Real Meat Filling is a collection of customizing features a Storyteller can apply to his zombie, individually or as a group. The features are either beneficial Zombie Merits or Handicapping Zombie Derangements.

Although technically mental disorders, zombies are dead and no one can say for certain how death affects the psyche and physical ramifications thereof, but whatever I've seen it at leads to violent antisocial behavior with poor impulse control.

A zombie's Essence can be spent, point-for-point, to buy Zombie Merits. A Mild Zombie Derangement will buy one dot worth of a Zombie Merit, and a severe Zombie Derangement buys two points of a Zombie Merit.

Zombie Merits:

Zombie merits are for zombies only.

Damage Tolerance {* to *****} Damage Tolerance lets the zombie ignore the damage from any attack {Bashing, Lethal, or Aggravated} that is equal or is under its Damage Tolerance rating.

If the damage from the attack exceeds the Damage Tolerance, the zombie takes the full damage as rolled.

Damage Tolerance ignores all damage regardless if it is Bashing, Lethal, or Aggravated. It doesn't affect the damage after it has happened.

Tough Meat {*} The zombie has extra points of Damage Tolerance for every point of Tough Meat possessed.

Robust {* to *****} The zombie has an extra two Health Levels/Intactness for every point of robustness it possesses.

Regeneration {*****} The zombie can heal one Health Level for every point of Essence spent.

Bloody Meat Diet {***} The zombie mystically converts one dot of a victim's Size into one Essence point through eating it. It takes one hour to eat meat worth one point of Size.

Constructed {*****} This isn't a zombie as much as an animated collection of cobbled together parts like Frankenstein's Monster or a sorcerer's rag doll. Although cosmetically the zombie is built up of different, and sometimes non-meat bits, it still functions in the same way with a few modifications.

Every dot in constructed adds a point of 3/2 armor to the constructed creature.

Death on Legs {*} The zombie is capable of running.

Feral Primitivism {***} The zombie displays animalistic cunning and a hunting ability. The feral zombie can use its Dexterity and Wits scores normally and have a Defense rating.

If the zombie suffers from stupidity, it doesn't affect the Feral Primitivism Wits score.

Fly Blow {* to *****} It seems insects avoid zombies for some reason but in this case they don't, the zombie is swathed in a grim swirl of flying insects and chewed by worms and roaches. The cloud is so thick the zombie's details cannot be noted until the victim is actually in the cloud of insect vermin.

The vermin are lazy and aggressive and they bite, they stink, and they fly up or into any orifice or piece of soft tissue within arms' reach so any non-ranged attack is penalized by Fly Blow just as if it is the zombie's Defense score.

Instinctive Preservation {**} Instinctive Preservation allows a zombie to have a Defense score equal to the lower of Dexterity or Wits.

Pandemic Contagion {****} A zombie can infect a host with the zombie disease that forces the body to die but not stay dead.

If the victim is bitten for more than three points of Lethal damage they lose one level of Bashing damage per hour until they are dead and then they rise from death still dead but hungry.

Full Senses {**} The zombie may be dead but its senses are mystically amped up. The zombie can see and fear and taste as acutely as it was when it was alive.

Motivated {****} Something about this zombie sets it apart from the rest: its ability to try and get past problems. The zombie is able to spend its Willpower points.

Quick and Dead {***} The zombie's Initiative is the combined by adding Dexterity + Composure, just as living characters.

Regeneration {* to *****} A zombie can spend a point of Essence and heal its Health and intactness by the value of the Regeneration bought. This doesn't necessarily affect the zombie cosmetically. The zombie may still be cut up over its injuries but it just seems to cope with them better.

Bashing and Lethal are healed on a point for point basis. The zombie has to heal its full Health Level total to heal one level of Aggravated damage.

Strong {****} The zombie automatically adds three successes to any dice pool involving Strength. The successes are not rolled, they are added to the successes of the Dice Pool and thus they never roll Ten Again. They cannot be added to a roll that fails, however.

Zombie Fighting Style: Bite Down {* to *****}

Prerequisites: The zombie must have severe brain damage for this to work. A thinking zombie worth his salt can use any Fighting Merit he possessed when living. Bite Down doubles as the Brawl skill.

Effect: this fighting technique is in fact a series of maneuvers zombies use to get prey. It isn't very exciting in a shabby, ear-chewing, pro-wrestling kind of way.

Zombies can grip with their hands but they've got weak grips. Only through grappling with their entire bodies can zombies get decent leverage and maneuverability to get a mouthful.

Speciality: Zombies get one free speciality die when using Bite Down. This solitary die can roll Ten-again even if the zombie is disallowed the 10 again rule.

