Undead Origins

[Voadam]

Dungeon Tables for 5th Edition
5e
Ghoul: ?
Mummy: ?
Minotaur Skeleton: A minotaur skeleton, raised by some fell magics to destroy whatever living creatures it finds, assaults the party without notice.
Vampire Spawn: ?
Will-o'-Wisp: ?
Wraith: ?
Zombie: ?
Goreling: ?
Tveirherjar: ?
Quiet Soul: ?
Quiet Soul, Corpse: ?
Nihileth: ?
Nihilethic Zombie: ?
Elophar: ?
Fear Liath: ?
Mold Zombie: ?
Clacking Skeleton: ?
Skeleton Monarch: ?
Lost Minotaur: ?
Necrotic Tick: ?
Spirit Lamp: ?
Lady in White: ?
Dream Wraith: ?
Swarm of Wolf Spirits: ?
Warmth Thief: ?
Winterghast: ?
Chill Haunt: ?
Drowned Maiden: She was once a young woman from a nearby village who fled to the shore out of grief upon discovering her fiancé was unfaithful. She slipped on the ledge above the sea and fell into the waters, her heavy skirts quickly dragging her under.
Accursed Defiler: ?
Sand Silhouette, Dark Shadow: ?
Angatra: ?
Gray Thirster: ?
Edimmu, Mysterious Edimmu: ?
Deathwisp, Figure: ?
Fleshspurned: ?
Faceless Wanderer: ?
Wicked Skull: ?
Walled Horror: ?
Gaunt One: ?
Bone Collective: ?
Husk: ?
Putrid Haunt: ?
Cavefish Zombie: ?
Ghoul Bat: ?
Web Zombie: ?

 

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Dwarven Fiasco (5e)
5e
Foreman Zombie: ?
Ghost of Lower Monk: ?
Haeferic, Dwarven Lich: Haeferic was leading the dwarven sages in their ceremony of the night, standing in the middle of the great octagon of the Temple Prime, when a bright orange light shone through the northern starguide. Toward the end of the ceremony, the starguide exploded and a ray of star energy crashed into the temple, killing Haeferic while simultaneously granting him unlife. He received new powers, new energy, and a new directive.
Skeleton Cook, Undead Skeleton Cook: ?
Tiny Animal Skeleton: ?
Undead Acolyte: ?
Undead Dwarven Guard: The pillars now contain the remains of those guards on duty the night of the star. Half of them have been reanimated by the lich.
Haeferic was leading the dwarven sages in their ceremony of the night, standing in the middle of the great octagon of the Temple Prime, when a bright orange light shone through the northern starguide. Toward the end of the ceremony, the starguide exploded and a ray of star energy crashed into the temple, killing Haeferic while simultaneously granting him unlife. He received new powers, new energy, and a new directive.
His goal now is to keep the temple free of living invaders, be they dwarf, human, or fey. Especially fey. Using the power of the orange star, he raised the fallen dwarven guards and retrained the rock elementals.
Undead Dwarven Lord: ?
Undead Dwarven Sage: ?
Undead Priest of the Hammer: Haeferic was leading the dwarven sages in their ceremony of the night, standing in the middle of the great octagon of the Temple Prime, when a bright orange light shone through the northern starguide. Toward the end of the ceremony, the starguide exploded and a ray of star energy crashed into the temple, killing Haeferic while simultaneously granting him unlife. He received new powers, new energy, and a new directive.
His goal now is to keep the temple free of living invaders, be they dwarf, human, or fey. Especially fey. Using the power of the orange star, he raised the fallen dwarven guards and retrained the rock elementals. He modified the dwarven hammer of power and raised four of the temple’s sages to become its new priests.
Lord Nibelung Silverthroat, Undead Dwarven Lord: ?
Undead, Undead Creature: ?
Wight: ?

