[PF] Do Zombies need heads?

[Zeromage1]

A cleric was beheaded in our campaign and I want to bring him back to attack the heroes. Do zombies need heads? If so are there any other options?

[Spore]

This was a discussion with my group after our second session fighting zombies. They do not posess life-sense so they would actually be blind without their heads. I'd say either he carries it around or you get lifesense via any template for him.

What's your main idea and CR anyway? Intelligent undead or just a powerful zombie? I split my party's mystic theurge into a ghost (with arcane spellcasting and udebuffing) and a zombie cleric (with zombie minions).

[Altair_the_Vexed]

Whatever you like! The default PF zombies are animated by negative energy, so there's not much for the brain to do.

But if it's got no head, can it see and hear?

EDIT: Cursed swordsages!

[Kudaku]

It's been done before, so there is precedence. There is a headless zombie in an AP that gains the following extraordinary ability:

Headless (Ex) Although the Headless Lord lacks a head, it can still hear and see and speak as if it had one.

Near as I can tell it doesn't seem to modify the CR of the creature. It's a Fast zombie undead lord. A variant of the creature can be found here (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/unique-monsters/cr-9/the-headless-lord).

That said, this is one of those things where I think the GM can just invoke Rule of Cool. I wouldn't worry about it and just let the zombie go kick ass. I do like the idea of making the ex-PC a fast Zombie and/or an Undead Lord to make him stand out from the regular slow variant of zombies and make the player feel proud that he wasn't just run-of-the-mill zombie cannonfodder :smallwink:.

One word of warning: A creature that has been reanimated can't be brought back to life by Raise Dead, so don't do this unless the player is hoping to have his character brought back to life.

[Ssalarn]

Could whatever force is bringing him back stitch the head on to the zombified corpse? Maybe even backwards?

You can Rule of Cool this however want, or use the suggested headless template, but I think a friend's shambling corpse carrying its head, or with the head crudely stitched in place, could be a whole different kind of creepy.

Or you could sew someone or something else's head onto the cleric's body, which would have yet another kind of creep factor.

**EDIT**

Just saw your thread over in the Paizo forums and read that the party actually has the head and left the corpse behind. I think you need to kick this up to 11 and have the corpse really tear into the party looking for its lost head. Apply the headless trait to a cairn wight and let the fun commence.

[Spore]

Just saw your thread over in the Paizo forums and read that the party actually has the head and left the corpse behind. I think you need to kick this up to 11 and have the corpse really tear into the party looking for its lost head. Apply the headless trait to a cairn wight and let the fun commence.

With added creepiness as the body approaches, the head begins to moan and possibly scream in agony.

[Kudaku]

**EDIT**

Just saw your thread over in the Paizo forums and read that the party actually has the head and left the corpse behind. I think you need to kick this up to 11 and have the corpse really tear into the party looking for its lost head. Apply the headless trait to a cairn wight and let the fun commence.

Alternately animate both the head and the body. Imagining a fire-breathing zombie head (http://www.d20pfsrd.com/bestiary/monster-listings/undead/beheaded) trying to eat its way out of your backpack mid-fight is too funny not to run with. Bonus points if you draw inspiration from the old-school varguille and have the zombie head fly by flapping its oversized ears :smallbiggrin: