Giving undead traits to an NPC

[Sedgewood]

What is the simplest way to give undead traits to an NPC? I have an idea for a villain whose power all comes from her character classes... must of the undead templates I've seen add too many other abilities (lich, vampire, etc.)

[Inhuman Bot]

Well, you could make a zombie or skelton and then cast Awaken undead on the zombie/skelton, and ignore all bonuses except for the independance and itellegance boost.

[arguskos]

Or use the Necropolitan template from Libris Mortis.

[Solaris]

Corpse creature and skeleton creature templates from BoVD are some personal favorites of mine.
If not, then hey! Homebrew it so that the zombie (or skeleton) template doesn't affect the mental aspects, just the physical.

[The Glyphstone]

Necropolitan is EXACTLY what you want. It's basically just the undead type slapped onto a humanoid without any bells or whistles, and it's even CR+0.

[Sedgewood]

@Slaanesh: What book is Awaken Undead from? I only have access to core 3.5 at home, but can reasonably borrow most supplements.

@arguskos: I'll have to get ahold of Libris Mortis, I had not heard of that template.

For the record, my villain is an ex-druid who blames her death on the loss of her druidic powers and came back as undead seeking revenge. Exact details are flexible. I am however trying to stay as close to core rules as I can (mainly because I'm still pretty inexperienced as a DM.)

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

Tainted Minion from Heroes of Horror is probably the most fitting undead template for what you've described. Make him a Blighter from Complete Divine if he'll be in the mid- to high-level range.

[Keld Denar]

@arguskos: I'll have to get ahold of Libris Mortis, I had not heard of that template.

All it is is tacking on the basic undead subtype (found in the back of the MM) onto an existing person. Really easy. The biggest things to worry about are changing all of the dudes HD to 1d12 regardless of previous size (1d8 for druids for example) and then negating any CON bonus to HP, since your new CON score is -. Then you add on immunity to critical hits/sneak attacks, immunity to anything that requires a fort save that doesn't affect objects, and the requirement to eat/drink/sleep, and you are done.

The fluff from LM requires some bizarre ritual involving injecting lots of expensive ichore and other nasties into your person to facilitate the connection to undeath, but that's all fluff, which your DM license gives you permission to alter at will (within reason).

[JackMage666]

As a DM, your villians and monsters DO NOT have to follow the same rules the PCs have to follow. You want the villian to be Undead? BAM - He's undead. Add +1 to his CR (or nothing, if you're about past level 10), and you're done.

[Neithan]

Another question, but I think it fits so nicely here: Does anyone know where to find templates to make a creature into a wight and a wraith (not at the same time of course. )

[Adumbration]

Another question, but I think it fits so nicely here: Does anyone know where to find templates to make a creature into a wight and a wraith (not at the same time of course. )

If memory serves, Savage Species has either one or both of them.

EDIT: Yup, there they are. It's 3.0 material, but it should serve.

[Neithan]

Thanks, I only want them as a base to create middle eathish Wights and Wraiths.

[Sedgewood]

Tainted Minion from Heroes of Horror is probably the most fitting undead template for what you've described. Make him a Blighter from Complete Divine if he'll be in the mid- to high-level range.

Oooh, I like blighter a lot. This is very close to what I had in mind for her anyway. I'm going to extend her spell list and change a little fluff but otherwise use this class straight up.

Tainted Minion seemed a little overpowered to me at first, but the more I think about it the more I like it. I do intend this encounter to be a long, resource-draining final showdown.

Am I right in thinking that in (undead) wild shape, things like damage reduction do not carry over to the new form? (aside from the DR the skeleton template gives, of course.) I like the idea of trading the defensive abilities of her true form for the offensive ones of an animal form later on.

Plus, there's something pretty awesome about the idea of an undead giant squid, delivering touch spells with its tentacles.

[Starsinger]

As a DM, your villians and monsters DO NOT have to follow the same rules the PCs have to follow. You want the villian to be Undead? BAM - He's undead. Add +1 to his CR (or nothing, if you're about past level 10), and you're done.

I second this.