Alignment Lawful Evil Image Wizards.com image | Type Undead Mythological origins Wight | |
Stats Open Game License stats | ||
A wight is an undead creature in the Dungeons & Dragons fantasy role-playing game.
Contents
- Publication history
- Dungeons Dragons 1974 1976
- Advanced Dungeons Dragons 1st edition 1977 1988
- Dungeons Dragons 1977 1999
- Advanced Dungeons Dragons 2nd edition 1989 1999
- Dungeons Dragons 30 edition 2000 2002
- Dungeons Dragons 35 edition 2003 2007
- Dungeons Dragons 4th edition 2008
- Description
- Variant Wights
- DD Miniatures
- Reception
- Other publishers
- References
Publication history
The wight takes its inspiration from the barrow-wights in the world of Middle-earth created by J. R. R. Tolkien.
Dungeons & Dragons (1974-1976)
The wight was one of the first monsters introduced in the earliest edition of the game, in the Dungeons & Dragons "white box" set (1974), where they were described as being able to drain away energy levels on a touch.
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 1st edition (1977-1988)
The wight appears in the first edition Monster Manual (1977), where it is described as an undead human that inhabits barrow mounds or catacombs, evil and hateful, seeking to destroy all life it encounters.
Dungeons & Dragons (1977-1999)
This edition of the D&D game included its own version of the wight, in the Dungeons & Dragons Basic Set (1977, 1981, 1983). The wight was also later featured in the Dungeons & Dragons Game set (1991), the Dungeons & Dragons Rules Cyclopedia (1991), the Classic Dungeons & Dragons Game set (1994), and the Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Game set (1999).
Advanced Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition (1989-1999)
The wight appears first in the Monstrous Compendium Volume One (1989), and is reprinted in the Monstrous Manual (1993).
The wight undead dragon appears in Dragon #234 (October 1996).
Dungeons & Dragons 3.0 edition (2000-2002)
The wight appears in the Monster Manual for this edition (2000).
The lavawight and winterwight appear in the Epic Level Handbook (2002). The vilewight appeared in the Book of Vile Darkness (2002).
The wight template appeared in Dragon #300 (October 2002), and included the troglodyte wight as a sample creature.
Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 edition (2003-2007)
The wight appears in the revised Monster Manual for this edition (2003).
The wight was presented as a player character class in Libris Mortis: The Book of Undead (2004). The slaughter wight also appeared in this book.
The dust wight appears in Monster Manual III (2004).
The wight was detailed in Dragon #348 (October 2006), in the "Ecology of the Wight".
Dungeons & Dragons 4th edition (2008-)
The wight appears in the Monster Manual for this edition (2008).
Description
A wight is given a semblance of life through sheer violence and hatred. A wight can drain the life energy out of victims by touch, turning them into new wights upon death.
A wight appears as a weird and twisted reflection of the form it had in life. Wights are always lawful evil.
Variant Wights
D&D Miniatures
The wight appears in the D&D Miniatures: Harbinger set #52 (2003).
Reception
Rob Bricken of io9 identified the wight as one of "The 12 Most Obnoxious Dungeons & Dragons Monsters".
Other publishers
The wight is fully detailed in Paizo Publishing's book Undead Revisited (2011), on pages 58–63.