other times, something is born as a result of this failed ritual—a lich shade.
Lich shades are evil creatures who attempted to achieve lichdom but failed for whatever reason. The creature is not destroyed, nor does it become a lich, it becomes something in between—something in between mortal life and eternal unlife.
Mortuary Cyclone: A mortuary cyclone is an undead creature born when living creatures tamper with or desecrate a mass grave (either magically or naturally).
Murder Crow: These creatures are formed in desolate areas where the formless souls of birds condense into a solitary creature—a murder crow.
Phasma: A phasma is an undead creature spawned when a humanoid or monstrous humanoid fails its Fortitude saving throw against a phantasmal killer spell and dies as a result.
Rawbones: A rawbones is an undead creature that comes into being when a tortured person rises from the grave.
Soul Reaper: Soul reapers have no ties to the land of the living, in that they have always existed and have always been. Their origins are unknown, but speculation says they stepped from the great void at the beginning of creation.
Swarm Shadow Rat: ?
Shadow Rat Common: ?
Swarm Raven Undead: ?
If a murder crow is reduced to 0 hit points or less, it explodes into a murder of standard crows. Use the statistics for the undead raven swarm.
Paleoskeleton Creature: Paleoskeletons are the fossil remains of long-dead creatures animated by necromantic rituals. Only fossilized remains can become paleoskeletons. The bones that comprise a paleoskeleton must have been in the earth for thousands or even millions of years. Provided the skull and at least 20% of the actual bones remain, an animate dead spell cast by an arcane spellcaster of at least 12th level will produce a paleoskeleton. The extreme age of the bones and the strange properties of the mineralization interact with the negative energy to produce a very powerful undead creature.
“Paleoskeleton” is an acquired template that can be applied to any dinosaur or prehistoric animal.
Paleoskeleton Triceratops: ?

Undead: Any living creature slain by a mortuary cyclone’s necrocone attack or energy drain attack becomes an undead creature in 1d4 rounds.
Lacedon: A humanoid or monstrous humanoid killed by a brykolakas rises as a lacedon in 1d4 days under the control of the brykolakas that created it. Soul reapers have no ties to the land of the living, in
that they have always existed and have always been.

 

[Voadam]

I will start adding stuff whether it is OGC or not.

 

[Voadam]

