Voadam
Legend
Advanced Race Codex Humans
3.5
Undead, Undead Creature: ?
Undead That Use Enervating Attacks That Bestow Negative Levels: ?
3.5
Undead, Undead Creature: ?
Undead That Use Enervating Attacks That Bestow Negative Levels: ?
Undead Origins
- Thread starter Voadam
- Start date
Voadam
Legend
Voadam
Legend
Voadam
Legend
Athasian Emporium
3.5
Undead War Beetle: As controlled, mindless creatures, undead war beetles are usually encountered accompanying a city-state’s army or patrolling the territory between two cities, albeit some powerful necromancers calling the wastes home know of how to animate such creatures and have added them to the undead troops of their wandering armies.
Undead war beetles are exclusively created for war by evil magic, and therefore, despite being mindless, are always neutral evil.
The animate dead spell normally only creates zombies, skeletons, or bugdead. It can also create undead war beetles, albeit the process is a lenghtlier and costlier one.
The undead war beetle must be assembled just like a vehicule from the pieces of a whole watroach or rezhatta beetle that has not yet decayed significantly. The creation process is a costly one, requiring skilled labor and special alchemical substances and bindings: rezhatta war beetles cost 7,500 Cp, while watroach war beetles cost 6,000 Cp; in addition to this is the price of the spell components necessary for the animate dead spell. The creation process requires the carapace to be pried off and the internal organs discarded, and the carapace reformed to make space for an upper deck and individual weapon's ports all around the body. The creation process takes 10 days and requires skilled labor in the form of a crew with the Profession (siege engineer) skill; once ready, the beetle is animated by a templar or necromancer sponsored by a sorcerer-monarch.
Reforming the carapace requires a DC 20 Craft (chitinworking) check or a DC 25 Heal check.
Undead War Beetle Rezhatta: Once surrounded and killed, usually by means of psionics or poison, the beetle’s corpse, watroach or rezhatta, is taken back to a city to be prepared as an engine of war.
The animate dead spell normally only creates zombies, skeletons, or bugdead. It can also create undead war beetles, albeit the process is a lenghtlier and costlier one.
The undead war beetle must be assembled just like a vehicule from the pieces of a whole watroach or rezhatta beetle that has not yet decayed significantly. The creation process is a costly one, requiring skilled labor and special alchemical substances and bindings: rezhatta war beetles cost 7,500 Cp, while watroach war beetles cost 6,000 Cp; in addition to this is the price of the spell components necessary for the animate dead spell. The creation process requires the carapace to be pried off and the internal organs discarded, and the carapace reformed to make space for an upper deck and individual weapon's ports all around the body. The creation process takes 10 days and requires skilled labor in the form of a crew with the Profession (siege engineer) skill; once ready, the beetle is animated by a templar or necromancer sponsored by a sorcerer-monarch.
Reforming the carapace requires a DC 20 Craft (chitinworking) check or a DC 25 Heal check.
Undead War Beetle Watroach: Once surrounded and killed, usually by means of psionics or poison, the beetle’s corpse, watroach or rezhatta, is taken back to a city to be prepared as an engine of war.
The animate dead spell normally only creates zombies, skeletons, or bugdead. It can also create undead war beetles, albeit the process is a lenghtlier and costlier one.
The undead war beetle must be assembled just like a vehicule from the pieces of a whole watroach or rezhatta beetle that has not yet decayed significantly. The creation process is a costly one, requiring skilled labor and special alchemical substances and bindings: rezhatta war beetles cost 7,500 Cp, while watroach war beetles cost 6,000 Cp; in addition to this is the price of the spell components necessary for the animate dead spell. The creation process requires the carapace to be pried off and the internal organs discarded, and the carapace reformed to make space for an upper deck and individual weapon's ports all around the body. The creation process takes 10 days and requires skilled labor in the form of a crew with the Profession (siege engineer) skill; once ready, the beetle is animated by a templar or necromancer sponsored by a sorcerer-monarch.
Reforming the carapace requires a DC 20 Craft (chitinworking) check or a DC 25 Heal check.
Undead War Beetle, Animated Giant Beetle, Controlled Mindless Creature, Animated Creature, Mobile Engine of War: ?
Undead War Beetle Modified: Undead war beetles can be modified by skilled craftsmen, and because of it may offer unusual challenges.
A skilled craftsman can improve upon the basic design of the beetle depending on his mastery of the Knowledge (warcraft) skill. Each improvement has a Knowledge (warcraft) DC and a cost in Cp, and is applicable only once.
Undead War Beetle Rezhatta, Huge Beetle, Great Beetle, Cursed Beetle, Mekillot Sized-Beetle, Undead Monstrosity, Giant Rezhatta, Giant Beetle, Beast, Undead Creation: ?
Undead War Beetle Rezhatta Modified: Skilled siege engineers can modify these creatures before they are animated, turning the rezhatta beetle into an engine of war able to devastate enemy troops just by wading into them, and taking advantage of the watroach’s otherwise discarded drones.
