Shambler

The Shambler

You are the shambling, groaning, typical undead. Others might have vast strength, superhuman speed, or other great strengths, but you have a gift far better than those: you dabble freely into powers that all other zombies possess. While you’ll never reach the lofty heights that other zombies might reach, you benefit from versatility. They are restricted to one or two strengths, while you have access to a vast range of options. None can match this.

Automatic Talents:

Talented – Instead of taking a talent from one of your talent trees, you may take a talent from another zombie type’s talent tree. You must meet the requirements to take the talent, and you can take no more than two talents from any one tree (this includes taking one talent multiple times.).

Versatile – Choose up to two ability scores. You gain +2 to each of those scores. If you choose Humanity as the only ability score affected by this talent, you may take either +4 or -4 to that score instead of a +2. 

Statistics:

HP: 15 + Resilience score at 1st level, +5 each time you gain a level. 

Ability Score Modifiers: See “Versatile” Automatic Talent, above.

Starting Humanity: 10

Class Skills: Athletics, Intimidate, (in progress)

Versatile Master Talent Tree: You specialize in blending talents from all walks of unlife.

• Versatile Strike: You gain a bonus to attack rolls equal to the number of other zombie types you have taken talents from (for example, if you have taken talents from two other zombie types, you gain a +2 to attack rolls). 

• Versatile Body: You gain additional hit points equal to three times the number of other zombie types you have taken talents from (for example, if you have taken talents from two other zombie types, you gain 6 additional hit points).

• Versatile Mind: You gain a bonus to all Willpower tests equal to twice the number of different zombie types you have taken talents from. 

• Natural Talent: Choose any one skill; you gain a +2 bonus to all checks with that skill. 

- Special: You may take this talent multiple times; each time you take this talent, choose a different skill for it to apply to. 

• Natural Prodigy: Choose any one skill that you have taken Natural Talent for; increase the bonus granted to +4. 

- Special: You may take this talent multiple times; each time you take this talent, choose a different skill for it to apply to.

- Requires Natural Talent

• Versatile Master: Choose one Automatic Talent from a zombie type you have taken at least one talent from. You gain that talent. 

Power of Unlife Talent Tree: Your undead body is stronger, faster, and tougher than most.

• Undead Vigor: You gain the “Undead Vigor” power:

Undead Vigor Recharge Encounter

Minor Action No Roll

Targets: Personal

Result: You regain hit points equal to twice your Resilience modifier.

• Undead Strength: You gain the “Undead Strength” power:

Undead Strength Recharge Encounter

Minor Action No Roll

Targets: Personal

Result: You gain a +4 bonus to your next Strength test or melee attack roll this turn.

• Undead Speed: You gain the “Undead Speed” power:

Undead Speed Recharge 6

Minor Action No Roll

Targets: Personal

Result: You gain a +2 bonus to speed until the end of your turn.

• Undead Mind: You gain the “Undead Mind” power:

Undead Mind Recharge Encounter

Minor Action No Roll

Targets: Personal

Result: You gain a +4 bonus to all Willpower tests made before the start of your next turn.

• Improved Undead Vigor: You can use your “Undead Vigor” power twice per encounter.

- Requires Undead Vigor

• Improved Undead Strength: You can use your “Undead Strength” power twice per encounter. 

- Requires Undead Strength

• Improved Undead Speed: The recharge of your Undead Speed power becomes “Recharge 5 6” instead of “Recharge 6”.

- Requires Undead Speed

• Improved Undead Mind: You can use your “Undead Mind” power twice per encounter. 

- Requires Undead Mind

• Undead Prodigy: Choose one power granted by this talent tree that you have the “Improved” talent for. Once per day, you can use this power even if it has already been expended and is not yet recharged. 

- Requires one “Improved” talent from this talent tree

• Undead Mastery: Choose one power granted by this talent tree that you have the “Improved” talent for. Once per encounter, you can use this power even if it has already been expended and is not yet recharged.

