Undead Origins

[Voadam]

Creature Feature Quarterly vol. 12 (OSE)
Basic
Murkfang: Undead birthed from the remnants of those that died in bogs and swamps.
They are believed to be the warped remains of those who died of drowning in swamps, bogs, and similar terrain. Murkfangs are often encountered in these sorts of environments. However, this sage does not believe murkfang have risen from the grave in their weird mutant form due to the black will of a restless spirit or the fickle whims of an evil god. No, this sage believes murkfang were engineered by a necromancer. And a necromancer of considerable talent at that. The macabre design of the murkfang is in his opinion an act of twisted genius.
Ohaeltinok, Eater of Babies, Restless Undead Spirit of a Woman Who Betrayed Her Own Child: Undead remnants of mothers that betrayed their children, leading to the demise of their offspring.
These abhorrent shades are the restless, undead spirits of women who betrayed their own children. Most sages familiar with the foul beings know them as ohaeltinok. Their betrayal ultimately led to the early demise of their offspring. Whether the betrayal was immediately fatal, as in slaying an infant and cooking it in a stew. Or, by selling their babes to strangers for use in vile rites matters little. The ultimate judgement laid upon the mothers remains the same. They are transformed after death into these murderous, child-eating things.
Umbral, Incorporeal Undead That Have Regained Free Will and a Remnant of Their Original Personality, Wraithborn: Incorporeal undead that have regained free will and a remnant of their original personality. Usually this only occurs when a victim of exceptional will is turned and then only after their master is slain.
Umbral are incorporeal undead that have regained free will and a remnant of their original personality (often after the master which turned them is slain).
Umbral are incorporeal undead that have regained free will and a remnant of their original personality (often after the master which turned them is slain).
An umbral remnant of a holy man has been unwittingly terrifying the clergy of his temple and the worshippers. The umbral means no ill will. The poor soul's undead master was recently slain and he has regained some fragmented memories of his mortal life.
He used her as a plaything and then discarded her on an outing in the wilderness. Presuming she would die (just not at the hands of a wraith) he returned to his home to marry a woman of his proper station within a fortnight.
Murkfang, Tall Nominally Bipedal Humanoid Being, Loathsome Thing, Impressive Predator, Skinless Dog-Faced Man: ?
Murkfang, Undead Birthed From the Remnants of One That Died in a Bog, Warped Remains of One Who Died of Drowning in a Bog: ?
Murkfang, Undead Birthed From the Remnants of One That Died in a Swamp, Warped Remains of One Who Died of Drowning in a Swamp: ?
Ohaeltinok, Ghostly Apparition, Phantom, Unclean Spirit, Apparition, Abhorrent Shade, Foul Being, Murderous Child-Eating Thing, Incorporeal Undead, Dark Mother, Relentless Predator With a Voracious Appetite, Parasitic Abomination: ?
Mother That Hungers, Ohaeltinok, Dark Spirit, Spirit: ?
Umbral, Tall Roughly Humanoid Figure, Largely Amorphous Apparition With a Torso Head and Two Arms But No Legs, Apparition, Incorporeal Undead, Stealthy Ambusher, Shade: ?
Umbral Remnant of a Warrior: ?
Umbral Remnant of a Holy Man, Umbral Remnant of a Priest: ?
Umbral Remnant of a Young Woman, Undead Shade of a Common Woman: ?
Undead, Undead Being: ?
Vile Non-Living Entity: ?
More Powerful Undead: ?
Undead Master: ?
Ghoul: ?
Ghoul, Minion: ?
Shadow, Undead Shadow: They [Ohaeltinoks] drain the life from children which return as gray shadows with ashen wings and featureless black eyes reminiscent of darkling cherubs.
If reduced to 0 STR [from an Ohaeltinok's strength drain attack], the victim becomes a shadow.
When they [Ohaeltinoks] feed upon children, those slain are transformed into shadowy, ashen echoes of their mortal selves. They become ashen gray and misty with featureless black eyes and the broken wings of abused angels. Many say the transformed children resemble tortured, demonic cherubs.
They [Ohaeltinoks] are incapable of true reproduction, but do create lesser undead spawn from any children they kill via feeding.
An ohaeltinok entered the orphanage shortly after the heavy snows began to fall. It has since slain and converted all of the children and staff.
If reduced to 0 STR [by a tomromulv's strength drain attack], the victim becomes a shadow.
If reduced to 0 STR [by an umbral's strength drain attack], the victim immediately becomes a shadow under the control of the umbral that killed it.
Those slain by the draining attacks of an umbral fade into undead shadows immediately and are henceforth compelled to serve the will of the umbral which slew them.
They [zzlylahs] spawn slaves of shadow from those they feed upon.
A person drained of all levels (or HD) [from a zzlylah's energy drain attack] immediately becomes a shadow under the control of the zzlylah that killed it.
If reduced to 0 STR [by a zzlylah's strength drain attack], the victim immediately becomes a shadow under the control of the zzlylah that killed it.
Generally a zzlylah prefers to use hit and run tactics and trickery. It will likely target lower level characters first, hoping to convert them to shadow minions and whittle away the party numbers.
Zzlylah feed via both energy and strength drain simultaneously. When the zzlylah is determined to end a target it will grapple it, draining its life and strength rapidly. Most normal folk will explode into a dusty plume with an audible pop almost immediately. Even seasoned adventurers will succumb to the draining embrace of a zzlylah in short order. When a victim turns to ash and collapses, a shadowy remnant remains. This echo of the victim is bound to the will of the zzlylah that killed them.
Shadow, Lesser Undead Being: ?
Shadow, Gray Shadow With Ashen Wings and Featureless Black Eyes Reminiscent of Darkling Cherubs, Shadowy Spawn, Lesser Creature, Shadowy Ashen Echo, Transformed Child, Tortured Demonic Cherub, Spawn, Lesser Undead Spawn, Minion, Gray Black-Eyed Cherub, Dark Progeny: ?
Shadow, Accident, Waste: ?
Shadow, Slave of Shadow, Shadow Minion, Echo: ?
Shadow, Shadowy Remnant, Echo, Shadowy Slave, Shadowy Minion, Shadow Minion: ?
Wraith: ?

