How To Use Zombies In Your Encounters?
Zombies are one of the most iconic monstrous creatures not only in D&D and fantasy. And over the years of their existence, we saw different variations of zombies in movies and TV. However, today we will be looking at the D&D depiction of zombies and how to use them in our encounters.
Book Lore
In Monster Manual, zombies are depicted as a result of a corpse reanimated by necromancy and serve as mindless servants rather than disease went wrong. This depiction root traces back to Haitian folklore, where zombies are raised by magical means of witchcraft.
However, this depiction of zombies is not as exciting or terrifying as some other pop-Culture reasons we have already seen. Even though they are Dark servants in D&D, they don't serve us the DM's as an exciting monster to give to our players mainly because they lack any reason besides being mindless creatures for our party to get rid of. They will not eat you, infect you, they will... slam you to death? For me, that is not enough for zombies, so let's take a look at what we could do to make them more interesting in our campaigns and how to use them.
Dark Servants
"Sinister necromantic magic infuses the remains of the dead, causing them to rise as zombies that do their creator's bidding without fear or hesitation. They move with a jerky, uneven gait, clad in the moldering apparel they wore when put to rest, and carrying the stench of decay.
Most zombies are made from humanoid remains, though the flesh and bones of any formerly living creature can be imbued with a semblance of life. Necromantic magic, usually from spells, animates a zombie. Some zombies arise spontaneously when dark magic saturates an area. Once turned into a zombie, a creature can't be restored to life except by powerful magic, such as a resurrection spell..."
The only thing I can gather from this is that they are created by a necromancer or an effect of dark magic occurring somewhere near. Even though Necromancers are a bit cliche, the dark magic phenomenon could provide an interesting story hook. Maybe it's a MacGuffin that the party needs to find/destroy, or somehow it's influenced by a magical particle plague or something affecting the quest location. Suppose we want to have a zombie-themed adventure and put more of an interesting twist. In that case, we need to delve into more exciting aspects rather than just having a mustache-twirling necromancer responsible for zombies' appearance. If we even take Frankenstein, maybe it's a person that constructed a machine(MacGuffin) that "activates dark magic" as a consequence, and that's why zombies are roaming around town. Since it's easy to blame it on an evil necromancer for some wrong-doings, what if the story is a bit different?
Hideous Forms
"Zombies appear as they did in life, showing the wounds that killed them. However, the magic that creates these vile creatures often takes time to run its course. Dead warriors might rise from a battlefield, eviscerated and bloated after days in the sun. The muddy cadaver of a peasant could claw its way from the ground, riddled with maggots and worms. A zombie might wash ashore or rise from a marsh, swollen and reeking after weeks in the water."
Well, this gives some ideas for variant zombies... But more on that later...
Mindless Soldiers
"Zombies take the most direct route to any foe, unable to comprehend obstacles, tactics, or dangerous terrain. A zombie might stumble into a fast-flowing river to reach foes on a far shore, clawing at the surface as it is battered against rocks and destroyed. To reach a foe below it, a zombie might step out of an open window. Zombies stumble through roaring infernos, into pools of acid, and across fields littered with caltrops without hesitation..."
The only thing why I enjoy using zombies is that they don't have any sense of self-preservation. This means that even if you give your party more than they could handle and give some environment opportunities for the zombies to get stuck in, they are stupid enough to go through these obvious traps in pursuit of the party.
Undead Nature
"A zombie doesn't require air, food, drink, or sleep."
Well, I suppose no brains are required for a zombie to sustain itself. But what if they would need something? If they are "powered" by dark magic, maybe they need Elven "Holy" trees to nibble on or be drawn to things like magical items? It depends more on your world, what your zombies are like, but mine are attracted more to "magical items or/and areas".
Zombie Personality
"A zombie retains no vestiges of its former self, its mind devoid of thought and imagination. A zombie left without orders simply stands in place and rots unless something comes along that it can kill. The magic animating a zombie imbues it with evil, so left without purpose, it attacks any living creature it encounters."
"A zombie can follow simple orders and distinguish friends from foes, but its ability to reason is limited to shambling in whatever direction it is pointed, pummeling any enemy in its path. A zombie armed with a weapon uses it, but the zombie won't retrieve a dropped weapon or another tool until told to do so."
Since zombies lack personality, it's really up to the DM to flavor them with some other aspects that could help the zombies not be plain in encounters with some unique environment or supplement creatures to make the encounter interesting.
