Editing Dead Reign (section)

=Zombies in Dead Reign=
Naturally, you can't have a zombie apocalypose without [[zombie]]s, so Dead Reign has plenty of variety of the shambling bastards to throw at your party. But you might be wondering: how do they work?

Well, it's implied that the zombies are somehow supernatural; there's a villainous cult of demon worshippers running around who are able to control them to an extent. The zombies began with something called "The Wave"; a mysterious, fast-spreading plague that devastated society. Then, suddenly, out of nowhere, all the people who died from The Wave got up and started killing, and the Wave-disease just up and vanished.

Dead Reign zombies feed on soul-stuff - or Potential Psychic Energy, as Palladium calls it, not flesh. To become a zombie now that the Wave has ended, a living human needs to be killed by a zombie, who then sucks out their soul; this causes the body to get up and start killing. It also neatly explains the "if zombies want to eat human flesh, why do so many victims of zombies become zombies instead of being eaten up" question; the zombies don't ''want'' your flesh, they just chew you up and maul you with their claws because that's what they have to kill you with. Once you're dead, the zombie has fed, and you become a zombie 2d4+4 minutes afterwards.

This also means there's no "zombie plague" in the traditional sense popularized by rip-offs of Romero's films. A zombie bite is ''dangerous'', because it can give you a potential lethal necrotizing (fancy way of saying "flesh-rotting") infection if you don't clean the wound, but that's really not that supernatural. Seriously, human bites are prone to all kinds of nasty infections even when the biter ''isn't'' a rotting corpse. So the only way for zombies to reproduce is if they directly kill somebody; being bitten isn't a death sentence so long as you get away alive and get medical treatment.

This need to feed on P.P.E means that zombies have a sort of metabolism, and they will eventually starve without feeding, though they can prolong their survival by entering a state of dormancy.

For the most part, zombies are mindless killing machines, with only two really strong instincts; an aversion to fire, which they recognize as being able to kill them, and responding to a full-throated cry (or "zombie moan") by snapping awake (if they were dormant) and immediately going towards the moan, because that's the signal for "prey".

To kill a zombie, you need to destroy the brain or burn the thing. Zombies don't feel pain from bodily trauma, and can actually regenerate slowly by consuming P.P.E, though they are still subject to the obvious limitations that they can't grab things with removed hands or walk on legs that've been shot off.

Now that we've summed up the basics of the zombies as a whole, let's talk specifics, shall we?

'''Slouchers''' are literally the standard zombie of the Dead Reign world; 74% of the entire zombie population is made up of Slouchers (or variant Slouchers, as later [[splatbook]]s will elaborate). There's not a lot to say here; these are the vanilla, the standard, the mooks, the basic model. Obviously, these guys are from the Dead Reign Corebook.

'''Crawlers''' are zombies that have been reduced to, well, crawling along due to extreme physical damage. Most commonly, these are zombies that have had their legs broken or removed, or which have been severed in half at the waist, but at its most extreme end, Crawlers can be a dislimbed torso and head or even just a head and a spinal column. They're not really any smarter than Slouchers, but their need to crawl along combined with their usually reduced physical mass means they are, inadvertently, a lot sneakier than the usual zombie. They're often found in dark corners, narrow spaces, and tunnel-like structures - large pipes, sewers, drain tunnels, crawl spaces, air ducts, heating vents, and the like. Probably 10% of all zombies that are active today have become Crawlers. As one of the "default" zombie variants, you'll find the rules for these in the Dead Reign Corebook.

'''Fast Attack Zombies''' are a Zombie Aberration - an abnormality from the rules of the Sloucher and its physical variants. Making up 5% of the zombie population, these zombies don't just lurch and shuffle along, they ''run''. Also, they scream instead of moaning, but that's just icing on the cake. Weirdly, they tend to try to harry humans and leave the killing to the Slouchers and other slowpokes they tend to be interspersed with, and nobody knows why. As one of the "default" zombie variants, you'll find the rules for these in the Dead Reign Corebook.

You remember that bit about zombies in Dead Reign eating souls, not flesh? Well, that's not as ironclad a rule as you might hope. '''Flesh-Eating Zombies''' are Aberrations that, whilst they still fundamentally feed on P.P.E, are also addicted to the taste of warm fresh meat. Faster than Slouchers, but not as quick as Fast Attack Zombies, Flesh-Eaters are also smarter - not fully sapient, but with enough bestial intelligence to stalk, observe, and even climb to higher spaces to better spot prey. Fortunately, they are rarely encountered in large groups - the average "pack" will be about 1d4+2 members - and they don't cooperate with Slouchers. Also, they're cowardly, and prefer to only attack when they see a clear advantage, like outnumbering their prey at least 2 to 1. Unfortunately, Flesh-Eaters stop eating once their prey animates as a zombie, which means the victim is usually left intact enough to become a Crawler or even a Sloucher. 5% of all zombies rise as Flesh-Eaters. As one of the "default" zombie variants, you'll find the rules for these in the Dead Reign Corebook.

