(animated Dungeon) Scarier Zombies in D&D 5e

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/ zeebashew
/ zeebashew
I find zombies in D&D to be missing something pretty essential to what I think of as the problem with zombies: infection.

[@anthonylipira9526]

Using "hoard" instead of "horde" isn't a misspelling if you're the necromancer.

[@zeebashew]

It was an accident but Skenk Mcgenk actually is :)

[@henryeberman6342]

Zee Bashew so you can revive jocat’s dnd videos?

[@jackielinde7568]

@@henryeberman6342 You had me worried about Jocat's channel... Turns out all his Crap Guide to D&D videos are still there. Now, If I had a ring of wishes, the first wish would be to restore all of Zee's missing videos penalty free. ;)

[@epser5842]

@@jackielinde7568 There are more ZB videos?

[@jackielinde7568]

@@epser5842 Well, before The Great Sundering, Zee's channel was packed full of videos. Then the great juggernaut, KZbin, lost their battle against The Great Power "US Federal Regulations" when their mighty cleric TFC used the ability "WTF, dude! You Can't Track Children Online!". In it's random and capricious nature, KZbin then turned its rage at being overpowered and took out its wrath upon the lowly artisan group known simply as The Content Creators. Entire channels were killed in the Great Sundering, and few were left unscarred and unbloodied. And now, we peasants must satiate our desire for a higher knowledge on what little that has remained after The Great Sundering.

[@XPtoLevel3]

zee hope you don't mind if I steal this for my entire next year and half long campaign okay thaaaaanks

[@gabejones8112]

Thaaaaaaaaaaanks, thank yooooooouuuuu, Zeeeeeeeeeeeeee

[@ianturner1777]

yes my next 10 month campain yay i can do this now although the one im doing now is full of monster mixes

[@isaaceshleman2833]

Wait... Cor... I mean, I know you ended up using husk zombies, but I don’t think those were an option... were you going to use these for that?

[@sortal]

I like how this has only 3 comments. (4 now ig)

[@anthonymichaud225]

I changed this up a little to make them much more powerful and made it so if they fail the con save they also take 2d4 poison damage or half on a succuss among other cool tropes

[@thegreatestpepe]

I've never heard the term "Mercer Snarling" but it's perfect and I will be using this wordage from now on, thank you.

[@horserage]

T O O T H Y M A W

[@newsystembad]

"Come to consciousness"

[@alessandrocoatti5186]

You watch as

[@Draenal]

Sigil

[@FruitH.]

You can see the

[@alphapolimeris]

I don't see how this would scare any playe.... *"Permanent loss"* BY GOD !

[@Heron11177]

The best way to scare/control players that are a bit too much full of themselves is doing this Everytime you die and is brought back by magic spells or potions you lose 1 point in you Con, and you die permanently after you reach 0 Con Permanent max hp loss is also a good way to warn the players not to be reckless

[@Heron11177]

Even still being a game, players should value their characters lives and their hp When you can magically heal, stitch or regenerate severed limbs and resuscitate, the fear of death or getting hurt can disappear As a bonus (if you want to be cruel or just want your campaign to be on lvl hard) you can make only powerful spells to completely restore damages. As an example, a wound that it's not healed withing some hours after the fight will leave an ugly scar and severed limbs can't be stitched together without medicine+healing spells or potions that same way or by strong healing spells. "But that's it? Ugly scars? Missing a finger or two? That's nothing", maybe, if you are not considering you will lose ability points with this Many scars can diminish your Charisma. You can be me most charismatic adventurer of all, but you will lose the passive effect of your high Charisma if you are covered with scars or is missing some teeth, an ear, nose or finger. The common first impression anyone get after seeing a very scarred person is shock Plus, sometimes you may lose perception or dexterity if your body is missing some parts. A 5 finger hand is steadier with arrows than a 3-4 finger one and you can lose some perception points if you can't distinguish with more accuracy where the sound came from, since your are missing an ear or both of them. There is also the option to give disadvantage to some specific checks, if you don't want to cripple your players that much. You may not recover well if that bone was healed far too long after the fight (not being able to use your full strength in some moves, loses some mobility, agility or your physical resilience, your Constitution)

[@louiesatterwhite3885]

@@Heron11177 why would scars lower charisma? Charisma is essentially how well you get your point across. Hell, if anything I'd give a bonus to intimidation if you are covered in scars.

[@calebbailey6557]

@@louiesatterwhite3885 I read about this before, but I do think it said that having a scar gives you disadvantage on charisma persuasion checks, but advantage on intimidation checks (I can find the book and number for you if you want)

[@louiesatterwhite3885]

@@calebbailey6557 I doubt thatd be in a book, but I wouldnt say it's impossible. I'm intrigued if you can find me an official source to it.

[@zeebashew]

autofocust

[@ArchAnjell]

Post notes! Huzzah!

[@blacksarlacc91]

Nice video and if you didn't see my comment on the livestream (dicebreaker) just wanted to say again keep up the good work. I always enjoy your videos.

[@jackielinde7568]

Zee, we know that cameras have a hard time focusing on polymorphed creatures, and we also know that gold dragons can polymorph at will. (Why they feel the need to change shape in the presence of Will, I will never understand gold dragons.) Needless to say, we know you and your wife are the kindly gold dragons looking over us mere mortal D&D players and DMs. By the way, if you're looking for topic suggestions, maybe a video about homebrewing spells or the underrated spell gems that DM's should be using for their NPCs (especially the BBEG).

