Undead Origins
Voadam
Legend
The Book of Metal
Pathfinder 1e
Undead Animal Companion: ?
Kobold Skeleton: Goblet of Gore magic item.
Half-Elf Zombie: Goblet of Gore magic item.
Half-Orc Zombie: Goblet of Gore magic item.
Elf Zombie: Goblet of Gore magic item.
Orc Zombie: Goblet of Gore magic item.
Dwarf Zombie: Goblet of Gore magic item.
Gnome Zombie: Goblet of Gore magic item.
Halfling Zombie: Goblet of Gore magic item.
Hobgoblin Zombie: Goblet of Gore magic item.
Gnoll Zombie: Goblet of Gore magic item.
Ogre Zombie: Goblet of Gore magic item.
Minotaur Zombie: Goblet of Gore magic item.
Fire Giant Zombie: Goblet of Gore magic item.
Hill Giant Zombie: Goblet of Gore magic item.
Spirit: Emperor of Murder's Ghostspawn Curse power.
Grandma: “Grandma” was a matron of the house. Many times did she comfort the family with her signature tea. She was slain when one of her grandsons turned against her, but thanks to the power of Amon, she never truly died.
Them: Whenever a humanoid dies within the House of Amon, its ghost rises within 1d4 weeks to join the manor’s spectral host known only as Them.
Nameless Ghoul: All that remains of Papa Emeritus’ flock are a group of Nameless Ghouls he’s raised up to replace his long lost worshippers.
Undying Crusader: The undying crusader was once a mortal hero whose order of righteous warriors suffered devastating losses in their pursuit of a resourceful and conniving foe. The order’s mission to bring their quarry to justice ended in dismal failure – as well as the crusader’s death. Yet such was the crusader’s resolve that he clung to this world after death, having vowed to continue his fight for justice for as long as the flame of life burns within the realms.
Undead: ?
Skeleton: Once per day, whenever the Noc-Lar remains stationary and channels its power for one minute, it can create any of the following effects in a mile radius:
- Animate all humanoid corpses as skeletons or zombies.
Reign of Madness spell.
Staff of Carnage magic item.
Zombie: Once per day, whenever the Noc-Lar remains stationary and channels its power for one minute, it can create any of the following effects in a mile radius:
- Animate all humanoid corpses as skeletons or zombies.
As a last resort when all other methods fail, They can enter and possess their own former bodies to go and fight. Their cadavers burst out from coffins in the manor basement (or graves in the backyard, etc) and begin shambling toward the party’s location (use the statistics for zombies except they have an Intelligence of 10).
Reign of Madness spell.
Goblet of Gore magic item.
Staff of Carnage magic item.
Human Zombie: Goblet of Gore magic item.
Ghost: ?
Ghoul: A humanoid who dies of ghoul fever rises as a ghoul at the next midnight; those who become a ghoul in this way retain none of their abilities possessed in life. They are not under the control of other ghouls, but they hunger for the flesh of the living and behave like a normal ghoul in all respects. A humanoid of 4 Hit Dice or more rises as a ghast.
Ghast: A humanoid who dies of ghoul fever rises as a ghoul at the next midnight; those who become a ghoul in this way retain none of their abilities possessed in life. They are not under the control of other ghouls, but they hunger for the flesh of the living and behave like a normal ghoul in all respects. A humanoid of 4 Hit Dice or more rises as a ghast.
Lich: ?
Wraith: ?
Reign of Madness
School conjuration (summoning); Level cleric/oracle 9, shaman 9, sorcerer/wizard 8, witch 8
Casting Time 1 round
Components V, S, M (crushed gemstones worth 6,666 gp)
Range long (400 ft. + 40 ft./level)
Effect 100-ft. radius storm of brutality
Duration concentration (maximum 5 rounds) (D)
Saving Throw see text; Spell Resistance yes
You call forth energy from the Planes of Mayhem to unleash waves of madness and destruction. Discordant screams echo across the battlefield forcing all creatures in the area to make a Will save or become confused for 1d4+3 rounds.
Each round you continue to concentrate, you suffer 3d6 damage (no save) and the spell generates additional effects as noted below. Each effect occurs on your turn.
2nd Round: Treads of iron and mechanical appendages reach out through the planes and smash up to one creature of your choice per three caster levels, dealing 10d8 bludgeoning damage. A creature targeted can attempt a Reflex save to avoid this damage. Creatures who fail their Reflex saving throw must also roll a Fortitude save; if they fail, they become stunned for 1 round.
3rd Round: Scorching fire rains from above, dealing 1d6 points of fire damage per caster level to all creatures in the area; a successful Reflex save halves this damage.
4th Round: A festering sickness takes hold over the area, affecting all living creatures with a disease of your choice unless they succeed on a Fortitude save, as per the Contagion spell.
5th Round: A wave of negative energy smothers all creatures in the area, dealing 1d6 points of negative energy damage per two caster levels. A successful Will save halves this damage. Furthermore, all applicable corpses in the area rise to become undead skeletons or zombies (randomly determined). Unlike with an Animate Dead spell, these undead are not under your control, and are instead hostile to all living creatures.
When the spell ends (regardless of how it ends), wracking pain surges through your form and you must immediately succeed on a Fortitude save against the spell DC or suffer a -4 penalty on attack rolls, skill checks, and ability checks for 1 hour.
Goblet of Gore
This jeweled chalice teems with profound and inexplicable carnage. Organs ooze from a pool of bubbling blood that cascades down the goblet's smooth surface.
Aura strong necromancy and transmutation
Artificers and magisters of the realms have accomplished many prodigious tasks, but nothing quite like the Goblet of Gore which could not have been made by mortal hand. Nay: such a twisted and profane artifact could have only been birthed in the horror-filled halls of Crystal Mountain, where evil takes its form....
Chambers of Blood: The Goblet of Gore can be permanently imprinted with corpses for use as everlasting components for Animate Dead and similar spells. A living creature slain within the last hour, who is a legal target for Animate Dead or Create Undead, can be stuffed into the goblet. Once stuffed, the Goblet slurps the remains into its bowels and thereafter the wielder of the Goblet can treat any imprinted corpse type as a corpse component for Animate Dead and Create Undead, with an unlimited number of corpses available. For example, if the Goblet was stuffed with a kobold, a 5th level Cleric casting Animate Dead could create 10 kobold skeletons using the Goblet. Note that, while there is no limit to how many corpses can be imprinted into the Goblet of Gore, the wielder of the Goblet can only use it for corpses they have personally stuffed into it; the corpse of a long-dead race interred by some ancient user will not be available to a different wielder in another time.
Zombie Ritual: Even a character with no necromantic powers of their own can create zombies by merely drinking from the Goblet of Gore. Drinking from the goblet is a standard action and, unless the character is immune to disease, they must succeed on a Fortitude save (DC 15) or become nauseated for 1 round and sickened for 2d6 hours as their intestines reel with horror at their newfound ingestion. Regardless of success or failure, the character immediately vomits forth a writhing stream of blood and guts that coalesces into fully formed zombies within mere seconds. This instantly creates a number of 4 HD humanoid zombies equal to 1/2 the imbiber's Hit Dice under the imbiber's control. As the zombies animate, this temporarily suspends the flow of the goblet so that it stops spewing succulent sinews and loses the ability to perform Zombie Rituals. After 8 hours, any remaining zombies melt into goo and the goblet can create zombies this way again.
When creating zombies, the DM either chooses the species of zombie that manifests or decides by rolling on the table below.
1-45: Human 76-80: Halfling
46-50: Half-elf 81-85: Hobgoblin
51-55: Half-orc 86-90: Gnoll
56-60: Elf 91-93: Ogre
61-65: Orc 94-96: Minotaur*
66-70: Dwarf 97-99: Fire giant*
71-75: Gnome 100: Other*
*Since these zombies would have more than 4 HD, the DM may wish to adjust the number of zombies created accordingly. For example, a 6th level character who would normally create three 4 HD zombies should only be able to create two 6 HD minotaur zombies, or one 12 HD hill giant zombie. The Goblet of Gore always creates at least one zombie this way, even if it would be too powerful for a necromancer of that level to control. Zombies created in excess of twice the character's hit dice might spurn his naive attempts at control and go on an indiscriminate brain-eating rampage. Undead created by Zombie Rituals do not count against the character's control limit of undead from other spells and class abilities.