 

[Voadam]

Creature Feature Quarterly vol. 13 (OSE)
Basic
Drulmord: Something foul and homicidal– birthed from the muck beneath the gallows. These undead beings are an unholy fusion of clay and muck rooted to bones of stone.
Recent accounts suggest a drulmord is birthed after the thirteenth murderer swings from the same gallows. These creatures are spawned from the muck beneath the noose. Foul undead things, they fester and gestate in the muddy slurry of piss, naughty word and blood beneath the gallows. After the full moon following the thirteenth hanging they are freed to stalk the earth. The flesh of these beings is a macabre blend of clay and muck rooted to bones of stone.
Golut, Ectoplasmic Undead Husk of a Starving Abandoned Child, Sickening Undead Husk of a Starving Abandoned Child: The ectoplasmic, undead husks of starving, abandoned children. Their forms are held together by their insatiable hunger for flesh.
Sages familiar with the lore surrounding golut believe there is a particular necromantic spirit at work in the dark corners of our realm. This vile entity has a predilection for the corruption of the innocent and warping of the natural world.
Golut are only created through the prolonged, tortuous death of a starving child and the vile manipulations of a certain necromantic spirit that lingers in the darkened corners of the realm.
Lashon: Once revered as sages or holy men, these undead creatures are now cursed, their forms grotesquely transformed into dog-like abominations for their heinous acts against humanity.
This accursed breed were once sages and holy men. Their damned existence is a testament to the darkest fates that can befall those who stray too far from the light. These beings committed unspeakable atrocities against their own kind and their souls are forever tainted by the foulness of their deeds. Truly, the lashon are fearsome creatures–abominations of the vilest sort granted unholy powers.
Many dark gifts have been imparted to these loathsome, damned things.
Lashons do not reproduce biologically; rather, their numbers grow through the dark rituals of those who seek this cursed immortality or through the rare cases where a soul is so twisted that it naturally transitions into this form upon death.
Strighast: Their reproduction remains a mystery, but it's speculated they might lay eggs or give birth to live young in secluded, dark places.
Svikari, Revenant of a Damned Soul That Betrayed and Ate Their Own Kin, Kin-Slayer, Betrayer: Loathsome and accursed these horrendously fat undead things are the revenants of damned souls that betrayed and ate their own kin.
These beings were once ordinary folk who slaughtered and consumed their own families, their souls have been forever tainted by the darkness of their deeds.
Svikari do not reproduce, they are created through the fickle judgement of higher powers as punishment for heinous actions.
Drulmord, Something Foul and Homicidal, Unholy Fusion of Clay and Much Rooted to Bones of Stone, Towering Massive Humanoid, Brute, Some Sort of Animated Effigy of a Male, Cunning Stealthy Predator, Foul Undead Thing, Malignant Thing: ?
Golut, Ghastly Malformed Creature, Obese Child, Perpetually Starving Thing, Stinking Ectoplasm Held Together By Incoherent Despair and Insatiable Hunger, Creature of Darkness, Little Fiend: ?
Lashon, Dog-Like Abomination, Craven Being, Creature of Raw Nightmare, Grotesque Amalgamation Nominally Canine But as Large as a Horse and Emaciated, Wretched Creature, Accursed Breed, Fearsome Creature, Abomination of the Vilest Sort, Loathsome Damned Thing, Disgusting Skull-Faced Dog Thing: ?
Strighast, Loathsome Alien Entity, Beast, Giant Lanky Humanoid Thing, Abomination, Weird Being, Twisted Horror, Alien, Mortal, Creature of Darkness: ?
Svikari, Horrendously Fat Undead Thing, Grotesque Figure, Horror, Bloated Creature, Horrid Rotten Thing, Skilled Excavator, Cunning Ambush Predator: ?
Svikari Master: ?
Undead, Undead Thing, Undead Being, Undead Creature: The dibbuk has given the apothecary a formula that will transform the queen regent into an undead thing. [REFEREE'S NOTE: Something akin to a ghoul but more powerful would be appropriate. Perhaps similar to a vampire, but with an insatiable hunger for flesh– and savoring carrion as a delicacy.]
Necromantic Spirit, Vile Entity, Vile Necromantic Spirit: ?
Ghost: ?
Ghoul: ?
Shadow: Indeed, they are not alone, an arkon has been subtly influencing the chief scholar this whole time. The foul thing even protected the party during their travels. It has designed the whole endeavor so that the scholars will return with some alchemical formula. The formula promises some form of healing miracle (perhaps life extension) but in the end leads to a virulent plague outbreak (zombies? shadows? wraiths?).
Vampire: ?
Wraith: Indeed, they are not alone, an arkon has been subtly influencing the chief scholar this whole time. The foul thing even protected the party during their travels. It has designed the whole endeavor so that the scholars will return with some alchemical formula. The formula promises some form of healing miracle (perhaps life extension) but in the end leads to a virulent plague outbreak (zombies? shadows? wraiths?).
Zombie: Indeed, they are not alone, an arkon has been subtly influencing the chief scholar this whole time. The foul thing even protected the party during their travels. It has designed the whole endeavor so that the scholars will return with some alchemical formula. The formula promises some form of healing miracle (perhaps life extension) but in the end leads to a virulent plague outbreak (zombies? shadows? wraiths?).
Slain victims [of a drulmlord's blood drain attack] immediately become skeletal zombies (drained of all blood) under the drulmord's control.
Victims slain by a svikari become zombies under its control in 1d6 rounds.
They [sikvari] are capable of creating spawn from their victims, turning them into zombies that serve their every whim.
Zombie, Skeletal Zombie, Zombie Minion, Zombie Spawn: ?

