RimWorld Necroface Is Not in the Game: Shamblers, Ghouls and Genes
Anomaly · Biotech · Name check
There is no Necroface in RimWorld. No colonist, item, gene, creature, research project or ritual uses that name in the base game or in any of the five expansions. Necroface is a Yu-Gi-Oh! card, a DARK Zombie monster with 1200 ATK and 1800 DEF. If you want to raise the dead, Anomaly's deadlife dust turns corpses into shamblers. A ghoul is a permanent fighter made from a living person. The Biotech gene extractor only works on the living.
Unmodded PC 1.6.4871. Shamblers and ghouls need Anomaly, and the gene extractor needs Biotech. Mods and console editions differ.
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Where the name Necroface comes from
Necroface is a Level 4 Zombie-type Yu-Gi-Oh! card, printed since 2006. That is where every exact match for the name leads.
RimWorld results show up because of Workshop mods with similar words in their titles.
- Face mods such as RimFace and Facial Animation change how pawn faces look. They add no undead.
- "Necro" gene mods such as Necro Gene Extractor Tiers add machines that pull genepacks from corpses.
- Necromancy mods such as One with Death, and the Necromancer class in RimWorld of Magic, add spell-based undead.
None of these is called Necroface, and none of them comes with the game. Vanilla systems are below.
Which RimWorld system you want
| What you want | Use this | Needs | Key limit |
|---|---|---|---|
| Corpses that get up and fight for you | Deadlife dust → shamblers | Anomaly | 6 in-game hours, cannot be drafted |
| A permanent undead-looking fighter | Ghoul infusion surgery | Anomaly | Living pawn aged 13+, must eat raw meat |
| A specific dead colonist back | Resurrector mech serum | Base game | Side-effect risk rises as the body rots |
| A pawn who gets up after dying | Death refusal ritual | Anomaly | Has to be applied before death |
| Genes out of someone | Gene extractor | Biotech | Living people only, never corpses |
| A corpse that copies your colonist | Unnatural corpse | Anomaly | A threat to deal with, not a tool |
Shambler
- Raised from a corpse by deadlife dust
- Fights your enemies on its own
- Cannot be drafted, open doors or join caravans
- Expires after 6 in-game hours
Ghoul
- Made from a living person by surgery
- Drafted like a colonist, melee only
- Cannot work or wear apparel
- Permanent, but hunger can make it turn
Raise the dead with deadlife dust
Research Deadlife dust in the Anomaly tab. Shells and packs are crafted at a bioferrite shaper with Crafting 4. The trap is built on the map.
- Deadlife shell (25 bioferrite): fire it from a mortar. The capsule that lands releases dust for 10 seconds. A shell in storage that takes enough damage also bursts.
- Deadlife pack (30 bioferrite, 1 shard): a single-use belt item. A drafted wearer throws the capsule up to 23.9 tiles.
- IED deadlife trap (2 deadlife shells): build it from the Security menu. It needs the IEDs research and Construction 3. When triggered, it fills the area within 4.9 tiles. Put it where bodies will pile up.
Bodies raised by your dust join your side and attack only your enemies. Dust from a gray statue raises hostile shamblers.
Why only some of the bodies stood up
- The dust never reached them. A shell or pack releases a fixed amount of dust, enough to fill about 20 cells at full strength. It thins as it spreads and then fades, so a large pile can outrun a single capsule. Any corpse that has dust on its cell is raised, with no cap on the number.
- A wall was in the way. Dust does not pass through walls. A closed room keeps its bodies down.
- That body cannot become a shambler. Mechanoids, ghouls, bodies that were already shamblers and the unnatural corpse are never raised.
- Death refusal. A pawn with death refusal uses left stays down.
- Children. They rise only if the Child shamblers difficulty option is on.
Rot does not matter: fresh, rotting and desiccated bodies all qualify. Graves are not safe either. A grave or sarcophagus inside the cloud ejects its body, and that body rises too. Keep bodies you care about out of the blast area.
How long shamblers last
A dust-raised shambler lives for 6 in-game hours, and standing in dust keeps topping its timer back up to 6 hours. A downed shambler has a 25% chance to die. If it survives and nobody carries it off, it stands back up 3 to 4 hours later. Shamblers from events and other sources last about 4.2 to 4.8 days instead.
Shamblers cannot open doors. If yours are stuck at your gate, that is why. Fight where they can reach the enemy, or leave the route open. For bodies you are not raising, see corpse cleanup fixes and butchering by rot stage.
A ghoul is surgery on a living pawn
Research Bioferrite extraction, then Ghoul infusion. Add the Ghoul infusion bill to a living colonist, prisoner or slave aged 13 or older. A doctor with Medicine 4 uses 1 shard and 30 bioferrite. The operation always succeeds, and the ghoul joins your colony even if they were a prisoner. Doing it to another faction's prisoner costs 50 goodwill with that faction.
