Undead Origins

[Voadam]

Keep on the Borderlands A Season of Serpents

Keep on the Borderlands A Season of Serpents
4e
Witherling Mote: ?
Greysen Ramthane's Specter: ?
Botched Witherling: ?

 

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Lost Crown of Neverwinter

Lost Crown of Neverwinter
4e
Plaguechanged Maniacs: ?

 

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Madness at Gardmore Abbey

Madness at Gardmore Abbey
4e
Undead: The catacombs are tainted by the presence of Vadin Cartwright, a priest of Tharizdun. In the abbey's vaults, Vadin discovered a red crystalline substance he calls the Voidharrow, which he believes contains a fragment of the Chained God's essence. He has taken up residence in the catacombs, experimenting with how his own power to create undead interacts with the Voidharrow.
Skeletal Tomb Guardian: Once Vadin is dead, trouble in the catacombs quickly fades away. Until that time, however, the priest takes advantage of any retreat by the adventurers to reinforce his undead guardians. He can't replace every monster the adventurers destroy, however. His ability to create undead is limited to the skeletal guardians and the flameskull.
Vadin Cartwright has animated several skeletons of fallen knights.
Flameskull: Once Vadin is dead, trouble in the catacombs quickly fades away. Until that time, however, the priest takes advantage of any retreat by the adventurers to reinforce his undead guardians. He can't replace every monster the adventurers destroy, however. His ability to create undead is limited to the skeletal guardians and the flameskull.
Bonecrusher Skeleton: ?
Mad Wraith: Four Gardmore paladins-Engram, Dorn, Silas, and Hromwere assigned to guard and transport the Brazier. When the abbey was attacked, Engram, Dorn, and Silas carried the relic to the rendezvous point in the garrison.
The wizard Vandomar sealed the three knights inside to protect them while they waited for their companion. However, Hrom fell in battle before reaching the others. Without him, they were unable to open the chest holding the Brazier. Driven mad by the relentless whispers of the evil spirits that invaded the place, the knights killed each other.
Vandomar was unable to save the paladins. To prevent the evil that had destroyed them from spreading, he reinforced the magical seal. So the garrison remains to this day, haunted by the mad spirits of the dead knights
Wraith Figment: When the mad wraith kills a humanoid, that humanoid becomes a wraith figment at the start of this mad wraith's next turn. The new wraith appears in the space where the humanoid died or in the nearest unoccupied square, and it rolls a new initiative check. The new wraith acts under the Dungeon Master's control.
Vandomar, Blue Arcanian: In his last attempt to revive Elaida, he unleashed a mighty spell that simultaneously animated her corpse as a flesh golem and transformed him into an undead monster-an arcanian that still haunts the upper level of his tower.
The blue arcanian was created when the wizard Vandomar reached for power beyond his means in his attempt to resurrect the paladin Elaida, who perished in the siege of Gardmore. The wizard's ritual succeeded only in animating a golem, destroying Vandomar in the process.
Coldspawned Mummy: ?
Trap Haunt: ?
Havarr, Pale Reaver Lord: The spirits of seven knights of the abbey haunt this chamber, drawn to the power of Bahamut's altar but also bound to the will of the mad priest Vadin Cartwright Their leader is Havarr of Nenlast, the knight captain who sealed the abbey's fate when he drew from the Deck of Many Things. His companions are other knights who died beside him in battle, now linked to his fate. All have become undead spirits cursed by their betrayal of duty and their ideals.
Pale Reaver: The spirits of seven knights of the abbey haunt this chamber, drawn to the power of Bahamut's altar but also bound to the will of the mad priest Vadin Cartwright Their leader is Havarr of Nenlast, the knight captain who sealed the abbey's fate when he drew from the Deck of Many Things. His companions are other knights who died beside him in battle, now linked to his fate. All have become undead spirits cursed by their betrayal of duty and their ideals.
Pale Reaver Creeper: The spirits of seven knights of the abbey haunt this chamber, drawn to the power of Bahamut's altar but also bound to the will of the mad priest Vadin Cartwright Their leader is Havarr of Nenlast, the knight captain who sealed the abbey's fate when he drew from the Deck of Many Things. His companions are other knights who died beside him in battle, now linked to his fate. All have become undead spirits cursed by their betrayal of duty and their ideals.
Blazing Skeleton: Vadin Cartwright has animated several skeletons of fallen knights.
Skeletal Legionnaire: Vadin Cartwright has animated several skeletons of fallen knights.
Shambling Mummy: The shambling mummies are not Vadin Cartwright's creation but were formed by the unholy fusion of the restless spirits of two great champions of the order and the lifegiving energy of the Feygrove.
Vortex Wraith: The wraiths in this place were created by the chaos of the Deck of Many Thinas, though they lay quiescent for many years after the fall of the abbey.
When the vortex wraith kills a humanoid, that humanoid becomes a vortex wraith the start of this wraith's next turn. The new wraith appears in the space where the humanoid died or in the nearest unoccupied square, and it rolls a new initiative check. The new wraith acts under the Dungeon Master's control.
Ghast: Ghouls starved of flesh.
Wraith: The wraiths in this place were created by the chaos of the Deck of Many Thinas, though they lay quiescent for many years after the fall of the abbey.
Snaketongue Vampire: ?
Elder Vampire Spawn: ?

