- Arachnoid Creature
[ City of the Spider Queen p.124-25 ]
[ The Underdark p.80-2 ]
Arachnoid creatures are unholy crossbreeds of spiders and other creatures. Most often, it is the drow who create such monstrosities. Arachnoid creatures are characterized by thick, black hair growing in rough clumps around their hides, large multifaceted eyes, and mandibles dripping with poison.
This is an inherited template that can be added to any Animal, Beast, or Magical Beast.
- Blightspawned
[ Unapproachable East p.59-60 ]
Tainted by the corruption seeping through the dark Rawlinswood, a blightspawned creature is a perversion of nature. Sustained by the power of decay rotting their black hearts, the blightspawned loathe anything clean and whole.
This is an acquired template that may be added to any Animal, Beast, or Plant.
- Blooded One
[ Unapproachable East p.60-1 ]
Over the centuries, the evil masterminds of the Red Wizards have continuously pressed their finest researchers to breed for them a race of ultimate warriors, violent but intelligent and loyal to Thay. Failing in that, they turned to altering the young of existing races through a vile process. Thus were the Blooded Ones born.
This is an acquired template that may be added to any Humanoid.
- Bone Creature
[ Book of Vile Darkness p.184-85 ]
Sometimes creatures that rise as undead skeletons retain their intellect and abilities, fighting or casting spells with the same skill they had in life.
Bone creatures cannot be the result of a simple Animate Dead spell, but could arise from a Create Undead or Create Greater Undead spell.
This is an acquired template that can be added to and non-undead, corporeal creature that has a skeletal system.
- Captured One
[ Monster Manual II p.204-6 ]
- Celestial Creature
[ Monster Manual ]
[ Monster Manual v3.5 p.31 ]
Celestial creatures dwell on the Upper Planes, the realms of good, although they resemble beings found on the Material Plane. They are more regal and more beautiful than their earthly counterparts.
This is an inherited template that can be added to any corporeal Aberration, Animal, Dragon, Fey, Giant, Humanoid, Magical Beast, Monstrous Humanoid, Plant, or Vermin of good or neutral alignment.
- Chameleon Creature
[ The Underdark p.82-4 ]
Chameleon creatures are the results of forced crossbreeding experiments involving chameleons and other creatures. A chameleon creature has skin that alters its color to match the surrounding environment and a long tongue with which it can make touch attacks.
This is an inherited template that may be added to any corporeal creature except a Construct, Undead, or Elemental.
- Chimeric Creature
[ Monster Manual II p.206-7 ]
- Chosen of Bane
[ Faiths and Pantheons p.213 ]
- Corpse Creature
[ Book of Vile Darkness p.185 ]
Not all corpses raised as undead are shambling, slow-moving zombies. Some retain their intellect and abilities. Surrounded by the stench of death, the flesh of these creatures hardens and becomes brittle but retains great strength.
Bone creatures cannot be the result of a simple Animate Dead spell, but could arise from a Create Undead or Create Greater Undead spell.
This is an acquired template that can be added to and non-undead, corporeal creature that has a skeletal system.
- Corrupted Creature
[ Book of Vile Darkness p.186 ]
Powerful evil, unchecked and rampant, can horribly alter any aspect of the physical world, and these creatures are no exception. Twisted by malevolence, corrupted creatures take on a hideous appearance and gain evil powers and dire intent.
This is an acquired template that can be added to any corporeal creature that is not an Outsider.
- Crypt Spawn
[ Magic of Faerun p.184-85 ]
- Curst
[ Monsters of Faerun p.87-8 ]
- Death Knight
[ Dragon Magazine #290, p.103-4 ]
[ Monster Manual II p.207-9 ]
- Demilich
[ Epic Level Handbook p.175-77 ]
Demiliches are wiser, older, and far deadlier counterparts to their lesser cousins, created when a particularly powerful lich learns the dark rituals and secrets of fashioning soul gems to increase its power.
This is an acquired template that can be added to any lich.
- Draconic
[ Forgotten Realms p.310-12 ]
- Dread Warrior
[ Monsters of Faerun ]
[ Unapproachable East p.62 ]
Called forth to serve in undeath through foul necromantic magic, dread warriors are undead beings usually created from the corpses of skilled warriors. They retain many of the martial skills and talents they possessed in life, but are compelled to serve their creature with unquestioning obedience.
This is an acquired template that may be added to any Humanoid of at least three hit dice or levels.