 

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Forgotten Oasis
5e
Desert Echo, Mix of the Life Force of the Creatures Who Have Died in the Area and a Little Bit of Awareness Given by the Nexus Itself: A desert echo is a gathering of the spirits of the wildlife that have died in the unforgiving climates of the desert. They are typically formed around any power nexus like old wizard towers, ruined temples and lost cities being good examples of such locations.
The echo itself is a mix of the life force of the creatures who have died in the area and a little bit of awareness given by the nexus itself.
The desert echo appears to be a conglomeration of many different deceased creatures, brought and held together by the power of the nexus that formed it.
Ghost Handmaiden, The Hand of the Forgotten Goddess: A priestess that died here quite willingly to serve the temple in her afterlife, before the forgotten goddess was forgotten. In doing so, she was empowered to make sure the things that wander into the temple remain there, so that her goddess doesn’t fade.
The handmaiden was a beautiful young woman in life and appears so in death as well, unmarred by her sacrifice. She died by poison and aside from a little blue tint around her lips she might as well be alive.
Tethered One: A tethered one, like a desert echo, is drawn in by the power nexus but rather than being a hodgepodge of smaller souls they are one soul strong enough to stay together in its shape without collecting any debris.
Desert Echo, Collected Souls, Gathering of the Spirits of the Wildlife That Have Died in the Unforgiving Climates of the Desert, Conglomeration of Many Different Deceased Creatures, Writhing Mass of Ghost Flesh: ?
Tethered One, Trapped Soul Bitter Angry: ?
Undead: ?
Ghost: ?
Banshee: ?
Shadow: ?
Specter: ?
Will-o'-Wisp: ?
Wraith: ?

 

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Fungus God from Outer Space (5e)
5e
Great Unformed, Undead Fungus Giant: ?
Undead: ?

 

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Hemocraft & Bloodmagic: a 5e compatible supplement
5e
Shadowless Body: When life leaves a body, sometimes there is determination still left in the husk. With dark intent and unresolved promises, that intent can keep the corpse on its feet and coalesce the proverbial darkness inside as real darkness outside. A blade is summoned on the empty form, and the Shadowless Body proceeds to try and gain revenge on who killed it, or it will try to find its soul and reinsert it, or it will simply continue to stalk the area it died.
Bridled Ego spell.
Bloater: Bloaters are what result when someone dies in a bog or swamp, then after a number of weeks a necromancer or hag moves into the area and raises an army of undead.
Though often accidental creations, bloaters are desirable undead to have in a necromancer's arsenal.
Iris, The Mad Countess, Vampire, Mad Vampire Countess: Iris was once a simple woman in a small farming village, until one day it was beset by a roving band of cultists seeking to feed their vampiric lord. Iris was one of many who were simply turned to become his thralls, instead of be his dinner.
Iris's Thrall: If a humanoid is slain in this way [by Iris's bite attack], they rise and following night as one of Iris' thralls.
Living Dead Undead: Living Dead blood ritual.
Undeath blood ritual.
Undeath Undead: Undeath blood ritual.
Vampyrism Undead: Vampyrism blood ritual.
Bloater, Now Swollen Zombie: ?
Undead, Undead Creature: ?
Vampire: Vampires, werewolves, and eldritch horrors are all the creations from the use of magic from the blood of humans.
The origins of vampires are believed to be individuals who sought eternal life. But since those days, many who become vampiric themselves... don't have a say in the matter.
Vampiric Lord: ?
Novice Vampire: ?

Bridled Ego
5th-level Necromancy
Casting Time: 1 reaction
Range: 90 feet
Components: V, S, M (sealed erlenmeyer flask worth 250gp)
Duration: 1 hour
When a creature within range that you can see dies, you can use your reaction to capture the creatures soul in a flask. When the soul is captured in this way, you can raise the creatures body and have it act under your command, using the Shadowless Body statblock. The Shadowless Body, gains temporary hit points equal to your level and uses your spell attack modifier for attacks that it makes. The Shadowless Body acts on your turn before you.
While under your control, you can speak with the trapped soul. The soul has the same personality as it did when alive but you have disadvantage on Charisma (Intimidation) checks you may make while interacting with them.
The spell ends early if you are knocked unconscious, or if the flask is broken and the soul is release.

