Undead Origins

[Voadam]

Death in the Treklant
Castles & Crusades
Huge Skeleton: In one of the beds is a skeleton. It is small, about dwarf-size, and curled up in a fetal position. This is the skeleton of an ogre child who starved to death after his parents died. His father is the skeleton found in 8A. If the child’s skeleton is disturbed, the ogre skeleton in 8A animates.
The souls of these skeletons are forever locked within Dzeebagd’s walls; the capricious hand of fate denied them entry into the other world. The father died trying to get to his son, and when his son’s skeleton is bothered, the father’s soul animates in the skeleton.
It happened one day that the staircase, weakened by a sagging foundation and misuse, collapsed upon several of the ogres, including their notorious leader, Garoonsh, killing them instantly. One survivor, with a terribly shattered leg, crawled down a hallway looking for his child, only to die a lonesome and painful death in the darkness beneath the earth, never seeing his son again.

 

[Voadam]

Magnificent Miscellaneum Vol. 1
Castles & Crusades
Megtragyaz: Megtrágyáz are undead, born of those who drowned in the deep mud or muck.
If a megtrágyáz knocks a target unconscious, it tries to smother it to death with its own body; if it is successful, the megtrágyáz is finally put to rest, but the smothered victim rises as a megtrágyáz.

Vampire: ?
Lich: ?

 

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Night of the Spirits
Castles & Crusades
Phantom Warrior: ?
Spirit of the Dead, Ghostly Spirit: ?
Wraig Wen, White Woman: ?
Gallytrot: These are decaying and baleful dead beings dressed in tattered and old clothing that seek the life essence of those they cause fear in, and they come from the underworld of Annwn at times when the presence of death is strong.
These Gallytrots were long dead Roman soldiers from ages past that have come from the underworld seeking revenge.
Gan Cean: ?
Angry Spirit: ?

 

[Voadam]

The Long Valley
Castles & Crusades
Bag O' Bones: The bag o’ bones is a result of the blending of the necromantic arts of the undead with the alchemical lore of golem creation.
The creation of such a monster requires expensive ingredients (at least 10,000 gp), months of preparation equal to a stone golem, and requires the assistance of both a high level cleric and a master wizard coordinating their powers.
Zombie: A lamp set in the ceiling above the main crypt magically lights upon each full moon. As soon as the light touches the exposed corpse of the priest he animates. He then takes up a torch and passes around the room, the light having the same affect on his undead acolytes as it had on him. They each animate in turn.
Wight: The priest cast his own soul into a magic jar and the jar was set in a small shelf beneath his head in the bier of the barrow. His body was laid upon the bier and allowed to rise once a month, during the full moon, so that he might wander the valley and see the stars and moon from time to time.
A lamp set in the ceiling above the main crypt magically lights upon each full moon. As soon as the light touches the exposed corpse of the priest he animates.
Shadow: The priest cast his own soul into a magic jar and the jar was set in a small shelf beneath his head in the bier of the barrow.
Ealuta, Gaunt: In their midst was an old washer woman, Ealuta, who had not left Gaxmoor willingly that day, but rather been driven out by her family for she was a thief and threatened murder. She cursed her family, fled the town and laughed in scorn when the city disappeared. She gathered with the refugees near the Cuft Gorge and helped them build a home of loose rock. In time, however, she began to steal from them, and later, when winter struck and food ran short, she stole more. She was eventually found out and driven out of the makeshift town. They hounded her over the bridge and drove her into the snow to die.
But she did not die, for she was pickled with hate for all living things, and this hate kept her warm. She found shelter under the eastern side of the , and there carved out a hovel where she found some comfort.
When the first of the refugees died, she took note and watched as the others buried him. When they left the grave, she dug up the body and gnawed upon it, devouring the flesh raw. She tried to hide her crimes but was too weak. So, she took a rock and cut the remains into pieces and bore it back across the bridge to her lonely world. There, she buried the meat in the dirt.
The others soon discovered her crime but were too weak to pursue her, for the snows were deep and the food already gone. Three more died and were buried in shallow graves, only to suffer the indignity of becoming Ealuta’s meal, one after the other. What followed was a nightmare of death, murder and a witch’s haunt, until at last some few fled into the west to find succor and only one remained, a young girl, whose brother lay in the cold ground. She would not leave his side for him to become a meal for the witch.
So Ealuta found her, kneeling in the snow over her brother’s grave, and she sought to make a fresh kill and eat her there and then while the meat was still warm. Her clawed hand grasped the child’s throat to choke the life from it, but far faster and more agile, the child spun and struck Ealuta across the brow with a rock. The witch fell back into the snow, and the girl leapt upon her and stove her head in with the rock. With the last of her strength she took the witch by the hair and dragged her to her gorge and cast her mangled body to the floor far below. With that she left her brother and the valley to the east and came in time to the Massif and the people there where it is said she prospered, but would never speak of those dark days but to her own children.
The tale did not end there, however, for Ealuta rose from the gorge, a twisted creature of evil and spite. Wild and without purpose, she haunted the bridge slaying any and all who came to it. Driven by a hunger she could not satisfy, she dwelt there from that day to this.
Ghost: Before Gaxmoor was returned to Aihrde, the god Narrheit found a boy hunting in the valley, he learned of the city’s whereabouts from the boy. The boy treated him guardedly, but shared food and clean water with him. For whatever reason this pleased the god of chaos and evil and he took a liking to the boy. He knew that he was about to unleash Gaxmoor from its tether and set his minions upon it. He knew too that they would bring chaos to all who dwelt in the region; so to repay the boy’s kindness he set a guardian upon the Lost Valley. He slew the boy and set his ghost in the valley, tasking it with driving out all evil from the region.
Skeleton: ?