- Requires Undead Prodigy for the selected power

Hunter

The Hunter

You are not the slow-moving, groaning, typical undead. The Disease may have weakened your body in some aspects, but it gave you incredible speed and agility. Where others have strength and hardiness, you have speed and dexterity. You can run faster and jump higher than most people, dead or alive. You can harness this talent in a number of ways, from simply running down your prey to snatching them into the shadows for a feast. 

Automatic Talents:

Unmatched Speed – Your speed is increased by 2. Once per day, you can spend a minor action to increase your speed by an additional 2 until the end of your turn.

Unnatural Agility – You gain a +4 bonus to all of your Athletics checks and Acrobatics checks, and you can roll these checks twice, using either result. 

Statistics: 

HP: 15 + Resilience score at 1st level, +5 each time you gain a level. 

Ability Score Modifiers: +2 Agility, -2 Resilience

Starting Humanity: 10

Class Skills: Athletics, Acrobatics, Intimidate, (in progress)

Pick Them Off Talent Tree: You specialize in separating your prey from the pack before striking, using shadows to your advantage.

• Shadow Stalker: While you are in an area of low light, enemies don’t notice you while there is a zombie within 10 squares of you that the enemy does notice.

• Strike from the Shadows: While you are in an area of low light, your attacks deal an additional 1d6 damage. 

- Requires Shadow Stalker

• Scared of Shadows: Each time you deal extra damage as a result of Strike from the Shadows, each enemy within 5 squares of you is shaken until the start of your next turn. 

- Requires Strike from the Shadows

• What Was That?: You can make a distracting noise, or a flash of light, drawing your prey away from their friends and into your trap. You gain the “What Was That?” power:

What Was That? Recharge 6

Minor Action No Roll

Targets: Nearest enemy to you within 10 squares

Result: The target makes a Willpower test, with a DC equal to (15 + your Hunter level). If the target fails the test, they spend their next turn moving twice their speed away from their allies, toward you. While moving, they tell their allies to wait behind while they investigate. At the start of your target’s following turn (the turn after they moved), if they haven’t noticed you, they return to their allies.

- Requires Shadow Stalker

• Really, What Was That?: Your enemies take a -2 penalty on Willpower tests to resist your “What Was That” power.

- Requires What Was That

• To The Rafters!: You can snatch your prey and leap into the rafters to feast in safety and cover. You gain the “To The Rafters!” power:

To The Rafters! No Recharge

Move Action Opposed Strength check and Athletics check DC 20

Targets: An adjacent enemy

Result: Make an opposed Strength check, followed by an Athletics check to jump. If you succeed on the opposed Strength check, you successfully grab the target. If you also succeed on the Athletics check, you leap into the rafters – or similar area such as a loft, into trees, etc – bringing the target with you. If you succeed on both rolls with this power, you and the target are hidden in the shadows and cannot be seen by anyone on the ground.  

- Requires What Was That?

• Improved To The Rafters!: You do not have to make an Athletics check for your “To The Rafters!” power. 

- Requires To The Rafters!

Run Them Down Talent Tree: No matter how fast your prey, they are no match for your undead speed.

• Increased Unmatched Speed: Increase the bonus granted by your Unmatched Speed talent by 1. 

- Special: You may take this talent up to three times.

• Agile Chase: When you are moving, you ignore any objects or terrain lower than waist-high (such as tables, chairs, rubble, small children, etc). 

- Requires Unnatural Agility

• Nimble Chase: You gain a +4 bonus to AC against opportunity attacks.

• Shove Aside: When you are chasing an enemy, you may push aside one other enemy that stands between you and your target. Make an opposed Strength check against the enemy, with a bonus equal to ½ your speed. If you succeed, push the target 2 squares.

• Truly Unnatural Agility: You can make any or all of your movement during a turn along a wall or ceiling. If you end your turn on a wall or ceiling you fall prone.

- Requires Unnatural Agility, level 5 

• Truly Unmatched Speed: Once per round when a creature moves away from you, you may immediately move the same number of spaces, plus one extra space, towards the creature that moved away from you. 

- Requires Unmatched Speed, level 5

Knock Them Over Talent Tree: Why chase your prey when you can just take them down?

