Even Zombified, He's A True Gentleman

Recently I started playing Zombie Army 4: Dead War again. In the original Zombie Army Trilogy Hitler unleashes waves of infernal energy that reanimate dead Nazis soldiers. In Dead War, Hitler has been apparently stopped and sent to Hell, but a new war rages... as it seems Hitler has regained power in Hell.

Check out this cool short film about it I shared a few years ago.

I've been playing as a good zombie named Hector. Here's his story:

Plan Z brought about a terrible curse upon the earth. Its original conception was to bring the war dead back to fight Hitler’s unholy war. Not all the poor souls brought back were mindless corpses hell bent on annihilation.

Hector was a British aviator who crashed and perished in the Alps during the Dead Wars engagement. Upon his resurrection he found himself pursued by a zombie kill squad, but managed to convince them his motives were pure. After joining the team and despite his predicament, he still maintains his very British gentlemanly conduct.

I thought it would be fun to stat Hector out for use with Limitless Adventure's Mystery in the Sahara. His undead fortitude makes him stronger than the average recruit, but he's not totally overpowered compared to a standard character. 

Hector

Medium Undead, Lawful Good

Armor Class: 11 

Hit Points: 22 (3d8+9)

Speed: 30ft.

Str 13 (+1) Dex 12 (+1) Con 16 (+3) Int 12 (+1) Wis 10 (+0) Cha 8 (-1)

Saving Throws: Wis +2

Skills:  Perception +2, Persuasion +1, Piloting +3

Proficiencies: Air Vehicles, Firearms

Damage Immunities: Poison

Condition Immunities: Poisoned

Senses: passive Perception 12

Languages: English

Challenge: 1 ( 200 XP)

Unique Traits

Spit and Bailing Wire: As an action, Hector can grant a machine 6 (1d10+1) temporary hit points. These temporary hit points expire when he takes a short or long rest.

Undead Fortitude: If damage reduced Hector to 0 hit points, he must make a Constitution saving throw with a DC 5 + damage taken, unless the damage is radiant or from a critical hit. On a success, Hector drops to 1 hit point instead.

Actions

Combat Knife : Melee Weapon Attack +3 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target, Hit: 3 (1d4+1) piercing damage.

No. III Lee-Enfield: Ranged Weapon Attack +3 to hit, range 550y./ 1100 yd., one target, Hit: 15 (4d6+1) piercing damage.

.455 Webley: Ranged Weapon Attack +3 to hit, range 50y./ 110 yd., one target, Hit: 5 (1d8+1) piercing damage.

Equipment: .455 Webley, two magazines, No. III Lee-Enfield, two magazines, backpack, flight helmet, helmet, tattered uniform

Wotjek the Bear (5Evo)

Wotjek the Bear sounds like something out of a novel, but he was real. The bear was a morale booster and mascot to Polish troops during World War II. If you would like to learn more about Wotjek, check out this Time article from 2017. You can also check out this video from one of my favorite YouTube channels.

I've decided that Wotjek would make a great addition to Limitless Adventures 5th Evolution - WWII Mystery In The Sahara. If you aren't familiar with that book, it gives rules for creating a WWII soldier using 5e rules and includes an adventure that sets a tank crew against an evil genie. Combining WWII action with horror and fantasy is great. You can read my review here and grab your own copy here. You can grab great ideas for this game by mining DC's Weird War Tales comics. The current DC Horror: Sgt. Rock vs The Army of the Dead is another source. Expect a review and some connected 5evo content wants the miniseries ends. This post is about a bear though, so here are Wotjek stats. You can add the bear to the unit letting a player take control of the furry soldier or use him as a backup character that a player can take control of if their regular soldier is taken out of action. 

Private Wotjek ("Joyous Soldier")

Medium Beast, Chaotic Good

Armor Class: 11 (natural armor)

Hit Points: 19 (3d8+6)

Speed: 50 ft., climb 40 ft. 

Str 15 (+2) Dex 10 (+0) Con 14 (+2) Int 7 (-2) Wis 12 (+1) Cha 10 (+0)

Saving Throws: Con +4

Skills: Perception +3, Stealth +2

Senses: passive Perception 13

Languages: --

Challenge: 1 ( 200 XP)

Unique Traits

Keen Smell: Wotjek has advantage on Wisdom (Perception) checks if they rely on smell.

Second Wind: On his turn, as a bonus action, Wotjek can draw on his stamina reserves to heal 1d10+3 hit points. He can't use this ability again until he takes a short or long rest. 

Keen Smell: Once per short rest, Wotjek can ignore 1d6 bludgeoning, piercing, or slashing damage.

Actions

Mutliattack: Wotjek makes two attacks: one with his bite and one with his claws.

Bite: Melee Weapon Attack +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target, Hit: 5 (1d6+2) piercing damage.

Claw: Melee Weapon Attack +4 to hit, reach 5 ft., one target, Hit: 7 (2d4+2) piercing damage.

Equipment: Mug, ammo case, bottle of beer

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In the New Punverse, Wotjek was an honorary member of the Freedom Squadron.

Character Creation Challenge - Day 14

Today's character is created 5th Evolution: World War II - Mystery in the Sahara. 