Staff of Carnage
Images of severed limbs and viscera decorate this obsidian staff, which is perpetually warm, slick and slimy to the touch.
Aura strong necromancy and transmutation; CL 15th; Price 235,000 gp
The first Staff of Carnage was created by a cabal of Brutalmancers who, once again borrowing essence from the Planes of Mayhem, sought to make a relic that would invoke the most savage and violent dweomers known to wizardry. Given how staves of this nature circulated through the realms causing scenes of maddening horror, it’s no surprise that various cults and dark powers would catch on to the secrets of their construction. Those who spread the knowledge of the staff’s craftsmanship, however, do so with a stern warning - for it is understood that somewhere in the creation process, something else, far beyond the accounting or purview of the original artificer, slips in… and waits to claim a short-sighted wielder.
As a magic staff, this item allows the use of the following spells:
• Hunger for Flesh (1 charge)
• Symbol of Exsanguination (1 charge)
• Undead Anatomy I (1 charge)
• FleshWall (2 charges)
• Raining Blood (2 charges)
• Undead Anatomy III (2 charges)
• Death Clutch (3 charges)
• Undead Anatomy IV (3 charges)
• Massacre (5 charges)
As a weapon, a Staff of Carnage functions as a +2 vicious wounding quarterstaff. A Staff of Carnage also emits a 30’ radius aura of gratuitous violence, increasing the damage multiplier for all critical hits by one (this affects both allies and enemies). Furthermore, any creature slain within the aura dies in the most bloody and grotesque way imaginable for their cause of death.
As a standard action, the wielder may break the Staff of Carnage to release a nova of profound violence. The nova spreads out in all directions for a number of feet equal to 5 times the staff’s remaining charges (so a staff with 40 charges would create a nova out to 200 feet). All creatures in the area become slathered in necrotic energy, suffering 666 points of damage; half of this damage is negative energy, and the other half is sheer, destructive power. A successful Will save (DC 27) reduces the damage by half. If the Staff of Carnage has 20 or more charges left at the time of its destruction, creatures reduced to 0 hit points or fewer are killed and instantly reanimated as zombies or skeletons (if they would normally leave behind remains suitable for raising such creatures). If the Staff of Carnage has less than 20 charges, creatures reduced to 0 hit points or fewer are merely killed with their bodies being reduced to questionable piles of bone and goo.
Any wielder foolish and desperate enough to break a Staff of Carnage has a 50% chance of merely being eradicated in a legendarily gruesome and spectacular fashion, but if they do not, they instead become transformed into a monstrous, omnicidal abomination that exists between life and death; alternatively, they might be whisked away into the darkness between planes where they are awaited by an unspeakable fate, far worse than destruction.
Construction Requirements
Craft Magic Arms and Armor, Craft Staff, death clutch, flesh wall, hunger for flesh, massacre, raining blood, symbol of exsanguination, undead anatomy IV; Cost 117,500 gp
Ghostspawn Curse (Su): Once per day, the Emperor of Murder can place a terrible curse upon a living creature which may cause a ghost of them to rise against their former allies. As a swift action, the Emperor of Murder chooses a single living creature within 100 feet; that creature must succeed on a Will save (DC 26) or be affected by the curse for 3 rounds. At the start of each of their rounds, the creature suffers 1 point of negative energy damage per hit die they possess. If the creature is reduced to 0 hit points during the curse’s duration, they are instantly killed and their lifeforce is used to animate a spirit which rises over the spot of their death. The save DC is Charisma-based.
This spirit fights like a lesser version of the slain creature. It functions almost identically to a duplicate created by the Simulacrum spell, with the following differences:
Unlike an illusory duplicate, this spirit is very real. It gains the undead type and incorporeal subtype. It resembles the original’s likeness, including the armor and clothing worn when the original creature was killed, but has a pale, ghostly hue that clearly sets it apart. The spirit is completely under the Emperor of Murder’s control; while it may be intelligent, it is devoid of free will and personality and serves only to inflict pain and destruction for the Emperor.
The spirit rises with a spectral copy of any weapon or implement that the original creature was holding when it died (if applicable). If this results in the spirit possessing a manufactured weapon, that weapon functions as a +1 Ghost Touch weapon of its type. The spirit’s natural attacks are likewise treated as magic for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction, and as though they had the Ghost Touch special quality. Magical items the creature may have held (such as staves or wands) do not otherwise retain their properties or serve any function in the spirit’s hands.
After 1 minute, or if reduced to 0 hit points, the spirit dissipates with a hoarse wail along with any equipment that had been created with it. While the spirit is animate, the slain creature cannot be brought back to life, and the Emperor of Murder gains a +4 profane bonus to Strength and Charisma.
Pathfinder 1e
Undead Animal Companion: ?
Kobold Skeleton: Goblet of Gore magic item.
Half-Elf Zombie: Goblet of Gore magic item.
Half-Orc Zombie: Goblet of Gore magic item.
Elf Zombie: Goblet of Gore magic item.
Orc Zombie: Goblet of Gore magic item.
Dwarf Zombie: Goblet of Gore magic item.
Gnome Zombie: Goblet of Gore magic item.
Halfling Zombie: Goblet of Gore magic item.
Hobgoblin Zombie: Goblet of Gore magic item.
Gnoll Zombie: Goblet of Gore magic item.
Ogre Zombie: Goblet of Gore magic item.
Minotaur Zombie: Goblet of Gore magic item.
Fire Giant Zombie: Goblet of Gore magic item.
Hill Giant Zombie: Goblet of Gore magic item.
Spirit: Emperor of Murder's Ghostspawn Curse power.
Grandma: “Grandma” was a matron of the house. Many times did she comfort the family with her signature tea. She was slain when one of her grandsons turned against her, but thanks to the power of Amon, she never truly died.
Them: Whenever a humanoid dies within the House of Amon, its ghost rises within 1d4 weeks to join the manor’s spectral host known only as Them.
Nameless Ghoul: All that remains of Papa Emeritus’ flock are a group of Nameless Ghouls he’s raised up to replace his long lost worshippers.
Undying Crusader: The undying crusader was once a mortal hero whose order of righteous warriors suffered devastating losses in their pursuit of a resourceful and conniving foe. The order’s mission to bring their quarry to justice ended in dismal failure – as well as the crusader’s death. Yet such was the crusader’s resolve that he clung to this world after death, having vowed to continue his fight for justice for as long as the flame of life burns within the realms.
Undead: ?
Skeleton: Once per day, whenever the Noc-Lar remains stationary and channels its power for one minute, it can create any of the following effects in a mile radius:
- Animate all humanoid corpses as skeletons or zombies.
Reign of Madness spell.
Staff of Carnage magic item.
Zombie: Once per day, whenever the Noc-Lar remains stationary and channels its power for one minute, it can create any of the following effects in a mile radius:
- Animate all humanoid corpses as skeletons or zombies.
As a last resort when all other methods fail, They can enter and possess their own former bodies to go and fight. Their cadavers burst out from coffins in the manor basement (or graves in the backyard, etc) and begin shambling toward the party’s location (use the statistics for zombies except they have an Intelligence of 10).
Reign of Madness spell.
Goblet of Gore magic item.
Staff of Carnage magic item.
Human Zombie: Goblet of Gore magic item.
Ghost: ?
Ghoul: A humanoid who dies of ghoul fever rises as a ghoul at the next midnight; those who become a ghoul in this way retain none of their abilities possessed in life. They are not under the control of other ghouls, but they hunger for the flesh of the living and behave like a normal ghoul in all respects. A humanoid of 4 Hit Dice or more rises as a ghast.
