Attack of the killer zombie minion swarm

[ghrezdd]

My players (with 6th level characters) are heading to a blasted land of undead and I want to hit them with a swarm of zombie minions.

Has anyone done this before? What were your experiences and do you have any advice?

My initial guess is to do it in 4 waves separated by about 2-3 rounds each starting with 5 zombies, then 10, then 15 and finally 20.

Thanks!

 

[Nurgle84]

Rules of using Minions (In DnD and Movies):

1. Do not rely on your minions
2. Minions are expandable
3. Never send only minions, mix in some capable guys for fun and action.

Now some rules specifically for DnD:

I would advice you, to level the minions up to Level 6. Otherwise they would be way to easy to hit, and every Burst will wipe out many of them. Same with normal Zombie Brutes. Never use enemies of lower Levels, except Artillery and Soldiers. (These can be up to two levels below the players) Your normal Zombies are there for the damage, the minions are there for assisting the grab and the attack.

To summarize it (all enemies are Level 6):

First Wave: 4 Zombie Rotters, 1 Zombie
Second Wave (3 Rounds later): 8 Zombie Rotters, 2 Zombies
Third Wave (3 Rounds later): 12 Zombie Rotters, 2 Zombies, 1 Elite Zombie (The savage Berserker Template is always fun )

For a total of 24 Zombie Rotters, 4 Zombies and 1 Elite Zombie. Do not tell them which one is a real Zombie and which one is a Rotter. The first hit will tell them. Let the Rotters asupport the Zombies by assisting (gives +2 to hit) and flanking (another +2). The Zombie can then grab and try to isolate the target. What then happens you already know from the morst Zombie movies

Encounter Level: 13 * 250 = 3250 XP = a bit harder then a level 11 encounter.

That may sound hard, but there are a few points that make the combat easier.

1. The enemies appear in waves. Most minions will be down before the next wave. The Zombies will at least be bloodied.
2. Play them like zombies = dumb as hell
3. You may give the players a round to prepare, go in position etc. as they see the hoard close in.
4. Clerical anti-undead Stuff will work

 

[BendBars/LiftGates]

I don't know... you should probably deduct some XP to account for the fact that they're not really overcoming a level 11 challenge. They're overcoming three challenges quickly, each of which is slightly easier than their level. They're not going to be surrounded by all these monsters at once, so they're not going to suffer the same attrition of being worn down by an overwhelming amount of attackers. It's still a fun idea for an encounter to have wave upon wave of zombie hordes, but it's just probably an inflated XP reward.

 

[Mesh Hong]

This isn't a minion swarm, its an actual swarm. I think this might cause your PCs a few nightmares and would certainly hammer home the danger of roving bands of zombies.


Zombie Swarm Level 6 Brute
Huge Natural Animate (undead) XP 250

Initiative +6 Senses Perception +5
Punching Mass aura 1; At the start of its turn Zombie Swarm makes a free
Zombie Swipe attack against all enemies inside aura
HP 82; Bloodied 41
AC 18; Fortitude 19, Reflex 18, Will 17
Immune disease, poison;
Resist 10 necrotic; half damage from melee & ranged attacks;
Vulnerable 5 radiant, 10 close & area attacks
Saving Throws see Swarm Stability
Speed 4

Zombie Swipe (Standard; at-will)
Attack +9 vs. AC; 1d10+4 damage

Zombie Grab (Standard; at-will)
Attack +7 vs. Reflex; 2d6+4 damage; on hit target is grabbed (escape
ends)

Swallowed By the Crowd (Standard; at-will) ♦ grabbed target only
Target must be grabbed at start of Zombie Swarms turn; attack +7 vs.
Fortitude; on hit target is pulled into the centre square of the Zombie
Swarm, is restrained and takes 10 ongoing damage (until escape, target
takes a -5 penalty to escape checks, on escape creature can emerge in
any square adjacent to swarm); Whilst Zombie Swarm has a target
restrained it cannot move or make attacks other than those granted by its
Punching Mass aura

Swarm Stability
Zombie Swarm reduces all push, pull and slide effects targeting it by 3
squares, and is only affected by ongoing status effects from area or burst
powers

Alignment Unaligned Languages groans and moans
Skills Endurance +9
Str 19 (+7) Dex 16 (+6) Wis 14 (+5)
Con 12 (+4) Int 3 (-1) Cha 3 (-1)

I think it might be a bit unfair to have a standard encounter as being 5 of these swarms (then again maybe not ), but if you used 3 and added in other undead to suit you could make a really memorable and exciting encounter.

Anyway this is just an idea for you to consider, hope it helps.

 

[ghrezdd]

Those are some really good ideas. I really like the Zombie Swarm brute. I am thinking that it along with some minions would be make a great last wave, especially combined with Nurgle84's wave progression.

THanks all!

 

[timbannock]

I'm not sure if you only want a single encounter out of this or not, but if you want multiple encounters, do the 4e "thang" and change it up!

I used the following ideas for a Zombie Apocalypse that occurred in a Paranoia XP game, but the ideas could easily be used in D&D:

Zombie Types:
- Romero's: slow, shambling zombies that are very grapply and bity, but otherwise, not too problematic if you have room to move. Of course, if you don't, you're screwed, coz they pig-pile you and bite your brains.

- Runners: fast, sprinting zombies like in the new Dawn of the Dead or in 28 Days/Weeks Later. These guys are fast, can probably jump decently well, and may even figure out how to climb a short distance in order to get at food. They will not only bite, but punch, tear, body slam, grapple...whatever it takes to get some flesh!

- Screamers: may be a variant of runners. Anyway, these guys either let out a wild scream or deafening roar that does two things: 1. it uneases the target (perhaps creating fear or shaken effects, or even immobilizing you for a second), and 2. it signals other zombies to come in this direction.

- Wall-crawlers: these zombies can climb up walls, stick to ceilings and otherwise Spider-Man it up, in addition to grappling, biting, running, and generally being a nuissance.

- Mutant Zombies: whether born from horrible experiments or some other means, these zombies are huge, bloated, festering monstrosities. They are big, have a terrible stench (nauseating or fear-inducing), and probably have reach. Often slow like the shambling zombies.

- Spitters: these guys can be any other type of zombie, but they also can projectile vomit on people. This vomit can be nauseating, acidic, sticky (and immobilizing), or all of the above.

Combined with the different zombies in MM1 or the DDI Compendium and you have a lot of potential encounters. Add in some neat terrain (you say craggy wasteland, I immediately think quicksand, broken ground, earthquakes, sink holes and steaming vents and fissures) and you've got yourself a hellish ride!

 

[WampusCat43]

I've used some of Mesh Hong's critters, and I endorse his message.

I created an encounter where the party had to cross a dried-out moat full of zombies, in order to get to the castle they wanted to loot. The zombies were nearly all minions, and had instructions to keep circling the castle, keeping anything living out, but don't leave the moat.

The key to something like this is to make sure the minions are capable of hitting the PCs occasionally, and capable of being missed occasionally. I used too low-level minions, and it was a slaughter. The PCs could have stood there all day if they wanted. I finally had to whip up a squad of ghoul 'commandos' to liven things up.

 

[Mesh Hong]

I've used some of Mesh Hong's critters, and I endorse his message.

Cool, it's always nice to hear that people have uses for my creations. I was counting the other day and I've actually created over 250 now, maybe I should think about putting together the Mesh Hong Monster Manual !!