A Touch of Evil
Breathing life into the world of the dead

by Vince Garcia
 

Variety in touch attacks	-	-	-	-
Dragon	Monsters	-	Undead	Dragon 126

Within the three AD&D® game monster
sourcebooks, there are a total of 31
undead monsters. Properly played,
undead can be some of the most dangerous
adversaries faced by a group of adventurers,
but too often these creatures are
simply placed in a dungeon without consideration
of what circumstances justify
their existence. Further, the effects of
their attacks can be too predictable in
some cases ? in addition to being too
severe in others. Thus, it is best that careful
thought be exercised when considering
the part of undead in the campaign.
A listing of the AD&D game?s undead
follows, with a brief, unofficial ecology for
each type and an idea for possible set-up.
Additionally, some ideas are presented to
make the physical attacks used by powerful
undead more diverse and interesting.
Abbreviations used include: FF -- FIEND
FOLIO® Tome; MM -- Monster Manual;
MM2 -- Monster Manual II.

Apparition (FF). An apparition is the
insubstantial remains of a person of
authority ? sergeant, priest, etc. ?
charged with overseeing or guarding a
specific area, whose death was the result
of a shirking of duty. Confined to the area
originally to be guarded, the apparition
seeks both to protect its ?lair? and to gather
additional guardians to its service.
Thus, a character slain by an apparition
who later rises as such will return to the
lair of the original creature to take up
guardianship alongside it, taking the apparition
?s place if that creature has been
slain.
Set up: While exploring the remains of
an old temple, the adventurers come

across a desecrated sanctuary. Within (and
unbeknownst to the party), is the apparition
of a cleric charged with removing
important documents from a secret compartment
in the altar in the event of siege.
When the temple was attacked, the young
priest instead tried to escape with his life
and was subsequently slain. He is now
forever cursed to guard the undiscovered
documents until released by ?death.?

Coffer corpse (FF). Coffer corpses are
the restless remains of those whose last
interment wishes were not carried out.
Usually, this occurs because expediency
dictates the body be abandoned to avoid
any unpleasant fate due to the burden (as
might often happen during a plague). At
other times, church elders may deny the
corpse interment in sacred ground. In
cases such as these, there is a 5% chance
that the restless spirit of the dead person
remains tied to the corpse, rising during
the hours of darkness to wander the area
of its abandonment in a hopeless search
for rest, returning to its ?lair? at dawn.
Creatures such as these may be laid to rest
without combat by completing their interment
wishes. If attacked during daylight
hours (its resting period), the coffer corpse
will still defend itself. The creature may
only be fully destroyed by complete incineration.
The coffer corpse otherwise
reforms within a week.
Set up: The group has come to a town in
which strange noises have been heard in
the local cemetery at night, and glimpses
have been caught of a manlike creature
wandering the grounds. The next morning,
claw marks have been noted at the
gateway to an inner courtyard reserved
for those able to afford a premium price
for burial.
In actuality, this is a restless coffer

corpse who was cheated out of his prearranged
burial by an unscrupulous
groundskeeper. Each night, the creature
has vainly tired to enter the courtyard and
claw its way into a new resting place,
returning unfulfilled to its common grave.

Crypt thing (FF). The crypt thing is a
specially created guardian of tombs fashioned
from a skeleton inhabited by a creature
summoned from the Plane of Limbo
by a high-level cleric. This creature cannot
be turned by clerics. Its sole purpose is to
mislead intruders into departing the area
of its guardianship, often by masquerading
as a threatening lich, which it closely
resembles. Failing that, the crypt thing
will, through the apparent use of spellcasting
or the employment of a device, use
its magical abilities to teleport party members
who fail saving throws to random
areas of its dungeon (often, these areas are
deliberately designed as death traps to
receive intruders). Thereafter, the crypt
thing demands any remaining adventurers
depart lest they share the fate of their
fellows. If attacked, the creature may
defend itself only with its two clawlike
hands.
Set up: Deep inside a labyrinthine tomb,
an apparent throne room is discovered
near the resting place of the tomb's chief
occupant. Past a set of wizard-locked
doors, a skeletal inhabitant is revealed
sitting upon a throne. With an evil hiss, it
thanks the group for freeing it, adding
that it will now "reward" them. The
destruction of this crypt thing might lead
adventurers to think they have slain the
lich said to dwell within the tomb?but
the lich itself has escaped.

Death knight (FF). Probably the rarest
of undead, the death knight is the ultimate

fate of a fallen human paladin or cavalier
formerly, not less than 10th level. Bound to
the demon prince Demogorgon, the death
knight (in nearly all cases) does not actually
rule its own entourage of servants,
but is assigned under unique circumstances
as an ally to special champions of evil
chaos ? principally clerics or necromancers
sworn to serve the Abyssal demon
lord. Under these circumstances, the
death knight?s chief function is to act the
part of a marshal, directing assigned military
forces so that his master may be free
to dedicate all his time to sorcerous activities.
The drawback to such a useful aide is
that the death knight serves only as long
as its master is in a position of undisputed
authority. In the event of successful incursion
into the headquarters by a powerful
group of heroes, the death knight will
oppose them only to the extent that its
continued existence is guaranteed, abandoning
both its duties and master when its
own well-being becomes threatened.
Set up: On their quest to overcome the
stronghold of a high-level wizard/priest, a
group of heroes containing a paladin or
cavalier is confronted by what appears to
be a lone, evil cavalier. Dipping a lance in
challenge to the PC knight, the ?evil cavalier
? spurs his steed (actually a nightmare)
forward, drawing his enemy into a joust.
Just as the combatants are about to meet,
the nightmare takes its rider into the air,
and the death knight generates a fireball
at its opponent, following it up with a
power word kill if the hated reminder of
its former life still lives. This is followed
up with an attack by the death knight?s
army of orcs and ogres while the death
knight returns to base to warn its master.

Demilich (MM2). See sub-category
under lich.

Eye of fear and flame (FF). This odd
creature is the corrupt result of a lawfulevil
cleric who sought (and failed) to
achieve immortality or lichdom. Seized by
Orcus for its presumption, the accursed
creature is bound to seek out lawful characters
to corrupt through evil and chaotic
deeds. When initially encountered, the eye
of fear and flame is said to be seen and
heard only by those lawfuls it seeks to
pervert. The creature is very cunning and
makes the explanation of itself and its
accompanying commands as plausible as it
can under the circumstances. Those not
obeying what they are instructed to do
face attack by the creature, which may
then be seen by all.
Set up: Encountering a party looting a
tomb, an eye of fear and flame maintains
that it is ?the guardian of death,? commanding
two lawfuls to slay their fellow
adventurers or fight death itself for trespassing
?on ground hallowed to the gods."

Ghast (MM). A ghast is a ghoul which,
through continued exposure to the magical
forces of the Abyss, gains superior

abilities and powers. Eventually tiring of
its slave, the demon master controlling the
ghast occasionally returns the creature to
the Prime Material Plane, sometimes placing
it in command of a pack of ghouls
which are often the lesser guardians of a
necromancer's or evil cleric's stronghold.
Due to the ghast's exceptional intelligence,
such packs of undead are especially effective
in setting traps and utilizing their
abilities to the utmost. A character slain by
a ghast later arises as a ghast under the
control of its slayer.
Set up: While seeking entry to an evil
wizard?s stronghold through a sewer system,
the adventurers stumble into a series
of pits hiding several ghouls. While the
ghouls engage those characters who?ve
fallen into the pits, two ghasts, whose
presence is screened by the overall odor
of? the place, arise from the muck behind
the party and attack.

Ghost (MM). Ghosts are the spirits of
humans whose passing from life was
marked by great anger or hatred. Because
of this, the spirit of the departed becomes
tied to a certain area ? usually the place
at which it died ? bemoaning the fact of
its death or inability to seek revenge. In
many ways, the ghost is quite similar to a
haunt, bearing (among other things) an
ability to possess (i.e., magic jar) an individual
in order to accomplish some act ?
typically revenge. The most feared property
of a ghost, however, is its ability to
wither and age those it strikes during
melee. This may cause all but elves to
make a system-shock roll. Death at the
hands of such a creature is final, for no
resurrection or raising is then possible.
Set up: While camped out on the road, a
group of adventurers is set upon by the
ghost of a human slain earlier by bandits.
The ghost attempts to magic jar a guard in
order to lead the group to the bandits to
wipe them out. The ghost resorts to melee
only if it is frustrated in its magic jar
attempt.

Ghoul (MM). Ghouls are the cursed
remains of overwhelmingly evil humans
who took advantage of and fed off of
mankind during life, and so are bound to
feed off humanity (literally) after death.
Upon the passing of such an evil person, if
proper spells and precautions are not
observed (i.e., burial and bless spells),
there is a 5% chance such a person will
later rise as a ghoul, placing the community
at large at great risk. Those among
the living who fall prey to ghouls become
as these undead ? despoilers of the dead.
The lacedon, or water ghoul, is the unhappy
fate of certain pirates and corsairs.
Set up: Having arrived in a small village,
the adventurers discover there have been
strange goings-on at the local graveyard.
Someone has been digging up and despoiling
graves during the hours of darkness.

That someone is, of course, a ghoul ? a
 

hated moneylender who was buried a
month previously.

Groaning spirit (MM). This creature is
the troubled spirit of a female elf of evil
disposition ? perhaps a drow. Because her
dark plans were frustrated by an early
death, the groaning spirit wails over her
fate ? a keening so horribly mournful that
some perish from the hearing of it.
Set up: Journeying through a swamp,
the party discovers the tortured body of a
female drow left there by a pack of orcs.
Having buried the body, the group notes a
form standing over the grave later that
night. Upon investigation, the party discovers
it is the spirit of the dead elf ? wailing
that the orcs would not join her plans of
revenge against nearby high elves.

Haunt (MM2). The haunt is the restless
spark of life of one who has died without
completing a vital task. So great was the
urgency to complete the deed that the
vital life-force of the individual remains
tied to the scene of death, there to remain
until it can find a living shell to inhabit
until the task is completed. The difference
between this and its cousin, the ghost, is
that the haunt is the mindless life-essence
of the departed, while the ghost is the
sentient soul of a now-dead, evil creature.
Set up: Exploring the remains of an old
fortress, the party is accosted by a haunt
seeking to inhabit a body in order to lower
a nearby gateway ? a task it failed to
accomplish while alive, and the cause of
the fortress?s fall to the enemy.

Huecuva (FF). The huecuva is a skeletal
creature found wandering primarily within
tombs in desert terrain. This is not
unusual, for the huecuva is typically
encountered as a guardian of tombs containing
mummies. Because of this, some
sages have postulated that huecuvas are in
fact the remains of tomb robbers slain by
mummies and cursed to act as guardians
for them.
Set up: While exploring a pyramid, the
party at last enters the main burial chamber,
where it is set upon by several
huecuvas led by a mummy.

Ixitxachitl (MM). This raylike creature
dwelling within the sea depths is a true
oddity. That some of the species display
the energy-draining and regenerative
abilities of vampires cannot be disputed.
What is argued is whether or not such are
truly undead or merely creatures with
certain unique natural abilities. Perhaps
certain unique individuals of this aquatic
race are in fact undead equivalents of
ghouls, ghasts, zombies, and liches as well,
animated by their own powerful magical
spells or their deity, Demogorgon.
Set up: While exploring a shipwreck, the
party encounters several lesser ixitxachitl
led by one of the vampiric sort ? as well
as an ixitxachitl lich!

