T2013 Zombies.....

[.45cultist]

I've lost the stats for the Halloween special zombies, could any of the usual suspects provide the data? Thanks! I'm using T2K2.2 to introduce my nephew to gaming, but I'm trying to keep the Twilight 2013 stuf as well, you never know, he might like that system, and I mine it for ideas and stuff.

[Tegyrius]

I can't even call this "quasi-official."

Darkness returns. As always, the walking dead are among the first signs of greater evils once again astir. The world of 2013 has no shortage of corpses ripe for reanimation.

A wide variety of influences can turn cadavers into zombies, and various fictional (or documentary, if you're running that sort of game) accounts have attributed zombies with a vast array of potential capabilities. For game purposes, the basic zombie NPC type serves as a template for a "shambler:" Corpse, Risen (Recently), Flesh-Eating, Mark I Model 0. The GM can add additional traits and other details as needed to provide an acceptable challenge for his PCs.

Basic Zombie

Quality: Green

Attributes: Awareness 4, Cognition 3, Coordination 4, Education 0, Fitness 8, Muscle 8, Personality 0, Resolve 10; CUF 10, OODA 2.

Skills: Hand-to-Hand/Grappling Novice. A zombie has only an instinctive grasp of predatory close combat and does not retain any training from its mortal existence.

Wound Thresholds: Slight 1, Moderate 9, Serious 14, Critical 18. However, a zombie suffers no penalty from a slight or moderate wound to a limb or the torso. A serious limb or torso wound has its usual effect, as it inflicts sufficient damage to the skeletal system to impair normal function. A critical limb wound causes traumatic amputation, while a critical torso wound severs the spinal column and effectively immobilizes the zombie. The base Damage value of any successful attack to the head is doubled and all head wounds inflict normal penalties. A critical head wound is instantly fatal.

Movement: Trot 7m, Walk 4m, Stagger 1m, Crawl 1m. A zombie cannot run or sprint.

Attacks: Claws: Damage 0, Penetration Nil, Speed 1/2/4. Bite: Damage 1, Penetration Nil, Speed 2/3/5.

Threat: Initial encounter 2 threat conditions, subsequent encounters 1 threat condition. Being in close combat with a zombie is 1 additional threat condition, or 2 if the character knows the zombie condition to be contagious.

Extra Powers

If baseline zombies aren't enough of a threat, the GM select one or more of the following abilities to produce mobs of above-average undead.

Anthropophagous regeneration. The zombies' consumption of fresh flesh (preferably human) is not just a horrifying instinctive drive, but a means of fueling preternatural regenerative powers. For every 5 kg of human flesh or 10 kg of animal flesh a zombie consumes, it heals one stage of injury to one hit location. A zombie can consume 1 kg of flesh per minute. Only the flesh of a character or animal that's been dead for one hour or less will serve.

Close enough for government work. Each zombie has Personality 1d10-4 and Deception Novice. It retains enough human behavior patterns to fool unsuspecting prey until it can get within lunging distance.

Memory eating. Zombies hunger for human brains, not for the taste but for the content. If a zombie consumes an entire human brain that's been dead for one hour or less (a process requiring approximately 15 minutes), choose the lower of the zombie's Education or Personality (50/50 chance if the two are equal), then roll 1d6. If the die result is greater than the zombie's current value in that attribute, the attribute increases by 1. A zombie that gains Personality 1+ in this manner has access to a piecemeal assortment of all its meals' memories and displays a "personality" composed of habits, behaviors, and catchphrases drawn from this collection of minds.

Paralyzing bite. Through magic or unnatural secretions, the zombie's bite temporarily paralyzes its prey. Whenever a character suffers a zombie bite, that location sustains a virtual injury one stage worse than the actual injury. The effect wears off in 1d6 hours.

Predatory senses. Zombies can smell prey more than a kilometer away and are well-adapted to nocturnal hunting. Increase zombie Awareness to 8 during the day and 12 at night. Likewise, OODA increases to 4 during the day and 6 at night.

