Headcrab Zombie (3.5e Monster)

= Headcrab Zombie =



''What stands before you was once a man, and is now little more than a shell of himself, moaning and groaning in response to near nonexistent instinct. A headcrab sits atop of the flayed remains like a despot on a grotesque throne, directing the corpse's limbs to follow its neural commands.''

Headcrab Zombies are horrid manifestations of undeath brought about by a headcrab's control over the deceased's nerve system through microscopic receptacles within its mandibles and the tips of its legs. Doing this grants the headcrab at least marginal control over the motor functions, although usually quite minimal. The larger drones of headcrab zombies simply lumber around aimlessly, although the variation of these zombies is as great as the variations of the headcrabs themselves.

Combat
All headcrab zombies use the body that they have gained control over in order to wage combat more efficiently, using the body's strength and toughness to increase their chances of inflicting harm to their victims.

"Headcrab Zombie" is an acquired template of sorts that can be added to any corporeal humanoid given that he has been killed or coupled by a headcrab.

Size and Type: The creature's type changes to undead. It retains any subtypes except alignment subtypes that indicate kind. Alignment changes to neutral and it gains the augmented subtype. It uses all base creature's statistics except where noted here.

Hit Dice: Drop all Hit Dice from class levels (to a minimum of 1), quadruple the number of Hit Dice left, and raise them to d12s.

Speed: Change to 15 ft. Headcrab zombies (except for fast headcrab zombies) lose the ability to run.

Base Attack Bonus: A headcrab zombie has a base attack bonus equal to ½ its Hit Dice.

Attacks: A headcrab zombie loses all manufactured weapon attacks and natural attacks, but gains one natural attack (see individual headcrab zombie types)

Special Attacks: A headcrab zombie retains no special attacks from the base creature, but gain special attacks as listed in individual headcrab zombie types.


 * Detach (Ex): The headcrab's willful act of separating itself from its host body. The headcrab in control of a body may do this at will. The corpse can no longer move once the headcrab has relinquished control. This happens automatically once the headcrab dies.


 * Relay Critical (Ex): When a headcrab zombie is under critical threat the damage is not done to the zombie, but rather to the headcrab controlling it. It still counts as a normal hit, however, unless the threat confirmation roll is high enough to score a threat and a hit as well.

Special Qualities: A headcrab zombie loses all special qualities of the base creature but retains those of the headcrab controlling it. It retains any extraordinary special qualities that improve its melee or ranged attacks. A zombie gains the following special quality.


 * Damage Reduction (Ex): A headcrab zombie has damage reduction 5/slashing. They are lumbering masses of flesh.

Saves: Base save bonuses are Fort +1/3 HD, Ref +1/3 HD, and Will +½ HD + 2.

Abilities: Headcrab zombies inherit the mental ability scores of their headcrab controllers; Int 1, Wis 11, Cha 6.

Skills: Headcrab zombies have no skills, but they inherit the mental skills of the headcrab controlling them.

Feats: Headcrab zombies retain no feats from the base creature, but they inherit the Improved Initiative from the headcrab controlling them and gain Toughness.

Advancement: Up to twice its minimal HD. No size adjustment

Normal Headcrab Zombie
These are the traits inherent only in the normal headcrab zombie. They are in addition to the general Headcrab Zombie traits.

Armor Class: +4 natural armor bonus.

Attack: The normal headcrab zombie gains a claw attack with base damage 1d6 (slashing).

Special Attacks: The normal headcrab zombie gains the following Special Attacks.


 * Hurl Obstacle (Ex): A headcrab zombie may direct its attack to inanimate obstacles in its path or size medium or smaller. This result in the object being hurled into the direction of a target. This attack uses the zombie's Dex mod in conjunction to its base attack bonus as modifier and has an effective minimum range of 10 and maximum range of 30 feet. Medium objects thrown this way deal 1d8 damage, Small objects deal 1d6 damage and Tiny objects deal 1d4 damage. Smaller or larger objects can't be hurled this way. If a creature is hit by an object in the same or larger size category as himself, he must make a Balance check against DC 10 + damage dealt or fall prone.

