DrakebloodIV
2009-10-05, 12:32 AM
Okay, to clarify this is a homebrew version of the virus Zombie in pop culture. Things like Dawn of the Dead, 28 days later, TZH, Left4dead, WWZ, the ZSG, and other such things. I'm going to try and make a modifiable template for zombies that can be used to make zombie hordes of whatever kind you prefer and additional templates for unique zombies from specific settings.
Zombie (template)
Challenge Rating: Zombies usually have a CR equal to one fourth their hit dice, but this is altered based on later variables
Zombie traits:
Zombies are reanimated corpses of humans or humanoids who have been exposed to a virus that causes ordinary vital functions to cease. Their heart and lungs cease to function, but they function on an anaerobic reaction. They rot at a rate significantly slower than natural corpses, but eventually melt away and die, their brain reduced to mush.
They speak no language, but moan usually. Depending on the kind of zombie, they will either hiss or moan in a more urgent tone when they locate living prey.
Type: Their type changes to Special Undead, but at DM discretion some abilities, which would affect their previous type, may still affect them. These zombies are susceptible to Sneak Attacks if their attacker has the Headshot feat.
Hit Dice: Zombies retain the Hit Dice they had in life, and many of their abilities are dictated by their hit dice.
Defense: Zombies, being clumsy and easy targets, gain -2 defense upon being zombified. In addition, decay may cause their armor to lose defensive value or increase in ACP as time goes on.
Equipment: Zombies lose all proficiencies upon zombification. They also drop any equipment that is handheld at the time, but all strapped on shields and weapons will remain equipped, providing a -1 penalty to attacks and not giving their armor bonus. Also, a zombie will never make attacks with weapons, but on a crit the weapon damage from the weapon in their hand will be added rather than their original hit multiplied. Helmets will give a zombie +5 AC versus headshots, and all equipment which provides DR will give DR to a zombie.
Attacks: A zombie gains a claw and bite attack. BaB is not affected.
Damage: A zombies bite attack deals 1d4 damage and infects the victim with the zombie plague, the zombie receives a +3 bonus to attack rolls made with this bite attack while in a grapple. A zombies claw attack deals 1d6 damage, and may spread the zombie plague depending on the plague rules in your setting.
Special Qualities: A zombie loses all of its spells and spell like abilities. It retains DR, and Immunities it had in life and gains DR 5*HD/Headshots. Zombies receive +2 to all grapple checks. Also, zombies gain scent, they have Darkvision 10 and blindsense 20. Any sound within 20 feet a zombie will treat as though it was a human until sight or feel proves it otherwise.
Saves: A zombie automatically succeeds any Fort or Will saving throws but automatically fails any Ref saving throws
Ability Scores: A zombie gains +2 STR, -2 dex, and +2 con after reanimation. They lose their Int score and their Wis is turned to 10. Cha remains the same.
Skills: A zombie loses all skills they had in life and gains the following skills as though they were class skills: Intimidate, Survival, Spot, and Listen. They receive maximum investiture into these skills for their level. They may also perform Escape Artist, Jump, Balance, Climb and Tumble checks, but do so at a -10 penalty.
Feats: A zombie loses all feats it had in life and gains Endurance, Track, Improved Grapple and Diehard feats, and gains the Toughness feat at level one and every multiple of three level after that.
Movement speed: Zombie movement speed varies based on the zombie type as shown in the following table. However, all zombies lose their Swim speeds and go down one level of maneuverability as a zombie. A zombie has a 20% chance of floating in water if wearing no heavy equipment is worn, and will float if wearing a life jacket.
{table=head] Zombie Style | Traits | CR changes
Romero Zombie | May only take a move or attack action per round, -15 ft from creatures movement speed, always reacts as though it was the previous round*, No AoO's | -1/8 CR per HD
ZSG Zombie | -10 movement speed, may not make full attack actions, AoO's get a -3 penalty | Normal CR
28 Days | +10 movement speed and Run feat, jump becomes an allowed skill with maximum investment, DR reduced to 3*HD/Level, Damage stopped by DR is taken 1d6 hours later | +1/4 CR per HD
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*Specifically, they will move to where a creature was, not where it is, and will only attack an object that has not moved since they reached it.
Special abilities:
Removable limbs: Should a zombie be dealt damage other than a headshot, they must roll a d20 each time damage is dealt. On a fifteen or higher they have taken critical damage to one of their body parts. Also, on a twenty the attack may be treated as though it was a Headshot
{table=head] roll | Limb | Consequences
15 | Right Arm | Reduction in half of all checks requiring a limb and reduction in half of BaB
16 | Left Arm | Same
17 | Right Leg | Movement speed -10, to a minimum of 5. All checks requiring a two legs automatically fail. No running, jumping, or climbing.
18 | Left Leg | Same
19 | Lower Torso | Both legs paralyzed, max move is 5ft. May only move every other round. +10 to hide checks. This also results if both legs are removed.
20 | Upper Torso | All limbs paralyzed, no actions other than a bite attack may be taken. +30 to hide checks. Other creatures may share a space with you. May be coup de graced.
[/table]
If a zombie takes damage in this fashion three times to the same limb than that limb is removed
Zombie Virus:
The zombification virus varies from setting to setting. Transmission, Latency, and Cures are all ways in which the zombie virus can change.
{table=head]Transmission type | Rules
Bite only | Only a successful bite attack from a zombie will result in infection
All body fluids | All bodily fluids will spread the virus. Blood, saliva, semen, it doesn’t matter. Bite and Claw attacks spread the virus, but claw attacks will only do so rarely
Airborne | Everyone will get the virus in a short amount of time, both zombies and humans spread it through the air. This type must be combined with some sort of immune group.
Waterborne, insect borne or other | C’mon folks, anyone can think of a way to spread zombieism. Maybe its something in the water, maybe it’s the television, maybe its space rays from mars. Have fun with it and think of a truly original way to spread the virus
[/table]
{table=head]Latency type | Rules
Instantaneous | Everyone dies when exposed to the virus, instantly and painfully, they also reanimate quite quickly. In some settings they might not even bother to die, just turn pale and red eyed. Only combine this with Airborne if you’re a real bastard of a DM
Transformation varies | You reanimate based on your exposure. A pinprick of Z blood will kill you, but it may take weeks or months. Massive exposure is up to the DM. A syringe of pure Z virus to the heart might still take hours, or might be as short as a few minutes.
Slow burn | Death will come, but it takes its sweet freaking time about it. Even when somebody is completely slashed apart by zombies they take hours saying their sweet goodbyes before turning, and disposing of the body can be done in a kind way, rather than just a shot to the head. Great for dramatic views of a zombie apocalypse
Only when dead | People can get the virus and live for years without knowing it, they might even be spreading it to other people during that time. But when they kick the bucket they turn right quicklike. This can make for some weird societies incorporating zombies and the infected, like in Fido or Tzh.
[/table]
As far as latency goes there are really two stages: Dying and Turning. The Virus might affect one without affecting the other. Or you might have Instantaneous Death with a Slow Burn on turning. Be sure to have a timeframe for how things go though, and stick to that. Weather its minutes, days, or even years before a person turns.
{table=head] Cure types | Rules
Naturally Immune | Some people are just naturally immune to the virus. They can still get a case of the deadsies from a zombie attack, they might be able to get infected, and they might still be vulnerable to the poison in zombie bites, but they'll never turn weather they die or not. Animal species and Elementals or Outsiders might be Naturally Immune in your setting. As far as dictating which people, if any, are immune, it's recommended to do one of two things; Have them roll a Fort save on first exposure, or agree before the game who is Immune. If a player is flaunting their natural immunity and being an idiot, feel free to surprise them with a latent infection of some sort if your system allows for it or you haven’t developed your infection rules enough for them to be sure they're immune.
