I haven't always had a coherent vision of what to do with Undead (or any other type of broad monster class, for that matter) in DH5 or FANTASY HACK either one, and I've mostly just been aping some conventions of D&D in many respects. (Which in turn mostly mimic conventions from the folklore and mythology of Western civilization, and the fantasy genre generally.) The exception to this is that I consolidated all the various types of incorporeal undead under the GHOST label and gave it a bunch of a la carte options to create various different types of ghosts (although honestly, the Haunts rule in the first appendix does a lot of types of ghost better than the ghost rules themselves anyway. Because of this, I probably should go through the entire list of undead monsters and prune, or otherwise make coherent the list. Also; I've got some developing ideas about their role and nature on the setting that I want to address.
So first, let me grab all of the monsters and copy and paste out of my document so that I have them in front of me, then I can noodle around with what I want to do about them.
FELL GHAST: AC: 20 HD: 18d12 (130 hp) AT: Bite +18 (2d10+4), 2 claws +18 (d10+3) fell breath (DEX + Athletics check DC 25 to avoid) 1d4 STR damage STR: +12 DEX: +3 MND: -1, SPD: +7, S: flies, undead immunities, cast at will Blasphemous Piping of Azathoth DC 19, when the fell ghast reaches 0 hit points or less, it turns into 1d4 bat swarms as per the monster entry.
Large, dragon-sized and dragon-like undead monsters that are forces of pure necromancy, these animated collections of bones, dried, mummified skin, and stiff, dead flesh are terrifying creatures that only the most powerful of evil sorcerers can hope to deal with as equals.
FLESH HOUND: AC: 14 HD: 2d12 (10 hp) AT: bite +4 (1d6+2) STR: +3, DEX: -2 MND: -3, SPD: +8, S: Immune to most forms of magical attack. Regular weapons do only half damage. Fire (magical or mundane) does 2x damage.
A minor alteration to the flesh golem stats, for a hound-like golem (instead of humanoid).
GHOST: AC: 16 HD: 4d6 (16 hp) AT: touch +4 (1d6) STR: -4, DEX: +2, MND: +1, SPD: +2, S: undead immunities, only hit by magic or silver weapons, arrows do a max 1 HP damage. Ghosts also have one of the following special attacks. More powerful versions can be created by giving them two or more:
• drains 1d3 DEX on touch, creatures reduced to -5 DEX are immobile and helpless for coup de grace attack that kills them automatically
• as an action, may cast the spell Withering of the Haunter
• forces a Sanity check on all characters that can see the ghost
• under a permanent effect as if constantly casting the Blasphemous Piping of Azathoth spell
• can cast all spells up to 3rd level
The spirit of the departed, which for reasons which are unknown, lingers on earth to bring misery and fear to those who remain. Many, even when defeated, will return after many weeks, months or even years, if their remains are not properly attended to—they usually need to be exhumed, doused in salt, and burned.
GHOUL: AC: 13 HD: 2d6 (8 hp) AT: claws or bite +2 (1d6) STR: +2, DEX: +0, MND: -1, SPD: +3, S: touch paralyzes for 1d4 rounds, humans wounded by ghouls are cursed if they fail a MND + level check (DC 12) and will slowly turn into ghouls themselves. This process involves taking 1 point of MND damage every day (which does not heal overnight) until they reach -5, at which point the conversion is complete. GM may provide antidote/remedy to counter this curse.
Formerly humans, who fell prey to daemonic, cannibal rituals, and were transformed via blackest necromancy into feral, subhuman monsters that endure endless hunger for human(oid) flesh. Their most fearsome ability is their tendency to spread their curse to those who survive their attacks.
GHOUL-HOUNDS: AC: 13 HD: 2d6 (8 hp) AT: bite +2 (1d6) STR: +2, DEX: +0, MND: -1, SPD: +7, S: touch paralyzes for 1d4 rounds, humans wounded by ghoul-hounds are cursed if they fail a MND + level check (DC 12) and will slowly turn into ghouls themselves. This process involves taking 1 point of MND damage every day (which does not heal overnight) until they reach -5, at which point the conversion is complete. GM may provide antidote/remedy to counter this curse.
