undead

5e Megalodon

Inspiration / D&D, D&D fifth edition, D&D Next, D&D5e, DMs Guild, DMs Guild Adepts, DnD, DnDBlog, dungeons and dragons, Monster, monster creation, Ruty Rutenberg, shark, Tomb of Annihilation, undead, world building, worldbuilding, Zombies / 2 comments

September 21, 2017

A quick note to let you know that one of my podcasts, Have Spellbook, Will Travel, just launched a Patreon. If you love the show and want to support it with cash, check it out. If you love the show and don’t want to support it with cash, consider shouting it out on social media! Thanks!

Last week I showed you my new DMs Guild Adepts products, including Beasts of the Jungle Rot.

Though the product is jam-packed with new dinosaurs and even more zombie dinosaurs, there was one prehistoric beast I left out because it wasn’t a reptile. But that beast is one of my favorites so I’m sharing it with you for free in the PDF below. BEHOLD THE MEGALODON AND MEGALODON ZOMBIE!

Megalodon and Megalodon Zombie

Let me know what you think, and feel free to add this guppy to you Tomb of Annihilation campaign if your player characters choose to sail the high seas!

And if you’re interested in more Free Game Resources, check out that page on this site!

If you like what you’re reading please follow me on Twitter, like World Builder Blog on Facebook, check out my podcasts, find my products on the DMs Guild, tell your friends about the blog, and/or leave me a comment and let me know you think. Thanks!

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Guild Adept Releases – Tomb of Annihilation

Collaboration, General / Adventure, beasts, Chris Lindsay, Cindy Moore, Claire Hoffman, D&D, D&D fifth edition, D&D Next, D&D5e, Dinosaurs, DMs Guild, DMs Guild Adepts, DnD, DnD Blog, dungeons and dragons, Lysa Chen, Monster, monster creation, pdf, Rich Lescouflair, Ruty Rutenberg, Satine Phoenix, Shawn Merwin, Tomb of Annihilation, undead, Will Doyle, world building, worldbuilding, Zombies / 6 comments

September 14, 2017

Do you like zombies? Do you like dinosaurs? How about dinosaur zombies? Well, I’ve got them for you in spades!

Last week, the first Guild Adepts products appeared on the DMs Guild. I authored material in three of the products! I’m going to tell you all about them, but first a recap. What is the DMs Guild Adepts program?

Check out this excerpt from Chris Lindsay’s launch announcement:

Over the next few months, we’re going to highlight the creative activities of a select few game designers on the Dungeon Masters Guild through the Guild Adept program. We have chosen 10 extremely talented individuals and, not unlike lion robot vehicles, formed them into a singular formidable entity of creative D&D development. We’ve given them early access to the upcoming adventure from D&D, Tomb of Annihilation, and have challenged them to create kickass adventures and rules options to accompany the launch of that product.

I’m one of those ten people! We’ve put out and will continue to create through October new products on the DMs Guild for Tomb of Annihilation. Here’s what I’ve helped create so far.

Encounters in Port Nyanzaru

Encounters in Port Nyanzaru has the work of nine Guild Adepts and features 13 new encounters in Port Nyanzaru, the only city in Chult. The encounters can be added to any Tomb of Annihilation campaign. Combat, danger, intrigue, and pulp are all yours in this exciting supplement.

In addition to the encounters, the supplement includes 3 new dinosaurs (also found in Beasts of the Jungle Rot), a Port Nyanzaru Chase Complications table, supplemental rules for suspicion, and a map of a Port Nyanzaru bathhouse. I wrote three encounters for the book and edited the thing! Here’s who else contributed:

Lysa Chen
Will Doyle
Claire Hoffman
Rich Lescouflair
Shawn Merwin
Cindy Moore
Satine Phoenix
Ruty Rutenberg

It should be noted that in addition to the amazing encounter he wrote, Rich Lescouflair also did the layout and cartography for this product. He rocks!

Beasts of the Jungle Rot

Beast of the Jungle Rot is a collaboration between Ruty Rutenberg and myself. No Tomb of Annihilation campaign is complete without this collection of more thunder lizards… and more zombie thunder lizards! Behold new dinosaurs, including the legendary giganotosaurus and titanosaurus, and new zombie dinosaurs with terrifying and unique necrotic abilities! Plus expanded rules for random encounters, dinosaur races, and hunting dinosaurs for hides and eggs. A full list of dinosaurs can be found on the product page.

