I think that everybody has a favorite monster, for me, it is the Zombie Lord. Originally published in the Ravenloft Monsterous Compendium Vol. I, it is not without its problems. Last Sunday I posted a spell which attempted to fix this problem, but I'm not all that happy with it, and instead of creating some bizarre spell which nobody needs, why not fix the problem which led to it in the first place?

ZOMBIE LORD

CLIMATE/TERRAIN: Any
FREQUENCY: Very Rare
ORGANIZATION: Solitary
ACTIVITY CYCLE: Night
DIET: Carrion
INTELLIGENCE: Average (8-10)
TREASURE: A
ALIGNMENT: Neutral Evil

# APPEARING: 1
ARMOR CLASS: 6
MOVEMENT: 6
HIT DICE: 6
THAC0: 15
# OF ATTACKS: 2
DAMAGE/ATTACK: 2d4/2d4
SPECIAL ATTACKS: See below
SPECIAL DEFENSES: See below
MAGIC RESISTANCE: Nil
SIZE: M (6' tall)
MORALE: Average (8-10)
XP VALUE: 650


Zombie lords are living creaturs that have taken on the foul powers and abilities of the undead. They are formed on rare occasions as the result of a raise dead spell cast.
Zombie lords look as they did in life, save that their skin has turned the pale gray of death, and their flesh has begun to rot and decay. The odor of vile corruption and rotting meat hangs about them, and carrion-feeding insects often buzz about them to dine on the bits of flesh and beads of ichor that drop from their bodies.
Zombie lords can speak those languages that they knew in life and seem to have a telepathic or mystical ability to converse freely with the living dead. Further, they can speak with dead mearly by touching a corpse. Thus, for them at least, dead men tell many tales.

Combat: Whe the zombie lord is forced into physical combat, he relies on the great strength of his crushing fists. Striking twice per combat round, the monster inflicts 2d4 points of damage from each blow that finds its mark.
The odor of death that surrounds the zombie lord is so potent that it can cause horrible effects in those who breath it. On the first round that a character comes within 30 yards of the monster, he must successfully save vs. poison or be affected in some way. The following results are possible:

d6 Roll - Effect
1 - STR score reduced to 3 until Dispell Magic is cast upon victim
2 - Cause disease (as the spell)
3 - -1 point of Constitution (permanent)
4 - Contagion (as the spell)
5 - Character unable to act for 1d4 rounds doe to nausea & vomiting
6- Character dies instantly and becomes a zombie under control of the zombie lord