Menu
News
All News
Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
Pathfinder
Starfinder
Warhammer
2d20 System
Year Zero Engine
Industry News
Reviews
Dragon Reflections
White Dwarf Reflections
Columns
Weekly Digests
Weekly News Digest
Freebies, Sales & Bundles
RPG Print News
RPG Crowdfunding News
Game Content
ENterplanetary DimENsions
Mythological Figures
Opinion
Worlds of Design
Peregrine's Nest
RPG Evolution
Other Columns
From the Freelancing Frontline
Monster ENcyclopedia
WotC/TSR Alumni Look Back
4 Hours w/RSD (Ryan Dancey)
The Road to 3E (Jonathan Tweet)
Greenwood's Realms (Ed Greenwood)
Drawmij's TSR (Jim Ward)
Community
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Resources
Wiki
Pages
Latest activity
Media
New media
New comments
Search media
Downloads
Latest reviews
Search resources
EN Publishing
Store
EN5ider
Adventures in ZEITGEIST
Awfully Cheerful Engine
What's OLD is NEW
Judge Dredd & The Worlds Of 2000AD
War of the Burning Sky
Level Up: Advanced 5E
Events & Releases
Upcoming Events
Private Events
Featured Events
Socials!
EN Publishing
Twitter
BlueSky
Facebook
Instagram
EN World
BlueSky
YouTube
Facebook
Twitter
Twitch
Podcast
Features
Top 5 RPGs Compiled Charts 2004-Present
Adventure Game Industry Market Research Summary (RPGs) V1.0
Ryan Dancey: Acquiring TSR
Q&A With Gary Gygax
D&D Rules FAQs
TSR, WotC, & Paizo: A Comparative History
D&D Pronunciation Guide
Million Dollar TTRPG Kickstarters
Tabletop RPG Podcast Hall of Fame
Eric Noah's Unofficial D&D 3rd Edition News
D&D in the Mainstream
D&D & RPG History
About Morrus
Log in
Register
What's new
Search
Search
Search titles only
By:
Forums & Topics
Forum List
Latest Posts
Forum list
*Dungeons & Dragons
Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition
D&D Older Editions, OSR, & D&D Variants
*TTRPGs General
*Pathfinder & Starfinder
EN Publishing
*Geek Talk & Media
Search forums
Chat/Discord
Menu
Log in
Register
Install the app
Install
Upgrade your account to a Community Supporter account and remove most of the site ads.
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Zombies: Plot Help
JavaScript is disabled. For a better experience, please enable JavaScript in your browser before proceeding.
You are using an out of date browser. It may not display this or other websites correctly.
You should upgrade or use an
alternative browser
.
Reply to thread
Message
<blockquote data-quote="DnDChick" data-source="post: 2791682" data-attributes="member: 54"><p>As for the cause of the zombies, what about having Nanites be the culprit? These tiny little robots could, for whatever reason you decide, swarm all over the medula oblongata (or cerebral cortex or whichever part of the brain it is that is supposed to be the most primitive, etc.) and reanimate the body with just enough life to move and have base instinct.</p><p></p><p>This is also why undeath spreads ... the nanites reproduce throughout the corpse body, slowing decay and keeping it from falling apart. When introduced into living tissue, the nanites swarm to the brain and shut it down except for those most basic of functions.</p><p></p><p>Voila! A non-virus, virus-like technological reason for zombies. </p><p></p><p>Also, this gives you an avenue for the occasionaly "tough zombie." These are people who, for whatever reason, got an "overdose" of the nanites and are therefore tougher, stronger, and more infused with "life" (as it were). Zombie lords!</p><p></p><p>If you go with the nanite idea, you can have living people who are more "in tune" with the nanites than others. Maybe its some sort of psychic ability, or maybe they are like virus carriers that are for whatever reason immune to being "zombified" by the nanites.</p><p></p><p>With practice, they can learn to mentally "contact" the nanite swarms in the zombies and have some very limited control over them. You could even use a very scaled back version of the turn undead ability from D&D. You could even work it into a feat with some strict requisites.</p><p></p><p>This gives you three benefits:</p><p></p><p>1. A neat new "power" for the PCs to find out about on their own through trial and error.</p><p></p><p>2. Something for the PCs to have in their favor in the face of overwhelming odds. Of course, you will have to strictly monitor it to avoid abuse.</p><p></p><p>3. It gives you ample opportunity to introduce villains who have mastered zombie control and have made themselves into the nearest equivalent to necromancers.</p></blockquote><p></p>
[QUOTE="DnDChick, post: 2791682, member: 54"] As for the cause of the zombies, what about having Nanites be the culprit? These tiny little robots could, for whatever reason you decide, swarm all over the medula oblongata (or cerebral cortex or whichever part of the brain it is that is supposed to be the most primitive, etc.) and reanimate the body with just enough life to move and have base instinct. This is also why undeath spreads ... the nanites reproduce throughout the corpse body, slowing decay and keeping it from falling apart. When introduced into living tissue, the nanites swarm to the brain and shut it down except for those most basic of functions. Voila! A non-virus, virus-like technological reason for zombies. Also, this gives you an avenue for the occasionaly "tough zombie." These are people who, for whatever reason, got an "overdose" of the nanites and are therefore tougher, stronger, and more infused with "life" (as it were). Zombie lords! If you go with the nanite idea, you can have living people who are more "in tune" with the nanites than others. Maybe its some sort of psychic ability, or maybe they are like virus carriers that are for whatever reason immune to being "zombified" by the nanites. With practice, they can learn to mentally "contact" the nanite swarms in the zombies and have some very limited control over them. You could even use a very scaled back version of the turn undead ability from D&D. You could even work it into a feat with some strict requisites. This gives you three benefits: 1. A neat new "power" for the PCs to find out about on their own through trial and error. 2. Something for the PCs to have in their favor in the face of overwhelming odds. Of course, you will have to strictly monitor it to avoid abuse. 3. It gives you ample opportunity to introduce villains who have mastered zombie control and have made themselves into the nearest equivalent to necromancers. [/QUOTE]
Insert quotes…
Verification
Post reply
Community
General Tabletop Discussion
*TTRPGs General
Zombies: Plot Help
Top