Undead Origins
Voadam
Legend
Children of Inri'ath
5e
Imbali: The mysterious Imbali are ancient constructs that were brought to life with ancient magics. They were once whole, mortal beings converted into immortal servants by their creators. The magic gems in their forehead are strong enough to keep them together and sentient, but were not strong enough to maintain their flesh. All that remains of their forms is a skeletal husk and the glowing magical bands that hold their body together. The Imbali do not have a long memory and they may only remember a few years of their history prior to becoming adventurers.
Sol Gordusk, Grand Overseer: Sol Gordusk was the greatest champion of a long dead empire. Upon his death his body was placed inside of a sarcophagus and a statue of his likeness was built around it. His masters wanting for him to serve beyond death, they used great magics to give him control over the statue and the batons that were fashioned with it.
5e
Imbali: The mysterious Imbali are ancient constructs that were brought to life with ancient magics. They were once whole, mortal beings converted into immortal servants by their creators. The magic gems in their forehead are strong enough to keep them together and sentient, but were not strong enough to maintain their flesh. All that remains of their forms is a skeletal husk and the glowing magical bands that hold their body together. The Imbali do not have a long memory and they may only remember a few years of their history prior to becoming adventurers.
Sol Gordusk, Grand Overseer: Sol Gordusk was the greatest champion of a long dead empire. Upon his death his body was placed inside of a sarcophagus and a statue of his likeness was built around it. His masters wanting for him to serve beyond death, they used great magics to give him control over the statue and the batons that were fashioned with it.
Voadam
Legend
Choe Pho: A New World of Fantasy
5e
Undead: ?
Ghost: ?
Skeleton: ?
Zombie: Cleric Decay Domain Creeping Death power.
Will-o-the-Wisp: ?
Wight: ?
Creeping Death
Starting at 17th level, when you deal damage through the use of a necromancy spell, the target’s hit point maximum is reduced by the amount of damage dealt. This reduction lasts until the target finishes a long rest. The target dies if this effect reduces its hit point maximum to 0.
A humanoid slain by this attack rises 24 hours later as a zombie under your control, unless the humanoid is restored to life or its body is destroyed. You can have no more than six zombies under your control at one time via this feature.
5e
Undead: ?
Ghost: ?
Skeleton: ?
Zombie: Cleric Decay Domain Creeping Death power.
Will-o-the-Wisp: ?
Wight: ?
Creeping Death
Starting at 17th level, when you deal damage through the use of a necromancy spell, the target’s hit point maximum is reduced by the amount of damage dealt. This reduction lasts until the target finishes a long rest. The target dies if this effect reduces its hit point maximum to 0.
A humanoid slain by this attack rises 24 hours later as a zombie under your control, unless the humanoid is restored to life or its body is destroyed. You can have no more than six zombies under your control at one time via this feature.
Voadam
Legend
City Backdrop: Languard (5e)
5e
Vonya Madann, Ghost, Restless Spirit: Vonya’s span is named for Vonya Madann—the alcoholic dwarven stonemason responsible for its construction. A companion of Arndul Nenonen—the wandering adventurer who founded Ashlar—she was as skilled as she was troubled. The bridge is of stout dwarven design and construction. Although it is over four centuries old, and one of the oldest structures in the city, it is in excellent condition. Despite this, some say the bridge is haunted by its architect’s capricious shade. Vonya disappeared—tragically—one night while crossing the bridge. Local legend has it her ghost wanders the bridge on the anniversary of her disappearance—but as no-one can agree on the anniversary's actual date, any strange events on the bridge tend to get blamed on Vonya’s restless spirit.
5e
Vonya Madann, Ghost, Restless Spirit: Vonya’s span is named for Vonya Madann—the alcoholic dwarven stonemason responsible for its construction. A companion of Arndul Nenonen—the wandering adventurer who founded Ashlar—she was as skilled as she was troubled. The bridge is of stout dwarven design and construction. Although it is over four centuries old, and one of the oldest structures in the city, it is in excellent condition. Despite this, some say the bridge is haunted by its architect’s capricious shade. Vonya disappeared—tragically—one night while crossing the bridge. Local legend has it her ghost wanders the bridge on the anniversary of her disappearance—but as no-one can agree on the anniversary's actual date, any strange events on the bridge tend to get blamed on Vonya’s restless spirit.
Voadam
Legend
City of Brass (Fifth Edition)
5e
Afya: The Grand Vizier creates afyas out of potent spellcasters to punish those who defy him. Only a humanoid, elemental, or monstrosity with the Spellcasting trait can be turned into an afya by the Grand Vizier.
Lord Timor challenges any who approach, though he yields if bested. Due to his condition, he can be defeated, but he cannot be killed as he simply dissolves into a formless pool of shadowstuff and reforms the following day. If forced to yield, he explains that the crypt contains the funerary shroud of Rah’po Dehj. The shroud can be drawn from the sarcophagus only if the shadow of a pure sole is left in its place.
The instructions spoken by the mouth in the Hall of Portals are both a pun and a bit of a misnomer applied by the wily lich to protect his shroud and ultimately his phylactery from clever enemies.
The shadow must be carved from the sole of the foot of a willing being with the scythe of Timor. Doing so is painful, dealing 7 (2d6) slashing damage and 1d6 points of temporary Dexterity damage that lasts until the wound either heals naturally or is healed with a heal spell, as no other magic is strong enough to rectify the wound. The removal must be done within a magic circle, lest a wicked soul from the Plane of Shadow arrives and possesses the shadowless victim as an afya.
Afya Archmage: ?
Afya Elemental Overlord: ?
Johora, Afya Archmage: ?
Humam, Afya Archmage: ?
Sirajha, Afya Elemental Overlord: Sirajha (afya elemental overlord) was an azer sorceress who was renowned among her folk for her ability to bend and wield fire and light, and to shape metal alongside her husband the Diya al Din. When she was captured by the Grand Vizier, he placed an ancient curse on her, condemning her to the form of an afya.
Afya, Mus'ad Camel Face: ?
Risen Animated Corpse ?
Bodak: A creature that is slain by the bodak’s Gaze rises as a bodak 24 hours later unless restored to life by magical means.
A creature that is slain by the bodak [priest]’s Gaze rises as a bodak 24 hours later unless restored to life by magical means.
Bodak Priest: ?
Deathwisp: ?
Advanced Demilich: ?
Ishapsip the Demilich, Advanced Demilich: ?
Forsaken Mameluke, Demonic Knight: The Forsaken Mamelukes are six men of courage whom time has forgotten. Livesha brought them under her rule and entrusted them into the world of undeath. They are now demonic knights under her complete control. Three of the soldiers were human, one was elven, one was a half-giant, and her most prized of the six was an efreet she manipulated into her services under the power of death.
Baatina The Ghost, Ghost: The curator of the Palace of Wonders is the ghost of an ancient sage named Baatina. She died hundreds of years ago when a powerful curse unleashed by one of the newly procured items for the palace that transformed her into a ghost, but she as yet seems unaware of her own demise.
Ghost of a Master: ?
Ghost of an Efreet: ?
Ghostly Woman: ?
Ghostly Scribe: ?
Gorgon, Discontent Ghost: There are a few places in the souk where criminals are punished by being stoned to death. At one such stoning wall, a discontent ghost harasses passersby. The ghost, a barbarian warrior called Gorgon, seethes with hatred for the locals because of what they did to him; moreover, he was truly innocent of the crime of which they accused him. When the adventurers come within 10 feet of the wall, he materializes out of it, screams insanely, and promptly attacks them.
Cinder Ghoul: Throughout the City of Kirtius are areas that are charred and burned to rubble. These neighborhoods were scorched by the faithful of the Cult of the Burning One, leaving naught but cinders behind. Piles of bodies lie among the burned area where whole families were slaughtered in the name of the Veiled God.
There is a 25% chance that 1d4 corpses encountered rise as cinder ghouls.
The Cult of the Burning One torched several estates when they overwhelmed the city. A portion of the wall separating the noble district from Silk Street collapsed when basalt columns rolled downhill and smashed through the brick and stucco wall.
Like the burned areas in the city proper, there is a 25% chance that the deceased homeowners or their servants rise from the ashes as 1d4 cinder ghouls.
Dust Ghoul: Risen, animated corpses of creatures that have died on the Expanse.
Creatures who succumb to the environment within 6 miles of an ancient dust dragon’s lair often rise as dust ghouls under the dust dragon’s command.
Creatures who succumb to the environment within 6 miles of the dust dragon Ilgomaxag’s lair often rise as dust ghouls under the dust dragon’s command.
Iron Ghoul: A character that dies by sacrificing all Constitution points for the rituals contained in the Cultes de Ghuls book rises in 1 hour as an iron ghoul.
Cultes de Ghuls Tome of High Knowledge.
Ghoulish Merfolk: ?
Sand Ghoul: This group of sand ghouls are the risen remains of bandits who preyed upon the desert nomads and continue this tradition even in undeath.
Ghul: A genie slain by a ghul noble's bite attack rises 24 hours later as a ghul under the ghul noble’s control, unless the genie is restored to life or its body is destroyed.
Ghul Efreet: The creature here is a ghul efreeti, the ghost of an efreet, left here as a test to the faithful.
To the west of the courtyard is the actual residence of Husam al Din. The entry chamber to his quarters is guarded by a pair of efreeti soldiers who are sworn to guard the blind priest to the death and beyond. The efreeti soldiers attack any non-burning dervish priest or other efreeti on sight who does not have a special pass to visit the venerable blind priest. Once slain, these efreeti immediately rise as ghul efreeti and fight again until slain a second time.
Ghul Noble: ?
Azam al Ghul, Ghul Noble: ?
Lavawight: If a humanoid creature is slain by the shape of fire, it rises as a lavawight at the end of the shape of fire’s next turn.
Ankev the Arch-Lich: ?
Livesha, Lich High Priestess of Orcus: ?
Rah'po Dej, Jhedophar the Arch Lich, Lich: ?
Sim Ral Marla, Lich: ?
Lich Lord: ?
Saaid al Djinn, Salt Lich: ?
Gorlick the Unclean, Dwarven Lich: ?
Mohrg: ?
Greater Mummy: ?
Retep Inkusad, Viceroy of Set, Greater Mummy: Retep was once known as the Sorcerer of the Sands in his native land of No’Tnar where late in life he built a great kingdom situated near the oasis of Teg’pu. In these ancient times, the Old Gods walked the material planes gathering faithful worshippers to them. So it was that Retep and his wife were taken into the worship of Set, who blessed his new priest and priestess with long lives. Theirs became a civilization of pain and sadism unseen in the ancient times. Retep, following the lessons of his master, soon betrayed his wife by taking as concubine several of the temple maidens and instructed them in the ways of a bride of Set.
Outraged at his infidelities, Retep’s wife laid a death curse upon her husband and took her own life. Her curse, called forth with such power and conviction, slew Retep instantly. He was found dead by his followers the next morning and was quickly embalmed. On the sixth night after his embalming and entombment, he arose and revealed himself to his followers. The folk of his land stared with shock and horror as their risen lord once again ascended the black throne of the priest-kings.
Imthep the Ancient, Mummy Lord: ?
Mummy Djinn: ?
Nightwalker: ?
Nal'vun Akhan, Nightwalker: Nal’vun Akhan (nightwalker), a once-powerful warrior priest and devout follower of a long-forgotten Sultan, now resides here. After his master was slain, Orcus summoned him and changed him into a nightwalker.
Red Jester: The eighth mask is a cursed clown mask that turns the wearer into a red jester unless a successful DC 20 Wisdom saving throw is made.
Runeskull: ?
Shadow Beast: ?
Shadow Captain: ?
Lord Timor, The Shadow of Death, Shadow Captain: ?
Shape of Fire: ?
Zebediah, Skeleton: ?
Animated Skeleton: ?
Azer Skeleton: ?
Black Skeleton: ?
Charred Skeleton: ?
Efreeti Skeleton: ?
Fire Giant Skeleton: ?
Janni Skeleton, Undead Janni Skeleton: These undead soldiers are the restless souls of the army Dahish and the unnamed king originally led against Sulymon.
Skeleton Warrior, Normal Skeleton Warrior: In the process of transforming into a skeleton warrior, the dying warrior’s soul is trapped in a golden circlet.
These barracks once housed the Sultana’s personal army of guards drawn from the most powerful of mortal slaves. Now their collapsed roofs are all that remains of their once ostentatious housing and parade grounds. The area surrounding the barracks is crawling with skeleton warriors of the once brave fighters who attack any living beings that enter their turf. Unlike normal skeleton warriors, these beings are not possessed of a collar or circlet (and therefore do not have the normal skeleton warrior’s find target ability) but were formed by the curse laid on the grounds by Saaid Al Djinn to continue their defense of the Sultana’s holdings even unto death.
Lord Tork, Skeletal Warrior: ?
Advanced Specter: Cells A and C have treasure from an unlucky band of thieves who made it this far into the KhizAnah before starving to death in the cells. The advanced specters of the dead thieves remain in the cells where they were trapped, haunting the area of their demise.
Ash Specter: Creatures killed in the Sulfur Mountains by ash or volcanic activity.
Tlaunehc Tnec The Wyrm of Bones: Tlaunehc Tnek the Wyrm of Bones artifact.
Undead Camel: ?
Undead Chemist: ?
Undead Hyenadon: ?
Incorporeal Undead: ?
Undead Djinn: ?
Mindless Undead: ?
Undead Minion: Curse of Set.
Undead Plant: ?
Undead Protector: Those not able to display an unholy symbol of Set or black ankh are captured for sacrifice, their blood anointed upon true worshippers, and their bodies transformed into undead protectors of the pyramid.
Undead Servant: ?
Undead Soldier: ?
Undead Steed: ?
Vile God-King Y'Cart Chi'Namk the Eternal: ?
Nikolai, Lecherous Vicious Vampire: ?
Exeis, Vampire Spawn: ?
Vampiric Bandit: ?
Vampire Rogue: ?
Vampiric Treant: ?
Valter, Mask Wight, Undead Chemist: ?
Oblivion Wraith: ?
Spellgorged Zombie: Characters who have played through the Tower of Jhedophar or who have previously encountered spellgorged zombies may be familiar with their creator or origin story.
Currently, the sawdust stuffed remains of four humanoid bodies lie on tables, fully utilized in the process of receiving their magical tattoos to become spellgorged zombies.
Undead: No one knows when or how the sea dried up. Today, this landscape is as harsh and as inhospitable as it is dry, populated only by roving bands of undead (those who drowned in the Fathom) and by priests from the Seekers of the Ebony Moon.
Hecate’s Fathom lay safely buried under the sand until recently, when a massive sandstorm uncovered a small part of it. The skeletal remains of hundreds of ships jut from the sand, and the undead of everyone who drowned in that part of the Fathom haunt it.
Tome of the Undead Tome of High Knowledge.
Death Knight: The statue of the Lightbringer fills those who see it with disturbing feelings of temptation.
A cleric or paladin receives a vision where they wield great power as they slay devils, demons, efreet, and angelic beings in a massive conquest. They soon are a bishop or greater in a church whose laws and tenets award the strong, the motivated, and the aggressive with more power and prestige, including great basilicas and theocracies to rule over. Again, the only request asked is the immortal soul of the signee on a contract written on the flesh of a saint.
Any clerics or paladins who sign this document sign their soul over to Old Scratch. They lose any powers and abilities attributed to their previous deity and become a cleric or paladin of the Lightbringer with all the benefits and penalties thereof. A pair of bearded devils is bequeathed as immediate bodyguards to the signee. Upon their death, their soul is awarded status as a devil or death knight of Infernus, skipping the lowly ranks of lemures altogether.
