The Problem with the Dead We all love a good zombie apocalypse. There is something satisfying about mowing down waves of mindless, rotting corpses. But after the hundredth game of Zombicide or the tenth D&D encounter with a shambling ghoul, the threat starts to feel… predictable. They are dangerous, yes, but they are dumb. They don't have a plan. They don't have a leader.At AltMode Minis, we decided it was time to evolve the enemy.Lore: The Gospel of Matriarch Elara Elara wasn't a necromancer; she was a healer who simply couldn't bear to watch the world suffer anymore. In a world ravaged by infection and war, she sought a cure—not for the disease, but for pain itself.She found it in the Flaying Rite.Elara preaches that our skin is a cage, a prison of nerve endings that binds us to fear and agony. By surgically removing layers of "judgment," she and her followers believe they are liberating themselves. They are the Skin Saints. They do not rot; they are perfectly preserved in a state of euphoric awareness.Unlike zombies, who are driven by hunger, the Skin Saints are driven by compassion. They want to catch you, hold you down, and "liberate" you from your skin so you can join their painless paradise. They don't want to eat your brains; they want to save your soul. And that is infinitely more terrifying.Gameplay: Replacing the Horde We designed the Skin Saints STL Collection to be a 1:1 replacement for the standard zombie types in board games like Zombicide, or as a terrifying cult faction for D&D and Call of Cthulhu.Here is how they change the dynamic on your table:

• The Petitioners (Walkers): Instead of stumbling drunks, these are the newly initiated. They move with calm, unsettling purpose, blocking your path not out of stupidity, but to herd you toward the Matriarch.
• The Flayed Dancers (Runners): Without the weight of their skin, these zealots move with impossible speed. In our lore, they don't just run; they sprint with joyous abandon to deliver the "gift" of the knife.
• The Absolved (Fatties/Brutes): Hulking masses of muscle who have felt the Matriarch’s full blessing. They feel no pain, ignore your attacks, and smash through doors to let the others in.
• Matriarch Elara (Abomination/Boss): The centerpiece of the collection. She isn't a monster; she is a beautiful, terrifying leader. On the tabletop, she represents a tactical genius. When she spawns, imagine the horde reacting to her commands—flanking, regrouping, and hunting your heroes with intelligence.

A New Level of Threat Using the Skin Saints changes the genre of your game from "Survival Horror" to "Psychological Horror." When you put these minis on the table, you aren't fighting nature. You are fighting a crusade.Are you ready to be liberated?[Link: Download the Matriarch Elara & The Skin Saints Collection at AltMode Minis]