[@Dth091]

autofocust locust

[@zackinator2011]

@Zee Bradshaw I would have lesser restoration cure the infection, but give the zombies another ability. This one is to emulate the swarm of undead grabbing somebody and ripping them apart like ants. Gnawing swarm: At the end of the zombies turn, every character that is adjacent to a zombie must make a strength save, DC is 0 + 5 per zombie, or be grabbed and pinned to the ground. Characters who are prone during this check have disadvantage. At the start of the the zombies turn, any creature that they have pinned will take 2d8 damage per zombie adjacent to the target, save for half (str or dex save , DC 8 + 2 per zombie). To escape the pin, do a contested grapple check against just one zombie, but the zombie gets an additional +1 for each zombie also adjacent to the pinned creature. Any character brought to zero hp by Gnawing swarm is instantly killed and their corpse is left torn and mangled. Hope you like this idea

[@OverClover]

"Mercer Snarling" lmao

[@danilooliveira6580]

I fell it depends on the type of zombies, I imagine zombies are week in DnD because they are just a magically reanimated pieces of flesh, the weakest form of necromancy. now a zombie that spreads fells more like a disease or a curse, its a different kind of evil. something that creates a curse that can destroy a entire city or empire should be more powerful than a 3rd lvl spell like animate dead.

[@bradpotts1747]

how about contagion/cause disease? lvl3 in every edition cept 5th. in which it is 5th.

[@jacobgraemoor5778]

These zombies CAN actually be fun. I had a guy run these exact ones from the video in a one-shot tower defense sorta deal where it was me and I think 5 or 6 other players, all surviving a large horde of undead. You get clever enough with your spell combos and you can hold them back pretty well. They were all coming down this one road, so we comboed our spells to throw up every defense we could, one of which was this ice spell that made the ground difficult terrain while also raining down hail, while another cast wall of thorns like right on it, which at some point the zombies stopped running forward when they couldn't get through the wall or the ice storm. I was playing a crazed fire mage at the time, so to light up the fucking world, I cast wall flame in front of the thorn wall, with the zombies able to run through the wall of fire but getting scorched when they passed through to the other side, this ended up setting the wall of thorns on fire and only added to our defenses. We burned through our spells in clever enough ways that the horde of undead never made it to the house.

[@Heron11177]

The thing in D&D is not the fear of zombies, but the fear of undeath Zombies are just reanimated corpses. As you said, without a legion of cadavers and the fear of being infected, they have a lot more weakness than motives to fear them. Hell, lycanthropes have their disease and zombies don't But the thing is... The other undead are scary ones. A nightmarish bone golem that can kill with just its laugh, a banshee that can do the same with her scream, a shadow that can cripple your stats and then turn you into another darkness incarnate spirit, a freaking lich that can come back as many times it is prepared if you do not destroy its phylactery(ies) or even try harder to scare you to death by making a dragon into a lich too Curses and monsters that cannot be damaged by normal ways of hacking and slashing physical bodies are way more scarier than zombies with infectious undead diseases, but I repeat myself by agreeing that zombies and other lesser undeads should have a way to spread their cursed state just like lycanthropes and shadows

[@azulira5940]

My favorite thing to do when it comes to Homebrew and zombies: Give the undead resistance feature to other creatures, and in turn lower their Dex by 2, and then set their mental stats to 4 or less. I also lessen their speed by 5 or 10, depending on what it is already. This has terrified my players' characters, even when confronted with simply zombie kobolds. I think the 'biggest' zombie I've ever run was a Zombie Hill Giant

[@ImmortalLemon]

I ran a zombie apocalypse survival game and I did a thing like the crowd drawing thing and just added more zombies and put armor on them, but what I added was they can make a bite attack/ grapple that does lots of extra damage while grappled every turn

[@worthasandwich]

One of my favorite Zombie encounters was in a post apocalyptic hospital that had a Nano-Zombie outbreak. At one point hunks of infected flesh would jump off the zombies and come after the players, developing small tentacles and eyes if they were not killed quickly. The players burned that hospital to the ground and escaped in a stolen hot air balloon. Boy that balloon came in handy later in the game.

[@salt-emoji]

A mechanic I use for infection is rolling 1d4 or 1d6 for extreme exposure, one roll per hour of resting, or every 30 minutes of active play, combat, traveling or exploring. When the infection reaches or surpasses their max hp they turn, removing limbs and greater restoration cure

[@Birdofgreen]

What I always did with zombies is add to their slam attack. On a successful slam attack the zombie gets a free grapple check. If 2 or more zombies grapple the same target that target is knocked prone. For higher level encounters I also added a 1d4 bite attack that zombies get for free on a successful grapple check and gave them all the old swarm feature (+1 attack for each adjacent ally). This made individual zombies barely a threat but a group of minion zombies could deal significant damage.

[@DaveTpletsch]

I literally made some similar homebrew rules a week ago for my custom world in a Pathfinder campaign I'm running. The only difference between your rules and mine is that I've differentiated between arcane created zombies and plague zombies. Plague zombies are what you've just described, and occur naturally. If a necromancer wants a hoard of plague zombies they have to cultivate it by taking control of infected undead or alchemically creating the virus and infecting living creatures with it. Standard created undead raised by magic aren't infectious. I guess I've also got some alternate rules for the loud noises, specifically: if I've planned a lot of zombies in the area, more zombies show up, but I also came up with a 1D4 modifier for when I don't have a specific number in mind. I've also got some "lookout" zombies I've called screamers that never have more than 1 hp, have no jaws or hands so can't bite or scratch and so can't become infectious, but they have a bonus to perception and scream loudly whenever they see something move to call in the hoard. I've also toyed with ideas for pit zombies (legless fellas that hide in water filled pits disguised as puddles who try to grapple and drag under players), and tank zombies (mutated beefy boys and girls with lots of HP that behave more like flesh golems) but I haven't built either of them yet. I'm really glad you made this video. Zombies are a lot of fun, and one of the more easily customized creatures. They're a great place to get started for DM's who want to learn how to build customizeable monsters IMO.