Ghost: Their main meeting spot is a burned-out part of the bazaar where an elemental mage once had a nasty run-in with the Sahoduin peacekeepers. It is widely believed his and the dead peacekeepers’ ghosts haunt the area, and no one wants to anger them by erecting new tents in it. This story isn’t true.
Ghoul, Standard Ghoul: If a creature dies of an undead hyenadon's ghoul fever disease, it rises as a ghoul at the next midnight.
Exeis, a vampire spawn and one of the Red Scorpion League, was recently captured by the trio and placed in this vat to drain away whatever essence they can capture for their drug and poison production. So far, they have not come upon a necromantic unguent that does not produce ghouls or wights.
Cultes de Ghuls Tome of High Knowledge.
Ghast: ?
Lich: The true sarcophagus of Ankev the Arch-Lich is said to be powerful enough to transform any divine or arcane spellcaster into a lich should they know the ritual.
The statue of the Lightbringer fills those who see it with disturbing feelings of temptation.
An archangel with jet-black wings reveals visions of power coursing through the veins of a wielder of arcane magic. Magic infuses their very flesh and bones as secret after secret of the arcane cosmos is exposed to their massive intellect. All these powers and more are offered should the infernal contract merely be inked in the signee’s blood. Magic-users who sign this waiver instantly gain one full level of power as well as one full point of Intelligence and Charisma. Unbeknownst to them — at least initially — they are also transformed into a lich. Their phylactery and soul become property of the Prince of Darkness. No immediate outward appearance of their un-death is revealed at first, but their body begins to slowly decay. Their nose and ears fall off within a month or so, even as their flesh tautens and their blood slowly coagulates until their heart itself ceases to beat. The lich is forevermore in the service of the Lightbringer, forced to tempt others into sacrificing their own spirit and freedom in exchange for eternal servitude.
Tome of the Undead Tome of High Knowledge.
Mummy: Tome of the Undead Tome of High Knowledge.
Mummy Lord: Y'Cart Chi'Namk's Hunefer Rot disease.
Shadow: A dream reveals apocalyptic events taking place across the characters’ world. In the vision, souls are unable to reach the afterlife and are returning as shadows and wraiths, with whole villages being attacked by their newly buried dead.
Skeleton: Tome of the Undead Tome of High Knowledge.
Specter: Any living creature killed in the Maze of Mindlessness rises as a specter in 1d4 rounds with a number of Hit Dice equal to its character level (but retains none of the abilities it had in life). If the body is removed from the maze before this time, it does not rise as a specter.
Azam al Ghul, a maddened ghul noble, commands the specters that rise from those who die in the Maze of Mindlessness.
Advanced Specter's Create Specter power.
Oblivion Wraith's Create Specter power.
Vampire: The statue of the Lightbringer fills those who see it with disturbing feelings of temptation.
The archangel to the left of the character shows chests of gold, diamonds, emeralds, and rubies flanking a fine hardwood desk behind which stand two shadowy figures. The character sits at the desk as a line of patrons awaits their chance to meet the new Godfather. Each in turn kisses his hand and lays a tribute upon the loot pile accumulating in the room. Wealth, power, and loyalty are all offered in exchange for favors that the character can proffer at the wave of his fingers or the nod of his chin. At a word, whole neighborhoods are taken over and city governments collapse. At a glance, foes die with a knife buried in their backs. A contract is offered by the dark-winged angel, and the character takes on the leadership of a highly renowned thieves’ guild. The thirst for gold suddenly subsides as a thirst for blood takes its place. The new syndicate lord is quickly outed as a vampire, a member of the undead.
Vampire Spawn: ?
Wight: Exeis, a vampire spawn and one of the Red Scorpion League, was recently captured by the trio and placed in this vat to drain away whatever essence they can capture for their drug and poison production. So far, they have not come upon a necromantic unguent that does not produce ghouls or wights.
Wraith: A dream reveals apocalyptic events taking place across the characters’ world. In the vision, souls are unable to reach the afterlife and are returning as shadows and wraiths, with whole villages being attacked by their newly buried dead.
The band, known as Angelo’s Cursed 13 Orchestra, is made up of 13 wraiths who sold their soul to Old Scratch for success in life. They play the violin, viola, cello, bass, trumpet, tuba, clarinet, flute, horn, xylophone, harp, drums, and piano.
Zombie: Any humanoid creature slain by the mohrg rises as a zombie at the beginning of the mohrg’s next turn.
Some who fail their indoctrination into the Cult of the Burning One are held in the dungeons until they can be transported. Important persons, children, and those with pure souls are taken to be transformed into living brass upon the Soul Forge in the City of Brass. Others are worked to death and then transformed into zombies that are used for training clerics to turn undead and for arcane target practice.
The soul of a creature slain by bin Jabaar is devoured by the demon and the physical body is spit out the other side of the book. The body rises as a zombie under the control of Jabb bin Jabaar in 1d4 rounds.
Mask of Ankev magic item.
Tome of the Undead Tome of High Knowledge.
Hellwasp Swarm's Inhabit power.
Mask of Ankev
Wondrous item, artifact (requires attunement by an evil creature)
This unholy item is purportedly the only likeness of the arch lich Ankev as he appeared in life. Made of solid gold and encrusted with precious gemstones, the mask portrays a handsome face twisted with maniacal cruelty. The mask is purported to have numerous magical powers for anyone with the strength to wear it. It is believed that any creature possessing the crooked rod of Ankev, the sarcophagus of Ankev, and the mask may be instantly transformed into a lich upon the completion of a long-forgotten ritual.
When donned, the mask immediately affixes itself to your face and may be removed only upon your death, or by means of a wish spell cast by another. When worn, the mask is completely weightless.
While wearing the mask you have the following bonuses:
Immunity to gaze attacks
Immunity to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, disease, and death effects (spells or spell-like abilities that cause death rather than damage), mind-affecting effects (charms, patterns, compulsions, phantasms, and fear effects)
+4 to your Intelligence score
+6 bonus to AC
Undead are drawn to the wearer of the mask. Undead detect the wearer of the mask of Ankev even if the wearer is otherwise invisible to them.
Once per day, you may reveal a symbol of death that affects allies and enemies alike. Any beings slain by the symbol rise as zombies in 1d4 minutes. These undead beings are not necessarily under your command and are 50% likely to attack you unless halted by means of turn undead.
Good-aligned creatures touching the mask take 27 (6d8) necrotic damage each round. Neutral-aligned creatures take 13 (3d8) necrotic damage each round.
Tlaunehc Tnek the Wyrm of Bones
Wondrous item, artifact
Said to be the bones of the most powerful dragon that ever lived, they are also believed (by some) to be the bones of the first dragon in existence. These skeletal remains of Tlaunehc Tnek stand menacingly on its platform. The dragon is at least Colossal sized and is missing a single bone from its structure. It is believed that the dragon will animate and follow the commands of the one who made it whole if the missing part is ever reunited with the skeleton.
Tome of the Undead (Magden the Black): Common; Constitution DC 16 (1/1d4 Con); Religion +2; contains animate dead, create undead, hallow, magic jar, banishment; 4 pounds.
A recent addition to the library here, this book is an extensive treatise on creating and animating skeletons and zombies, transforming corpses into undead, creating mummies, and trapping freshly slain souls before they reach their afterlife destination. Formulae on becoming a lich are also contained within the pages. (The exact formula is left up to you to suit your campaign).
This tome is written on blackened flesh bound by the bones of slain humanoids. The cover is formed from the burned flesh of a vampire.
Cultes de Ghuls (Klarkazton Wormious): Ancient Common (DC 18 Intelligence to decipher); Constitution DC 16 (1/1d4 Con); Religion +2; contains ghoul touch; strong necromancy; CL 20th; 5 pounds.
This tome is a treatise on ghouls as written by the insane necromancer Klarkazton Wormious. The first part of this volume contains general information on ghouls, their habits, techniques used to combat them, and so on. The second portion of the book contains ghoul-related magic and rituals that grant the reader ghoulish benefits.
Each ritual requires a sacrifice when first performed. Note that Constitution points sacrificed for a ritual do not heal naturally and cannot be healed magically short of a wish. The book contains the following rituals.
Command the Dead: The reader gains the ability to command up to 5 ghouls within sight with a DC of 8 + Charisma modifier + proficiency bonus. This ability can be used a number of times per day equal to 3 + the character’s Charisma modifier. Sacrifice: 2 points of Constitution.
Eater of Flesh: From this point forward, by consuming the flesh of a living creature, the character heals as if affected by a cure wounds spell. It takes 1 minute to cut away and consume enough flesh to gain the healing benefit. A character can heal a maximum number of hit points per day equal to the character’s level x Charisma modifier. Sacrifice: 2 points of Constitution.
Bite of the Ghoul: The character gains a bite attack that deals 1d4 + Strength or Dexterity modifier and delivers ghoul fever. A person bit by this attack must succeed on a DC 14 Constution saving throw or succumb to the disease. The bite attack is gained as a bonus action. Sacrifice: 2 points of Constitution. The character also gains +1 to Charisma from this ritual.
Empower the Grave: When casting create undead, the character can create a number of ghouls equal to 1 + Charisma modifier. Further, ghouls created by the spellcaster have maximum hit points for their Hit Dice and have advantage on saving throws to resist being turned while the caster is in sight. Sacrifice: 4 points of Constitution. The character also gains +1 to Charisma from this ritual.
Death to Undeath: A caster that slays an opponent using necromantic magic can use one spell slot of 6th level or higher to immediately raise that opponent as a ghoul under the caster’s command. The risen ghoul is a standard ghoul but has maximum hit points for its HD, +4 Strength, and advantage on saving throws to resist being turned while the caster is in sight. It retains none of the abilities the opponent had in life. The ghoul remains under the character’s command until slain or the caster dies. Sacrifice: 4 points of Constitution. The character also gains +1 to Charisma score from this ritual.
A character that dies by sacrificing all Constitution points for the rituals contained in this book rises in 1 hour as an iron ghoul.
This is the only known copy of this book.
Y'Cart Chi'Namk's Hunefer Rot
While infected, the creature’s Constitution score is reduced by 1d6 at the start of each of its turns until the disease is cured. The reduction lasts until the target finishes a long rest. The target dies if this effect reduces its Constitution to 0. An afflicted creature that dies shrivels away into sand in 3 rounds. On the third round the dust swirls and forms a mummy lord with the dead creature’s equipment under Y’Cart Chi’Namk’s command.
Create Specter. The advanced specter targets a humanoid within 10 feet of it that has been dead for no longer than 1 minute and died violently. The target’s spirit rises as a specter in the space of its corpse or in the nearest unoccupied space. The specter is under the advanced specter’s control. The advanced specter can have no more than seven specters under its control at one time.
Create Specter. The oblivion wraith targets a humanoid within 10 feet of it that has been dead for no longer than 1 minute and died violently. The target’s spirit rises as a specter in the space of its corpse or in the nearest unoccupied space. The specter is under the oblivion wraith’s control. The oblivion wraith can have no more than ten specters under its control at one time.
Curse of Set
Any being failing a DC 20 Constitution saving throw is cursed to be painfully transformed into an undead minion of Set upon their death. The type and sort of minion is left to you. Removing this curse requires divine intervention and likely a quest in the name of a deity or power opposed to Set’s doctrines.
Those affected by the curse of Set are known to the god’s worshippers. Worshippers of Set instantly recognize the curse scrawled upon the victim’s face and know that Set has chosen this being as one of his own. To fulfill the wishes of their deity, these worshippers have been known to manipulate individuals bearing the curse of Set upon their face. They seek to place such beings into positions of power and prestige in their native lands so that when they die, they arise again as a faithful minion and servant of the Slithering Orders. Alternately, followers of Set may kill an afflicted individual on sight, and then command them as undead minions for their own use. These damning hieroglyphics are invisible to anyone else viewing the afflicted person, including the cursed individual, except through the use of detect magic accompanied by a successful DC 20 Intelligence (Arcana) check, true seeing accompanied by a successful DC 20 Wisdom (Perception) check, or greater magic (such as wish).
Inhabit. The swarm enters the body of a dead or incapacitated creature of size Small, Medium, or Large. If the creature was dead, it becomes a zombie of the appropriate variety with full hit points under the control of the swarm. If the creature is alive, it must succeed on a DC 16 Constitution saving throw or the swarm takes complete control of its body. The swarm may cause the creature to take any of its normal actions, except spellcasting. Damage done to an inhabited creature is split evenly between the creature and the swarm. When a creature begins its turn inhabited by the swarm, it takes 7 (2d6) necrotic damage. An inhabited creature may repeat its saving throw at the end of each of its turns, expelling the swarm from its body and ending the swarm’s control over it on a success. A living inhabited creature which dies from the swarm’s necrotic damage becomes a zombie of the appropriate variety with full hit points under the control of the swarm. Casting greater restoration or heal on a living inhabited creature expels the swarm.
5e
Afya: The Grand Vizier creates afyas out of potent spellcasters to punish those who defy him. Only a humanoid, elemental, or monstrosity with the Spellcasting trait can be turned into an afya by the Grand Vizier.
Lord Timor challenges any who approach, though he yields if bested. Due to his condition, he can be defeated, but he cannot be killed as he simply dissolves into a formless pool of shadowstuff and reforms the following day. If forced to yield, he explains that the crypt contains the funerary shroud of Rah’po Dehj. The shroud can be drawn from the sarcophagus only if the shadow of a pure sole is left in its place.
The instructions spoken by the mouth in the Hall of Portals are both a pun and a bit of a misnomer applied by the wily lich to protect his shroud and ultimately his phylactery from clever enemies.
The shadow must be carved from the sole of the foot of a willing being with the scythe of Timor. Doing so is painful, dealing 7 (2d6) slashing damage and 1d6 points of temporary Dexterity damage that lasts until the wound either heals naturally or is healed with a heal spell, as no other magic is strong enough to rectify the wound. The removal must be done within a magic circle, lest a wicked soul from the Plane of Shadow arrives and possesses the shadowless victim as an afya.
Afya Archmage: ?
Afya Elemental Overlord: ?
Johora, Afya Archmage: ?
Humam, Afya Archmage: ?
Sirajha, Afya Elemental Overlord: Sirajha (afya elemental overlord) was an azer sorceress who was renowned among her folk for her ability to bend and wield fire and light, and to shape metal alongside her husband the Diya al Din. When she was captured by the Grand Vizier, he placed an ancient curse on her, condemning her to the form of an afya.
Afya, Mus'ad Camel Face: ?
Risen Animated Corpse ?
Bodak: A creature that is slain by the bodak’s Gaze rises as a bodak 24 hours later unless restored to life by magical means.
A creature that is slain by the bodak [priest]’s Gaze rises as a bodak 24 hours later unless restored to life by magical means.
Bodak Priest: ?
Deathwisp: ?
Advanced Demilich: ?
Ishapsip the Demilich, Advanced Demilich: ?
Forsaken Mameluke, Demonic Knight: The Forsaken Mamelukes are six men of courage whom time has forgotten. Livesha brought them under her rule and entrusted them into the world of undeath. They are now demonic knights under her complete control. Three of the soldiers were human, one was elven, one was a half-giant, and her most prized of the six was an efreet she manipulated into her services under the power of death.
Baatina The Ghost, Ghost: The curator of the Palace of Wonders is the ghost of an ancient sage named Baatina. She died hundreds of years ago when a powerful curse unleashed by one of the newly procured items for the palace that transformed her into a ghost, but she as yet seems unaware of her own demise.