Undead War Beetle Watroach, Enormous Insectoid Creature Filled With Holes In Its Tough Carapace, Potent Weapon of Fear, Beast, Damn Thing, Dead Watroach, Bug, Big Bug: ?
Undead War Beetle Watroach Modified: Skilled siege engineers can modify these creatures before they are animated, turning the rezhatta beetle into an engine of war able to devastate enemy troops just by wading into them, and taking advantage of the watroach’s otherwise discarded drones.
Bugdead: The animate dead spell normally only creates zombies, skeletons, or bugdead.
Undead, Undead Creature: ?
Undead Drone Swarm: ?
Defiled Poisonweed: The bright orange petals of a poisonweed plant turned undead by the action of defiling represent the epitome of noxiousness.
Undead Pixie: ?
Intelligent Undead: ?
Mindless Undead: ?
Corporeal Mindless Undead Creature: ?
Undead Swarm: ?
Plant Undead Creature: This item is made of the intertwined supple branches, or hard and twisted brambles, from a plant that turned into an undead creature after having been almost destroyed thanks to the actions of a defiler.
Dregoth, Undead Dragon King: ?
Dwarven Banshee: ?
Ioramh: ?
Dune Runner: ?
Fael: ?
Human Namech Wizard 5: ?
Human Namech Fighter 5: ?
Skeleton: The animate dead spell normally only creates zombies, skeletons, or bugdead.
Stanchion of Second Birth Greater magic item.
Stanchion of Second Birth Lesser magic item.
Gith Skeleton: ?
Athasian Wraith: ?
Zombie: The animate dead spell normally only creates zombies, skeletons, or bugdead.
Stanchion of Second Birth Greater magic item.
Stanchion of Second Birth Lesser magic item.
Thinking Zombie: ?
Stanchion of Second Birth, Lesser
A 3 foot-tall bronze pole, this lesser version of the greater stanchion of second birth has the form of a nail or needle whose blunt end is shaped into a decomposing arm reaching for the sky.
When impaled in a corpse or skeleton, and after a command word is spoken, a lesser stanchion animates the remains, turning the corpse into a skeleton or zombie. It can do so twice per day. The undead creature recognizes the pole-bearer as its master and obeys him as per the animate dead spell. Regardless of the type of undead you create with this item, you can’t create more than 10 HD of undead per use. (The desecrate spell doubles this limit.) No matter how many times you use the stanchion in this way, however, you can control only 20 HD worth of undead creatures. If you exceed this number, all the newly created creatures fall under your control, and any excess undead from previous uses become uncontrolled. (You choose which creatures are released.)
Faint necromancy; CL 5th; Craft Wondrous Item, animate dead; Price 26,900 Cp; Weight 15 lb.
Stanchion of Second Birth, Greater
Used during great gladiatorial events that showcase games known as Rebirthings, this massive object is a rare sight in the arena. A stanchion of second birth is so named because it is primarily used in the arena to reanimate dead gladiators and beasts. Weighing in at around 300 pounds and 3-feet tall, this bronze object is shaped like an inverted bell whose underside tapers to a point like a spiral shell. The top is inscribed with arcane symbols and fited with a heavy lid; two curved metal handles are meant to help porters move the stanchion.
A greater stanchion is activated by plunging the tapered end into the ground, leaving the top of the item freestanding. Upon utterance of a command word once per day, it animates corpses within a 50 feet radius, turning the remains into skeletons or zombies. The undead creatures recognize the user of the stanchion as their master and obey him as per the animate dead spell. Regardless of the type of undead you create with this item, you can’t create more than 30 HD of undead per use. (The desecrate spell doubles this limit.) No matter how many times you use the stanchion in this way, however, you can control no more than 60 HD worth of undead creatures. If you exceed this number, all the newly created creatures fall under your control, and any excess undead from previous uses become uncontrolled. (You choose which creatures are released.)
Strong necromancy; CL 15th; Craft Wondrous Item, animate dead; Price 59,100 Cp, Weight 300 lb.
3.5
Undead War Beetle: As controlled, mindless creatures, undead war beetles are usually encountered accompanying a city-state’s army or patrolling the territory between two cities, albeit some powerful necromancers calling the wastes home know of how to animate such creatures and have added them to the undead troops of their wandering armies.
Undead war beetles are exclusively created for war by evil magic, and therefore, despite being mindless, are always neutral evil.
The animate dead spell normally only creates zombies, skeletons, or bugdead. It can also create undead war beetles, albeit the process is a lenghtlier and costlier one.