Lich (MM). Possibly the most powerful
of the undead creatures, liches were formerly
magic-users, clerics, or wizard/
priests of high level. While the circumstances
in which a lich arises are somewhat
varied, a lich is most often the result
of an evil archmage?s or high priest?s quest
for immortality. The process involved in
the creation of the lich remains a mystery
to most, although some have suggested
that through the assistance of a demon,
the knowledge can be fully learned.
In even rarer cases, it is rumored that a
wizard of extremely high level in fanatical
pursuit of the answer to some bit of
research may continue his work even
beyond the point of death. Perhaps due to
the years of exposure to magical powers,
some inexplicable force allows the soul to
remain with its dead shell until the inhabitant
discovers the answer to its research
or until the body crumbles to dust. This
latter lichtype is not as long-lived as the
former, possessing no more than 1d100 +
1d20 additional years of ?life.? Further, this
lich is entirely consumed by its sole desire
to find the answer to its research, and is
thus often unaware of happenings around
it (unless it is attacked, of course).
While lichdom can offer a mortal spellcaster
several more lifetimes of existence,
the point does arrive when the magic
relied upon can no longer sustain the
creature. It is at this time that the lich
becomes most dangerous, becoming susceptible
to one of several forms of madness.
The particular form of insanity lasts
to the ultimate demise of the creature,
typically within 10 years of onset. In the
case of the latter type of lich, the body
simply crumbles to dust, the soul of the
lich going on to whatever awaits it. With
the former lichtype, however, the bodily
shell eventually becomes dust, leaving only
the skull and a few bones intact while the
soul wanders forth to other planes. Nevertheless,
these remains apparently retain a
form of sentience. The source of this
sentience is debated. Some sages maintain
that it originates with the lingering
essences of larvae used to maintain the
lich?s existence, while others assert a psychic
tie to the now-departed wizard or
cleric. Whatever the case, the remaining
form, referred to as a demilich, is perhaps
even more dangerous than the original
lich, possessing both energy- and souldraining
capacity along with a keening
ability similar to that of a groaning spirit.
The first manifestation of a disturbed
demilich is that of an apparent wraith,
which most often enjoys the energydraining
ability of that creature. A clue to
the true nature of the monster can be
gained by the fact that this wraith manifestation
cannot be turned by a cleric
otherwise able to overcome a traditional
creature of that sort. This manifestation?s
sole purpose is to induce melee and spell
attack, the latter of which has the effect of
strengthening the creature (of course, a
successful energy drain upon a character

has the same effect). Eventually, the
wraith manifestation gives way to that of a
ghost ? once again affording the same
abilities of an actual creature of that sort.
(It is said that the preferred mode of
attack by this manifestation is to magic jar
a group?s magic-user, thereby utilizing the
target?s spells against his own party.)
Last and most terrible, the skull of the
creature, if disturbed, is able to independently
attack ? first by keening, then by a
soul drain which can be resisted only by a
character possessing an amulet of life
protection (which still ends with a
destroyed outer body) or a scarab of protection
(which avoids all baneful effects
with a successful saving throw).
The best means of handling an encountered
demilich is to leave it alone and run,
for the creature must remain tied to the
immediate area of its death. A demilich
may otherwise be harmed by certain
powerful swords or by a few select spells.
Set up: Deep within a seemingly deserted
keep, the group opens a doorway into a
library and workshop, and discovers a
lone, skeletal figure engrossed in mathematical
calculations. If the party members
are wise, they?ll leave it alone. . . .

Mummy (MM). Contrary to popular
belief, mummies are not usually the venerated
dead found within Egyptian burial
chambers. Instead, the mummy is typically
some unfortunate warrior who, for some
transgression, has been chosen to stand
guard over the departed. Thus, the chief
sarcophagus within a pyramid almost
always contains nothing more than
wrapped bones, while the true animated
mummies will be found behind secret
panels or within sarcophagi placed around
the object of their guardianship. As mentioned
earlier, some claim that tomb robbers
slain by mummies may later rise as
huecuvas, joining their slayers as guardians.
The means of creating a mummy are
said to include a special form of the animate
dead spell, along with an elixir made
from a rare herb growing only in the
wildest parts of deserts.
Set up: Having located a major burial
chamber within a pyramid, the group
readies spells and prepares for possible
combat with a mummy in the main sarcophagus
? only to discover numerous
mummies that ambush the group from
secret chambers to either side of the corridor
leading out of the burial chamber.

Penanggalan (FF). This unique cousin
of the vampire is quite an enigma, possessing
the ability to function in daylight as an
apparently ?normal? female with the
appearance of the creature?s alignment
during life, while lacking the energydraining
ability of a true vampire. The
penanggalan feeds on the blood of both
men and women, as would its cousin ?
but it is more attracted to opposite-sex
victims like true vampires. The penanggalan,
unlike a vampire, may not possess a

lair outside the general area in which it
was originally killed. Although the penanggalan
need not rely on this lair as a place
of rest, the lair must contain enough vinegar
to allow the creature to soak its
engorged organs as a means of shrinking
them sufficiently to allow reattachment to
the body shell used by the creature.
The penanggalan, while able to function
outside the lair in a normal capacity, cannot
venture farther than a day?s journey
from the spot at which she originally
became such a creature. On rare occasions,
these monsters cooperate and work
with vampires for mutual protection and
sustenance.
Set up: A high-level party is approached
by an apparently lawful-good peasant girl
with a tale of vampires terrorizing isolated
villages a day?s journey into the mountains.
She volunteers to lead the group to the
area of the vampire?s lair if they will fight
it, but refuses to stay with the party during
the hours of darkness by making several
plausible excuses ? typically
volunteering to scout ahead while the
group makes camp. The girl, of course, is
a penanggalan working with the true
vampire in the area.

Poltergeist (FF). This is one of the very
few impotent undead, being merely a
restless spirit limited to making knocking
noises and perhaps throwing light objects
about the room to which it is bound ? the
place in which it lost its life.
Set up: Obtaining rooms at an inn, one
of the party members is assigned the last
available room for a suspiciously low
price. Of course, it just happens to be
haunted by the poltergeist of a vagabond
guest who died in the room several years
earlier. This is a great first encounter with
undead for a low-level group.

Revenant (FF). On rare occasions when
a powerful human is slain, there is a slight
chance (5%) that the slain person (through
sheer willpower and anger) arises as a
revenant to seek out and slay its killers.
This is one of the most unusual undead
beings, and it is well detailed in the FIEND
FOLIO Tome.
Set up: Having slain yet another powerful
champion of evil, the group soon learns
its quarry has returned ? to hunt the PCs
down for revenge!

Sheet phantom/sheet ghoul (FF).
The sheet phantom is an odd form of
undead thought by some to come about as
a result of some particularly bizarre circumstance,
the nature of which no two
sages can agree upon. One popular theory
is that it is the spirit of a magic-user who,
while under a duo dimension spell, was
slain by a ghoul. The idea of it being an
undead form of a lurker above is not
widely or seriously acknowledged. Whatever
the truth, there is no question that
this creature is a dangerous and respectable
foe which cunningly camouflages its

appearance by masquerading as a tapestry,
rug, or sheet. Its purpose in doing so is
to envelop and possess a living being
(thereafter known as a sheet ghoul) for
purposes unknown. (Some believe the
creature seeks its prey to allow it to leave
the area of its demise.) A few who have
encountered this creature claim that once
it possesses a body, it is able to use the
spells possessed by the hapless soul.
Set up: While exploring a chamber with
a canopied bed, the canopy drops upon
anyone checking the mattress. Naturally,
the canopy is a sheet phantom.

Skeleton, animal (MM2). These relatively
weak skeletons of normal animals
are said to be created mostly by neutralaligned
clerics hesitant to use the animate
dead spell on humanoid remains. The
animal skeleton?s purpose is usually one of
minor guardianship. Druids regard these
creatures as abominations and seek to ?lay
them to rest.?
Set up: While exploring the cave of an
old hermit (actually a dead lawful-neutral
cleric), a low-level party is confronted by
several of these creatures guarding the
hermit?s body. Perhaps the party was sent
here by a druidic faction to spy on the
hermit.

Skeleton, human (MM). This common
undead is to be found in almost every
dungeon belonging to a neutral or evil
magic-user or cleric. As they require no
food or oxygen, skeletons make excellent
minor guardians. Their presence is frequently
camouflaged by burying them,
submerging them in water-filled corridors,
hiding one or two in a pit, etc. They may
also be made to resemble more powerful
undead, such as liches, with the right
disguises.
Set up: During their first dungeon excursion,
a low-level party encounters several
of these creatures in any of the settings
just described. Several of the skeletons
remain in the rear of an attacking group
of their kind, wearing reasonably good
armor and carrying well-kept weapons,
watching the battle impassively or making
directing motions to their ?troops.? These
appear to be skeleton warriors, but are
actually just other skeletons.

Skeleton warrior (FF). In most cases,
skeleton warriors were powerful fighters
or cavaliers (possibly paladins) who were
seduced to the path of evil. Some claim
Orcus or Demogorgon originally bound
these warriors to be servants to the 12
death knights. Others claim that even
today, powerful wizard/priests may learn
the sorcerous methods of creating such
monsters. Few undead are more feared
than these nearly unstoppable and intelligent
warriors.
Set up: On a quest to battle a death
knight, the adventurers fight a skeleton
warrior, mistakenly believing it is the
object of their quest. The skeleton warrior

warrior
?s circlet is held and used by the death
knight itself.

Son of Kyuss (FF). The origin of these
horrid creatures dates back to an evil high
priest named Kyuss. Originally meant as
temple guardians, the ?Sons? have, after
the passing of Kyuss, continued to be
fashioned by certain priests of the Egyptian
deity Set, and may be found on many
worlds where such worship exists. Interestingly,
the country of origin of Kyuss is
often claimed by many Set-worshiping
nations and cities, though no such claims
have been proven.
Set up: Upon assaulting a temple to Set,
the adventurers find themselves faced by
a number of Sons of Kyuss, which block
them from the chief worship area. Additionally,
nets fall from the ceilings to
immobilize the PCs ? and allow the
worms inhabiting the undead to attack at
+2 to hit.

Spectre (MM). Spectres are the cursed
souls of those who ruthlessly oppressed
their fellow men during their lifetime (the
character of Jacob Marly from A Christmas
Carol provides a good example).
Bound to wander the land they ruled,
particularly its most desolate and isolated
regions, spectres hate the living for the
torment of unrest they endure. A fair
number of spectres were very powerful
and feared as political figures in life, particularly
tyrants who were fighters,
thieves, or assassins.
Set up: While journeying overland, the
adventurers come upon the ruins of a
town burned to the ground by a wicked
knight. That evening, the adventurers are
visited by the town?s last remaining inhabitant
? the knight?s spectre.

Vampire (MM). The actual origins of
vampires are lost in time, though they are
among the greatest and most evil servants
of Orcus. A variant form of vampire has
been recorded which originates from the
life-draining kiss of a succubus; high-level
characters actually slain in this manner
arise as vampires of exceptional strength
and ability within a fortnight. These powerful
creatures need not rest in coffins to
the extent that normal vampires must, but
may exist in full sunlight, although with no
other abilities than they possessed in life.
Furthermore, these vampires may be slain
in normal melee combat if caught above
ground during the hours of daylight (a
stake through the heart is still necessary,
though the vampire will not turn gaseous
upon reaching zero hit points). During the
night hours, this greater vampire possesses
all the abilities of a normal vampire, but
in addition may summon a Type I or Type
II demon (40%/20% chance) to serve for 24
hours. Such demon-spawned vampires
have the maximum number of hit points
for their kind and have 18(00) strength.
The normal vampire lacks the ability to
function in daylight or to gate demons into

the Prime Material Plane; it is, nevertheless,
a respectable foe. Unlike the former
type of vampire, a normal vampire almost
always seeks a lair in an isolated spot to
better protect itself from discovery.
Set up: Rumors of vampires are afoot,
and the party is requested by a sovereign
to help a certain count or baron put a stop
to them. Of course, the count or baron,
who cheerfully greets the party at high
noon, is a greater vampire, and the baroness
is his succubus consort.

Wight (MM). The true origin of wights
remains a mystery. Some sages claim they
are the fates of evil humans who, through
illness or deliberate design, are buried
alive, and through their anger and sheer
willpower remain in a state of unlife to
seek revenge. Others say wights are evil
guardians, the spirits of loyal henchmen
who were slain and buried with their
lieges to protect their former masters
from desecration. Wights are typically
found in tombs and burial chambers,
where many of them jealously guard their
buried lords and their riches. Certain
especially powerful wights were probably
lieges themselves, perhaps serving greater
undead masters in their unlife.
Set up: After a long illness, the local
mayor was recently laid to rest in the
family vault. Soon thereafter, unearthly
noises were heard emanating from the
vault, which none of the townsfolk would
dare approach. The adventurers are asked
to investigate. The noises are, of course,
the mayor ? now turned to a wight over
the anger of having been buried alive.

Wraith (MM). Wraiths are said to be the
horrid spirits of dying men who vow to
return and wreak havoc upon the living.
In such cases where it would be impossible
for an individual to become a revenant,
there is a 5% chance that a person of
great evil can fulfill his curse irrespective
of whether or not precautions ? including
destroying the physical body ? are taken.
Set up: An evil lord who was recently
killed in a peasant revolt had vowed to
return and seek vengeance on the townspeople.
Soon afterward, reports of an evil
spirit?s wanderings about the area began
to surface. The adventurers are asked by
the town?s mayor to investigate. The party
eventually encounters the spirit of the
angered lord amidst the ashes of his castle.

