Zombies in GURPS

[vierasmarius]

One thing to consider is that "Head Shot" may not necessarily mean "Brain Shot". A hit to the face normally does equivalent damage to a torso hit (well, more really, but let's not get into that here) but for Zombies, they may have overall Injury Tolerance except on the head. So while shooting them in the face doesn't always get the x4 wound multiplier, it's an easier target, and does far more damage than a Torso hit.

Something else I'd consider using is the blowthrough rules from High Tech, scaled by the effective Wound Modifier of the attack. So piercing attacks, which normally top out at 1xHP torso damage, against Unliving targets would deal a max of 1/3xHP. Since the entire Head is exempt from blowthrough rules, high-caliber weapons can be effective there, even if the Skull isn't targeted directly.

[fifiste]

Are there some extra rules for getting shot in the face?

I'd imagine that a blow-through that would reach the brain should be a rather common result. (Maybe 1/6 chance when we use d6-s for resolution? 2/6=1/3 might be too much considering that there might be a lot of angles for the shot etc. but still not so unbelievable), but this does not seem to come out from the critical head shots table, nor from hit location information in campaigns
According to over-penetration rules from Campaigns it would mean that I'd have to do more than HP damage first.

Though it wouldn't be hard to get more than HP damage from most firearms I guess. On the other hand the overpenetratiopn would work automatically but I think there might be a chance that the shot would not be directly from face to the back of the skull but depending on the angle slip out from the face again.

(So maybe overpenetration and a 1/6 or 1/3 chance as determined by GM depending on situation. etc.)

[sir_pudding]

Originally Posted by fifiste

Are there some extra rules for getting shot in the face?

Yes. Firstly all head wounds that do at least 1 point of injury can cause Knockdown and Stunning (B 420) and a Major Wound to the face is very likely to do so with a -5 penalty.

I'd imagine that a blow-through that would reach the brain should be a rather common result. (Maybe 1/6 chance when we use d6-s for resolution? 2/6=1/3 might be too much considering that there might be a lot of angles for the shot etc. but still not so unbelievable), but this does not seem to come out from the critical head shots table, nor from hit location information in campaigns

A 1 on a d6 hitting the brain is the rule from Martial Arts.

Also see the "Bullet in your Head" box on Tactical Shooting p. 16.

[fifiste]

Mk. Martial Arts seem to be a must have!
The shock and stunning and knockdown - how's those for zombies?
I'd think they mostly seem to be impervious to such things - but when we are talking for them to be vulnerable to head-shots then maybe some of those should work on these?

[Keiko]

Originally Posted by fifiste

Mk. Martial Arts seem to be a must have!
The shock and stunning and knockdown - how's those for zombies?
I'd think they mostly seem to be impervious to such things - but when we are talking for them to be vulnerable to head-shots then maybe some of those should work on these?

It varies from setting to setting (and sometimes within the same setting according to dramatic license). In general terms, zombies are almost completely immune to any effects created by pain or shock though they sometimes appear to sense injury or even feel pain but it doesn't stop or even slow them down.

Since I'm mostly borrowing from the Walking Dead I'm aiming for creatures that are virtually immune to such things but occasionally might be "stunned" (In one case one "unconscious" for quite some time). Destroying the brain/CNS is the quickest surest way to destroy permanently. Damage to the spinal cord will seriously impair one even effectively paralyze it if inflicted on the right spot. A severed head is still active but is largely helpless.

[fifiste]

Hmm yes as I remember the series - some Z-s got stunned or even stopped moving for a while when getting batted to head. (But not strongly enough to kill them for good), kind of makes sense = brain as something still really vital to them, if you mess it up good they die, if you mess a bit with it you kind of get effects similar to y'know ordinary people.
Just no pain etc. from other hits.

[Flyndaran]

Well shock can be about confusion stunning rather than pain. But the Pyramid article The Last Gasp might ramp up the horror of creatures that never tire or slow down.

[Keiko]

Plague Zombies

Str: 11
Dex 8
IQ 6
HT: 14

Speed: 3
Move: 3
HP: 11
FP N/A
Will 10
Per 8
Dodge: 3

Advantages:
Injury Tolerance: No vitals, unliving
Hard to Kill x3
Hard to Subdue x3
Doesn't Breathe
Doesn't Eat or Drink
Doesn't Sleep
Unaging
Teeth (powerful bite)
Unfazable

Acute Smell x2
Detect: Blood (Smell blood)
Discriminatory Smell
Night Vision x2

Disadvantages
Appearance (Hideous to Monstrous depending on condition and age)
Bad Smell (stench of rot)
Bestial
Cannot Speak
Uncontrollable Appetite (Human flesh)
Unhealing (partial: heals if flesh of another zombie is consumed)

Quirks:
Mild fear of fire
Drawn to places and things from former life
Moans and growls compulsively when hunting, hungry agitated

Skills:
Brawling 9-
Stealth 10-
Black Plague zombies are the corpses of flu victims reanimated by the Black Flu pathogen into a predatory undead creatures. They are driven to feed on human flesh. They need raw flesh flesh to fuel their strange metabolism. Practically any sort will due but the pursue human above all else. While they don't need to breath, they draw breath to smell their prey and attuned to the scent of blood and other human scents (human sweat, waste, anything exuded by living humans draws them like flies if they catch the scent).