Living Dead
Sometimes the good die young, and their loved ones can’t handle the burden. Those with little access to wealth and power must make do with less, even if that means the dead won’t come back quite the same as before. By laying the corpse, no more than 24 hours old, in a ritual circle drawn of blood runes, made of a number of hit points of blood as the individuals had in life and performing a prayer from the Book of Blood the corpse will rise again. Though not entirely themselves, they are effectively alive with the following conditions:
Their creature type is now Undead, any magics that would divine their alignment will return Evil regardless of their actual alignment.
They lose a large portion of physical sensation granting them a reduction in all bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage by their proficiency bonus, and an additional +1 to their Constitution score.
Additionally, they cannot regain hit points by spells or potions unless those spells and potions are specifically designed to heal Undead creatures.

Undeath
A cult leader cannot always allow his best fighters to simply lay down on the job, regardless of how much blood they have lost. Other times a determined warrior might have unfinished business, and refuse to relent. The ritual is performed on a corpse, dead no longer than 10 days, at a sanctuary dedicated to Astrum and soaking in a pool of blood equal to 3 times their hit point maximum for 3 days. At the end of the 3 days they roll a d100, if they roll greater than 5 times their level they are revived with the effects of the Living Dead ritual, otherwise the following effects occur:
Their creature type is now Undead, any magics that would divine their alignment will return Evil regardless of their actual alignment
They gain a +2 to their Constitution ability score and become resistant to poison damage and immune to the poisoned condition, and their long rest only requires 4 hours.
Additionally, they have advantage on all death saving throws.

Vampyrism
Many fear death and wish to escape it entirely, others may have passed on but have been influential enough for a cult to bring them back. This ritual may be performed on either a living being or on a corpse, dead no longer than 50 years. On a full moon with a number of individuals equal to the characters hit die maximum, either willing or not, surrounding the target they begin letting their blood and fall into a catalytic state. The sacrifices will bleed for 7 days, and if uninterrupted, at the end of the 7 days the target rolls 1d100 adding their character level. If the target is dead and rolls less than 80 they rise with their stats in life, replacing their Intelligence with a 3, Wisdom with a 6, and a Charisma of 5, these cannot be increased in any way. If the target is alive they remain unchanged. If the target rolls greater than 80, either alive or dead, they gain the following effects:
Their creature type is now Undead, any magics that would divine their alignment will return Evil regardless of their actual alignment, they can move their full movement without provoking attacks of opportunity once per turn for free, becomes resistant to necrotic damage and Bludgeoning, piercing, and slashing damage from non magical sources, gain The Vampire Bite attack, The Vampire Thrall action, and Vampire Vitality.
Vampire Bite: While grappling a target, you may make a melee weapon attack (STR + Prof) dealing 1d6 + Str piercing damage plus 10 (3d6) necrotic damage. Regaining hit points equal to the amount of necrotic damage dealt. If a creature is reduced to 0 hit points by this attack, they die immediately. You may then use your reaction to cast Bridled Ego for free, with the duration extended until you choose to release the target or use this feature again.
Vampire Thrall: You force one creature you can see within 30ft of you to make a Wisdom saving throw (DC 8+prof+Con), on a failed save the target is charmed by you and regards you as a trusted ally and willing to do most verbal commands as long as it is in the interest of protecting you. If the target has an intelligence of 10 or less the duration is 24, otherwise the target may remake the saving throw every hour. Regardless the target may remake the saving throw if they take damage from you or your allies.
Vampire Vitality: At the beginning of each of your turns, you head 1d8 + Con. Unless you are in direct sunlight or standing in running water, in which case you take 1d8 radiant damage at the beginning of your turn.