Radioactive. In defiance of known physics, the zombies are dangerously radioactive. Any character within 30m of one or more zombies gains 1 rad per minute (or exchange of fire). Each successful close combat attack a zombie makes inflicts 1d3 rads in addition to any damage effects. The zombies will trip Geiger counters and other radiation detection systems as per any other radiation source, but they do not actually glow (unless the GM wants them to do so). Being in close combat with a radioactive zombie is 1 additional threat condition.

Sprinter. The zombies gain Run 11 and Sprint 16. However, leg wounds have their normal effect on zombie movement.

Tool-using animals. The zombies retain a marginal capacity for tool use. Each zombie in a pack has a Novice rating in a randomly-selected skill. Roll 1d6: 1 Construction, 2 Hand Weapons, 3 Longarm, 4 Mechanics, 5 Sidearm, 6 Security. Furthermore, each zombie has enough cognitive capability to acquire the basic tools necessary for using this skill. However, any action more complicated than basic use is still beyond the zombie mind. For firearms, this specifically includes reloading.

Contagion

Zombification can occur from a myriad of sources: dark rituals, burial in unhallowed ground, demonic or ghostly possession of a corpse, biological or chemical warfare, alien experimentation, or virtually anything else a GM can justify to his players. A staple of horror cinema, however, is the ability of zombies to pass on their condition. Some conventions hold that those killed by zombies will rise again as undead, while others state that the infection can claim wounded but still-living victims. The GM should decide in advance whether the zombie condition is contagious to living characters. If so, it follows the standard rules for diseases.

Vector/Contagion: Choose one or more:

• Airborne particulates. This is appropriate only if the zombie plague is biological (viral, bacterial, or parasitic) in origin. Contagion TN +3. A gas mask provides full protection.

• Blood and other bodily fluids, usually delivered through accidental contact in combat or medical procedures. Contagion TN -1.

• Saliva, delivered through bites. Contagion TN -3.

• Skin contact. This is appropriate only if the zombie plague is biological or magical in origin. Contagion TN +1.

Symptoms and Effects: After 2d6L days of incubation, symptoms manifest. These include clammy skin, receding gums, hair loss, and traces of necrosis. The victim's fatigue level cannot drop below moderate.

Diagnosis: TN -8 if the attending physician is unaware of the existence of zombies, otherwise TN +4. At the GM's discretion, an EDU check can also provide accurate diagnosis if the character has one or more degrees in folklore, occult practices, or other appropriate fields.

Treatment: At the GM's discretion and depending on the origin of the infection, one or more of the following treatments may be appropriate if administered before the onset of symptoms. However, many cases of zombification are incurable. Each treatment provides a +4 bonus to the recovery check.

• 4 units of either Gram-negative or Gram-positive antibiotic.

• Complete blood replacement (12 units of whole blood of the victim's own type).

• Radiation exposure (GM secretly rolls 5d20; receiving rads in excess of the die result constitutes successful treatment).

• Folk medicine involving various herbal purgatives and other treatments, usually requiring rare herbs found only with a Fieldcraft (AWA, TN -5) check.

• High magical ritual available only from an appropriately uncooperative NPC.

• Finding and killing the zombie responsible for the infection, then doing something unpleasant with its remains.

• Finding and destroying the plot device responsible for the infection.

Recovery: 1 day after infection; make a RES (TN -6) check rather than the standard FIT check. With success, the victim's fatigue level cannot drop below moderate for 1d6 days, then cannot drop below slight for 1d6 days, then returns to normal. In addition, the victim is immune to all further infection.

Failure: Death follows 2d6H hours after the onset of symptoms. Within 1d6-3 hours of death, the victim reanimates as a zombie. EDU and PER drop to 0; AWA, CDN, COG, and OODA are halved; CUF, FIT, MUS, and RES increase by 50%. Apply the basic zombie NPC template and any optional powers as appropriate.

[Tegyrius]

At night, the heart of the shattered city writhes mutely.

When the clouds part, silvery moonlight falls on still streets, casting faint outlines across the ruins. Close to ground zero, stone and concrete bear other, more permanent shadows. They are the last evidence of the warhead's first (if only by milliseconds) victims, vaporized where they stood, their silhouettes instantly and indelibly bleached onto walls, streets, sidewalks, benches.