 

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Manual of the Planes

Manual of the Planes
4e
Kannoth, Eladrin Vampire Lord: ?
Undead: Some souls can and do escape the finality of death. Those who fear what lies beyond, and a few too blinded by anger or hate to willingly move on, cling to their bodiless existence in the Shadowfell. These fearful, miserable, or hateful creatures often become undead of various sorts.
Many evil mortals consider the Shadowfell an ideal place to create undead servants. Over centuries, clerics of dark gods, cultists of Orcus, amoral wizards, and necromancers of the worst sort have created countless thousands of undead monsters using heinous rituals.
As if the active creation of undead by reckless mortals was not bad enough, the Shadowfell itself sometimes spawns the unliving. Areas such as the darklands, places tainted by necromantic seepage, and other, less understood regions spawn all manner of animated beings. The taint of shadow also corrupts the soul vestiges wandering on this plane, twisting these sad spirits into ghosts and other spectral creatures.
Just as horrific, undead sometimes create themselves.
Others find the weight of their mortal deeds so heavy they cannot bear to move farther than the Shadowfell. In time, they are corrupted by the plane’s malaise, becoming specters, wraiths, and other insubstantial beings.
Those that die on Thanatos rise in moments as undead.
Many of the angels who refused to rebel were condemned to torment and death here, and they linger in Cania’s depths as undead creatures of terrible power.
Although Pluton is largely abandoned, and no new mortal souls come here, some spirits feared to pass into true death and chose to cling to the half death that Nerull granted them. Most of these are now hateful, mindless undead creatures.
Ghost: As if the active creation of undead by reckless mortals was not bad enough, the Shadowfell itself sometimes spawns the unliving. Areas such as the darklands, places tainted by necromantic seepage, and other, less understood regions spawn all manner of animated beings. The taint of shadow also corrupts the soul vestiges wandering on this plane, twisting these sad spirits into ghosts and other spectral creatures.
Devourers: Devourers, for example, are the undead remnants of horrific murderers lured into the darkness of the Shadowfell and transformed into manifestations of great evil.
Specter: Others find the weight of their mortal deeds so heavy they cannot bear to move farther than the Shadowfell. In time, they are corrupted by the plane’s malaise, becoming specters, wraiths, and other insubstantial beings.
Wraith: Others find the weight of their mortal deeds so heavy they cannot bear to move farther than the Shadowfell. In time, they are corrupted by the plane’s malaise, becoming specters, wraiths, and other insubstantial beings.
Nightwalker: Beings formed from the stuff of shadow and possessed of an incomparable maliciousness, undead stalkers roam the fringes of the Shadowfell, slaughtering mortals and shadow creatures alike.
The nightwalkers trace their origins to a group of powerful, disembodied souls who refused to pass on. They used the supernatural energies of the plane to forge new bodies out of the raw stuff of shadow. Their selfishness and the influence of their new forms forever stained their souls, perverting them into the monstrous entities they are to this day.
Bodak: Nightwalkers often use evil rituals to restore their victims to a mockery of life, cursing them to rise as bodaks.
If legend can be believed, Vecna or one of his disciples taught nightwalkers the ritual to create bodaks in exchange for a pledge of loyalty to the Maimed God.
Acererak, Lich: Horrid as these ruins are for the living, the place bears an unholy attraction for the undead. Such is this allure that the mighty lich Acererak, master of the Tomb of Horrors, once laid claim to the City That Waits and used it as a conduit to transcend his mortal form and ascend to greatness.
Matrathar, Larva Mage: ?
Zombie: ?
Skeleton: ?
Ghoul: ?
Harthoon, Lich: ?
Melif, Lich-Lord: ?

