Zom-Pocalypse Now

[Cooper]

After listing to the recording of Dreamation's Indie game design round table (thanks to SoK), I wanted to post here to see if I can collaborate with others to finish a very simple game of Zombie Horror Survival. I am working on a co-narrative style story telling game for 3-8 players (could be played with more, but might get bogged down). One of the players runs the game (shall we call him/her the "Zombie Master/Mistress"?).

These rules are for one shot zombie survival adventures, intended for  very little prep time. With my disappointment of the board game Zombies!!!! and the fact that most of my players do not want to be involved with a full on All Flesh Must Be Eaten game, I wanted to find a happy medium. I was inspired by the game "The Zombie Plan" by Steve Hickey and thought if I can combined some of the concepts of that with Baron Von Munchhausen (spelling?), then I could have a simple and fun zombie game (do not worry, I am not using any of their rules).

So far, I have about one page of stuff on this, but I do not see this game having a lot of content. I was going to post it all here but was kind of scared it still may be too much to post. What I am looking for is anyone who can read it over and just give me advice on how to streamline. It is in desperate need of a "victory condition," so there is some sort of end of the game. I am not intending on selling the game, but if I finish it and it does work, I would post it on-line for free.

The theme of the game is this situation: The unburried dead have risen up (walking, running or both) and are attacking the living. What do you do right now? (hence, "Zom-pocalypse NOW!"). The players all create their characters. With help from the players, the zombie master comes up with a way that they all have come together to survive. Then, talk or argue about how they are going to find safety (because were they are right now is not going to work). I want to capture the feel of how all the players have to work together to survive, but how they also turn on each other when to going gets tough.

If anyone wants to see the rest, I can post it. I am not sure how to organize this enough to ask questions on what I need to make this a better game.

Please let me know if would be okay to post the rest (like I said, it is about one page or so).

Thanks

[joepub]

Hey.

Feel free to post the rest! I'm sure we'll be interested to read it.

Is this supposed to be a Narrativist game?
If you don't know what that means, skip it and this question instead:
Is this a game that focuses on the story and the tension, rather than the character sheets or "realism"?

Have you read Eric Provosts' The Infected?

[Cooper]

Hey.

Feel free to post the rest! I'm sure we'll be interested to read it.

Is this supposed to be a Narrativist game?
If you don't know what that means, skip it and this question instead:
Is this a game that focuses on the story and the tension, rather than the character sheets or "realism"?

Have you read Eric Provosts' The Infected?

Yep, it is supposed to be a Narrativist game (my first experience of that kind of game was Mortal Coil). After I posted on this forum, I had thought of a couple of more things. Let me re-type and organize the game and I will post it here.

I can tell you that there is a die roll involved with conflict then when it comes down to who was killed (or bitten) the players vote for who is thrown to the zombies (kind of like "Mall of Horror").

I will try to get it posted tommorow some time. Thanks!

[Clyde L. Rhoer]

Hi Dustin,

You should give a listen to 2d6 Feet In A Random Direction's... Episode #6. It has a 30 minute actual play of, "Zombies In the Vineyard," and may contain some good inspiration.

[Cooper]

YES! I remember when Paul Tevis mentioned that on his show. That was part of my inspiration for a more zombie feeling game. I like the game All Flesh Must Be Eaten, but to tell you the truth, it is just the Unisystem with stats for zombies (they really did a good job with the Buffy rpg, though). I do not intend on replacing AFMBE, but just come up with a simple game that can be played on the spot and not have to worry about a campaign.

I read some of the play reports for Universalis (which is on my "BIG LIST OF GAMES") and I like the zombie adventures they had (especially the Elvis one).

Thanks for telling me about that recording. I am going to listen to that!

[johnwedd]

it reminds me of a dawn of the dead, senario for d20 a while back. i don't remember where i found it.........*starts digging through ancient bookmarks*

[Cooper]

it reminds me of a dawn of the dead, senario for d20 a while back. i don't remember where i found it.........*starts digging through ancient bookmarks*

Daniel Proctor released "Night of the Living Dead:Revisited" for the GORE system. You can get the PDF for $2 at RPG now:
http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=20969

[Cooper]

Well, here is what I came up with. Of course I have not play tested this yet. I am sorry, but it is a page in a half, so it may be a lot to take for just one post.

ZOMPOCALYPSE NOW!

A simple narrative game for 3-9 players (that is including the game moderator or "Zombie Master/Mistress" or ZM). Hopefully no longer than an hour (maybe an hour and a half at the most).

