| Climate/Terrain: | Any, usually subterranean |
|---|---|
| Frequency: | Very rare |
| Organization: | Solitary, but may have followers |
| Activity Cycle: | Night |
| Diet: | Carnivore (living beings) |
| Intelligence: | Exceptional (15) |
| Treasure: | A |
| Alignment: | Lawful evil |
| No. Appearing: | 1 |
| Armor Class: | -1 |
| Movement: | 12 |
| Hit Dice: | 12+23 (77 hp) |
| THAC0: | 4 |
| No. of Attacks: | 3/2 by weapon type or 1 by touch |
| Damage/Attack: | 1d8+5 |
| Special Attacks: | Energy drain, wight control, spellcasting, earthquake, magical items |
| Special Defenses: | Immunity to some weapons and spells |
| Magic Resistance: | Nil |
| Size: | M (6-7') |
| Morale: | Fearless (20) |
| XP Value: | 30,000 |
A king-wight was once a powerful evil king. When he died, he became undead, continuing to rule the ranks of the walking dead. His death is often voluntary, a self-sacrifice made to gain a prolonged existence.
A king-wight looks like a well-preserved corpse. At nighttime, in artificial light, it can even be mistaken for a living being. It wears its favorite armor and carries its favorite weapons, and is often decorated with expensive jewelry. While a king-wight can appear almost alive, the stench of the grave follows it and gives it away.
Combat: A king-wight fights much the same after death as it did in life. It wears chain mail +3 and wields a sword +2 (any type possible). A king-wight was an exceptional human and continues to have excellent attributes even in death. Its attribute statistics are: S 18/50, D 17, C 16, I 15, W 13, Ch 15 (to undead only). These scores and the magical items are already calculated into the king-wight's statistics.
When it becomes undead, a king-wight gains many special abilities. A successful attack can drain two life levels from a victim, as per a vampire. Any victim completely drained of life points by the king+wight becomes a full-strength wight under the control of the king-wight.
A king-wight also has the ability to cast spectral force and confusion spells, one spell per round, without limit. It can teleport once per day, but only to or from its barrow home. When the king-wight is destroyed, the action causes an earthquake (as per the clerical spell, at the 14th-level of effect), centered on the king-wight's body, in 4-16 rounds. Since a king-wight is often encountered in its underground barrow, such an earthquake can be especially deadly.
A king-wight is so powerful that any individual of a level lower than the kingwight must make a saving throw vs. spells or flee in panic from fear. The following spells or attack forms have no effect on a king-wight: charm, sleep, enfeeblement, polymorph, cold, electricity, insanity, and death magic. A raise dead spell turns the king-wight into a normal 12th-level fighter unless a saving throw vs. spells is made.
A cleric attempting to turn a king-wight should use the “special” column. A king wight can be harmed only by magical weapons.
Habitat/Society: A king-wight retains its court, even after death. It is often surrounded by its faithful warriors, who were turned into wights by the king-wight and remain under their master's control. A king-wight encountered in its barrow usually controls 4-32 normal wights.
A king-wight delights in tricking the living. It often travels to someone's abode to flaunt its treasure and tempt heroes into searching out its lair. A king-wight may appear gracious and hospitable at times, but such appearances are illusory. In reality, the king-wight hates to give up any part of its hoarded treasure and tempts heroes only as a ploy to trap them in its underground barrow, to either slay the heroes by the sword or turn them into wight slaves.