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<blockquote data-quote="Jaelommiss" data-source="post: 6723633" data-attributes="member: 6775925"><p>I've always found that making enemies scary is dependent more on making the players feel weak than making the enemy strong. </p><p></p><p>A rogue with a thousand arrows will happily fight zombies all day. The same rogue with four arrows that cost half his (limited) food supply and took a week to carve from one of the few remaining twisted and gnarled trees is going to seriously consider using them. If weapons and armour could break on any swing, the martials are less likely to risk combat. If cantrips are limited (I've used spellcasting modifier + level per day in the past) then the wizard won't simply backpedal while flinging firebolts.</p><p></p><p>After that has been done, and it will require player buy-in, I'd probably give the zombies more HP (+50% or so should be good), boost their Con by a couple points, and give them the ability to use other equipment if it was on hand at the time of death. If the world went screwy a millennium ago then the zombies around now should be largely people who were trying to fight them (like adventurers and soldiers) and the occasional unfortunate civilian who wandered outside the walls. Heavily armoured zombies are nice. If the zombies bear a trait or two that the now-deceased had then they will be even more variable. </p><p></p><p>A barbarian might resist nonmagical weapon damage and deal an extra couple points of damage (rage).</p><p>A bard could wheeze a low death rattle that can distract living creatures (cutting words).</p><p>A cleric could cause an extra 1d8 necrotic damage on a hit (divine strike).</p><p>A druid could have a number of undead animals following it.</p><p>A fighter might be more heavily equiped, including weapons, and may have an improved crit range.</p><p>A monk could pass between shadows (shadow step) or be able to make several, powerful unarmed attacks (martial arts).</p><p>A paladin turned undead might be able to bolster the zombies (see Knight, MM 347).</p><p>A ranger would be able to follow living prey for days without losing the trail. It sounds simple, but being pursued for three weeks without rest will wreck the PCs.</p><p>A rogue might have higher Dex and be able to sneak attack for an extra 2d6.</p><p>A sorcerer could resist an element (draconic ancestry), have a hardened hide (draconic resilience), and deal an extra 1d4 elemental damage.</p><p>A wizard would be a Lich. Or a weakened lich using the Mummy Lord as a template with changed spells.</p><p></p><p>Adding one or two of those for every couple dozen zombies would break up the monotony. Most animals could be transformed into zombies using the zombie template on DMG 282. A lot of regular humanoicould also have the template applied. It would probably also work with NPCs at the back of the MM.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="Jaelommiss, post: 6723633, member: 6775925"] I've always found that making enemies scary is dependent more on making the players feel weak than making the enemy strong. A rogue with a thousand arrows will happily fight zombies all day. The same rogue with four arrows that cost half his (limited) food supply and took a week to carve from one of the few remaining twisted and gnarled trees is going to seriously consider using them. If weapons and armour could break on any swing, the martials are less likely to risk combat. If cantrips are limited (I've used spellcasting modifier + level per day in the past) then the wizard won't simply backpedal while flinging firebolts. After that has been done, and it will require player buy-in, I'd probably give the zombies more HP (+50% or so should be good), boost their Con by a couple points, and give them the ability to use other equipment if it was on hand at the time of death. If the world went screwy a millennium ago then the zombies around now should be largely people who were trying to fight them (like adventurers and soldiers) and the occasional unfortunate civilian who wandered outside the walls. Heavily armoured zombies are nice. If the zombies bear a trait or two that the now-deceased had then they will be even more variable. A barbarian might resist nonmagical weapon damage and deal an extra couple points of damage (rage). A bard could wheeze a low death rattle that can distract living creatures (cutting words). A cleric could cause an extra 1d8 necrotic damage on a hit (divine strike). A druid could have a number of undead animals following it. A fighter might be more heavily equiped, including weapons, and may have an improved crit range. A monk could pass between shadows (shadow step) or be able to make several, powerful unarmed attacks (martial arts). A paladin turned undead might be able to bolster the zombies (see Knight, MM 347). A ranger would be able to follow living prey for days without losing the trail. It sounds simple, but being pursued for three weeks without rest will wreck the PCs. A rogue might have higher Dex and be able to sneak attack for an extra 2d6. A sorcerer could resist an element (draconic ancestry), have a hardened hide (draconic resilience), and deal an extra 1d4 elemental damage. A wizard would be a Lich. Or a weakened lich using the Mummy Lord as a template with changed spells. Adding one or two of those for every couple dozen zombies would break up the monotony. Most animals could be transformed into zombies using the zombie template on DMG 282. A lot of regular humanoicould also have the template applied. It would probably also work with NPCs at the back of the MM. [/QUOTE]
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