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Zombies! New Dungeoncraft article up
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<blockquote data-quote="MoogleEmpMog" data-source="post: 3842285" data-attributes="member: 22882"><p>Often.</p><p></p><p>I've have cyber-zombies ala Doom, mutant zombies ala Resident Evil, and LOTS of flying and animal zombies. As well as the 'stock' variety.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>In other words, the rules cease to be adequate and REQUIRE a houserule? That's bad - terrible - game design.</p><p></p><p>Certain types of zombie stories also call for them to be MORE than just another monster. 3e zombies can be EITHER (albeit the stock ones are too lame to fill their proper role), but Small-Medium-Large 4e ones can only be one of the two.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>As opposed to the pre-made Human Zombie, which is what 99% of zombie encounters call for?</p><p></p><p>I'm all for simplifying the game for new players. Removing or curtailing templates, ALL of which came with perfectly intuitive and useful SAMPLE CREATURES, is NOT simplifying. It's removing a fast and elegant design solution in favor of "stock monster, and, oh, you can houserule it if you need to." Which seems to be the 4e design standard for monsters.</p><p></p><p>No. HELL no. I CANNOT "houserule it if I need to" if I'm a newbie. And I shouldn't ever - EVER - HAVE to houserule it.</p><p></p><p>That's bad design.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>Whereas I will, if not shed a tear, at least almost certainly stick with SWSE, which can use D&D monsters simply by flipping the defenses. Because hey, a half-dragon ettin zombie, whether it's actually a half-dragon and an ettin or not, can fill a ROLE different from a "Large Zombie."</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>How complex is the zombie template... when there are sample humanoid Small, Medium and Large zombies that are basically going to be exactly like what you're talking about? It provided the exact same thing - but it ALSO allowed for wyvern zombies, to name one example, that made great mounts for mid-level necromancers.</p><p></p><p></p><p></p><p>So? Don't use infernal zombie half-dragon ettins if you don't like them.</p><p></p><p>To me, that sounds a lot like a Resident Evil tyrant-type 'upgraded zombie,' and would make an awesome boss monster. The template system allowed me to make said boss monster within the rules, and did not force you or anyone else to do so. REMOVING the template system FORCES me to go outside the rules, or hope they randomly chance across the upgraded zombie type I want.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="MoogleEmpMog, post: 3842285, member: 22882"] Often. I've have cyber-zombies ala Doom, mutant zombies ala Resident Evil, and LOTS of flying and animal zombies. As well as the 'stock' variety. In other words, the rules cease to be adequate and REQUIRE a houserule? That's bad - terrible - game design. Certain types of zombie stories also call for them to be MORE than just another monster. 3e zombies can be EITHER (albeit the stock ones are too lame to fill their proper role), but Small-Medium-Large 4e ones can only be one of the two. As opposed to the pre-made Human Zombie, which is what 99% of zombie encounters call for? I'm all for simplifying the game for new players. Removing or curtailing templates, ALL of which came with perfectly intuitive and useful SAMPLE CREATURES, is NOT simplifying. It's removing a fast and elegant design solution in favor of "stock monster, and, oh, you can houserule it if you need to." Which seems to be the 4e design standard for monsters. No. HELL no. I CANNOT "houserule it if I need to" if I'm a newbie. And I shouldn't ever - EVER - HAVE to houserule it. That's bad design. Whereas I will, if not shed a tear, at least almost certainly stick with SWSE, which can use D&D monsters simply by flipping the defenses. Because hey, a half-dragon ettin zombie, whether it's actually a half-dragon and an ettin or not, can fill a ROLE different from a "Large Zombie." How complex is the zombie template... when there are sample humanoid Small, Medium and Large zombies that are basically going to be exactly like what you're talking about? It provided the exact same thing - but it ALSO allowed for wyvern zombies, to name one example, that made great mounts for mid-level necromancers. So? Don't use infernal zombie half-dragon ettins if you don't like them. To me, that sounds a lot like a Resident Evil tyrant-type 'upgraded zombie,' and would make an awesome boss monster. The template system allowed me to make said boss monster within the rules, and did not force you or anyone else to do so. REMOVING the template system FORCES me to go outside the rules, or hope they randomly chance across the upgraded zombie type I want. [/QUOTE]
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