The Campaign Builder's Guild

My players have taken a sudden intrest in zombies, and I have been looking to work on something new anyway. So I would like to create a roleplaying game centered around zombies. There are a few things I have in mind, but it is all mostly still floating around in my head and nothing solid yet.

     So there is one thing that will not change. This takes place on earth in the near future, only about three or four years from now. Other then that, everything else is open to suggestions.


             And here's a few things that I was thinking about:

    How did zombies happen?-The 'zombies' are not actually dead people, but rather living people infected by some means. So far i've been thinking about a hybrid type of rabies, something that would leave no trace of a zombie's former life and making them simply horrifying eating machines.

    Runners or Shamblers?-Right now i'm making the decision on whether I want the zombies to run or walk. Although walking would make combat easier in terms of turns (assuming i'm using a system like that) but since so far i'm going for a rabie like infection, I don't see any reason why that should impede the zombies ability to run.

    How did this happen?-Nobody knows exactly how. The zombie plague has caught the world by surprise. It is known, however, that the infections originated in third world countries and spread all throughout the world.

    What are the heroes in this RPG like?-There are no heroes in this RPG. I am going for a type of survival horror feel, so all characters the PCs create will be normal people, maybe i'll allow police, but i'm still a little shaky. The characters posses what normal people would posses, so they have to hunt for supplies used to survive.


   Okay, so, I just figured to get some of my thoughts down. I will continue to post more as I continue to think, but if its not to much trouble any suggestions or ideas you have I am more then open to.

   

Quote from: DrizztrocksThe 'zombies' are not actually dead people, but rather living people infected by some means. So far i've been thinking about a hybrid type of rabies, something that would leave no trace of a zombie's former life and making them simply horrifying eating machines.

Outbreak or Apocalypse?[/b] - Do you want this to be confined to a few cities/one area/etc., with the possibility of an organized response? In this case, the survivors are probably fleeing the impending airstrike. Or is it a civilization-destroying event, and it's much more of a post-apocalyptic world?

Run vs. Walk
Wouldn't this actually have a lot with the muscular and skeletal condition of that particular zombie, honestly?

if they are unthinking eaters, why don't they try to eat each other?

Agreed. With unthinking beasts as well, if we assume that a) it's a majority infection rate and b) they've essentially removed the ability of society to maintain itself, what's stopping them from dying off to exposure, predation by carnivores, or death via structural collapse of poorly maintained building?

Are they predators of human flesh only, or any type of meat? If the latter, you're going to have a massive zombie die-off a few months in as easily-available food supplies (vulnerable humans, livestock, etc.) dry up.

Quote from: Lord VreegRun vs. Walk
Wouldn't this actually have a lot with the muscular and skeletal condition of that particular zombie, honestly?

   That is a good point, but the majority of people posses the ability to run, so wouldn't that slow moving zombie be the exception?

Quote from: sparkletwist

Quote from: DrizztrocksThe 'zombies' are not actually dead people, but rather living people infected by some means. So far i've been thinking about a hybrid type of rabies, something that would leave no trace of a zombie's former life and making them simply horrifying eating machines.

Outbreak or Apocalypse?[/b] - Do you want this to be confined to a few cities/one area/etc., with the possibility of an organized response? In this case, the survivors are probably fleeing the impending airstrike. Or is it a civilization-destroying event, and it's much more of a post-apocalyptic world?

   It begins with an outbreak and quickly declines into an apocalypse, if that makes sense. The infection spreads so quickly that organized attempts have been made, and large evacuation companies have found places to base themselves. But outside of these secure bases I have the idea of a post apocalyptic world. You mentioned Left 4 Dead, and that is the kind of feel I want to go for, except I want survivors to be more abundant. So, in a way, a little bit of both.

Quote from: Stargate525Agreed. With unthinking beasts as well, if we assume that a) it's a majority infection rate and b) they've essentially removed the ability of society to maintain itself, what's stopping them from dying off to exposure, predation by carnivores, or death via structural collapse of poorly maintained building?

Are they predators of human flesh only, or any type of meat? If the latter, you're going to have a massive zombie die-off a few months in as easily-available food supplies (vulnerable humans, livestock, etc.) dry up.

  The difference between my zombies and carnivorious animals is that animals feel pain, and react to it, and although my zombies feel pain, it just drives their hunger on stronger. So in a way, the only way to stop them from trying to eat is to kill them. Zombies do not eat other zombies because infected flesh brings them no nourishment. They will feed on any meat, but only certain animals can become infected by them. Right now I have humans and dogs able to become infected, but of course I am open to other suggestions.

   The reason why the zombies do not die out after a few months is because they still breed with one another. They do two things: eat and mate. Since they are still in essence human (or dog, or any other species I decided can become infected) they still feel the drive to mate, and the zombie babies are born infected. Since zombies do not feed on eachother, and rarely attack eachother (because they have no concept of territory or any other thing that would make other animals fight) many more zombie children would grow to adulthood then you would think.

 Despite their simularites to other animals, the infected are still unthinking, vicious eating machines.


   So what does everybody think of these ideas?

   

Quote from: DrizztrocksYou mentioned Left 4 Dead, and that is the kind of feel I want to go for, except I want survivors to be more abundant. So, in a way, a little bit of both.

I'm not sure if it's right or not, and the game is scant on the details, but I got the feeling from the availability of escape transport, the presence of the military, etc., that the outbreak in L4D has been largely contained, and it's largely a matter of the survivors getting out of the affected area.

