Death Priest and Zombie Modification

[Astral Pantheon]

What if a Death Priest was also a Medical Doctor before the Wave. Now, has a "safe" area with 200+ worshippers, his Zombie minions and lets go all out even 2-3 lesser Death priests. Ok, the good Dr. Death gets a few "volunteers" for Divine modifications. A few examples: change a face to look like a lizard or monster, bone grafts for spikes out of the arms, a tail made of human flesh, metal plating in head then he carefully has a zombie kill them....All modification now carry over to zombies.

Just think of the Reaper the shoots the Metal Skull Zombie (AR 18-19...once metal destroyed then AR drops to normal) and the bullet bounces off or the Spike Zombie with bone shards all other the body...bear hug anyone (also if a shard breaks the regeneration will restore it to new in no time).

Think what a Mad Man like this could create over time.

[Astral Pantheon]

Well, Death Priests, from my understanding, have a small amount of influence and control over zombies. But I don't think they would be able to have enough control to make a zombie lay still and not bite for the length of a procedure of that magnitude.

I do like the random encounter table in the main handbook that says you encounter a group of slouchers with helmets on! Someone's been putting helmets on zombies! -kinda the same idea, only more plausible, and funny too!

No, I don't mean change an already turned zombie But to change the humans before they are turned.

[Astral Pantheon]

No, I don't mean change an already turned zombie But to change the humans before they are turned.

Thats just.. devious >:)

Yes, I know

[Grell]

This is a good idea and some devious out of the box thinking. Be sure to let us know how this play test turns out for you!

This is like putting a Thinker in SWAT gear only more brutal. Why does Metalocalypse keep coming to mind?

[azazel1024]

How close do you want to be to reality though? You can graft things on to a person, but they aren't a part of that person. So when killed and risen as a zombie it is still just a graft, not something that would regenerate if damaged, yanked off, etc.

I could certainly see a death priest or zombie lover, just like the book said, putting helmets on zombies, or strapping homemade body armor to them, that sort of thing. I am wondering about other mutations, variations, etc of zombies. Nothing against say grafting a sword to the forearm of a person and then having a zombie kill them (its still just a graft though). Or say spikes on it like you said, etc.
-Matt

[azazel1024]

Keep in mind that any zombie but maybe a thinker or mock could look at a sword that's been grafted on their arm and know what to do with it. Any sword hits against a player were probably trying to be grabs or completely lucky on the zombie's part.

Certainly, but I don't know about you, but I don't want to be grabbed by a sword
-Matt

[Astral Pantheon]

How close do you want to be to reality though? You can graft things on to a person, but they aren't a part of that person. So when killed and risen as a zombie it is still just a graft, not something that would regenerate if damaged, yanked off, etc.

I could certainly see a death priest or zombie lover, just like the book said, putting helmets on zombies, or strapping homemade body armor to them, that sort of thing. I am wondering about other mutations, variations, etc of zombies. Nothing against say grafting a sword to the forearm of a person and then having a zombie kill them (its still just a graft though). Or say spikes on it like you said, etc.
-Matt

Bone grafts in people heal just as well as normal bone, so why won't the grafted bone spike (linked to the arm or leg bone) not regenerate??

[azazel1024]

A bone graft doesn't actually grow with the natural bone. Its used as a structure for the existing bone to 'take over'. Basically as the body heals itself it replaces the bone graft over time. Kind of like if you patched a pair of jeans and the jeans slowly grew and replaced the patch with natural material over time.

This occurs even using natural bone donated from the host's own body.

In the case of something like adding material such as a large bone spike its unlikely that the host body would actually grow a bone out over the entire graft making it a new bone. Also since this takes time you'd need to keep the human alive for months for the natural bone to replace the graft for it to become part of the zombie when the human is killed.

Lastly there is the issue of performing such a surgery successfully to keep the person alive while you add large spikes, etc on to their body. Probably not going to happen even with a skilled surgeon.

Look up wikipedia "bone grafts" for a quick crash course on them.

Its a neat idea and if you want it to work I say cool and macabre (fitting with DR), but it doesn't match with how bone grafts work.
-Matt