[@brycevo]

I love this so much. Now to make them even scarier, add infected spiders that have 1 hp but are highly infectious. If an infected spider bites a defeated zombie, it becomes an infection carrier. Infection carriers have 1 hp, but explode into a cloud of infection, that lasts 2 turns, when killed.

[@recon1o6]

a couple of other things I have found for zombies to increase their difficulty corpse multiplication- if a zombie is destroyed in a single blow or otherwise dismembered badly by a hit, the severed parts can reanimate separately, when the zombie attacks, these parts attack too as part of that action. A zombie dismembered sufficiently wont reanimate explosive decomposition- dead bodies tend to acquire a lot of gas while rotting. Fires can light this stuff. A sufficiently rotting zombie when afflicted with fire damage has a dc10 chance of exploding in a 10 foot radius dealing force damage equal to the fire damage taken

[@AndrewJohnson-oy8oj]

Spending the end of 2023 rewatching the Zee Bashew playlist waiting for new vids in the new year.

[@IamGeekIncarnate]

Don’t forget to use overrun! We have a rule (used mostly for undead like zombies). The simplified version is if all available spots surrounding them are occupied, then they are overrun by the zombies and are taken down and a bite or scratch is pretty guaranteed. Works so great in dungeons

[@lockskelington314]

I'd make one adjustment to that so that its Lesser restoration instead of Greater Restoration because the bite sounds like a disease. Lesser Restoration gets rid of diseases while Greater Restoration does not. This is great because you don't have to keep burning 100 gold and limited 5th level spell slots. Its justifiable because it will use up all the casters spell slots and attention in battle. I also have had a similar premise but it was with three cursed/evil statues that weeping angled a party. Instead of an Infection it was petrification when bitten. The Statues couldn't move around in bright light hence they couldn't move during the day. They attack at nigh and had a movement of 60 ft and a climb speed of 40 ft. They had a multi-attack with one claw and one bite. If bitten they had to make a constitution saving throw or be start to be turned to stone. They can hide as a bonus action. Have advantage on stealth checks when in dim light or darkness. And they have Tremorsense up to 60 ft. They are immune to being Charmed, Exhaustion, Blinded, Poisoned condition. And are immune to Poison. And resistant to Bludgeoning, Piercing, and Slashing From Nonmagical Attacks That Aren't Adamantine. If bitten a Player can make a dc 14 medicine check to remove the infection from the player and take 1 of their hit die plus their con modifier in damage and have their maximum HP drop by that amount. They are meant to be used in a closed environment where they players can't leave. Like a Mansion or Castle some large structure that they can be chased around. Players have to survive the night with three assassins. The Statues each have their own section of the dungeon and don't go into the others territory. Where one territory ends another begins. The dungeon should have one point in the center of all of them that serves as a neutral ground like a foyer or grand hall where all three can attack at once. This area should cut off one of the statues territories at a time like a singular metal beam that can be used to bar one entrance at a time. They could use this area to take a short rest while someone takes watch. The Statues tactics is it hit and run they never try and stay in melee with pc's if they can help it. Give the playes some idea on how to combat them. Perhaps they can research an Adamantine lance that the former owner had and learn where it is. The can find a diary on the statues and hint at why they are their. The DM can give them two details of information about the creatures via the diary such as that "They seem to only come out at night as one stopped moving when the dawn arouse" "I was making my way around the library when I turned a corner and came face to face with one. I was too scared to move or scream. It didn't seem to notice me and I backed away slowly when a rat squeaked on the other side of the room and it darted after it" Let them know just enough on how to avoid them while letting them know just how scary they really are. You could also let them find a cure to it made from the heart of the creatures body. that will cure the petrification. Lastly That for-mentioned neutral space that the players could as a semi safe place is where the statues sleep during the day. If Players can keep them out of the space before the sun rises then they will be left harmless stone statues that can be smashed. The Statues have one last ploy if they are all together in one spot before morning they can let out a group cry that animates of other victims that will try and grapple the players. The Neutral space will then be closed off and anyone left inside will be trapped as the Statues return to their spots which close all of their entrances and lock them and anyone else in until day. Players can find the mechanism that they use with a successful dc 25 investigation check. They will learn of how it works but need something they can use to activate it somewhere else in the dungeon. The Terror isn't in their numbers or size but in their immense speed and Strength. Time is not on your side.

[@dragonslair951167]

I think the main thing that makes zombies scary is their ability to overwhelm you with sheer numbers- when there are too many for you to take head-on, they surround you and block your escape, slowly work their way past defenses and barricades, and slowly chip away at your party's health until one by one, you fall. And when the zombies outnumber the humans, it turns previously safe areas into festering hellscapes, where danger waits around every corner, and though the individual roaming zombies are weak and easy to kill, you never know when a horde will find its way to you, and you always have to be alert. I think the infection mechanics are a neat idea, but I think they'd be more of an annoyance than a real threat to most parties. It'd force the party to constantly go back to town and find a cleric or buy a scroll to cure the zombie plague until the healer learns a greater restoration spell. I think zombies are pretty good just the way they are; if you want to make them more challenging, just have them show up in greater numbers.

