D&D: The Five Best Low-Level Undead
Undead monsters are part and parcel for many adventurers. Start spooky season off right with the five best (at low-levels).
Halloween is so much closer than you think. We’re already about to transition from Spooktember to Shocktober, and that means it’s time for spooky, scary skeletons to send shivers down your spine.
Fortunately, Dungeons & Dragons is full of undead. From Adult Blue Dracoliches to Zombie Plague Spreaders, there are plenty of undead monsters. But at lower levels? These five are hard to beat!
Skeleton
These monsters are classic for a reason. At CR 1/4 they’re a perfect foe for basically any adventuring party to face on their first adventure.
They’re one of the few monsters you can telegraph coming a mile away, but the party will still be thrilled to fight them. Just litter bones in suspicious piles around any room. Even the most clueless adventurers will realize “oh yeah these bones are going to come to life and attack us.”
And even knowing that it’ll still be exciting when they do. Plus! Skeletons have a decent attack bonus, two modes of attack, and are vulnerable to bludgeoning damage. They reward players who come prepared, and at only 13 hit points, they won’t slow a fight down needlessly.
Sword Wraith Warrior
Sword Wraiths are one of my personal favorite undead in the game. They’re surprisingly resilient undead foes and it’s because, in addition to being ghosts, they have a sizable chunk of hit points and resilience.
They’re a perfect pick for when you want to have ghostly soldiers that can actually be a threat. They hit harder than a skeleton, and can recklessly attack, which makes them a fun boss fight for the lowest level parties or a persistent threat to higher level ones.
Brain in a Jar
It’s an undead brain in a jar. That alone makes it worth including in any adventure. Put it in a spooky mad scientist’s lab and you’re golden. But to top it off, Brains in a Jars are capable of detecting sentience out to 300 feet. And they can cast a variety of spells that help them lock down a battlefield so that it can drain the thought-essence of adventurers foolish enough to think the brain in a jar was named Abby Normal.
Ghostblade Eidolon
Ghostblade Eidolons are just cool. Out of the Mythic Odysseys of Theros, Ghostblade Eidolons are the identities of mortal souls who sacrificed their identities to escape the Underworld.
They are driven by a sense of passion without purpose, which makes them frightful combatants. They can make multiple attacks, deal force damage, they can move through walls and are naturally blurred. What great foes they make up and down the levels.
Minotaur Skeleton
It’s like a regular skeleton but is also a Minotaur. Which makes it big and beefy and bony. And then it charges the party and starts throwing party members left and right with its terrific charge that sends foes flying and knocks them prone.
What are your favorite undead monsters?