 

[Voadam]

Amazing Adventures 1st Printing
Castles & Crusades
Undead: Undead are once-living creatures animated by spiritual or supernatural forces.
Mummy: A mummy is an undead creature usually wrapped in divine bandages and urged to existence through prayer and ceremony. Mummies are bound to their tombs and are encountered in their vicinity, which is most commonly the deserts of Egypt, though mummies have been encountered in Central and South America and in arctic, desert, and jungle climes the world over, where conditions are right for preservation of the body.
The process required to create a mummy gives the creature powerful protections against physical damage.
Create Greater Undead spell caster level 13.
Lesser Mummy: ?
Greater Mummy: Greater mummies are intelligent, often the remains of deceased priests or leaders.
Skeleton: Skeletons are the animated remains of dead creatures. Their bodies are little more than bone and sinew held together by vile sorcery.
Animate Dead spell.
Vampire: Formerly human, these foul creatures have become completely corrupted, lurking in a state between life and death, and requiring warm, fresh blood for sustenance.
If a Vampire is killed, all of its spawn immediately become full vampires.
Create Greater Undead spell caster level 17.
Vampire Spawn: If a vampire chooses, it can drain the blood or energy of a human victim in such a way as to bring the deceased into unlife as a vampire spawn. This spawn is under the control of the slaying vampire. This ability is not automatic, but must be consciously used.
Zombie: Zombies are undead humanoids, reanimated corpses that stalk the earth with little purpose or reason.
In some campaigns, zombies may be able to infect others with their bite, slowly turning the infected into zombies. In such a case, the victim bitten must make a constitution save at -2 or be infected. Infected victims will lose 1d4 points of strength and constitution each day until one of the two abilities reaches 0, at which point the victim dies, rising within 1d4 minutes as a new zombie unless the body is destroyed (often through decapitation or other destruction of the head).
Nobody else turns into a zombie, even if the zombies manage to kill any more bystanders. This should lead the PC’s to believe that it was, in fact, something on the needle that created the undead killing machines.
Animate Dead spell.
Undead Dragon: ?
Spectre: Create Greater Undead spell caster level 15.
Ghost: Create Greater Undead spell caster level 19.
Ghoul: Create Undead spell caster level 9.
Shadow: Create Undead spell caster level 10.
Ghast: Create Undead spell caster level 12.
Wight: Create Undead spell caster level 14.
Wraith: Create Undead spell caster level 18.

