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Basic, Dungeons & Dragons, House Rules, Labyrinth Lord, postaday2011, Random Tables, RPG, Undead
In a recent discussion about level draining undead in Labyrinth Lord, several DMs and players indicated that they would rather kill a character than have him level drained. And in SOME cases I understand (although personally I have no real problem with level draining undead).
But you see, I love wights. I like vampires and wraiths and spectres also.
So what do you do to replace the venerable wight if you don’t use level-draining?
Give him some other scary power or two to even out the odds (especially since they are already cleric-turning fodder). Roll (or choose) on the following table once for every two hit dice of the undead (rounding up). You can also just create new undead by upping the hit dice of the wight (and decreasing his AC 1 point for every 3 hit dice you give him). The other upside? Since he’s not relying on his level draining touch attack, you can kit your undead menace out with a cool weapon or two.
Uniquely Undead (d30)
- Limited Flight – 60′ (20′) movement rate. Seems to walk through the air.
- Dimension Door – as the spell, 3/day
- Special Senses – Detects magic, life and invisibility at will
- Animate Dead – as the spell, 2/day
- Darkness – as the reverse of light at will
- Unnatural Might – +2 to hit and damage
- Track Life – Once he’s met you, he can track you without fail. Even across the planes if need be. The only way to break the trail is to die and be brought back to life.
- Magical Ability – casts spells as a magic user, caster level of 1/2 the undead’s hit dice
- Clerical Ability – casts spells as a cleric, caster level of 1/2 the undead’s hit dice
- Withering Touch – touch causes plants to wither and other living things to rot. Deals 2d4 damage to creatures.
- Putrefying Aura – all food and drink within 20′ is rotted and destroyed – magical food and drinks get their owner’s save versus poison.
- Massive Claws – unarmed attacks deal an extra die of damage, or 1d8 damage if it didn’t have such an attack.
- Diseased – attacks transmit mummy rot (see the mummy description)
- Striking Aura – the palpable aura of fear freezes all those who see the undead. Save versus paralysis when encountering the undead or be paralyzed for 1d6+1 rounds.
- Paralyzing Strike – the undead’s blows paralyze as a ghoul (although elves are not immune)
- Vampiric Drain – damage dealt by the undead in melee heals it an equivalent amount.
- Weakening Blow – the undead’s blows drain Strength or Constitution (choose/roll which) like a Shadow.
- Soul Eater – creatures slain by the undead cannot be raised or resurrected. The undead gains 1 HD for 24 hours, and permanently gains 1 hit point.
- Curse of the Fallen – undead casts curse 3/day (typically opening a battle with such a curse).
- Soul Wrench – the undead’s blows are deadly. The target gets a save versus death.
- Wail of the Haunted – once per turn the undead can howl or wail. Living creatures within 60 feet must save versus paralysis or run in fear.
- Wail of Mourning – once per hour the undead can howl or wail. Living creatures within 30 feet must save versus death or die.
- Breath of Decay – once per turn the undead can make a breath weapon attack (typically a magical “blast” of decay, but sometimes shards of bone, or regurgitated black evil, or even fire or gas or something thematically appropriate) in a 15′ cloud in front of him that deals 1d6 damage /2 hit dice of the undead.
- Faithless – turned by clerics as if the undead had 3 hit dice more than it has.
- All But Invisible – cannot be detected except by touch and feel. Cannot be detected by magic, psionics, sound or scent, etc.
- Immortal – unless destroyed by a cleric’s turn undead attempt, dissintegrated, or burned and the ashes mixed with holy water, this undead will reform in 2d12 hours after being slain.
- Regeneration – the undead regenerates 3 hit points per round except from holy damage. It ceases regenerating if destroyed.
- Charm Gaze – gaze attack acts as a charm monster spell
- Arcane Devourer – attacks drain one spell from a spellcaster’s prepared spells (starting with highest level spells, specific spell chosen randomly). If the undead successfully saves against a spell cast upon it, the caster of the spell also loses another spell as if struck by the undead.
- Hollow – when struck down, the undead splits open producing an insect plague as the spell as well as a 10′ radius cloud of poisonous gas (to which the undead insects are immune).
Have more suggestions? This table can easily be expanded from a d30 to a d100 if you volunteer enough new ideas in time for issue 3 of Dyson’s Dodecahedron.
