Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG
Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG
Dungeon Crawl Classics RPG
Un-Dead: Un-dead can mean “back from the grave,” but it can also mean “without a soul,” “eternal or undying,” and “surviving only by force of will alone.”
A necromancer may ultimately pursue eternal life via his own transformation into an un-dead.
Animate Dead spell 32+.
Un-Dead Crit 15.
Ghost: Ghosts are the spirits of the dead who cannot rest.
Despite their hostility, each ghost has its own reasons for retaining life in un-death, and yearns to be put to rest.
The ghost was murdered violently and yearns to avenge its death.
The ghost was buried apart from its spouse and wishes to be reunited with him or her.
The ghost died searching for its child.
The ghost was killed on a religious pilgrimage to a sacred location.
The ghost died in search of a specific object.
The ghost died on a mission for a superior. The nature of this mission could be military (e.g., to invade a nearby fort), religious (e.g., slay a vampire or convert a certain number of followers), civilian (e.g., carry a signed contract to a neighboring king), or something else.
It died (1d4) (1) naturally of old age, (2) in a terrible accident, (3) bravely in combat, (4) violently and seeks revenge.
Animate Dead spell 32+.
Un-Dead Crit 30+.
Ghoul: A ghoul is a corpse that will not die. Granted eternal locomotion by means of black magic or demoniac compulsion, these un-dead beasts roam in packs, hunting the night for living flesh.
A creature killed by a ghoul is usually eaten.
Those not eaten arise as ghouls on the next full moon unless the corpse is blessed.
Smaller ghouls of 1 HD or less are formed from the corpses of goblins or kobolds, and larger ghouls of up to 8 HD are formed from the corpses of ogres, giants, bugbears, and such.
Animate Dead spell 32+.
Un-Dead Crit 30+.
Lacedon: Animate Dead spell 32+.
Mummy: Draped in funereal wraps with misshapen lumps of preserved flesh shifting within, the mummy is a corpse preserved into un-death by strange oils, dangerous spices, and unknowable chants.
Animate Dead spell 32+.
Shadow: In the hoary depths of the Nine Hells, vengeful lich lords send damnable vassals on mortal errands. Thus born is the shadow: a simple-minded un-dead that materializes in the crepuscular hours lit by neither sun nor moon.
Animate Dead spell 32+.
Skeleton: Brittle bones held together by eldritch energies, skeletons are un-dead creatures raised from the grave to do disservice to the living.
The skeletons of larger or small creatures—from goblins to giants—may have less than 1 HD or up to 12 HD. Skeletons can be animated by many means, and some have special traits.
Animate Dead spell 16+.
Un-Dead Crit 30+.
Zombie: Chill Touch spell misfire.
Animate Dead spell 17+.
Un-Dead Crit 30+.
Lich: Animate Dead spell 36+.
Vampire: Animate Dead spell 36+.
Skeletal Rat Familiar: ?
Chill Touch
Level: 1 Range: Touch Duration: Varies Casting time: 1 action Save: Will vs. check
General This necromantic spell delivers the chill touch of the dead. The caster must spellburn at least 1 point when casting this spell.
Manifestation Roll 1d4: (1) the wizard’s hands glow blue; (2) the wizard’s hands turn black; (3) the wizard emits a strong odor of corruption; (4) the wizard’s hands appear skeletal.
Corruption Roll 1d8: (1) skin on caster’s face withers and dries out to give him a skull-like appearance; (2) skin on caster’s hands falls away to give him skeletal hands; (3) caster permanently glows with a sickly blue aura; (4) un-dead are attracted to caster and flock to him like moths; (5-6) minor corruption; (7) major corruption;
(8) greater corruption.
Misfire Roll 1d3: (1) caster shocks himself with necromantic energy for 1d4 damage; (2) caster shocks one randomly determined nearby ally for 1d4 damage; (3) caster sends a blast of necromantic energy into the
nearest corpse, animating it as an un-dead zombie with 1d6 hit points (if no nearby corpse, no effect).
1 Lost, failure, and worse! Roll 1d6 modified by Luck: (0 or less) corruption + misfire + patron taint; (1-2) corruption; (3) patron taint (or corruption if no patron); (4+) misfire.
2-11 Lost. Failure.
12-13 The caster’s hands are charged with negative energy! On the next round, the next creature the caster attacks takes an additional 1d6 damage. Un-dead creatures take an additional +2 points of damage.
