Undead and Other Creatures of the Night

Undead and Other Creatures of the Night: Barrowmen

Barrowmen are strange demons or spirits from the land of the dead which inhabit the remains of men where treasure is laid. Barrowmen are often found in ancient crypts, mausoleums, and ring-hordes, after a shadow of Evil has fallen across once rich lands.

The voice of the barrowman is numbing. Anyone hearing its ancient songs or poems must make a willpower roll or lose all control and fall as if into a fugue state, led by the barrowman. The barrowman will sacrifice any victims of its voice, often dressing the victim in the clothing and treasure of the dead before the sacrifice is performed.

Barrowmen are immune to cold, lightning, and normal weapons. They are not immune to fire, and unfiltered sunlight causes d6 points damage per round to a barrowman. A light spell causes 1 point damage per round. A sunlight spirit causes 2 points damage per round.

Its icy touch chills the soul. On a successful called attack by the barrowman, targets must make an evasion roll or gain d3 injuries.

Undead and Other Creatures of the Night: Bean-Si

The bean-si are ancient shades of Elven witches. They are the daughters of Elven kings from the old times when mankind was still a high race. They await the ancient race of man in the old places of the world, at trees, rivers, and stones. When one of the old race will soon die, they keen a beautiful chorus that echoes from hill to hill.

Their chorus is all that most will know of the bean-si. They are rarely seen by the living in their remote places, though they sometimes do walk the old roads. They are known in legend as the “woman of the hills” or “lady of the lake”. Their often wedge-shaped stones are known as banshee chairs. The bean-si are attended by sparrows and other small birds. When they move they are always followed by a fluttering of wings. They appear as a shrouded woman wearing a veil, with a grey cloak over a green dress and the impression of golden beauty beyond the veil.

Those who interfere with a bean-si’s walk or activities will face her wrath, but a bean-si may be befriended—or perhaps merely consulted—by one of the old race. The touch of a bean-si is ancient and cold. On a called attack it ignores armor (though not magical bonuses from armor). High races are immune to this touch.

In contrast to their beautiful chorus, the song of a wrathful banshee may cause the hearer to pale or even die. Those who hear the song will gain one injury point, and must make a willpower roll at a penalty of six (four for high races) or gain d4 additional injury points. If the bean-si chooses, this song (though still damaging) can give visions of the distant past to those who hear it.

Brilliarch wights

In days so old that even younger Elves doubt its truth, the Brillig were a race allied so closely with Elfenkind that they came to speak the same language. Elfs, Dwarfs, Brillig, and the ancient of Men fought in the dawn wars of Good and Evil. But the Brillig grew powerful enough in their own right and conceitful. They turned to Evil because they thought themselves strong enough that in the end it would matter not. The Brilliarch, the Brillig leaders, lost themselves to the Deadless Lord and were ruled by him. The Brillig people died, and their armies became wights in the service of the Brilliarch.

Brilliarch wights are found deep underground in the ancient, ruined cities of the Brillig. They are a pale, pasty white, with three stalks (four to eight inches long) coming out where their eyes ought to be. Their feet and hands have six long fingers and one thumb. They see via sound. Their membranous stalks allow them to see nearly as accurately with sound as we do with sight.

On a successful bite, living opponents must make a health roll at a bonus of 1 or be diseased, permanent, severity 2d4. Brilliarch wights are immune to cold and heat, and take half damage from sharp or pointed weapons.

Corpse lamps

Often associated with mass murderers, slave drivers, and evil wizards, the corpse-light is distilled Evil. It is the essence of the evil of a man, forbidden from following its former owner’s soul into the underworld. Corpse lamps appear as a shimmering, hovering ball of light that dance and beckon in the distance. They are often called will o’ the wisps.

Corpse lamps most often appear in swamps, marshes, or old graveyards, but may occur anywhere. Their goal is to bring travelers off of the well-worn path and into deadly danger. A corpse lamp will usually have a special place of danger that they lure solitary travelers into. These bogs or marshes or quicksand pits may be filled with the remains and belongings of past victims.