Occasionally, they reach out.

Some of them have yet to realize they're dead. Others remain trapped in their last moments. It's hard to say which are more dangerous.

Description:

Blast shadows are the ghosts of people vaporized by nuclear blasts, anchored to the physical location of the shadows the blast etched on their surroundings. When undisturbed, they appear as faintly-glimpsed distortions and hints of motion - occasional brief flickers of three-dimensional existence extruding from two-dimensional stasis. Rarely does the activity last long enough for an observer to alert a second witness. If a character comes in direct physical contact with a blast shadow, however, there's a chance that the intersection of material and immaterial existence is enough to render the shadow briefly lucid (if not sane). The experience is survivable - but that's about all that can be said for it.

Blast shadows are divided into two types: unaware and aware. Both are trapped in cyclic fugue states. The difference is in what they're experiencing. Unaware blast shadows don't know they're dead; they permanently re-experience the last few minutes of their lives. Aware blast shadows know exactly what's happened to them, and this knowledge allows them to permanently replay the sensation of being vaporized by a hundred-kiloton nuclear explosion. A character who makes contact with either type is drawn into the shadow's existence. There is no way to tell the two types apart.

Activity:

None to speak of. Blast shadows are bound to narrowly-defined physical locations and are not conscious of their surroundings.

Mechanics (Unaware):

When a character touches an unaware blast shadow, make a RES check: TN -7 if the contact was accidental, TN -4 if it was deliberate. With success, the shadow becomes active for a split-second, throwing the character into involuntary psychic contact with it. This draws the character's mind into the endless loop of the shadow's last living moments.

The outward effects of this mimic catatonia: the character immediately falls unconscious and collapses into a fetal curl, staying in touch with the physical boundary of the shadow. With a successful RES (TN -2) check, the character eventually emerges after a (10 - margin of success) hours. With failure, he stays in the dreamscape until he dies of dehydration. Removing the character from physical contact with the shadow also triggers emergence.

Emergence is a significant mental trauma that is considered psychological damage (TN -4). The character's perceptions are radically shifted and the realization of involuntary psychic communion is less than pleasant. Staying in the dreamscape doesn't cause any psychological damage, but the character will die eventually.

At the GM's discretion, a character may recall details of the dreamscape with a successful COG check.

Mechanics (Aware):

When a character touches an aware blast shadow, make a RES check: TN -8 if the contact was accidental, TN -5 if it was deliberate. With success, the shadow becomes active for a split-second, throwing the character into involuntary psychic contact with it. The character receives a single flash of the sensation of being obliterated by a nuclear explosion - and the shadow attempts to escape its own tortured existence by hurling itself into the character's mind.

The death flashback is psychological damage (TN -3). If the character accrues Stress as a result of this, the shadow has an opening through which to escape. The GM rolls 2d10L to determine the shadow's RES. The player and GM then make an opposed RES check. If the shadow wins, the character gains a rider. The shadow's margin of success determines the degree of lucidity and control it has: MoS 1 indicates occasional flashes of memory, MoS 2 provides brief exchanges of internal dialogue, MoS 3 allows occasional motor control, MoS 4 enables the shadow to speak through the character's mouth at times of great stress, and MoS 5+ indicates full-blown possession. When the blast shadow is influencing the character, sharp-eyed observers - AWA (TN -4) - may see a second shadow superimposed over the character's own.

[Tegyrius]

In Eastern Europe, something is hunting and killing tanks.

At least, that's what the evidence suggests. Refugees and free traders carry stories of wrecked armored fighting vehicles found in the wilderness, destroyed recently enough that the remains of the crews are still fresh. Most appear to have taken hits from large-caliber guns; many are riddled with machine gun fire. All are missing significant chunks of armor or major components, torn away with massive force. The ground around the hulks is churned by the marks of treads. Sometimes, a few of the tread prints contain bloody puddles flecked with things best not dwelt upon.

