Zombies in Dungeons & Dragons
This October, I'm looking at the classic undead monster: the Zombie. Check out the full series using this link! Last week, we focused on different meanings and depictions of zombies across time, and we picked out what defines a zombie for the purposes of this series to make them work as thematically scary creatures.
Recap: What Our Zombies Need to Do
Last week, we pulled out four elements that our zombies should have in order to fit our thematic and horror goals. These are not the only model for zombies, but they're what we're going to be using for this series to provide a "fresh face"--inspired by existing zombie mythology--for the classic undead.
1) The zombie threat represents the pressures and demands of capitalism's worst impulses for seeking profit at the expense of humanity. Our zombies also can be local and focused, and so are not necessarily a world-ending cataclysmic threat.
2) Zombies move slow: they shamble rather than run. They can use tools and weapons, though they do so clumsily. A zombie catches you because they never need to stop to sleep or to catch their breath, not because they can outpace you.
3) Zombie-ism is not contagious, and one zombie cannot make a second zombie unless somehow specially empowered to do so. Zombies are created by a necromancer or other magic source, and this source has control over them. There's no zombie plague.
4) Zombies are practically impossible to kill, unless you kill the necromancer who raised them or you have magic on your side (or maybe if you conduct a certain ritual). But simply piling on damage can only work to stun them temporarily.
Zombies, As They Stand
So, let's look at D&D 5e's zombies.
1) Zombies representing capitalism's demands
This is the most tonal of our criteria, and so is much more focused on the vibe of a campaign or specific use rather than something baked into the text in the Monster Manual.
However, we do get some clues as to this: the 2014 Monster Manual describes them as "mindless"--taking the most direct route to a foe, even endangering themselves. This can work with our allegory but does imply that they'd have difficulty digging or using tools, which I think doesn't really align with zombies being pressed into service.
On the other hand, they're described as "dark servants"--raised to do their creator's bidding. This absolutely does work for what we're trying to go for. All in all, a mixed bag in terms of the tone being presented.
2) Zombies are slow
This absolutely is reflected in the zombies of the Monster Manual. In both the 2014 and 2024 rules, the core/default zombie has a speed of only 20 feet per round--definitely slower than a PC. I think throwing in an immunity to becoming exhausted, even by magic, would probably be beneficial in crafting our idea that a zombie will keep moving towards you, unceasingly.
And while our base zombie does not use tools or weapons, preferring an unarmed slam attack, the Ogre Zombie variant (Monster Manual 2014) does wield a morningstar as a weapon. There's no reason that you can't give your regular zombies a weapon as well.
3) Zombie-ism is not contagious
D&D actually nails this one! There's no mechanic in a zombie stat block that allows them to spread their zombie nature. The fantastic D&D tactics blog, The Monsters Know What They're Doing, calls this out specifically: "D&D zombies aren’t like TV zombies: they don’t eat their victims, and they don’t turn their victims into new zombies."
The 4th Edition Monster Manual's cosmology draws a clearer line, specifying that most zombies are specifically created, but that corpses left in places corrupted by supernatural energy can sometimes rise on their own without a master. However, they still do not spread a zombie plague.
However, D&D does shy away from this model of the necromantic zombie in Van Richten's Guide to Ravenloft, with the introduction of the zombie plague spreader monster. However, this is specifically delineated for plots involving a zombie apocalypse--so again, this ties to our tone. Steer clear of this creature for a narrative about zombies-as-capitalism.
4) Zombies are extremely hard to kill
We go from D&D's high point in our criteria to D&D's lowest point for our criteria. The text of a characteristic in all 5th edition zombies is Undead Fortitude.
While this is certainly a threat, and the zombie can keep standing back up and continuing the fight, we're keeping a distinct "headshot" exemption: a critical hit is sufficient. Dealing overwhelming damage, such that the zombie fails its saving throw, is sufficient. And it is going to have to make that saving throw likely multiple times per round if the players are smart and focus their fire.
A standard zombie in the 2024 rules has a +3 to CON saves, which means that they're going to fail 75% of the time if the damage is 13 or higher--something a rogue can do pretty easily with Sneak Attack by 5th level, minimizing the threat that these zombies can face once you have sufficiently powerful players.
Even at first level, let's say a character is dealing only around 9 damage per attack (taking a rogue with daggers and a sneak attack: 1d4 + 3 + 1d6)--that's still a DC of 14 for the zombie, which they'll fail about as often as they succeed. This means that whether a zombie stands up a second time against a 1st level PC is a coin flip--that's not all that hard to kill. Harder than a normal creature, sure, but it doesn't have quite the "impossible to deal with" element that I think a zombie should have if you want to make it truly horrific and scary.
