Zombies in GURPS

[Gold & Appel Inc]

Originally Posted by Keiko

I have that part covered at least. Anyone that dies rises as a zombie.

Well, that does simplify things.

Originally Posted by Keiko

People that die from bites might rise a bit faster though. Should that be reflected in the attack?

I'd just call it a Perk: They can make more zombies faster if they choose to, which is kind of handy, or make zombies slower by killing in other ways, or slow production way down by not killing, but regardless there will be more zombies.

Originally Posted by Flyndaran

No they don't. Not even close. More likely to get infected than sterile knife cuts, true, but not automatic infection let alone lethal.
It's like the paranoia around cat scratches. I've been scratched and bitten thousands of times and never once got an infection.

The doctor who pumped me so full of antibiotics that I got sick just from that and told me he might have to cut off my entire hand to save my life the last time I actually got seriously bitten by a human disagrees with you. Human bites are more likely to get infected than cat bites.

Note, however, that when I say medical attention, I do not necessarily mean measures that extreme; if your cat bites you and you properly disinfect the wound, you are performing First Aid, which is medical attention.

[Keiko]

As I understand humans bites are much more likely to get infected because there's already a ton of bacteria in the human mouth that naturally thrive in humans that are very dangerous if they get into the blood stream such as through a bite. Other animals have just as bacteria but not many of them are cross species and infection results from having more often just from having an open wound than direct transmission

[Keiko]

Originally Posted by Gold & Appel Inc

Well, that does simplify things.



I'd just call it a Perk: They can make more zombies faster if they choose to, which is kind of handy, or make zombies slower by killing in other ways, or slow production way down by not killing, but regardless there will be more zombies.

I didn't think of a Perk. OTOH, they're pretty stupid. I don't think they'd be able to take advantage of this or even realize it happens. Its more an incidental part of their nature. In larger numbers they're even self defeating as they'll devour so much of a victim there's not much left to reanimate.

[Gold & Appel Inc]

Originally Posted by Keiko

I didn't think of a Perk. OTOH, they're pretty stupid. I don't think they'd be able to take advantage of this or even realize it happens. Its more an incidental part of their nature. In larger numbers they're even self defeating as they'll devour so much of a victim there's not much left to reanimate.

If the benefits and drawbacks balance out, then it's just a [0]-point Feature.

[aesir23]

Originally Posted by Keiko

As I understand humans bites are much more likely to get infected because there's already a ton of bacteria in the human mouth that naturally thrive in humans that are very dangerous if they get into the blood stream such as through a bite.

On the other hand, I don't get dangerous infections every time there's an open wound in my mouth, so maybe it's not really that bad.

[Anders]

Your mouth has a lot of immune cells there ready to kill. The rest of the body is not as richly supplied, because dangerous bacteria are less likely there.

[Keiko]

Originally Posted by aesir23

On the other hand, I don't get dangerous infections every time there's an open wound in my mouth, so maybe it's not really that bad.

Much of the human immune system is focused in the digestive tract including the mouth since is such a access point so maybe that explains it. Human bites aren't instantly lethal and infection is never 100 percent but they're notably dangerous as I understand, more so than animal bites.

[Keiko]

Would it be cheesy/unbalanced to have the creatures only make All Out Attacks? They don't think about defense in combat, just attack.

[Gold & Appel Inc]

Originally Posted by Keiko

Would it be cheesy/unbalanced to have the creatures only make All Out Attacks? They don't think about defense in combat, just attack.

Nah, I've run zombies that act that way before. It's fine if they're supposed to be really stupid, aggressive, and impervious to pain (ie: your standard Romeroesque shambler), and it lets you go for some of the more difficult moves like biting somebody's face more reliably if you choose AoA: Determined for the +4 to hit, but will make your zombies easier to kill overall.

[Keiko]

Thanks

Should I add some Damage Resistance to represent that shooting/hitting and bashing them anywhere but the head is largely futile since you're just putting holes in dead meat unless you can do enough damage to maim or dismember the zombie?

Supernatural Durability seemed a little too tough for the effect I wanted though.

Fragile: Brittle (Rotted) might be a good fit too. The zombies in The Walking Dead seem to be pretty easy to hack apart.