While writing YotZ, I completely forgot to include something rather important. Something that is designed to chill the blood of the players in addition to the PC's. I wrote this recently, but haven't had anyone really look at it as of yet.

So, I could use a bit of overlook. It works for me, but being the GM who designed it, I might be compensating for something without realizing it.

So, can look them over and tell me what you think. Here's a direct C&P of it.


  In Year of the Zombie, there are usually two types of mobs: Human and Riser. While there can be packs of wolves, or child wolf packs, these are usually best handled  per individual as the packs rarely goes above 20 in number.

  During the first part of the rising, panicked and/or angry mobs of people will swarm the streets, taking out their fear and frustration on anything that usually gets in their way. Some mobs will light fires, torching cars, homes and businesses, while others will just violently attack those that they see as their oppressors.

  Currently, mobs are handled with tear gas, water hoses, and when all else fails, axe-handles and rubber bullets. While this may disperse most mobs in America and Great Britain, during the Rising these tactics will have little effect, as the mob is too panicked and hysterical for any normal means.

  This means that live fire, a thing usually avoided in modern countries, to be directed into the crowd. While this may sound horrific, setting the characters (and by proxy, the players) to be forced to fire on an unarmed crowd, these crowds represent a clear danger to the characters, to those they are trying to protect.

  Mobs of Risers, however, will become more and more common, swarming around places that were important to them in life or in their final moments, or following other Risers or sounds of life.

  Risers, while slow, uncoordinated, and somewhat ineffective singly, are positively horrific when encountered in a large mob. The only sure way of combating them is with flamethrowers, explosives, or sustained automatic fire from multiple weapons.

  As two of the constant dangers of the Post-Rising world, statistics for both types of mobs are found below.
 
 There's no way to describe what it feels like to face a mob, unless you have been there on the receiving end of all of that anger, frustration, and malicious glee. It's a wild, hungry thing, with a life all of it's own and a terrifying appetite for carnage and violence. A voice like the roaring of a thousands beasts that sends a shiver down one's spine as the crowd screams out it’s war cary.

  And unless you've levelled a SAW into that same crowd and broken it with sustained, directed light machine fire ,as we did from the roof of the embassy, the entrance to the embassy courtyard, and the entryway to the embassy itself, you can't imagine the screaming that comes afterwards.-Sylvia's Autobiography, from the Diaries of Becka

Size: A human mob is a gargantuan creature composed of 50 humans. A mob of 100 or more is a colossal creature.
Hit Dice: A mob has 25d8 Hit Dice, representing the mass of humans rather than the individuals within the mob. For each additional 2 humans, add another hit die.
Init: All mobs have an init of +0
Speed: 20 ft
AC: 6 (or -4, whichever is greater, such as a mob of humans wearing tactical armor)
Base Attack: +22
Grapple: +12
Attack/Full Attack: Human mobs are treated as swarms in combat. A human mob does 4d6 points of damage to any creature whose space it occupies at the end of its move, with no attack roll needed. Mob attacks ignore concealment and cover. Damage reduction and hardness apply to mob attacks.
Space/Reach: 25x25+1 ft per 2 additional hd/5 feet.
Attack Options: Expert Grappler, Trample, Incendiary Attack, Property Damage, Sporadic Gunfire
Incendiary Attack: Each round, there is a 25% chance that a crowd will throw something that is either on fire or will explode in flame with a range of 50 feet. These flaming objects will consist of 1d4 objects per 10 hd that do 2d6 points of damage and have a 20% chance of catching anyone hit on fire. If a building or vehicle is within range, the attack will be directed at that object. At the GM’s discretion, the incendiary attack may be launched at law enforcement, military, racial, or other hated foes.
Property Damage: All objects that the human mob has either overrun or are adjacent take 2d6 points of damage per round. Vehicles within a human mob’s threat have a 25% chance of being overturned if adjecant and 50% chance of being overturned if within the mob, each round.
Sporadic Gunfire: There’s always some asshole with a gun in a mob. Each round there is a 10% chance that 1 randomly chosen target for every 5 HD the human has within 100 feet is hit by 1d4 bullets that will do 2d6 points of damage each unless the target succeeds in a Reflex Check (DC: 15). Many times the target will be military or law enforcement, and if either is present, that group is attacked rather than random people, structures, objects, or vehicles. The GM is advised to up the percentage chance later in the Rising, or if the mob is made up of certain groups (such as ex-military, police officers, an armed protest) or just to increase the challenge. For each 10% the  percentage is raised, the CR should elevate by one.
SQ: Mob Anatomy: No clear anatomy so cannot be flanked, tripped, grappled, bull rushed or sneak attacked. Critical attacks have no effect unless the weapon used is an area of effect weapon (such as fully automatic fire, mortar rounds, etc) that will affect at least 25% of the size of the mob.
Saves: Fort: +17, Ref +9, Will +9
Abilities: Str 14, Dex 8, Con: 10, Int: 8, Wis: 8, Cha: 16
Feats: Improved Bull Rush, Improved Overrun
Organization: Solitary, pair, or gang
Challenge Rating: 10

