Salt Zombie

Salt Zombie (CR 17)

Neutral Evil - Medium - Undead (Zombie)

Lore:	Know (Religion)
33		48
Basic DC		Full DC

Initiative

30

Perception:
38	+28
Passive	Active

Ambush:

10+

on a d20

• Lore Notes: identifies as a CR2 Zombie if lore check is failed.

Senses:

• Standard Senses

Movement Types:

Defense

AC

40

Man Def

40

Monster Health
611	305	32
Hit Points	Bloodied	Hit Dice

Saving Throws
Fort:	+19
Refl:	+14
Will:	+14

Strong Against:

• (Mindless) Immune (no effect): all mind-affecting effects (charms, compulsions, fear, morale effects, patterns, and phantasms)
• (Undead 1) Immune (no effect): diseases (infected, diseased, blighted), poisons (tainted, poisoned, blighted), ability damage (dilution, damage, drain), and essence damage (suppression, omission, destruction)
• (Undead 2) Immune (no effect): bleeds (bruised, bleed, ruptured), fatigued, exhausted
• (Undead 3) Immune (no effect): magical sleep (drowsy, sluggish, asleep), paralyzed, stunned
• (Undead 4) Immune (no effect): any effect that requires a Fortitude save (unless the effect also works on objects, or is harmless)

Weak Against:

Offense

Size:	Medium
5 ft.		5 ft.
Space		Reach

To-Hit

+25

Man Off

+28

Action

0

Points

Standard Attack (Melee):

• 1x Broken Salt Bite +25 (4d10+24/x2)
  as undefined damage type
  plus Zombie Rot and Stinging Salt

Full Attack (Melee):

• 1x Broken Salt Bite +25 (4d10+24/x2)
  as undefined damage type
  plus Zombie Rot and Stinging Salt
• 2x Salt-Crusted Claws +25 (4d6+9/x2)
  as undefined damage type
  plus Zombie Rot and Stinging Salt

Standard Attack (Ranged):

Full Attack (Ranged):

Siege Damage: Not siege capable

Statistics

25

STR

19

DEX

—

CON

—

INT

18

WIS

18

CHA

Skills:

• Perception: 28
• Stealth: 30
• All other skills: 23 (no ranks)

Languages:

Feats:

Special Abilities

Salt Spray (Ex)

As a standard action, a Salt Zombie may tear a handful of the sharp, rot-infested salt that suffuses it body free and with a spastic jerk of its limb, scatter the salt in a wide arc. This affects a 7 by 7 square adjacent to its space. All enemy creatures caught in the Salt Spray take 4d6+10 points of slashing physical damage. If a Salt Zombie is caught in the Salt Spray, it is instead granted temporary hit points for the same amount. All living enemy creatures in the Salt Spray take 4d6+10 points of Negative Energy damage. They may make a Reflex saving throw against a DC of 27 to reduce this negative energy damage by half. If any Undead is caught in the salt spray, it is instead healed by the same amount. All living creatures caught in the Salt Spray also suffer the effects of Stinging Salt (see below).

Stinging Salt (Ex)

Up to once per round, after being attacked by a Salt Zombie, either in melee or after taking damage from Salt Spray, the living enemy target must make a Fort save against a DC of 27 as the sharp, stinging salt crystals are ground into their flesh. If this saving throw is failed, they suffer the Burned condition, inflicting acid damage at the start of their next turn as the salt dissolves horribly and painfully into their wounds. If the saving throw is made, they instead suffer the Sickened condition. If any creature with the Sickened condition suffers Stinging Salt and makes their save, they instead suffer the Afflicted condition. If any creature with the Afflicted condition suffers Stinging Salt and makes their save, they instead suffer the Nauseated condition.

Zombie Rot (Su)

Up to once per zombie per round, when a creature is bitten or clawed by a Salt Zombie, it must make a Fort save, DC 27 or contract the Zombie Rot disease. Zombie Rot    (Injury vector; Diseased intensity) Save: Fort DC 27;     Frequency: 1/round for 3 rounds Effect: 1d3 STR Ability Damage Fruition: Target dies. A new Salt Zombie spawns immediately from their corpse. Fruition Duration: Permanent until the zombie is destroyed and a Resurrection is cast upon it. There are no visible warning signs of the disease's fruition, other than the ongoing sickness, until the zombie begins trying to eat all his nearby friends. Similarly, any NPC killed by a zombie through damage will also rise as a zombie in 2d6 hours. If resurrection is cast on a zombie, it returns to life and is no longer a zombie.