The undead war beetle must be assembled just like a vehicule from the pieces of a whole watroach or rezhatta beetle that has not yet decayed significantly. The creation process is a costly one, requiring skilled labor and special alchemical substances and bindings: rezhatta war beetles cost 7,500 Cp, while watroach war beetles cost 6,000 Cp; in addition to this is the price of the spell components necessary for the animate dead spell. The creation process requires the carapace to be pried off and the internal organs discarded, and the carapace reformed to make space for an upper deck and individual weapon's ports all around the body. The creation process takes 10 days and requires skilled labor in the form of a crew with the Profession (siege engineer) skill; once ready, the beetle is animated by a templar or necromancer sponsored by a sorcerer-monarch.
Reforming the carapace requires a DC 20 Craft (chitinworking) check or a DC 25 Heal check.
Undead War Beetle Rezhatta: Once surrounded and killed, usually by means of psionics or poison, the beetle’s corpse, watroach or rezhatta, is taken back to a city to be prepared as an engine of war.
The animate dead spell normally only creates zombies, skeletons, or bugdead. It can also create undead war beetles, albeit the process is a lenghtlier and costlier one.
The undead war beetle must be assembled just like a vehicule from the pieces of a whole watroach or rezhatta beetle that has not yet decayed significantly. The creation process is a costly one, requiring skilled labor and special alchemical substances and bindings: rezhatta war beetles cost 7,500 Cp, while watroach war beetles cost 6,000 Cp; in addition to this is the price of the spell components necessary for the animate dead spell. The creation process requires the carapace to be pried off and the internal organs discarded, and the carapace reformed to make space for an upper deck and individual weapon's ports all around the body. The creation process takes 10 days and requires skilled labor in the form of a crew with the Profession (siege engineer) skill; once ready, the beetle is animated by a templar or necromancer sponsored by a sorcerer-monarch.
Reforming the carapace requires a DC 20 Craft (chitinworking) check or a DC 25 Heal check.
Undead War Beetle Watroach: Once surrounded and killed, usually by means of psionics or poison, the beetle’s corpse, watroach or rezhatta, is taken back to a city to be prepared as an engine of war.
The animate dead spell normally only creates zombies, skeletons, or bugdead. It can also create undead war beetles, albeit the process is a lenghtlier and costlier one.
The undead war beetle must be assembled just like a vehicule from the pieces of a whole watroach or rezhatta beetle that has not yet decayed significantly. The creation process is a costly one, requiring skilled labor and special alchemical substances and bindings: rezhatta war beetles cost 7,500 Cp, while watroach war beetles cost 6,000 Cp; in addition to this is the price of the spell components necessary for the animate dead spell. The creation process requires the carapace to be pried off and the internal organs discarded, and the carapace reformed to make space for an upper deck and individual weapon's ports all around the body. The creation process takes 10 days and requires skilled labor in the form of a crew with the Profession (siege engineer) skill; once ready, the beetle is animated by a templar or necromancer sponsored by a sorcerer-monarch.
Reforming the carapace requires a DC 20 Craft (chitinworking) check or a DC 25 Heal check.
Undead War Beetle, Animated Giant Beetle, Controlled Mindless Creature, Animated Creature, Mobile Engine of War: ?
Undead War Beetle Modified: Undead war beetles can be modified by skilled craftsmen, and because of it may offer unusual challenges.
A skilled craftsman can improve upon the basic design of the beetle depending on his mastery of the Knowledge (warcraft) skill. Each improvement has a Knowledge (warcraft) DC and a cost in Cp, and is applicable only once.
Undead War Beetle Rezhatta, Huge Beetle, Great Beetle, Cursed Beetle, Mekillot Sized-Beetle, Undead Monstrosity, Giant Rezhatta, Giant Beetle, Beast, Undead Creation: ?
Undead War Beetle Rezhatta Modified: Skilled siege engineers can modify these creatures before they are animated, turning the rezhatta beetle into an engine of war able to devastate enemy troops just by wading into them, and taking advantage of the watroach’s otherwise discarded drones.
Undead War Beetle Watroach, Enormous Insectoid Creature Filled With Holes In Its Tough Carapace, Potent Weapon of Fear, Beast, Damn Thing, Dead Watroach, Bug, Big Bug: ?
Undead War Beetle Watroach Modified: Skilled siege engineers can modify these creatures before they are animated, turning the rezhatta beetle into an engine of war able to devastate enemy troops just by wading into them, and taking advantage of the watroach’s otherwise discarded drones.
Bugdead: The animate dead spell normally only creates zombies, skeletons, or bugdead.
Undead, Undead Creature: ?
Undead Drone Swarm: ?
Defiled Poisonweed: The bright orange petals of a poisonweed plant turned undead by the action of defiling represent the epitome of noxiousness.
Undead Pixie: ?
Intelligent Undead: ?
Mindless Undead: ?
Corporeal Mindless Undead Creature: ?
Undead Swarm: ?
Plant Undead Creature: This item is made of the intertwined supple branches, or hard and twisted brambles, from a plant that turned into an undead creature after having been almost destroyed thanks to the actions of a defiler.
