Undead Fortitude. If damage reduces the City Guard Zombie to 0 hit points, it must make a Constitution saving throw with a DC of 5 + the damage taken, unless the damage is radiant or from a critical hit. On a success, the City Guard Zombie drops to 1 hit point instead.
Undead Nature. A zombie doesn’t require air, food, drink, or sleep.
Multiattack. The City Guard Zombie makes two diseased greatsword attacks.
Diseased Greatsword. Melee weapom attack: +5 to hit, reach 5ft, one target. Hit: 10 (2d6 +3) slashing damage. After a creature is hit by this greatsword the target has to make a constitution saving throw (DC 15). On a failed save the target is infected with Sight rot (DMG 257). If the target is already infected nothing else happens.
Parry. The City Guard Zombie adds 2 to its AC against one melee attack that would hit it. To do so, the knight must see the attacker and be wielding a melee weapon.
Description
Dark Servants. Sinister necromantic magic infuses the remains of the dead, causing them to rise as zombies that do their creator’s bidding without fear or hesitation. They move with a jerky, uneven gait, clad in the moldering apparel they wore when put to rest, and carrying the stench of decay.
Most zombies are made from humanoid remains, though the flesh and bones of any formerly living creature can be imbued with a semblance of life. Necromantic magic, usually from spells, animates a zombie. Some zombies rise spontaneously when dark magic saturates an area. Once turned into a zombie, a creature can’t be restored to life except by powerful magic, such as a resurrection spell.
A zombie retains no vestiges of its former self, its mind devoid of thought and imagination. A zombie left without orders simply stands in place and rots unless something comes along that it can kill. The magic animating a zombie imbues it with evil, so left without purpose, it attacks any living creature it encounters.
Hideous Forms. Zombies appear as they did in life, showing the wounds that killed them. However, the magic that creates these vile creatures often takes time to run its course. Dead warriors might rise from a battlefield, eviscerated and bloated after days in the sun. The muddy cadaver of a peasant could claw its way from the ground, riddled with maggots and worms. A zombie might wash ashore or rise from a marsh, swollen and reeking after weeks in the water.
Mindless Soldiers. Zombies take the most direct route to any foe, unable to comprehend obstacles, tactics, or dangerous terrain. A zombie might stumble into a fast-flowing river to reach foes on a far shore, clawing at the surface as it is battered against rocks and destroyed. To reach a foe below it, a zombie might step out of an open window. Zombies stumble through roaring infernos, into pools of acid, and across fields littered with caltrops without hesitation.
A zombie can follow simple orders and distinguish friends from foes, but its ability to reason is limited to shambling in whatever direction it is pointed, pummeling any enemy in its path. A zombie armed with a weapon uses it, but the zombie won’t retrieve a dropped weapon or other tool until told to do so.
-
Sight Rot
This painful infection causes bleeding from the eyes and eventually blinds the Victim.
A beast or Humanoid that drinks water tainted by sight rot must succeed on a DC 15 Constitution saving throw or become infected. One day after infection, the creature’s vision starts to become blurry. The creature takes a −1 penalty to Attack Rolls and Ability Checks that rely on sight. At the end of each Long Rest after the symptoms appear, the penalty worsens by 1. When it reaches −5, the Victim is Blinded until its sight is restored by magic such as Lesser Restoration or heal.
Sight rot can be cured using a rare flower called Eyebright, which grows in some swamps. Given an hour, a character who has proficiency with an Herbalism Kit can turn the flower into one dose of ointment. Applied to the eyes before a Long Rest, one dose of it prevents the disease from worsening after that rest. After three doses, the ointment cures the disease entirely.
Comments