TEXT: Whispers of the Dead 
  Undead Do Tell Tales 
   
  By James Eck 
  MindWeaveRPG 
   
  
  The Purpose 
  Undead figure prominently in 
  many fantasy settings as both 
  guiltless and heart-wrenching foes 
  for the players to combat. The 
  emotional 
  versatility 
  of 
  these 
  monsters makes them ubiquitous at 
  the table. 
  The seven undead in this document are 
  intended to tell the story of their life and 
  death through their nature. In this way they 
  can prove an interesting twist on the common 
  zombie while exposing some of the hidden story 
  of your world to the players. 
  I do not provide many numerical attributes, 
  as these undead are meant primarily to serve 
  the flavor and story of your campaign, 
  though most can be treated as zombies with 
  a small twist. Set their power level as 
  appropriate to your scenario and let the 
  plot govern their behavior.  
  I. 
  Ashern 
  “You what?” 
  “He was in the way. They were burning the 
  plague dead anyway and it was easy to slip 
  another in.” 
  “This better not come back down on us-” 
  “It won’t. I-” 
  A rasping like sand on wood caught both 
  their attention and they turned toward the door. 
  It burst open, flames washing into the room.  
  When a living person is burned alive, they 
  may return full of vengeful rage for the act. 
  These undead created by rage for their 
  suffering are known as Asherns. Whether 
  burned at the stake or accidentally cremated 
  alive, these creatures embrace the flames and 
  wield them to their vengeance. 
  An Ashern appears from most angles as a 
  swirling column of ash, if vaguely humanoid in 
  silhouette. The Ashern may glow dimly with the 
  fire within, but when it fixes its attention on a 
  target for its wrath, its eyes will blaze in its ashy 
  face with an intense, white-hot flame. The glow 
  within will grow to a blaze and spread 
  through the entire body of whirling 
  ash. 
  Asherns vary in power; most are 
  only able to singe those they touch 
  and burn those they envelop. More 
  powerful varieties—those filled 
  with 
  a 
  special 
  hate—can 
  shape the fire and throw it at 
  the object of their hate. 
  Varieties 
  of 
  intermediate 
  power levels can burn at a 
  touch, breathe gouts of fire, 
  or generate a withering heat 
  all 
  around 
  themselves. 
  Though 
  resistant 
  to 
  physical attacks, they 
  can be destroyed by 
  less 
  mundane 
  means. They will 
  also be reduced 
  to ash once their 
  vengeance 
  has 
  been carried out. 
  Examples 
  Unconscious plague victims burned with the 
  dead by accident. 
  A rebel leader burned at the stake by the king. 
  A thief in a house abandoned by his accomplice 
  when a fire breaks out. 
  II. 
  Exhumer 
  “A few days before, a large host of orcs had 
  assailed the fort. So many of them died at the 
  base of the walls that I ordered the men to bury 
  them in pits dug nearby, rather than risk attack 
  dragging them farther away. 
  “During the next couple nights my men 
  reported seeing orcs out near the mass graves. I 
  instructed them to leave them be as long as their 
  numbers were few. 
  “On the fourth night, I awoke to screams 
  inside the fort. I ran into the marshalling yard 
  where I encountered zombified orcs. I cut down 
  several, 
  but 
  found 
  myself 
  vomiting 
  and 
  trembling. Fearing for my life, I ordered an 
  
  abandonment of the fort and made my escape 
  on horseback.” 
  -Major Dansby 
  When bodies are buried close together, they 
  may awaken with a taste for the rotting flesh of 
  the dead. These dead become Exhumers, 
  ravenous undead with a talent for digging and 
  a hunger for necrotic flesh. These kinds of 
  transformations take place most often in mass 
  graves and sometimes in large numbers, 
  though they can sometimes happen when 
  graveyards start to get crowded. The awakening 
  of the corpse can take place days or weeks after 
  burial. 
  Once awakened, Exhumers seek out flesh to 
  consume. If food is plentiful enough, they may 
  spend months below the ground eating corpses 
  in the immediate area. Their hunger is so great, 
  they may even prey on each other before 
  surfacing. When they do come to the surface, it 
  is often out of curiosity about some sound or 
  vibration above them. The activity can draw 
  them out to hunt more lively prey. 
  When on the hunt, they quickly close in to 
  grappling distance and bite. Their ragged 
  breath is putrid with the stench of rotting flesh 
  and is enough to incapacitate the average living 
  person with vomiting. They are highly resilient 
  under physical abuse and can sometimes wipe 
  out whole villages after emerging from a mass 
  grave after a battle nearby. Everything is food 
  to their powerful appetite, though they prefer 
  long dead flesh to the flesh of the living. 
  Examples 
  A plague has wiped out a village, and the 
  baron’s men dig a pit for the bodies. 
  An old church graveyard is getting full; the 
  pastor starts making room in the narrow paths. 
  After finally breaking a bloody siege, the 
  garrison buries the fallen foes in trenches 
  nearby. 
  III. Haunt 
  The ship still appeared empty as they 
  approached by rowboat. The glaring figurehead 
  was eerie—not a beast or woman as was 
  common, but the bearded and scarred face of a 
  
