Undead Origins

[Voadam]

The Witch for Swords & Wizardry White Box
Swords & Wizardry
Poltergeist: ?
Poltergeist Bell Witch: This spirit is similar to the poltergeist, save that the person the spirit comes from is a particularly powerful and evil witch.
Rusalka, Water Witch: In all cases the Rusalka is the undead spirit of a young woman that had drowned. The circumstances of her death vary; some say she drowned without being baptized first, others again say she died while drowning her own children (which will sometime result in a Navky or Utburd). But most say the surest way to become a Rusalka is to be a witch.
The victim she chooses is often tied to her reason for dying. If she committed suicide over love or was spurned by a lover she will go after victims that remind her of her former love. If she was cursed for drowning a child, then she preys on children or mothers with small children. Rusalkas that were drowned for witchcraft will seek out victims that remind her of her captors; men of religion, war or other magic-using characters.
Wraith: ?
Zombie: Cauldron of the Dead magic item.
Skeleton: Cauldron of the Dead magic item.
Undead: ?
Undead Warrior: Legend has it that casting the teeth of dragons will result in the rise of undead warriors.
Corporeal Undead: ?
Ghost: ?

Cauldron of the Dead: This heavy cauldron of dark iron is large enough to accommodate a Medium-sized creature. When filled with a mixture of water and rare herbs, the cauldron transforms any dead body placed in it into a zombie or skeleton per the animate dead spell (the user chooses whether or not a zombie or skeleton is created from an intact corpse). Each corpse animated uses up 50 gp in materials and the cauldron can animate a corpse in one round. The user of the cauldron commands the undead so created, up to 2 HD per character level, any further undead created over this limit are under the owner’s control, but previously created undead are freed.

 

[Voadam]