[@hazeltree7738]

Another idea for this, I don't know if people will see this but whatever Zombies just... Don't die. They keep getting back up. You cut off their head? It will try to bite you, and the body will attack you. Cut off their arms? It'll kick you. You either have to fuck them up so bad they can't hurt you (Burning, severe dismemberment, etc), find some way to remove their aggression, whatever Admittedly this may make player-raised zombies a little OP, so there could be some conditions *(These are just possible things, I'm not saying put them all in effect)* - Newly raised zombies are easy to take down - You need to have some sort of ritual sustaining the zombies to make them keep getting up - Zombies become more "Feral" as they're damaged and can attack their creators - Zombies still rely on their head for senses. So if it's cut off and kicked to a place where it can't properly see or hear, the body has no idea what's going on and will just wildly thrash around

[@KaminaCicada]

We had to investigate a village going dark and there was 1:1 village ratio of zombies. Someone casted shatter and every zombie in the audio range not blocked by doors came at us. One scored a nat 20 on a member and they started feeling ill. Luckily I was a cleric and with cure disease it was taken care of. Turn undead was nice too. I climbed on a fountain and bashed my shield to attract them.

[@Battleguild]

Silk-Wrapped Zombie Same stat block as a normal zombie. Add: Webbed Body: Melee attacks made by the zombie grapple on a hit (DC12*). If the zombie takes any fire damage, the zombie and any creature it is currently grappling take 1d4 fire damage as the webbing burns away, removing its Webbed Body feature. Variant: Spider Egg Zombie CR 1/2 Same stat block as above. Add: Giant Spider Egg Sac: The zombie's torso has been carved out to make room for this bulbous egg sac. If the zombie takes slashing damage or dies from non-fire damage while it has the Webbed Body feature, 5 Spiders will emerge from the zombie and occupy any available adjacent spaces. The zombie and spiders are non-hostile towards each other. (The xp from the spiders is calculated into the CR change.)

[@ddcardo]

I created a necromantic spell for warlocks called undead contagion. It was a unique spell learned by a warlock from his patron who used him as a dupe. It effects the caster with no save.

[@productivediscord5624]

Kingdom on Netflix is a really good series of Feudal Korea dealing with a zombie outbreak. It has some great ideas about infection, melee weapons against fast zombies, and tension. I don't want to spoil the show but even watching the first episode for inspiration is something I recommend.

[@ASquared544]

Ya know, I read the name “Scarier Zombies” as “Spider Zombies”, and that’s the solution: Make Spider Zombies. What’s this about updating the stat block? Nah man, *spider zombies.*

[@spiritualinsight]

Rotgrub swarms... Combined with 'bloated zombies for explosive infection affect. In addition you could even put these infectious rotgrub swarms into glass jars that Could act as grenade infecting killing then resurrecting those hit if not cured. Hell of a way to use a cr 1 creatures for devastating affects.

[@Thunder-bw9xm]

I know this is late: but this type of zombie is well captured in the "husk zombie" in the new book. While only CR 1, they could probably convert an undefended village in under a minute... They get an extra attack per creature they kill, they have a 35ft move speed, a hit is I think an auto-kill for a commoner, and a humanoid killed rises as another zombie at the start of their next turn

[@graydragoon874]

if they are faster and do more damage while keeping the 1 hp, that can also work for making them scary

[@chrisblake4198]

I think if I were going to implement an infection and/or added spawns feature, I'd kitbash together some aspects of the way they describe Abyssal infestations in MToF, and some aspects of Lairs. Not necessarily a boss monster using Lair Actions, but definitely create a sphere of influence for the zombies and give the players a chance to halt it before it gets bad or drive it back once they encounter it. That way they're working toward a definite payoff instead of just at the mercy of RNG that could hypothetically become a TPK by attrition in an unending battle.

[@NewMessage]

One of the best zombie scenes I ever experienced was in Rifts, not D&D, but there was a hoard of hundreds of them, but from a vegetarian society, so they all kept groaning for 'Grains', and we had to clear them before they ate the entire crop of wheat to save a village. I mean, when you engaged them, they fought back, so they were still dangerous... but boy, we were all groaning "Graaaains...." off and on for weeks after that.

[@harrysarso]

the infection feels very science zombies and not very necromancy zombies PS is "Infection" a disease or a poison?

[@Heron11177]

You can still have the infection even if the source is a spell or curse Lycanthropy and vampirism can both be achieved by curses or by getting them from a cursed/infected enemy. I'm not sure, but I even think that the infected Lycanthrope can be cured with a spell that can cute diseases and not specifically spells that cleanse curses

[@louiesatterwhite3885]

@@Heron11177 remove curse does work on lycanthropy, only if the individual was not born as one. Greater restoration also cures lycanthropy. Its is considered by games rules both a curse and a disease. However, if someone is born a lycanthrope, only wish can cure them.

[@bubbasbigblast8563]

Yeah, the fantasy zombie should be more Voodoo style: you don't become an undead, but you *do* rack up fatigue via disease. Get enough fatigue, and you fall unconscious, at which point the zombie's owner can start giving you basic orders, and the player eventually starts going to a place where orders can be given. If the players don't notice something is wrong early enough, they now have a sudden rescue mission and zero prep time. They also won't know a player in that state can be given simple orders, so may suddenly get shanked by their friend during the rescue if they aren't careful. Most importantly, they have no idea *why* this is happening, since it could just be a curse, and the zombies just a distraction. That's important, because a key part of Zombies is not knowing why they're such a threat at first.

[@BillHaworth]

I like this idea, and have done something similar with Shadows (an idea I stole from the WebDM folks) - instead of creating a new shadow in 1d4 hours and only from non-evil humanoids, the shadows in my world create shadows from beasts, celestials, dragons, fey, fiends, giants, humanoids, monstrosities, and plants of any alignment in 1d4 turns. It seems like a lot of monster types, but remember it only applies to creatures the Shadows kill, so many of those are in very little danger of succumbing, yet I still like to have options. Anyway, good episode again, Zee, keep up the good work! Waiting with anticipation for the return of the Circle of Death animated spellbook episode to return to complete the Trevor trilogy.

