Horde Zombie (Basic Lore)

Horde Zombie (Swarm; CR 12)
Chaotic Evil - Medium - Undead
This creature possesses the Swarm role, and therefore counts as 2 monsters for purposes of encounter size, XP award, and treasure. This monster frequently has the Swarm role, but may be set to different roles if desired. Horde Zombies are tremendously awful things, even if they are encountered by themselves. But of course, with a name like 'Horde Zombie', it is rare to ever see only a single one of these shambling horrors. No one knows why Horde Zombies like to mob together in huge packs like they do, but their existence, and the way they drift along through the wilderness, makes them a deadly hazard to be avoided, managed, or destroyed, depending upon the strength of the heroes that are confronting them. Horde Zombies usually come in large swarms of staggering nightmares, although it is certainly possible to find them in a myriad of varieties. They can even become separated from their parent horde and be found alone, lonely little monsters, seeking life to devour. But most horde zombies are encountered as part of a zombie horde. A zombie horde is a thing of nightmares. It is a cluster of zombies working as a pack, wandering the countryside in a never-ending, never-sleeping quest to extinguish all life. A zombie horde consists of at least 16 to 20 zombies acting as a single fighting force, and can number much, much more. It is not uncommon for several hordes to come together to travel in packs, and such a congregation is apocalyptic for nearby towns and cities. While an individual horde zombie is a decent challenge for a town's normal defenses, several zombie hordes converging on a town can overwhelm it in an hour or so, usually creating dozens or hundreds of new zombies in the process.