Rager
You hear it before you see it. A raw, animal shriek that does not pause for breath because breath is no longer required. Then something covered in fresh blood comes hurtling out of the treeline at a dead sprint, and every plan you had dissolves into reflex.
Ragers are the shock troops of the Violent Dead class. Where other zombies shamble or lumber or stalk, the Rager charges. It closes distance with explosive, erratic speed, darting between an upright sprint and a low bestial lunge, throwing itself bodily at barriers and targets with zero regard for its own structural integrity. The aggression is total and unthinking: no tactics, no hesitation, no self-preservation. Just velocity and teeth. Survivors who have faced mixed hordes know that the Rager's job is simple. Scatter the line. Break the formation. Turn coordinated defense into individual panic. Everything that comes after the Rager is worse, but the Rager makes sure you are not ready for it.
What makes a Rager particularly nasty is the Bleeding Mark. One solid hit and the wound keeps opening, a slow bleed that does not stop on its own and demands immediate attention from anyone nearby. In a firefight, pulling a medic off the line to address a bleeder is exactly the kind of disruption that lets the rest of the horde close in. Higher-ranked Ragers compound this with Ground and Pound, a sustained assault on downed targets that finishes what the initial charge started, and Push Through, which lets them ignore obstacles entirely to reach whoever they have fixated on.
The good news, such as it is: Ragers are fragile by Violent Dead standards, running 50 to 75 Body. A single Double Tap will put one down for good. The bad news is that you have to drop it first through fifty points of leathery flesh armor and ranged damage reduction that makes firearms a poor first choice. Melee works, if you can stomach meeting that charge head-on.
Ragers are the shock troops of the Violent Dead class. Where other zombies shamble or lumber or stalk, the Rager charges. It closes distance with explosive, erratic speed, darting between an upright sprint and a low bestial lunge, throwing itself bodily at barriers and targets with zero regard for its own structural integrity. The aggression is total and unthinking: no tactics, no hesitation, no self-preservation. Just velocity and teeth. Survivors who have faced mixed hordes know that the Rager's job is simple. Scatter the line. Break the formation. Turn coordinated defense into individual panic. Everything that comes after the Rager is worse, but the Rager makes sure you are not ready for it.
What makes a Rager particularly nasty is the Bleeding Mark. One solid hit and the wound keeps opening, a slow bleed that does not stop on its own and demands immediate attention from anyone nearby. In a firefight, pulling a medic off the line to address a bleeder is exactly the kind of disruption that lets the rest of the horde close in. Higher-ranked Ragers compound this with Ground and Pound, a sustained assault on downed targets that finishes what the initial charge started, and Push Through, which lets them ignore obstacles entirely to reach whoever they have fixated on.
The good news, such as it is: Ragers are fragile by Violent Dead standards, running 50 to 75 Body. A single Double Tap will put one down for good. The bad news is that you have to drop it first through fifty points of leathery flesh armor and ranged damage reduction that makes firearms a poor first choice. Melee works, if you can stomach meeting that charge head-on.
Basic Information
Anatomy
The body is gaunt but dense with corded muscle, every visible vein standing out against skin stretched tight enough to look ready to split. There is no bloat here, no decay-swollen bulk. The Rager is built for speed and violence, and its frame reflects that: lean, taut, and wound like a steel trap. The face is frozen in a permanent snarl or scream, mouth bloodied, eyes wild and tracking. Fresh blood splatters the torso, the arms, the hands. Some of it belongs to recent victims. Some of it, judging by the self-inflicted gashes and torn clothing, belongs to the Rager itself.
The overall impression is of something that was human-sized and human-shaped, but whatever drove it past death left nothing behind except fury given a body to wear.
The overall impression is of something that was human-sized and human-shaped, but whatever drove it past death left nothing behind except fury given a body to wear.
Biological Traits
The signature threat is Bleeding Mark: a wound that keeps opening after the initial strike, creating sustained damage pressure that demands immediate medical attention. In a combat line, pulling one person to treat a bleeder costs the group more than the original hit did. Higher-ranked Ragers carry multiple marks and combine them with Ground and Pound, a sustained assault that finishes downed targets before help can arrive.
Awareness means hiding is not an option; the Rager detects concealed targets. Push Through lets advanced specimens ignore obstacles entirely, removing the safety of barricades and chokepoints. Leathery flesh armor and ranged damage reduction force melee engagement, which is exactly where the Rager is most dangerous. The countermeasure is straightforward: a single Double Tap ends a Rager permanently. The challenge is getting to that point when the thing is already in your face, bleeding you out, and three more are screaming their way in behind it.
Awareness means hiding is not an option; the Rager detects concealed targets. Push Through lets advanced specimens ignore obstacles entirely, removing the safety of barricades and chokepoints. Leathery flesh armor and ranged damage reduction force melee engagement, which is exactly where the Rager is most dangerous. The countermeasure is straightforward: a single Double Tap ends a Rager permanently. The challenge is getting to that point when the thing is already in your face, bleeding you out, and three more are screaming their way in behind it.
Behaviour
Ragers do not stalk. They do not wait. They detect movement or noise or the simple presence of the living, and they explode into motion. The movement pattern shifts constantly between an upright sprint and a hunched, bestial rush, making them difficult to track and harder to predict. They throw themselves at barriers, smash through doors in groups, and leap at targets with reckless abandon.
There is no intelligence behind the aggression, no planning, no target prioritization beyond proximity. A Rager charges the nearest living thing and keeps swinging until that thing stops moving or the Rager does. In group encounters, this mindless aggression paradoxically serves a tactical function: multiple Ragers hitting a defensive line from different angles at different speeds create chaos that more deliberate threats exploit. Survivors who have studied mixed hordes call the Rager the "door opener." It is not the thing that kills you. It is the thing that makes sure you cannot stop the thing that kills you.
There is no intelligence behind the aggression, no planning, no target prioritization beyond proximity. A Rager charges the nearest living thing and keeps swinging until that thing stops moving or the Rager does. In group encounters, this mindless aggression paradoxically serves a tactical function: multiple Ragers hitting a defensive line from different angles at different speeds create chaos that more deliberate threats exploit. Survivors who have studied mixed hordes call the Rager the "door opener." It is not the thing that kills you. It is the thing that makes sure you cannot stop the thing that kills you.
Fury given a corpse to wear
Threat Class
Violent Dead
Counts As
Zombie
Body Range
50-75
Key Threat
Bleeding Mark and explosive aggression
Average Physique
Gaunt, muscular, coiled for violence
Body Tint, Colouring and Marking
Stretched pallid skin, fresh blood splatter