Monster Manual III

Monster Manual III
3.5
Boneclaw: The lore of the dead does not reveal from what dark necromancer’s laboratory or fell nether plane boneclaws entered the world. Perhaps they merely “evolved” from lesser forms.
Droaamite necromancers working for the Daughters of Sora Kell have learned how to transform ogre magi skeletons into boneclaws.
Rumors persist that Szass Tam, the zulkir of necromancy in Thay, created the first boneclaws to protect Thayan enclaves. However, boneclaws have been encountered in the service of various liches and necromancers across Faerûn. Some necromancers speak of a night hag who visits them in their dark dreams, trading the secrets of boneclaw creation for some “gift” to be named later.
Bonedrinker: Terrible undead created in a horrid ritual reminiscent of mummy creation, bonedrinkers wander the dark places of the world, seeking new creatures to feed upon. Hobgoblin wizards originally developed the ritual to create these monstrosities, using the fallen corpses of goblin and bugbear warriors to create the first lesser bonedrinkers and bonedrinkers. The tradition of using bugbears and goblins became habit, and nearly all bonedrinkers previously lived as one of these two goblinoid races. In theory, other humanoid creatures could be converted into bonedrinkers, but this would require twisting and adapting the original ritual.
The ritual that turns a bugbear corpse into a bonedrinker requires the create undead spell cast by a caster of 15th level or higher with 10 or more ranks in Knowledge (religion). These rituals are typically known only to hobgoblin wizards and clerics, though the secret has undoubtedly spread to other races over the years.
Many hobgoblin warlords and their bodyguards became bonedrinkers as a result of unorthodox burial rituals.
Bonedrinker Lesser: Lesser bonedrinkers result from applying the necromantic bonedrinker ritual to goblins.
The ritual that turns a bugbear corpse into a bonedrinker requires the create undead spell cast by a caster of 15th level or higher with 10 or more ranks in Knowledge (religion). Transforming a goblin corpse into a lesser bonedrinker is a similar but less exacting process, requiring create undead cast by a caster of 12th level or higher with 7 or more ranks in Knowledge (religion). These rituals are typically known only to hobgoblin wizards and clerics, though the secret has undoubtedly spread to other races over the years.
Charnel Hound: Charnel hounds are a stunning achievement of some crazed necromancer or god of death.
Deathshrieker: The deathshrieker is an undead spirit that embodies the horrible cries and shrieks of the dying as they utter their last gasps of life. It roams lonely and forgotten battlefields, charnel houses, or sites of terrible plagues, filling the air with its mournful and soul-sapping screams. It relives the final moments of those who have died from slow, agonizing deaths due to violence, disease, or some other tragedy. Typically, the larger the death and despair of an area, the larger the deathshrieker, although relatively small areas that hosted truly despicable acts of violence can bring one into being as well.
Deathshrieker Advanced: Truly cataclysmic battles sometimes spawn deathshriekers of incredible power.
Drowned: The drowned lost their lives in the watery deep. The evidence of their gasping death always saturates their clothing and flesh, and fills the air around them. Many drowned came to their current circumstances when their ships went down at sea with all hands. Others, more ancient, first arose when their island homes sank beneath the waves ages ago, drowning all.
Dust Wight: Dust wights are hateful creatures formed by a conjunction of elemental earth and negative energy.
Ephemeral Swarm: Ephemeral swarms are the ghostly collections of many little creatures that suffered a common death. Just as when a spirit of a particular creature lingers on as a ghost, when many small creatures die a violent death, they may linger on as a vengeful ephemeral swarm. The undead swarm is composed of the psychic agony and anguish of the newly departed.
Ephemeral swarms sometimes manifest in cities recovering from a terrible animal or vermin infestation. These undead swarms are the remnants of one or more swarms that were previously exterminated.
Grimweird: Grimweirds are weak, withered, paranoid former humanoids who have tapped into the energy of the Negative Energy Plane.
Necronaut: Necronauts are created by demons on plains of bones in the Abyss.
Necronauts form near sinister planar rifts that haunt the Mournland.
Plague Spewer: ?
they are rumored to be the undead remains of giants whom the great dragons of Argonnessen cursed with a foul plague.
Salt Mummy: Salt mummies are preserved corpses of ancient humanoids who were accidentally buried too close to veins of white, brittle salt. Of course, salt alone is not sufficient to suffuse a body with undead vigor; often, such a creature has taken a great sin with it to its subterranean grave, the horror of which eventually creates a linkage to the Negative Energy Plane.
Clerics of the Blood of Vol sometimes seal the corpses of slain assassins, corrupt officials, and criminals in caskets packed with salt in hopes of spurring the transformation of those corpses into salt mummies. Most salt mummies, however, are found underground—the remains of evil adventurers, goblinoids, and other humanoid creatures killed in Khyber and ravaged by the salt deposits.
Vasuthant: ?
Although their empire perished more than ten thousand years before Dale reckoning, the remains of many Aryvandaar sorcerers continue to haunt their empire’s ancient ruins as vasuthants—ambitious, power-hungry sun elves consumed by utter darkness.
Vasuthant Horrific: A horrific vasuthant has grown massive and terrifying after centuries of absorbing life energy.

Zombie: As a standard action, a rot reaver can animate any dead creature within 60 feet that was affected by its wound rot ability within the last 24 hours. Creatures animated by a rot reaver rise as zombies.
As a standard action, a necrothane can animate any dead creature within 60 feet that was affected by its wound rot ability within the last 24 hours. Creatures animated by a necrothane rise as zombies.

