The connected
What do you mean they are organized and using weapons? We destroyed a group a week ago, they were but simple zombies then...
'The connected' were constructed by a powerful mage experimenting with new forms of un-life. He made so that they can grow in numbers by a single one of them being left alone with a structurally intact corpse, which it will turn over the course of an hour into another one like it. The mage added a mental connection to the new beings which allows shared sight, thought, movement control and what little imprint of their souls remain in their flesh. In small numbers these are nothing more than simple zombies, but as their numbers grow so does their collective intelligence which is an emergent property of their numbers and the connection. By numbers their intelligence is 'log 1.5(their number in a mile radius)'.
The retained small imprint of their soul adds up in the collective. They get new skills by adding corpses thus sharing their skills. In rural areas after a massacre they will gain skills to work the field even if they won't use them but making roads might come handy. If they absorb the fallen after a battle they will become a force to be reckoned with as the once self-confident group of inquisitors that now form their ranks will attest. Absorbing a group of mentally ill patients will not help their cause.
As their intelligence and skills grow so does the diversity of their tactics. Initially they are little more than a small group of zombies fighting with their teeth and nails, easily defeated. But they will grow cunning, using big stones to throw, picking up weapons. Lying in ambush, unmoving until the prey are in position. Surrounding the foe and the ones facing him will concentrate on defense, the ones in their back will hack away, if he should turn they immediately change tactics forcing him to attack defending enemies while the ones attacking him will hit from angles where he can't defend properly. By reducing their numbers they will revert to more primitive tactics.
Taking full advantage of being undead they can for example form a boat by clinging to each other with one hand and 'swimming' the boat forward with the other. They can form temporary structures to get over walls or getting their brethren up on the ceiling for an upcoming ambush. If their numbers go too high they will make contingency plans for example planting small groups of themselves with imprinted instructions to do. So even if the main bulk gets destroyed some will be lying in wait decades only to rise, find the nearest cemetery and start anew with new tactics.
They do remain walking corpses with the strengths and weaknesses of walking corpses. They require no sleep, air, food or rest but they cannot learn on their own, reproduce or heal. To destroy them you need to structurally damage them until the magic animating them can no longer be sustained. They take normal damage from slashing, half from blunt but only 1 damage from piercing weapons. They take double damage from fire or divine magic. Their goal initially is to destroy the living. They grow to want to survive and finally to absorb as much intelligence as they can. They can only learn new things by growing their numbers. So even if at first they will want to destroy the living in the end they are likely to farm them. Letting them get born, grow, learn, make children of their own then just kill them so they get absorbed.
An additional way to interpret their intellect which may be useful is through willpower. A single zombies willpower is weak, it will only do basic things except for the things it has been good at all his life where it will have a tenfold influence on the other zombies. So a single soldier incorporated will dominate 10 zombies around it to use his fighting stile but it will only have this influence when it comes to fighting. On any other topic it's just another zombie.
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? Responses (11)
Does anyone know if something similar has been suggested on the site? Search was of no use.
There are a few hive-mind type creatures, but there is no reason you can't add another :)
A quick comment on word structure - you have a couple of sentences which aren't really sentences.
eg:
'Though absorbing a group of mentally ill patients will not help their cause.'
Drop the Though, and it works better.
and
'Forming temporary structures to get over walls or getting their brethren up on the ceiling for the upcoming ambush.'
I'd suggest:
'They can form temporary structures to get over walls or getting their brethren up on the ceiling for an upcoming ambush.
I hope you don't mind this feedback - I tend to find stuff like this a little distracting and makes it more difficult for me to judge the idea on its own merits.
Thanks, I actually like constructive feedback/criticism, I don't have any formal training on how to be a writer :) I'll update the text with your suggestions.
This is an interesting twist on the simple Zombie, making them useable again on higher level PC's.
I have to say that it was a little hard for me to read and comprehend. I think that it is more me and my ADD kicking in as my meds wear off then the way you wrote it.
The idea is superb though!
You are welcome to make suggestions and I'll happily rewrite the parts.
The more they are the more dangerous they get.
See, we like your idea custos!
3.5/5
I like this idea, and while most of the information wasn't new (zombies are zombies are zombies) but the notion of them growing as a group mind, gaining skills as they amass greater and greater numbers. The less important members, the mental patients and whatnot are going to gravitate to the outside of the herd, while the more important members are going to be pulled to the center, like an organism protecting it's more valuable organs at the expense of the less valuable.
Good job
If you take the idea further, since they cannot heal but still contribute to the intelligence the ones that get too damaged will probably get their limbs chopped off, have their head and torso put on wagons and dragged behind the army. Perfect target if you can get to it.
Pretty neat.
I echo valadaar's comments on sentence structure, some lines are a little rough. Try reading what you wrote out loud, or get someone else to, so you can hear how well it flows. Imagine it being spoken in a conversation. I like to adopt accents or tones when writing certain things, too. It's a fun way of keeping the writing in a style.
I'd suggest you completely remove the line about mentally ill patients not helping their cause. It doesn't add anything to the story, it's just a cheap shot at the mentally ill. I do lots of work with people suffering from bi-polar disorder and schizophrenia, among other things, and can tell you that most of them are not any different from so-called 'normal' people. Being admitted to a psych ward should not be any more shamed than being born with a heart problem.
Sorry. I'm fairly certain you didn't mean to offend but you hit a nerve and I needed to comment on it.
Good submission. I'm looking forward to more from you.
Thanks for the suggestions, the problem with not being a good writer is that you don't know what your doing wrong :)
I tried to suggest possible weak points for the hive because in my opinion they can become extremely dangerous very fast. In this context a lot of bipolar members all in a depressed state might grind the whole to a halt while all of them in a hypo-manic state might make them rush a clear ambush. I wasn't going for a cheap shot :)