'''Thinkers''' are one of the more dangerous of the Aberrations because they have higher cognitive abilities; their lore compares them roughly to chimpanzees in level of smarts. This means that Thinkers are aware of their surroundings, which means they can notice patterns and changes - for example, they can figure out that three new motorcycles being outside a ruin means there are three humans somewhere nearby, and if the engines are still warm, then they must be close. They're also smart enough to use simple weapons and tools, even guns - though mercifully they're not smart enough to do more complex tasks like repair or reload. Finally, their most terrifying attribute is that they are ''natural zombie leaders'', able to crudely command the dumb-dumbs around them; go there, stay here, hide, drag this, push that, stuff like that. They're still not a match for humans in terms of raw brainpower, but their smarts and their ability to technically make the other zombies around them smarter can be a ''very'' nasty surprise. Oh, and they also make great lieutenants for [[necromancer]]s or smarter zombies, because they can naturally understand their commands much better than the stupid zombies can. They only make up 4% of the population, but that's still 4% too many. As one of the "default" zombie variants, you'll find the rules for these in the Dead Reign Corebook.

'''Mock Zombies''' are the rarest and strangest of all  zombie aberrations, mercifully being barely 1% of the undead population. See, a Mock Zombie is a zombie that has somehow retained its full human intelligence, which has resulted in it going absolutely ''mental''. It's in complete denial of the fact it's undead, and will do everything it can to convince you of its delusion... but it still needs to feed, so if you fall for its claims, it ''will'' try and eat you. Not helping is that a zombie which feeds often enough will actually regenerate damage to the point they can be surprisingly hard to tell from a sickly living person... As one of the "default" zombie variants, you'll find the rules for these in the Dead Reign Corebook.

'''Pattern Zombies''' are another super rare Aberration, making up 1% of all zombies. These are zombies who've somehow retained enough memory of their human lives to become caught up in a "loop" of that memory, causing them to endlessly reenact that memorized activity until they are distrubted either directly or by the moans of nearby zombies. If actively hunting, they're only as smart as your standard Sloucher. It's just ''creepy'' to watch them. As one of the "default" zombie variants, you'll find the rules for these in the Dead Reign Corebook.

'''Juggernauts''', introduced in the [[splatbook]] "Civilization Gone", are the zombified remains of ''big'' boys and giga-gals. Running the gamut from the morbidly obese to bodybuilders, weightlifters, and anyone who had a job in a field emphasizing uncommon strength or bulk, Juggernauts are basically Slouchers on steroids. They're dumb as your average zombie, but they're a lot bulkier, and that means they're stronger and tougher. Oh, and '''don't''' presume all that bulk makes them slow - a lot of people have made that mistake, and paid for it with their life!

'''Trash Crawlers''' are a variant of the common Crawler introduced in "Civiliation Gone". They're basically Crawlers who have really been run through the ringer, inadvertently picking up so much detritus that they are basically semi-mobile trashheaps. That gives them a layer of camouflage on top of the sneakiness that being so much smaller already offers, which makes them all the more dangerous - that pile of garbage or mound of leaves might actually have a hungry half-zombie in it, waiting to rip out your femoral artery!

'''Pretty Zombies''' are a zombie subtype from "Civilization Gone" defined by their good looks; not only were they attractive women (or men, but women seem to be particularly likely to come back this way) in life, but whatever happened to kill them didn't leave too many marks, so unless they're ''really'' starving, they can often pass for a living person at a casual glance. Like Pattern Zombies, they retain a few memory fragments, enough to give them compulsive grooming behavior that helps them further lure in human victims, but they're not as "loop-locked" as Pattern Zombies. Most Pretty Zombies have the stats of Slouchers, but they can also be found in Fast Attack and Flesh-Eating variants.

'''Bug Boys''', introduced in the [[splatbook]] "Dark Places", are Slouchers who have become absolutely infested with parasitic or scavenging insects, such as cockroaches, flies, lice, fleas, bedbugs, ticks, gnats and mosquitoes. Naturally, this means that not only are they extra gross to look at, but they're particularly nasty to get into hand-to-hand combat with, as doing so puts a fighter in range of being swarmed by their hungry little friends, which are disgusting, distracting, and potentially diseased. These zombies are particularly common in warm, moist environments.