Ghost of a Master: ?
Ghost of an Efreet: ?
Ghostly Woman: ?
Ghostly Scribe: ?
Gorgon, Discontent Ghost: There are a few places in the souk where criminals are punished by being stoned to death. At one such stoning wall, a discontent ghost harasses passersby. The ghost, a barbarian warrior called Gorgon, seethes with hatred for the locals because of what they did to him; moreover, he was truly innocent of the crime of which they accused him. When the adventurers come within 10 feet of the wall, he materializes out of it, screams insanely, and promptly attacks them.
Cinder Ghoul: Throughout the City of Kirtius are areas that are charred and burned to rubble. These neighborhoods were scorched by the faithful of the Cult of the Burning One, leaving naught but cinders behind. Piles of bodies lie among the burned area where whole families were slaughtered in the name of the Veiled God.
There is a 25% chance that 1d4 corpses encountered rise as cinder ghouls.
The Cult of the Burning One torched several estates when they overwhelmed the city. A portion of the wall separating the noble district from Silk Street collapsed when basalt columns rolled downhill and smashed through the brick and stucco wall.
Like the burned areas in the city proper, there is a 25% chance that the deceased homeowners or their servants rise from the ashes as 1d4 cinder ghouls.
Dust Ghoul: Risen, animated corpses of creatures that have died on the Expanse.
Creatures who succumb to the environment within 6 miles of an ancient dust dragon’s lair often rise as dust ghouls under the dust dragon’s command.
Creatures who succumb to the environment within 6 miles of the dust dragon Ilgomaxag’s lair often rise as dust ghouls under the dust dragon’s command.
Iron Ghoul: A character that dies by sacrificing all Constitution points for the rituals contained in the Cultes de Ghuls book rises in 1 hour as an iron ghoul.
Cultes de Ghuls Tome of High Knowledge.
Ghoulish Merfolk: ?
Sand Ghoul: This group of sand ghouls are the risen remains of bandits who preyed upon the desert nomads and continue this tradition even in undeath.
Ghul: A genie slain by a ghul noble's bite attack rises 24 hours later as a ghul under the ghul noble’s control, unless the genie is restored to life or its body is destroyed.
Ghul Efreet: The creature here is a ghul efreeti, the ghost of an efreet, left here as a test to the faithful.
To the west of the courtyard is the actual residence of Husam al Din. The entry chamber to his quarters is guarded by a pair of efreeti soldiers who are sworn to guard the blind priest to the death and beyond. The efreeti soldiers attack any non-burning dervish priest or other efreeti on sight who does not have a special pass to visit the venerable blind priest. Once slain, these efreeti immediately rise as ghul efreeti and fight again until slain a second time.
Ghul Noble: ?
Azam al Ghul, Ghul Noble: ?
Lavawight: If a humanoid creature is slain by the shape of fire, it rises as a lavawight at the end of the shape of fire’s next turn.
Ankev the Arch-Lich: ?
Livesha, Lich High Priestess of Orcus: ?
Rah'po Dej, Jhedophar the Arch Lich, Lich: ?
Sim Ral Marla, Lich: ?
Lich Lord: ?
Saaid al Djinn, Salt Lich: ?
Gorlick the Unclean, Dwarven Lich: ?
Mohrg: ?
Greater Mummy: ?
Retep Inkusad, Viceroy of Set, Greater Mummy: Retep was once known as the Sorcerer of the Sands in his native land of No’Tnar where late in life he built a great kingdom situated near the oasis of Teg’pu. In these ancient times, the Old Gods walked the material planes gathering faithful worshippers to them. So it was that Retep and his wife were taken into the worship of Set, who blessed his new priest and priestess with long lives. Theirs became a civilization of pain and sadism unseen in the ancient times. Retep, following the lessons of his master, soon betrayed his wife by taking as concubine several of the temple maidens and instructed them in the ways of a bride of Set.
Outraged at his infidelities, Retep’s wife laid a death curse upon her husband and took her own life. Her curse, called forth with such power and conviction, slew Retep instantly. He was found dead by his followers the next morning and was quickly embalmed. On the sixth night after his embalming and entombment, he arose and revealed himself to his followers. The folk of his land stared with shock and horror as their risen lord once again ascended the black throne of the priest-kings.
Imthep the Ancient, Mummy Lord: ?
Mummy Djinn: ?
Nightwalker: ?
Nal'vun Akhan, Nightwalker: Nal’vun Akhan (nightwalker), a once-powerful warrior priest and devout follower of a long-forgotten Sultan, now resides here. After his master was slain, Orcus summoned him and changed him into a nightwalker.
Red Jester: The eighth mask is a cursed clown mask that turns the wearer into a red jester unless a successful DC 20 Wisdom saving throw is made.
Runeskull: ?
Shadow Beast: ?
Shadow Captain: ?
Lord Timor, The Shadow of Death, Shadow Captain: ?
Shape of Fire: ?
Zebediah, Skeleton: ?
Animated Skeleton: ?
Azer Skeleton: ?
Black Skeleton: ?
Charred Skeleton: ?
Efreeti Skeleton: ?
Fire Giant Skeleton: ?
Janni Skeleton, Undead Janni Skeleton: These undead soldiers are the restless souls of the army Dahish and the unnamed king originally led against Sulymon.
Skeleton Warrior, Normal Skeleton Warrior: In the process of transforming into a skeleton warrior, the dying warrior’s soul is trapped in a golden circlet.
These barracks once housed the Sultana’s personal army of guards drawn from the most powerful of mortal slaves. Now their collapsed roofs are all that remains of their once ostentatious housing and parade grounds. The area surrounding the barracks is crawling with skeleton warriors of the once brave fighters who attack any living beings that enter their turf. Unlike normal skeleton warriors, these beings are not possessed of a collar or circlet (and therefore do not have the normal skeleton warrior’s find target ability) but were formed by the curse laid on the grounds by Saaid Al Djinn to continue their defense of the Sultana’s holdings even unto death.
Lord Tork, Skeletal Warrior: ?
Advanced Specter: Cells A and C have treasure from an unlucky band of thieves who made it this far into the KhizAnah before starving to death in the cells. The advanced specters of the dead thieves remain in the cells where they were trapped, haunting the area of their demise.
Ash Specter: Creatures killed in the Sulfur Mountains by ash or volcanic activity.
Tlaunehc Tnec The Wyrm of Bones: Tlaunehc Tnek the Wyrm of Bones artifact.
Undead Camel: ?
Undead Chemist: ?
Undead Hyenadon: ?
Incorporeal Undead: ?
Undead Djinn: ?
Mindless Undead: ?
Undead Minion: Curse of Set.
Undead Plant: ?
Undead Protector: Those not able to display an unholy symbol of Set or black ankh are captured for sacrifice, their blood anointed upon true worshippers, and their bodies transformed into undead protectors of the pyramid.
Undead Servant: ?
Undead Soldier: ?
Undead Steed: ?
Vile God-King Y'Cart Chi'Namk the Eternal: ?
Nikolai, Lecherous Vicious Vampire: ?
Exeis, Vampire Spawn: ?
Vampiric Bandit: ?
Vampire Rogue: ?
Vampiric Treant: ?
Valter, Mask Wight, Undead Chemist: ?
Oblivion Wraith: ?
Spellgorged Zombie: Characters who have played through the Tower of Jhedophar or who have previously encountered spellgorged zombies may be familiar with their creator or origin story.
Currently, the sawdust stuffed remains of four humanoid bodies lie on tables, fully utilized in the process of receiving their magical tattoos to become spellgorged zombies.
Undead: No one knows when or how the sea dried up. Today, this landscape is as harsh and as inhospitable as it is dry, populated only by roving bands of undead (those who drowned in the Fathom) and by priests from the Seekers of the Ebony Moon.
Hecate’s Fathom lay safely buried under the sand until recently, when a massive sandstorm uncovered a small part of it. The skeletal remains of hundreds of ships jut from the sand, and the undead of everyone who drowned in that part of the Fathom haunt it.
Tome of the Undead Tome of High Knowledge.
Death Knight: The statue of the Lightbringer fills those who see it with disturbing feelings of temptation.
A cleric or paladin receives a vision where they wield great power as they slay devils, demons, efreet, and angelic beings in a massive conquest. They soon are a bishop or greater in a church whose laws and tenets award the strong, the motivated, and the aggressive with more power and prestige, including great basilicas and theocracies to rule over. Again, the only request asked is the immortal soul of the signee on a contract written on the flesh of a saint.
Any clerics or paladins who sign this document sign their soul over to Old Scratch. They lose any powers and abilities attributed to their previous deity and become a cleric or paladin of the Lightbringer with all the benefits and penalties thereof. A pair of bearded devils is bequeathed as immediate bodyguards to the signee. Upon their death, their soul is awarded status as a devil or death knight of Infernus, skipping the lowly ranks of lemures altogether.
Ghost: Their main meeting spot is a burned-out part of the bazaar where an elemental mage once had a nasty run-in with the Sahoduin peacekeepers. It is widely believed his and the dead peacekeepers’ ghosts haunt the area, and no one wants to anger them by erecting new tents in it. This story isn’t true.
Ghoul, Standard Ghoul: If a creature dies of an undead hyenadon's ghoul fever disease, it rises as a ghoul at the next midnight.
Exeis, a vampire spawn and one of the Red Scorpion League, was recently captured by the trio and placed in this vat to drain away whatever essence they can capture for their drug and poison production. So far, they have not come upon a necromantic unguent that does not produce ghouls or wights.
Cultes de Ghuls Tome of High Knowledge.
Ghast: ?
Lich: The true sarcophagus of Ankev the Arch-Lich is said to be powerful enough to transform any divine or arcane spellcaster into a lich should they know the ritual.
The statue of the Lightbringer fills those who see it with disturbing feelings of temptation.
An archangel with jet-black wings reveals visions of power coursing through the veins of a wielder of arcane magic. Magic infuses their very flesh and bones as secret after secret of the arcane cosmos is exposed to their massive intellect. All these powers and more are offered should the infernal contract merely be inked in the signee’s blood. Magic-users who sign this waiver instantly gain one full level of power as well as one full point of Intelligence and Charisma. Unbeknownst to them — at least initially — they are also transformed into a lich. Their phylactery and soul become property of the Prince of Darkness. No immediate outward appearance of their un-death is revealed at first, but their body begins to slowly decay. Their nose and ears fall off within a month or so, even as their flesh tautens and their blood slowly coagulates until their heart itself ceases to beat. The lich is forevermore in the service of the Lightbringer, forced to tempt others into sacrificing their own spirit and freedom in exchange for eternal servitude.
Tome of the Undead Tome of High Knowledge.
Mummy: Tome of the Undead Tome of High Knowledge.
Mummy Lord: Y'Cart Chi'Namk's Hunefer Rot disease.
Shadow: A dream reveals apocalyptic events taking place across the characters’ world. In the vision, souls are unable to reach the afterlife and are returning as shadows and wraiths, with whole villages being attacked by their newly buried dead.
Skeleton: Tome of the Undead Tome of High Knowledge.
Specter: Any living creature killed in the Maze of Mindlessness rises as a specter in 1d4 rounds with a number of Hit Dice equal to its character level (but retains none of the abilities it had in life). If the body is removed from the maze before this time, it does not rise as a specter.
Azam al Ghul, a maddened ghul noble, commands the specters that rise from those who die in the Maze of Mindlessness.
Advanced Specter's Create Specter power.
Oblivion Wraith's Create Specter power.
Vampire: The statue of the Lightbringer fills those who see it with disturbing feelings of temptation.
The archangel to the left of the character shows chests of gold, diamonds, emeralds, and rubies flanking a fine hardwood desk behind which stand two shadowy figures. The character sits at the desk as a line of patrons awaits their chance to meet the new Godfather. Each in turn kisses his hand and lays a tribute upon the loot pile accumulating in the room. Wealth, power, and loyalty are all offered in exchange for favors that the character can proffer at the wave of his fingers or the nod of his chin. At a word, whole neighborhoods are taken over and city governments collapse. At a glance, foes die with a knife buried in their backs. A contract is offered by the dark-winged angel, and the character takes on the leadership of a highly renowned thieves’ guild. The thirst for gold suddenly subsides as a thirst for blood takes its place. The new syndicate lord is quickly outed as a vampire, a member of the undead.
Vampire Spawn: ?
Wight: Exeis, a vampire spawn and one of the Red Scorpion League, was recently captured by the trio and placed in this vat to drain away whatever essence they can capture for their drug and poison production. So far, they have not come upon a necromantic unguent that does not produce ghouls or wights.
Wraith: A dream reveals apocalyptic events taking place across the characters’ world. In the vision, souls are unable to reach the afterlife and are returning as shadows and wraiths, with whole villages being attacked by their newly buried dead.
The band, known as Angelo’s Cursed 13 Orchestra, is made up of 13 wraiths who sold their soul to Old Scratch for success in life. They play the violin, viola, cello, bass, trumpet, tuba, clarinet, flute, horn, xylophone, harp, drums, and piano.
Zombie: Any humanoid creature slain by the mohrg rises as a zombie at the beginning of the mohrg’s next turn.
Some who fail their indoctrination into the Cult of the Burning One are held in the dungeons until they can be transported. Important persons, children, and those with pure souls are taken to be transformed into living brass upon the Soul Forge in the City of Brass. Others are worked to death and then transformed into zombies that are used for training clerics to turn undead and for arcane target practice.
The soul of a creature slain by bin Jabaar is devoured by the demon and the physical body is spit out the other side of the book. The body rises as a zombie under the control of Jabb bin Jabaar in 1d4 rounds.
Mask of Ankev magic item.
Tome of the Undead Tome of High Knowledge.
Hellwasp Swarm's Inhabit power.
Mask of Ankev
Wondrous item, artifact (requires attunement by an evil creature)
This unholy item is purportedly the only likeness of the arch lich Ankev as he appeared in life. Made of solid gold and encrusted with precious gemstones, the mask portrays a handsome face twisted with maniacal cruelty. The mask is purported to have numerous magical powers for anyone with the strength to wear it. It is believed that any creature possessing the crooked rod of Ankev, the sarcophagus of Ankev, and the mask may be instantly transformed into a lich upon the completion of a long-forgotten ritual.
When donned, the mask immediately affixes itself to your face and may be removed only upon your death, or by means of a wish spell cast by another. When worn, the mask is completely weightless.
While wearing the mask you have the following bonuses:
Immunity to gaze attacks
Immunity to poison, sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, disease, and death effects (spells or spell-like abilities that cause death rather than damage), mind-affecting effects (charms, patterns, compulsions, phantasms, and fear effects)
+4 to your Intelligence score
+6 bonus to AC
Undead are drawn to the wearer of the mask. Undead detect the wearer of the mask of Ankev even if the wearer is otherwise invisible to them.
Once per day, you may reveal a symbol of death that affects allies and enemies alike. Any beings slain by the symbol rise as zombies in 1d4 minutes. These undead beings are not necessarily under your command and are 50% likely to attack you unless halted by means of turn undead.
Good-aligned creatures touching the mask take 27 (6d8) necrotic damage each round. Neutral-aligned creatures take 13 (3d8) necrotic damage each round.
Tlaunehc Tnek the Wyrm of Bones
Wondrous item, artifact
Said to be the bones of the most powerful dragon that ever lived, they are also believed (by some) to be the bones of the first dragon in existence. These skeletal remains of Tlaunehc Tnek stand menacingly on its platform. The dragon is at least Colossal sized and is missing a single bone from its structure. It is believed that the dragon will animate and follow the commands of the one who made it whole if the missing part is ever reunited with the skeleton.