[@Taoiscenter]

My favorite is the Pittsburgh pirates hats on the useless zombies. So funny but also so sad and true at the same time.

[@MultiBeerme]

I have an idea for a campaign that involves having the regular necromancy summoned zombies as well as an infectious type. How the infection spreads is the same, but how it effects PCs is a bit different. Also, you can give a PC or two immunity from the infection as the cost of something the infection is based around or and asymptomatic carrier that can't interact with others in certain way or else risking infecting them.

[@FableMythLore]

I would also add shared space, ie zombies incur no penalties sharing space with up to 4 creatures, and with each zombie (beyond 1) in player space, zombies have a chance to trip, tackle, take down and the player if(when) player fails, the player is on the ground and is considered grappled by the zombies (yes that "s" is intentional). While on the ground grappling the player zombies get advantage on checks and actions regarding the grappled player and +1d4+NZ bite damage(1d4) incidental damage by Number of Zombies (NZ). So if there are three zombies on player +1d4+3 added to bite damage. This bonus dmg ignores Armor. Max hp for a zombie 1d4, if zombie hp goes to zero and there is nothing continuing to do damage (double tap rule), roll 1d20 (full group of three zombies) roll of +18 to rise again at 1d4 hp (the roll is not total hp of group, just expedites things). This can be done up to three times. at low levels keeping distance from zombies is a good idea (dms should keep zombies at low totals, at higher levels this method could tpk if volume is high enough) last note: if player is down and a second full group (3 zombies) of zombies joins in with current zombies the player is considered overwhelmed, may only take non physical actions (other than to speak/scream)

[@Volkmargrim]

Just gave me the idea of full party of Paladins in plate just mowing through hordes of zombies.

[@madzapple]

I definitely like your reducing the HO to 1. I'm not sure I am ready to do zombie infection in my campaign but it is a mad rush. I am always for a potential kill straight off the bat - I wish there were more rules for insta killing creatures (javelin into the eye of a newly waking dragon, your general throat slit, or just an epic shot to the neck or head). Those are some rules I'd love to see people investigate, beyond standard HP, or somehow together with it.

[@Team_Orchid]

Honestly I feel the horde mechanic could be scary enough on its own depending on the GM. Each action summoning up to 4 zombies sounds like a pretty nasty time, but also doable for a level 1 party if level 1 of Hoard of the Dragon Queen taught me anything with its 50 kobolds.

[@kaiserrat70]

In summary, 1 HP for Gore fest, if they hit then make a con save on failure your infected unless a greater healing spell is cast or the limb is chopped off. Everyday the infection spreads until the infected has 0 HP and then come back as a zombie with 22 HP, noises call 1d4 zombies and louder noises such as Thamaturgey (I'm adding this) call 1d20 -3)

[@bthsr7113]

Sees new ZB vid: OOOOOOOO Sees tittle: Also EWWWWWW

[@NilesBlackX]

3:04 wow he looks just as friendly as I thought he would

[@superhypermetalsonic2551]

I actually ran this in a zombie apocalypse campaign and added 1 detail to really mess with my players and that is special infected like zombies that retained some knowledge and still retain there class so a zombified cleric now of the death domain mixed in with a horde of zombies making the horde a bit more lethal or a zombie rouge stalking down the party waiting for a opportunity to strike

[@Zionpwns88]

Who's here after watching CR last night and wanted to see more on undead?

[@jacob6071]

i think I'd like that summon horde effect as a boss effect (maybe using the action oriented monster design )

[@waffle6112]

I really do enjoy your videos, and I appreciate the new style of going in depth, but I liked the older style more because it was short and sweet

[@plewelly]

Interesting idea. I can imagine a mad artificer/wizard who creates zombies through a new and novel way rather than necromantic magic. This would explain the infectiousness angle in a world of magic zombies.

[@saranoconasanderson7673]

i admit i really like the new format, please keep the post note section

[@NobodyDungeons]

what I tend to do is have anyone killed by a uncontrolled zombie get raised automatically as another zombie so the wizard that just got killed by a zombie and failed his death saves now comes back as a zombie which makes doing things like this pretty cool

[@dalazyworf]

I'm probably gonna use this concept for a new campaign that is focused around disease and the undead. Like a mix of dark souls, l4d, and last of us. Which different regions of the campaign having a different infection or spell on creatures making them harder or easier depending on the class and race of the players.

[@FirstLast-cg2nk]