Dregoth, Undead Dragon King: ?
Dwarven Banshee: ?
Ioramh: ?
Dune Runner: ?
Fael: ?
Human Namech Wizard 5: ?
Human Namech Fighter 5: ?
Skeleton: The animate dead spell normally only creates zombies, skeletons, or bugdead.
Stanchion of Second Birth Greater magic item.
Stanchion of Second Birth Lesser magic item.
Gith Skeleton: ?
Athasian Wraith: ?
Zombie: The animate dead spell normally only creates zombies, skeletons, or bugdead.
Stanchion of Second Birth Greater magic item.
Stanchion of Second Birth Lesser magic item.
Thinking Zombie: ?
Stanchion of Second Birth, Lesser
A 3 foot-tall bronze pole, this lesser version of the greater stanchion of second birth has the form of a nail or needle whose blunt end is shaped into a decomposing arm reaching for the sky.
When impaled in a corpse or skeleton, and after a command word is spoken, a lesser stanchion animates the remains, turning the corpse into a skeleton or zombie. It can do so twice per day. The undead creature recognizes the pole-bearer as its master and obeys him as per the animate dead spell. Regardless of the type of undead you create with this item, you can’t create more than 10 HD of undead per use. (The desecrate spell doubles this limit.) No matter how many times you use the stanchion in this way, however, you can control only 20 HD worth of undead creatures. If you exceed this number, all the newly created creatures fall under your control, and any excess undead from previous uses become uncontrolled. (You choose which creatures are released.)
Faint necromancy; CL 5th; Craft Wondrous Item, animate dead; Price 26,900 Cp; Weight 15 lb.
Stanchion of Second Birth, Greater
Used during great gladiatorial events that showcase games known as Rebirthings, this massive object is a rare sight in the arena. A stanchion of second birth is so named because it is primarily used in the arena to reanimate dead gladiators and beasts. Weighing in at around 300 pounds and 3-feet tall, this bronze object is shaped like an inverted bell whose underside tapers to a point like a spiral shell. The top is inscribed with arcane symbols and fited with a heavy lid; two curved metal handles are meant to help porters move the stanchion.
A greater stanchion is activated by plunging the tapered end into the ground, leaving the top of the item freestanding. Upon utterance of a command word once per day, it animates corpses within a 50 feet radius, turning the remains into skeletons or zombies. The undead creatures recognize the user of the stanchion as their master and obey him as per the animate dead spell. Regardless of the type of undead you create with this item, you can’t create more than 30 HD of undead per use. (The desecrate spell doubles this limit.) No matter how many times you use the stanchion in this way, however, you can control no more than 60 HD worth of undead creatures. If you exceed this number, all the newly created creatures fall under your control, and any excess undead from previous uses become uncontrolled. (You choose which creatures are released.)
Strong necromancy; CL 15th; Craft Wondrous Item, animate dead; Price 59,100 Cp, Weight 300 lb.
Voadam
Legend
Voadam
Legend
Voadam
Legend
Behind the Spells: Compendium
3.5
Undead, Undead Creature: An open scroll depicted the very sphere now in use to be some type of soul collector. From a brief scan of the document, Lorash determined that this evil wizard was harvesting the humanoids’ souls to then power a spell that would raise their corpses as undead under his control.
Guardian Undead: ?
Buried Undead: ?
Created Undead: ?
Undead Servant: ?
Intelligent Undead: ?
Low-Powered Undead: ?
Ghost of a Slain Child: ?
Particularly Powerful Ghost: ?
Drow Wizard Ghost: ?
Drow Lich: ?
Kritak, Gnoll Lich, Some Form of Demi-Lich: Unfortunately for Kritak, his experiments had not gone unnoticed. An elven alliance of adventurers from that era had been keeping tabs on the shaman. Previously considered a minor annoyance by the Ef ’winn Noras (roughly translated as “Watchers of Noras”), the gnoll’s ability to raise a skeletal army now elevated his threat potential. After a day of preparation, Kritak commanded his undead force to march to the graveyard. But the Ef ’winn Noras was ready and they ambushed the gnoll and his forces in sight of the shaman’s goal. Kritak used magic to strengthen his skeletons as the elves converged, some growing as tall as giants with others wielding weapons as formidably as the veteran warriors they were in life. In the end, however, the skeletons were no match for the elven adventurers. Kritak, it is said, battled to the death; but even as the final blow was struck upon him, a specially prepared wand exploded.
After his exile, Kritak fashioned the wand as a security measure. For you see, even if his body perished the prepared magics of the wand would preserve the gnoll’s consciousness in a nearby body, allowing him to forever pursue his necromantic sorcery. In this case, an elven survivor became the vessel of Kritak’s soul and mind. Those other elves that were not killed in the wand’s blast were shortly slain thereafter by their “trusted friend.” But an unforeseen side effect of the possession magic soon manifested. Apparently, the raw power which fed the wand’s magic continues in the new body, which becomes a surrogate wand itself. Not designed to contain such necromantic energies, each body Kritak jumps into slowly deteriorates. Within months, a year at most, the gnoll’s current body disintegrates and his consciousness must jump into another living creature or be forever lost.