Tome of the Undead (Magden the Black): Common; Constitution DC 16 (1/1d4 Con); Religion +2; contains animate dead, create undead, hallow, magic jar, banishment; 4 pounds.
A recent addition to the library here, this book is an extensive treatise on creating and animating skeletons and zombies, transforming corpses into undead, creating mummies, and trapping freshly slain souls before they reach their afterlife destination. Formulae on becoming a lich are also contained within the pages. (The exact formula is left up to you to suit your campaign).
This tome is written on blackened flesh bound by the bones of slain humanoids. The cover is formed from the burned flesh of a vampire.
Cultes de Ghuls (Klarkazton Wormious): Ancient Common (DC 18 Intelligence to decipher); Constitution DC 16 (1/1d4 Con); Religion +2; contains ghoul touch; strong necromancy; CL 20th; 5 pounds.
This tome is a treatise on ghouls as written by the insane necromancer Klarkazton Wormious. The first part of this volume contains general information on ghouls, their habits, techniques used to combat them, and so on. The second portion of the book contains ghoul-related magic and rituals that grant the reader ghoulish benefits.
Each ritual requires a sacrifice when first performed. Note that Constitution points sacrificed for a ritual do not heal naturally and cannot be healed magically short of a wish. The book contains the following rituals.
Command the Dead: The reader gains the ability to command up to 5 ghouls within sight with a DC of 8 + Charisma modifier + proficiency bonus. This ability can be used a number of times per day equal to 3 + the character’s Charisma modifier. Sacrifice: 2 points of Constitution.
Eater of Flesh: From this point forward, by consuming the flesh of a living creature, the character heals as if affected by a cure wounds spell. It takes 1 minute to cut away and consume enough flesh to gain the healing benefit. A character can heal a maximum number of hit points per day equal to the character’s level x Charisma modifier. Sacrifice: 2 points of Constitution.
Bite of the Ghoul: The character gains a bite attack that deals 1d4 + Strength or Dexterity modifier and delivers ghoul fever. A person bit by this attack must succeed on a DC 14 Constution saving throw or succumb to the disease. The bite attack is gained as a bonus action. Sacrifice: 2 points of Constitution. The character also gains +1 to Charisma from this ritual.
Empower the Grave: When casting create undead, the character can create a number of ghouls equal to 1 + Charisma modifier. Further, ghouls created by the spellcaster have maximum hit points for their Hit Dice and have advantage on saving throws to resist being turned while the caster is in sight. Sacrifice: 4 points of Constitution. The character also gains +1 to Charisma from this ritual.
Death to Undeath: A caster that slays an opponent using necromantic magic can use one spell slot of 6th level or higher to immediately raise that opponent as a ghoul under the caster’s command. The risen ghoul is a standard ghoul but has maximum hit points for its HD, +4 Strength, and advantage on saving throws to resist being turned while the caster is in sight. It retains none of the abilities the opponent had in life. The ghoul remains under the character’s command until slain or the caster dies. Sacrifice: 4 points of Constitution. The character also gains +1 to Charisma score from this ritual.
A character that dies by sacrificing all Constitution points for the rituals contained in this book rises in 1 hour as an iron ghoul.
This is the only known copy of this book.
Y'Cart Chi'Namk's Hunefer Rot
While infected, the creature’s Constitution score is reduced by 1d6 at the start of each of its turns until the disease is cured. The reduction lasts until the target finishes a long rest. The target dies if this effect reduces its Constitution to 0. An afflicted creature that dies shrivels away into sand in 3 rounds. On the third round the dust swirls and forms a mummy lord with the dead creature’s equipment under Y’Cart Chi’Namk’s command.
Create Specter. The advanced specter targets a humanoid within 10 feet of it that has been dead for no longer than 1 minute and died violently. The target’s spirit rises as a specter in the space of its corpse or in the nearest unoccupied space. The specter is under the advanced specter’s control. The advanced specter can have no more than seven specters under its control at one time.
Create Specter. The oblivion wraith targets a humanoid within 10 feet of it that has been dead for no longer than 1 minute and died violently. The target’s spirit rises as a specter in the space of its corpse or in the nearest unoccupied space. The specter is under the oblivion wraith’s control. The oblivion wraith can have no more than ten specters under its control at one time.
Curse of Set
Any being failing a DC 20 Constitution saving throw is cursed to be painfully transformed into an undead minion of Set upon their death. The type and sort of minion is left to you. Removing this curse requires divine intervention and likely a quest in the name of a deity or power opposed to Set’s doctrines.
Those affected by the curse of Set are known to the god’s worshippers. Worshippers of Set instantly recognize the curse scrawled upon the victim’s face and know that Set has chosen this being as one of his own. To fulfill the wishes of their deity, these worshippers have been known to manipulate individuals bearing the curse of Set upon their face. They seek to place such beings into positions of power and prestige in their native lands so that when they die, they arise again as a faithful minion and servant of the Slithering Orders. Alternately, followers of Set may kill an afflicted individual on sight, and then command them as undead minions for their own use. These damning hieroglyphics are invisible to anyone else viewing the afflicted person, including the cursed individual, except through the use of detect magic accompanied by a successful DC 20 Intelligence (Arcana) check, true seeing accompanied by a successful DC 20 Wisdom (Perception) check, or greater magic (such as wish).
Inhabit. The swarm enters the body of a dead or incapacitated creature of size Small, Medium, or Large. If the creature was dead, it becomes a zombie of the appropriate variety with full hit points under the control of the swarm. If the creature is alive, it must succeed on a DC 16 Constitution saving throw or the swarm takes complete control of its body. The swarm may cause the creature to take any of its normal actions, except spellcasting. Damage done to an inhabited creature is split evenly between the creature and the swarm. When a creature begins its turn inhabited by the swarm, it takes 7 (2d6) necrotic damage. An inhabited creature may repeat its saving throw at the end of each of its turns, expelling the swarm from its body and ending the swarm’s control over it on a success. A living inhabited creature which dies from the swarm’s necrotic damage becomes a zombie of the appropriate variety with full hit points under the control of the swarm. Casting greater restoration or heal on a living inhabited creature expels the swarm.
Last edited:
Voadam
Legend
Codex Miscellaneorum
5e
Vampire: If a victim’s Constitution score is reduced to 0 from [your vampire's] feeding, they die. If you give them a point of your blood (by opening a vein and pouring the blood into your victim’s mouth) before the following sunrise, the victim will rise as a vampire at the following sunset.
Vampires are unliving bodies powered by blood.
Unliving Body: ?
Undead Race, Undead: Through dark magic, desperate bargaining, or dire accident, your body has been returned to a semblance of life. Undead are ambulatory corpses animated through necromancy.
Ambulatory Corpse: ?
Undead Race Behemoth, Behemoth Undead: You are among the larger creatures to be animated as undead. Goliaths, Centaurs, and other massive humanoids become behemoth undead.
Undead Race Herd: You were a medium-sized creature in your former life. Most humanoids fall under this subrace upon dying and becoming reanimated.
Undead Race Runt, Runt Undead: In life, you were a member of a small race. This has impacted your existence as an undead. Gnomes, halflings, and other Small sized humanoids become runt undead.
5e
Vampire: If a victim’s Constitution score is reduced to 0 from [your vampire's] feeding, they die. If you give them a point of your blood (by opening a vein and pouring the blood into your victim’s mouth) before the following sunrise, the victim will rise as a vampire at the following sunset.
Vampires are unliving bodies powered by blood.
Unliving Body: ?
Undead Race, Undead: Through dark magic, desperate bargaining, or dire accident, your body has been returned to a semblance of life. Undead are ambulatory corpses animated through necromancy.
Ambulatory Corpse: ?
Undead Race Behemoth, Behemoth Undead: You are among the larger creatures to be animated as undead. Goliaths, Centaurs, and other massive humanoids become behemoth undead.
Undead Race Herd: You were a medium-sized creature in your former life. Most humanoids fall under this subrace upon dying and becoming reanimated.
Undead Race Runt, Runt Undead: In life, you were a member of a small race. This has impacted your existence as an undead. Gnomes, halflings, and other Small sized humanoids become runt undead.
Voadam
Legend
Cold Mountain 5e
5e
Priya Nizolek, Ghost: Priya Nizolek was disconsolate when her only daughter, Fanya, took sick with a fever that would not abate, no matter how she prayed to the goddess of the mountain for healing. Long days and nights she prayed, but the village healers could do nothing and Fanya’s life slipped away. Pioska, loyal Pioska, ever her dutiful son, had sworn he would take an offering to the Istria’s mountain, imploring the goddess to restore his little sister, but she forbade him. Drowned in her grief, however, Priya never even noticed Pioska steal away to Istria’s Dolmen... not until three days later when a hunter brought back his garments, torn and bloodied where a wild beast had fallen upon him in the wood. Mad with grief, Priya seized her daughter’s dead body and her son’s bloody clothes to take them [to] the goddess’ mountain, to demand satisfaction. The goddess would answer to her! She would answer for abandoning her faithful servant Priya in her greatest need, leaving her desolate and alone. Delirious from hunger and exhaustion, Priya deposited her grisly burden upon Istria’s Dolmen, barely clinging to sanity in her grief and anger. As Priya started to pray, a raven circled down from the rocks, alighting on Fanya’s corpse. Appalled as the carrion bird began to feast, Priya leaped up in a blind rage and hurled herself at the raven, in heedless pursuit as it flapped wildly trying to escape. In her headlong rush, Priya scarcely noticed when the snow-shrouded scree atop [the] Falls of Istria gave way and she plummeted to her doom. But sometimes a mother’s grief and rage are stronger than death…
Byard Mager, the spirit of the waterfall, came to investigate the sad village woman who had plunged into his waterfall, and Priya’s tormented spirit rose up as a ghost and possessed him.
5e
Priya Nizolek, Ghost: Priya Nizolek was disconsolate when her only daughter, Fanya, took sick with a fever that would not abate, no matter how she prayed to the goddess of the mountain for healing. Long days and nights she prayed, but the village healers could do nothing and Fanya’s life slipped away. Pioska, loyal Pioska, ever her dutiful son, had sworn he would take an offering to the Istria’s mountain, imploring the goddess to restore his little sister, but she forbade him. Drowned in her grief, however, Priya never even noticed Pioska steal away to Istria’s Dolmen... not until three days later when a hunter brought back his garments, torn and bloodied where a wild beast had fallen upon him in the wood. Mad with grief, Priya seized her daughter’s dead body and her son’s bloody clothes to take them [to] the goddess’ mountain, to demand satisfaction. The goddess would answer to her! She would answer for abandoning her faithful servant Priya in her greatest need, leaving her desolate and alone. Delirious from hunger and exhaustion, Priya deposited her grisly burden upon Istria’s Dolmen, barely clinging to sanity in her grief and anger. As Priya started to pray, a raven circled down from the rocks, alighting on Fanya’s corpse. Appalled as the carrion bird began to feast, Priya leaped up in a blind rage and hurled herself at the raven, in heedless pursuit as it flapped wildly trying to escape. In her headlong rush, Priya scarcely noticed when the snow-shrouded scree atop [the] Falls of Istria gave way and she plummeted to her doom. But sometimes a mother’s grief and rage are stronger than death…
Byard Mager, the spirit of the waterfall, came to investigate the sad village woman who had plunged into his waterfall, and Priya’s tormented spirit rose up as a ghost and possessed him.
Voadam
Legend
Creature Codex for 5th Edition
5e
Crimson Mist: All vampires die horribly when exposed to the sun’s golden rays. Yet when a vampire is killed by sunlight while feeding upon a living victim, its blood-fattened body explodes into a fine, crimson mist. The vampire’s mind and personality are destroyed by the light of the sun, but its unholy lust for blood and hatred of the living persist in the form of a cloud of sanguine mist.
Dark Father: An embodiment of the finality of death.
Dream Wraith: The dream wraith is an undead monster spawned when a living creature is killed while in the throes of a powerful dream.
Born from the world of dreams, the dream wraiths live partially in the mortal world and partially in the land of dreams.
Elophar: No force is more dangerous to an ambitious ogre mage than its own magic. Ogres are superstitious creatures, and their magi keep them in line through fear of arcane power. The most effective way for an ogre mage to remind its dullard brethren of their arcane might is by publically and dramatically communing with the tribe’s ancestral spirits. An elophar is created when an ogre mage bungles a ritual to call forth the spirits of the dead. During this failed ritual, its conductor is instantly struck dead and all the summoned spirits run rampant, trying to possess their summoner’s lifeless corpse all at once.
Fear Liath, Grayman: Fear liaths were once mortals and are bound to the Material Plane by a hex known as the Gray Curse. A humanoid slain by a fear liath becomes a Grayman itself, and the fear liath who passed the curse is free to move on to the afterlife. The origin of the first fear liaths is a mystery distorted by millennia of oral legend, but most tellers agree on one detail: the first fear liaths were vain human mountaineers who angered the god of the sun and were cursed to walk the earth as shadows, unable to be seen by other creatures for the rest of existence.
If the fear liath kills a humanoid creature, the fear liath is destroyed and the humanoid it killed rises as a fear liath in 1d4 hours. If remove curse is cast upon the cursed humanoid before it becomes a fear liath, the curse is broken.
Fierstjerren: Fierstjerren are undead servants of the northern death cults, raised from fallen reavers through dark magic.
Fierstjerren are animated by a controlling spirit of necrotic energy.
Flesh Reaver: A flesh reaver is a grotesque thing made from mismatched parts of the slain. Though it has no eyes, it searches its surroundings with other preternatural senses that unnerve even the most steadfast warrior. Its teeth chatter endlessly as it scours an area, the sound chilling the blood of its quarry.
Ghost Dragon: A ghost dragon’s creation does not differ greatly from the creation of a human ghost. Dragons of any size, color, or magical ability can become ghost dragons. If the circumstances of the dragon’s demise are troubling or violent enough, the soul may be denied an afterlife, leaving the ghost dragon’s spirit to haunt the Material Plane until it finds peace. Dragons whose wrathful natures are more intense than others are most likely to become ghost dragons.
Most ghost dragons are bound to the areas where they once laired. They may be able to roam within a mile or two of those places, but their unfinished business generally involves a notable event in their lairs: death at the hands of sneaky adventurers, betrayal by their followers, machinations of a rival dragon, etc.
Ghost Dwarf: The risen shades of dwarven paladins and other would-be heroes who made holy war on the undead and lost, the ghost dwarves march by night, sent back to slay those who originally sent them.
The graveslayers are active in the Black Canton of Grisal in the Ironcrags bordering the Grisal Marches of western Doresh. The dwarves battle the skeletons and zombies of Morgau, raiding across the river into the mountains and beyond to the infamous Zombie Wood. A few members of this tradition also operate out of the Wolfmark, fighting against the Morgau undead with allies from the Northlands.
Graveslayers who fall in battle and are left behind often become ghost dwarves if Morgau’s necromancers don’t get to them first.
Ghoul Darakhul High Priestess: ?
Ghoul Darakhul Shadowmancer: ?
Ghoul Necrophage Ghast: ?
Ghoul Tar: Bored while under the service of a necromancer, an efreeti prince toyed with his master’s creations to give them an edge against fiery spellcasters.
Ghoulsteed: The ghouls create horrific, intelligent, undead mounts for their most worthy soldiers and priests.
