Hey everyone i am going to be running a zombies game with my friends and i am wondering what type of zombies should i use. Should i use the resident evil type or dawn of the dead?

Well it would depend on what you mean by Resident evil zombie? We talking licker and undead ravens that drop grenades.

Go play some dead island. Those are good zombies.

I do mean all the special zombies and what not. I just got that from gamefly and i didnt like it and returned it. I felt it was stupid in its own sense.

Well this is what you need to think of, I had a few games where I ran this with DnD races.

Is it a virus or bio-weapon? These things will behave differently.

How is the virus transmitted? Classic bite/transfer of bodily fluids? Is it water-bourne as well? How easy is it to contract? Will it be possible for the PC's to become infected?

RE vs DoD: depends on the style of gameplay you want. Do you eant to have your pc's mowing through mook zombies the whole game or do you want them to avoid some encounters like a "herd" of mooks? Do you want them to run from a zombie because it is an insane threat against them?

What is the goal or the PC's? Resuce? How far away is it? Are there other survivors?
Survival? How much food can you carry while still staying mobile?

This is a big one; how is the government handling the situation? Bomb first clean-up later? Attempts to rescue? How do they handle potentially inected individuals?

It is a virus/bio weapon the virus is transmitted through a bite. i am playing it so that the pcs will have to do anything for survival. They mostly wont be immune to the virus and if they get bitten they might have to amputate that limb if they dont have an anti virus in time. The main goal is survival and the government is going to try to rescue any survivors.

So run with standard Resident Evil/Dawn of the Dead zombies.

That would be fun, Defiantly will

I don't think we should run away with this. After all there's no real tried and true 'clique' for running a zombie game (dawn of the dead and even resident evil can get old; especially if improperly handled - and it's difficult to point all the ways in which something could go foul in anything short of several essays).

d20modern, in terms of the monsters, is essentially D&D. Take a D&D zombie from the 3.5srd (google), and then adjust it to your liking.

D&D zombie is usually a mass of flesh that typically wields a weapon (or slam attack, or both), but is also slow and can perform only one action per turn. They all have DR/slashing too (so modern's guns won't work). Insert other ways to kill zombies besides chopping - very hot flames that cremate bones, head shots, etc. Characters will need to switch between weapons constantly. The assault rifle is good for sniping at range and consistent killing, but takes some skill (you need to aim for the head), and only is useful until you run out of ammo. The shovel is practical and good for holding off individual zombies, but is tiring work if you've seen shaun of the dead. If your an unarmed expert, you still need to measure your kicks (intended to trip and knock over) so that the zombie that is nonetheless immune to pain doesn't accidentally trip you.

The congealed blood of slain undead is slippery! Corpses that seem to lie on the ground and act as difficult terrain may suddenly rise to fight once again. Most encounters may force the characters to make an escape. Conserving items and inventory is essential. No time to divide up a treasure horde!

Adjust it to your liking - if you want a zombie that transmits a 'virus' that weakens people, insert level drain (at level 0, they become a zombie!). You could alter the effects of level drain with a variety of flesh (erm... effects... mmm... flesh... mmm... with blackforest ham... ! What was I saying?!) - the adamantly vegan character suddenly has a greater hunger for meat, ie.

The fast mutant zombie from resident evil - aka the crimson head - is an interesting addition. These zombies will eventually die with regular attacks to the torso or limbs, but will return later.

Headshots shouldn't be easy! Make it difficult. If there's a horde of zombies, a situation should be chaotic enough that a character will certainly get grabbed unless they keep their distance. Doors and poles are good for keeping back the horde... temporarily. Some zombies can scale walls. Others can speak! Others are essentially skeletal (DR/bludgeoning), emerging from cemetaries or failed attempts at cremation. Mix it up.

I planned, but sadly never played, a zombie survival game and did some serious thinking about the slow zombies versus fast zombies decision. I happen to think fast zombies create a nice sense of terror, but slow zombies surrounding a building and preventing the PCs from escaping is a lot of fun and can lead to some very good roleplaying. I came up with a few basic examples of zombie types, use them if you'd like.

Sprinter: A zombie of a freshly killed person, the body is still as close to normal as it can be. Muscles function in all the same ways and the brain has had little deterioration. Sprinters are focused killing machines that move in instinctual packs and attack based on smell and sound. A sprinter can climb, run, and even swim in a spasmodic fashion. The body is still dead however, so a Sprinter is not quite as fast as it was in life.

Walker: Three hours after death the effects of rigor mortis set in and Sprinters become Walkers. A Walker moves at a slow, painful looking lope of about a normal persons walking pace. Walkers look more or less alive, skin tone may be pale or large bruises may appear where blood has settled in lower extremities. During this early stage, before full rigor sets in, Walkers wander the streets and react to fast movements or loud noises. After about twelve hours of death rigor mortis sets in fully and the muscles seize. At this point a Walker becomes a Crawler.

Crawler: A Crawler is either a zombie with crippled legs (destroyed or removed) or is a Walker in the 48 hour period of rigor mortis. A Crawler uses hands, even finger tips, to drag itself along, usually feeding on the helpless remains of victims before they turn or just die. A crawler may have a self preservation instinct that keeps it out of the open; they tend to skulk under cars or furniture waiting for a living victim to pass. If a Crawler gets ahold of a leg they latch on like bull dogs and tear at the calf muscles with their teeth. After rigor has passed, about three days after death, a Crawler’s muscles loosen and it can stand, once again becoming a Walker.

Shambler: After about four weeks of exposure to air and water a zombie will begin to rot, in rare cases even to liquefy. (see Rotter below) Most Shamblers are rotted bodies, missing eyes or large portions of stomach, but the bodies are still intact. A rotten zombie that loses its legs becomes a Crawler.

Rotter: A Rotter is an older zombie that has decayed but hasn’t burst yet, its body is bloated with gas and fluid. When a Rotter is killed it explodes in a shower of ichor and rotten flesh. A Rotter that has built up bile and waste matter in it’s stomach, identifiable by the extremely distended belly is a Puker. When a Puker is attacked in melee combat it violently expels this matter in a five foot stream potentially blinding and certainly incapacitating anyone in the path.

Hulking Zombie: A Hulking Zombie, or Hulker, is a zombie at any stage that had been especially large or strong in life. Football players, firemen, or body builders would become Hulking Zombies in death