Zombie, human (MM). Zombies are
the mindless, undead servitors of magicusers
or clerics who cast an animate dead
on corpses not fully stripped of flesh ? a
process usually requiring either time or a
cash expenditure of one gp per corpse for
acid (though certain insects also serve well
in this regard).
Set up: Coming across a recent battle
area suspiciously devoid of corpses, the
adventurers are soon set upon by bandits
led by an evil cleric ? at the head of a

number of slain guardsmen now turned to
zombies.

Zombie, juju (MM2). This uncommon
creature originates with a high-level
magic-user?s slaying of a creature by way
of an energy drain spell. Because the spell
is extremely risky, few wizards are foolish
enough to actually make use of it. The
presence of a juju zombie, however, can
offer some indication as to the level of
opponents nearby.
Set up: After killing a number of juju
zombies, the adventurers eventually discover
why their creator had no hesitancy
to use the energy drain spell: Their creator
is a lich; being undead, it has no fear of
being energy drained.

Zombie, monster (MM2). Monster
zombies are the result of casting animate
dead spells upon the remains of bugbears,
giants, etc. A few unusual and variant
forms of such creatures are occasionally
reported, some being extremely powerful
but still mindless.
Set up: Having hacked their way
through bugbears and ogres, the adventurers
discover a nasty surprise: Someone
has turned the corpses into monster zombies
while they were off exploring another
part of the dungeon.

Variety in touch attacks
As regards the repercussions of the
touch attacks used by some undead, most
of these effects can become boring and
repetitive in time. Ghouls always paralyze,
spectres always drain two levels of experience,
etc. In some ways, the effects of
various undead touch attacks ? with
particular respect to energy-drainers ? is
unbalanced. The climb from low to high
level can be a long and difficult one; to see
what may have taken a player months or
years to accomplish disappear with one
touch of a wight is surely one of the most
frustrating of gaming experiences. Regaining
the experience and abilities lost can
also be a task. It takes a tremendous number
of monsters (hundreds of slain wights,
for instance) and treasure for an Initiate of
the 9th Circle to regain the 100,000 experience
points necessary to get back to full
druidhood. Likewise, only a few characters
have access to the 10,000 gp per level
of experience the Dungeon Masters Guide
indicates as the charge for a restoration
spell.
Energy levels appear to primarily represent
the sum total of experience and training
that a character has acquired in its
class. The energy-draining undead, which
exist partially on the Negative Material
Plane, seem to draw away a part of the
life-force of the living (to what end is
unclear ? perhaps to strengthen themselves).
When fully considered, can this
energy transferral reasonably be equated
to robbing the target of its training and
experience? Probably not, for the sum
total of a character?s life experience trans-
 

lates poorly into a synonym for ?life-force.?
One series of modifications that could
bring this ability into a more balanced
form would be to allow energy drains to
affect those physical characteristics of a
character that would rationally benefit or
strengthen the energy-drainer ? in other
words, strength, hit points, dexterity, and
so on. The loss suffered by the character
might or might not be permanent (the DM
can also decide on his own whether to
allow a saving throw after the battle to see
if the lost damage returns at the rate of
one level or point per day). The monster,
meanwhile, would derive certain benefits
from the touch. These benefits are listed
on Table 1. For random determination, roll
1d6.
In the case of creatures causing paralyzation,
the all-or-nothing syndrome can be
monotonous. A more interesting effect
would be to allow for only partial paralyzation
through a hit-location system. Table
2 illustrates this system.
In the case of those undead causing
disease, they are pitiably impotent when
the easily obtained cure disease spell is

considered. The DM is thus certainly
within his rights to occasionally tie the
healing of such diseases to certain rare
herbs or to a magical spring which may
require a quest to locate within a set time
limit in order to save an affected character.
(Requiring a broth from the legendary
tannin leaves to be freed of mummy?s rot
is but one example). In any event, PCs will
have to watch out for undead that decide
to reach out and touch someone.
 

Table 1
Alternate Energy-Drain Effects*
1d6 roll Drain from victim Benefit to monster**
1-2 Hit points Gains hp of damage it inflicts on character, up
to maximum allowed by hit dice.
3 Strength Does an additional hp of damage for each point
drained when it strikes.
4-5 Dexterity Armor class bettered by 1 for each point
drained.
6 Level of experience Gains 1 HD for each level drained.
* When a character has a physical characteristic or hit points reduced to zero as a
result of energy-draining, he rises within 24 hours as an appropriately strengthened
undead monster similar to the type that killed him.
** These benefits may be temporary or permanent as the DM desires.
 
 

Table 2
Hit Location for Undead Paralysis
1d6 roll Area of paralysis Effect on victim
1-2 Right arm Spellcasting with somatic components and
melee becomes impossible (if character uses
weapon in right hand).
3 Random leg Character must check dexterity on 1d20 each
round to stay on feet; any dexterity bonus to
AC is lost.
4-5 Left arm Spellcasting with somatic components impossible;
shield may not be used (if PC is righthanded).
6 Full body No movement or combat possible.
 

Table 3
Length of Paralysis
Creature Length of paralysis
Ghoul 2-12 rounds
Ghast 4-24 rounds
Lich 20-80 rounds
 

The Ungrateful Dead
Expanding the ranks of the ghastly host
by Tom Moldvay
 

Skeletons	Bloody Bones	Skleros	Dry Bones	Gem Eyes	-	Shock Bones	Galley Beggar
Zombies	Walking Dead	Hungry Dead	Colossus (Lesser & Greater)	Le Grand Zombi	-	-	-
Ghouls	Ghula	Baka	Gelloudes	Spirit-Ghoul	Black Annis	Wendigo	Callicantzari
Dragon	-	Monsters	-	-	-	-	Dragon 138

The term "undead" was popularized by
Bram Stoker in his novel, Dracula. He used
it as a synonym for "vampire," but he
implied that there might be other kinds of
undead besides the minions of the Count.
Vampires in general (and Dracula in particular)
have proved a continual source of
inspiration for the horror genre [see
"Hearts of Darkness," from DRAGON®
issue #126, for more on this topic]. In the
proliferation of horror movies, the word
?undead? came to be used for a variety of
monsters, most of which had some connection
with vampires.

Undead monsters are an essential part
of the AD&D® game. For example, the
ability of clerics to turn the undead is one
of the prime functions of that class.
Undead are frequently encountered in
adventures and fit well into nearly any
plot, because their motivations are simple
and easy to understand -- they hate the
living and seek to destroy all life.
Indeed, the undead are the archetypes
of monsters. They are evil and deadly,
with frightening powers. Their hatreds
are unreasoning; their attacks are guaranteed.
Characters facing the undead have
but two choices: fight or run.
The term ?undead? literally means ?not
dead,? with the implication that such creatures
are also ?not living.? Undead thus
have the semblance of life in that they
have bodies but are not truly alive. To
provide high-level clerics with foes, the
concept of ?undeath? has been expanded
in the AD&D game to include ghostlike
creatures from other planes of existence,
but even the ghost can semi-materialize to
attack by touch.
Of the more than 350 monsters in the
Monster Manual I and among the other

creatures described in later books, there
appear a number of ?classical? undead,
archetypes that form the basis of the
entire category of undead monsters. Classical
undead have three things in common:

1) By all rights, such creatures should be
dead;

2) Most such creatures have some
sort of physical form; and

3) Most such
creatures are hopelessly evil and attack
living beings on sight.

This article will examine three of these
classical undead in detail: skeletons, zombies,
and ghouls. In particular, this article
will look at the background of each kind
of undead, the function of each undead
type in game terms, possible variations on
the basic monster listings, and suggestions
for adventure subplots.

The background section of each listing
will try to answer questions like: What
inspired the idea for this monster? Are
there traditional myths dealing with this
kind of undead? Does the monster appear
often in books or movies?

If the Dungeon Master understands the
game function of any particular monster,
he or she can use the creature to maximum
effect. It also becomes easier to alter
the monster slightly for its surprise value
or design a new creature that serves a
similar function. Variety keeps the players
guessing; an element of uncertainty keeps
an adventure interesting.

While an entire adventure based on the
undead might be too heavily slanted
toward the cleric character class, a subplot
dealing with the undead fits well into
any adventure. (Perhaps the undead haunt
a small cemetery or roam a deserted castle
tower near the main adventure area.)
Subplots should be kept reasonably small,
dealing with a half-dozen encounters at

most. The best subplots would be adventures
in miniature, each having a logic all
its own. Good subplots have their own
beginnings and ends, with crises that must
be resolved.

Skeletons

The skeleton listing is not based on
traditional lore and was invented for the
game. Skeletons are, however, universal
symbols of death and the dead. Skeleton
costumes are traditional for Halloween,
the night when the dead return to join the
living. The Grim Reaper is often depicted
as a giant skeleton wielding a scythe. The
major arcana card of Death in the tarot
deck often shows a skeleton. Skeletons
that move defy the laws of nature. They
are a logical choice when making up a
class of undead.

In the AD&D game, skeletons are magically
animated by clerics or magic-users.
More often than not, the spell-caster is
evil, since disturbing the dead is not something
encouraged by the forces of good or
neutrality. The corpse used for the animate
dead spell has been buried for so
long that only bones remain (or perhaps
all flesh is destroyed in the process of
animation, leaving only bones). Skeletons
are the weakest of the undead. In game
terms, their function is to try to swamp
low-level characters by sheer numbers.
 
 

BLOODY BONES

A traditional monster from English
folklore similar to skeletons is Bloody
Bones. The monster?s full name is
Rawhead-and-Bloody-Bones, and it is sometimes
referred to as Old Bloody Bones or
Tommy Rawhead. Samuel Johnson, in his
17th-century dictionary, defined the creature
as ?the name of a spectre, mentioned
to fright children.? (Here, spectre is, of
course, used generically, and bears no
relationship to the AD&D game monster
of the same name.)

In Folklore Society County Publications
(of England), Ruth Tongue quotes two
informants who described Bloody Bones as
living in dark shadowy places such as in
deep cupboards, inside closets, or under
the stairs. Those who are heroic enough to
peep through a crack might get a glimpse
of the dreadful crouching creature, with
blood running down its face, seated waiting
on a pile of bones that once belonged
to children who told lies or said bad
words. However, if you spied upon the
monster, it knew about it and got you
anyway.

Most creatures classed as ?nursery
bogies? are based on earlier legendary
tales of monsters. In Lancashire and Yorkshire,
Rawhead-and-Bloody-Bones is a kind
of evil spirit haunting old marl pits and
similar places. In Cornwall, Old Bloody
Bones lives in abandoned mines, especially
those near the sites of ancient battles.
Bloody Bones lies waiting to grab victims
who pass nearby, dragging the unwary
down into deep forbidding lairs.

FREQUENCY: Very rare
NO. APPEARING: 1 (30% chance of 2-12)
ARMOR CLASS: 7
MOVE: 12?
HIT DICE: 3
% IN LAIR: 50%
TREASURE TYPE: 40% chance each of J-N
(B in lair if more than 1)
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-10
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Fear
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
lNTELLIGENCE: Low
ALIGNMENT: Neutral evil
SIZE: M
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil

Bloody bones are the undead, animated
corpses of evil criminals cursed to continue
their horrid trade long after they
should have died. They look like bloody
skeletons with a few shreds of flesh hanging
on the bones. In fact, they resemble
corpses left hanging on gibbets (a traditional
punishment for criminals).

Bloody bones lair in hidden caves or
deep concealed pits. They venture forth
only to kill and rob victims. At the sight of
a bloody bones, a character must make a
saving throw vs. spells or else suffer the
effects of a fear spell.

For the effects of damage vs. a bloody
bones, treat the creature as if it were a
skeleton (i.e., one-half damage from sharp
weapons, etc.). The chance of a cleric
turning a bloody bones is the same as the
cleric?s chance to turn a shadow.

SKLEROS

In films such as Jason and the Argonauts
and the various Sinbad movies, modelanimator
Ray Harryhausen created some
spectacular special effects. One such special
effect was that of skeletal warriors
wielding swords and carrying shields. Ray
Harryhausen?s skeletons are fast and nimble,
appearing to be more formidable
opponents than the skeletons in the AD&D
game. This has inspired a variant monster:
the skleros. Skleros is Greek for dry and
hard, and is a root for the word ?skeleton.?

FREQUENCY: Rare
NO. APPEARING: 3-24
ARMOR CLASS: 5 (6 without shield)
MOVE: 12?
HIT DICE: 1 + 1
% IN LAIR: Nil
TREASURE TYPE: Nil
NO OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-8
SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
INTELLIGENCE: Non-
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
SIZE: M
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil

Skleros are skeletons made from the
corpses of highly trained warriors (fighters
of 4th level or better) that still magically
retain some of their past fighting
skills. Their better armor class is due not
only to the shields they carry but to their
heightened dexterity (equal to 15). They
usually fight with long swords. Because
they ?remember? many of their old fighting
habits, skleros attack as if they had 2
hit dice; they would thus have a THAC0
(score to hit AC 0) of 16. Clerics have the
same chances to turn skleros as they
would zombies. While skleros have no
treasure of their own, they often act as
treasure guards.