Ghast: A humanoid who dies of ghoul fever rises as a ghoul at the next midnight; those who become a ghoul in this way retain none of their abilities possessed in life. They are not under the control of other ghouls, but they hunger for the flesh of the living and behave like a normal ghoul in all respects. A humanoid of 4 Hit Dice or more rises as a ghast.
Lich: ?
Wraith: ?
Reign of Madness
School conjuration (summoning); Level cleric/oracle 9, shaman 9, sorcerer/wizard 8, witch 8
Casting Time 1 round
Components V, S, M (crushed gemstones worth 6,666 gp)
Range long (400 ft. + 40 ft./level)
Effect 100-ft. radius storm of brutality
Duration concentration (maximum 5 rounds) (D)
Saving Throw see text; Spell Resistance yes
You call forth energy from the Planes of Mayhem to unleash waves of madness and destruction. Discordant screams echo across the battlefield forcing all creatures in the area to make a Will save or become confused for 1d4+3 rounds.
Each round you continue to concentrate, you suffer 3d6 damage (no save) and the spell generates additional effects as noted below. Each effect occurs on your turn.
2nd Round: Treads of iron and mechanical appendages reach out through the planes and smash up to one creature of your choice per three caster levels, dealing 10d8 bludgeoning damage. A creature targeted can attempt a Reflex save to avoid this damage. Creatures who fail their Reflex saving throw must also roll a Fortitude save; if they fail, they become stunned for 1 round.
3rd Round: Scorching fire rains from above, dealing 1d6 points of fire damage per caster level to all creatures in the area; a successful Reflex save halves this damage.
4th Round: A festering sickness takes hold over the area, affecting all living creatures with a disease of your choice unless they succeed on a Fortitude save, as per the Contagion spell.
5th Round: A wave of negative energy smothers all creatures in the area, dealing 1d6 points of negative energy damage per two caster levels. A successful Will save halves this damage. Furthermore, all applicable corpses in the area rise to become undead skeletons or zombies (randomly determined). Unlike with an Animate Dead spell, these undead are not under your control, and are instead hostile to all living creatures.
When the spell ends (regardless of how it ends), wracking pain surges through your form and you must immediately succeed on a Fortitude save against the spell DC or suffer a -4 penalty on attack rolls, skill checks, and ability checks for 1 hour.
Goblet of Gore
This jeweled chalice teems with profound and inexplicable carnage. Organs ooze from a pool of bubbling blood that cascades down the goblet's smooth surface.
Aura strong necromancy and transmutation
Artificers and magisters of the realms have accomplished many prodigious tasks, but nothing quite like the Goblet of Gore which could not have been made by mortal hand. Nay: such a twisted and profane artifact could have only been birthed in the horror-filled halls of Crystal Mountain, where evil takes its form....
Chambers of Blood: The Goblet of Gore can be permanently imprinted with corpses for use as everlasting components for Animate Dead and similar spells. A living creature slain within the last hour, who is a legal target for Animate Dead or Create Undead, can be stuffed into the goblet. Once stuffed, the Goblet slurps the remains into its bowels and thereafter the wielder of the Goblet can treat any imprinted corpse type as a corpse component for Animate Dead and Create Undead, with an unlimited number of corpses available. For example, if the Goblet was stuffed with a kobold, a 5th level Cleric casting Animate Dead could create 10 kobold skeletons using the Goblet. Note that, while there is no limit to how many corpses can be imprinted into the Goblet of Gore, the wielder of the Goblet can only use it for corpses they have personally stuffed into it; the corpse of a long-dead race interred by some ancient user will not be available to a different wielder in another time.
Zombie Ritual: Even a character with no necromantic powers of their own can create zombies by merely drinking from the Goblet of Gore. Drinking from the goblet is a standard action and, unless the character is immune to disease, they must succeed on a Fortitude save (DC 15) or become nauseated for 1 round and sickened for 2d6 hours as their intestines reel with horror at their newfound ingestion. Regardless of success or failure, the character immediately vomits forth a writhing stream of blood and guts that coalesces into fully formed zombies within mere seconds. This instantly creates a number of 4 HD humanoid zombies equal to 1/2 the imbiber's Hit Dice under the imbiber's control. As the zombies animate, this temporarily suspends the flow of the goblet so that it stops spewing succulent sinews and loses the ability to perform Zombie Rituals. After 8 hours, any remaining zombies melt into goo and the goblet can create zombies this way again.
When creating zombies, the DM either chooses the species of zombie that manifests or decides by rolling on the table below.
1-45: Human 76-80: Halfling
46-50: Half-elf 81-85: Hobgoblin
51-55: Half-orc 86-90: Gnoll
56-60: Elf 91-93: Ogre
61-65: Orc 94-96: Minotaur*
66-70: Dwarf 97-99: Fire giant*
71-75: Gnome 100: Other*
*Since these zombies would have more than 4 HD, the DM may wish to adjust the number of zombies created accordingly. For example, a 6th level character who would normally create three 4 HD zombies should only be able to create two 6 HD minotaur zombies, or one 12 HD hill giant zombie. The Goblet of Gore always creates at least one zombie this way, even if it would be too powerful for a necromancer of that level to control. Zombies created in excess of twice the character's hit dice might spurn his naive attempts at control and go on an indiscriminate brain-eating rampage. Undead created by Zombie Rituals do not count against the character's control limit of undead from other spells and class abilities.
Staff of Carnage
Images of severed limbs and viscera decorate this obsidian staff, which is perpetually warm, slick and slimy to the touch.
Aura strong necromancy and transmutation; CL 15th; Price 235,000 gp
The first Staff of Carnage was created by a cabal of Brutalmancers who, once again borrowing essence from the Planes of Mayhem, sought to make a relic that would invoke the most savage and violent dweomers known to wizardry. Given how staves of this nature circulated through the realms causing scenes of maddening horror, it’s no surprise that various cults and dark powers would catch on to the secrets of their construction. Those who spread the knowledge of the staff’s craftsmanship, however, do so with a stern warning - for it is understood that somewhere in the creation process, something else, far beyond the accounting or purview of the original artificer, slips in… and waits to claim a short-sighted wielder.
As a magic staff, this item allows the use of the following spells:
• Hunger for Flesh (1 charge)
• Symbol of Exsanguination (1 charge)
• Undead Anatomy I (1 charge)
• FleshWall (2 charges)
• Raining Blood (2 charges)
• Undead Anatomy III (2 charges)
• Death Clutch (3 charges)
• Undead Anatomy IV (3 charges)
• Massacre (5 charges)
As a weapon, a Staff of Carnage functions as a +2 vicious wounding quarterstaff. A Staff of Carnage also emits a 30’ radius aura of gratuitous violence, increasing the damage multiplier for all critical hits by one (this affects both allies and enemies). Furthermore, any creature slain within the aura dies in the most bloody and grotesque way imaginable for their cause of death.
As a standard action, the wielder may break the Staff of Carnage to release a nova of profound violence. The nova spreads out in all directions for a number of feet equal to 5 times the staff’s remaining charges (so a staff with 40 charges would create a nova out to 200 feet). All creatures in the area become slathered in necrotic energy, suffering 666 points of damage; half of this damage is negative energy, and the other half is sheer, destructive power. A successful Will save (DC 27) reduces the damage by half. If the Staff of Carnage has 20 or more charges left at the time of its destruction, creatures reduced to 0 hit points or fewer are killed and instantly reanimated as zombies or skeletons (if they would normally leave behind remains suitable for raising such creatures). If the Staff of Carnage has less than 20 charges, creatures reduced to 0 hit points or fewer are merely killed with their bodies being reduced to questionable piles of bone and goo.