  seafaring man, a captain's hat upon his head. 
  Pylus flinched when he thought he saw the 
  wooden grimace turn up in a smirk. 
  They pulled the oars into the boat as they 
  drifted up alongside. Pylus was first up the torn 
  sail and onto the deck. The ship was rotting, and 
  skeletons littered the deck. Tied to the mast, one 
  of the skeletons wore a hat like that on the 
  figurehead. The moment Pylus’s boots touched 
  the deck, he felt it: a shiver. The ship itself 
  seemed perturbed at his intrusion. As the other 
  sailors boarded, a snarling wail surged across 
  the deck. Bundles of rope and rusted cutlasses 
  flew toward them in a typhoon that hurled most 
  of them overboard. Those who weathered the 
  barrage dove overboard as a wind picked up 
  and the ship began to move. 
  When a person dies building a building, 
  working a field, or protecting a thing, and then 
  becomes a part of that thing (i.e. through 
  burial), that person may become a Haunt. 
  Haunts 
  are 
  undead 
  that 
  possess 
  their 
  sustaining entity and have varying levels of 
  power over it. The extent of their power depends 
  both on their power in life and their devotion 
  and claim to the entity. For example, a slave 
  who dies and is buried in a wall he was building 
  will have a relatively low level of power because 
  he was weak in life and was only one of many 
  building the wall against his will. By contrast, 
  a mighty ranger who dies protecting the glade 
  where she has buried many of her companions 
  will have vast powers due to her power in life 
  and her great dedication and emotional and 
  physical claim to the glade. 
  Haunts are fully disembodied undead, 
  though a part of their power may include 
  embodying themselves as part of the entity that 
  sustains them (e.g. the figurehead of a ship 
  changes to resemble the Haunt’s living form 
  and speaks for it). A Haunt can be destroyed 
  either by the destruction of the entity they 
  possess or by removing its mortal remains (if 
  any still exist) and giving them a proper burial. 
  They cannot wander from the entity they 
  possess, but will answer a necromancer’s call if 
  the object of their possession can be moved to 
  him. 
  Haunts 
  come 
  in 
  two 
  distinct 
  varieties: 
  benevolent and malevolent. This distinction 
  refers to their behavior toward the entity they 
  possess and is determined by the intent of their 
  sacrifice. Those who die willfully for the entity 
  will be benevolent and use their powers to 
  preserve and improve the entity they possess. 
  Those who die unwillingly for the entity or 
  willfully opposed to the entity will possess it 
  malevolently, seeking to degrade it and render 
  it 
  unusable 
  with 
  their 
  powers. 
  These 
  malevolent Haunts will not often exercise their 
  power to the complete destruction of the object 
  of their possession, as that would lead to their 
  own destruction. 
  Below are some guidelines for the abilities of 
  Haunts at various power levels (1-10): 
   
  Level 1 
  o 
  3x /day move a small object 
  o 
  1x /day move a medium object 
  o 
  1x /week move a large object 
   
  Level 2 
  o 
  5x /day move a small object 
  o 
  1x / week throw a small object 
  o 
  2x /day move a medium object 
  o 
  1x /day move a large object 
   
  Level 3 
  o 
  10x /day move a small object 
  o 
  1x /day throw a small object 
  o 
  5x /day move a medium object 
  o 
  1x /week throw a medium object 
  o 
  2x /day move a large object 
   
  Level 4 
  o 
  At will move a small object 
  o 
  2x /day throw a small object 
  o 
  10x /day move a medium object 
  o 
  1x /day throw a medium object 
  o 
  5x /day move a large object 
  o 
  1x / week throw a large object 
   
  Level 5 
  o 
  At will move small or medium objects 
  o 
  5x /day throw a small object 
  o 
  2x /day throw a medium object 
  o 
  5x /day move a large object 
  o 
  1x / week throw a large object 
   