DRY BONES

A classic Walt Disney cartoon featured
dancing skeletons, and animated skeletons
often appear in cartoon features. Such
skeletons not only dance but trade heads,
fall into piles of bones, and reform into
skeletons again. The skeleton variation
herein called dry bones is inspired by the
antics of cartoon skeletons. The name ?dry
bones? comes from the song of the same
name (?The leg bone?s connected to the hip
bone,? etc.).

FREQUENCY: Rare
NO. APPEARING: 2-20
ARMOR CLASS: 7
MOVE: 12?
HIT DICE: 4; see below
% IN LAIR: Nil
TREASURE TYPE: Nil
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-6
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Nil
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
INTELLIGENCE: Non-
ALIGNMENT: Neutral
SIZE: M
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil

Dry bones are the same as skeletons
with one important difference. They can
only be destroyed when all their bones are
pulverized or otherwise completely
destroyed. Each dry bones has 4 HD (with
32 hp) but attacks as a 1-HD creature A
dry bones taking a total of 8 or more hp
damage collapses into a pile of bones.
After one round, the bones re-form into a
skeleton and attack again. The process
continues until the dry bones has taken a
total of 32 or more hp damage in combat,
at which point the dry bones falls apart
forever.

Dry bones often masquerade as mere
piles of old bones, being able to dismember
themselves at will until they are
destroyed. Clerics have the same chances
to turn dry bones as they would zombies.
While dry bones have no treasure themselves,
they often act as treasure guards.

GEM EYES

Skeletons could be used as the undead
repositories for enchanted magical items.
The actual threat from such skeletons
would come from the items carried, not so
much the skeletons themselves. One simple
but effective example of this is to give
a skeleton a pair of enchanted gems for
eyes. These gems would normally glow
with magical light. As a general class, such
skeletons could be referred to as ?gem
eyes.? The actual creature names, however,
would depend on the type of gem
used for eyes (hence ruby eyes, diamond
eyes, etc.).

FREQUENCY: Very rare
NO. APPEARING: 1-12
ARMOR CLASS: 7
MOVE: 12"
HIT DICE: 4 + 2
% IN LAIR: Nil
TREASURE TYPE: Special
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-6
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Spells
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
INTELLIGENCE: Low
ALIGNMENT: Neutral evil
SIZE: M
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil

Gem eyes are special undead creatures
created by powerful magic-users. Each
skeleton has a pair of glowing gems for
eyes, and each pair of gems holds one
magical spell. The power of the eyes is
linked to the ?unlife? of the creature.
Hence, the magical power leaves the gems
when the skeleton is reduced to zero or
less hit points.

The magic-users who create gem eyes
take special care to make the skeletal life
force stronger than normal (hence the
4 + 2 hit dice). The magic-user must be at
least 11th level. Instead of animating 11
skeletons with an animate dead spell, the
magic-user animates one gem-eyes skeleton
with more hit dice. Theoretically, any
magical spell could be put into the eyes
(using enchant an item or permanency),
but two factors limit the gems? magical
power. The spells used in the gems are
normally fourth level or lower; and spells
tied to the ?natural? power of the gem
types are easier to make permanent.
When designing varieties of gem eyes,
the DM may wish to refer to pages 26-27
of the Dungeon Masters Guide ("Reputed
Magical Properties of Gems"). The following
eight varieties of gem eyes are based

on a traditional system of magical symbolism
that ties various stones to the so-called
"Seven Magical Planets" (cf. Occult Philosophy
or Magic by Henry Cornelius Agrippa,
originally published in 1510).

Ruby eyes have the burning eyes spell,
which is essentially the same as the firstlevel
magic-user spell burning hands
(except the flames radiate from the gem
eyes instead of the hands). Treat the spell
as if cast by a 9th-level magic-user (hence
it does 9 hp damage). This power is usable
three times per day.

Sapphire eyes grant luck to their animator,
if within 60' of such a magic-user. All
saving throws and ?to hit? rolls made by
the spell-caster gain a +2 bonus. This
power has no set limit on duration, though
it ends if the gem eyes is destroyed.
Diamond eyes have the power to double
their movements and attacks, the same as
the third-level magic-user spell haste,
three times per day.

Amethyst eyes have the power to cast
illusions, as per the third-level magic-user
spell phantasmal force. Two such illusions
may be cast per day.

Opal eyes can appear to duplicate themselves,
as per the second-level magic-user
spell mirror image. This spell may be cast
three times per day.

Pearl eyes cause opponents to fall asleep,
as per the first-level magic-user spell sleep,
up to three times per day.

Obsidian eyes radiate darkness, as per
the second-level magic-user spell darkness
15? radius. This power may be used three
times per day.

Emerald eyes weaken opponents, as per
the second-level magic-user spell ray of
enfeeblement, by touch. This power may
be used three times per day.

The magic of the gemstone eyes is so
powerful that it temporarily endows these
skeletons with limited intelligence (enough
to cast the spells effectively). The treasure
of gem eyes lies in the value of their eyes
themselves; each gem is worth 1,000 gp.
Gem eyes can be turned by clerics as if the
creatures were ghasts. Any gem eyes
turned away take their gems with them, of
course.

If designing a unique variety of gem
eyes, the DM should be careful which
spells are put into the eyes. Since it takes
at least a 9th-level magic-user to animate
the dead, and an 11th-level magic-user to
animate gem eyes, certain spells such as
fireball or lightning bolt are simply too
powerful for low-level adventures.

SHOCK BONES

Electricity is a basic and primal force. It
is easy to picture electricity as the power
used to animate the dead (it worked for
the cinematic Dr. Frankenstein). A classic
biology experiment uses electricity to
make a dead frog?s leg twitch. If electricity
is the force powering a type of skeleton,
then combat can be unusual. Anyone
hitting the monster with a metallic weapon,
such as a sword, will both cause damage
and take damage at the same time.
The safest way to strike the ?shock bones?
would be with a weapon having a wooden spoon
handle, such as an axe or spear.

FREQUENCY: Very rare
NO APPEARING: 3-18
ARMOR CLASS: 7
MOVE: 12?
HIT DICE:1
% IN LAIR: Nil
TREASURE TYPE: Nil
NO OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2-12
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Electricity
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Electricity
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
INTELLIGENCE: Non-
ALIGNMENT: Neutral evil
SIZE: M
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil

Shock bones are skeletons animated by
both magic and electricity. Their attacks
do damage from electrical shock. Anyone
hitting a shock bones with a metallic
weapon that conducts electricity automatically
takes 2-12 hp damage. Clerics have
the same chances to turn shock bones as
they do zombies. While shock bones have
no treasure themselves, they often act as
treasure guards.

A shock bones might also be created by
an alchemist or sage in a sort of Dr.
Frankenstein-type experiment. Such a
monster would not truly be undead, and
though it would conform to the above
statistics, it could not be turned by clerics.

A variation of a monster listing is one
close enough to some other listing that it
was probably inspired by the latter. An
affnity is a listing that has some similarties
to another listing, usually either in the
visual description of the monster or some
connection in traditional folklore. (When
listing a monster name from one of the
three books, (MM1) stands for Monster
Manual I, (FF) stands for the FIEND
FOLIO® tome, and (MM2) stands for Monster
Manual II.)

Undead variations of skeletons include
the huecuva (FF) and animal skeleton
(MM2). A skeleton variation that is a normal
monster is the crypt thing (FF).
Monsters with an affinity for skeletons
include the bone devil (MM1), eye of fear
and flame (FF), babau demon (MM2), and the

GALLEY BEGGAR

the galley beggar, an unusual ghost found
mostly in the north of England. It was first
mentioned in Reginald Scot?s book: The
Discoverie of Witchcraft (1584). A galley
beggar is a very thin spirit, often looking
like a skeleton. Its main purpose seems to
be to terrify anyone it encounters; in fact,
the first part of its name, "galley," means to
frighten or scare. Galley beggars have the
same game statistics as do phantoms (Mon

ster Manual II, page 100).

Ruth Tongue, in Folklore Society County
Publications (vol. VIII), reports a headless
galley beggar that used to toboggan on a
hurdle down the hill between Over and
Nether Stowey, his head tucked firmly
under his skeleton arm and shrieking with
laughter. It was only on dark nights that
he rode, but a strange light surrounded
him, and he would slide, yelling with
laughter, right down into the street
between the two villages.

The galley beggar is a ghost in the traditional
sense and bears no relation to the
ghost of the AD&D game. The DM can use
a galley beggar in an adventure to make
the skeleton guards of a treasure more
effective (since only those characters who
made their saving throws against fear
could confront the skeletons).

Galley beggars favor strange, almost
zany antics. Their senses of humor are
both macabre and frightening. Including
them is an easy way to add an unusual
element to any adventure.

Zombies
Zombies are dead bodies brought back
to a semblance of life by magic. They are
little more than walking corpses. Zombies

are based on traditional voodoo myths,
especially those from the island of Haiti.
Voodooism is a strange combination of
African and Roman Catholic beliefs, with a
bit of American Indian lore and European
occult practices thrown in. Voodoo is
based on certain African religions whose
practitioners believe they can temporarily
be possessed by their various gods and
goddesses. Voodoo has strong connections
to sorcery, witchcraft, and magic.

A voodoo worshiper believes that the
spirit of a god cannot take over his body
unless his soul is first displaced. The soul
is believed to consist of two spirits: the
gros-bon-ange (big good angel) and the tibon-
ange (little good angel). The ti-bonange
is like a person's conscience. The
gros-bon-ange is his essential soul, everything
that makes him a unique individual.

Without the gros-bon-ange, the ti-bonange
and the body lose contact. The grosbon-
ange is displaced during possession
and also leaves the body after death. Great
care is taken to provide the disembodied
soul with a safe alternative dwelling place.
The soul is recalled by the hungan, the
voodoo priest, during a special ceremony
and placed in a sacred jar. It then becomes
an ancestral spirit that will advise and
protect the hungan's family.

Zombies are created by bokors, evil

voodoo sorcerers. A bokor gains control of
the gros-bon-ange of a dying person by
sucking out the soul magically, trapping it
in a magic vessel, or substituting the soul
of an insect or small animal for the human
soul. At midnight on the day of burial, the
bokor goes with his assistants to the grave,
opens it, and calls the victim's name.
Because the bokor holds his soul, the dead
person must lift his head and answer. As
he does so, the bokor passes the bottle
containing the gros-bon-ange under the
victim's nose for a single brief instant. The
dead person is then reanimated. Dragging
him from the tomb, the bokor chains the
dead person's wrists and beats him about
the head to revive him further. Then he
carefully closes the tomb so no one will
notice it has been disturbed.

Led by the bokor and his assistants, the
victim is first taken past his own home. It
is believed that this trip will insure that
the victim never again recognizes his
home or tries to return there. Finally, the
corpse is taken to the bokor's house or a
voodoo temple, and there is given a secret
drug. The drug may be an extract of poisonous
plants like datura or belladonna,
used by slaves in colonial times to kill their
masters. The zombie is then a corpseslave,
held in thrall to the bokor.

The zombie walks with a distinctive
shambling gait. It has an extremely low
intelligence and can only follow the simplest
orders, and it keeps its eyes downcast.
If it talks at all, it will babble
gibberish in a nasal voice. Usually, the
zombie does not answer if spoken to and
is bereft of the usual marks of sanity.
One of the most sensational ?true? zombie
tales was related by Constant Polynice
to William Seabrook, as recounted in his
book, The Magic Island. The spring of
1918 was a big cane season for Hasco, the
Haitian-American Sugar Company. The
factory, which owned various plantations,
offered a bonus for new workers.

One morning an old black headman, Ti
Joseph of Colombier, appeared leading a
band of raggedly dressed people who
shuffled along behind him, staring dumbly
like people walking in a daze. As Joseph
lined them up for registration, they all
stared, vacant-eyed like cattle, and made
no reply when asked to give their names
Joseph said they were ignorant people
from the slopes of Morne-au-Diable, a
roadless mountain district near the Dominican
border, and that they did not understand
the Creole dialect of the plains. They
were frightened, he said, by the din and
smoke of the great factory, but under his
direction they would work hard in the
fields. The farther they were sent from
the factory, from the bustle of the railroad
yards where most of the workers congregated,
the better it would be.

