Silent Legions: Fighting Zombies (And dying doing so!)

The Resident Evil 2 remake may very well end up being one of the videogame highlights of 2019 and sets a really high bar really early into the year. That said, it has got me interested in survival horror and zombies again. Zombies were a monster that became rather over-exposed and over-used in fiction in the past decade but having a flesh-eating walking corpse grab my character and tear out his throat in gruesome detail while turning a dark corner of a police station reminded me why these bastards are terrifying.

"Hi sir may I help you? Anything you want?
Oh you want my warm flesh, okay that's...nice."

Zombies In Combat

In theory, a zombie is a truly pathetic monster: slow and stupid it doesn't have the combat presence of eldritch abominations. It's 'just' a walking corpse. The thing with zombies is that in zombie stories they are the main threat and when you combine survival horror with OSR resource management you realize the two are basically the exact same thing. The 'dungeon' is an abandoned hospital or some other locale. The torches are replaced with batteries for your flashlight. Arrows are now bullets. The zombie is a weak monster individually, yes, but the problem is that where there is one there is ten and you only have so many bullets.

Special Attacks

That said, to think the average zombie is completely harmless in combat is a lie. This is especially true in tight, dark spaces where your escape options are limited. Once the zombie is up close and personal, it will try to eat you. Even the most basic zombie can be spiced up with these special maneuvers which make them far deadlier than their presumably low HD make them out to be.

• Lunge: Moving past a shuffling zombie is dangerous as most varieties are capable of a sudden burst of speed. This is usually accomplished by lunging forward and basically almost falling on their prey. This is simple and similar to attack of opportunities. When running past a few feet of a zombie, it can make a free attack as it basically stumble forward in the general direction of the prey.
• Vomit: Some zombies spew vomit and/or blood on their prey, either their own or the chunky goop of the last poor sod they just ate. After lending a successful attack on a target, a zombie has a one-in-six chance to 'zombie vomit'. The target must make an Evasion save or become blinded by the horrible goo spewing all over their face, which they can wipe on their turn as a free action. Obviously, there are downsides to being blinded that need no explainingé
• Throat Rip: Once a zombie has you in its cold, icy grip it will attempt to bite the throat and rip out as much flesh as it can. Obviously, this is fatal in humans. After lending a successful attack on a target, a zombie has a one-in-six chance 'to go for the throat'. Doing so sacrifice the damage of the first attack as it represented a painful, but ultimately not lethal grab. It must roll a second attack and if it hit, the attack now inflict 2d6 damage. In addition anyone bit this way is now bleeding to death and will die in 1d4 rounds unless it is somehow stopped.