Undead Threats

The most common kind of undead threat in the Universe are those that were created by military and scientific organizations within various faction - the United Galactic Alliance being the most guilty. Bioweapons, anti-viruses and other goals have all accidentally lead to the creation of what is known as a "zombie." Most of these are immediately destroyed, marked in a journal and the original sample disposed of.

Of course, this does not always happen.

Rinil, in the Michalis system, is an example of a Class V zombie outbreak - in which the entire world becomes infected (in this case by the Romero Virus). They are known as "Dead Worlds" and are quarantined from any visitation except by the highest ranking UGA military and scientists.

Types of Infected
Infected is the scientific word for what most people refer to as 'zombies.' Occasionally probes are sent to Rinil to observe the planet's "inhabitants" and there are numerous reports of mutations occuring from extended exposure to the disease.

Walkers
These are the most common kind of infected. They are slow and dumb. They rarely move faster than a jog and even more rarely will utilize some kind of weapon. Their main advantage that they typically stay in huge groups, and if one becomes aware of prey, than very soon, they are all aware of it. They will attack with fists, nails and teeth.

Runners
Runners are quite similiar to Walkers, only they are considerably faster. Faster than most humans. Remote probes have clocked groups of Runners moving at close to 25 mph. They can run at this speed for an indeterminate amount of time, but must slow down considerably whenever they have to make a turn, making

them relatively easy to dodge. They are as intelligent as Walkers and maintain the horde mentality. They often blend in with Walkers and will sprint out of the pack to catch prey. They will attack with fists, nails and teeth.



Hunter
Hunters are solitary infected, and relatively intelligent. They are able to use cover, set up ambushes and use a degree of patience that is completely unheard of in other kinds of infected. They earn their name from the style of their killing. They choose a single target, or a group, and will literally hunt them - for hours, days or weeks. They watch from a distance, wait for the perfect moment, and than strike. They prefer to use stealth in their attacks, rather than outright, straight-on aggression. They are incredibly dangerous.

Jumpers
Jumpers have been mutated by the Romero Virus, giving them incredibly powerful and long legs. They stand out from the rest of a horde because most stand eight to nine feet tall because of their exaggerated leg length. As their name implies, they are quite adept at jumping - leaping 20 to 30 meters with a single bound. They are smarter than Walkers, but not quite as intelligent as Hunters. They use teeth and claws when fighting, but can also utilize their legs to tremendous effect.



Howlers
Howlers can be heard coming from miles away. While on their own and not bothered by anything, they emit low-frequency moans that can carry a great distance. When close up, and moving in to kill, the moan turns into a devastating scream that can rattle eardrums, deafen and/or stun unsuspecting victims. Their scream is also known to attract other zombies to their location.



Slashers
Slashers are strange cases in the realm of Infected science and thankfully rare ones. They do not operate on the same 'Seek prey and eat' philosophy as most of the other infected do. They choose to instead find victims, drag them away and rather than immediately killing and eating them, they opt to torture them. There is no reason for this behavior - they just like inflicting pain. They are visibly separated from other zombies because their bodies are typically covered with self-inflicted knife wounds. Slashers are very intelligent zombies, utilizing traps, ambushes and even using weapons to achieve their sadistic goals.

Mercy
If Slashers represent the absolute evil of the Infected population, than Mercies represent the good (sort of). Mercies move with a fluid grace that separates them greatly from the other kinds which shamble and stumble around. Mercies travel great distances and seek out wounded or sick victims and follow them. They do not chase or attack. They just follow the victim. When the victim collapses from their wounds, the Mercy moves in. They embrace the target, gently pulling them close and take a quick bite from a major artery - essentially putting the victim out of their misery. The Mercy will than hold the recently deceased close until they turn. Mercies will fight off any zombies that try to feed on her intended target - even keeping them away when are no longer living. Mercies are physically stronger than most other kinds of Infected.



