Do these need to be pulped to halt reanimation at a future date, or do they only exist in the game as a static corpse?
Depending on the version of the game you’re playing, they are no threat to you (0.E stable and prior) or can (and will) resurrect if left unpulped (not sure since when, but since one of the experimental versions a few months back).
I’m playing experimental, so I guess I should pulp just in case. I mainly ask, because interacting with them in an invasive fashion using cutting equipment seems to give a substantial hit to morale.
Do they come back as stock standard ‘run-of-the-mill’ zeds, or is there a chance they reanimate as special ones (shocker/boomer/fat etc)
I think (s)mashing them does not result in a moral penalty, but I’m not sure about that…
If you want to check if there’s a chance that they come back, you could quickly switch to a tileset that shows which corpses can reanimate and see if there’s a symbol indicating it.
Another way would be to place an item on the tile with the corpse (if there aren’t any already) and check in the (g) pickup menu (or (/) advanced inventory) if the item “name” (of the corpse) is colored yellow when you select the other item you’ve placed. If it is, it’s likely that it will come back as a Zombie.
I’ve always seen them reanimate as a normal Zombie, but I can’t say for sure that they always will. Especially if you walk away right as they reanimate - even if you can’t see them - they might be an evolved form if you return the next time.
The morale penalty is from Butcher actions, smash is Okay. And, yes, they will reanimate in current experimental version, I think you get the standard ‘new zombie’ range of spawns. Early game that means some tough zombies and boomers in the mix, mostly.