ANIMATE DEAD*, LEVEL 3 WIS, LEVEL 4 CHA, LEVEL 5 INT
CT 1 R 50 ft. D n/a
SV none SR none Comp V, S, M
This spell turns the bones or bodies of dead creatures in a 25 x 25 feet area into undead skeletons or zombies that follow the caster’s spoken commands. The undead can follow the caster, or can remain in an area and attack any creature or specific type of creature entering the area. The undead remain animated until they are destroyed. Destroyed undead can’t be animated again. Regardless of the type of undead, the caster can’t, in any single casting of the spell, create more HD of undead than the caster has levels.
The undead remain under the caster’s control indefinitely. No matter how many times the caster uses this spell, however, the character can only control 2 HD worth of undead creatures per caster level. If the caster exceeds this number, all the newly created creatures fall under the caster’s control, and any excess undead

CREATE GREATER UNDEAD, LEVEL 7 CHA, 8 WIS
CT 1 hour R 50 ft. (one) D permanent
SV n/a SR n/a Comp V, S, M
This evil spell allows the caster to create powerful kinds of undead if the arcanist is of the appropriate level: mummy (13), spectre (15), vampire (17) or ghost (19). The caster may create less powerful undead than the caster’s maximum capability if desired. Created undead are not automatically under the control of their animator. The caster may gain command of the undead as it forms by making a successful Wisdom check with a CL equal to the hit dice of the monster. This spell must be cast at night and the caster must spend $100 per corpse.

CREATE UNDEAD, LEVEL 5 CHA, 6 WIS
CT 1 hour R 50 ft. (one) D permanent
SV n/a SR n/a Comp V, S, M
This evil spell allows the caster to create powerful kinds of undead if the arcanist is of the appropriate level: ghouls (9), shadow (10), ghasts (12), wights (14) or wraiths (18). The caster may create less powerful undead than the caster’s maximum capability if desired. Created undead are not automatically under the control of their animator. The caster may gain command of the undead as it forms by making a successful turning check. This spell must be cast at night.

 

[Voadam]

Amazing Adventures 2nd Printing
Castles & Crusades
Undead: Undead are once-living creatures animated by spiritual or supernatural forces.
Characters drained below 1st level become a 0-level character with no class or abilities. A character drained below 0-level is instantly slain. Depending on the creature that killed the character, the character may rise the next night as a monster of that kind. If not, the character may at the GM’s option rise as another type of undead creature.
Mummy: A mummy is an undead creature usually wrapped in divine bandages and urged to existence through prayer and ceremony. Mummies are bound to their tombs and are encountered in their vicinity, which is most commonly the deserts of Egypt, though mummies have been encountered in Central and South America and in arctic, desert, and jungle climes the world over, where conditions are right for preservation of the body.
Their connection with the artifacts of life and the resting places of the dead are tremendous, and they punish grave looters with unmediated violence. The process required to create a mummy gives the creature powerful protections against physical damage.
Create Greater Undead spell caster level 13.
Mummy Lesser: ?
Mummy Greater: Greater mummies are intelligent, often the remains of deceased priests or leaders.
Skeleton: Skeletons are the animated remains of dead creatures. Their bodies are little more than bone and sinew held together by vile sorcery.
Animate Dead spell.
Vampire: Formerly human, these foul creatures have become completely corrupted, lurking in a state between life and death, and requiring warm, fresh blood for sustenance.
If a Vampire is killed, all of its spawn immediately become full vampires.
Create Greater Undead spell caster level 17.
Vampire Spawn: If a vampire chooses, it can drain the blood or energy of a human victim in such a way as to bring the deceased into unlife as a vampire spawn.
Zombie: Zombies are undead humanoids, reanimated corpses that stalk the earth with little purpose or reason.
In some campaigns, zombies may be able to infect others with their bite, slowly turning the infected into zombies. In such a case, the victim bitten must make a constitution save at -2 or be infected. Infected victims will lose 1d4 points of strength and constitution each day until one of the two abilities reaches 0, at which point the victim dies, rising within 1d4 minutes as a new zombie unless the body is destroyed (often through decapitation or other destruction of the head).
Nobody else turns into a zombie, even if the zombies manage to kill any more bystanders. This should lead the PC’s to believe that it was, in fact, something on the needle that created the undead killing machines.
Animate Dead spell.
Undead Dragon: ?
Spectre: Create Greater Undead spell caster level 15.
Ghost: Create Greater Undead spell caster level 19.
Ghoul: Create Undead spell caster level 9.
Shadow: Create Undead spell caster level 10.
Ghast: Create Undead spell caster level 12.
Wight: Create Undead spell caster level 14.
Wraith: Create Undead spell caster level 18.

