Dawn of the Dead in DnD?

[Kristivas]

After watching Dawn of the Dead a few times lately, I've begun to wonder: How could you do it in DnD?

Zombies don't seem like much of a threat to PCs after a few levels. A few turn undeads will take care of things. At higher level, even moreso.

Another thing is, how can the zombie-fication transfer? It's via the bite on the movies, but that would be too easy in DnD.

So, how could you run an end-of-the-world zombie slaughter-all via George Romero in DnD?

 

[Olgar Shiverstone]

Mobs, advanced zombies, zombies with class levels, desecrated areas that provide turn resistance, zombies with fast healing ...

Part of the fun should be PCs wading through mobs of zombies, hacked limbs knee-deep on the floor ... but the zombies just keep on coming.

 

[The Thayan Menace]

Omega Contingency

So, how could you run an end-of-the-world zombie slaughter-all via George Romero in DnD?

Use the biohazard zombies from d20 Apocalypse.

-Samir

 

[awayfarer]

Theres the Mob template from the DMG2. A huge swarm of zombies would definitely feel appropriate.

 

[exile]

I ran a D20 Modern zombie game for a few sessions a couple of weeks ago. Zombies straight from teh D20 Modern Corebook worked well for me. I think for it to work well with D&D (especially at higher levels) you should consider using ghouls instead of zombies (fits with the Dawn of the Dead remake vision of zombies pretty well too). Get rid of the ghoul paralysis ability and let their bite transfer zombification status (allowing a fort save to resist since it is a game and not a movie, also consider action points as a means of rerolling failed rolls- players will save them for failed saves for the most part). Beyond that, use threats other than zombies. Rival adventuring groups trying to stake a claim to important resources, looters, etc.

Chad

 

[Crothian]

You don't even need the mob. Sure a cleric can handle maybe aq dozen at once. But what about three doze? Or a dozen dozen's? In a true zombie apocalypse they just keep coming.

And I'd make it a disease so if one is biten they make a Fort save of whatever DC. I'd make it high like 20+ since it seems no one ever actually resists it. Ot make it a lower DC but the person has to save daily until they fail it.

 

[Endur]

Hundreds or thousands of two hit dice zombies. More than enough to use up all of the clerical turning power, and have more zombies left over.

2 hit dice 16 hit points DR 5/slashing.

For a zombie plague, delivered on contact, instant incubation, initial damage infected, when you die you become a zombie. Fort save could be low and lots of contacts will eventually result in infection. Even fort save DC 13 would be fine.

 

[jdrakeh]

Mechanically speaking, short of changing a lot of D&D's default assumptions, Romero's zombies simply aren't going to happen.

The main issue is disease -- in Romero's world, the thing that makes zombies so damn scary is their infectious bite. This is what allows them to effectively double their numbers every few hours. This is what leads to their eventual overthrow of entire world populations.

In most published D&D settings, disease is generally a minor threat -- it can take out some isolated party, sure, but take down a whole city or province? Thpppt. The way that Clerics and healing are set up in most D&D settings, this make's Romero's infectious zombies a minor nuisance at best.

I did find a way around this but it is by no means stanadard D&D. Treat the infectious bite as the product of a virus -- a virus is technically a living organism, and therefore not subject to being cured per the standard D&D rules for such things. It must be killed.

That's pretty cut and dried science, though and it doesn't seem real fantastic. To 'dress it up' add a hive mind mentality that all of the viral organisms share, and off you go. The real big bad (the controlling entity of the hive mind) can be a fallen god of the dead, or other such evil.

[Edit: Honestly, my suggestion would be to download the free Classically Modern and pick up copies of UKG's Year of the Zombie and WotC's d20 Modern. It's not pure-strain D&D but it is fairly close -- and the rules will work out much better, not requiring you to be sneaky or handwave a lot of default D&D-isms.]

 

[Captain Howdy]

I ran a d20 modern zombie game once. It was awesome. I had everyone make up level 1 PCs based off of a list I made that included the cop, the shopper, the security guard, etc. All the Dawn of the Dead standards. It was set in the thick of the Christmas shopping season, so the mall was packed with tons of zombies. They also went up against an advanced zombie santa, with some zombie elves.

I used the Mall of the Dead floorplan from SJgames, which is awesome. I still have the maps, they are great.

 

[Nyeshet]

The Romero zombies don't stop moving until their head receives significant damage. So perhaps we should treat them as ghouls that only take damage on a critical hit? Also, it doesn't seem to matter how the person died in regards to when / if they become a zombie. One character in the film was bit very slightly and mostly recovered. A few weeks later she died giving birth and arose a few seconds later (1d4 rounds) as a zombie.

That suggests a curse rather than a disease. Make it so that a successful bite requires a will save (DC 25?) verse a curse that will cause them to become a zombie after death. Along with this, add in a disease factor with a lower DC that weakens the person, eventually causing death. Perhaps DC 15 vs 1d3 Con and 1d3 Str each day until two saves are made in a row? Most typical first level NPCs and even some PCs will fail the save. It also has the factor that if someone gets ill and receives Remove Disease, they think they are safe from becoming a zombie. Nearly all first level NPCs and PCs will fail the curse portion, however. It might work even better if the DM requires the PCs to give their saves info before the game - then secretly roll the zombie based saves himself (and ask them to roll other saves). It may take them a day or two of game time to realize that the Con / Str damage is not automatic upon being bitten (due to a hunk of flesh being torn out, or whatever).

Giving zombies - or a ghoul variant - a disease that weakens, a curse that spawns and is hard to break / detect (maybe give the curse some SR?), DR vs non-critical damage (say DR 10 / critical or magic), +1 HD over the base creature (to give them more lasting power, or maybe max hp instead: 12 for 1 HD NPCs, etc), and a tendency to move in mobs rather than individually, and you have a really really dangerous undead creature. I think that EtR was trying to do the same with the Strahd Zombies (basically 6 HD dieased zombies), but it was not quite done in a way I would have done it.

In a low(er) magic world, the above could be terrifying. Especially if the SR against detecting or removing the curse was well played out. If it could not readily be detected there may be several areas that believe they are safe - until the chance cursed individual dies by some natural means or of the disease and bites a few others near by.