If the party turned tail and ran, they could absolutely outdistance the zombies.  Zombies are quite slow - fast enough to continue pressing you as you defensively withdraw, but not fast enough to keep up with even Midge at a full run.  Do note that zombies do not tire, do not rest, do not stop.  This means that if they know where you are, it is very difficult to actually escape them.

As for repercussions?  If you turn your back on melee range foes, they each get a free attack at your backs, with said attacks at bonus levels (shields don't count, most of Aranwen's defensive bonuses require him to be facing a foe and aware of them, dexterity bonuses are lowered or removed... you cannot dodge what you cannot see).  

Are you tough enough to soak that damage?  What do you do if they take down even one of your number? 

Hindsight being 20/20, it probably would have been more profitable to either (a) grab Kith and run immediately, not trying to heal or turn undead... or (b) get her behind you, keep an eye on her, and have Ch'dau's considerable martial abilities in your defensive line. 

Of course, (a) could have led to an ambush, to someone tripping in the dark woods, etc... and (b) could have led to a ghoul sneaking behind you to kill Kith, ala Atharis.  So you may have been danged if you did, danged if you did else, danged if you didn't. 

Not that you still couldn't get flanked now...

Olan! Will Kith be able to do anything in this next bout, or will she still just be defrosting?

She is defrosting.  It might be a round, it might be four.  Who knows?

I mean, **I** know, but you know what I mean...

You may want to provide actions for Kith to take IF she gets up.  Of for me to mock.  Whatevs.

I'm torn between doing a full retreat, and making a stand, calling Ch'dau back to the fight. Let me know what you guys think, or if there's any other options you can think of.

Olan, just how many zombies are we up against? A rough estimate is what I'm looking for...

It's dark, wooded, and chaotic.  It's really hard to say.  Everytime you cut one down, it seems another takes its place. 

Spitballing, you'd have to guess that you are outnumbered two or three to one.

"You may want to provide actions for Kith to take IF she gets up. Or for me to mock. Whatevs."

Bahahaha sweet. I happen to be a glutton for punishment so I'll start working on a post for you to mock unabashedly 

I have a fantastic tactical suggestion.

First, open up some barbeque sauce.  It can help some with the gamey flavor of certain humanoids (*cough cough* Midge *cough cough*), but will be appreciated all around.  Luckily, you have no khords in the party, so you can chalk that up as a "bright side" item. 

Well, I dunno how tactical this is, but the zombies will likely appreciate the effort...

Mmm... Barbekitty!!!

As to tactics, you know Ch'dau will turn and fight if told to do so (especially if Kith is up and at 'em, as well)... that said, and given the pounding we seem to be taking in the dark of the forest, a full retreat to the camp might be in order. We'll at least have some light there (unless the Evil GM has peed it out, that is).

One option might be that if we (i.e. you with potato sack Kith) don't all get swept over a waterfall, you could all try sprinting to the river, take your time crossing (since the bbq-loving zombies are slow bois), and use that to maybe slow them down even more, and get a couple of them to be carried away by the river. The mage and Crossbow Gib might be able to pick some off as they're crossing as well.

Agreed... between the fire and the river, we've got a tactical option or two that we don't have in the dark of the forest.

Peeing out the fire?  I like it!

If you guys do elect a full retreat, I need to know how you will proceed if any of those "free shots" result in a party member being downed.

As a gentle reminder, I do use optional bleed out rules (aka death's door):

+ hit points = character is up and able to fight, function, etc
0 hit points = character is unconscious, but stable. 
- hit points = character in unconscious and bleeding out. 

If a character is at negative hit points, they lose at least 1 HP per round (can be more if they have a particularly terrible wound).  A character's class and constitution scores determine how low into negative HP they can go.

Warrior - base -10
Priest - base -8
Rogue/mage - base -6

Any con bonus (or penalty) modifies this.

If a character reaches their "death number", that's it.  They are dead.  Given that no one in the party has resurrection magic, and that none of you are distinguished enough heroes for a deity to likely consider weakening themselves to grant such a miracle, anyway... their adventuring career is over. 

If a dying character is bandaged, they can be stabilized (healing check required).  No HP will be regained, but the threat of immediate death is removed.  If a bandaging character does not have the healing proficiency, they can still attempt to stop bleeding, but will receive a penalty to their check.

If a dying character is magically healed, they gain whatever HP from the spell and they are stabilized (even if still at negative HP).  The threat of immediate death is removed. 

Mages lose the ability to cast spells until they rest after visitng death's door..

Death number examples:

Midge is a mage with a CON of 15 (+1 modifier).  His death number is -7. 
Gib is a priest with a CON of 11 (0 modifier).  His death number is -8.
Aranwen is a warrior with a CON of 15 (+1 modifier).  His death number is -11.

Haha.  Gib's crossbow isn't stuck in a tree like Ch'dau's falcata, but he's going to have to survive this fight to use it.  Recall that he dropped his crossbow in order to rapidly draw his blade.  The weapon is undamaged, but it's on the forest floor behind the zombie line.

Maybe Kith can sneak around and go get it for him when she wakes up. 

Ah, dang, I forgot he dropped it. Kith dropped her shortbow too to grab her daggies.

And yeah, sure, that sounds like a GREAT idea, sneaking around behind the zombies that Kith can't even hear when there are dozens shambling all around her. Might as well just cover herself in Sweet Zombie Ray's BBQ lol

If she survives, she and I will both have learned a very
very
very
VERY valuable lesson.

I mean... scouting is a great idea.  Anyone can hear Gib from a mile away. 

Alone in the dark woods with ghouls... that's where you went wrong.

Thanks for the shortbow reminder, I had forgotten. 

I'ma go see if I can pick up some SZR!

I'm no longer posting anything to the QA... it only gives Olan ideas and encourages his evilness.

P.S. Remember that time when Ch'dau secretly learned magic and secretly teleported all the dropped weapons back into their owners' possession and then dropped a meteor on the zombie horde? Huh? Do ya?