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Does the natural armor bonus from the Zombie template stack with existing natural armor? Or does it replace it?
Also, I am piecing together a hydra zombie. Would it retain its Regenerating Heads special quality?
Why does the template say that the zombie keeps the base creature's special qualities that aid attacks? If it aided an attack, shouldn't it be in the Special Attacks section? I hate that my hydra zombie is going to lose Pounce because of seemingly faulty wording. :(
Also, can the slam attack be used IN ADDITION TO the base creature's normal natural attacks? Or does the zombie have to pick and choose?
Hydra Zombie
NE Huge Undead
Natural Armor is +4 for a huge zombie
9d8 total hit dice (5 plus 4 for being a huge zombie) = CR 4 - zombies have crummy hp - at 9d8 HD +9 from Toughness, that means a paltry 49 or 50 hit points.
SAVES: base Fort and Refl +3, base Will +6 (no bonuses, so these are what is has as a default zombie)
Speed 20', swim 20'
loses fast healing (Defensive Ability); gains DR 5/slashing
5 bites and a slam attack - for a hydra, probably should change it to a tail slap dealing 2d6 (since the illustration indicates a serpentine body with a bunch of noggins)
Str 19, Dex 10, Con --, Int --, Wis 10, Cha 10
BAB 6, Melee +8, CMB +12, CMD 22 (cannot be tripped)
SQ: loses hydra traits & regenerate head / gains staggered SQ
SA: loses pounce
Due to the staggered SQ a hydra's generally rather crummy as a zombie other than as a lark or self-propelled door stop due to its size.
Thanks, but it's kind of a 7-headed hydra... :P
EDIT: Also I don't think a zombie hydra would ever get 5 bite attacks on account of it being staggered. Might as well just list the stat block with 1 bite attack.
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That's the reason fast zombies are superior. One might say rather overpoweredly so.
They end up with two additional attacks per round instead of being limited to one attack per round and have an AC 2 higher.
A Fast Dire Bear Zombie for example ends up with five +16 attacks, two of them dealing 1d6+8 and three dealing 1d8+8. Not to bad for a CR 5 creature.
A normal CR 5 Dire Bear Zombie would be limited to one attack +16, being a much lesser thread (since by level 5, DR 5/slashing shouldn't be that much of a problem).
That's the reason fast zombies are superior. One might say rather overpoweredly so.
They end up with two additional attacks per round instead of being limited to one attack per round and have an AC 2 higher.
A Fast Dire Bear Zombie for example ends up with five +16 attacks, two of them dealing 1d6+8 and three dealing 1d8+8. Not to bad for a CR 5 creature.
A normal CR 5 Dire Bear Zombie would be limited to one attack +16, being a much lesser thread (since by level 5, DR 5/slashing shouldn't be that much of a problem).
Base Zombies and Skeletons seemed to have received some nerfs in Pathfinder. They have an average of 2 less hit points per hit die (d8 instead of d12, no cha bonus so they don't get extra hit points to compensate). They're not immune to sneak attack damage. Some other stuff.
Hydra's in 3.5 had a special quality that allowed them to attack with all their heads as a standard action, which made them great zombies. Hydra's in pathfinder have pounce, which is a special attack instead of a special quality, and as such isn't retained by zombies, so you really should be either animating a fast hydra, or stripping the flesh from the zombie's bones to make a skeleton.
Note that the Bloody Skeleton, Fast Zombie, and plague zombie templates say they can be created by animate dead. From what I can tell, the Fast Zombie is the best of these, as the Bloody Skeleton counts as double hit dice for animate dead, and the plague zombie retains the staggered condition. I'm not super familiar with these templates though, so you should check them out yourself.
Base Zombies and Skeletons seemed to have received some nerfs in Pathfinder. They have an average of 2 less hit points per hit die (d8 instead of d12, no cha bonus so they don't get extra hit points to compensate). They're not immune to sneak attack damage. Some other stuff.
Hydra's in 3.5 had a special quality that allowed them to attack with all their heads as a standard action, which made them great zombies. Hydra's in pathfinder have pounce, which is a special attack instead of a special quality, and as such isn't retained by zombies, so you really should be either animating a fast hydra, or stripping the flesh from the zombie's bones to make a skeleton.
Note that the Bloody Skeleton, Fast Zombie, and plague zombie templates say they can be created by animate dead. From what I can tell, the Fast Zombie is the best of these, as the Bloody Skeleton counts as double hit dice for animate dead, and the plague zombie retains the staggered condition. I'm not super familiar with these templates though, so you should check them out yourself.
That's odd. I remember looking at the advanced skeletons/zombies to see how a PC might create them and I don't remember seeing anything. Either I overlooked it, or it was an older version of the rules at the time (such as the beta). Is there some kind of limitation? If not, why would anyone create standard undead?
Does the natural armor bonus from the Zombie template stack with existing natural armor? Or does it replace it?
Here I am, applying the template to a thread - but what was the specific answer to this question?
Speaking of fast zombies, do you think they should become better swimmers?
It says under the fast zombie template to add 10 to their land speed, but what if you make a fast zombie shark? Wouldn't you think it would be a faster swimmer?
Plus you'd need an even bigger boat......
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Does the natural armor bonus from the Zombie template stack with existing natural armor? Or does it replace it?
Thread Necro! RISE! RIIIIIIISE!
This question wasn't actually answered.
Does a Zombie Owlbear have +8 natural armor, or +3 natural armor?
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It replaces.
Natural armor is based on the zombie's size
Natural armor bonus changes as follows
Natural armor improves by +6
It loses the base creature's natural armor bonus, as well as all armor and shield bonuses not from force effects
For Zombie, Skeleton and Ghost they lose their natural armor bonus and get a new one. None for Ghosts and one based on a chart for zombies and skeletons.
Vampires it states that it improves their natural armor.
So when you zombify a dragon it does not have amazingly awesome natural armor, it has zombie natural armor.
We had this question appear in our group. Examples seem to indicate it replaces.
Examples:
Thanks, Lej! That's exactly what I was looking for!
Must get my hands on Carrion Crown...