Survivable infection | In some settings the virus itself is survivable. In this case treat it as a supernatural disease, with stages of infection and Fort saves to survive. Heal checks should usually have reduced effects against infection unless zombie setting specific feats are taken.
Acquired Immunity | [Cures are always a promise in Zombie settings, wether they bring overwhelming joy when proven true or crushing despair when proven false. These cures may not be permanent, and may not prevent the spread of zombieism. They may turn it into a upon death situation, or 'cures' may turn out to just be incredibly slow burns. Also, keep in mind that natural cures may exist, if the infection is survivable than natural immunity may occur after repeated infection.
Partial Infection or immunity | As mentioned, some settings have infection which can be partial. TZH, in particular, has some impressive variation. In said setting, bites cause guaranteed death and reanimation, while exposure to other fluids results in zombification only upon death. In your setting these could be used to different methods, some people being infected only if bitten while others dying from airborne virus or some being vaccinated from the airborne in anticipation of it coming to their country. If sowing chaos and controversy in your setting is your intent than this is the ideal way to do it.
Other Immunity | If you can think of it, use it. In magic settings especially there might be other methods for becoming immune. For ironies sake you might even make the most preposterous form of protection valid. Allowing the player who bought the magic rock to live through a bite and completely confounding the party.
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Horde mentality
Zombies tend to form a horde after finding prey. Through moaning, hissing, or screaming they communicate to other zombies their intent to attack a person. When a zombie sees prey, they communicate in some way to all zombies nearby, this range is DM dictated but usually extends between three hundred feet and two miles. Each zombie who hears the moan also moans and communicates to the others their intent. They then move to the nearest moan and listen for the direction of other moans. A zombie will stop moaning only when the cease to see prey, they are surrounded by moans, they cannot hear other moans, or the object nearest them producing moans is not near a prey item.
In addition to these abilities, a zombie may more effectively group together with other zombies. Up to four zombies may group together in one square (or eight, if squeezing), and no creature of tiny size or larger may move through a square containing a horde of zombies without making an escape artist check of a DC equal to one eighth the total hit dice of each zombie within attacking range of the person. (That is, a DC of 9 assuming that a creature is surrounded on all sides by level 1 zombies). Zombies may use all of their attacks freely during this time and any creature within range of the horde is considered flanked. No attacks of opportunity may be made against somebody in the horde until all their move is used up or they fail an escape artist check while inside the horde. Hordes block line of sight and nothing may be seen beyond the first square of horde.
With large enough hordes special shapes may be made for zombies to overcome obstacles. Zombies may make a ramp up over an object with the total zombies needed equal to (8+(number of feet needed*4))*(1/5width of object in feet), and every zombie over that number can get over. When first confronted with an obstacle zombies tend to start out from the direction they came and gradually spread out, so while some zombies may form a ramp for a short amount of time they will spread out as more zombies come.
Pure Terror
Once per round as a free action a zombie may attempt to make a character flee. They direct a moan at them and glare menacingly, as well as drooling, vomiting blood, or directing stench towards them. The person this is directed at must make a Will save vs. fear. The check is equal to (Zombies intimidate mod+Total # of known zombies)/(Distance in squares from target+Number of zombies killed since combat started. On failing this check the target becomes shaken, if attacked again in this manner and again they fail the check, they become frightened, and if they fail again they become panicked. If within a fortified area they will not flee, but continued exposure to Pure Terror will cause a character to go violently insane, killing other players, killing themselves, or letting zombies into their stronghold.
Stench of Death
Zombies stink, the more rotten they are the more they stink. Even a not very decayed zombie will repel most natural creatures. Any non-zombie animal or being with the scent ability will try to avoid the zombie if at all possible. Those creatures will become sickened if within twenty feet of a zombie.
After a year or so of rotting they become disgusting even to beings with ordinary senses of smell. If within ten feet of a zombie those creatures become sickened, and creatures with superior senses of smell will become nauseated within that area.
Decay and Death
Over time zombies rot away, gradually losing their physical abilities as they gain a more intimidating and disgusting appearance. Generally speaking most zombies turn to mush and dust within about five years, being effectively crippled around a year before that. But exposure to preserving agents or freezing can suspend the rotting climates indefinitely and cold or dry environments can double, triple, or even quadruple the amount of time it takes a zombie to rot.
On a normal rotting schedule a zombie loses function of one limb per year. Should spinal decay occur before this the zombie may lose function of its limbs before it is even close to decay.
Each year of Effective Rot that a zombie has the GM must roll 1d6. The zombie loses a limb in the same way it would lose a limb if hit by an attack which damaged a limb. 1 corrisponds to 15, 2 to 16, and so on. In addition to this loss of limb, a zombie takes ability score damage over time. The first two years a zombie decomposes, it takes -2 to dex, con or str at randomeach . The next two years it takes -2 to two of those stats. Each year after that it takes -2 to all physical stats until one physical stat reaches zero. At that time the zombie is too weak or flimsy to move, their jaw and lungs will continue to function for 1d4 years after that. The following table lists modifiers on a zombies Effective Rot.
{table=head] Condition | Effect | Description
City environment | Use surrounding weather conditions when possible, 1d4 years till feet wear away | Zombies in cities tend to rot at a similar rate to the Zombies in the surrounding countryside, but because of their constant barefoot walking on the unforgiving pavement, their feet wear clean to stubs after 1d4 years. This forces them to make a DC5 balance check before each move action or fall prone.
Grassland, Temperate | Normal Effective Rot | Grasslands tend to have moderate amounts of rain and heat. Their winters slow rot slightly and their summers speed it, but overall they tend to even out. Keep in mind that fire damage may occur on zombies due to annual burns in the grass.
Grassland, Dry | 3/4 ER |Dry, tropical grasslands usually have wider temperature ranges and less water to aid in decomposing the Zombie. A short wet season occurs on occasion, but not long enough to promote bacteria growth within the Zombie.
Grassland, Wet | 1+1/2 ER | Wet grasslands like those near the everglades tend to leave a zombie half submerged in water. In addition to the increased ER, after two total years in wet grasslands a zombie will have both of its legs immediately treated as damaged.
Forest, Deciduous | 1 ER | Deciduious forests tend to have moderate temperatures, decent humidity and a short but cold winter season. The good environment for rotting in the summer months is compensated for by the bad one in the winter. Zombies in these areas tend to freeze for one to three months of the year
Forest, Alpine | 1/2 ER | Alpine forests have long cold winters and tend to have less oxygen when in the mountains. Bacteria here are slowed greatly by the cold weather. Zombies in these areas tend to freeze for three to six months of the year.
Swamp and rainforest | 2 ER | Swamps and rainforests have massive amounts of biodiversity, rainfall, heat and humidity. They have no years of the month lost to freezing and chest high or higher pools of water are common. These combine to make an almost ideal environment for rotting to occur in.
Desert | 1/4 ER | Deserts support very little life. Hot days and freezing nights combined with little to no humidity put rot at a standstill. This causes Zombies to become effectively mummified if buried for long amounts of time, but unlike ordinary mummies they will keep on moving... and killing. The most effective method of destruction of zombies in these areas is sand. Zombies feet will wear away in 1 year of desert environment, and major sandstorms will tear away skin, tendons and muscle. Each time a zombie is caught in a sandstorm they take 1d4 Str damage. Also, intense sunlight will blind a zombie in this environment in 1 year.
Tundra | 1/8 ER | Tundras exist for most of the year as an icy waste of permafrost, the water and nutrients in the soil melting only for short amounts of time in the summer. Cold temperatures exist here, but not enough water is available to freeze a zombie until it gets viciously cold for the three severe winter months. The rest of the time a zombie wanders, searching for prey over vast tracts of land and protected from most of the rot that would kill it.
