Do zombies swim ?

[doc]

I'm redoing my D20 Apocolypse campaign and and got to wondering if the Deathspawn could swim. Since it loses all skills I would say no, but couldn't it flounder along ? How about Zombies in other systems and RPG's, I remember the 2nd Juju zombie had enough Dex. to fire a crossbow.

Lady Fury if you feel like it could you ask your boy toy/ house ape if it was him or those other three gents that designed the DS, that's 1 cool critter.

[Dacke]

IMO, Zombies generally wouldn't be able to swim - humans are right on the edge of buoyancy, where we float with lungs full of air and sink if we exhale. They'd be able to walk along the bottom though.

[shiningbrow]

I'd say it's half and half. Zombies shouldn't be able to walk or move, but they do. So once you accept that, and the idea that they should have an appetite, but a rather specialized one, pretty much anything else is possible. Why shouldn't they swim? I think a Zombie Olympics might not be far behind.

[Radu]

I don't think zombies would be swimmers. Shamblers, yes. Depending on how decomposed they are, maybe even floaters.

but swimmers? No. If they can't climb a rope ladder or scale a wall I don't see them having the coordination needed for swimming... unless of course, you're talking about some sort of natural swimmer zombies like a zombie shark or a zombie octopus. If the creature that becomes a zombie can swim naturally (as opposed to having an acquired skill) then yes.

[shiningbrow]

Are there zombie fish, then? Or zombie sharks? I'd say the latter might be equally dangerous to their live kin, but with much less personality.

Really, once you accept the preposterous notion that the undead can walk, why not other curious forms of locomotion? The Lindy Hop, for example.

[Cat of Ulthar]

Only recreationally, and they are not allowed in the adult pool.

[Space Cadet B^3]

Unless special care was taken, I think decomposition would play havoc on a zombie, but lacquer is cheap ;)

But I think they'd sink and just walk along the bottom.

[Ancalagon]

plants vs zombies has taught me that pools wont' stop zombies. In fact, a few of them have zombie dolphins! :boggle:

[Janos]

World War Z describes Zombies as walking along the bottom of the ocean, but they decompose quickly due to the salt, tides, and fish.

[DarwinOfMind]

World War Z also brings up that you have to watch out for those that died with life jackets on...

And when decomposition takes on often the body will fill with gases and begin to float again.

[Name Lips]

Bloaters are floaters, stinkers are sinkers.

[socrates]

I suspect walking along the bottom would be more likely, but these are zombies in an RPG. They can do whatever you want them to. Rule 0.

[The Winslow]

In the words of Captain Barbossa: "Gents, take a walk."

[shiningbrow]

World War Z also brings up that you have to watch out for those that died with life jackets on...

And when decomposition takes on often the body will fill with gases and begin to float again.

Cold water slows down bacterial action on the corpses. My sister used to work for the Dept of Natural Resources in MD. When spring came, the water warmed up and drowned bodies would often surface due to the increased activity of bacteria, who produce waste gasses that cause the corpses to float. One woman got disgusted with her husband who was using a dead human body as crabbing bait and turned him in. So this suggests that zombies might not be able to swim, but if they are sufficiently decomposed, they might float. They probably could serve as rafts for other zombies, who could use them to paddle across the body of water on.

As you can see, the capacities of zombies are nearly limitless.

[Black Angel]

In the words of Captain Barbossa: "Gents, take a walk."

Yeah I was thinking of that movie too - walking the sea floor seems to be the way to go...

Also, shiningbrow you seem to have some admiration for the zombie crowd. ;)

[doc]

Thank you one and all