101 Unconventional Undead Mooks

[Dr paradox]

So, here's the prompt - ideas for undead that you can throw at parties by the handful, but have something more interesting than your standard Skeleton/Zombie/Ghoul thing going on. This can be something cosmetic, like zombies that are human shaped but made of sewn together animal parts, or mechanical, like the Spawn of Kyuss's worm-explosion thing.

Power level isn't so much the concern - just that they be appropriate to fight in groups. There are plenty of cool singular undead, like Liches or Devourers or Revenants. I'm looking for the meat and potatoes of the creative necromancer's banquet table.



1. Human shaped undead made of sewn together animal parts.
2. Zombie giant bats with a score of human arms and torsos attached to the underside. Ideal for abduction by air.
3. Animated Epidermises. They mostly retain humanoid shape, but they're resistant to bludgeoning and slashing, and release noxious gas when punctured.
4. Skeletons covered in giant centipedes.
5. A ghost that does cold damage when struck in melee.
6. Specters that are little more than silhouettes stretched and distorted to a height of ten feet.
7. Haunted coils of chain. Break the skull in the center to kill it.

[Braininthejar2]

8: zombies with all their left hands replaced with metal hooks. (the necromancer was building a crawling claw swarm)
9: a zombie that served as a walking toolbox - he's gutted and preserved,, and has drawers installed in its torso.
10: skeletons covered in plaster and made to look like life-sized dolls.

[Mr.Sandman]

11: Beeheaders: Zombies whos heads have been replaced by beehives.

[TripleD]

12. Bogbas.

Corpse left to rot in bogs that became swollen with swamp gas. Can't attack on their own but, when hit with a flaming arrow (say a skeleton archer) will explode with a fireball effect.

[Joe the Rat]

13. Undead giant crabs. Are they zombies or skeletons?
14. Is your magic sword intelligent, or haunted? Ego battle, or attempted Possession?
15. Cloak of reanimated furs: They'll watch your back.

[ElFi]

16. A sort of wraith that doesn't so much drain life as it does absorb it- within its body is a miniature portal to the Negative Energy plane, and it's always hungry for more life force.
17. Humanoid/insect hybrids that operate in a hive mind and can see through each other's eyes. Their "queen" is a much more powerful undead who can amplify her combat prowess by absorbing the processing power of her thralls.
18. An undead chimera- no, not the monster, but a bunch of different creatures' corpses stitched together and then reanimated into a sprawl of undead tissue that combines all of the abilities of its constituents.

[Yora]

16. Darklings: Similar to ghouls, but crawling on thr ground (or walls) and reduced entirely to acting on instinct. The instinct to kill and eat.

[Durkoala]

#20. Undead "flower fairies" that attack in swarms. Despite being as fragile as leaf skeletons, they are very hard to hit and their touch paralyses or drains.

Animated furniture and household items created from the leftovers of more conventional undead.

#21. A chandelier of bones that levitates overhead and is encrusted with gothic knives. It attacks by dripping hot wax and dropping on people.

#22. A book with parchment sheets made from the skins of various creatures. May have teeth hidden in the cover or cast spells written in it.

#23. A rug made from bugbear pelts. When it attacks, it extends the teeth and claws hidden in it and wraps around adventurers with crushing force

#24. A chair built from arms and hands. Whoever sits in it is seized and drained of life.

#25. A doorway made from the jaws of a giant. It closes like a portcullis of enormous teeth and attempts to crush those who pass through it. It can't move from the wall it's in, but other creatures in the house may attempt to drive the party through it. Also, the giant's spirit may be present and willing to bargain for safe passage, but what would an undead partial giant want?

#26. Lamps built from mummies. The flames are both a gift and a curse: they grant the mummies fire attacks, but also may set them on fire.

#27. A set of haunted paintings. The spirits within carry information between themselves, but have been bound to not be able to manifest and can only change their paintings to convey information and threats. They can telepathically communicate with other undead in they room they are hung in, though.

#28. A cardboard box that contains a wraith, shadow, etc, intended to be used for pest control. The spirit is far from happy to only be able to eat rats, and with chase down any intruders with glee. However, it is bound to remain in the box, which gives it a measure of protection and limits its attacks to lashing out with its limbs and using any auras it might have. It can fold up the box to slip through small spaces, making it surpringly good at sneaking around. May or may not shout 'fwing!' when unexpectedly discovered.

#29. A shelf of improperly preserved specimens in glass bottles. They've been decaying enough for the preserving fluid to count as part of them, resulting in intruders being assaulted by foul puddles bearing grisely samples. May combine into larger conglomerated entities and the chemicals used to preserve them make them toxic to touch.

#30. Animated duck sandwiches with bread made from bone meal. They register as strongly Evil, but are mostly unable to harm people beyond forcing their way into the throat and causing choking while attempting to eat them. In a fight, they will mindlessly attempt to savage intruders, but are only a risk in that treading on one may cause slipping while fighting a stronger foe.