Any wielder foolish and desperate enough to break a Staff of Carnage has a 50% chance of merely being eradicated in a legendarily gruesome and spectacular fashion, but if they do not, they instead become transformed into a monstrous, omnicidal abomination that exists between life and death; alternatively, they might be whisked away into the darkness between planes where they are awaited by an unspeakable fate, far worse than destruction.
Construction Requirements
Craft Magic Arms and Armor, Craft Staff, death clutch, flesh wall, hunger for flesh, massacre, raining blood, symbol of exsanguination, undead anatomy IV; Cost 117,500 gp
Ghostspawn Curse (Su): Once per day, the Emperor of Murder can place a terrible curse upon a living creature which may cause a ghost of them to rise against their former allies. As a swift action, the Emperor of Murder chooses a single living creature within 100 feet; that creature must succeed on a Will save (DC 26) or be affected by the curse for 3 rounds. At the start of each of their rounds, the creature suffers 1 point of negative energy damage per hit die they possess. If the creature is reduced to 0 hit points during the curse’s duration, they are instantly killed and their lifeforce is used to animate a spirit which rises over the spot of their death. The save DC is Charisma-based.
This spirit fights like a lesser version of the slain creature. It functions almost identically to a duplicate created by the Simulacrum spell, with the following differences:
Unlike an illusory duplicate, this spirit is very real. It gains the undead type and incorporeal subtype. It resembles the original’s likeness, including the armor and clothing worn when the original creature was killed, but has a pale, ghostly hue that clearly sets it apart. The spirit is completely under the Emperor of Murder’s control; while it may be intelligent, it is devoid of free will and personality and serves only to inflict pain and destruction for the Emperor.
The spirit rises with a spectral copy of any weapon or implement that the original creature was holding when it died (if applicable). If this results in the spirit possessing a manufactured weapon, that weapon functions as a +1 Ghost Touch weapon of its type. The spirit’s natural attacks are likewise treated as magic for the purpose of overcoming damage reduction, and as though they had the Ghost Touch special quality. Magical items the creature may have held (such as staves or wands) do not otherwise retain their properties or serve any function in the spirit’s hands.
After 1 minute, or if reduced to 0 hit points, the spirit dissipates with a hoarse wail along with any equipment that had been created with it. While the spirit is animate, the slain creature cannot be brought back to life, and the Emperor of Murder gains a +4 profane bonus to Strength and Charisma.
Voadam
Legend
The Drowned (CR 5): an Unsettling Encounter for Pathfinder and 5E
Pathfinder 1e
Drowned: Formed by the tormented souls of those who became trapped underwater and drowned, the Drowned are forever imprisoned in their most desperate moment of agony and seek only the momentary release the stolen breath of the living might offer them, however fleeting…
Pathfinder 1e
Drowned: Formed by the tormented souls of those who became trapped underwater and drowned, the Drowned are forever imprisoned in their most desperate moment of agony and seek only the momentary release the stolen breath of the living might offer them, however fleeting…
Voadam
Legend
Viridian Legacy GM's Guide
Pathfinder 1e
Taraathalorm Wormmother, Green Dragon Ghost: A green dragon long dead but clinging to the world as a vengeful ghost.
Pathfinder 1e
Taraathalorm Wormmother, Green Dragon Ghost: A green dragon long dead but clinging to the world as a vengeful ghost.
Voadam
Legend
Voadam
Legend
Complete Arcane
3.5
Spellstitched: Spellstitched creatures are undead that have been powerfully enhanced and fortified by arcane means.
Spellstitched creatures can be created only by a wizard or sorcerer with the Craft Wondrous Item feat and of sufficient level to cast the spells to be imbued within the undead’s body. The creation process takes a number of days equal to the Wisdom score of the undead creature being spellstitched (so a minimum of 10 days) and requires the expenditure of 1,000 gp for carving or tattooing materials in addition to 500 XP x the undead creature’s Wisdom score.
Undead with arcane spellcasting abilities can spellstitch themselves.
“Spellstitched” is an acquired template that can be added to any corporeal undead with a Wisdom score of 10 or higher (referred to hereafter as the base creature).
Spellstitched Ghast: ?
Spellstitched Skeleton: ?
Vecna, The Whispered One, The Maimed Lord: ?
Skeleton: The Dead Walk warlock lesser invocation.
Zombie: The Dead Walk warlock lesser invocation.
Bodak: ?
Ghoul: ?
Ghast: ?
Devourer: ?
Lich: ?
Nightshade: ?
Undead: ?
Vampire: ?
Ghost: ?
THE DEAD WALK
Lesser; 4th
You can turn the bones or bodies of dead creatures into undead skeletons or zombies (as the animate dead spell). Unless you include the normal material component for the spell (an onyx gem worth 25 gp per Hit Die of the undead) as part of the process, undead created by this ability crumble into dust after 1 minute per caster level.
3.5
Spellstitched: Spellstitched creatures are undead that have been powerfully enhanced and fortified by arcane means.
Spellstitched creatures can be created only by a wizard or sorcerer with the Craft Wondrous Item feat and of sufficient level to cast the spells to be imbued within the undead’s body. The creation process takes a number of days equal to the Wisdom score of the undead creature being spellstitched (so a minimum of 10 days) and requires the expenditure of 1,000 gp for carving or tattooing materials in addition to 500 XP x the undead creature’s Wisdom score.
Undead with arcane spellcasting abilities can spellstitch themselves.
“Spellstitched” is an acquired template that can be added to any corporeal undead with a Wisdom score of 10 or higher (referred to hereafter as the base creature).
Spellstitched Ghast: ?
Spellstitched Skeleton: ?
Vecna, The Whispered One, The Maimed Lord: ?
Skeleton: The Dead Walk warlock lesser invocation.
Zombie: The Dead Walk warlock lesser invocation.
Bodak: ?
Ghoul: ?
Ghast: ?
Devourer: ?
Lich: ?
Nightshade: ?
Undead: ?
Vampire: ?
Ghost: ?
THE DEAD WALK
Lesser; 4th
You can turn the bones or bodies of dead creatures into undead skeletons or zombies (as the animate dead spell). Unless you include the normal material component for the spell (an onyx gem worth 25 gp per Hit Die of the undead) as part of the process, undead created by this ability crumble into dust after 1 minute per caster level.
Voadam
Legend
Complete Divine
3.5
Skeleton Animal: Blighter's Undead Wild Shape power.
Blighter's Animate Dead Animal power.
Skeleton Animal Large: Blighter's Undead Wild Shape power 5th level.
Skeleton Animal Huge: Blighter's Undead Wild Shape power 9th level.
Zombie Animal: Blighter's Animate Dead Animal power.
Lich Wizard 15, Herald of Vecna: ?
Nightwalker, Herald of Nerull: ?
Vampiric Drow Cleric: ?
Vecna, God of Secrets, Maimed One: ?
Kas: ?
Undead: Nerull’s followers desecrate ancient tombs looking for lost lore, establish cults to provide willing food for vampires, and raise undead armies to terrify the world of the living.
The souls of characters who die in specific ways sometimes become undead.
Some undead such as vampires and wights create spawn out of a character they kill, trapping the soul of the deceased in a body animated by negative energy and controlled by a malign intelligence.
Allip: Those driven to suicide by madness become allips.
Not every suicide victim becomes an allip, and not everyone destroyed by absolute evil becomes a bodak; as with ghosts, the exact nature of the transformation is unknown.
Devourer: Create Greater Undead spell.
Ghost: Some souls gather incorporeal ectoplasm around themselves and become ghosts. This process often takes days or months. No one knows why some souls pass on to the Outer Planes and others are “stuck” where they die, but a typical ghost has an instinctive sense of why it specifically exists as a ghost rather than passing on. Usually there’s an unresolved situation that prevents the soul from resting in peace, such as a lover who hasn’t returned from a far-off war or a killer who hasn’t been brought to justice.
Not every suicide victim becomes an allip, and not everyone destroyed by absolute evil becomes a bodak; as with ghosts, the exact nature of the transformation is unknown.
