1d20 Zombie Abilities

Aloha! ❀

Shuffling corpses crawling with maggots and stinking of disease – they are a real classic! Any adventurer is bound to slay many of these walking corpses in their career – so why not make them a bit more interesting beyond moans for cerebral squishies? Here are 1d20 fun abilities to give your zombies!

1. Lend A Hand: rips off and tosses a hand at a victim, which then starts strangulating its target – be careful, attacking the hand might as well hit your ally instead!
2. Host: on the zombie’s skin (and inside of it) a lot of creepy crawlies have started to nest, coming into direct contract means lots of insect sings and bites – ouch!
3. Hungy, Hungry Dead: this zombie is especially voracious and rips out chunks of flesh from its victims – which then make it regenerate it a tiny bit – can it ever be stopped?
4. Lots Of Parts: limbs chopped off from this zombie start to animate and pursue their prey – they are quite weak but still a hassle to deal with.
5. Plague Postules: cutting or piercing the zombie’s skin makes infectious blood and other liquids burst forward, potenitally infecting adjacent victims with deadly diseases, yuck!
6. The Classic: movies have taught us that zombie bites are a big deal – victims bitten by this variant need to resist the zombie virus/curse/disease/magic/younameit or slowly turn into one themselves.
7. Rematch: if the head of this zombie is not destroyed it will grow small spider bone legs and start rushing at victims, ready for unholy vengeance.
8. Unholy Energies: this zombie makes plants near it wither as it drains the life force of all living beings around it, constantly dealing damage.
9. Bloodlust: you better not get wounded while fighting this critter, as it will enter a feral rage against anyone below half their regular health, growing faster and stronger – run!
10. Spine Snake: similar to the rematch, just when you thought you defeated it, this zombie’s spine starts to slither out of its body, attacking you as if it was some kind of constrictor snake.
11. Fearful Moans: the eerie gasping and moaning of this zombie is supernaturally charged and even finds its way into the bravest of souls, frightening those around it with magical power.
12. Ka-Boom: this zombie seems to be rather volatile – once defeated its entire body explodes in a rain of necromantic energy and entrails, splattering everyone nearby and damaging them – time for a shower!
13. Thick Skin: a walking corpse with particular thick skin which is highly reistant to cuts, you better brought a torch.
14. Vomit Entrails: well that’s unfortunate, this zombie just barfed up all of its inner organs at you which attracts other nearby undead…
15. Spitter: similar to number 14, this undead can spit acid over short distances, melting the faces of its victims.
16. Sporebringer: a corpse infected by unholy mold and mushrooms – it is constantly surrounded in a cloud of spores, breathing them in risks some kind of parasitic infection.
17. Leaking: the bodily fluids of this zombie are badly contained and it leaves a constant oily slime trail behind it, which makes the ground slippery, so you best watch your step!
18. Twitchy: a very fast but erratically behaving zombie, each round roll a 1d4 to see whow it behaves:
    1. frantically attacks everyone near it, but with poor accuracy
    2. jump to a random target in a high arc and attack it (probably loses a leg or something)
    3. bodyslams its current victim, possibly knocking it over
    4. screams. a lot. and very loud. and it won’t stop. EVERYONE hears it
19. Miner: you thought the ground was safe? Think again! This bad boy digs through the soil to burst out beneath you, grabbing your ankles.
20. The Smart One: this zombie has retained a semblance of intelligence, which shows itself in different ways – it might command other zombies, use rudimentary tactics, or disarm you and impale you with your own sword – surprise!