Spectre

Spectres are powerful undead that haunt the most desolate and deserted of places. They hate all life and light. They appear as semitransparent beings and are often mistaken for haunts or ghosts. Spectres exist primarily on the Negative Energy Plane. Daylight makes spectres powerless by weakening their ties to the Negative Plane.

Unlike most undead, spectres retain the semblance, manner and dress of their former life and can be recognized by old friends or through paintings of the persons they used to be. Contrary to popular mythology, spectres remain highly intelligent and generally rational after the transformation to undeath. Life makes them lament their unlife, and they bear a strong hatred for all those lucky enough to live and truly die.

The chilling touch of a spectre drains energy from living creatures. Any being totally drained of life energy by a spectre becomes a full-strength spectre under the control of the spectre which drained him, losing all control of his personality.

Most spectres are solitary, but some enclaves exist where a particularly powerful or lucky spectre has managed to drain mortals of life. This lead spectre is known as the master spectre, while the others are known collectively as the followers. In this arrangement, the master spectre almost never engages enemies personally, but instead sends his minions in for the kill. Mortals drained of life by follower spectres are subservient to the master spectre, not the followers. Note that if the master spectre is slain, all followers become independent and can travel anywhere they wish in hopes of becoming master spectres themselves.

Spectres hate light and all life, as both remind them of their undead existence. They are therefore encountered only in places of extreme darkness and desolation, like long-abandoned ruins, dungeons, and subterranean sewers.

Note: Spectres originally appeared in this form in the 2nd Edition Monstrous Manual for the AD&D game from TSR. Their use here is for the purposes of providing context for the campaign only.