 

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Marauders of the Dune Sea

Marauders of the Dune Sea
4e
Salt Zombie: ?
Zombie Rotter: ?
Blazing Skeleton: ?
Wisp Wraith: Defiling Sigil trap.
Scaled Guardian: ?
Zombie: ?

Defiling Sigil (T) Level 2 Blaster
Trap XP125
When a living creature approaches the sigil, defiling magic sucks the life from the intruder, possibly creating an undead.
Trap: When triggered, the trap attacks living intruders within its space and adjacent to it, holding them and draining their life force.
Perception
+ DC 20:Just before you enter a square adjacent to the sigh, you notice the image twitch slightly.
Additional Skill: Arcana
+ DC 25: The sigil is made with the help of arcane magic and, as such, is likely a product of defiling.
Trigger
When a creature enters a square containing the sigil or adjacent to it, the trap attacks as an immediate reaction instead of a standard action. Then roll the sigil’s initiative. It acts each round on its turn until no creature is within the trigger area.
Initiative +2
Attack + Necrotic
Immediate Reaction or Standard Action Melee 5
Target: One creature
Attack: +5 vs. Fortitude
Hit: 1d6 + 1 damage, and the target is restrained and takes ongoing 3 necrotic damage (save ends).
Special: The sigil can restrain only one target at one time. The sigil attacks a restrained target until the target escapes or drops to 0 hit points. If the latter occurs, a wisp wraith forms over the target’s body and attacks living intruders in the room. The sigil attacks another creature in range or waits to be triggered again.
Countermeasures
+ A restrained character can use an escape action (DC 20 check) to free himself and end the ongoing necrotic damage.
First Failed Escape Check: The ongoing necrotic damage is instead 6.
Each Subsequent Failed Escape Check: The ongoing necrotic damage increases by 3 (to a maximum of 15).

• As a standard action, a creature adjacent to the sigil can disrupt the enchantment with a DC 20 Thievery check or Arcana check. Doing so renders the sigil inert until the start of that creature’s next turn and releases all currently restrained creatures.
• A character can attack the sigil (AC and other defenses 10, resist 5 all, hp 25). Reducing the sigil to 0 hit points destroys the trap.

 

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March of the Phantom Brigade

March of the Phantom Brigade
4e
Grasping Zombie: ?
Decrepit Skeleton: ?
Salazar Vladistone, Ghost: Over sixty years ago, a group of bold adventurers calling themselves the Silver Company delved into a mysterious tower that appeared in the ruins of Castle Inverness. The result was tragic-one of the Silver Company, a woman named Oldivya Vladistone, perished. Her husband, Salazar, continued to adventure with the Silver Company for some years, growing more despondent the longer he had to deal with his wife's death. Eventually, Salazar Vladistone sacrificed himself to save his allies and the people of Hammer fast from an unknown danger in the Dawnforge Mountains. Vladistone's spirit did not rest quietly after his sacrifice, however. He became a ghost, haunting the Nentir Vale as be made pilgrimages to the grave of his wife in the ruins of Inverness.
Ghost: If threats fail to impress the heroes, Vladistone warns them that the Ghost Tower houses a terrible magical relic that will destroy everyone nearby. He calls it a soul gem and claims that it can strip the soul from the body of a living creature, causing it to become a ghost just like him.
Phantom Brigade Armiger: ?
Phantom Brigade Squire: ?
Phantom Brigade Justiciar: ?
Phantom Brigade: The Phantom Brigade consists of the spirits of ancient Knights of the Empire, who were sworn to protect the secrets of Nerath and its emperor. So committed were these ancient knights that they became ghostly soldiers, standing a never-ending watch over the vale, after their deaths during the chaos surrounding the empire's fall.
Dwarf Spirit: The dwarf spirits are the remnants of loyal defenders that once protected the necropolis and each other from orc depredations.
Orc Spirit: ?
Flesh-Crazed Zombie: ?
Blazing Skeleton: ?
Ghoul: In the past, some of the resident duergar rested here to recover from wounds caused by the Silver Company. Before they could heal, the magic of the Time Trap ritual took hold. However, the magic of the stasis field was weak in this area of the monastery, and the living duergar were imperfectly preserved. Over the last sixty years, their bodies have wasted away while remaining trapped in the chamber, causing them to become ghouls.
The ghouls that have been trapped in this chamber for so long were once duergar, but decades of slowly dying of hunger and thirst have left them with nothing but a supernatural need to eat. These ghouls are driven by pure hunger, and are almost zombielike in their unthinking desire to eat the flesh of the heroes.
A character can make a DC 13 Arcana check to determine that the ghouls were created by the decaying stasis fIeld resulting from the Time Trap.
Ravenous Ghoul: In the past, some of the resident duergar rested here to recover from wounds caused by the Silver Company. Before they could heal, the magic of the Time Trap ritual took hold. However, the magic of the stasis field was weak in this area of the monastery, and the living duergar were imperfectly preserved. Over the last sixty years, their bodies have wasted away while remaining trapped in the chamber, causing them to become ghouls.
The ghouls that have been trapped in this chamber for so long were once duergar, but decades of slowly dying of hunger and thirst have left them with nothing but a supernatural need to eat. These ghouls are driven by pure hunger, and are almost zombielike in their unthinking desire to eat the flesh of the heroes.
A character can make a DC 13 Arcana check to determine that the ghouls were created by the decaying stasis fIeld resulting from the Time Trap.

