Monster Mondays began as a series of posts inspired by James Jacobs’ 10 goblin facts written for Pathfinder. Now, I’m creating new lore, encounters, unique NPCs and more for creatures in the Monster Manual. The goal is to provide habits, scene-setting tools, encounter hooks, and more variety, especially for monsters that don’t get quite as much love as dragons, beholders, mind flayers, and liches. For the month of October, I’m focusing my attention on the undead.
I’m kicking off October, the Month of the Living Dead, with the wraith. The Monster Manual describes wraiths as living voids, spirits that collapsed in on themselves upon death due to the colossal weight of their evil deeds. I tried to stay within those parameters, but when I think wraith, I think about the Ringwraiths and the Barrow-wights of Lord of the Rings.
Consequently, the Monster Manual wraith just lacked a certain something for me. Death knights certainly occupy a Ringwraith-like space, but I liked the wraith and wanted to build on it instead. (I did end up cribbing some notes from the death knight, though.) Once I got my beefed up wraith designed, I also felt there was space at the opposite end of the spectrum for a weakened wraith.
I’m pretty satisfied with how both of these came out. I was going to give the wraith lord a frightening presence, but by the time I got through with its undead-control abilities, the statblock seemed pretty sufficient. I think the diminished wraith manages to stand apart from specters and shadows just enough to justify its existence.
Wraiths
Incarnations of cruelty and malice, wraiths are potent undead. Life abhors their presence, and the wraith returns that enmity. Wraiths are the doomed remnants of mortals that wallowed in profound evil. Their personal histories are fading shadows to them.
Undead Nature. A wraith doesn’t require air, food, drink, or sleep.
Diminished Wraith
Even undeath is a temporary matter. For some wraiths, the end comes at the hands of adventurers, but others erode, evaporate. Slowly but surely, the power of the wraith is broken, and its negative energy dissipates.
Fleeting Servants. Though the wraith might once have commanded legions, its hold over the undead is waning. Even the specters it torments into being are fewer and doomed to die alongside the diminished wraith.
Wraith Lord
Most of those condemned to haunt the land as wraiths have little memory or concern for their past lives, but this is not true for wraith lords.
Foul Personalities. Wraith lords are the remnants of the wicked and strong-willed. They retain much of the personality and memory of their living selves alongside some of their abilities. A wraith lord need not have been a fearsome warrior or potent mage. Even the lowliest murderer can descend into undeath as a wraith lord if their will is strong enough.
Deathly Determination. Wraith lords may linger near their homes, pursuing the same goals they did in life. The wraith of a miser might dwell over her fortune, protecting it from thieves and heirs alike.
Nocturnal Illusion. By night, wraith lords can take on the guise of their living forms. Though the illusion is imperfect, it is enough to deceive the unwary. However, the light of the sun is enough to burn away the facade, revealing the horrible truth.
Wraith NPCs
Spiculus
Wraith Lord
In life, Spiculus was a bloodthirsty gladiator, assassinated in his sleep at the peak of his fame and wealth. In death, he is a general in service to a lich. His undead army captures would be heroes and pits them against unbeatable odds for the entertainment of the gladiator.
Rumor. Some believe that Spiculus is still bound by honor and pride to accept any one-on-one challenge.
Lair. Spiculus dwells in the ruins of a grandiose gladiatorial arena. Among the undead that serve him are the remains of many of his former opponents.
Loot. 7,000 gp in coins, 8 art objects worth 250 gp each, and a set of dragon scale mail.
Queen Marl
Wraith
Queen Marl was a cruel and miserly monarch, and the children she doted on followed readily in her footsteps. When old age and disease finally brought her reign to an end, her wraith rose to haunt the halls of her castle. Eventually, she was driven off by the work of clerics, and now she plots revenge against her own descendants, barely remembering the ties that bind them but certain the castle should be hers.
Rumor. Queen Marl is said to have shown a soft spot for children, and she seems to avoid harming small children or expecting mothers.
Lair. Queen Marl has taken up residence in her family’s ancestral crypt. Several of her descendants now serve her as specters.
Loot. 3,800 gp in coins, 5 art objects worth 25 gp each, an alchemy jug, and a set of mithral armor.
The Emperor of Ash
Diminished Wraith
The Emperor of Ash is so ancient that their mortal past is totally forgotten. Indeed, tales of the Emperor are as old as the kingdoms around their territory. Old legends describe a fearsome general of the undead, but more modern stories make them out to be little more than a traveler’s boogeyman.
Rumor. Travelers that pass through the Emperor’s lands say that leaving a small offering of food or coin at an old standing stone is enough to appease the spirit.
Lair. The Emperor haunts a densely wooded valley from a den beneath a hill.
Loot. 175 gp in coins, 7 gems worth 10 gp each, a driftglobe, and two potions of healing.
That’s all for now. Catch the diminished wraith’s statblock on GM Binder. Until next time!
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