Tome of Horrors Complete - Swords and Wizardry Edition
Swords & Wizardry
Apparition: Apparitions are undead spirits of creatures that died as the result of an accident. The twist of fate that ended their life prematurely has driven them totally and completely to the side of evil.
On that day twenty years ago, how could the old mage know he was sitting down to his last meal? It had been a common enough day, filled with researches into the recesses of the labyrinthine halls of the dungeon and little real success - always more questions than answers. He and his small retinue of apprentices had sat down around the old stone table in the room they called the “Grand Tomb”. The table was made of marble, with a sculpture worked into the top depicting a gaunt man in full armor, hands clasped around a two-handed axe that extended all the way down to his pointed feet. An oddity to be sure, for the mage was quite sure it was not a repurposed sarcophagus lid - maybe a trophy memorializing a fallen foe? There they sat, the hired man bringing in a platter of boiled mushrooms they had discovered in a reeking cavern, a mismatched collection of found goblets and tankards holding souring wine, hard tack and salt pork spread out before them on the table. So involved were they with the feast and a good natured exploration into the meaning of the holes that dotted the floor of the Grand Tomb, they didn’t notice the hiss of gas making its way through those holes, or the silent sliding of stone doors into place blocking their escape. And so, they died, coughing and hacking. And now, as soon as the party finds a way through that stone slab, the brave adventurer will discover the final fate of that mage and his apprentices, now 1d3+1 apparitions, still collected around the weird table wondering what it all means.
Bhuta: When a person is murdered, the spirit sometimes clings to the Material Plane, refusing to accept its mortal death. This spirit, called a bhuta, possesses its original body and seeks out those responsible for its murder.
It was twelve years ago, twelve dark years, that the countess ended a night of debauchery by toppling into an open well. Her husband, a knightly rake known mostly for his womanizing and misfortune at the card table, immediately had the well sealed and a small memorial in her honor built nearby and then took the throne and coronet and began his rule as “the wastrel count”.
It was a neat piece of work by the count, for his ex-wife’s corpse, now risen as a bhuta, is physically incapable of getting through the seal.
Bleeding Horror: Created by the axe of blood, these foul undead creatures drip with the blood they were so willing to sacrifice to the hungry blade.
Bloody Bones: Their true origins are unknown, but they are believed to be the undead remains of those who desecrate evil temples and are punished by the gods for their wrongdoings.
Bog Mummy: Humanoids killed by a bog mummy rise as bog mummies themselves in 1d4 days unless their bodies are removed from the swamp or a cure disease spell is cast on the corpse.
The mummy was a common thief that was strangled and thrown into the holy waters that are marked with a runic pillar.
Bogeyman: ?
Bone Cobbler: The sculptor of idols was never as reverent as his customers. His last object d’art was an idol of the love goddess for a shrine located out in the sticks. His progress on this particular sculpture had been hampered by the presence of his model, a peasant girl of very pleasing face and figure.
Alas, a fortnight ago the maiden’s paramour got wind of her new position and, with two boon companions struck, bashing the sculptor’s head in and making a terrible mess of his workshop.
By the next night, one of the murderers had disappeared, his hovel turned into a bloody mess. The others followed, but the disappearances did not end with the trio of killers. In all, twenty villagers have gone missing. After the first five disappeared, the stripped bones of the others began to crop up, often jumbled and put together into bizarre shapes.
Brykolakas: ?
Kalanos: Any humanoid slain by a brykolakas rises as a kalanos in 1d4 days under the creature’s control.
Cadaver: A creature slain by a cadaver lord awakens in 1d4 rounds as a cadaver.
He’s been traveling from town to town for a month now collecting the dead. He has no intention of burying the dead he collects, however. Instead, he takes the corpses outside town and dumps them in secluded spots where they won’t be found. His callousness has caused many of the unburied corpses left in his wake to rise as cadavers focused on finding the false undertaker.
Cadaver Lord: ?
Coffer Corpse: The coffer corpse is an undead creature formed as the result of an incomplete death ritual.
Corpse Candle: An ancient hag was drowned in chamber 50 years ago when she tried to raise the dead to do her bidding. The crone rose as a corpse candle that haunts the crypts, although she prefers to remain in this chamber. Her bones lie at the bottom of the watery pit.
Crucifixion Spirit: Six boulders stand upright on the edge of the Corros Desert, the 10-foot-wide flat sides of each massive stone turned to face the harshest winds blowing off the burning sands. Heavy links of black chain wrap around each rock. Shackled to the rocks by red-hot metal manacles are six blackened bodies. Their faces and skin are sandblasted away, leaving them unidentifiable. Each was a thief sentenced to death and chained to the Rocks of Woe. The bodies are suspended against the superheated rocks. A man’s head pokes out of the sand in front of the rocks, his wiry hair flapping in the harsh winds. His skin is streaked with blood. The howling winds drown his screams.
Four of the dead men hung on the rocks were killers and thugs who deserved their gruesome fate. Two were innocents wrongly convicted by Magistrate Chesle, the corrupt judge now buried up to his neck in the shifting sands. The innocent victims died horrible deaths on the rocks, and rose mere hours later as crucifixion spirits intent on revenge.
Crypt Thing: Create Crypt Thing spell.
Crypt Guardian: ?
Darnoc: The darnoc are said to be the restless spirits of oppressive, cruel, and power hungry individuals cursed forever to a life of monotony and toil, forbidden by the gods to taste the spoils of the afterlife they so desperately craved in life.
Any humanoid slain by a darnoc becomes a darnoc in 1d4 rounds.
The ruler of the walled city-state was beside himself with worry. How was he to know that killing his exchequer would result in such calamity - after all, he had probably killed about one minister a month since he took the throne as a young man. Always the exchequer stood by, giving wise council and finding ways to fund the king’s schemes.
But at the thought of giving the king his youngest daughter before her wedding day the minister balked, and for that he had to be killed. Death, however, did not part the exchequer from his post, for the next day his replacement fled in panic at the sight of the old man sitting in the treasury counting the coins.
Demi-Lich, Demilich: ?
Akhjila Harn, Demi-Lich: This is the burial vault of Akilha Harn, a little-known wizard from ancient times. In her day, she ruled a small kingdom with fear and cruelty. In her quest for immortality, she turned to lichdom. As an undead, she had her skull removed and replaced with one of copper (its location and terrible powers have yet to be discovered). She then created a staff of incredible power and topped it with her own skull. She ultimately evolved into the demilich that was placed in this vault.
Demiurge: The demiurge is the undead spirit of an evil human returned from the grave with a wrathful vengeance against all living creatures that enter its domain.
The source of their destruction was the burning of a foreign woman in front of the church - the charred post and bones and a pile of ashes still in evidence. The villagers believed her a witch, come to spread a pox among their cattle. Moments after the poor woman died, the grim villagers witnessed in horror her spectral image stepping out of the holocaust.
Draug: The draug is the vengeful spirit of a ship’s captain who died at sea, thus being denied a proper burial. If an entire ship sinks at sea with the loss of all hands, the ship itself and its entire crew may return as ghostly wanderers. The captain usually rises as a draug and his crew rises as brine zombies.
When a ship sinks beneath the waves, it and its entire crew may return as ghostly wanderers, especially if the captain and crew had a less than scrupulous profession (as pirates, for example). A sunken ship of this nature may undergo a transformation from the evil surrounding it. When this happens, the ship rises from the deep, piloted by a draug and manned by skeletons, brine zombies, zombies, and lacedons.
For the past fifteen years, the ship of a terrible pirate has sat in the midst of a grand harbor, a prison hulk for members of its former crew. The ship was taken by a fleet of galleons after a storm had deprived it of masts and sent the ship’s captain over the side, a dirk lodged in his spine. As members of his former crew died, they were tossed over the side, their ankle chains attached to an iron band around the remains of the main mast, their bloated bodies steeping in the brine. For all these fifteen years the captain, now a vengeful draug, has trod the sea floor on a direct course for his ship. He is now very close, and the bodies of his expired crewmen are responding to his presence, their waterlogged (1d6+5 brine zombies) or skeletal (2d4 skeletons) remains shifting gently.
Fear Guard: ?
Fetch: ?
Fire Phantom: ?
Fye: ?
Faen Tiensa, Fye: This is the tomb of Faen Tiensa, the beloved wife of Glaeran the Faithful. Glaeran was a high priest who had more devotion to his spouse than his own deity. The deity cursed Glaeran to an existence as a fye tied to this monument to his wife.
Gallows Tree Zombie: The gallows tree slices open victims for their organs, then fills them with a greenish sap that turns them into gallows tree zombies. The newly created undead rises in 1d4 days.
Ghoul Cinder: The priests of the fire maiden Incindreia routinely sacrifice victims by setting them on fire. The bowls of ash contain the collected remains of a married pair of clerics caught by the wicked priests while on their honeymoon. The spirits of the clerics now rise as cinder ghouls from the brass bowls in a swirl of ash and bone fragments to attack anyone approaching the altar.
Ghoul Dust: ?
Dust Zombie: Once per day, a dust ghoul can animate 11d4 dust zombies.
Ghoul-Stirge: The origin of the ghoul-stirge has been lost, but it is believed to be the result of a failed magical experiment conducted in ages past by a group of evil and insane necromancers.
Grave Risen: ?
Groaning Spirit: The groaning spirit is the malevolent spirit of a female elf that is found haunting swamps, fens, moors, and other desolate places.
