So a looong time ago, I started converting monsters before I
started posting them on my blog. In a
conversation with Daniel Bishop and his take on the Coffer Corpse that he just posted recently, I recalled I had done my own
version, which I decided to call the Restless Soul, which is a few different
undead all wrapped into one.
The idea of a ‘defeated’ undead jumping back up is a great
idea, but like a lot Old School monsters, there’s a lot of one shot deceptions
that don’t work a second time – but creating a fear/morale check solves
that. Choking attack, add in a ‘suck the
warm lifeforce out of nearby folks’ ability, and voila!
Also, one of the memorable moments from my game involved my players encountering this monster in a random
encounter that ‘wandered by their camp, and was so cold, wanting to just sit by
the fire’ … freaked them all out, nearly killed the 2nd level party
en masse, and was eventually stopped with holy water. I may have increased the paranoia of my
players from that.
Thoughts, ideas, uses of this monstrosity in your game? Drop me a line at archadethered@gmail.com.
A restless soul is an emaciated un-dead
that slain traveler who has suffered an unfortunate fate in the wilds, and
their spirit causes their corpse to wander paths and roadways, seeking the
warmth of living bodies.
At a distance, a restless soul appears as
a cloaked traveler, wearing mud-stained and tattered clothing. To the causal eye they may be mistaken as
living until they approach.
Restless
Soul: Init -1; Atk slam +5 melee (1d6+2); AC 12; HD 4d12 (26
hp); MV 25’; Act 2d20; SP un-dead, choking grasp (1d10 damage), darkvision 100
ft, feed on living souls, risen from the dead, immunity to non-magical weapons;
SV Fort +4, Ref +1, Will +2; AL C.
If both
melee attacks result in a hit against the same target, the un-dead wraps both
hands around their opponent’s neck, choking them in subsequent rounds with
automatic hits, but it cannot use its actions to make further melee attacks
while doing so.
While near
living creatures, they leech warmth and life from the air – nothing dramatic,
just a few degrees drop in temperature, and a sense of misplaced unease. That is how they feed their hunger. If provoked, they can increase their pull on
the souls of the living, causing nausea and chills. The restless soul can take an action on its
turn to feed on all souls within 30’, causing 1d6 cold damage unless a DC 12
Fortitude save is successfully made.
Restless
souls are un-dead, and thus can be turned by clerics. They do not eat, drink or breathe. As un-dead, they are immune to sleep, charm
and hold spells, as well as other mental effects and cold damage.
This
unquiet corpse can only truly be slain by magical weapons or spells – if it
appears to be damaged by non magical weapons, and If a restless soul suffers 10
or more points of damage in one strike (magical or not), or are reduced to “0
hp” by mundane weapons, they fall motionless to the ground, but 1d3 rounds
later they rise again with full hit points and unharmed. Any witnessing a rising restless soul must
make a DC 12 Will save or be shaken (-2d to all checks, attacks and saves for
1d3 turns (10-30 minutes).
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