Wights

As the appellation Wight once referred to men, so too the creatures thus called were once mortal lords. Now they are bitter undead, who loathe and envy the living. Their visages are bleached and their personalities eroded by time, until nothing remains but fierce hostility and simmering resentment. 

They were lords and still believe they should be. 

My own post-it drawing, referencing this one by Vance Kelly

A Boss Suitable for Low-Level Parties

The wights in my game are an undead boss monster. I want something that can stand on its own thematically, not just a stronger zombie with "No. Appearing 2-16" and level-drain. 

A wight should have a name and a story.

In my version, I hope to bring back the dread and vindictiveness of the Tolkien original and evoke the draugr sagas they were based on (e.g. Grettir, Hrómundar and Hervör's saga, perhaps the barrow-dragon from Beowulf). Fun fact: the original use of the term "barrow-wight" was by William Morris in his Grettir's saga translation. I also thought of M.R. James' "A Warning to the Curious" and its BBC adaptation. 

Wights haunt the vicinity of their own tombs and must return to them during the day, unless they are deep underground. 

They'll gain the ability Shuttered Room suggested in their comments section, "undead being vulnerable to weapons that were made while they were still alive, so that rusty old broadsword is of use while that specially imported custom rapier is not." You can reduce them to zero hit points, but they'll dissolve and reform until they're finally dispatched with a suitably ancient implement.

They can track treasure stolen from them, with dire consequences for anyone paid with it. 

You'll think you've defeated one only to have it show up at your campfire a night or two later.

Cairn in Snow (1807) by Caspar David Friedrich 

All Hail the Ultra Bastard

Look on my works, ye Mighty, and despair!

Ultra Bastard, my homemade franken-creature of a ruleset is now available for your perusal. 

Download Now 

It's a compact (16 pages for core) distillation of the rules I actually play at my table. 

I've previously described myself as a heterodox, universal harvester and that ethos is evident throughout this project. This is a love letter to the hobby, not a product

I am a big believer in the ethos of DIY and the notion that every DM with the inclination to do so, should make their own D&D. I hope you'll chop it up for parts, excise the sections that aren't a perfect fit and re-combine the remaining bits with your favorite house-rules to make a bespoke ruleset that's perfect for the campaign you're running right now.

A few distinctives:

• Classless core with optional, simple-to-implement classes
• Cast as many spells as you like, but they cost HP
• Hit points are capped at the higher of Strength or Constitution score so they never over-inflate.
• Speed Sandwich initiative (per Dwiz)
• Optional Wounds table
• Wisdom is replaced with Alertness. One stat for perception instead of two for mindfulness.
• Familiar, old-fashioned D&D chassis but with Advantage/Disadvantage, slot-based encumbrance and critical hits.

I'm proud of this and I hope you'll tear it apart and make something you're proud of.