Name: Mark Price

Medium Humanoid (Human), Lawful Good

Background:  Prisoner

Role: Sniper

Armor Class: 10 

Hit Points: 16 (2d8+2)

Speed: 30 ft.

Challenge: 1 (200 XP)

Str 11 (+0) Dex 13 (+1) Con 13 (+1) Int 9 (-1) Wis 13 (+1) Cha 15 (+2)

Saving Throws: Dex +3

Skills: Deception +4, Perception +3, Stealth +3

Proficiencies: Firearms

Senses: passive Perception 11

Languages: English

Actions

Sniper: Mark can aim his firearm at a target in normal range, On his next turn, he gains advantage on his first attack against that target. 

Unarmed Strike: Melee Weapon Attack +2 to hit, reach 5 ft., (one target), Hit: 1 bludgeoning

Scoped Springfield M1903: Ranged Weapon Attack +2 to hit, 625y/2500y range, (one target), Hit: 4 (1d8+1 piercing)

M1 Carbine: Ranged Weapon Attack +2 to hit, 500y/2000y range, (one target), Hit: 5 (2d10+1 piercing)

Equipment: M1903 Springfield (2 magazines), M1 Carbine (2 magazines), helmet, uniform

Age: 20

Hometown: Portsmouth, Ohio

Background: Laborer turned prisoner

Hobbies: Collecting coins

Fears: Losing squad mates

Dreams: Go home a hero

Background

Mark was a simple worker at the local shoe factory until he caught the eye of the boss's daughter. Unfortunately the miser was friends with the local magistrate and Mark was arrested on trumped up charges. He spent a few months in the local slammer, learning a few useful talents. Eventually he was offered a choice, years of prison or enlisting in the war effort. Not wanting to be stuck behind bars, he enlisted. 

Character Creation Challenge - Day 30

Today's character is created 5th Evolution: World War II - Mystery in the Sahara. 

Name: Scott Worthington

Medium Humanoid (Human), Chaotic Good

Background: Small Town Kid

Role: Medic

Armor Class: 10 

Hit Points: 9 (2d8)

Speed: 30 ft.

Challenge: 1 (200 XP)

Str 10 (+0) Dex 10 (+0) Con 10 (+0) Int 10 (+0) Wis 12 (+1) Cha 10 (+0)

Saving Throws: Dex +3

Skills: Insight +3, Medicine +3, Survival +3

Proficiencies: Firearms, Field Medicine

Senses: passive Perception 11

Languages: English

Actions

Unarmed Strike: Melee Weapon Attack +2 to hit, reach 5 ft., (one target), Hit: 1 bludgeoning

Colt M1903: Ranged Weapon Attack +2 to hit, 50y/100y range, (one target), Hit: 4 (1d8 piercing)

M1 Carbine: Ranged Weapon Attack +2 to hit, 100y/300y range, (one target), Hit: 5 (2d10 piercing)

Equipment: Colt M1903 (2 magazines), M1 Carbine (2 magazines), helmet, uniform, medical kit

Background

Scott Worthington is a small town Ohio boy who wanted to serve his country. Enlisting in the service and serving as a medic, he serves as a voice of reason and calm in his tank crew.  

5th Evolution - WWII: Mystery In The Sahara Review

5th Evolution: WWII #1 lets you take your 5e game out of a traditional fantasy setting and into an alternate history where a brave American tank crew encounters powerful ancient magic in WWII.

The book contains 47pages of content. This is an adventure and rules supplement for 5th edition. You need the core books, basic pdf, or the srd to use it.

Like all 5Evo books, this starts with a comic. In the deserts of North Africa a tank crew encounters an ancient Efreeti and his lava scorpion minions (as well as a group of Nazis). Again, like all of the 5Evo books, the artwork is astounding. I'm not really into war comics, but I would read the further tales of this group.

After the comic we're presented with the scenario. The characters are there to stop a group of Afrikacorps who are in the desert to awaken and ancient evil. They do so and that's were the evil genie comes into play. In the adventure they will encounters the Nazis and their commander, an evil genie, giant magma scorpions, an anti tank gun, skeletal guardians, and a mummy.

The party is made of up four different members of the tank crew and the tank itself (which they each share a role in running). It's an interesting idea and I need to run this to see how it plays out. Just reading the rules it seems pretty solid.

This information is followed by what you need to make your own WWII adventures. There's a one page primer with a timeline and info about the homefront. There are two pages for character creation. You should background and advanced training, which is what really sets you apart from your brothers in arms. Characters are roughly the equivalent of secondary characters (though are a lot more powerful in their tank. This is followed by rules for running a game set during WWII and several pages with firearms rules and lists of equipment. These are really cool, because they are broken down by nationality. There are also a few pages with other vehicles. Finally the book ends with some npc stat blocks (Bedouin Tracker, Raw German Recruit, Heavy Shotgun, and German Officer).

After reading this book again, I think it would be a great way to play something like Overload. There's some great stuff in the Tunnel of Terror book for this (including contagious zombie stats). You could also use this for flashback setting adventures in a Carbide City game. The players could take on the roles of soldiers that dealt with something related to a villain.

Currently only backers of the Kickstarter (like me) have print copies, but you can pick the pdf here. Better yet, you could back their new Kickstarter, 5Evo Whitechapel and get it and the original three (including this one).