Wraith
Climate/Terrain:
| Any
|
|
Frequency:
| Uncommon
|
Organization:
| Pack
|
Activity Cycle:
| Night
|
Diet:
| Special
|
Intelligence:
| Very (11-12)
|
Treasure:
| E
|
Alignment:
| Lawful evil
|
No. Appearing:
| 2-12 (2d6)
|
Armor Class:
| 4
|
Movement:
| 12, Fl 24 (B)
|
Hit Dice:
| 5+3
|
THAC0:
| 15
|
No. of Attacks:
| 1
|
Damage/Attack:
| 1-6
|
Special Attacks:
| Energy drain
|
Special Defenses:
| Hit only by silver or +1 or better magical weapon
|
Magic Resistance:
| Nil
|
Size:
| M (6' tall)
|
Morale:
| Champion (15)
|
XP Value:
| 2,000
|
The wraith is an evil undead spirit of a powerful human that seeks to absorb
human life energy.
These horrible creatures are usually seen as black, vaguely man-shaped clouds.
They have no true substance, but tend to shape themselves with two upper
limbs, a torso, and a head with two glowing red eyes. This shape is a convenience
born from the habit of once having a human body.
Combat: The touch of a wraith does damage in two ways. First, the chilling effect of
the touch inflicts 1-6 points of damage, even to creatures immune to cold.
Second, such a hit drains a level of experience from its victim. This includes hit
points and all abilities associated with that level, such as spell casting or
combat ability. The damage from the chill can be healed normally, but the
experience points are gone forever and must be earned again or magically
restored.
Wraiths are immune to normal weapons. An attack with such a weapon merely
passes through its body with no effect. Silver weapons cause only half normal
damage. Magical weapons inflict their full damage, causing a black vapor to boil
away from the body of the wraith. A wraith slowly regains its full hit points if
left alone for at least a week (recovering one point every eight hours). Like
most undead, wraiths are immune to
sleep, charm, hold, death and cold-based spells. They are immune to poison and paralyzation. A vial of
holy water causes 2-8 points of damage (as acid) upon striking the body of a
wraith. A
raise dead spell will utterly destroy one if a saving throw vs. spell is failed.
Wraiths attack humans or demihumans in preference to other creatures. However,
animals will sense their presence within 30 feet and refuse to advance
further, panicking if forced. A pack of wraiths will try to get surprise when
attacking, and will wait and position themselves for the most advantageous moment to
attack. Wraiths are very intelligent and tend to cluster around the weaker
members, or stragglers, when attacking. Any human killed by a wraith becomes a
half-strength wraith under its control (e.g., a 10th-level fighter will become a 5
Hit Die wraith under the control of the wraith that slew him).
This foul creature has no power in direct sunlight and will flee from it.
Sunlight cannot destroy the wraith, but the undead creature cannot attack in
sunlight. It shuns bright (e.g.,
continual) light sources in general, but will occasionally attack if the compulsion to
do so is strong.
Habitat/Society: A wraith is an undead spirit of a powerful, evil human. As such, it is usually
found in tombs or places where such men and women would have died. Since such
men and women are frequently buried together, in the case of the wealthy, or
with their families, wraiths are most commonly encountered in packs. Those that
died or were buried alone might still be encountered in packs, because a human
who dies from the touch of a wraith becomes a wraith under the sway of its
slayer. The treasure of the wraith is usually its possessions in life, now buried
with it, or those of its victims. Wraiths exist only to perpetuate evil by
absorbing the life force of as many people as possible. A character who becomes a
wraith is nearly impossible to recover, requiring a special quest.
The wraith cannot communicate, except through a
speak with dead spell. They do not even seem to communicate with each other, except as master
to slave for combat strategy. Any attempt to speak to a wraith is met with
scorn, unless by a very powerful party. In that case, the wraith desires only to
flee. Wraiths can be dominated by powerful evil creatures, particularly other
undead, priests, and wizards, and made to serve their will.
Ecology: The wraith has no proper niche, serving no useful purpose in nature and
providing no byproducts that others can use. It requires no nourishment, killing only
for the sheer hatred of life. All creatures close to nature will shun the
presence of a wraith. It exists more in the Negative Material Plane than in the
Prime Material Plane, and thus is not a natural part of this world.