 

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Heresy of Rot (5e)
5e
Rot Zombie: ?
Rot Zombie, Amorphous Shape, Rotting Corpse: ?
Pumpkinhead Creeeper: If the Rot King kills a creature with its tendril, it may use a bonus action to bury the creature. A buried creature rises as a pumpkinhead creeper in 1d3 days if the Rot King lives.
The cult quietly staked its claim in the nearby woods after the final harvest of Blotmund, then quickly moved to abducting lone travelers and locals. These unfortunate souls were taken into the Void Between for the Rot King to consume so it could slowly but steadily grow stronger. The remains of these victims transformed into monstrous beings under the Rot King’s control. Some became powerful agents such as the Horseman and Whistling Jack, while others transformed into pumpkinhead creepers.
Former travelers or residents of the town who were taken by the Heresy of Rot and fed to the Rot King, these creatures wandered astray and crossed over into the lands of the living from the Void Between.
The Rot King’s tendrils are planted in the ground so it can feed off the remains of Fetterwald’s citizens, who are slowly being transformed into pumpkinhead creepers.
Pumpkinhead Creeper, Monstrous Being, Monstrosity: ?
Mold Zombie: ?
Undead Creature: ?
Ghostly Child: ?
Ghostly Child, Child Robed in a White Gown, Bony Blackened Abomination: ?
Mol Hatchett, Ghostly Hitchhiker, Ghostly Figure, Lost Daughter: A former resident of the town who departed on a wagon train in search of a bigger, better life outside of Fetterwald, Mol Hatchett was slain by bandits on the road south.
Ghostly Figure: ?
Death Waltz, Potent and Unusual Haunting: ?
Ghostly Imprint of Isaac Cross, Tall Shadowy Figure: ?
Shadow: ?

 

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Heroes of High Fantasy: Crypt of the Crimson King (5E) Adventure
5e
The Crimson King, Ghast, Ravenous Being, Dark Presence, Desperate Pitiable Manifestation of Insatiable Hunger, Gaunt Creature With Waxy Skin and Deep-Set Crimson Eyes, Enthroned Creature, Ghast Whose Intellect is Far Superior to Others of its Kind, Extraplanar Entity, Twisted Patron, Malignant Ghast Overlord: ?
Ghoul: One by one, your corpses are animated by a powerful necrotic power, drawn from the plane of insatiable hunger.
Ghast: ?
Ghoul, Subject, Animated Cadaver: ?
Crypt Ghoul: ?
Undead: ?

 