The spirit once belonged to an elf, the victim of a murderous baker on the High Street.
Undead Treant: ?
Hanged Man: ?
Haunt: The haunt is the spirit of a person who died before completing some vital task. A haunt inhabits an area within 60 feet of where its body died and never leaves this area.
Hoar Spirit: Hoar spirits are believed to be humanoids that freeze to death and are doomed to haunt the icy wastes.
Huecuva: Huecuva are the undead spirits of good clerics who were unfaithful to their god and turned to the path of evil before death. As punishment for their transgression, their god condemned them to roam the earth as the one creature all good-aligned clerics despise — undead.
Three days prior, the chief inquisitor of the church rode into town on a palfrey and ordered the parish priestess and her acolytes taken into custody. After a hasty trial in which evidence of involvement in the slave trade was presented, the priestesses were cast into the great hearth of the temple (the temple being dedicated to the hearth goddess). It was a terrible shock for the people to see their beloved priestesses accused, convicted and summarily slain (especially in so terrible a manner), but it was an even more terrible shock to see them emerge from the flames as smoldering skeletons and strangle the inquisitor.
Lantern Goat: ?
Lich Shade: Lich shades are evil creatures who attempted to achieve lichdom but failed.
Ashten Un Shorn, Lich Shade: The tower belonged to Ashten Un Shorn, a magic-user who died during an attempt to transition to lichdom. A single mistake in the ritual resulted in the blast that destroyed her tower. Ashten now haunts the upper floors as a lich shade, and slays all who seek her treasure.
Mortuary Cyclone: ?
Mummy of the Deep: It is the result of an evil creature that was buried at sea for its sins in life. The wickedness permeating the former life has managed to cling even into unlife and revive the soul as a mummy of the deep.
Murder Crow: ?
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.
The inn was an orphanage before tragedy befell nearly 75 years ago. At the time, a young woman who worked with the orphans found herself pregnant by a fisherman who never returned from the harsh waters. She hid her shame, but the townsfolk soon knew of her condition. The fisherman’s parents blamed her for leading their boy to distraction – and ending with his death on the open waters.
Their hatred bubbled over in their second son, who took a ragtag bunch of hooligans to help convince the girl to leave the village. One thing led to another, and the girl was murdered and her body boarded up within the walls. No one looked too hard for the missing woman.
It was a year after her murder that the screams began in the orphanage’s walls.
The inn is the home of murder-born twins that hide in the walls where they and their mother were killed and their bodies still rest.
Ooze Undead: When an ooze moves across the grave of a restless and evil soul, a transformation takes place. The malevolent spirit, still tied to the rotting flesh consumed by the ooze, melds with the ooze. The result is a creature filled with hatred of the living and an intelligence and cunningness not normally known among its kind.
Ooze Vampiric: Some think the vampiric ooze was created by a lich using ancient and forbidden magic. Others believe the vampiric ooze was formed when an ochre jelly slew a vampire and absorbed it.
Paleoskeleton Triceratops: A paleoskeleton triceratops is the fossilized remains of a long-dead dinosaur.
Phantasm: ?
Phantom: Phantoms are translucent spirits of creatures that died a particularly violent death.
In a crossroads of the dungeon you discover an iron chest, the surface of which it pitted and marred. About 30 feet away from the chest there is a skeleton that looks as though its clothing and leather armor was dissolved by acid. The acid is actually a trap activated by opening the chest, which is locked. The acid pours from the joints between the stones that make up the arched ceiling. If a person fails their saving throw, the acid pours on him and causes 1d6 points of damage per round until washed away with at least 1 gallon of water. To make matters worse, the skeleton’s spirit now occupies the area as a phantom, making it difficult for adventurers to get through the intersection.
Poltergeist: The gallery was once owned by a subterranean warlord, a master of many orc tribes who was inordinately fond of his own face. A sculptor and amateur magic-user had the misfortune to have fallen into his hands on his first delve and was pressed into service as his “court sculptor”. In time, he lost his mind and killed the warlord, dying seconds afterward by the hand of an orc archer. The orcs plundered their former master’s underground lair and left, and so were not present for his rise as a poltergeist.
Rat Shadow: ?
Rawbones: Standing in the middle of the collapsed castle is a 20-foot-tall metal spike radiating cool silver light. The spike looks like it was cast down from the heavens to strike the center of the castle and punched all the way through to its stone foundation. Symbols of the god of justice are branded into the sliver. The silver needle is clawed and slashed, and dark blots are burned across its surface.
Three innocents held in shackles in the dungeon didn’t survive the explosion that leveled the castle. They died underground, choking on the rock debris filling the tunnels around them. The three are now rawbones who clawed their way through the rocks. They slashed at the silver lance to exact their revenge, but went unsatisfied.
Red Jester: Fifty years ago, King Jepson IV demanded a joke, one so funny it would leave him laughing for days. But when his court jester couldn’t deliver the perfect punchline, the king had him executed and his body tossed in the rubbish pile as a warning to future funnymen. But the jester took his job seriously and rose from the dead a night later. His corpse staggered from the kingdom, asking everyone he met for a joke that would allow him to return and please his king. He’s still looking.
Shadow Lesser: ?
Skeleton Black: ?
Skeleton Warrior: The skeleton warrior is a lich-like undead that was once a powerful fighter of at least 8th level. Legend says that the skeleton warriors were forced into their undead state by a powerful demon prince who trapped each of their souls in a golden circlet.
Skulleton: Skulletons are undead creatures believed to have been created by a lich or demilich, for the creature greatly resembles the latter in that it is nothing more than a pile of dust, a skull, and a collection of bones. The gemstones inset in its eye sockets and in place of its teeth are not gemstones at all, but painted glass (worthless).
The skulleton is thought to have been created to detour would-be tomb plunders in to thinking they had desecrated the lair of a demilich.
Soul Reaper: ?
Spectral Troll: ?
Undead Raven Swarm: The Blood Mashes
The ground seems to bleed in the marsh fields. The ground seeps blood from a cursed war that took place eons ago. Ghosts and spirits haunt the bloody fields, each forever seeking an end to their cursed existence. Fresh corpses and ancient relics of battle churn up through the soft earth, only to be slowly swallowed again.
Ravens that drink from the bloody marsh die and sink into its depths. By midnight, these unfortunate birds rise again as an undead raven swarm that flies off into the night to wreak havoc.
When killed, a murder crow explodes into a murder of undead ravens.
Swarm Shadow Rat: ?
Died Piper: ?
Wight Barrow: Creatures hit by a barrow wight’s slam attack are drained of one level. Creatures killed by this level drain rise as barrow wights in 1d4 rounds and remain under their creator’s control until it is destroyed.
The hill is 30 feet in diameter. It contains a barrow tomb holding the cremated remains of a neolithic king and his four wives, who were buried alive. Unlike the happily cremated king, the four wives have not rested peacefully. Their horrified spirits reanimated their corpses, turning them into barrow wights.
Wight Blood: ?
Wolf Ghoul: ?
Dire Ghoul Wolf: ?
Wolf Shadow: ?
Zombie Brine: Brine zombies are the remnants of a ship’s crew that has perished at sea.
The spark of evil that brought them back from the ocean depths drives them to seek the living so they may join them in their watery graves.
So it was, a month ago, that the Kingfish left the port with a load of ironwood and a bit of sabotage. It went down about 10 miles off shore and its crew has been walking along the bottom ever since to enact their revenge on the prince and his precious city.
If an entire ship sinks at sea with the loss of all hands, the ship itself and its entire crew may return as ghostly wanderers. The captain usually rises as a draug and his crew rises as brine zombies.
When a ship sinks beneath the waves, it and its entire crew may return as ghostly wanderers, especially if the captain and crew had a less than scrupulous profession (as pirates, for example). A sunken ship of this nature may undergo a transformation from the evil surrounding it. When this happens, the ship rises from the deep, piloted by a draug and manned by skeletons, brine zombies, zombies, and lacedons.
For the past fifteen years, the ship of a terrible pirate has sat in the midst of a grand harbor, a prison hulk for members of its former crew. The ship was taken by a fleet of galleons after a storm had deprived it of masts and sent the ship’s captain over the side, a dirk lodged in his spine. As members of his former crew died, they were tossed over the side, their ankle chains attached to an iron band around the remains of the main mast, their bloated bodies steeping in the brine. For all these fifteen years the captain, now a vengeful draug, has trod the sea floor on a direct course for his ship. He is now very close, and the bodies of his expired crewmen are responding to his presence, their waterlogged (1d6+5 brine zombies) or skeletal (2d4 skeletons) remains shifting gently.
Zombie Corpsespun: Corpsespun zombies are the victims of a corpsespinner, whose poison animates the dead as an automaton sheathed in webs. The victim’s insides are replaced by thousands of tiny spiders crawling over its body and into and out of its ears, eyes, and mouth. These spiders take over and devour the insides of the creature, but keep it moving with a semblance of its former self.
Creatures killed by a corpsespinner rise in 1 hour as corpsespun zombies.
Zombie Juju: Juju zombies’ hatred of living creatures and the magic that created them are what hold them to the world of the living. When a humanoid or monstrous humanoid is slain by an energy drain or a similar spell or spell-like ability, it may rise as a juju zombie.
Zombie Spellgorged: A spellgorged zombie is a zombie crafted from the corpse of a Magic-User or Cleric to serve as a ring of spell storing.

