Ravenloft Undead
Valpurgeist
The valpurgeist, or hanged man, is an undead creature that is sometimes manifested when an innocent man or woman is wrongly hanged for a crime. Unable to prove its innocence in life, it returns after death to claim the lives of those who sent it to the gallows.
Valpurgeists are clearly human in appearance, although they are far from able to pass as normal men. Their necks have clearly been broken, causing the head to hang at an awkward angle and flop about loosely as the creature moves. Further, the skin of the creature has taken on the pallor of the dead and an odor of decay hangs heavy in the air around the thing.
Bastellus
The bastellus is a haunting, undead creature that comes in the night to feed upon the dream energies of helpless sleepers. In many cultures, it is known simply as a nightmare or dream stalker.
The bastellus is seldom seen, for it only appears in the presence of sleeping beings. Reports of the creature’s true form, however, have been gathered from those who came across one while it was feeding. From these accounts, it is known that the bastellus looks like a hulking humanoid shadow. Utterly featureless, it feeds by placing its outstretched hand upon the victim’s brow. When feeding, it always has its head thrown back as if it were in ecstasy, for the absorption of dream energy causes it great pleasure.
Desert Zombies
Desert zombies are animated corpses controlled by their creator, the evil mummy Senmet. In recent years, rumors have arisen that other powerful spellcasters in the domain of Har’Akir have begun to create these things, but this has yet to be proven.
A desert zombie looks like a dried-out human corpse. Unlike that of common zombies, the desiccated flesh is usually intact and does not deteriorate over time. They have brown, withered skin that clings to their bones. There is very little odor associated with desert zombies. They wear the tattered remains of whatever clothing they had on when they died. Because this clothing is subject to the ravages of time, older desert zombies may not have any garments remaining intact. Like the common zombie, they still bear whatever wounds they had in life, as well as any wounds from battles since they became zombies. Any weapons or equipment is retained, but no attempt is made to maintain it. If the zombie died holding a sword, it carries it until the weapon falls apart or rusts away.
Sea Zombie
Sea zombies, also known as drowned ones, are the animated corpses of humans who died at sea. Although similar to land-dwelling zombies, they are free-willed and are rumored to be animated by the very forces that hold Ravenloft together.
Sea zombies look like human corpses that have been underwater for some time. Their bloated and discolored flesh drips with foul water. Their eyesockets are empty and their tongue frequently protrudes from between blackened lips. Often, they bear the marks of having been feasted upon by the creatures of the deep. Their visage and their stench of decay are so disgusting that anyone seeing a drowned one from 20 feet or less must successfully save vs. poison. A failed save indicates that the character is nauseated and horrified, suffering a -1 penalty to his attack rolls and a +1 penalty to his AC for 2d4 rounds. On land, sea zombies move slowly, with a clumsy, shambling gait. In water, however, they can swim with frightening speed.
Cannibal Zombies
Cannibal zombies shuffle through their morbid existence somewhere on the brink between the world of the living and the dark realm of the dead. These foul creatures wander about, killing many innocents and creating still more of their dread kind from victims not fortunate enough to die in their initial attack.
Cannibals appear fresher and more alive than true zombies. Still, such creatures look exceptionally haggard, with staring eyes, slack features, and ichor-dripping wounds. Their expressions only change when they actually attack, at which time they slaver and moan horribly as they claw greedily at their next meal. Cannibal zombies care nothing for clothing, and are thus most commonly dressed in fetid rags. The stench that surrounds them is a nauseating combination of rotten meat and dried blood that is noticeable up to 50 feet distant.
Zombie Wolf
Zombie wolves are not created by a wizard or a priest, but are a creation of the domain of Forlorn itself. Because a zombie wolf looks exactly as it did in death, these creatures often have gaping wounds and sometimes are even missing a limb. They have dirty, matted fur and a rotten stench that is noticeable up to 100 feet away.
A zombie wolf cannot howl like its living counterparts, but it does occasionally throw back its head and utter a strangled cry from rotting vocal chords (prompting a horror check the first time it is heard). These creatures move with a stiff-legged gait at half the speed of a living wolf.