Ghouls hounds are to wolves or large dogs what ghouls are to people; a kind of undead monstrosity with many of the traits of a ghoul. These horrible canine monsters sometimes haunt the area surrounding a powerful undead, such as the forest around the castle of a vampire lord.
GOLEM, FLESH: AC: 16 HD: 4d12 (28 hp) AT: slam +8 (2d6+4) STR: +8, DEX: -2 MND: -3 SPD: -4, S: Immune to most forms of magical attack. Regular weapons do only half damage. Fire (magical or mundane) does 2x damage.
The stitched together remains of human(oids) given an evil unlife by foul magic. Flesh golems are notoriously tough and difficult to kill, although luckily they are very rare, and the research into the creation of one is usually punishable by death in most civilized lands.
HEADLESS HORSEMAN: AC: 16 HD: 4d6 (16 hp) AT: touch +4 (1d6) STR: -4, DEX: +2, MND: +1 SPD: +10 (when mounted) S: undead immunities, only hit by magic or silver weapons, arrows do a max 1 HP damage. Also: drains 1d3 DEX on touch, creatures reduced to -5 DEX are immobile and helpless for coup de grace attack that kills them automatically, forces a Sanity check on all characters that can see the horseman.
LICH: AC: 20 HD: 12d6 (48 hp) AT: touch +HD (1d6) STR: +4, DEX: +0, MND: +5, SPD: 0, S: undead immunities, touch causes paralysis (no save), cause fear in creatures under 4th level/HD, can cast spells up to 5th level
One of several end-states for evil, necromantic sorcerers, who prolong their life with their magic. These skeletal, undead wizards usually create horcruxes, which allow them to return even from death if defeated, unless the horcrux is itself destroyed.
MUMMY: AC: 16 HD: 6d6 (24 hp) AT: touch +6 (1d6) STR: +7, DEX: -2, MND: +2, SPD: -2, S: undead immunities, takes only half damage from non-silver weapons, immune to most spells except fire based ones.
Cursed by evil sorcerers, in ancient times, some victims were doomed to become mummies, powerful undead creatures bound to their place of origin.
NIZREKH ROYAL HERESIARCH: AC: 17 HD: 10d6 (40 hp) AT: touch +5 (1d6) STR: +4, DEX: +2, MND: +3, SPD: 0, S: undead immunities, only takes half damage from non-silver weapons, regenerate 3 hp per round, on a successful hit (MND + level to resist, DC 19) does 1d4 STR damage, can hypnotize (MND + level check, DC 19), avoids crosses and mirrors, immobilized and apparently dead if a stake is driven through its heart, cause fear in creatures under 4th level/HD, can cast spells up to 5th level.
While the vampires of Timischburg have a powerful undead grip on immortality (of a sort) they are pale shadows of the true masters of undeath, the Royal Nizrekh Heresiarchs. There are only a handful such that exist, but all are powerful scions of undeath and thaumaturgy, and attack with powerful physical as well as magical abilities when they are spurred to combat. They rather spend their time in Machiavellian manipulation against each other and other rivals, however—if they are reduced to fighting for their lives, usually something has gone really wrong for them.
Like Liches, Heresiarchs have horcruxes that make their total destruction extremely difficult, and many enemies that think that they have destroyed one find to their fatal chagrin that they just keep coming back.
The best literary comparison to the Heresiarchs is the Ten Who Were Taken from Glen Cook's The Black Company.
SKELETON: AC: 12 HD: 1d6 (4 hp) AT: weapon or strike +1 (1d6) STR: -1, DEX: -1, MND: -4, SPD: -5, S: undead immunities, only takes half damage from arrows or bullets.