Reading from the Scroll of Uncertain Provenance relic.
Ghoul: ?
Ghast: ?
Lich: liches are characters who’ve voluntarily transformed themselves into undead, trapping their souls in skeletal bodies.
Lich Wizard 11: ?
Mummy: The cleric can use create undead to turn these corpses into mummies.
Create Greater Undead spell from pestilence domain.
Nightshade: ?
Shadow: Create Greater Undead spell.
Skeleton: Zone of Animation feat.
Spectre: Create Greater Undead spell.
Vampire: Some undead such as vampires and wights create spawn out of a character they kill, trapping the soul of the deceased in a body animated by negative energy and controlled by a malign intelligence.
Vampire Monk 9/Shadowdancer 4: ?
Wight: Some undead such as vampires and wights create spawn out of a character they kill, trapping the soul of the deceased in a body animated by negative energy and controlled by a malign intelligence.
Wraith: Create Greater Undead spell.
Dread Wraith: ?
Zombie: Zone of Animation feat.
Zone of Animation [Divine] [Epic]
You can channel negative energy to animate undead.
Prerequisite: Cha 25, Undead Mastery, ability to rebuke or command undead.
Benefit: You can use a rebuke or command undead attempt to animate corpses within range of your rebuke or command attempt. You animate a total number of HD of undead equal to the number of undead that would be commanded by your result (though you can’t animate more undead than there are available corpses within range). You can’t animate more undead with any single attempt than the maximum number you can command (including any undead already under your command). These undead are automatically under your command, though your normal limit of commanded undead still applies.
If the corpses are relatively fresh, the animated undead are zombies. Otherwise, they are skeletons.
Undead Wild Shape (Sp): At 3rd level, the blighter gains a version of the wild shape ability. Undead wild shape functions like the druid’s wild shape ability, except that the blighter adds the skeleton template to the animal form he chooses to transform into. The blighter’s animal form is altered as follows:
— Type changes to undead.
— Natural armor bonus is +0 (Tiny animal), +1 (Small), +2 (Medium or Large), or +3 (Huge).
— +2 Dexterity, no Constitution score.
— Immunity to cold.
— Damage reduction 5/bludgeoning.
The blighter gains one extra use per day of this ability at every even blighter level after 3rd. In addition, she gains the ability to take the shape of a Large skeletal animal at 5th level and a Huge skeletal animal at 9th level.
Animate Dead Animal (Sp): This ability, gained at 6th level, functions like an animate dead spell, except that it affects only corpses of animal creatures and requires no material component. It is usable once per day.
Scrolls of Uncertain Provenance: These bundles of rough parchment have long been associated with Wee Jas, although even her lorekeepers don’t know where the first ones came from. Their name is something of a misnomer: The scrolls of uncertain provenance are not spells stored in written form. Instead, they are a collection of death-obsessed writings in an unknown hand. Those who can command the lore with a set of scrolls of uncertain provenance, it is said, have power over life and death itself.
But there are several barriers to understanding the lore of the scrolls. To begin with, they’re written in nearly every language, ancient and modern, and they sometimes switch languages within the same sentence. One hour of reading allows a DC 20 Knowledge (religion) check to learn anything useful from the scrolls, with a +2 bonus for every language the reader speaks. Multiple readers can assist one another in translation, lending the languages they know automatically, but they share in the risk as well (detailed below). Read magic and comprehend languages spells don’t help a reader understand the scrolls, so cryptic are their wisdom. A reader—or at least one reader if a group is translating together—must worship Wee Jas to get anything at all from the scrolls.
The second barrier to reading scrolls of uncertain provenance is that the reader often draws near to the border between life and death himself. Whenever someone spends an hour reading scrolls of uncertain provenance, they must roll on the following table whether or not they learn anything useful.
d% Effect
01–10 DC 20 Will save or go insane (as the insanity spell).
11–30 DC 20 Will save or the scrolls bestow greater curse upon you.
31–60 DC 20 Will save to receive a geas/quest to perform for Wee Jas.
61–90 Take 1d6 negative levels as energy drain (DC 20 Fort save negates after 24 hours)
91–100 DC 20 Fortitude save or become a ghost for a year and a day.
While the risks of reading scrolls of uncertain provenance are great, so too are the rewards. A character who successfully reads from the scrolls for the listed time can choose from the following benefits.
Time Benefit
1 hour Renewal pact for yourself
2 hours Renewal pact for another
3 hours Death pact for yourself
4 hours Death pact for another
6 hours True resurrection (and the scrolls disappear)
To use this relic, at least one reader must worship Wee Jas and either sacrifice an 8th-level divine spell slot or have the True Believer feat and at least 15 HD.
Strong necromancy; CL 15th; Sanctify Relic, Craft Wondrous Item, death pact, renewal pact, true resurrection, creator must worship Wee Jas; Price 118,000 gp; Weight 10 lb.
3.5
Skeleton Animal: Blighter's Undead Wild Shape power.
Blighter's Animate Dead Animal power.
Skeleton Animal Large: Blighter's Undead Wild Shape power 5th level.
Skeleton Animal Huge: Blighter's Undead Wild Shape power 9th level.
Zombie Animal: Blighter's Animate Dead Animal power.
Lich Wizard 15, Herald of Vecna: ?
Nightwalker, Herald of Nerull: ?
Vampiric Drow Cleric: ?
Vecna, God of Secrets, Maimed One: ?
Kas: ?
Undead: Nerull’s followers desecrate ancient tombs looking for lost lore, establish cults to provide willing food for vampires, and raise undead armies to terrify the world of the living.
The souls of characters who die in specific ways sometimes become undead.
Some undead such as vampires and wights create spawn out of a character they kill, trapping the soul of the deceased in a body animated by negative energy and controlled by a malign intelligence.
Allip: Those driven to suicide by madness become allips.
Not every suicide victim becomes an allip, and not everyone destroyed by absolute evil becomes a bodak; as with ghosts, the exact nature of the transformation is unknown.
Devourer: Create Greater Undead spell.
Ghost: Some souls gather incorporeal ectoplasm around themselves and become ghosts. This process often takes days or months. No one knows why some souls pass on to the Outer Planes and others are “stuck” where they die, but a typical ghost has an instinctive sense of why it specifically exists as a ghost rather than passing on. Usually there’s an unresolved situation that prevents the soul from resting in peace, such as a lover who hasn’t returned from a far-off war or a killer who hasn’t been brought to justice.
Not every suicide victim becomes an allip, and not everyone destroyed by absolute evil becomes a bodak; as with ghosts, the exact nature of the transformation is unknown.
Reading from the Scroll of Uncertain Provenance relic.
Ghoul: ?
Ghast: ?
Lich: liches are characters who’ve voluntarily transformed themselves into undead, trapping their souls in skeletal bodies.
Lich Wizard 11: ?
Mummy: The cleric can use create undead to turn these corpses into mummies.
Create Greater Undead spell from pestilence domain.
Nightshade: ?
Shadow: Create Greater Undead spell.
Skeleton: Zone of Animation feat.
Spectre: Create Greater Undead spell.
Vampire: Some undead such as vampires and wights create spawn out of a character they kill, trapping the soul of the deceased in a body animated by negative energy and controlled by a malign intelligence.
Vampire Monk 9/Shadowdancer 4: ?
Wight: Some undead such as vampires and wights create spawn out of a character they kill, trapping the soul of the deceased in a body animated by negative energy and controlled by a malign intelligence.
Wraith: Create Greater Undead spell.
Dread Wraith: ?
Zombie: Zone of Animation feat.
Zone of Animation [Divine] [Epic]
You can channel negative energy to animate undead.
Prerequisite: Cha 25, Undead Mastery, ability to rebuke or command undead.
Benefit: You can use a rebuke or command undead attempt to animate corpses within range of your rebuke or command attempt. You animate a total number of HD of undead equal to the number of undead that would be commanded by your result (though you can’t animate more undead than there are available corpses within range). You can’t animate more undead with any single attempt than the maximum number you can command (including any undead already under your command). These undead are automatically under your command, though your normal limit of commanded undead still applies.
