I was planning on using the Animating Fog hazard to add a sense of urgency to the last act of an adventure path (The Thrushmoor Terror). I wanted the first night of it to result in a barricade hold out at the new chapel until dawn. The problem is I don't know how to make a prolonged zombie section stay fresh. Zombies are a fun monster in role play but in combat they are not that interesting to fight for an extended period. As someone who has played a more then a few zombie encounters I've noticed that after a while the PC's just kind of fall into a holding pattern of the same actions since zombies lack any special attributes to make the combat unpredictable from round to round. Adding more zombies doesn't help much since after a while you just force the PC's to just blatantly run away.
|
you could have the chapel be still under construction, with portions not finished with holes the zombies can push through. or maybe a contractor cut corners and there are cave ins of some sections.
Giving some zombies more STR can help them push down barricades, esp if they are all mindlessly pushing at once.
Or maybe the stained glass windows are floor to ceiling. so they are difficult to impossible for the party to man or barricade them all.
maybe the roof is not finished, and it starts raining and so the floor is slippery, or maybe the floor is not finished and turns to mud, so it's either slippery or maybe difficult terrain, putting them on an equal footing.
but yeah, adding some templates to make random zombies different may be interesting too.
i found I tried something similar in a stone room w' 10' thick walls and one entrance and it was incredibly boring. Players don't split up and go out like in the movies.
Having innocents to protect, especially if the Zombies can come from multiple directions could add a lot to an encounter like this.
I'd question the initial logic. Even if the night was only 8 hours, why would 4800 rounds of any combat be fun? Or are the zombies going to randomly attack 5 minutes before dawn? The best way to do this would be to put the PCs up against overwhelming odds, and then have a "bunker" to reach like an altar that wards off mindless undead, or a cellar with a thick door. I'd go with both, but then have the cellar locked with a key that must be retrieved and the altar requiring ritually consecrated candles from the head priests living quarters. Basically, require the PCs to run aboutin a few minutes before they are bogged down, and include setpiece items to kill zombies en masse for your martials. Chandeliers is the obvious example, bags of finest flour tithes to make impromptu explosives, a font with a dose of holy water that can be tipped over on to a stone tile to form a sort of caltrop zone, flax tapestries conveniently close to oil lamps, etc.
I'd question the initial logic. Even if the night was only 8 hours, why would 4800 rounds of any combat be fun? Or are the zombies going to randomly attack 5 minutes before dawn? The best way to do this would be to put the PCs up against overwhelming odds, and then have a "bunker" to reach like an altar that wards off mindless undead, or a cellar with a thick door. I'd go with both, but then have the cellar locked with a key that must be retrieved and the altar requiring ritually consecrated candles from the head priests living quarters. Basically, require the PCs to run aboutin a few minutes before they are bogged down, and include setpiece items to kill zombies en masse for your martials. Chandeliers is the obvious example, bags of finest flour tithes to make impromptu explosives, a font with a dose of holy water that can be tipped over on to a stone tile to form a sort of caltrop zone, flax tapestries conveniently close to oil lamps, etc.
I wasn't clear enough. In the adventure path the church is dedicated to Pharasma. All ordained churches of a Pharasma have the hallow effect on them (so say the lore). Because it functions as magic circle against evil the animating fog can not keep zombies inside the church.
So as I said the attack will result (as in end) in a barricade hold out at the new chapel. What I'm trying to do is keep the fight interesting as they move across town. I do like the saving innocents idea, adds a reason for the players not to just run for the church.
|
Interesting question.
I'd go with a bit more abstract representation of the zombie horde - not a hundred individual creatures with individual statblocks, because that's crazy. But more as a mob that's more or less dense in areas. It's a wave that occasionally surges.
What can help is a random effects table. Every round, roll what special effect the zombies manifest -
1 The collective moaning of the zombies can cause fear and nausea in listeners. Everyone must save or be affected for a short time.
2 The horde surges forward, pressing everyone backwards (Bullrush-like effect) and possibly squishing people for damage and doing damage to barricades. (If barricades take too much damage from zombie surges, they break down.)
3 The horde scatters and circles around a bit, spreading out to attack from multiple directions
4 Multiple decomposing bodies release gases simultaneously, creating a vomiting/choking hazard around the horde
5 The horse presses together into a pile that can climb/roll over obstructions.
6 Someone has been exposed to zombie bites in the past and hasn't noticed it yet. Roll Fortitude to avoid symptoms immediately.
Etcetera. For added anguish, let players make the roll - that way they become "responsible" when they roll a result they really want to avoid....