- Dream Element Creature
[ Dragon Magazine #287, p.34 ]
- Faerzress-Infused Creature
[ The Underdark p.86-7 ]
A faerzress-infused creature is one that has been magically altered to harness the power of the Underdark's pervasive magical radiation. Faerzress-infused creatures are sometimes deliberately created by the experimentation of Underdark races such as drow, mind flayers, or phaerimm’s, but creatures that simply dwell in areas of powerful faerzress are sometimes born with this template.
This is an inherited or acquired template that may be added to any corporeal creature.
- Feral Creature
[ Savage Species p.115-16 ]
Feral creatures were once civilized, but have now sunk into a primitive, barbarous state. Feral creatures appear larger, tougher, and meaner than their more sophisticated cousins, their nature often times betrayed by obvious signs such as pronounced fangs and claws.
This is an inherited template that can be added to any corporeal Humanoid or Monstrous Humanoid.
- Fiendish Creature
[ Monster Manual ]
[ Monster Manual v3.5 p.107-8]
Fiendish creatures dwell on the Lower Planes, the realms of evil, although they resemble beings found on the Material Plane. They are more fearsome than their earthly counterparts.
This is an inherited template that can be added to any corporeal Aberration, Animal, Dragon, Fey, Giant, Humanoid, Magical Beast, Monstrous Humanoid, Ooze, Plant, or Vermin of evil or neutral alignment.
- Fire-Souled Creature
[ Dragon Magazine #314 p.22-3 ]
Fire-souled creatures have been touched by the essence of passion as embodied by fire. These individuals are driven by some goal or pursuit to the point of obsession, and the infectious nature of their vision means they often wind up with devoted followers.
- Gelatinous Creature
[ Savage Species p.116-18 ]
Perverted magic is the only explanation for these bizarre blends with characteristics of oozes. Translucent and unstable in form, gelatinous creatures benefit from oozes' distinct strengths--but also some of their drawbacks.
This is an inherited template that can be added to any living creature except an Ooze.
- Ghost
[ Monster Manual p.212-13 ]
[ Monsters of Faerun p.88-9 ]
[ Monster Manual v3.5 p.116-8 ]
Ghosts are the spectral remnants of intelligent beings that, for some reason or another, cannot rest easily in their graves.
This is an acquired template that can be added to any Aberration, Animal, Dragon, Giant, Humanoid, Magical Beast, Monstrous Humanoid, or Plant.
- Ghost Brute
[ Dragon Magazine #300, p.74-5 ]
[ Savage Species p.118-20 ]
Ghost brutes are the spectral remnants of animals, magical beasts, and sentient plants--creatures without the minimum Charisma needed to be normal ghosts. They drift aimlessly, haunting the places where they died and groaning in endless misery.
This is an acquired template that can be added to any Animal, Magical Beast, or Plant with a Charisma score below 8.
- Half-Celestial
[ Monster Manual p.213-14 ]
[ Monster Manual v3.5 p.144-46 ]
A celestial's magical nature allows it to breed with virtually any creature. The offspring of resulting unions, half-celestials, are glorious and wonderful beings.
This is an inherited template that can be added to any living, corporeal creature with an Intelligence score of 4 or higher and non-evil alignment.
- Half-Dragon
[ Monster Manual p.214-15 ]
[ Monster Manual v3.5 p.146-47 ]
A dragon's magical nature allows it to breed with virtually any creature. Conception usually occurs while the dragon has changed its shape; it then abandons the crossbreed offspring. Half-dragon creatures are always more formidable than others of their kind that do not have dragon blood, and their appearance betrays their nature--scales, elongated features, reptilian eyes, and exaggerated teeth and claws are the norm. Sometimes they even have wings.
This is an inherited template that can be added to any living, corporeal creature.
- Half-Dragon, Faerunian
[ City of the Spider Queen p.126 ]
- Half-Fey
[ Fiend Folio p.89-90 ]
The magical nature of Fey allows them to crossbreed with virtually any other creature. The offspring of resulting unions, half-fey, are enigmatic and free-spirited beings.
This in an inherited template that can be added to any corporeal living creature.
- Half-Fiend
[ Monster Manual ]
[ Monster Manual v3.5 p.147-49 ]
A fiend's magical nature allows it to breed with virtually any creature. Spawned deep in the dark, nether planes, these fiendish offspring are abominations that plague mortal creatures.
