“Not all things that stir in the dark are undead. Some are worse.”
This is an independent work of original fiction. While it pays respectful homage to classic fantasy and RPG themes, including those popularized by systems like Dungeons & Dragons®, all monsters, settings, and designs herein are unique to the Knightmare universe unless explicitly noted. No copyright infringement is intended, just badass storytelling.
Type: Standard Undead
Subtype: Raised Corpse
Threat Level: Low (Tier I)
Eye Color Indicator: Low white glow = Necromancy-animated
A decaying corpse reanimated by necromantic magic, the Knightmare zombie is a mindless brute driven by a singular purpose, kill the living. These undead are slow but relentless, trudging forward even with shattered limbs or fatal wounds. Lacking intelligence or coordination, they rely on numbers and durability to overwhelm. The signature white eye glow marks the animating force, typically a dark mage or cursed location. Individually weak, zombies become a serious threat when clustered or used to bait traps.
Game Insight: In traditional RPG settings, zombies are immune to charm, sleep, and poison. They often have a passive trait allowing them to shrug off a “killing blow” and keep coming, especially when controlled by strong necromancers.
Type: Undead
Subtype: Carrion Eater
Threat Level: Moderate (Tier II)
Eye Color Indicator: Low white glow = Necromancy-animated
Ghouls are fast, ravenous undead that retain a twisted sense of cunning. Once human, these creatures have devolved into flesh-craving horrors, often found near battlefields, crypts, or plague-ridden towns. Their bloated, porcelain-toned skin is stretched tight over unnatural muscle, with black veins and swollen, glowing eyes hinting at the corruptive magic that sustains them. Ghouls attack in frenzied bursts, using elongated claws and whip-like tongues to paralyze or maim. Unlike mindless zombies, ghouls possess just enough intelligence to hunt, ambush, and retreat if outmatched.
Game Insight: Traditionally, ghouls have a chance to paralyze victims with their claws, especially in older RPG systems. They’re immune to charm, fear, and poison, and often act independently of their summoner. Tactically, they're glass cannons, fast and dangerous, but vulnerable when isolated.
Type: Undead
Subtype: Reanimated Bones
Threat Level: Low (Tier I)
Eye Color Indicator: Low white glow = Necromancy-animated
Stripped of flesh but not menace, skeletons are reanimated corpses held together by sheer necromantic force. Unlike zombies, their movements are unnervingly sharp/jerky and angular, yet surprisingly fast. Most still wear the tattered remnants of their former lives: rusted armor, robes, or burial garb. Whether wielding swords, spears, or just their own claws, skeletons obey their summoner with unwavering precision. They’re often used as foot soldiers or crypt guardians where subtlety isn’t required, but intimidation is.
Game Insight: Skeletons are classic low-tier undead in most RPG systems. Resistant to piercing damage and immune to poison or mind-affecting spells, they make effective fodder troops. Unlike zombies, skeletons are often slightly faster and can use weapons, making them more tactically versatile in combat.
Type: Undead
Subtype: Reanimated Beast
Threat Level: Moderate (Tier II)
Eye Color Indicator: Milky white / Low white glow = Necromancy-animated
Once a formidable apex predator, this grizzly has been unnaturally reanimated, its rotted hide barely concealing the monstrous bulk beneath. Unlike humanoid undead, the Undead Grizzly operates on primal instinct laced with violent memory, lashing out with crushing paws, snapping jaws, and the fury of a beast that never should have risen. Its milky white eyes usually indicates a body raised without spiritual essence, pure corpse manipulation rather than soul-bound necromancy. Often found near desecrated woods, cursed ruins, or corrupted wilderness paths, these abominations are living siege weapons built for brutality.
Game Insight: In most RPG systems, undead beasts like these function as mid-tier threats, high hit points, devastating melee, but susceptible to tactical coordination. Immune to charm and fear, they’re vulnerable to radiant damage and often used to break party lines or maul back-row casters.
Type: Undead
Subtype: Spirit Entity
Threat Level: Moderate (Tier II)
Eye Color Indicator: Blue-white glow = Spirit-based undead
Spectres are sorrowful remnants of the dead, born not of necromancy but of unfinished business, trauma, or violent betrayal. Unlike flesh-bound undead, they possess no physical body, only a twisted echo of the soul that once lived. Their incorporeal form flickers like smoke, hovering above the ground in graveyards, ruins, or haunted battlefields. Spectres lash out with soul-chilling wails and spectral claws, draining vitality and resolve from their victims. Though unarmored and insubstantial, their resistance to physical attacks makes them dangerous foes in prolonged engagements.
Game Insight: In most RPGs, spectres are incorporeal and immune to non-magical weapons. They often drain life or reduce maximum hit points. Radiant damage and force magic are typically the best counters. Their ethereal nature allows them to pass through walls and terrain, making them ideal ambush predators.
Type: Humanoid
Subtype: Winter Orc (Grey Orc)
Threat Level: Moderate (Tier II)
Eye Color Indicator: None (natural creature)
Grey Orcs are hardened, cave-dwelling warriors adapted to the brutal conditions of colder climates. Unlike their green-skinned cousins who thrive in temperate or jungle environments, Grey Orcs are leaner, more disciplined, and known for fighting in coordinated hunting bands. Their skin is ashen or pale gray, often streaked with frostbitten scars or war paint. Found in mountain passes, deep mine shafts, or snow-choked forests, these orcs rely on ambush tactics, tunnel fighting, and endurance warfare. In the Knightmare setting, Green Orcs are rarely seen outside southern regions, making Grey Orcs the primary orc threat in colder zones.
Game Insight: Grey Orcs serve as versatile mid-tier enemies, capable of wielding weapons, setting traps, and coordinating attacks. They are less reckless than standard orcs in most RPG systems and often come with ranged or shamanic support. Strong constitution and tactical cunning make them a threat in numbers, especially in close quarters.
Classification: Standard Mob
Type: Primal Goblinoid
Threat Level: Moderate (Tier I–II)
Eye Color Indicator: Gray-white eyes = Non-magical, feral species
Cave Goblins are muscular, feral humanoids adapted to cold climates and underground hunting. Coming in at just over 3 feet tall. Unlike their smaller kin, these creatures are fast, cunning, and shockingly strong for their size, built more like hairless apes than traditional goblins. With elongated arms, bone-crushing strength, and primitive stone weapons, they hunt in small packs and strike from shadows with brute force.
Their pale, dead-looking eyes are not magical in nature but reflect their subterranean environment, sensitive to light, tuned for darkness. Despite their primitive gear, they’re clever enough to scavenge weapons or bait traps for unwary travelers.
Game Insight: These goblins fight with ambush tactics, using tunnels, elevation, and sheer muscle. They are vulnerable to bright light or loud noise but can overwhelm unprepared adventurers with shock attacks and pack coordination.
Type: Undead
Subtype: Ashforged
Threat Level: Moderate (Tier II)
Eye Color Indicator: Molten glow = Necromancy-animated
Created when a necromancer introduces an emberstone gem down a corpse’s throat. The gem superheats inside the body, leaving a flaming and smoldering corpse that still moves. Ashforged Zombies can emit flames, heat and smoke, leaving scorched footprints as they drag their ruined forms forward. They retain some of the durability of traditional undead, but the flames that power them, also burn their surroundings and make them volatile in death, often flaring or combusting upon destruction. Holy magic and cold-based attacks inflict enhanced damage, disrupting the fire that sustains them.
Game Insight: Ashforged creatures are typically immune to fire, but vulnerable to cold and water-based damage. Area-of-effect frost or divine spells are especially effective. Usually used as fire starters, Ashforged zombies may ignite nearby flammable objects or cause minor fire damage in close quarters.
Type: Ashforged
Subtype: Sinew-Hunter
Threat Level: Moderate (Tier II)
Eye Color Indicator: Molten glow = Necromancy-animated
The Bonepicker is a swift, feral undead creature born of scorched remains and necromantic fire. It resembles a skeletal greyhound warped by dark magic, its limbs long and sinewy, its body sometimes flaming or cracked with ember-lit fissures. Unlike the sluggish Ashforged Zombie, the Bonepicker is all speed and frenzy, often used as a shock troop or scout by more intelligent undead masters. It moves in unpredictable bursts, darting through fire-lit ruins and ambushing from shadow. While fragile when isolated, Bonepickers become deadly in packs, tearing enemies down with claws and burning fangs before disappearing into the dark.