  Level 6 
  o 
  At will move small or medium objects 
  o 
  10x /day throw a small object 
  o 
  5x /day throw a medium object 
  o 
  10x /day move a large object 
  o 
  1x / week throw a large object 
   
  Level 7 
  o 
  At will move small or medium objects 
  o 
  At will throw a small object 
  
  o 
  10x /day throw a medium object 
  o 
  5x /day move a large object 
  o 
  1x / day throw a large object 
   
  Level 8 
  o 
  At will move or throw small or 
  medium objects 
  o 
  5x /day move a large object 
  o 
  1x / day throw a large object 
  o 
  1x /week atmospheric change 
   
  Level 9 
  o 
  At will move or throw small or 
  medium objects 
  o 
  10x /day move a large object 
  o 
  1x / day throw a large object 
  o 
  1x /day atmospheric change 
   
  Level 10 
  o 
  At will move or throw small or 
  medium objects 
  o 
  10x /day move a large object 
  o 
  2x /day throw a large object 
  o 
  Total Atmospheric control 
  Small Object: A Pebble or Twig 
  Medium Object: Rock, 
  Branch, or Length of Rope 
  Large Object: Cannon, Bundle of Rope, Large 
  Stone, or Tree Trunk 
  Level 3 and higher are able to make their 
  voices heard. 
  Level 5 and higher make a 
  physical change to the entity when 
  they 
  come 
  into 
  existence 
  that 
  represents 
  them 
  and 
  can 
  be 
  controlled, such as a face or other 
  recognizable emblem. 
  Atmospheric control refers to the 
  Haunt’s ability to cause fog, wind, 
  rain, and such phenomena. 
  Examples 
  A king who renews his 
  reign each year by 
  visiting and eating the 
  fruit of a tree as part of an 
  ancient tradition never returns, 
  having died from eating the 
  poisoned fruit. The space is too 
  sacred for his followers to go 
  retrieve his body and he possesses 
  the tree. (Benevolent, 6) 
  A common slave who dies building 
  a wall and is buried in the brickwork. 
  (Malicious, 1) 
  A farmer who dies working his field and is never 
  found and buried. (Benevolent, 2) 
  A mighty warrior who dies, tormented, in the 
  dungeons of his lifelong foe and is left there. 
  (Malicious, 8) 
  A powerful priest who dies protecting the 
  temple of his deity and is buried therein. 
  (Benevolent, 10) 
  IV. Praxist 
  Fablis pulled his cloak up over his head and 
  leaned into the shadows. Those were definitely 
  footsteps, not even being careful. Looking back 
  down the corridor he could see three of them, 
  brazenly carrying a lantern. They moved quickly 
  but carefully, stepping over the triggers of all the 
  traps Fablis had disarmed on his way in. They 
  passed him, and he could see the rotting flesh 
  on their faces. Undead. They continued to the 
  end of the corridor, exposing more traps as they 
  carefully made their way past their triggers. 
  Once there, they began the return trip, 
  inspecting each trap as they went.  
  They 
  passed 
  Fablis 
  again, 
  oblivious to him watching them, and 
  upon finding the last trap he had 
  passed inert, set about arming it again. 
  He watched aghast as the undead creatures 
  deftly repaired traps that had been on the edge 
  of his ability to disarm. He rubbed magically 
  closed wounds and reconsidered his path 
  forward. 
  When a person dies in a 
  life so routine they could 
  do it in their sleep, they 
  may 
  awake 
  on 
  the 
  morrow 
  after 
  their 
  death and continue 
  about their work as if 
  life had not left them 
  during 
  the 
  night. 
  These undead driven 
  by the force of habit are 
  Praxists. In order for habit to so 
  drive a body to continue its 
  labors after the soul has shrugged 
  off the mortal coil, the daily routine must 
  be truly rote.  Usually for a lifestyle to be 
  sufficiently routine, it cannot include much 
  