Underwater | 3 ER (+1 if salty) | The bacteria that rot zombies thrive in water, their life cycle is sped and the moderate temperatures in most waters allows them to live all year round. Salt water adds even more to this rot, the solvent nature of it dissolving chunks of the zombie quickly. However, zombies are bouyant enough that they don't feel the effects of the rot until leaving the water. Zombies can only be reduced to a 1 while in water, and limbs aren't considered lost until 1 point of damage has been taken to the zombie. Zombies that have a 1 in any ability score after leaving water fall apart in 1d4 weeks.
Glacier, Arctic environments and other frozen areas | 0 ER | Zombies in glaciers are frozen in ice, their systems of life frozen, preserved indefinitely. When they are frozen they take 1d4 damage due to ice crystals in their body but otherwise no damage occurs to them while frozen.
Artificial preservation | 0 ER | Zombies exposed to radiation, preserving chemicals or other artificial substances will continue to move without rotting. Only water based rot will damage a zombie. Swamps ER becomes 1 and Wet grasslands becomes 1/2. Other areas have an ER of 0.
[/table]
Healing Decay
Some settings allow for Zombies to heal their decay through ingestion of living flesh. If so, zombies gain 1hp per five pounds of flesh consumed. Only about 50% of the average human is readily consumable to a zombie. Also, generic zombies might not be able to self heal while unique zombies can, depending on your setting.
Unique Zombies
Copyright info
In some settings people occasionally become unique kinds of zombies when zombified. All of the following zombies are taking from other settings. Basilisks, Berzerkers, Howlers, and Mercies are the creative property of Jenny Romanchuck. Jockies, Smokers, Witches, Boomers, Tanks, and Charger are creative property of Valve studios. Hunters and Spitters may be the property of one or both, they occur in both settings. The drawings and poems are from the Zombie Hunters website and are in no way my creation or property. To the best of my information these are allowed to be used, should I be informed otherwise I will immediately remove them from this form.
The Creation section and some parts of the Traits sections are of my own creation, they are neither cannon nor approve by either group. They are fan material and nothing more.
Creation
A person becoming a unique zombie tends to be random, but specific body types and personalities are more likely to become unique zombies. Depending on your setting these may garuntee that one becomes a specific kind of zombie or may only barely affect the odds. Anywhere from 1 in 1000 zombies to 1 in 5 may be unique.
{table=head] Name | Description | Traits before Reanimation
Basilisk | Basilisks are skilled sneak attackers. They spend most of their lives feigning being a corpse, but when humans come by they sneak up near a straggler and use their hypnotic red eyes to paralyze their prey before feeding. | People with vision problems and/or vibrant eye colors
Berzerker | Fast moving sprinters, Berzerkers are killer opponents. They are not only faster than any known human, but can use some forms of primative tools. They prefer capturing their prey alive and torturing them for hours or days. They will only bite those who survive their hideious torture, increasing the odds of making more Berzerkers. | Sociopaths, alcoholics, abused children, and people with other mental disorders tend to become Berzerkers
Boomer | This fat waddling zombie becomes a living grenade. It can only move as fast as normal zombies and sticks out like a sore thumb in a crowd, so it prefers to lurk around corners and vomit upon its prey before being shot and exploding over its targets. This sludge blinds the targets, may infect them, and attracts all the zombies in a massive radius to the prey. | Obese people, although skinny zombies can gradually turn into boomers after eating enough flesh.
Howler | Howlers tend to blend in with the horde, waiting as long as possible to use their sonic attack. If close enough they will cause nausea, vertigo, and in extreme cases unconciousness | Musicians, especially lead singers and metal players.
Hunter | Masters of subtlety, hunters stalk their prey for days, weeks or even months. Their superior agility allows them to leap from building to building, silently stalking their prey. | Gymnasts, Runners, Hunters and other athletic people
Jockey | Jockeys tend to hang around hordes of zombies or more dangerous zombies. When these groups attack the Jockey manipulates the chaos to its own ends. It leaps on top of a surviver and uses its powerful limbs to manipulate the survivors motion. If possible it moves its mount towards the deadliest target available. If no threat is nearby it rides the nearest melee combatant, as the Jockey can manipulate limbs but not fingers. | Motorcyclists, Bikers, Professional drivers and real life Jockeys.
Mercy | Mercies are a strange kind of zombie. They walk slowly but don't shamble. They hum softly and whisper rather than moaning and hissing. They only bite once, always. Mercies come towards injured survivors, finding them with an almost sixth sense. They move towards the person, getting rid of other zombies if necicary. After that they sit down and hug the survivor, their warm blooded nature surprising most who recieve this. They soothe the survivor to the best of their abilities before taking a swift bite of out of one of the vital regions. The anestetic in their saliva numbs the victim as they die, camling and soothing them to a soft end. If possible, a Mercy will stay there until the person turns. | EMT's, Doctors, Priests, Teachers, Parents.
Smoker | Smokers have evolved a unique physiology among zombies. Their intestonal tract becomes a whiplike structure as they turn. Using this they stand at the back edge of a horde and catch and drag survivors through the horde. If removed, a Smoker has several back up ropes, but those take time to prepare. | Smokers (duh)
Spitter | Spitters develop their intestons for a different purpose; the launching of powerful acid soaked bullets towards survivors. Cancerious cysts in the Spitters stomach form dense bullet shaped objects which are hurled at survivors through a method similar to high velocity vomiting. These acidic bullets can infect, kill, or burn survivors exposed to them. At close range a spitter can vomit its stomach acid on a survivor. | Users of chewing tobacco and people with ulcers.
Tank | Tanks are massive raging beasts, hundreds of rounds are required to fell them and their ultra dense skeletons reduce the effectivity of even headshots. They tend to focus on only one target at a time, beating it into submission before moving on to another. | Bodybuilders
Witch | From far away a Witch looks like a little girl crying. As one gets closer, however, the flaws in the guise begin to show. Rather than being small, a Witch is just disturbingly skinny. The skin is pale and razor sharp claws stretch past the childlike hands. The crying is punctuated by moans and the eyes glow blood red. As long as you get no closer you'll be fine, but angering a witch is a horrible idea. Their poisoned claws will incapasitiate or kill anyone who gets their attention. Fire is the only known method of killing a witch without risking being killed as well. | Girls, especially children and anorexics.
[/table]
Berzerker
(Template)
"I am fear, I am hate, and I am rage. I am a demon's demon.
I loathe and despise you.
You are alive, where I am no longer.
I shall make you suffer for what you are, as I suffer for what I am."
http://www.thezombiehunters.com/glosspics/berserker.jpg
Challenge Rating: Berzerkers have a challenge rating equal to twice their hit dice.
Type: Type changes to Special Undead, but some abilities that affected its previous type may affect it as a zombie.
Berzerker Traits: Berzerkers are a vicious subspecies of zombie, which retain much more of their physical, mental, and psychological functioning from life. Unlike ordinary zombies, only the frontal lobe has severe damage. Even with this damage it only hampers specific functions. Berzerkers lose the ability to judge risk, have alterations to the sight and smell senses, have complete loss of moral direction, and often show signs of severe sexual abberation. They also show common symptoms of ADHD: Jitteryness, lack of focus, ease in angering and other factors. These psychological flaws combine to create the ultimate homocidal monster. Upon seeing or smelling a living human a Berzerker instantly notes its nature and altered nerves in the rage centers of the brain fire. The berzerker sprints towards its target. Rather than biting it as an ordinary zombie would, a berzerker traps or cripples its prey, attempting to scare off its allies. berzerkers then drag their prey away and torture it viciously. MRI scans of Berzerkers hearing human screams have shown that the centers for fear, pain, pleasure, and sexual arousal are all linked in a Berzerker. These cause a Berzerker to not only not notice pain, but to try to induce pain in its victims. After ten or more hours of intense torture a Berzerker will bite and reanimate its victim if they are still alive. Coitus may occur between the Berzerker and its victim near the end of the torture, but bodies found in this condition have been too beaten and bloodied to verify.