Summary
All in all, points 4 and 1 are the biggest weak points for D&D zombies--point 4 is baked in, while point 1 is just highly variable based on campaign tone and how the zombies are presented. So these are the two places we're going to focus on most to improve.
Improving The Zombie
Making Them More Unkillable
The zombies in my most recent campaign that featured zombies--almost five years ago now, predating even my western campaign--took their unkillable cues not from Undead Fortitude but from Pathfinder's Bloody Skeletons.
Specifically, I want everyone to look at that "Deathless" trait. These creatures return to unlife 1 hour after being "killed," and then rapidly healing. Permanently killing it cannot be done with just pouring on enough damage or getting a lucky headshot (critical)--instead, you need a particular ritual like positive magic, a particular spell, or using a particular ritual like sprinkling it with holy water.
Those sorts of narrative constraints are great as limiting factors, but I do think that zombies should be even tougher. A zombie doesn't stay down for an hour--they keep coming at you, no matter how many bullets you put into them. Zombies are relentless.
The zombies that I used in my campaign had a modified deathless trait:
Deathless. When the zombie would be reduced to 0 HP (except by divine magic), it is instead reduced to 1 HP and is stunned for 1d3 rounds. When it recovers from being stunned, it returns to its maximum HP.
This still temporarily took zombies out of the fight, giving the party a chance to retreat or try to hack away at the zombie's limbs to weaken it... but the zombie can never be stopped directly except through divine magic.
Was this "balanced" for a normal campaign? Absolutely not. The fights against zombies were not--and should not--be fair fights. Horror relies heavily on disempowerment, and D&D is a game about heroism and therefore a high level of empowerment. In order to make a truly "horror"/scary zombie in your game, you need to break that balance a bit to make it clear that your party does not have the ability to win this fight. It is the same way that I think full vampires should be rare and should be particularly hard boss fights.
Setting The Right Tone
Using zombies for the allegory that we've set is mostly down to the individual design of an adventure or narrative in which the zombies are being used, rather than something generally applicable (like my deathless zombies).
So rather than trying to just write a bunch of stuff about how (in general), I'm going to instead share a few examples.
First, it is important to state that the zombies themselves are not the enemy here; the necromancer is. The "working class," even if it is turned against the PCs, is not the real villain. When you have these sorts of stories, unlike with the zombie apocalypse tale, having a good enemy that drives the zombies is far more critical. Zombies are tool in our framework, not an inherently evil threat by themselves.
By far my favorite example of "zombies of capitalism" for D&D is the character of the Wageslaver, an NPC I found and ripped for my Wild West campaign more or less unmodified (and then my players never went and followed up on him, leaving him a dropped narrative thread).
The Wageslaver document does not even have stat blocks for most of the zombies (I'd recommend using my Deathless Zombies) but is instead focused on the necromancer who raised them. The download is free on itch.io, but you can (and should) throw some money at JayPea--the creator (and a subscriber to the blog! Shoutout JayPea!)--for making such an awesome villain.
I mean, come on. This is the perfect zombie allegory for the corrupting influence of always seeking higher profits.
Another example of this focus on the necromancer as the real evil: this adventure, which turns a classic fairy tale on its head. In Midsummer Knights, an evil Cinderella is the real villain, while the zombified/mummified stepmother is an outward face of villainy who wants release from her curse of undeath – it is very "ghostly undead wanting to be laid to rest," which I think is a really solid interpretation of what a zombie would want. The focus on the trapped zombie and then the evil necromancer is exactly how you can reinforce our zombie's prime metaphor. Plus, the authors' use of the zombie stepmother as a sort of shopkeeper also helps further than metaphor.
Even searching through DMsGuild for other good examples, I really was not finding much. Most of the zombie works tends to be either adapting the concept of plague zombies for D&D or are set in a small, localized sort of zombie apocalypse: an overrun ship, village, or castle. In all of these examples, we're focusing far more on the zombie as a representative of the pandemic fear or the fear of a collapsing social order, rather than as the fear of losing your soul in the capitalist machine.
Conclusion
While D&D's zombies lend themselves to this allegory, as they already have a lot of traits that fit our model zombie-as-capitalism, there's a sore lack of extra material for the GM who wants to use those zombies in a campaign. The Wageslaver is a great resource, and Midsummer Knights applies the metaphor in a unique twist on a fairytale, but most other creations tend to head in the opposite way: focusing on remolding the zombie to fit a plague-bringing allegory, rather than using the pretty-close-to-solid monster that already exists in a stronger allegorical light.
In short: we have zombies close to ideal for the allegory, but a lack of abundant applications of that – so get on it, fellow DMsGuild creators! Please!
Next week, I launch of zombie-themed product for Vaesen.