Abilities: +4 Str, -4 Dex.

Challenge Rating: ½ HD.

Fast Zombie
Flayed and dripping with all manner of tissue and sinew, these stripped down human corpses are the epitome of post mortem insanity. Spurred on by the incessant hyperactivity of a fast headcrab, they pounce, climb, jump and run with a speed that makes them highly efficient hunters and killers. Although they barely possess instincts to call their own, the headcrabs in control give them a powerful edge in combat. They are often dispatched by the combine to quickly clear blocks full of rebelling repatriated citizens without harm to their troops.

These are the traits inherent only in the fast zombie. They are in addition to the general Headcrab Zombie traits.

Speed: Speed increased to 40 ft. due to being hastened (see Alacrity).

Armor Class:: +2 natural armor bonus and a +1 dodge bonus to Armor Class due to being hastened (see Alacrity).

Attack: The fast zombie gains two claw attacks with base damage 1d6 (slashing).

Special Attacks: The fast zombie gains the following Special Attacks.


 * Rend (Ex): If a fast zombie hits with both claw attacks, it latches onto the opponent’s body and tears the flesh. This attack automatically deals an additional 2d6+3 points of damage.


 * Alacrity (Ex): A fast headcrab zombie is naturally hasted. When making a full attack action, a fast headcrab zombie may make one extra attack with its natural weapons. The attack is made using the fast headcrab zombie’s full base attack bonus, plus any modifiers appropriate to the situation. A fast headcrab zombie gains a +1 bonus on attack rolls and a +1 dodge bonus to Armor Class and Reflex saves. Any condition that makes the fast headcrab zombie lose its Dexterity bonus to Armor Class also makes it lose dodge bonuses. The fast headcrab zombie’s modes of movement (which are land movement and climb) increase to 40 feet, and the fast headcrab zombie can also run, unlike its normal and poisonous counterparts. When affected by a slow spell, the fast headcrab zombie loses all benefits from its alacrity ability.

Abilities: +4 Dex

Skills: Fast headcrab zombies retain a +12 bonus to Jump checks.

Challenge Rating: ½ HD +1.

Poison Zombie
The poison zombie walks bent over under the horrors of its own manifestation, the poison that courses through it due to being host to between two and five poison headcrabs having mutated it, its body thickened with cysts, calluses and unnatural growths giving it an extreme toughness. Compared to other zombie types, a poison zombie takes quite colossal punishment to take down.

These are the traits inherent only in the poison zombie. They are in addition to the general Headcrab Zombie traits.

Hit Dice: 10 additional Hit Dice over the usual headcrab zombie Hit Dice.

Armor Class: +10 natural armor bonus.

Attack: The poison zombie gains a slam attack with base damage 2d6 (bludgeoning, two handed)

Special Attacks: The poison zombie gains the following Special Attacks.


 * Living Cover (Ex): Next to the poison headcrab controlling it, the poison zombie's body is usually covered by 1d4 poison headcrabs. Each of these headcrabs grants the poison zombie a cumulative 5 % miss chance up to a maximum of 20 %. In case of a miss due to living cover, the damage gets dealt to one of the 1d4 poison headcrabs covering it. If a poison headcrab is hit due to being living cover, it does not relinquish its hold over the poison zombie unless killed outright. When the poison zombie itself is killed, the poison headcrabs making up its living cover detach to threaten the party individually.


 * Headcrab Throw (Ex): A poison zombie may relinquish a poison headcrab that is part of its living cover in order to throw it at the enemy. This ranged attack has a reach of 30 feet and involves the poison headcrab being thrown to attempt and attach. The headcrab throw special attack is considered a 'charge', in that it uses the poison headcrab's attack modifier and adds a +2 bonus, leaving the thrown poison headcrab with a -2 penalty to its Armor Class for the duration of the round.

Abilities: +10 Str, -4 Dex.

Challenge Rating: ½ HD.