One of the dubious benefits of having lived in this world for half a century is being exposed to the infinite variety of things that can be interpreted in game terms, a broad category being negative, dysfunctional, or baffling human behavior. Such behavior, much of which rises to the level of what I will condescendingly but accurately refer to as "antics," was in fact one of the major sources of inspiration for the Skirmisher Publishing sourcebook The Jester Dragon's Guide to Defects (which was popular enough that we also released a Pathfinder version of it). 

With all the experiments that had taken place by various corrupt and nefarious governments and terrorist organizations to find the perfect ‘terror weapon’, many different strains of ‘zombies’ had been created, thanks to the melding of science and necromancy. Those who were responsible for the creation of these deadly creatures found that quite often the undead were simply too easily dispatched.

Their solution to this issue was the creation of a massive killing machine that could still infect and spread the virus to help create undead, but at the same time would be able to soak up massive amounts of punishment before finally being destroyed.

Using the larger races, typically giants or other similar creatures, the necromancers were able to create the beast they were searching for and the Crusher was ‘born’. These creatures are able to withstand the worst punishment and are usually found in groups of other types of zombies. They will often lead an attack in order to soften up defenses, allowing the other zombies to attack without much resistance.

Any large or better sized creature bitten by one of these monsters had a chance to become infected with the necromantic virus which created the monster, causing them to turn into Crushers themselves after death. Medium or smaller creatures would stand a chance to become regular zombies.

Starfinder Creature Index

Chris Van Deelen is the creator and contributor to over half of the Wisdom from the Wastelands series, contributor to the Swords of Kos: Hekaton anthology, and the recently released 'Swords of Kos: The Rite'. He also wrote Creatures of the Tropical Wastelands, and 100 Oddities found in a Car. As prolific as he is, Chris Van Deelen continues to write and produce material which will be in publication soon. Not only is he a prolific content creator, he also has a wide selection of fiction and stories! If you like his work, please follow his personal author page on Facebook and on Twitter to keep up with his latest news and game content.

Juggernaut Zombie CR 11 XP 12,800

Neutral large undead

Init +3; Senses Darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +20

Defense                                                             HP 180

EAC 24; KAC 26

Fort +13; Ref +13; Will +11

Defensive Abilities  DR 11 against all attacks; Immunity: Fire

Offense

Speed 40 ft.

Melee 2 punches, +19, (4d6+21 B crit automatic grab) or 1 bite +23 (2d10+21 P)

Ranged Thrown item, +21, (2d8+11) up to 120 ft.

Space 10 ft.; Reach 10 ft.

Offensive Abilities Ground pound, infectious bite, hurl item, rend and smash

Statistics

Str +10; Dex +3; Con  -; Int -3; Wis +0; Cha +3

Skills Acrobatics +20, intimidate +25

Feats Improved combat maneuver (grapple)

Languages None

Gear None

Ecology

Environment Any

Organization Solitary or pair

Special Abilities

Ground Pound (Ex): As a full round action, the juggernaut can smash with both fists on the ground. This will affect a radius of 20 feet and anyone caught in the area of effect (including other zombies) must make a Ref save (DC 18) or suffer 3d6+11 damage, and automatically be knocked prone.

Hurl Item (Ex) This creature is accomplished at hurling large items such as rocks, furniture, people, animals etc. and has a +1 racial bonus on attack rolls with thrown rocks. A creature can hurl rocks up to two categories smaller than its size; for example, this creature can hurl Small rocks. A “rock” is any large, bulky, and relatively regularly shaped object made of any material with a hardness of at least 5. The creature can hurl the rock up to five range increments. The size of the range increment varies with the creature.

Infectious bite (Ex) Anyone bitten by one of these creatures must make a Fort save (DC 18) or become infected with the necromantic virus. Each hour the victim is allowed another Fort saving throw (DC 18) or lose 1d3 points of Constitution. When the Constitution score reaches zero, the victim dies and will rise as a either a crusher, or a regular zombie.  A cure disease or other similar spell, spell-like ability, or medical drug will cure the victim, and the lost Constitution score will return at the victims’ natural healing rate per day.