 

[Voadam]

Cyclopaedic Compendium Volume 2
Basic
Adhlacthai Portaigh: Adhlacthaí portaigh are undead warriors, leaders of tribes of the windswept marshlands of the North who willingly gave their lives in dark rituals to protect the boggy borders of their lands from invasion. Typically, they are found at the edges of their clans lands, where they were ritually killed before being interred within the peat. Over years, their bodies become pickled, tanned as if to leather by the acids within the peat.
Baobhan Sith, Rare and Dangerous Baobhan Sith: The rare and dangerous baobhan sith are believe to be the unusual product of vampiric infection of fey creatures. It is unknown exactly how they are created, but the result is one of the more feared and hated undead.
A human killed by a baobhan sith rises the next night as a vampire, but independent and not under control of the slayer, whereas an elf killed by baobhan sith rises as a banshee. It is postulated that a sidhe may return as a baobhan sith. Other creatures are believed to remain dead.
Black Shuck: A successful bite from a black shuck inflicts 2d8 damage plus a level of energy drain, and humans and demi-humans killed by a black shucks energy drain rise as wraiths the following night. Black shucks also attack wolves and dogs, who return as black shucks.
Bloody Bones: Their origin is unknown – perhaps in life they were adults who were especially cruel to children, or they may simply be the creation of an unspeakably wicked entropic immortal.
Draugr, Fearsome Draugr: ?
Dybbuk: A Dybbuk is created when a powerful entropic entity finds among the living a candidate with the most depraved and unholy desires, but a fear or inhibition from acting upon them. Such desires are so far beyond that which most can understand that they will not be discussed here, but they amount to the worst and most inhumane acts that can be done upon other sentient creatures. The candidate is offered an opportunity to act upon those desires, in return for their mortal life, and the result is an eternal curse whereby the subject is transformed into a Dybbuk, and will wander the lands seeking victims to possess and use to carry out said vile acts.
Erlking, Erkling: The means by which erklings reproduce is unknown. The fallen do not reanimate as erklings, they merely stare upward at the sky in deathly terror.
Ghula: They are native to Sind, but being a favourite creation of many necromancers they are now found quite widely.
Haunt Globster: They arise when a sperm whale falls in combat to one of the great unknown evils of the deep, and they roam the abyssal plain seeking revenge on the sentient living things they were trying to defend.
Victims of globsters do not become globsters unless they are themselves great sperm whales.
Jack in Irons: It is unknown precisely which giant must die under what horrific circumstances to produce a Jack in irons, but that is what they appear to be.
Jiangshi: Unusually for energy draining creatures, victims killed by jiangshi do not rise again as the same undead, they merely remain dead. However any victim damaged by a jiangshi will, if not magically cured, slowly transform into a jiangshi over the course of 1 month.
Jubokko: A mighty tree that has been on the site of a battle and become infused in the energies of destruction and blood of the fallen, the jubokko most resembles a beautiful, leafy tree while being in temperament and behaviour most akin to a vampire.
Lich Mystic: The process by which Masters of Entropy (high level entropic mystics) become Mystic Lichs is unknown except to themselves and to certain of the entropic immortals, and whether it is punishment or reward (if such are even different things to such creatures) is hard to ascertain.
The process of becoming a mystic lich bonds them in servitude to entropic goals, and they are more dangerous as a result.
Lich Warrior: A warrior lich is an evil warrior, usually an avenger of level 21 or above, who has died in the pursuit of a greater evil. His hatred drives him on after death.
The process of becoming a warrior lich bonds the weapons they possessed in life to them.
Peuchen: A victim killed by a peuchen will rise as undead. Most humans or demi-humans will rise again as a wights, the following sunset, under control of the slayer. A cleric of 5th or higher level killed by a peuchen will appear to remain dead, the body indistinguishable from any normal corpse. 1 month later, a new peuchen, the tortured spirit of that cleric, will rise from the earth at the location of the clerics death, independent of its slayer, and ready to wreak revenge on a world that allowed it to die thus.
Plague: Any creature killed by a plague will rise, the next sunset, as a new Plague, but unlike most undead they are not under the control of their slayers.
Qalupalic, Undead Qalupalic: ?
Silent Knight: ?
Skeletos: Created by special rituals for specific purposes skeletos are invariably tied to a specific location or item, typically a tomb or item. They are created for one purpose - to guard that item or location from theft or incursion by those who would loot or otherwise cause harm.
Vampyropod: ?
Great Vampyropod: ?
Vrykolakas: Vrykolakas are the rare and universally shunned lycanthropes infected with vampirism.
To create a vrykolakas a vampire must slay a lycanthrope by energy drain. The victim will rise from the dead up to a month after slain, on the first night of the next full moon, as a free-willed undead with no allegiance to its slayer.
Walker, Mindless Insatiably Hungry Undead: While frightening, what poses a significantly greater hazard is the fact that any human, demi-human or humanoid wounded by a walker but surviving must make a save vs. paralysis or will in 2d4 hours fall into a painful stupor, unable to move, attack or cast spells. After a further 2d4 hours that character will die, and rise again as a new mindless, insatiably hungry walker.
Adhlacthai Portaigh, Undead Warrior, Leader of a Tribe in the Windswept Marshland of the North Who Willingly Gave Their Life in a Dark Ritual To Protect the Boggy Border of Their Land From Invasion, Fallen King: ?
Baobhan Sith, One of the More Feared and Hated Undead, Beautiful Woman With Red Hair: ?
Baobhan Sith Spellcaster: ?
Baobhan Sith Cleric: ?
Baobhan Sith Magic User: ?
Black Shuck, Ghostly Black Hound Roughly the Size of a Wolf Seeming to Be Made Up of Shadow and Darknes: ?
Bloody Bones, Pale Emaciated Corpse With Bones Showing Through Skin That Appears to Have Been Picked at by Crows: ?
Draugr, Spirit, Emaciated Corpse With Piercing Cold Blue Eyes: ?
Draugr, Liege: ?
Erlking, Most Cunning of Undead, Elf With the Visage of a Wise Elderly Sage Like Sylvan Elf, Wizened Old Elf: ?
Ghula, Beautiful Woman: ?
Ghula, Man: ?
Ghula, Spellcaster: ?
Haunt Globster, Decaying Sperm Whale, Horror of the Deep: ?
Jiangshi, Form of Vampire, Energy Draining Creature: ?
Jubokko, Beautiful Leafy Tree: ?
Lich Mystic, Emaciated Dead Human With Thin Stretched Papery Skin: ?
Lich Mystic, Emaciated Dead Demi-Human With Thin Stretched Papery Skin: ?
Lich Mystic, Master of an Entropic Monastery: ?
Lich Mystic, Puppet Master: ?
Lich Warrior, Emaciated Dead Human With Thin Stretched Papery Skin: ?
Lich Warrior, Emaciated Dead Demi-Human With Thin Stretched Papery Skin: ?
Lich Warrior, Evil Entity: ?
Peuchen, Intelligent Shapeshifting Vampiric Spirit, Blue Feathered Snake With Wings Radiating Multiple Colours of Feathers, Predator, Vampire, Winged Snake: ?
Plague, Dangerous Intelligent Undead, Perfectly Preserved Pale Slightly Emaciated Humanoid: ?
Qalupalic, Mermaid With Horrendous Scaly Skin and Reeking the Sulfurous Stench of Rotting Seaweed, Hunter: ?
Silent Knight, Most Sinister of Powerful Undead, Elderly Bearded Man of Noble Demeanor, Creature of Utter Silence: ?
Angry Silent Knight: ?
Skeletos, Fast Skillful Warrior: ?
Vampyropod, Small Undead Creature, Cuttlefish: ?
Vrykolakas, Rare Universally Shunned Lycanthrope Infected With Vampirism: ?
Walker, Slow Rotting Zombie: ?
Undead, Undead Creature: ?
Spellcasting Undead: ?
Lesser Undead Being: ?
Undead Liege: ?
Servant of Evil: ?
Banshee: A human killed by a baobhan sith rises the next night as a vampire, but independent and not under control of the slayer, whereas an elf killed by baobhan sith rises as a banshee.
Ghoul: ?
Haunt: ?
Lich: ?
Revenant: ?
Skeleton, Undead Skeleton: ?
Spectre: ?
Vampire: A human killed by a baobhan sith rises the next night as a vampire, but independent and not under control of the slayer, whereas an elf killed by baobhan sith rises as a banshee.
Male Vampire: ?
Wight: A victim killed by a peuchen will rise as undead. Most humans or demi-humans will rise again as a wights, the following sunset, under control of the slayer. A cleric of 5th or higher level killed by a peuchen will appear to remain dead, the body indistinguishable from any normal corpse. 1 month later, a new peuchen, the tortured spirit of that cleric, will rise from the earth at the location of the clerics death, independent of its slayer, and ready to wreak revenge on a world that allowed it to die thus.
Wraith: A successful bite from a black shuck inflicts 2d8 damage plus a level of energy drain, and humans and demi-humans killed by a black shucks energy drain rise as wraiths the following night.
Zombie, Undead Zombie: Adhlacthaí portaigh can also animate fallen creatures as zombies, and can create 1d6 zombies from any corpses present per round (and may store bodies in the peat for this purpose).
In a savage twist of irony the Craterellids have learned to distinguish edible and poisonous fungi, and will, as soon as they are able, scour the woodlands for poisonous mushrooms, which they then take back to the darkest parts of the wood to work into a wicked, magical poison. This poison, when hidden in the food and drink of humans, demi-humans and humanoids is lethal (save vs. poison or die in 1d6 turns). A successful wisdom check will allow the victim to work out that there is something unusual about the dish – it isn’t unpleasant, it isn’t obviously poisoned, it is just unusual. Many victims will continue imbibing the (delicious) poisoned meal. The victim will, 12 hours after death, rise as an undead zombie under the control of the Craterellid Myconoid.
Animating Armor magic item.
Animating Missile Magic Item.
Enslaved Zombie: ?