Although they’re large, run on all fours, and can be ridden as mounts, ghoulsteeds are the undead remains of humanoids. They’re created when a humanoid is killed by massive amounts of necrotic energy.
Goreling: Bits and pieces of ground-up flesh and bone given unholy life shuffles forward, eager to feed.
Gorelings are a necromancer’s answer when there just isn’t enough flesh around to create a full zombie. During a fight, a chopped off appendage or two can be converted into a handy minion.
Torturous Hunger. It is said that within each goreling is a fragment of the dead creature’s soul.
Leftover Parts. Gorelings come in a variety of shapes and sizes, since they are made of whatever is lying around, including whole eyes, ears, fingers, and organs.
Rotten Goreling: While fresh gore is preferable when raising gorelings, rotting flesh will suffice, too.
Grave Behemoth: In the past, a necromancer kingdom neared destruction from rampaging giants. Their undead were not sufficient to defeat the giants, so they turned to even darker arts. The necromancers flayed the flesh off hill giants, keeping the skins mostly intact, and stuffed the resulting sacks of flesh full of humanoid bodies before sewing it back together. Then, they enveloped their creations in necrotic energy until the giant flesh animated . . . along with the zombies trapped inside.
A grave behemoth is more than the sum of its grisly parts. The dark ritual forms a hive mind between the behemoth and its zombie tenants, which act as an extension of the behemoth’s will.
Herald of Undeath: ?
Herald of Mot: ?
God-King, God-Queen: A herald of Mot may corrupt ley lines or transform a ruler of Nuria into a god-king or god-queen. Its role in this later work requires deep necromancy and a divine spark in the chosen ruler.
Hungry Ghost Gaki: The gaki, or hungry ghosts, are restless spirits of avaricious humans, cursed by the gods to live eternally in constant hunger.
A hungry ghost is cursed to consume a single thing for eternity. Usually the object of their hunger is disgusting refuse like feces or garbage, but some gaki have more unusual tastes. Often, these tastes ironically reflect the sins these spirits committed in life.
Hungry Ghost Jikininki: Another type of hungry ghost, known as the jikininki, is the spirit of a selfish or blasphemous person now cursed to feed on fresh human flesh.
Hungry Ghost Preta: ?
Jiangshi, Hopping Vampire: A jiangshi is created when burial rites are carried out improperly. Unable to leave the body, the tortured soul re-animates the corpse after rigor mortis has set in, giving the jiangshi its rigid posture and nickname as a “hopping vampire.”
A humanoid slain by a jianghsi's life drain rises 24 hours later as a jiangshi, unless the humanoid is restored to life, its body is bathed in vinegar before burial, or its body is destroyed.
Kulmking: When a creature chooses to go out of its way to harm forests or other wildlands, fey spirits can curse it to become a külmking. This twisted, horrified undead is forced to become guardian to the lands it once corrupted.
A creature that dies after its soul was corrupted by a kulmking rises 24 hours later as a külmking.
Lady in White: The spirit of a woman who met a terrible, tragic end, often through murder at the hands of loved ones, a lady in white wanders near the place where she died.
Hierophant Lich: The hierophant lich is always a devout follower of a dark god, demon lord, arch-devil, or creature of outer darkness. When the hierophant’s mortal lifetime would normally end, its dark master grants it additional life, so that it may continue to serve darkness. Usually, this gift is dispensed as part of the burial rites of the hierophant lich. The creature rises just as its body is about to be buried. In other cases, it leaves its tomb shortly after burial, or it stands up when the fires of its cremation are just starting to catch.
Pact Lich: The first pact lich was a warlock whose patron was a demon lord of undeath. In a moment of whimsy, the demon granted the warlock’s petition to become a powerful undead.
Lost Minotaur: The risen corpses of minotaurs who died while trapped in a labyrinth of any kind, lost minotaurs embody the anguish, rage, and humiliation of the worst deaths their people can imagine.
Nachzehrer: Nachzehrer arise when plague strikes and kills a large number of people. The first victim of a plague might rise as one of these foul undead, and if that nachzehrer can infect enough victims a second nachzehrer will rise to join the first.
Seeping Death Skeleton: Sometimes, the skeletal victim of a suppurating ooze will reanimate, either by the twisted will of a necromancer or the ebb and flow of wild magic.
Necrotic Tick: Necrotic ticks are normal ticks that have gorged themselves on blood rich with necrotic energy. They grow unnaturally large as they feed, weighing in excess of four pounds when fully engorged. Most begin their voracious lives attached to the backs of animal zombies, and it is not uncommon to find a cluster of them on a single animal.
Phantom: The restless, angry spirits of those who have met a violent end, phantoms wander the night, vacillating between confusion, outrage, and misery.
Quiet Soul, Suiksarpok: The angry shade of one abandoned and left to die of starvation, thirst, or exposure to the elements, the quiet soul haunts many a frozen campsite, steep cavern, ravine, or deadly trap. Its helplessness, despair, and hatred for those who left it to die followed it beyond death.
Occasionally malevolent cults devoted to gods of death, winter, or darkness sacrifice one of their number to become a quiet soul.
Shadow River Lord: ?
Clacking Skeleton: They are often created as guardians for tombs or the lairs of necromancers from the leftover bones of apprentices, slaves, and scribes.
Monarch Skeleton: ?
Shadow Skeleton: While the souls of the victims of a shadow river lord are lost, the flesh is devoured by the river’s denizens, leaving only bones. These bones are reanimated as shadow skeletons, which lurk beneath the river’s surface, waiting for their master’s call to action.
Skull Lantern: A form of enigmatic, semi-sentient undead, a skull lantern comes into being spontaneously, soon after the destruction of another humanoid undead.
In fact, it isn’t entirely clear if skull lanterns are inhabited by some spiritual remnant of their former selves or if they are occupied by some other entity altogether.
Spirit Lamp, Skeletal Spirit Lamp: Spirit lamps are cursed creatures carrying lanterns that trap the souls of their victims and unleash those souls to ravage the living.
A living creature that touches the spirit lamp's lantern is cursed, unable to release it and unable to see except in the lantern’s light. Torn between fear of the darkness and the horrors it sees in the cursed light, the bearer is soon driven mad. Over time the bearer twists into the skeletal spirit lamp.
The spirit lamp’s lantern is immune to damage and can’t be the target of spells or effects as long as the spirit lamp lives. When the spirit lamp dies, the lantern floats gently to the ground and opens, if it was closed. The lantern has AC 17, 50 hp, and is immune to piercing, poison, and psychic damage. A creature that touches the lantern must succeed on a DC 15 Charisma saving throw or be cursed. A cursed creature is frightened of darkness, can’t see anything outside of the lantern’s light, and is unable to drop the lantern. The cursed creature will risk its own life to protect the lantern. A creature can repeat the saving throw each day at dawn, lifting the curse and ending the effects on itself on a success. If this occurs, the lantern disintegrates. After three failed saving throws, remove curse or similar magic is required to end the curse.
If the creature remains cursed after 30 days, it is irreversibly changed by the curse, and it becomes the lantern’s new spirit lamp. Voluntarily opening the lantern counts as a failed saving throw. If the lantern is destroyed, all captured spirits are put to rest and the cursed bearer, if it has not yet changed into a spirit lamp, is freed of the curse.
Seeping Death Skeleton: Sometimes, the skeletal victim of a suppurating ooze will reanimate, either by the twisted will of a necromancer or the ebb and flow of wild magic.
Tulpa: Tulpa are a coalescence of ill-will and obsessive thoughts. Brought into the Material Plane from pure negative thoughts, the tulpa is effectively immortal – remaining in the world until its creator ceases thinking dark thoughts.
Tveirherjar: Nidhogg, the serpent glutting on the corpses of the fallen while tangled amid the roots of Yggdrasil, has taken issue with the valkyrie poaching the best from the battlefield. He relishes the hatred of those who die with anger in their hearts, turning them into his captains in the fight against the valkyrie.
Nidhogg places a curse upon those who were slain with hatred and rage burning within them, so that mortal men forget them utterly and their name is stricken from song.
Tveirherjar are born into the dusk on the evening of their mortal demise.
If an einherjar is reduced to 0 hp by a tveirherjar's curse of the tveriherjar, it dies, cursed to become a tveirherjar at sundown.
Undead Phoenix: The undead phoenix is “born” when a typical phoenix dies at the hands of an undead creature that creates new undead: vampires, wraiths, wights, and the like. Liches sometimes arrange the creation of an undead phoenix to use them as mounts. Phoenixes succumbing to undeath rot away to nothing in a matter of seconds, leaving only a pile of foul, rotting goo. Moments later, the putrid ooze explodes as the undead phoenix slithers out of the substance in its new form.
Unhatched: These unholy dragon whelps were never given the chance to hatch–their mothers were slain, and the eggs which contained them carried off to dark ends. The unhatched dragon egg is stewed in a vile necromantic soup which dissolves the hard shell and melts the creature’s flesh from its bones. It arises from the wretched fluid as an evil, skeletal, draconic whelp, its hollow eye sockets glowing a pale yellow.
Vampire Patrician: ?
Shroud-Eater Vampire: ?
King Lucan, Shroud-Eater Vampire: ?
Vampire Priestess: ?
Vampiric Knight: A vampiric knight is created when a holy knight is brought low on the field of battle by a vampire. Rather than taking on the traits of a normal vampire, the knight turns into a unique creature, destined to serve its murderer for eternity.
Wind Eater: Warped by Arcane Catastrophe. The wrathful byproducts of cataclysms caused by arcane warfare, wind eaters were once humanoids. Now twisted into near-invisible, roughly human-shaped creatures, they wander their shattered homelands, attacking any intelligent life that comes near.
Blood Zombie: A blood zombie has been infused with necromantic magic that gives it a semblance of life.
Blood mages are often found allied with or creating crimson tusked ogres and blood zombies, and are on good terms with most vampires, liches, and followers of Marena, the Red Goddess.
Carrion Curse disease.
Lord Zombie, Terrifying Lord Zombie: Corrupted Death. A figure of strong will who dies in a place infused with necrotic energy can draw the corruption into itself and rise as a terrifying lord zombie. More tragically, sometimes resurrection magic goes awry, and the victim returns as a nexus of undeath.
Mold Zombie: Mold zombies are undead created by necromantic spores.
Mold zombies are created when a humanoid inhales the spores of an iumenta flower, a red-vined, black-petaled swamp plant that smells of rotting flesh. Once inhaled, the host contracts iumenta pox. The spores quickly shut down internal organs while growing into the muscles and the brain. When the host dies, the spores reanimate the corpse into a mold zombie.
Mold zombies are controlled by their spores, which seek to infect more humanoids. When a zombie sees a potential host, it fights to the death, hoping to kill infected creatures so it can immediately rise as an undead.
Corrupted Graveslayer: The necromancers of the Blood Kingdom regularly animate the corpses of dwarven raiders as zombies. When a graveslayer’s body is available, they use dark rituals to corrupt its soul, enlisting it to fight against its former comrades.
Undead, Real Undead: For all their love of hunting, vellso eat little of what they kill. This makes the vellso of great use to ghouls and other creatures capable of summoning them, as prey is either left to be devoured or to rise as undead, usually marked in some way to show it was slain by the demon.
A herald of undeath can and will raise entire undead armies from large cemeteries, battlefields, or necropoli.
The largest of these cemetery cities are strange places filled with the chittering of ghouls and the clatter of bone, and their primary purpose is the slavish adulation of the dark god who sponsors their founding herald. They have no fields to till or livestock to maintain; instead, they gather and carve stone into grotesque buildings, offertories, and abattoirs where the living cross into undeath.
Undead Friend: ?
Powerful Undead: ?
Intelligent Undead: ?
Unintelligent Undead: ?
Undead Servant: ?
Lesser Undead: ?
Undead Prince: ?
Horrific Intelligent Undead Mount: ?
Undead Remains of a Humanoid: ?
Gooey Black and Green Undead: ?
Enormous Undead Servitor: ?
Undead Follower: ?
Human-Like Undead: ?
Twisted Horrified Undead: ?
Foul Undead: ?
Undead Host: ?
Undead Fey Spirit: ?
Undead Monarch: ?
Undead King: ?
Enigmatic Semi-Sentient Undead: ?
Dishonorable Undead: ?
Undead Overlord: ?
Mindless Undead: ?
Undead Master: ?
Undead Monstrosity: ?
Variant Undead: ?
Undead Thrall: ?
Walking Dead: ?
Hungry Dead: ?
Vulture of the Living: ?
Risen Corpse: ?
Walking Corpse: ?
Bloody Corpse: ?
Shambling Corpse: ?
Ghost: ?
Good-Aligned Ghost: ?
Swarm of Ghostly Rattok Demons: ?
Ghostly Figure: ?
Human Ghost: ?
Ghost Haunted Giant Ancestral Spirit, Huge Ghostly Spirit: The more who die, the more ghosts return to burden the living.
Ghostly Skeletal Hands: ?
Ghoul, Typical Ghoul: Darakhul Fever disease.
Ghoul Baron: ?
Ghoul Darakhul: Darakhul Fever disease.
Darakhul Noble: ?
Ghoul Ghast: Humanoids who die in the gullet of a neophron are doomed to serve dark gods of hunger without end. The demon vomits a newly-created undead to spread hunger across the world.
If a humanoid dies while swallowed by a neophron, it transforms into a ghast.
Darakhul Fever disease.
Ghoul Arcanist: ?
Ghoul Ranger: ?
Lich: ?
Paranoid Lich: ?
Risen Shade: ?
Angry Shade: ?
Dark Flickering Shade: ?
Shadow, Dreaded Undead Shadow: ?
Skeleton, Ordinary Skeleton, Typical Skeleton: Ancient Mandriano's Call the Dead power.
Ankou lair action
Pact Lich lair action.
Skeletal Dragon: ?
Skeletal Hands: ?
Animated Skeleton: ?
Dry Dusty Skeleton: ?
Skeletal Remains: ?
Skeletal Figure: ?
Small Skeletal Dragon: ?
Evil Skeletal Draconic Whelp: ?
Howling Specter: Many humanoid cultures tell legends of the ankou’s baleful visage, claiming that the sight of an ankou in its true form is enough to drive a sane human mad and a dead human’s spirit to becoming a howling specter.
Supernaturally Thin 10-Foot-Tall Spectral Giant: ?
Spectral Rodent: ?
Looming Spectral Apparition: ?
Spectral Humanoid:?
Vampire, Normal Vampire: ?
Ancient Vampire: ?
Vampire Spawn: Vampire patricians are weaker than their vampire kin but are far superior to the spawn their kin create.
A humanoid slain by a vampire patrician's bite attack reducing its hit point maximum to 0 and then buried in the ground rises the following night as a vampire spawn under the vampire patrician’s control.
A humanoid slain by a vampire priestess's bite attack reducing its hit point maximum to 0 and then buried in the ground rises the following night as a vampire spawn under the vampire priestess’s control.
Vampire Progeny: ?
Free-Willed Vampire: ?
Wight: ?
Wraith: While dream wraiths are rare, even a solitary wraith can devastate a densely populated area. They tend to focus on one victim at a time, stealing into bed chambers and bunkrooms at night while everyone sleeps. They move through walls without waking sleepers, sense the person having the most vivid dream, and drain its life force via its dreams. Sometimes the victim survives the attack, waking in the morning feeling very ill, but often the shock of the attack kills the dreamer. The creature’s body remains, but its spirit follows the dream wraith into the night, becoming a servant of the creature.
Any humanoid that dies at the hands of a dream wraith rises 1 hour later as a wraith under the dream wraith’s control.