If the corpses are relatively fresh, the animated undead are zombies. Otherwise, they are skeletons.
Undead Wild Shape (Sp): At 3rd level, the blighter gains a version of the wild shape ability. Undead wild shape functions like the druid’s wild shape ability, except that the blighter adds the skeleton template to the animal form he chooses to transform into. The blighter’s animal form is altered as follows:
— Type changes to undead.
— Natural armor bonus is +0 (Tiny animal), +1 (Small), +2 (Medium or Large), or +3 (Huge).
— +2 Dexterity, no Constitution score.
— Immunity to cold.
— Damage reduction 5/bludgeoning.
The blighter gains one extra use per day of this ability at every even blighter level after 3rd. In addition, she gains the ability to take the shape of a Large skeletal animal at 5th level and a Huge skeletal animal at 9th level.
Animate Dead Animal (Sp): This ability, gained at 6th level, functions like an animate dead spell, except that it affects only corpses of animal creatures and requires no material component. It is usable once per day.
Scrolls of Uncertain Provenance: These bundles of rough parchment have long been associated with Wee Jas, although even her lorekeepers don’t know where the first ones came from. Their name is something of a misnomer: The scrolls of uncertain provenance are not spells stored in written form. Instead, they are a collection of death-obsessed writings in an unknown hand. Those who can command the lore with a set of scrolls of uncertain provenance, it is said, have power over life and death itself.
But there are several barriers to understanding the lore of the scrolls. To begin with, they’re written in nearly every language, ancient and modern, and they sometimes switch languages within the same sentence. One hour of reading allows a DC 20 Knowledge (religion) check to learn anything useful from the scrolls, with a +2 bonus for every language the reader speaks. Multiple readers can assist one another in translation, lending the languages they know automatically, but they share in the risk as well (detailed below). Read magic and comprehend languages spells don’t help a reader understand the scrolls, so cryptic are their wisdom. A reader—or at least one reader if a group is translating together—must worship Wee Jas to get anything at all from the scrolls.
The second barrier to reading scrolls of uncertain provenance is that the reader often draws near to the border between life and death himself. Whenever someone spends an hour reading scrolls of uncertain provenance, they must roll on the following table whether or not they learn anything useful.
d% Effect
01–10 DC 20 Will save or go insane (as the insanity spell).
11–30 DC 20 Will save or the scrolls bestow greater curse upon you.
31–60 DC 20 Will save to receive a geas/quest to perform for Wee Jas.
61–90 Take 1d6 negative levels as energy drain (DC 20 Fort save negates after 24 hours)
91–100 DC 20 Fortitude save or become a ghost for a year and a day.
While the risks of reading scrolls of uncertain provenance are great, so too are the rewards. A character who successfully reads from the scrolls for the listed time can choose from the following benefits.
Time Benefit
1 hour Renewal pact for yourself
2 hours Renewal pact for another
3 hours Death pact for yourself
4 hours Death pact for another
6 hours True resurrection (and the scrolls disappear)
To use this relic, at least one reader must worship Wee Jas and either sacrifice an 8th-level divine spell slot or have the True Believer feat and at least 15 HD.
Strong necromancy; CL 15th; Sanctify Relic, Craft Wondrous Item, death pact, renewal pact, true resurrection, creator must worship Wee Jas; Price 118,000 gp; Weight 10 lb.
Voadam
Legend
Voadam
Legend
Deadly Trappings
3.5
Maladren, Malagren, Garamen Sparkfinger, Gnome Lich: ?
Gramagorda, Lich: ?
Ghoul: ?
Undead: ?
Shadow: ?
Zombie: ?
3.5
Maladren, Malagren, Garamen Sparkfinger, Gnome Lich: ?
Gramagorda, Lich: ?
Ghoul: ?
Undead: ?
Shadow: ?
Zombie: ?
Voadam
Legend
Trove of Treasure Maps
3.5
Lucky Bob, Spectre: Lucky Bob was a well-known pirate who ravaged the sea lanes for many years. While robbing merchant vessels was profitable, Lucky Bob grew weary of the ordinary booty of trade goods available to him on the high seas. He plundered his share of merchant goods, arms and supplies over the years but he longed for that one big haul that would make him rich and let him retire to an easy life.
His greed and rumors of great treasure convinced him to travel inland to the Village of Golain. Golain was home to the Feerino family, who reputedly had a collection of fabulous jewels. Thus, he and his accomplice, Sal "Cutthroat" Sonog set out to Golain to begin their career as burglars. Golain was a tiny but well defended village that had a wooded wall surrounding it with several guard towers overlooking the homes and the surrounding land.
After staying at an inn in Golain for several days while they cased the home of the Feerino family, they concluded that it was too well defended to risk an ordinary break-in – the Feerinos maintained a large number of mercenary guards to man their towers and walls. But Lucky Bob’s partner in crime, Sonog, had an idea: if they could create a diversion, they could distract the family and the guards and he and Bob could sneak in to grab the jewels. This diversion had to be something big; some enormous spectacle that would draw everyone out of the Feerino mansion.
That was when Lucky Bob and Sonog decided to set fire to the farmer’s market on the east side of town. If the fire could be made large and impressive enough, every able-bodied hand in the village would be called into the bucket brigade, leaving the jewels unguarded.
Their plan worked. In fact, it worked so well that they obtained the Feerino jewels without so much as raising a sword. Unfortunately, their fire rampaged out of control. Many lives were lost as the conflagration consumed the entire village and much of the surrounding forest.
The unanticipated mass destruction presented a problem for the thieves. Surely refugees from the village would begin an exodus to neighboring settlements. They would likely seek shelter in the coastal Town of Tairid near where Lucky Bob’s pirate crew lay in wait for the return of their captain. The Golain disaster would bring a significant number of authorities sniffing around and that was the last thing the two men needed. So they decided to head further inland to lay low until the coast was clear. They fled to the tiny village of Terinoot.
What Lucky Bob and Sonog failed to realize was that the Feerino jewels bore a curse. This curse drove many of those who possessed the jewels over the years mad. For Lucky Bob and Sonog, already considered not entirely stable by many, this process progressed very quickly.
On the way to the village of Terinoot, the men passed through a forest of palm trees as the landscape became dryer. There, the strange birds in the trees seemed to heckle them with calls of "Lucky Bob, caw, not so lucky! Caw!" In the men’s minds the bizarre avians repeated this over and over, each time it grew louder and louder. When the men arrived in Terinoot, they could still hear the voices of the birds in their minds. "Lucky Bob, caw, not so lucky! Caw!" It was as if the birds were laughing at them.
They rented a room at an inn called the Sailor’s Last Bunk and nervously made plans to free themselves of their predicament. The men planned to hide the jewels and lay low, hoping that the incessant laughing of the birds in their heads would fade when the birds lost interest. Once free of the avian mockery, they would to return later with a magic-user or cleric who could dispel the supernatural forces that were surely at work here.
The men investigated the cellar of the inn for a good place to hide their booty. There in the cellar they found a stone cover over an old abandoned well. In years past, the inhabitants of the inn used the well for both water and brewing. But over time the well became fouled by excessive iron ore deposits in the surrounding rock and the water (and more importantly the beer) became rust colored and foul to the taste. Thus, the well was abandoned. The pirates climbed into the well and buried Lucky Bob’s prize in the wall of the well behind loose stones.
The ill-fated pair tried to retire for the night but neither of them slept soundly. They continued tossing and turning to the laughing of the birds in their heads and the mantra, "Lucky Bob, caw, not so lucky! Caw". The next morning the men set out to return to their ship.
By the time the men had reached the forest of the birds, Lucky Bob began blaming his companion for the maddening sounds. In a fit of insanity, he struck out at Sonog hoping to make the noises stop. By this time, Sonog too had begun to mistrust Lucky Bob and this attack pushed him over the edge. The two men struggled and Sonog bludgeoned Lucky Bob to death with a stone, shouting out all the while, "Lucky Bob, caw, not so lucky! Caw".
