Ogre Zombie 5e: A Big, Slow Wall of Dead Meat

An ogre zombie is a CR 2 Large Undead with AC 8, 85 hit points, one morningstar or slam attack at +6 for 13 bludgeoning damage, immunity to poison, and Undead Fortitude: when damage would drop it to 0 hit points, it makes a Constitution save (DC 5 + the damage taken) to stay at 1 instead. Every hit lands on it and it takes forever to kill. That is the whole design. The 2024 version is almost unchanged; it adds immunity to Exhaustion and calls its attack a Slam.

Table of Contents

• •Ogre Zombie Stat Block (2014)
• •The Ogre Zombie in the 2024 Rules
• •Ogre Zombie vs Zombie vs Ogre
• •How the Ogre Zombie Fights
• •Running an Ogre Zombie Encounter
• •How Players Beat an Ogre Zombie
• •Ogre Zombie Encounter Ideas
• •Frequently Asked Questions

Ogre Zombie Stat Block (2014)

The SRD 5.1 ogre zombie:

AC 8 means almost every attack hits: a level 3 character with +5 to hit misses only on a 1 or 2. Its 85 hit points are a lot for CR 2; a living ogre has 59. The morningstar is +6 for 13 (2d8 + 4). It understands Common and Giant but can't speak and has darkvision 60 feet. Its saves are strong on Strength and Constitution (+4 each), +0 on Wisdom (proficient) and poor on Dexterity (−2), Intelligence (−4) and Charisma (−3).

Undead Fortitude, exactly. If damage reduces it to 0 hit points, it makes a Constitution saving throw with a DC of 5 + the damage taken, unless the damage is radiant or from a critical hit. On a success it drops to 1 hit point instead. With Constitution +4:

Small killing blows often fail to finish it. Big ones always do.

The Ogre Zombie in the 2024 Rules

The SRD 5.2.1 ogre zombie keeps every number that matters.

The attack rename matters only if you track weapons: a 2014 ogre zombie carries a morningstar that the party can take. Exhaustion immunity rarely comes up in a fight against the party, so in practice the two versions play identically.

Ogre Zombie vs Zombie vs Ogre

Same damage as a living ogre, more hit points and Undead Fortitude, but easier to hit and slower, with no ranged attack and no ability to think. A living ogre makes choices. An ogre zombie walks at the nearest target and swings.

Note on making one: Animate Dead raises only Medium or Small Humanoid corpses, and an ogre is a Large Giant. Any necromancer with ogre zombies is using something beyond the SRD spells, which is a clue the party can pull on.

How the Ogre Zombie Fights

It doesn't. It advances. Intelligence 3 and no tactics: an ogre zombie moves toward the nearest living creature and attacks it. Against AC 16 it hits on a 10 (55%), about 7 damage a round. That is unimpressive. What it does well is absorb attacks: 85 hit points at AC 8 plus Undead Fortitude means the party spends two or three rounds on it.

Use it as a wall. Put an ogre zombie in a 10-foot corridor or a doorway (it's Large, so it fills the space) with a necromancer, archers or other undead behind it. The party can kill it, but not quickly, and every round they spend on it is a round the casters behind it get free.

Pair it with weaker zombies. A few regular zombies around an ogre zombie keep the party's melee characters busy while the big one closes. It moves 30 feet to their 20, so in a chase it arrives first.

Let it pursue. Undead don't flee. It follows the party until destroyed or until it loses track of them. A Wisdom (Perception) of −2 (passive 8) means a stealthy party can lose it easily.

Running an Ogre Zombie Encounter

Four characters, 2024 SRD budget:

The 2014 column follows the 2014 Dungeon Master's Guide thresholds and group multiplier used by our encounter calculator.

Ogre zombies are slow fights. If your table finds long slogs boring, use one at a time and give it a job (holding a bridge, carrying a coffin) so the fight has a point beyond its hit points.

How Players Beat an Ogre Zombie

• •Radiant damage turns off Undead Fortitude. Guiding Bolt (4d6 radiant), a cleric's Sacred Flame, Spirit Guardians (radiant for good or neutral casters) and a paladin's Divine Smite all finish it without a save. Spirit Guardians is ideal: it halves the zombie's speed inside the aura, targets its +0 Wisdom save, and deals radiant damage even on a success.
• •Save the big hit for last. A killing blow of 20 or more damage makes the save impossible. A critical hit also skips the save, so attacks with Advantage (nearly two chances in twenty to crit) are worth saving for the last few hit points.
• •Don't use poison. It's immune to poison damage and the poisoned condition.
• •Turn it. It has a Wisdom save of +0. On a failure, Turn Undead makes it flee for up to 1 minute (in 2024 it is also Frightened and Incapacitated). In both editions the effect ends early if it takes any damage, so turn it to buy time, not to set up attacks. In 2014, a cleric of level 11 or higher destroys it outright with Destroy Undead (CR 2).
• •Outrun it, or out-hide it. Speed 30 and passive Perception 8. A party that doesn't need to fight it can avoid it.

Ogre Zombie Encounter Ideas

The bridge troll that isn't. Locals say a troll guards the old stone bridge. It's an ogre zombie, standing in the middle of the bridge and attacking anything that crosses. Someone raised it and left it there. The party finds the someone's camp on the far bank, abandoned three weeks ago.

The pallbearer. A necromancer's procession moves along a forest road at night: four zombies and an ogre zombie carrying a sealed coffin on its back. The zombies fight; the ogre zombie keeps walking toward the crypt. Stopping the coffin means stopping the ogre zombie.

The ogre's brother. A living ogre asks the party for help: someone dug up its brother. The party finds the ogre zombie guarding a cultist's hideout. The living ogre wants the body back intact, which rules out the easy solution of burning the hideout down.

Frequently Asked Questions

What CR is an ogre zombie?

The ogre zombie is CR 2 (450 XP) in both the 2014 and 2024 rules, with AC 8 and 85 hit points.

How does Undead Fortitude work on an ogre zombie?

If damage reduces it to 0 hit points, it makes a Constitution saving throw with a DC of 5 + the damage taken. On a success it drops to 1 hit point instead. Radiant damage and critical hits skip the save. With Constitution +4, it can never survive a killing blow of 20 or more damage.

What's the difference between an ogre zombie and a zombie?

A zombie is Medium, CR 1/4, with 22 hit points (15 in 2024) and a weak slam. An ogre zombie is Large, CR 2, with 85 hit points and a +6 attack for 13 damage. Both have AC 8 and Undead Fortitude.

Can Animate Dead create an ogre zombie?

No. Animate Dead raises a zombie or skeleton only from the corpse of a Medium or Small Humanoid, and an ogre is a Large Giant. The SRD has no spell that creates an ogre zombie.

What is an ogre zombie immune to?

Poison damage and the poisoned condition in both editions. The 2024 ogre zombie is also immune to Exhaustion.

Stat blocks: System Reference Document 5.1 (2014) and 5.2.1 (2024), Wizards of the Coast, CC-BY-4.0. Tactics, encounter math and ideas are Loreify's own.