ANIMATE DEAD*, Level 3 Wis, Level 4 Cha, Level 5 Int
CT 1 R 50 ft. D n/a
SV none SR none Comp V, S, M
This spell turns the bones or bodies of dead creatures in a 25 x 25 feet area into undead skeletons or zombies that follow the caster’s spoken commands. The undead can follow the caster, or can remain in an area and attack any creature or specific type of creature entering the area. The undead remain animated until they are destroyed. Destroyed undead can’t be animated again. Regardless of the type of undead, the caster can’t, in any single casting of the spell, create more HD of undead than the caster has levels.
The undead remain under the caster’s control indefinitely. No matter how many times the caster uses this spell, however, the character can only control 2 HD worth of undead creatures per caster level. If the caster exceeds this number, all the newly created creatures fall under the caster’s control, and any excess undead from previous castings become uncontrolled (the character chooses which creatures are released). If the caster is a arcanist, any undead the character might command by virtue of the caster’s power to command or rebuke undead do not count toward the spell’s limits.
A skeleton can be created only from a mostly intact corpse or skeleton. The corpse must have bones. If a skeleton is made from a corpse, the flesh falls off the bones. A zombie, however, can be created only from a mostly intact corpse. The statistics for skeletons and zombies are detailed in Monsters & Treasures; undead created with this spell do not return any abilities the creature may have had while alive.
PRESERVE DEAD: This reverse version has two effects. First, the caster preserves the remains of the target corpses so that they do not decay, for one day per level of the caster.
Doing so extends the time limit on raising that creature from the dead. The spell works on severed body parts and the like. Second, the spell permanently prevents the target corpses from being animated by an animate dead spell. If a target corpse is preserved, and then raised from the dead or resurrected, the spell ends.

CREATE GREATER UNDEAD, Level 7 Cha, 8 Wis
CT 1 hour R 50 ft. (one) D permanent
SV n/a SR n/a Comp V, S, M
This evil spell allows the caster to create powerful kinds of undead if the arcanist is of the appropriate level: mummy (13), spectre (15), vampire (17) or ghost (19). The caster may create less powerful undead than the caster’s maximum capability if desired. Created undead are not automatically under the control of their animator. The caster may gain command of the undead as it forms by making a successful Wisdom check with a CL equal to the hit dice of the monster. This spell must be cast at night and the caster must spend $100 per corpse.

CREATE UNDEAD, Level 5 Cha, 6 Wis
CT 1 hour R 50 ft. (one) D permanent
SV n/a SR n/a Comp V, S, M
This evil spell allows the caster to create powerful kinds of undead if the arcanist is of the appropriate level: ghouls (9), shadow (10), ghasts (12), wights (14) or wraiths (18). The caster may create less powerful undead than the caster’s maximum capability if desired. Created undead are not automatically under the control of their animator. The caster may gain command of the undead as it forms by making a successful turning check. This spell must be cast at night.

 

[Voadam]

Amazing Adventures Companion
Castles & Crusades
Handmaiden of Satan: The handmaidens are unique, Satanic, undead creatures created by the Cardinal’s vile sorcery.
Finally, the handmaiden's attacks (claw and bite) inject a venom that acts as a type 4 poison (see Amazing Adventures, p. 179). If a character dies from this poison, they rise within 48 hours as a new undead of the same type as the handmaidens, entirely under the thrall of the Cardinal and his schemes.
Cardinal Richelieu: An important reason why the Cardinal believes stories of werewolves and the like is simple: he is a vampire himself, having sold his soul to Satan for the glory of France, and for personal power and glory.
Comte de Rochefort, Vampire Spawn: ?
Musketeer Squire of Satan: ?
Queen Anne: And what about the queen? She spent several days being held captive and possibly tortured by minions of the devil—is she still the pure and good soul she appears to be, or is she now in league with the Cardinal as a witch or undead consort?
Johnny Ringo, Restless Dead: ?
Degenerate Pygmy: Mutated, vile cave pygmies that have been corrupted by the evil within.
Dracula: ?
Varney the Vampire: ?
Camilla: ?