Good-Aligned Wraith: ?
Zombie, Full Zombie: Gorelings are a necromancer’s answer when there just isn’t enough flesh around to create a full zombie.
In the past, a necromancer kingdom neared destruction from rampaging giants. Their undead were not sufficient to defeat the giants, so they turned to even darker arts. The necromancers flayed the flesh off hill giants, keeping the skins mostly intact, and stuffed the resulting sacks of flesh full of humanoid bodies before sewing it back together. Then, they enveloped their creations in necrotic energy until the giant flesh animated . . . along with the zombies trapped inside.
A humanoid slain by a mandriano's consume the spark attack rises 24 hours later as a zombie or skeleton under the mandriano’s control, unless the humanoid is restored to life or its body is destroyed.
When the blood of a necrotic tick’s undead host runs dry, the parasite rides its victim to a new host—usually an unfortunate living creature. As it sucks the living creature’s blood, it leaks necrotic energy into the bite wound and starts a process that slowly turns the hapless victim into a zombie one pound of flesh at a time.
While attached to a living host, a necrotic tick leaks negative energy into the host’s bloodstream, quickly closing over the creature’s wounds with scabrous, necrotic flesh. If the host doesn’t already have regeneration, it regains 2 hp at the start of its turn if it has at least 1 hit point. Track how many “necrotic hp” a host recovers via Necrotic Regeneration. Magical healing reverses the necrosis and subtracts an equal number of necrotic hp from those accumulated. When the necrotic hp equal the host’s hit point maximum, the host becomes a zombie.
Crypt spiders make their homes in crypts, graveyards, and other locations where dead bodies are plentiful. They are blessed by dark gods of undeath, and create and control undead through power granted by the blessing.
The crypt spider creates a zombie from a humanoid creature it has killed with its poison. This works like the animate dead spell, except the zombie stays under the crypt spider’s control for 1d4 days.
Lord zombies spread a constant wave of necrosis into the world around them. Even long-dead corpses quicken to the lord’s call.
A humanoid slain by a lord zombie's life drain attack rises 24 hours later as a zombie under the lord’s control, unless the humanoid is restored to life or its body is destroyed.
The necromancers of the Blood Kingdom regularly animate the corpses of dwarven raiders as zombies.
Ancient Mandriano's Call the Dead power.
Lord Zombie Arise lair action.
Pact Lich lair action.
Zombie Tenant: ?
Animal Zombie: ?
Hulking Abomination: ?
Ancient Man: ?
Pale Emaciated Abomination: ?
Grotesque Thing: ?
Wavering Draconic Form: ?
Restless Spirit: ?
Vindictive Spirit: ?
Spirit of a Woman Who Met a Terrible Tragic End: ?
Rotting Fiendish Creature: ?
Horror: ?
Dark Vague Outline of a Person: ?
Restless Angry Spirit: ?
Dangerous Creature: ?
Tomb Servitor: ?
Guardian: ?
Cursed Creature: ?
Coalescence of Ill Will and Obsessive Thoughts: ?
Decomposing Warrior: ?
Unholy Dragon Whelp: ?
Barely Visible Humanoid Silhouette: ?
CARRION CURSE
Within a day, a dark discoloration around the wound is accompanied by the smell of putrefying flesh. Unless serious measures are taken to mask the smell, carrion eaters of all kinds will be drawn to the infected creature, gaining advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks to track the creature by smell within their usual range.
While infected with carrion curse, a creature can’t be healed magically and can only heal naturally through rest and by spending hit dice. At the end of each long rest, a creature infected with carrion curse must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or gain one level of exhaustion. If an infected creature succeeds on the saving throw, it no longer gains exhaustion levels each day. A second successful save at the end of a long rest cures the disease. The abyssal disease resists many efforts at treatment and can only be cured by a greater restoration spell or similar magic.
A living creature that dies from the effects of carrion curse has a 75% chance of rising again as a blood zombie within 24 hours.
DARAKHUL FEVER
Spread mainly through bite wounds, this disease makes itself known within 24 hours by swiftly debilitating the infected. An infected creature must make a DC 17 Constitution saving throw after every long rest. On a failed save, the victim takes 14 (4d6) necrotic damage, and its hp maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the damage taken. This reduction lasts until the victim finishes a long rest after the disease is cured. The victim recovers from the disease by making two consecutive successful saving throws. Greater restoration cures the disease, while lesser restoration gives the victim advantage on the next saving throw.
Primarily spread among humanoids, the disease can affect ogres, and therefore other giants may be susceptible. If a creature dies while infected with darakhul fever, roll a d20, add the character’s Constitution modifier, and find the result on the Adjustment Table to determine what undead form the victim’s body rises in.
ADJUSTMENT TABLE
Roll Result
1–9 None; victim is simply dead
10–16 Ghoul
17–20 Ghast
21+ Darakhul
DISEASE: IUMENTA POX
It takes 1d4 days for iumenta pox’s symptoms to appear in an infected humanoid. A creature with iumenta pox has trouble breathing, and its skin erupts with painful green boils that ooze pus. As the disease progresses, these pustules turn black.
At the end of each long rest, an infected creature must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or take 7 (2d6) necrotic damage. The creature’s hp maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the damage taken. This reduction lasts until the disease is cured. The target dies if this effect reduces its hp maximum to 0. When an infected creature dies, its corpse rises as a mold zombie 1d4 hours after death. Iumenta pox can be cured with two successful saving throws.
Ankou Lair Action
Shrouds of shadow break off of the ankou and animate 2d4 skeletons from its pile of bones. These skeletons are immune to the ankou’s Aura of Necromancy’s Bane. All previously created skeletons are destroyed when the ankou dies or when it uses this lair action again.
Pact Lich’s Lair
LAIR ACTIONS
Channeling its patron’s energy, the pact lich raises up to five dead creatures as a skeleton or zombie like the animate dead spell.
Arise (Costs 3 Actions). The lord targets a humanoid corpse within 30 feet, which rises as a zombie under the lord’s control.
5e
Crimson Mist: All vampires die horribly when exposed to the sun’s golden rays. Yet when a vampire is killed by sunlight while feeding upon a living victim, its blood-fattened body explodes into a fine, crimson mist. The vampire’s mind and personality are destroyed by the light of the sun, but its unholy lust for blood and hatred of the living persist in the form of a cloud of sanguine mist.
Dark Father: An embodiment of the finality of death.
Dream Wraith: The dream wraith is an undead monster spawned when a living creature is killed while in the throes of a powerful dream.
Born from the world of dreams, the dream wraiths live partially in the mortal world and partially in the land of dreams.
Elophar: No force is more dangerous to an ambitious ogre mage than its own magic. Ogres are superstitious creatures, and their magi keep them in line through fear of arcane power. The most effective way for an ogre mage to remind its dullard brethren of their arcane might is by publically and dramatically communing with the tribe’s ancestral spirits. An elophar is created when an ogre mage bungles a ritual to call forth the spirits of the dead. During this failed ritual, its conductor is instantly struck dead and all the summoned spirits run rampant, trying to possess their summoner’s lifeless corpse all at once.
Fear Liath, Grayman: Fear liaths were once mortals and are bound to the Material Plane by a hex known as the Gray Curse. A humanoid slain by a fear liath becomes a Grayman itself, and the fear liath who passed the curse is free to move on to the afterlife. The origin of the first fear liaths is a mystery distorted by millennia of oral legend, but most tellers agree on one detail: the first fear liaths were vain human mountaineers who angered the god of the sun and were cursed to walk the earth as shadows, unable to be seen by other creatures for the rest of existence.
If the fear liath kills a humanoid creature, the fear liath is destroyed and the humanoid it killed rises as a fear liath in 1d4 hours. If remove curse is cast upon the cursed humanoid before it becomes a fear liath, the curse is broken.
Fierstjerren: Fierstjerren are undead servants of the northern death cults, raised from fallen reavers through dark magic.
Fierstjerren are animated by a controlling spirit of necrotic energy.
Flesh Reaver: A flesh reaver is a grotesque thing made from mismatched parts of the slain. Though it has no eyes, it searches its surroundings with other preternatural senses that unnerve even the most steadfast warrior. Its teeth chatter endlessly as it scours an area, the sound chilling the blood of its quarry.
Ghost Dragon: A ghost dragon’s creation does not differ greatly from the creation of a human ghost. Dragons of any size, color, or magical ability can become ghost dragons. If the circumstances of the dragon’s demise are troubling or violent enough, the soul may be denied an afterlife, leaving the ghost dragon’s spirit to haunt the Material Plane until it finds peace. Dragons whose wrathful natures are more intense than others are most likely to become ghost dragons.
Most ghost dragons are bound to the areas where they once laired. They may be able to roam within a mile or two of those places, but their unfinished business generally involves a notable event in their lairs: death at the hands of sneaky adventurers, betrayal by their followers, machinations of a rival dragon, etc.
Ghost Dwarf: The risen shades of dwarven paladins and other would-be heroes who made holy war on the undead and lost, the ghost dwarves march by night, sent back to slay those who originally sent them.
The graveslayers are active in the Black Canton of Grisal in the Ironcrags bordering the Grisal Marches of western Doresh. The dwarves battle the skeletons and zombies of Morgau, raiding across the river into the mountains and beyond to the infamous Zombie Wood. A few members of this tradition also operate out of the Wolfmark, fighting against the Morgau undead with allies from the Northlands.
Graveslayers who fall in battle and are left behind often become ghost dwarves if Morgau’s necromancers don’t get to them first.
Ghoul Darakhul High Priestess: ?
Ghoul Darakhul Shadowmancer: ?
Ghoul Necrophage Ghast: ?
Ghoul Tar: Bored while under the service of a necromancer, an efreeti prince toyed with his master’s creations to give them an edge against fiery spellcasters.
Ghoulsteed: The ghouls create horrific, intelligent, undead mounts for their most worthy soldiers and priests.
Although they’re large, run on all fours, and can be ridden as mounts, ghoulsteeds are the undead remains of humanoids. They’re created when a humanoid is killed by massive amounts of necrotic energy.
Goreling: Bits and pieces of ground-up flesh and bone given unholy life shuffles forward, eager to feed.
Gorelings are a necromancer’s answer when there just isn’t enough flesh around to create a full zombie. During a fight, a chopped off appendage or two can be converted into a handy minion.
Torturous Hunger. It is said that within each goreling is a fragment of the dead creature’s soul.
Leftover Parts. Gorelings come in a variety of shapes and sizes, since they are made of whatever is lying around, including whole eyes, ears, fingers, and organs.
Rotten Goreling: While fresh gore is preferable when raising gorelings, rotting flesh will suffice, too.
Grave Behemoth: In the past, a necromancer kingdom neared destruction from rampaging giants. Their undead were not sufficient to defeat the giants, so they turned to even darker arts. The necromancers flayed the flesh off hill giants, keeping the skins mostly intact, and stuffed the resulting sacks of flesh full of humanoid bodies before sewing it back together. Then, they enveloped their creations in necrotic energy until the giant flesh animated . . . along with the zombies trapped inside.
A grave behemoth is more than the sum of its grisly parts. The dark ritual forms a hive mind between the behemoth and its zombie tenants, which act as an extension of the behemoth’s will.
Herald of Undeath: ?
Herald of Mot: ?
God-King, God-Queen: A herald of Mot may corrupt ley lines or transform a ruler of Nuria into a god-king or god-queen. Its role in this later work requires deep necromancy and a divine spark in the chosen ruler.
Hungry Ghost Gaki: The gaki, or hungry ghosts, are restless spirits of avaricious humans, cursed by the gods to live eternally in constant hunger.
A hungry ghost is cursed to consume a single thing for eternity. Usually the object of their hunger is disgusting refuse like feces or garbage, but some gaki have more unusual tastes. Often, these tastes ironically reflect the sins these spirits committed in life.
Hungry Ghost Jikininki: Another type of hungry ghost, known as the jikininki, is the spirit of a selfish or blasphemous person now cursed to feed on fresh human flesh.
Hungry Ghost Preta: ?
Jiangshi, Hopping Vampire: A jiangshi is created when burial rites are carried out improperly. Unable to leave the body, the tortured soul re-animates the corpse after rigor mortis has set in, giving the jiangshi its rigid posture and nickname as a “hopping vampire.”
A humanoid slain by a jianghsi's life drain rises 24 hours later as a jiangshi, unless the humanoid is restored to life, its body is bathed in vinegar before burial, or its body is destroyed.
Kulmking: When a creature chooses to go out of its way to harm forests or other wildlands, fey spirits can curse it to become a külmking. This twisted, horrified undead is forced to become guardian to the lands it once corrupted.
A creature that dies after its soul was corrupted by a kulmking rises 24 hours later as a külmking.
Lady in White: The spirit of a woman who met a terrible, tragic end, often through murder at the hands of loved ones, a lady in white wanders near the place where she died.
Hierophant Lich: The hierophant lich is always a devout follower of a dark god, demon lord, arch-devil, or creature of outer darkness. When the hierophant’s mortal lifetime would normally end, its dark master grants it additional life, so that it may continue to serve darkness. Usually, this gift is dispensed as part of the burial rites of the hierophant lich. The creature rises just as its body is about to be buried. In other cases, it leaves its tomb shortly after burial, or it stands up when the fires of its cremation are just starting to catch.
Pact Lich: The first pact lich was a warlock whose patron was a demon lord of undeath. In a moment of whimsy, the demon granted the warlock’s petition to become a powerful undead.
Lost Minotaur: The risen corpses of minotaurs who died while trapped in a labyrinth of any kind, lost minotaurs embody the anguish, rage, and humiliation of the worst deaths their people can imagine.
Nachzehrer: Nachzehrer arise when plague strikes and kills a large number of people. The first victim of a plague might rise as one of these foul undead, and if that nachzehrer can infect enough victims a second nachzehrer will rise to join the first.
Seeping Death Skeleton: Sometimes, the skeletal victim of a suppurating ooze will reanimate, either by the twisted will of a necromancer or the ebb and flow of wild magic.
Necrotic Tick: Necrotic ticks are normal ticks that have gorged themselves on blood rich with necrotic energy. They grow unnaturally large as they feed, weighing in excess of four pounds when fully engorged. Most begin their voracious lives attached to the backs of animal zombies, and it is not uncommon to find a cluster of them on a single animal.
Phantom: The restless, angry spirits of those who have met a violent end, phantoms wander the night, vacillating between confusion, outrage, and misery.
Quiet Soul, Suiksarpok: The angry shade of one abandoned and left to die of starvation, thirst, or exposure to the elements, the quiet soul haunts many a frozen campsite, steep cavern, ravine, or deadly trap. Its helplessness, despair, and hatred for those who left it to die followed it beyond death.
Occasionally malevolent cults devoted to gods of death, winter, or darkness sacrifice one of their number to become a quiet soul.
Shadow River Lord: ?
Clacking Skeleton: They are often created as guardians for tombs or the lairs of necromancers from the leftover bones of apprentices, slaves, and scribes.
Monarch Skeleton: ?
Shadow Skeleton: While the souls of the victims of a shadow river lord are lost, the flesh is devoured by the river’s denizens, leaving only bones. These bones are reanimated as shadow skeletons, which lurk beneath the river’s surface, waiting for their master’s call to action.
Skull Lantern: A form of enigmatic, semi-sentient undead, a skull lantern comes into being spontaneously, soon after the destruction of another humanoid undead.
In fact, it isn’t entirely clear if skull lanterns are inhabited by some spiritual remnant of their former selves or if they are occupied by some other entity altogether.
