Your Zombie Rules

[Mike70]

The cold weather isn't as relevant as people think. To freeze a zombie, it would have to be below 32 degrees for an extended period of time. Just a few hours doesn't cut it. It would literaaly have to be freezing for a couple of days, in a row. And that's not taking into account the fact that these things are mobile. It is harder to freeze a moving object than it is to freeze a roast that's just lying there. That's why it takes a river a LOT longer to freeze than a pond. never said it would only take a few hours. i don't know if you have ever lived anywhere besides florida but in places like alaska, canada, russia, scandanavia- hell most places above and below 40 degrees lat (that aren't warmed by the gulf stream) it does get below freezing for long, long periods of time. there are many places in both the north and south of the planet where it gets mean cold for extended periods. hell even where i live in ohio the weather is hardly balmy for most of dec., jan. and feb. these things might be able to move but they have no body heat and no circulation. they are just lumps of mobile flesh. where i used to live in upstate new york (watertown-43 degrees north lat) it was ugly cold in the winter. there were many a january and feb where there would be only a few days a month where it got above 0 degrees fahrenheit. anything without body heat would freeze like a rock up there.

[SRP76]

Only the outside dead would freeze, as well. Every zombie that's strolling around the mall, the gocery strore, the post office, the local McDonald's...ALL would be toasty and deadly. And from what we've seen in movies (and given the random-wandering/seeking nature of the fictional dead), a huge number of them blunder (and sometimes bash their way) indoors. Probably only half of the dead population of anyplace will be staying outside for any length of time. And when you freeze half of 1,000,000....you won't even notice. You'll be more concerned with the 500,000 dead that you still have to deal with.

[Legion2213]

And from what we've seen in movies (and given the random-wandering/seeking nature of the fictional dead), a huge number of them blunder (and sometimes bash their way) indoors. Probably only half of the dead population of anyplace will be staying outside for any length of time. Remember the first scene in "Day"? Seemed like the zombies were all just sitting around until they heard Miguel's whiney voice. Maybe they stop moving when they think that there is no prey around, as for the mall scenes in Dawn, it was very early into the outbreak, maybe the wandering around thing was just a part of the "new zombie" process.

[SRP76]

Remember the first scene in "Day"? Seemed like the zombies were all just sitting around until they heard Miguel's whiney voice. Yes. A very large portion were actually shown coming from indoors, and I'm sure they weren't the only ones. They cut out a lot of that scene. For instance, the part where they get to the helicopter, see Miguel, and say, "Aww, man, it's just this dumbass", and turn around to leave never made it into the final cut.

[Legion2213]

Yes. A very large portion were actually shown coming from indoors, and I'm sure they weren't the only ones. They cut out a lot of that scene. For instance, the part where they get to the helicopter, see Miguel, and say, "Aww, man, it's just this dumbass", and turn around to leave never made it into the final cut. Miguel - Can you feel the love?

[Mike70]

Only the outside dead would freeze, as well. Every zombie that's strolling around the mall, the gocery strore, the post office, the local McDonald's...ALL would be toasty and deadly. And from what we've seen in movies (and given the random-wandering/seeking nature of the fictional dead), a huge number of them blunder (and sometimes bash their way) indoors. Probably only half of the dead population of anyplace will be staying outside for any length of time. And when you freeze half of 1,000,000....you won't even notice. You'll be more concerned with the 500,000 dead that you still have to deal with. granted many would be indoors. but how bout when the power is off? i will also grant you the fact that in many places, esp in canada where much of the power is hydro, the electricity would probably stay on for a long time-but not forever. there are lots of places-like edmonton, calgary, stockholm, etc. where even indoors (without power) the temp is going to be cold as a frost giant's ballsack.

[mista_mo]

