Spectre
Climate/Terrain:
| Desolate dungeons and ruins |
|
Frequency:
| Rare
|
Organization:
| Solitary
|
Activity Cycle:
| Darkness and night
|
Diet:
| Nil
|
Intelligence:
| High (13-14)
|
Treasure:
| Q(x3), X, Y
|
Alignment:
| Lawful evil
|
No. Appearing:
| 1-6
|
Armor Class:
| 2
|
Movement:
| 15, Fl 30 (B)
|
Hit Dice:
| 7+3
|
THAC0:
| 13
|
No. of Attacks:
| 1
|
Damage/Attack:
| 1-8
|
Special Attacks:
| Energy drain
|
Special Defenses:
| +1 or better weapon to hit
|
Magic Resistance:
| See below
|
Size:
| M (6' tall)
|
Morale:
| Champion (15)
|
XP Value:
| 3,000
|
Spectres are powerful undead that haunt the most desolate and deserted of
places. They hate all life and light.
Spectres appear as semitransparent beings and are often mistaken for haunts or
ghosts. Unlike most undead, spectres retain the semblance and manner of dress
of their former life and can be recognized by old friends or through paintings
of the persons they used to be.
Combat: Spectres exist primarily on the Negative Material Plane and can therefore be
attacked by beings on the Prime Material Plane only with magical weapons.
Daylight makes spectres powerless by weakening their ties to the Negative Material
Plane.
The chilling touch of a spectre drains energy from living creatures. A
successful attack inflicts 1-8 points of damage and drains two life energy levels from
the victim. Any being totally drained of life energy by a spectre becomes a
full-strength spectre under the control of the spectre which drained him. The
victim loses all control of his personality and may become more or less powerful
than before, depending on his level and class before becoming a spectre.
Spectres are immune to all
sleep, charm, hold, and cold-based spells, as well as poisons and paralyzation attacks. Holy
water inflicts 2-8 points of damage when it strikes a spectre. The water can be
splashed on a spectre successfully. A
raise dead spell apparently reverses the undead status, destroying the spectre
immediately if a saving throw versus spell is failed.
Habitat/Society: Most spectres are solitary, but some enclaves exist where a particularly
powerful or lucky spectre has managed to drain mortals of life. This lead spectre is
known as the master spectre (always with maximum hit points per die), while
the others are known collectively as the followers. In this arrangement, the
master spectre almost never engages enemies personally, but instead sends his
minions in for the kill. Mortals drained of life by follower spectres are
subservient to the master spectre, not the followers. Note that if the master spectre is
slain, all followers become independent and can travel anywhere they wish in
hopes of becoming master spectres themselves. Once a character becomes a spectre,
recovery is nearly impossible, requiring a special quest.
Spectres hate light and all life, as both remind them of their undead
existence. They are therefore encountered only in places of extreme darkness and
desolation, like long-abandoned ruins, dungeons, and subterranean sewers.
Contrary to popular mythology, spectres remain highly intelligent and
generally rational after the transformation to undeath. Life makes them lament their
unlife, and they bear a strong hatred for all those lucky enough to live and
truly die.
Spectres have enough cunning to plan their attacks, and rival vampires in
their skill at remaining hidden from the general populace.
Ecology: No one knows who the first spectre was or how it came to be; the few facts
detailed above are all that is known with any degree of certainty.