Undead: Orcus is the Prince of the Undead, and it is said that he alone created the first undead that walked the worlds.
When not warring against rival demon princes, Orcus likes to travel the planes, particularly the Material Plane. Should a foolish spellcaster open a gate and speak his name, he is more than likely going to hear the call and step through to the Material Plane. What happens to the spellcaster that called him usually depends on the reason for the summons and the power of the spellcaster. Extremely powerful spellcasters are usually slain after a while and turned into undead soldiers or generals in his armies.
Four days ago, a lone trapper carried home a number of fur bearing critters, including a hoar fox that, he later discovered, was not yet dead. When the creature awoke in the cabin, it unleashed multiple cones of frost, icing the door shut and covering much of the interior with frost. The trapper was killed, and for the last three days has served as the hoar fox’s only sustenance.
Besides the half-eaten body of the trapper (could it rise as an undead due to its shocking death?) the cabin contains a store of foodstuffs.
Ghost: Any living creature slain by a mortuary cyclone’s whirlwind attack or energy drain attack becomes an undead creature in 1d4 rounds. Creatures with less than 3 HD return as a ghoul or ghast; 4-7 HD, a wraith; 8-11 HD, a spectre; and 12+ HD return as a ghost.
Ghoul: Any living creature slain by a mortuary cyclone’s whirlwind attack or energy drain attack becomes an undead creature in 1d4 rounds. Creatures with less than 3 HD return as a ghoul or ghast; 4-7 HD, a wraith; 8-11 HD, a spectre; and 12+ HD return as a ghost.
Faithful of Orcus travel from afar to worship at this shrine. For many, it is the next and last step in their testament of devotion to the undead lord. The faithful sacrifice themselves by twos. Two unclothed and weaponless individuals lie down in the stone grave as the ghost-faced orcs seal them in with the stone lid. The sacrifices fight to the death inside the grave. The victor remains in the grave until death, surviving until his last moments on by consuming the flesh and drinking blood of his victim. Once the victor perishes, he returns as a ghoul, which the ghost-face orcs release into the world.
Lacedon: When a ship sinks beneath the waves, it and its entire crew may return as ghostly wanderers, especially if the captain and crew had a less than scrupulous profession (as pirates, for example). A sunken ship of this nature may undergo a transformation from the evil surrounding it. When this happens, the ship rises from the deep, piloted by a draug and manned by skeletons, brine zombies, zombies, and lacedons.
Ghast: Any living creature slain by a mortuary cyclone’s whirlwind attack or energy drain attack becomes an undead creature in 1d4 rounds. Creatures with less than 3 HD return as a ghoul or ghast; 4-7 HD, a wraith; 8-11 HD, a spectre; and 12+ HD return as a ghost.
Lich: ?
Mummy: ?
Shadow: ?
Greater Shadow: ?
Skeleton: Bone cobblers take the skeletal remains of those they kill and combine them with other bones in their lair. From these bones they sculpt and form weird humanoid or half-humanoid skeletal statues. Once per day, a bone cobbler can animate up to 5 skeletal statues within 30 feet. These creatures fight as skeletons, though their forms and structures do not necessarily resemble anything remotely humanoid.
When a ship sinks beneath the waves, it and its entire crew may return as ghostly wanderers, especially if the captain and crew had a less than scrupulous profession (as pirates, for example). A sunken ship of this nature may undergo a transformation from the evil surrounding it. When this happens, the ship rises from the deep, piloted by a draug and manned by skeletons, brine zombies, zombies, and lacedons.
For the past fifteen years, the ship of a terrible pirate has sat in the midst of a grand harbor, a prison hulk for members of its former crew. The ship was taken by a fleet of galleons after a storm had deprived it of masts and sent the ship’s captain over the side, a dirk lodged in his spine. As members of his former crew died, they were tossed over the side, their ankle chains attached to an iron band around the remains of the main mast, their bloated bodies steeping in the brine. For all these fifteen years the captain, now a vengeful draug, has trod the sea floor on a direct course for his ship. He is now very close, and the bodies of his expired crewmen are responding to his presence, their waterlogged (1d6+5 brine zombies) or skeletal (2d4 skeletons) remains shifting gently.
Each round, in place of moving or striking, an undead ooze can expel 1d6 skeletons from its mass. Skeletons can act in the round they are expelled. Slain skeletons are engulfed by the undead ooze and can be reanimated and expelled again in 1 hour.
Spectre: Any living creature slain by a mortuary cyclone’s whirlwind attack or energy drain attack becomes an undead creature in 1d4 rounds. Creatures with less than 3 HD return as a ghoul or ghast; 4-7 HD, a wraith; 8-11 HD, a spectre; and 12+ HD return as a ghost.
Any humanoid killed by a spectral troll rises 1d3 days later as a free-willed spectre unless a cleric of the victim’s religion blesses the corpse before such time.
Vampire: ?
Wight: ?
Wraith: Any living creature slain by a mortuary cyclone’s whirlwind attack or energy drain attack becomes an undead creature in 1d4 rounds. Creatures with less than 3 HD return as a ghoul or ghast; 4-7 HD, a wraith; 8-11 HD, a spectre; and 12+ HD return as a ghost.
Dread Wraith: ?
Zombie: A creature slain by a cerebral stalker’s bite attack has its brain ripped out and consumed. The empty husk becomes a zombie in 1d4 rounds.
When a ship sinks beneath the waves, it and its entire crew may return as ghostly wanderers, especially if the captain and crew had a less than scrupulous profession (as pirates, for example). A sunken ship of this nature may undergo a transformation from the evil surrounding it. When this happens, the ship rises from the deep, piloted by a draug and manned by skeletons, brine zombies, zombies, and lacedons.
Once per day, a grave risen can animate up to 10 HD of corpses within 100 feet as zombies.
The recent dead weren’t stolen; they got up and walked out of the graveyard after a grave risen passed through. The creature animated the recent dead to join its growing retinue of zombies.
Any humanoid slain by a vampiric ooze becomes a zombie in 1d4 rounds.