cause- gene manipulation/virus. Highly infectious. speed- upon first reserecting, the zombies are slow, un-cordinated (think of a child first learning how to walk) and at their most vunerable. after 13-28 hours in a state of rigor mortis, they regain movement function (the virus acts as a less efficient substitute for ATP, allowing for muscle function approximately 59-44 hours earlier then usual). They are still an un-corordinated mess however, as the infecteds brain isn't able to discern the nerve messages as well as normal peoples brains can. This results in a slower, odd looking gait. They can run at speeds based on what they could achieve in life (based on body size, mass, type, injuries etc. The virus cannot repair damaged muscles and nerves, so if someone was missing their quadricep muscles, don't expect them to be able to extend that leg). The speeds they are able to run at as a maximum are approximatley 50% slower then what an average human can run. strength- approximatley what the infected had when alive. Since zombies aren't afraid of injuring themselves, they are capable of one time feats of above natural strength (what I mean is being able to grapple a larger opponent and heave them off the ground or something like that). This one time strength is based on over all muscle mass, muscle damage, nerve damage, and age. A child zombie wouldn't be able to push down a grown man based on strength alone, but a large, strong man who had died in a reletively intact state could do so, but would suffer from muscle damage (such as rips and tears, resulting in the creature being unable to do that feat again, and in some cases, unable to do much with that muscle ever again) as a baseline however, they have approximately 10-75% of their strength as they did when they were alive for old zombies, that have been alive since the start, to fresh victims respectfully. Intelligence- The virus works by destroying large sections of the hosts brain that aren't imperitive to survival. As such, they lack creative thought, reasoning ability, artistic ability, and emotion. They are purely engines of death used to spread the virus around, and to ensure the infection of others. The brain is now only a vessel which houses the greatest concentration of the virus (which as said before is responsible for the destruction of areas of the human brain) and allows the zombie to function at baseline levels. They can however, use simple objects for killing purposes, and open doors if given significant time and insentive. senses- as befits a carrier, the host's senses become far superior to what they were while alive. Smell, hearing, sight, and touch are all markedly improved, while taste is all but unknown. However, these senses are also reliant on their external point of entry (nose and olfactory cells for smell, eyes for sight, ears for hearing) and if these are removed they lose that sense, or if just damaged, they can become impaired. The undead are also able to distinguish humans from other zombies based on these senses. how to kill- the brain is the hub of the virus, and jsut as in real life, the hub of the body, without the brain to recieve signals from the nerves, they will be unable to function. So, it is naturally the brain that must be targetted for destruction. These are persistant creatures, and will walk through a hail of automatic fire in order to reach their prey target. destroy the brain, or sever the head from the body and you will incapacitate them. overall- fearless creatures with no regard for their own safety, only the primordial need to feed and spread the virus they carry inside of them. once prey is found they will track it until they lose track of it, they kill it, or they themselves are killed. there, thats off the top of my head for what i want for my zombies....pretty standard stuff, and alot of it required some reviewing of some biology (it isn't perfect by any means, but i plan on fleshing it out and making it slightly better). spelling errors are a given, so be gentle.

[SoCalLoco]

01.) Freshness and decay determine speed. A newly revived zombie with little or no tissue damage will be faster than a mangled, rotted one. Zombie strength and speed slows as they decay. They stiffen up when rigor mortis sets in. 02.) All unburied dead become zombies, bitten or not. 03.) Destroy the brain, kill the zombie. Beat 'em or burn 'em. 04.) Zombies do NOT evolve, but do organize. They hunt for human flesh in packs/herds. They have no memories of their past lives and aren't smart by human standards. But they can use tools and objects as blungeons, and use teamwork while hunting. 05.) The cause of the plague remains a mystery. God's judgement? Voodoo? The Venus probe? 245-Trioxin? Radiation? Biological agent? Nobody knows.

[SRP76]

After reading a couple of books, I've got another big rule: #15) NO "bitter dead man retains intelligence and controls the dead" crap! I HATE that garbage! It seems every novel has to have someone/thing "controlling" the zombies. This puppetmaster invariably has some kind of stupid grudge against people, and "leads his undead army against the living". This is an angle that needs to be dropped, immediately. Zombies should be independent and mindless; no "collective mind" and all that. They are zombies, not the Borg.

[clanglee]

I dunno, it worked kinda nicely in Slither.

[Wyldwraith]

Slither was good in many ways, I got SO tired of hearing all the infested people whining for that pricks wife though. They shoulda all been linked, not been Xeroxes of him.

[SRP76]

*BUMP* This doesn't fit with "zombie physiology", but more along the lines of "zombie story" rule. It came to me while reading another thread about something else: - If your survivors are alone, they are ALONE!!! In other words, if your focus is on one group of people in an area that is DEAD, wiped out, empty of all inhabitants, you DO NOT have half a dozen people start showing up out of nowhere. "Oh, we were here for three weeks, you just never noticed us in a deserted city". NO! None of that.

[blind2d]

Yep, that about sums it up!