Besides tempting unwary travelers into a lonely death, they may also tempt jealous, seething, or angry victims into torturing and eventually murdering the object of their festering emotion. When a corpse lamp finds victims who harbor a grudge against each other, it will nurse this anger and build it up slowly action by action, so that the victims’ anger is never checked until they destroy each other. Wary victims are allowed a willpower roll against this effect, but the effect itself never goes away. The urge to greater and greater retribution may only be held in check until leaving the area of the corpse lamp.

When threatened, the corpse lamp can shoot off a lightning-like spark four times every night, once per round, to any target within two yards.

The corpse lamp is immune to most physical and energy attacks. It is immune to fire, cold, and lightning, for example.

Undead and Other Creatures of the Night: Ghosts

When souls leave their bodies, they also leave behind a psychic shell that tends to repeat what the person did in life, or , if their death was particularly traumatic, how they died. Ghosts are the remnants of dead humans, the dried husks of the dead. An aura of cold fear surrounds ghosts. When an apparitional effect manifests, the temperature will seem to drop, and anyone within the area must make a willpower roll or run in fear for d6 rounds (apparitions), d4 rounds (poltergeists), or d10 rounds (phantasms). Phantasms and poltergeists maintain some control over their cold fear effect.

Ghosts may move quickly, or may simply shift in space to any location within their haunting area. Poltergeists and phantasms can move small items, up to level pounds. Only 20% of apparitions may do so. Ghosts have no physical form, although phantasms might create the illusion of physical form.

If their death involved other deaths, ghosts are occasionally accompanied by the phantoms of those close to them when they died or who played a part in their death.

Undead and Other Creatures of the Night: Ghouls

The ghoul is an undead creature that feeds off of the living and the recently deceased. Ghouls usually shamble, hunch, and claw at their prey, and dress in the rags of whatever they were buried or killed in. If a ghoul successfully attacks with both claws, it will also attempt to bite its opponent. Anyone hit by a ghoul’s claw or bite must make an evasion roll or they are infected. This roll is at +4 if one claw hit, +2 if two claws hit, and normal if the character is bitten. If an infected victim dies, they will rise that night as a newly formed ghoul with only the vaguest recollections of their past—just enough to single out their former companions as food.

Anyone infected by a ghoul who does not die must make a willpower roll each night or act as a ghoul, and lose d4 survival points unless they feed on flesh. A bless spirit can cure an infected person: they are allowed a willpower roll to throw off the infection, with a penalty of 2 if they have fed on flesh as a ghoul. A demi-ghoul has half their level, maximum survival points, intelligence, wisdom, charisma, and other skill scores, until they die and become full ghouls. Demi-ghouls do not infect victims on a successful attack, nor do they regenerate. They can be damaged by holy water or other blessed objects in the same manner as other undead. The demi-ghoul is allowed another willpower roll (at normal levels) each morning to return to normal for that day. If failed, no further roll is allowed that night.

Full ghouls regenerate any damage that is not caused by silver, magic weapons, or holy water, at the rate of one point per round. Beheading a ghoul will fully kill a ghoul, although in some especially evil areas even decapitation will not stop the regeneration. Ghouls cannot regrow lost limbs (or their head), however, and must reattach them.

Undead and Other Creatures of the Night: Phantoms

Phantoms are ghosts, somewhat like apparitions but not lost and confused; they either know they are trapped and dead or do not know, but otherwise retain their full mental capacity. Phantoms often accompany more powerful ghosts, such as Apparitions, Poltergeists, and Phantasms, trapped by the ghost’s presence.

If they have some knowledge of their state, they may leave clues, but usually are too much in fear of their powerful “captor”. Usually, they are not aware of their condition.

Phantoms have no power, even of cold fear, nor do they retain any of the archetypal abilities they held in life. At best they can appear in dreams, reliving their life, their death, or their desires. Under certain circumstances, a phantom may be able to become substantial and affect the physical world. These circumstances are usually related to their death. For example, if they died during a full moon, then every year that the date of their death coincides with a full moon they return to substantiality for the duration of the full moon.

Phantoms are immune to non-magical weapons, though their substantial form can be destroyed temporarily by non-magical attacks.

Restless dead

The restless dead are spirits lost in the earthly plane due to an untoward death, insufficient burial, or inappropriate burial. Pregnant women may bear their child in death and return as restless dead.