Create Crypt Thing
Spell Level: Cleric and Magic-User, 7th Level
Range: 60 feet
Duration: Instantaneous
This spell allows you to animate a single corpse into a crypt thing. This spell must be cast in the area the creature is to guard or it fails. The corpse must be mostly intact and must be humanoid-shaped and have a skeletal system or structure. Only one crypt thing is created with this spell, and it remains in the area where it was created until destroyed. A black pearl gem worth at least 300 gp must be placed inside the mouth of the corpse. When the corpse animates, the gem is destroyed.

Minor Artifact: The Axe of Blood
The axe of blood is rather nondescript, being made of dull iron. Only the large, strange rune carved into the side of its double-bladed head gives any immediate indication that the axe may be more than it seems. The rune is one of lesser life stealing, carved on it long ago by a sect of evil sorcerers. This is, in fact, the only remaining copy of that particular rune, thus making the axe a valuable item. Further inspection reveals another strange characteristic: the entire length of the axe’s long haft of darkwood is wrapped in a thick leather thong stained black from years of being soaked in blood and sticky to the touch. When held, the axe feels strangely heavy but well balanced, and it possesses a keenly sharp blade.
Until activated, the axe is just a +1 battleaxe. The wielder must consult legend lore or some other similar source of information to learn the ritual required to feed the axe. Despite the gruesome ritual required to power the axe, the weapon is not chaotic but is instead neutral. Bound inside it is a rather savage earth spirit. The axe draws power from its wielder in order to become a mighty magic weapon. Each day, the wielder of the axe can choose to “feed” the axe, sacrificing some of his blood in a strange ritual. This ritual takes 30 minutes and must be done at dawn.
Using the axe, the wielder opens a wound on his person (dealing 1d6 points of damage) and feeds the axe with his own blood. The wielder sacrifices blood in the form of hit points. For each 1d6 hit points sacrificed, the wielder gains a +1 bonus on attack rolls and weapon damage rolls with the axe (to a maximum of +3). Hit points sacrificed to the axe cannot be healed magically, but heal at the rate of 1 point per day. Similarly, the damage caused by the opening of the wound may not be healed by any means until the sacrificed hit points are regained.
There is a chance that the hit points sacrificed to the axe is lost permanently. If the wielder always skips a day in between powering the axe and always powers the axe with the morning ritual, there is no chance of permanent loss. If, however, the axe is fed on consecutive days, there is a 1% chance plus a 1% cumulative chance per consecutive day the axe is powered that hit points sacrificed to the axe on that day is permanently lost.
If reduced to 0 hit points as a result of feeding the axe, the wielder becomes a bleeding horror.

Skeleton Warrior’s Circlet
The transformation into a skeleton warrior traps the character’s soul in a golden circlet. Anyone possessing one of these circlets may exude control over the skeleton warrior (whose soul is trapped therein).
In order to establish or maintain control, the controller must be within 300 feet of the skeleton warrior and must wear the circlet on his head and spend one full round concentrating on the skeleton warrior. If the controller is interrupted during this time, he must succeed on a saving throw to establish control. If the check fails, the controller can try again. While wearing the circlet, the controller cannot wear any other item on his head. Doing so causes the circlet to cease functioning until the other headgear is removed. (A skeleton warrior can still detect the location of its circlet even if the controller wears something on his head to nullify the circlet’s powers.)
While wearing the circlet and within 300 feet of the skeleton warrior, the controller can see through the skeleton warrior’s eyes and force it to act (attack, search, and so forth). This is called “active” mode. While the skeleton warrior is in active mode, the controller himself cannot take any action other than minimal movement.
Alternately, the controller can place the skeleton warrior in “passive” mode. In this mode, the skeleton warrior stands motionless and inert. The controller cannot see through the skeleton warrior’s eyes but he himself is free to act. If the controller moves more than 300 feet away from the skeleton warrior or if the circlet is removed from the controller’s head, the skeleton warrior automatically enters passive mode.
The controller can switch the skeleton warrior between active and passive mode as a free action. Should the controller ever lose the circlet (through accident, theft, or simply by discarding it), the skeleton warrior instantly stops what it is doing and moves as quickly as possible toward the former controller and attempts to destroy him (or her). If a skeleton warrior ever gains control of the circlet that contains its soul, it places the circlet on its head and “dies”, vanishing in a flash of light. The circlet falls to the ground and crumbles to dust.