• Knock Down: When you charge, you can make an opposed Strength test against the target with a bonus equal to ½ your speed. If you succeed, your opponent falls prone. 

• Feed on the Fallen: When you make an attack on an enemy you have knocked prone, you gain a +2 talent bonus to damage rolls against that enemy. 

- Requires Knock Down

• Forceful Knock Down: Enemies take a penalty to opposed Strength tests against your Knock Down ability equal to your Agility modifier.

- Requires Knock Down

• Bloodied Ferocity: While bloodied, you automatically succeed on Strength tests for your Knock Down ability. 

- Requires Knock Down

Ringleader

Ringleader

While the world around you fell apart, with the recently dead raised back to hunt and civilization tearing apart at the seams, you saw your golden opportunity. You took the Disease, modified it and refined it, and infected yourself. Now, with your undead vigor and extended lifespan, you have unlocked the keys to a new life. Maybe you have attained mastery over other zombies, or perhaps your infection has manifested newfound abilities. One thing is certain: you are a breed all your own, ready to use your corruption to attain your own selfish needs.  

Automatic Talents:

Raise Minion – As a standard action, select one corpse within 5 squares of you. That corpse comes back to life as a zombie minion, and follows your commands, but has no actions of its own. You may spend one or more of your actions to grant each of your zombie minions the same type of action, which they take on your turn (you can skip your standard action to grant them each a standard action). Use the following stat block: 

Strength: 10 // Agility: 10

Resilience: 10 // Willpower: 8

AC: 15 // HP: (Your bloodied value)

Move Actions – Move 5 squares or shift 1 square

Standard Actions - Attack: +4 attack bonus, 1d6 damage.

Minor Actions: None

You may have only one zombie minion at a time. As a minor action, you can release your control over a zombie to raise a new minion; if you do, the zombie you released dies and cannot be raised again. Raising the new zombie requires a standard action as normal.

Twisted Mending – You gain the “Twisted Mending” power:

Twisted Mending Recharge 5 6

Full Round Action No Roll

Targets: One zombie and one living creature, both within 5 squares of you

Effect: The living creature takes 1d4 damage and the zombie target regains twice that number of hit points.

Special: Each time this power targets one of your zombie minions, reduce that minion’s maximum number of hit points by 1.

Statistics: 

HP: 16 + Resilience score at 1st level, +6 each time you gain a level. 

Ability Score Modifiers: -2 Strength, +2 Willpower

Starting Humanity: 10

Class Skills: Athletics, Intimidate, (in progress)

Necromancer Talent Tree: Your ability to raise the dead is unmatched.

• Improved Raise Minion: You can now control two zombie minions.

- Requires Raise Minion

• Toughened Hide: Your zombie minions gain +1 AC.

- Special: You may take this talent multiple times.

• Combat Corpse: Increase the Strength and Resilience scores of your zombie minions by 2.

- Special: You may take this talent up to twice

- Requires Toughened Hide

• Bane of the Living: When your zombie minions attack a living creature, they deal an additional 2 points of damage.

- Special: You may take this talent multiple times.

- Requires Combat Corpse

• Improved Toughened Hide: Your zombie minions gain Resist Damage – All (1)

- Special: You may take this talent multiple times. Each time increase the resistance it grants by 1 point. 

- Requires: Toughened Hide, level 7

• Life Tap: When your zombie minions deal damage to living creatures, they regain hit points equal to the damage they dealt. 

- Requires: Raise Minion, level 9

Cruel Surgeon Talent Tree: Your mastery over unlife allows you to knit flesh, for good or evil.

• Corpse Stitching: When you use your “Twisted Mending” power, if you are adjacent to the undead target, the undead regains an additional 1d6 HP. 

• The Best Defense…: Each zombie minion within 5 squares of you gains a +4 bonus to AC.

• … Is a Good Offense: Each living creature within 5 squares of you takes a -4 penalty to AC, as long as a zombie minion is also within 5 squares of you. 

- Requires The Best Defense…

• Improved Corpse Stitching:  Increase the bonus HP gained by Corpse Stitching to 2d6.

- Requires Corpse Stitching

• Advanced Mending: Increase the damage of Twisted Mending by one die. This will cause the HP regained to increase as well, as normal.

