Reanimated [Creature Type]

[Lysander]

Move aside undead creatures, it's time for SCIENCE ZOMBIES!

As a caveat, since reanimated are immune to both turning, rebuking, and control undead spells you shouldn't use these in a campaign specifically to repeatedly screw over a cleric or necromancer character, but they can make a great curveball encounter or a challenge you forewarn them about.

Reanimated
Any living creature vulnerable to disease can become a reanimated monster if it is killed by the Solanum plague. A reanimated creature is a corpse mutated and moved by a living disease rather than negative energy. Though they appear rotting, and are partially dead flesh, enough of them still lives that they count as living creatures. Different individuals may turn into different forms of reanimated creatures, but all reanimated share the following qualities:

Stats & Hitdice
A Reanimated creature retains all its stats and hitdice including Con, except its Intelligence is usually reduced to a maximum of 2. It is immune to magical affects that raise or lower intelligence. Certain rare types of reanimated creatures may have higher intelligence scores.

Bab & Saves
Bab is equal to 1/2 HD. Reanimated retain their old fort and will saving throws, but never attempt to make reflex saves.

Loss of Class Abilities & Skills
Reanimated lose all class abilities other than armor proficiency and proficiency with simple weapons. They are too stupid to don armor but already may be wearing it when they die and reanimate. They likewise are too stupid to specifically seek out weapons, but may pick one up if they spot it. Reanimated have no skillpoints and can only make untrained skill checks. Reanimated cannot speak or read any languages.

Alignment & Personality
A Reanimated creature is hungry and vicious, and will attack any living creature to consume it, besides other reanimated. Despite this a reanimated creature is neutral just like a savage animal. Reanimated never consume the entirety of their prey, always leaving enough for it to reanimate.

Immunities
Immunity to poison, fear, sleep effects, paralysis, stunning, disease, nonlethal damage, polymorph, fatigue and exhaustion. Reanimated do not breathe. As living creatures they cannot be controlled or affected by magic that only affects undead. Unlike undead they remain vulnerable to ability drain, death affects, critical hits, and mind-affecting spells. Mind affecting spells cannot compel them to stop pursuing living prey, but can confuse them, knock them unconscious, or divert them to a different target it can perceive.

Blindsight & Blindsense
Blindsight based on scent up to 20 feet, and blindsense up to 60 feet. Only reanimated creatures that had a sense of smell gain these abilities.

Natural Attacks & Infectious Bite
Most Reanimated have both a slam attack and a bite attack. Any time a living creature takes damage from the bite it must make a DC20 Fortitude save or become infected with the Solanum disease.

Digestive Healing
Any time a reanimated creature damages a creature with its bite attack, it is healed an equal number of hitpoints. It can also feed on recently killed corpses and regain a number of hitpoints equal to its maximum bite attack damage each round. Reanimated can also be healed by positive energy, but any spell that cures diseases forces them to make a DC18 fortitude save or instantly be killed. These spells can still restore their hitpoints.

Hibernation
Reanimated creatures only need to eat if they are active. If one cannot find prey for several weeks a reanimated creature can hibernate and remain totally still for years until prey comes by. It can only remain active for a cumulative period of months equal to its HD before dying of starvation.

Solanum
Getting infected with Solanum is a death sentence without magical healing. Each hour a person has the disease their INT lowers by 1d4. Once it reaches 2 the person permanently transforms into a Reanimated creature and cannot be healed. There is no save to resist this intelligence drain, but a DC25 Heal check can prevent them from losing any intelligence until two hours have passed. Disease curing magic instantly removes the disease and restores their intelligence to full. A killed Reanimated creature can be raised or resurrected into the original living creature.

If a creature was infected by a bite on an extremity, cutting off the wounded limb within 1 minute prevents Solanum from reaching their body.

[Xefas]

It is immune to magical affects that boost intelligence but not to affects that lower it further.


I'm not sure this is particularly useful or necessary. I really think it should be the other way around.

If it isn't immune to things that lower its Intelligence, then a single Intelligence penalty or damage causing attack (such as the 1st level Ray of Stupidity spell) will take one down, regardless of hit dice or CR.

If it is immune to things that raise intelligence, you're just ruling out cool scenarios in which a mindless zombie gets his hands on a Headband of Intellect +6 and becomes a Smart Zombie, and begins puppeteering the rest of the zombie horde to its own dark ends, or redeems himself and decides to do good, but at some point has to do a Flowers for Algernon thing where he must sacrifice his very sentience to save his friends, or something.

[Ravens_cry]

And 3 intelligence is people. Not very smart people, but people nonetheless. Which means the smartest zombies can talk. Not well, and definitely all hulk speak, but still talk.

[Lysander]

I'm not sure this is particularly useful or necessary. I really think it should be the other way around.

If it isn't immune to things that lower its Intelligence, then a single Intelligence penalty or damage causing attack (such as the 1st level Ray of Stupidity spell) will take one down, regardless of hit dice or CR.

If it is immune to things that raise intelligence, you're just ruling out cool scenarios in which a mindless zombie gets his hands on a Headband of Intellect +6 and becomes a Smart Zombie, and begins puppeteering the rest of the zombie horde to its own dark ends, or redeems himself and decides to do good, but at some point has to do a Flowers for Algernon thing where he must sacrifice his very sentience to save his friends, or something.

Good point. I made them immune to intelligence drain, but kept the intelligence raising limitation. It would be silly to cast a spell on a zombie and it suddenly say "Good lord! I'm consuming human flesh, how ghastly!" But this is just a type, so there can be a few exceptionally smart reanimated creatures but they wouldn't be your basic zombie.



And 3 intelligence is people. Not very smart people, but people nonetheless. Which means the smartest zombies can talk. Not well, and definitely all hulk speak, but still talk.

Nope, reanimated zombies can't speak or read languages despite their intelligence. I list that under "Loss of Class Abilities & Skills." 3 intelligence lets them do things like operate doorknobs however, or figure out how to break into a building.

[Fax Celestis]

Nope, reanimated zombies can't speak or read languages despite their intelligence. I list that under "Loss of Class Abilities & Skills." 3 intelligence lets them do things like operate doorknobs however, or figure out how to break into a building.

Creatures with 3 Int, as per the descriptions of the ability scores, can speak. 2 Int is a smart dog, who can understand but not speak. You may be better served giving them 2 Int.

[Lysander]

Creatures with 3 Int, as per the descriptions of the ability scores, can speak. 2 Int is a smart dog, who can understand but not speak. You may be better served giving them 2 Int.

Good idea. Modified.