 

[Voadam]

Monster Manual IV

Monster Manual IV
3.5
Bloodhulk: Bloodhulks are corpses reanimated through an infusion of the blood of innocent victims in a dark and horrible ritual. Their bloated bodies are filled with viscous gore and unholy fluids, providing them with the endurance to absorb an amazing amount of punishment before falling.
A bloodhulk is created through a foul ritual that saturates a creature’s flesh with the blood of sacrificed victims.
Creating a bloodhulk requires a ritual of bloody sacrifice culminating in a spell of animation. Most living corporeal beings can be made into these horrors.
The animate dead spell normally allows the creation of only skeletons and zombies. It can also create bloodhulks, though the process is more difficult.
• You can create bloodhulk warriors, giants, or crushers based solely on the size of the corpse you wish to animate:
A Medium corpse is required for a bloodhulk fighter, Large for a giant, and Huge for a crusher. Smaller and larger corpses cannot be made into bloodhulks. The creation of a bloodhulk changes the original corpse too much for it to retain most of its original features.
• In addition to the usual material components, you must supply blood from three recently slain creatures the same size as the potential bloodhulk.
• Bloodhulks are considered to have double their Hit Dice for the purpose of creating and controlling them. Thus, the number of bloodhulks you can create is equal to your Hit Dice (instead of twice your Hit Dice) if you are not in a desecrated area. You can control no more than 2 HD worth of bloodhulks per caster level; if you are attempting to control different sorts of undead creatures, the bloodhulks are considered to have twice as many Hit Dice as are shown in their entries for the purpose of determining the total number of undead you can control.
Defacer: A defacer arises when a spellcaster creates an undead being from the corpse of a doppelganger or other creature that assumes others’ visages.
A spellcaster of 14th or higher level can create a defacer by casting create undead on the corpse of a creature that mimics other creatures, such as a doppelganger.
Changelings turned into undead sometimes spontaneously rise as defacers instead of what their creators intended. When Dolurrh is coterminous, dead changelings become defacers under circumstances when they might otherwise become ghosts.
Necrosis Carnex: A necrosis carnex is created from several corpses bound together with cold iron bands.
They have a simple and stark existence, stemming entirely from their origin as purposefully created undead.
A spellcaster of 11th level or higher can create a necrosis carnex with an animate dead spell. To do so requires three corpses from Medium creatures and cold-hammered iron bands worth 200 gp. None of this material is consumed in the casting and but instead becomes the undead amalgam of the carnex. When used to create a necrosis carnex, the animate dead spell has a casting time of 10 minutes.
Plague Walker: A plague walker is an undead weapon created by evil mages and clerics.
As undead creatures crafted for use in war, plague walkers have no place in the natural environment. Tales claim that they arise as the result of a rare contagion, but in truth any diseased corpse serves to produce these monstrosities.
Creating a plague walker is a relatively simple process, though its cost prevents most spellcasters from producing the creatures in great numbers outside of wartime. Any arcane or divine caster of 6th level or higher who can cast necromancy spells can craft a plague walker. Doing so involves performing a horrific ritual that requires 800 gp worth of unholy water, the corpses of four Medium creatures that died of disease, and two days of prayer. (Two Small corpses are equivalent to one Medium corpse, and one Large body counts as two Medium corpses.) At the end of the ritual, the remains meld into a single plague walker, which obeys its creator’s commands to the best of its ability.
Web Mummy: “Web mummy” is an acquired template that can be added to any corporeal giant, humanoid, or monstrous humanoid.
When ready to reproduce, a tomb spider finds a suitable corpse (or kills such a creature), implants its eggs, and wraps the corpse in webbing. The host corpse animates as a web mummy and protects its creator.
Web mummies are undead creatures animated by a spider with a connection to negative energy.
A tomb spider lays its eggs in a humanoid, monstrous humanoid, or giant’s body, animating the corpse as a web mummy.
Vitreous Drinker: The creatures were reputedly created by Vecna for some nefarious purpose.