Animating: Armour of animating can be used to dress a human, demi-human or humanoid corpse or worn as normal armour. If used to dress a corpse, it becomes a zombie under the control of the creature who dressed it. The zombie can be turned or killed as normal, and removing the armour also restores the body back to usual. The animation ability can be used up to once per day.

Animating: This ammunition appears to be made of bone. When used on a living target it works as if normal ammunition. When it is used to target a dead human, demi-human or humanoid that body becomes animated as a zombie, under the control of the archer.

 

[Voadam]

Demonology
Basic
Undead: ?
Intelligent Undead: Eons of harvesting the souls of creatures that died led Orcus to wonder: why all of this waste? He saw the dead bodies and departed souls as wasteful. He did not like the natural way of things. In his mind, he saw a world in which the richest and most powerful beings in society could live on forever in their bodies. Those that could not muster the strength or fortune to keep their souls and selves tied to their bodies could be used by those that were capable. He began to give this “blessing” to mortals he deemed “worthy”. These were the first necromancers and intelligent undead.
Mindless Undead: Eons of harvesting the souls of creatures that died led Orcus to wonder: why all of this waste? He saw the dead bodies and departed souls as wasteful. He did not like the natural way of things. In his mind, he saw a world in which the richest and most powerful beings in society could live on forever in their bodies. Those that could not muster the strength or fortune to keep their souls and selves tied to their bodies could be used by those that were capable. He began to give this “blessing” to mortals he deemed “worthy”. These were the first necromancers and intelligent undead. He also gave the necromancers the secrets of creating mindless undead to serve them.
Powerful Undead: ?
Lich: The greatest of demons keep their souls hidden within talismans which are hidden away in secret. To destroy a demon lord/prince/queen, the talisman must also be destroyed. This magical trick was taught to evil mages by Orcus, Demon Lord of the Undead, in ages past. Certain of these passed the secret down. This is the same magic that is used by mortal mages to become a lich.
Vampire: ?

