Undead Origins

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5e Menagerie: Oceans of Blood
5e
Toothwraith: Toothwraiths are apex predators that refused to release their grip on life. Originally massive sharks (or more rarely great crocodiles or dragon turtles), a toothwraith has willed itself into existence, and it is equipped with a malign intelligence it might not have possessed in life.
Lacedon, Aquatic Ghoul: Creatures reduced to 0 hit point maximum by a toothwraith’s draining bite or as a result of being swallowed rise as lacedons (aquatic ghouls) at the next high tide.
Toothwraiths attack in a frenzy, attempting to swallow as many creatures as possible. The withered corpses of its victims fall through its “belly,” and they eventually reanimate as the starving dead.

 

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5E Mini-Dungeon #140: Arachne Errant
5e
Vampire Spawn: ?
Zombie: ?
Argentum, Vampire: In the bosom of the great mountains rests the long-forgotten tomb of Argentum, drow heroine of yore, interred here by surface elves with all honors during a time when the races were not yet fully divided. Her surface elf lover refused to lose her and, through the purposeful acquisition of vampirism combined with ancient necrotheurgy, transferred his undead essence into what was left of her being, merging so they could remain together forevermore in undeath.
Undead Servitor: ?

 

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5E Mini-Dungeon #144: Wreck of the Windfall
5e
Specter: Caught in a sudden storm not far from port, the merchant ship Windfall went down with all hands. As if to make matters worse, stowed below deck were the last remnants of the necromancer Vorphanos. The fear and anger of the dying sailors mixed with the power of these accursed relics, causing their spirits to stay tethered to the ship as incorporeal undead, even though their bodies were taken by the sea.
Once brought to his senses, the captain realizes that the relic below deck is the cause of their undeath and asks the characters to destroy it.
Wraith: Caught in a sudden storm not far from port, the merchant ship Windfall went down with all hands. As if to make matters worse, stowed below deck were the last remnants of the necromancer Vorphanos. The fear and anger of the dying sailors mixed with the power of these accursed relics, causing their spirits to stay tethered to the ship as incorporeal undead, even though their bodies were taken by the sea.
Once brought to his senses, the captain realizes that the relic below deck is the cause of their undeath and asks the characters to destroy it.
Incorporeal Undead: Caught in a sudden storm not far from port, the merchant ship Windfall went down with all hands. As if to make matters worse, stowed below deck were the last remnants of the necromancer Vorphanos. The fear and anger of the dying sailors mixed with the power of these accursed relics, causing their spirits to stay tethered to the ship as incorporeal undead, even though their bodies were taken by the sea.
Undead: ?
Undead Officer: ?
Undead Sailor: ?

 

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5E Mini-Dungeon #156: Bloodsuckers
5e
Vampire: ?
Undead: ?

 

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5e Nightmares Before Christmas
5e
Heimchen, Large Cricket-Like Ghost: Heimchen are the spirits of children killed by Perchta and transformed into large, cricket-like ghosts.
Mari Lwyd, Horse-Headed Skeleton: ?
Pere Foettard, Animated Corpse: Pere is the animated corpse of a butcher who murdered children on Christmas. He captured three wealthy boys with the intent to rob them and ended up slitting their throats. When officials began to investigate what happened, Pere panicked and chopped the children up, turning them into sausage to cover up any evidence of his crimes. He was eventually discovered and his body was burned in effigy.
The extent of Pere Fouettard’s crimes were such that even good deities took notice. Now he is forced to roam towns on the first week of Christmas, punishing wicked children with a whip.

Zombie: The mari lwyd uses its luring song to convince residents to let it in. Those who do are bitten to death and reanimated as zombies who join the mari lwyd on its nightly roaming, which continues until dawn.
A humanoid slain by [a Mari Lwyd's bite] attack rises 24 hours later as a zombie under the mari lwyd's control, unless the humanoid is restored to life or its body is destroyed.

 

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5e NPCs: Goblins! Goblins! Goblins!
5e
Crawling Claw: Fargrakle can create crawling claws by expending a spell slot. To do so, Fargrakle must have the required humanoid hands and must spend one uninterrupted minute focusing his will and desire upon them. At the end of this period of focus, a number of hands equal to double the level of the spell slot expended animate as crawling claws under Fargrakle’s control.

 

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5th Edition -- Giants Rapture
5e
Feliul Stone: Feliul stones are magical stones that have been possessed by the spirit of a fallen dwarf, gnome, giant or goblin (far more commonly a dwarf). Usually the victim has died some horrible death, through torture or the like. Some feliul stones are possessed of the spirits of those that have died before some great task was completed. Whatever the case, the spirit lingers in the living world and takes up residence in the stone about it.
Feliul Stone, Stone That Has Been Possessed By the Spirit of a Fallen Dwarf: ?
Feliul Stone, Stone That Has Been Possessed By the Spirit of a Fallen Gnome: ?
Feliul Stone, Stone That Has Been Possessed By the Spirit of a Fallen Giant: ?
Feliul Stone, Stone That Has Been Possessed By the Spirit of a Fallen Goblin: ?
Feliul Stone, Great Boulder, Large Block of Stone, Stone Possessed by the Spirit of a Fallen Dwarf: ?
Evil Feliul Stone: ?
Banshee: ?

 

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5th Edition -- C2 Shades of Mist
5e
Mist Banshee: The river is, as the locals attest, haunted. For to the north, just below the river’s headwater, in the lands known as the Shelves of the Mist, the elves once gathered in great numbers. They built refuges from the Winter Dark in the many hidden valleys and dell But a long war, the Seven Years War, with orcs from the east, left many homeless and or dead. Amongst these was their beloved Princess. She lies buried upon the banks of the river amidst a field of winter lilies. From there, her spirit rose and traveled the full course of the meandering river to the Beaches of Lawn. A thick fog often covers the Fields of Winter Lilies, for here the dead gather (the spirits of the fallen elves) both of the great wars and those who lived in more modern times. The scars of the Winter Dark still haunt the elves of Aihrde and their fallen cannot come back to life. When they die, their spirits perish with them or wander as lost souls throughout the world.
Zombie Snake: Nodjmet has animated a dead snake and placed it by the entrance to the cave.
Allip: ?
Will-o'-Wisp: ?
Banshee: ?
Ghost: ?
Skeleton: ?
Shadow: ?
Wraith: ?
Wight: ?

 

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5th Edition -- C3 Upon the Powder River
5e
Athul, Allip: The creature is an allip, the undead spirit of the wizard Athul who killed himself by throwing himself into the river after his traveling companion Crel was slain by the Luvandgaurn. The current swept his body into the foundation of the bridge where it remains, crumbled, torn, and wrapped in his magical cloak. Athul’s unburied and unmourned spirit clings to the world of men.

 

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5th Edition -- C4 Harvest of Oaths
5e
Will-o'-Wisp: ?
Wight: But more than this, the green hag Merovina loved to lure people to her home, lull them into senselessness with charms or poultices, and devour their souls. She buried their lifeless bodies in the mossy ground around her house, calling on them when and if she desired, for amusement or protection.
Allip: ?
Banshee: ?
Ghost: ?
Skeleton: ?
Shadow: ?
Wraith: ?