Ti Joseph's workers were assigned to
distant fields beyond the crossroads, and
they camped there, keeping to themselves.
In the evening, when each village group of
workers gathered around one big common

pot of food, Joseph's group always had
two pots, one for him and his wife Croyance,
the other for the workers. The food
made for the workers was tasteless and
unseasoned -- for, as Ti Joseph knew,
zombies must never be permitted to taste
salt or meat. Salt is generally believed to
be the best ingredient to restore a zombie
's memories, but it must be ingested.
One Sunday morning, Joseph left for
Port-au-Prince as usual, with his pockets
full of money. It was lonely in the fields
with just zombies for company, and Croyance
was filled with pity for the poor
creatures. "Perhaps it will cheer them a
little to see the happy crowds and processions
at Croix de Bouquet," she thought.
Since all the Morne-au-Diable people had
gone back to the mountains to celebrate.
Fete Dieu at home, no one was likely to
recognize a dead relative's face among the
zombies.

When noontime came and Croyance sat
eating savory dried herring and biscuits
with a cup of wine, she pitied the zombies
even more. They did not seem to be having
any fun. Every day they worked faithfully
in the cane fields and brought Joseph
money, but the zombies got nothing. Then
a woman passed by crying, "Tablettes!
Tablettes pistaches! T'ois pour dix cobs!"
Tablettes are a sort of candy with the size
and shape of cookies, made with brown
cane sugar. Sometimes they have pistaches
(peanuts in Haiti) or have coriander seed.
Croyance thought, "These tablettes are not
salted or seasoned; they are sweet and can
do no harm to the zombies just this once."

But the baker of the tablettes had salted
the pistache nuts before stirring them into
the dough. As the zombies tasted the salt,
they knew that they were dead and made
a dreadful outcry. Arising, they turned
their faces toward the mountain where lay
their own homes. No one dared stop them,
and they shuffled out of town and soon
disappeared down the path toward the
mountain. When these walking dead drew
near their own village on the slopes of
Morne-au-Diable, the people of the village
recognized among them fathers, brothers,
wives, and daughters whom they had
buried months before. Most of the villagers
realized the truth -- that these were
zombies who had been dragged from their
graves. But others hoped that a blessed
miracle had taken place and rushed forward
to greet the returned loved ones.

But the zombies shuffled through the
marketplace, recognizing no one. As they
turned left up the path leading to the
graveyard, a woman whose daughter was
in the procession of the dead threw herself
screaming in front of the girl, clinging
to the girl's shuffling feet and begging her
daughter to stay. But the grave-cold feet of
her daughter and the other dead tramped
over her, and the zombies continued
onward.

As the zombies neared the graveyard,
they began to shuffle faster and then
rushed among the graves. Each went to its

own empty grave and began clawing at
the stones and earth to enter it again. But
as their cold hands touched the earth of
their own graves, the zombies fell and lay
there, now rotting carrion.

That night, the people of the village,
after restoring the bodies to their graves,
sent a messenger on muleback down the
mountain. He returned the next day with
the name of Ti Joseph and a stolen shirt
which had been worn next to Ti Joseph's
skin. From the shirt, the villagers made a
deadly ouanga fetish to gain their revenge.
Just in case the ouanga was slow to work,
they also set an ambush for the man. Soon
afterward, Joseph was found on a lonely
path. His head had been hacked off with a
machete.

The most feared consequence of releasing
a zombie from bondage is that the
zombie will seek revenge before returning
to the grave. The revenge could be merely
physical, in that the zombie tracks down
the bokor to kill him. The bokor could run
or hide, but the zombie is tireless and will
eventually find him. The zombie could
even attack the bokor magically, turning
the sorcerer's own magic against him.
Unlike most superstitions, zombie tales
continue to be current. The late dictator
of Haiti, Dr. Francois Duvalier, had a private
army that was dubbed the tontons
macoute, after the name of a kind of traveling
voodoo magician. Many Haitians
believed that some of the soldiers were
actually zombies under the control of
"Papa Doc" Duvalier.

WALKING DEAD

Zombies are unnatural creatures to
begin with. One simple variation of the
listing is a zombie that must be literally
chopped apart before it stops attacking.
Even then, it can be a nuisance. Dismembered
hands will grab victims; severed
heads will bite. Such zombies might be
termed "walking dead." Walking dead are
superzombies, more difficult to stop than
normal ones because they are both stronger
and hardier.

FREQUENCY: Very rare
NO. APPEARING: 2-12
ARMOR CLASS: 8
MOVE: 6"
HIT DICE: 6
% IN LAIR: Nil
TREASURE TYPE: Nil
NO OF ATTACKS. 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-12
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Nil
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil
MAGIC RESISTANCE: See below
INTELLIGENCE: Non-
ALIGNMENT: Neutral evil
SIZE: M
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil

Walking dead are undead animated
corpses that keep attacking until completely
destroyed. Like zombies, they are
immune to sleep, charm, hold, and cold-based
spells. Their six hit dice represent

their extreme tenacity. As the walking
dead take damage, however, they become
less effective (as they start losing vital
parts of their bodies). For every 9 hp damage
a walking dead takes (9 hp being the
equivalent of losing 2 HD), it gains a ?2 to
hit and does ?2 hp damage (minimum
damage is zero hit points). Clerics have the
same chances to turn walking dead as they
do wights.

HUNGRY DEAD

A classic modern horror picture with
zombielike monsters is George Romero's
Night of the Living Dead (which is part of
a trilogy that includes Dawn of the Dead
and Day of the Dead). In these movies, the
man-eating zombies that stalk the night
can only be killed by a shot or blow to the
head.

This idea actually makes more logical
sense in the AD&D game than it does in
the movies. The life-force magically animating
the corpse might be mystically
contained in only one part of the body
(something like a magic jar spell). The
zombie would be invulnerable to all
attacks except those against the area holding
the animating force.

FREQUENCY: Rare
NO. APPEARING: 2-20
ARMOR CLASS: 8
MOVE: 6"
HIT DICE: 2
% IN LAIR: Nil
TREASURE TYPE: Nil
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-6
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Nil
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: See below
INTELLIGENCE: Non-
ALIGNMENT: Neutral evil
SIZE: M
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil

The hungry dead are undead corpses
that return from the grave to feed off the
living. Like zombies, they fight until
destroyed or turned away, and are
immune to sleep, charm, hold, and coldbased
spells.

The return of the hungry dead is usually
triggered by an evil magic-user or cleric.
The animating force is always concentrated
in one single area of the body.
Except in that area, the hungry dead are
immune to physical attack. The area of
concentration is usually the head but at
the DM's discretion could be any part of
the body (heart, stomach, etc.).

Hungry dead look exactly like zombies.
At first, however, "to hit" rolls of a natural
19 or 20 are needed to affect them (simulating
an attack to one particular area of
the body). After the first attack accidentally
succeeds, the characters will realize the
problem and try to aim for the vulnerable
area; thus, all natural rolls of 15-20 will
now hit the vital area.

Note that hungry dead do less damage
per attack than zombies. Furthermore,
such is their unnatural hunger that once a
victim is slain, 2-5 hungry dead will stop
attacking to feed on the slain victim. Hungry
dead will not eat other undead, only
fresh slain corpses.

Clerics have the same chances to turn
hungry dead as they do ghouls.

COLOSSUS

In a story entitled "The Colossus of Ylourgne" by Clark Ashton Smith,
the evil
Nathaire created a terrifying giant undead
creature. "The Colossus of Ylourgne" was
first published in the magazine Weird
Tales (June, 1934) and has since been
published in hardback and paperback as
part of the collection of stories entitled
Genius Loci and Other Tales.
Nathaire was a powerful alchemist,
astrologer, and necromancer. Working
with his 10 students, he robbed a graveyard
of all its corpses. In a kind of magical
assembly-line, the corpses were stripped
of all clothing, then the flesh and bones
were separated into separate vats and
rendered down to a pliable mass. All the
bones were then reshaped and rehardened
to form a huge skeleton. Finally, the
skeleton was once again fleshed out. The
separate ingredients were thus used to
create a giant zombie. Along similar lines,
the lesser and greater colossus herein may
be added to the AD&D game.

LESSER COLOSSUS

FREQUENCY: Very rare
NO. APPEARING: 1-2
ARMOR CLASS: 8
MOVE: 12"
HIT DICE: 11 (50 hp)
% IN LAIR: Nil
TREASURE TYPE: Nil
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 3-18
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Nil
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
INTELLIGENCE: Non-
ALIGNMENT: Neutral evil
SIZE: L (11' tall)
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
    Attack/Defense Modes: Nil
LEVEL/X.P. VALUE:

GREATER COLOSSUS

FREQUENCY: Very rare
NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: 8
MOVE: 18"
HIT DICE: 33 (150 hp)
% IN LAIR: Nil
TREASURE TYPE: Nil
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 10-60
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Nil
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
INTELLIGENCE: Non-
ALIGNMENT: Neutral evil
SIZE: L (33' tall)
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
    Attack/Defense Modes: Nil
LEVEL/X.P. VALUE:

A colossus is essentially a giant zombie
magically made from many corpses. A
lesser colossus is about 11' tall (between
the size of a hill giant and a stone giant). A
greater colossus is an amazing 33' tall
(larger than the largest titan). Either one
can rip up a whole tree to use as a club,
doing double-normal damage. Otherwise,
colossi use only their massive fists.
Colossi have the same invulnerabilities to
magic and cold as do normal zombies, and
they always lose initiative from their slowness.
Holy water does 2-8 hp damage to

them. A cleric has the same chance to turn
a lesser colossus as he would a mummy.
The greater colossus is in the "special"
category regarding turning it away by a
cleric.

Note that the actual Colossus of
Ylourgne and many other monsters and
characters created by Clark Ashton Smith
appear in the section on Averoigne, which
is part of the D&D module X2 Castle
Amber (Chateau d'Amberville). While most
sections of that module were completely
made-up, the Averoigne section was based
on the Averoigne stories of Clark Ashton
Smith and was written with the express
permission of the Clark Ashton Smith
estate.

A skeletal version of this monster, the
bone colossus, appears in the AD&D module
GDQ 1-7 Queen of the Spiders, page
111. This colossus even regenerates its
wounds!

LE GRAND ZOMBI

Le Grand Zombi means "the great zombie.
" Le Grand Zombi would be a kind of
king of the zombies. Unlike normal zombies,
Le Grand Zombi would be intelligent
and could even CAST spells. It has been
speculated that Le Grand Zombi is actually
a kind of lich, the spirit of an extremely
powerful magic-user/cleric who specialized
in necromancy (magic dealing with
the dead). <recommendation: Necromancer, Death Master>

FREQUENCY: Unique
NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: -3
MOVE: 9"
HIT DICE: 13 (65 hp)
% IN LAIR: 25%
TREASURE TYPE: E
NO. OF ATTACKS: 2
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-20
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Spells
SPECIAL DEFENSES: +1 or better weapon
to hit
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 25%
INTELLIGENCE: Supra-genius
ALIGNMENT: Neutral evil
SIZE: M
PSIONIC ABILITY: 200
Attack/Defense Modes: All/all

Le Grand Zombi looks like the worst
moldering zombie. It is able to control all
skeletons and zombies (and all their
undead variants), being a sort of lord of
the undead. Le Grand Zombi?s main attack
form is its ability to cast spells as if a 22ndlevel
magic-user/cleric. Instead of choosing
84 different spells, it is easier for the DM
to consider Le Grand Zombi to have any
first-through sixth-level magic-user or
clerical spell it needs. Higher-level spells
for Le Grand Zombi follow:
 
 

Seventh-level clerical	Seventh-level magic-user	Eighth-level magic-user	Ninth-level magic-user
Destruction	Mass invisibility	Mind blank	Imprisonment
Unholy word	Phase door	Power word, blind	Energy drain
Wither	Power word, stun	Trap the soul	Power word, kill

In addition, Le Grand Zombi has all the
monster summoning spells (I-VII). The
spells will only summon variants of skeletons
and zombies as shown below:
 
 

Spell	Summons
I	2-16 skeletons
II	2-12 zombies, skleros, or shock bones
III	2-8 dry bones or hungry dead
IV	1-6 bloody bones
V	1-4 walking dead
VI	1-4 gem eyes
VII	1-2 lesser colossi

If Le Grand Zombi attacks physically, it
does 1-20 hp damage, but it prefers to use
spells. Le Grand Zombi can only be hit by
magical weapons, has 25% magic resistance,
200 psionic ability points, and all
psionic attack and defense modes. Le
Grand Zombi is in the ?special? class for a
cleric's chance to turn it away.