This is an inherited template that can be added to any living, corporeal creature with an Intelligence score of 4 or higher.
- Half-Golem
[ Monster Manual II p.209-12 ]
- Half-Illithid
[ Fiend Folio p.90-2 ]
[ The Underdark p.89-91 ]
Half-illithids are the progeny of mind flayers and various other creatures. Most often, such progeny are formed through magical tampering with the reproductive process of the host creature, or through the illithid mating process known as ceremorphosis.
This is an inherited template that may be added to any corporeal creature that is not a Construct and not Human (humans put through the ceremorphosis process breed true illithids).
- Half-Troll
[ Fiend Folio p.93-4 ]
Trolls, as a rule, breed only with those of their own kind. But from time to time, a troll in rut finds itself without a mate. At such times, many trolls wander into the territories of other creatures in a blind state of lust. Half-trolls are often the result of such a foray's aftermath.
This in an inherited template that can be added to any Animal, Dragon, Fey, Giant, Humanoid, Magical Beast, Monstrous Humanoid, or Outsider.
- Huecuva
[ Dungeon Magazine #92, p.38-9 ]
[ Fiend Folio p.94-5 ]
Heucuvas are undead creatures created from clerics, druids, paladins, or monks who have failed in their vows. As punishment for their heresies, they are doomed to undeath.
This in an acquired template that can be added to any Humanoid.
- Incarnate Construct
[ Savage Species p.120-21 ]
An incarnate construct is a construct creature that has been given actual life and a living body by the Incarnate Construct spell.
This is an acquired template that can be applied to any Construct creature with a generally humanoid form.
- Insectile Creature
[ Savage Species p.121-22 ]
Insectile creatures possess the multiple limbs and eyes of vermin, as well as the hard, chitinous shells shared by many vermin. Despite their alien appearance, insectile creatures are often welcome among other races because of their industrious nature.
This is an inherited template that can be added to any Giant, Humanoid, or Monstrous Humanoid.
- Juju Zombie
[ Unapproachable East p.66-7 ]
Animated by a particularly hateful brand of necromancy, juju zombies are malicious creatures enslaved by the mighty spells that created them. Armed with powerful abilities, juju zombies are far superior to the mindless, shambling corpses that most adventurers think of when they hear the word 'zombie'.
This is an acquired template that may be added to any formerly living corporeal creature with an Intelligence score of at least 1.
- Keening Spirit
[ City of the Spider Queen p.126-7 ]
- Lich
[ Monster Manual p. 216-17 ]
[ Monsters of Faerun p.89-90 ]
[ Monster Manual v3.5 p.166-68 ]
A lich is an undead spell caster, usually a wizard or sorcerer, but sometimes a cleric or other spell caster, who has used its magical powers and dark rituals to unnaturally extend its life.
This is an acquired template that can be added to any Humanoid creature, provided it can create the required phylactery. (Liches of other kinds of creatures exist, such as dragons, but they have their own, separate templates).
- Lycanthrope
[ Monster Manual p.217-19 ]
[ Monsters of Faerun p.91 ]
[ Monster Manual v3.5 p.170-79 ]
Lycanthropes are humanoids or giants who can transform themselves into animals, or even hybrids of animal and humanoid.
These are acquired or inherited templates that can be added to any Humanoid or Giant.
- Werebat
[ Monsters of Faerun p.91-2 ]
- Werebear
[ Monster Manual p.219-20 ]
- Wereboar
[ Monster Manual p.219-20 ]
- Werecrocodile
[ Monsters of Faerun p.92 ]
- Wererat
[ Monster Manual p.219-20 ]
- Wereshark
[ Monsters of Faerun p.92 ]
- Weretiger
[ Monster Manual p.220-21 ]
- Werewolf
[ Monster Manual p.220-21 ]
- Werewolf Lord
[ Monster Manual v3.5 ]
- Masked Traitor [ House Rules version ]
- Mineral Warrior
[ The Underdark p.96-7 ]
A mineral warrior is a creature that has undergone a transformation into a creature of living stone. Many creatures embrace this change willingly, but evil Underdark races sometimes force it on others.
This is an acquired template that may be added to any corporeal creature that is not a Construct, Undead, or an Elemental.
- Monster of Legend
[ Monster Manual II p.213-14 ]
- Monstrous Beast
[ Savage Species p.122-24 ]
Strange creatures wander the world, the byproducts of weird experimentation, natural calamity, or twisted couplings. A monstrous beast is an otherwise normal creature that has gained a monstrous ability.