 

[Voadam]

Monster Manual V

Monster Manual V
3.5
Blackwing: The orcs caught and brutalized eagles for sport until their depraved mystics discovered the necessary ritual to create powerful undead servitors—the first blackwings.
The necromantic ritual used to create blackwings requires the intact body of a giant eagle.
Blackwings are created from the corpses of giant eagles. The corpse must be buried within the area of an unhallow spell for at least six months. Then, a spellcaster of 18th level or higher must cast create undead on the remains.
Deadborn Vulture Zombie: When a deadborn vulture is reduced to 0 hit points, it immediately dies and becomes a deadborn vulture zombie that retains the vulture’s disease ability.
A deadborn vulture reanimates as a zombie after it dies.
God-Blooded Orcus-Blooded: Orcus-blooded” is an acquired template that can be added to any evil undead creature. The sacrifice of good-aligned creatures totaling 20 or more Hit Dice causes an aspect of Orcus to appear and bathe the petitioner with black, tarry blood poured from a golden chalice. The undead creature covered in this blood then grows goatlike horns and gains the Orcus-blooded template.
Haunt: Haunts are spirits that left unfinished business in life and have returned to seek recompense.
Bridge Haunt: A bridge haunt is a ghostly undead that lingers near the bridge where it came into being after the death of the living creature it once was.
This is a bridge haunt, the incorporeal spirit of someone who died at this bridge.
Forest Haunt: Forest haunts are the spirits of fey-touched trees that seek vengeance on intruders within their forest domain. When a dryad is killed, she can curse those who slew her with her dying breath. This curse fuels the spirit of the oak to which she is tied, causing it to stalk the forest until her killers are slain, and sometimes beyond.
This is a forest haunt, the spirit of a tree touched by the fey. When a dryad is destroyed and speaks a curse with her dying breath, a forest haunt is born.
Taunting Haunt: A taunting haunt is the twisted, jealous spirit of a deceased bard, jester, or other performer.
This is a taunting haunt, the bitter spirit of a troubadour, jester, or bard.
Phantom: “Phantom” is an acquired template that can be applied to any corporeal creature
Phantom Ghast Ninja: By using a secret ritual, Kugan’s master granted him the phantom template for his years of honorable and successful service.
Sanguineous Drinker: Occasionally, small packs of three to nine individuals form in areas of intense death and suffering.
Necromancers and cunning undead spellcasters create sanguineous drinkers.
Necromancers create them from corpses boiled in blood. Particularly evil and bloodthirsty creatures might spontaneously rise as sanguineous drinkers if they die in an environment soiled with blood and corrupted by negative energy.
A spellcaster of 15th level or higher can use the create undead spell to animate a sanguineous drinker.
Skull Lord: Dark rumors speak of the skull lords, powerful undead beings created by the magic unleashed at the death of the mighty necromancer Vrakmul.
The twelve skull lords arose from the ashes of the Black Tower of Vrakmul. Whether they were created intentionally by that mad necromancer or came forth spontaneously from the foul energies of his fallen sanctum, none can say.
Alternatively, skull lords might simply be a powerful new form of undead with no specific background or number. Skull lords might be the result of failed attempts at achieving lichdom, the undead remains of a race of three-headed beings, or a single creature formed from the magical amalgamation of three corpses.
The Battle of Bones is a popular destination for Faerûn’s necromancers, and it is rumored that the first skull lords were spawned in that cursed place.
Bonespur: Bonespurs are animalistic monstrosities created only for fighting and killing.
A skull lord’s creator skull can create a bonespur, a serpentir, or a skeleton from nearby bones and bone shards.
A spellcaster of 8th level or higher can create a bonespur using the create undead spell. Creating a bonespur requires skeletal remains equivalent to six Medium creatures.
Serpentir: Serpentirs are dreadful snakelike undead formed from several skeletons.
A spellcaster of 10th level or higher can create a serpentir using the create undead spell. Creating a serpentir requires skeletal remains equivalent to six Medium creatures.
A skull lord’s creator skull can create a bonespur, a serpentir, or a skeleton from nearby bones and bone shards.
Spectral Rider: Each spectral rider is born of particular circumstances.
Blackguards and evil knights are the individuals who most commonly become spectral riders after death. However, even the holiest of paladins can be polluted by foul necromantic magic and twisted into these dark warriors. The rituals that create a spectral rider involve unspeakable desecrations of the corpse. In the case of paladins or holy knights, deception is used to lure the spirit back to its body, binding a pure soul to tainted dead flesh.
A spellcaster of 12th level or higher can create a spectral rider using a create greater undead spell. The PC must find a suitable subject corpse—a mounted warrior of at least 6th level at the time of his or her death.
Once per month, a skull lord can engage in a 12-hour ritual under the dark moon to create a spectral rider from the remains of a mounted warrior.

