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Wight

• Size: Medium
• Type: Undead
• Alignment: Neutral Evil
• AC: 14
• Initiative: +4 (14)
• HP: 82 (11d8 + 33)
• Speed: 30 ft.

ATTR	VAL	MOD	SAVE
STR	15	+2	+2
DEX	14	+2	+2
CON	16	+3	+3
INT	10	+0	+0
WIS	13	+1	+1
CHA	15	+2	+2

• Skills: Perception +3, Stealth +4
• Resistances: Necrotic
• Immunities: Poison; Exhaustion, Poisoned
• Gear: Studded Leather Armor
• Senses: Darkvision 60 ft.; Passive Perception 13
• Languages: Common plus one other language
• CR: 3 (XP 700; PB +2)

Traits

Sunlight Sensitivity. While in sunlight, the wight has Disadvantage on ability checks and attack rolls.

Actions

Multiattack. The wight makes two attacks, using Necrotic Sword or Necrotic Bow in any combination. It can replace one attack with a use of Life Drain.

Necrotic Sword. Melee Attack Roll: +4, reach 5 ft. Hit: 6 (1d8 + 2) Slashing damage plus 4 (1d8) Necrotic damage.

Necrotic Bow. Ranged Attack Roll: +4, range 150/600 ft. Hit: 6 (1d8 + 2) Piercing damage plus 4 (1d8) Necrotic damage.

Life Drain. Constitution Saving Throw: DC 13, one creature within 5 feet. Failure: 6 (1d8 + 2) Necrotic damage, and the target's Hit Point maximum decreases by an amount equal to the damage taken. A Humanoid slain by this attack rises 24 hours later as a Zombie under the wight's control, unless the Humanoid is restored to life or its body is destroyed. The wight can have no more than twelve zombies under its control at a time.

Lore & Background

Wights are undead creatures created when powerful individuals die while consumed by hatred, greed, or other strong negative emotions that bind their spirits to the material plane. These former humanoids retain much of their intelligence and memories from life, but their personalities become twisted by their undead nature and the traumatic circumstances of their deaths. Wights possess an insatiable hunger for life energy that drives them to drain the living of their vitality.

Unlike mindless undead, wights can plan and scheme with the cunning intelligence they possessed in life, making them dangerous opponents who remember their former skills and abilities. They often establish lairs in places significant to their mortal existence, such as ancestral homes, burial sites, or locations where they suffered their final defeats. Their presence creates an aura of death that gradually corrupts the surrounding area.

Combat Tactics

Wights are intelligent combatants who use their life-draining touch as their primary weapon, seeking to weaken enemies while bolstering their own undead forces. They employ tactical thinking from their mortal lives, using terrain and positioning to their advantage while coordinating with any undead minions under their control. Their immunity to many effects makes them particularly resilient opponents.

In battle, wights focus on making life drain attacks against the most vulnerable targets while avoiding damage from divine magic and other threats to undead. They attempt to position themselves where they can drain multiple opponents while using their spawn creation ability to build undead armies during combat. Wights often retreat when seriously threatened, preferring to return later with reinforcements.

Combat Tactics

Wights are cunning undead that leverage their intelligence and supernatural abilities to drain life energy from living creatures. They use their life drain touch to weaken enemies while potentially creating new undead allies from those they kill. Their tactical awareness allows them to exploit terrain and coordinate with other undead creatures effectively.

In combat, wights prioritize targets who appear physically robust, seeking to drain their life force while avoiding holy magic and other undead-specific threats. They position themselves to make multiple life drain attacks while using their undead immunities to ignore effects that would hinder living creatures. When possible, they retreat to defensible positions where they can use newly created spawn as additional combatants.

Encounter Ideas

1. The Vengeful Noble A wight that was once a powerful lord continues to haunt its ancestral estate, seeking revenge against the descendants of those who wronged it in life. The party becomes involved when they investigate mysterious deaths among the noble family's heirs.

2. The Battlefield Guardian A wight created from a fallen general guards an ancient battlefield where it died, attacking anyone who disturbs the site while commanding an army of lesser undead soldiers. The party must deal with both the wight and its historical significance.

3. The Corrupted Sanctuary A wight has taken residence in a formerly holy site, gradually corrupting the area and turning it into a stronghold of undeath. The party must cleanse the location while dealing with the wight's growing influence over local undead.

4. The Life Energy Theft A wight systematically drains life energy from a community, creating an epidemic of weakness and premature aging. The party must identify the source of this supernatural plague while protecting potential victims from further attacks.

Environmental Effects

• Death Aura: Areas where wights dwell become tainted with negative energy, affecting plant and animal life
• Undead Attraction: The wight's presence draws other undead creatures to the area, creating concentrations of supernatural threats
• Life Drain Residue: Places where wights have fed repeatedly show signs of withered vegetation and unnatural decay
• Temperature Drop: The creature's undead nature causes noticeable temperature decreases in its immediate vicinity

Treasure

• Life Essence Crystals (500-2000 gp): Crystallized life energy that can be used in necromantic rituals or healing magic
• Noble Regalia (varies): Items from the wight's former life, often including jewelry, weapons, and symbols of authority
• Ancient Documents (100-800 gp): Records and letters from the wight's mortal existence, potentially containing valuable historical information
• Necromantic Components (200-1000 gp): Materials gathered by the wight for creating and controlling other undead creatures
• Soul Fragments (varies): Pieces of spiritual essence trapped by the wight's life-draining abilities, valuable for magical research

Plot Hooks

1. The Eternal Grudge A wight seeks to complete a vendetta that began in life, targeting specific bloodlines or organizations while the party becomes involved through family connections or moral obligations.

2. The Undead Army A wight builds a force of lesser undead to accomplish goals from its mortal existence, requiring the party to stop its recruitment efforts while dealing with its growing supernatural military power.

3. The Life Force Plague Multiple wights begin coordinating their life-draining activities, creating a supernatural epidemic that threatens entire regions as they systematically weaken populations for unknown purposes.

4. The Redemption Quest A wight claims to seek release from its undead existence, asking for help in resolving the unfinished business that binds it to the material plane while the party must determine whether such redemption is possible.