The few survivors of such encounters have a few more details. A foggy night, suddenly pierced by the glare of a searchlight and the growl and rattle of a diesel-powered tracked vehicle in poor repair. A silhouette looming on a nearby ridge, then slowly drawing nearer. Someone's resolve breaks and a shot rings out, answered immediately in equal measure. RPG gunners are torn to shreds by machine gun fire; missile teams and vehicles hammered with cannon shells. Ordinary riflemen are simply run down, vanishing under the stained and muddy tracks.

One rainy spring night outside Lublin, a Polish gunner spiked the beast with an AT-5. It burned until dawn, when the flames suddenly guttered out. When scouts approached, no wreck could be found. For the next two weeks, it stalked the company's perimeter, picking off a fighting position or a few men each night. It caught the first two patrols sent out; their screams lasted for hours. No one was willing to be the third patrol to look for it. When the shattered survivors broke and abandoned their firebase, they found it blocking their route on the first night of their flight.

The thing doesn't have much of a mythology around it yet. Few people are in a position to put together reports from multiple encounters. A handful of survivors have a name for it, though: Koschei the Deathless.

Description:

Koschei the Deathless is rarely glimpsed directly (except by characters about to be run down and flattened). The most common images are described above: fog, the glare of a searchlight, and muzzle flashes. Closer observation is problematic, but reveals a T-55 main battle tank in battleship gray paint with no unit or national markings. Its hatches are closed and no crew personal gear is visible on the turret exterior. On thermal imaging, the tank appears to be cold, despite all evidence to the contrary.

Characters downwind from Koschei may smell diesel exhaust mingled with carrion.

Activity:

Koschei the Deathless strikes seemingly at random anywhere in Eastern Europe. It seems to be attracted to groups of a hundred or less, almost always current or former soldiers with at least one armored vehicle in their possession. Functional main battle tanks seem to draw its attention the most, as if it considers them some sort of challengers.

Koschei never shoots first. In fact, it does nothing more than approach until someone's trigger finger gets itchy, at which point it responds in kind. Of course, its very presence tends to induce cascading morale failures, so few observers retain enough wits to realize this. If no one initiates combat, Koschei will shadow the group until dawn, staying between Medium and Open range. Any attempt to approach closer than Tight range results in Koschei withdrawing to Open range again.

Koschei only appears at night. At dawn, a swirl of thick fog briefly obscures its position, then dissipates to reveal nothing but tread marks in the earth.

Mechanics:

Koschei functions as a standard T-55 operated by veteran NPCs. However, crew hits have no effect on it and it never suffers morale effects. It never runs out of fuel or ammunition. When attacking with its main gun, Koschei functions as if it has good stabilization. It uses HE ammo on soft targets and HEAT or APDS on bunkers and armored vehicles. Koschei suffers no terrain penalties to movement and never gets stuck in soft ground, even swamps.

Koschei's presence counts as one threat condition, increasing to two threat conditions within Medium range and three threat conditions inside Tight range. No character can sleep within Extreme range of Koschei. For (10 - RES) nights after an encounter with Koschei, any character receives only half the normal benefit from sleep due to recurring nightmares that elude all recall upon waking.

If Koschei is disabled by suspension, engine, fuel, or ammo hits, it explodes and burns until dawn. The flames cannot be extinguished and nothing can be salvaged from the wreck. It subsequently appears to the same group for the next 1d20 nights, seemingly unscathed from its previous destruction, aggressively stalking and killing 1d6 victims each night. If a group somehow manages to immobilize it without actually attacking it directly, it vanishes at dawn and will never again appear to anyone who participated in the encounter. However, its hatches (including its fuel tanks) are impossible to open, and any external fixtures removed vanish as soon as no one is watching them. Dismounting the pintle-mounted machine gun at the commander's hatch is feasible, but anyone who fires it (or uses its ammo in another weapon) may find himself intangibly but permanently marked by something.

[.45cultist]

The zombies seem pretty close, the rest are a bonus!

[Rainbow Six]

Nice job. I like the concept of Koschei the Deathless a lot.

[Raellus]

I concur. Cool stuff, Tegyrius.

[Tegyrius]

Thanks, guys. I'm glad I still had copies saved. Didn't realize they were so old - I originally posted those for Halloween 2008.

- C.