Undead Origins

Voadam

Legend
Pathfinder Secrets of Magic
Pathfinder 2e
Undead, Undead Creature: The tragedy of undeath is that it perverts negative energy outside its natural role of destruction and forces it to create. The result is a being with a horrifying emptiness filled only by a connection to that subverted need to destroy, full of instincts and subconscious urges from the corrupted essence that inexorably twist it to evil.
Yet, the creation of undead looms largest in the layperson’s mind as the foulest of necromantic magic, perverting the energy of destruction for the purpose of creation and thus perpetrating grave harm to the cycle and to the souls of the dead.
Necromancy’s reputation arises in part because some of its disciplines demand unsavory activities of its practitioners. In addition, many of those practitioners do, indeed, turn their skills toward destroying life, or creating and enslaving undead.
Necromancy has three main divisions: vitalism, which manipulates the energies of life and death to heal or harm creatures; soul magic, which uses spiritual essence for effects such as calling back the souls of the dead and inflicting curses on victims; and undeath, which deals with creating, binding, and destroying the undead.
Once living, these creatures were infused after death with negative energy and soul-corrupting evil magic.
Bathe in Blood ritual.
Soul Puppet soul seed gift.
Mindless Undead: ?
Being With A Horrifying Emptiness: ?
Incorporeal Undead: ?
Creature With Negative Healing: ?
Undead Minion: ?
Incarnate Tornado of Undead Shades: ?
Intelligent Undead: ?
Malevolent Undead: ?
Ghost: Bathe in Blood ritual.
Ghoul: ?
Ghoul, Intelligent Undead: ?
Lich: ?
Lich, Intelligent Undead: ?
Powerful Poltergeist: ?
Greater Shadow: ?
Vampire: Bathe in Blood ritual.
Vampire, Nonliving Creature With Blood in its Body, Target With no Reflection, Intelligent Undead, Nocturnal Creature: ?
Wraith: ?
Zombie: But what does it mean to lack Mind? To put it simply, if perhaps circularly, it means having no mind, rendering a creature incapable of thought. While this might be more obvious for something like a stone, even living creatures, including most oozes, have no Mind, nor do rudimentary undead like zombies, as the magic creating them isn’t sophisticated enough to steal or build a vessel for mental essence. Mental magic can’t work on such a being, even though it might be capable of performing actions that seem like it has a mind. Generally, these occur either due to instincts built into the creature’s being through life essence (including the perversion that fuels undead), or are preprogrammed by the being’s creator. This often means a creature without Mind has no metaphysical alignment, though the instincts carried by life essence could instill one in them (as with mindless undead).
Zombie, Rudimentary Undead: ?

BATHE IN BLOOD RITUAL 8
Rare Necromancy
Cast 1 day; Cost alchemical herbs and components worth a total of 1,000 gp × the target’s level; Secondary Casters 2
Primary Check Occultism (expert); Secondary Checks Religion, Society
Range 20 feet; Target 1 living creature of a level no greater than double the bathe in blood ritual’s level
This is an old ritual, illegal in nearly every corner of Golarion, but never quite exterminated. You bathe in the freshly spilled blood of your people, whose lives and years you steal in the process.
This ritual requires that you submerge yourself in a bath of alchemically treated blood, attended by silent servants. The blood must come from the same ancestry as your own, and must have been spilled within the last 6 hours; a spell such as gentle repose can extend this time, but using such preserved blood applies a –4 circumstance penalty to the primary and secondary checks. If you're Medium, you require 30 gallons of blood to immerse yourself, and a typical Medium creature holds about 1-1/2 gallons of blood in its body. This ritual doesn’t strictly require that the blood donors be killed and drained dry, but the logistical challenges of gathering enough blood without murder are beyond all but the most well-resourced casters.
Each time you enact this ritual, regardless of its success or failure, you take a penalty to the primary check for all subsequent castings. This penalty starts at –1 and increases by –1 during each casting (so if you were casting this ritual on yourself for the fifth time, you would take a –4 penalty on your Occultism check).
Critical Success You emerge rejuvenated and revived. You become up to 40 years younger, returning to the prime of youth and life. If you're already at your desired age, your aging instead stops for the next 40 years. While remaining recognizably yourself, you also become preternaturally attractive, gaining a +1 circumstance bonus to Make an Impression.
Success You become 20 years younger or pause your aging for 20 years.
Failure The ritual has no effect.
Critical Failure You die. Casters killed this way frequently return as undead, often as ghosts or vampires.

SOUL PUPPET MINOR GIFT
Necromancy
Aspect soul
Activation: [three-actions] command, envision; Frequency once per day; Effect You bind loose souls, briefly animating an undead creature. The soul seed casts animate dead at a level equal to half the soul seed’s level rounded up. You can Sustain this Activation as you would the spell.
 

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Voadam

Legend
Pathfinder Society Intro #1: The Second Confirmation
Pathfinder 2e
Festrog: ?
Ghoul, Undead Ghoul: Ghoul Fever disease.
Draugr, Undead Draugr: ?
Roaming Festrog Undead: ?
Draugr, Dangerous Creature: ?
Undead: Creatures beyond a day’s journey from the city are wildly unpredictable, and many believe that unnatural creatures such as aberrations and undead arise from some regions of the Blackwood Swamp.
Unnatural Creature: ?