  interaction with other people because of the 
  dynamic nature of conversation and human 
  behavior. 
  Particularly 
  tedious 
  conversationalists, however, may still make the 
  transition due to the memorized nature of their 
  conversations. 
  Praxists differentiate themselves from other 
  undead by their retention of any abilities they 
  possessed in life that were used in their 
  routine. A guard of a forgotten watch tower will 
  remember how to operate the gate and other 
  mechanisms of his stewardship, an enslaved 
  maze maintainer will retain knowledge of how 
  to navigate the winding corridors and set the 
  traps, and a paranoid wizard will still be able to 
  cast his daily wards and protections on his 
  tower. In general, all other abilities from life will 
  be lost. Most lose the ability to speak, and those 
  who spent their days in the same spot are 
  unable to walk. 
  The routine is the sustaining power of a 
  Praxist. If something happens that in life would 
  have required much troubleshooting beyond 
  the routine, this power is shaken. The Praxist 
  becomes disoriented and may flee the scene of 
  the change, looking for a return to familiarity. 
  If the Praxist cannot find its way back to 
  routine or if the change is great enough, it 
  may be destroyed by the shock. 
  Examples 
  A 
  gardener 
  who 
  continues 
  to 
  maintain the estate grounds 
  after his death, preventing 
  the estate master from 
  adding buildings that 
  might lose him the free 
  labor. 
  A preacher who delivers 
  the same sermon every 
  day, turning the pages of 
  his scriptures idly. 
  A teacher of history who 
  proceeds through his texts at his lectern 
  without recognizing class participation. 
  A sage who translates from the seemingly 
  endless backlog of texts on the tables 
  surrounding his cot. 
  A widget builder who assembles parts as they 
  come from dawn to dusk and lies in his bunk 
  during the hours he used to sleep in life. 
  An organ grinder who takes to the streets every 
  day soliciting money for food he no longer 
  needs. 
  V. 
  Processioner 
  “Do you hear that?” 
  “Hmph, something tripping traps. We’ll check 
  it out in the morning.” 
  “It’s getting closer. Dragging the chains.” 
  “It won’t get far. Strange it doesn’t cry out, 
  though...” 
  “There! There’s something there.” 
  Argus and Remus looked on in horror as a 
  human figure crawled out from the brush into 
  the light of their lamp atop the tower. It dragged 
  chains as it crawled, its legs horribly maimed by 
  the trap. 
  “Quickly, boy, the bandages.” Remus 
  leaped from his seat, opening 
  the trapdoor to climb 
  down. He rushed to the 
  traveler’s aid, but its 
  eyes were glassy 
  and it didn’t seem 
  to see or hear him, 
  continuing to crawl until 
  it reached the base of the 
  tower, collapsing quite 
  still at Argus’s feet as he 
  stepped out, medical kit in 
  hand. 
  “A 
  messenger?” 
  Argus 
  questioned, aghast. 
  Those who die in a journey of 
  supreme importance to them may, even 
  after dying on the road, continue their 
  sojourn to their vital destination. Those driven 
  by such determination that they continue in 
  death 
  become 
  Processioners. 
  Such 
  a 
  transformation requires that the deceased 
  consider the journey more vital than life or 
  death (the desire alone to live is not motivating 
  enough to continue despite death). Whether a 
  
  journey to rejoin a loved one, a pilgrimage to a 
  sacred site, or an expedition to uncover a 
  worldsaving artifact, the Processioner persists 
  in its journey until it reaches the destination, 
  at which it collapses, satisfied despite vital 
  components of their mission being left undone. 
  Though dead to all that does not pertain to 
  their journey, Processioners can be just as 
  inventive as a living traveler in overcoming 
  obstacles. This innovation does not, however, 
  extend to efforts at diplomacy. They will climb, 
  batter, and fight their way past obstacles, but 
  their silent determination will often bring them 
  into conflict with forces too great for them to 
  overcome, leading to their destruction if they 
  cannot find another way. 
  If at any point a Processioner becomes sure 
  that it cannot surmount the obstacles blocking 
  its journey or that it has become too damaged 
  to continue, it will collapse, resigning to 
  ultimate death in the face of defeat. This 
  behavior 
  makes 
  Processioners 
  all 
  but 
  impossible to keep, for they will, upon finding 
  themselves trapped, become useless to the 
  keeper. Those who know of Processioner 
  behavior will do their best to stay out of their 
  way while guiding them to their destination 
  where they can harmlessly collapse. 
  Examples 
  A sailor who escaped in a rowboat from a lost 
  battle at sea seeks desperately to make it to 
  shore to deliver word of the battle. 
  He dies at sea in the effort.  
  A pair of explorers 
  dreaming 
  of 
  discovering a way to the far sea die of exposure 
  one cold night and on the morrow continue 
  their traversal. 
  A caravan of pilgrims are plagued with disease 
  after being bitten by flies in the swamps they 
  had to cross. They die one by one but continue, 
  the procession eventually arriving at the temple 
  with not a living soul among them, only to 
  collapse on the steps. 
  VI. Vigiler 
  Hallen 
  checked 
  his 
  map 
  again. 
  The 
  rendezvous point was beside the river just down 
  this ridge, but they had arranged to meet before 
  the snows; Cale had probably moved his camp 
  up out of the floodway now the thaw had begun. 
  Hallen scanned the far ridge as he descended 
  toward the ford point. 
  He nearly fell when he saw the desiccated 
  head staring from just above the level of the 
  roaring river. Cale? There he sat in the floodway, 
  gazing as if at a fire just below the current. 
  Hallen stared in wonder until Cale looked up at 
  him, nodding curtly. Hallen averted his eyes 
  before descending to retrieve his friend’s body. 
  Those 
  who 
  die 
  awaiting 
  something 
  so 
  highly 
  anticipated 
  it 
  transcends life may 
  continue their watch 
  when that life has left 
  them. Those who keep 
  their 
  vigil 
  even 
  throughout their traversal 
  of the veil of death become 
  Vigilers. This transformation does 
  not come upon those who die 
  merely longing after some coming 
  dream. A Vigiler must be one who 
  dies watching steadfastly for the 
  hoped-for change, such that the 
  
