I'm running a zombie campaign, but really want to start

>>49790981

> zombeez

>>49790981
The most plausible zombies are always the techically-still-alive 28-Days-Later kind of zombies. There is a wide variety of reasons why dead people don't get up and walk around, and it pretty much adds up to the fact that dead body parts don't work anymore.

Maybe instead of a literal infection, it's a drug that makes people really violent, fucks up people's flesh like krokodil, and is growing in popularity because it's cheap and gets you high as fuck. Or maybe it's more of a cultural "infection" with no physical vector at all, a subculture of angry cannibals, like if juggalos actually did all the violent stuff that they brag about in their music.

>>49790981
What are some types of zombies that you would like to include, and what powers and weaknesses you want them to have? If you could do that, I'd be happy to write some technobabble for them.

>>49790981
Zombies who died while wearing useful stuff like riot gear? Or maybe "sleeper" zombies who turn from alive to undead instantly with no customary period of deadness in between

>>49791171
Usually zombie bodies still work (somewhat) because the animating force is affecting the entire body, not just the nervous system, and is preventing excessive rot and rigor mortis. It's why you can get infected from any fluid contact.

>>49791187
You can start with the ones in the OP, if you want. I was just guessing on the sciency stuff.

>>49791225
Which is the unrealistic part. I'm perfectly fine with zombies that never decompose too much, have implausibly good motor skills despite being dead, never freeze in the cold, and violate conservation of energy, but one must accept that those kinds of zombies are magic and not science fiction.

>>49791271
They aren't magic though. Most zombie fiction uses a virus.

>>49790981
Endothermics are pretty rare, I would prefer to see exothermic reactions simply because of plausibility. If you want Zombies which can immobilise players, go with sticky mucus or tentacles instead: both more plausible and better body horror.

>>49791289
Yeah but I want ice zombies

>>49791285
They don't call it magic, but it behaves as magic. It violates everything we know about science from virology to simple thermodynamics. I only bring it up because OP said he wanted to keep things as realistic as possible, so it's important to remember that standard Romero zombies are not at all realistic. The idea that Romero zombies are caused by a virus as we know it is less plausible than the explanation given in the movie posters: that there's no more room in Hell.

>>49791347
*tips fedora*

>>49791347
Yeah, shit like world war Z's zombies being able to walk along the bottom of the oceans is such shit. literal Zombie magic.

Still, As long as I'm suspending my disbeliefe It's generally okay and consistent.

>>49791228
>Smoker
In these subjects, fungus appears to have set in about the lungs, visibly bloating the chest and producing a cloud of acrid, toxic smoke. The smoke is believed to transmit a viral vector, but not much is known about the mechanism behind it.

>Ice
The infection appears to have caused the subject's digestive enzymes to become unstable and change, enabling the subject to vomit and project a bluish liquid capable of hardening into ice and decreasing the temperature of biological matter. This is known to slow or immobilize prey. Survivors have noted a sharp decrease in temperature in the immediate vicinity of these infected, perhaps due to a concentration of the liquid in their bodies.

>Hive
As the infection often results in wide, deep wounds to which the infected are largely ambivalent, it seems that opportunistic insect life have made their homes in some wounds. It would appear that the relationship is mutually beneficial, as the insects frequently attack nearby animals, while the host consumes the newly weakened and distracted prey, inadvertently feeding the insects in exchange for protection. The insects' natural hive-building behaviors seems to have shored up some of the more severe wounds in the infected, leading to enhanced longevity. While many contain relatively manageable insects like wasps, most dangerous of these infected are filled with highly poisonous and lethal insects. Some survivors have noted a flying red insect that bears a slight resemblance to army ants in their behavior and ferocity.

The Hive thing should be flies, since they naturally lay eggs in rotting flesh. And then the maggots in the rotting wounds get infected by either the initial virus (or a mutated symbiotic version of the virus that affects insects) and end up as zombie flies that stick around, having different priorities in their tiny, infested brains.

Why are zombies always human?
Why never a zombie animal?

Wouldn't you be worried if a zombie rhinoceros charged you? It's not like you can easily chop off its head.

>>49791541
Usually because there's still some hope of survival or even victory when the zombies are all roughly the same size as a human. When they can be as small as a mouse or fly around, it can easily become nearly impossible to actually avoid them. Especially in settings where nobody is immune and one bite equals zombification. Zombie rats alone would be the end of humanity in one of those settings.