Undead: Magic should be subtle and gradually erase the humanity from its user, turning him into something dark, amoral, and demonic. It eventually consumes its user, though it may grant him or her great power both spiritual and temporal before that happens—sometimes enough power to seek immortality as one of the undead.
Animate Dead Master spell.
Ghoul: Animate Dead Greater spell.
Shadow: Animate Dead Greater spell.
Wight: Animate Dead Greater spell.
Wraith: Animate Dead Greater spell.
Skeleton: ?
Mummy: Animate Dead Master spell.
Vampire: Animate Dead Master spell.
Lich: Awful Rite of Undeath spell.
Ghost: ?
Zombie: ?

ANIMATE DEAD, GREATER, Level 7 Wis
CT 1 R 50 ft. D n/a
SV none SR none Comp V, S, M
As animate dead, but the wizard can also create ghouls, shadows, wights, or wraiths—roll for the number of skeletons one would normally create; this determines the hit dice worth of undead the sorcerer can create. He may divide these hit dice amongst the type of undead created as he desires. Undead created in this manner are subservient to the sorcerer.

ANIMATE DEAD, MASTER, Level 9 Wis
CT 1 R 50 ft. D n/a
SV none SR none Comp V, S, M
As animate dead greater, but the sorcerer can now split hit dice amongst all types of undead, including mummies and vampires (but not liches). Any undead over 8 hit dice, however, get a saving throw against spells to retain their own will and not be subservient to the caster. Such canny undead may decide to work with the sorcerer on their own, until the time comes for their eventual betrayal. This spell cannot be prepared in advance; it requires a ritual lasting at least six hours to complete.

AWFUL RITE OF UNDEATH, Level 9 Wis
CT 12 hours R self D permanent
SV n/a SR n/a Comp V, S, M
This spell allows a sorcerer to live on beyond death as a creature called a lich, placing his or her soul (or what’s left of it by this time) into a separate vessel, always a fist-sized gem, which becomes a magical artifact. So long as this vessel is intact, the sorcerer will always live on, though their appearance will continue to degrade as they grow ever more ancient, appearing more and more gaunt, desiccated, dry, and mummified as the centuries pass by. Illusion magic is often used to cover this unfortunate side-effect.
To use this spell, the sorcerer must have a minimum of 15 points of corruption and a fist-sized gem in which to place his soul. Upon completion of the spell, the sorcerer collapses, dead to all appearances and examination. The vessel in which his soul is kept must then be placed upon his chest and the ritual completed, usually by a trusted assistant or acolyte, at which point the lich awakens. Once the lich awakens, the soul-vessel can be removed as far away from the lich as desired, and indeed few liches keep their soul-vessel with them, as anyone who gains access to the bauble can exercise control over the lich, who will be terrified of death at the hands of the one who holds its soul. The lich, however, will always plot to get its soul-vessel back, and should it do so woe betide the one who sought to control such an ancient evil.
A lich can only be destroyed by one who holds its soul-vessel. Any other attempts to destroy it will result only in temporary defeat; the lich will, if killed, rise again (even if it needs to re-form) within one week. If one who holds the gem kills the creature, however, it will remain dead unless a new resurrection ritual is performed using the soul-vessel as a focus.
Unfortunately, the soul-vessel itself cannot, by its very nature, be destroyed, so those who manage to kill a lich in this manner often end up guarding the gem for the rest of their natural lives, even passing it down to their children, that it may never be used to raise the creature. Some have attempted to rid the world of the soul-vessels by burying them deep in tombs, or throwing them into volcanoes or the ocean, but there is always the risk of the gem being found once more and raising the lich from the grave.