Berzerkers also show three instincts that makes them unique among the undead: Pack instincts, planning and tool making. Berzerkers will often form packs and hunting groups after reanimation. Unlike ordinary Zombies, who simply move toward moans in an attempt to feed together, Berzerkers will group together and actively communicate to hunt. They develop a pack structure which dictates jobs during a hunt, pick of victims or tools, and even recognize faces enough to know who is who. They have been known to use flanking, ambush, and traps when hunting. Their toolmaking is similar to that of humans, but their lack of creativity and focus restricts it. They are more likely to re use human items. An example of this would be a pack of Berzerkers leading humans into a minefield the creatures knew of. The most advanced Berzerker made tool known is a baseball bat with steak knives pounded into it, but Bolas and clubs are much more common.
Perhaps a Berzerkers most disturbing trait is its nurturing instinct not dissimilar to a Mercies. However, a Berzerkers intense torture session before biting ensures that not only will the person most likely turn Berzerker, but only the strongest will turn. Theories exist that Berzerkers who killed one Berzerker or another will show a nurturing instinct and possibly be sexually active (though sterile). These have yet to be proven, but decomposition in a Berzerkers social centers of the brain is not severe enough to disprove it.
They have no known language but when hunting give a guttural screaming laugh. The pitch and rhythm of the laugh may be some sort of primitive communication though.
Hit Dice: Berzerkers retain the hit dice they had in life, and many of their abilities are dictated by them.
Defense: Berzerkers neither gain nor lose AC upon reanimation.
Equipment: Berzerkers are proficient with all simple and martial/archaic weapons, but they are not proficient and cannot gain proficiency in any weapon activated by a trigger. They are proficient in any Light armor they were wearing at the time but cannot use shields.Helmets will give a Berzerker +5 AC versus headshots, and all equipment which provides DR will give DR to a zombie.
Attacks: A Berzerker has a claw/claw/bite attack with damage equal to that of an ordinary zombie. Berzerkers gain Two weapon fighting and its predecessors when they meet the requirements (substituting level for HD, of course)
Damage: 1d4 bite (+3 to attack rolls if grappling),
Special Qualities: A Berzerker loses all of its spells and spell like abilities. It gets a +2 bonus to grapple checks and a +5 bonus to Pure Terror and Stench of Death checks. It retains DR, and Immunities it had in life and gains DR 5*HD/Headshots. Also, Berzerkers gain scent, they have Darkvision 10 and blindsense 20.
Saves: Berzerkers automatically succeed on all Will and Fort saves, and receive bonuses on their Ref saves as though they were Barbarians of a level equal to their HD
Ability Scores: Berzerkers gain +4 to Str and Con, +0 to Dex, Wis, and Cha, and have their Intelligence divided by two (minimum 3 for Humans)
Skills: A Berzerker loses all skills they had in life and gains the following skills as though they were class skills: Intimidate, Survival, Spot, Listen, Jump, Climb, and Tumble. They receive maximum investiture (3+Number of HD)into these skills for their level. They may also perform Escape Artist, Craft(Primitive Weapons), Search and Knowledge (Tactics) checks, but have no training in them.
Feats: A Berzerker loses all feats it had in life and gains Endurance, Track, Improved Grapple, Two weapon fighting, Run and Diehard feats. When their HD equals the level requirement of another feat in the Two weapon fighting chain they gain that as a bonus feat
Movement speed: Berzerkers gain +10 feet of movement speed and have access to several abilities which can alter their movement speed.
Special abilities: Berzerkers have all the special abilities of the ordinary zombie and also has the following...
Sprint: HD/day a Berzerker may double their movement speed for one round. This may be combined with a Run or Charge action.
Bloody Rage: (HD+1)/3 per day a Berzerker may go into a furious rage similar to a Barbarians rage but with the following modifications:
- Twice the bonus to Str and Con
- Twice the penalty to AP
- May only be activated when a Berzerker can smell blood
- No exhaustion after Raging, but if the Berzerker has not dealt damage to anything while raging it will fall prone and convulse on the floor for 2d4 rounds.
- Will attack the nearest living target, if no living target is available will attack the nearest non Berzerker. If no non Berzerker is available will attack the nearest Berzerker
Adrenaline
A Berzerker may ignore 10 points of damage or damaged arm or leg for HD rounds per day. These rounds need not be consecutive.
Howler
"I sing a song.
I sing the song of death.
You will listen, and you too shall die, and sing the song of death with me."
http://www.thezombiehunters.com/glosspics/howler.jpg
Hunter
"You can run from me,
You can hide from me,
You can cross the ocean, climb the highest mountain, or even fly from me.
But I will always find you, before you will ever find me.
I give you my word."
http://www.thezombiehunters.com/glosspics/hunter.jpg
[/spoiler]
Zombie Related Feats
Name: (Classes that may use this as a bonus feat) Flavor Text. Requirements, Bonuses and other info.
Headshot: (Fighter, any Hero) The HEAD! Aim for the ****ing HEAD! You've seen some zombies, and you understand the basics of how they work. You know to only aim for the head when fighting them. By taking -2 to an attack roll you may make it into a headshot, overcoming zombie DR. Only Ranged or Melee attacks and targeted spells may be used in this fashion. In addition, attacks that are within 2 of overcoming the zombies AC still count as hits, but not as headshots.
Immunities zombies formerly had are now overcome. Sneak attack damage, the Cleave feat, the Point Blank shot feat (and feats that require it) and any other combat feat at DM discretion may now be used.
Optional requirement: Must have spent X rounds total combatting zombies. Or must have been taught by another person how to use the feat.
DMs in zombie horror campaigns are recommended to increase the penalty to attack rolls or ban this feat chain outright.
Basic Zombie Knowledge: (Int hero, maybe Cha and Wis heroes too) They get less scary once you know them. I've seen enough that I only get scared ****less every once in a while. Headshot, Int 13+, Must have encountered at least one unique zombie. The rules of the game are easier to see now. You know how to combat (Int mod) different zombies. You may take zombies as a favored enemy and include your known zombies in that set. Only zombies you've seen before are included, but once encountered you may add them up to your Int mod. In addition, you gain a new class skill: Knowledge (Zombies). And may make the following checks:
{table=head] DC | Effects
20-Hours dead | Tell an infected corpse from an ordinary corpse
30-Years effective rot - an additional 10 if Basalisk is a known zombie | Tell a dead zombie from a basilisk
5+total HP remaining on the zombie | Determine a zombies remaining HP
15 - years effective rot | Tell how rotten a zombie is.[/table]
Zombie Psychology: (Maybe some charismatic hero's, I'll sort this bit out later) They're like clockwork. They each follow the same rules. Once you get in their head, it gets easier to break the cogs. (some sort of mental stat) 13, Basic Zombie knowledge. You're in their heads. You can tell when they see you, when they smell you, how many are nearby, you can guess which ones are unique and you can sometimes even confuse them. You gain these additional abilities to your Knowledge (Zombies) Skill and may add your Cha modifier in addition to your Int modifier.
{table=head] DC | Effect
15 + 10 if you cant see the zombie + 10 if unique | Tell when a zombie has detected you.