Ghoul Fever (disease) Saving Throw DC 15 Fortitude; Stage 1 carrier with no ill effect (1 day); Stage 2 3d8 negative damage and regains half as many Hit Points from all healing (1 day); Stage 3 as stage 2 (1 day); Stage 4 3d8 negative damage and gains no benefit from healing (1 day); Stage 5 as stage 4 (1 day); Stage 6 dead, and rises as a ghoul the next midnight
 

Voadam

Legend
Pathfinder Society Intro #2: United in Purpose
Pathfinder 2e
Clauridia, Herexen, Fallen Priest of Pharasma: ?
Clauridia, Elite Herexen, Fallen Priest of Pharasma: ?
Crawling Hand: ?
Plague Zombie: Zombie Rot disease.
Wight, Full-Fledged Autonomous Wight: If the creator of the wight spawn dies, the wight spawn becomes a full-fledged, autonomous wight; it regains its free will, gains Drain Life and Wight Spawn, and is no longer clumsy.
Haunt Spite of the Righteous: ?
Haunt Befuddled Thoughts: ?
Haunt Blood Hunger: ?
Zombie Brute: ?
Wight Spawn: Wight Spawn Wight power.
Undead, Undead Creature: ?
Mindless Undead: ?
Intelligent Undead: ?
Crawling Hand, Crawling Claw: ?
Skeleton: ?
Zombie: ?
Weak Wight: ?
Haunt Cheerful Tune, Musical Haunt: ?
Haunt Encouraging Supervision: ?

Zombie Rot (disease, necromancy); An infected creature can’t heal damage it takes from zombie rot until it has been cured of the disease. Saving Throw DC 18 Fortitude; Stage 1 carrier with no ill effect (1 day); Stage 2 1d6 negative damage (1 day); Stage 3 1d6 negative damage (1 day); Stage 4 1d6 negative damage (1 day); Stage 5 dead, rising as a plague zombie immediately

Wight Spawn (divine, necromancy) A living humanoid slain by a wight’s claw Strike rises as a wight after 1d4 rounds. This wight spawn is under the command of the wight that killed it. It doesn’t have Drain Life or Wight Spawn and becomes clumsy 2 for as long as it is a wight spawn. If the creator of the wight spawn dies, the wight spawn becomes a full-fledged, autonomous wight; it regains its free will, gains Drain Life and Wight Spawn, and is no longer clumsy.
 

Voadam

Legend
Pathfinder Society Quest #12: Putrid Seeds
Pathfinder 2e
Undead: ?
Hungry Undead: ?
Undead Gull: ?
Undead Laborer: ?
Zombie Laborer: ?
Zombie: If the PCs dig too deeply, asking for history or politics, Selu responds that the last time someone asked that many questions, their body was found floating in the River of Rot, and they were reanimated as a zombie later that night.
Zombie Brute: ?
Zombie Worker: ?
Tar-Baphon: ?
Queen Arazni: ?
 

Voadam

Legend
Pathfinder Society Scenario #1-03: Escaping the Grave
Pathfinder 2e
Undead, Undead Creature: After the PCs defeat or run away from Ralthiss and his undead allies, they must leave Goldenflame at once, as the gargantuan zombies seen on the horizon are hot on Ralthiss’s heels. If the PCs insist on remaining, give them at least one warning that doing so will almost certainly be fatal, and if they still insist on remaining, they can take one last 10-minute activity, but the zombie amalgamations arrive and the PCs must escape the zombies’ rampage on the way out. Running the gauntlet of undead deals 4d6 bludgeoning damage to each PC (DC 17 basic Reflex save); this is instead 8d6 damage (DC 20 basic Reflex save) in Subtier 3–4. If a PC is brought to 0 Hit Points by this damage, the shambling horrors drag the hapless Pathfinder away to consume them and transform them into the Gravelands’ newest undead. A PC who refuses to attempt to flee even after the zombies arrive is automatically transformed into an undead in the same way.
Undead Ally, Undead Minion: ?
Colossal Undead Abomination: ?
Undead Dragon: ?
Powerful Undead: ?
Tar-Baphon, Whispering Tyrant, Dread Lich: ?
Skeletal Champion: ?
Skeletal Champion, Undead Ally, Undead Minion, Skeleton Ally: ?
Skeletal Gladiator: ?
Skeletal Gladiator, Undead Ally, Undead Minion, Skeleton Ally: ?
Zombie: ?
Zombie Shambler: ?
Zombie Shambler, Undead Ally, Undead Minion: ?
Gargantuan Zombie Amalgam, Gargantuan Zombie Monstrosity, Gargantuan Zombie, Zombie Amalgamation, Monstrosity, Massive Undead, Shambling Horror: ?
Plague Zombie: Zombie Rot disease.
Plague Zombie, Undead Ally, Undead Minion: ?
Zombie Riding Horse: ?
Zombie Riding Horse, Zombie Horse: ?
Zombie Warhorse: ?
Zombie Warhorse, Zombie Horse: ?

