By Charles W. Plemons III (nosferatu@premiernet.net), edited by Betty D. Plemons. Produced by the Crypt of Nosferatu
This is part of the Zombies! series of supplements that seeks to incorporate various ideas of the walking dead into a form usable in the World of Darkness. Each individual supplement can be used by itself or in conjunction with the rest of the series.
Please visit my web page (http://www.wku.edu/~charles/) for updates of this and other World of Darkness projects.
This may be freely distributed in any format as long as credit is given to the author. This is free for anyone's use, and cannot be distributed for profit for any reason.
Overwhelmed by an urge to devour the living, the corpses rise up and spread across the continent attacking the living. Whole cities are demolished -- silent tombstones of a civilization lost. The dead walk in search of any living being to sate their hungers. Only handfuls of people still live, and they are holed up waiting for the day when the zombies break through the defenses and add them to their ranks.
The living dead require no rest and shamble along endlessly, but they are slower than a living being (half walking speed) and very uncoordinated. They are easily shoved out of the way or knocked over. Unfortunately, wounds don't affect them very much. A shotgun blast in the chest will knock one down, but won't truly hurt it. The zombie will drag itself back up and continue the pursuit. The only way to kill it is to destroy the brain. Bullets, knives, spikes: anything driven into the brain will cause the corpse to collapse, but don't confuse this with decapitation.
Zombies rot, but much slower than would a normal dead body. According to Dr. Logan in Day of the Dead, a living dead can continue to function for ten to twelve years before rotting away. This makes the likelihood of survival of humanity much less likely.
The mental capacities of a zombie are rudimentary at best. They do not reason very well and do not employ any kind of strategy other than charging. They do seem to have some memory of their old lives, often imitating things they once did. These imitations are very basic, such as sitting behind the wheel of a parked car for no apparent reason. In Day of the Dead, the zombie Bub remembers how to fire a gun. He also remembers saluting military personnel. These memories do not equal their old skills, but if a zombie remembers something, it can do it at a maximum skill level of 1.
Zombies are weaker than living humans (reduce Strength by 1) and they are very uncoordinated (reduce Dexterity by 2). Zombies have a minimum of 1 in any physical attribute and have the same amount of Stamina as they did in life. This makes most people a match for a zombie one-on-one, but they generally attack in groups. They do not use coordinated attacks or pack strategy; they just mill around and swarm anything that looks alive. They simply drag prey down and start biting (they inflict bite damage as a normal human).
Kindred: The living dead ignore one another, and many vampires would be inclined to think they would be ignored as well; however, the blood of the living flows through the veins of a vampire. The living dead will tear into a vampire as readily as a human, much to the surprise and ultimate demise of the Kindred. Vampire blood has no effect on the living dead. Ghouls are seen as food as well, and a ghoul who is bitten will become a living dead just like a normal person. Once this occurs, all ghoul powers are lost. Vampire blood will not heal the infection. A vampire who is bitten will not die, but he is now a carrier and will turn anyone he bites into one of the walking dead.
Changing Breeds: A dead Bete will become a living dead just like any other person. A were-creature who is bitten may not die, depending on its abilities to fight off disease. This requires the use of Gifts, regeneration is insufficient. Of course, all supernatural powers are lost when the corpse re-animates.
Mages: A mage is seen as food like any other human, but mages have a better chance of surviving with their magic. Also, a mage with sufficient power can neutralize the poison if bitten. However, magic cannot be used to return a living dead to real life. A mage who comes back as a living dead cannot use magic.
Wraiths: The wraiths cannot be harmed by the living dead. However, victims of the undead often become wraiths, as do many of the living dead themselves when they are finally killed. It is important to note that a Risen will be ignored by the living dead.
Changelings: A Changeling will be seen as food like a human. If a Changeling becomes one of the living dead, his fae soul is held in the body until it dies. After that, he may be reborn like any faerie.
Mummies: A mummy cannot become a living dead, but he sure can be eaten by one. Hopefully, by the time the mummy is reborn, all of the living dead will have rotted away.
Gypsies: Just like a normal human being.
Fomori: A fomor is seen as food as well. If it becomes one of the living dead, any physical deformities will remain, but no Bane powers. If a fomor is bitten and has the proper powers, he may be able to survive.
Immortals: An immortal cannot be turned into a living dead; however, they are endangered by them. Often, bodies are ripped asunder by the living dead. This often includes the head!
Radiation from Venus does not have to be the only cause of a living dead infestation. A mage's experiement gone horribly awry could easily cause this. The mage would most likely be a Son of Ether or a Progenitor. A corrupt Tzimisce or Giovanni vampire could create these monstrosities as well. However, controlling them would be another matter entirely. A Void Engineer could encounter something in the Deep Umbra that has this effect on corpses and bring it back to a Horizen Realm or Earth.
A Nephandi is a perfect reason to bring out the living dead. Even if there is no contaminated area, the living dead can still spread by bite. An insane Fallen One could be building a small army for his own evil purposes. They could be used against the characters, or they could get out of control and start an infestation.