Skeleton: A skull lord’s creator skull can create a bonespur, a serpentir, or a skeleton from nearby bones and bone shards.
Vampire: Seduced by the promises of Orcus, he cast aside his life for the dark blessings of undeath.
He begged the gods to spare him from death, vowing that he would do whatever was asked of him in exchange for the gift of immortality. His pleas gained the attention of Orcus, who longed for mortal souls to feed his insatiable hunger. The demon prince granted this knight the power to defeat death by stealing his soul, transforming his mortal form into the undead monstrosity it remains to this day.
Vampire Spawn: By drinking the blood of the living, vampires rejuvenate themselves and create their foul spawn.
Zombie: Whenever a creature that can acquire the zombie template dies within 20 feet of a graveyard sludge, that creature rises as a zombie 1d4 rounds later. However, the graveyard sludge imparts some of its own unique physiology to the zombie, causing each of the zombie’s natural attacks to deal an extra 1d6 points of acid damage.
Any creature slain by a graveyard sludge rises as a zombielike creature with an acidic touch.

 

[gamerprinter]

Late to the party, haven't read the whole thread, so I don't know if this was mentioned, but in a Dragon magazine, Halloween issue (half-way-ish in the print run) were Shadow Ghouls, followers of the lich known as the White Queen who dwelled in the Underdark. They are an empire of sane ghouls with class levels. Some of those conferred and chosen/infected with ghoul touch, have mentors that ease them into the mental state and help them avoid going insane. Those who successful avoid insanity are fully sentient and sane ghouls who now serve the empire. Of course the vast majority of ghoul soldiers are the standard insane ghouls, but about 10% of the population consist of the ruling class of intelligent ghouls. I loved the concept and even borrowed them for a single campaign long ago.

 

[Voadam]

