Zombie: The Revival

By Ryan Gibbons (squiggy680@aol.com)

Introduction

Zombies first originated in the twelfth century. Around that time, a group of magi from the Sons of Ether captured a group of vampires. The vampires where put though many painful tests so that the magi could learn their infinite secrets. Soon after one of the vampires was mutilated and killed in a test the rest were released by a faction of the Sons of Ether who did not believe in harming them further.

After the release of their specimens the magi decided to attempt to create their own form of vampire-like creature. They unfortunately became over-zealous in their planning. They wanted to make their creatures more powerful than vampires, but did not know everything they needed to know about them. They wanted their creations to be totally immune to all forms of pain, disease, and death.

The magi never learned how the vampires became undead and were forced to use bodies that had already been dead to create their creations. Zombies were made from these corpses. The Zombies were not what the magi had expected. Although the Zombies could not be killed short of cremating them, they had to eat human flesh and had little if any, memory of their past lives.

Even though these creations were less than what was expected many magi used them as expendable servants. Then in the late fourteenth century a young mage learned how to create a Zombie from the corpse of a Werewolf. This was a great mistake. This Zombie was once a Get of Fenris and remembered his past life. For some unknown reason Zombies created from Werewolf corpses remember much of their past lives. This Get of Fenris saw the reanimation and slavery of the dead as an affront to Gaia herself. He did not blame the Zombies for what they were, but blamed the magi for making them that way. He then rallied the Zombies to revolt against their oppressors, the magi. This revolt lead to the freedom of many Zombies, but also lead to the destruction of their new leader. Because of his destruction, Zombies would never again form any lasting groups or societies.

The uprising of the Zombies deterred many magi from creating any more Zombies, but a few still practice the art on occasion.

Theme

The theme of Zombie is to control a creature that truly is dead. Zombies are not undead like vampires or mummies, but are totally and fully dead. Zombies are reanimated corpses, and must be played as such. A corpse is much harder to live in and control than a living or undead one.

Mood

The mood of Zombie is very dark yet strangely fascinating. Zombies can either have little interest in the living, feel that they have been chosen to fight for humanity, or have been returned to fix their past wrong doings. These are not set goals, but are the most common.

What Is a Zombie?

A Zombie is the ultimate loner. They have no social or political system. They are not social by nature and feel little kinship for ones of their kind. They may, however, feel for those of the living. Their personalities are formed by the time they spent in introspection while dead.

Being dead, Zombies can be considered quite a power in their own right. Death to them is like a liberating experience if a very frightening one. It gives them the chance and power to right their past wrongs.

Zombies feel no pain and can act normally while being severely injured. Zombies are given many more health levels than any other creature for this reason. Being dead, they cannot regenerate lost cells, however. They must either feed upon human flesh or rest in their burial ground (if they have one.) The only way to fully destroy a Zombie is to cremate it (therefore, to kill a Zombie it must be "barely mobile" and burned by fire.)

Being dead, Zombies have one less spot for each attribute than any other class, but this is a small hindrance.

The eating of human flesh is a natural function for a Zombie. A Zombie can store the flesh in the hollow recesses of its body and use it at its discretion. To heal it must use a flesh point to heal one health level. Flesh points can also be used for many other things, mainly to perform its special traits. Normally only two points can be used a round (with the exception of healing), but this amount can be raised with the Digestion background. A full grown human will contain 10 flesh points, but if rushed in feeding, the Zombie may not be able to regain that amount.

When a Zombie reaches the "wounded", "mauled", and "barely mobile" health levels it will lose a limb. Which limb is lost is decided on a 10-sided die. Limbs can be regenerated in 1 hour by using 5 flesh points or with the regeneration background.

Roll	Limb Lost
1	none
2	toe
3	ear
4	finger
5	eye
6	forearm
7	lower leg
8	arm
9	leg
0	none

Zombies can also change their forms at will. They can become more human looking in Humanoid form, go to their natural form as a Zombie, and become a hideous, hulking monstrosity known as a Ghast. The difficulties of these forms are 7 to become Humanoid, 6 to become a Zombie, and 8 to become a Ghast, unless these are lowered with the Mutation trait.