'''Worm Meat''' are variant Bug Boys covered in squamous carrion-eating inverterates; maggots, slugs, leeches and carnivorous worms infest them and busily gnaw away at their ever-regenerating flesh. Not only are they even grosser than their cousins, but they are far more virulently infectious than regular zombies; if you get hit by a Worm Meat, '''clean and disenfect the fucking wound'''. Dying of gangrene or Zombie Rot is a nasty, ''nasty'' way to go. And their little friends carry the same vile sicknesses too, just to make your lives that little bit harder. Worm Meat appear in the [[splatbook]] "Dark Places" alongside Bug Boys. 

'''Sewer Crawlers''' are a Crawler variant that has adapted to hunting almost exclusively in the sewers and storm drains of the world, where they both clamber around and float through all the nastiness that has built up down there. This means their attacks are as toxic as those of a Worm Meat. These little bastards show up in the [[splatbook]] "Dark Places".

'''Impersonator Zombies''' are a variant of the Thinker Zombie. Roughly as intelligent as Thinkers, Impersonators are more solitary, perhaps because of their unique intelligence focus: they are smart enough to be able to imitate the cries of human beings, even going so far as to tailor their audible lures to wherever they are hiding - an Impersonator lurking in a child's bedroom will make itself sound like a kid, whilst one hiding in a ruined retirement village will pretend to be some old person. Unlike Thinkers, Impersonators are very antisocial by zombie standards, and are disinclined to listen to [[necromancer]]s or Thinkers unless they are given instructions to do what they do best - set up a trap for witless human prey, or lure humans into a given site. Impersonators appear in "Dark Places", the second Dead Reign [[splatbook]].

'''Blowfish''' are a Sloucher variant introduced in "Dark Places", the second Dead Reign [[splatbook]]. These are Slouchers who, for whatever reason, have been immersed in water for so long that even the zombie healing factor can't cope, causing them to bloat up into soggy, slimy horrors like any waterlogged corpse. Mechanically, they're identical to Slouchers, save for being much harder to grab or hold onto.

'''Zombie Amalgamations''' are an entire ''category'' of zombies introduced in Dead Reign's 3rd splatbook, "Endless Dead". As the name suggests, these are zombies who have been physically melded together in some way, compounding their dangerousness. 
* ''Fast-Slow Zombies'' are what you get when a Sloucher or Juggernaut and a Fast Attack Zombie are somehow melded together, resulting in an undead that is constantly tripping over itself as its two components lumber along at different speeds, but unable to separate themselves.
* ''Fused Zombies'' have been either burned with fire and acid only to then meld together into once awkward mass ("Scorchers") or which have been stuck together by foreign objects - handcuffed together, impaled on the same length of wood, tangled together by barbed wire, etc ("Chained/Tangled/Bound Zombies"). They cooperate better than Fast-Slow Zombies do, so but luckily they're slow.
* ''Multi-Zombies'' are a combination of multiple different zombies fused together by regeneration gone wrong. Variants include the "Double Sloucher", "Triple Sloucher", "Octopus Sloucher" (Double Sloucher with multiple functioning extra arms), "Hydra Sloucher" (4-8 zombies fused into one), "Multi-Crawler" (1d6+2 Crawlers and/or variant Crawlers fused into one) and the "Sloucher-Crawler Combo" (1d4 Crawlers melded to a single non-Crawler, usually a Sloucher or Juggernaut).
* ''Parasite Juggernauts'' are Juggernauts who have had 1d4 Crawlers or undersized Slouchers (usually kids or midgets) fuse to their bodies, creating a singular entity.
* ''Twin Speedsters'' are what happens when two Fast Attack Zombies are melded together, which also makes them more aggressive.
* ''Walking Graveyards'' are the biggest and scariest of the Amalgams, being what happens when a mess of dozens or even hundreds of zombies fuses into a single unholy mass. Most of them are the result of improper mass disposals.

'''Silent Slouchers''' are  Sloucher variant from "Endless Dead" who can't emit the Zombie Moan. Usually, this is due to obvious physical damage, but some of them just... don't moan. Whilst this means they can't summon backup, it also makes them much stealther - and often creepier.

'''Spare-Parts Zombies''' are a "smart zombie" (Thinker, Impersonator or Mock Zombie) variant from "Endless Dead" who have figured out they can use their unfeeling, regenerating bodies to augment themselves. These are divided into two subcategories; "Junkyard Zombies" augment themselves with metallic scrap for arms and armor, impaling themselves and bolting shit to their bones, whilst "Frankensteins" harvest arms (and sometimes legs) from other zombies and graft them to their own body to boost their abilities.

