Deathtouched Companion (Animal Companion Archetype)
(art by Rui Valente on Artstation)
Skeletal horses, ghostly baying hounds, zombie animals of all stripes, the entire plot of Pet Semetery… Truly humanity has a special place in their heart for undead animals. The exact themes can range from horrifying to creepy-cute depending on the nature of the fiction, but the idea of applying the theme of undeath with animals is a long-standing one. After all, animals are often much more intelligent than we have given them credit for in the past, so it only makes sense that emotional baggage or trauma (or a healthy heaping of necromancy) could cause them to rise again just like their fully sapient counterparts.
Another one of those “companion creature blended with an atypical creature type” archetypes, today we touch upon the deathtouched companion, representing animal, vermin, or plant companions that, while not truly undead, have the touch of death on them, similar to dhampirs.
They might have been brought back to life wrong, been exposed to too much foul corruption from undead or raw negative energy, or perhaps even being exposed to a rare, zombifying blight.
Note that this archetype differs from Accursed Companions from Horror Realms in that the companion is not necessarily haunted by a past companion’s angry spirit, nor do they necessarily have a toxic relationship with their masters. In fact, these creatures can vary from being vile and disturbing horrors to being affectionate creatures that just so happen to look very sick or even dead, or both, often with a bit of an odor to match (though not as bad as if they were actually decaying).
Like other hybrid-type companions, these creatures are harder to train due to their dual nature, but in this case, that does have advantages, namely how they seem to ignore the unnatural auras of true undead.
Deathly eyes grant unearthly sight, letting them see in darkness.
Like a dhampir, these creatures process negative energy the way an undead does without actually being undead.
They also have a natural resistance to any sort of effect that undead ignore, such as poison, disease, and certain fortitude-targeting spells. However, at the same time, they become vulnerable to magic that specifically targets the undead as well.
Interested in a flavorful archetype that grants some undead resistances to your companion creature? This archetype may be for you. However, remember that these creatures have negative energy affinity, meaning that depending on your party setup, it can be very hard to actually heal them. Druids and hunters don’t get the inflict spells normally, only clerics with the animal domain can get a companion without multiclassing, and most other companion-having classes and archetypes don’t have any healing period. If you can make it work, go for it. Alternatively, similar to the constructed companion archetype, a GM might use this archetype to grant you a second chance with a beloved animal companion if resurrection magic is hard to come by, in which it becomes less about the initial build and more about adapting to a unique situation.
These creatures are unnerving as they come, but they can still be affectionate and loyal. In fact, loyalty may be the driving force of these creatures, the very thing that kept them from fully succumbing to the horror of what has corrupted them.
When the clan’s greatest hunter returned from the stone circle not with a new beast companion, but their old one revived, the orcs of Varog’s Hill were surprised by this miracle. However, it quickly became clear that there was something fundamentally wrong with the boar as well.
Ants are well known for their tenacity to survive even when losing limbs, but the giant ant companion of Vilka Stormhall goes far beyond that, even missing part of its head with no apparent loss in function. Clearly the creature is tainted, but convincing her to lay the thing to rest will be difficult, as she believes it is a blessing.
Unsurprising given their nature, the urdefhan appreciate the usefulness of deathtouched companions, making them fearless to the various undead they often traffic with. As such, many an urdefhan outrider has some manner of sickly-looking subterranean animal, dry insects, or overripe plant companion by their side, such as a corpse-eater fungus covered in corroded pockmarks from their own acid.