>>49791584
Right, but you can circumvent that by just saying the infection only affects mammals who are larger than "X" size or weight.
The only time I've ever seen zombie animals is a zombie dog or giant insect via resident evil.

>>49791541
Because that would be OP.
>Swamps will be complete death traps because of mosquitos
>Rats/Mice spread it like the Black Death
The list goes on. I'll allow the classic dog and bigger animals, though.

>>49791541
1) Viruses generally don't hop species

and

2) many settings DO have zombie animals, like Resident Evil. It has Zombie Dogs, Zombie Elephants, Zombie Crows, Zombie plants...

>>49791691
In Resident Evil, the T-Virus is specifically engineered to affect dogs, and the rest are mostly intentional one-offs taken way too far.

>>49791628
That Zoo in Outbreak was the sickest shit. It also solves the problem with the small zombies, because the t-virus tends to make things bigger.

>>49791392
Does that even mean anything anymore?

step one roll stats for zambies
>high str
muscle zombie will whoop your ass while eating you
>high dex
nimble zombie, freshly animated with the ability to climb and sprint
>high con
fat zombie, bloated and gross, hard to kill, will vomit on people blinding them
>high wis
ability to use weapons and open doors
>high int
will lye in ambush, will flee and summon more undead when near death
>high chr
followed by a small horde of zombies, but a coward who will flee when swarm dies off

>>49791691
Diseases do hop species, and in fact this is the source of many of the more deadly diseases.

>>49791392
Lurk a little more.

>>49791691
HIV hopped species from some kind of monkey, back when it was... MIV, or whatever it would have been called at the time if anyone knew or cared that it had existed.

>>49791816
No wait, SIV.
Simian Immunodeficiency Virus.

File: Attack_Helicopter_dead man_cross.png (267KB, 363x546px) Image search: [Google]

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>>49790981
something like this as a boss.

>>49791879
ayyy I play that game

>>49790981
I have some ideas:
- If you're going for the "only die when headshotted" zombie variety, get some special zombie which actually has developed a different kind of central nervous system, residing in the torax rather than on the head, like insects have. Watch the terror as "headshotting/chopping head off/etc just plain does nothing to it".

- Camouflaged zombies. The infection caused them to mutate to try to better fit in with their environment, and so they are capable of blending with their surroundings like mimic octopuses. They also lack vocal cords, so they don't groan/moan/etc, and you can mix in things like having oddly jointed limbs which allow them to spring/leap suddenly from their hiding spots for quick ambushes or w/e.
Basically, the idea is that the virus/whatever the infection is wants to spread, and it is starting to adapt to try and spread even more effectively.

- Siren zombies. Basically the inverse of super stealthy, these are super noisy, but their role is basically to tell the other zombies "Hey, we need to infect people over here!" they have hyper-developed lungs stretching their skin, which allow them to unleash a powerful screech. Maybe can cause nausea and disorientation, too.

- Armored zombies. Basically, parts of their bodies, like the head, shoulders and one arm, have calcified into a whole lot of thick bone, there's a disease that does that called Fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva. They're meant to be battering rams, low caliber rounds are going to just ricochet off them, and you're better off using fire, or just crippling their legs.
Think charger, but better.


>>49791541
Depending on the setting, explanation varies.
Also, many settings have either:
a) Zombie animals
or
b) Zombies eat animals, animals just don't rise up again

My favorite explanation is the Max Brooks variety, where the virus just plain doesn't affect animals, and animals keep away because the virus is basically a lethal toxin.

Healing zombies. They can't be permanently killed, but it takes them around a day to regenerate if you hack them to pieces. Largely contained by embedding them in drying concrete and chucking them off the side of a boat.

>>49790981
If you want to go that angle you might be better off going with what this anon is doing:
>>49791751
Starting or restricting yourself to more believable special abilities and traits based on their various physical and mental differences n' so forth.

I already like what he's posted, but if I had to make "condensed" special zombie classes I'd go with:

>Ghoul
Big fucking alpha zombie: can jump, run, physically very fit, small packs or even herds of zombies follow closely behind them respecting their dominance and acknowledging them as a source of food. Ghouls are capable of barking primitive orders to zombies, coordinating with other ghouls, and throwing things at people. Almost always very muscular Men.

