Deth Muncher
2010-08-18, 04:49 PM
Hi guys. I've had two (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=147859&highlight=Zombie) threads (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=151881&page=2&highlight=Zombie) about making a Zombie One-Shot game, and now that time is upon us - I'm actually going to run it. I'm still in the process of finalizing all of everything and drawing out all the maps, but I've come across a minor snag - the group of guys I'm going to run this with are going to break this campaign. I know they are. And so I'm bumping up the intensity level, because...well, let me just go ahead and tell you the party and relevant info now.
Relevant things:
-Starting level 3.
-Only available classes are Core Melee classes, and only non-magic variants of Pally/Ranger. Probably only Martial Rogue as well.
-Magic for the party will initially be null, save for maybe one magic item each if they can afford it. However, certain abandoned houses will have stuff like healing potions (probably no wands, since they could be used as weapons), and there might be a few higher level NPC casters around just in case.
-Ultimate goal is to cleanse town of infection, which will be caused from a strange plague carried from the port part of town. PCs can also escape from the town, assuming they can find materials/plans on shipbuilding/a survivor who knows what to do.
-There will be the Boomstick Artifact buried somewhere beneath the town, either in a very hard to find trapped door in a cellar or in the original grotto idea.
-Secondary goal of the PCs will be to protect any townsfolk they see. This will be an alternative way to gain XP, since just fighting Zeds could get annoying rather quickly. This will include saving townsfolk from Zeds, getting a group from one place to another, or finding/sharing food. As well, for each day that a townsfolk stays alive thanks to the actions of PCs, they'll get 100XP each per townsfolk. I'm thinking of there being a total of, like 20 townsfolk scattered through the city for the PCs to find, so if all goes well and they all stay alive, They'll each net 2000XP a day. I don't plan on that happening much. :P Also, the food and ferrying related XP grants only go to PCs who do them - i.e. if Bob the Ranger scouts around and finds a food storage basement, he gets the N XP, not the others.
Party Composition:
-Mindflayer Barbarian. The guy really wanted to play a Mindflayer, so I let him. However, I stripped it down so all he has is his stat boosts and the mouth tentacle attacks. No Monstrous HD, no Psionics, no Skills, nothing. He's also only got one level in Barbarian, so he's a mite squishy for a barbarian.
-Fighter - This PC is often a waffler on what he wants to make, but he seems to be set on a Greatclub Specializing Fighter.
-Rogue or Monk - Like it says, he's either making a Rogue or a Monk. This guy in particular is the one who's like "Okay, so you said Core, but can I play a Warshaper Changeling without meeting the BAB requirements?" :smallannoyed: Yeah. So I have to watch him carefully.
But basically, everyone except for the Mindflayer (ironically enough) is basically a Combat-Bot, whereas he actually has social skills. We'll see how this goes. :smallsigh:
The Logistics of Zombies
I'm going to be running three different kinds of zombies in this campaign: Zombies animated with the Infectious Zombie spell from City of Stormreach p144, Karrnathi Zombies as described in the Eberron Campaign Setting p. 292, and the Strahd Zombies in Expedition to Castle Ravenloft p.16. I'm going to be adjusting the campaign on the fly in play, so I'm going to have stats for all of these and any variants I might want (different pre-zombie race, different equipment, etc) written down before we start, and effectively play the AI from Left 4 Dead - if the zombies are raping (http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj99/lliwlovesatreyu/20081121.jpg&imgrefurl=http://forums.gametrailers.com/thread/funny-left-4-dead-comics/556073&h=790&w=625&sz=151&tbnid=CiNlnBB2Fu9oJM:&tbnh=143&tbnw=113&prev=/images%3Fq%3DCtrl-Alt-Del%2BLeft%2B4%2BDead&usg=__s6kHj_ir-jMg7LbPerEUqCOCoV0=&sa=X&ei=RlNsTOqxJ4G88gbfw7ilCw&ved=0CCcQ9QEwBQ) the PCs too badly, I'll ease up, and vice versa. I easily expect the PCs to be able to take on things above their level, though I am worried about their lack of healing - with no Paladin or Monk, they'll have no way to heal.
The Plot Overview (spoilered, because this may well become a campaign journal)
PCs reach the City of Portsburgh, a thriving port metropolis. Said thriving metropolis is covered in fog and is entirely devoid of life...or so it seems. PCs will encounter zombies, and eventually the residents of the town, who they will either help to survive because, well, that's the point, or they'll slaughter like the jerks I know my PCs to be and there'll just be more zombies to fight. The ultimate resolution will be for the PCs to stumble across writings of an artifact below the city, which they'll go, retrieve it, (still have to write up the traps for the dungeon for that, but I'll get to it before we need it I'm sure), and hunt out the source of the plague, which will be in an Alcatraz-like prison offshore - or they take a boat and leave the townspeople to die, which knowing these guys...:smallsigh: If they go to Pseudo-Alcatraz, they'll have to fight through floors and floors of zombies until they reach the bottom basement, which will have the Uberzombies (not sure how I'll do that, but I'll figure it out) and the evil artifact that's creating them (probably some evil black orb or something). The endboss will likely be some sort of level appropriate demon, with their summon other demons ability replaced with Summon MOAR Zombies. I think the endboss will be a fight against an Evolved Wraith, as presented in Libris Mortis page 99, with the change that anyone who dies will be raised as a Zombie of some sort. Or, possibly, some Deathlocks, but replacing most of their spells with SUMMONING MOAR ZOMBAHS.