10 | Tell when Howlers and Spitters are hiding in a mob
20 + 1 per 10 members of mob | Tell which zombie is the Howler or Spitter
15 | Destract a zombie (requires meat, a human-like noise, fire or something similar)
[/table]
[/spoiler]
More stuff soon! Suggestions, questions, cool ideas and criticism always welcome
Zombie (template)
Challenge Rating: Zombies usually have a CR equal to one fourth their hit dice, but this is altered based on later variables
Zombie traits:
Zombies are reanimated corpses of humans or humanoids who have been exposed to a virus that causes ordinary vital functions to cease. Their heart and lungs cease to function, but they function on an anaerobic reaction. They rot at a rate significantly slower than natural corpses, but eventually melt away and die, their brain reduced to mush.
They speak no language, but moan usually. Depending on the kind of zombie, they will either hiss or moan in a more urgent tone when they locate living prey.
Type: Their type changes to Special Undead, but at DM discretion some abilities, which would affect their previous type, may still affect them. These zombies are susceptible to Sneak Attacks if their attacker has the Headshot feat.
Hit Dice: Zombies retain the Hit Dice they had in life, and many of their abilities are dictated by their hit dice.
Defense: Zombies, being clumsy and easy targets, gain -2 defense upon being zombified. In addition, decay may cause their armor to lose defensive value or increase in ACP as time goes on.
Equipment: Zombies lose all proficiencies upon zombification. They also drop any equipment that is handheld at the time, but all strapped on shields and weapons will remain equipped, providing a -1 penalty to attacks and not giving their armor bonus. Also, a zombie will never make attacks with weapons, but on a crit the weapon damage from the weapon in their hand will be added rather than their original hit multiplied. Helmets will give a zombie +5 AC versus headshots, and all equipment which provides DR will give DR to a zombie.
Attacks: A zombie gains a claw and bite attack. BaB is not affected.
Damage: A zombies bite attack deals 1d4 damage and infects the victim with the zombie plague, the zombie receives a +3 bonus to attack rolls made with this bite attack while in a grapple. A zombies claw attack deals 1d6 damage, and may spread the zombie plague depending on the plague rules in your setting.
Special Qualities: A zombie loses all of its spells and spell like abilities. It retains DR, and Immunities it had in life and gains DR 5*HD/Headshots. Zombies receive +2 to all grapple checks. Also, zombies gain scent, they have Darkvision 10 and blindsense 20. Any sound within 20 feet a zombie will treat as though it was a human until sight or feel proves it otherwise.
Saves: A zombie automatically succeeds any Fort or Will saving throws but automatically fails any Ref saving throws
Ability Scores: A zombie gains +2 STR, -2 dex, and +2 con after reanimation. They lose their Int score and their Wis is turned to 10. Cha remains the same.
Skills: A zombie loses all skills they had in life and gains the following skills as though they were class skills: Intimidate, Survival, Spot, and Listen. They receive maximum investiture into these skills for their level. They may also perform Escape Artist, Jump, Balance, Climb and Tumble checks, but do so at a -10 penalty.
Feats: A zombie loses all feats it had in life and gains Endurance, Track, Improved Grapple and Diehard feats, and gains the Toughness feat at level one and every multiple of three level after that.
Movement speed: Zombie movement speed varies based on the zombie type as shown in the following table. However, all zombies lose their Swim speeds and go down one level of maneuverability as a zombie. A zombie has a 20% chance of floating in water if wearing no heavy equipment is worn, and will float if wearing a life jacket.
{table=head] Zombie Style | Traits | CR changes
Romero Zombie | May only take a move or attack action per round, -15 ft from creatures movement speed, always reacts as though it was the previous round*, No AoO's | -1/8 CR per HD
ZSG Zombie | -10 movement speed, may not make full attack actions, AoO's get a -3 penalty | Normal CR
28 Days | +10 movement speed and Run feat, jump becomes an allowed skill with maximum investment, DR reduced to 3*HD/Level, Damage stopped by DR is taken 1d6 hours later | +1/4 CR per HD
[/table]
*Specifically, they will move to where a creature was, not where it is, and will only attack an object that has not moved since they reached it.
Special abilities:
Removable limbs: Should a zombie be dealt damage other than a headshot, they must roll a d20 each time damage is dealt. On a fifteen or higher they have taken critical damage to one of their body parts. Also, on a twenty the attack may be treated as though it was a Headshot
{table=head] roll | Limb | Consequences
15 | Right Arm | Reduction in half of all checks requiring a limb and reduction in half of BaB
16 | Left Arm | Same
17 | Right Leg | Movement speed -10, to a minimum of 5. All checks requiring a two legs automatically fail. No running, jumping, or climbing.
18 | Left Leg | Same
19 | Lower Torso | Both legs paralyzed, max move is 5ft. May only move every other round. +10 to hide checks. This also results if both legs are removed.
20 | Upper Torso | All limbs paralyzed, no actions other than a bite attack may be taken. +30 to hide checks. Other creatures may share a space with you. May be coup de graced.
[/table]
If a zombie takes damage in this fashion three times to the same limb than that limb is removed
Zombie Virus:
The zombification virus varies from setting to setting. Transmission, Latency, and Cures are all ways in which the zombie virus can change.
{table=head]Transmission type | Rules
Bite only | Only a successful bite attack from a zombie will result in infection
All body fluids | All bodily fluids will spread the virus. Blood, saliva, semen, it doesn’t matter. Bite and Claw attacks spread the virus, but claw attacks will only do so rarely
Airborne | Everyone will get the virus in a short amount of time, both zombies and humans spread it through the air. This type must be combined with some sort of immune group.
Waterborne, insect borne or other | C’mon folks, anyone can think of a way to spread zombieism. Maybe its something in the water, maybe it’s the television, maybe its space rays from mars. Have fun with it and think of a truly original way to spread the virus
[/table]
{table=head]Latency type | Rules
Instantaneous | Everyone dies when exposed to the virus, instantly and painfully, they also reanimate quite quickly. In some settings they might not even bother to die, just turn pale and red eyed. Only combine this with Airborne if you’re a real bastard of a DM
Transformation varies | You reanimate based on your exposure. A pinprick of Z blood will kill you, but it may take weeks or months. Massive exposure is up to the DM. A syringe of pure Z virus to the heart might still take hours, or might be as short as a few minutes.
Slow burn | Death will come, but it takes its sweet freaking time about it. Even when somebody is completely slashed apart by zombies they take hours saying their sweet goodbyes before turning, and disposing of the body can be done in a kind way, rather than just a shot to the head. Great for dramatic views of a zombie apocalypse
Only when dead | People can get the virus and live for years without knowing it, they might even be spreading it to other people during that time. But when they kick the bucket they turn right quicklike. This can make for some weird societies incorporating zombies and the infected, like in Fido or Tzh.
[/table]
As far as latency goes there are really two stages: Dying and Turning. The Virus might affect one without affecting the other. Or you might have Instantaneous Death with a Slow Burn on turning. Be sure to have a timeframe for how things go though, and stick to that. Weather its minutes, days, or even years before a person turns.
{table=head] Cure types | Rules
Naturally Immune | Some people are just naturally immune to the virus. They can still get a case of the deadsies from a zombie attack, they might be able to get infected, and they might still be vulnerable to the poison in zombie bites, but they'll never turn weather they die or not. Animal species and Elementals or Outsiders might be Naturally Immune in your setting. As far as dictating which people, if any, are immune, it's recommended to do one of two things; Have them roll a Fort save on first exposure, or agree before the game who is Immune. If a player is flaunting their natural immunity and being an idiot, feel free to surprise them with a latent infection of some sort if your system allows for it or you haven’t developed your infection rules enough for them to be sure they're immune.
Survivable infection | In some settings the virus itself is survivable. In this case treat it as a supernatural disease, with stages of infection and Fort saves to survive. Heal checks should usually have reduced effects against infection unless zombie setting specific feats are taken.