Mud Zombie
Mud zombies are mindless, animated corpses that consist of a thick layer of slimy mud over a framework of bones. They are the unique creations of Azalin, the lich lord of Darkon, and are typically left lying dormant in the place where they were created. When the appropriate condition arises, they become animated. Typically, the trigger is the passage of intruders through the area, at which point these zombies rise up out of the mud and attack the trespassers.
Mud zombies are made from whole or partial skeletons, usually human. If missing a leg, they crawl toward their victims and have only a single claw attack.
Undead Treant
When an evil treant sees that its many years are soon to come to an end, it seldom accepts this fate quietly. For most, this means a final, wild orgy of violence and death. For a few, however, it means death and resurrection as a thing so dark and evil that even the Vistani will not speak of it.
An undead treant looks much like any other deciduous tree in the winter. It has no leaves and a lusterless, almost brittle, look to its bark. Like living treants, its face is hidden until it chooses to speak or make its presence known. When a creature of this sort stands amid a grove or copse of similar leafless trees, it is 90% likely to go unnoticed by those passing near.
Giant Skeleton
Giant skeletons are similar to the more common undead skeleton, but they have been created with a combination of spells and are, thus, far more deadly than their lesser counterparts.
Giant skeletons stand roughly 12 feet tall and look to be made from the bones of giants. In actuality, they are simply human skeletons that have been magically enlarged. They are normally armed with long spears or scythes that end in keen bone blades. Rare individuals will be found carrying shields (and thus have an Armor Class of 3), but these are far from common. A small, magical fire burns in the chest of each giant skeleton, a by-product of the magics that are used to make them. These flames begin just above the pelvis and reach upward to lick at the collar bones. Mysteriously, no burning or scorching occurs where the flames touch the bone.
Crimson Bones
These gruesome undead monsters are created when a human being (or similar demihuman) is flayed alive by an evil Arak. Usually, they are created by the ranks of the powrie and teg. Crimson bones are very much like the common animated skeletons so often encountered in the Demiplane of Dread. The major difference between the crimson bones and a traditional skeleton, however, is that these unholy creatures constantly drip the rich, dark blood that flowed through their veins in life. Also, crimson bones retain the eyes of living men, not the empty sockets of animated skeletons.
Crimson bones attack with speed and agility. While they are too mindless to attack with weapons, their bony fingers can rend flesh as easily a dagger might.
Whenever a crimson bones is hit with a melee weapon, blood splashes from the creature. An attacker has a 5% chance per point of damage inflicted of being struck by this spray. If this happens, the attacker must make a successful saving throw vs. poison or suffer from advanced blood poisoning. From that point on, he or she suffers one point of damage per round until he or she dies. This tainted blood can be affected by spells like neutralize poison and slow poison. Once a person’s blood has been poisoned, additional exposure has no effect.
Skeletal Cat
Skeletal cats are the ambulatory remains of pets who have clawed their way back from the grave to avenge themselves upon masters who treated them poorly or ended their lives. These creatures are not terribly dangerous by themselves, but often form packs that are nearly unstoppable.
Skeletal cats appear to be animated feline skeletons. Unlike the skeletons summoned by spellcasters, these self-willed creatures often have tatters of fur and desiccated flesh clinging to their bones. Until the flesh of the creature completely rots away, it exudes the odor of rotting carrion.
Undead Cloaker
The undead cloaker is a foul and dangerous creature that is believed to be the earthly remains of a resplendent cloaker that has had its life drained away by the living dead. The creature actually imbues its host with the power to drain life energy. If the host fails to do this, the undead cloaker will drain his life energy instead.
The undead cloaker appears to be a large decaying cloak. What might seem to be tattered cloth from a distance is clearly composed of rotting flesh when viewed at closer range.
When the undead cloaker assaults a new host, it flies quickly at the victim and engulfs it in its rotting folds. If its attack is successful, it will have attached itself to its victim’s neck.
A victim who is engulfed by an undead cloaker is unable to take any physical actions, cast spells with somatic or material components, or use psionics of any kind. The undead cloaker will keep its new host engulfed until he stops struggling. Once a new host is subdued, the undead cloaker will retain its grip at the victim’s neck, but allow its host free movement.
Once the undead cloaker has secured a new host, it will drain a life level from any living creature that the host touches. If the host fails to feed the undead cloaker in this manner at least once per day, the creature will drain a life level from the host. Any creature that is drained to zero level by an undead cloaker or its host will return from the grave in 1d4 days as a common zombie.