Spitter
Spitters, at a distance, are indistinguishable from Walkers. Upon closer inspection, one notes that their bodies are covered with acid burns - which leads to their ability: Spitters can spit a glob of acidic, virus-filled bile up to 50 meters with some degree of accuracy. They must spit every few hours or they will vomit, spilling the acidic attack at their feet and often getting some on themselves as well. It is easy to tell where a Spitter has been by observing acid burns on walls or on the ground.



Witch
Witches are always female Infected, and are not overly aggressive to those that do not bother them. They stay in dark places, alone, and cry. No one is sure why they cry, but it is a trait shared by all Witches. The Romero Virus has mutated them slightly, so that their hands have changed into long, black claws. Light and loud noises upset the Witch. If one angers a Witch, they immediately become a target. The Witch will zone in on the cause of anger and rip them to shreds. Their claws allow them to easily tear through all but the strongest of armor. They are more damage resistant than most zombies, but are not overly difficult to take down.

Climbers
Also known as "Spiders", Climbers have grown tiny spikes on their body, which makes them incredibly adept climbers (very fast). They are able to scale almost any surface - even attaching themselves to ceilings. They aren't very intelligent. When there is no prey to be found, they will simply wait in dark corners of rooms, staying there for days or weeks at a time. Any living thing that walks into the lair will be ambushed and eaten. Climbers typically work in groups of other Climbers. Very rarely are they found

among Walkers.

Tank
Tanks have been heavily mutated by the Romero virus, increasing their arm strength many times over (equivalent to SN Strength 2). Their upper torso and arms have changed - making them massive in comparison to the rest of their body, which largely has remained the same size. Tanks are overly aggressive and will attack anything if it looks like it might be make a meal. They are slightly more intelligent than the average Walker, and may utilize their surroundings as weapons, either melee or ranged, in order to destroy their target. Tanks are incredibly resilient to almost all damage (it takes a lot of gunpower to kill one). Fire has the biggest effect on them, and even then, it takes time before they go down.



Boomer
Boomers are heavily mutated zombies - bloated to extreme levels by the virus. These Infected are strong, but incredibly slow. It is quite easy to killer a Boomer long before it becomes an actual threat...in theory. The Boomer's special ability is the foul smelling vomit that it can shoot at a target (up to 4 meters away). This vomit is not acidic, like the the Spitters, but instead just reeks and is quite sticky - making it very difficult to see (-2 to attack bonus). The smell has a side effect of attracting any nearby zombie with a sense of smell, all of them eager to get a bite of whatever the Boomer is after. If a Boomer is killed, it will explode (5 meters) in the Infected-attracting vomit. The only way to prevent the explosion is to kill the Boomer with blunt attacks.



Lich
A misnomer, the Lich does not refer to the powerful undead that appear on Faerun, but rather the much more common instance of a mage being taken by a zombie horde. Liches are one of the smartest kinds of Infected and largely hunt alone. They have the interesting ability to still cast spells (albeit simple ones). It has been explained that whatever the last spell that was cast by the mage in life gets ingrained in the Lich's mind in death - allowing them to still use the arcane words and gestures to cast the spell. Most Liches only know a single spell and very rarely two. There does not seem to be any limit to the number of times they can cast it. Psion liches have been known to occur, but they are very rare (brain is the first thing to be degraded with any zombie virus).



Alpha
Alpha zombies are the most intelligent kind of Infected. It is not understood how they retain as much intelligence as they do or how Alphas become the way they are. They are ruthless killers and strategians. Alphas can issue commands to the other Infected and be obeyed - again, no one is sure how they are able to accomplish this. Besides their command ability, Alphas are smart enough to put on clothes (disguises) and even imitate human speech (not complicated sentences, but simple thoughts. These are typically copied from hearing others speak). They have also been known to take prisoners to use as bait to attract other victims. Alpha Infected are difficult to kill - tough, agile and strong (SN Strength, Dexterity, Constitution 1).