Undead Origins

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Jester's 4e Ravenloft Monsters

Jester's 4e Ravenloft Monsters
4e
Ghost: Ghosts are the spirits of the dead who cannot rest after their passing.
Geist: Giests are the restless spirits of the dead who are still bound to the site of their death, or their earthly remains.
Phantasmagoria: ?
Spirit Storm: Spirits storms are a large number of related souls that have become intertwined into a massive entity of rage and fury.
Ghoul: ?
Ghoul Lord: Ghoul lords were powerful individuals slain by ghouls or the accidental by-product of necromantic experiments.
Mist Creature: Hunting the places between places are mist creatures, beings formed of the Mists themselves.
Mist Horror: ?
Mist Ferryman: ?
Grim Reaper: ?
Mummy: The ancient dead are well-preserved and not rotting corpses like most other undead. Few are accidental creations and many are deliberately made after the death of important figures.
Bog Mummy: Bog mummies are some of the few accidental mummies, and are individuals who died in a air-less swamp.
Mummy Pharaoh: ?
Revenant: The wrongful dead, risen to avenge their murders, these are revenants.
Revenant Seeker: ?
Revenant Hunter: ?
Skeleton: Animated bones stripped of flesh, skeletons are a diverse type of animated corpse and a favourite of inventive necromancers.
Strahd Skeleton: The necromancer, Strahd, has spent much time experimenting on improving skeletal undead with terrifying results.
Strahd's Skeletal Steed: The necromancer, Strahd, has spent much time experimenting on improving skeletal undead with terrifying results.
Shadowtouched Skeleton: ?
Skeletal Horde: ?
Vampire: ?
Cerebral Vampire Lord: ?
Cerebral Vampire Mindtaker: ?
Nosferatu Batcaller: ?
Nosferatu Mesmerist: ?
Zombie: Rotting, animated corpses, zombies come in many varieties and are frequently customized or altered by necromancers.
Cannibal Zombie: Cannibal zombies are an undead plague spread through bites.
Boneless Zombie: Boneless zombies are simple creature made to save the skeleton for other purposes.
Strahd Zombie: ?
Zombie Lord: Zombie lords are powerful masters of undeath, either augmented zombies or unique and accidental creations.
Desert Zombie: ?
Shadowtouched Zombie: Shadowtouched zombies are formidable undead infused with the energies of the shadowfell.
Caliban Vampire, Alocka: The process of becoming a vampire makes a caliban even more disfigured and inhuman.
Dwarven Vampire, Uppyr: ?
Elven Vampire. Craenag-Follei: ?
Halfling Vampire, Daeyerg Due: ?
Lich Divine: In contrast with arcane liches, who are the icon of corrupted wizards, divine liches are fallen paladins and clerics or followers of dark faiths that encourage violation of the natural order.
Lich Psionic: Not all liches are powered by arcane magics, some are the creations of the powers of dark gods or masters of the mind.
Vistani Vampire, Mullo: ?

 

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Kingdoms of Kalamar 4th Edition Campaign Setting

