Fire Based Undead Template

[shaddy_24]

Hey, does anybody know any good undead templates that involve fire? I had one of my players in Expedition to Castle Ravenloft get burned down to -37 hp from about 40, all fire damage, so I want to have him come back as something burning. If anyone has anything, please let me know. Thanks.

[NaYoN]

cinderspawn from libris mortis page 91, they are undead fire elementals but you could stretch it i guess, they have +4 LA, cha drain, elemental turning vulnerability (skip this one), it drains body heat on touch, and it has a charisma drain craving. like blood craving of vamps. Or maybe eye of fear and flame from mm2...

[DementedFellow]

In Sandstorm there is a spell called Mantle of the Fiery Spirit.
It's a Cleric 9/ Druid 8 spell. For the low, low cost of 2000 XP and a fire opal worth 5000 gp you can permanently gain the fire subtype.

Page 118 of Sandstorm.

[shaddy_24]

Ok, sorry, to clarify a little:
The players have entered the castle and the ranger in the group was killed by failing several reflex saves in a row, all of which caused him to take over 70 points of fire damage. He's dead, and the player is making a new character, but I want the ranger to come back and go after the players at some point.
I was figuring that since he took all fire damage, if there were any good undead to represent it, I would use it. The party is all level 8, so I would like a template, or monster, that fits to be used for him. If there isn't one (or the other players destroy the body), I can simply use a ghost. Thanks again.

[ChaosDefender24]

It's not a template, but if you wanted to make him into a more long-term villain there is always the effigy.

[FaustianFeste]

Well, on page 162 of Libris Mortis there's a pseudo-template that you can add to a skeleton creature called Fiery Skeleton. My suggestion is you just use the Revived Fossil template in the same book for your Ranger, maybe alter it so that he keeps his mental stats, and then slap on that template. For added fun also add the Nimble Skeleton template to your ranger for the climb speed and the added Dexterity.

I once altered a gnome child's skeleton in this way (except I also threw on the Spellstitched template, as well as the Vicious one). By the time I was through, that Small sized skeleton had a CR of 4 and was whooping *ss like no other.


Ah, good times.

[DementedFellow]

You are the DM - you could let's say double to the exp point cost for the Mantle of the Fiery Spirit spell and give the fire subtype to the character. The ranger can continue taking his class with no penalty other than the aforementioned loss in exp.

Here are some ideas you can use or draw inspiration from

Cursed Cold Ones (Gelun) pg 145 of Sandstorm.

Basically they need to be in hot environment. If they are in a place where the temperature dips below a certain point they freeze into blocks of ice.

Also they have a heat sucking claw attack and are healed by fire attacks.

If they are hit with a cold spell, then they are dazed for one round and take +50% damage.

Then in Savage Species we find a couple more alternatives

Azers page 158
Efreeti (Genie) page 164
Fire Elemental, Large page 166
Fire Giant page 167
Flame Brother (Salamander) page 168
Magmin page 183

To go through the MM would be a long and laborious process and I only have volume III so it probably wouldn't do that much good.

[Leon]

Tack the Burning Skellie Template onto a Ghost and have a ball

[mabriss lethe]

I dunno about any official templates, but what you could do is create the character as some standard version of undead and then tack on abilities from one of the fire based bloodlines from Unearthed Arcana.

Just because I've been messing about with them the past couple of days, wights come to mind as being particularly appropriate base creature. Nice and solid, and murderously angry. Easy to add some fire based abilities to one. (For what it's worth, If I'd been toying with some other undead I might have a completely different opinion.) If you need an excuse to have him transform into one, introduce another character, a cleric or whatever who can grab the remains and run. Said villain can reanimate the PC at his leasure. providing not one but two sources of plothooks for you as a DM to draw upon.

[shaddy_24]

Thanks for the responses. There are a few interesting ideas out there, so I'll get up some responses.

It's not a template, but if you wanted to make him into a more long-term villain there is always the effigy.

I took a look at that, a little too high leveled.

Well, on page 162 of Libris Mortis there's a pseudo-template that you can add to a skeleton creature called Fiery Skeleton. My suggestion is you just use the Revived Fossil template in the same book for your Ranger, maybe alter it so that he keeps his mental stats, and then slap on that template. For added fun also add the Nimble Skeleton template to your ranger for the climb speed and the added Dexterity.

I once altered a gnome child's skeleton in this way (except I also threw on the Spellstitched template, as well as the Vicious one). By the time I was through, that Small sized skeleton had a CR of 4 and was whooping *ss like no other.

That looks like it would work pretty well. I don't have the book, but one of the players does, so I might grab that from him and pull it out. And the spellstitched template would be fun to add as well.

You are the DM - you could let's say double to the exp point cost for the Mantle of the Fiery Spirit spell and give the fire subtype to the character. The ranger can continue taking his class with no penalty other than the aforementioned loss in exp.

As I said, the player has a new character, but thanks anyway.

Tack the Burning Skellie Template onto a Ghost and have a ball

That's not bad. I'd be quite amusing.

I dunno about any official templates, but what you could do is create the character as some standard version of undead and then tack on abilities from one of the fire based bloodlines from Unearthed Arcana.

I like this idea too. I'll think about it.

Thanks a lot for the ideas everybody! You've been a big help.

[Renegade Paladin]

I think the fiery skeleton is your best bet; just make sure it's advanced in Hit Dice enough to actually challenge the party.