The shaman is rumored to still exist, within Noras no less (although that nation has been split and renamed many times since) as some form of demi-lich. You can easily tell his true nature, for even if the host body has not yet deteriorated badly, the original “U” branded on him by Xox carries over from body to body as some kind of curse. This brand no longer means “exile” to the gnolls but rather is identified with Kritak directly. Many gnolls worship the former shaman as a deity of undeath. “Was Kritak the first lich?” you ask. No, but he is probably the first gnoll lich.
Lich: ?
Lich Lord: The pantheon decided to structure divine magic a bit differently than arcane. Prospective clerics needn’t learn obtuse rituals or gather bizarre odds and ends to cast a spell. All they would need would be faith (surely, an enticing lower bar for spellcasting).
To promote awareness of their new gift to the mortals, they decided to spearhead the effort with both a useful and visual spell—one that allows healing by touch (in this case, cure light wounds)! One deity, however, was less than thrilled with the banner spell: the god of death, Jelluk. He and his followers (not to mention his many undead servants) had virtually no use for any type of cure spell. The pantheon deliberated on Jelluk’s cry of “unfair treatment” and eventually reached a compromise. The spell would retain its effects under the original parameters but now include a necromantic pattern which allowed it to be reversible. As a result, the cure light wounds spell could find use by any divine spellcaster no matter their moral tendencies and, most importantly, came under the school of necromancy thanks to the new configuration. This latter point was actually the intended goal of Jelluk the whole time. The death god knew that, even without this new spell available to his followers, mortals would be even more inclined to throw themselves into dangerous circumstances since their allies had the power to heal their wounds. More foolhardy mortals inevitably made for a status quo of dead mortals despite the new spell. Oh no, reversibility of cure spells was just an added bonus. For you see, Jelluk’s added necromantic pattern allowed for every casting of the spell, no matter its form (healing or harming) to pay some amount of lip service to the death god. Each of these spells thus drew a very minute amount of energy from him with a reciprocal amount of “worship” returned (albeit unknowingly from the caster).
To keep secret this “pseudo-worship,” Jelluk created a complex network of energy conduits around his planar home. When these bits of worship-power reached his realm, the conduit system absorbed and dispersed them to predefined locations. In the process, the energy was converted back into tiny bits of necromantic power—nothing that could be easily traced even by a deity’s prying eyes, mind you. Use of cure spells over the many centuries has added up to quite a bit of hoarded necromantic power for Jelluk. So just what is the god doing with it? Several theories have been bandied about by mortal minds, two of which have been verifi ed. The first is that some of the energy is creating and maintaining a number of “lich lords” whose forms do not require phylacteries and possess increased vitality and power.
Lilleth Voran, Lich: ?
Skeleton, Skeletal Warrior: ?
Low-Powered Servant: Besides creating some low-powered servants and warriors, animate dead tends to give evil spellcasters some clout amongst their rivals.
Skeleton: After a number of years’ work, Kritak was ready to join a clan again—by creating his own. Not long before his exile, a great battle was fought between some forgotten human king’s army and a fierce gnoll clan of great number. Who won isn’t important—well, maybe to historians, but not to Kritak. The first field test of corpse soldiers (the predecessor of animate dead) took place amidst the snow covered swamps not far from Kritak’s home. During a ritual which lasted for a full hour, the corpses of the human soldiers slain in the battle rose from their watery graves in answer to the gnoll’s call. After the spell was completed, nearly 150 skeletal warriors were assembled outside the swamp.
When you create skeletons and zombies with this spell [animate dead], you form a minor mental link with them.
If a weapon with this quality [animating] inflicts enough damage to bring a living target below zero hit points, the target must succeed a Fortitude save (DC 20) or be instantly turned into a skeleton or zombie (wielder’s choice).
Corpse Soldiers spell.
Owlbear Skeleton: ?
Robed Skeletal Figure, Undead Servitor: ?
Vampire: ?
Vampire, Creature Possessing the Energy Drain Ability: ?
Wight, Creature Possessing the Energy Drain Ability: ?
Zombie: When you create skeletons and zombies with this spell [animate dead], you form a minor mental link with them.
If a weapon with this quality [animating] inflicts enough damage to bring a living target below zero hit points, the target must succeed a Fortitude save (DC 20) or be instantly turned into a skeleton or zombie (wielder’s choice).
The spell focused a considerable electrical charge into Vask’s palm; a charge that took the shape of any symbol the sorcerer chose. Vask chose his personal symbol—a stylized “V” within a circle—with which to brand his newly acquired property. Each adult male was branded on the back of the left wrist. As if this humiliation was not enough, the magical electricity was quite painful and some men did not survive the procedure. These, Vask coolly noted to the others, were not worthy of his lordship. After dismissing his newly minted slaves, he raised the slain men as zombies to serve inside the keep aside the unseen servants Vask commonly used.