'''Terror Zombies''' are a zombie amalgamation featured in "Don't Fear the Reaper", and are what happens when a Mock Zombie gets melded to one or more other zombies. These crazy bastards initially try to exist in denial, but eventually they go nuts in one of three ways; becoming consumed with blind rage, developing multiple personlities, or becoming sadistic serial killers filled with hate for normal people.

'''Armored Brutes''' are a zombie abberation featured in the [[splatbook]] "Hell Followed" who have heightened intelligence compared to other zombies... at the very least, they're smart enough to both wear some kind of (usually improvised) armor and use solid tools, and also to use simple but deadly strategies and tactics, making them much more effective at actually trying to kill humans they encounter than regular Slouchers. Luckily, they are almost always encountered alone (save for perhaps some local Slouchers), and have never been seen in groups larger than three.

'''Cannibal Munchers''' are a weird mishmash of the Flesh-Eating Zombie and the Pattern Zombie introduced in "Hell Followed"; not only are they obsessed with eating meat, they're so obsessed with doing so that they'll even eat other zombies just to try and satify their compulsion!

'''Dead Mound Giants''' are a variation of the Walking Grave from "Hell Followed" who have achieved a whole new level of horribleness. Not only do they actively absorb other zombies into their collective bulk, but their amalgamated flesh visibly restructures itself into a nightmarish semblance of a partially formed undead giant. These horrors contain multiple undead brains, which fight ceaselessly for control over the fused body. 

'''Dead Weights''' are regular Slouchers that somehow got trapped up high. Then, with the typical zombie mindless fearlessness, they'll step off of their high perch to try to get at food they spot below. Assuming they don't land atop of you in the process, you then have to deal with a particularly ghastly sort of Crawler, because sadly too many zombies who make the drop fail to inflict enough trauma to their brains to kill themselves. These guys show up in "Hell Followed".

'''Kidnapper Zombies''' are a particularly weird and twisted form of Thinker Zombie introduced in "Hell Followed". These zombies have somehow deduced they can actually gain more nourishment from human victims by slowly torturing them to death over a prolonged period of time, releasing a much larger and steadier stream of Potential Psychic Energy. So, rather than simply trying to grab a human and maul them to death on sight, they instead ''stalk'' humans with the hope of catching them alone so they can drag them away to a hidden lair and begin torturing them.

'''Screamer Zombies''' are a dumber variant of the Impersonator introduced in "Hell Followed". Similarly to Pattern Zombies and their imitation of a memory they no longer understand, Screamers are constantly crying out, whether that is shouting various statements at the top of their lungs or just wailing, weeping, groaning, whistling or otherwise making noise. They're not smart enough to deliberately use this to lure prey, but their cries can attract curious human survivors - which isn't good, especially since their constant hollering also tends to attract plenty of regular zombies too!

'''Seeker Zombies''', introduced in "Hell Followed", are zombies with much higher tracking and sensing abilities than the standard zombies, as well as far greater determination to track whatever attracts their attention. They're no ''smarter'' than your standard Sloucher, but that obsessive focus means they often tend to be the vanguards for zombie hordes.

'''Shopping Zombies''' are a Pattern Zombie subtype introduced in "Hell Followed". As their moniker suggests, they have imprinted on the memory of collecting and carrying stuff, or specifically the act of shopping. Whilst this usually leads to Shoppers carrying a lot of junk, they seem to have an instinct for homing in on valuable things, so spying on Shopping Zombies can lead you to valuable supply caches, especially if you follow them to their inevitable lair, which is where they place everything they gather during one of their "shopping trips". Also, the thieving bastards are usually the ones who nick any gear you may drop or temporarily leave behind in your explorations!

'''Swimmer Zombies''' have spent so long in the water they have actually figured out how to swim, adding a whole new threat to bodies of water, ships and coastlines. These guys show up in "Hell Followed".

What do you get when a zombie manages to get itself doused in biological waste, toxic chemicals, or nuclear material? Why, you get a '''Toxic Zombie''' of course! Though largely identical to Slouchers, these have the added hazard of being so full of harmful materials that even being in their presence is dangerous. If a zombie seems to be actively avoided even by carrion-eaters, it might just be a Toxic Zombie. These guys show up in "Hell Followed".

Nobody quite knows what the deal is with '''Vandal Zombies'''. Introduced in "Hell Followed", these zombies form small, tightly knit and territorial groups that stick close to a specific area. But, every so often, they go on fits of random destruction, smashing up everything around them until they just get bored of it or they spot prey.