The Angry Dead
It’s Spiritualist Week here at Necromancers of the Northwest, and spiritualists go hand-in-hand with phantoms, their not-technically-undead spirit companions who are closely tied to a single emotion. That got me thinking about what it might be like if other spirits were similarly emotional, which eventually led to the following template for undead creatures: the angry dead.
Creating an Angry Dead
“Angry dead” is an inherited template that can be added to any undead creature. An angry dead retains all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here.
Challenge Rating: Same as the base creature +1.
Speed: An angry dead’s base land speed increases by 10 feet. If it does not have a land speed (such as incorporeal undead), one of its other movement speeds is increased by 10 feet, instead.
Special Attacks: An angry dead retains all the special attacks of the base creature, and also gains the following special attacks.
Intimidating Strike (Ex): An angry dead strikes its foes with incredible force and savagery, the terror of which can often defeat foes even before the lethal blow is struck. Whenever the angry dead damages a creature, it can make an Intimidate check as a free action against the damaged creature to demoralize him. Additionally, whenever the angry dead kills a living creature with a melee attack, it can make an Intimidate check as a free action against a living creature within 30 feet, to attempt to demoralize him. In either case, the angry dead cannot make more than one Intimidate check as a free action against any given creature in this way in a 24-hour period.
Vengeful Strike (Ex): Once per round, when an angry dead is damaged by a melee attack, it can expend its attack of opportunity for the round to make a single melee attack against the creature that damaged it.
Special Qualities: An angry dead gains the following special qualities.
Overwhelming Rage (Ex): Each round, if the angry dead has been damaged by a creature since the beginning of its last turn, it must attack the creature that damaged it, if possible. If more than one creature damaged the angry dead since the beginning of its last turn, it can choose which of those creatures to attack, though it must attack one of them if able. The angry dead can attempt a Will save (DC 10 + 1/2 the angry dead’s Hit Dice + 1 for every 5 points of damage it suffered since the beginning of its last turn) to ignore this requirement. If it attempts this saving throw and fails, it must use Power Attack when attacking this round.
If the angry dead used to be a living creature, it can automatically recognize the creature that killed it, if any, on sight, even if it was not aware of who killed it when it died. If the angry dead can see its killer, it must attack its killer, if able, even if it was damaged by another creature since the beginning of its last turn. The angry dead can resist this compulsion with a successful Will save, as well, but the DC is 25. Regardless of whether it succeeds on its Will save or not, the angry dead always gains a +4 bonus on attack and damage rolls made against its killer.
Abilities: Str +4, Dex -4.
Skills: Angry dead gain a +8 racial bonus on Intimidate checks.
Feats: Angry dead gain Weapon Specialization as a bonus feat for each of their natural attacks, and any manufactured weapon mentioned in its entry, even if it doesn’t meet the prerequisites. It also gains Power Attack as a bonus feat, even if it doesn’t meet the prerequisites.