Corpse Soldiers spell.
Zombie Crackling With Electricity: ?
Corpse Soldiers
As the spell animate dead with the following exceptions:
Level: Clr 5, Death 5, Sor/Wiz 5
Casting Time: 10 minutes
Range: 300-ft.-radius, centered on you
Target: Any whole corpse in range
The spell’s power reaches into the earth which allows even buried undead to come to the magic’s call. There is no limit to the amount of undead affected by a single casting of corpse soldiers. All corpses within range walk, shuffle, claw, or swim their way to you after casting. No matter how many times you use this spell, however, you can control only 7 HD worth of undead creatures per caster level, instead of the 4 HD maximum as imposed by animate dead. In addition, each undead receives a +1 profane bonus to attack and damage rolls.
Material Component: A black onyx gem worth 1,000 gold pieces which you must smash at the end of the casting time.
3.5
Undead, Undead Creature: An open scroll depicted the very sphere now in use to be some type of soul collector. From a brief scan of the document, Lorash determined that this evil wizard was harvesting the humanoids’ souls to then power a spell that would raise their corpses as undead under his control.
Guardian Undead: ?
Buried Undead: ?
Created Undead: ?
Undead Servant: ?
Intelligent Undead: ?
Low-Powered Undead: ?
Ghost of a Slain Child: ?
Particularly Powerful Ghost: ?
Drow Wizard Ghost: ?
Drow Lich: ?
Kritak, Gnoll Lich, Some Form of Demi-Lich: Unfortunately for Kritak, his experiments had not gone unnoticed. An elven alliance of adventurers from that era had been keeping tabs on the shaman. Previously considered a minor annoyance by the Ef ’winn Noras (roughly translated as “Watchers of Noras”), the gnoll’s ability to raise a skeletal army now elevated his threat potential. After a day of preparation, Kritak commanded his undead force to march to the graveyard. But the Ef ’winn Noras was ready and they ambushed the gnoll and his forces in sight of the shaman’s goal. Kritak used magic to strengthen his skeletons as the elves converged, some growing as tall as giants with others wielding weapons as formidably as the veteran warriors they were in life. In the end, however, the skeletons were no match for the elven adventurers. Kritak, it is said, battled to the death; but even as the final blow was struck upon him, a specially prepared wand exploded.
After his exile, Kritak fashioned the wand as a security measure. For you see, even if his body perished the prepared magics of the wand would preserve the gnoll’s consciousness in a nearby body, allowing him to forever pursue his necromantic sorcery. In this case, an elven survivor became the vessel of Kritak’s soul and mind. Those other elves that were not killed in the wand’s blast were shortly slain thereafter by their “trusted friend.” But an unforeseen side effect of the possession magic soon manifested. Apparently, the raw power which fed the wand’s magic continues in the new body, which becomes a surrogate wand itself. Not designed to contain such necromantic energies, each body Kritak jumps into slowly deteriorates. Within months, a year at most, the gnoll’s current body disintegrates and his consciousness must jump into another living creature or be forever lost.
The shaman is rumored to still exist, within Noras no less (although that nation has been split and renamed many times since) as some form of demi-lich. You can easily tell his true nature, for even if the host body has not yet deteriorated badly, the original “U” branded on him by Xox carries over from body to body as some kind of curse. This brand no longer means “exile” to the gnolls but rather is identified with Kritak directly. Many gnolls worship the former shaman as a deity of undeath. “Was Kritak the first lich?” you ask. No, but he is probably the first gnoll lich.
Lich: ?
Lich Lord: The pantheon decided to structure divine magic a bit differently than arcane. Prospective clerics needn’t learn obtuse rituals or gather bizarre odds and ends to cast a spell. All they would need would be faith (surely, an enticing lower bar for spellcasting).
To promote awareness of their new gift to the mortals, they decided to spearhead the effort with both a useful and visual spell—one that allows healing by touch (in this case, cure light wounds)! One deity, however, was less than thrilled with the banner spell: the god of death, Jelluk. He and his followers (not to mention his many undead servants) had virtually no use for any type of cure spell. The pantheon deliberated on Jelluk’s cry of “unfair treatment” and eventually reached a compromise. The spell would retain its effects under the original parameters but now include a necromantic pattern which allowed it to be reversible. As a result, the cure light wounds spell could find use by any divine spellcaster no matter their moral tendencies and, most importantly, came under the school of necromancy thanks to the new configuration. This latter point was actually the intended goal of Jelluk the whole time. The death god knew that, even without this new spell available to his followers, mortals would be even more inclined to throw themselves into dangerous circumstances since their allies had the power to heal their wounds. More foolhardy mortals inevitably made for a status quo of dead mortals despite the new spell. Oh no, reversibility of cure spells was just an added bonus. For you see, Jelluk’s added necromantic pattern allowed for every casting of the spell, no matter its form (healing or harming) to pay some amount of lip service to the death god. Each of these spells thus drew a very minute amount of energy from him with a reciprocal amount of “worship” returned (albeit unknowingly from the caster).