Zombie Rot (disease, necromancy); An infected creature can’t heal damage it takes from zombie rot until it has been cured of the disease. Saving Throw DC 18 Fortitude; Stage 1 carrier with no ill effect (1 day); Stage 2 1d6 negative damage (1 day); Stage 3 1d6 negative damage (1 day); Stage 4 1d6 negative damage (1 day); Stage 5 dead, rising as a plague zombie immediately
 

Voadam

Legend
Pathfinder Society Scenario #1-07: Flooded King's Court
Pathfinder 2e
Whispering Tyrant, Lich: ?
Undead, Undead Creature: While most of those who were buried alive suffered an ordinary, if horrific, death by dehydration or suffocation, some rose again as undead, although they remained trapped behind the same walls that held them in life.
The history of this section of the tombs runs even deeper than its time as a dumping ground for enemies by criminals, however. At some point long ago, wealthy cultists of Dagon, demon lord of the sea, sea monsters, and deformity, built a temple to their dark god. The proximity to the ocean and hidden nature of the location appealed to their sensibilities, and they spent many years and a great deal of gold to have it constructed in a way that fit the designs sent to them in dreams. The cultists vanished long ago, probably into the sea itself, but their rituals and worship left behind enough energy to spawn the occasional undead creature from those who died within its walls. The criminals who later found the location discovered it was perfect for their needs, although they never knew their victims sometimes became undead.
Plague Zombie: Zombie Rot disease.
Zombie Brute: ?
Marcon Tinol, Ghoul, Intelligent Undead Creature, Dangerous Undead Creature, Undead Prisoner, Ancient Undead: Worried the accountant knew too much and that word would get out of his actions, Candren ordered Marcon sent to the Tombs of the Living, where he was walled up and left to die. He later arose as an undead.
The PCs find Marcon Tinol trapped in a prison cell in C4, long dead and risen as an undead creature out of righteous fury at the injustice of his end.
Marcon Tinol, Elite Ghast, Intelligent Undead Creature, Dangerous Undead Creature, Undead Prisoner, Ancient Undead: Worried the accountant knew too much and that word would get out of his actions, Candren ordered Marcon sent to the Tombs of the Living, where he was walled up and left to die. He later arose as an undead.
The PCs find Marcon Tinol trapped in a prison cell in C4, long dead and risen as an undead creature out of righteous fury at the injustice of his end.
Ghoul: Ghoul Fever disease.
Ghast Fever disease.
Ghast: ?
Elite Ghast: ?
Corporeal Undead: ?
Undead Longshanks: ?
Ghoul, Corporeal Undead: ?
Ghast, Corporeal Undead: ?
Skeleton, Corporeal Undead: ?
Zombie, Corporeal Undead: ?
Plague Zombie, Shambling Undead, Resident of the Tombs: ?
Zombie Brute, Shambling Undead, Resident of the Tombs: ?

Zombie rot (disease, necromancy); An infected creature can’t heal damage it takes from zombie rot until it has been cured of the disease. Saving throw DC 18 Fortitude; Stage 1 carrier with no ill effect (1 day); Stage 2 1d6 negative damage (1 day); Stage 3 1d6 negative damage (1 day); Stage 4 1d6 negative damage (1 day); Stage 5 dead, rising as a plague zombie immediately

Ghoul Fever (disease); An infected creature can’t heal damage it takes from zombie rot until it has been cured of the disease. Saving throw DC 15 Fortitude; Stage 1 carrier with no ill effect (1 day); Stage 2 2d6 negative damage and regains half as many Hit Points from all healing (1 day); Stage 3 as Stage 2 (1 day); Stage 4 2d6 negative damage and gains no benefit from healing (1 day); Stage 5 as Stage 4 (1 day); Stage 6 dead, and rises as a ghoul the next midnight

Ghast Fever (disease); An infected creature can’t heal damage it takes from zombie rot until it has been cured of the disease. Saving throw DC 16 Fortitude; Stage 1 carrier with no ill effect (1 day); Stage 2 3d8 negative damage and regains half as many Hit Points from all healing (1 day); Stage 3 as Stage 2 (1 day); Stage 4 3d8 negative damage and gains no benefit from healing (1 day); Stage 5 as Stage 4 (1 day); Stage 6 dead, and rises as a ghoul the next midnight
 


Voadam

Legend
Pathfinder Society Scenario #1-20: The Lost Legend
Pathfinder 2e
Undead, Undead Creature, The Dead: ?
Skeletal Champion: ?
Cairn Wight: ?
Elite Cairn Wight: ?
Skeletal Giant: ?
Wight Spawn: A living humanoid slain by a wight’s claw Strike rises as a wight after 1d4 rounds.
Full-Fledged Autonomous Wight: If the creator of the wight spawn dies, the wight spawn becomes a full-fledged, autonomous wight; it regains its free will, gains Drain Life and Wight Spawn, and is no longer clumsy.
 



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