>Biler/Puke zombie
Literally just a bloated zombie full of goop n' puss and yucky'ness. Eats a lot, vomits a lot, his vomit is mucousy, thick, puss-filled and very infectious. Vomit attracts zombies. Always obese people.

>Grave Robber
Non-aggressive, patient, methodical, quiet, calm, zombie. Doesn't run after people, but quietly and non-threatening "walks" after them; prioritizes INFECTION over simply mindlessly eating people to attempt to get as close as possible to infect victims. Prioritizes injured people, even avoiding healthy people- will even go so far as to protect people they've turned. Always "Mothers/Fathers"- victims who recently had/lost their children.
Grave Robbers are unique in that all types of Zombies will readily protect them.

>Dog
Literally just an infected Dog. Very aggressive. Often teams up with other Zombies: assisting in hunts, barking at food, etc..

>Carriers
People who've been infected, but are completely Asymptomatic. They will never turn and Zombies leave them alone, but they're an enormous unintentional threat to healthy people.

>Crawler
Zombies that don't run, but "gallop" or otherwise sprint on all fours. Excellent at climbing and coming at victims from unconventional angles. Usually children or adolescents.

>>49790981
Some unusual ones taken from a webcomic called The Zombie Hunters:
Berserkers, basically a zombie full of adrenaline and with enough rage to make an Angry Marine proud. Also clever and sadistic, to the point of torturing victims before eating them.
Basilisk, which can paralyze via eye contact that makes your muscles lock up. Possibly through psychic or some shit, maybe. Don't fucking know.
Mercy, which is a zombie that follows sick and wounded people like a puppy, and will only move in to bite when they're near death.
Howler, which blends in with normal walker zombies, but lets out an incredibly loud scream when it's close to cause nausea/dizziness, and possibly rupture the victim's eardrums.

Then you got the obligatory Hunter/stalker types, and Spitter zombies.

One thing I've thought about as far as zombie games: they're usually not really that fitting for a hit point system.

Either a zombie is head shot or it isn't, and either a survivor is bit or he isn't. It is possible to tear apart a zombie's body to the point it can no longer function, and it is possible that a zombie will scratch you, knock you down, or cause you to injure yourself trying to get away, but the meat of the genre is mostly binary.

What I think would be cool is not so much of a hit point system (as in you have a resource that is depleted until you are dead) but a threat system that begins with a 0% chance that a zombie will be able to bite you and begins to increase as they grapple you, surround you, you turn your back on them in melee, you are in a great deal of pain, you fire upon a zombie outside of the melee or so forth. Even then, a bite attack will sometimes not break the skin or might not pierce clothing.

Similarly, a system for how riled up the zombies are could be very good -- for example, when things are calm, it may be child's play to headshot a zombie, but the mere act of discharging a weapon could cause them to become more alert and ferocious.

>>49790981
Zombie rats are one of the scaryest things I can think of. Just imagine a city with all the vast hordes of rats are now all infectious. They have no fear, can make giant swarms, individually are hard to hit, are aggressive, move rather quickly, are tough enough via being zombies that stomping on them won't kill them, and can potentially kill someone with one infectious bite.

>>49791171
I wouldn't say 28 x Later zombies aren't necessarily undead than usual; they can be killed by body shots and can starve, but we have no reason to think they die of blood loss or dehydration in general.

Variant rabies conveyed through sneezing and coughing seems relatively plausible.

Also super infectious hobos that follow you around barfing and sneezing with something horribly infectious and are often on drugs would be very menacing and discomforting IRL, but wouldn't necessarily be that great for an RPG.

Just as a new poster, I want to butt into the plausibility discussion that >>49791171 , and >>49791225 seem to be having, and ask whether they've seen the movie "Splinter".

It struck me as like, one of the best explanations yet for most of thermodynamics shattering bullshit that zombies have going for them, in that the motive force isn't actually being channeled through the host's rotting muscles or anything.

The whole thing is a self-optimising ambulatory network of relatively rigid hyphae, and so when a limb gets chopped off it the limb recalculates its movement patterns after about a minute to reconfigure itself into a new ambulator.