To keep secret this “pseudo-worship,” Jelluk created a complex network of energy conduits around his planar home. When these bits of worship-power reached his realm, the conduit system absorbed and dispersed them to predefined locations. In the process, the energy was converted back into tiny bits of necromantic power—nothing that could be easily traced even by a deity’s prying eyes, mind you. Use of cure spells over the many centuries has added up to quite a bit of hoarded necromantic power for Jelluk. So just what is the god doing with it? Several theories have been bandied about by mortal minds, two of which have been verifi ed. The first is that some of the energy is creating and maintaining a number of “lich lords” whose forms do not require phylacteries and possess increased vitality and power.
Lilleth Voran, Lich: ?
Skeleton, Skeletal Warrior: ?
Low-Powered Servant: Besides creating some low-powered servants and warriors, animate dead tends to give evil spellcasters some clout amongst their rivals.
Skeleton: After a number of years’ work, Kritak was ready to join a clan again—by creating his own. Not long before his exile, a great battle was fought between some forgotten human king’s army and a fierce gnoll clan of great number. Who won isn’t important—well, maybe to historians, but not to Kritak. The first field test of corpse soldiers (the predecessor of animate dead) took place amidst the snow covered swamps not far from Kritak’s home. During a ritual which lasted for a full hour, the corpses of the human soldiers slain in the battle rose from their watery graves in answer to the gnoll’s call. After the spell was completed, nearly 150 skeletal warriors were assembled outside the swamp.
When you create skeletons and zombies with this spell [animate dead], you form a minor mental link with them.
If a weapon with this quality [animating] inflicts enough damage to bring a living target below zero hit points, the target must succeed a Fortitude save (DC 20) or be instantly turned into a skeleton or zombie (wielder’s choice).
Corpse Soldiers spell.
Owlbear Skeleton: ?
Robed Skeletal Figure, Undead Servitor: ?
Vampire: ?
Vampire, Creature Possessing the Energy Drain Ability: ?
Wight, Creature Possessing the Energy Drain Ability: ?
Zombie: When you create skeletons and zombies with this spell [animate dead], you form a minor mental link with them.
If a weapon with this quality [animating] inflicts enough damage to bring a living target below zero hit points, the target must succeed a Fortitude save (DC 20) or be instantly turned into a skeleton or zombie (wielder’s choice).
The spell focused a considerable electrical charge into Vask’s palm; a charge that took the shape of any symbol the sorcerer chose. Vask chose his personal symbol—a stylized “V” within a circle—with which to brand his newly acquired property. Each adult male was branded on the back of the left wrist. As if this humiliation was not enough, the magical electricity was quite painful and some men did not survive the procedure. These, Vask coolly noted to the others, were not worthy of his lordship. After dismissing his newly minted slaves, he raised the slain men as zombies to serve inside the keep aside the unseen servants Vask commonly used.
Corpse Soldiers spell.
Zombie Crackling With Electricity: ?
Corpse Soldiers
As the spell animate dead with the following exceptions:
Level: Clr 5, Death 5, Sor/Wiz 5
Casting Time: 10 minutes
Range: 300-ft.-radius, centered on you
Target: Any whole corpse in range
The spell’s power reaches into the earth which allows even buried undead to come to the magic’s call. There is no limit to the amount of undead affected by a single casting of corpse soldiers. All corpses within range walk, shuffle, claw, or swim their way to you after casting. No matter how many times you use this spell, however, you can control only 7 HD worth of undead creatures per caster level, instead of the 4 HD maximum as imposed by animate dead. In addition, each undead receives a +1 profane bonus to attack and damage rolls.
Material Component: A black onyx gem worth 1,000 gold pieces which you must smash at the end of the casting time.
Last edited:
Voadam
Legend
Behind the Spells: Cure Wounds
3.5
Undead Servant: ?
Intelligent Undead: ?
Undead, Undead Creature: ?
Lich Lord: The pantheon decided to structure divine magic a bit differently than arcane. Prospective clerics needn’t learn obtuse rituals or gather bric-a-brac to cast a spell. All they would need would be faith (surely, an enticing lower bar for spellcasting).
