Do Zombies Freeze?

[Tetsubo]

Since a dead inanimate corpse will freeze solid, will an animate one?

I was thinking of seasonal zombie threats. They freeze solid in Winter and thaw out come Spring. In a campaign setting with a high zombie count, living above the freeze line might be a good survival strategy.

 

[Greywarden]

Yes, dead inanimate corpses freeze, but I expect that the undead are somewhat more animated. If nothing else, the frozen flesh can break off allowing the Skeleton within to move about.

 

[Liquidsabre]

That's a real sweet flavor idea though. Seasonal attacks form an undead zone, the Zombie Thaw lol.

I'd imagine the freezing/stiffness would be gradual and by the time the flesh went solid a skeleton might not be strong enough to break free. Being incased in frozen flesh can't be easy to get out of, besides what if these are Seasonal Zombies that know that fresh flesh is rare in the winter months and let themselves freeze/hibernate and then thaw in the warmer months to seek out flesh...

 

[hong]

Since a dead inanimate corpse will freeze solid, will an animate one?

I was thinking of seasonal zombie threats. They freeze solid in Winter and thaw out come Spring. In a campaign setting with a high zombie count, living above the freeze line might be a good survival strategy.

Why wouldn't a zombie freeze? They're not immune to cold. Heck, if it's cold enough, they'll even take damage and go splat.

That said, you could take a regular zombie and slap cold immunity on it, and make it a "frost zombie" or something. That might make a pretty nifty threat in cold zones....

 

[Janos Audron]

Just to spoil the fun...

Not quite Hong, zombies do not freeze: they are immune to natural cold (which requires fortitude saves and deals non lethal damage according to page 302 of the DMG).

 

[hong]

Not quite Hong, zombies do not freeze: they are immune to natural cold (which requires fortitude saves and deals non lethal damage according to page 302 of the DMG).

Extreme cold (below -20F) does 1d6 points per minute of normal damage, no save.

 

[Greywarden]

Extreme cold (below -20F) does 1d6 points per minute of normal damage, no save.

So yes... extreme cold can kill those things that are not already DEAD, but the original question was do zombies freeze? If -15 degrees won't stop a zombie (and it won't because this level of freezing requires failure of a fortitude save to do lethal damage and undead are immune to fortitude saves), then -20 won't either, it will just kill the flesh... which is already dead. Of course before you reach temperatures this low, you probably have a freeze-dried zombie anyway, so freezing solid is no longer an issue.

 

[hong]

So yes... extreme cold can kill those things that are not already DEAD, but the original question was do zombies freeze? If -15 degrees won't stop a zombie (and it won't because this level of freezing requires failure of a fortitude save to do lethal damage and undead are immune to fortitude saves), then -20 won't either, it will just kill the flesh... which is already dead.

D00d, which part of "1d6 points of lethal damage, no save" is so hard to understand? 1) That's lethal damage, as opposed to nonlethal damage, which is what undead are immune to. 2) That's no save, as opposed to a Fort save, which is what undead don't have to worry about (usually). And extreme cold will most certainly be bad for lots of things, alive or not.

 

[Greywarden]

Also from page 302 of the 3.5 DMG (where one finds the extreme cold damage rule in question), under the main heading of The Enviroment: "This section details hazards the player characters face from the physical world around them."

D00d, what part of "the player characters" is so hard to understand.

 

[hong]

Also from page 302 of the 3.5 DMG (where one finds the extreme cold damage rule in question), under the main heading of The Enviroment: "This section details hazards the player characters face from the physical world around them."

D00d, what part of "the player characters" is so hard to understand.

Oh dear.