Libris Mortis

Libris Mortis: The Book of Undead
3.5
Angel of Decay: ?
Atropal Scion: Atropal scions are clots of divine flesh given form and animation by bleak-hearted gods of death. When a stillborn godling rises spontaneously as an undead, a great abomination is born. If that abomination is defeated, but any fragment or cast-off bit of flesh remains, an atropal scion may yet arise from those fragments, lessened in power from its divine beginnings, but no less hateful for its stature.
Blaspheme: Crafted in bygone days by power-mad wizards searching to create the perfect undead guardians.
Each blaspheme is created with parts from multiple ancient corpses, with teeth specially harvested from sacrifices to evil powers.
Bleakborn: Sometimes a newly created bleakbron spawn becomes a bleakborn instead of a mere zombie, though the wiles of the dark gods determine such instances.
Blood Amniote: If a blood amniote deals as many points of Constitution damage during its existence as its full normal hit point total, it self spawns, splitting into two identical blood amniotes, each with a number of hit points equal to the original blood amniote’s full normal total.
Bloodmote Cloud: ?
Bone Rat Swarm: ?
Boneyard: ?
Brain in a Jar: The ritual of extraction, the spells of formulation, and the alchemical recipes of preservation are closely guarded secrets held by only a few master necromancers.
Cinderspawn: Cinderspawn are burnt-out undead remnants of creatures of elemental fire.
Corpse Rat Swarm: ?
Crypt Chanter: Any humanoid slain by a crypt chanter through its draining melody becomes a crypt chanter 1d4 rounds later.
Deathlock: Deathlocks are undead born of the corpses of powerful spellcasters whose remains are so charged with magic that they are unable to lie quiet in the grave.
Dessicator: Desiccators are the dried-out undead remnants of creatures of elemental water.
Dream Vestige: The original dream vestige was born from the nightmares of an entire city, as all of its citizens died in cursed sleep (a curse that some attribute to Orcus). Since then, that creature has spawned itself many times over.
When a dream vestige gains a number of temporary hit points equal to its full normal hit point total, it self spawns, splitting into two identical dream vestiges, each with a number of hit points equal to the original dream vestige’s full normal total.
Entomber: Entombers are undead animated by necromancers who prefer to leave the dirty work to their servants.
Entropic Reaper: Entropic reapers are undead that arise in Limbo.
Evolved Undead: An evolved undead is an undead whose body is flushed with more negative energy than normal due to an exceptionally long lifetime.
When an intelligent undead creature survives for 100 years or more (or when the DM decides to create an undead monster with a twist), there is a 1% chance that its connection to the Negative Energy Plane grows more mature. When this “evolution” occurs, the undead gains this template. Each additional 100 years of existence affords an additional 1% chance of a more mature connection, plus an additional 1% chance for each previous evolution.
“Evolved undead” is an acquired template that can be added to any undead with an Intelligence score.
Forsaken Skin: Creatures killed by a forsaken shell slough their skins after 1d4 rounds. These sloughed skins are new forsaken shells under the spawner’s control.
Ghost Brute: Ghost brutes are the spectral remnants of animals, magical beasts, and sentient plants—creatures without the minimum Charisma needed to become normal ghosts.
A ghost brute most often results from the same circumstances that caused its earthly companion or master to remain after death. It might be the mount of a betrayed paladin, the beloved pet of a child tragically killed, the scorched oak of a ghostly dryad, or a murdered druid’s animal companion.
However, sometimes a bizarre circumstance might produce a ghost brute without an intelligent companion. For example, a forest suddenly obliterated by an evil magical attack might remain as a ghostly grove populated by lingering spirits not even completely aware of their own destruction.
“Ghost brute” is an acquired template that can be added to any animal, magical beast, or plant with a Charisma score below 8.
Gravetouched Ghoul: Some believe that anyone of exceptional debauchery and wickedness runs the risk of becoming a gravetouched ghoul.
In rare occasions the creation of a ghoul briefly draws the attention of Doresain, King of the Ghouls. When this happens, the newly formed ghoul does not possess the standard Monster Manual statistics for a ghoul, but instead the base creature gains the gravetouched ghoul template.
“Gravetouched ghoul” is an acquired template that can be added to any corporeal aberration, fey, giant, humanoid, or monstrous humanoid with Intelligence and Charisma scores of 3 or higher.
Hulking Corpse: ?
Mummified Creature: Mummies are undead creatures, embalmed using ancient necromantic lore.
“Mummified creature” is an acquired template that can be added to any corporeal giant, humanoid, or monstrous humanoid.
The process of becoming a mummy is usually involuntary, but expressing the wish to become a mummy to the proper priests (and paying the proper fees) can convince them to bring you back to life as a mummy—especially if some of your friends make sure the priests do what you paid them to do.