Relentless Hunger (Ex)

When a zombie is reduced to zero or fewer hit points, instead of dying, it is replaced with a single Zombie Parts minion. This is to represent that the largest still-intact bit of the zombie continues to seek to extinguish all life from the world. When the minion is slain, the zombie is dead (but see "Immortal" in the Out of Combat section, below). Note that players should receive XP and treasure for killing both the zombie and the Zombie Parts minion, assuming they successfully slay both.

Salt Zombie

Zombies are corpses of the (fairly) recently dead, brought back to unlife through necromantic ritual, having been killed by other zombies, or dying on desecrated ground. They have no intelligence, and are driven only by a need to consume the living. While brains may be extra tasty, zombies are happy to eat any living (or recently dead) flesh. Indeed, all but the freshest zombies show extensive bite wounds from being near other zombies (or even themselves).

Zombies are attracted to sounds, but can sense life when it is nearby. Once attracted, zombies will never stop trying to kill and eat their prey.

Salt Zombies are powerful and dangerous examples of this horrid strain of monstrosity. They can be created by powerful workers of death by modifying the creation rituals. Even worse, they can arise spontaneously in places where the earth is both unhallowed and exceptionally bitter. Dead Salt Seas, bitter alkali wells, crystal caves, abandoned salt mines, all are places where saltzombies can arise spontaneously.

Even worse, it is fairly common for Salt Zombies to arise on especially bitter battlefields, and especially from salted ruins, where one nation hated another so intensely they razed entire regions and then salted the earth. Such places may be left as benighted wastes, where Salt Zombies drift with silent hunger.

Salt Zombies are much faster and more agile than lesser examples of the breed, able to shamble with ridiculous speed, moving in a scuttling sideways shuffle faster than a man can run. They are not usually able to climb, but they can make astonishing leaps. Astonishing and deadly.

And of course, there's always the salt. Wounds left after attacks by Salt Zombies are festering, abraded messes, coarse, sharp, bitter salt investing every action they do.

Combat Tactics

There's not much finesse to Zombie tactics, which are basically 'follow the living until you catch them.' Zombies are mindless and will always attack the nearest living creature or the creature that most recently attacked them. If a quarry runs from them, they will chase them until they catch them, or until a new living creature is closer to them than their quarry. Zombies will chase prey forever, since they are immortal and really have nothing better to do. If they've defeated all prey they've sensed, they will shamble aimlessly until they detect new prey.

A Salt Zombie will always melee the closest target if it can make a full attack. Otherwise, it will use Salt Spray on the closest victim and shuffle rapidly to close with it. If there are multiple melee targets, it will attack an injured target before a healthy one, and a bloody target before an injured one. If there are several targets at the same state, roll randomly.

Salt Zombies will sometimes use Salt Spray even in melee, if it will hit several delicious targets. In general, if there are three or more targets, it will use Salt Spray rather than melee. This seems mostly instinctive, as they are completely mindless.

Out of Combat

Zombies shuffle aimlessly if left alone, unceasing, never stopping. If they detect the living, they shuffle to the attack, always.

Immortal (Su)

Zombies cannot be killed through normal means. However, zombies may lie shattered and dormant after being defeated for months or even years before their bodies recompose and they once again rise to seek and consume the flesh of the living. Sanctify Corpse (Spell), Consecrate (Spell) or Gentle Repose (Spell) will add a year and a day to the time it takes for a zombie to re-compose. Resurrection (Spell) will bring the person associated with the zombie's corpse back to life, destroying the necromantic bond on its corpse.

Rewards

XP: 102,400

Treasure: Sellable Goods worth 51,444 gp.

Weight: 170 lbs.     Volume: 6.8 cu. ft.

Optional Treasure Rules: Roll a d20 on Table 1 below once per encounter (NOT per creature). Any items discovered are in addition to the normal treasure for the encounter.

Table 1: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 10	Nothing Found
11 - 14	1 Languid Remnant (tier 1)
15 - 17	1 Pale Remnant (tier 2)
18 - 19	1 Bright Remnant (tier 3)
20	Roll on Table 2
###	Nothing to see here!
###	Or here. Move along.

Table 2: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 5	3 Languid Remnants (tier 1)
6 - 10	3 Pale Remnants (tier 2)
11 - 14	1 Intense Remnant (tier 4)
15 - 17	1 Blazing Remnant (tier 5)
18 - 19	1 Vital Remnant (tier 6)
20	Roll on Table 3
###	Or here. Move along.

Table 3: Remnant(s) Found
1 - 5	3 Bright Remnants (tier 3)
6 - 8	3 Intense Remnants (tier 4)
9 - 11	3 Blazing Remnants (tier 5)
12 - 14	3 Vital Remnants (tier 6)
15 - 17	1 Prime Remnant (tier 7)
18 - 19	1 Mythic Remnant (tier 8)
20	1 Empyrean Remnant (tier 9)