Acquired Immunity | [Cures are always a promise in Zombie settings, wether they bring overwhelming joy when proven true or crushing despair when proven false. These cures may not be permanent, and may not prevent the spread of zombieism. They may turn it into a upon death situation, or 'cures' may turn out to just be incredibly slow burns. Also, keep in mind that natural cures may exist, if the infection is survivable than natural immunity may occur after repeated infection.
Partial Infection or immunity | As mentioned, some settings have infection which can be partial. TZH, in particular, has some impressive variation. In said setting, bites cause guaranteed death and reanimation, while exposure to other fluids results in zombification only upon death. In your setting these could be used to different methods, some people being infected only if bitten while others dying from airborne virus or some being vaccinated from the airborne in anticipation of it coming to their country. If sowing chaos and controversy in your setting is your intent than this is the ideal way to do it.
Other Immunity | If you can think of it, use it. In magic settings especially there might be other methods for becoming immune. For ironies sake you might even make the most preposterous form of protection valid. Allowing the player who bought the magic rock to live through a bite and completely confounding the party.
[/table]
Horde mentality
Zombies tend to form a horde after finding prey. Through moaning, hissing, or screaming they communicate to other zombies their intent to attack a person. When a zombie sees prey, they communicate in some way to all zombies nearby, this range is DM dictated but usually extends between three hundred feet and two miles. Each zombie who hears the moan also moans and communicates to the others their intent. They then move to the nearest moan and listen for the direction of other moans. A zombie will stop moaning only when the cease to see prey, they are surrounded by moans, they cannot hear other moans, or the object nearest them producing moans is not near a prey item.
In addition to these abilities, a zombie may more effectively group together with other zombies. Up to four zombies may group together in one square (or eight, if squeezing), and no creature of tiny size or larger may move through a square containing a horde of zombies without making an escape artist check of a DC equal to one eighth the total hit dice of each zombie within attacking range of the person. (That is, a DC of 9 assuming that a creature is surrounded on all sides by level 1 zombies). Zombies may use all of their attacks freely during this time and any creature within range of the horde is considered flanked. No attacks of opportunity may be made against somebody in the horde until all their move is used up or they fail an escape artist check while inside the horde. Hordes block line of sight and nothing may be seen beyond the first square of horde.
With large enough hordes special shapes may be made for zombies to overcome obstacles. Zombies may make a ramp up over an object with the total zombies needed equal to (8+(number of feet needed*4))*(1/5width of object in feet), and every zombie over that number can get over. When first confronted with an obstacle zombies tend to start out from the direction they came and gradually spread out, so while some zombies may form a ramp for a short amount of time they will spread out as more zombies come.
Pure Terror
Once per round as a free action a zombie may attempt to make a character flee. They direct a moan at them and glare menacingly, as well as drooling, vomiting blood, or directing stench towards them. The person this is directed at must make a Will save vs. fear. The check is equal to (Zombies intimidate mod+Total # of known zombies)/(Distance in squares from target+Number of zombies killed since combat started. On failing this check the target becomes shaken, if attacked again in this manner and again they fail the check, they become frightened, and if they fail again they become panicked. If within a fortified area they will not flee, but continued exposure to Pure Terror will cause a character to go violently insane, killing other players, killing themselves, or letting zombies into their stronghold.
Stench of Death
Zombies stink, the more rotten they are the more they stink. Even a not very decayed zombie will repel most natural creatures. Any non-zombie animal or being with the scent ability will try to avoid the zombie if at all possible. Those creatures will become sickened if within twenty feet of a zombie.
After a year or so of rotting they become disgusting even to beings with ordinary senses of smell. If within ten feet of a zombie those creatures become sickened, and creatures with superior senses of smell will become nauseated within that area.
Decay and Death
Over time zombies rot away, gradually losing their physical abilities as they gain a more intimidating and disgusting appearance. Generally speaking most zombies turn to mush and dust within about five years, being effectively crippled around a year before that. But exposure to preserving agents or freezing can suspend the rotting climates indefinitely and cold or dry environments can double, triple, or even quadruple the amount of time it takes a zombie to rot.
On a normal rotting schedule a zombie loses function of one limb per year. Should spinal decay occur before this the zombie may lose function of its limbs before it is even close to decay.
Each year of Effective Rot that a zombie has the GM must roll 1d6. The zombie loses a limb in the same way it would lose a limb if hit by an attack which damaged a limb. 1 corrisponds to 15, 2 to 16, and so on. In addition to this loss of limb, a zombie takes ability score damage over time. The first two years a zombie decomposes, it takes -2 to dex, con or str at randomeach . The next two years it takes -2 to two of those stats. Each year after that it takes -2 to all physical stats until one physical stat reaches zero. At that time the zombie is too weak or flimsy to move, their jaw and lungs will continue to function for 1d4 years after that. The following table lists modifiers on a zombies Effective Rot.
{table=head] Condition | Effect | Description
City environment | Use surrounding weather conditions when possible, 1d4 years till feet wear away | Zombies in cities tend to rot at a similar rate to the Zombies in the surrounding countryside, but because of their constant barefoot walking on the unforgiving pavement, their feet wear clean to stubs after 1d4 years. This forces them to make a DC5 balance check before each move action or fall prone.
Grassland, Temperate | Normal Effective Rot | Grasslands tend to have moderate amounts of rain and heat. Their winters slow rot slightly and their summers speed it, but overall they tend to even out. Keep in mind that fire damage may occur on zombies due to annual burns in the grass.
Grassland, Dry | 3/4 ER |Dry, tropical grasslands usually have wider temperature ranges and less water to aid in decomposing the Zombie. A short wet season occurs on occasion, but not long enough to promote bacteria growth within the Zombie.
Grassland, Wet | 1+1/2 ER | Wet grasslands like those near the everglades tend to leave a zombie half submerged in water. In addition to the increased ER, after two total years in wet grasslands a zombie will have both of its legs immediately treated as damaged.
Forest, Deciduous | 1 ER | Deciduious forests tend to have moderate temperatures, decent humidity and a short but cold winter season. The good environment for rotting in the summer months is compensated for by the bad one in the winter. Zombies in these areas tend to freeze for one to three months of the year
Forest, Alpine | 1/2 ER | Alpine forests have long cold winters and tend to have less oxygen when in the mountains. Bacteria here are slowed greatly by the cold weather. Zombies in these areas tend to freeze for three to six months of the year.
Swamp and rainforest | 2 ER | Swamps and rainforests have massive amounts of biodiversity, rainfall, heat and humidity. They have no years of the month lost to freezing and chest high or higher pools of water are common. These combine to make an almost ideal environment for rotting to occur in.
Desert | 1/4 ER | Deserts support very little life. Hot days and freezing nights combined with little to no humidity put rot at a standstill. This causes Zombies to become effectively mummified if buried for long amounts of time, but unlike ordinary mummies they will keep on moving... and killing. The most effective method of destruction of zombies in these areas is sand. Zombies feet will wear away in 1 year of desert environment, and major sandstorms will tear away skin, tendons and muscle. Each time a zombie is caught in a sandstorm they take 1d4 Str damage. Also, intense sunlight will blind a zombie in this environment in 1 year.
Tundra | 1/8 ER | Tundras exist for most of the year as an icy waste of permafrost, the water and nutrients in the soil melting only for short amounts of time in the summer. Cold temperatures exist here, but not enough water is available to freeze a zombie until it gets viciously cold for the three severe winter months. The rest of the time a zombie wanders, searching for prey over vast tracts of land and protected from most of the rot that would kill it.