If you like these dinos, you should check out Will Doyle’s Ruins of Mezro. It has a few of them featured, plus a lot of other awesome!

Cellar of Death

In Cellar of Death something evil is devouring the souls of the living in Chult, but before the characters take on the horrors in Tomb of Annihilation, they must first uncover the death curse’s origin by braving a lich’s tower in the Cloakwood. This introductory adventure is designed for a party of four to six 1st-level characters, who should advance to 2nd level by the adventurer’s conclusion. It is a prelude to Tomb of Annihilation that should take about 2 to 3 hours.

What inspired Cellar of Death? The introduction of Tomb of Annihilation states Syndra Silvane learned about the Soulmonger from the Harpers, who “received their intelligence from a lich.” This adventure is the story of how the Harpers gathered that information.

Cellar of Death has a second purpose: to give characters a greater stake in the outcome of Tomb of Annihilation by creating an NPC they love. The death curse kills this NPC, giving the characters a personal reason to go to Chult.

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Rotted Angel

Gamer to Gamer / D&D, D&D fifth edition, D&D Next, D&D5e, DnD, DnDBlog, dungeons and dragons, Enora, Monster, monster creation, pdf, undead, world building, worldbuilding / 0 comments

June 15, 2017

Once again I’m continuing my quest to add killer undead to the options already available in the fifth edition Monster Manual for my world of Enora. So far we’ve seen husks, skeletal dragons, vampiric dragons, vampiric vines, elemental undead, and nightshades. Now I’d like to turn another, the rotted angel. It’s time for some celestial undead.

Rotted Angel

Towering beings of decaying flesh and damaged wings, rotted angels are obscene corruptions of good. Nearly impossible to create, these servants are the pride and joy of the evil necromancers that craft them. Living angels believe it is their sworn duty to kill such abominations and fallen angels often hunt their rotted cousins to regain the grace of the gods.

Born in Blood. Creating a rotted angel first requires the capture of a living angel. Then over the course of twelve hours, a horrific ritual is performed that involves the sacrifice of one-hundred innocent humanoid souls, burned alive one at a time. At the end of this ritual, the angel dies, its soul is twisted by evil, and then returned to its body, which begins to decay as it struggles to contain the darkness within. The rotted angel retains all the memories of the original.

Relentless Evil. Rotted angels answer only to the necromancers that created them. They delight in cruelty and relish tasks of murder, destruction, and torture. More than anything else, the angels take pleasure in tricking or forcing good-aligned creatures to commit unspeakable acts. The angels often craft situations that ask these creatures to make impossible decisions to drive them to malice and madness.

Unbound Rotted Angels. Only the necromancer that created the rotted angel can keep the monster in check. Should the necromancer die, the angel becomes unbound. It is free to do whatever it chooses. Unbound rotted angels travel the multiverse, looking for angels and heroes to turn to evil and drive mad.

Return to Grace. A rotted angel can be returned to its living state. If the monster is captured, a new ritual can be performed to restore it. Over the course of twelve hours, one-hundred undead creatures are destroyed one at a time. At the end of this ritual, the angel’s body and soul are restored to its previous living state.

Undead Nature. A rotted angel doesn’t require air, food, drink, or sleep.

Want the Stats?

Grab the PDF below or on the Free Game Resources section of this site any time.

Rotted Angel

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Nightshades

Brass Tacks, Inspiration / D&D, D&D fifth edition, D&D Next, D&D5e, D&DBlog, DnD, DnDBlog, dungeons and dragons, Monster, monster creation, pdf, undead, world building, worldbuilding / 4 comments

March 9, 2017

Once again I’m continuing my quest to add killer undead to the options already available in the fifth edition Monster Manual for my world of Enora. So far we’ve seen husks, skeletal dragons, vampiric dragons, vampiric vines, and elemental undead. Now I’d like to turn my attention to updating (and adding my own twists to) some old favorites: the nightcrawler, nighthaunt, nightwalker, and night wing. Thanks to EN World forum user pukunui for the idea!

Nightshades

When shadows and evil are infused with the strong will of a powerful being, they take massive forms. Appearing as giants, purple worms, and winged-beasts, this animated shadow stuff abhor life and light and desire a world covered in a shadow of death.