 

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Neverwinter Campaign Setting

Neverwinter Campaign Setting
4e
Valindra Shadowmantle, Eladrin Lich: ?
Unhallowed Wight: ?
Ash Zombie: ?
Spirit-Animated Plant Monsters: ?
Undead: Between the Dread Ring’s outer wall and its central tower lies a true chamber of horrors. Stone-and-steel slabs hold bodies and parts of bodies. Some are fresh, still bleeding and occasionally twitching; others are ancient, covered in grave soil, mummified, or reduced to bone. More corpses, severed limbs, and disembodied heads hang on hooks around the room’s perimeter and are heaped in corners, awaiting use. Flasks and barrels contain blood, other bodily humors, and alchemical reagents used to render flesh soft and supple. Runes of necromantic magic adorn the walls, ceiling, and floor.
An array of iron sarcophagi and tall vats lines two walls. Tubes protrude through the stone coffins’ sides, ready to pump fluids through the body of any creature placed within.
A portion of the Thayans’ undead force is animated elsewhere, through necromantic rituals, but the bulk of the raisings occurs here. This “factory” has been designed and enchanted to raise corpses far faster and in far greater numbers than spellwork alone.
Ravenous Undead: Some believe that Castle Nowhere is occupied by the spirits of people eaten by the city’s ghouls and vampires; others say that these spirits are the ghosts of aberrant entities from the Far Realm.
Burning Dead: ?
Ukulsid, Fang of Yeenoghu, Dread Warrior: ?

 

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P1 King of the Trollhaunt Warrens

P1 King of the Trollhaunt Warrens
4e
Blackfire Flameskull: ?
Boneshard Troll Skeleton: Shortly after Skalmad declared himself king, these five lesser clan chiefs tried to seize power for themselves. After slaying them, the troll king had them turned into boneshard skeletons and placed as guards in this chamber.
Vard King of All Trolls: Vard, king of all trolls, tied himself to the Stone Cauldron in life. Each time Skalmad uses the Cauldron, Vard inches closer to returning to life. Finally, with his second death, Skalmad provides the last push necessary to bring back the undead troll king. If Skalmad escaped at the end of Encounter W12, his return to the Cauldron also allows Vard to step through the veil of death and take possession of Skalmad’s body.

 