Now, all that's left is to design the basic buildings, the unique buildings, and the encounters.
EDIT: This is totally not going to be a one shot, but probably a 3-4 session game. Also, Uberzombies could be the ones presented here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=66239).
Relevant things:
-Starting level 3.
-Only available classes are Core Melee classes, and only non-magic variants of Pally/Ranger. Probably only Martial Rogue as well.
-Magic for the party will initially be null, save for maybe one magic item each if they can afford it. However, certain abandoned houses will have stuff like healing potions (probably no wands, since they could be used as weapons), and there might be a few higher level NPC casters around just in case.
-Ultimate goal is to cleanse town of infection, which will be caused from a strange plague carried from the port part of town. PCs can also escape from the town, assuming they can find materials/plans on shipbuilding/a survivor who knows what to do.
-There will be the Boomstick Artifact buried somewhere beneath the town, either in a very hard to find trapped door in a cellar or in the original grotto idea.
-Secondary goal of the PCs will be to protect any townsfolk they see. This will be an alternative way to gain XP, since just fighting Zeds could get annoying rather quickly. This will include saving townsfolk from Zeds, getting a group from one place to another, or finding/sharing food. As well, for each day that a townsfolk stays alive thanks to the actions of PCs, they'll get 100XP each per townsfolk. I'm thinking of there being a total of, like 20 townsfolk scattered through the city for the PCs to find, so if all goes well and they all stay alive, They'll each net 2000XP a day. I don't plan on that happening much. :P Also, the food and ferrying related XP grants only go to PCs who do them - i.e. if Bob the Ranger scouts around and finds a food storage basement, he gets the N XP, not the others.
Party Composition:
-Mindflayer Barbarian. The guy really wanted to play a Mindflayer, so I let him. However, I stripped it down so all he has is his stat boosts and the mouth tentacle attacks. No Monstrous HD, no Psionics, no Skills, nothing. He's also only got one level in Barbarian, so he's a mite squishy for a barbarian.
-Fighter - This PC is often a waffler on what he wants to make, but he seems to be set on a Greatclub Specializing Fighter.
-Rogue or Monk - Like it says, he's either making a Rogue or a Monk. This guy in particular is the one who's like "Okay, so you said Core, but can I play a Warshaper Changeling without meeting the BAB requirements?" :smallannoyed: Yeah. So I have to watch him carefully.
But basically, everyone except for the Mindflayer (ironically enough) is basically a Combat-Bot, whereas he actually has social skills. We'll see how this goes. :smallsigh:
The Logistics of Zombies
I'm going to be running three different kinds of zombies in this campaign: Zombies animated with the Infectious Zombie spell from City of Stormreach p144, Karrnathi Zombies as described in the Eberron Campaign Setting p. 292, and the Strahd Zombies in Expedition to Castle Ravenloft p.16. I'm going to be adjusting the campaign on the fly in play, so I'm going to have stats for all of these and any variants I might want (different pre-zombie race, different equipment, etc) written down before we start, and effectively play the AI from Left 4 Dead - if the zombies are raping (http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://i270.photobucket.com/albums/jj99/lliwlovesatreyu/20081121.jpg&imgrefurl=http://forums.gametrailers.com/thread/funny-left-4-dead-comics/556073&h=790&w=625&sz=151&tbnid=CiNlnBB2Fu9oJM:&tbnh=143&tbnw=113&prev=/images%3Fq%3DCtrl-Alt-Del%2BLeft%2B4%2BDead&usg=__s6kHj_ir-jMg7LbPerEUqCOCoV0=&sa=X&ei=RlNsTOqxJ4G88gbfw7ilCw&ved=0CCcQ9QEwBQ) the PCs too badly, I'll ease up, and vice versa. I easily expect the PCs to be able to take on things above their level, though I am worried about their lack of healing - with no Paladin or Monk, they'll have no way to heal.
The Plot Overview (spoilered, because this may well become a campaign journal)
PCs reach the City of Portsburgh, a thriving port metropolis. Said thriving metropolis is covered in fog and is entirely devoid of life...or so it seems. PCs will encounter zombies, and eventually the residents of the town, who they will either help to survive because, well, that's the point, or they'll slaughter like the jerks I know my PCs to be and there'll just be more zombies to fight. The ultimate resolution will be for the PCs to stumble across writings of an artifact below the city, which they'll go, retrieve it, (still have to write up the traps for the dungeon for that, but I'll get to it before we need it I'm sure), and hunt out the source of the plague, which will be in an Alcatraz-like prison offshore - or they take a boat and leave the townspeople to die, which knowing these guys...:smallsigh: If they go to Pseudo-Alcatraz, they'll have to fight through floors and floors of zombies until they reach the bottom basement, which will have the Uberzombies (not sure how I'll do that, but I'll figure it out) and the evil artifact that's creating them (probably some evil black orb or something). The endboss will likely be some sort of level appropriate demon, with their summon other demons ability replaced with Summon MOAR Zombies. I think the endboss will be a fight against an Evolved Wraith, as presented in Libris Mortis page 99, with the change that anyone who dies will be raised as a Zombie of some sort. Or, possibly, some Deathlocks, but replacing most of their spells with SUMMONING MOAR ZOMBAHS.
Now, all that's left is to design the basic buildings, the unique buildings, and the encounters.
EDIT: This is totally not going to be a one shot, but probably a 3-4 session game. Also, Uberzombies could be the ones presented here (http://www.giantitp.com/forums/showthread.php?t=66239).