To me, the horror of the zombie apocalypse has always been "The Horde". Yes, one zombie is dangerous but manageable. But what about twenty? Or one hundred? To that end, I recommend the following additions. First, if a zombie sees any non-undead humanoid, roll a 1D4. On a 4, the zombie has working lungs and releases a loud roar or shriek as a bonus action that counts as a loud noise, alerts any zombies not aware of the players, and causes all non-undead to do a will save vs fear. Additionally, if combat is taking place in a settlement of any kind, I recommend that for every round of combat, roll 1D4. On a 4, roll 1D4 and add that many zombies to the encounter, and if you roll a 4, roll again to add more zombies. Each of these new zombies also have a chance to roar or shriek, summoning more zombies. The purpose of this is to make extended combat encounters extremely dangerous, forcing players to either think strategically and pick their battles, unless they want to end up fighting a massive and ever-growing horde of the undead. Keep a count of the number of zombies that join the fight, and if it's taking place in a small town or village, you can cut off the horde at 100. If it's in a large city, the horde never stops growing. Additionally, any time a character moves near any container, doorway, window, or anyplace else a medium-sized creature could be hiding and has not been checked beforehand, roll a 1D4. On a 4, add a "Jump Scare" zombie that immediately has an attack of opportunity, the target having disadvantage for that attack. If that attack lands, the target must make an agility save or be knocked prone. The Jump Scare zombie automatically gets to roar or shriek on its turn as a bonus action. Additionally, I feel that standard attacks should not infect. Standard attacks can be made, but only in response to a character attempting to use fire or anything holy to try and ward them off, or the target has a shield. If the target does have a shield, any standard attack has a chance to have the zombie take it from the target. To infect, a zombie should first perform a grapple check with the target. If successful, the zombie attempts to bite, unless that character is wearing armor. If the person being attacked is wearing light armor and a helmet, the zombie rolls to try and tear off the armor, and if successful it will bite the next turn. If the target is wearing medium armor and a helmet, then the target has to be grappled by two or more zombies before their armor can be removed. If the target is wearing heavy armor, three or more zombies are required before their armor can be removed. The difficulty of all grappling checks or removing the armor is reduced for the zombies depending on the number of zombies grappling the target that is greater than the minimum. If the armor is successfully removed, all grappling zombies attempt to bite on their next turn, and will continue to do so every turn until either the target is able to break free, or dies. A person being grappled by five or more zombies has to make agility saves every turn, or be knocked prone. If a target is knocked prone, all nearby zombies not currently engaging a target "dogpile" the person on the ground. If a person is unarmored and is being grappled by ten or more zombies, then each turn they have to roll 1D6. On a 1, the person is literally torn apart like that Harry Potter-looking guy from Shaun of the Dead, and is killed instantly regardless of hitpoints, no save. If a target dies, all zombies nearby will begin dogpiling the body and begin immediately to devour the target for 1D4 turns unless interrupted or a loud noise is made. After the target has been devoured, roll a D20. If the number rolled is greater than the number of zombies that were devouring the target, they will come back as a zombie after 1D6 hours have passed unless a loud noise occurs in the area, which will cause them to awaken early. All of this is meant to create a scenario where players should do their best not to engage in prolonged battles, and to make it extremely dangerous to try to engage with large groups of zombies for any amount of time. This, I feel, embodies the true horror of the zombie horde.

[@johnkeller7273]

Totally going to write a zombie survival oneshot with these

[@ASquared544]

Considering how low CR zombies are, I think Lesser Restoration would be a better way of getting rid of infection. One time, a DM of mine sent a Gorgon our way expecting no one to get petrified. Guess what happened? Lesser Restoration makes things more forgiving and also explains why Zombies aren’t literally everywhere

[@Oh-hi-their-have-a-cookie]

Being a necromancer you can create and mutated as well Frankenstein your own Zombie my Zombie sidekick jinx is undead lamia and attached with more arms, long killer tail also badass bone wings.

[@Oh-hi-their-have-a-cookie]

Note I keep adding more additions to my monstrosity

[@moldiworp9143]

When you mark the passage of time via youtube videos and you realize 4 years was 4 years ago.

[@WexMajor82]

And then the druid casts spike growth and screams at the horde. 10 minutes lather, there's grinded meat on the ground. In arrow shapes toward the druid.

[@liamzakhaev]

my friend ruled that a nat 20 on a con roll for infection made you immune, and a nat 0 would lead to a second roll that's either a one or a twenty if 20 on second roll you are a carrier and will turn if you die, a zero leads to a WWZ style infection where you turn in seconds

[@jesternario]

Resurrection in the middle of a hoard of zombies deserves an alignment change :p

[@daveharris555]

Man I got Plans for this Redraw of zombies in DD, I like you shit Z keep it up.

[@mojorn8837]

Ive been sitting on this idea about zombies in a DnD game, but it’s meant to take place in the underdark and that hasn’t come up in my games. In a world where necromancy is a prevalent threat, there are surly some common practices developed to protect the living. Some cultures might burn there dead to keep them from being animated, but in places that’s not the norm they could just bury them upside down in order to stop that classic scenario where a necromancer raises the entire grave yard at once and has them dig themselves out of the ground. So now whenever a necromantic force revitalizes a corpse or skeleton facing down, they just start digging straight down until days, months, or even years pass and the underdark experiences a literal rain of undead chunks. I kind of see it as a random weather encounter but for the underground. These zombies would be great for making that scenario even more horrifying as decaying guts rain down onto the party.

[@Raziel312]

I remember that in Advanced Dungeons & Dragons Second Edition, Ravenloft monster manual had something like this. It was called the Cannibal Zombie and it was an attempt to make a more Romero zombie.

[@CamelotGaming]

Zombie evolutions like Lickers in Resident Evil, or Volitiles in Dying Light would help too.

[@teutonieth]

here's how i would make zombies a bit more intimidating. - 1 hp, for that quick drop, with undead fortitude. - critical immunity (former undead trait) - when down, rolls 3 times "undead fortitude" to see if it will simply get back up again, similar to PC death saves - 16 str, grappler feat and automatic hit bite attack if opponent is restrained not fan of disease zombies, much more of the persistent hunter zombie.

[@sordcooper2]

I'd personally allow a remove curse or lesser restoration to remove the zombie disease since amputation is pretty rough for a low level party, maybe make it so a casting of lesser restoration allows a con save to get past the disease each time its cast if a straight up casting is too convenient

[@thesuccessfulone]

I like making them spawn more zombies, but they're underground and climb from the earth making them available anywhere and explaining their travel time is easier. So it has to be loud enough to penetrate the ground and it opens up the possibility of spawning other dead things if you wanna give your necromancer player a toy or the party a challenge. I try to make the players aware of the coming hoard by making the terrain rough or impassable above emerging zombies.

