ways to impede a zombie moan or scream

You are on your own. The Army is MIA and our government is gone! There are no communications of any kind. Cities and towns have gone dark, and zombies fill the streets. The dead have risen and it would seem to be the end of the world. Help me, Mommy!

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Axelmania
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ways to impede a zombie moan or scream

Unread post by Axelmania »

Are there ways to utterly prevent or at least lessen (reduce range) the zombie moan (scream for Fast Attack) when they spot you and try to do it?

What would be the effect (partial or full) in these for example:

1) zombie bites, you roll higher than their strike with an Entangle... jaw immobilized?
2) zombie headbutts, you roll higher with their strike with an Entangle... head immobilized?
3) you knock off a zombie's jaw
4) you put a bucket over a zombie's head (not sure how to work that out combat-wise...)
5) you stuff a sock into a zombie's mouth (similar, what do you roll to strike with there?)
6) you throw a zombie into a hole so that the walls muffle the sound a bit, so it is a less of a direct line from them to other zombies
7) you wire a zombie's jaw shut

There seem to be a lot of situations where you could at least compromise (reduce range) if not fully eliminate the effects of a moan/scream to alert other zombies.

I just don't know if any rules were printed for them. It would be great to have guidelines for how to penalize the moan/scream in such situations.

That's assuming it does work using sound physics (air flow) and isn't some magical effect, in which case I guess all bets are off.
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Kargan3033
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Re: ways to impede a zombie moan or scream

Unread post by Kargan3033 »

If I remember rightly the silent zombie(not sure of the proper name for it) have lost the ability to moan due to the loss of their lower jaw/damaged throat and neck or some such and that they are super quiet because they can't moan, basically a ninja zombie.

I will admit I could be wrong about, don't have my DR books at hand for the moment.
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Axelmania
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Re: ways to impede a zombie moan or scream

Unread post by Axelmania »

I found "Silent Sloucher" on book 3: Endless Dead, pg 13. Hadn't paid much attention to the variants yet (mostly just looked for new OCCs) nice reference!

It mentions though that "Some zombies without throats or working vocal cords can still perform the Zombie Moan" so it isn't necessarily physical damage that causes it.
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Re: ways to impede a zombie moan or scream

Unread post by Sohisohi »

I believe it outright states in the first book that these zombies are creatures of pure PPE, which is why they can still hear even with knives sticking out of their ears or see even though you personally scooped their eyes out with a spoon.

It might actually be impossible to mute a zombie besides throwing it into a river or some sort so enclosed space.
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Axelmania
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Re: ways to impede a zombie moan or scream

Unread post by Axelmania »

I remember they can see from empty eye sockets (this makes them less stealthy at night though since the sockets glow) but nothing about being able to retain hearing if you compromised the ears...

Not like we actually have rules for that or anything.
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Re: ways to impede a zombie moan or scream

Unread post by eliakon »

Based on my reading I draw this conclusion.
A zombie is specifically stated to see with out needing eyes.
It does NOT get stated that it has this exemption for speaking, hearing, tasting or smelling
In fact it is explicitly stated that the reason it can NOT feel/touch is that its skin is to necrotic to be sensitive any longer.
My conclusion is thus that unless a sense is said to need the sensory organ in question, that it does need the organ in question just like they need manipulators to manipulate things, locomotive appendages to move mouths to bite etc.
And yes, this does mean that if they do not have a mouth and throat that they can not moan.
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Axelmania
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Re: ways to impede a zombie moan or scream

Unread post by Axelmania »

hm... IRL though if someone lost their jaw would that actually prevent something like moaning? I can see how it would impede SPEECH (a problem for Mock Zombies who are capable of it) but you can still exhale right? I can moan without moving my jaw at all.

That's why I'm thinking you might actually have to cover the mouth to muffle it, or stuff a bag of socks down it to block the airblow.

Losing a jaw might even make it harder to muffle a zombie because the option of pushing the teeth together no longer exists.

Though when I clamp my teeth together, I can still emit a moaning sound, even with my lips covering my teeth (something I doubt zombies do much off). Some amount of sound can pass through our cheeks, just less audible, muffled.

Rather than absolute erasure of sound, am mostly interested in degrees of range reduction.

Since zombies can survive beheading (depleting neck SDC) their ability to moan if beheaded would be important, since it makes even a beheaded zombie an indirect threat who must be silenced (maybe chuck the head down a well if you lack the time to bash it to pulp).

I can't recall if any of the DR books talk much about the capabilities of severed heads though.
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Re: ways to impede a zombie moan or scream

Unread post by glitterboy2098 »

a moan is more from the throat/vocal cords than the jaw.
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Axelmania
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Re: ways to impede a zombie moan or scream

Unread post by Axelmania »

Given we rely on muscles for movement and zombies can probably still move if their muscles rot off, I'm beginning to wonder if we should rely on normal physiology to explain magical things.
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Re: ways to impede a zombie moan or scream

Unread post by Eddie Focus »

Zombies are functioning on pure instinct so they must be going through the motions of breathing even if they don't need to. You would need air to moan, right?
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Re: ways to impede a zombie moan or scream

Unread post by Tick »

Non-Stop ROCK!

Zombies will ignor it over time and it would drown out the zombie noise too-LOL
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Jack Burton
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Re: ways to impede a zombie moan or scream

Unread post by Jack Burton »

Tick wrote:Non-Stop ROCK!

Zombies will ignor it over time and it would drown out the zombie noise too-LOL

Kinda like what we did to ferret out Manuel Noriega from the Vatican Embassy in Panama City in '89! Why reinvent the wheel, right?
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Re: ways to impede a zombie moan or scream

Unread post by Axelmania »

Wondering about Pirates of the Carribean -esque seabed marches now. Would being underwater prevent the scream?
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