Converting Forgotten Realms monsters

[Cleon]

But I do like this as a template.

Template it is then!

Shall we go through the Zombie's SRD writeup, making changes as we go?

Zombies
Zombies are corpses reanimated through dark and sinister magic.

Because of their utter lack of intelligence, the instructions given to a newly created zombie must be very simple.
​

Chopping and changing some text from the AD&D description.

Netherese Zombies
Zombies are corpses reanimated through the dark magic of Netheril's Lichlord. These undead are frequently encountered wearing the same clothing as they did in life.

There’s a spark of intelligence in a Netherese zombie, the last vestige of humanity left in its body. Most Netherese zombies serve the Lichlord in one manner or another, but a few are independent of their creator. Regardless of whether they follow a master, each zombie possesses a burning desire to kill any human it encounters.
​

That's fairly straightforward, it's the "Creating a Zombie" were the trouble starts.

Creating a Zombie
"Zombie" is an acquired template that can be added to any corporeal creature (other than an undead) that has a skeletal system (referred to hereafter as the base creature).
​

Reading between the lines, it looks like they mainly turn humans and their kin into Netherese zombies. Shall we restrict the template to Humanoids. I think I'd rather make it Humanoid or Monstrous Humanoid, like the Vampire template.

Creating a Netherese Zombie
"Netherese Zombie" is an acquired template that can be added to any Humanoid or monstrous humanoid creature, referred to hereafter as the base creature.​

The Size and Type entry looks a bit trickier. I'm thinking it should gain the augmented subtype, since it retains much of the intelligence they had when alive.

Size and Type
The creature’s type changes to undead (augmented humanoid or monstrous humanoid. It retains any subtypes except alignment subtypes and subtypes that indicate kind. It uses all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here.
​

Now here comes a tricky bit: Hit Dice. Do they keep class levels or not?

I think that's a good point to stop throwing out proposals to let the arguments commence.

 

[freyar]

Well, I vote we ditch the "2/3" as powerful bit (except perhaps for ability penalties or certain types of special abilities?). Since the original text makes it sound like they may keep class abilities, I also vote to keep class HD.

 

[Cleon]

Well, I vote we ditch the "2/3" as powerful bit (except perhaps for ability penalties or certain types of special abilities?). Since the original text makes it sound like they may keep class abilities, I also vote to keep class HD.

I was thinking that Netherese zombies just have Undead hit dice, but keep their languages and weapon proficiencies. I have a feeling these are more like Vampire Spawn than Vampires, lacking most of the intelligence and abilities they had in life.

Or, maybe we could have them lose some of their class levels (say -5 class levels?) and if they have any left they can become "independent" Netherese Zombies. Thus, a 5th level fighter becomes a standard 6HD Netherese Zombie, but a 6th level fighter becomes a Netherese Zombie with 1 level of fighter. That would be fiddly in practice, but it allows to have "rank and file" zombies without having to bother with working out their 2 levels in Commoner or whatever, plus "personalities" that used to be the local notables.

 

[demiurge1138]

I prefer them to keep all class levels.

 

[Shade]

I prefer them to keep all class levels.

Me too. These are probably more closely related to the corpse creature template than the zombie template.

 

[freyar]

Ok, 3 out of 4 prefer class levels. Do we want to give them some kind of penalties to account for the 2/3 power schtick?

 

[Shade]

Hmmm...

Zombies (and similar undead) generally get physically stronger, rather than weaker.

Zombie: A zombie’s Strength increases by +2, its Dexterity decreases by 2, it has no Constitution or Intelligence score, its Wisdom changes to 10, and its Charisma changes to 1.

Corpse Creature: Modify the base creature as follows: Str +4, Dex -2, Con -, Int +0, Wis +0, Cha +0.

 

[Cleon]

Me too. These are probably more closely related to the corpse creature template than the zombie template.

OK, I can go along with that. In that case we'd want them to get bonus levels in Undead to put a standard Netherese Zombie's Hit Dice up to 6, which suggests adding 5 HD to a standard 1st level Commoner.

I'd think we'd want it to scale with the size and base HD of the original creature, something like:

A Netherese Zombie keeps any class levels it possesses and gains additional levels in Undead equal to the base Hit Dice (sans class levels, minimum 1) of its base creature, plus additional levels in Undead according to its size using the following chart:

Diminutive or smaller - no extra HD for size
Tiny - +1 Undead HD
Small - +2 Undead HD
Medium or larger - +4 Undead HD
​

So, a human 1st level Commoner (Base 1 HD, Medium-sized) would become a 6HD Netherese Zombie as desired - 1HD of commoner, plus its base 1 HD, plus 4 HD for size, while a Kobold (1HD Small) would become a 4HD Netherese Zombie [base 1*2 plus 2 for size] and a Gnoll (2HD Medium) becomes an 8 HD Netherese Zombie [base 1*2 plus 2 for size].

A high level adventurer (say a 9th level fighter) would just get an extra 5HD of Undead on top of their class HD, or +3 HD if they're Small.

At the larger end of the scale, an Annis (7HD Large creature) becomes an 18HD Netherese Zombie - double its original HD plus 4 for being Large.

We may want to apply a cap to the extra Hit Dice, or creatures with a lot of base HD could become extravagant. (E.g. a Gargoyle advanced to 12 HD would become a 28 HD Undead, which seems a bit too much!).

 

[demiurge1138]

I don't want to change the hit dice of the base creature with this template.

 

[freyar]

Two points:

If we're keeping Int 10 (and presumably some cap on other mental stats), that would maybe be enough of a penalty but would gimp casters too much I think. Let's just ditch the 2/3 thing or come up with some creative SQ, like a restriction on actions (not as severe as a normal zombie, though).

Maybe the reason the standard Netherese zombie has 6HD is just that they're usually made from people with levels?