- Special: You may take this talent multiple times.

- Requires Corpse Stitching

• Desecrating Wave: Once per day, as a standard action, you may have each undead creature within 5 squares of you regain 3d6 hit points. When you do, you may have each living creature within 5 squares of you take damage equal to the total hit points healed by this ability.

- Requires Twisted Mending, level 7

• Corpse Explosion: You gain the “Corpse Explosion” power:

Corpse Explosion Recharge Encounter

Standard Action No Roll

Targets: One zombie minion you control within 10 squares.

Effect: Your zombie minion explodes, dealing damage equal to its current hit points, to each creature within 5 squares of it.

- Requires Desecrating Wave, level 9

A Quicker Way to Kill Talent Tree: Bypassing the need for minions, you focus on merely rotting your foes.

• Undead Channeling: You gain the ability to cast spells from the Ringleader Spell List, and you use mana points (MP) to cast spells. Your mana points are equal to 5 per level in Ringleader you possess, plus your Willpower score. Your MP replenish at dawn. See Chapter XX for information on Spells. 

• Are You Sure About That?: You may reduce your maximum number of hit points by any amount, adding twice that amount to your mana points. This effect is permanent, and hit points removed from your maximum in this manner cannot be regained in any way. Using this ability is a minor action, which you can perform at any time, any number of times.

• A Safer Way to Play: As a minor action, you may lose any number of hit points up to your bloodied value and gain the same number of mana points. This is not a permanent effect, and these hit points can be regained through healing, as normal. This damage cannot be prevented or reduced in any way. 

- Requires Are You Sure About That?

• Overpowering Channeling: Enemies take a -1 penalty to any tests made to resist your spells or their effects. 

- Special: You may take this talent multiple times.

- Requires Undead Channeling

• Forceful Channeling: You gain a +1 bonus to damage rolls of your spells. 

- Special: You may take this talent multiple times.

- Requires Undead Channeling

• Have Some Extra Mana: Increase your MP to 10 per level in Ringleader you possess (instead of five), plus your Willpower score.

- Requires Are You Sure About That?

• Sweet, Sweet Murder: As a standard action, you may choose one ally within 10 squares of you, and spend any number of mana points, to a maximum of one point per level of Ringleader you possess. For each point you spend this way, that ally gains a +1 bonus to his next damage roll made before the start of your next turn. 

- Requires Undead Channeling

• Making Murder Easier: When you apply your bonus from Sweet, Sweet Murder to an ally, that ally also gains a bonus to the attack roll equal to the damage bonus you granted. 

- Requires Sweet, Sweet Murder

Crawler

Crawler

Cursed with the inability to walk, you are destined to crawl around on your belly to chase your prey. Fortunately for you, your muscles have grown vastly stronger in the absence of your legs, and you have learned some new tricks along the way. You might not have legs, but you have a host of new abilities that more than make up for it. 

Automatic Talents:

Legless – Your speed is equal to your Strength modifier, instead of its normal value. You gain a climb speed equal to half your speed.

Hidden Threat – While a non-crawler zombie is within 10 squares of an enemy, that enemy does not notice you until you attack it. (It’s not that they can’t see you, but they are more concerned with bigger threats!)

Statistics:

HP: 14 + Resilience score at 1st level, +3 each time you gain a level. 

Ability Score Modifiers: +4 Strength, -4 Agility

Starting Humanity: 4

Class Skills: Athletics, Intimidate, (in progress)

Piggyback Talent Tree: You can overpower your enemies and use their bodies to your benefit.

• Piggyback: You gain the “Piggyback” power:

Piggyback No Recharge

Standard Action Opposed Strength Test

Requirements: You must be behind your target, and on top of a piece of furniture (or another object) at least waist height to your target.

Targets: One adjacent enemy

Effect: If you succeed on the opposed Strength check, you climb on your opponent’s back, and are now considered “piggybacked”. While piggybacked, you use your target’s movement modes and movement speed. Additionally, you cannot attack any other creatures, you may only attack once per round, and you may only use your bite attack. Creatures that attack you take a -2 on attack rolls (unless they are directly behind you). 