A magically animated skeleton, which can serve necromancers as servitors or even warriors—although they are relatively poor at the latter.
VAMPIRE: AC: 17 HD: 9d6 (36 hp) AT: bite +9 (1d6) STR: +4, DEX: +6, MND: +5, SPD: +5, S: undead immunities, only takes half damage from non-silver weapons, regenerate 3 hp per round, on a successful hit (MND + level to resist, DC 19) does 1d4 STR damage, gaseous form at will, shape change into bat, can hypnotize (MND + level check, DC 19), avoids garlic and mirrors, immobilized and apparently dead if a stake is driven through its heart, drowns underwater in one round, creatures reduced to -5 STR die and will rise 24 hours later as a vampire under the control of their creator.
Another possible end state for the evil and powerful who wish to prolong their life unnaturally (like the lich.) Vampires retain their human appearance, but the cost is the undeniable thirst for human blood and sacrifice.
WIGHT: AC: 14 HD: 3d6 (12 hp) AT: claw +3 (1d6) STR: +4, DEX: +1, MND: +1, SPD: 0,S: undead immunities, takes only half damage from non-magical or non-silver weapons, does 1d3 STR damage per hit (MND + level check to avoid, DC 14), creatures reduced to -5 STR will rise 24 hours later as a wight.
The reanimated corpses of powerful warriors or other champions, wights are powerful and deadly undead creatures.
Haunts.
Haunts are a novel idea that combines elements of a trap and a ghost—haunts should be used liberally to create the classic "haunted house" vibe, or to create any eerie, horror-themed vignette in your Dark•Heritage game. In adapting the idea of haunts to m20, I'm needless to say going to be forced to interpret the concept very differently and with considerably less complexity, but I do want to maintain the idea of a haunt being somewhat midway between a trap and a ghost.
Haunts are extremely difficult to notice without triggering them. While a normal trap can presumably be seen (if you know what to look for) haunts cannot. That said, as a haunt is being triggered, there is a brief moment when wary characters might be able to detect that something is happening (by making a MND + Survival check), and possibly mitigate its effects. If the PCs do not detect that the haunt is about to start, they are caught unawares and off-guard under the full effect of the haunt. If they do detect it, they have one round to attempt to do something to alleviate the effects of the haunt; flee the haunted area, cast some spell of their own, etc. This doesn't mean, of course, that the action that they choose to take will be effective. As GM, you will have to adjudicate what (if anything) their actions have on minimizing or defeating the effects of the haunt.
The effect of a haunt is usually replicated by using the mechanics for a spell. You can describe the haunt very differently than the description of the spell, but the mechanics will be the same. Haunts may have varying "caster levels" depending on how powerful you want the haunt to be, if the spell used is one in which its effects vary by caster level.
Haunts cannot be "fought" like a normal ghost; they must be destroyed by the PCs taking some specific action that causes the haunt to go away. They probably will not know what this action is, although they may stumble across it, or otherwise figure it out. (If you want, a MND + Knowledge check can give them a clue—often this needs to be done in a library or with a book or journal of a ghost-hunter, or someone else experienced in the works of the undead.) Mostly, haunts don't need to be destroyed however; the PCs' suffer the effects of them and then avoid them from then on out.
Haunt trigger areas are usually relatively small; a room, a dell, a small stretch of hallway, etc.
To create a haunt, you need to do the following, then:
• Pick a DC for the PCs to notice the haunt, as well as an effect that they notice.
• Pick a spell that the haunt triggers, or create your own spell-like effect.
• Pick a caster level for the spell (if applicable)
• Pick the way in which the haunt can be destroyed. In a pinch, use the go-to for ghost destruction; find the remains or body, salt and burn them.