With the voices still in his head and Sonog fully gripped by the insanity of the curse of the Feerino jewels, he saw the blood and gore that spilled out of Lucky Bob’s remains and began to consume his former shipmate. As he tore into the flesh he was overjoyed to find that this grisly act began to quiet the voices in his head. With a renewed vigor he stripped the body to the bone hoping it would quell the voices permanently. Once his mind was quiet, he came to his senses and confronted the ever-growing horror of what he had done.
Shadow: ?
Skarrnid Swordwraith: ?
Huecuva: ?
Swordwraith: ?
Skeleton: By day their maker, Holbad the necromancer, has commanded them to conceal themselves in the marshes to avoid the appearance of foul play.
Zombie: By day their maker, Holbad the necromancer, has commanded them to conceal themselves in the marshes to avoid the appearance of foul play.
Hackmaster 4e
Huecuva: ?
Lucky Bob, Spectre: Lucky Bob was a well-known pirate who ravaged the sea lanes for many years. While robbing merchant vessels was profitable, Lucky Bob grew weary of the ordinary booty of trade goods available to him on the high seas. He plundered his share of merchant goods, arms and supplies over the years but he longed for that one big haul that would make him rich and let him retire to an easy life.
His greed and rumors of great treasure convinced him to travel inland to the Village of Golain. Golain was home to the Feerino family, who reputedly had a collection of fabulous jewels. Thus, he and his accomplice, Sal "Cutthroat" Sonog set out to Golain to begin their career as burglars. Golain was a tiny but well defended village that had a wooded wall surrounding it with several guard towers overlooking the homes and the surrounding land.
After staying at an inn in Golain for several days while they cased the home of the Feerino family, they concluded that it was too well defended to risk an ordinary break-in – the Feerinos maintained a large number of mercenary guards to man their towers and walls. But Lucky Bob’s partner in crime, Sonog, had an idea: if they could create a diversion, they could distract the family and the guards and he and Bob could sneak in to grab the jewels. This diversion had to be something big; some enormous spectacle that would draw everyone out of the Feerino mansion.
That was when Lucky Bob and Sonog decided to set fire to the farmer’s market on the east side of town. If the fire could be made large and impressive enough, every able-bodied hand in the village would be called into the bucket brigade, leaving the jewels unguarded.
Their plan worked. In fact, it worked so well that they obtained the Feerino jewels without so much as raising a sword. Unfortunately, their fire rampaged out of control. Many lives were lost as the conflagration consumed the entire village and much of the surrounding forest.
The unanticipated mass destruction presented a problem for the thieves. Surely refugees from the village would begin an exodus to neighboring settlements. They would likely seek shelter in the coastal Town of Tairid near where Lucky Bob’s pirate crew lay in wait for the return of their captain. The Golain disaster would bring a significant number of authorities sniffing around and that was the last thing the two men needed. So they decided to head further inland to lay low until the coast was clear. They fled to the tiny village of Terinoot.
What Lucky Bob and Sonog failed to realize was that the Feerino jewels bore a curse. This curse drove many of those who possessed the jewels over the years mad. For Lucky Bob and Sonog, already considered not entirely stable by many, this process progressed very quickly.
On the way to the village of Terinoot, the men passed through a forest of palm trees as the landscape became dryer. There, the strange birds in the trees seemed to heckle them with calls of "Lucky Bob, caw, not so lucky! Caw!" In the men’s minds the bizarre avians repeated this over and over, each time it grew louder and louder. When the men arrived in Terinoot, they could still hear the voices of the birds in their minds. "Lucky Bob, caw, not so lucky! Caw!" It was as if the birds were laughing at them.
They rented a room at an inn called the Sailor’s Last Bunk and nervously made plans to free themselves of their predicament. The men planned to hide the jewels and lay low, hoping that the incessant laughing of the birds in their heads would fade when the birds lost interest. Once free of the avian mockery, they would to return later with a magic-user or cleric who could dispel the supernatural forces that were surely at work here.
The men investigated the cellar of the inn for a good place to hide their booty. There in the cellar they found a stone cover over an old abandoned well. In years past, the inhabitants of the inn used the well for both water and brewing. But over time the well became fouled by excessive iron ore deposits in the surrounding rock and the water (and more importantly the beer) became rust colored and foul to the taste. Thus, the well was abandoned. The pirates climbed into the well and buried Lucky Bob’s prize in the wall of the well behind loose stones.
The ill-fated pair tried to retire for the night but neither of them slept soundly. They continued tossing and turning to the laughing of the birds in their heads and the mantra, "Lucky Bob, caw, not so lucky! Caw". The next morning the men set out to return to their ship.
By the time the men had reached the forest of the birds, Lucky Bob began blaming his companion for the maddening sounds. In a fit of insanity, he struck out at Sonog hoping to make the noises stop. By this time, Sonog too had begun to mistrust Lucky Bob and this attack pushed him over the edge. The two men struggled and Sonog bludgeoned Lucky Bob to death with a stone, shouting out all the while, "Lucky Bob, caw, not so lucky! Caw".
With the voices still in his head and Sonog fully gripped by the insanity of the curse of the Feerino jewels, he saw the blood and gore that spilled out of Lucky Bob’s remains and began to consume his former shipmate. As he tore into the flesh he was overjoyed to find that this grisly act began to quiet the voices in his head. With a renewed vigor he stripped the body to the bone hoping it would quell the voices permanently. Once his mind was quiet, he came to his senses and confronted the ever-growing horror of what he had done.
Animated Skeleton: By day their maker, Holbad the necromancer, has commanded them to conceal themselves in the marshes to avoid the appearance of foul play.
Common Zombie: By day their maker, Holbad the necromancer, has commanded them to conceal themselves in the marshes to avoid the appearance of foul play.
Shadow: ?
3.5
Lucky Bob, Spectre: Lucky Bob was a well-known pirate who ravaged the sea lanes for many years. While robbing merchant vessels was profitable, Lucky Bob grew weary of the ordinary booty of trade goods available to him on the high seas. He plundered his share of merchant goods, arms and supplies over the years but he longed for that one big haul that would make him rich and let him retire to an easy life.
His greed and rumors of great treasure convinced him to travel inland to the Village of Golain. Golain was home to the Feerino family, who reputedly had a collection of fabulous jewels. Thus, he and his accomplice, Sal "Cutthroat" Sonog set out to Golain to begin their career as burglars. Golain was a tiny but well defended village that had a wooded wall surrounding it with several guard towers overlooking the homes and the surrounding land.
After staying at an inn in Golain for several days while they cased the home of the Feerino family, they concluded that it was too well defended to risk an ordinary break-in – the Feerinos maintained a large number of mercenary guards to man their towers and walls. But Lucky Bob’s partner in crime, Sonog, had an idea: if they could create a diversion, they could distract the family and the guards and he and Bob could sneak in to grab the jewels. This diversion had to be something big; some enormous spectacle that would draw everyone out of the Feerino mansion.
That was when Lucky Bob and Sonog decided to set fire to the farmer’s market on the east side of town. If the fire could be made large and impressive enough, every able-bodied hand in the village would be called into the bucket brigade, leaving the jewels unguarded.
Their plan worked. In fact, it worked so well that they obtained the Feerino jewels without so much as raising a sword. Unfortunately, their fire rampaged out of control. Many lives were lost as the conflagration consumed the entire village and much of the surrounding forest.
The unanticipated mass destruction presented a problem for the thieves. Surely refugees from the village would begin an exodus to neighboring settlements. They would likely seek shelter in the coastal Town of Tairid near where Lucky Bob’s pirate crew lay in wait for the return of their captain. The Golain disaster would bring a significant number of authorities sniffing around and that was the last thing the two men needed. So they decided to head further inland to lay low until the coast was clear. They fled to the tiny village of Terinoot.
