Zombie behavior questions

[Merudo]

I'm preparing to run Tomb of Annihilation and I have a few questions regarding zombie behavior.


How do zombies react if PCs climb on trees? Do they attack the trees or try to climb the trees themselves?
Do zombies eat corpses? Can they be distracted by throwing a body near them?
Are zombies attracted to noise? Can they be distracted by something like a Music Box?
A ToA event describes zombies & skeletons being "led" by a ghoul. How can a ghoul control other undead?

[Randomthom]

I'm preparing to run Tomb of Annihilation and I have a few questions regarding zombie behavior.


How do zombies react if PCs climb on trees? Do they attack the trees or try to climb the trees themselves?
Do zombies eat corpses? Can they be distracted by throwing a body near them?
Are zombies attracted to noise? Can they be distracted by something like a Music Box?
A ToA event describes zombies & skeletons being "led" by a ghoul. How can a ghoul control other undead?


I think this is more a question taht each DM will have a different set of answers for (and there's nothing wrong with that btw).

My personal answers in order;
I'd probably have the zombies try to climb a tree but if they fail, to just linger around at the foot of the tree and wait.
Zombies most definitely eat corpses and are easily distracted by fresh meat. They will also prefer to snack on any downed PC though, rather than fight the living first.
I'd certainly make them attracted to the noise but not in the middle of combat where they would follow the moving, living things over some unknown noise.
When led by a ghoul, make them act in accordance to their last order like a simple-minded construct. One word commands are likely their limit.

[Unoriginal]

Zombies don't eat corpses. They don't eat anything, and absolutely cannot be distracted by throwing food or body parts at them.

Zombies may be distracted by things they percieve as signs of life. A music box could maybe work (with a CHA (Deception) check), but only until they see there is nothing living nearby.

Skeletons are smart enough to obey relatively big orders, zombies can obey very simple instructions, and the ones in the jungle of Chult are often under the domination of Ras Nsi, who is also responsible for their existences, so he can put a Ghoul in command of a group of them.

For climbing trees, well, it depends. I'd say that zombies would climb a normal tree (ie one that doesn't require a STR check to climb), at least.

[Merudo]

Zombies don't eat corpses. They don't eat anything, and absolutely cannot be distracted by throwing food or body parts at them.


Interestingly, the third-party supplement "Tomb of Annihilation Companion" has an event where 20 zombies are eating a brontosaurus corpse. I guess I'll have to tweak the event a bit.



Zombies may be distracted by things they percieve as signs of life. A music box could maybe work (with a CHA (Deception) check), but only until they see there is nothing living nearby.


I think there is a tendency in 5e to rely on skill checks even when they are not appropriate. In this case I don't see how a CHA(Deception) check could be justified - the action is literally to wind the music box & put it on the ground.

[Wuzza]

I think this is more a question taht each DM will have a different set of answers for

This 100% imo.

My homebrew is currently undead heavy. I'd personally go with these answers.

1. How do zombies react if PCs climb on trees? Do they attack the trees or try to climb the trees themselves?
They would claw at the trees trying to get to the PC's, until maybe they either get bored or distracted. If you want to be particularly benevolent, you could always have a jungle creature meander by as a distraction if the PC's are struggling.
2. Do zombies eat corpses? Can they be distracted by throwing a body near them?
Yes (in my world) and possibly. Where your PC's would find body parts up a tree is a different thing. :smallbiggrin:
3. Are zombies attracted to noise? Can they be distracted by something like a Music Box?
Depending on the situation, I would go with this.
4. A ToA event describes zombies & skeletons being "led" by a ghoul. How can a ghoul control other undead?
Because the DM said so..... :smalltongue:

[Unoriginal]

Interestingly, the third-party supplement "Tomb of Annihilation Companion" has an event where 20 zombies are eating a brontosaurus corpse. I guess I'll have to tweak the event a bit.

That's pretty weird. Zombies don't have desire nor needs except killing any living beings. Not eating the brontosaurus would be much better for them.

Now if it was a *dying* brontosaurus, it'd make sense. Zombies would try to kill it using everything they can, be it arms, legs or teeth.



I think there is a tendency in 5e to rely on skill checks even when they are not appropriate. In this case I don't see how a CHA(Deception) check could be justified - the action is literally to wind the music box & put it on the ground.

You got it backward. 5e has a tendency to NOT rely on ability checks (there are no skill checks in 5e, btw), because they are not always appropriate.

But a music box isn't a living being, so if you want to make the zombies believe that they should go check this thing that is absolutely not interesting to them unless it's the sign a living being is there (ie, making them believe it's someone playing music or the like), then it's what I call an attempt at deception.

[Wuzza]

That's pretty weird. Zombies don't have desire nor needs except killing any living beings.