This is an inherited template that can be added to any Animal or Vermin.
- Multiheaded Creature
[ Savage Species p.124-26 ]
Be they freaks of nature, the results of arcane experimentation, or simply new races, some creatures have more heads than the common examples of their kind. Many multiheaded creatures are actually crossbreeds with some level of hydra blood magically infused into them. All multi-headed creatures are more powerful and dangerous than similar creatures with fewer heads, and many become local legends.
This is an inherited template that can be added to any corporeal creature that has a discernable head.
- Mummified Creature
[ Savage Species p.126-28 ]
Mummies are undead creatures, embalmed using ancient necromantic lore.
This is an acquired template that can be added to any corporeal Animal, Giant, or Humanoid.
- Mummy
[ Dragon Magazine #300, p.72-3 ]
- Nether Creature
[ Dragon Magazine #297, p.105-6 ]
- Orglash
[ Unapproachable East p.68-70 ]
An orglash, or ice spirit, is a kind of air elemental native to the colder parts of Rashemen. Alien and unpredictable, they are viewed as a mixed blessing by the Rashemi people, for despite their occasional danger to travelers, they have helped defend the land against the Red Wizards for hundreds of years.
This is an acquired or inherited template that may be added to any Elemental creature with the Air subtype.
- Paragon
[ Epic Level Handbook p.209-10 ]
Paragons are to standard creatures of their type what gods are to most creatures. They represent the most powerful specimens of their respective race.
This is an inherited template that can be added to any creature.
- Pseudonatural
[ Epic Level Handbook p.212-13 ]
Pseudonatural creatures are the offspring of alien protoplasm which originates in a realm far beyond the known universe and a variety of lesser beings.
This is an inherited template that can be added to any corporeal creature other than a Construct or Undead.
- Reptilian Creature
[ Savage Species p.128-29]
Reptilians are scaly, tailed folk often found near bodies of water. Folk tales suggest that in ancient times, dragons created them as servitor races. Some reptilian creatures still serve dragons, some worship them, and many others are independent. Reptilians can be found in all but the coldest climates. Their societies and cultures range from primitive to equal with humans.
This is an inherited template that can be added to any Humanoid, Monstrous Humanoid, or Giant.
- Revenant
[ Monsters of Faerun p.93-4 ]
- Sacred Watcher
[ Book of Exalted Good p.182-84 ]
- Saint
[ Book of Exalted Good p.184-86 ]
- Sanctified Creature
[ Book of Exalted Good p.186-87 ]
- Shade
[ Forgotten Realms p.314-15 ]
- Shadow-Walker
[ Unapproachable East p.70-1 ]
Shadow-walkers are people who have experienced a magical ritual of the god Mask that attunes a person's body to shadow. Similar to Shades, they gain powers in shadow and darkness.
This is an acquired template that may be added to any Humanoid.
- Silveraith
[ City of the Spider Queen p.127-28 ]
- Skeleton
[ D&D site ]
[ Monster Manual v3.5 p.225-27 ]
Skeletons are the animated bones of the dead, mindless automatons that obey the orders of their evils masters and creators.
This is an acquired template that can be added to any corporeal creature (other than an Undead) that has a skeletal system.
- Spectral Creature
[ Savage Species p.129-31]
Spectral creatures are incorporeal undead often mistaken for ghosts or other such horrors. They haunt the places where they died, retaining their sentience but hating all living beings.
This is an acquired template that can be added to any Aberration, Animal, Dragon, Giant, Humanoid, Magical Beast, or Monstrous Humanoid. The creature must also have a Charisma score of at least 8.
- Spectral Mage
[ Magic of Faerun p.189-190 ]
- Spellstitched
[ Monster Manual II p.215-16 ]
- Symbiotic Creature
[ Savage Species p.131-32 ]
A symbiotic relationship is a sort of benign parasitism, where both host and 'guest' enjoy mutual benefits. The most successful partnerships bond the two creatures so tightly that they become virtually one.
This is an acquired template that can be added to any two living creatures of the following types: Animal, Humanoid, Plant, or Vermin. The two creatures need not be the same type. One (the guest) must be at least two size categories smaller than the other (the host).
- Tauric Creature
[ Monster Manual II p.216-17 ]
[ Savage Species p.132-33 ]
A tauric creature is a hybrid being, possessing the head, arms, and upper torso of a humanoid, and the legs and lower body of an animal, magical beast, or vermin. Some are created as the result of magical experiments or as divine punishment for failing their deities. Tauric creatures of the same kind form a unique race with its own culture, language, and religion, breeding true with each other for countless generations.
Tauric creatures are not to be confused with two-legged humanoid/creature hybrids such as the Minotaur or satyr, which have different traits from their apparent component creatures.
This is an acquired or inherited template that combines two creatures into one hybrid creature. The template can be added to any corporeal Humanoid or Monstrous Humanoid of Small or Medium size, and any Medium or Large size corporeal Animal, Magical Beast, or Vermin with at least four legs.
- Telthor
[ Unapproachable East p.74-5 ]
Telthors are spirit animals or people native to Rashemen, particularly those who died defending the land. Incorporeal and ghostly, they are still formidable opponents.
This is an acquired template that may be added to any Animal or Humanoid.
- Titanic
[ Monster Manual II p.217-18 ]
- Umbral Creature
[ Savage Species p.134-35 ]
Umbral creatures are, like shadows, creatures of living darkness. They hate life and light with equal fervor. Their touch bestows the painful chill of nonexistence, making them very dangerous opponents. An umbral creature looks like a shadowy version of a material creature, which is very difficult to see in dark or gloomy areas, but they stand out starkly in brightly illuminated environs.
This is an acquired template that can be added to any Aberration, Animal, Dragon, Giant, Humanoid, Magical Beast, or Monstrous Humanoid. The creature must have a Charisma score of at least 8.
- Vampire (House Rule Version)
[ Monster Manual ]
[ Monster Manual v3.5 p.250-53 ]
Forever anchored to the realms of the living in an undying state, these nocturnal, parasitic predators scheme constantly to strengthen themselves and fill the world with their foul progeny.
This is an acquired template that can be added to any Humanoid or Monstrous Humanoid creature.
- Warbeast
[ Monster Manual II p.219 ]
- Wight
[ Dragon Magazine #300, p.75-6 ]
[ Savage Species p.136-37 ]
A wight's appearance is a weird and twisted reflection of the form it had in life. Its wild, frantic eyes burn with malevolence, while its leathery, desiccated flesh is drawn tight across its bones.
This is an acquired template that can be added to any Humanoid.
- Winged Creature
[ Savage Species p.137-38 ]
Winged creatures are avian monsters that generally prefer to live in mountainous and heavily forested regions. They appear as normal representatives of their respective race, with the addition of a pair of wings on their backs, they are feathered, leathery, or insectile in nature.
This is an inherited template that can be added to any Animal, Giant, Humanoid, Monstrous Humanoid, or Vermin that does not already have a fly speed.
- Worm That Walks
[ Epic Level Handbook p.229-30 ]
A worm that walks is the evil memory of an arcane spell caster whose will and personality have survived the dissolution of his body and transferred themselves to the worms or maggots that devoured the corpse.
This is an acquired template that can be added to any evil wizard or sorcerer which was a corporeal, living being.
- Wraith
[ Dragon Magazine #300, p.76-7 ]
[ Savage Species p.138-40 ]
Wraiths are incorporeal creatures born of evil and darkness. They despise all livings things, as well as the light that nurtures them. Although composed of darkness, wraiths appear more or less humanoid in shape, though they are devoid of any true features save for a glowing pair of red pinpoints which correlate to their eyes.
This is an acquired template that can be added to any Humanoid.
- Yellow Musk Zombie
[ Fiend Folio p.191-93 ]
Yellow musk zombies are not zombies at all, though they are often mistaken for such. Rather, the wretched creatures are all that remains of victims of the deadly yellow musk creeper.
This in an acquired template that can be added to any corporeal living creature that would ordinarily have Intelligence score, and whose physiology includes a brain.
- Yuan-Ti
[ Monsters of Faerun p.94-6 ]
[ Savage Species p.140-42 ]
- Zin-carla
[ Faiths and Pantheons p.184 ]
- Zombie
[ D&D site ]
[ Monster Manual v3.5 p.265-67 ]
Zombies are mindless corpses reanimated through dark and sinister magic. These mindless automatons shamble about, doing their creators bidding without fear or hesitation.
This is an acquired template that can be added to any corporeal creature (other than an Undead) that has a skeletal system.
Page Last Updated November 4th, 2005
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