Kingdoms of Kalamar 4th Edition Campaign Setting:
Undead: Brandobians bury their dead face down or cut off a foot to prevent the dead from rising as undead.
The Harvesters know that through their actions and devotion to the King of the Undead they will be rewarded at death by being granted undead status. The number and strength of the souls that a cleric takes directly reflect on his future undead status and dying while attempting to take a soul is said to grant automatic undeath. However, many clerics fear dying before harvesting enough souls and thus attaining only zombie status.
Zombie: The Harvesters know that through their actions and devotion to the King of the Undead they will be rewarded at death by being granted undead status. The number and strength of the souls that a cleric takes directly reflect on his future undead status and dying while attempting to take a soul is said to grant automatic undeath. However, many clerics fear dying before harvesting enough souls and thus attaining only zombie status.
The zombies are undead remains of the worshipers inside the temple at the time of the slaughter.
Lich: ?
Vampire: Harman has a great fear of undead and prefers to burn his victims entirely so that they cannot become mummies or vampires.
Wight: Tethen also brought back a hacking cough that he attributes to dust from the ancient caves where he found his treasures. He is partially right. The dust did make him ill, but the illness has just begun. In a few months he will waste away and become a wight under the control of the undead emperor.
Wraith: A tiny carrock overfull of elves heading toward the unknown continent to the east with their sole treasure foundered in a storm and sank. Thirteen wraiths haunt the boat’s wreck and keep both natural predators and treasure-seekers away.
Ghoul: The ghouls are said to be former clergy of the temple, killed during the Mendarn invasion.
Mummy: Harman has a great fear of undead and prefers to burn his victims entirely so that they cannot become mummies or vampires.
Terrus Dyrn, Lich: ?
Elven Vampire, Esmaran: ?
Ghost: A tiny carrock overfull of elves heading toward the unknown continent to the east with their sole treasure foundered in a storm and sank. Thirteen wraiths haunt the boat’s wreck and keep both natural predators and treasure-seekers away. The band’s leader, Elborn, is now a ghost who does not combat intruders.
The war with Eldor is a major concern to the elves, although they appear to have done nothing to end it. The issue over which the war began, the destruction of the logging camp, is true. The elves destroyed the camp and all within it. Despite warnings, the loggers cut down an ancient druidic grove, a shrine to the Old Oak that had stood for 3,000 years.
The area would be perilous for player characters to investigate at this point. Besides being guarded by extremely vigilant and martial elves, the spirits of the loggers haunt the former grove as ghosts, prepared to destroy elf, human, and forest creature alike.
Abyssal Ghoul: ?
Uggurath: ?
Mummy, Shimantra: ?
Ghost, Puramal: One of the fallen bridges is the anchor for a ghost. Puramal was a soldier who fought on the bridge and continued to fight even while it was being destroyed. Enemy wizards sought to destroy him while friendly clerics and wizards healed him and countered enemy spells. Between the blasts of magic and volleys of arrows from the far bank, the soldier finally collapsed with the last of the bridge.
Puramal’s ghost still guards the bridge he died to protect. If anyone tries to cross the river at that point, whether by swimming, watercraft, building another bridge or otherwise, he attacks (but travel up or down the river does not disturb him).
Wailing Ghost, Banshee: Doulmak Grond achieved fame after he killed one of his elven slave girls and her spirit became a wailing ghost (known to most sages as a banshee).

 

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Lands of Darkness 1 The Barrow Grounds

Lands of Darkness 1 The Barrow Grounds:
4e
Shadowy Soldier: ?
Ruined Skeleton: The skeletal soldiers and ruined skeletons are members of the Guron family, wrested from death to guard the family barrow.
Undorgien Dead: This abandoned stone chapel is still occupied by the unforgiven dead, those faithful that failed to protect the sacred vessels when the central crystal turned dark.
Skeletal Soldier: The skeletal soldiers and ruined skeletons are members of the Guron family, wrested from death to guard the family barrow.
Reanimator: ?
Shadow Slain: This barrow holds the remains of brothers. The eldest brother changed allegiance in the midst of fierce civil war, an act which resulted in his younger brothers’ deaths. Consumed with guilt over their deaths, he took his own life. The spirits of the slain brothers rose as shadow slain, shadowy forms filled with anguish and consumed with the betrayal of blood that took their lives.
Turncoat Shadow: This barrow holds the remains of brothers. The eldest brother changed allegiance in the midst of fierce civil war, an act which resulted in his younger brothers’ deaths. Consumed with guilt over their deaths, he took his own life. The spirits of the slain brothers rose as shadow slain, shadowy forms filled with anguish and consumed with the betrayal of blood that took their lives. The eldest bears the weight of betrayal into undeath as a turncoat shadow.
Chillspirit Blackshadow: ?

 

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Lands of Darkness 2 Cesspools of Arnac

Lands of Darkness 2 Cesspools of Arnac:
4e
Restless Dead: One of the restless dead (the one wearing the locket) is the lover of the abandoned ghost in area 10. She made her way to the sewers to release her lover from the hidden room, but got hopelessly lost in the maze of tunnels, stumbling into the reanimator’s territory. Slain and reborn in undeath, she no longer remembers her life past, only that she cannot rest even in death.
Feeble Dead: ?
Spike: ?
Reanimator: ?
Foetid Dead: ?
Abandoned Spirit: The abandoned spirit is the tortured soul of Antonio Peris, a rogue who had to make a hasty escape from the city but not without his love Anabel, daughter of a local merchant. Peris, familiar with the cesspools due to his time spent affiliated with a group of bandits, planned to fake his own death and escape with his love to start a new life in a different city. He cornered himself into a building with city muscle outside of the door and set fire to the building, dropping through the trapdoor into the forgotten room.
He entrusted Anabel with the key to the room and instructions where the find the door. Everything would have gone according to plan if only Anabel had not gotten hopelessly lost and frightened in the cesspools, wandering into the domain of the reanimator.
Shadowy Soldier: ?

 

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Lands of Darkness 3 Woods of Woe

Lands of Darkness 3 Woods of Woe:
4e
Necrophage: ?
Necrophage Reaper: ?
Necrophage Mage: ?
Triune Avatar of the Breathless God: ?
Warden of the Breathless God: ?
Fleshless Janissary: ?
Witness of the Breathless God: ?