Underwater | 3 ER (+1 if salty) | The bacteria that rot zombies thrive in water, their life cycle is sped and the moderate temperatures in most waters allows them to live all year round. Salt water adds even more to this rot, the solvent nature of it dissolving chunks of the zombie quickly. However, zombies are bouyant enough that they don't feel the effects of the rot until leaving the water. Zombies can only be reduced to a 1 while in water, and limbs aren't considered lost until 1 point of damage has been taken to the zombie. Zombies that have a 1 in any ability score after leaving water fall apart in 1d4 weeks.
Glacier, Arctic environments and other frozen areas | 0 ER | Zombies in glaciers are frozen in ice, their systems of life frozen, preserved indefinitely. When they are frozen they take 1d4 damage due to ice crystals in their body but otherwise no damage occurs to them while frozen.
Artificial preservation | 0 ER | Zombies exposed to radiation, preserving chemicals or other artificial substances will continue to move without rotting. Only water based rot will damage a zombie. Swamps ER becomes 1 and Wet grasslands becomes 1/2. Other areas have an ER of 0.
[/table]
Healing Decay
Some settings allow for Zombies to heal their decay through ingestion of living flesh. If so, zombies gain 1hp per five pounds of flesh consumed. Only about 50% of the average human is readily consumable to a zombie. Also, generic zombies might not be able to self heal while unique zombies can, depending on your setting.
Unique Zombies
Copyright info
In some settings people occasionally become unique kinds of zombies when zombified. All of the following zombies are taking from other settings. Basilisks, Berzerkers, Howlers, and Mercies are the creative property of Jenny Romanchuck. Jockies, Smokers, Witches, Boomers, Tanks, and Charger are creative property of Valve studios. Hunters and Spitters may be the property of one or both, they occur in both settings. The drawings and poems are from the Zombie Hunters website and are in no way my creation or property. To the best of my information these are allowed to be used, should I be informed otherwise I will immediately remove them from this form.
The Creation section and some parts of the Traits sections are of my own creation, they are neither cannon nor approve by either group. They are fan material and nothing more.
Creation
A person becoming a unique zombie tends to be random, but specific body types and personalities are more likely to become unique zombies. Depending on your setting these may garuntee that one becomes a specific kind of zombie or may only barely affect the odds. Anywhere from 1 in 1000 zombies to 1 in 5 may be unique.
{table=head] Name | Description | Traits before Reanimation
Basilisk | Basilisks are skilled sneak attackers. They spend most of their lives feigning being a corpse, but when humans come by they sneak up near a straggler and use their hypnotic red eyes to paralyze their prey before feeding. | People with vision problems and/or vibrant eye colors
Berzerker | Fast moving sprinters, Berzerkers are killer opponents. They are not only faster than any known human, but can use some forms of primative tools. They prefer capturing their prey alive and torturing them for hours or days. They will only bite those who survive their hideious torture, increasing the odds of making more Berzerkers. | Sociopaths, alcoholics, abused children, and people with other mental disorders tend to become Berzerkers
Boomer | This fat waddling zombie becomes a living grenade. It can only move as fast as normal zombies and sticks out like a sore thumb in a crowd, so it prefers to lurk around corners and vomit upon its prey before being shot and exploding over its targets. This sludge blinds the targets, may infect them, and attracts all the zombies in a massive radius to the prey. | Obese people, although skinny zombies can gradually turn into boomers after eating enough flesh.
Howler | Howlers tend to blend in with the horde, waiting as long as possible to use their sonic attack. If close enough they will cause nausea, vertigo, and in extreme cases unconciousness | Musicians, especially lead singers and metal players.
Hunter | Masters of subtlety, hunters stalk their prey for days, weeks or even months. Their superior agility allows them to leap from building to building, silently stalking their prey. | Gymnasts, Runners, Hunters and other athletic people
Jockey | Jockeys tend to hang around hordes of zombies or more dangerous zombies. When these groups attack the Jockey manipulates the chaos to its own ends. It leaps on top of a surviver and uses its powerful limbs to manipulate the survivors motion. If possible it moves its mount towards the deadliest target available. If no threat is nearby it rides the nearest melee combatant, as the Jockey can manipulate limbs but not fingers. | Motorcyclists, Bikers, Professional drivers and real life Jockeys.
Mercy | Mercies are a strange kind of zombie. They walk slowly but don't shamble. They hum softly and whisper rather than moaning and hissing. They only bite once, always. Mercies come towards injured survivors, finding them with an almost sixth sense. They move towards the person, getting rid of other zombies if necicary. After that they sit down and hug the survivor, their warm blooded nature surprising most who recieve this. They soothe the survivor to the best of their abilities before taking a swift bite of out of one of the vital regions. The anestetic in their saliva numbs the victim as they die, camling and soothing them to a soft end. If possible, a Mercy will stay there until the person turns. | EMT's, Doctors, Priests, Teachers, Parents.
Smoker | Smokers have evolved a unique physiology among zombies. Their intestonal tract becomes a whiplike structure as they turn. Using this they stand at the back edge of a horde and catch and drag survivors through the horde. If removed, a Smoker has several back up ropes, but those take time to prepare. | Smokers (duh)
Spitter | Spitters develop their intestons for a different purpose; the launching of powerful acid soaked bullets towards survivors. Cancerious cysts in the Spitters stomach form dense bullet shaped objects which are hurled at survivors through a method similar to high velocity vomiting. These acidic bullets can infect, kill, or burn survivors exposed to them. At close range a spitter can vomit its stomach acid on a survivor. | Users of chewing tobacco and people with ulcers.
Tank | Tanks are massive raging beasts, hundreds of rounds are required to fell them and their ultra dense skeletons reduce the effectivity of even headshots. They tend to focus on only one target at a time, beating it into submission before moving on to another. | Bodybuilders
Witch | From far away a Witch looks like a little girl crying. As one gets closer, however, the flaws in the guise begin to show. Rather than being small, a Witch is just disturbingly skinny. The skin is pale and razor sharp claws stretch past the childlike hands. The crying is punctuated by moans and the eyes glow blood red. As long as you get no closer you'll be fine, but angering a witch is a horrible idea. Their poisoned claws will incapasitiate or kill anyone who gets their attention. Fire is the only known method of killing a witch without risking being killed as well. | Girls, especially children and anorexics.
[/table]
Berzerker
(Template)
"I am fear, I am hate, and I am rage. I am a demon's demon.
I loathe and despise you.
You are alive, where I am no longer.
I shall make you suffer for what you are, as I suffer for what I am."
http://www.thezombiehunters.com/glosspics/berserker.jpg
Challenge Rating: Berzerkers have a challenge rating equal to twice their hit dice.
Type: Type changes to Special Undead, but some abilities that affected its previous type may affect it as a zombie.
Berzerker Traits: Berzerkers are a vicious subspecies of zombie, which retain much more of their physical, mental, and psychological functioning from life. Unlike ordinary zombies, only the frontal lobe has severe damage. Even with this damage it only hampers specific functions. Berzerkers lose the ability to judge risk, have alterations to the sight and smell senses, have complete loss of moral direction, and often show signs of severe sexual abberation. They also show common symptoms of ADHD: Jitteryness, lack of focus, ease in angering and other factors. These psychological flaws combine to create the ultimate homocidal monster. Upon seeing or smelling a living human a Berzerker instantly notes its nature and altered nerves in the rage centers of the brain fire. The berzerker sprints towards its target. Rather than biting it as an ordinary zombie would, a berzerker traps or cripples its prey, attempting to scare off its allies. berzerkers then drag their prey away and torture it viciously. MRI scans of Berzerkers hearing human screams have shown that the centers for fear, pain, pleasure, and sexual arousal are all linked in a Berzerker. These cause a Berzerker to not only not notice pain, but to try to induce pain in its victims. After ten or more hours of intense torture a Berzerker will bite and reanimate its victim if they are still alive. Coitus may occur between the Berzerker and its victim near the end of the torture, but bodies found in this condition have been too beaten and bloodied to verify.