[SomeNerd]

#31: Chanting Skulls. These undead appear to be simply heads mounted on pikes at first glance... however, the skull inside has had a spell carved into it. When alerted, the skulls will repeatedly and randomly cast the spell. The spell must have a verbal component, and may not have any somatic or material component (although if the necromancer has still spell and/or eschew materials, they can ignore the respective restrictions). Regarding the actual levels of the spells involved... that's up to the DM's judgement. Generally loaded with negative energy based spells to avoid friendly fire.

#32: Eyeball Swarm. A swarm of reanimated eyeballs, muscle tissue still attached. They move by rolling around. The ichor inside is acidic, and charged with negative energy, making them dangerous to step on them. Additionally, they possess a gaze attack wherein they project the negative energy animating them at a target (which, for obvious reasons, ends the reanimation).

#33: Gravehands. Disembodied hands; rather than crawling around, these hands are anchored to the ground by the remains of the arm bone. The attack by rapidly growing their nails, which they fire as spears (Treat as unholy +1 shortspears). If someone gets close enough, they will attempt to grapple that person and rake them with their nails.

[Braininthejar2]

16. A sort of wraith that doesn't so much drain life as it does absorb it- within its body is a miniature portal to the Negative Energy plane, and it's always hungry for more life force.

Isn't it how it works by default?

18. An undead chimera- no, not the monster, but a bunch of different creatures' corpses stitched together and then reanimated into a sprawl of undead tissue that combines all of the abilities of its constituents.

[Dr paradox]

#34. Esprit de Corps: a swarm of ghosts that acts as a single massive creature, made up of the dead of a military unit that is traumatically destroyed. Often it will contain representatives from throughout the unit's history. It can be temporarily dispersed by fighting it, but the only way to permanently destroy it is by burning the standard of the company.

#35. Spectral Deserter: when a knight or similarly honorable warrior dies in dereliction of duty, their spirit may roam forevermore, attempting to win back its honor through overzealous gestures in loose keeping with their former code. Valor turns to bloodlust, justice turns to vengeance, righteousness turns to rage, and honor turns to all consuming pride. Sometimes Spectral Deserters who failed to uphold the same code of honor will band together, or be attracted to the service of those who embody their corrupted virtues.

[RyumaruMG]

#36: The Vault Titan. Take the traditional Japanese Gashadokuro (hugeass skeleton that is impossibly stealthy on the basis of "no one ever looks up") and anchor it to the ceiling. Have it crawl around on the high, vaulted ceilings of tombs and vaults, just out of sight, in the shadows where torchlight can't reach. Once intruders are in position, it can just reach down and grab people, then bite their heads off.

#37: Skullspitters. Some brilliant necromancer reanimated a roper or other carnivorous, cannibalistic creature. The Skullspitter now eats nearby corpses, then uses the bones as ammunition for ranged attacks, effectively creating an undead turret.

[Dexam]

#38. Mold/fungus zombies. Zombies with your dangerous mold/fungus of choice growing on every bit of skin; each strike against them releases a cloud of spores in the direction of the attacker.
(I have actually used the Brown Mold version of this in a 3.5 D&D game).

[Bohandas]

39.) Zombie steer. Seriously, I don't get why all these necromancers run afoul of the law by robbing graves when they could just set up shop in the meatpacking district instead

[Dr paradox]

39.) Zombie steer. Seriously, I don't get why all these necromancers run afoul of the law by robbing graves when they could just set up shop in the meatpacking district instead

As I understand it, it's because cow souls are less powerful, versatile, and generally useful than people souls. That's assuming that necromancy uses some amount of soul juice, which some people don't think is true, but always seemed pretty clear. If you were just using the body, you'd use transmutation, like with golems.

[Bohandas]

As I understand it, it's because cow souls are less powerful, versatile, and generally useful than people souls. That's assuming that necromancy uses some amount of soul juice, which some people don't think is true, but always seemed pretty clear. If you were just using the body, you'd use transmutation, like with golems.

Obviously ghouls, vampires, and especially incorporeal undead do, but I don't think zombies and skeletons do

[Dr paradox]

#40. Severed shrunken heads packed full of the worst diseases around, possibly including a zombie plague. Hurl them over city walls by the barrel, throw them with slings, they bite and Fester on contact.

Obviously ghouls, vampires, and especially incorporeal undead do, but I don't think zombies and skeletons do

This is obviously all up for debate, but it seemed to me that even in the case of skeletons and zombies, there would have to be a certain amount of soul-tampering. Otherwise, why would it be the same school of magic as the processes to raise smarter undead? Why wouldn't you be able to make a "skeleton" out of a clay puppet? Even if there's no conscious soul in mind, I picture it as putting the soul on a treadmill to power the locomotion of your creature, like how a golem uses an elemental. This has the added benefit of explaining why necromancers are so abhorred. It's not just desecrating bodies, it's wrenching souls from their eternal rest to be pressed into bleak and endless slavery.

[Bohandas]

Yeah, but it's in a different school than Resurrection. It's not in the same school as Reincarnate either

[Braininthejar2]

41. a bunch of raggamoffyns made of flayed human skin.