The zombies seem to mainly survive long term by being completely motionless until they sense prey, then rapidly digesting the host substrate when its go time.

>>49792642
That sounds really fun and I would like to check it out.

>>49791347
Well he said "as realistic as possible."

I would definitely never expect truly "realistic" zombies to be able to besiege houses full of armed militia guys.

>>49790981
Y'all niggas need to stretch your imaginations! Purely 'combat' shit? Nah, homies... peep dis:

>Repeats/Mockers/Mumblers/Dead-Talkers
Residual brain function allows speech, imitative or fragmentary memory outbursts. Psychologically unnerving, may warn less cognizant zombies. Possibly spouting useful or misleading information. Funny: quoting shit.

>Sleepwalkers/Nine-to-Fivers
High-functioning dead, although in denial of the situation. Goes about daily routine, albeit poorly. Acts as if nothing out of the ordinary is happening. Perceives other (lesser) zombies as merely other people - just the same as the survivor/players. PCs killing zombies will look like terrorism or gang warfare to them - and will horrify them. Funny: Retail / Food Service workers.

>Whiners/Helpless/Save Me's
Similar to Sleepwalkers. Unaware of their undeath, but fully aware of the situation. Will scream, panic, ask for help - potentially leading would-be rescuers into peril. May not noticeably appear as a zombie. Total liability, will follow party once contact is made. Killing one could trigger sever psychological damage - PCs have trouble doing it, "What if this isn't a zombie? Is this murder?". Funny: Missing lower half of body, demands to find legs - loudly and insistently.

>Denier
It knows what it is, but doesn't face the reality of the situation. Will beg and plead and lie to stay with PCs, may even claim to be cured, have useful info/supplies, etc. Will be totally benign and acts un-zombie-like until faced with extreme stress... then zombies-out at worst possible time, when party is most vulnerable. Funny: It claims to be a top-secret government scientist, CIA agent, etc. or has an otherwise totally plausible alibi.

>Cameo
A zombie that is/resembles a celebrity or significant person in a PCs previous life. Granted, the PC will have trouble popping this one... or worse, may suffer mental trauma when this one gets capped. Funny: Looks like a PC

>>49792686
this
most of my set ups are of the resident evil type, but it gets kinnda loose when someone starts to wonder how the hell these slow idiots took police and militia by 'surprise'
I would like to maintain the slow, idiotic type of zombie AND the total wipe out zombieggedon

Re: animal zombies
What if the virus kills indiscriminately, but carries DNA from host to host? Say it infects an octopus; doesn't zombify it, just kills it. Then when a human comes in contact with the corpse, it turns him into a hybrid zombie with, like, tentacle clusters instead of arms.

Assuming the virus spread fairly quickly, you'd get a lot of people with dog and cat traits (sharp teeth, claws for nails, enhanced hearing and/or sense of smell), some people who were at the zoo when It Went Down (gorilla arms, extendable giraffe necks, crocodile skin), divers (I'M A SHARK ZOMBIE SUCK MY DECAYING DICK)...

>>49792701
These are great ideas, I've often thought a lot of zombies would not necessarily be directly lethal, just disgusting, pathetic, and annoying.

>>49792701
>Residual brain function allows speech, imitative or fragmentary memory outbursts. Psychologically unnerving, may warn less cognizant zombies. Possibly spouting useful or misleading information. Funny: quoting shit.
This one would actually be genuinely horrifying, might steal this.

>>49792769
Psychology needs to play a role in zombie survival situations. Even humor. Raise the players, drop them - confuse them. Capitalize on the truly surreal nature of such a scenario. A subtle change can have more impact - because 'BAM! Super Zombie' can only be done so many times before it gets old.

>>49791098

underrated post

>>49792810
My friend, please do! :)

>>49792712
Normal zombies have a hard time doing much of anything, and they wouldn't get very far, but by "realistic" zombies I meant MegaRabies, MegaBathSalts, brain worms and whatever that may cause one person at a time to exhibit zombie like behavior, but it probably wouldn't result in zombies likely to form besieging hordes or able to endure much punishment at all. They wouldn't be so much as a campaign theme most likely, as a random encounter in a fucked up city.

