Zombie, Greater
| Statistic | Value |
|---|---|
| Climate/Terrain | Haunted or otherwise curse areas |
| Frequency | Rare |
| Organization | Pack |
| Activity Cycle | Continious |
| Diet | Carnivore |
| Intelligence | High (13-14) |
| Treasure | Nil |
| Alignment | Neutral evil |
| No. of Appearing | 2-20 |
| Armor Class | 4 |
| Move | 18 |
| Hit Dice | 6 |
| THAC0 | 11 |
| No. of Attacks | 3 |
| Damage/Attack | 7-12/7-12/1-6 |
| Special Attacks | Disease, +2 initiative bonus |
| Special Defenses | Immune to mental attacks, regeneration |
| Magic Resistance | Nil |
| Size | M (6' tall) |
| Moral | Fanatic (17-18) |
| XP Value | 975 |
Description
Greater zombies only superficially resemble their weaker and very distant cousins, the zombies. For one, they are much "fresher" than normal zombies, stinking of blood rather than decay. Secondly, they are quick, strong and intelligent, making them far more dangerous in combat than ordinary zombies.
Combat
Greater zombies fight using two raking attacks with their claws, and a diseased bite. Due to their effective 18/00 strength, the claw attacks are particulatly damaging. Anyone bitten by a greater zombie must save vs poison at -1 per two hit points inflicted or be afflicted with a random disease (normal or magical). Victims of scatch attacks save normally to avoid disease.
Some (30%) of greater zombies use weapons, and one in ten has a weapon in each hand (they are perfectly ambidexterous). Greater zombies are among the few undead capable of using ranged weapons, and some posess bows or crossbows.
Habitat
Greater zombies roam troubled lands in packs of 2 to 20 in search of victims. They have no real society to speak of.
Ecology
Greater zombies form in two ways: the body of a foully murdered victim in haunted lands may be posessed by an evil spirit and spontaniously animate (rarely), or someone infected with a zombie disese dies before having it cured (much more common). Individuals of any human, demihuman or humanoid race may become greater zombies.