Undead

[C_Lee_B]

I am looking to make a horror dungeon for a group I DM IRL. What are the creepiest/ scariest undead that are challenge rating 3-9?

[DragonOfUndeath]

It's all in the fluff. You can make a lvl1 Commoner seem like the scariest dude ever and the lvl9,001 Wizard the sickly apprentice.

Stat-wise I would say Wight due to the fact they create more Wights from their victims.

Wightocalypse is a great Horror setting

[Zale]

Maybe a Brain In A Jar(CR 4)? A Dire Maggot(CR 2) isn't undead, but it is rather creepy. A Forsaken Shell is.. :smalleek: And CR 6.

[Amnestic]

Horror/creepiness does not come from the foe in my experience, but from the atmosphere you build around it. Zombies can be plenty creepy, and then there's Zombieland (which I really rather liked). Vampires can be plenty creepy, and then there's [Insert hated Vampire franchise here].

Anything which replicates itself is usually a self bet for horror though. Having to chop off your best friends face is...okay, usually a lot more fun than it should be in games.

[Zale]

I just went for creepy/disturbing.


Forsaken Shell is basically skin on the move. :smallfrown:

[Greenish]

Drowned (MMIII) are pretty creepy. Underwater creepy.

The aura just adds to the sense of looming doom.

[Fable Wright]

Depending on how you play your cards, Slaymates can be excellent for this. Pair with a few children turned into necropolitans which became casters, this could become really, really scary from a metagame and in-game perspective.

Also wights. Metagaming helps here; send them up against one. Then throw them in a room with 5 or 6 of them...the Oh **** factor goes through the roof, especially if you have them attack from all sides (Which also prevents AoEs from wiping them out).

[Archwizard]

While I agree that atmosphere and fluff are key parts of what makes a good horror game, certain monsters are more evocative of those feelings than others. Some monsters also have backstories, abilities, or appearances that make them easier to RP in a terrifying way.

I had a super undead-heavy campaign where th party was trying to stop a mad necromancer who was experimenting with undead and trying to build an army made of the ultimate undead. Not only did they have to fight through all his creations, but they had to see the after effects of his experiments and they found journals describing his work. They also got to follow the progression of the corruption of a Paladin of Pelor into the necromancer's death knight assistant (which was also the end of a side quest to find the Paladin and determine his fate). The setting of depravity, destruction, corruption and clinical callousness was a fairly heavy and edgy time, especially with the right subdued lighting and distraction-free atmosphere.

MM (II,III,IV,V) = Monster Manual
LM = Libris Mortis
(I'm sure those are common, but never hurts to be sure).

For CR3:
Ghast (MM)
Skin Kite (LM)
Wight (MM)
Necrosis Carnex (MMIV)

CR4:
Vampire Spawn (MM), especially of former associates/villagers/family

CR5:
Entomber (LM)
Sanguineous Drinker (MMV)

CR6:
Forsaken Shell (LM)
Plague Blight (LM)
Defacer (MMIV)

CR7:
Bleakborn (LM)
Spectre (MM)
Vampire (MM)
Haunt (MMV)
Phantom (MMV)

CR8:
Bodak (MM)
Mohrg (MM)
Salt Mummy (MMIII)

CR9:
Blashpheme (LM)
Grave Dirt Golem (LM)
Hulking Corpse (LM)


As you can probably see, things that I find especially interesting are ones with horrible deaths (spectre), or look like horrid twistings of humanity (blaspheme), or can turn your friends into one of them and against you (bodak, vampire). I like to hit at the "What depraved person could do this" and "There but for the grace of Pelor go I...." and "Oh my god, that's Steve!" types of things.


If you also combine things that look like statues and come alive (gargoyles, golems, etc), oozes and similar things that can be deceptive in appearance, and plants like the Assassin Vine (MM), you can create an additional feeling of "oh my god everything is out to kill us".

[Safety Sword]

Wraiths have always scared the crap out of my players.

Undead that can float through walls and re-attack from through the floor and then from the ceiling are pretty damned terrifying. Awesome in groups too...

[C_Lee_B]

Thanks! All this advice will help, I''l make scary monsters more so with good fluff.

[holywhippet]

One scary (if done right) undead monster from 2nd edition was the crawling claw. Basically it was a hand that scuttled along the ground and attacked the target. Doesn't sound creepy? Consider that they are meant to be used in swarm attacks - really large swarms. So you might expend all of your turn attempts and cast all of your fireballs and there are still more of them incoming. Consider also that since they are so small they can come out of cracks in the wall, scuttle along the ceiling/rafters etc.

Problem is, in 3rd edition I think they were only in the forgotten realms setting and had been changed from undead to constructs.

[Tvtyrant]

I like replicating undead like Vampires, Wights and Bodaks, and have them serve as the recruiting section of a massive undead army headed by Nightshades. Each local "recruiter" is attempting to enjoy their post as much as possible while gathering troops, and often build bases in places that appeal to them. Wights in graveyards so they can feast on corpses, Vampires in desecrated mansions/churches so they can be immune to turning and because they like grandiose buildings, and Bodaks in places that remind them of the Negative Energy Plane like caves or the bottom of underground lakes.

[Keld Denar]

Take a swarm, like say...Rat Swarm, and then just refluff them as little crawling body parts like hands or fingers or something. Ask for spot checks to tell what exactly they are.

Oh...a swarm, ewww.
Its made up of...what?
EWWWWWW!!!!!

[Big Fau]

Wanna instill the fear of god in your players? Send in Allips (MM). Incorporeal a a CR of 3, Wis DRAIN on a touch attack, and the ability to hypnotize the entire party.


They will never party without a Cleric again!

[IthroZada]

These guys are rather messed up. Sadistic, their lower half is just a twisted mess of flesh, and nobody will expect them to tickle their internal organs from 20ft away. Boneclaw (http://www.wizards.com/default.asp?x=dnd/ex/20040905a&page=2)

[Safety Sword]

For the surprise factor I also like the Baneguard from Monsters of Faerun.

Skeletons with Blink and Magic missiles, just to mix it up...