>>49791879

While a meme, this might actually be the most funny/weird/unique type of 'zombie' thing out there. Zombie machines- taken over by airborne plankton or some shit. They become biological to some extent, needing to feast upon biological matter to continue running; humans are easy targets and are targeted mercilessly.

Okay, I'm on a roll now... Brainstorming.

>Sewer babies
A zombie, thru whatever mechanism, sounds like something that needs rescued. "It sounds like a baby crying in the sewer!" The true source of the noise isn't obvious, and the PCs endanger themselves to save the poor thing, only to discover the true nature of the situation. Funny: Big fat guy zombie screaming, "Mommy!"

>>49792701
>>49792810
In this vein, again, "Splinter" has some interesting stuff, namely that since the zombie infection in that is mainly concerned with the host as a vector, it doesn't bother destroying or even really infecting the host's brain or vital organs until it needs them as a food source. After all, a still slightly functioning immune system will slow the rate at which the flesh rots when not in use. So people who were infected within the last couple of days are usually still 'alive' and capable of begging people to kill them as their body skitters towards the next victim.

>>49790981
Honestly man? Check out Z-Nation, they do pretty good Zombie variety.

Fast Zombies who are made from crank addicts who died recently and are going too fast. Radioactive zombies who are turning into soup inside their suits and risk a lot more than infection if not properly piked. Oil-fracked zombies who got caught in factory machinery and are super flammable and goopy.

>>49792880
Oh wow -
>Ex Zombie
Was a viral zombie, did zombie shit - BUT - the zombie cause left. Could be wounded, sick, but would definitely be severely damaged psychologically. May even seek re-infection. As a party asset, would pose a serious security risk, despite 'inside track' information on life om 'the other team.'

Zombies with their arms broken and snapped off a little ways past the wrist, and from constant clawing and whatnot, the surrounding flesh is sloughed off and the bones are sharpened into crude shivs. Slightly more dangerous than normal zombies, but still just a rung up the ladder.

A zombie with part of its gut torn open, and parts of the organs are falling out. The disease causes extreme production of body fluids like saliva and pus, so this massive wound is dripping with infectious pus. The zombie's hands are clasping at its wound, meaning that scratches from them are near death sentences in close quarters combat, and at distances they'll fling globules at perceived threats and prey.

>>49792964
That's tight - love it. Pokers and Snails.

So how about a zombie that is a mixture of several dead corpses into one? half eaten corpses stacked with one another and decomposed and slurried into each other and by chance have come back as a abomination wielding various limbs, possibly several sets of jaws and using torsos for legs?

Babies are especially susceptible to the disease, but most aren't a threat on their own. But there's a good chance that a pregnant woman will have a zombified fetus, I'm talking d2 or d4 for the odds. The further along her term, the more likely the zombie baby is going to use it's sharp nails to claw apart the womb, and losing nails in the process, meaning inutero infection.

Certain zombies may weaponize babies for psychological damage too

File: Plants Versus Zombies.png (2MB, 1600x1200px) Image search: [Google]

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>>49791347
pretty much, yeah. Whatever mumbo jumbo we come up with can't explain the fact that zombies work against conservation of energy. They are perpetual motion machines, shits literally impossible. Unless they starve like in 28 Days Later or something.

One of the less ridiculous things I heard were "plant zombies" where the body is essentially a host for a colony of algae-like organisms. Could also go fungal like cordyceps in Last of Us. It allows photosynthesis and the absorption of nutrients through any surface infested. Eating food just makes it easier to protect their food while it is absorbed in the stomach or hollowed out chest cavity. Plants are dumb, predatory plants are dumb, they eat anything moving not identified as one of their own, like carnivorous plants with insectoid "intellect".

These can even look like the normal strains of zombies we see but offer some pseudoscience explanations for behavior.

>>49793078
Skaaabs? But self made instead of magic?

>>49793396
basically yeah, Innistrad always had the best zombies.

Man I really could use an RPG in which you play a zombie.

Zombie waifus

>>49792402
the grave robber seems really neat

>>49790981
Killing floor has some good examples, but they're more superhuman zombies than realistic infected zombies.

I'll try to give you a bump
Always looking for more zombie types like this

Fucking Prick Zombie
>Guy who got scratched and realised he would be infected in a few hours
>armored himself up to the best of his ability: helmet, makeshift armor etc
>Has since turned and is a real fucking prick to deal with