Mud Zombie

Mud Zombie CR: 2

Medium undead, neutral evil

Armor Class: 8

Hit Points: 22 2d8+9

Speed: 20 ft

STR

13 +1

DEX

6 -2

CON

16 +3

INT

3 -4

WIS

6 -2

CHA

6 -2

Saving Throws: Wis +0

Damage Vulnerabilities: Bludgeoning

Damage Immunities: Poison, Piercing, and Slashing from weapons

Condition Immunities: Poison

Senses: Darkvision 60 ft, passive Perception 8

Languages: Understands all languages it knew in life but doesn't speak

Challenge Rating: 2

Undead Fortitude. If damage reduces a mud zombie to 0 hit points, it must make a Constitution saving throw of DC 5 + the damage taken, unless it is radiant damage or from a critical hit. On a success, the zombie drops to 1 hit point instead.
Infectious Damage. If the mud zombie hits with a critical strike, the victim has to make a DC 12 Constitution saving throw or contract a wasting disease. If not cured afterwards by healing magic, or a Wish spell, the victim looses 2 1d4 Constitution points a day. Once zero is reached, the victim dies and returns 1d4 days later as a standard zombie. On a success, nothing happens.
Suffocation. If the mud zombie hits with both claws in combat and one of them is a critical hit, it may forgo any other attacks and tries to suffocate it's victim in the mud of it's chest. It cannot do anything else while trying this. The victim can make a Strength DC 14 check to push the zombie off, or have an ally do this in place of an action. At the end of the mud zombie's turn it does 7 2d6 necrotic damage, and the victim is grappled.

Actions

Multiattack. The mud zombie makes two attacks with it's claws, slams or one of each.
Claw. Melee Weapon Attack +2 to hit, reach 5 ft, one target. Hit 4 1d6+1 slashing damage.
Slam. Melee Weapon Attack +2 to hit, reach 5 ft, one target. Hit 5 1d6+2 bludgeoning damage.

Mud zombies are the remnants of corpse buried in the mud of riverbanks, moors, swamps and other such environments. Looking more like skeletons than decomposing corpses they usually smell of wet earth and can be missing limbs. Slow moving they attack with what is left of their bodies and try to drag the faces of their victims into their own chests to suffocate their victims.
Each has been created using a set of spells to raise the dead, and others to give it an area or region to guard. This involves the mud zombies burying themselves in mud, and hiding until certain conditions are met. This usually involves a key word telepathically or orally given by their creator, to rise up and attack. Sometimes it involves a type of creature or a living creature to walk into a certain vicinity to awaken the mud zombie.
The first such creatures were found on a Demiplane long lost, yet the spells for creating them still exist, and have passed to the Material Plane. Rumoured to have first been created by a lich of ill-repute called Azalin, other powerful liches & some necromancers & vampire spell-casters have obtained these same secrets.

Suggested Environments

Anywhere with large amounts of mud, the Demiplanes of Dread (Darkon in particular).

Related Organizations

• The Necrocult