What Lucky Bob and Sonog failed to realize was that the Feerino jewels bore a curse. This curse drove many of those who possessed the jewels over the years mad. For Lucky Bob and Sonog, already considered not entirely stable by many, this process progressed very quickly.
On the way to the village of Terinoot, the men passed through a forest of palm trees as the landscape became dryer. There, the strange birds in the trees seemed to heckle them with calls of "Lucky Bob, caw, not so lucky! Caw!" In the men’s minds the bizarre avians repeated this over and over, each time it grew louder and louder. When the men arrived in Terinoot, they could still hear the voices of the birds in their minds. "Lucky Bob, caw, not so lucky! Caw!" It was as if the birds were laughing at them.
They rented a room at an inn called the Sailor’s Last Bunk and nervously made plans to free themselves of their predicament. The men planned to hide the jewels and lay low, hoping that the incessant laughing of the birds in their heads would fade when the birds lost interest. Once free of the avian mockery, they would to return later with a magic-user or cleric who could dispel the supernatural forces that were surely at work here.
The men investigated the cellar of the inn for a good place to hide their booty. There in the cellar they found a stone cover over an old abandoned well. In years past, the inhabitants of the inn used the well for both water and brewing. But over time the well became fouled by excessive iron ore deposits in the surrounding rock and the water (and more importantly the beer) became rust colored and foul to the taste. Thus, the well was abandoned. The pirates climbed into the well and buried Lucky Bob’s prize in the wall of the well behind loose stones.
The ill-fated pair tried to retire for the night but neither of them slept soundly. They continued tossing and turning to the laughing of the birds in their heads and the mantra, "Lucky Bob, caw, not so lucky! Caw". The next morning the men set out to return to their ship.
By the time the men had reached the forest of the birds, Lucky Bob began blaming his companion for the maddening sounds. In a fit of insanity, he struck out at Sonog hoping to make the noises stop. By this time, Sonog too had begun to mistrust Lucky Bob and this attack pushed him over the edge. The two men struggled and Sonog bludgeoned Lucky Bob to death with a stone, shouting out all the while, "Lucky Bob, caw, not so lucky! Caw".
With the voices still in his head and Sonog fully gripped by the insanity of the curse of the Feerino jewels, he saw the blood and gore that spilled out of Lucky Bob’s remains and began to consume his former shipmate. As he tore into the flesh he was overjoyed to find that this grisly act began to quiet the voices in his head. With a renewed vigor he stripped the body to the bone hoping it would quell the voices permanently. Once his mind was quiet, he came to his senses and confronted the ever-growing horror of what he had done.
Shadow: ?
Skarrnid Swordwraith: ?
Huecuva: ?
Swordwraith: ?
Skeleton: By day their maker, Holbad the necromancer, has commanded them to conceal themselves in the marshes to avoid the appearance of foul play.
Zombie: By day their maker, Holbad the necromancer, has commanded them to conceal themselves in the marshes to avoid the appearance of foul play.
Hackmaster 4e
Huecuva: ?
Lucky Bob, Spectre: Lucky Bob was a well-known pirate who ravaged the sea lanes for many years. While robbing merchant vessels was profitable, Lucky Bob grew weary of the ordinary booty of trade goods available to him on the high seas. He plundered his share of merchant goods, arms and supplies over the years but he longed for that one big haul that would make him rich and let him retire to an easy life.
His greed and rumors of great treasure convinced him to travel inland to the Village of Golain. Golain was home to the Feerino family, who reputedly had a collection of fabulous jewels. Thus, he and his accomplice, Sal "Cutthroat" Sonog set out to Golain to begin their career as burglars. Golain was a tiny but well defended village that had a wooded wall surrounding it with several guard towers overlooking the homes and the surrounding land.
After staying at an inn in Golain for several days while they cased the home of the Feerino family, they concluded that it was too well defended to risk an ordinary break-in – the Feerinos maintained a large number of mercenary guards to man their towers and walls. But Lucky Bob’s partner in crime, Sonog, had an idea: if they could create a diversion, they could distract the family and the guards and he and Bob could sneak in to grab the jewels. This diversion had to be something big; some enormous spectacle that would draw everyone out of the Feerino mansion.
That was when Lucky Bob and Sonog decided to set fire to the farmer’s market on the east side of town. If the fire could be made large and impressive enough, every able-bodied hand in the village would be called into the bucket brigade, leaving the jewels unguarded.
Their plan worked. In fact, it worked so well that they obtained the Feerino jewels without so much as raising a sword. Unfortunately, their fire rampaged out of control. Many lives were lost as the conflagration consumed the entire village and much of the surrounding forest.
The unanticipated mass destruction presented a problem for the thieves. Surely refugees from the village would begin an exodus to neighboring settlements. They would likely seek shelter in the coastal Town of Tairid near where Lucky Bob’s pirate crew lay in wait for the return of their captain. The Golain disaster would bring a significant number of authorities sniffing around and that was the last thing the two men needed. So they decided to head further inland to lay low until the coast was clear. They fled to the tiny village of Terinoot.
What Lucky Bob and Sonog failed to realize was that the Feerino jewels bore a curse. This curse drove many of those who possessed the jewels over the years mad. For Lucky Bob and Sonog, already considered not entirely stable by many, this process progressed very quickly.
On the way to the village of Terinoot, the men passed through a forest of palm trees as the landscape became dryer. There, the strange birds in the trees seemed to heckle them with calls of "Lucky Bob, caw, not so lucky! Caw!" In the men’s minds the bizarre avians repeated this over and over, each time it grew louder and louder. When the men arrived in Terinoot, they could still hear the voices of the birds in their minds. "Lucky Bob, caw, not so lucky! Caw!" It was as if the birds were laughing at them.
They rented a room at an inn called the Sailor’s Last Bunk and nervously made plans to free themselves of their predicament. The men planned to hide the jewels and lay low, hoping that the incessant laughing of the birds in their heads would fade when the birds lost interest. Once free of the avian mockery, they would to return later with a magic-user or cleric who could dispel the supernatural forces that were surely at work here.
The men investigated the cellar of the inn for a good place to hide their booty. There in the cellar they found a stone cover over an old abandoned well. In years past, the inhabitants of the inn used the well for both water and brewing. But over time the well became fouled by excessive iron ore deposits in the surrounding rock and the water (and more importantly the beer) became rust colored and foul to the taste. Thus, the well was abandoned. The pirates climbed into the well and buried Lucky Bob’s prize in the wall of the well behind loose stones.
The ill-fated pair tried to retire for the night but neither of them slept soundly. They continued tossing and turning to the laughing of the birds in their heads and the mantra, "Lucky Bob, caw, not so lucky! Caw". The next morning the men set out to return to their ship.
By the time the men had reached the forest of the birds, Lucky Bob began blaming his companion for the maddening sounds. In a fit of insanity, he struck out at Sonog hoping to make the noises stop. By this time, Sonog too had begun to mistrust Lucky Bob and this attack pushed him over the edge. The two men struggled and Sonog bludgeoned Lucky Bob to death with a stone, shouting out all the while, "Lucky Bob, caw, not so lucky! Caw".
With the voices still in his head and Sonog fully gripped by the insanity of the curse of the Feerino jewels, he saw the blood and gore that spilled out of Lucky Bob’s remains and began to consume his former shipmate. As he tore into the flesh he was overjoyed to find that this grisly act began to quiet the voices in his head. With a renewed vigor he stripped the body to the bone hoping it would quell the voices permanently. Once his mind was quiet, he came to his senses and confronted the ever-growing horror of what he had done.
Animated Skeleton: By day their maker, Holbad the necromancer, has commanded them to conceal themselves in the marshes to avoid the appearance of foul play.
Common Zombie: By day their maker, Holbad the necromancer, has commanded them to conceal themselves in the marshes to avoid the appearance of foul play.
Shadow: ?
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