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I
haven't been running deadlands too long, (and I started in wasted west), but
since walking dead are corpses inhabited by manitous (and sometimes by souls),
I've always seen it as a gm's dream. Walking dead can do anything you like
because manitous power most arcane backgrounds in both games (I also see nature
spirits and tech spirits as the other side of the same coin). Therefore the only
thing limiting the walking dead and their powers is the power of their manitou.
While a lesser manitou would only be able to animate the corpse, a greater
manitou would be able to make it talk and have a personality (and in my opinion
use any power, not just harrowed powers). I often mix up "grrr... chomp chomp
zombies" with talkin' ones who have separate and distinct personalities. Usually
the one with a distinct personality is the one in charge because they are more
identifiable for the players and make good arch enemies (or even bog standard
bad guys).
In
relation to the original question, a powerful enough manitou with a fresh enough
corpse that died in not too nasty a way, would be able to animate it and blend
into a community without too much trouble for a short while. Using special
powers would be more difficult for it because it doesn't have a soul doing half
it's job for it, so more power goes into making it blend into the community.
Harrowed powers, or any other powers for that matter, would just take a more
powerful manitou. The point that gets interesting for a story is that a zombie
has more trouble fitting in than a harrowed. A manitou does not have the
same experiences as a person so has to act more. It would say unsociable things
and not realise what it did wrong. The body would start to decay after a
short while too (another advantage of harrowed as I understand it). All
sorts of interesting clues could be left for the players to guess what is
happening before the big ambush. The idea for me would be not only to
ambush them, but to make them go "Oh yeh!" afterwards.
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