Spirit Lamp, Skeletal Spirit Lamp: Spirit lamps are cursed creatures carrying lanterns that trap the souls of their victims and unleash those souls to ravage the living.
A living creature that touches the spirit lamp's lantern is cursed, unable to release it and unable to see except in the lantern’s light. Torn between fear of the darkness and the horrors it sees in the cursed light, the bearer is soon driven mad. Over time the bearer twists into the skeletal spirit lamp.
The spirit lamp’s lantern is immune to damage and can’t be the target of spells or effects as long as the spirit lamp lives. When the spirit lamp dies, the lantern floats gently to the ground and opens, if it was closed. The lantern has AC 17, 50 hp, and is immune to piercing, poison, and psychic damage. A creature that touches the lantern must succeed on a DC 15 Charisma saving throw or be cursed. A cursed creature is frightened of darkness, can’t see anything outside of the lantern’s light, and is unable to drop the lantern. The cursed creature will risk its own life to protect the lantern. A creature can repeat the saving throw each day at dawn, lifting the curse and ending the effects on itself on a success. If this occurs, the lantern disintegrates. After three failed saving throws, remove curse or similar magic is required to end the curse.
If the creature remains cursed after 30 days, it is irreversibly changed by the curse, and it becomes the lantern’s new spirit lamp. Voluntarily opening the lantern counts as a failed saving throw. If the lantern is destroyed, all captured spirits are put to rest and the cursed bearer, if it has not yet changed into a spirit lamp, is freed of the curse.
Seeping Death Skeleton: Sometimes, the skeletal victim of a suppurating ooze will reanimate, either by the twisted will of a necromancer or the ebb and flow of wild magic.
Tulpa: Tulpa are a coalescence of ill-will and obsessive thoughts. Brought into the Material Plane from pure negative thoughts, the tulpa is effectively immortal – remaining in the world until its creator ceases thinking dark thoughts.
Tveirherjar: Nidhogg, the serpent glutting on the corpses of the fallen while tangled amid the roots of Yggdrasil, has taken issue with the valkyrie poaching the best from the battlefield. He relishes the hatred of those who die with anger in their hearts, turning them into his captains in the fight against the valkyrie.
Nidhogg places a curse upon those who were slain with hatred and rage burning within them, so that mortal men forget them utterly and their name is stricken from song.
Tveirherjar are born into the dusk on the evening of their mortal demise.
If an einherjar is reduced to 0 hp by a tveirherjar's curse of the tveriherjar, it dies, cursed to become a tveirherjar at sundown.
Undead Phoenix: The undead phoenix is “born” when a typical phoenix dies at the hands of an undead creature that creates new undead: vampires, wraiths, wights, and the like. Liches sometimes arrange the creation of an undead phoenix to use them as mounts. Phoenixes succumbing to undeath rot away to nothing in a matter of seconds, leaving only a pile of foul, rotting goo. Moments later, the putrid ooze explodes as the undead phoenix slithers out of the substance in its new form.
Unhatched: These unholy dragon whelps were never given the chance to hatch–their mothers were slain, and the eggs which contained them carried off to dark ends. The unhatched dragon egg is stewed in a vile necromantic soup which dissolves the hard shell and melts the creature’s flesh from its bones. It arises from the wretched fluid as an evil, skeletal, draconic whelp, its hollow eye sockets glowing a pale yellow.
Vampire Patrician: ?
Shroud-Eater Vampire: ?
King Lucan, Shroud-Eater Vampire: ?
Vampire Priestess: ?
Vampiric Knight: A vampiric knight is created when a holy knight is brought low on the field of battle by a vampire. Rather than taking on the traits of a normal vampire, the knight turns into a unique creature, destined to serve its murderer for eternity.
Wind Eater: Warped by Arcane Catastrophe. The wrathful byproducts of cataclysms caused by arcane warfare, wind eaters were once humanoids. Now twisted into near-invisible, roughly human-shaped creatures, they wander their shattered homelands, attacking any intelligent life that comes near.
Blood Zombie: A blood zombie has been infused with necromantic magic that gives it a semblance of life.
Blood mages are often found allied with or creating crimson tusked ogres and blood zombies, and are on good terms with most vampires, liches, and followers of Marena, the Red Goddess.
Carrion Curse disease.
Lord Zombie, Terrifying Lord Zombie: Corrupted Death. A figure of strong will who dies in a place infused with necrotic energy can draw the corruption into itself and rise as a terrifying lord zombie. More tragically, sometimes resurrection magic goes awry, and the victim returns as a nexus of undeath.
Mold Zombie: Mold zombies are undead created by necromantic spores.
Mold zombies are created when a humanoid inhales the spores of an iumenta flower, a red-vined, black-petaled swamp plant that smells of rotting flesh. Once inhaled, the host contracts iumenta pox. The spores quickly shut down internal organs while growing into the muscles and the brain. When the host dies, the spores reanimate the corpse into a mold zombie.
Mold zombies are controlled by their spores, which seek to infect more humanoids. When a zombie sees a potential host, it fights to the death, hoping to kill infected creatures so it can immediately rise as an undead.
Corrupted Graveslayer: The necromancers of the Blood Kingdom regularly animate the corpses of dwarven raiders as zombies. When a graveslayer’s body is available, they use dark rituals to corrupt its soul, enlisting it to fight against its former comrades.
Undead, Real Undead: For all their love of hunting, vellso eat little of what they kill. This makes the vellso of great use to ghouls and other creatures capable of summoning them, as prey is either left to be devoured or to rise as undead, usually marked in some way to show it was slain by the demon.
A herald of undeath can and will raise entire undead armies from large cemeteries, battlefields, or necropoli.
The largest of these cemetery cities are strange places filled with the chittering of ghouls and the clatter of bone, and their primary purpose is the slavish adulation of the dark god who sponsors their founding herald. They have no fields to till or livestock to maintain; instead, they gather and carve stone into grotesque buildings, offertories, and abattoirs where the living cross into undeath.
Undead Friend: ?
Powerful Undead: ?
Intelligent Undead: ?
Unintelligent Undead: ?
Undead Servant: ?
Lesser Undead: ?
Undead Prince: ?
Horrific Intelligent Undead Mount: ?
Undead Remains of a Humanoid: ?
Gooey Black and Green Undead: ?
Enormous Undead Servitor: ?
Undead Follower: ?
Human-Like Undead: ?
Twisted Horrified Undead: ?
Foul Undead: ?
Undead Host: ?
Undead Fey Spirit: ?
Undead Monarch: ?
Undead King: ?
Enigmatic Semi-Sentient Undead: ?
Dishonorable Undead: ?
Undead Overlord: ?
Mindless Undead: ?
Undead Master: ?
Undead Monstrosity: ?
Variant Undead: ?
Undead Thrall: ?
Walking Dead: ?
Hungry Dead: ?
Vulture of the Living: ?
Risen Corpse: ?
Walking Corpse: ?
Bloody Corpse: ?
Shambling Corpse: ?
Ghost: ?
Good-Aligned Ghost: ?
Swarm of Ghostly Rattok Demons: ?
Ghostly Figure: ?
Human Ghost: ?
Ghost Haunted Giant Ancestral Spirit, Huge Ghostly Spirit: The more who die, the more ghosts return to burden the living.
Ghostly Skeletal Hands: ?
Ghoul, Typical Ghoul: Darakhul Fever disease.
Ghoul Baron: ?
Ghoul Darakhul: Darakhul Fever disease.
Darakhul Noble: ?
Ghoul Ghast: Humanoids who die in the gullet of a neophron are doomed to serve dark gods of hunger without end. The demon vomits a newly-created undead to spread hunger across the world.
If a humanoid dies while swallowed by a neophron, it transforms into a ghast.
Darakhul Fever disease.
Ghoul Arcanist: ?
Ghoul Ranger: ?
Lich: ?
Paranoid Lich: ?
Risen Shade: ?
Angry Shade: ?
Dark Flickering Shade: ?
Shadow, Dreaded Undead Shadow: ?
Skeleton, Ordinary Skeleton, Typical Skeleton: Ancient Mandriano's Call the Dead power.
Ankou lair action
Pact Lich lair action.
Skeletal Dragon: ?
Skeletal Hands: ?
Animated Skeleton: ?
Dry Dusty Skeleton: ?
Skeletal Remains: ?
Skeletal Figure: ?
Small Skeletal Dragon: ?
Evil Skeletal Draconic Whelp: ?
Howling Specter: Many humanoid cultures tell legends of the ankou’s baleful visage, claiming that the sight of an ankou in its true form is enough to drive a sane human mad and a dead human’s spirit to becoming a howling specter.
Supernaturally Thin 10-Foot-Tall Spectral Giant: ?
Spectral Rodent: ?
Looming Spectral Apparition: ?
Spectral Humanoid:?
Vampire, Normal Vampire: ?
Ancient Vampire: ?
Vampire Spawn: Vampire patricians are weaker than their vampire kin but are far superior to the spawn their kin create.
A humanoid slain by a vampire patrician's bite attack reducing its hit point maximum to 0 and then buried in the ground rises the following night as a vampire spawn under the vampire patrician’s control.
A humanoid slain by a vampire priestess's bite attack reducing its hit point maximum to 0 and then buried in the ground rises the following night as a vampire spawn under the vampire priestess’s control.
Vampire Progeny: ?
Free-Willed Vampire: ?
Wight: ?
Wraith: While dream wraiths are rare, even a solitary wraith can devastate a densely populated area. They tend to focus on one victim at a time, stealing into bed chambers and bunkrooms at night while everyone sleeps. They move through walls without waking sleepers, sense the person having the most vivid dream, and drain its life force via its dreams. Sometimes the victim survives the attack, waking in the morning feeling very ill, but often the shock of the attack kills the dreamer. The creature’s body remains, but its spirit follows the dream wraith into the night, becoming a servant of the creature.
Any humanoid that dies at the hands of a dream wraith rises 1 hour later as a wraith under the dream wraith’s control.
Good-Aligned Wraith: ?
Zombie, Full Zombie: Gorelings are a necromancer’s answer when there just isn’t enough flesh around to create a full zombie.
In the past, a necromancer kingdom neared destruction from rampaging giants. Their undead were not sufficient to defeat the giants, so they turned to even darker arts. The necromancers flayed the flesh off hill giants, keeping the skins mostly intact, and stuffed the resulting sacks of flesh full of humanoid bodies before sewing it back together. Then, they enveloped their creations in necrotic energy until the giant flesh animated . . . along with the zombies trapped inside.
A humanoid slain by a mandriano's consume the spark attack rises 24 hours later as a zombie or skeleton under the mandriano’s control, unless the humanoid is restored to life or its body is destroyed.
When the blood of a necrotic tick’s undead host runs dry, the parasite rides its victim to a new host—usually an unfortunate living creature. As it sucks the living creature’s blood, it leaks necrotic energy into the bite wound and starts a process that slowly turns the hapless victim into a zombie one pound of flesh at a time.
While attached to a living host, a necrotic tick leaks negative energy into the host’s bloodstream, quickly closing over the creature’s wounds with scabrous, necrotic flesh. If the host doesn’t already have regeneration, it regains 2 hp at the start of its turn if it has at least 1 hit point. Track how many “necrotic hp” a host recovers via Necrotic Regeneration. Magical healing reverses the necrosis and subtracts an equal number of necrotic hp from those accumulated. When the necrotic hp equal the host’s hit point maximum, the host becomes a zombie.
Crypt spiders make their homes in crypts, graveyards, and other locations where dead bodies are plentiful. They are blessed by dark gods of undeath, and create and control undead through power granted by the blessing.
The crypt spider creates a zombie from a humanoid creature it has killed with its poison. This works like the animate dead spell, except the zombie stays under the crypt spider’s control for 1d4 days.
Lord zombies spread a constant wave of necrosis into the world around them. Even long-dead corpses quicken to the lord’s call.
A humanoid slain by a lord zombie's life drain attack rises 24 hours later as a zombie under the lord’s control, unless the humanoid is restored to life or its body is destroyed.
The necromancers of the Blood Kingdom regularly animate the corpses of dwarven raiders as zombies.
Ancient Mandriano's Call the Dead power.
Lord Zombie Arise lair action.
Pact Lich lair action.
Zombie Tenant: ?
Animal Zombie: ?
Hulking Abomination: ?
Ancient Man: ?
Pale Emaciated Abomination: ?
Grotesque Thing: ?
Wavering Draconic Form: ?
Restless Spirit: ?
Vindictive Spirit: ?
Spirit of a Woman Who Met a Terrible Tragic End: ?
Rotting Fiendish Creature: ?
Horror: ?
Dark Vague Outline of a Person: ?
Restless Angry Spirit: ?
Dangerous Creature: ?
Tomb Servitor: ?
Guardian: ?
Cursed Creature: ?
Coalescence of Ill Will and Obsessive Thoughts: ?
Decomposing Warrior: ?
Unholy Dragon Whelp: ?
Barely Visible Humanoid Silhouette: ?
CARRION CURSE
Within a day, a dark discoloration around the wound is accompanied by the smell of putrefying flesh. Unless serious measures are taken to mask the smell, carrion eaters of all kinds will be drawn to the infected creature, gaining advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks to track the creature by smell within their usual range.
While infected with carrion curse, a creature can’t be healed magically and can only heal naturally through rest and by spending hit dice. At the end of each long rest, a creature infected with carrion curse must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or gain one level of exhaustion. If an infected creature succeeds on the saving throw, it no longer gains exhaustion levels each day. A second successful save at the end of a long rest cures the disease. The abyssal disease resists many efforts at treatment and can only be cured by a greater restoration spell or similar magic.
A living creature that dies from the effects of carrion curse has a 75% chance of rising again as a blood zombie within 24 hours.
DARAKHUL FEVER
Spread mainly through bite wounds, this disease makes itself known within 24 hours by swiftly debilitating the infected. An infected creature must make a DC 17 Constitution saving throw after every long rest. On a failed save, the victim takes 14 (4d6) necrotic damage, and its hp maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the damage taken. This reduction lasts until the victim finishes a long rest after the disease is cured. The victim recovers from the disease by making two consecutive successful saving throws. Greater restoration cures the disease, while lesser restoration gives the victim advantage on the next saving throw.
Primarily spread among humanoids, the disease can affect ogres, and therefore other giants may be susceptible. If a creature dies while infected with darakhul fever, roll a d20, add the character’s Constitution modifier, and find the result on the Adjustment Table to determine what undead form the victim’s body rises in.
ADJUSTMENT TABLE
Roll Result
1–9 None; victim is simply dead
10–16 Ghoul
17–20 Ghast
21+ Darakhul
DISEASE: IUMENTA POX
It takes 1d4 days for iumenta pox’s symptoms to appear in an infected humanoid. A creature with iumenta pox has trouble breathing, and its skin erupts with painful green boils that ooze pus. As the disease progresses, these pustules turn black.
At the end of each long rest, an infected creature must succeed on a DC 13 Constitution saving throw or take 7 (2d6) necrotic damage. The creature’s hp maximum is reduced by an amount equal to the damage taken. This reduction lasts until the disease is cured. The target dies if this effect reduces its hp maximum to 0. When an infected creature dies, its corpse rises as a mold zombie 1d4 hours after death. Iumenta pox can be cured with two successful saving throws.
Ankou Lair Action
Shrouds of shadow break off of the ankou and animate 2d4 skeletons from its pile of bones. These skeletons are immune to the ankou’s Aura of Necromancy’s Bane. All previously created skeletons are destroyed when the ankou dies or when it uses this lair action again.