All-Seeing Eye of Mojango
The swamp holds many terrors and strangenesses, none more terrible than the All-Seeing Eye of Mojango. The eye is actually a sphere of smooth, black stone (unidentifiable, even by dwarves). It is placed in a tree top and gives off arcs of purple and gold light that have the ability to hypnotize the weak-minded. If touched, the sphere drains 1d4 levels (a saving throw is permitted to reduce this to 1 level). Those that have had levels drained by the sphere have their eyes turn purple and gain the ability to see in darkness for one month.
Many adventurers have come across the Eye, and its location in the swamp seems to change from sighting to sighting. Wherever the Eye appears, its “handmaidens” appear as well, a troupe of 1d4+1 juju zombies, past victims of the object.

 

[Voadam]

Tome of Horrors 4
Swords & Wizardry
Pancras the Senior, Lich: ?
Tordred of the Seven Fingers, Vampire Count: ?
Aswang: Inside the temple rests (well, not rests) the funeral party of the Princess Oleander, daughter of the once renowned and later infamous Pasha of Raspar. The princess and her albino court, swathed in funerary silks, were turned into 6 aswangs. The six are trapped within the temple by the Brothers of the Divine Wind, who left a holy air elemental (Lawful in alignment, smells of frankincense) outside the temple to harass would-be intruders. Among the six one can easily identify the Princess Oleander, who is dressed in her decayed finery of silk and silver net and wearing seven royal neck rings (worth 100 gp each). A silver katar that bears the ancient royal sigil is still plunged into her back.
Banshee Queen: ?
Undead Faerie: ?
Iolne, Banshee Queen: ?
Lich Lord, Zangrias: ?
Shadow Bear: A strange incarnation of sentient darkness and feral rage, shadow bears are strange creatures, malevolent living spirits that inhabit the shadowy gaps between true realities.
Animal Shadow: Any animal (not a human or humanoid) reduced to 0 hit points by a shadow bear becomes a shadow with 1HD within 1d4 rounds.
Bone Delver: Bone delvers were graverobbers who died whilst performing their nefarious tasks.
The lanterns bone delvers perpetually carry are formerly mundane hooded lanterns that were infused with negative energy in the same way as their unliving bearers.
Burning Ghat: The burning ghat is a rare form of undead created in areas of unusually high negative energy when a living creature is put to death by fire for a crime it did not commit. Utterly twisted and maddened by its fate, a burning ghat is a fearsome creature, consumed with a hatred for the living and seeking to end life wherever it finds it.
A burning ghat is terrorizing a town in a pleasant, green valley where he was burned at the stake. The ghat was a chaos cultist masquerading as a goodly vicar in the town. Within his temple, he sacrificed animals and people (usually drunks) in the name of the demon king Llorok. The priest still wears his charred vestments, his silver unholy symbol melted onto his chest.
Saca-Baroo, Lich: ?
Cimota: Cimota are the physical manifestations of evil thoughts and actions.
Their existence is always tied to a specific area or artifact that is imbued with ancient and highly malevolent evil. A cimota is able to manifest itself anywhere within an accursed locale that has given it life, or within 300 feet of an evil artifact to which it is attached. Cimota can sense life within 60 ft. at all times (including invisible and hidden creatures).
A troop of black orcs led by a priest of Orcus plundered the town and hauled off the useful townsfolk. The orcs are long gone, leaving the town to scavengers and looters. What remains has been vandalized and plundered. Even the town well is filled with excrement and animal corpses from roving band of orcs.
A long deep trench dug into a southern field holds the smoldering bodies of townsfolk. Even weeks after the massacre, the coals remain hot beneath the ashen remains. The priest desecrated the mass grave before moving to his next conquest. As if in prayer, four cloaked figures kneel on the opposite side of the pit. These 4 cimotas formed upon the murder of the townsfolk and the desecration of their mass grave.
Cimota Mace artifact.
Guardian Cimota: Cimota Mace artifact.
High Cimota: Cimota Mace artifact.
Dark Custodian: Dark custodians are the undead remains of evil clerics tasked to remain behind after death and guard the sacred places of their vile worship.
Deathknight, Death Knight: Doomed to devastate the world they once cherished and sought to protect, death knights are the result of damning curses visited upon once noble knights who fell from grace at the moment of death. A lifetime of duty and loyalty becomes forfeit as the undead creature, rising from its grave within days of being laid to rest, is driven by an intense desire to annihilate all life and bring as much harm as it can muster to any within reach.
A silver trumpet sits among various obscure and unbelievable trinkets in Fadzien’s Oddities in Taharath. The trumpet has a bone mouthpiece that radiates extreme cold (1 point of damage to anyone blowing the instrument). Symbols are carved into the bell of the instrument, a ring of letters and runes written in an ancient language that spirals up inside the instrument. Anyone who can read the ancient words (or who casts read languages) can understand the message: “If you call to him, he shall answer.”
Blowing the trumpet summons a death knight who stands watch in the Tomb of the Jaded Disbelievers in a valley north of the Hollow Spire Mountains. The sound of the trumpet echoes on the wind, and the death knight arrives within 2d4 weeks to find the person who called to challenge him (even if that person travels, the death knight can unerringly find him). The knight rides up in a cloud of dust on an undead mount. The knight is cursed to forever answer the call of the trumpet (it was the summons to battle when he was alive, until he betrayed his king), and now wishes nothing more than to snuff the life of the person reminding him of his past glory and ignominious downfall.
Undead Horse Mount: ?
Mummy-Priest: ?
Devouring Mist: Devouring mists are undead composed of equal parts blood and malice, wedded together by negative energy.
If a victim is reduced to 0 hp due to the devouring mist’s blood drain, the blood from the victim’s body forms into a new devouring mist in 1d4 rounds.
Captain Montfort Deville, Lich: ?
Ekimmu: Ekimmu are evil ghosts denied entrance to the underworld and doomed to wander the earth.
Galley Beggar: Galley beggars are the ghostly remains of travelers who met their demise before their journey was complete.
The smugglers eventually gave the place up when 3 galley beggars showed up. The trio of young scholars trudged up from the dreary lagoon one day, their Grand Tour of the continent cut short by a rogue storm.
Ghirru: Ghirru are undead efreet returned to the land of the living by efreeti necromancers through foul and dark magic.
Glacial Haunt: The icy wastes sometimes grant unlife to those who freeze to death at her unforgiving hands.
Multiple glacial haunts in a single encounter is rare and believed to come about when a group of adventurers succumb to the cold and perish together. Others have speculated that glacial haunts actually reproduce by melting and then splitting into two identical creatures.
In the glaciers high above a dwarf stronghold, adventurers seeking the hermitage of the Green Lama might come across a deep crevasse in the ice. The crevasse is five miles long and, approximately 100 feet wide and 40 feet deep. There is a 1 in 6 chance they discover iron spikes in the ice and ropes (or the remains of ropes), suggesting that other travelers negotiated the crevasse by climbing into it and back out. This is dangerous business; a save must be made to avoid slipping and falling into the crevasse for 4d6 points of damage.
If characters decide to do the same, they will soon be amazed, for frozen within the crevasse’s walls are hundreds of corpses. There are dwarves, orcs, ogres and giants, all frozen, their faces twisted in horror. The ghosts of these poor souls haunt the crevasse as icy chills that run up the spine and whispered pleadings.
Small caves in the walls of the crevasse are inhabited by glacial haunts, which seek body heat and supplies. They also sought the Green Lama, but never completed their journey.
Gloom Haunt: Gloom haunts are vile creatures, who seem to have no ties to the living (i.e., scholars cannot find any reasonable explanation as to why they exist), though a few learned sages believe gloom haunts to be the spiritual remains of paladins who were sacrificed by clerics to their vile and dark gods.
Grave Mount: The grave mount is the insult to all that is good and holy when a paladin’s steed is returned from the dead to wreak havoc upon the world.
Grey Spirit: A grey spirit, usually female, is the shade of someone who died heartbroken and alone, pining away on shore and ultimately dying of a broken heart while waiting for the return of a loved one from across the sea.
Grimshrike: Grimshrikes are a race of reanimated twin-tailed gargoyles standing about 7 feet tall and weighing 350 pounds.
Grimshrikes are native to a dark land about which little is known other than its terrible history. The place was once vibrant and full of life. Centuries ago, however, all that changed. Dark energies spilled forth unchecked from a wayward wizard’s experiment, fouling the very essence of the land. In a matter of hours, all life in that place ceased to exist.
N'Gathau Lich: ?
Hooded Gatherer: These powerful and intelligent undead creatures are often mistaken for liches, but they are a thing far worse and more horrible indeed, for they are born in the underworlds of other planes of existence, and hunt down souls in the material planes for their demonic masters.
Skeletal Horse: ?
Kamarupa: Kamarupa are the distorted souls of evil priests betrayed and sacrificed to their deity.
Knight Gaunt: A knight gaunt is an undead creature created when a paladin falls in battle.
Sir Agnoysius, Knight Gaunt: ?
Vax, Lich-Lord: ?
Swirling Mist Undead Remains of Ghosts of Whalers: The tower is surrounded by a swirling mist that is actually the undead remains of the ghosts of whalers who died at sea, accursed by the Whale Lord and unable to reach the afterlife.
Grim Spectre of Blackpool Swamp: ?
Lurker Wraith: ?
Meat Puppet: Meat puppets are horrid undead creations created by removing the bones from corpses, then reanimating the skinless hides to attack. Various creatures and monsters can be turned into meat puppets using evil sorcery.
Humanoid Meat Puppet: Meat puppets are boneless, skinless corpses reanimated after being exposed to necromantic energies.
Otyugh Meat Puppet: Otyugh meat puppets are giant boneless, skinless reanimated beasts.
The bag contains the skin and bones of an otyugh slain by a Magic-User looking to test out a horrible spell he uncovered in an ancient grimoire. The spell worked, turning the boneless, skinless creature into an otyugh meat puppet—that then promptly killed the wizard.
Undead Mimic: Undead mimics are believed to be the result of experimentation on normal mimics by insane necromancers. What possessed them to create an undead version of a truly horrid creature is beyond comprehension.
Unlike standard mimics, undead mimics are Chaotic, poisoned by the necromantic magic that created them. They desire flesh and blood and dine on the souls of those they slay.
Ghoul Monkey: Ghoul monkeys are cunning, undead monkeys that often appear in jungle areas where there is great residue of Chaos, such as forgotten temples or altars where dead monkeys might rise in this vile form of undeath.
Mordnaissant: Occasionally when a pregnant mother dies violently in a place infused with unholy or negative energies, the unborn child within her does not simply perish, but instead continues to grow, vitalized by dark power, until it is capable of clawing its way free from its dead mother.
Asp Mummy: Similar in many respects to standard mummies, asp mummies are created to guard tombs of regal kings and nobles. Some believe these creatures even have a spark of the divine mixed in with their creation and are appointed by the gods themselves to watch over their favored followers. Asp mummies are known to be favored as guardians among the followers of Chaotic serpent gods.
The creation of an asp mummy follows the same procedure as a standard mummy, save that many small asps are placed into the hollowed corpse along with the herbs and flowers.
Death Naga: Death nagas are what remains of other nagas slain by powerful necromantic energy. It is unknown why or how these nagas return as undead versions of their former selves.
Necro-Phantom: Often more than one necro-phantom is encountered; some strange effect of the magic that created them seems to draw these creatures to one another.
The neighboring town militia tracked this witch to the cemetery to bring her to trial for sorcery. The witch cast a death spell to slay the men, but her spell failed due to the accursed cemetery. While the witch in her current disintegrating state poses no threat to any living creature, the corpses around her do. Of the 12 men, half transformed into 6 necro-phantoms that feed off the necromantic energy and the witch’s slow, agonizing death.
Mad Lich Minotaur: ?
Screamer: These terrible undead are the remnant of soldiers who have fallen to the horrors of mass conflict and warfare.
Shattered Soul, Impaled Spirit: Shattered souls are the ghostly spirits of living beings executed through brutal torture: impalement, disembowelment, or worse.
Lyrid Toadstrangler, Impaled Spirit: The ruins of a large brick warehouse sit atop a lonely hill. Thick briars and tufts of dried grass surround the wrecked building. Three thick chimneys reveal that the place probably housed forges. Despite appearances, the building remains very sturdy. This old structure was once the factory of Lyrid Toadstrangler, a dwarven craftsman who created instruments of torture. While not inherently evil in nature, Lyrid’s craft required a certain amount of wicked imagination. Lyrid specialized in creating iron maidens. A master sculptor, he often created the iron maidens in the image of the torturer or lord to whom the maidens belonged. Most of his work survives to this day, passed down over generations as disturbing family heirlooms. Lyrid was slain by an assassin hired by the Alantyr family of Bargarsport.
Finished and unfinished iron maidens stand upright along the walls of Lyrid’s forge-factory. Rusted forging tools, collapsing workbench, and maiden parts fill the main room. Three iron maidens lie under a thick intact burlap cloth. Each of these iron maidens could fetch as much as 500 gp. His final masterpiece remains nearly finished in the center of the workshop. The spikes of this particular maiden are composed of demon horns. The corpse of Lyrid Toadstrangler lies inside. The maiden’s spikes completely pierce his desiccated corpse. Lyrid’s tortuous death and the power of the demon horns tie his spirit to this plane. Lyrid haunts his workshop as an impaled spirit. He hates thieves (and especially assassins) and wishes nothing more than to slay every direct relative of the Alantyr family.
Skin Feaster: When a humanoid dies as a result of being skinned alive, it often returns to the land of the living as a skin feaster; an undead creature driven by an insatiable hunger for the skin and flesh of living creatures.
Skull Child: A juvenile humanoid slain by a skull child rises the following night as a free-willed skull child. A bless spell cast on the body before that time ceases the transformation. Adults and non-humanoids killed by a skull child do not rise as undead.
Soul Knight: A soul knight is a suit of armor animated by the lingering soul of an evil knight, cursed to undeath as punishment for having committed betrayal, murder or other crimes. The evil spirit continues to inhabit its old armor, repeating the deeds that brought about the living knight’s ruin.
Cedrick Junde, Soul Knight: Cedricke Junde, a knight in service to the Impoverished Vow-Takers of Voard, accompanied his master and liege to the opera on that fatal night—although he’d already taken gold to allow an assassin access to his liege’s privacy box high above the stage. What Cedricke could not know was that the assassin would then start the blazing inferno to cover his tracks. The massive curtain collapsed in a fiery blaze that killed the singers and many in the front rows. The assassin fled during the conflagration, escaping into the cold night as those he left behind burned. Cedricke himself died as his armor blackened and his skin burned.
Annebeth Gloriana, Vampire: The tomb contains the remains of Annebeth Gloriana, an elf queen betrothed to her knight-protector Levellius. The pair were attacked and killed on their wedding day by a jealous vampiress as their families watched in horror. The celebrants—now mourners—buried the pair together in a tomb constructed to house their undying love.
Except Annebeth wouldn’t give up so easily on love. She rose as a vampire three nights later. She waits in the tomb for a new suitor to marry.
Spider Lich: ?
Bone Swarm: A bone swarm is created when multiple animated skeletons are destroyed more or less simultaneously, either through a single powerful area attack or by simply being smashed to pieces. The bones of the skeletons are scattered and smashed, but the necromantic magic that animated them lingers on, pulling the bones back together in a mass of clattering fragments.
Skeletal Swarm: Skeletal swarms are the remains of pieces cast off of whole skeletons collected together and animated en mass.
Bone Horn cursed item.
Coruvance Filp, Lich: Coruvance Filp, a Magic-User of Jah Sezar who turned to lichdom when she made an evil pact with demonic forces.
Undead Troll: ?
Undead Fire Elemental: Occasionally a fire elemental is destroyed but not permitted to return to its plane of origin.
Feral Vampire Spawn: Sometimes when vampires create minions something horrible happens to the creature causing a fate worse than even that of a typical vampire spawn. On these occasions whether by accident or design, upon waking to its new undead existence the newly created spawn finds itself trapped within its coffin or tomb and unable to free itself. In these instances the spawn rages and struggles to escape as it slowly goes insane, a victim of its all-consuming hunger. When it finally manages to break free — sometimes years after its creation — the spawn is feral and nearly mindless, though with a much greater strength due to its incessant rage.
The statue sits over a lead-sealed trap door concealing a small cramped chamber. The chamber holds a feral vampire spawn. Once a regal vampire, the feral vampire spawn transformed over the years into its current deplorable state.
A small 2-inch-wide moat lies in the floor around the vampire. The water in the moat magically flows in a continuous circle, imprisoning the feral vampire spawn, which cannot cross the flowing water. The male vampire has tirelessly stood here for decades. It has stood for so long, in fact, that its clothing has started to disintegrate with age. The once-regal vampire has devolved into a feral spawn.
Feral Vampire Spawn 7 HD: ?
Feral Vampire Spawn 8 HD: ?
Feral Vampire Spawn 9 HD: ?
Sword Wight: These wicked and depraved creatures lived and died by the sword, and now, their dark taint passes through their weapons to tear at your soul.
If a sword wight hits an opponent with its bastard sword or touch, the victim must save or lose a level. Any human killed or completely drained of levels becomes a sword wight.
Hungry Zombie: ?
Hungry Halfling Zombie: ?