 

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Lands of Darkness 4 The Swamp of Timbermoor

Lands of Darkness 4 The Swamp of Timbermoor:
4e
Priest of the Toad: ?
Acolyte of the Toad: ?
Flesh of the Toad: ?
Skeletal Toad: ?
Chillspirit Blackshadow: The restless souls of the fallen haunt this mound, their insubstantial forms twisted by the agony and pain of their death.
Turncoat Shadow: The restless souls of the fallen haunt this mound, their insubstantial forms twisted by the agony and pain of their death.
Shadow Slain: The restless souls of the fallen haunt this mound, their insubstantial forms twisted by the agony and pain of their death.

 

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Lands of Darkness 5 Iron Mountains

Lands of Darkness 5 Iron Mountains:
4e
Limbed Horror: Some evil has touched the crypt of Davinkar, tearing the dead from their rest and rearranging themselves into creatures most terrible.
An amalgam of all the limbs forms an amorphous mass, numerous once-hands grasping to draw more in.
Gut Wrencher: Some evil has touched the crypt of Davinkar, tearing the dead from their rest and rearranging themselves into creatures most terrible.
Another is a ball of guts and intestines, writhing and wrenching to digest more life.
Necrotic Reaper: Some evil has touched the crypt of Davinkar, tearing the dead from their rest and rearranging themselves into creatures most terrible.
Last is a mostly human form decorated with the heads of others.
Davinkar: Some evil has touched the crypt of Davinkar, tearing the dead from their rest and rearranging themselves into creatures most terrible.
Spike Fist Corpse: Some evil has touched the crypt of Davinkar, tearing the dead from their rest and rearranging themselves into creatures most terrible.
Necrotic Commander: Some evil has touched the crypt of Davinkar, tearing the dead from their rest and rearranging themselves into creatures most terrible.

 

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Lands of Darkness 6 The Wild Hills

Lands of Darkness 6 The Wild Hills:
4e
Chillspirit Blackshadow: This room was carved out of the stone by the people who once lived in the wild hills as part of a defense system. Littered through the canyon are caves like this, stocked with food, water, and weapons, sealed with a large circular stone. Once the invaders left or starved, the people would emerge from these defensive caves. Unfortunately, the residence of this defensive cave never came out and in their despair embraced life in death.
Reanimator: This room was carved out of the stone by the people who once lived in the wild hills as part of a defense system. Littered through the canyon are caves like this, stocked with food, water, and weapons, sealed with a large circular stone. Once the invaders left or starved, the people would emerge from these defensive caves. Unfortunately, the residence of this defensive cave never came out and in their despair embraced life in death.
Unforgiving Dead: This room was carved out of the stone by the people who once lived in the wild hills as part of a defense system. Littered through the canyon are caves like this, stocked with food, water, and weapons, sealed with a large circular stone. Once the invaders left or starved, the people would emerge from these defensive caves. Unfortunately, the residence of this defensive cave never came out and in their despair embraced life in death.
Foetid Dead: ?

 