Undead variations of zombies include
the coffer corpse (FF), son of Kyuss (FF),
juju zombie (MM2), and monster zombie
(MM2). A normal monster variation of the
zombie is the yellow musk zombie (FF).

Ghouls
The word "ghoul" comes from the Arabic
word ghul, used to refer to a kind of
demon of the wilderness. Ghul itself is
derived from ghala, which means "to
seize." In Oriental folklore, a ghoul is an
evil spirit that robs graves and feeds on

the flesh of the dead. It is thought to be an
inferior order of the jinn (jinnee or genie
in the singular, djinni in the AD&D game).
The jinn is a race of a vrariety of different
beings created out of black smokeless fire.
The usual dwelling places of jinn are
ruined houses, water cisterns, rivers,
wells, crossroads, and marketplaces. Iblis
is the father of the jinn and their chief.
Ghouls inhabit lonely places, not only
graveyards but also deserts and isolated
mountains. In many ways, ghouls are the
personifications of the terrors of the
wasteland. Ghouls also personify the horror
of starvation and forced cannibalism.
In their true forms, ghouls are usually
hideous and loathesome, with fangs and
talons. Sometimes one may have only one
eye or a set of wings growing out of its
back. But ghouls generally share the
powers of jinns, which not only include
invisibility but also shapeshifting. Ghouls
can thus take on the semblance of human
beings and quite often do so.

Theoretically, a ghoul could be of either
sex. Perhaps because of the strong patriarchal
nature of Islam, in most tales the
ghoul is a female. Sometimes the ghoul
appears as a beautiful woman; at other
times, it appears more like its true form ?
half-woman and half-fiend. In female
form, the ghoul can even bear children. It
is often represented as luring travelers out
of the way to lonely and remote ruins,
where it falls upon them suddenly and
devours them, greedily sucking the warm
blood from their veins and sharing the
flesh with its children.

There are several tales of ghouls in The
Thousand and One Nights, the classic
collection of Arabic and Persian folktales
(sometimes also titled The Arabian Nights).
Two such tales are "The Story of the Prince and the Ghoul" and "The Story of Sidi Nouman."
But the legends do not
belong only to the remote past. Mathias de
Giraldo recounts a story he was told in his
travels about a more recent ghoul (Histoire
cureuse et pittoresque . . . etc., published
in 1846).

About the beginning of the 15th century,
in a pleasant suburb of Bagdad, lived an
elderly merchant and his only son. Having
amassed a considerable fortune, the merchant
naturally wanted grandchildren,
and he decided to arrange a match with
the daughter of an old friend. Unfortunately,
the lady was far from comely. Upon
being shown her portrait, the son, Abdul-
Hassan, asked for a delay that he might
consider the proposed union.

One evening, Abdul-Hassan was rambling
alone by moonlight through the
countryside near his father's house. While
contemplating the impending marriage, he
heard a voice of enchanting sweetness
singing love lyrics with great skill and
tenderness to the accompaniment of a
lute. Following the music, he came to a
small but elegant house. Unable to contain
himself, Abdul-Hassan leapt over a garden
wall and managed to hide in the garden.
 

From his vantage point, he saw a maiden
of extraordinary beauty seated on the
balcony above him. For most of the night
he watched and listened, fascinated by her
enchanting voice and dazzling charms.
On the following morning, Abdul-Hassan
proceeded to make inquiries concerning
the lady. Eventually, he learned that she
was the only daughter of an eminent
philosopher. Though the father's learning
was profound, he had little wealth and
could afford only the poorest dowry for
his child. The lady, who was a paragon
instructed in every art and science, was
thus unmarried.

All thoughts of the prearranged marriage
fled from Abdul-Hassan's mind.
Instead, he told his father what had happened
and begged that he might choose
his own wife. The doting merchant found
it impossible to deny his son's request. The
next day, he visited the house of the philosopher
and made formal arrangements
for the marriage.

After a brief courtship, the marriage
was celebrated with much splendor. Several
weeks passed in a state of extreme
happiness -- yet Abdul-Hassan noted that
his wife Nadilla would never partake of an
evening meal. She excused herself by
explaining that she had become used to
the frugal and severe diet forced upon her
when she was growing up.

One night, however, after a few weeks
had passed, Abdul-Hassan awoke from a
deep sleep to find that he was alone in the
bed. At first he took no heed, but he grew
anxious as the hours passed. His bride did
not return to bed until shortly before
dawn. On the following night, he only
pretended to sleep and carefully watched
his wife instead. After she believed him to
be soundly asleep, she quietly got out of
bed, threw on a long dark cloak, and
silently slipped away. Abdul-Hassan hurriedly
dressed and followed her. To his
surprise, she soon left the main streets of
the town and made her way to a remote
cemetery reported to be haunted.
Tracking Nadilla carefully, he saw that
she entered a large vault. With the utmost
caution, he ventured to steal a glance
inside. The vault was dimly lit by three
funerary lamps, and to his horror, he
beheld his young and beautiful wife seated
with a party of hideous ghouls, about to
partake of a loathsome feast. One of these
monsters brought in a corpse which had
been buried that day; the corpse was
quickly torn to pieces by the company,
which devoured the reeking gobbets with
every evidence of satisfaction amusing
themselves meanwhile with mutual
embraces and the drone of a mocking
dirge.

Fearing to be caught by the ghouls,
Abdul-Hassan fled back to his house as FAST
as he could. When his wife returned, he
appeared to be soundly asleep. Throughout
the whole of the next day, he gave no
sign of what he had discovered. In the
evening, as Nadilla was excusing herself

from joining him at supper, he insisted
that she stay and eat; she steadfastly
declined. At last, filled with anger and
disgust, Abdul-Hassan cried out, "So then
you prefer to keep your appetite for your
supper with the ghouls!"

Nadilla turned pale; her eyes blazed, and
she shook with fury. But she gave him no
reply and retired to bed in silence. However,
about midnight, when she thought
that her husband was fast asleep, she
exclaimed, "Now, wretch, receive the
punishment for thy curiosity!" At the same
time, she set her knee firmly on his chest,
seized him by the throat, with her sharp
nail tore open a vein and greedily began to
drink his blood.

Abdul-Hassan managed to slip from
beneath her. Springing to his feet, he
struck her with a sharp knife with which
he had been careful to arm himself. Nadilla
fell down, mortally wounded, at the side
of the bed. Abdul-Hassan called for help,
and the wound in his throat was dressed.
On the following day, the remains of his
wife were duly interred.

However, three nights afterward,
although the doors were locked, Nadilla
appeared at exactly twelve o'clock in her
husband's room. She attacked him with
superhuman strength and ferocity, tearing
at his throat. His dagger proved useless
now, and his one chance for safety lay in
speedy flight. Somehow managing to
escape, he gathered a group of armed
friends. Together they tracked Nadilla to
the tomb where she was now living.
Despite her strength and fury, the men
managed to overcome the ghoul.
A great pyre of dry wood was built, with
frankincense, aloes, and costly spices
added. The corpse, writhing and foaming
at the mouth, was placed on the pyre and
reduced to ashes, which were collected
and scattered on the Tigris River to be
carried away and dispersed amid the
waves of the Persian Sea.

GHULA

Since so many ghouls are female in
Arabic folklore, I have used ghulah, the
feminine form of ghul, to refer to Oriental
ghouls.

FREQUENCY: Rare
NO. APPEARING: 2-20
ARMOR CLASS: 5
MOVE: 12?
HIT DICE: 5
% IN LAIR: 25%
TREASURE TYPE: E
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-12
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Spells
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
INTELLIGENCE: Very
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic evil
SIZE: M
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil

Ghulah are Oriental ghouls (especially of
Arabic-Persian tradition). They usually
appear as either beautiful women or hideous
half-woman, half-monster creatures.
Ghulah are evil kinfolk to djinn. They
cannot be affected by sleep, charm, or
hold spells. They have the power to cast
the magical spells of invisibility and polymorph
self. Clerics have the same chances
to turn ghulah as they would ghasts.
While the roots for ghouls lie in Oriental
mythology, the popular concept of the
ghoul in fantasy literature and gaming has
been strongly influenced by the writer H.
P. Lovecraft. Lovecraft's ghouls are not evil
spirits but a terrifying race of quasi
humans who live in vast mazes of underground
tunnels. The tunnel systems are,
more often than not, under or near cemeteries
and crypts. Ghouls only leave their
tunnels in search of prey; usually they
feast on corpses, but they are not above
preying on the living.

Ghouls may once have been human, but
their unspeakable practices have warped
even their physical features. Other horrors
live underground, mostly aberrant
inhuman races that worship the Old Ones
-- Lovecraft's bizarre alien gods. At some
time in the past, the ghouls mated with
some of these underground otherworldly
races. The physical appearance of ghouls
is both frightening and disgusting. An
encounter with a ghoul can be enough to
shatter the sanity of a normal person.
Inspired by H. P. Lovecraft, a number of
writers have written horror stories with
related backgrounds. These stories are
generally grouped together to form the
"Cthulhu Mythos" (so named because of
the demon-god Cthulhu invented by H.P.
Lovecraft). Most of the stories were written
by friends and correspondents of H.P.
Lovecraft in the 1930s, but recent writers
have made their own contributions to the
Cthulhu Mythos. The classic ghoul story
by H.P. Lovecraft is "Pickman?s Model,"
which can be found in the short-story
collection entitled The Dunwich Horror
and Other Tales. Ghouls, or the hints of
ghouls, appear in other Lovecraft stories
such as "The Rats in the Walls" (The
Dunwich Horror and Other Tales) and
"The Hound" (Dagon and Other Macabre
Tales). The ghoul race and the hero of
?Pickman's Model,? Richard Upton Pickman,
are also featured in the H.P. Lovecraft
novel The Dream Quest of Unknown
Kadath. Other ghoul stories of the Cthulhu
Mythos include ?The Grinning Ghoul? by
Robert Bloch (Mysteries of the Worm), ?It
Will Come to You? by Frank Belknap Long
(The Dark Beasts), and ?The Ghoul? by
Clark Ashton Smith (Other Dimensions).
Recent writers have continued the tradition
of the ghoul in fiction with stories
such as ?Quietly Now? by Charles Grant,
?Disturb Not My Slumbering Fair? by
Chelsea Quinn Yarbro (both collected in
Necropolis), and ?Problem Child? by Brian
Lumley (in Vampires, Werewolves, and

Other Monsters).

The AD&D game monster ghast is essentially
a variation of a ghoul, derived from
the word "ghastly" which comes from the
Anglo-Saxon gastlic, literally meaning
?ghostly.? The word ?ghastly? suggests the
horror aroused by the sight or suggestion
of death (a good choice for a root word
when inventing a type of undead). Ghasts
are tougher and have more powers than
ghouls yet are so like ghouls as to be completely
indistinguishable from them
(except for their smell).

In the AD&D game, the ghoul marks a
change in the game function of the
undead. Skeletons and zombies threaten
characters by sheer numbers. With
ghouls, the emphasis begins to shift to the
terrifying powers of the undead. Ghouls
roam in packs, and their numbers can still
be deadly. But their paralyzing touch is
even more deadly and introduces an element
of extreme randomness into combat.
A string of lucky hits by the ghouls coupled
with unlucky saving throws by the
characters can suddenly decimate a party.
Ghouls have affinities both to zombies
and vampires. It would be as easy to classify
the hungry dead mentioned earlier as
a ghoul instead of as a zombie; in some
myths, ghouls return from the dead and
drink blood besides eating flesh.

BAKA

A type of ghoul found in Haiti is the
baka. A baka is similar to a zombie with
several important differences. The corpse
which forms a baka belonged to a member
of a secret magical society that practices
ritual cannibalism. The cannibalism is
believed to give the eaters magical powers
and is a form of necromancy.

While a baka has to be animated like a
zombie, the baka is no mindless slave. In
the realms of death, the dead person has
merged with certain evil spirits and now
has their powers. This supernatural monster
can bring luck, power, or wealth to its
master. But the baka must be treated in
the proper manner (which includes a
steady diet of fresh corpses), or the owner
will be destroyed by uncontrollable magical
energy. In fact, the baka is often quite
willing to return from the grave to continue
the horrid practices of its life.

BAKA
FREQUENCY: Very rare
NO. APPEARING: 2-16
ARMOR CLASS: 6
MOVE: 12"
HIT DICE: 3
% IN LAIR: 10%
TREASURE TYPE: C
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACKS: 1-8
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Spells
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
INTELLIGENCE: Average
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic evil
SIZE: M
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil

Baka are the animated undead corpses
of members of a secret cannibalistic society.
They have gained some demonic magical
powers and have the clerical spells
command and hold person. Baka can influence
the luck of their enemies. Anyone
fighting a baka has a -1 to hit, to do
damage, and to all saving throws for the
duration of the combat.