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P2 Demon Queen's Enclave

P2 Demon Queen's Enclave
4e
Ghoul Eyebiter: The Ghoul King, Doresain, created ravening underlings called eyebiters to serve him in the White Kingdom.
Ghoul eyebiters are creations of Doresain, bred to spawn and support the Ghoul King’s undead legions.
Husk Spider: Drow despise undead spiders, seeing in them a perversion they can not tolerate. Enemies often capture living spiders and animate them with fell magic to enrage the drow and cause them to act rashly on the battlefield.
Zirithian: Once a warrior-knight of Lolth in service to Matron Urlvrain, Zirithian made a pact with Orcus and turned against his mistress. He earned a great boon from Orcus, transforming into a vampire with a few of the lesser powers.
Drow Battle Wight: ?
Balthrad, Abyssal Ghoul: ?
Rotting Hook Horror: ?
Drow Horde Ghoul: A group of undead led by an abyssal ghoul overran the slaver complex and killed its inhabitants. A few of these victims were transformed into ghouls by the abyssal power surging through Phaervorul, and now they work alongside the undead invaders.
Drow Battle Wight Commander: ?
Immolith: ?
Abyssal Ghoul: ?
Lareen, Vampire Lord: ?
Drow Vampire Spawn: ?
Sword Wraith: Any humanoid killed by a sword wraith rises as a free-willed sword wraith at the start of its creator’s next turn, appearing in the space where it died (or in the nearest unoccupied space). Raising the slain creature (using the Raise Dead ritual) does not destroy the spawned wraith.
Wailing Ghost Banshee: ?
Bodak Reaver: ?
Undead: Deadhold was forged in eons past when Orcus seized an astral domain and slew its residents. The demon prince then raised the slain residents as the living dead and drew the realm into the Shadowfell where he could hide it and cultivate it for future use.
Zombie: The Sea of Rot is so named because it is filled with a seemingly endless legion of zombies. Mortal creatures offered as sacrifices to Orcus have their spirits reborn here as conscripts in the Shambling Horde.
Justice is dire and unforgiving in Hordethrone. Intruders are placed in steel cages that hang above this plaza and left to starve to death. Later, they are raised to take their place in the Shambling Horde as new conscripts in Orcus’s undead army.
Nightwalker: ?
Bodak Skulk: ?
Boneclaw Impaler: ?
Abyssal Ghoul Hungerer: ?
Bone Naga: ?
Slaughter Wight: ?
Zombie Tombwalker: ?
Arath Nightcaller: ?
Demonic Flameskull: ?
Giant Mummy: ?
Death Knight Human Fighter, Lord Carrion: ?
Lord Dust, Lich: ?
Abyssal Ghoul Devourer: ?
Vampire Spawn Bloodspiker: ?

 

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P3 Assault on Nightwyrm Fortress

P3 Assault on Nightwyrm Fortress
4e
Undead: Normally the spirits of the dead travel first to the Shadow fell, using it as a conduit to their final destiny. Some are claimed by the gods and carried to divine dominions, while others join the Raven Queen. A few refuse to go gracefully and become undead.
Slaughter Wight: ?
Sword Wraith: Any humanoid killed by a sword wraith rises as a free-willed sword wraith at the start of its creator’s next turn, appearing in the space where it died (or in the nearest unoccupied space). Raising the slain creature (using the Raise Dead ritual) does not destroy the spawned wraith.
Draconic Wraith: A draconic wraith forms from the vilest portion of a dragon’s soul, allowing such creatures to come into existence upon the dragon’s death.
A draconic wraith is the same sort of being as a humanoid wraith: a spirit infused with the necromantic essence of the Shadowfell.
Draconic wraiths can arise in a variety of ways. Some are spawned by the Shadowfell or through the use of powerful necromantic rituals, while others arise spontaneously from the corpse of the vilest, most evil of dragons.
Draconic Wraith Souleater: Souleaters, soulravagers, and soulbinders are rare horrors said to have a common origin in the Shadow fell. They are the warped, stillborn hatchlings of a powerful shadow dragon named Urishtar, who fertilizes her eggs with the captured souls of hapless mortals.
Draconic Wraith Soulbinder: Souleaters, soulravagers, and soulbinders are rare horrors said to have a common origin in the Shadow fell. They are the warped, stillborn hatchlings of a powerful shadow dragon named Urishtar, who fertilizes her eggs with the captured souls of hapless mortals.
Draconic Wraith Soulravager: Souleaters, soulravagers, and soulbinders are rare horrors said to have a common origin in the Shadow fell. They are the warped, stillborn hatchlings of a powerful shadow dragon named Urishtar, who fertilizes her eggs with the captured souls of hapless mortals.
Soulravagers are crazed draconic wraiths that have lost control of their limitless anger and now stalk the living and the dead to destroy whatever souls they find.
Boneclaw: ?
Bone Naga: ?
Abyssal Ghoul: ?
Xenro, Blackfire Dracolich: This large chamber is the lair of a discontented red dragon tricked into undeath by Magrathar’s servant, Porapherah.
Xenro was once a mighty red dragon who terrified and oppressed the land. Porapherah, playing to the creature’s vanity and thirst for power, convinced him to undergo the ritual that transformed him into a blackfire dracolich.
Porapherah, Nightwalker: ?
Nerothoth, Immolith Inferno: ?
Jakrob Vrin, Sage Ghost: ?
Willum Vrin, Sage Ghost: ?
Magrathar, Larva Mage: ?