Dyson's Dodecahedron 
Frenzied Regeneration: the regains 1 hp per round +1 per living being within 30ft.
(in my game vampires all have this. The more blood they can smell, the better their powers work).
Vile Wounding: damage dealt by the undead will not heal unless Remove Curse (or similar) is cast on the victim.
Touch of Ages: attacks age the character 1d10 years
Necromantic Corrosion: the creature’s attacks weaken armour, and weapons used against it corrode into uselessness (magic items get a save as if they were their owner).
Rather than / in addition to expanding this list, a table of undead personality traits or backgrounds would be rad.
This is exactly what I was looking for. Thanks Dyson!
Awesome idea, well executed! I especially like the d30 table.
Skeletal Minions: Undead creature can instantly summon 1d4+1 skeletons to fight at its side, usable 3X per day.
Cool stuff! This should go to issue #2 of Dyson’s Dodecahedron.
It probably will wait until Issue 3, since I want to expand the table with the offerings of Carter and Jarrah and then I’ll put a call out on the Goblinoid Games forums.
I’m not giving up level draining IMC.
Me neither. I like the mechanic myself.
Hell, you could use this table for undead that do have level drain, particularly if making fairly high hit-die undead who only drain one level per hit. Like a 10 HD version of a wight with level draining and 4 rolls on this table.
Having undead drain ability scores like STR and CON has been my go-to solution for, well, just about forever! I really think that’s one of the best options for the nasty critters! But your list has a lot of great alternate ideas! Thanks!
Yeah, in the expanded table I’ll be splitting Weakening Blow into two entries (one for Str, one for Con).
In my games I have Shadows drain 1d4 Strength instead of 1. They don’t last long enough in combat to deal a lot of damage in my experience.
Love it, DL! Though I, too, have no problems with level drain (except when I’m playing a game w/o levels), anything that helps diversify the undead (and make them much scarier in the process) is always a good thing. This is bound to see some action at my table. Thanks!
How about one that annuls a character’s magical item? Turning a PCs sword +1/+3 vs. Undead into a standard sword would be a useful edge for an Undead. Or one that damages a Mage/Cleric whenever he/she casts a spell near the Undead?
Oh….working issue 2 of Dyson’s Dodecahedron, I see! Keep it up, because this is great stuff.
The best thing about this is that players will never know what the undead will be, what powers they’ll have. That could be the best way to keep them on their toes… Maybe a pair of accompanying charts for a weakness? One for corporeal undead, the other for non-corporeal undead?
I’m using this for a vampire in my game. Of course he could be a bit overpowered, as he has 14 HD and is on level 3, but he’s supposed to be tough.
31. Pass Through Walls – the undead can easily pass through walls and will use this to attack or escape from the party at the worst possible moment.
32. Shardlings – the undead will have 2D6 followers with it always. These are smaller and weaker versions of the creature itself (1/4 HP, do 1/4 damage, weaker versions of most powers).
33. Death Restoration – when the undead kills an intelligent creature it instantly recovers any damage it has taken.
34. Magical Weapon – undead wields a unique magical weapon of some sort: perhaps a famous sword or a cursed spear. The weapon should be powerful enough to be significant in the campaign (for instance, a +3 sword). The weapon is completely evil and will corrupt any living being who attempts to wield it.
Awesome! Thanks!
* Cemetery Master – undead can control any earth which is within 100ft of a grave, treat this as Transmute Rock to Mud, Move Earth and Entangle at will (which is typically used to separate foes for easier kills. Foes are often then buried using these abilities to extend the “hunting” patch).
* Bloated – the undead has clearly died from drowning and has bloated to twice the size. 2x HP and “leaks” water creating any amount up to 30 gallon per round at will, may also grapple a single victim and start to drown them as if they were completely submerged. (can be reflavoured to be blood instead of water)
* Stitched Horror – has two extra limbs to wield weapons in and causes anyone who sees it for the first time to make a will save or vomit for 1d6 rounds.
* Haunting Nightmare – when slain, will reform as an shadowy copy of itself above the character who dealt the killing blow when they next fall asleep. It may be killed permanently whilst in this state, however 50% of all attack directed at it miss and it will return to its normal form after 24hrs.
* Maddening Whispers – mutters quietly permanently, anyone who makes three successful listen checks to hear what is being said is affected by the insanity spell for 3d12 rounds but cannot be reaffected for 24hrs, check every round unless ears are blocked.
Your last one is rather similar to a Gibbering Mouther…
Also, would Cemetery Master affect Crazed Deadsoil? (The Crazed Deadsoil is a patch of animate gravedirt, similar to an earth elemental. It will reach out arms, like a mimic, if anyone steps on it. It will not move otherwise.)
Ohh, I like the sounds of those!
Perhaps the Cemetery Master actually makes them (in their spare time or something, instead of knitting), or are created as a side effect of all his animating of grave dirt.
Either way you don’t want to miss out on a combo like that! They’ll be moveable by a Cemetery Master whilst not in combat (as they take ages to relocate) and are often used as sentries/guards on the outer edge of their territory or around important structures (such as large tombs and mausoleums which would grant protection from their powers if climbed upon).
Sounds good!
Necrowave – This creature can produce a wave of necromantic force in a 50′ sphere around itself. Any living enemies in the area take 3d6 damage, and all bodies within it are reanimated as a (Roll for each corpse):
1. Vampire
2. Wight
3. Ghoul
4. Ghost
5. Zombie
6. Lich
7. Mummy
8. Shadow
Tomb Dweller – The creature’s lifeforce resides in its coffin, sarcophagus, etc. Unless it is destroyed, the creature will reform as though Immortal. It has been corrupted by the constant presence of the creature, and will infect all who touch it with Coffinrot, which forces a save vs. poison each day. If the save is failed, the afflicted person will take d6 damage which cannot be healed. Coffinrot can only be cured by the combined efforts of three 10th level clerics over d3 weeks, at which time the damage can be cured.
Deadbrood: This creature has spawned d12 versions of itself, which each have half of its HD.
Spiritspawn: This being is the spawn of a ghost, shadow, or other incorporeal undead. Its creator has 4x the HD of the creature being fought.
Great Stuff! Added!
Just because I’ve a fondness for undead myself, here are a few more I’ve cooked up:
Puppeteer – Can possess any corpse by “stepping” into it. While possessing the corpse the Puppeteer can not be harmed in any way, and can control the corpse will attack as a zombified monster of that type. It suffers penalties due to any injuries/damage currently caused, inclusive of long term rotting, but until the corpse has been utterly destroyed the Puppeteer can remain safely inside. (the lairs of such undead tend to have preserved corpses, often with equipment/armour, lying around for escape or additional offensive abilities)
Grief Guiler – always appears in the form of a dead loved one, anyone interacting with it must take a will save to realise the falsehood of its appearance, if they fail they will refuse to attack it. If it attacks or is attacked by someone who made their will save, anyone who failed their initial save must make another will save or attempt to defend it. Make a new will save each round combat is in effect for and each time someone uses a influence skill to try and convince them of the truth. Regardless of success, all attacks against the Grief Guiler are at -2 due to its uncanny resemblance of a loved one.
Old crown – this is the undead of a former royal, be it a prince, duke or long dead king. It wears masterworked golden armour and is equipped with the finest weaponry, often jewel encrusted. It will fight as if it had two additional levels of fighter and may use diplomacy to sway anyone loyal to the current crown, if met peacefully it may impart long since forgotten lore of the lands or similar knowledge. (May optionally have their expensive gear turn to dust or fade away when killed along with the corpse if loot would otherwise be too great)
This is awesome. I just got done combining it randomly with 0onegames’ Cairns maps to produce some immediately memorable tombs as I was stocking a hexcrawl.
Wilting Wounds – Any wounds inflicted by the wight require 10x the normal amount of healing (which can be counteracted with a cure disease spell cast within 1 hour). (This is the original mummy rot ability from 1974).
Blood Spewer – Once per round, the wight can disgorge blood from its distended belly. All those near must succeed at a save or fall prone.
53. Miasma:
All living creatures within 50′ of this entity must save vs. poison at -3 or be overcome by the foul stench of death and putrefaction surrounding it. Those that fail their save begin to retch and cough uncontrollably, and see visions of themselves and their companions dying (usually horribly) and returning as undead for 5 rounds.
54. Coffinbrood:
If killed, this creature’s coffin will spawn d100d100 undead, with half of the original’s HD. They roll on this table.
We really do love undead, don’t we?
55. Lord of Bones:
This undead can animate (either in groups or singly) any bones in the area, including those inside living beings.
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awesome list! will be using in the near future!
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