Baka are essentially a variety of ghoul,
and clerics have the same chances to turn
them as they do ghouls. Like ghouls, baka
are immune to sleep and charm spells.

GELLOUDES

In Greek legends, the gelloudes are a
kind of female demon that steals and then
devours young children. The prototype
for the gelloudes was the maiden Gello
whose ghost, according to the ancient
poetess Sappho, returned after her
untimely death and was said by the people
of the isle of Lesbos to have caused the
early deaths of children. By the 10th century
A.D., Gello had become a demon of the
Greek Orthodox Church. Her various
minions were the gelloudes.

Just as a ghoul is the personification of
the wilderness and the fear of cannibalism,
the gelloudes are the personification
of the fear of infant mortality. In cultures
without modern medical techniques,
infant mortality can result in a 20% death
rate. With one out of five children being
born dead or dying soon after birth, it is
not surprising that the cause was attributed
to demons.

In Greek folklore, gelloudes have 12½
secret names. The names (transliterated
from the Greek) are: 1) Guloy ? a form of
Gello; 2) Mora ? a kind of lamia; 3) Budzoy
? a sucker of blood; 4) Marmaroy ?
?heart of stone?; 5) Petasis ? ?fly like a
bird?; 6) Pelagia ? ?swim like a fish?; 7)
Bordona ? ?swoop like a hawk?; 8) Apletoy
? ?insatiable?; 9) Khamodrakaina ?
?lurk like a snake?; 10) Anabardalaia ?
?soar like a hawk?; 11) Psychanaspastria ?
?snatcher of souls?; 12) Paidopniktria ?
?strangler of children?; and 12½) Strigla ?
a kind of stirge.
<use Greek font here>

Gelloudes are related to lamias, stirges,
type V demons, and succubi (all from
MM1). While their prime purpose is to
prey upon children, they are not limited to
that function and are likely to attack anyone
when the man-eating urge becomes
too great.

GELLOUDES
FREQUENCY: Very rare
NO. APPEARING: 1-6
ARMOR CLASS: 7
MOVE: 6?/18?//12"
HIT DICE: 5
% IN LAIR: 5%
TREASURE TYPE: 1
NO. OF ATTACKS: 4
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 1-4/1-4/1-6/1-6
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Energy drain
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil

MAGIC RESISTANCE: 50%
INTELLIGENCE: Average
ALIGNMENT. Chaotic evil
SIZE: L (7' tall)
PSIONIC ABILITY: 100
Attack/Defense Modes: E/F/G

A gelloudes is a kind of demon, with the
lower body of a giant serpent and the
upper body of a woman. The serpent body
has a pair of scaley legs with webbed
talons. The woman's hands end in claws;
she has vampirelike canines. A gelloudes
has dragonlike wings that aid both flying
and swimming.

Gelloudes attack with hand claws (1-6 hp
damage each) and foot talons (1-8 hp damage
each). If any attack succeeds, the
victim is pulled close to the demon but is
not held. On the next round, if it gains the
initiative, the gelloudes can bite its victim
(roll to hit at +2) and drain an energy
level every round thereafter unless the
victim breaks free of its bite, requiring an
open doors strength roll. If the roll is not
made, the victim can be struck on following
rounds at +2 to hit with claws and
talons (and automatically by the bite) until
he breaks free. The victim gains no saving
throw against the energy drain. As the
victim loses energy levels, he seems to
grow younger. When the victim has no
levels or hit dice left, he dies.

This reverse aging is something of an
illusion and is not necessarily permanent.
If the victim dies from the attack, then the
corpse will be that of a young child. If the
victim can be freed before death from
energy draining, he will immediately
return to his normal age (the life-level loss
is permanent).

As minor demons, the gelloudes rank in
the ?special? category when being turned
by clerics.

SPIRIT-GHOUL

One aspect of the topic of ghouls deals
with creatures from the Negative Material
plane that exist in spirit form. They seek
to possess the material bodies of their
victims and force them into ghoulish practices.
The case of Constance Armande is
related in Elliot O'Donnell's book Werewolves.
It is supposed to have taken place
in the French province of Brittany around
the turn of the century.

A young girl named Constance
Armande, much against the wishes of her
family, took up spiritualism. At the
seances, she evidently came into contact
with earth-bound spirits of the lowest sort
-- murderers, lunatics, and worse. They
attached themselves to her psyche and
followed her back to her home, where
they began systematically tormenting her.
They rapped on walls and played similar
poltergeist tricks. They invaded her
dreams, causing her such frightening
nightmares that she quickly feared sleep
and would often wake up screaming. She
told her parents that the evil spirits were
trying to prevent her from waking, to
keep her with them.

A spiritualist told her that her dreams
were not dreams at all but projections.
Constance had, at the seances, acquired
the power of astral projection, but she had
no control over the power and was being
forced to project into areas controlled by
evil entities. This projection was unconscious
and usually happened during sleep.
A medical expert was consulted. His
advice was that Constance immerse herself
in recreation, seeing her symptoms as
a kind of nervous breakdown. The girl
went to the seaside for a vacation and
attended all sorts of balls, concerts, and
plays. But the annoyances and bad dreams
continued.

Constance was a beautiful girl and had
countless admirers. Eventually she became
engaged to Alphonse Mabane, the only son
of a wealthy widow. Shortly before the
day of the wedding, Madame Mabane died
of a stroke. Every one, especially Constance,
was overwhelmed with grief. Preparations
were made for an impressive
funeral.

On the afternoon of the day before the
funeral, Constance was struck with a
violent headache. She went to her room to
lie down in order to get rid of the pain.
Two hours later, Madame Armande heard
strange footsteps coming out of Constance
's room and bounding down the
stairs. Madame Armande ran to see who
might be there and was astonished to see
Constance -- but a Constance she hardly
recognized. Her daughter?s eyes shone
with beastlike ferocity, and a grim, savage
expression distorted her face. She passed
right by her mother without even noticing
the woman. Her walk was a light, stealthy
tread, utterly unlike her usual walk.
Madame Armande was too startled to
stop Constance or even talk to the girl,
who was gone before her mother could
recover. Madame Armande told her husband
what had happened, and he tried to
find his daughter, but no one in the village
had seen her.

About an hour before bedtime, there
came a violent ringing at the front door
bell. It was Alphonse Mabane, and he
looked pale and ghastly.

"Have you found her?" Monsieur and
Madame Armande cried, catching hold of
him and dragging him into the hall.
Alphonse nodded. ?Let me sit down a
moment first,? he gasped. ?It will give me
time to collect my senses. My nerves are
all to pieces!? He then proceeded to tell a
horrifying story.

?When I heard that Constance was missing,
I wanted to join the search for her. I
was in my bedroom putting on my overcoat
when my valet Jacques entered. His
face was white as a sheet. He begged me
to go with him upstairs, to the room
where my mother was laid out ready for
the funeral. We stopped outside the door.
?Listen,? he whispered, ?do you hear that??
?From inside the room came a curious
noise like munching ? a steady gnaw,
gnaw, gnaw. We armed ourselves with

walking sticks and lights. Then, throwing
open the door, we rushed into the room.

?The lid of the coffin was off, the corpse
was lying huddled up on the floor, and
crouching over it was Constance. For
God?s sake, don?t ask me to describe more
? the sounds we heard explain everything.
When Constance saw us, she emitted
a series of savage snarls, sprang at one
of the maids, scratched her in the face,
and before we could stop her, flew downstairs
and out into the street. As soon as
our shocked senses had sufficiently recovered,
we started off in pursuit but have
not been able to find a trace of her.?
At the conclusion of Monsieur Mabane?s
story, the search was continued. The
police were summoned, and a general hue
and cry raised, with the result that Constance
was eventually found in a cemetery
digging frantically at a newly made grave.
Brought to bay in the chase that ensued,
Constance plunged into a river, was swept
away by the current, and drowned.

SPIRIT-GHOUL

A spirit-ghoul is a type of ghoul which is
actually some poor unfortunate victim
possessed by an evil entity. The entity
warps the physical appearance of the
person so that the individual looks like a
ghoul. The possession attempt is a long
drawn-out process and has no bearing in
combat (i.e., the spirit cannot take over
some other body during melee).

FREQUENCY: Very rare
NO. APPEARING: 1-6
ARMOR CLASS: 5
MOVE: 12?
HIT DICE: 3
% IN LAIR: 15%
TREASURE TYPE: B, Q, T
NO. OF ATTACKS: 3
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 3
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Paralyzation
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 20%
INTELLIGENCE: Average
ALIGNMENT Chaotic evil
SIZE: M
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil

A spirit-ghoul is the end result of a
human victim's possession by unknown
demonic entities. Once so possessed, the
victim becomes immune to sleep and
charm spells, and has paralyzation powers
like normal ghouls. Such spirit-ghouls look
just like normal ghouls, and the two can
often be found together in a pack. Exorcism
will work against a spirit-ghoul. A
detailed examination by a high-level cleric
will reveal the possession. Thus, unlike
normal ghouls, a spirit-ghoul is not necessarily
doomed to be a ghoul forever. In
fact, if a spirit-ghoul is knocked unconscious
but not killed, it can be bound so
that the demon can later be exorcised. A
character killed by a spirit-ghoul does not
risk becoming a ghoul. Clerics can turn
these spirit-ghouls as they can normal
ghouls.

BLACK ANNIS

A monster related to ghouls is Black
Annis. Her lejend is part of the basis for
the AD&D game monster annis (MM2).
Black Annis is a man-eating hag with a
blue face and iron claws. She is supposed
to live in a cave in the Dane Hills in Leicestershire
England. There was a great oak at
the mouth of the cave in which she was
said to hide; she would leap out from
behind the oak to catch and devour travelers.
The cave, which was called Black
Annis? Bower Close, was supposed to have
been dug out of the rock by her own nails.
On Easter Monday, it was the custom
from early times to hold a drag-hunt from
Annis? Bower to the Mayor of Leicester?s
house. A drag-hunt is an overland hunt in
which the hounds follow the scent of a
dead animal that has been dragged over
the ground to make a trail. The bait
dragged was a dead cat drenched in aniseed.
The bait was symbolically important;
aniseed is associated with the second part
of Black Annis's name. Black Annis was
also associated with a monstrous cat, a
kind of pet or familiar. The drag-hunt
custom died out at the end of the 18th
century.

Ruth Tongue, in her Forgotten Folk-Tales
of the English Counties, reproduced a tale
about Black Annis the hag, as told by an
evacuee from Leicester in December 1941.
The description seems to show that the
tradition of Black Annis was still alive as
late as World War II. The hag was said to
be ?ever so tall and had a blue face and
had long white teeth.? The hag ate people
and only went out when it was dark.
When Black Annis ground her teeth, people
could hear her in time to bolt their
doors. They kept well away from the
windows, too, in case she reached inside
and grabbed for villagers (which was why
Leicestershine's cottages lacked a lot of big
windows). When Black Annis howled,
people could hear her five miles away.
Even the poor folk who lived in huts fastened
skins across the windows and put
witch-herbs above them to keep Black
Annis away.

Black Annis personifies the spirit of
death and fears of the wilderness. It seems
likely that she was once a goddess-figure
that had to be ritually propitiated. Perhaps
she was the dark side of Anu (Dana), a
Celtic mother goddess. If so, it shows the
staying power of memories of horror. The
good aspects of the mother goddess (fertility,
rebirth, and the cycle of the seasons)
have been forgotten, and only the evil
aspects remain.

Black Annis is a man-eating hag with a
blue face and iron claws. Her cat is a giant
cat, larger than a sabre-tooth tiger, having
blue-black fur. While sunlight does neither
Black Annis nor her cat any real harm,
both of them prefer darkness and are
normally encountered at night or in deep
caverns.

Black Annis has the following spells:
darkness 15' radius, detect magic, dispel
magic, clairaudience, clairvoyance, dig,
confusion, and animate dead. Her cat has
three attacks (claw/claw/bite); Black Annis

BLACK ANNIS
FREQUENCY: Unique
NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: 4
MOVE: 15"
HIT DICE: 11
% IN LAIR: 15%
TREASURE TYPE: [I], [X]
NO. OF ATTACKS: <>
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2-12
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Spells
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 50%
INTELLIGENCE: Exceptional
ALIGNMENT: Neutral evil
SIZE: L (10' tall)
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
    Attack/Defense Modes: Nil
LEVEL/X.P. VALUE:

HER CAT
FREQUENCY: Unique
NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: 6
MOVE: 18"
HIT DICE: 9
% IN LAIR: Nil
TREASURE TYPE: Nil
NO. OF ATTACKS: 3
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2-8/2-8/2-16
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Nil
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 25%
INTELLIGENCE: Average
ALIGNMENT: Neutral evil
SIZE: L
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
    Attack/Defense Modes: Nil
LEVEL/X.P. VALUE:
 

has only one, which could be either a
physical attack or a spell. Black Annis is
sometimes encountered alone, but her cat
will be encountered only if the hag is also
present.