- Combat: fights in melee, never sleeps, and cannot work, wear apparel or use weapons.
- Food: raw meat or fresh corpses only. Rotting and desiccated corpses are not food. Keep a stocked meat shelf in its zone. For food planning, see ghoul food costs.
- Hunger betrayal: moderate meat hunger arrives about 13 hours after the food bar empties. From then on the ghoul can turn hostile at any moment, on average within 8 hours. At extreme hunger, about 21 hours in, that average drops to 2 hours. A betrayed ghoul does not come back.
- Mood: blood relatives and anyone with opinion 20 or higher get −6 mood for 20 days when someone is turned. People who know a ghoul also hold a −20 opinion of it. There is no mood penalty for standing near one.
The gene extractor will not take a corpse
Research Xenogenetics, then build the 2×2 gene extractor from 200 steel and 8 components (Construction 4). It draws 200 W while working and 50 W idle. Its Insert person order lists living colonists, prisoners, slaves and your own ghouls. Corpses never appear there.
Why the extractor refuses a pawn
- It is a corpse, or a quest lodger.
- It has no genes that can be passed on, as with a plain baseliner.
- Its only genes are archite genes.
- It is in a xenogermination coma, the machine is unpowered, or someone is already inside.
What extraction costs the person
The job takes 12 hours. A power cut pauses it, and 24 hours without power in total ejects the person. When the job finishes, two conditions start at the same time: gene loss shock for 2 days (+5% pain, −5% consciousness, −15% blood filtration) and genes regrowing for 12 to 20 days. Extracting again during regrowth kills them. Deathless does not save them, because their xenogenes are removed first. Anyone at 15% blood filtration or lower before extraction can die from the shock. Prisoners and slaves also get −8 mood for 25 days.
The machine first rolls how many genes to take: 1 (70%), 2 (20%), 3 (8%) or 4 (2%). The pack can end up with fewer. That happens when the person has fewer eligible genes, or when the remaining genes would push the pack's total metabolism outside −5 to +5. The same gene is never picked twice. Archite genes and natural skin-tone (melanin) genes are never picked. Special skin colors, such as green or blue skin, can be. For archite genes, see getting archite capsules.
Bringing one person back
- Resurrector mech serum (base game): use it on a fresh or rotting flesh corpse to bring that pawn back. It does not work on desiccated bodies or mechanoids. You can't craft or buy it. It turns up as a quest reward or loot, and traders pay for it (base value 1,700 silver). Dementia, blindness and resurrection psychosis are each checked separately. Each chance rises from 2% to 80% as the body rots, measured in rot progress rather than days since death. A frozen body stays fresh.
- Death refusal (Anomaly): the Imbue death refusal psychic ritual costs 1 shard and has a 15-day cooldown. It has to be on the pawn before death. Afterwards they can choose to rise from their own corpse.
- Unnatural corpse (Anomaly): a corpse that copies one of your colonists. It wakes roughly 12 to 16 days after it appears and hunts that person. It cannot be raised as a shambler.
Mods that use the word necro
| Mod | What it adds | Requires |
|---|---|---|
| One with Death | A standalone necromancy system | Harmony, Biotech, Anomaly |
| Necro Gene Extractor Tiers | Machines that pull genepacks from corpses | Biotech, Gene Extractor Tiers |
| RimWorld of Magic | A Necromancer class among many spell classes | Check the mod page for your game version |
Mod timers and rules are set by each mod and can change with updates. They do not apply to the vanilla systems above.
Console and missing DLC
- No Anomaly: no deadlife dust, shamblers, ghouls, death refusal or unnatural corpse. The resurrector mech serum is still in the base game.
- No Biotech: no gene extractor or xenogenes. Deadlife dust and ghouls still work with Anomaly alone.
- Console: the console edition offers Royalty and Ideology only, and it has no Workshop mods. None of the systems above except the resurrector serum exist there.
FAQ
Is Necroface in RimWorld?
No. It is a Yu-Gi-Oh! card. RimWorld has no item, creature or gene by that name.
How do you raise a corpse in RimWorld?
Get Anomaly, research deadlife dust, and release it over the bodies with a deadlife shell, pack or IED trap.
What is the difference between a ghoul and a shambler?
A shambler is a raised corpse that lasts hours and cannot be drafted. A ghoul is a living person turned by surgery. It is permanent, can be drafted, and must be fed raw meat.
Can the gene extractor use a dead body?
No. It only accepts living colonists, prisoners, slaves and your own ghouls. Corpse gene extraction needs a mod.
Why did deadlife dust skip most of the pile?
The dust ran out before it reached every cell, a wall blocked it, or those bodies cannot become shamblers.
Does console RimWorld have shamblers or ghouls?
No. Anomaly is not part of the console edition.