redrick
First Post
The most important scary aspect of zombies in films is that all it takes is one bite to turn you into one. This is missing from the D&D zombies, which are just a pain to take down. So why not re-introduce it?
Maybe give the zombie a grapple attack, and then it can bite grappled creatures with advantage? Any character bitten by a zombie turns into one after 24 hours unless cured with some sort of restoration spell. (Something that PCs can't cast but that maybe is available within your world, given you can find the NPC caster and convince him to help you. After all, he might need that restoration spell to save his own life that day.)
More zombies, but make them a little easier to put down. Add Slashing damage to Radiant and Criticals for skipping the Fortitude save. Hacking the zombie's head off with a sword should be easier than shooting its brain out with an arrow. On the other hand, once that zombie is close to you, it can bite you...
Also, maybe move the Fortitude save to the beginning of the zombie's turn, and allow damage dealt after it was knocked down to add to the DC for the save. You can keep bashing the zombie's head in once it goes down, but that means you're ignoring the other zombies that might be right next to it. On the other hand, mop-up on the remaining zombies becomes less tedious once players outnumber zombies. There's nothing more irritating than a zombie encounter which overstays its welcome.
I love the idea of zombies in different environments, with different kinds of grappling. Tendril zombies, burrowing zombies that open the ground beneath you and literally suck you into the earth (so they can bite you), etc.
Maybe give the zombie a grapple attack, and then it can bite grappled creatures with advantage? Any character bitten by a zombie turns into one after 24 hours unless cured with some sort of restoration spell. (Something that PCs can't cast but that maybe is available within your world, given you can find the NPC caster and convince him to help you. After all, he might need that restoration spell to save his own life that day.)
More zombies, but make them a little easier to put down. Add Slashing damage to Radiant and Criticals for skipping the Fortitude save. Hacking the zombie's head off with a sword should be easier than shooting its brain out with an arrow. On the other hand, once that zombie is close to you, it can bite you...
Also, maybe move the Fortitude save to the beginning of the zombie's turn, and allow damage dealt after it was knocked down to add to the DC for the save. You can keep bashing the zombie's head in once it goes down, but that means you're ignoring the other zombies that might be right next to it. On the other hand, mop-up on the remaining zombies becomes less tedious once players outnumber zombies. There's nothing more irritating than a zombie encounter which overstays its welcome.
I love the idea of zombies in different environments, with different kinds of grappling. Tendril zombies, burrowing zombies that open the ground beneath you and literally suck you into the earth (so they can bite you), etc.