“
Unearth the Evil.
Whispered tales speak of an eldritch tome crafted by necromancers and filled with spine-chilling facts about a vile menagerie of undead horrors—unnatural things known to haunt the gloom-filled corners of the world and beyond. Beware! This is that tome.
This supplement for the DUNGEONS & DRAGONS Roleplaying Game explores the origins, tactics, myths, and lairs of undead creatures. Along with encounters and hooks for your campaign, it presents a host of undead threats, including new varieties of ghouls, skeletons, vampires, wraiths, and zombies. It also introduces new kinds of undead and provides statistics for unique undead villains such as Acererak and Vecna.”
Contents
Open Grave is a supplement meant for use in the 4th edition of the Dungeons & Dragons roleplaying game, regardless of setting, which lists lore and gameplay information on undead. This ranges from a listing of new monsters to ecological details on undead of any type, as well as statistics for non-player characters (NPCs) of undead origin.
The book is organized into four chapters, as follow:
- Undead Lore — This chapter gives players and "dungeon masters" (game referees and storytellers) an in-depth look at common characteristics of all undead, including physiology and outlook but also a brief look into the origins of the undead and how they might interact with the living.
- DM's Guide to the Undead — Meant exclusively for dungeon masters (abbreviated as "DMs") this chapter provides story hooks and ideas for adventurers, as well as a listing of powerful artifacts that could be used in a campaign centered around undead.
- Undead Lairs — This chapter provides the DM with a number of possible adventure sites or "dungeons" to be used in their campaign, complete with quest lines and NPCs with which to interact in addition to regular encounters, combat or otherwise.
- New Monsters — A listing, alphabetically, of new undead monsters for the 4th edition of Dungeons & Dragons, though some are monsters from earlier editions republished for use with the new rules, such as alhoon liches. Also included in this chapter is a listing of famous undead such as the god Vecna or the legendary vampire, Strahd von Zarovich.