Restless dead sleep in their graves and bother the living, especially those who knew them in life. They appear bloated, red or brown.

Dogs and wolves are the natural enemies of restless dead, and dogs may ward off even incorporeal restless dead if the undead fails a willpower roll. Dogs may also sense the presence of restless dead.

The restless dead may act both corporeally and incorporeally, through dreams, reflections, or shadows. The restless dead may also dig their way out of their graves if they are restless enough, and return to their loved ones or enemies. The restless dead cannot cross natural bodies of fresh water and may be immobilized by weighting them down in water (but it takes a lot to weight down a dead body!).

The restless dead are immune to normal weapons, but may be harmed by silver, ash, or hawthorn (which they will regenerate at level points per night), or magical weapons, which will not regenerate. (Incorporeal undead may not be harmed by any of those methods.)

There are many ways in every culture to immobilize the restless dead, but, paradoxically, applying these methods to a body pre-emptively may also—because it is an inappropriate burial—result in the creation of restless dead, who wish to be buried “normally”. Sometimes it seems as though an improper burial is more likely to keep the dead from resting than an untimely death, even to the extent that a murderer can placate their victim by returning to ensure a proper burial.

Undead and Other Creatures of the Night: Revenant

Revenants are undead out for revenge, usually revenge over their death. Revenants are pure evil. They have a specific purpose in mind and towards that end all means are justified.

The revenant has entered into a bargain with the infernal. It will not die again until its purpose is completed. As it takes damage it will become gory, tattered, full of holes, and even piecework, but it will not die nor lose consciousness. If its penalties due to being below zero become too much, it will attempt to leave and return later. Revenants restore one point of damage per hour.

A revenant that is destroyed through turning will lose its physical form temporarily, and will be immobile for 2d10 hours.

When alive, revenants may have been of any moral code. Their desire for revenge has turned them evil. They are only dimly aware of their past life, except insofar as it fuels their need for revenge. When their revenge is complete, they fade to death.

Revenants maintain the abilities they had in life, as much as is possible, but may never increase their level in their pre-death archetype(s). In addition they have one level of revenant. Revenants may gain some revenant-only specialties as normal through advancement in their revenant level. These specialties are:

Cornering: The revenant may walk through corners, moving from corner to corner in any building or artificially-made or excavated structure.

Fear: The revenant may instill a complete, unreasoning fear in any one viewer per round. The target must make a willpower roll or run in fear for 2d10 rounds.

Paralysis: The revenant may paralyze any one viewer per round. The victim is allowed a willpower roll to avoid paralysis. Paralysis lasts 2d6 rounds.

Possess: The revenant may transfer its spirit to another target. The target must make a willpower roll to avoid possession. During the course of the possession, the victim will slowly come to resemble the bargain-time appearance of the revenant. While the revenant’s spirit sleeps or if the revenant is surprised in some way, the possessed may come forward on a willpower roll; if so, the revenant must re-possess, though the victim’s willpower roll is at a penalty of 2. It takes d4 minutes to possess.

Resist Turning: The revenant gains a bonus of level to any attempts to turn the revenant.

Rest: The revenant may sleep forever, waiting, unchanging, until they are disturbed or a pre-determined set of events are set in motion. During this period, the revenant is to all appearances dead, but in a preserved state. While waiting, they continue to “heal” as normal, and even restore to their original (at the time of their bargain) appearance. It takes one hour to enter a state of rest, and one minute to come out of a state of rest.

Restoration: Once per night, the revenant may restore their survival points to their maximum. Their appearance remains the same, however. It takes one round to effect a restoration.

Soul Trap (Death): The revenant may trap the spirit of any victim that dies within its vision. The soul is lost in a twisted world of the revenant’s design. The victim’s spirit does not go to its afterlife, and any attempts to resurrect the victim will require retrieving the spirit from the world created by the revenant. (All spirits trapped are in the same twisted world.) Prerequisite: Possess.