The unburied dead have resin up to attack the living. No one knows why yet, or even that their assailants are even dead (or that they can infect others). The characters are a band of rag tag survivors trying to get to safety. They are willing to help each other out.....unless it's their ass on the line.

Mechanics are based off of a six sided die to resolve conflict and players voting to resolve the consequences.

The only prep time is for the person running the game (ZM) to come up with where the players start and about 5 generic locations for conflicts.

The players need to get 5 victory points to win (get to safety). Each conflict they win earns them a victory point.

Character Creation:
1.) Have each player make up a name for their character.
2.) Then have them make up a background and current career (both not too specific or to general). Try to have them come up with someone average or a little above average. No "special opts" or ninja characters. Maybe one person can be a cop, but we need characters that need each other, so no "super warriors." When something comes up that needs a special skill or talent (like flying a helicopter or picking a lock), one of the players needs to justify having that skill or talent from their background and career.
3.) With the Zombie Master/Mistress' (ZM) help, have the players come up with a reason why they are all together.
4.) Finally, have the players come up with a plan to what they are going to do and where they are going to find safety (because their current location is not safe).

The character's group will have a strength number that will be used during a conflict with zombies or other people. This is simply called "Strength" and it is the number of character's that are in the party (ie. six players = Strength 6).

Zombie Creation:
1.) First decide if the zombies are "runners" or "shamblers"
2.) If the zombies are shamblers, then their strength is the same as the player's strength. If they are runners, then add two.

The zombie's strength will stay the same through out the game and is used during the conflict to represent all the zombies that the ZM mentions in a scene.

Scenes:
At the beginning of the game, when the players tell the ZM what their plan is, the ZM runs a series of scenes from where they start to where they are going. Each scene will give them a chance to earn a victory point. After 5 victory points, the ZM will describe how they reached where they were going.

For example: the 4 players start off at a gas station when the zompocalypse hits. One of them has a car and declares themselves leader. The rest just want to get the hell out of there, so they agree. They decide that the local air force base might be the best place to find safety. Earlier the ZM made a list of six places that would be interesting enough to have conflicts on the way. The locations were: the Highway (which is were they will have to ditch the car because of all of the wrecks), the river walk, another gas station, a car dealership, the park, a school and even the field that surrounds the military base.

It is best for the ZM to come up with at least 5 generic locations for scenes before the game begins. It might be best to have the game's location in a place familiar to most of the people playing as to make it easy for everyone to imagine what is going on. It also helps the ZM customize their generic locations and come up with new ones.

This being a narrative style game, the players are always encouraged to help tell the story with the ZM. The ZM, has the final say in what happens when the players loose a conflict.

Conflict:
Each location with have conflict, either will zombies or other survivors. The ZM begins by describing what the players see and what the zombies are doing. Each player then gives a general description of what their character is doing to react. The ZM and players both roll a six sider (who ever the leader for the player's group is gets to roll the dice). Each side adds their strength. The die rolls are open ended, so if someone rolls a 6, they roll again and add six to that number (or keep rolling and adding six until they stop rolling sixes).

So the formula is: Character's strength + d6 vs. Zombie's strength + 6d

• If the players roll higher than the ZM, they win and get to describe how they either defeated the zombies they encountered or how they got away (the ZM can help with some of this narration). They also get a victory point.
• If the ZM rolls higher, she gets to describe how the scene went (with help from the players). The characters will eventually get away or defeat the zombies in this scene, but at the cost of someone either dying or being bitten. Roll the die: 1-3 they are bitten (and will turn into a zombie in two rounds), 4-6 they die somehow. The players then vote to see who is the lucky victim. In case of ties, roll a die to break it (for example: 1-3 it is Tim, 4-6 it is Barb).
• If there is a tie, then the players get out of the scene (whatever they come up with), but with no victory points.

When someone dies, the strength of the party is reduced by one. When a character dies they get to describe what one of the zombies do in a scene that the ZM narrates. They are now go from "player character" to "player zombie." If someone is bitten they will be a zombie at the beginning of 2nd scene after they were infected (so they get to help out for at least one more scene). The first time this happens should be played as a surprise to everyone else (after all, no one really understand what is going on...yet). You can also have the party still vote for the "infected" character if they loose a conflict before the infected person turns into a zombie.



So, that is all I have so far. Here are things that I need help or advice on (although, the other stuff could also use help too):
1.)   Victory points: Is 5 enough? Too much? Should there be another way to "win" the game?
2.)   Non-conflict scenes: should I include them and how would they benefit the story (or basically: how do I run them)?
3.)   Human on Human conflict: what if the players come into conflict with other humans? Should I run it just like a regular conflict?
4.)   PC on PC conflict: Should I make this even an option? If so, how do I incorporate it?
5.)   Should I come up with rules for items that the players find that would help them in the game? Like weapons, vehicles, etc.

Of course, on the final draft, all of this should be described in greater detail, but for now, this description will require a familiarity with a narrative style roleplaying game. I am new to this style of gaming (and I love it), so I am probably missing a whole lot. The two things I like about these rules are the voting part and players being zombies when their character dies. This may even work as a card game too (a narrative story telling card game?).

I would appreciate any help or advice. I am not trying to replace All Flesh Must Be Eaten, but instead coming up with something that is quick and can be played every halloween or something.

Thanks for your encouragement! I look forward hearing what people think about it.

[Clyde L. Rhoer]

Hi Dustin,

Let's hit your questions first.

1.)   Victory points: Is 5 enough? Too much? Should there be another way to "win" the game?

Hard to tell. I'd save that question for playtesting. It's easy enough to modify.

2.)   Non-conflict scenes: should I include them and how would they benefit the story (or basically: how do I run them)?

I think it depends on your goals. More on that in a minute.

3.)   Human on Human conflict: what if the players come into conflict with other humans? Should I run it just like a regular conflict?

It's something you need to look at strongly. Again it depends on your goals.

4.)   PC on PC conflict: Should I make this even an option? If so, how do I incorporate it?

Again I think it's something you should consider strongly.

5.)   Should I come up with rules for items that the players find that would help them in the game? Like weapons, vehicles, etc.

Maybe. Again it's about goals... maybe I should have just started with the whole goals thing?

So I think the first thing you need to think about are your goals. I'm not seeing them clearly enough to really give solid answers to your questions as you have already seen. So what do I mean about goals? There's basically two components of a zombie movie. Action/Horror and man versus man versus himself. You could go for both of these components or one of them and have a cool game I think.

Action/Horror would probably involve refinement of where you are already going. What I mean basically by Action/Horror being the focus is the game would be centered around kicking Zombie butt in cools ways. Chainsaws, sniper rifles, A-Team scenes where the players build the metal reinforced bus of doom with the flamethrower on top, etc. If you take this route you may want to decide everyone has to play well with each other, and your central concern would likely be making sure the game is challenging. The players should have to work to win. You may also want a system that gives more twiddly bits for folks to play with.

Now the Man versus Man versus himself is the angle I find most fascinating about Zombie movies. Here you have characters that are thrust into the end of the world and they don't seem to be able to give up their previous cultural biases. The Zombies merely serve as a way to force people from these disparate cultural identities into the same place, so they're interacting is believable. If we suspend belief about the existence of Zombies we are likely not to even notice that this interpersonal conflict is what the movies are really about. This ends in a tense bit of isolation that most likely ends in the death of everyone, or perhaps a female or two gets survives. If this is the focus I would argue not only do you need to allow player versus player disputes but you need to push for them. I think it might even be good to design it to push for almost everyone ending up dead.

I think you could have both these elements in a game and have it be fun, but likely you will need to choose one over the other to push for. I think each element could provide a fun game on it's own also. It's a question of what is your vision? What pushes your buttons about the Zombie genre?

[Cooper]

First of all, thank you very much for your speedy comments and advice, along with the thought provoking questions.

I like them both, but I would have to say Action/Horror. For a simple game it might be the best route.

My favorite zombie films are Dawn of the Dead (original), Shawn of the Dead, Dead Alive and Undead. 3 out of 4 of those are campy cinamatic survival stories with great one-liners, but some depth. Those are also the qualities that make them of interest to people who normally do not like zombie films. Even though there is a lot to like about this genre (and there are a TON of bad movies in it too), I would have to say my favorite is when it does not take it's self too seriously (Shawn of the Dead and Undead are great examples).

You know, after I wrote out the basic rules for the game earlier today, I started thinking about if it would work better as a card game.

Another thing to that I thought of, is if you wanted to make this a man vs. man vs. himself, you can just keep going until there is only one character left.

I am going to think about this for another couple of days and see what else I can do to streamline my rules before I test this out. I am also making a list of possible ways to also go the card game route.

Thank you again!