Massive Murderers. All nightshades are enormous combinations of solid shadow and corruption. When a strong-willed, evil beings refuse to pass into the afterlife, their souls infuse the with the same material that creates the Plane of Shadow. The souls wrestle with the shadow stuff, taking as much of it on as possible in order to anchor themselves in worlds of the living. At the same time, the shadow sucks any tiny sense of morality from the soul, creating a new being of considerable size, horrific shape, and murderous intent.

Undead Generals. Nightshades are cunning beings, who stalk the Plane of Shadow, looking for wayward victims to kill and turn into other undead through dark rituals. These undead are bound to the nightshade for as long as it exists. They follow its every command. Many nightshades search for ways to lead their armies into the Material Plane, so they might swell their ranks and experience death on a grand scale.

Work Better Together. Nightshades have great respect for others of their kind. They often form alliances to increase their slaughtering capabilities and grow the sizes of their armies.

Undead Nature. Nightshades don’t require air, food, drink, or sleep.

Nightcrawler

Nightcrawlers resemble purple worms made of pure darkness. Despite their appearance, they are extremely intelligent spellcasters who have devastating strength, burrowing capabilities, and the ability to swallow ogres whole.

Nighthaunt

Nighthaunts resemble large gargoyles and are pure malevolence. As expert tacticians, these nightshades are the best at leading armies of undead or placing guards and strategic defenses around a fortress.

Nightwalker

Nightwalkers are twenty-foot-tall humanoids silent as death. They are among the multiverse’s best stalkers and their dead eyes can cause panic in the most daring prey.

Nightwing

Nightwings appear as enormous bats made of darkness, but have the same level of cunning and guile as all other nightshades. Silent as death and nearly invisible against a black sky, these beings dive onto prey before victims even know they’re being attacked.

Want the Stats?

Grab the PDF below or on the Free Game Resources section of this site any time.

Nightshades

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Elemental Undead

Inspiration / D&D, D&D fifth edition, D&D Next, D&D5e, D&DBlog, DnD, DnDBlog, dungeons and dragons, Monster, monster creation, pdf, undead, world building, worldbuilding / 2 comments

March 2, 2017

Once again I’m continuing my quest to add killer undead to the options already available in the fifth edition Monster Manual for my world of Enora. So far we’ve seen husks, skeletal dragons, vampiric dragons, and vampiric vines. Now I’d like to turn my attention to updating (and adding my own twists to) two old favorites: blazing skeletons (or blazing bones) and the chillborn zombie.

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Elemental Undead

Just because many wizards focus on one school of magic does not mean they can’t add a dash of another to their speciality to create a true nightmare. When a pinch of conjuration is added to the power of necromancy, skeletons bathed in fire and corpses armored in ice walk the land, eager for only murder.

Created by Master Mages. Only the most powerful mortals can tap into the power of the elemental planes when they make the dead walk again. These horrid creations are infused with elemental essence to make them stronger and faster while providing magical abilities that other undead of their ilk lack. A creator must be certain they can control an elemental undead before they create it, since the monster desires the mage’s death as much as any other living creature.

Furious Dead. Blazing bones and chillborn zombies have the elementals’ fury and the undead’s hatred of all things living, making them extremely difficult to control. They take a primal, raw pleasure in killing and are never satisfied.

Blazing Bones

Blazing bones are skeletons wreathed in ever-burning flame. They smell constantly of cooked marrow and screech like vultures when they attack. A connection to the Plane of Fire allows them to hurl flame and detonate their bodies at the moment of death.

Chillborn Zombie

Chillborn zombies have ice crystals embedded in their rotting flesh. The immediate area around them is deathly cold and their frigid touch penetrates to the heart. Their elemental connection allows them to breathe cold and, like the blazing bones, they also explode in a burst of energy when they perish.

Want the Stats?

Grab the PDF below or on the Free Game Resources section of this site any time.

Elemental Undead

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Vampire Vines

General / D&D, D&D fifth edition, D&D Next, D&D5e, D&DBlog, DnD, DnDBlog, dungeons and dragons, Monster, monster creation, monsters, pdf, Plant, undead, world building, worldbuilding / 3 comments

February 23, 2017

Today I’m continuing my quest to add killer undead to the options already available in the fifth edition Monster Manual for my world of Enora. Today we enter the world of undead plants! (You read that right). You might say, “Whoa, James. Plants that are evil and dead? C’mon.” To that I’d say, “Of course, dear reader. Haven’t you ever seen Evil Dead? The most terrifying scene involves trees (that are presumably both evil and dead).”

It is with great pleasure that I now show off vampiric vines.