[@gotrgadstat7646]

The only thing I don't really like about this very neat idea is that the only two ways to deal with being infected is losing a limb (Regenerate is a 7th level spell to get your limb back, unless for some reason regular healing or mending will fix it, which I doubt), or someone being able to cast Greater restoration (a 5th level spell). That makes theses zombies seem like a fairly mid-high level encounter and could be pretty brutal to a low level party, unless high level npc clerics come a dime a dozen. A DC 10 check doesn't seem like much, but it's still very possible that people just end up rolling poorly. And what if multiple people, or even the entire party, rolls poorly and gets infected, even multiple times after limb removals. Then what? My thought is that it should be considered a disease and be curable with Lesser Restoration (2nd level spell), but you have to cast it before your next long rest, just like losing a limb, otherwise you have to use Greater Restoration or something akin to it. Perhaps it starts out as a disease, but if you let the necrotic energy/infection sink in, it is considered a curse. Or the disease becomes too intense for Lesser Restoration to heal it, or something to that effect. You may think that that's too tame, but remember, not every casting class gets access to this spell and that spell slots aren't unlimited. AND you would have to deal with the infected limb(s) BEFORE you get a long rest and thus a chance to get more spell slots. The reason I say this is that if you threw an encounter like this at a low level party, it can end pretty disastrously if they don't, or aren't able to, keep out of reach of the zombies, or have some way of dealing with possible infection. Otherwise, I think it can be a very cool idea and it can help to solidify why Necromancy and Animate Dead are so frowned upon, because if you lose control, it can quickly spiral into an apocalyptic situation. And why Necromancers are so feared; they only need a handful of zombies to end an entire town or city, even.

[@Abdega]

2:57 Man, you really stepped up your animation game!

[@ddcardo]

I've had this idea, bit I was going to use a warlock spell I created called undead contagion.

[@ammygamer]

Ah yes. Here's the special horror sauce I needed for my low-level zombie hordes in CoS campaign. Thanks!

[@Sukaki_Izamu]

I know a DM that ran a horror game but with wendigos he made it with a hunger mechanic and if you even got like below -20 hunger or ate human flesh you or NPC the party had to try save/take care of could turn. and he made them well balance as they had 3-4 stages of wendigos lvl one Hunger weak mob alone but dangers as a group with DR 5 to silver an a weakness to fire and attacks that could bleed. Lvl two Starved are more savage and getting mimic voices the lore the party to danger they got jump scared from hearing a child cry in box and when they opened it they were attack. Lvl Three Famine where large monsters with DR 20 to silver and could turn into mist at will. I forget what the forth lvl was called but where hyper intelligent and could even speak they were spell casters that would cast sleep and hunger curses and could be leading and guiding a few Hungers at all time. we a really good game they players did great they didn't get a 100% saved every one but got a no turned on them was fun to watch got videos up on twitch call Ebon Ward North.

[@loganreads90]

I prefer to use home-brew if I’m going for a certain theme. For example, if I want zombies to be just low-level fodder in a undead-themed game, I probably wouldn’t do this; however, if I really wanted to crank up the fear factor or wanted to put an emphasis on a didactic, allegorical campaign, I’d use these zombies.

[@youtubestudiosucks978]

I'd give them increased durability and strenght so their an active challenge despite their slow speed. Their dead so they dont care if they break bones during attacking so they can inflict stabbing damage after their hands are cut-off and just use their stump with their bone sticking out as a makeshift knife.

[@lokuzt]

a nice _easier_ variant for first timers or lower level parties (and those less willing to calculate each attack's saving throws) would be limiting the infection to bite attacks after they're grappled for a round instead of after each attack .

[@TheToastThief]

Looks like I know what I'm throwing into my campaign! Thanks for such an awesome video making these relatively boring monsters into these cool creatures (that are also more like their film counterparts)

[@Ragsna]

Great Idea, I will be sure to put that to play!

[@rudeboyjohn3483]

How I've run them: Zombies have 1HP, but are only damaged on a roll of 4 on a d4. This represents the fact that zombies are also terrifying because they don't stop coming. You hit them in the leg, nothing happens. You hit them in the chest, still coming. Only a headshot works OR a fire/acid effect. Loud noises draw more. Zombies have Grab. Infection: on a failed con save, victim loses a quarter of their max hit points every day. Zombies should be fatal. And the first time I spring these killers on a party is always a kick in the adrenaline.

[@synthetic240]

I'd probably RP infectious zombies as a bite rather than a scratch/slam attack. That way, a successful Con Save might mean that it was only a scratch, rather than a bite. A Dex Save becomes a bite on a softer, but armored piece.

[@thedamnguy2896]

Now this is a case for the good ol' Fireball™, m'yeah see

[@mr.moffia]

Tbh, my favorite form of “zombies” (I put quotation marks because I prefer the infection flavoring, not straight out undead,) are things like 28 days/weeks later, world war Z, and even like the common infected of l4d. Just where they’ll come fucking BARRELING at you, almost toppling from their lack of balance as all they care about is getting to you and killing you, and also with being attracted to loud sounds.

[@gamefantus9076]

Honestly Id love to see an animated spellbook on thaumaturgy! Its one of my favorite theatrical cantrips that I don't see people take often, unless their a tiefling, and even then don't use it!