When creating a Zombie, you are given 7 points for you main Attribute group, 5 points for you secondary Attribute group, and 3 points for your final Attribute group. For Abilities you are given 18 points for your main group, 15 points for your secondary group, and 11 points for your final group. Traits get 3 points, Backgrounds get 5, and Virtues get 7 points. 20 Freebie points are given at the end of character creation.

Freebie Points

Trait	Cost
Traits	7
Attributes	5
Abilities	2
Virtues	2
Willpower	2
Humanity	1
Backgrounds	1

Experience Point Costs

Trait	Cost
New Ability	3
New Trait	10
Willpower	Current rating
Humanity	Current rating x 2
Virtue	Current rating x 2
Ability	Current rating x 2
Attribute	Current rating x 4
Trait	Current rating x 5

The Character Sheet

• A Zombie's past life is what it was before it died. This will have an effect on its present Knowledge.
• Year of birth is when it was born originally.
• Date of death is the date on which it died.
• New Personality Traits:
• Frightened: Is scared of the thought of dying again.
• Mournful: Attempts to right the wrongs they did in its past life, or at least make up for them.
• Tired: Wishes for nothing more than to go back to "the eternal sleep" of death. Will sometimes throw itself into danger hoping to die again.

New Abilities

Mortology: The amount of knowledge about death that a Zombie has.

*	Student: Can tell the difference between a corpse and a dummy.
**	College: Knows where all the parts belong.
***	Masters: Can determine cause of death.
****	Doctorate: Can determine exact time and date of death.
*****	Scholar: Knows when, where, how, and why this person was killed.

Traits

This is the Zombie's ability to use more than the normal amount of flesh points a turn.

*	Can use three flesh points a turn.
**	Can use four flesh points a turn.
***	Can use five flesh points a turn.
****	Can use six flesh points a turn.
*****	Can use seven flesh points a turn.

This is the ability to frighten humans and get certain effects from it.

System: The target rolls Willpower if the Zombie's Humanity is 10-7, Willpower -1 if the Zombie's humanity 6-4, and Willpower -2 if the Zombie's Humanity is 3 and below (minimum of one die) to block the effects.

*	Make human frightened, but still capable of rational thought.
**	Make human run away in fear.
***	Make human go into fetal position and lose all memory of the encounter.
****	Make human go into a rampage and attack the closest living thing.
*****	Make human take orders from Zombie for a short time.

This is the amount of extra flesh a Zombie can store away.

*	Max flesh points of 28.
**	Max flesh points of 31.
***	Max flesh points of 34.
****	Max flesh points of 37.
*****	Max flesh points of 40.

The ease that a Zombie has of changing between forms.

	Difficulty
Level	Humanoid	Zombie	Ghast
*	6	5	7
**	5	4	6
***	4	3	5
****	3	2	4
*****	2	1	3

Magic-like powers of the Zombie.

*	Eyes of the Dead: The Zombie can see perfectly in any situation (ex. Thick fog, total darkness, blinding light.)
**	Whispers of the Dead: The Zombie can place suggestions into the mind(s) of one or more people if they are grouped together. Whether or not they act on the suggestions depends on the persons character traits.
***	The Speaking Dead: The Zombie can "speak" with any corpse that has died within the past week. The corpse can only tell what it knew in life. The corpse can decide on what or what not to tell the Zombie.
****	The Dead Awaken: The Zombie can take control of a freshly dead body and force it to move at its will for a limited time. The Zombie can still take action separate from the corpses.
*****	Life Denied:* The Zombie can sap the life from any living thing over a period of time.

^*System: Every round the Zombie attempts to take life from a target, it rolls Willpower against the target's Willpower roll. For every round the Zombie is successful the target loses one health. If the Zombie is unsuccessful for a round the target takes no damage, but the Zombie can try again next turn. This contest continues until the target is unconscious, the Zombie is barely mobile, or the Zombie stops the attempt to take life from target.