Rend and smash (Ex) If both punches hit in combat, they are able to grab a victim. They can lift the victim for a free bite, which will not require an attack roll and the bite will do an additional 25% damage (rounded up). They will then smash the victim into the ground, causing an additional 5d6+21 points of damage and the victim will have to make a Fort saving throw (DC 18) or become stunned for 1d6 rounds. The next round the Juggernaut can attempt to hold onto the victim and continue to attack in such a manner. This is a combat maneuver and the Juggernaut attacks at +23 to the roll. It must make a successful attack roll versus the victim’s KAC +9. If it succeeds, then the same rules apply for the damage inflicted. If it fails, then the target escapes its grasp.

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Zombie, Feral Combatant CR 5 XP 1,600

Chaotic Evil medium undead

Init +9; Senses Darkvision 60 ft.; Perception +3

Defense                                                             HP 70

EAC 17; KAC 18

Fort +5; Ref +11 ; Will +7

Defensive Abilities Damage reduction 5 against all types of physical damage; immunities  Undead immunities

Offense

Speed 30 ft.

Melee Slam, +13 (1d8+9 B crit knockdown); or two claws +9 (1d6+9 S); or one bite +13 (2d4+9 P)

Offensive Abilities Burst of speed, consumption, infectious bite, slam knockdown

Statistics

Str +4 ; Dex +5 ; Con - ; Int -2; Wis +0; Cha +1

Skills  Acrobatics +9, athletics +5

Feats Improved Initiative, mobility, step up

Languages None

Gear None

Ecology

Environment Any

Organization Solitary (see below)

Special Abilities

Burst of Speed (Ex) Once per day, the creature is capable of boosting its normal speed, doubling it for a short duration.  When this occurs, the creatures speed becomes 60 ft. per round. This burst of speed will last for 4 plus 1d6 rounds before the creature resumes its regular speed. During this period, the creature is fully capable of making two attacks per round with its claws, or one slam and one claw.

Consumption (Ex) When the creature uses its bite attack, for every six hit points of damage it inflicts, it is able to re-use its Burst of Speed ability. If the creature has not used the burst of speed, then the creature cannot benefit from this particular ability, nor does it allow the creature to build a reservoir of additional uses of this ability.

Create Spawn (Su) Any creature that is slain by a Feral becomes a regular Zombie in 1d4 minutes. There is a 10% chance the slain victim will instead rise as a Feral instead of a regular zombie. They lose all memories and personality as well as any classes, skills or other abilities. They retain an animal-like cunning and gain the skills of a Feral.

Infectious bite (Sp) Anyone bitten by one of these creatures must make a Fort save (DC 13) or become infected with the zombie virus. Each hour the victim is allowed another Fort saving throw (DC 13) or lose 1d3 points of Constitution. When the Constitution score reaches zero, the victim dies and will rise as a spawn (see Create Spawn above). A cure disease or other similar spell, spell-like ability, or medical drug will cure the victim, and the lost Constitution score will return at the victims’ natural healing rate per day.

Slam Knockdown (Ex) When the Feral hits with its slam attack, the target must make a Ref save (DC 13) or be knocked prone. If the slam attack is a critical, the attack inflicts an additional 1d6+9 B damage and the target is automatically knocked prone (although targets with the evasion ability are still afforded a saving throw to prevent being knocked prone.

Detriment: There are any number of ways that a character might manifest this Defect, one of the most common being a refusal to make plans in lieu of insisting that "everyone just do the right thing," leaving the door open to blame others in the event of failure; refusal to use definitive words like "yes" or "no"; and the like. If somehow coerced into making a plan or choice (e.g., through threats, by magic), the character will offer whatever decision or answer is apparently most detrimental or unsatisfactory to the party overall, even if she herself is harmed as a consequence. Beyond this, she will generally attempt to keep other characters feeling anxious and as if something is amiss, all the while denying anything is and being annoyed that anyone should suggest there might be. Under no circumstances will the Passive-Aggressive character admit to such behaviors (and might not even be consciously aware of them). 

Special: For the most part, this Defect must be represented in role-playing terms rather than mechanically, but GMs can do the latter in any number of ways. A Passive-Aggressive character might continuously issue loud, ragged sighs, not just disquieting allies but possibly ruining attempts at stealth. Or, if while in a stress situation someone demands that the Passive-Aggressive character produce an object (e.g., a scroll that the party needs), through an excess of extraneous gestures she might take two rounds rather than one, or just keep fluttering her hands and snarling while maintaining a pretense of looking for the item until the situation resolves itself one way or the other.