Alright, we’re back to monsters this week with two monsters that share a category of sorts. Now, the wraith has always been one of my absolute favorite types of undead, and I’ve always felt it a shame that we don’t have more variants and focus on them, so early on I decided to make some variants, particularly lower level ones that can serve as both combat or social encounters. Because of this, I’ve built some Wraiths that fall into a category that I like to refer to as “Ancestor Wraiths”. These Wraiths are often strongly tied to one or more divine domains, likely having been very devoted to an associated diety in life, with abilities that reflect their domain. These Wraiths are likely to align themselves with individuals or organizations that share their goals or follow gods within their domain.
First up we have the Seeker Wraith! An Ancestor Wraith innately tied to the Knowledge Domain.
Tactics:
A note of warning before we begin, if this is being put up against a party of 3rd or 4th level, a single one of these Wraiths should be more than enough of a challenge, with no allies or support. At higher levels these Wraiths should be accompanied by casters, the faithful of their god, or fellow Ancestor Wraiths. With that said, here is the rest of the tactics section:
Seeker Wraiths are typically found protecting repositories of ancient knowledge, watching over the crypts of the church they followed in life, or sent on missions to gather knowledge and specimens by a summoner. Because of this, a party is most likely to come into conflict with one during a dungeon delve, or when actively hunted by one. Seeker Wraiths prefer fighting in large rooms with central, open spaces, thus making it difficult for opponents to hide. The Seeker Wraith will attempt to open up combat with a surprise round, rolling a stealth check before trying to move itself to a location where it can make some form of attack against most pf the party, either by dropping into the midst of the PCs from directly overhead, or hiding behind pillars or rubble until the players walk past. Once combat begins, the Wraith’s tactics are fairly straightforward. It will use its Preserving Touch to engage melee opponents, and Harvest Knowledge against any distant healers or spellcasters (Note, it will not innately know what each player is, and will have to rely on its observations of the group before and during combat). If the Seeker Wraith has been specifically dispatched to ”retrieve” an objective, NPCS, or Party Member for some more powerful antagonist, then it will prioritize petrifying them with Preserving Touch and escaping with the petrified party member. In the early stages of a fight, the Seeker Wraith will attempt to position itself in such a way that it has an open line of sight to as many targets as possible, in preparation to unleash an Eldritch Retort volley when it falls below half of its maximum hit points. The Seeker Wraith will fight to the death, as it understands that this is usually a temporary state for it.
When a creature is petrified by the Seeker Wraith’s Preserving Touch, it becomes encased in a clear crystalline structure that is cool to the touch. This petrification can still be undone via all the same methods as normal petrification.
Plot Hooks:
The following are a few ways that you can integrate a Seeker Wraith into your campaign:
- 1: Your party is searching an ancient crypt for lost artifacts or information, in doing so they have attracted the attention of its guardian.
- 2: One of the players has been mistakenly marked as a specimen for retrieval by a powerful wizard that has summoned one or more Seeker Wraiths. If a Seeker Wraith does successfully take the player, rescuing them can become a social mission.
- 3: A strange robed figure claiming to be an archeologist has been running amok in a city, with trouble following in their wake. In pursuit of this individual, the players find themselves stalled and confounded at every turn by Seeker Wraiths.
- 4: The players have, for whatever reason, chosen to dig up graves in the graveyard for the followers of a god of Knowledge. The Seeker Wraith appears to confront these would-be graverobbers.
- 5: A mad scientist is using Seeker Wraiths to capture people from nearby towns to be used as fodder for his vile experiments.
- 6: A Seeker Wraith has been tailing the party after learning that they have access to long lost knowledge or sensitive secrets, it offers to barter for this knowledge in exchange for some of its own that may be useful to the players later in the campaign.
- 7: A necromancer has enslaved several Seeker Wraiths and is using them to help him gather knowledge and terrorize the countryside.
- 8: A cleric of an appropriate god has come into contact with the party, accompanied by a retainer of Seeker Wraiths.
And that should about do it for this entry! Come back on Thursday to see another Ancestor Wraith, this time belonging to a vastly different domain!
The Wyrm Scribe 