Skeleton, Common

The pile of bones suddenly stirs, rising up to take on a human shape. Its long, bony fingers reach out to claw at the living.

Family: Skeletons

Medium undead, lawful evil

Armor Class 13 (armor scraps)
Hit Points 13 (2d8 + 4)
Speed 30 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
10 (+0)	14 (+2)	15 (+2)	6 (-2)	8 (-1)	5 (-3)

Damage Vulnerabilities bludgeoning
Damage Immunities poison
Condition Immunities exhaustion, poisoned
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 9
Languages understands all languages it knew in life but can’t speak
Challenge 1/4 (50 XP)

Actions

• Shortsword: Melee Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) piercing damage.
• Shortbow: Ranged Weapon Attack: +4 to hit, range 80/320 ft., one target. Hit: 5 (1d6 + 2) piercing damage.

Skeletal Knight

Family: Skeletons

Medium undead, lawful evil

Armor Class 15 (armor scraps)
Hit Points 37 (5d8 + 15)
Speed 30 ft.

STR	DEX	CON	INT	WIS	CHA
13 (+1)	15 (+2)	17 (+3)	7 (-2)	8 (-1)	6 (-2)

Damage Vulnerabilities bludgeoning
Damage Immunities poison Condition Immunities: exhaustion, poisoned
Senses darkvision 60 ft., passive Perception 9
Languages understand its master’s language in life but cannot speak
Challenge 2 (450 XP)

Actions

• Melee Weapon. Melee Weapon Attack: +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target. Hit: varies, damage is determined by weapon. Battleaxe or longsword: 5 (1d8 + 1) slashing damage, or 6 (1d10 + 1) slashing damage if used with two hands. Greatsword: 9 (2d6 + 1) slashing damage.

About

Once bound to their master as a personal guard, a skeletal knight returns when called to defend its lord once again. Only the master knows the command word that will cause the skeletal knight to reassemble to its humanoid form from the pile of bones, armor scraps, and rusted weapons that is its dormant state. When the master calls, one to four skeletal knights will rise and fight with whatever weapon is grasped during reanimation. When encountered, a skeletal knight is often found with either a greatsword, longsword, or a battle axe and wears bits of scale mail, chainmail, or plate armor.

A skeletal knight cannot speak, but it understands the language of its master. Once created, it will defend its lord as it did in life, unceasingly and without fail. If a skeletal knight is inactive for 24 hours, it will collapse into a giant pile once again to await the master’s next call.

Section 15: Copyright Notice

Tome of Horrors © 2018, Frog God Games, LLC; Authors: Kevin Baase, Erica Balsley, John “Pexx” Barnhouse, Christopher Bishop, Casey Christofferson, Jim Collura, Andrea Costantini, Jayson ‘Rocky’ Gardner, Zach Glazar, Meghan Greene, Scott Greene, Lance Hawvermale, Travis Hawvermale, Ian S. Johnston, Bill Kenower, Patrick Lawinger, Rhiannon Louve, Ian McGarty, Edwin Nagy, James Patterson, Nathan Paul, Patrick N. Pilgrim, Clark Peterson, Anthony Pryor, Greg Ragland, Robert Schwalb, G. Scott Swift, Greg A. Vaughan, and Bill Webb

Human Warrior Skeleton

Human Warrior Skeleton
Medium undead
Hit Dice	1d12 (6 hp)
Initiative	+5
Speed	30 ft. (6 squares)
Armor Class	15 (+1 Dexterity, +2 natural, +2 heavy steel shield), touch 11, flat-footed 14
Base Attack/Grapple	+0/+1
Attack	Scimitar +1 melee (1d6+1/18-20) or claw +1 melee (1d4+1)
Full Attack	Scimitar +1 melee (1d6+1/18-20) or 2 claws +1 melee (1d4+1)
Space/Reach	5 ft./5 ft.
Special Attacks	–
Special Qualities	Damage reduction 5/bludgeoning, Darkvision 60 ft., immunity to cold, undead traits
Saves	Fort +0, Ref +1, Will +2
Abilities	Strength 13, Dexterity 13, Constitution -, Intelligence -, Wisdom 10, Charisma 1
Feats	Improved Initiative
Environment	Temperate plains
Organization	Any
Challenge Rating	1/3
Treasure	None
Alignment	Always neutral evil
Advancement	–
Level Adjustment	–

Creating a Skeleton

“Skeleton” is an acquired template that can be added to any corporeal creature (other than an undead) that has a skeletal system (referred to hereafter as the base creature).

Size and Type The creature’s type changes to undead. It retains any subtype except for alignment subtypes (such as good) and subtypes that indicate kind. It does not gain the augmented subtype. It uses all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here.

Hit Dice Drop any Hit Dice gained from class levels (to a minimum of 1) and raise remaining Hit Dice to d12s. If the creature has more than 20 Hit Dice, it can’t be made into a skeleton by the animate dead spell.

Speed Winged skeletons can’t use their wings to Fly. If the base creature flew magically, so can the skeleton.

Armor Class Natural armor bonus changes to a number based on the skeleton’s size:

Tiny or smaller	+0
Small	+1
Medium or Large	+2
Huge	+3
Gargantuan	+6
Colossal	+10

Attacks A skeleton retains all the natural weapons, manufactured weapon attacks, and weapon proficiency of the base creature, except for attacks that can’t work without flesh. A creature with hands gains one claw attack per hand; the skeleton can strike with each of its claw attacks at its full attack bonus. A skeleton’s base attack bonus is equal to 1/2 its Hit Dice.

Damage Natural and manufactured weapons deal damage normally. A claw attack deals damage depending on the skeleton’s size. (If the base creature already had claw attacks with its hands, use the skeleton claw damage only if it’s better.)

Diminutive or Fine	1
Tiny	1d2
Small	1d3
Medium	1d4
Large	1d6
Huge	1d8
Gargantuan	2d6
Colossal	2d8

Special Attacks A skeleton retains none of the base creature’s special attacks.

Special Qualities A skeleton loses most special qualities of the base creature. It retains any extraordinary special qualities that improve its melee or ranged attacks. A skeleton gains the following special qualities.

Immunity to Cold (Ex) Skeletons are not affected by cold.

Damage Reduction 5/Bludgeoning Skeletons lack flesh or internal organs.

Saves Base save bonuses are Fort +1/3 HD, Ref +1/3 HD, and Will +1/2 HD + 2.

Abilities A skeleton’s Dexterity increases by +2, it has no Constitution or Intelligence score, its Wisdom changes to 10, and its Charisma changes to 1.

Skills A skeleton has no skills.

Feats A skeleton loses all feats of the base creature and gains Improved Initiative.

Environment Any, usually same as base creature.

Organization Any.

Challenge Rating Depends on Hit Dice, as follows:

Hit Dice	Challenge Rating
1/2	1/6
1	1/3
2-3	1
4-5	2
6-7	3
8-9	4
10-11	5
12-14	6
15-17	7
18-20	8

Treasure None.

Alignment Always neutral evil.

Advancement As base creature (or – if the base creature advances by character class).

Level Adjustment –