Zombie, Feral
This particular breed of undead was twisted with the intention of creating a ‘fast’ type of zombie, one that would be incredibly quick as well as far more dangerous than the regular types of zombies that had sprung from the various biological terror laboratories before the final wars.
It took a great deal of experimentation and tweaking, but the twisted minds of the ancient mad scientists finally created what they had hoped to – a zombie that was fast and deadly, and able to spread the plague.
Chris Van Deelen is the author of the Skirmisher Publishing LLC sourcebook Creatures of the Tropical Wastes sourcebook, co-author of its Wisdom from the Wastelands game supplement and contributor to the 'Sword of Kos: Hekaton' Anthology.
No. Enc: 1
Alignment: Chaotic
Movement: 180’ (60’)
AC: 3
HD: 8
Attacks: 1 pounce, 1 bite, 2 claws
Damage: 2d6 plus special / 1d6+2 / 2d4+2, 2d4+2
Save: L8
Morale: N/A
Hoard Class: None
This particular breed of undead was twisted with the intention of creating a ‘fast’ type of zombie, one that would be incredibly quick as well as far more dangerous than the regular types of zombies that had sprung from the various biological terror laboratories before the final wars.
It took a great deal of experimentation and tweaking, but the twisted minds of the ancient mad scientists finally created what they had hoped to – a zombie that was fast and deadly, and able to spread the plague.
These creatures appear as most other types of zombies, except that they tend to be very lean and move with an un-natural grace that those who witness find disturbing. The skin is typically grey or mottled, and the hands and face are almost always coated with dried or fresh blood. They also tend to growl constantly, whereas most of the undead creatures merely moan hungrily.
Sometimes they are found with packs or hoards of other undead, but more often than not these zombies are loners, hunting and feeding by themselves. Anyone bitten by these creatures are exposed to the plague that creates the undead, with the majority who succumb to the plague becoming regular zombies. One in ten however mutate into these creatures.
When they are spotted, they often will be running on all fours, like a predatory animal. They can use this to literally leap upon a target. They will get all four attacks per round, with the pounce coming first. Anyone hit by the pounce must make a saving throw versus death or be knocked prone. Those who are knocked prone find that they are at the mercy of these monsters. The creature will automatically gain a +2 to hit and +1 per dice damage with the remaining attacks.
Also, due to the speed of these creatures, if they are ever subjected to ranged attacks, the attacker suffers an additional -2 to hit (as long as the creature is on the move), due to its erratic movement. They never run in straight lines, instead they tend to leap from side to side, always changing their direction. This also serves to reduce the amount of damage they sustain from area effect weapons, such as grenades. If they are exposed to such weapons, they will automatically gain a saving throw versus energy, even if they normally would not. In the case where they would normally not get a saving throw and it succeeds, any damage inflicted is halved. In the case where a save is allowed, then if they save they take no damage, and even if they fail they still take only half.
If all these traits were not bad enough, the creature is also quite a bit tougher than other undead, making them even more feared. They have a natural damage reduction of 3 against all types of damage, and like all undead are utterly immune to poison-based attacks.
Mutations: Increased physical attribute (dexterity), toxic weapon
Source: State of Decay video game (2013)