[@malcolmcampbell3912]

DC 10 save and the PC gets to choose STR/DEX/CON so will certainly have proficiency in that save. So straight off the bat the PC is probably going to have +5 or +6 meaning that a failure of that save is going to be a reasonably rare event. So, I think the thing to add is that GM rolls the save for the player behind the screen. Player doesn't know if they succeeded or failed. A decent skill check maybe can tell if they're infected or not but it should add some delicious tension to the post-fight clean up.

[@Thanatos--]

Short or not I'm still digging the post notes for adding more to the video.

[@jamesking4736]

ok I want to use this for a resident evil style game but the thing I had going was 5e with some of the real numbers from RE1, like there are no damage modifiers but there are to hit mods, handguns always hit for 4 damage minus on a crit witch in a instant kill, basic zombies only have 15-22 HP but after they die after 1d4 hours they turn into a crimsonhead witch have way more and more movement speed but I am still working on the classes witch so far is cop(subclasses swat, beat cop, CSI) , mercenary (subclasses demo expert, black ops and sniper), civilian (subclasses lucky, prepper, and gun nut) , doctor (medic, EMT and researcher) and blue collar (plumber, mechanic and electrician)

[@jamesbiggs8397]

I like the idea of a choice saving throw; I put one on a Homebrew spell that's a Wave of Acid where you can try to resist its push (STR) or just get out of the way (DEX)

[@robinwang6399]

I was thinking you can make a condition called: soul rot. So the idea is the zombies are soulless husks animated by magic that are simply wondering about, unlike intelligent undead whose souls are still attached but bodies are dead. Give them a fearful presence if the numbers are large enough, do exactly the things recommend in the video, but only use the zombie disease on the frightened players, and if a player is killed by the disease, which is really their soul rotting away, they become a zombie and can’t be revived short of a wish spell.

[@jordanbarber6376]

Fantastic Video as always Zee! Definitely going to try this out in my game

[@TheDarkGraven]

This is why I use more Ghouls then Zombies. Its funny watching my currently high level party freaking out when I throw a horde of Ghouls at them.

[@erickvega7379]

So happy you have a ginger beard irl

[@dungeonmasterofdoomsammi6309]

Dang, just a few days ago I ended my zombie apocalypse campaign, this would have been really interesting In my campaign if you drop to a zombie, you had 1 minute to be Revivify, then you are turned, and there was a super massive horde my party decided to try to sneak past and three of them dropped and stayed down, actually one of them Polymorphed into a TRex and tried to carry one of the party members away, only to roll a 1 on Dexterity to pick them up safely, and ate them, but the other 2 tried to zombies, it was a really rough session

[@singingcrow439]

Honestly, I think a lesser restoration spell should be able to cure an infected creature cause needing a 5th level spell (which you need 9th level characters at least to cast) for something that people are going to throw at level 3-5 players just seems wrong to me. Perhaps a greater restoration spell instead can revert a turned creature back to the living it done within 24 hours of turning.

[@Fyrverk]

Skeletons strike and use weapons. Zombies grapple and bites.

[@ronantillman4687]

Creating zombies of this caliber as a necromancer would be great for chemical warfare, as sending them into cities with groups of witherling gnolls is a genius idea

[@jamesalexhowlett]

I love these homebrew rules, I think I’ll be implementing these rules.

[@keyrtan]

This actually makes the Zombie Apocalypse scenario something you can do in DnD

[@UnkillableMrStake]

"Mercer snarling" perfect

[@Fungo4]

Oh look, it's everyone from your hometown. Only zombies.

[@135Fenrir]

Oooh I like the idea, but to make it terrifying for high level players and low level players alike, i am (personally) thinking of reducing CON instead of max hp for every day infected. Puts a much tighter time restraint on the matter. It would also make sense for a spreading epidemic taking over towns, and the resulting horde travelling to find "food" once the area has been saturated/decimated.

[@Sadfrogboi]

I did a homebrew zombie apocalypse campaign I had my zombies as p much invulnerable unless you target the head at the beginning all my players had disadvantage but after 10 zombie kills they become veterans then it was a flat roll the zombie would have to grapple to bite unless they were sneak attacking which is prompted by a perception check a zombie bite is pmuch 3 points of poison damage per round until they die or are cured fun twist you still control your zombie until it dies and your primary is to munch your teammates witnessing zombifaction will trigger a wisdom save for all witnesses if they fail they must flee bite resistant armor was available for purchase and zombie's would spawn randomly whenever our heroes were outside of their "safezone"

[@meatybtz]

I prefer to make zombies have grapple attacks. If more than one zombie is in combat with the players and a zombie immobilizes a player then it and any adjacent zombies will begin a feeding frenzy. The player may break the hold by a DC check against strength modified by the number of zombies in the frenzy but otherwise they take 1D6xZombiesinFrenzy automatically with no saves.. and that goes on and on, as well as more zombies "piling" into the dog-pile. The best thing about the feeding frenzy is that it's scary as hell and it distracts the other zombies, who want to join the frenzy, which gives a window for other players to bug out of a horde situation (at the cost of a member) or get free auto-hits on zombies who are otherwise occupied and to save their team member. I like infection mechanic but I use that with all undead to represent simple disease damage. Player must make a DC 12 con check every hit to avoid becoming "plagued" which reduces their con and their max HP every day till they are cured via magic or some other world mechanic. If they die, they rise as a plague zombie and continue the infection. But all undead can cause disease. The undead rising is more of a game mechanic than any set house rule. This makes them plenty of scary as if you get overwhelmed or pinned the horde will descend on the unlucky and as the number of zombies in the dog pile grow, so too does the damage and the difficulty in breaking free. It puts the players in a "save or run" choice situation. Betray or be loyal to your team. It certainly heightens the tension as the pinned player looks round the table for help and everyone is like.. uhh.. we run. or goes balls out to save the pinned player.