Here are a few samples:
BLEEDING WALLS (Notice DC 20 to hear the sound of disembodied soft sobbing.) The Bleeding Walls haunt causes thick rivulets and streams of blood to ooze from the walls, accompanied by the piercing sound of a woman's pained screams. Effect: Blasphemous Piping of Azathoth (4th Level spell.) If the PCs can leave the area after noticing the sobbing before it triggers, they can avoid the effect. The haunt can be destroyed if the woman's body hidden in the walls (who's sobbing and screaming you hear) is given a proper Christian burial in the hallowed ground of a proper graveyard.
SLAMMING DOORS (Notice DC 10 to see the door start shutting.) The Slamming Doors haunt causes doors to slam shut and to be held shut. These door can be broken open (depending on the strength of the door), but will otherwise remain shut. The doors are supernaturally strengthened by the will of the malicious poltergeist that caused the door to slam. Usually, this will trap the PCs within an area, such as within a haunted house, etc. Effect: Invocation of the Dweller in the Gate. To avoid the effect, PCs must dart through the shutting door before it closes. The haunt can be destroyed if the door is broken and destroyed.
CHOKING HANDS (Notice DC 20 to see/feel a cold mist starting to coalesce around the neck of the victims.) Ghostly hands made of gray mist will choke the PCs. Effect: Casts Moloch's Word (3rd level spell) at caster level 5. This haunt will continue each round that victims are within the target area, although it only effects one victim at a time. Victims being choked must make a DC 20 STR + Survival check to move, or else fall prone and be unable to move (another character can drag them out of the area, however.) The haunt will usually target one victim at a time until dead before moving on to the
next one. The haunt can be destroyed if the body of the murderer who it is reflecting is exhumed and their remains burned and salted (as for a ghost.)
GHASTLY WHISPERS (Notice DC 20 to hear crescendoing blasphemous whispering before it is triggered.) The ghostly sound of at least dozens of whispering, screaming, sobbing, crying and cursing voices fills the heads of its victims, driving them rapidly insane. Effect: Casts The Seeping of Kadath on the Mind (4th Level Spell). This can be avoided if PCs run like the dickens out of the area before it targets them. This haunt can only be destroyed by a trained exorcist performing a night-long prayerful ritual using at least a gallon of holy water and uninterrupted prayer by an anointed priest—although the haunt will attempt to attack the exorcist repeatedly while the exorcism is underway.
HEADLESS HORSEMAN (DC 15 to hear the clip-clop of galloping hooves before it appears.) A ghostly, headless soldier on a ghostly, skeletal horse appears and attacks those attempting to cross its area of road or dell or bridge, etc. Effect: This ghostly apparition cannot be fought like a normal ghost, as all attacks against it are ineffective, even with silver or magical weapons. It, however, attacks with its own spectral sword, with a To Hit bonus of +8 (2d6 damage) and it will continue to attack until all targets manage to escape its area of influence (often crossing a bridge or some other road marker) or they are all killed. The haunt can be destroyed by finding the remains of the ghostly, decapitated victim, and reunited it with the remains of its head.)
BLACK CARRIAGE (DC 15 to hear the creaking of the carriage and clopping of its hooves before it appears.) A spectral black carriage, driven by a ghostly coachman appears and runs down all in the haunted area. Effect: Equivalent to the Summoning of Ithaqua (4th level spell). A DC 30 DEX + Athletics check allows the victims to dive out of the way of the wildly careening coach, although if will probably appear again moments later until the PCs are out of the haunted area. The haunt can be destroyed only by casting The Invocation of Kadashman (Ritual only spell) to summon a ghostly steed of your own which will lure the ghostly stallions deep into the ghostly realm, never to return.First thing I notice; I've got a monster entry headless horseman, and a haunt. How did I miss that I duplicated that effort? One of them has to go from the official list; probably the monster entry, although I'll keep it in my back pocket as an alternative, just in case I want it for something later.