Pact Lich’s Lair
LAIR ACTIONS
Channeling its patron’s energy, the pact lich raises up to five dead creatures as a skeleton or zombie like the animate dead spell.
Arise (Costs 3 Actions). The lord targets a humanoid corpse within 30 feet, which rises as a zombie under the lord’s control.
Last edited:
Voadam
Legend
Creature Codex Lairs for 5th Edition
5e
Specialized Variant Ghoul: While still far from shore, the PCs encounter Mother Rime’s first line of defense. She turned many of the villagers she has taken into undead creatures that guard the approach to her cove. Currently, seven ghouls, remnants of former fisherfolk she killed, swim the waters outside of her cove.
The ghouls, as specialized variants created by Mother Rime, have a swimming speed of 20 feet, and they are adapted to the chill of the arctic water.
Vampire: ?
Ghoul: ?
5e
Specialized Variant Ghoul: While still far from shore, the PCs encounter Mother Rime’s first line of defense. She turned many of the villagers she has taken into undead creatures that guard the approach to her cove. Currently, seven ghouls, remnants of former fisherfolk she killed, swim the waters outside of her cove.
The ghouls, as specialized variants created by Mother Rime, have a swimming speed of 20 feet, and they are adapted to the chill of the arctic water.
Vampire: ?
Ghoul: ?
Voadam
Legend
Creatures from Fairy-Tale and Myth 5e
5e
Undead: ?
Undead Warg: ?
Undead Reef Shark: ?
Undead Polar Bear: ?
Undead Hunter Shark: ?
Undead Woman: ?
Undead Child: ?
Grotesque Undead Carrion Bird of Normal Size: ?
Grotesque Undead Carrion Bird of Giant Size: ?
Undead Sheperd: ?
Spirit: ?
Banshee: It is generally accepted that they are the restless spirits of the dead women and maidens. It is impossible to tell for sure, since no man or woman has been able to survive an encounter with this most dreadful apparition.
Scholars and soothsayers can agree that for the most part they were Aos-Si women, those who live in the Seelie courts beyond the Veil. Faeries per se, that died in the realm of mankind and are now doomed to haunt its landscape. Mortal women who have been reincarnated as Banshees are said to have possessed some Faerie blood in their veins.
In the county of Mayo, a young maiden was killed by the head of a prominent clan. Before she died, she promised to get revenge on him and his kinsmen.
Banshees are female spirits that appear in various ages from a young girl, to a stately matron, to a crooked old hag.
A Banshee is an Aos-Si, usually a Fairy Queen who has died in Midgard, the realm of mankind. As a result she is doomed to wander the nights as a Banshee, unable to return to her homeland via the Sidhe mounds.
Restless Spirit of a Dead Woman: ?
Restless Spirit of a Dead Maiden: ?
Most Dreadful Apparition: ?
Apparition: ?
Female Spirit: ?
Clidna, The Banshee of the MacCarthy Clan, Banshee: One of the most famous Banshees was Clidna, who began her existence as a Fairy Queen of Munster, who after a tragic fate became the Banshee of the MacCarthy clan.
Banshee Leananshee: ?
Aine, Banshee: ?
Maeveen, Banshee: ?
Eodain, Banshee Leananshee: ?
Aibell, Banshee: ?
Draugar, Walking Dead, Wandering Dead: The dead of the Sword Age know no rest. Hel’s realm is closed, and so—if unclaimed by Valkyries—bodies rise again as Draugar.
The walking dead are a frayed thread on the tapestry of the Norns. The otherwise noble hero Glamar, working as a shepherd one night, was assaulted and his neck broken by a Draugar, and rose the next night as a Draugar himself. Dead men are not meant to kill the living, and any warrior killed by Draugar are kinked from the Norns’ tapestry, and more likely themselves to be rejected by Hel.
Wandering Corpse: ?
Noble Draugar: There are some stories of noble Draugar who guard their descendants and their lineage from a safe distance, but this certainly must be a change of heart upon death, for if they were that noble in life they would have at least been accepted into Niflheim.
Hrapp, Draugar: ?
Thorolf Half-Foot, Draugar: ?
Glamr, Draugar: ?
Thrain, Draugar: ?
Glamar, Draugar: The walking dead are a frayed thread on the tapestry of the Norns. The otherwise noble hero Glamar, working as a shepherd one night, was assaulted and his neck broken by a Draugar, and rose the next night as a Draugar himself. Dead men are not meant to kill the living, and any warrior killed by Draugar are kinked from the Norns’ tapestry, and more likely themselves to be rejected by Hel.
Draugar Aptragangr: They are the elite of Hel’s armies, and often were Angels of Death when they lived.
Lang, Draugar: The noble hero Lang was killed protecting the village, but has risen from the dead to continue protecting his village.
Eir, Draugar: ?
Magnor, Draugar: ?
Ghost: ?
Haugbui: A Haugbui is a spirit of the dead, bound to its burial mound.
The purpose that drove it to reject rest usually has some unattainable aspect. Resentments in life do not usually become more attainable in death. For instance, to seek revenge on someone else, who is already dead; to regain lost love; to have things go back to the way they used to be. Should the Haugbui’s nigh-impossible demands be resolved the spirit would move on. More commonly, however, enough time passes that the old Haugbui has forgotten their lives and some even their names, but still hold on to the resentment that bound them to the earth, even if they’ve forgotten why.
A Haugbui is the animated spirit of a dead mortal. Its body, which may be wholly or mostly destroyed, lies in its grave as its spirit haunts the burial mound.
Has an unfinished goal from life, is cursed, or has failed at some great task, and the passion of what is unresolved turns a spirit into a Haugbui.
Sometimes Haugbui are manipulated into being by the sinister curse of a Seithkona or Galdr, in order to trick it into being an effective though unwilling guardian of a particular place.
Spirit of the Dead: ?
Animated Spirit of a Dead Mortal: ?
The Hog-Boy of Maeshowe, Haugbui: ?
Muir Arnott, Haugbui: ?
Skeleton: ?
Zombie: ?
Huldufolk: ?
Drowned Skeleton: ?
Drowned Zombie: ?
Unquiet Dead: ?
Ijirait: ?
Angry Dead Soul: ?
Ancestor Spirit: ?
Utburden: An Utburden is made when a newborn or very young child is rejected by their family and killed or left to die. This is usually the deed of an unwed mother who—whether to avoid shame or just another mouth to feed—kills and buries her child or simply leaves it in the wilderness to die. An Utburden could even be a stillborn child not shown proper love before its remains were cast away. An Utburden desires revenge for the unloving act of its rejection.
An Utburden is the spirit of a child who died in childbirth, was stillborn, or was abandoned to die by its family soon after birth.
Spirit of a Child Who Died in Childbirth: ?
Spirit of a Child Who Was Stillborn: ?
Spirit of a Child Who Was Abandoned to Die by its Family Soon After Birth: ?
Terrible Spirit: ?
Restless Dead: ?
Wraith: ?
Specter: Wraith's Create Specter power.
Wight Sovereign: A Wight Sovereign is the most powerful type of lost soul. They cannot proceed to an afterlife. Niflheim has rejected them and they have abandoned all hope of resolving their unfinished business in Midgard.
Typically, the lost souls who become Wight Sovereigns were ambitious opportunists, usurpers and power-mongers in life.
Many Wight Sovereigns have personal conflict with Valkyries. Much to the Valkyries’ shame, they are partially responsible for Wight Sovereigns. The Valkyries are jealous of mortal lives and experience, and so some will—contrary to their edicts—possess human bodies. A Valkyrie who possesses a human body can only leave when the body dies, which makes the human soul lost, and all but assured to become a Wight Sovereign.
Wight Sovereigns are powerful lost souls who have mastered their damned state.
It seems only a mortal soul is capable of becoming a Wight Sovereign.
Lost Soul: ?
Powerful Lost Soul: ?
King Siggeir, Wight Sovereign: King Siggeir was the corrupt King of Gottland until he was killed by the hero Sigmund. King Siggeir became a Wight Sovereign, and with the other Wights he has assembled, have made Gottland the once thriving kingdom uninhabitable.
Arch-Wight Sovereign: ?
Ozur, Wight Sovereign, Evil Spirit: Ozur was a master manipulator in life, and is so too in death.
Create Specter. The wraith targets a humanoid within 10 feet of it that has been dead for no longer than 1 minute and died violently. The target’s spirit rises as a specter in the space of its corpse or in the nearest unoccupied space. The specter is under the wraith’s control. The wraith can have no more than seven specters under its control at one time.
5e
Undead: ?
Undead Warg: ?
Undead Reef Shark: ?
Undead Polar Bear: ?
Undead Hunter Shark: ?
Undead Woman: ?
Undead Child: ?
Grotesque Undead Carrion Bird of Normal Size: ?
Grotesque Undead Carrion Bird of Giant Size: ?
Undead Sheperd: ?
Spirit: ?
Banshee: It is generally accepted that they are the restless spirits of the dead women and maidens. It is impossible to tell for sure, since no man or woman has been able to survive an encounter with this most dreadful apparition.
Scholars and soothsayers can agree that for the most part they were Aos-Si women, those who live in the Seelie courts beyond the Veil. Faeries per se, that died in the realm of mankind and are now doomed to haunt its landscape. Mortal women who have been reincarnated as Banshees are said to have possessed some Faerie blood in their veins.
In the county of Mayo, a young maiden was killed by the head of a prominent clan. Before she died, she promised to get revenge on him and his kinsmen.
Banshees are female spirits that appear in various ages from a young girl, to a stately matron, to a crooked old hag.
A Banshee is an Aos-Si, usually a Fairy Queen who has died in Midgard, the realm of mankind. As a result she is doomed to wander the nights as a Banshee, unable to return to her homeland via the Sidhe mounds.
Restless Spirit of a Dead Woman: ?
Restless Spirit of a Dead Maiden: ?
Most Dreadful Apparition: ?
Apparition: ?
Female Spirit: ?
Clidna, The Banshee of the MacCarthy Clan, Banshee: One of the most famous Banshees was Clidna, who began her existence as a Fairy Queen of Munster, who after a tragic fate became the Banshee of the MacCarthy clan.
Banshee Leananshee: ?
Aine, Banshee: ?
Maeveen, Banshee: ?
Eodain, Banshee Leananshee: ?
Aibell, Banshee: ?
Draugar, Walking Dead, Wandering Dead: The dead of the Sword Age know no rest. Hel’s realm is closed, and so—if unclaimed by Valkyries—bodies rise again as Draugar.
The walking dead are a frayed thread on the tapestry of the Norns. The otherwise noble hero Glamar, working as a shepherd one night, was assaulted and his neck broken by a Draugar, and rose the next night as a Draugar himself. Dead men are not meant to kill the living, and any warrior killed by Draugar are kinked from the Norns’ tapestry, and more likely themselves to be rejected by Hel.
Wandering Corpse: ?
Noble Draugar: There are some stories of noble Draugar who guard their descendants and their lineage from a safe distance, but this certainly must be a change of heart upon death, for if they were that noble in life they would have at least been accepted into Niflheim.
Hrapp, Draugar: ?
Thorolf Half-Foot, Draugar: ?
Glamr, Draugar: ?
Thrain, Draugar: ?
Glamar, Draugar: The walking dead are a frayed thread on the tapestry of the Norns. The otherwise noble hero Glamar, working as a shepherd one night, was assaulted and his neck broken by a Draugar, and rose the next night as a Draugar himself. Dead men are not meant to kill the living, and any warrior killed by Draugar are kinked from the Norns’ tapestry, and more likely themselves to be rejected by Hel.
Draugar Aptragangr: They are the elite of Hel’s armies, and often were Angels of Death when they lived.
Lang, Draugar: The noble hero Lang was killed protecting the village, but has risen from the dead to continue protecting his village.
Eir, Draugar: ?
Magnor, Draugar: ?
Ghost: ?
Haugbui: A Haugbui is a spirit of the dead, bound to its burial mound.
The purpose that drove it to reject rest usually has some unattainable aspect. Resentments in life do not usually become more attainable in death. For instance, to seek revenge on someone else, who is already dead; to regain lost love; to have things go back to the way they used to be. Should the Haugbui’s nigh-impossible demands be resolved the spirit would move on. More commonly, however, enough time passes that the old Haugbui has forgotten their lives and some even their names, but still hold on to the resentment that bound them to the earth, even if they’ve forgotten why.
A Haugbui is the animated spirit of a dead mortal. Its body, which may be wholly or mostly destroyed, lies in its grave as its spirit haunts the burial mound.
Has an unfinished goal from life, is cursed, or has failed at some great task, and the passion of what is unresolved turns a spirit into a Haugbui.
Sometimes Haugbui are manipulated into being by the sinister curse of a Seithkona or Galdr, in order to trick it into being an effective though unwilling guardian of a particular place.
Spirit of the Dead: ?
Animated Spirit of a Dead Mortal: ?
The Hog-Boy of Maeshowe, Haugbui: ?
Muir Arnott, Haugbui: ?
Skeleton: ?
Zombie: ?
Huldufolk: ?
Drowned Skeleton: ?
Drowned Zombie: ?
Unquiet Dead: ?
Ijirait: ?
Angry Dead Soul: ?
Ancestor Spirit: ?
Utburden: An Utburden is made when a newborn or very young child is rejected by their family and killed or left to die. This is usually the deed of an unwed mother who—whether to avoid shame or just another mouth to feed—kills and buries her child or simply leaves it in the wilderness to die. An Utburden could even be a stillborn child not shown proper love before its remains were cast away. An Utburden desires revenge for the unloving act of its rejection.
An Utburden is the spirit of a child who died in childbirth, was stillborn, or was abandoned to die by its family soon after birth.
Spirit of a Child Who Died in Childbirth: ?
Spirit of a Child Who Was Stillborn: ?
Spirit of a Child Who Was Abandoned to Die by its Family Soon After Birth: ?
Terrible Spirit: ?
Restless Dead: ?
Wraith: ?
Specter: Wraith's Create Specter power.
Wight Sovereign: A Wight Sovereign is the most powerful type of lost soul. They cannot proceed to an afterlife. Niflheim has rejected them and they have abandoned all hope of resolving their unfinished business in Midgard.
Typically, the lost souls who become Wight Sovereigns were ambitious opportunists, usurpers and power-mongers in life.
Many Wight Sovereigns have personal conflict with Valkyries. Much to the Valkyries’ shame, they are partially responsible for Wight Sovereigns. The Valkyries are jealous of mortal lives and experience, and so some will—contrary to their edicts—possess human bodies. A Valkyrie who possesses a human body can only leave when the body dies, which makes the human soul lost, and all but assured to become a Wight Sovereign.
Wight Sovereigns are powerful lost souls who have mastered their damned state.
It seems only a mortal soul is capable of becoming a Wight Sovereign.
Lost Soul: ?
Powerful Lost Soul: ?
King Siggeir, Wight Sovereign: King Siggeir was the corrupt King of Gottland until he was killed by the hero Sigmund. King Siggeir became a Wight Sovereign, and with the other Wights he has assembled, have made Gottland the once thriving kingdom uninhabitable.
Arch-Wight Sovereign: ?
Ozur, Wight Sovereign, Evil Spirit: Ozur was a master manipulator in life, and is so too in death.
Create Specter. The wraith targets a humanoid within 10 feet of it that has been dead for no longer than 1 minute and died violently. The target’s spirit rises as a specter in the space of its corpse or in the nearest unoccupied space. The specter is under the wraith’s control. The wraith can have no more than seven specters under its control at one time.
Last edited:
Similar Threads