Not that your interpretation/view isn't valid, in fact its bang on to the RAW, where as mine is way off. It's just that the thing I love about RP'ing in general is there are no wrong answers.
The rules do give you a solid framework to work from, but hey, if you want to completely 180 a given rule, then you're free to do so.
I grew up with Romero's/Fulci's zombies as a kid, and it wont matter what the rules say, that's what my zombies are going to be like. :smallsmile:

[Merudo]

I think this is more a question taht each DM will have a different set of answers for (and there's nothing wrong with that btw).


I agree to a point, but here we are talking about the Forgotten Realms.

There have been tons of books & adventures published regarding the setting. One would hope there would be some sort of consensus on what zombies can and can't do.

[Unoriginal]

Not that your interpretation/view isn't valid, in fact its bang on to the RAW, where as mine is way off. It's just that the thing I love about RP'ing in general is there are no wrong answers.
The rules do give you a solid framework to work from, but hey, if you want to completely 180 a given rule, then you're free to do so.
I grew up with Romero's/Fulci's zombies as a kid, and it wont matter what the rules say, that's what my zombies are going to be like. :smallsmile:

Sure, but we're talking about the zombies of a specific FR campaign. Of course you can modify the game and the campaign as much as you want, but I had the impression the OP wanted the "official" version.

[Tanarii]

How do zombies react if PCs climb on trees? Do they attack the trees or try to climb the trees themselves?Any particular reason they wouldn't attempt to climb? Given their description in the MM (shambling, uneven gain) this might be a case where it'd be appropriate to call for a Str (Athletics) check when a PC wouldn't require a check at all. But they should be generally physically capable, unlike (IMO) a Centaur. And given their nature, if they know the Pacs are up there they'd certainly attempt it.

Attacking the trees also seems like a perfectly valid DM choice though. I'd say mix it up! Assuming the PCs try it more than once.

[awa]

since how hard it is to climb a tree or destroy one for that matter varies widely by circumstance and tree type you should ask yourself which do you think would be most interesting/ fun.

pcs fighting desperately to stop a swarm of zombies form climbing up beneath them, trying to use ranged attacks to disable the zombies before they can knock down or destroy the tree. Or a tactical scenario where player intelligence has allowed them to make what was one time a significant challenge trivial and allowing them to move onto more worthy challenges.

a fight where they battle lets say ghouls in a tree with a horde of undead lurk below waiting to try and drag down any pc knocked out of the tree could be very memorable. You could combine this with any of the three previously mentioned variants, now you need to jump from tree to tree as they either become filled with undead or become unsteady.

You could even justify all three, this tree is so thick and tough the zombies dont even bother trying to attack it. This trees branches are spaced in such a way that none of the zombies have any real chance of getting up not helped by the fact that they keep getting in each others way. Or alternatively, these trees are relatively thin with soft wood even zombies could knock it down eventually, and this tree has lots of close together branches even a zombie can figure out how to climb it.

Dms rarely go into much detail about the exact type of trees surround the pcs.

[Chronos]

I'd say that each zombie would randomly pick some way of trying to get at the PCs, either climbing or attacking the trees, and whichever one each one picks, it'll keep at it indefinitely no matter how well it is or isn't working.

[Demonslayer666]

I'm preparing to run Tomb of Annihilation and I have a few questions regarding zombie behavior.


How do zombies react if PCs climb on trees? Do they attack the trees or try to climb the trees themselves?
Do zombies eat corpses? Can they be distracted by throwing a body near them?
Are zombies attracted to noise? Can they be distracted by something like a Music Box?
A ToA event describes zombies & skeletons being "led" by a ghoul. How can a ghoul control other undead?


Zombies are really dumb, they don't understand that climbing will let them attack the PCs. Anything beyond walking is too much for them IMO. And attacking the trees is way too complicated. Anything beyond shamble and attack is too complicated for a zombie in my game.

Strictly D&D, no, they just attack the living. I may allow this plan to work if the PCs come up with it on the spot and they use a fresh corpse.

Yes, they hear noises. The second part is very situational. If the party could remain out of sight and quiet, then I would allow a music box to distract them. (it would not be deception, more likely perception vs stealth)

Led can simply be that a ghoul is with them and is stronger and or smarter, or is in front, and therefore a leader. It doesn't mean they need to command the zombies, but that's not too far of a stretch.

[Ganymede]

Sure, but we're talking about the zombies of a specific FR campaign. Of course you can modify the game and the campaign as much as you want, but I had the impression the OP wanted the "official" version.

The Monster Manual description of zombies is not an "official" treatise of how they behave in every imaginable situation. It, like every other creature description, is an evocative compendium of adventure hooks and inspiration.

At a bare minimum, Volo's taught us that those Monster Manual descriptions are not sacrosanct.

[Sigreid]

This thread sounded much more interesting when I misread it as Zombie Beaver question. :smallbiggrin:

[stoutstien]

This thread sounded much more interesting when I misread it as Zombie Beaver question. :smallbiggrin:

such a good/bad movie. i made some home-brew zom-bevers that spread a plague around i should dig it out and post it on the home-brew forum