Soul Trap (Dreams): The revenant may trap the spirit of any victim that falls asleep within its vision. The spirit is lost in a twisted world of the revenant’s design. The victim is allowed a willpower roll to avoid being trapped, and another willpower roll to wake up at morning, or when shaken awake. If both rolls are failed, the victim is trapped forever. All spirits trapped are in the same twisted world, so it is possible for friends to come to the victim’s aid by also sleeping, if the revenant pulls them into the dream or they have some other means of entering dreams. Of course, their savior will need to make their own willpower roll to leave, but if made they can take any other victims who are willing. Prerequisite: Soul Trap (Death).

Undetectable: The revenant may move without making any noise whatsoever, nor emitting any smell, nor even being seen. Unless their victims look directly at the revenant, the revenant will gain complete surprise. On any attack, their victims will presumably be looking directly at them, and will from then on be able to see the revenant until the revenant disengages and leaves their sight for at least a few seconds.

Sailor’s spirit: The revenant may, if it died by drowning and its body is currently under water, cause that water to take on their shape. The water form shares the survival of the revenant’s normal form. It may not leave the borders of the body of water that formed it (it may climb aboard ships or other vessels that lie within those borders). It can attack and act just as the revenant can. It may only be attacked by magic or magic weapons; it takes one point damage from slashing or piercing weapons, and half damage from bludgeoning weapons (plus the magical bonus, if any). Energy attacks do not damage it; they either slow it or do not affect it; for example, lightning will not affect it; cold and heat will delay it for as many rounds as the damage done to it (due to being frozen or turned to steam). The revenant’s corpse is immobile while the water form is active. The water form can be activated and deactivated at will.

Undead and Other Creatures of the Night: Vampire

Vampires are lean, pale, vaguely cadaverous, and cold to the touch. There is perhaps a redness to their lips, a faintly canine look to their teeth which increases when they feed. Their fingers are long, with twisting and hardened fingernails. Most vampires are created by other vampires. Some are humans who were so evil in life that their souls were corrupted enough on their own that they rose as undead. Vampires were often nobles or leaders when alive, because the kind of person who can become a vampire—concerned with order, self-centered, and charismatic—is also the kind of person who does well as a politician.

Vampires cannot be truly killed. Even a vampire that is completely destroyed, such as in sunlight, will reform itself eventually. This is part of the Vampire’s curse. They cannot even be hurt by non-magical weapons, except weapons of hawthorn, silver, or aspen. Vampires may be disabled with a stake through the heart or mouth. This will immobilize the vampire until the stake is removed. Sunlight harms the vampire. Vampires in sunlight lose all special abilities and lose d6 survival points per round.

Vampires may only truly be destroyed by sending their cursed soul home, which generally can only be done through divine intervention.

Vampires must feed on fresh human blood. Every day without feeding, the vampire loses 1 survival point. They may hibernate in their burial soil. This slows the loss to 1 point every week. Vampires may regenerate damage through drinking blood: each point of the victim’s endurance is a survival point regained. This endurance loss is permanent and cannot be regained through normal means. Anyone undergoing such endurance loss must make a fortitude roll or lose consciousness and forget the last thirty minutes to half an hour.

Vampires will feed from humans near a place of importance, such as the neck, the chest, or the inner thigh.

Normally, a vampire will only attempt to feed on a subdued human. However, the vampire may attempt feeding on any human opponent, if the vampire makes a called attack to the opponent. The opponent is allowed an evasion roll. The vampire may drain one endurance point per round.

Vampires maintain the abilities they had in life, as much as is possible, and in addition have one level of vampire. Vampires may gain some vampire-only specialties as normal through advancement in their vampire level. These specialties are:

Misty Form: The vampire may become a cloud-like mist. This is often the first specialty, as it allows buried vampires to leave their graves. The misty form is immune even to silver and wood, and may only be attacked with magical weapons. The misty form has a movement rate of 24, and may only be assumed twice per night.

Charm Others: The vampire may target one creature per round, who is allowed a willpower roll to avoid the effects.

Control Animals: The vampire may control one class of animals for every two vampire levels: dogs/wolves, tigers/cats, bats, rats, flies, beetles/roaches, owls, for example. The vampire may directly control a number of creature levels equal to their vampire level, and attract ten times that number.