Because of her close association with
death, Black Annis could be considered an
undead spirit seeking living victims. If so,
she would be in the "special" category
regarding turning. But Black Annis does
not have to be a type of undead ? she
could merely be an evil spirit haunting the
night. The final choice whether or not to
make her undead is left strictly to the DM.

WENDIGO

If ghouls personify the fear of the wilderness
and Black Annis personifies the
fear of death, Wendigo personifies the fear
of cannibalism. The origin of Wendigo
comes from the Indian tribes of Canada.

The Canadian wilderness can be a terrifying
place in the winter for people who
have only a subsistence economy. Living
by hunting is always a chancy life. There
are times of plenty, but there are also
times when game is scarce. During lean
times, food can be gathered from the wild.
During the winter, however, food is often
unavailable. In the past, when there were
few good methods of preserving food,
there was the very real possibility that
food would run out before spring. The
problem was increased by the natural
tension of people cooped up together

for the whole winter.

In Canadian Indian myths, Wendigo was
a terrifying creature of the wilderness.
Part god and part monster, the giant Wen-
digo roamed in search of human flesh.
The Indians believed that anyone who saw
Wendigo and lived had been forever
marked by him and was bound to turn to
cannibalism. Even thinking about him or
saying his name aloud was dangerous
Hence, Wendigo was often referred to by
epithets such as ?the cold one? or
"windwalker."

Anthropologists refer to the extreme
fear of cannibalism, coupled with a kind of
"cabin-fever," as Wendigo psychosis. They
hypothesize that the fear itself, if it grew
too great, might trigger a psychotic hallucination
of Wendigo.

Indian myths of Wendigo were carried
over into more modern Canadian folklore,
though the single entity now became
numerous creatures, half phantom and
half beast, who live in the forests and prey
on human beings, particularly children.
These wendigos might be people who
entered into a pact with certain evil spirits
that lurk in the forest and help these
people kill their victims. Perhaps these
wendigos were humans gazed upon the
mythical being Wendigo, as in the Indian
myths.

The legend of this creature has been
immortalized in Algernon Blackwood's
short story "The Wendigo," first published
in 1907. Versions of Wendigo have worked
their way into some of the stories of the
Cthulhu Mythos; in fact, the Old One
named Ithaqua, the Wind Walker, is essentially
a reworking of the Wendigo legends
to fit into the mythos.

Like Black Annis, Wendigo is on the
borderline between the undead and other
kinds of monsters. Even if the DM chooses
to consider Wendigo as undead, the monster
would be too powerful to turn, so the
choice makes little practical difference.

WENDIGO

FREQUENCY: Unique
NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: -5
MOVE: 24?
HIT DICE: 30 (135 hp)
% IN LAIR: Nil
TREASURE TYPE: Nil
NO. OF ATTACKS: 2
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 3-30
SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: 75%
INTELLIGENCE: Supra-genius
ALIGNMENT: Chaotic evil
SIZE: L (15' tall)
PSIONIC ABILITY: 250
Attack/Defense Modes: All/all

Wendigo sometimes appears as a giant
spectral being, part human and part animal,
but his appearance varies because
Wendigo is so chaotic that his body constantly
changes. Everyone who sees Wendigo
sees him differently, since Wendigo's
form reflects a person's deepest fears.
In addition to his physical attacks, Wendigo
can summon 2-24 ghouls, 1-6 ghasts,
and 1-3 wind walkers, one group each per
day. Wendigo can use this summoning
power once per turn until, after three
turns, he has summoned each kind of
monster.

Anyone looking at Wendigo must save
vs. spells or be affected by fear. If the save
fails, the person must make a second
saving throw against death magic. If this
second save also fails, then the individual
becomes a servant of Wendigo and will be
under his complete control. The control
can only be broken by reducing Wendigo
to zero or less hit points, slaying him.

CALLICANTZERI

In Greek folklore, the callicantzari are
hideous, man-eating monsters that sometimes
take on human form. They are
described differently in different regions
of Greece, but in general there are two
main types of them: small and large.
The small callicantzari are not maneaters,
and are less hideous to look at and
less numerous than the larger variety. In
fact, the small callicantzari are closer in
nature to the European faerie races than
to any kind of undead.

CALLICANTZARI
FREQUENCY: Rare
NO. APPEARING: 2-20
ARMOR CLASS: 5
MOVE: 15"
HIT DICE: 6
% IN LAIR: 10%
TREASURE TYPE: [D]
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2-12
SPECIAL ATTACKS: Nil
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
INTELLIGENCE: Low
ALIGNMENT: Neutral evil
SIZE: L (6-8' tall)
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
    Attack/Defense Modes: Nil
LEVEL/X.P. VALUE:
 

GREAT CALLICANTZAROS
FREQUENCY: Very rare
NO. APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: -1
MOVE: 18"
HIT DICE: 18 (90 hp)
% IN LAIR: 10%
TREASURE TYPE: [I]
NO. OF ATTACKS: 1
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 6-36
SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below
SPECIAL DEFENSES: Nil
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Standard
INTELLIGENCE: Very
ALIGNMENT: Neutral evil
SIZE: L (10' tall)
PSIONIC ABILITY: Nil
    Attack/Defense Modes: Nil
LEVEL/X.P. VALUE:

The larger callicantzari are malicious
and deadly. Their size varies from humansize
to twice the height of a cottage. Usually,
they are about 6-8' tall.

Callicantzari have dead-black skin. Most
of them are covered with a coat of shaggy
black hair, but a bald variety is sometimes
mentioned. Their heads are huge, out of
all proportion to the rest of their bodies.
Their faces are dark black, and their eyes
glare redly. They have the ears of goats or
asses. From their huge mouths, blood-red
tongues loll out, flanked by ferociouslooking
tusks. Their bodies are generally
lean and tall, but some are shorter and
thick-set.

Callicantzari have the arms and hands of
monkeys. Their nails are as long again as
their fingers, and are curled like the
talons of a vulture. Some have the legs of a
goat or an ass, some have one human leg
and one bestial one, and some have human
legs with the foot so distorted that the toes
come out where the heel should be.
Hence, it is not surprising that these monsters
are often lame, but even so, they are
swift of foot and terrible in strength. They
run with a peculiar shambling gait which,
while appearing awkward, still allows
them to run quickly.

Sometimes a callicantzaros (the singular
form of callicantzari) appears to be a normal
human; sometimes a callicantzaros
appears in completely animal shape. In
general, the callicantzari are neither wholly
human nor wholly bestial but a blend of
the two. It is possible that, in ancient
times, "callicantzari" was a general term to
describe animal-human combinations.
Creatures like the centaurs, satyrs, and
sileni (like satyrs, but part ass) were specific
kinds of callicantzari. If so, the generic
meaning has long been lost, and
callicantzari has evolved into a term to
describe specific monsters.

From dawn to sunset, the callicantzari
hide in dark and dank places ? in caves or
beneath mills -- feeding on the loathsome
food there (snakes, snails, insects, etc.).
But at night, they issue forth and run
wildly to and fro, rending and crushing
those who cross their paths. Destruction,
waste, greed, and lust mark their courses.
Despite their uncouth shapes, the monsters
delight in dancing. Sometimes a
person can trick them into dancing all
night. But people must beware, for the
callicantzari delight in the taste of human
flesh.

Fortunately, the callicantzari are stupid,
gullible, and extremely quarrelsome. They
have little discipline or sense of planning,
which adds an interesting aspect of roleplaying
to an adventure as the PCs try to
figure out ways to trick these monsters. A
smart, alert person usually has no difficulty
getting the better of them, as the following
story from the island of Scyros shows
(related in Modern Greek Folklore and
Ancient Greek Religion, by John Cuthbert
Lawson):

A man of Scyros was returning home
from a mill late at night, driving his mule
before him laden with two sacks of meal.
When he had gone about halfway, he saw
before him some callicantzari in his path.
Realizing his danger, he at once got upon
his mule and laid himself flat between the
two sacks and covered himself up with a
rug, so as to look like another sack of
meal. Soon the callicantzari were about his
mule, and he held his breath and heard
one say, "Here is a pack on this side and a
pack on that side, and the top-load in the
middle, hut where is the man?".

So the callicantzari ran back to the mill
thinking that the man had loitered behind.
But they could not find him and came

back after the mule, looked again, and
said, "Here is a pack on this side and a
pack on that side, and the top-load in the
middle, but where is the man?"

So they ran on in front, fearing that he
had hastened on home before his mule.
But when they could not find him, they
returned again, then went back a second
time toward the mill. This went on many
times.

The mule needed no one to guide it; it
had traveled the path many times. While
the callicantzari were running to and fro,
the mule steadily trudged home. When the
beast stopped at the door of the man's
home, the callicantzari were close behind.
The man called to his wife, and she
opened the door and he entered safely.
When the callicantzari saw how he had
tricked them, they knocked at the door in
great anger. The woman, fearing that the
monsters would break in by force, promised
to let them in on the condition that
they first count the holes in her sieve. To
this they agreed, and she let the sieve
down to them by a cord from an upper
window. Straightaway, the monsters
began to count the holes, and they counted
round and round the outermost circle
of holes in the sieve and so never got to
the middle. Frustrated with the lengthy
counting process, they only counted more
and more hurriedly as a result.

Meanwhile, dawn was breaking. Soon
the neighbors saw the callicantzari, and
they hurried off to the priests and told
them. The priests immediately set out with
censers and sprinkling vessels in their
hands to chase the callicantzari. The monsters
fled right through town, spreading
havoc in their path as they were hotly
pursued by the priests. At last, when they
were clear of the town, one callicantzaros
began to lag behind, and by a great effort
the foremost priest ran up to him and
struck him on a hind foot with a sprinkling
vessel. At once the foot fell off. The
callicantzaros replaced it as best he could,
but he got it on backward. Thus came
about the phrase "callicantzaros foot," to
describe their peculiar kind of lameness.

Callicantzari are on the borderland
between the undead and other monsters.
While the final choice of whether or not to
make them undead is up to the DM, I have
classed them as undead because, in legends,
they operate only at night, can be
scared away by unarmed clerics, take
damage from holy water, are man-eaters,
and traditionally appear only at the 12
days of Christmas -- a time, like Halloween,
when the harriers between the dead
and the living are weak.

Callicantzari are a kind of undead mixture
of animal and human traits. They
have black skin and shaggy hair, oversized

heads with goat ears, and red eyes. Their
feet are either animal feet or distorted so
that the heels are where the toes should
be. Callicantzari are big, stupid, malicious
man-eaters that roam at night seeking
prey. Daylight does not actually hurt them,
but they will avoid it if at all possible.
The traditional leader of the callicantzari
is the Great Callicantzaros. He has the
power of confusion (as per the magic-user
spell, usable three times per day); anyone
who fails the saving throw against it will
be influenced toward mindless destruction,
greed, and lust as long as the Great
Callicantzaros is within sight. Clerics and
cavaliers of good alignment, including
paladins, are immune to the confusion.
Any other character of good alignment
gets a +2 on the saving throw.

The callicantzari are hopelessly stupid
and easily tricked. They often work at
cross-purposes since they are incapable of
organized action. The Great Callicantzaros,
by himself, acts in an intelligent
manner. But even he cannot exert enough
influence to alter the stupid behavior of
his fellow callicantzari.

Clerics can turn callicantzari with the
same chances as they have against wights.
The Great Callicantzaros cannot be turned,
but he will flee if the majority of the
callicantzari flee. Holy water causes 2-8 hp
damage per vial against callicantzari.

Undead variations of ghouls include the
ghast (MMl) and sheet ghoul (FF). Ghoul
variations which are not undead include
the pseudoghoul (MM2) and the
pseudoghast (MM2).

Monsters that would have an affinity to
ghouls Include the carnivorous ape (MM1),
centaur (MM1), satyr (MM1), djinni (MM1),
werewolf (MMl), minotaur (MM1), ogre
(MMl), troglodyte (MM1), troll (MM1),
succubus (MM1), type V demon (MMl),
windwalker (MMl), yeti (MMl), annis
(MM2), and kech (MM2).