14-17 The caster’s hands are charged with negative energy! On the next round, the caster receives a +2 to attack rolls, and the next creature the caster attacks takes an additional 1d6 damage. Un-dead creatures take an additional +2 points of damage.
18-19 The caster’s hands are charged with negative energy! For the next turn, the caster receives a +2 to attack
rolls, and every creature the caster attacks takes an additional 1d6 damage. Un-dead creatures take an additional +2 points of damage.
20-23 The caster’s hands are charged with negative energy! For the next turn, the caster receives a +2 to attack
rolls, and every creature the caster attacks takes an additional 2d6 damage. Un-dead creatures take an additional +2 points of damage.
24-27 The caster’s hands are charged with negative energy! For the next turn, the caster receives a +4 to attack
rolls, and every creature the caster attacks takes an additional 2d6 damage as well as 1d4 points of Strength loss. Un-dead creatures take an additional +4 points of damage.
28-29 The caster’s hands are charged with negative energy! For the next hour, the caster receives a +4 to attack rolls, and every creature the caster attacks takes an additional 2d6 damage as well as 1d4 points of Strength loss. Un-dead creatures take an additional +4 points of damage.
30-31 The caster’s hands are charged with negative energy! For the next hour, the caster receives a +6 to attack rolls, and every creature the caster attacks takes an additional 3d6 damage as well as 1d4 points of Strength loss. Un-dead creatures take an additional +6 points of damage.
32+ The caster’s body glows a sickly blue light as he crackles with withering necromantic energy. Any creature
within 10’ of the caster takes 1d6 damage each round it stays within the field, and un-dead creatures take 1d6+2 damage. Until the next sunrise, the caster receives a +8 bonus to all attack rolls, and every creature the caster attacks takes an additional 3d6 damage (with un-dead suffering an extra +8).
Animate Dead
Level: 3 Range: Touch Duration: Varies Casting time: 1 action Save: N/A
General The cleric calls upon the power of his deity to animate the rotted flesh and aged bones of slain creatures, creating mindless minions to serve his will and vex his enemies.
The number of un-dead and type created is determined by the spell check and the number and type of dead creatures available; i.e., a cleric can create skeletons from bare bones but needs a complete corpse to create a zombie. He cannot create more of either type than he has “raw materials” available regardless of the spell check (e.g., creating five skeletons when only three sets of bones are present).
The un-dead remain animated and under the cleric’s control for an hour or more, depending on the spell check. When the spell duration ends, the un-dead collapse into the raw materials from which they were created.
No cleric can control more than 4x his CL in Hit Dice of un-dead at any given time, but the cleric can “release” controlled un-dead to command other, possibly more powerful un-dead. Uncontrolled un-dead are likely to turn on their former master, however, so the cleric should be careful when releasing un-dead from his command.
The player should reference the statistics of un-dead given later in this book for a sense of what can be created with this spell, but these should serve as guidelines not limitations. The typical humanoid corpse will produce a 1 HD skeleton or a 3 HD zombie. But there are more powerful skeletons to be created by using the bones of a giant. This work includes stats for the following un-dead, and of course a creative cleric may animate additional types of his own design: ghost (page 413), ghoul (page 416), mummy (page 422), shadow (page 425), skeleton (page 426), and zombie (page 431).
Manifestation The air fills with the stench of corruption as the dead rise at the cleric’s touch.
1-15 Failure.
16 The cleric creates a single skeleton of up to 1 HD, provided the necessary raw materials are present. The skeleton remains animated for a full day.
17 The cleric creates a single zombie or skeleton of up to 3 HD, provided the necessary raw materials are present. The un-dead remains animated for a full day.
18-21 The cleric creates a number of skeletons or zombies (one or the other) equal to his CL in Hit Dice. For example, a level 5 cleric could create five skeletons (5 HD) or a single zombie (3 HD). If multiple corpses are available, the cleric must choose which type of un-dead he is creating; he cannot animate both skeletons and zombies with a single casting of the spell. Excess Hit Dice have no effect if they exceed the number of available corpses. The un-dead remain animated for a full week.
22-23 The cleric creates a number of skeletons or zombies equal to 2x his CL in Hit Dice. For example, a level 5 cleric could create 10 skeletons (10 HD) or 3 zombies (9 HD). If multiple corpses are available, the cleric must choose which type of un-dead he is creating; he cannot animate both skeletons and zombies with a single casting of the spell. Excess Hit Dice have no effect if they exceed the number of available corpses. The un-dead remain animated for a full month.