The undead cloaker can also use its tail to deliver two lacerating attacks per round to any opponents who attempt to harm it or remove it from its host. Each time the tail strikes a victim, it creates a long, bloody gash that will continue to bleed until the wound is bound or some form of healing magic is employed.
Akikage
The akikage (ah-ki-ka-gee), or shadow ninja, is the spirit of an oriental assassin who died while stalking an important victim. In life, the akikage was obsessed with duty and discipline. Now it cannot rest in its grave until it has successfully completed its final mission.
The akikage is an incorporeal spirit that is rarely visible. When seen, the creature is dressed all in black. It wears tight gloves and boots as well as a mask and hood that hide all traces of its former humanity. The akikage cannot speak but seems to understand the words of those around it regardless of the language in which they are spoken. Even a speak with dead spell will elicit no response from the spirit assassin.
The akikage is a stealthy and ruthless killer. Because it is incorporeal, the shadow ninja cannot manipulate objects as it did in life, but it can move unhindered through solid matter. It can become invisible at will.
In battle, the akikage strikes with murderous ferocity. While it does not use weapons, its skill in unarmed combat allows it four attacks per round.
Vrykolaka
Vrykolakas are a debased strain of vampire, reviled even by other undead. Their minds shattered by the change to undeath, they exist as nocturnal scavengers and plague-carriers. Vrykolakas have a cadaverous appearance, their distorted features either sunken or bloated from decay. These vampires exhibit all the cosmetic symptoms of the disease they carry, though they do not suffer any ill effects. Their eyes glow with a dim green light and their fingers end in curing talons. Vrykolakas do not have fangs; instead, they open their victim's veins with a needle-like barb at the end of a dexterous, foot-long tongue.
Dwarf Vampire
Dwarves are a long lived race with an intense cultural hatred of the undead and their evil work. They regard death as the just rewards of a warrior and the undead would cheat a hero of his glorious end. For this reason, a dwarven vampire is perhaps the most awful of things, for its natural hatred of what it has become leads it to do great acts of evil.
Dwarven vampires, like all vampires, look much as they did in life. They are short and stocky, with long, white or silver beards, and heavy, rounded features. In most cases, they retain the trappings of the profession they held in life; a dwarven vampire who was a warrior would often be found in full armor with a heavy battle axe or war hammer close at hand.
Elf Vampire
The elvish vampire is a tragic creature indeed, for when someone from a race that so loves life and goodness turns to evil and death, the world has lost much. The evil that lurks within the elven vampire is so overwhelming that it forces the creature to transform the vital, living forests around him into places of death and decay.
Unlike all other types of vampire, the elvish variety cannot move among others of its kind freely. The evil that has twisted the creature’s spirit has also wrought havoc on its fair features. Thus, elvish vampires appear as twisted and scarred mockeries of this beautiful and graceful race. Because of this, they often dress in dark robes and wear garments designed to hide their appearance from the world.
Halfling Vampire
Few races enjoy life and the basic comforts of a quiet, peaceful existence more than the halflings. Thus, when one of these fine creatures is driven into a life of evil by the preying of some sinister vampire, the world suffers a great loss.
The halfling vampire has the same physical characteristics that living halflings do; being slightly plump, standing only about four feet high, and being marked by a florid complexion and tufts of hair on the backs of their hands and tops of their feet. They tend to dress in dark clothes, however, shunning the happy and colorful garb of their living kin.
Gnome Vampire
While the race of gnomes is little understood by many surface dwellers, the deadly breed of vampire tat these creatures spawn are even more alien. Moving about far beneath the world’s surface, they are seldom encountered by humans or other demi-humans. When they are found, however, they are terrible foes indeed.
Gnomish vampires are shorter and slighter of build than dwarvish vampires. Unlike other undead, however, the passage of time is visible in the features of a gnomish vampire. Thus, their features are grooved and worn, showing the full burden of the years that have passed them by.
Gnomish vampires are still able to understand the languages they spoke in life, but are unable to speak themselves. There is no known reason for this curse of silence, save that it robs them of the ability to joke and sing that they so loved in life. Because of this, most communications with gnomish vampires require written messages.
Kender Vampire
From the dark land of Sithicus comes word of a breed of vampire only recently released on the demiplane of Ravenloft: the kender vampire. While not truly the equal of the other species of vampire, these monsters are no less evil.