 

[Voadam]

Devilry
Basic
Undead: ?
Spiritual Undead: ?
Powerful Undead: ?
Incorporeal Undead: ?
Ghost: ?
Lich: The greatest of Archdevils keep their souls hidden within talismans which are hidden away in secret. To destroy an Archdevil, the talisman must also be destroyed. This magical trick was taught to evil mages by Orcus, Demon Lord of the Undead, in ages past. Certain of these passed the secret down. This is the same magic that is used by mortal mages to become a lich.
Poltergeist: ?
Spectre: ?
Vampire: ?
Wraith: Over time some [lemures] may be sent to the Mid-Realm as wraiths.

 

[Voadam]

Divinities and Cults: Volume IV (Classic RPGs)
Basic
Undead: Morana Magical Side Effect 4 Returned Again.
Ghostly Haunt: ?
Phantom: ?
Walking Dead: ?
Slavic Vampire: ?
Slavic Vampire Strigoi: ?
Slavic Vampire Upyr: ?
Slavic Vampire Vampyr: ?

3. Reaping Scythe: As death is sometimes needed, so too must the magic work to slay or at least cause harm. If not, its strength will only be at 50% or happen 1d3 turns later (an equal chance of either).
4. Returned Again: Death is not the end. Treat as Reaping Scythe above, but if slain by the spell, the victim returns to life within 1d3 days, sometimes even not as an undead (a base 33% chance).

 

[Voadam]

Divinities and Cults: Volume V (Classic RPGs)
Basic
Undead: Animate Dead spell.
Spirit: ?
Vampire, Dark Being: ?

3rd Level Spell
Animate Dead: creates 1 HD of undead per 2 caster levels, which will follow the ways of the raven.

 

[Voadam]