24-26 The cleric creates a number of skeletons or zombies equal to 2x his CL in Hit Dice. For example, a level 5 cleric could create 10 skeletons (10 HD) or 3 zombies (9 HD). If multiples types are available, the cleric can produce a mixture of un-dead provided their combined Hit Dice do not exceed 2x his CL or the number of available corpses. In the example above, the level 5 cleric could create three zombies (3 HD x 3 = 9 HD) and one skeleton (1 HD), or two zombies (3 HD x 2 = 6 HD) and four skeletons (1 HD x 4 = 4 HD). Excess Hit Dice have no effect if they exceed the number of available corpses. The un-dead remain animated for a full month.
27-31 The cleric creates a number of more formidable skeletons and zombies equal to 3x his CL in Hit Dice. He can choose to animate the mortal remains of larger creatures, creating skeletons and zombies with above-average HD. For example, a 5th level cleric could animate the skeletal remains of a giant lizard (3 HD) to create a 3 HD skeleton, or revivify a dead ogre (4 HD) to make a 4 HD zombie. He cannot animate a single creature with more Hit Dice in life than 2x his CL. If multiple corpses are available, the cleric can produce a mixture of un-dead provided their combined HD do not exceed his CL or the number of available corpses. These advanced un-dead retain none of their special abilities or movement means they possessed in life (no flight, breath weapons, etc.). The judge can rule that certain monster-types (demons, laboratory-born monstrosities, etc.) are exempt from reanimation. The un-dead remain animated for a full year.
32-33 The cleric creates a number of un-dead equal to 3x times his CL in Hit Dice. He may create any sort of unintelligent un-dead, provided the raw materials are available. This includes mummies, ghouls, ghosts, shadows, and other creatures, but excludes liches and vampires. He can also choose to animate the mortal remains of larger creatures, creating skeletons and zombies with above-average HD. For example, a 5th level cleric could animate the skeletal remains of a giant lizard (3 HD) to create a 3 HD skeleton, or revivify a dead ogre (4 HD) to make a 4 HD zombie. He cannot animate a single creature with more Hit Dice in life than 3x the cleric’s CL. If multiple corpses are available, the cleric can produce a mixture of un-dead provided their combined Hit Dice do not exceed three times his CL or the number of available corpses. Excess Hit Dice have no effect if they exceed the number of available corpses. The un-dead remain animated for a full year.
34-35 The cleric creates a number of un-dead equal to 4x times his CL in Hit Dice. He may create any sort of unintelligent un-dead, provided the raw materials are available. This includes mummies, ghouls, ghosts, shadows, and other creatures, but excludes liches and vampires. He can also choose to animate the mortal remains of larger creatures, creating skeletons and zombies with above-average HD. For example, a 5th level cleric could animate the skeletal remains of a troll (8 HD) to create an 8 HD skeleton or revivify a dead dragon (15 HD) to make a 15 HD zombie. He cannot animate a single creature with more Hit Dice in life than 3x the cleric’s CL. These advanced un-dead retain none of their special abilities or movement means they possessed in life (no flight, breath weapons, etc.). The judge can rule that certain monster-types (demons, laboratory-born monstrosities, etc.) are exempt from reanimation. If multiple corpse types are available, the cleric can produce a mixture of un-dead provided their combined Hit Dice do not exceed three times his CL or the number of available corpses. Excess Hit Dice have no effect if they exceed the number of available corpses. The un-dead remain animated permanently until killed or released from control.
36+ The cleric creates terrifying un-dead. He can animate any kind of un-dead, including intelligent undead such as liches and vampires, provided the raw materials are present and the correct rituals are performed. The created undead can be up to 4x his CL in Hit Dice. He can choose to animate the mortal remains of larger creatures, creating skeletons and zombies with above-average HD. If multiple corpse types are available, the cleric can produce a mixture of un-dead provided their combined Hit Dice do not exceed 4x his CL or the number of available corpses. In addition to their normal un-dead abilities and resistances, these animated dead can have strange traits. The character can pre-determine these traits with sufficient research, materials, and preparation, or the judge can roll to determine them randomly (e.g., refer to the table of special properties tables for skeletons on page 427). Animated dead of this type also retain special movement means at the judge’s discretion. For example, a zombie dragon could still fly on rotting wings, but a skeletal one lacking wing membranes could not. The un-dead remain animated permanently until killed or released from control.