Game Insight: Bonepickers are often treated as fast, low-HP enemies with high initiative and multiple attacks. Their Ashforged nature makes them vulnerable to water, cold, and ice-based spells or weapons, which disrupt their internal flame and slow their reflexes. DMs may use them as glass-cannon ambushers or to harass casters and archers at the rear of a fight.
Type: Blightborn
Subtype: Corrupted Beast
Threat Level: Moderate (Tier II)
Eye Color Indicator: Subtle green glow = Blight-infused mutation
Blightwolves were once ordinary forest predators, now warped by prolonged exposure to wild Blight magic. Their bodies pulse with sickly energy, muscles overgrown and sinews stretched beyond natural limits. A glowing green light burns in their eyes and maws, leaking mist as they hunt in unnerving silence. Fast, aggressive, and unnaturally coordinated, Blightwolves often appear in corrupted forests or alongside Blight-touched druidic cults.
Game Insight: Blightwolves are agile frontline threats that deal poison or necrotic damage. They are vulnerable to radiant and fire-based attacks, which can disrupt the Blight animating their bodies. Pack tactics and high mobility make them dangerous when used in numbers or ambushes.
Type: Blightborn
Subtype: Swamp / forest Mutant
Threat Level: High (Tier III)
Eye Color Indicator: Subtle green glow = Blight-infused mutation
The Mosskin Wretch is a bloated, fungal abomination that once resembled a humanoid. Now covered in moss, bark, and spore-infested flesh, it lumbers through swamps and marshes, leaking poisonous sludge with every step. fast and nearly impervious to pain, these creatures were likely born of failed rituals or long-forgotten blight experiments. They are often mistaken for undead, but they still breathe, barely and suffer from relentless pain that fuels their rage.
Game Insight: Mosskin Wretches are tanky, but fast-moving threats ideal for blight-themed zones. They may inflict poison, disease, or terrain effects like fungal gas or sticky bog auras. Radiant damage, fire, and cleansing magic can weaken their thick hides and fungal armor.
Classification: Blightborn
Type: Mutated Goblinoid
Threat Level: Moderate (Tier II)
Eye Color Indicator: Bright green glow = Blight-corrupted
These hulking swamp-dwelling goblins are the twisted result of Blight corruption overtaking an already vicious species. Broader and more powerful than their cave-dwelling cousins, Blightborn Bog Goblins are brutal ambush predators that use overwhelming strength and swamp camouflage to drag prey into the muck. Their skin is bloated and gnarled, riddled with mossy patches, living vines, and parasitic leaf growths. The glowing green eyes mark their Blightborn status and are often the last thing seen before the attack.
While unafflicted bog goblins may have once existed, they have been almost entirely wiped out or mutated beyond recognition. The Blight now shapes their evolution, bloated muscles, fungal veins, and all.
Game Insight: These creatures are resistant to poison and highly durable. Some may erupt with Blight spores on death, making close-range kills dangerous without a saving throw. Use fire or ranged tactics to avoid being overwhelmed in swamp terrain.
Type: Arcane Construct
Classification: Animated Husk
Threat Level: Low to Moderate (Tier I–II)
Eye Glow: Varies by caster; usually orange, red, or green.
Created to guard fields or waypoints, Scarecrows are crude but terrifying arcane constructs, created by binding minor spirits or animating husks of straw and stitched cloth or flesh with necromantic or illusion-based rituals. While physically fragile, they radiate unnatural fear. Often posted as sentries or ambush guardians near cursed farms or Blight-touched ruins, their sudden animation and unnatural movement patterns make them deeply unsettling. Their strikes are clumsy but cursed, sometimes sapping willpower or inducing magical fear in weaker minds.
Game Insight: Scarecrows have low HP and armor but can inflict fear-based status effects. Depending on their creator, they may resist certain elemental attacks or have spell-like abilities. Best neutralized quickly or at range. Weak to fire if made of dry materials.
Type: Arcane Construct
Classification: Animated Stone Sentinel
Threat Level: Strong (Tier III)
Eye Glow: Varies by enchantment; may flicker, pulse, or remain dormant.
Gargoyles are stone constructs enchanted for defense or intimidation. They often adorn old keeps or forgotten temples, remaining still for decades until triggered by proximity wards or direct commands. Despite their stony appearance, Gargoyles are agile, able to fly very short distances, claw through armor, and resist most mundane weaponry. Each is custom-bound to the will of its creator.
Game Insight: Gargoyles have high AC and resistances to non-magical weapons. While not fast, they are strong and relentless. Best deployed in chokepoints or as dormant traps that activate on intrusion.
Type: Necroforged
Classification: Stitched Juggernaut
Threat Level: High (Tier III)
Eye Color Indicator: Flaming red/orange = Necroforged core
A grotesque fusion of corpses and magic, the Flesh Golem is a brute-force terror stitched together from discarded limbs and bound by necromantic energy. Towering in size and barely coherent, these golems rely on raw strength and resilience to crush foes. Despite their patchwork appearance, they are highly durable and often difficult to slow or stagger. Their eyes burn with a reddish flame, evidence of the unstable energy binding the creature’s many parts. In Knightmare, some variants are custom-built with armor grafts, weapon limbs, or magical fuses that detonate upon destruction.
Game Insight: Flesh Golems often resist slashing and piercing damage and are immune to charm, poison, and fear. They are vulnerable to lightning or radiant energy in most RPG settings. DMs can customize them with regional traits, grafted weapons, or reactive death effects. Don’t underestimate their knockback potential, they’re designed to flatten front lines.
Type: Undead
Classification: Necroforged Brute
Threat Level: High (Tier III)
Eye Color Indicator: Flaming red = Necroforged elite
The Ghast is a hulking, corpse-like abomination with bloated, slimy skin stretched tight over grotesquely overgrown muscle. Its armor isn’t just worn, it’s fused into the flesh, necromantically grafted to its bones like a twisted surgical experiment. Chestplate, shoulder guards, and gauntlets appear melted into its form, warped by both fire and decay. Its eyes burn with infernal red light, and its open maw drips with foul green saliva that smokes where it lands.
Worse still is its stench. A revolting aura of rot and bile that rolls off its body like heat from a furnace. Creatures within close proximity instinctively wince, gag, or stagger, giving the Ghast just enough advantage to crush their skulls before they recover. It doesn’t speak. It doesn’t reason. It leaps or charges, maims, and then feasts on whatever’s left twitching.
Game Insight: The Ghast is a Tier III necroforged mob with strong melee and passive area debuffs. Its aura causes temporary hesitation or reduced mobility in unprepared foes (DMs may flavor this as fear, nausea, or reduced initiative). It has resistance to slashing and piercing damage, and its fused armor grants high AC. Cold iron, divine magic, or enchanted weapons are the best countermeasures.
Type: Undead
Subtype: Necroforged Aerial Unit
Threat Level: High (Tier III)
Eye Color Indicator: Flaming red/orange glow = Necroforged elite
Dreadwings are elite Necroforged units—constructed from the remains of fallen warriors and demons, reforged by dark sorcery, and bound together with sinew, necrotic tissue, and arcane stitching. Unlike typical skeletal undead, their forms are reinforced with muscle-like binding that gives them brutal weight and resilience. Their wings are batlike and thick, anchored high on the back to create a menacing draconic silhouette, and their ember-lit eyes burn with malice.
In flight, Dreadwings pull their shield and blade tight to their torso, using the shield as an aerodynamic wedge to dive with terrifying force. On the ground, they’re relentless: capable of fluid attack chains that blend sword strikes, shield bashes, and sweeping wing strikes. Their muscular build and unnatural cohesion allow them to endure punishment and fight with shocking speed and precision for something that should be dead.
Game Insight: Dreadwings can perform up to four attacks per round: sword, shield, wing swipe (left/right), or a headbutt with their horned skull. They take half damage from non-blunt weapons due to their reinforced plating and sinew-bound joints. Most dangerous in open terrain, they lose combat efficiency in cramped quarters where their wings restrict movement.
Type: Undead
Subtype: Necroforged Revenant
Threat Level: Moderate to High (Tier III)
Eye Color Indicator: Light blue = Semi-ethereal / magical weapon required
Wights are cold-blooded revenants—undead warriors bound to cursed places and ancient oaths. Though their bodies retain form, their souls have partially detached, leaving them in a state between physical and spectral. Their skin is pale and withered, stretched over bones that glow faintly beneath the surface. Their eyes radiate with a ghostly blue light, and their presence carries a chill that saps warmth and resolve.