 
 They come to places important to them in life, or in their final moments, driven by some dim intellect that isn't even really human any more. Be it chasing survivors or the desire for something they don't understand, they stay, moaning and shuffling, pushing at doors and windows, clawing at the sides, a huge amorphous mass of dead flesh that stinks like a gravedigger's favorite boots rotting in the sun.

  Still, those are relatively harmless. I remember watching a mass of thousands of Risers moving down the street of some large city. The entire street was filled with them, and the sheer weight of the dead flesh brushed aside cars, pushing them ahead of them, then sucking them in, dragging the vehicle along, and leaving twisted wreckage behind.

  They followed the noise of Seeker-Seven’s rotors, the howl of it’s engines, and we knew that we weren’t packing enough ammo to break that mob. Nothing short of a nuclear weapon would break that mass of flesh. And God help us, that’s just what we intended to do. -Sylvia’s Autobiography, From the Diaries of Becka

  These become more and more common as the Rising progresses. Where at first a mob of zombies may only be 10-20 of them, within several days in the bigger cities, a mob of zombies may number into the thousands!

  Every mob will have at least 10% of thier number moving around nearby. These will be frenzied or sprinter zombies. They will be frustrated and looking for prey or something to smash.

  Zombie mobs are a threat that ignore tear gas, ignore casualties, ignore water hoses, and worse yet, are immune to any type of morale breaking technique normally used on a mob. Zombie mobs don’t get bored and break up, they don’t get hungry and leave, they never have to use the bathroom, and they are more then willing to stand for months in the blistering sun waiting with dim patience for whatever it is that has attracted the zombie mob to become available.

  Eventually Zombie Mobs will replace human mobs entirely.

