Spectres, Wraiths and Wights

[Matthew]

Well, I was reading the Monster Manual today and I noticed that wraiths lack the clause about drained characters rising as half strength wraiths, which was quite surprising to me. Looking back to OD&D: Monsters & Treasures I see that wraiths are described as "high class" wights, so I assume it was intended that the same rules about level drain apply. This seems likely, given that humans drained of all life energy rise as half strength spectres. Can anybody buttress or discredit this theory with examples or ancillary evidence?

Whilst we are on the subject, how do folks treat these half strength undead? Do you just half hit points or do you half the hit dice, and in the latter case rounding up or down? For reference:

Wight HD 4+3 → 2+1(?)
Wraith HD 5+3 → 2+3(?)
Spectre HD 7+3 → 3+3(?)

[edit] Doh, I missed the paragraph on the opposite column! Stupid pdf reader! Okay, second question still stands!

[genghisdon]

Wight 4+3 HD
Wight spawn 2+3 HD

Wraith 5+3 HD
Wraith pawn HD 2+4-7

Spectre 7+3 HD
Spectre minion HD 3+4-7

Vampire HD 8+3
Vampire spawn HD 4+3

[ScottyG]

Really, you're just talking about a hit point or two, but as a general rule I round monsters up.

[darnizhaan]

Also, if you read the description carefully it specifically states that non-humans can become wraiths, which I find interesting as you can find no such reference among other MM undead (perhaps excepting vampiric ixitchitl).

[foxroe]

Then how do you explain this?

[Benoist]

Alternately you could just roll the HP normally and halve them after the fact.

[Matthew]

Alternately you could just roll the HP normally and halve them after the fact.

That is what I have been thinking lately, after all we are not going to half the damage they do or their armour class, so why do we half the hit dice? Tough call, because obviously it potentially affects fighting ability and saving throws.

HD 1+4-3+3 = FA 5
HD 3+4-5+3 = FA 6
HD 5+4-7+3 = FA 8

Very minor differences. For saving throws wights and wraiths both count as fighters 5-6, and spectres as fighters 7-8.

[Flambeaux]

Would halving the Hit Dice affect the susceptability to Turn attempts? Or are they still Turned as wraiths, etc.?

[Matthew]

Would halving the Hit Dice affect the susceptability to Turn attempts? Or are they still Turned as wraiths, etc.?

Good question. Almost definitely not if the "master" wraith/wight is present, but by themselves there is no guidance. I could see myself ruling that they turn as one level lower when isolated, but it seems like needless complication and way easier to just half the hit points. There is also the matter of calculating and awarding experience points to consider.

Using the halved hit dice I initially suggested:

Wight HD 4+3 (FA 6; ST 11|12|13|13|14) → 2+1 = FA 5; ST 13|14|15|16|16
Wraith HD 5+3 (FA 6; ST 11|12|13|13|14) → 2+3 = FA 5; ST 13|14|15|16|16
Spectre HD 7+3 (FA 8; ST 10|11|12|12|13) → 3+3 = FA 5; ST 13|14|15|16|16

[genghisdon]

Another way to go is to leave their HD alone, but roll d4's for HP

[Philotomy Jurament]

I fall in the "just halve the hit points" camp. The "roll a d4 instead of a d8" thing would work just as well.

[Matthew]

Yeah, rolling 1d4 for hit dice is definitely the best solution so far, I think. Halving the hit dice is just too much of a pain for virtually no statistical change.