I'm not really wild about your idea of reproducing zombies creating a sustainable population. A loving zombie mother holding her zombie infant brings too much humanity into it-- unless you want ethical dilemmas and more of an "I Am Legend" angle, it's probably not what you want for a zombie story.

With the outbreak being relatively limited, it ensure there's no real need to worry about long-term sustainability. It's a vicious infection that burns itself out quickly, like Ebola.
It also gives the characters something to work for, as they can strive to get "back to civilization." If the entire world is just zombie wasteland, some characters may realistically opt to just conclude there's nothing left to live for and blow their brains out.

Why would zombies breeding save them from mass death by starvation? Breeding just creates more hungry mouths to be fed! Not to mention that it takes a long time for the zombie babies to be born and then grow up. As long as they're just dumb eating machines (but not living dead or the like) they're doomed to die out sooner or later.

Mankind is able to sustain it's population (so far, anyway) because we cultivate the earth and raise domestic animals, and have built infrastructure to distribute the produced foodstuffs. If most of humanity were to suddenly degenerate into unthinking beasts, this system would halt. The uninfected would have trouble feeding themselves, and the zombies would be even worse off.

Okay, both of you have good points. So no zombie babies, or mating zombies.

I personally wouldn't go with the zombie breeding, I think perhaps exhuming and infecting the recently dead as well would swell the numbers.

Also, you could do both runners and shamblers. in the initial stages, encephalitis and myelitis are less pronounced and thus the nervous system can still handle complex movements. As time progesses, however, muscle consumption from lack of nutrients would weaken and slow the zombie as would incresed encephalitis and myelitis from overburdening of viral agents. This would account for the fast, bloodthirsty zombies and the more docile (relatively), pack-minded shambler.

Also, chemical weapons, mostly in the blood agent designation would effectively destroy zombies on a mass scale.

as to who made it, Nazis in hiding, Al qaeda, U.S researchers, natural causes etc. pick your enemy, they're all hypothetically possible. I think North Korea would be the best though, the virus would hit the eurasian continent first, claoming billions, and spread from there. The U.S would be honor bound to help S. Korea and would get infected as a result.

I love your ideas, Furor, ya, I decided definatly not to go with breeding zombies. I like the idea of runners and shamblers, it would make fights less repetitive.

Here's a fun game you could get some inspiration from:

http://www.palladiumbooks.com/Merchant2/merchant.mvc?Screen=PROD&Product_Code=230

I was wondering how I would be able to handle fights, before I got to far into it. So the two main things i'm thinking about are how the zombies are going to attack, and how the characters are going to defend.

Zombie Attacks Right now, I have three variaties of zombie: runners, shamblers, and dogs. Dogs, I think, would be the fastest, but also the weakest. If they run fast enough or catch the PCs surprise and run up from behind, or trap them in a dead end, they would have an advantage. Once a zombie dog gets close enough, perhaps they could bite onto the leg and pull the PC on the ground, where that zombie dog or other zombies go ahead and rip the character to shreds. Or the dog could pounce, knocking the character backwards, and could also bite the characters neck.

  For shamblers, surrounding the characters would be the best way to go. That way they can just close in on them from every direction, giving the characters no escape. Maybe they could use pack tactics, and that could be justified by the fact that since they are slower, and cannot act directly on impulse, have more time to think about their actions. This can let them close off escapes and COMPLETELY surround them. Once they get up close, they could try to go for the neck, or the legs, pulling the person down so their more vunerable, and then having the whole group of them pile on top of that person. Shamblers possibly aren't stopped as easily as runners and dogs, allowing them to take on lots and lots of damage before falling.

 
  The runners have speed and strength on their side, but their weakness is their ability to act on impulse. Since they are driven so strongly by their lust for blood, as soon as they see or smell a person they will just charge as fast as they can for them, trying to get to the food as fast as they can. This means they don't spend the time to get organized, and instead of taking the fastest route take the most direct, climbing over whatevers in front of them, and ripping through walls or whatevers in their way. This means that one or two alone are not a huge problem, but when they are in great numbers they can be extremely deadly, the speed and strength of one zombie multiplied by a hundred, creating a horde of bloodthirsty infected.


Character Defence Weapons and attack for characters would of course mainly focus on defense, so i've been thinking about what characters could do to defend against specific zombies. Against the zombie dogs, I would think being in an open space would be the best, so everyone can back up while open firing on the dog. Since the main thing on the dog's side is speed, taking out its legs or blocking its path would also be good.

  For shamblers, an instant kill would be the way to go. For as their already slow, shooting them in the legs and making them crawl wouldn't be a big difference. So headshots would be the best. Maybe it could take up an entire round for the character to aim and shoot in the head (that is of course if I am going to use a system that includes rounds) but whatever I choose to do combat wise, a headshot is going to require a pause and a roll for accuracy. There is really no point in trying to shoot it anywhere else, as it won't really slow them down and will just waist ammo.

 
  Runners are simpler to defend against when they are alone. A single one can be taken out easily, by shooting it or beating it to death with melee weapons. But when there are many, runners can be deadly opponents, rushing in with sheer bloodlust and devouring the characters. This means that the characters only chance will be to stay organized and have a plan. Area blockades used by the characters, such as creating walls of fire by spreading oil around, making traps and other things like that can help against a horde of runners.


      These are all just ideas of course, nothing solid, and I want them to be commented on and critiqued.