The kender vampire is a solitary creature that exists only to do the bidding of Lord Soth of Sithicus. He is the father of their race, and, although they despise him for what he has done to them, they are unable to turn against him or act in any way contrary to his interests.
Knowing the revulsion that the elves who live in his domain feel for all manner of unnatural things, Soth felt that he could find no better slaves than a band of undead. Aware that undead elves might pose a threat to his own power, Soth set about the creation of a new breed of undead. Drawing a small kender village through the misty veils of Ravenloft and into his domain, he had them killed one by one so that he could study their sufferings and invoke carefully designed magical rituals over their bodies in attempts to make them rise as undead. By the time he had finished with these sad kender, fully half of them had died horrible deaths and suffered unspeakable torment at the hand of the dreaded deathknight. The results of his experiments were, however, satisfactory to Soth, for he discovered a formula that would create a race of vampires utterly loyal to him. It is believed that Soth has created no fewer than 10 such monsters and no more than 30, although hard evidence to support any given estimate is hard to come by.
Kender vampires retain the same general physical properties that they did in life. Thus, they stand somewhat under four feet in height and are very slightly built. Their eyes and ears give them an impish, elven look, and their slender bodies are finely muscled, like those of gymnasts. Upon closer examination, however, the foul corruption of the undead is obvious. The skin is pale and withered, stretched tight across the bones in a manner similar to that found on mummified corpses. The teeth are long and sharp, giving the face a feral look that cannot be easily forgotten. The fingers have been reduced to little more than bones with a thin covering of flesh, and their nails have stretched into claws.
The kender vampire moves slowly and stiffly when it attacks. Thus, the great agility and dexterity that served it so well in life have been lost in its transition to darkness. Because of this, kender vampires always act last in any combat round and never surprise their opponents. The loss of agility is somewhat compensated for by an increased physical strength and the growth of dangerous claws.
Kender vampires often use the hoopak, a combination staff-sling and bo staff.
The kender vampire has the ability to throw back its head once per hour and release a hideous laugh. Those within 20 yards of the vampire when it cackles must save versus spells or be affected as if they had looked upon a symbol of insanity. Those under the influence of a remove fear or similar spell are immune to this attack.
Mind Flayer Vampire
Vampire illithids are the result of evil experiments that were meant to be terminated. They were first created by Lyssa Von Zarovich and the High Master IIlithid of Bluetspur in an attempt to create a creature that could successfully convert the High Master into a vampire (conventional methods were not viable). When the hatchlings proved insane and completely uncontrollable, they were destroyed and thrown into the common water dump, where all victims of mind flayers are thrown after they expire. The vampire illithids regenerated, however, and were washed out of the mind flayer complex. Now they run free across the surface of the realm.
Vampire illithids combine the battle tactics of both vampires and conventional mind flayers.
Goblin Vampire
The goblin vampire is a rare form of undead creature. The creature is twice the size of a normal goblin. Its fangs reach roughly halfway down its chest, rather like those of a smilodon. Its hands appear blackened and shriveled, with long, curved talons. The most horrifying thing about a goblin vampire is its eyes, which pulsate with a strange orange glow.
The Scourged
The Scourged are humanoids who were slain by the sandstorm that ravaged Arak in 588 BC. They are found only in the village of Marbh-Cathair in Keening, where they exist in a feeble mockery of life. Physically, the Scourged resemble walking corpses in various states of decomposition. Scourged do not communicate with the living and do not usually attack unless threatened. They believe themselves to be living creatures and will defend their homes and possessions against thieves. If a Scourged is attacked, all nearby Scourged will turn on the attacker.
Widderribhinn (Umbra)
Widderribhinn are undead fey, born when such creatures perish by brutal violence or powerful magic. They first appeared in the Realm of Dread following the Scourge and have started occurring with greater frequency in recent years. Widderribhinn are drawn to Mount Lament, where they submit themselves to Tristessa, darklord of Keening. They then serve as her eyes and ears in Keening and beyond, perpetually searching for her lost child, in the hopes that they will one day be restored to life.
Widderribhinn appear as ghostly fey formed of transparent mist and shadow, their strange beauty only heightened in death. They speak Arak or Sylvan, and occasionally the languages of nearby domains.