Special: Your target may make an opposed Strength check against you to remove you, as a full round action. Otherwise this effect lasts until you choose to end it, or until the target dies.

• Improved Piggyback: While you are piggybacked, you can force your target to attack. On your turn, you can skip your normal attack to make your full number of attacks (as though you were not piggybacked) against an adjacent creature. Use your own Strength and attack bonus, but your enemy’s weapon damage. 

- Requires Piggyback

• Advanced Piggyback: You tap directly into your opponent’s spinal cord when you use Piggyback. Your target cannot make opposed Strength tests to remove you, and you can take your normal allotment of moves, using your target’s movement modes, speed, and weapon damage. When you end your piggyback, your target returns to normal.

- Requires Improved Piggyback

• Practiced Piggyback: You gain a +2 talent bonus to Strength checks against piggyback targets.

- Requires Piggyback

• Piggyback Feeder: You gain a +2 bonus to damage rolls against your piggyback target.

- Requires Piggyback

• Piggyback Defense: You gain the “Piggyback Defense” power:

Piggyback Defense Recharge 6

Interrupt Opposed Strength Test vs Piggybacked Enemy

Trigger: Another enemy makes an attack against you

Result: If you succeed on the opposed Strength test, you successfully turn your piggybacked opponent around to face the attack. Your piggybacked opponent takes all damage from the attack.

- Requires Piggyback

• Climbing Piggyback: You can attempt to piggyback an enemy without first climbing onto furniture. 

- Requires Piggyback, Strength 14

Gotcha! Talent Tree: They didn’t even see you coming. Then again, they never do.

• Surprise Strike: While an enemy doesn’t notice you, your attacks against that enemy deal an additional 1d6 damage. 

• Hide in Plain Sight: You vanish into the shadows, under furniture, or out of your opponent’s field of vision. You gain the “Hide in Plain Sight” power:

Hide in Plain Sight No Recharge

Full Round Action No Roll

Targets: An adjacent enemy

Result: The enemy is affected by your “Hidden Threat” talent, as though you had not attacked that enemy this encounter; the target must still meet the other requirements of “Hidden Threat”.

• Improved Surprise Strike: Increase your Surprise Strike damage by one die size. 

- Requires Surprise Strike

• Subtle Surprise Strike: When you deal damage with your Surprise Strike, your enemy doesn’t notice you until the start of your next turn. 

- Requires Surprise Strike, level 5

• Out of Nowhere!: You always seem to pop up when you’re least expected! You gain the “Out of Nowhere!” power:

Out of Nowhere! Recharge Encounter

Reaction No Roll

Trigger: An enemy that is not in combat moves to a square within 10 squares of you

Result: You teleport to a square adjacent to the target within 10 squares of you. 

Special: The square you teleport to must contain a piece of furniture, partial shadows, or otherwise obscure you from the target’s vision.

- Requires Surprise Strike, Hide in Plain Sight

Bring ‘em Down Talent Tree: Since you can’t stand at their level, you bring your prey down to your level.

• Ankle Biter: When you make a bite attack against an opponent’s ankles, you gain a +2 bonus on the attack and damage rolls for that attack. 

• Floor Bound: While you are in contact with the floor, you gain a +1 talent bonus to speed. 

• Bring ‘em Down: When you make a successful bite attack against an opponent’s ankles, the enemy must make a Resilience test (DC = damage dealt by the attack) or fall prone. 

- Requires Ankle Biter

• Keep ‘em Down: Prone enemies adjacent to you must succeed on an opposed Strength test or remain prone.

• Bring ‘em Down Harder: Increase the DC of your “Bring ‘em Down” talent by 1 for each level in Crawler you possess. 

- Requires Bring ‘em Down

• Keep ‘em Down Longer: You gain a +2 bonus on opposed Strength checks against prone enemies. 

- Requires Keep ‘em Down

• Kill ‘em When They’re Down: You gain a bonus to damage rolls against prone enemies equal to ½ your Crawler levels.

- Requires Bring ‘em Down, level 9