Dolmenwood Campaign Book
Basic
Ghosts of Smerne: Desperately hungry, plead for vittles favoured in life (e.g. smoked fish, blackbird pie, mulled wine).
Gallowgeist, Gallowgeist Spirit: Ragged skeletal remnants of people hanged and left to be picked bare by crows, now reanimated as hateful undead.
Many years past, the now-abandoned village of Smerne (hex 0301) used the tree for hanging accused criminals—both the guilty and the innocent. The spirits of the hanged inhabit the tree, with several manifesting as the gallowgeists.
Muttering Phantom: These minor ghosts are created when a mortal dies clinging to a perilous secret.
Bafflestone Thrall: Consequences of Bafflestone Exposure
Those who fail to resist the Bafflestone’s power become sympathetic to the stone’s deep malignity.
Initial symptoms: Unable to sleep, unwilling to leave the stone’s presence without physical coercion, and unwilling to eat or drink, despite hunger and thirst.
Undead thralldom: Unless dragged, pulled, or otherwise coerced at least 1 mile away from the stone within 8 hours, those enthralled wither and die, remaining on this plane as morose and disconsolate undead wanderers: Bafflestone Thralls.
Huorglein, Great Scarlet Ogre-like Being 12′ Tall With the Antlers of a Stag the Teeth of a Shark and the Benign Unflinching Eyes of a Mortal Man, Horrible New Servant: Chaos minions: 2d4 crookhorns (DMB), clad in filthy hooded robes, prowl the edge of the pit, agitating the dark water with long staves. They are assisting in the gradual conjuration of a horrible new servant—the Huorglein— weaving flesh around centuries of bogen remains.
Skeletal Dog: The mound is one of several created by prehistoric inhabitants of the Table Downs (see also hexes 1201 and 1202). This one, a tomb of one of their chieftains, has been corrupted by the energies of the Nagwood.
Kul, Spirit, Seething 25′ Tall Turquoise Gyre of Spectral Energy Emitting Mindless Howls of Malice From a Multitude of Gaping Mouths, Terrible Swirling Vortex of Screams, Powerful Malevolent Priestess, Wicked Dangerous Priestess: The workers penetrate the stone barrier, unearthing the tomb of a powerful and malevolent priestess—Kul—who was magically bound and buried here in prehistoric times. Exposure to sun and air causes her wicker-crowned corpse to disintegrate, and her spirit erupts from the ground as a terrible swirling vortex of screams, attacking all present (see Spirit of Kul).
The Willing Sacrifice, Grave-Blackened Corpse, Reanimated Corpse: The mound is one of several created by prehistoric inhabitants of the Table Downs (see also hexes 1101 and 1201). This one was the resting place of a tribe member buried alive as a willing sacrifice in the ritual that entombed Kul, a wicked and dangerous priestess, in the mound in hex 1201. Over the millennia, Kul’s evil infected the sacrifice, whose reanimated corpse now roams the hex in search of mortal victims.
The Scoyfe Upper Being, Scrawny Man Cloaked in Tattered Bandages With a Moon-Like Face and Red-Rimmed Eyes, Bizarre Figure, Corpse-Like Man Draped in Lilies and Foul Mire Water: In life, the two were bandits who killed each other arguing over a sack of gold.
The Scoyfe Lower Being, Hulking Brute With Long Orange Hair and a Beard That Covers His Entire Body, Bizarre Figure, Corpse-Like Man Draped in Lilies and Foul Mire Water: In life, the two were bandits who killed each other arguing over a sack of gold.
The Moonlit Maw, Ghost, Horror, Spectral Image of a Ghastly Patchwork of Flesh and Fur Neither Man Nor Wolf, Beast, Spirit, Ghost of a Werewolf, Werewolf Ghost, Horrid Wolf-Like Monster: A spirit prowls the Weald at night: the ghost of a werewolf slain by Granny Wolfsbane (hex 1310), known as the Moonlit Maw.
The Descendant, 20′ Tall Vaguely Humanoid Agglomeration of Maggot-Riddled Corpses, Giant Hideous Being, Undead Amalgamation of Maggot-Filled Corpses: A 20′ tall, vaguely humanoid agglomeration of maggot-riddled corpses, animated by a lust for living flesh to meld with itself.
The Audrune Mathonwy, Embalmed, Tall Gaunt Human Man, Guardian: Consumed with self-hatred for what Endstone has made him, Mathonwy wishes to eradicate all other Embalmed.
The Embalmed: Those lost souls who have died near Endstone and been resurrected by its necromantic aura call themselves the “Embalmed.”
Endstone is a 15′ high monolith of greyish-green rock, veined with vivid crimson. It lies in a brush-choked part of the wood, half a mile from the hamlet.
Necromantic aura: Anyone who dies within a mile of the stone rises again as one of the Embalmed.
Bertha Bogborn, Embalmed, Hulking Embalmed Woman Some 500 Years Old With Blackened Skin Acid-Bleached Hair and Ossified Eyeballs With a Tendency to Fall Out: ?
Gray Mayble, Revenant, Wretched Crone With Grey Bloated Skin Sodden Algae-Ridden Hair Black Teeth and Bulging Eyes: Over a century ago, Mayble was a Blackeswell woman who fell in love with a priest and, after being spurned, drowned herself in the pool. The weird magic of the place transformed her into a revenant.
Animated Corpse: Magic Instrument Animation enchantment.
Skeleton: Magic Instrument Animation enchantment.
Ghosts of Smerne, Roiling Cluster of Colourless Vaporous Spirits With stretched Gaping Mouths Clawed Grasping Hands and Baleful Holes of Blackness Where Their Eyes Should Be, Ghosts: ?
Gallowgeist, Ragged Skeletal Remnants, Hateful Undead, Corpse: ?
Muttering Phantom, Humanoid Figure Composed of Tendrils of Mist and Eddies of Dead Leaves, Minor Ghost: ?
Bafflestone Thrall, Desiccated Corpse, Morose and Disconsolate Undead Wanderer: ?
Skeletal Dog, Corpse, Skeleton of a Large Dog, Dog Skeleton: ?
The Embalmed, Leper: ?
Undead, Undead Being, Undead Monster, Undead Creature, The Dead: ?
Revenant Corpse: ?
Spirit: ?
The Flayed Queen: ?
Shambling Undead: ?
Undead Plague: ?
Undead Servant: ?
Undead Servitor: ?
Undead Monk: Holy magic: Provides sustenance for the monks, and resurrects those who pass away. The latter power has sometimes misfired, causing some monks to return as mindless undead (cared for by the living monks).
Undead Inhabitant: ?
Incorporeal Undead: ?
Creature That Does Not Age: ?
Malevolent Undead: ?
Corporeal Undead Monster With Flesh: ?
Antler Wraith, Wraith: ?
Banshee: ?
Duchess Phespherine, The Banshee, Spirit, Howling Old Woman: The banshee: A hideous bronze statue of a howling old woman stands in a sequestered grove. It depicts Duchess Phespherine, who was drowned in a pool in the Frolicke four centuries ago and whose spirit is said to haunt the woods still.
Banshee, Bewildered Banshee: ?
Aged Elven Lady With Violet Eyes and White Frost-Clad Hair in an Extravagant Beehive: ?
Bog Corpse: ?
Bog Corpse, Former Inhabitant, Body, Undead Inhabitant: ?
The Phantom of the Pool, Demi-Plasm, Pale Spectral Human Woman, Guardian: Originally a high priestess of a Gwyrae sect, the Church trapped her spirit within the Staff of the Apostle, a powerful relic. When the Drune destroyed the staff here through the disenchantment ritual engraved on Gorthstone, she was released as a demi-plasm. The Drune then bound her to the pool to act as a guardian for the stone. She believes she can be freed by recreating the staff—practically, an impossibility. However, she can in fact be freed by performing the disenchantment ritual on the pool itself.
