Typical Greater Zombies

Base Cost: 29 points

Strength 9x

Agility 2x

Intellect 3x

Willpower 4x

Hand Size: Edge:

2 (10) 0

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!

Powers:

Agelessness (s): 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.

Body Armor (s): greater zombies are surprisingly tough, despite often looking like they're being held together by the tiniest of threads. They enjoy intensity 8 (+2) protection against all physical attacks that do not strike them in the head; other damage forms affect them normally.

Biological Vampirism (i): while they lack a natural metabolism, greater zombies can regenerate lost health and regrow lost bits - by consuming living flesh. They regain one lost Health point by eating a pound of animal flesh - or 'just' an ounce of human flesh (intensity 5).

Darkness Generation (a): as powerful undead creatures, greater zombies can access a strange, otherworldly darkness. This power initially only functions at intensity 1, and a greater zombie must develop it from scratch (every practical use must be mastered per a power stunt).

Environmental Independence (s): no longer amongst the living, greater zombies need not 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 (intensity 30).

Resistance to Cold and Pressure Variance (s): as walking corpses, greater zombies need not worry about the rigors of extreme cold or pressure. Possessing this power at intensity 16 (+4), a greater zombie can maneuver in the depths of the sea or in interstellar space equally well.

Teeth (s): distressingly, greater zombies can clamp onto something with their teeth and hang on. This does not inflict additional damage each turn (aside from the +1 initial bite), but removing a greater zombie's lockjaw is a challenging difficulty action.

Hindrances / Augmentations:

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

Once afflicted, the victim must pass an average difficulty Strength action each hour or lose a card of health. Some time after the victim dies, their body will rise again as a zombie, assuming the powers and statistics listed for regular zombies (exceptional abilities may alter this some).

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, greater zombies lack the abilities that come with a metabolism - like healing.

Thus, once a greater zombie take damage, it cannot recover from it - without eating meat (see above). Severed bits become inanimate, and won't grow back on their own. However, as long as no damage is taken to the brain, a greater zombie can persist indefinitely, even at only 1 Hpt.

Monstrous: greater zombies are icky! Depending on how 'fresh' they are, some greater zombies won't actually have this hindrance, at least on sight; of course, once a greater zombie attacks, it will immediately come into play for the duration of the encounter.

Of course, once a zombie shows obvious signs of being undead (like missing body parts, otherwise lethal wounds that won't heal, etc), the zombie is at Willpower 0 to prevent Edge 0 humans and other like entities from fleeing them on sight - not that they normally try...

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.

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).

Calling:

Demolisher: greater zombies tend to carry this calling for the most part. Some simply lose it upon realizing what they've become, while others grow into it over time, their power and status causing them to become more sociopathic. Of course, your greater zombie may vary.

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.

Extra Goodies:

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