Zombie Abilities
STR - 13 DEX - 6 CON - 16 INT - 3 WIS - 6 CHA - 5
Undead Fortitude - If damage reduces the zombie to 0 hit points, it must make a Constitution saving throw with a DC of 5 + the damage taken, unless the damage is radiant or from a critical hit. On a success, the zombie drops to 1 hit point instead.
Variant Zombies
Since the 5e Zombies are a bit plain to my liking, here are a couple of ideas to spark up your creative juices to create your own type of zombies or just find a zombie variant idea you personally like:
Bloaters - Instead of Undead Fortitude, upon death, zombie eviscerated body burst in 15ft radius with the DEX save of 13, causing 1d6 poison damage and causing a poisoned effect on a failed save.
Crushers - 5ft. Range STR save of 12 upon fail, the zombie engulfs the target with its entrails, causing 1d6 necrotic damage to the target, the target is restrained.
Meatbag - This is more of an idea where two or more downed zombies instead of undead fortitude become one giant zombie. Causing 5ft. range 2d6 blunt damage upon a hit.
Dark-Fused Zombies - These zombies were crafted and imbued with dark magic in their abilities by dark artificers and necromancers. These zombies possess extensions of the dark magic in combat against threats.
Shambling Rot - 20ft. Ranged attack - The Zombie scatters its arm fibbers with dark magic trying to reach a target. 13 CON save, 1d6 Necrotic upon failing, the target is affected by Necrotic energy causing tremors and reducing 10ft. of movement.
Arcane fused - A Zombie has one Shield spell. Upon using it in a radius of 15ft. it emits a blast of necrotic energy of 1d6 and causes blindness effect if targets fail Con 10 save.
Mind-Fused - A zombie in a radius of 20ft. emits a psychic scream WIS 13, causing the area's targets to get 1d6 psychic damage invading the mind of a target with the memories of zombie's previous life upon failing and become deaf for a minute.
Lairs and encounter locations
When we look at the Zombie stats, there is not much to them besides the annoying Undead Fortitude trait. Its abysmal speed and armor class make putting them in a larger combat space, there is no threat to the party. However, zombies could work in cramped spaces like catacombs, dense forests, swamps, or anything that might provide more movement penalties for the party to get out of. Another thing would be that if individual zombies are no threat to the party, we need to think about providing a party with an overwhelming force of them, which could mean that the combat encounter could become a puzzle of getting out of the place in one piece rather than defeating them all. But this idea should be used with caution, since parties don't like to run from a fight, ever.
When thinking about an ideal location for your encounter, I imagine being in crypts or catacombs affected by underground water or some hard terrain from with the zombies could chaotically appear ambushing the party, maybe cutting them off from the entrance in the process.
Creatures to Use With Zombies
For creating an encounter with zombies, we need to take into account that zombies don't move so fast and lack range capabilities, so adding something that has speed and range could provide the encounter more dynamic feel.
Necromancers - This is a no-brainer since, without Necromancers, there would be no Zombies in 5e, according to the lore. Most of the time, adding a Necromancer almost means it will be a low-level boss fight since they have the range and magic capabilities to make the encounter more interesting. A great alternative to this creature is Deathlocks that have some crowd control abilities like hold a person for the zombies to try and catch them.
Ghouls and Ghasts are pretty similar to the zombies, yet they do possess terrifying combat damage and conditions like paralysis, which makes any attack terrifying under the influence. If you are looking at how to use them in combat, check out this article.
How to create a zombie encounter?
When it comes to zombies, they are like a plain canvas. You can make them more interesting in combat by adding more exciting abilities to them or using them in snug environments like catacombs or crypts for maximum effect. Giving them some needs or even effects like "Necrotic Bite" that would require a visit to the nearest priest is still better for the roleplaying and campaign instead of using them just as foot soldiers with some necromancer.
Maybe the encounters that you use them in do not combat, maybe you need to capture some unfortunate soul for a necromancer to raise, or the zombie was a lord. Peasants might be afraid of the lord that arise during the night shambling over the village, and the crazy lord wife doesn't want to depart from the husband and searches for the cure. You can think of many ideas when using zombies since they are not as treating creatures on the individual level, or perhaps you can use them as MacGuffins(Think of GoT when they try to capture a zombie to warn the realm of the White-Walkers).
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