Unlike mindless undead, Wights retain tactical awareness and intelligence. They speak in hoarse, unnatural voices, sometimes uttering remnants of their former life. Most serve dark lieges or necromantic commanders, acting as lieutenants in undead armies. Their strikes drain vitality, leaving wounds that refuse to close, and their resilience makes them dangerous foes even for seasoned adventurers.
Game Insight: Wights require magical weapons to hit due to their semi-ethereal nature. They resist non-magical physical damage and are often immune to cold or necrotic spells. Their attacks may carry a life-drain effect that reduces the target’s healing or max HP. Some versions can raise fallen enemies as lesser undead. DMs can treat them as elite lieutenants or minibosses guarding powerful artifacts or necromancers.
Type: Undead
Subtype: Necroforged Footsoldier
Threat Level: Moderate (Tier II–III)
Eye Color Indicator: Flaming red = Necroforged elite
Skeletal Warriors are elite risen dead—infused with necromantic force and armored for war. Unlike the fragile bones of standard skeletons, these warriors are reinforced, often animated from the remains of former knights, soldiers, or champions. Their armor is often scorched or corroded, but still functional, and their weapons carry the weight of memory and malevolent purpose.
Their eyes blaze with a red glow, each socket burning like a smoldering forge. They fight with mechanical precision and a ghost of remembered discipline. Often deployed as frontline infantry or guard captains in undead legions, Skeletal Warriors are capable of blocking, parrying, and striking in formation, making them a tactical threat far beyond shambling mobs.
Game Insight: These undead retain martial skills and frequently fight in a coordinated, militarized style. They resist piercing and slashing damage due to their reinforced bones and armor. Their red eye glow marks them as Necroforged, indicating higher durability and possible magical enhancements like anti-turning wards or enchanted blades. DMs may treat them as “elite standard units”, more durable and deadly than base skeletons, but still susceptible to radiant damage or blunt force trauma.
Type: Undead
Subtype: Necroforged (Spectral Assassin Class)
Threat Level: High (Tier III)
Eye Color Indicator: Light blue = Semi-ethereal / magical weapon required
Wraiths are incorporeal undead born from advanced necromantic rituals that strip a soul of all but its malice. Bound in shadow and death magic, they manifest as mist-wrapped forms with glowing blue eyes and spectral claws that pass through armor to rend the spirit beneath. No two Wraiths look identical, some drift like cloaked phantoms through the catacombs, others stalk moonlit ruins with rotting faces and translucent torsos that hint at their cursed, lingering deaths.
They are tactically silent and unnervingly intelligent. While Spectres wail and drift aimlessly, Wraiths pursue purpose: assassination, sabotage, or silent guarding of sacred tombs. Whether phasing through a crypt wall or rising from the snows of a long-forgotten battlefield, their presence brings with it unnatural cold, suffocating silence, and the gnawing fear of a death not yet realized.
Game Insight: Wraiths are fully incorporeal, immune to mundane weapons and unaffected by terrain. They can float, phase, or even disappear temporarily, depending on strength. Their attacks drain life, reduce resistances, and bypass conventional armor. Ideal ambush predators in confined spaces or open ruins. Vulnerable to radiant, force, and psychic damage. Often used in elite undead patrols or as enforcers of dark necromancers.
The Knightmare Monster Compendium is a living bestiary, an evolving catalog of the horrors, corrupted creatures, and arcane abominations that stalk the world of Knightmare. Each entry blends narrative lore with system-neutral insights to inspire storytellers, GMs, and fans of dark fantasy. Whether you're exploring the novel or seeking fresh ideas for your own adventures, this collection will continue to grow as the saga unfolds. More creatures await discovery… and some are already watching from the shadows.
This compendium was built with love for both storytelling and monster-making. I have been an RPG game player for over 4 decades and sunk a lot of hours coming up with new monsters to keep the games interesting. If you’ve enjoyed what you’ve seen here, stick around, there’s plenty more coming as the Knightmare Lore expands. Thanks for stepping into my world.
Note on Artwork
The images you see here were created using a mix of my own editing skills in PS and modern AI tools. I’ve been making art for decades, from painting leather jackets in the ’80s to building digital worlds in the 2000s before AI art even existed. AI is simply a tool I use now that helps me create art faster and bring this massive fantasy universe to life without having to spend days creating every image.
Robert A. Wright