Banshee: Banshees are the undead fey. Indeed, there might be other types of undead faeries; but it is the wailing spirits that seem to represent the borderline between the most malignant of the fey and the cold magic of undeath.
An elven female slain by a banshee queen will rise as a banshee in 1d4 rounds.
Wight: Any non-elven female humanoid slain by the wail of a banshee queen or drained below level 0 becomes a wight in 1d4 rounds.
Ghast: Any male slain by a banshee queen’s magic rises to become a ghast in 1d4 rounds.
Ghoul: A humanoid slain by either a lurker wraith’s constitution drain or smother attack becomes a ghoul in 1d4 rounds.
Lich: A child, glowing white as the sun, is running through the woods. About a day behind the strange boy is a pack of lupins, servants of the fell sorceress Maladria. The sorceress sent the lupins after the child because it is actually a small piece of her soul, part of an experiment in her quest for lich-hood. The boy possesses her exuberance for life and love; she removed it because it suited her grim plans for eternal unlife and because she needed a piece of her soul to create her phylactery.
Zombie: The tower is home to a death’s head inphidian named Kallis-Khet, a high priest of the serpents.
If attacked in his home, Kallis-Khet animates the dead hanging from the tower as zombies.
Skeleton: Skeletal Staff magic item.
Undead: While the mummified body of the priest is not animated, desecrating the corpse may anger the spirit and grant unlife to the body.
Mummy: ?
Vampire: If a victim is reduced to 0 hp due to the devouring mist’s blood drain, the blood from the victim’s body forms into a new devouring mist in 1d4 rounds. Further, the victim’s corpse rises as a vampire in 1d4 days unless the remains are blessed before this rising.
Spectre: The dwarves dig deep into the rock for veins of snowflake obsidian left over from elder days. The mines connect with ancient tunnels and passages created by a now-extinct volcano. The volcano’s spirit remains trapped within the volcano, in a cavern of pure silver from which it cannot escape. At best, it can manifest as a spectre within the volcanic passages. In this form, the spirit appears as an elderly woman, a hag one might say, swathed in gauzy crimson robes and wearing copper bangles and earrings.
The former monk, angered at his untimely demise, seeks to slay any who disturb the ruins.
Shadow: ?
Ghost: Cedricke Junde, a knight in service to the Impoverished Vow-Takers of Voard, accompanied his master and liege to the opera on that fatal night—although he’d already taken gold to allow an assassin access to his liege’s privacy box high above the stage. What Cedricke could not know was that the assassin would then start the blazing inferno to cover his tracks. The massive curtain collapsed in a fiery blaze that killed the singers and many in the front rows.
The mummified king sits upon his throne in a single room within the tomb. The king is flanked by 2 stone idol sphinxes that lounge about the throne. The preserved corpse of the king’s eldest son kneels before the mummy. The mummified king looks down upon the son’s remains. Chains and shackles hold the son’s corpse down, but it is evident that he was alive when he was entombed with the corpse of his father. The stone idols guard the king and his treasure. The son’s spirit is bound to this chamber in the form of a ghost. The ghost can only be released by removing the king’s corpse.
Wraith: ?
Poltergeist: A domovoi killed by violence rises in 1 hour as a poltergeist.

Cimota Mace
Spines of a cornugon line the sides of this wicked +3 mace. On command, it generates dark fury, a field of negative energy in the form of black lightning. The wielder may use this power at the start of combat and every 1d3 rounds thereafter. This field of energy may take the form of black lightning either in a 20-ft.- radius ball around the wielder or as a 100-ft.-line extending from its tip. Dark fury inflicts 5d6 damage on any living creature in its area of effect (save for half). The wielder, undead, constructs and other non-living objects are not affected.
The cimota mace grants the wielder the ability to notice and locate living creatures within 60 ft. Animals do not willingly approach within 30 feet of a cimota mace or its wielder. The very existence of the cimota mace spreads Chaos throughout the land. For every 20 HD of creatures slain by the mace’s dark fury, the mace transforms the essences of the slain beings into a cimota. The cimota follows the commands of the mace wielder. For every additional 20 HD of creatures slain by the dark fury, the cimota advances in power to a guardian cimota and finally to a high cimota. Cimota created by the mace remain destroyed once they are slain. Only one cimota created by the mace can be in existence at any time.

Skeletal Staff
The skeletal staff creates a skeleton from any humanoid corpse once per day. If used on a fresh corpse (dead less than 24 hours), the skeleton inside rips and tears away the flesh to free itself in 1d4 rounds before it can take any action. While the staff’s wielder has complete control over the animated undead, only one skeleton can be animated at a time. The staff may be used by either the Cleric or Magic-User classes.

Bone Horn
The cursed bone horn deals 1d6 points of damage to all within a 40-foot-cone as the vibrating sonic waves deteriorate bone. The bone horn can be used 2 times each day; on the third use, it reverses and amplifies the damage to the blower (4d6 points of damage, with no save). The bone horn, if used against any skeletal undead, deals 3d6 points of damage. Furthermore, if used on common 1HD skeletons, the bone horn transforms them into skeletal swarms. At least six skeletons are needed to create a skeletal swarm. The skeletal swarm does not attack undead. But all others are fair game.