Please note that only the Bite attack causes Lethal damage, everything else is Bashing damage.

Bite {*} The zombie can try to chomp down on any body part near it. Although a zombie might not zombify his target, the normal living human mouth is one of the dirtiest places in the human body and getting bit by it will give you a nasty infection. A rancid and rotting zombie's mouth will surely give an infection of biblical proportions.

Lunge {**} Zombies can try and knock an opponent down by running or rather barging into them uncoordinatedly. The opponent must roll Composure + Dexterity and score enough successes to exceed the zombie's Strength + Bite Down.

People that do not equal or exceed the zombie's successes are knocked to a prone position.

Grapple {***} Zombie can try and flailingly fall on top of the victim, forcing them to the ground through momentum and zombie flesh. The attack is rather spastic so it doesn't wok as well as intended. If it is successful the zombie can try to bite the next turn.

Grappling zombies can only render their opponents prone, unless their target is prone already, then they can immobilize their prey.

Lunge and Bite or Grapple and Bite {****} This way the zombie can trip over the victim and bite as it goes past. The zombie's dice pool must form enough successes for both actions and the victim's Defense counts against both, so the zombie is trying to roll enough successes to get past Defense and into warm flesh. Remember that zombies always work grappling effects in this order: Render Prone and then Immobilize. Once the target is prone all flanking zombies will pile on so they all can share the feast.

Lunge, Grapple, and Bite {*****} This is the big grab bag of zombie trickery: the zombie rushes up to the victim, grabs them and drags everyone in real close, and then starts biting. The zombie must gather enough successes to counter three Defense values.

Zombie Fighting Style: Basic Beating {* to ***} This basic fighting style consists of punching down with fists and slaps but also doubles as a simple ranged and melee combat style. Each dot of the Merit also acts as a dot of Brawl {or whatever fighting skill is used}

Swinging {*} The zombie can use a basic punch attack.

Winging {**} The zombie can use simple weapon combat.

Slinging {***} The zombie can throw bits and pieces of stuff.

Zombie General {*****} A thinking zombie with Zombie General can issue unspoken telepathic commands to hordes of mindless drones, which they act upon to the best of their ability. Each point of Essence allows a single five word command phrase or sentence. Each successive point of Essence can increase the command by up to five words.

Zombie Derangements

It is unusual to think that typically brain dead zombies have derangements. Don't stress about it too much since being dead is the most mentally healthy of places to be.

Binge Cannibal {Severe} The zombie needs to steal the life and freshness of its opponents though devouring it as fresh as possible, as fast as possible. The flesh is assumed to lose its freshness when the blood becomes sticky though coagulation and the zombie will move to find its next victim.

The zombie gains Gluttony as an additional vice.

Clumsy {Mild and Severe} Just as the brain and personality go with decomposition, so does higher mammal acuity and interactive skills.

Mild: The zombies Finesse Attributes do not 10-again and every 1 cancels out a success.

Severe: All the zombies Finesse Attributes are only rolled with a Chance Die to generate one success. The zombie cannot attempt any extended actions with a chance roll.

Glass Skull {Severe} Any exceptionally successful attack which causes more than five Health Levels of lethal damage will be considered a headshot. All Headshots re-kills the zombie instantly and permanently.

Retarded {Mild and Severe} The process of death and rot destroyed much of the zombie's personality and psyche.

Mild: All Mental Attributes do not 10-again and every 1 cancels out a success.

Severe: The zombies Mental Attributes can only rolled with one Chance Die. The zombie cannot attempt any extended actions with a chance roll.

Slack {Mild and Severe} The zombie would be called a mouth breather if it still did. It drags its slack-jawed bulk around drooling something that isn't saliva.

Mild: The zombie's Social Attributes do not re-roll 10 again and a 1 cancels out a success.

Severe: The zombie's Social Attributes can only be rolled with a Chance Die. The zombie cannot attempt any extended actions with a chance roll.

Slow, Slow Shuffle {Mild} The zombie's Movement is based purely on its Strength Attribute. The zombie's Initiative is based only on lowest of Composure or Dexterity.

Zombies doing the Slow, Slow Shuffle literally drag their feet and only climb stairs or ramps on all fours.

Swarmer {Mild} General Zombies are mind-explodingly incapable of acting to stimuli. The Swarming Slave acts under the immediate telepathic will of the Zombie General to the best of its physical capacity.

Whiner {Mild} The whiner is the zombie always bemoaning its position. It continually vocalizes with an unintelligible groaning that destroys any chance of stealth it had.