Ghost: A standing stone of great mystery and power lies to the north-east (1205). The site is haunted by the ghost of Lady Harrowmoor’s great-great-grandmother, who was murdered for her insolence at standing up to the Drune.
Ghost, Phantom: ?
Tom Rumbelow, Ghost of a Child, Ghostly Child, Small Boy: The inn was once the enchanted house of a powerful witch, Holstra Loom. When she died, her family interred her in the Hidden Bedroom. The Rumbelow children (see Nightly Hauntings) were slain by the witch’s spirit.
Mildred Rumbelow, Ghost of a Child, Ghostly Child, Coquettish Teenaged Waif: The inn was once the enchanted house of a powerful witch, Holstra Loom. When she died, her family interred her in the Hidden Bedroom. The Rumbelow children (see Nightly Hauntings) were slain by the witch’s spirit.
Greta Rumbelow, Ghost of a Child, Ghostly Child, Infant: The inn was once the enchanted house of a powerful witch, Holstra Loom. When she died, her family interred her in the Hidden Bedroom. The Rumbelow children (see Nightly Hauntings) were slain by the witch’s spirit.
Old Longsniver, Long-Nosed Ghost: ?
Dewidort of Smerne, Ghost, Faint Blue Spectral Human Gentleman With Pointed Moustaches, Phantom: In life, Dewidort was a notorious highwayman who terrorised travellers along Swinney Road, before being caught and hanged in Prigwort. His ghost now lingers in this hex, where his treasure is hidden, and haunts Swinney Road at night.
The phantom of this notorious highwayman has haunted the roads of the Wood since the village of his origin—situated in the wild moors north of Dolmenwood—was submerged in the black ooze of the ever-expanding bog.
Ghoul, Corporeal Undead Monster With Flesh: ?
Ghoul, Undead Inhabitant: ?
Gloam: ?
Mister Rag-n-Bone, Gloam, Swirling Noisome Gyre of Shrieking Decayed Crows, Gangly Pulsing Agglomeration of Tiny Broken Bones Wearing a Cloak of Rancid Feathers: ?
Headless Rider: ?
Jayne Turpentine, Headless Rider, Hateful Spirit of a Highway Robber, Pale Blue Phantom, Undead Inhabitant, Leader: ?
The Girl With Blue Lips, Lake Phantom, Spectral Little Human Girl, Notable Ghost: A spectral little human girl who hides amongst the rocks and brush along the shore, her skin pale and her lips oxygen-deprivation blue. She is the daughter of a woodsman who threw himself from the tallest of the cliffs, many years ago. She tragically drowned while looking for her father’s body. Now she roams the perimeter of the lake searching for his soul.
Red Henry, Red Eyes, Lake Phantom, Flickering Apparition of a Haggard Human Soldier With Glowing Red Eyes and Skin Stretched so Tight as to Reveal the Outline of His Skull, Notable Ghost: ?
Marsh Lantern: ?
Aquatic Form of Marsh Lantern, Twinkling Light, Light: ?
Phantom: ?
Humanoid Phantom: ?
Gaping Phantom: These are the souls of those who cast themselves from the cliffs, called here by insidious dreams promising occult power in the afterlife.
Gaping Phantom, Nameless Spirit: ?
Grinstead, Revenant, Undead Revenant, Necrophage: An undead revenant, originally a sadistic noble who developed a taste for human flesh. Dark-haired, tall, ashen-skinned, eyes a bloody red, seemingly in his late 20s. Dresses in finery, blackened with dirt. In undeath, can feed only on corpses that have received a consecrated burial.
Shade of a Child: This is a glimpse of the Flayed Queen, an undead being in the northern Table Downs whose influence, slowly spreading southwards into Dolmenwood, awakened the spirits of this tower.
Shade of a Child, Spirit: ?
The Grey King, Shade, Pale White Shade of an Aged Human Man Crowned and With a Beard to his Belly, Warden: The shade was once a mortal king and adept hunter, who befriended the fairy Duke Mai-Fleur (p30) and was granted eternal life (of a lingering sort) as warden of the entrance to the fairy road.
Skeleton: Mauve slime: Causes flesh to puff, bubble, and dissolve, inflicting 1d3 damage per Round. A character killed is reduced to a mauve-tinged skeleton which reanimates as a Chaotic undead monster after 1d6 Turns (skeleton—DMB).
Skeleton, Chaotic Undead Monster: ?
Colly, Sentient Skeleton, 5′4″ Tall Female Human Skeleton in Pristine Gleaming White Condition Her Forehead Subtly Engraved With Magical Runes, Skeletal Warden, Warden, Undead Servitor: Does not remember how she was created or who tasked her with the protection of the garden, but has vague memories of once living in a grand manor to the south.
Merridwyn Scymes, Skeleton, Blood-Caked Skeleton: Following a gruesome magical accident (see A Magical Miscalculation), the magician’s body has been split into three separate entities—her viscera, skeleton, and skin—the last of which killed her husband.
A Magical Miscalculation
Merridwyn Scymes lives an isolated existence, dominated by her research into matters of mutation and transformation. Several months ago, Berkmaster Baldricke of Lankshorn (p159), harbouring his fugitive grandson, commissioned the magician to attempt to cure the boy’s curse. Scymes believes the curse causes aspects of the boy’s personality to manifest as physical transformations, and that he can be cured by splitting his personality into separate physical forms.
A research mishap resulted in the magician herself splitting into the three entities that inhabit the hex today.
Skeleton, Skeletal Inhabitant: ?
Skeletal Minion: ?
Spectre: This is a glimpse of the Flayed Queen, an undead being in the northern Table Downs whose influence, slowly spreading southwards into Dolmenwood, awakened the spirits of this tower.
The miller was a necromancer who dwelt here with his coven of twelve apprentices. Religious zealots burned the building along with its inhabitants 1,000 years ago, but the spirit of the miller lingers in the evil tome hidden in the cellars.
Whipple, Lamb's Spirit, Smoky Form: ?
Auldweathe, Spectre, Phantom, Spirit, Servant: 9 phantoms known as the Auldweathe—the spirits of Braithmaids who elected to sacrifice their mortal lives in order to serve their king for all eternity.
The Phanatarch spends his days poring over old tomes, scrying in a Crystal Ball (p404), or consulting with Auldweathe—the spirits of 9 Braithmaids who in the ancient days of Drunedom sacrificed themselves to serve their king eternally (as spectres, DMB).
Spectre, Spirit of a Lord, Spirit: ?
Spectre, Spirit of a Lady, Spirit ?
Hulstra Loom, Spectre, Spirit: The inn was once the enchanted house of a powerful witch, Holstra Loom. When she died, her family interred her in the Hidden Bedroom.
Hidden bedroom: A gloomy attic space, long undisturbed. A woman’s skeleton lies in a neatly made bed, strewn with bundles of dried lavender and roses. If disturbed, the witch’s spirit rises as a spectre (DMB).
Spectre, Writhing Spectre, Spirit: ?
Wight: The mound is one of several created by prehistoric inhabitants of the Table Downs (see also hexes 1201 and 1202). This one, a tomb of one of their chieftains, has been corrupted by the energies of the Nagwood.
Wight, Corporeal Undead Monster With Flesh: ?
Wight, Corpse, Partially Mummified Corpse, Houndmistress, Chieftain: ?
Zombie: ?