Berzerkers also show three instincts that makes them unique among the undead: Pack instincts, planning and tool making. Berzerkers will often form packs and hunting groups after reanimation. Unlike ordinary Zombies, who simply move toward moans in an attempt to feed together, Berzerkers will group together and actively communicate to hunt. They develop a pack structure which dictates jobs during a hunt, pick of victims or tools, and even recognize faces enough to know who is who. They have been known to use flanking, ambush, and traps when hunting. Their toolmaking is similar to that of humans, but their lack of creativity and focus restricts it. They are more likely to re use human items. An example of this would be a pack of Berzerkers leading humans into a minefield the creatures knew of. The most advanced Berzerker made tool known is a baseball bat with steak knives pounded into it, but Bolas and clubs are much more common.
Perhaps a Berzerkers most disturbing trait is its nurturing instinct not dissimilar to a Mercies. However, a Berzerkers intense torture session before biting ensures that not only will the person most likely turn Berzerker, but only the strongest will turn. Theories exist that Berzerkers who killed one Berzerker or another will show a nurturing instinct and possibly be sexually active (though sterile). These have yet to be proven, but decomposition in a Berzerkers social centers of the brain is not severe enough to disprove it.
They have no known language but when hunting give a guttural screaming laugh. The pitch and rhythm of the laugh may be some sort of primitive communication though.
Hit Dice: Berzerkers retain the hit dice they had in life, and many of their abilities are dictated by them.
Defense: Berzerkers neither gain nor lose AC upon reanimation.
Equipment: Berzerkers are proficient with all simple and martial/archaic weapons, but they are not proficient and cannot gain proficiency in any weapon activated by a trigger. They are proficient in any Light armor they were wearing at the time but cannot use shields.Helmets will give a Berzerker +5 AC versus headshots, and all equipment which provides DR will give DR to a zombie.
Attacks: A Berzerker has a claw/claw/bite attack with damage equal to that of an ordinary zombie. Berzerkers gain Two weapon fighting and its predecessors when they meet the requirements (substituting level for HD, of course)
Damage: 1d4 bite (+3 to attack rolls if grappling),
Special Qualities: A Berzerker loses all of its spells and spell like abilities. It gets a +2 bonus to grapple checks and a +5 bonus to Pure Terror and Stench of Death checks. It retains DR, and Immunities it had in life and gains DR 5*HD/Headshots. Also, Berzerkers gain scent, they have Darkvision 10 and blindsense 20.
Saves: Berzerkers automatically succeed on all Will and Fort saves, and receive bonuses on their Ref saves as though they were Barbarians of a level equal to their HD
Ability Scores: Berzerkers gain +4 to Str and Con, +0 to Dex, Wis, and Cha, and have their Intelligence divided by two (minimum 3 for Humans)
Skills: A Berzerker loses all skills they had in life and gains the following skills as though they were class skills: Intimidate, Survival, Spot, Listen, Jump, Climb, and Tumble. They receive maximum investiture (3+Number of HD)into these skills for their level. They may also perform Escape Artist, Craft(Primitive Weapons), Search and Knowledge (Tactics) checks, but have no training in them.
Feats: A Berzerker loses all feats it had in life and gains Endurance, Track, Improved Grapple, Two weapon fighting, Run and Diehard feats. When their HD equals the level requirement of another feat in the Two weapon fighting chain they gain that as a bonus feat
Movement speed: Berzerkers gain +10 feet of movement speed and have access to several abilities which can alter their movement speed.
Special abilities: Berzerkers have all the special abilities of the ordinary zombie and also has the following...
Sprint: HD/day a Berzerker may double their movement speed for one round. This may be combined with a Run or Charge action.
Bloody Rage: (HD+1)/3 per day a Berzerker may go into a furious rage similar to a Barbarians rage but with the following modifications:
- Twice the bonus to Str and Con
- Twice the penalty to AP
- May only be activated when a Berzerker can smell blood
- No exhaustion after Raging, but if the Berzerker has not dealt damage to anything while raging it will fall prone and convulse on the floor for 2d4 rounds.
- Will attack the nearest living target, if no living target is available will attack the nearest non Berzerker. If no non Berzerker is available will attack the nearest Berzerker
Adrenaline
A Berzerker may ignore 10 points of damage or damaged arm or leg for HD rounds per day. These rounds need not be consecutive.
Howler
"I sing a song.
I sing the song of death.
You will listen, and you too shall die, and sing the song of death with me."
http://www.thezombiehunters.com/glosspics/howler.jpg
Hunter
"You can run from me,
You can hide from me,
You can cross the ocean, climb the highest mountain, or even fly from me.
But I will always find you, before you will ever find me.
I give you my word."
http://www.thezombiehunters.com/glosspics/hunter.jpg
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Zombie Related Feats
Name: (Classes that may use this as a bonus feat) Flavor Text. Requirements, Bonuses and other info.
Headshot: (Fighter, any Hero) The HEAD! Aim for the ****ing HEAD! You've seen some zombies, and you understand the basics of how they work. You know to only aim for the head when fighting them. By taking -2 to an attack roll you may make it into a headshot, overcoming zombie DR. Only Ranged or Melee attacks and targeted spells may be used in this fashion. In addition, attacks that are within 2 of overcoming the zombies AC still count as hits, but not as headshots.
Immunities zombies formerly had are now overcome. Sneak attack damage, the Cleave feat, the Point Blank shot feat (and feats that require it) and any other combat feat at DM discretion may now be used.
Optional requirement: Must have spent X rounds total combatting zombies. Or must have been taught by another person how to use the feat.
DMs in zombie horror campaigns are recommended to increase the penalty to attack rolls or ban this feat chain outright.
Basic Zombie Knowledge: (Int hero, maybe Cha and Wis heroes too) They get less scary once you know them. I've seen enough that I only get scared ****less every once in a while. Headshot, Int 13+, Must have encountered at least one unique zombie. The rules of the game are easier to see now. You know how to combat (Int mod) different zombies. You may take zombies as a favored enemy and include your known zombies in that set. Only zombies you've seen before are included, but once encountered you may add them up to your Int mod. In addition, you gain a new class skill: Knowledge (Zombies). And may make the following checks:
{table=head] DC | Effects
20-Hours dead | Tell an infected corpse from an ordinary corpse
30-Years effective rot - an additional 10 if Basalisk is a known zombie | Tell a dead zombie from a basilisk
5+total HP remaining on the zombie | Determine a zombies remaining HP
15 - years effective rot | Tell how rotten a zombie is.[/table]
Zombie Psychology: (Maybe some charismatic hero's, I'll sort this bit out later) They're like clockwork. They each follow the same rules. Once you get in their head, it gets easier to break the cogs. (some sort of mental stat) 13, Basic Zombie knowledge. You're in their heads. You can tell when they see you, when they smell you, how many are nearby, you can guess which ones are unique and you can sometimes even confuse them. You gain these additional abilities to your Knowledge (Zombies) Skill and may add your Cha modifier in addition to your Int modifier.
{table=head] DC | Effect
15 + 10 if you cant see the zombie + 10 if unique | Tell when a zombie has detected you.
10 | Tell when Howlers and Spitters are hiding in a mob
20 + 1 per 10 members of mob | Tell which zombie is the Howler or Spitter
15 | Destract a zombie (requires meat, a human-like noise, fire or something similar)
[/table]
[/spoiler]
More stuff soon! Suggestions, questions, cool ideas and criticism always welcome