Size: A zombie mob is a gargantuan creature composed of 10 or more zombies. A zombie mob of 50 or more is colossal, and a zombie mob of 100 or more is commonly referred to as “OH FUCK! RUN!”
Hit Dice: A zombie mob has 20d12 Hit Dice, representing the mass of zombies rather than the individuals within the mob. For each additional zombie, add another hit die.
Init: All mobs have an init of -4
Speed: 10 ft
AC: 6
Base Attack: +20
Grapple: +22
Attack/Full Attack: Zombie mobs are treated as swarms in combat. A zombie mob does 6d6 points of damage to any creature whose space it occupies at the end of its move, with no attack roll needed. Mob attacks ignore concealment and cover. Damage reduction and hardness apply to zombie mob attacks.
Space/Reach: 25x25+1 ft per 2 additional hd/5 feet.
Attack Options: Expert Grappler, Trample, Victim Rending, Property Damage
Victim Rending: Any victim caught within the zombie mob MUST make a massive damage check with a DC of 20 each round, or be torn into shreds by the scores of grasping and clawing hands and ravenously hungry mouths. Anyone killed by a zombie mob is considered gone, little more than splintered and scattered bone.
Property Damage: While a zombie mob cannot hurt a building, they may make an attempt to burst open a reinforced door with a successful DC 16 Str Check (due to the sheer weight of numbers as well as an uncaring attitude about the damage the press does to members). Any vehicles stuck within a zombie mob have a 25% chance of being overturned, as well as taking normal damage. All other objects take 2d6 points of damage while within the area of the  mob.
SQ: Attraction, Mob Anatomy, Undead
Attraction: A zombie mob persuing prey makes a horrendous racket. Wailing, moaning, growling, roaring and screeching as it moves. This noise attracts other zombies within the area (200 yards per 10 zombies) as well as making Move Silent impossible for the mob. When they are pursuing what they percieve as prey the zombie mob will attract 1d10 zombies per minute. The GM has the option of adding those zombies to the mob in the case of normal or memory enhanced zombies, or having them attack the mobs prey in the case of frenzied or Sprinters.
Mob Anatomy: No clear anatomy so cannot be flanked, tripped, grappled, bull rushed or sneak attacked. Critical attacks will automatically kill a single zombie out of the total number of the mob. If the weapon used is an area of effect weapon (such as fully automatic fire, mortar rounds, etc) that will affect at least 25% of the size of the mob, it will kill one zombie per die of damage and reduce the total number of zombies in the mob by that amount, reducing the mob's stats.
Undead: As an undead entity, they are immune to poison, sleep, paralysis, disease, necromantic effects, and mind-affecting effects. They are not subject to nonlethal damage, ability damage, ability drain, or energy drain, or any effect requiring a Fortitude save unless the effect also works on objects or is harmless.
Saves: Fort: +10, Ref +4, Will +12
Abilities: Str 16, Dex 8, Con: --, Int: 8, Wis: 8, Cha: --
Feats: Improved Overrun
Organization: Solitary, pair, gang, and “Our Lord, who art in heaven…”
Challenge Rating: 12

QuoteCritical attacks will automatically will automatically kill a single zombie, unless the weapon used is an area of effect weapon (such as fully automatic fire, mortar rounds, etc) that will affect at least 25% of the size of the mob, in which case, it will kill one zombie per die of damage.

This sentence doesn't make much sense.

QuoteHit Dice: A zombie mob has 20d12 Hit Dice, representing the mass of zombies rather than the individuals within the mob. For each additional 2 humans, add another hit die.

Bolded word needs to be changed to "zombies".

QuoteProperty Damage: While a zombie mob cannot hurt a building, they may make an attempt to burst open a reinforced door with a successful strength check of 16 (due to the sheer weight of numbers as well as an uncaring attitude about the damage the press does to members). Any vehicles stuck within a zombie mob have a 25% chance of being overturned, as well as taking normal damage. All other objects take 2d6 points of damage while within the area of the mob.

That is a DC 16 STR check, yes? The damage to objects is per round, correct?


The rules look good to me otherwise.

Fixed.

Check that first sentence you pointed out again, tell me if that's better if you would.

A zombie mob of 10 zombies has 20 hit dice, right? But then every 2 zombies beyond that adds 1 Hit die? Why do the original zombies count as 2 hit die each, and the additional zombies only count as 1/2 a hit die?

For some reason, ten zombies constituting a gargantuan creature seems a bit odd... I guess it's right, though, since they take up a 10' x 25' space.

There is also a lot of room for good DM judgement when it comes to fighting them. A bomb that deals damage to 30' radius (120 squares) can't deal more than 12% of the hit point total of a 1000 zombie mob (that's 432 hit points out of 3605 hit points), no matter how much damage is rolled, because 88% of the mob is outside the radius.

Quote from: Name LipsA zombie mob of 10 zombies has 20 hit dice, right? But then every 2 zombies beyond that adds 1 Hit die? Why do the original zombies count as 2 hit die each, and the additional zombies only count as 1/2 a hit die?

Hmmm, you're right. I think I'll change it.

QuoteFor some reason, ten zombies constituting a gargantuan creature seems a bit odd... I guess it's right, though, since they take up a 10' x 25' space.

I thought the size was odd too. That's more like a pack of zombies to me, but hey, gotta work in the framework.

QuoteThere is also a lot of room for good DM judgement when it comes to fighting them. A bomb that deals damage to 30' radius (120 squares) can't deal more than 12% of the hit point total of a 1000 zombie mob (that's 432 hit points out of 3605 hit points), no matter how much damage is rolled, because 88% of the mob is outside the radius.