Their bite is highly infectious, transmitting a variety of pathogens including the black flu. Those bitten will often sicken, die and quickly rise as another plague zombie. Practically everyone on the planet is a carrier however but the virus, unless a powerful enough strain to have killed the host originally doesn't get a proper foot hold until the host dies but everyone that dies with a relatively intact brain and CNS will rise. Time varies between as little as a minute to a few hours. Bite victims, having recently been infused with a fresh infection of strong virus rise faster.

Plague zombies are almost immune to most forms of injury. They barely register pain and it doesn't effect them very much when the do (sometimes it agitates them). Most the flesh is "dead" and expendable so losing major sections doesn't impair them. On the downside (for them) they don't heal normally. Eating the flesh of another black zombie offsets this but is a very rare occurrence as they don't normally attack each other but might cannibalize a fallen zombie if starve or in a feeding frenzy. Theoretically, since they can learn, one of them might figure this out.

BPZ's are typically dull witted to the point of being atavistic, moving directly towards prey with single minded hunger. Most of them can't figure out how to operate even the simplest of devices (like door knobs) but some retain more of their former selves including intelligence. They can learn and grow more aware and intelligent over time as well even slowing learning from mistakes. Prey motivates them better than anything else. For example of they see a human climb a ladder they may try to climb it in pursuit. The smell of fresh blood or easily available food (a fresh kill) can send them into a sort of feeding frenzy. But otherwise they can be endlessly patient and will wait for prey to reappear if they lose sight of it or pursue it tirelessly until they lose track or another easier meal presents itself. Sometimes something of the former person remains, prompting strange actions and actions from the monsters but the end the feeding drive wins out.. for now.

Their appearance varies but the one trait they all share are solid jet black glassy eyes. Aside from BPZs might look like rotten mutilated corpses or be almost indistinguishable from a living human depending on how and how recently they died. Their movements are slow, jerky and clumsy looking but they are capable of surprising bursts of speed when in close proximity to prey. Some roam, often in packs while others will simply lurk and wait for food to come to them, appearing as a dead or injured human. In both cases they usually stay fairly close to were they rose unless something pulls them away. Some times they'll even return to that spot or pick some other location as "home".
.

[Keiko]

I'm still rolling around the septic bite. I might add claws for the strong crushing grip.

[apoc527]

Originally Posted by Keiko

Plague Zombies

Str: 11
Dex 8
IQ 6
HT: 14

Speed: 3
Move: 3
HP: 11
FP N/A
Will 10
Per 8
Dodge: 3

Advantages:
Injury Tolerance: No vitals, unliving
Hard to Kill x3
Hard to Subdue x3
Doesn't Breathe
Doesn't Eat or Drink
Doesn't Sleep
Unaging
Teeth (powerful bite)
Unfazable

Acute Smell x2
Detect: Blood (Smell blood)
Discriminatory Smell
Night Vision x2

Disadvantages
Appearance (Hideous to Monstrous depending on condition and age)
Bad Smell (stench of rot)
Bestial
Cannot Speak
Uncontrollable Appetite (Human flesh)
Unhealing (partial: heals if flesh of another zombie is consumed)

Quirks:
Mild fear of fire
Drawn to places and things from former life
Moans and growls compulsively when hunting, hungry agitated

Skills:
Brawling 9-
Stealth 10-


<snip>.

The only problem I see with these zombies is that they will not die until you do 66 damage to them with headshots. They simply will not--HT 14 and Hard to Kill +3 ensures that they only die on an 18. To do 66 damage with headshots basically requires a single attack doing about 19 damage (EXTREMELY hard to inflict with anything but a high powered hunting rifle) or multiple shots adding up to about 16 damage, but each shot has to account for the DR 2 skull (maybe you eliminate that DR, given how...squishy...most zombie heads seem).

The problem with this is that it makes them way too durable for headshots. We see characters routinely take out zombies with single pistol shots, most often with single melee weapon head hits. How to model this?

You can try Fragile (Unnatural), which basically makes them die at 22 injury. This only requires a single hit of about 8 basic damage. Still hard, but doable with smaller pistols. Of course, this means that they can be killed quite easily even with body shots because the pi and imp damage modifiers for IT:Unliving aren't THAT devastating.

Thus, I would consider Unkillable 3 with a "Headshot" as an Achilles' Heel. Maybe that's just Unkilllable 1--whichever one makes you go to -10xHP before death. Regardless, then it would require 121 damage to kill them without headshots, and when you factor in the wounding modifiers for IT:Unliving, you find that's more like 360 or so pi damage. You would need to empty a belt of machinegun rounds into one to kill it that way!

Fascinating conversion attempt though, and quite important for me, as I intend to restart my Mutant Chronicles conversion in the not-too-distant future.

EDIT: You also forgot High Pain Threshold, which is critical.