 

[Voadam]

Tome of Horrors Swords and Wizardry Update
Swords & Wizardry
The Horned Lord: Countless millennia ago, a monarch sought to build the greatest empire that the world had ever known. In doing so he made deals with many gods and wielded vast magical power, and as his power grew, so did his arrogance. When at last he had achieved his goal — a vast and unconquerable empire with him at its head — he was blinded by his pride and declared himself greater than the gods and turned his back on them. The emperor was to be the realm’s only god, and all the deities of the past were to be forgotten, their priests slaughtered and their temples overthrown. As one might guess, the gods were displeased and struck down the emperor, cursing both him and his realm. Soon his proud empire crumbled to dust, and barbarism ruled the land.
But the gods had not finished with the emperor, so great was his transgression. He was transformed into an undead thing, doomed to be reborn again and again, consumed by the desire for conquest — a desire that can never be fulfilled. Always would the Horned Lord see his dreams crumble and perish among the ruins of civilization. Always would he return with the same dreams of conquest, only to be crushed and forgotten.
Hybrid Revenant: Hybrid revenants occur when two or more creatures, at least one of them humanoid, die on the same spot, in similar throes of torment.
Shadow Captain: These creatures may be the undead remains of the Horned Lord’s old followers, but some have suggested that they are equally wicked individuals from other lands and eras, cursed to serve him for all eternity. A few have even gone so far as to speculate that the shadow captains are actually undead entities sent by the gods to further the Horned Lord’s torment, acting ostensibly as his minions, but also adding to his misery and the realization of his unending doom.
Skeletal Knight: ?
Undead Swordsman: ?
Basilisk Zombie: Zombies can also be created from many different corpses, as illustrated by the deadly basilisk zombie and the demonic vrock zombie.
Zombie Behir: A zombie behir is the animated remains of the serpentine monster.
Plague Zombie: ?
Purple Worm Zombie: ?
Pyre Zombie: Pyre zombies are the sad, tortured remains of those who were killed just before being burned alive. When the soul departed, their bodies were taken over by some malignant spirit. The spirit fortified the body from destruction by the fire, and the undead form escaped the pyre to wreak vengeance on the living.
Vrock Zombie: The body of a slain demon animated with unholy power.
Zombies can also be created from many different corpses, as illustrated by the deadly basilisk zombie and the demonic vrock zombie.

 

[Voadam]

Untold Adventures: Deluxe Edition
Swords & Wizardry
Banshee: ?
Ghoul: These are merely animated corpses, not carriers of any sort of undead contagion as ghouls are.
Lich: Liches are the undead remnants of Spellcasters, either made undead by their own deliberate acts during life or as the result of other magical forces (possibly including their own magics gone awry).
Mummy: ?
Shadow: A shadow's chill touch drains one point of strength with a successful hit, and if a victim is brought to a strength of 0, he becomes a shadow.
Skeleton: Skeletons are animated bones of the dead and are usually under the control of some evil master.
Animate Dead spell.
Specter: Any being killed (or drained below level 0) by a specter becomes a specter himself—a pitiful thrall to its creator.
Vampire: Any human killed by a vampire becomes a vampire under the control of its creator.
Ancient Egyptian Mummified Vampire: ?
Aztec Vampire: ?
Wight: Any human killed or completely drained of levels (1 level per hit) by a wight becomes a wight.
Wraith: ?
Zombie: These are merely animated corpses, not carriers of any sort of undead contagion as ghouls are.
However, the standard zombie is simply a corpse animated to do its creator’s bidding.
Animate Dead spell.
Zombie Contagious: If their undeath is contagious, zombies are more of a threat than described here, and if a single hit from a zombie causes contagion or any other sort of disease they are a considerably larger threat.

Animate Dead
Spell Level: 5
Range: Referee’s discretion
Duration: Permanent
This spell animates skeletons or zombies from dead bodies. 1d6 undead are animated (per level of the caster above 8th). The corpses remain animated until destroyed or dispelled.

 

[Voadam]

White Box Tome - Arioth I [Swords & Wizardry]
Swords & Wizardry
Deadhead, Dead Head: This variety of undead is one of Liche Mezogorah’s masterpieces. They spawn into existence when a Ghoul is severed of its head. Moments later, the head takes on a life of its own and can leap at its enemies and attempt to bite them to death.
Ripneck Deadgripper, Dead Gripper: The Ripneck Deadgripper is a variety of undead that is the pairing of the Liche’s necromancy, and demonology, with the addition of a spell that warps the Liche’s creations where he deems. The huge hands are those of a dead demon.
The Bloodied Cleric, Erera Liliwan: The Bloodied Cleric is Erera Liliwan after she has died and succumbed to the curse of the undead.
The Bloodied Cleric is another of the Liche’s creations, a plan he has had in the works for quite some time.
Ghoul Screaming Dead: ?
Ghoul Deadface Villager: The Deadface Villager is a variety of Ghoul that is of the Liche’s Animate Dead spell and a freshly made corpse.
Ghostblade Slayer: ?
Undead: Nehkra Legion of the Dead Deadmagic power.
Elder Liche, Mezogorah: ?
Ghoul: Negation of the Dead Power scroll magic item.
Elder Liche: Elder Liche Nehkra Mastery Ability.
Zombie: Raise the Horde magic staff.
Banebone Sacrifice magic sword.
Vampire Demon: ?
Undead Demon: Raise the Horde magic staff.
Skeleton: The Skeletons that rise in the cemetery are twisted, gnarled. They are animated by the power of the Mad Liche Mezogorah. It is his cackle that the player’s characters here as he animates and observes from afar.

NEGATION OF THE DEAD POWER
Once owned by a Necromancer of considerable repute, this Scroll will animate all corpses within 1d4 miles of the reader. However, these Ghouls will attack the executor of the Scroll and will not obey any commands.

RAISE THE HORDE
The wielder of this staff strikes the ground and can thereafter animate 3d6 dead bodies (corpses). The area of effect is anywhere within sight of the possessor. This staff holds ten charges.

GODDESS MIGHT OF DEATH
This staff endows the owner and wielder the ability to raise, bind and command 1d4 undead demons as long as their corpses are within 1d4 miles around the user. If destroyed, the demons will turn upon the one that raised them.

BANEBONE SACRIFICE
Created by the Pantheon of Bone and wrought from the tooth of a monolithic Space Dragon that was slain by a bloodied hero that then vanished from the realms, this greatsword endows the wielder the ability to raise 1D4 Zombies per level of experience.

Legion of the Dead
Once per day, you can raise an army of the undead, as long as there are corpses to animate within 1d4 miles, which will do anything you command.

Elder Liche
When you have attained to a measure of power determined by the referee, you can commit an act of ritual suicide and be reborn as a mighty Elder Liche.

 

[Voadam]

White Box Zombies Dark Elf Zombies
Swords & Wizardry
Legend Dark Elf Zombie: No one is sure where this breed of Zombies came from but they’re definitely unique.
While no one has an answer to account for them, one thing is crystal clear: They are dangerous. Very dangerous.
Screamer Dark Elf Zombie: ?

 

[Voadam]

Wilderlands of the Fantastic Reaches, Revised Guidebook
Swords & Wizardry
Ghost: ?
Ghoul: ?
Lacedon: ?
Mummy: ?
Skeleton Fighter 14: A group of six buried vaults are hidden in a secluded area. Each contains the skeleton of a king, and if any are disturbed, they animate, fighting until the violators are dead or run away.
Skeleton Fighter 13: A group of six buried vaults are hidden in a secluded area. Each contains the skeleton of a king, and if any are disturbed, they animate, fighting until the violators are dead or run away.
Skeleton Fighter 12: A group of six buried vaults are hidden in a secluded area. Each contains the skeleton of a king, and if any are disturbed, they animate, fighting until the violators are dead or run away.
Skeleton Fighter 11: A group of six buried vaults are hidden in a secluded area. Each contains the skeleton of a king, and if any are disturbed, they animate, fighting until the violators are dead or run away.
Spectre: ?
Vampire: ?
Wight: ?
Wraith: ?
Zombie: ?

 

[Voadam]

YARR!
Swords & Wizardry
Ghoul: ?
Skeleton: Animate & Command the Dead spell.
Zombie Drowned One: Drowned Ones are a type of walkin' dead, the lost sailors returned from Davy Jones' Locker to haunt the living.
Zombie Walkin' Dead: Animate & Command the Dead spell.

Level 4
Animate & Command the Dead R Close, D Permanent:
The caster animates 1d6+4 dead bodies. At the referee's discretion, the corpses become either Skeletons or Walkin' Dead Zombies, depending on how fresh they are.

 

[Voadam]

Tales of the Splintered Realm Module A1: Core Rules
Tales of the Splintered Realm
Skeletal Watcher: ?
Barrows Ghoul: ?
Vampire Baronet: ?
Zombie Scavenger: ?