Vampiric Vine

Vampiric vines are sentient clusters of black thorned vines that thirst for the blood of the living. When a plant dies as the result of necrotic magic and its seeds are scatter on desecrated ground, these vines grow forth and eventually uproot themselves and crawl out into the night in search of a drink.

Nocturnal Hunters. During the day, a tangle of vampiric vines stays in the desecrated dirt from which it sprung forth. At night, the undead plant crawls forth, looking for unsuspecting creatures and an easy meal before returning home. The vines leave the bodies of their drained victims behind, sometimes causing panic that a den of vampires is nearby, attacking the land at night.

Hidden in Plain Sight. Vampiric vines appear to be normal dead brush when at rest. If a victim wanders into a lair, the vine waits until it is within striking distance and then pounces.

Save Snacks for Later. Vampiric vines are surprisingly strong, and will sometimes drain enough blood from a victim to drop it unconscious and then drag the prey back to its lair for more feeding later. Sometimes vampiric vines will feed off a victim for days before drinking enough blood to kill it.

Want the Stats?

Get them in the PDF below or grab them anytime on the Free Game Resources page. These stats are in playtest mode, so I’d love any feedback you have for me!

Vampiric Vines

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Skeletal Dragons

General / D&D, D&D fifth edition, D&D Next, D&D5e, D&DBlog, DnD, DnDBlog, dragon, dungeons and dragons, Monster, monster creation, pdf, undead, world building, worldbuilding / 0 comments

February 9, 2017

dragon-1957809

Last week, I wrote about my desire to create more undead of varying challenge ratings. I need a ton of these rotting beasties for my world of Enora. Up next are skeletal dragons!

By the way, if you like these baddies, you might enjoy my zombie dragons available on the DMs Guild in the pay-what-you-want product Arachnids, Wraiths, and Zombies.

Dragon Skeletons

Animating the bones of a dragon is no small feat. A huge infusion of dark magic must be brought to bear to make the skeleton of an ancient wyrm rise. Even more power is required to maintain control over the bones. While such beasts are most often created by intentional rituals, if a dragon’s grave is desecrated, over the course of a century or more dark magic can seep into the bones. This causes the skeleton to rise and wreak havoc on the world of living for no reason other than it was not allowed to rest.

Not Your Average Skeleton. Dragon skeletons are more mentally capable than their boney counterparts. They can think critically and improvise. These undead sometimes lead other minions as a result.

Undead Nature. A dragon skeleton doesn’t require air, food, drink, or sleep.

Want the Stats?

Here you go. I put them into a nice little PDF for you:

Skeletal Dragons

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The Husk

General / D&D, D&D fifth edition, D&D Next, D&D5e, D&DBlog, DnD, DnDBlog, dungeons and dragons, Enora, Monster, monster creation, pdf, undead, world building, worldbuilding / 0 comments

February 2, 2017

Screen Shot 2015-03-11 at 12.24.28 PM

As I’ve said before, I’m starting to make some progress in my world of Enora, where undead rule the surface of the planet! There’s just one monster of a problem with this idea: the fifth edition Dungeons and Dragons Monster Manual has a serious Challenge Rating gap when it comes to undead. There’s a handful of Challenge 5 undead and then it jumps to 13 with the vampire. What’s a DM with a taste for rotting flesh to do when hankering for some good mid-level baddies (not to mention during the thinner highest levels of the game)? Time to put on the necromancer hat and make some new fifth edition undead!

Over the next few weeks, I’ll be revealing some of my creations and asking for your critiques and feedback. Let me know what you think! These critters are in playtest mode. First up is the husk.

Husks

Husks are the undead shell of a creature, animated skin and muscle of surprising strength that do the bidding of their creators. Many necromancers see these horrid creations as a two-for-one deal that does not waste a corpse’s fleshy parts after animating a skeleton. Husks are loyal to the wielders of dark magic who create them, but sometimes these undead rise of their own accord in places where mass murder occurs. Husks without a master desire only the death of other creatures.

Created by Power. Only the most powerful necromancers and most atrocious acts of murder can create a husk. The creatures require a massive amount of dark energy to move without a skeleton. Having a husk servant is a point of pride for evil spellcasters. The larger the husk, the more dangerous the master.

Insatiable Desire to Kill. Even husks who are bound to masters have a strong desire to murder any living creatures they come across. A husk’s master can feel this desire and only those necromancers with the strongest wills do not give into this temptation themselves. For many dark wizards giving into the temptation is not a problem at all.

