Zombie Apocalypse Games

[Wise Green Bean]

As a player, I've never gone much outside DnD before. But I have a hankering for a proper zombie apocalypse game, and after looking over the existing rules, even if I were to add a wight style disease to zombie reproduction, it in no way works for that kind of game. Frankly, the whole normal system of DnD seems inappropriate for it. It doesn't need to be modern, it doesn't need to be classical DnD either. I'm sure GURPS has something, but I don't really enjoy that degree of number crunching. What's out there, preferably still d20, that would work for this sort of game? Patches for the system or entirely new ones.

[Darth Stabber]

As a player, I've never gone much outside DnD before. But I have a hankering for a proper zombie apocalypse game, and after looking over the existing rules, even if I were to add a wight style disease to zombie reproduction, it in no way works for that kind of game. Frankly, the whole normal system of DnD seems inappropriate for it. It doesn't need to be modern, it doesn't need to be classical DnD either. I'm sure GURPS has something, but I don't really enjoy that degree of number crunching. What's out there, preferably still d20, that would work for this sort of game? Patches for the system or entirely new ones.

I'm working on something like this for old world of darkness. I'd be happy to share notes.

[AntiTrust]

The Kyuss zombie may be what you're looking for. Its in one of the MM I think. As an added piece of turmoil I've made it so in my games many disease are transferable via touch, even clerics casting cure disease are not immune as the spell is a touch spell. Only those rare creatures called Paladins, and even among them only those of sufficient level to be immune to disease really have nothing to worry about.

[limejuicepowder]

....Why is the system ill-equipped for a zombie game? No, DnD zombies are not traditional zombies, but it would be easy to just add a disease on to their attacks that turns people in to zombies.

What other rules do you need?

[Andreaz]

If you want to keep it simple and focused, there's Shotgun Diaries. You only use a handful of dice, with minor bonuses or penalties based on how much what you do matches your archetype, a "fear" meter that tells you just how unhinged your survivor is, and a countdown that busts your stability on the long term.

[KoboldCleric]

There are d20 conversions in the revised edition of All Flesh Must Be Eaten. I've never used then myself, but if they're half as good as the unisystem version of the game I'd be happy with them. I've heard they're pretty easy to use/learn.

[Mirakk]

Only those rare creatures called Paladins, and even among them only those of sufficient level to be immune to disease really have nothing to worry about.


5th Level Monk says "OHAYO GOZAI IMASU!"

[eggs]

As a player, I've never gone much outside DnD before. But I have a hankering for a proper zombie apocalypse game, and after looking over the existing rules, even if I were to add a wight style disease to zombie reproduction, it in no way works for that kind of game. Frankly, the whole normal system of DnD seems inappropriate for it. It doesn't need to be modern, it doesn't need to be classical DnD either. I'm sure GURPS has something, but I don't really enjoy that degree of number crunching. What's out there, preferably still d20, that would work for this sort of game? Patches for the system or entirely new ones.
True20 is the least bad d20 system I know for survival horror:

It throws some of those newfangled "vice" and "virtue" mechanics into the game, so the system can bribe players to make the dubious horror-movie errors like forgetting to bolt the door, running off on their own, or accidentally dropping tipping the local renegade biker gang off to the players' whereabouts.
Its damage is track-based, so getting hurt actually hampers players before hitting 0 HP.
It gives some better discussion and support to horror games specifically than most other d20 systems, including fear/sanity mechanic (optional; might be appropriate depending on the theme you're going for) plays up a lot of the in-fiction causes for horror (a normal person hanging out in the dark alone when nasty things happen = good way to start wracking up fear penalties), and also involves track-based conditions.

[Kelb_Panthera]

3.5 can do a zombiepocalypse just fine as long as you stay at low levels, IMO.

However if you want to push it up a bit, you could change the zombie template so that the base creature (read: infected people) get their class HD converted into 2 undead racial HD each, and swap toughness for improved toughness. Once they're no longer one-hit kills a mob of the blackguards becomes scary again real fast. Which reminds me, the mob template in DMG2 is great for representing large numbers of zombies on the field.

If you still don't like 3.5 for it, you could do a zombiepocalypse with d20 modern. Just advance/regress the technology to whatever level is appropriate to the setting.

Zombiepocalypse is made in the setup and execution more than the system it's being played in.

[AntiTrust]

5th Level Monk says "OHAYO GOZAI IMASU!"

I don't know what this "monk" you speak of is. No one in my group has played one so I must assume you're lying and it doesn't exist



Seriously though, yeah monks...even if they found one high enough level to be immune its a strange day to find one that could cure diseases too so it never came up

[Kelb_Panthera]

5th Level Monk says "OHAYO GOZAI IMASU!"

Two questions: what does your monk have to say about magical disease, which the zombie disease almost certainly is? and why is a class modeled after the shaolin and tibetan monks saying good morning in japanese?