The tightening and hardening of a Zombie's muscles.

*	One additional die to soak rolls.
**	Two additional dice to soak rolls.
***	One additional success in soak rolls.
****	One additional success and one additional die in soak rolls.
*****	One additional success and two additional dice in soak rolls.

New or Changed Backgrounds

Burial Ground: Place where a Zombie can heal without the use of flesh points.

*	Unmarked grave (one point regained every week.)
**	Grave in a cemetary (two points regained every week.)
***	Grave in a family plot (three points regained every week.)
****	Family tomb (four points regained every week.)
*****	Personal tomb (five points regained every week.)

Fame: How famous you were while you were alive, and how many people remember you.

*	You were as popular as any musician that only had one hit song. (1 in 5000 people will remember your name.)
**	You were in public demand for half a year. (1 in 500 people remember your name.)
***	You were moderately successful for most of your life. (1 in 50 people remember your name.)
****	You were like Elvis. You were wildly popular during your life and your memory lived on after your death. (1 in 5 people remember your name)
*****	You were like a Mozart of your time. (Everyone remembers your name.)

Influence: Influence the Zombie has over his fellow Zombies.

*	Moderately influential.
**	Well-connected.
***	Position of influence.
****	Broad personal power.
*****	Vastly influential.

Larder: Amount of flesh points a Zombie has stored away in a location know only to it and can use once per week if necessary.

*	4 flesh points
**	8 flesh points
***	12 flesh points
****	16 flesh points
*****	20 flesh points

Regeneration: Speed of regrowing limbs without the use of flesh points.

*	One limb in three months.
**	One limb in two months.
***	One limb in one month.
****	One limb in one week.
*****	One limb in one day.

Undead Life: Amount of time since the Zombie was resurrected (helps with knowledge of the time-period.) Without this background the Zombie has generally just been awakened within the last 24 hours.

*	1 week
**	1 month
***	1 year
****	1 decade
*****	1 century or more

Virtues

Memory : Amount the Zombie remembers about its past life and about life in general.

Memory points	Memory Kept
1	Knows nothing of its past life
2	Remembers a total of one year of its past life
3	Remembers many bits and pieces of its past life
4	Has only small holes in its memory
5	Remembers everything of its past life

Speech: The Zombie's ability to control its speech and how well it is understood by others.

Speech Points	Speech Ability
1	Unintelligible
2	A few words are understood
3	Can form whole sentences, but not much else
4	A slight lisp
5	Perfect speech

Movement: The Zombie's ability to move and control joints and muscles.

Movement Points	Movement Ability
1	Can barely walk
2	Trips constantly
3	Shuffles feet, but manages well
4	Normal movement, maybe a few hitches in stride
5	Perfect movement, almost a gymnast

Willpower: The Zombie's power of will. Willpower equals Memory doubled (Willpower = Memory x s.)

Humanity: How much a Zombie looks like a normal human. Humanity equals the sum of Speech and Movement (Humanity = Speech + Movement.)

Character Sheet

                                   ZOMBIE
                                 The Revival

          NAME:                NATURE:                PAST LIFE:
          PLAYER:              DEMEANOR:              YEAR OF BIRTH:
          CONCEPT:             BURIAL GROUND:         DATE OF DEATH:

                                 ATTRIBUTES

           PHYSICAL        SOCIAL             MENTAL
           STRENGTH   *OOO CHARISMA      *OOO PERCEPTION    *OOO
           DEXTERITY  *OOO MANIPULATION  *OOO INTELLIGENCE  *OOO
           STAMINA    *OOO APPEARANCE    *OOO WITS          *OOO

