Zombie Apocalypse Ruleset

[Friar Zero]

Hello everybody!  I'm new here and I have been working on a set of custom mechanics for a Zombie Apocalypse setting.  I was hoping that I could get some feedback on what some more experienced gamers and game designers think of the rules.  You can find the rules in PDF form here: http://www.geocities.com/friar_tuck_000/Zombie-Apocalypse-Rules-ver1.pdf.

These rules are presented in a simple form without setting material. I tried to include a lot of examples and also added four sample characters to the end of the document. My goal was to define what it is a character in a dark zombie movie experiences and has to contend with.  I wanted to avoid generic attributes and abilities in favor of more flavorful Attributes that act in unorthodox ways.

So please, let me know what you think.  Constructive criticism is always welcome.

[Friar Zero]

Okay, so maybe I was a little vague with the "tell me what you think" angle.  So I've thought about what I want this system to do and am hoping I could get some feedback.  As always, constructive criticism is appreciated.

• Does this Dice Pool mechanic make challenges too difficult?  Too easy?
• Do the rules, as written, make it too easy to be killed/driven insane?
• Do the mechanics effectively convey the feeling of being an ordinary person dealing with an unatural scenario?
• If not, what do they convey to you?
• Do the rules make sense as written?
• Are the weapon scores underpowered or overpowered?
• Can you see yourself having fun in a game with these rules?

[northerain]

I really like the mentality aspect. It's an insanity system geared towards the zombie ''mythos'' and that's cool.
I didn't really like the prose pieces at the beggining of each attribute though. Try and keep them short and to the point.

[Friar Zero]

The Prose pieces were meant to be the words of a survivor, sort of an in-game explanation of each attribute.  Do you think they would work better if they were presented as attributed quotes?

[northerain]

The Prose pieces were meant to be the words of a survivor, sort of an in-game explanation of each attribute.  Do you think they would work better if they were presented as attributed quotes?

To be honest, they were a bit bland and confusing, at least to me. I'll attempt to illustrate:
''Get busy running or get left. If they scratch you or knock you down you'll be
limping to safety. Be faster than they are, or join them.''

I would re-write it like this:
''You have to be faster than them or you will end up joining them. If they bite you or knock you down you're done for.''

I don't know if you see what I'm getting at. Yeah, presented as quotes will work better.

To further talk about your game, do you have an original angle? Does your game do things better than other, similar games? What are you trying to achieve?

[Friar Zero]

The rules are not the entire game, obviously.  I plan to write a "sourcebook" as-it-were on the Zombie Apocalypse.

My goal with the rules was two fold.  First I wanted to choose a very simple set of mechanics, suitable for a pickup game.  Quick and easy to learn.  Second, I wanted to use the attributes to convey the sense of being a normal person in the zombie apocalypse.  Only a limited set of skills, relying on improvisation, and so forth.  I chose the Wits attribute for combat because if you look at the zombies genre, zombies (both fast and slow) are easily killed.  It's just a matter of surprise, numbers, or being too scared to react properly.  The speed attribute was set up in place of health because in Zombie media the undead (both fast and slow) can be outrun.  If they catch you, you are dead.  Old fashion horror movie mentality there.  So speed became the equivalent to health.  The rules were designed to give a simple but flavorful mechanic to a zombie apocalypse setting.

[Peter Nordstrand]

Hi Friar (Do you have a real name? I'm Peter.),

I think your game is ready for playtesting. All those questions about whether conflicts are challenging enough or too challenging is really something to discover in actual play. My impression is that this could be the beginning of an excellent zombie game. It covers most prominent features of recent zombie movies such as 28 Days Later and Dawn of the Dead, and it seems to do it well.

Two little things though.

You cannot kill a zombie without a weapon, so if you do not have a weapon,
you are at a disadvantage of -2.

This makes little sense to me. Why not just say that you cannot kill a zombie without a weapon. Period. ?

I'm looking forward to your playtest reports.

All the best,

[Friar Zero]

You cannot kill a zombie without a weapon, so if you do not have a weapon,
you are at a disadvantage of -2.

This makes little sense to me. Why not just say that you cannot kill a zombie without a weapon. Period. ?

I wanted to show that you could injure and slow down (or temporarily fight off) a zombie if you didn't have a weapon, but not kill them.  So in that, you have a good point.  My thinking was that if you don't have anything but your bare hands, you are at a disadvantage when fighting a zombie.  Thought you could kick them or throw them, they come back just as fast.  Ye if you shoot them or thwack them with a weapon they are slowed down or temporarily incapacitated (at least enough to escape).  Perhaps I just need to go back and explain that a bit further.

Also, on a side note, I feel my biggest inspiration was the original Dawn of the Dead.  Specifically the fact that suicide is shown and talked about several times, and we see different characters start to crack under the stress in different ways.  There was even, supposedly, an alternate ending discussed where the two remaining human characters commit suicide.  There is something fitting about the character snot surviving to the end of a zombie film, or being killed by something other than zombies (such as the sheriff killing our hero in Night of the Living Dead).

[blodwin]

Hi,

[blodwin]

I will try again,
                       Taken a look at the pdf, it brought back all the feel of Zombie fun !.Would like to play test have some mates who should give it a throw i mean go.
But I did'nt see rules for the classic head shot thing or with chain saw!! nasty.
I did do a zombie thing where hitting zombies physicaly or by gun, just possibly: knocked them back or down and only the head hit or shot killed them.
Rules you could add in to hipe up the tension of being surounded, knocking the bleeders back or down only to see them get up again, but it did take them there turn to get up or move back into melle.
Well must go, can play test with the pdf or can wait to your ready, maybe with some back ground stuff.
Bye blods

[Friar Zero]

Hi Blod,

I have uploaded a slightly tweaked version of the rules.  I tried to tie the idea of "hordes" of zombies by making the zombies more powerful as they gathered in a group. The combat is decided by a contest between the zombie and a person's Wits, so there is an implied idea that it is harder to deal with "hordes" psychologically.  The reason I don't specifically mention head-shots is that I was going to include this into the setting information. And this is partly the reason why I had combat based on wits, so that if you aren't panicked you can take your time and aim for the head.  I did mention chainsaws under "Special" weapons with high damage.