The second thing I'm noticing is that although there are some significant stat differences between them, the wight and the mummy are conceptually very similar creatures; revenants of powerful individuals brought back to unlife to curse the living. I'm not sure why wights bring back creatures that they slay as wights; that seems to be an unlikely condition for being a wight. The real difference between them is more based on Egyptian vs European; the mummy is a specific archetype developed for the 1932 Boris Karloff film and a rash of ghost story hysteria relative to Pharaonic curses after the discovery of King Tut's tomb. The wight on the other hand, is loosely based, in fantasy fiction anyway, on Tolkien's barrow-wights, which were in turn based on the Norse folkloric figure of the draugr. Tolkien in fact borrowed the translation of barrow-wight from William Morris, who's translation of Grettis saga had pioneered that same usage already. Does regional origin and maybe some visual cues actually justify having a separate creature type with a separate stat-line, when they are already conceptually so similar? I'm not sure. I may consolidate them into a single stat-line, getting rid of the wight's "spawn new wights" ability while I'm at it. It's not like I don't already have plenty of entries that in the description suggests alternate uses for the stat-line (for example, the cat stats suggest that they would work well for any other small creature capable of climbing and biting, such as a monkey or raccoon—not that either are all that similar to a cat in most respects, but that there isn't sufficient justification to create a new stat-line for them.)
Because I'm looking at my Dark•Heritage 2 ruleset rather than Fantasy Hack, I think the flesh hound and ghoul hounds and more especially the Nizrekh Heresiarchs are OK, although they are all three pretty esoteric ideas that kind of make me wonder if they don't rather deserve to be in some kind of appendix rather than the main rules. But they belong in a ruleset that's more attuned to a specific setting than Fantasy Hack is meant to be, so I probably won't bother with moving or eliminating them here. I might in Fantasy Hack, but... honestly, probably not. I probably won't touch Fantasy Hack again, and just use Dark•Heritage 2 as my new ruleset for DH5; Fantasy Hack can remain as a very useful archive link, but trying to keep the two rulesets updated concurrently and in harmony with each other is probably too much effort to be worth it.
I'm considering some other structural changes that have more to do with minor setting details, but which will have an impact (possibly) on the stats. For instance, I'm wondering if I want ghouls to be as weak as they are, or if I want to beef them up a little bit. I also think I want to do some significant changes to the vampire stat.
Here's my idea. What if vampires are an evolved form of ghoul? The ghoul curse is what causes them to rise as an undead monster, but they rise cursed with madness caused by uncontrollable hunger for human flesh. As they continue to evolve, if they survive this new state of undeath, some of them become so feral that they literally become animalistic; growing more bat-like features and even bat-like wings that they can manifest as a form of shapechaging (this ability is not yet showing in the stats. It does, however, match sources as diverse as the movie Van Helsing and the new Warhammer Flesh-eater Courts Battletome.) Some ghouls, through sheer force of will, claw their way back to a form of lucidity if not actual sanity, at which point they can evolve even further. As they do so, their animalistic features will fade (although they can still shapechange into a hybrid bat form as needed) and they will come to resemble humanity from which they ultimately sprang a little more, although the beast of their hungering madness lurks just below the surface. In this way, they become vampires. Vampires in DH5 will not be the suave vampires of house-wife porn as they've become in soap operas like Anne Rice, the Vampire Diaries TV show or... heaven help us... the Twilight series, though. Just because their feral features can be softened as some of their sentience returns doesn't mean that at best they don't end up still freakish and off-putting.
I'm not 100% sure that I want the Dracula-like weaknesses inherent in them either, though. A weapon that's been blessed, or holy water; I can see that being a weakness to them. Maybe they are sensitive to bright light, but they don't burst into flame in it. Maybe running water and needing to be invited in cause them issues, but not as much as in Dracula, certainly. And although the whole turn undead ability in D&D is heavily based on the concept from Dracula that the vampire couldn't abide the sight of a cross, I seriously doubt that I'll use anything at all like that in my system. And maybe organic weapons (such as made from bone or wood) cause them undue damage; a nod to the whole staking business from the novel.
Garlic makes no difference to them one way or another.
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