How can a character become an Undead under their own control, other than the Lich, Ghoul and Wight?

Question

I'm interested in how a character can become a corporeal undead with their own free will by the rules as written by using spells. Lich, Ghoul, and Wight already have clear methods for achievement, but I'm not sure if there are others.

How would one become any other form of (corporeal, free-willed) undead, outside of those three, going by the rules? I'm not interested in homebrew. Things I'm interested in are becoming e.g. a zombie, vampire, juju zombie, mummy, or even skeleton (though skeletons are further down my list).

I considered a few possibilities around having a contingency or chain contingency that would be triggered by your death. That's where I hit a road block though. I have thought of a few possibilities but I am not sure if they would work or not:

• Chain Contingency + Embalm + Animate Dead

• Contingency + Corpse Host

• Chain Contingency + Spirit Bind + Animate Dead

• Bestow Major Curse cast on self

---

I asked and nobody in our group will use Requiem or similar because it has undead as character classes.

Answer 1

There are some fluffy mechanics out there.

If you want spell formulas or potion recipes like the lich has, you are probably not gonna find them for the "lesser" undead. That said, the fluffy methods, while less defined, allow for several in story methods for a PC transitioning.

Best (most comprehensive) Source

The Requiem: The Grim Harvest boxed set for Ad&d 2e has a whole section on playing undead. The information starts on page 29 of the Requiem book. This includes a section titled From Life To Unlife. This section details the game mechanics to transition from a PC with levels to an undead PC.

With these rules one can play a:

• Zombie
• Ghoul
• Ghast
• Wight
• Mummy
• Vampire
• Lich
• Wraith
• Specter
• Shadow
• Ghost

An Article in Dragon Magazine #234 called Undead Again: More Undead PCs for the Requiem Campaign (pg 28) added 3 more to this list:

• Boneless
• Crawling Claw (dowhatnow? But I am not joshing, apparently they thought it was playable.)
• The Penanggalan (At least it has a head, Mr. Crawling Claw)

The next section details how you might advance in such classes as Skeleton or Zombie. It also covers dual classing in your new character class.

As far as in game methods to affect this transition, this supplement assumes it happens in a demiplane wide catastrophe, caused by an item cleverly titled the Doomsday Device. However, beginning on pg 70 there is an entire section on in game justifications about how and why a PC becomes undead.

Some (not all) justifications include:

• Sudden Death
• Dark Pacts
• Experimentation

As a note, the book also contains a section for undead character classes, to be used at character creation, as opposed to being "died" into this state. There is even a section on how you might return to life.

Other Possible Sources

The various Van Richten guides

These books often detailed giving levels to NPC undead, as well as detailing the specific mechanics on how to become a free-willed member of the undying. The fluff here can certainly be used with the rules above. And even though the rules a supposed to be for NPCs, they work with PCs as well. Unfortunately, except for the vampire, the guides focus on the big undead that you do not want to explore.

The Apocalypse Stone

This adventure contains details on how to make Death Knight PCs, including variations if you are not a warrior, like the death Warlock from transformed Wizards. (pg 93)

Reverse Dungeon

In the Lichland section (pg 63) Reverse Dungeon half-heartedly hints at how one might run Undead PCs. The main mechanic here is the use of HD advancement, which morphs into ELs in 3.x.

Simulating undead advancement is not necessary within the context of this adventure, since this is the last section. However, should DMs wish to continue playing a monster-oriented game after the conclusion of Reverse Dungeon, advancement options are possible

Answer 2

It's not clear from the question whether you mean this to be permanent. If not, Shape Change is the most powerful, flexible option, although as a ninth-level spell, may be inaccessible. The easiest way, potentially either temporary or permanent, is probably Magic Jar into a nearby undead of the desired type. Although even an unintelligent creature would eventually escape the receptacle, this can be made permanent by destroying the receptacle with the victim's life force inside. This is a plot point in the adventure published in Dungeon magazine, The Moor-Tomb Map (by Jon Bailey, issue #13, 1ed. AD&D).

Under first edition rules, undead are not explicitly exempted from being targets of a Magic Jar, meaning they are assumed to be valid targets. Second edition adds the ability of the caster to "determine whether a life force is positive or negative energy", which seems to be an ambiguous reference to undead. Notably, it does not exempt a life force from being a target if it is "negative energy".

Another option (in 2nd edition) is to become a Zombie Lord, if this creature is considered undead (see below). These are created through a fairly straightforward process, as described in the Complete Monstrous Manual:

The zombie lord comes into being by chance, and only under certain conditions. First, an evil human being (the soon-to-be zombie lord) must die at the hands of an unread creature. Second, an attempt to raise the slain character must be made. Third, and last, the character must fail his resurrection survival roll. It is believed that the zombie lord can be created only in Ravenloft, but this is not proven absolutely for they have been encountered in other lands from time to time.

Zombie Lords are powerful, reasonably intelligent, independent, and from the description, have a continuity of identity with their former selves. There seems to be some ambiguity about whether they are actually undead, despite the name. From the description:

The zombie lord is a living creature that has taken on the foul powers and abilities of the undead.

So, they're only Pseudo Undead? Maybe not. A different printing of the 2nd Edition Monstrous Manual as one type of several under the general Zombie entry and specifies that they are turned as vampires. It also replaces the general assumption of the Ravenloft setting with the additional condition:

Fourth and last, a deity of evil must show "favor" to the deceased, and curse him or her with the "gift of eternal life."