See Through Animal Eyes: The vampire is able to see through the eyes of a controlled animal, up to vampire level times ten miles away.

Animal Form: The vampire may assume the form of any animal the vampire can control. The animal form is vulnerable to normal weapons but maintains the vampire’s survival points.

Speed: One extra attack with weapons, +8 movement, +1 defense, +4 advantage.

Vampire slave

A human embraced by a vampire becomes a vampire slave, a pale, hungry, shadow of their former self. Vampire slaves retain the abilities they had in life, however, all archetype levels are at half level (divide survival points by two to make that calculation easy). Also halved are charisma, wisdom, and any skill rolls. They can gain up to two levels of vampire when embraced, if the vampire that embraced them wishes.

Vampire slaves are like normal vampires except that they gain no specialties, may not hibernate, and do not advance in level. They do have the ability to feed and regain survival points through feeding.

Vampire slaves are under the near-complete control of the vampire that created them. In extreme circumstances, a vampire slave might be allowed a willpower roll, with all the penalties from their lower wisdom and charisma.

Vampire slaves must be specifically created over three nightly visits to the victim. (A victim killed in a single vampire attack is simply dead.) On the third nightly visit, the potential slave dies. Three nights later it rises again as a vampire slave.

When a vampire slave’s master dies, any slave who is not of the Ordered Evil moral code will also die. Slaves who are Ordered Evil may make a charisma roll (unlowered), with level as a major contributor, to remain as an undead vampire.

Undead and Other Creatures of the Night: Skeletons

Skeletons are the bones of the dead, usually human, reanimated through sorcerous power. Skeletons are difficult to defeat with pointed thrusting weapons, which do only a point of damage. Slashing weapons do one half damage. Magical and strength bonuses add in as normal. Skeleton level can vary depending on the strength which summoned the skeletons. The size of the original creature can also limit the level of the skeleton; small skeletons, for example, will likely be ½ level.

Walking Corpse

Like skeletons, walking corpses are the mindlessly reanimated corpses of the dead. Corpse level can vary according to the strength of the sorcery which summoned the corpses and the size of the original creature. Small corpses are likely to be level 1, for example. Walking corpses rarely use weapons.

Undead and Other Creatures of the Night: Werewolf

The werewolf is both man and wolf. In human form they are like any human. In wolf form they are a huge and vicious wolf. Werewolves are humans who devoted their lives to bestial pleasures. Animal urges were all that mattered to the werewolf when alive. Where medieval culture usually means that most vampires are men, werewolves may be nearly equally female or male. Werewolves will usually come from the upper classes, those with the leisure to give themselves over to bacchanalia.

Unlike most undead who are more dead than living, the werewolf is more alive than dead. Their exploits of pleasure, exploits that would kill lesser evils, have brought them to a new plane of bestiality: they may transform themselves into powerful wolves. While they prefer nocturnal activities, the werewolf may hunt by day if desired. In general, the afflicted may change to a werewolf simply by willing it. This requires a successful willpower roll, which may be tried once per minute. On nights of the full moon, the werewolf generally has no choice: on a failed fortitude roll, a change will occur. The full moon also grants an increase of two levels to the beast, and a defense increase of 1.

While the werewolf retains the relative intelligence of its human form, this is not a human intelligence. It is more of a crafty animal intelligence, which allows the werewolf to avoid traps, pitfalls, and dangers that other animals might fall prey to.

A dead werewolf returns to human form. In human form, the werewolf has no special abilities.

A werewolf may be turned by a prophet with the ability to turn undead, however, only in werewolf form, and on a destruction result, the only effect is to return the werewolf to human form. Being semi-alive, the werewolf may make a willpower roll to avoid turning, or to turn destruction into a turning.

Werewolves may, and often do, lead normal wolf packs. Such wolf packs will become as bloodthirsty as the werewolf.

Any victim who is brought to zero or fewer survival points, but who survives, must make a health roll or be afflicted with lycanthropy: they are a werewolf, but with no control over their curse. On nights of the full moon, they must make fortitude rolls or become werewolves. If an afflicted person is able to go for nine full moons without tasting human flesh, they will be cured of their affliction. Such an afflicted werewolf does not gain the defense and level bonuses of the full moon.