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Level Up 2

Level Up 2:
4e
Undead: Nearly every mortal fears death – it is natural to do so – but all mortal beings may rightly fear the dead: for the dead do not always remain at rest. When the first sentient creatures of Áereth felt the cold grip of death upon them, it was the goddess Lasheeva who offered the attractive, if macabre, alternative. Granting a blessed few her deathward kiss, it was she who personally introduced the curse of undeath to Áereth. From the mindless, animate corpses of zombies and skeletons to the ravenous, tomb-haunting ghouls; from dread wights and mummies that lurk in the deep subterrene to wraiths and vampires that prowl the night—all such creatures owe their existence, their powers, their misery, and their glory to the Great and Terrible Lasheeva. It is commonly believed that it was she who crafted phylacteries for Áereth’s first liches and soul weapons for the first death knights, forever changing the world by offering dangerous, power-hungry mortals a dark substitute to mere mortality.
But where Soleth promises only peaceful repose for those who die, Lady Dissolution offers continuance in the physical or incorporeal world and eternal vitality in undeath.
While most undead have come into their existences by the administrations of Lasheeva or her servants, only some varieties have a well-defined place in the hierarchy.
Zombie: When the first sentient creatures of Áereth felt the cold grip of death upon them, it was the goddess Lasheeva who offered the attractive, if macabre, alternative. Granting a blessed few her deathward kiss, it was she who personally introduced the curse of undeath to Áereth. From the mindless, animate corpses of zombies and skeletons to the ravenous, tomb-haunting ghouls; from dread wights and mummies that lurk in the deep subterrene to wraiths and vampires that prowl the night—all such creatures owe their existence, their powers, their misery, and their glory to the Great and Terrible Lasheeva.
Skeleton: When the first sentient creatures of Áereth felt the cold grip of death upon them, it was the goddess Lasheeva who offered the attractive, if macabre, alternative. Granting a blessed few her deathward kiss, it was she who personally introduced the curse of undeath to Áereth. From the mindless, animate corpses of zombies and skeletons to the ravenous, tomb-haunting ghouls; from dread wights and mummies that lurk in the deep subterrene to wraiths and vampires that prowl the night—all such creatures owe their existence, their powers, their misery, and their glory to the Great and Terrible Lasheeva.
Ghoul: When the first sentient creatures of Áereth felt the cold grip of death upon them, it was the goddess Lasheeva who offered the attractive, if macabre, alternative. Granting a blessed few her deathward kiss, it was she who personally introduced the curse of undeath to Áereth. From the mindless, animate corpses of zombies and skeletons to the ravenous, tomb-haunting ghouls; from dread wights and mummies that lurk in the deep subterrene to wraiths and vampires that prowl the night—all such creatures owe their existence, their powers, their misery, and their glory to the Great and Terrible Lasheeva.
Dread Wight: When the first sentient creatures of Áereth felt the cold grip of death upon them, it was the goddess Lasheeva who offered the attractive, if macabre, alternative. Granting a blessed few her deathward kiss, it was she who personally introduced the curse of undeath to Áereth. From the mindless, animate corpses of zombies and skeletons to the ravenous, tomb-haunting ghouls; from dread wights and mummies that lurk in the deep subterrene to wraiths and vampires that prowl the night—all such creatures owe their existence, their powers, their misery, and their glory to the Great and Terrible Lasheeva.
Mummy: When the first sentient creatures of Áereth felt the cold grip of death upon them, it was the goddess Lasheeva who offered the attractive, if macabre, alternative. Granting a blessed few her deathward kiss, it was she who personally introduced the curse of undeath to Áereth. From the mindless, animate corpses of zombies and skeletons to the ravenous, tomb-haunting ghouls; from dread wights and mummies that lurk in the deep subterrene to wraiths and vampires that prowl the night—all such creatures owe their existence, their powers, their misery, and their glory to the Great and Terrible Lasheeva.
Wraith: When the first sentient creatures of Áereth felt the cold grip of death upon them, it was the goddess Lasheeva who offered the attractive, if macabre, alternative. Granting a blessed few her deathward kiss, it was she who personally introduced the curse of undeath to Áereth. From the mindless, animate corpses of zombies and skeletons to the ravenous, tomb-haunting ghouls; from dread wights and mummies that lurk in the deep subterrene to wraiths and vampires that prowl the night—all such creatures owe their existence, their powers, their misery, and their glory to the Great and Terrible Lasheeva.
Vampire: When the first sentient creatures of Áereth felt the cold grip of death upon them, it was the goddess Lasheeva who offered the attractive, if macabre, alternative. Granting a blessed few her deathward kiss, it was she who personally introduced the curse of undeath to Áereth. From the mindless, animate corpses of zombies and skeletons to the ravenous, tomb-haunting ghouls; from dread wights and mummies that lurk in the deep subterrene to wraiths and vampires that prowl the night—all such creatures owe their existence, their powers, their misery, and their glory to the Great and Terrible Lasheeva.
Lich: It is commonly believed that it was Lasheeva who crafted phylacteries for Áereth’s first liches and soul weapons for the first death knights, forever changing the world by offering dangerous, power-hungry mortals a dark substitute to mere mortality.
Death Knight: It is commonly believed that it was Lasheeva who crafted phylacteries for Áereth’s first liches and soul weapons for the first death knights, forever changing the world by offering dangerous, power-hungry mortals a dark substitute to mere mortality.
Lasheeva: Lasheeva herself is considered undead, the first deity who relinquished her own traditional sense of divinity in exchange for something else.
Gil’Mâridth sacrificed her worldly divinity and escaped into the dreamworld of her nemesis Ôæ, and in doing so transferred much of her power into Lasheeva... even as she sacrificed her daughter. Lasheeva rose from the grave, as desired, a lich-queen ascendant in divine undeath.
Ghost: ?

 

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Master Dungeons M1: Dragora's Dungeon

Master Dungeons M1: Dragora's Dungeon:
4e
Decrepit Skeleton: ?
Serpent Wraith: ?
Wraith: Any humanoid killed by a serpent wraith rises as a free-willed 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.
Elite Mad Wraith: ?
Mad Wraith: Any humanoid killed by a mad wraith rises as a free-willed mad 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.