Animation: Once a day, animates 1d6 corpses, skeletons, or household tools (e.g. rolling pins, brooms, scissors) within 30′. As long as the musician plays, they can command the animated subjects to perform any tasks desired. The subjects must remain within 30′. Subjects may be commanded to attack—see stats to the right.

 

[Voadam]

Dolmenwood Monster Book
Basic
Antler Wraith: Spirits of Drunes who betrayed their sect.
Banshee: Drifting, incorporeal shades of frost elf ladies cruelly slain in ancient wars with mortals.
Vengeful ghosts of frost elf women.
Bog Corpse: Sodden corpses of hapless mortals who died, accursed, in bogs and swamps. Inhabited by the spirits of marsh-fires, they rise to wreak death and jealous vengeance upon the living.
Upon a successful hit with a Damage Roll of 4 or greater, the bog corpse clasps its hands around the victim’s throat and begins to strangle them. The victim automatically suffers 1d6 damage per Round until the bog corpse is killed. A victim killed in this way is dragged into the bog and rises the following night as a bog corpse.
The bog corpses are the victims of ancient sacrifice, buried in the marsh to appease forgotten heathen deities.
A ramshackle hut ringed by marshland. The discarded bodies of victims deemed [by a shape-stealer] unfit to be copied have risen as 2d6 bog corpses (p17).
Raised from the bog by evil marsh-fires.
Warriors slain in the war against the Cold Prince.
Undead Audrunes: ?
Ghoul: Wretched corpses of those who died of famine in the wilds, risen as revenant undead, driven by voracious hunger.
A victim killed by [a vampire bat's] blood drain must Save Versus Doom or become a ghoul after 24 hours.
Gloam: ?
Headless Rider: Ghosts of highway robbers, disgraced knights, or bloodthirsty mercenaries who were brought to justice and executed.
Ghostly Mount: ?
Marsh Lantern, Wretched Soul of One Who Drowned Unconsecrated in a Marshy Pool, Hateful Spirit of One Who Drowned in a Marsh: Wretched souls of those who drowned unconsecrated in marshy pools.
The marsh lanterns are the bickering spirits of a family of pedlars. The rotting remains of their wagon lie half submerged in a swamp. The skeletons of two horses are slumped before it, still yoked.
Hateful spirits of those who drowned in a marsh.
Skeleton: Skeletal remains of mortals, reanimated by errant magic. Granted a s second life, they feast, drink, and make merry, savouring the wonders of the mortal world and living as they please.
Spectre, Incorporeal Spirit of a Mortal Who in Ages Long Past Worshipped Profane Deities of Death and Oblivion: Incorporeal spirits of mortals who, in ages long past, worshipped profane deities of death and oblivion. Forced by pride and evil pacts to linger in undeath, gloating over their riches.
Wight: An ivy-clad mausoleum—the resting place of a witch— standing amid the ruins of a graveyard. The door to the crypt is slightly ajar. There is a 2-in-6 chance that the woman interred here is now a wight (p89).
Corpses possessed by evil spirits.
A barrow constructed over a ley line. Inside, experiments performed on fresh corpses to create 1d3 servile wights (p89) have only been partially successful.
A collapsed barrow, now little more than an artificial hill built atop a lesser ley line. Flames burn green here, and slain humanoids have a 1-in-6 chance of rising as wights.
Antler Wraith, Sinister Spirit, Looming Humanoid Cloaked in Black With a Stag-Skull Head and Bony Claws, Servant of Grim Forgotten Gods: ?
Banshee, Drifting Incorporeal Shade of a Frost Elf lady Cruelly Slain in an Ancient War With Mortals, Vengeful Ghost of a Frost Elf Woman: ?
Bog Corpse, Poor Shambling Bastard: ?
Bog Corpse, Sodden Corpse of a Hapless Mortal Who Died Accursed in a Bog: ?
Bog Corpse, Sodden Corpse of a Hapless Mortal Who Died Accursed in a Swamp: ?
Greblin, Guardian of Radhd, Undead Audrunes, Shade: ?
Haygral, Guardian of Gorthstone, Undead Audrunes, Shade: ?
Mathonwy, Guardian of Endstone, Undead Audrunes: Undead and bound to the area of Endstone’s influence.
Mestmord, Guardian of Uruzzur, Undead Audrunes, Shade: ?
Ghoul, Wretched Corpse of One Who Died of Famine in the Wilds, Revenant Undead: ?
Emaciated Ghoul: ?
Gloam, Shadow-Wreathed Undead Entity Composed of the Corpses of Crow-Like Birds, Flock of Ragged Birds Formed of the Feathers Bones and Beaks of the Flock, Gaunt Man Formed of the Feathers Bones and Beaks of the Flock, Flock of Bickering Crows, Crows, Powerful Undead Monster, Flock of Ravens: ?
Headless Rider: ?
Ghostly Mount, Spectral Horse, Ghostly Mount, Ghostly Horse: ?
Marsh Lantern, Plaintive Visage Trapped in an Orb of Bobbing Ligh: ?
Marsh Lantern, Bickering Spirit: ?
Skeleton, Skeletal Remains of a Mortal: ?
Mindless Skeleton: 3-in-6 groups of skeletons are undead servitors created by dark magic (e.g. the arcane spell Animate Dead).
Mindless Skeleton, Undead Servitor: ?
Sentient Skeleton: ?
Spectre, Powerful Undead Monster, Ghostly Servant of a Profane Deity: ?
Wight, Interred Corpse Wreathed in Pale Flame Possessed by an Evil Spirit, Corpse Possessed By an Evil Spirit: ?
Wight, Servile Wight: ?
Undead: ?
Accursed Spirit: ?
Restless Corpse: ?
Incorporeal Undead: ?
The Descendant, Powerful Undead Monster: ?
Mindless Monster: ?

 

[Voadam]

Dolmenwood Player's Book
Basic
Animated Dead: Animate Dead spell.
Undead, Undead Monster, Undead Creature: ?
Undead Monster That Can Normally Only Be Harmed Only By Magical or Silver Weapons: ?
Silent Monster: ?
Guardian Undead: ?
Banshee: ?
Ghost: ?
Benign Ghost: ?
Vengeful Ghost: ?
Spectral Warrior: ?

ANIMATE DEAD
Duration: Permanent until slain
Range: 60′
Medium humanoid corpses or skeletons of the caster’s choosing rise as undead under the caster’s command.
Number: 1 corpse or skeleton per Level of the caster.
Stats: Whatever their capabilities during life, all created undead use the stats below. They are unable to use any special traits or powers (including spell casting) possessed in life.
Duration: The reanimating magic remains active until dispelled or until the undead are slain.
Animated Dead
Medium Undead—Mindless—Chaotic
Level 1 AC 12 HP 1d8 (4) Saves D12 R13 H14 B15 S16 Att Weapon (+0) Speed 20 Morale 12 XP 10
Undead: Silent before attacking. Immune to biological effects (e.g. disease, poison) and mind-affecting spells (e.g. Vapours of Dream, Paralysation, Dominate).