Zombies are a staple in any fantasy world that features undead monsters and diabolical necromancers. Given their immense popularity and visibility in today’s pop culture, the zombie is enjoying a renaissance of sorts, or what a savvy marketing expert might call a huge PR boost. Stories about zombie hordes hunting for the last remnants of humanity in some bleak apocalyptic future are now a dime a dozen; the phenomenon is so widespread that the zombie apocalypse movement can even be considered to have trickled down to the mainstream pop vernacular (in itty bitty drops, of course).

But where does that leave fans of the fantasy genre? Fans who get their enjoyment from sword-wielding paladins and holier-than-thou clerics, who would rather see their zombies surround a group of heroes in the dark and musty corridors of an ancient mausoleum rather than under broad daylight on the streets of Lower Manhattan.

Well, there isn’t really cause for concern – because fantasy fans have been getting their fill of zombie-mania long before the current zombie apocalypse literary movement came about. Experienced pen-and-paper RPG players will think back fondly on their first hack-and-slash zombie fest, where the goal was to see who could destroy the most number of zombies in one encounter; those with more of an inclination for electronic games would certainly have found zombies under many guises in early console and PC games, where the goal would most likely be the same, although the visual effects would have been somewhat limited due to the game graphics at the time (and the requirement of ratings for games).

So one could say that the main stream is only just now falling in love with what ardent fans of the fantasy genre have been enjoying for decades!

Now, while most of us are pretty familiar with how these new-fangled modern-day zombies are created (usually by some sort of flesh-eating virus or through genetic manipulation), let us take an enjoyable walk down Fantasy Undead Lane and begin the comprehensive tour on our favorite shambling, rotting corpse.

The Zombie

With the stench of the grave following them wherever they go, there’s no mistaking the zombie for what it is: a putrid, rotting corpse animated by fell magic. Because anyone depraved enough to give any semblance of life to a corpse is most likely incorrigibly evil, with nefarious designs for the world (usually involving world domination on some scale), zombies are mostly associated with the forces of Evil. The simple black magicks required to  animate it means that the only command a zombie is capable of understanding is “Kill them!”, which generally coincides with what evil necromancers want their empty-minded minions to do to people who get in their way.

Alongside skeletons, zombies are often the easiest undead for a novice necromancer to summon – just go to a cemetery, burial ground, or some ancient place where a huge battle was fought and presto, you have your new army, mindlessly loyal to you, and ready to stab, slash and crush your flesh-and-blood enemies! And when your enemies fall, well, that’s just an open invitation for you to add even more recruits to your undead army!

And so, because their numbers are so easily replenished, zombies make for the perfect grunts and cannon fodder in any undead army. Feeling neither pain nor fatigue,  the zombie’s role in such an army could well be considered that of a meat-shield – they are, literally, walls of flesh that can soak up high levels of damage.

Let’s take a look at the profile of your typical zombie found in a run-off-the-mill RPG game or doorstopper fantasy book:

Slow

Ask anyone (even those who have never picked up a fantasy book or game) to describe a zombie horde, and one word that you’re most likely to hear is “slow” or “plodding”. In fact, this characteristic slowness of the zombie is one of the defining aspects of the zombie apocalypse movement and what makes the niche-genre so popular with its fans – the fact that, although the heroes might be able to escape the ravenous and unstoppable (and slow to boot!) zombies by running away, the zombies, unfettered by human needs like sleep and food, will eventually catch up with them. As the saying goes: “You can run…but you can’t hide.”

Stupid

As we’ve established above, it’s relatively easy for a necromancer to create a zombie – all they need is a corpse… and it doesn’t have to be a fresh one. The drawback to the zombie-creation process lies in the dark magicks required to create a zombie then bind it to the necromancer’s service – the rituals and spells involved are almost always crude and unrefined. As a result, the necromancer ends up with a foul creature that only responds to and obeys very simple commands – the less syllables the better. A necromancer ordering zombie minions to kill a group of do-gooder heroes traipsing about his dungeons would be giving them a command that they could reasonably be expected to obey; if the necromancer instead orders the zombies to first target the mage, then move on to the paladin and only then focus on the attacking the other heroes, he might as well be asking them questions on philosophy and life.

Damage Soaker (aka. Meat Shield)

Zombies are lumbering masses of rotting flesh – a slash across the belly is not going to stop them in their tracks, nor will a broken nose. Even with both feet cut off, they’ll come crawling after you, relentless in their quest to extinguish the life from your still living, still breathing body. There are survivors of zombie attacks who tell of cases where even decapitation did not stop these slavering undead monsters from trudging on, and on, and on…

Overall Toughness

Zombies, like skeletons, are a sizeable challenge for low-level adventurers. It’s rare to find a zombie wandering around by itself – they are usually found in packs of three or more (usually more). But therein lies the challenge – a lone zombie isn’t going to put up much of a fight against your usual party of four adventurers. To really get the player’s adrenaline juices going, you’ve got to throw more zombies into the fray than there are adventurers in the group – go for twice the amount if you think the players can handle it!

Most zombies come with abysmal armor ratings, slow reflexes and poor melee abilities – but their relatively high hit points and seemingly endless numbers even out the odds a little. For the players, it will be about finishing off as many zombies as they can, trying to score the critical hits that will send undead brain and limbs flying through the air – all the while keeping mobile to avoid being overwhelmed by the sheer advantage in numbers possessed by the other side. All it takes is just one fell blow for the heroes to slip up and be swamped by so much undead flesh, eager to rip them apart into so many little pieces.

Even with the prospect of dismembering zombies in the double digits, some players might find the whole affair a chore rather than a challenging exercise in hack and slash that you want it to be. If you’re a fan of zombie hordes but feel that your players are going to react that way (or if that’s the way they already act), then you’ll be relieved to find that even the most jaded players will take to a zombie encounter with enthusiasm when it has got a bit of oomph and spice behind it. In Part 2, we’ll look at a couple of ways that you can add some flavor to your zombies and ramp up the challenge level for the players at the same time – instead of a yawn, they might even be talking of the encounter for years to come. 

© written by Timothy Nakayama

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