"Contagious" Zombies?

[DWARF]

That's what I was going to say. Take Ghouls, and nerf them a bit. Partial actrions only, half the hit points, and done; Night of the living dead...

 

[Tzarevitch]

I have something similar in my Rokugan game. I modified the original plague zombies the setting has to something more virulent because 3e disease rules suck. The zombies attack with their claws and disease or by flicling their blood at targets. Striking one or even passing within 5' of one has a chance of infecting living beings with a disease called the Crimson Scourge. Think of it as a magical Ebola Virus. Those who contract it bleed 1 hp/round until they die. When they die, they rise as new plague zombies and attempt to continue the cycle.

Heal checks with a DC equal to the Fort save can stop the bleeding in a person but of cource the healer has to then make the Heal Check/Fort save himself.

Tzarevitch

 

[Graf]

"Contagious dead" was one of my proposals for Creature Collection 3. This one got rejected. (But actually, this was a template for plague-bearing creatures, any undead could get this, and then it could be used to propagate any disease, people who would die from that disease would become spawns or zombies, with the contagious dead template).

I think I submitted around three or four undead templates to CCIII. (none taken, natch, or I'd be NDA'd about it).
Wonder if any got taken...

 

[Frostmarrow]

That's what I was going to say. Take Ghouls, and nerf them a bit. Partial actrions only, half the hit points, and done; Night of the living dead...

Yup. In the Dead... movies by Romero they refer to the dead as zombies or ghouls interchangably.

 

[Buttercup]

I don't really think it requires a template. Just take your average zombie, and give them a Disease.

Maybe require a SUPER HIGH Fortitude save to resist contracting it (so that only the most hardy even have a chance of resisting), and then subsequent Will saves to avoid turning - becoming progressively harder.

This is the way I'm handling it. Of course, my players haven't yet encountered any undead, but they know about The Undeath, which is greatly feared and misunderstood. How does one catch it? How does one prevent it? Lots of trinket mongers and snake-oil salesmen will tell you they have a cure, but the truth is, only a high level cleric can help you if you catch The Undeath.

It's carried by all corporeal undead, and it's even in the water in some places. You can imagine what happens if the village well gets contaminated by a zombie....

 

[Mangrum]

I think 2E Ravenloft had a carnivorous zombie that would fit the bill, but it hasn't been converted to 3E yet, AFAIK.

The cannibal zombie hasn't received a Monster Manual-style entry in 3E yet, but it is covered in Van Richten's Guide to the Walking Dead.

 

[Valiantheart]

One thing I never understood about Ghoul Spawns. Ghoul are supposed to eat the things they kill and the recently dead....so how exactly are dead bodies left lying around to become new ghouls?

 

[smetzger]

Yellow-Musk Zombie
or
Zombie with Rot Grubs