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Zombie

Zombie

AX.GH.13.08.01

A reanimated corpse driven by residual predatory instinct, no will, no memory, nothing left of the person it was. Zombies are the most common undead threat at the street level: slow, obvious, destroyed by standard approaches, and dangerous primarily through numbers and the civilian exposure risk they represent.

Type: Undead (Corpse)

Threat Power Package: Minion

Size: Medium

Attributes

  • Body: 2D
  • Speed: 1D
  • Wit: 1D

Talents

  • Brawl: 1D
  • Fortitude: 1D

Combat Statistics

  • Health: 27 (20 + Body 2 + Minion modifier 5)
  • Defense: 1 (Speed 1 + Armor 0 = 1 ÷ 3 = 0.33, +1 base = 1)
  • Armor: None

Saves

  • Body Save: 3D (Body 2D + Fortitude 1D)
  • Speed Save: 1D (Speed 1D + Acrobatics 0D)
  • Wit Save: 1D (Wit 1D + Resolve 0D)

Attacks

  • Grab and Bite: Body 2D + Brawl 1D = 3D vs Defense, 1–2 damage typical; on hit, target must make Speed Save vs Threshold 2 or be Grabbed (cannot move until they break free with Body Save vs Threshold 2)

Undead Traits

  • Unliving: Immune to poison, disease, exhaustion, fear, and mind-affecting effects
  • Mindless: Cannot be reasoned with, intimidated, or deceived; immune to social effects; does not retreat
  • Rot Stench: Living creatures within Close range that have not previously encountered zombies must make a Body Save vs Threshold 1 on first exposure or become Hindered (−1D on actions) for one Turn from nausea

Special Abilities

  • Pack Advance: When three or more Zombies are within Close range of the same target, each Zombie rolls at +1D on Brawl attacks against that target. The sheer press of bodies overwhelms individual defense.

Tactics

Zombies move toward the nearest living creature and attempt to grab and bite. They do not respond to pain, do not stop for downed allies, and do not change strategy when tactics fail. A single Zombie is a minor problem. Five Zombies in a tight space with civilians present is a genuine crisis.

Lore & Ecology

Zombies are almost never self-originating. Something made them: a necromancer, a curse, a shadow ritual, a contagion with supernatural origin. Finding and addressing the source is more important than destroying individual Zombies, which will continue to accumulate until the source is removed. The reanimation varies in quality: fresh Zombies are faster and slightly more durable than older ones. Zombies that have been mobile for more than a week begin to physically degrade.

Destruction

Destroying the brain ends animation permanently. Fire is effective and leaves no mobile remains. Salt poured into the mouth and eyes disrupts the animating force and immobilizes the Zombie without destruction, useful if the body needs to be identified or examined. Addressing the source of reanimation causes all Zombies produced by that source to collapse simultaneously.

Scene Materials

  • The body itself (identification, forensics, evidence of cause of reanimation)
  • Whatever the person had on them when they died
  • Tissue samples for Aldersham-style analysis ($200–500 value to research organizations)