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View Full Version : Phrenological Orgone Monocle Zombie Encounter Ideas?



subject42
2010-10-01, 01:36 PM
If you remember my previous thread (Moustaches, Phrenology, Zombies, etc) you'll know that I'm building a zombie-apocalypse-in-the-making as a Halloween special for my players.

Now that I have zombie types, I'd like some thoughts on how to build fun, cinematic-feeling encounters based off of them. I have some thoughts below. If you have any suggestions for any of my current ideas, or new ideas, I would love to see them.

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To recap, right now there are four common types of zombies:

Blood Zombies: Travel in packs (use the DMG2/Cityscape Mob Template)

Yellow Bile Zombies: High Strength and Speed. Deal damage to themselves every round that they act as the bile imbalance disintegrates them from the inside out.

Black Bile Zombies: Can burrow. Carry tetanus and maybe other diseases. Tend to wait in ambush just under the ground.

Phlegm Zombies: Leave a snot (as per grease) trail as they move. Able to compress and squeeze through small holes.

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Current Ideas:

Seal off the source!
The players would start by running to the source of the infection (the clone storage facility). A large number of zombies have escaped, but more are pouring out of the building. The players would need to seal off all of the egress points before they are overwhelmed.

Slow the spread!
The players could slow the zombie progress by releasing the floodgates on a nearby damn. Doing so would flood a river and create a natural barrier against the scourge. If they are successful, it would buy them a few days before the apocalypse, but they would have to take a boat back through the flooded area.

Aquazombies!
While returning on the boat, the players will need to travel through flooded areas. Zombies maneuver through the water and attempt to board and/or capsize their boat. Players need to escape the area before they are overwhelmed.

Foundry Troubles!
Zombies have overwhelmed a nearby foundry and if the players don't activate the emergency release mechanism, the foundry will explode like a mixture of Mt. St. Helen's and Union Carbide. Zombies! Machinery! Catwalks! MAGMA!

PC Superzombies!
Some of the zombies are based off of the players. They have exaggerated qualities of the PCs and fight in social groups. This would to an extent be a bizarro-nemesis fight.

The source!
Players need to fight through a cityscape that is infested with a full-blown zombie outbreak. If they succeed in reaching a central point they can shut down a transmitter that will kill all of the zombies.


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Any other ideas?

SilverLeaf167
2010-10-01, 01:49 PM
By that info, I'm assuming that this is a modern game? If yes, you should definitely encourage jury-rigging bombs to kill multiple zombies etc. and remember, if you give the PCs access to weaponry store, the zombies should be able to get guns too.

How are the zombies created? Why aren't the PCs zombies?
Maybe some accident at the cloning plant happened while the PCs were away, and now that they came back to town, they're trapped there? Maybe they could start becoming zombified (slight skin rotting etc.) if they take too long to disable the source? If a PC dies, they should become zombies, too.

subject42
2010-10-01, 01:54 PM
By that info, I'm assuming that this is a modern game? If yes, you should definitely encourage jury-rigging bombs to kill multiple zombies etc. and remember, if you give the PCs access to weaponry store, the zombies should be able to get guns too.

The setting is "Anachronistic Victorian". Bombs are possible, but would require some time and planning, and would likely be fairly bulky.


How are the zombies created? Why aren't the PCs zombies?

The original cluster of zombies were created as the result of a cloning/resurrection experiment gone wrong. They all lack a driving consciousness and have an imbalance of "vital humors" that make them into monsters. If they successfully feed from another living creature, the imbalance is propagated into them.

The PCs aren't zombies because they haven't been attacked yet. There are probably zombie clones of the PCs running around, but it will depend on their actions. If they get killed, they'll end up playing as zombies for the rest of the session.

SilverLeaf167
2010-10-01, 01:58 PM
Will they have to make Fortitude saves when bitten? If they succeed, they're fine. If they fail, the infection slowly starts spreading around their body, and they'll have to hurry to neutralize it.

subject42
2010-10-01, 01:59 PM
Will they have to make Fortitude saves when bitten? If they succeed, they're fine. If they fail, the infection slowly starts spreading around their body, and they'll have to hurry to neutralize it.

Right now I'm torn between that method or an alternate method where if they die to a zombie, they're eaten and resurrect as a zombie. No save, just zombie.

SilverLeaf167
2010-10-01, 02:26 PM
"Resurrected"? How does that happen?
Also, maybe you could make the infection semi-intelligent, so that it actually tries to spread, instead of just making its victims crazy? It would explain why the zombies aren't killing each other.