To promote awareness of their new gift to the mortals, they decided to spearhead the effort with both a useful and visual spell—one that allows healing by touch (in this case, cure light wounds)! One deity, however, was less than thrilled with the banner spell: the god of death, Jelluk. He and his followers (not to mention his many undead servants) had virtually no use for any type of cure spell. The pantheon deliberated on Jelluk’s cry of “unfair treatment” and eventually reached a compromise. The spell would retain its effects under the original parameters but now include a necromantic pattern which allowed it to be reversible. As a result, the cure light wounds spell could find use by any divine spellcaster no matter their moral tendencies and, most importantly, came under the school of necromancy thanks to the new configuration. This latter point was actually the intended goal of Jelluk the whole time. The death god knew that, even without this new spell available to his followers, mortals would be even more inclined to throw themselves into dangerous circumstances since their allies had the power to heal their wounds. More foolhardy mortals inevitably made for a status quo of dead mortals despite the new spell. Oh, no, reversibility of cure spells was just an added bonus. For you see, Jelluk’s added necromantic pattern allowed for every casting of the spell, no matter its form (healing or harming) to pay some amount of lip service to the death god. Each of these spells thus drew a very minute amount of energy from him with a reciprocal amount of “worship” returned (albeit unknowingly from the caster).
To keep secret this “pseudo-worship,” Jelluk created a complex network of energy conduits around his planar home. When these bits of worship-power reached his realm, the conduit system absorbed and dispersed them to predefined locations. In the process, the energy was converted back into tiny bits of necromantic power—nothing that could be easily traced even by a deity’s prying eyes, mind you. Use of cure spells over the many centuries has added up to quite a bit of hoarded necromantic power for Jelluk. So just what is the god doing with it? Several theories have been bandied about by mortal minds, two of which have been verified. The first is that some of the energy is creating and maintaining a number of “lich lords” whose forms do not require phylacteries and possess increased vitality and power.
3.5
Undead Servant: ?
Intelligent Undead: ?
Undead, Undead Creature: ?
Lich Lord: The pantheon decided to structure divine magic a bit differently than arcane. Prospective clerics needn’t learn obtuse rituals or gather bric-a-brac to cast a spell. All they would need would be faith (surely, an enticing lower bar for spellcasting).
To promote awareness of their new gift to the mortals, they decided to spearhead the effort with both a useful and visual spell—one that allows healing by touch (in this case, cure light wounds)! One deity, however, was less than thrilled with the banner spell: the god of death, Jelluk. He and his followers (not to mention his many undead servants) had virtually no use for any type of cure spell. The pantheon deliberated on Jelluk’s cry of “unfair treatment” and eventually reached a compromise. The spell would retain its effects under the original parameters but now include a necromantic pattern which allowed it to be reversible. As a result, the cure light wounds spell could find use by any divine spellcaster no matter their moral tendencies and, most importantly, came under the school of necromancy thanks to the new configuration. This latter point was actually the intended goal of Jelluk the whole time. The death god knew that, even without this new spell available to his followers, mortals would be even more inclined to throw themselves into dangerous circumstances since their allies had the power to heal their wounds. More foolhardy mortals inevitably made for a status quo of dead mortals despite the new spell. Oh, no, reversibility of cure spells was just an added bonus. For you see, Jelluk’s added necromantic pattern allowed for every casting of the spell, no matter its form (healing or harming) to pay some amount of lip service to the death god. Each of these spells thus drew a very minute amount of energy from him with a reciprocal amount of “worship” returned (albeit unknowingly from the caster).
To keep secret this “pseudo-worship,” Jelluk created a complex network of energy conduits around his planar home. When these bits of worship-power reached his realm, the conduit system absorbed and dispersed them to predefined locations. In the process, the energy was converted back into tiny bits of necromantic power—nothing that could be easily traced even by a deity’s prying eyes, mind you. Use of cure spells over the many centuries has added up to quite a bit of hoarded necromantic power for Jelluk. So just what is the god doing with it? Several theories have been bandied about by mortal minds, two of which have been verified. The first is that some of the energy is creating and maintaining a number of “lich lords” whose forms do not require phylacteries and possess increased vitality and power.
Voadam
Legend
Behind the Spells: Darkness
3.5
Undead: ?
Abomination to the Natural World: ?
Spirit of the Dead, Restless Spirit: ?
Zombie, Dead, Corpse, Foul Zombie, Vile Undead: ?
3.5
Undead: ?
Abomination to the Natural World: ?
Spirit of the Dead, Restless Spirit: ?
Zombie, Dead, Corpse, Foul Zombie, Vile Undead: ?
Voadam
Legend
Behind the Spells: Dispel Magic
3.5
Undead: An open scroll depicted the very sphere now in use to be some type of soul collector. From a brief scan of the document, Lorash determined that this evil wizard was harvesting the humanoids’ souls to then power a spell that would raise their corpses as undead under his control.
Robed Skeletal Figure, Undead Servitor: ?
3.5
Undead: An open scroll depicted the very sphere now in use to be some type of soul collector. From a brief scan of the document, Lorash determined that this evil wizard was harvesting the humanoids’ souls to then power a spell that would raise their corpses as undead under his control.
Robed Skeletal Figure, Undead Servitor: ?
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