Murk: A murk that bestows a negative level on a 1 HD creature kills the creature, which becomes a murk under the control of its killer within 1d4 rounds.
Necromental: A necromental is the undead remnant of an elemental creature.
“Necromental” is an acquired template that can be added to any elemental.
Necropolitan: Necropolitans are humanoids who renounce life and embrace undeath in a special ritual called the Ritual of Crucimigration.
“Necropolitan” is an acquired template that can be added to any humanoid or monstrous humanoid.
Any living humanoid or monstrous humanoid can petition for consideration to undergo the Ritual of Crucimigration, which (if successful) enables the creature to become a necropolitan. The petition for consideration requires a fee of 3,000 gp and a written plea.
The Ritual: The first part of the ritual requires the placement of the petitioner on a standing pole. Cursed nails are used to affix the petitioner, and then the pole is lifted into place. The resultant excruciating pain that shoots like molten metal through the petitioner’s fingers and up the arms is not what finally ends the petitioner’s mortal life, however, since death usually comes from asphyxiation and heart failure. As petitioners feel death’s chill enter their bodies, many have second thoughts, but it is far too late to go back—the cursed nails and chanting of the ritual ensures that the Crucimigration is completed.
The ceremony that lasts for 24 hours—the usual time it takes for the petitioner to perish. During this period, two or three zombie servitors keep up a chant initiated by the ritual leader when the petitioner is first placed into position. Upon hearing the petitioner’s last breath, the ritual leader calls forth the names of evil powers and gods to forge a link with the Negative Energy Plane, and then impales the petitioner. Dying, the petitioner is reborn as a necropolitan, dead but animate.
Plague Blight: Plague blights are animated corpses of humanoids who died from plague or rot.
Quell: ?
Raiment: A raiment is the clothing of a victim of some atrocious crime, animated by the spirit of the vengeful victim.
Revived Fossil: Revived fossils are the remains of animals or monsters that were preserved in a petrified state. Fossils are found encased in stone or other geological deposits, but revived fossils are the freed and animated remains of the dead.
Revived fossils cannot be created with the animate dead spell, but instead are created through special necromantic rituals that vary depending on the fossil to be revived.
“Revived fossil” is an acquired template that can be added to any corporeal creature.
Skin Kite: When a skin kite has absorbed 4 points of Charisma (through its steal skin ability), it attempts to retreat to a safe place where it can take a full-round action to spawn a new skin kite with the stolen skin.
Skirr: ?
Skulking Cyst: A skulking cyst is disgorged from the rotting corpse of a living creature, born of a necrotic cyst that eventually kills its host (see the necrotic cyst spell).
Necrotic Cyst spell.
Slaughter Wight: Slaughter wights are undead that have been specially touched by dark gods, endowing them with a vicious hatred of life that goes beyond that of simple walking dead.
Sometimes a newly created slaughter wight spawn becomes a slaughter wight instead of a mere wight, though the wiles of the dark gods determine such instances.
Slaymate: Slaymates are undead creatures given a semblance of life when a guardian’s betrayal, either outright or through negligence, leads to death.
Spectral Lyricist: In life, a spectral lyrist used its powers of performance and persuasion to further the cause of evil and strife, whether by urging listeners to commit violence or simply luring the innocent to their deaths. Cursed to forever walk the earth, it blames those still alive for its undead state and seeks to commit even greater evils against them.
Swarm-Shifter: “Swarm-shifter” is an acquired template that can be added to any corporeal undead with an Intelligence score.
Tomb Motes: Tomb motes sometimes spontaneously arise in graveyards with a high concentration of buried magic, undead activity, and/or mass burials.
Umbral Creature: “Umbral creature” is an acquired template that can be added to any aberration, dragon, giant, magical beast, or monstrous humanoid with a Charisma score of at least 8.
Visage: The first visages were formed from the spirits of demons by Orcus, Demon Prince of Undead, while he had assumed the identity of Tenebrous. When he reassumed his true identity and mantle, however, Orcus discarded the visages from his service, and since that time, they have reproduced by spawning new visages from any evil outsiders.
Any evil outsider slain by a visage becomes a visage 24 hours after death.
Voidwraith: ?
Wheep: ?

Ghoul: Ghouls are said to be created upon the death of a living sentient being who savored the taste of the flesh of other sentient creatures. This assertion may or may not be true, but it does explain the disgusting behavior of these anthropophagous undead.
Most humanoids who engage in such activities and return from the grave are mere ghouls.
Shadow: Any humanoid reduced to Strength 0 by an umbral creature dies and rises as a shadow under the control of its killer in 1d4 rounds.
Wight: Any humanoid slain by a slaughter wight becomes a normal wight in 1d4 rounds.
Zombie: Any humanoid slain by a bleakborn becomes a normal zombie in 1d4 rounds.