[Chijinda]

42. "Frankenstein's" (yeah yeah I know, the Doctor not the monster): Reanimated dead that have been crafted from
Multiple corpses stitched together rather than just one, granting various advantages depending on how the Necromancer put them together. Perhaps they grafted on additional body parts like limbs for additional attacks or eyes on the back of their heads for sentries. Maybe they grafted on additional muscle fibres to make the individual stronger, etc. Etc. Whatever your mad Necromancer came up with when making a single Undead out of ten bodies.

[Spore]

43. A single animated bone....what? I am still practicing.

44. A buffet golem. Animated remains of a great festivity. Undead headless chicken carcasses, casserole zombies spreading death and diseases with...spoiled egg salad?

45. A sentient Bone Tornado (BOOOONE STOOOORM!): Not so much Necromancy as it is Necromancy and Evocation/Elemental Magic combined but I feel a storm made of bones and teeth is sufficiently dangerous.

46. Bone snakes: Just a human skull on a long spine, unnaturally quick and spreading poison with every bite of the fanglike teeth.

[Braininthejar2]

46. Bone snakes: Just a human skull on a long spine, unnaturally quick and spreading poison with every bite of the fanglike teeth.

That's just trolling. You know whatyou did.

[NovenFromTheSun]

47. Boneless yet still motile bodies.

48. Undead furniture. Those trees were once alive after all.

49. Ghosts of people executed for crimes they were falsely accused of, who now use illusions to turn their enemies against each other.

[Mutazoia]

50. Skeletons that have been treated with the "Awaken Intelligence" spell, to allow them to plan and execute complex strategies, rather than just shuffle forward and attack.
51. Same as above, with and added dusting of "Imbue Undead with Spell Ability", to allow said skelle-bones to cast "Fireball" in melee range. (Imagne an group of 10 or more doing that all at once).

[SomeNerd]

52. Fire Skeletons: Skeletons that have had their bone marrow drained and replaced with Alchemist's Fire. Or, if you want to be really mean, coat the inside with oil of slipperiness and fill them with Sovereign Glue.

53. Digester: A giant undead sack made of stitched-together stomachs. Uses swallow-whole, and digests enemies using negative-energy-infused stomach acid.

54. Blood Animus: A giant, vaguely-humanoid mass of blood. Attacks with vicious slashing attacks, and gets stronger as its opponents bleed, eventually dividing like an amoeba.

[Spore]

55. Skeleton Necromancers. Repeat after me: SKELETON NECROMANCERS. Let the dead rise the dead. It's like a slightly smelly perpetuum mobile.

56. Zombie Clerics. They channel negative energy to keep your hordes alive. These in combination with #55 should keep your hordes in peak performances.

[Dr paradox]

57. Shrieking conduits. Withered, barely sapient undead that channel negative energy proportional to the pain they're in. Groups of undead carry them around in mobile iron maidens and on crucifixes to heal the Dead and damage the living in a thirty foot area. Maybe a couple of skeletons with pikes are on duty the jab them for short boosts.

[Morphic tide]

Yeah, but it's in a different school than Resurrection. It's not in the same school as Reincarnate either

In 2e D&D, healing spells were a subschool of Necromancy.

42. "Frankenstein's" (yeah yeah I know, the Doctor not the monster): Reanimated dead that have been crafted from
Multiple corpses stitched together rather than just one, granting various advantages depending on how the Necromancer put them together. Perhaps they grafted on additional body parts like limbs for additional attacks or eyes on the back of their heads for sentries. Maybe they grafted on additional muscle fibres to make the individual stronger, etc. Etc. Whatever your mad Necromancer came up with when making a single Undead out of ten bodies.

I'm... pretty sure this is more or less Pathfinder's Necrocraft.

58: Necrogolems. A variant of golems made from organic material, such as Flesh and Bone, but also Wood, the usual Earth elemental is replaced with a Negative Energy Elemental, creating something that is True Neutral in alignment and simultaneously a Construct and Undead, rapidly removing damage that does not effect their Construct bindings. Flesh Necrogolems are often sent to deal with Crusades, as they are not vulnerable to many of the things used to slay Undead and can survive vast amounts of damage with ease.

59: Shadowed Atrocity. Created with magic beyond what mortals dare experiment with(******* around with 9th level Conjuration(Summoning) is justifiably considered suicidal), these abominations are the result of fusing a Solar with a Devourer. Able to freely shift to and from the Plane of Shadows, as well as being incorporeal, almost no barriers bar their entry. Having the casting of a Solar, twisted towards necrotic ends, they can command several lesser Devourers not of their line, though they often prefer to use the corpses of their victims for skeletal hordes.

[Dr paradox]

60. Undead Hives. These bloated corpses have been seeded with hundreds of corpse-fly larva, and generate a cloud of stinging, poisonous insects wherever they go. When killed, they release a dense swarm that acts as an AoE attack.

[Bohandas]

61.) One body countless monsters- A body (or bodies) in which the organ systems have been seperated and animated seperate monsters, a skeleton from the skeleyon, a forsaken shell from the skin, etc. Every part of the body is used