Hordes: Zombies by the 1000s

[Warden]

In light of the return to zombie films like Land of the Dead (and the re-release of many old ones on DVD), I decided to throw a couple of zombies at my party in the last game. And by a couple, I mean 500. But the rules for zombies as they stand in typical D&D wasn't quite what I was looking for, so I came up with something new.

Hordes

A horde is a converted swarm that allows you to convert any mindless Small- or Medium-sized creature into a mass version of itself. In my case, I took the ordinary zombie and turned into into a horde of 500 zombies laying siege to an abandoned village the PCs were hiding out. Help yourselves and let me know what you think -- she's free to anyone that wants it.

 

[Corlon]

*yoink*

That's a pretty cool system...I'm not sure how balanced it is power/CR but it looks okay.

Any idea on a horde of things like peasants, I know these hordes are like a crawling mass all to themselves so it's lnot like a gang of creatures, but do you have any ideas for a similar idea for masses of smaller creatures with significantly greater intelligence?

 

[Warden]

It could be modified, but I think some of the attack abilities may have to be trimmed down. A mindless horde is literally stepping over itself to engage the heroes, something that a crowd of intelligent -- if not pissed -- peasants might do. However, if magically enraged, it is possible for even simple peasants to engage.

The CR is still a bit tricky, but you have to factor the automatic damage inflicted. With the 500 zombies I used, they had a grapple check of +36 and inflicted 20 points of damage on average. With only deflection and natural armour to save your hide, that could be risky. On the flip side, just stay out of their reach, and you could be safe...for the moment.