Though they resemble the mindless undead that fill out the ranks of armies commanded by evil necromancers and the clerics of dark gods, dread zombies (sometimes known as zombie lords) are fit to command such troops themselves. Dread zombies are created when the magic used to animate a zombie or other corporeal undead goes awry, or when a dread mummy breathes death on a living creature. Sometimes when the ceremony to create a lich fails, the would-be lich instead becomes a dread zombie, attaining eternal unlife at an unexpected cost—the loss of some of the intelligence it had in life. These undead recognize and mourn their lost mental acuity, and this knowledge translates into a sick hunger for living brains.
A dread zombie looks like the walking corpse of a living
creature. Maggots writhe beneath its papery skin, and worms crawl
through its muscles. Its eyes, however, are not the foggy, fluid-filled
orbs of a normal zombie—they shine with a lifelike and evil
intelligence.
Creating a Dread Zombie
“Dread zombie” is an acquired template that can be added to any living creature (referred to hereafter as the base creature). A dread zombie uses all the base creature’s statistics and special abilities except as noted here.
CR: As base creature +1
Alignment: Always Neutral Evil.
Type: The creature's type changes to undead (augmented). Do not recalculate class BAB, saves, or skills.
Armor Class: A dread zombie gains a natural armor bonus based on it's size:
| Zombie Size | Natural Armor Bonus |
|---|---|
| Tiny or smaller | +0 |
| Small | +1 |
| Medium | +2 |
| Large | +3 |
| Huge | +4 |
| Gargantuan | +7 |
| Colossal | +11 |
Hit Dice: Change all racial Hit Dice to d8s. Class Hit Dice are unaffected. As undead, dread zombies use their Charisma modifier to determine bonus hit points (instead of Constitution).
Defensive Abilities: A dread zombie gains channel resistance +2.
Speed:
Winged dread zombies can still fly, but maneuverability is reduced one step (to a minimum of clumsy). Dread zombies cannot run.
Attacks: A dread zombie retains all the natural weapons, manufactured weapon attacks, and weapon proficiencies of the base creature. If the base creature did not have a natural attack, it gains a primary slam attack. If the base creature has at least one mouth, but no natural attack with with it, the dread zombie gains a secondary bite attack with each mouth.
If the dread zombie gained slam or bite attacks from this template, the base damage for each is given on the table below.
Table: Dread Zombie Damage
| Size | Base Slam Damage |
Base Bite Damage |
| Fine | 1 |
- |
| Diminutive | 1d2 | 1 |
| Tiny | 1d3 | 1d2 |
| Small | 1d4 | 1d3 |
| Medium | 1d6 | 1d4 |
| Large | 1d8 | 1d6 |
| Huge | 2d6 | 1d8 |
| Gargantuan | 2d8 | 2d6 |
| Colossal | 4d6 | 2d8 |
Special Attacks: A zombie retains all of the base creature's special attacks and gains the following.
Brain Consumption (Ex): When the dread zombie makes a successful grapple check to deal damage with its bite attack against a pinned or helpless living foe, the latter must succeed on a Fortitude save (DC 10 + 1/2 dread zombie’s HD + dread zombie’s Str modifier) or die as the dread zombie consumes its brain. Creatures immune to critical hits and those with multiple heads are not killed by this attack.
Special Qualities: A dread zombie gains the following.
Command Zombies (Su): A dread zombie can automatically command all normal zombies within 30 feet as a free action. Normal zombies never attack a dread zombie unless compelled.
Unnatural Aura (Su): Any creature of the animal type within 30 feet of a dread zombie automatically becomes panicked and remains so until the distance between it and the dread zombie is at least 30 feet.
Abilities +4 Str, -2 Dex, -4 Int (minimum 0), -4 Cha (minimum 1). As undead creatures, dread zombies have no Con score.
Feats A dread zombie gains the Toughness feat.
