Solo NPCs & the Unique Horrors of Zombies
When you're playing RUSS solo, your enemies don’t need a game master. They have instincts. Behavior. A simple set of priorities and enough raw aggression to make things interesting. These are Solo NPCs—AI-driven models that operate off behavior profiles, not scripts.
In most cases, these NPCs follow basic logic:
Now forget all that when it comes to Zombies.
When you're playing RUSS solo, your enemies don’t need a game master. They have instincts. Behavior. A simple set of priorities and enough raw aggression to make things interesting. These are Solo NPCs—AI-driven models that operate off behavior profiles, not scripts.
In most cases, these NPCs follow basic logic:
- Chase what they see
- Investigate what they hear
- Prioritize objectives or threats
- Move with purpose, react with force
Now forget all that when it comes to Zombies.
Zombies Play by Different Rules
Zombies aren’t clever. They’re not tactical. They don’t know what flanking means. But they are relentless, unpredictable, and scary in numbers. Their special rules throw out most of what you expect from traditional enemies and replace it with something far more primal.
Here’s what sets them apart:
They Hear Everything
Unlike human or alien NPCs, Zombies detect sound from anywhere on the map. That’s right—fire a gun on one side of the board, and you’ve just woken up every rotting corpse in the area. Sound travels. Noise attracts. Silence is survival.
Want to open a door quietly or bash in a skull without starting a parade? Better hope you’re built for stealth.
They Are Mindless (But Not Stupid)
Zombies don’t follow complex behavior trees. They do one thing: move toward the nearest sound or scent of life.
The Mindless trait makes them immune to most status effects. You can’t suppress them. You can’t frighten them. You can’t talk them down. They’re immune to anything that relies on thinking, morale, or second thoughts. If you try to attack first, they attack back instead of cowering defensively.
This simplicity is what makes them scary. They just keep coming.
They Swarm
Zombies are built to overwhelm. They don’t hit hard individually, but in melee, their numbers become a problem. That’s where the Swarm Melee Phase comes in. Even if they didn’t get an attack during their normal activation, they’ll lash out during the special swarm phase at the end of every round.
You’ll learn fast: once you’re surrounded, you’re staying surrounded.
They Don’t Drop Loot
Sorry, no rare gear from these guys. No XP for clever kills. Zombies exist to pressure the player, slow progress, and force hard decisions. They're environmental as much as they are enemy.
Want XP or gear? Complete the mission. Survive the gauntlet. Earn it.
They Multiply
Some scenarios use Zombie Spawning Rules, especially in confined maps. Killed zombies might crawl back to life, and some missions call for spawn points that steadily push new threats onto the board.
Just because the map starts quiet doesn’t mean it stays that way.
They Redefine the Mission
Zombie missions are about survival, not domination. You’re not here to clear the board, you’re here to complete an objective before the map turns into a nightmare. The longer you stay, the worse it gets.
Stealth, distraction, and smart movement become more important than firepower. If you treat it like a standard gunfight, you'll lose.
Zombies aren’t clever. They’re not tactical. They don’t know what flanking means. But they are relentless, unpredictable, and scary in numbers. Their special rules throw out most of what you expect from traditional enemies and replace it with something far more primal.
Here’s what sets them apart:
They Hear Everything
Unlike human or alien NPCs, Zombies detect sound from anywhere on the map. That’s right—fire a gun on one side of the board, and you’ve just woken up every rotting corpse in the area. Sound travels. Noise attracts. Silence is survival.
Want to open a door quietly or bash in a skull without starting a parade? Better hope you’re built for stealth.
They Are Mindless (But Not Stupid)
Zombies don’t follow complex behavior trees. They do one thing: move toward the nearest sound or scent of life.
The Mindless trait makes them immune to most status effects. You can’t suppress them. You can’t frighten them. You can’t talk them down. They’re immune to anything that relies on thinking, morale, or second thoughts. If you try to attack first, they attack back instead of cowering defensively.
This simplicity is what makes them scary. They just keep coming.
They Swarm
Zombies are built to overwhelm. They don’t hit hard individually, but in melee, their numbers become a problem. That’s where the Swarm Melee Phase comes in. Even if they didn’t get an attack during their normal activation, they’ll lash out during the special swarm phase at the end of every round.
You’ll learn fast: once you’re surrounded, you’re staying surrounded.
They Don’t Drop Loot
Sorry, no rare gear from these guys. No XP for clever kills. Zombies exist to pressure the player, slow progress, and force hard decisions. They're environmental as much as they are enemy.
Want XP or gear? Complete the mission. Survive the gauntlet. Earn it.
They Multiply
Some scenarios use Zombie Spawning Rules, especially in confined maps. Killed zombies might crawl back to life, and some missions call for spawn points that steadily push new threats onto the board.
Just because the map starts quiet doesn’t mean it stays that way.
They Redefine the Mission
Zombie missions are about survival, not domination. You’re not here to clear the board, you’re here to complete an objective before the map turns into a nightmare. The longer you stay, the worse it gets.
Stealth, distraction, and smart movement become more important than firepower. If you treat it like a standard gunfight, you'll lose.