                                  ABILITIES
        TALENTS             SKILLS              KNOWLEDGE
        ALERTNESS     OOOOO DISQUISE     OOOOO COMPUTER       OOOOO
        ATHLETICS     OOOOO DRIVE        OOOOO ENIGMAS        OOOOO
        AWARENESS     OOOOO ETIQUETTE    OOOOO IINVESTGATION  OOOOO
        BRAWL         OOOOO FIREARMS     OOOOO LAW            OOOOO
        DODGE         OOOOO MELEE        OOOOO LINGUISTICS    OOOOO
        EMPATHY       OOOOO LEADERSHIP   OOOOO MEDICINE       OOOOO
        EXPRESSION    OOOOO PERFORMANCE  OOOOO MORTOLOGY      OOOOO
        INTIMIDATION  OOOOO SECURITY     OOOOO OCCULT         OOOOO
        STREETWISE    OOOOO STEALTH      OOOOO POLITICS       OOOOO
        SUBTERFUGE    OOOOO SURVIVAL     OOOOO SCIENCE        OOOOO

                                 ADVANTAGES
          TRAITS              BACKGROUNDS            VIRTUES

          RIGOR MORTIS OOOOO _______________ OOOOO MEMORY   *OOOO
          FRIGHT       OOOOO _______________ OOOOO
          HOLLOWNESS   OOOOO _______________ OOOOO SPEECH   *OOOO
          NECROMANCY   OOOOO _______________ OOOOO
          DIGESTION    OOOOO _______________ OOOOO MOVEMENT *OOOO
          MUTATION     OOOOO _______________ OOOOO

            OTHER TRAITS            WILLPOWER             HEALTH

        _______________ OOOOO  O O O O O O O O O O   NICKED           o
        _______________ OOOOO  o o o o o o o o o o   BRUISED          o
        _______________ OOOOO       HUMANITY         HURT         (-1)o
        _______________ OOOOO  O O O O O O O O O O   HARMED       (-2)o
        _______________ OOOOO     FLESH BUILDUP      INJURED      (-2)o
        _______________ OOOOO  o o o o o o o o o o   BATTERED     (-3)o
        _______________ OOOOO  o o o o o o o o o o   WOUNDED      (-3)o
        _______________ OOOOO  o o o o o o o o o o   TRAUMATIZED  (-4)o
        _______________ OOOOO  o o o o o o o o o o   MAULED       (-4)o
        _______________ OOOOO       EXPERIENCE       CRIPPLED     (-5)o
        _______________ OOOOO                        BARELY MOBILE    o


                ATTRIBUTES:7/5/3 ABILITIES:18/15/11 TRAITS:3
             BACKGROUNDS:5 VIRTUES:7 FREEBIE POINTS:20o7/5/2/1)


                                MUTATION

               HUMANOID          ZOMBIE              GHAST
            STRENGTH (-1)                        STRENGTH (+2)
             STAMINA (-1)          NO            STAMINA (+1)
            DEXTERITY (+1)       CHANGE         DEXTERITY (-1)
           APPEARANCE (+2)                      APPEARANCE (-2)
             INTELLIGENCE                      INTELLIGENCE (-1)
                 (+1)
                              Incite mild    Incite full Delirium
                            Delirium in the      in the living
                                 living

                             NECROMANTIC POWERS
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                               Merits & Flaws
             MERIT     TYPE     COST     FLAW     TYPE     COST

                                   COMBAT
        WEAPON   ROLL  DIFF LOAD  RANGE  RATE  CLIP    Brawling Table
        ________ _____ ____ _____ ______ _____ ____  Maneuver Diff Dam
        ________ _____ ____ _____ ______ _____ ____  HEADBUTT  5   Str+1
        ________ _____ ____ _____ ______ _____ ____  CLAW      5   Str+2
        ________ _____ ____ _____ ______ _____ ____  PUNCH     6   STr
        ________ _____ ____ _____ ______ _____ ____  GRAPPLE   6   STr
        ________ _____ ____ _____ ______ _____ ____  KICK      7   Str+1
        ________ _____ ____ _____ ______ _____ ____  BODY      7 SPECIAL
                                                     SLAM
                         ARMOR _______________