That's what I was going for.

How's it look now?

I chose to have the first 10 count as 2 HD to represent the mass, the packed in dead flesh and the fact it's difficult to get good shots on individuals.

Since mobs are mainly going to be in the dozens, scores, hundreds, or even thousands, I figured I'd try to keep the HD low.

But you're right. Why? If a PC is stupid enough to try to stand thier ground with a pistol, they deserve what is about to happen.

Looking good.

Only thing I'd think of as a munchkiny player is to take advantage of their slow movement rate. walk casually ahead of the mob, throwing a rock every round. 1 points of damage per rock, and (with the new hit dice rules) you can destroy the 1000 zombie mob in about 12 hours... 12 people doing this could do it in 1 hour, assuming a hit every time.

A good GM will have multiple mobs in a city, zombies around every turn, so there's no way to be certain you won't be caught between two of them before such a plan could be pulled off. But I just thought I'd mention what I, as a player, would think to do.

Quote from: Name LipsLooking good.

Only thing I'd think of as a munchkiny player is to take advantage of their slow movement rate. walk casually ahead of the mob, throwing a rock every round. 1 points of damage per rock, and (with the new hit dice rules) you can destroy the 1000 zombie mob in about 12 hours... 12 people doing this could do it in 1 hour, assuming a hit every time.

A good GM will have multiple mobs in a city, zombies around every turn, so there's no way to be certain you won't be caught between two of them before such a plan could be pulled off. But I just thought I'd mention what I, as a player, would think to do.

SHIT! I almost forgot! Thanks for reminding me.

Zombie mobs attract more zombies. LOL

You'd have a bad chance of getting rat-packed by a group of sprinters coming to see what's going on.

Quote from: T-WillardFixed.

Check that first sentence you pointed out again, tell me if that's better if you would.

OK, I'm still seeing this:

QuoteMob Anatomy: No clear anatomy so cannot be flanked, tripped, grappled, bull rushed or sneak attacked. Critical attacks will automatically will automatically kill a single zombie out of the total number of the mob. If the weapon used is an area of effect weapon (such as fully automatic fire, mortar rounds, etc) that will affect at least 25% of the size of the mob, it will kill one zombie per die of damage and reduce the total number of zombies in the mob by that amount, reducing the mob's stats. In addition, with the exception of the direction they are going, mobs have no facing.

What I understand from this is that a zombie mob loses a zombie when it suffers a critical, overriding their normal immunity to the same. They also lose 1 zombie per area effect die. The facing rules are one of your house rules I assume?

Quote from: Vermicious KnidWhat I understand from this is that a zombie mob loses a zombie when it suffers a critical, overriding their normal immunity to the same. They also lose 1 zombie per area effect die.

BINGO!

Year of the Zombie zombies are instantly killed by a crit.

QuoteThe facing rules are one of your house rules I assume?

Crap, I left that in from the playtest rules. LOL


OK, check again.

(Thanks)

QuoteCritical attacks will automatically will automatically kill a single zombie

Delete the bolded and we are good.

Quote from: Vermicious KnidDelete the bolded and we are good.

DAMMIT!

LOL

I probably shouldn't drink while I write.

I would just like to point out that there is a mob template in DMGII, on pages 59-61 specifically.

But I like T-willards mobs, they're nice.

Unfortunately for Tim, the DMG2 rules aren't OGC, so there would be problems involved in using them in a published work.

Quote from: DackeUnfortunately for Tim, the DMG2 rules aren't OGC, so there would be problems involved in using them in a published work.

Bingo.

Luckily, I had accidently dropped them from the Year of the Zombie core book, so I had them laying around.

I compared them to the DMG II mob rules, and while they are similair they are different enough that it's obviously either derivitive work (not true) or parellel development (which is what happened) but still VERY necessary to the game.

Just to cover my ass, however, I sent a copy of them to WotC along with data letting them know that the rules had been dropped from the core book when it came out.

WotC is good to work with if you let them know what's going on. A lot of people don't like them, but I have a pretty good working relationship with them.