 

[Voadam]

Victorious the Role Playing Game
Castles & Crusades
Ghost: Ghosts are the undead spirits of evil men, women, or even animals. In life, these people were cruel, vindictive, and visited needless suffering upon others. At their deaths, their spirits were forced to remain bound to the physical world in perpetual torment.
Corpse Golem: The creation of the foulest rites of black magick, the Corpse Golem is a disgusting tatterdemalion of body parts harvested from dozens, sometimes hundreds, of dead bodies for assimilation into the creature’s nauseous flesh.
Mummy: A mummy is an undead creature wrapped in divine bandages and urged to existence through prayer and ceremony. Mummies are bound to their tombs and are encountered in their vicinity. Any creature that defiles or loots the tomb of a mummy is doomed to face the mummy’s wrath. Their connection with the artifacts of life and the resting places of the dead are tremendous, and they punish grave looters with unmediated violence.
The process required to create a mummy gives the creature powerful protections against physical damage.
Vampire: If the controlling vampire is destroyed, its spawn becomes a full vampire with the normal statistics.
Vampire Spawn: If a vampire chooses, it can drain the blood of a human victim in such a way as to bring the deceased into unlife as a vampire spawn. This spawn is under the control of the slaying vampire. This ability is not automatic, and must be consciously used.
Zombie: Zombies are undead humanoids, reanimated corpses that stalk the earth with little purpose or reason.
Count Dracula, Count Vlad Tepesch, King of the Vampires: ?
Jolly Roger, Captain Roger Blackfriar: Captain Roger Blackfriar wasn’t the worst pirate in the Spanish Main, but not the best either. He’d spent half a lifetime in the shadow of better privateers and pirates, always trying for the big catch, the golden prize that would set him up for life and make his name revered with other legends such as Blackbeard and Kidd, Raleigh and Drake. While he caught enough Spanish merchantmen to keep his ship afloat and his crew paid, he could never catch the better prizes. His luck always seemed to fail him when it counted.
One night he got drunk and staggered to the hut of an old Houngan, who was notorious among the pirate community for having the touch of Satan about her. First he’d paid a few shillings for a telling of his fortune, and her words only seemed to promise more mediocrity, more failures. In a drunken frenzy he demanded she get hold of “Ol’ Nick’ hisself!” and he’d sell his soul to have a Spanish treasure ship in his grasp. The old woman smiled, and said the bargain was struck.
Within two weeks, Blackfriar’s ship entered a thick fogbank, quite unusual for the Caribbean. As he tried to regain his directions, his vessel nearly rammed a massive Spanish galleon. This ship, the yearly treasure craft bringing the gold and silver of the New World to His Spanish Majesty, had lost her escorts in the fog. She was alone, and bewildered as to her direction. Not missing a moment, Blackfriar gave a couple of broadsides into the Spanish ship before they could react. With a crash of timbers, his ship moved alongside the liner and his men charged over the gunnels to board their prey. Despite heavy fighting, it was the pirates who were victorious. At last, Captain Blackfriar had his gold, and his reputation would soar!
So it would, but not in the way Blackfriar believed. With an unearthly chill surrounding them, the great Spanish galleon Esmerelda sank into the murky depths of the ocean, with not a single survivor found in the waters. The few on board Blackfriar’s ship Cutlass looked for any of the boarders, but eventually sailed away to spread the tale of Blackfriar’s failed grasp of fortune and fame.
This wasn’t the last of the Blackfriar, however, Sailors started to speak in whispers of an unnatural fog bank that swept down on lone ships at night, and the bones of Captain Blackfriar and his dead crew would slash and kill, the apparition still searching for his fame and fortune aboard the seaweed-choked wreck of the Esmerelda. Is the undead captain searching for more gold? For fame? For an end to his torment? No one knows, but legend says he searches the Caribbean and the Atlantic, firing cannon broadsides into steamers and ironclad warships alike, leaving none to speak of his passing.

 

[Voadam]

Victorious: Evil in the White City Act 1 The Articulator
Castles & Crusades
Wulfric Knight, The Wolf at Midnight, Ghost: After some conversation and questions, Wulfric realized to his horror that the man calling himself Lord Mortis was in fact a necromancer; one of the few types of magicians that most practitioners could agree were evil and to be avoided at all costs! Knight drove the man from his home with a riding crop, and thought this would be the end of things. Not so, for not two weeks later Wulfric was killed in a carriage accident. Once he was safely out of the way, Lord Mortis began a ritual to bind Wulfric’s ghost to his eternal service. Not wishing to become an ectoplasmic reference work for such an evil man, Wulfric’s ghost fled first to the continent, then later to the New World.

 

[Voadam]

Victorious Hunter & Hunter Catalogue
Castles & Crusades
Ghost: ?
Specter: ?
Spook: ?