Specter
Medium Undead · · CR 1
- Undead
- Medium
- Tier 1
Ranges across underground, urban, and ruins; Specter lists at CR 1 as a medium undead (chaotic evil). Sourced from Monster Manual (5e 2014) and Monster Manual (5.5e 2024).
Stat Block
- Challenge Rating
- 1
- Type
- Undead
- Size
- Medium
- Alignment
- —
- Speed
- —
- Habitats
- Underground, Urban, Ruins
- Sources
- Monster Manual (5e 2014), Monster Manual (5.5e 2024), Flee, Mortals!
Ecology
Specters are undead spirits formed from violent or hateful deaths, lingering forever in the place of their murder. They cluster in haunted ruins, abandoned mines, ghost-ships drifting on dead seas, and battlefield monuments raised over mass graves. They reproduce by killing the living, with HP-drained victims sometimes rising as new specters under no master. They are intangible, immune to most mundane weapons, and immune to weather, hunger, and decay. They drift, ageless, until exorcised or the place-curse anchoring them is lifted.
Behaviour
Specters relive their deaths obsessively, reenacting the moment of dying or projecting it onto the living. They attack with hateful, cold rage, draining life-force. They speak only in fragments of dying words, often repeating curses, names, or prayers. They cannot be reasoned with in their current form, though clerics may exorcise them by addressing the unfinished business that anchors them.
Origin
Specters form when a violent death, especially with unfinished obligations or unrequited rage, leaves a soul too unsettled to pass on. Battles, executions, and murders all produce specters at low rates. A mass specter outbreak indicates a place-curse or necromancer-amplified haunting. Ancient temples to evil gods sometimes host hundreds of specters bound to consecrated ground.
Related Monsters
Frequently Asked Questions about Specter
- What is the challenge rating of Specter?
- On the bestiary CR scale, Specter sits at 1. It works against tier-1 parties.
- What type of creature is Specter?
- The bestiary type for Specter is undead, medium size.
- Where does Specter live?
- The published habitats for Specter: Underground, Urban, Ruins.