Murder Victims Only. Husks can only be created from corpses that were murdered in cold blood. Many necromancers kidnap victims and murder them one at a time when they are learning the ritual required to create a husk. Husks that rise on their own usually do so in groups, and only in places of sorrow after a mass slaying has occurred. Beyond this requirement, any creature with skin and flesh may become a husk.

Size Matters. Most husks of a given size have the same abilities. A husk that was once a human and a husk that was once a panther are statistically the same, but they might move, smell, and sound very different from one another.

Undead Nature. A husk doesn’t require air, food, drink, or sleep.

Want the Stats?

Here you go. I put them into a nice little PDF for you:

Husks

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New DMs Guild Prodct – Arachnids, Wraiths, & Zombies

General / D&D, D&D fifth edition, D&D Next, D&D5e, DMs Guild, DnD, dungeons and dragons, Monster, monster creation, monsters, pdf, undead / 0 comments

March 9, 2016

My latest Pay What You Want product is up on the DMs Guild! Get Arachnids, Wraiths, & Zombies now to grab the following creatures originally created on this blog.

ArachnidsWraiths&Zombies_Introcaso_20160309_Cover

While you’re checking it out, feel free to also grab my other Pay What You Want products. Archons, Catastrophic Dragons, and Greater & Elder Elementals all update Dungeons and Dragons monsters of previous edition for fifth edition rules while 15 New Backgrounds gives you a bunch of new backgrounds as the title suggests plus a module for group backgrounds the whole party can share and a handful of new equipment including bombs! 20 New Traps gives you a bunch of new and updated classics to throw at your PCs. Finally 50 New Magic Items gives you just that plus 100 common rarity weapon properties, 100 common rarity wondrous items, and 100 cursed item properties.

Take a look and if you wish download for free. This is material I pledged when I created would always be available for free and I plan to stick to that promise. I’m always open to feedback, so leave me a comment, start a discussion on a product page, or leave me a review. Honestly at this point in my RPG career a free download with a good review are worth far more to me than cash.

If you like what you’re reading please follow me on Twitter, check out my podcasts, find my products on the DMs Guild, tell your friends about the blog, and/or leave me a comment and let me know you think. Thanks!

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Prison for Dragons Updated! Free Fifth Edition Adventure

Brass Tacks / Aberration, Adventure, D&D, D&D fifth edition, D&D Next, D&D5e, DnD, dragon, dungeons and dragons, pdf, undead, world building, worldbuilding / 4 comments

July 7, 2015

So I’ve been on vacation so I don’t have much new to share in today’s post.

Instead I’m giving you a new version of the Prison for Dragons adventure. I’ve had a lot of folks downloading and checking out the adventure and got some great feedback from folks. I’ve really changed two things…

I’ve added some space between the columns so the words don’t run together.
Someone on the EN World forums pointed out there might be a copyright issue with a specific term for undead dragons (it rhymes with “lacodrich”) which I have now changed to “undead dragon mage.”

Prison for Dragons is a fifth edition adventure for four to six level 12 PCs.

Below is a link to the updated version of the adventure in a nice, downloadable, FREE PDF. You can grab it in the link below or you can head on over to the Free Game Resources section of the site where it will live forever alongside plenty of other resources for your game like monsters, D&D fifth edition rules modules, backgrounds, spells, magic items, and more.

Prison for Dragons

Maps

I’ve got more links below of the individual dungeon maps, both with and without grids, for you to use however you like. Personally, I’ll be bringing them right into Roll20 as I play through with my group.

All these maps were made using Pyromancers‘ Dungeon Painter tool. I love it! So fast, easy, web-based and free!

All of these maps also live on the Free Game Resources section of this site.

Gridless

Shuzal 1 No Grid 57x66 Shuzal 3 No Grid 100x100 Shuzal 2 No Grid 131x63 Shuzal 4 No Grid 102x100

Gridded

Shuzal 1 Grid 57x66 Shuzal 3 Grid 100x100 Shuzal 2 Grid 131x63 Shuzal 4 Grid 102x100

Become a Patron!

If you like what you’re reading please consider supporting me on Patreon, supporting me on Ko-fi, follow me on Twitter, like World Builder Blog on Facebook, check out my podcasts, find my products on the DMs Guild, tell your friends about the blog, and/or leave me a comment and let me know you think. Thanks!

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