Mass Cadaver
The first sign is the ground shaking. Not much, not like a quake, but a rhythmic tremor that carries through the soles of your boots and up into your teeth. Then the smell hits: something between a burst abscess and a tannery fire, thick enough to taste. By the time you see it, the Mass Cadaver is already closer than you want it to be. It does not run. It does not need to.
Mass Cadavers belong to the Violent Dead class, and among that company they serve a singular role: the siege engine. Where Ragers scatter a line and Maulers pin survivors in place, the Mass Cadaver simply walks forward and absorbs everything thrown at it. Swollen to two or three times the size of a standard corpse, layered in hardened necrotic tissue that turns aside bullets and blades alike, these things are less zombie and more moving barricade. Fifty points of leathery flesh armor coat the exterior, and ranged weapons barely scratch what lies beneath. Melee is the only honest way through, and even then the Body underneath runs between 200 and 250 depending on how far the thing has matured.
The real danger is not the Mass Cadaver itself, though it will crush you flat given the chance. The real danger is what it does to the fight around it. Acid spews from its bulk in gouts that melt barricades and burn flesh. At higher threat levels, that acid sprays in wide arcs, forcing survivors out of cover and into the open where the rest of the horde is waiting. Worse, the thing radiates a healing pulse that knits nearby undead back together. Kill the shambler next to it and watch the wounds close. The Mass Cadaver does not just tank damage; it sustains the entire formation.
Putting one down permanently requires four people with the Double Tap skill, coordinated and ready. Robust Rise Again means it will stand back up three times before those four taps even matter. Settlements that have survived Mass Cadaver incursions all report the same lesson: do not try to outshoot it, do not try to outlast it, and whatever you do, do not let it anchor a zombie line while you are still in acid range.
Mass Cadavers belong to the Violent Dead class, and among that company they serve a singular role: the siege engine. Where Ragers scatter a line and Maulers pin survivors in place, the Mass Cadaver simply walks forward and absorbs everything thrown at it. Swollen to two or three times the size of a standard corpse, layered in hardened necrotic tissue that turns aside bullets and blades alike, these things are less zombie and more moving barricade. Fifty points of leathery flesh armor coat the exterior, and ranged weapons barely scratch what lies beneath. Melee is the only honest way through, and even then the Body underneath runs between 200 and 250 depending on how far the thing has matured.
The real danger is not the Mass Cadaver itself, though it will crush you flat given the chance. The real danger is what it does to the fight around it. Acid spews from its bulk in gouts that melt barricades and burn flesh. At higher threat levels, that acid sprays in wide arcs, forcing survivors out of cover and into the open where the rest of the horde is waiting. Worse, the thing radiates a healing pulse that knits nearby undead back together. Kill the shambler next to it and watch the wounds close. The Mass Cadaver does not just tank damage; it sustains the entire formation.
Putting one down permanently requires four people with the Double Tap skill, coordinated and ready. Robust Rise Again means it will stand back up three times before those four taps even matter. Settlements that have survived Mass Cadaver incursions all report the same lesson: do not try to outshoot it, do not try to outlast it, and whatever you do, do not let it anchor a zombie line while you are still in acid range.
Basic Information
Anatomy
A Mass Cadaver looks like what happens when dead flesh refuses to stop growing. The body is grotesquely swollen, distorted to two or three times normal human proportions, with layers of necrotic tissue packed over hardened flesh like poorly stacked sandbags. Exposed wounds seep dark fluid that never quite dries, leaving a slick trail wherever the thing drags itself forward. The frame is hulking, lopsided, and wrong in every proportion; a walking barricade of dead meat that blocks sightlines and doorways alike.
The skin has the texture of sun-cured leather left out through a second summer: cracked, stiff, and resistant to puncture. Beneath it, the tissue is dense enough to turn aside projectiles that would drop a standard corpse. The overall impression is less "reanimated human" and more "something that used to be human, buried under so much additional death that the original shape is just a suggestion."
The skin has the texture of sun-cured leather left out through a second summer: cracked, stiff, and resistant to puncture. Beneath it, the tissue is dense enough to turn aside projectiles that would drop a standard corpse. The overall impression is less "reanimated human" and more "something that used to be human, buried under so much additional death that the original shape is just a suggestion."
Biological Traits
Three capabilities define the Mass Cadaver threat. First, the leathery flesh armor: a fifty-point buffer that regenerates each time the creature rises, meaning every knockdown resets the clock on damage dealt. Combined with ranged damage reduction that renders firearms and bows largely ineffective, survivors must close to melee range to deal meaningful harm. Second, acid production. Mass Cadavers spew corrosive fluid at range, and mature specimens spray it in wide arcs that deny entire areas to defenders. Shields shatter. Cover melts. The acid forces movement, and movement in a zombie encounter means exposure. Third, and perhaps most tactically significant: area-of-effect corpse healing. The Mass Cadaver radiates a restorative pulse that mends nearby undead, making every zombie within range harder to put down permanently.
Neutralization requires four Double Taps due to Robust Rise Again. It will stand back up three times before those taps matter. Sturdy Corpse immunity means knockback, mangle, and nail effects are wasted effort. The only reliable approach is coordinated melee pressure with dedicated Double Tap teams standing ready.
Neutralization requires four Double Taps due to Robust Rise Again. It will stand back up three times before those taps matter. Sturdy Corpse immunity means knockback, mangle, and nail effects are wasted effort. The only reliable approach is coordinated melee pressure with dedicated Double Tap teams standing ready.
Behaviour
Slow. Steady. Inevitable. A Mass Cadaver does not react quickly to stimuli, does not change direction on a whim, does not display anything resembling tactics or self-preservation. It picks a direction and moves, each step carrying the full weight of a creature that has no reason to conserve energy or protect itself from injury. Once momentum is established, stopping one is like trying to stop a loaded cart rolling downhill.
The behavior pattern is pure forward advance. Mass Cadavers do not stalk, do not flank, do not wait. They lumber toward the nearest concentration of the living and begin crushing. Other Violent Dead types use them as mobile cover, pressing in behind the bulk while survivors exhaust ammunition on a target that barely notices. In mixed encounters, the Mass Cadaver anchors the center while faster threats work the flanks. It is not smart enough to coordinate this. It simply does what it does, and the rest of the horde benefits.
The behavior pattern is pure forward advance. Mass Cadavers do not stalk, do not flank, do not wait. They lumber toward the nearest concentration of the living and begin crushing. Other Violent Dead types use them as mobile cover, pressing in behind the bulk while survivors exhaust ammunition on a target that barely notices. In mixed encounters, the Mass Cadaver anchors the center while faster threats work the flanks. It is not smart enough to coordinate this. It simply does what it does, and the rest of the horde benefits.
A walking fortress of dead flesh and acid
Threat Class
Violent Dead
Counts As
Zombie
Body Range
200-250
Key Threat
Acid spray and AoE undead healing
Average Physique
Massive, bloated, 2-3x human size
Body Tint, Colouring and Marking
Grey-green necrotic tissue, oozing dark fluid