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Heroes of High Fantasy: Rule of Three (5E) Adventure
5e
Brennan, Ghost, Unstable Violent Ghost, Ghosty Man, Spectral Figure, Male Human in His Mid 60s With the Build of an Old Warrior Gone to Seed: The party find themselves at the house of Brennan, a recently-deceased adventurer. He died consumed with the guilt of his greatest failure - he abandoned his friend and fellow adventurer, Cadmus, to die at the hands of the rest of his party. The killers, Zama, Kiara, and Lanius, used Cadmus’ death to attain lichdom, and their continued existence is an eternal reminder of Brennan’s failure. Until he has hope that his mistakes may be rectified - that the liches might be killed - Brennan will remain an unstable presence in the house and, until all three liches are destroyed for good, he will never know peace.
Kiara, Blight Lich, Spellcaster, Druid, Killer, Hermit: The killers, Zama, Kiara, and Lanius, used Cadmus’ death to attain lichdom, and their continued existence is an eternal reminder of Brennan’s failure.
40 years ago, I was part of an adventuring band, much like yourselves. We made a bit of a name for ourselves, and maybe it went to our heads. It was all going so well, until we found the ruins. Heard there was some kind of power there we could tap into. Think of all the good we could do with that. There was power there alright, but you know what they say about power... A voice spoke in our heads, promised us eternal life, for a price. For a sacrifice. Zama led the way, and where Zama led, Kiara followed. Lanius, well, I think he was just more scared of them than he was of me, and I suppose he was right. That just left me and Cadmus, and… I ran. Maybe I told myself Cadmus was running with me, but the truth is I was more concerned with my own skin. Zama might have held the knife, Kiara and Lanius might have said the words, but I killed Cadmus as much as they did. I abandoned my friends, and now all of them are lost.
What was the ritual? ”Near as I could tell, they each gave up a bit of their souls to keep sealed in that place. They didn’t exactly keep me around for my knowledge of the arcane.”
Lanius, Apocryphal Lich, Spellcaster, Wizard, Killer, Magician: The killers, Zama, Kiara, and Lanius, used Cadmus’ death to attain lichdom, and their continued existence is an eternal reminder of Brennan’s failure.
40 years ago, I was part of an adventuring band, much like yourselves. We made a bit of a name for ourselves, and maybe it went to our heads. It was all going so well, until we found the ruins. Heard there was some kind of power there we could tap into. Think of all the good we could do with that. There was power there alright, but you know what they say about power... A voice spoke in our heads, promised us eternal life, for a price. For a sacrifice. Zama led the way, and where Zama led, Kiara followed. Lanius, well, I think he was just more scared of them than he was of me, and I suppose he was right. That just left me and Cadmus, and… I ran. Maybe I told myself Cadmus was running with me, but the truth is I was more concerned with my own skin. Zama might have held the knife, Kiara and Lanius might have said the words, but I killed Cadmus as much as they did. I abandoned my friends, and now all of them are lost.
What was the ritual? ”Near as I could tell, they each gave up a bit of their souls to keep sealed in that place. They didn’t exactly keep me around for my knowledge of the arcane.”
Zama, Profane Lich, Spellcaster, Cleric, Killer, High Priestess: The killers, Zama, Kiara, and Lanius, used Cadmus’ death to attain lichdom, and their continued existence is an eternal reminder of Brennan’s failure.
40 years ago, I was part of an adventuring band, much like yourselves. We made a bit of a name for ourselves, and maybe it went to our heads. It was all going so well, until we found the ruins. Heard there was some kind of power there we could tap into. Think of all the good we could do with that. There was power there alright, but you know what they say about power... A voice spoke in our heads, promised us eternal life, for a price. For a sacrifice. Zama led the way, and where Zama led, Kiara followed. Lanius, well, I think he was just more scared of them than he was of me, and I suppose he was right. That just left me and Cadmus, and… I ran. Maybe I told myself Cadmus was running with me, but the truth is I was more concerned with my own skin. Zama might have held the knife, Kiara and Lanius might have said the words, but I killed Cadmus as much as they did. I abandoned my friends, and now all of them are lost.
What was the ritual? ”Near as I could tell, they each gave up a bit of their souls to keep sealed in that place. They didn’t exactly keep me around for my knowledge of the arcane.”
Cadmus, Wraith, Hazy Figure of a Corpse Surrounded by Twisting Darkness: Once all three keystones are assembled, the party can enter the ruins where, after making their way through traps laid by the three liches, they discover the shared phylactery - the still-living body of Cadmus, writhing in perpetual torment for the last 50 years. When the ritual is disrupted, Cadmus’ broken spirit arises as a wraith.
When the dagger is removed, read the following:
The dagger moves with some resistance, the darkness seeming to grasp at Cadmus’ writhing form before giving up its grip. For a split second, Cadmus’ face relaxes, almost returning to an easy smile, before they spasm once more. A torrent of inky black shadow pours from them, billowing out to form the hazy figure of a corpse surrounded by twisting darkness.
Cadmus stops writhing and looks momentarily at peace, before their tormented spirit takes the form of a wraith and attacks the party.
Ghoul: ?
Ghoul, Hunched Spindly Form: ?
Skeleton: ?
Specter: If a creature is slain by [Cadmus' life drain] attack, its spirit rises on the next turn as a specter in the space of its corpse, or in the nearest unoccupied space.
Cadmus' Create Specter power.
Zombie: The swamp was the site of a battle around a century ago, and bodies of the slain are easy to find under the muck - some areas of boggy ground preserve them disturbingly well, while others reduce corpses to greening skeletons. Kiara is in the process of raising all the reasonably well-preserved bodies as zombies, setting them to work digging out and expanding the swamp in order to reclaim the land taken up by nearby settlements, to return it to a state of natural decay.
Undead, Undead Creature: ?
Zama Possessed Creature, Possessed Skeleton: A skeleton can become a vessel for Zama to inhabit. Zama controls the skeleton’s actions and can perceive through its senses, as well as speak through the skeleton using her voice.
Shambling Corpse Made of Thick Black Smoke: ?
Zombie, Rotting Zombie: ?
Undead Servant: Zama has returned to the monastery where she trained in her youth. The driving force behind her decision to become a lich was to eternally serve her god and, having made such an enormous sacrifice for her faith, was disappointed by the lack of similar fervor in her fellows. She has since restructured, purging any of her faith who fell short of her exacting standards, which is to say all of them, and raising their corpses as undead servants to help her carry out the necessary functions of worship.

Create Specter. Cadmus targets a corpse within 10 feet of them that has been dead for no longer than an hour, 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 Cadmus’ control.

 

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Heroes of High Fantasy: Witch of the Wilderlands (5E) Adventure
5e
Rot Blight: Among Jaycelin Marieve’s final spells was an attempt to summon aid in the form of a wood golem. Having been set in stone, and twisted by the wraith, the spell spread through the forest, animating piles of rotting material into rot blights, which are attempting to propagate themselves (and so better ‘protect’ Jaycelin) by hunting down and killing any creatures they can find, to increase the amount of rotting material they can raise.
Among Jaycelin Marieve’s final spells was an attempt to summon aid in the form of a wood golem. Having been set in stone, and twisted by the wraith, the spell spread through the forest, animating piles of rotting material into rot blights, which reproduce by releasing magical spores into decomposing material. Most rot blights are an amalgam of rotting wood and moss-covered animal bones.
This is Borgan Khrazdak’s cart, whose crew became lost in the forest. They lost hope and glumly accepted their fate, having used all of their supplies (and, reluctantly, eaten their horses), and were killed by rot blights. They have been dead long enough that the latent magic of the forest has begun to convert their corpses into rot blights themselves. If disturbed, they animate and attack, alerting nearby rot blights to join the fray.
The ‘statue’ is the petrified body of Jaycelin Marieve who, though mortally wounded by Rodion’s wraith, nearly managed to escape the tomb before succumbing. Her final spells were to summon a guardian in the form of a wood golem, and to send for help using animal messenger. These spells, now having been set in stone by the tomb’s magic, has spread throughout the forest, animating all manner of decaying material into smaller versions of the wood golem - rot blights - as well as causing wildlife to act strangely.
Rot Mite: ?
Wood Golem: ?
Wraith: ?
Zombie: ?
Rot Blight, Twisted Being of Rotten Wood: ?
Rot Blight, Amalgam of Rotting Wood and Moss-Covered Animal Bones, Smaller Version of the Wood Golem: ?
Rot Blight, Pile of Rotting Detritus Roughly the Shape of a Man: ?
Rot Mite, Roughly Humanoid Shape Composed of Fungus-Wracked Wood and Pitted Bone: ?
Wood Golem, Woodland Guardian, Guardian: ?
Rodion, Wraith, Powerful Wraith: The crypt contains a powerful wraith who, in life, was one of four rulers (by the names of Bezhena, Pridbor, Yaromil, and Rodion). Rodion betrayed his fellows in an attempt to seize eternal power for himself and take the form of a being known as ‘The Everking’, but was interrupted part way through his ritual, and arose as a wraith.
This individual, Rodion, killed the other three in an apparent ‘accident’, and built a grand tomb for their burial. Rodion had a secret suite of chambers excavated alongside, in order to enact a ritual (utilising the symbols of power borne by the four rulers) granting him eternal life and power, but was interrupted before the ritual could be completed and, instead, became a wraith.
Zombie, Shriveled Corpse: ?

 

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Jack Straw (5e)
5e
Undead Monster: ?