  elements, starvation, or age overcome their 
  strength while they do nothing to stave them 
  off. 
  Vigilers are incredibly passive, though often 
  disturbing to come upon. Just as in the hours 
  before their death, they remain very still, 
  watching for the awaited event, perhaps 
  speaking softly. Even when the awaited sign 
  manifests, their reaction is reserved and 
  tempered by their loss of life. With their wait 
  ended, they may murmur a few words or offer 
  a brief sign before slumping peacefully into a 
  restful death. 
  Vigilers are known on occasion to become 
  more active, becoming violent when confronted 
  with the threat of their wait being for naught. 
  This violence can be triggered by attempts to 
  interrupt their wait or by evidence that their 
  hopes will never be fulfilled. In the latter case 
  they will be violent for only a minute before 
  becoming resigned and collapsing into death. 
  Examples 
  Sailors on a ship find themselves without a 
  wind. Desperate for land, they watch off the 
  port bow while starvation kills them one by one. 
  The ship drifts into port with the sailors still 
  watching. They wave calmly to the onlookers 
  and collapse. 
  A lighthouse keeper dies awaiting the return of 
  a ship that carried his son on a distant 
  campaign. He leans gently over the railing as a 
  ship approaches, looking for his son. He 
  becomes violent when the colors of his son’s 
  enemy come into view flying over the ship. He 
  upsets the shelves in his room before falling 
  dead. 
  A starved hunter, obsessed with a mythical 
  hart, crouches in his hunting blind, still 
  watching for it to pass this way. 
  Vii. Water Phasm 
  “About time we’re reopening this mine. The 
  collapse was six months ago.” 
  “Dams take time, Galdin,” Vilgem answered. 
  “Let’s just get this place pumped and the bodies 
  buried. Is that one of the miners there?” 
  Vilgem dropped into the waist-deep water 
  and waded toward the floating corpse. It stirred 
  suddenly, rushing toward him through the 
  water and dragging him under. More followed 
  and Galdin fled. 
  When a person dies in the water, but not 
  from drowning alone, and their body remains 
  in the water thereafter, they may become a 
  Water Phasm. Water Phasms are nearly liquid 
  undead, able to pass through spaces only 
  inches wide. Because those who become Water 
  Phasms die almost exclusively in a captive 
  state, in undeath they are very passive, hardly 
  moving from the place where they died. 
  However, if there is a disturbance or change in 
  currents that may indicate an escape, they will 
  chase the current immediately toward the 
  promise of freedom. Once on the move, they 
  become vicious, attacking anything they 
  perceive as a threat to their freedom. They will 
  respond to a necromancer’s call with a half-
  hearted effort to drift toward the call. They will 
  not leave the water to answer. 
  
   
  Water Phasms will do anything they can 
  to remain in the water, and will not leave it 
  willfully. They take gradual damage from being 
  out of the water. Water destruction magic also 
  deals great damage. Their primary form of 
  attack is to grapple people who stray into the 
  water, attempting to drown them. 
  Examples 
  Prisoners in a flooded dungeon die of hunger 
  and hypothermia. 
  Miners are trapped in a tunnel collapse that 
  floods the mine. Those that make it to air 
  pockets eventually suffocate. 
  Bodies dead from the ocean cold still cling to 
  flotsam after a shipwreck on the reef. 
   
   
  All text and images copyright James Eck 2017 
  For more, visit mindweaverpg.wordpress.com
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
   
  
SOURCE: textdata/thevault/Dungeons & Dragons [multi]/5th Edition (5e)/3rd Party/Mind Weave RPG - Whispers of the Dead.pdf