Typical Greater Zombies

Base Cost: 26 points

Melee RV 10

Coordination RV 4

Brawn RV 30

Fortitude RV 40

Intellect RV 6

Awareness RV 4

Willpower RV 10

Lifestyle RV 6

Repute RV -20

Health: Fortune:

84 20

Origin:

Like their 'normal' zombie counterparts, greater zombies are formerly inanimate dead bodies that have risen from the grave due to mishaps of nature, science or magic. Greater zombies possess much greater power however, and enough intellect to put it to use!

Known Powers:

Agelessness: being physically dead, greater zombies lack a metabolism to speak of. As such, they do not age whatsoever. If carefully maintained, a greater zombie can last indefinitely for labor or other uses; they do not age, even if they can be destroyed by conventional means.

Biological Vampirism: while they lack a natural metabolism, a greater zombie can regenerate lost health and regrow missing bits - by consuming living flesh. They regain one lost Health by eating a pound of animal flesh - or 'just' an ounce of human flesh (rank value 10).

Damage Reduction: greater zombies are surprisingly tough, despite often looking like they're being held together by the tiniest of threads. They enjoy -1 RS Damage Reduction against all physical attacks that do not strike them in the head; other damage forms affect them normally.

Darkness Generation: as undead creatures of some power, greater zombies can access a strange, otherworldly darkness. This power initially only functions at rank value 2, and the greater zombie must develop it from scratch (every practical use must be mastered per a power stunt).

Environmental Independence: no longer amongst the living, greater zombies do not need to eat, drink, breathe or sleep. While they may find themselves immobile for vast stretches of time, greater zombies are never 'unconscious', and always alert and aware (after a fashion).

Fangs / Lockjaw: one distressing new ability their status gives them, greater zombies can clamp onto something with their teeth and hang on. This does not inflict additional damage each turn, but removing a greater zombie's lockjaw requires a rank value 30 ACT.

Resistance to Cold and Pressure Variance: as walking corpses, greater zombies need not worry about the affects of extreme cold or pressure. Possessing this power at rank value 100, a greater zombie can maneuver in the depths of the sea or in interstellar space at no risk.

Limitations / Enhancements:

Curse of the Zombie: all greater zombies may transform living humans into another zombie by biting them. Upon being bitten, one must pass a yellow Fort ACT roll or be afflicted by the mechanism that causes zombification, all of which progress in a like manner.

Once afflicted, the victim must pass a Fort ACT each hour or lose one Fort rank. Some time after the victim dies from this Fort loss, the body will rise again as a zombie, usually assuming the abilities and powers listed for regular zombies (exceptional abilities may alter this some).

This is a strong character limitation.

Inert Metabolism: the problem with greater zombies, as far as a long-term existence is concerned, is that they have no metabolism. Since their body is 'just there', with most of it slowly decomposing, zombies lack the abilities that come with a metabolism - like healing.

A greater zombie will not recover from damage taken without consuming living flesh (per the above). If this is not done, bits that are chopped off become inanimate again, and won't grow back on their own. However, if they take no damage to the brain, zombies can persist indefinitely.

Doing so even at but one point of Health! This is an extreme character limitation.

Equipment:

While regular zombies cannot make practical use of equipment, greater zombies do not have this limitation (aside from a general manual dexterity problem). Greater zombies may use any devices their living counterparts can, as long as they have the bits to do so with.

Quirks:

Unattractive: greater zombies are icky! Depending on how 'fresh' they are will determine the severity of this quirk. For example, an intact body freshly turned into a greater zombie may only have this at level 1, whilst one who is in a serious state of disrepair may have it at 3 or more...

Skills:

Since greater zombies possess all the intelligence they had upon dying, they will retain whatever skills they learned in life. There are no 'stock' skills for greater zombies on top of these though, so just run with what they had before their 'change of status'.

Contacts:

Typically none. Greater Zombies, despite being able to remember former friends (and enemies!), often have a hard time retaining them after rising anew. That and their general behavior doesn't help in this regard, either. But some manage to keep friends from before (or make new ones).

Characteristics:

A greater zombie typically retains all of his or her memories after becoming such. However, their personality can shift in any number of fashions as the new reality of their situation becomes apparent. One might be relatively the same, while another could totally crack upon reawakening.

Since one need not necessarily consume human flesh to persist, a greater zombie can in fact avoid killing humans if he or she really wants to. This allows one to serve in either a heroic or a villainous role - whatever best fits the character in question, really.

Appearance:

Greater zombies resemble the humans they ascended from. Depending on their current structural integrity, they might appear to be relatively healthy, albeit slightly ashen in coloration, or could be a total mess. Their clothing often looks quite damaged, depending on their activity level.

Ecological Niche:

Like 'normal' zombies, a greater zombie is an aberration of nature. Whether formed due to a confluence of environmental conditions or created intentionally, such beings have no natural place in the world. In fact, the appearance of one is often the death knell of a society.

History:

An unnatural 'species', greater zombies have no specific history. They simply crop up every once in a while under the same circumstances that create their ordinary counterparts. The difference between normal and greater zombies is of course their mightier staying power.

While a crowd of ordinary humans may be able to handle a zombie outbreak if they keep it together, greater zombies are a much more dangerous threat. Their higher number of unnatural abilities, coupled with their ability to readily plan, makes them particularly intransigent.

Legal Hoopajoob:

I offer my Edition 13 work under the Creative Commons Attribution license.

What this means is that if you wish, you may use this Edition 13 material in any way you see fit, whether copying, distributing, or displaying all or part of this text, as long as you credit my work, in either your own derivative texts or products.

If you would like more information about me for attribution, you can contact me via e mail (DashApostrophe@gmail.com).

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