[d20] Zombies!

[Wyrm84]

I will be running a d20 game for my group this weekend that revolves around surviving the zombie apocalypse. The game starts as the infection sets in, the recently deceased rise to attack the living and convert them. Opening scene will be a bar on new years (kind of a running gag from D&D starting in taverns)

The remains of a comet / meteor that was supposed to be destroyed fall into earths orbit. Meteor showers / debris hitting the atmosphere create orange spores falling like snow flakes. The first contact comes from a hooker running into the bar who has been bitten, she asks frantically for help because a man is chasing her. The assailant is struck by a car but shrugs it off like a champ, chaos begins to set in as a small horde of walkers from the cemetery approach following the assailants lead. A young man is devoured on the streets and charges ahead of the horde a few rounds later enraged. After dealing with the first horde and possibly the infected hooker. The party is expected to move on after getting a call from a smart scientist friend. Did I mention the magnetic interference messing with the power? Got to have that flickering light and dramatic black out moments...

(the zombies)
Walkers (staple)
Crawlers (sneaky but even slower than slow)
Flaming walkers (walker + fire)
Freshies (recently turned, function like 28 days later zombies)
Brutes ( extremely large, strong, tough walkers )

Brutes will be rare mini-boss infected that spent time exposed to fragments of the meteor. Maybe some Zombie animals, thinking of Zombie grizzly as boss type encounter, Crazed scientist who attempts to harness the infection while keeping control of himself, other survivors, etc. Ideas welcome!

Objectives of game 1: Survive, reach smart friends home, load up, devise plan of action. Smart guy wants to go to CDC to mass produce an inoculation after researching the infected. I have a bit of a plan for that involving the military, but if the players want to satisfy their own whims first then I will let them.
(look out gun store, they're coming for you!)

Players will be immune to zombie infection. Hit locations and consequences of too much damage on body parts will be seen. Zombies will be immortal save for head shots, dealing lethal damage to arms or legs will give them a penalty on attack or movement.

I am looking for more ideas for encounters, story, and enemies. If you have ran or played in a similar game let me know what you liked and didn't. Thanks!

[Axier]

Biggest thing I can think of is to tell them that the plot is going to be something completely different, or tell them to build a character how they would want to.

We don't need people planning for the apocalypse, it makes it less exciting.

For that matter, give them a different campagin altogether! As long as you know they would enjoy a zombie campagin, just switch over like the second or third run in and watch them find out how to survive. Then they hit up their paranoid smart guy friend. Probably have to travel THROUGH zombies.

No good zombie movie had everyone prepared for the end of days.

Next, have them fight their way to the CDC, because they will likely have a difficult time getting there through all the zombies. You have an urban environment, that gives alot of nooks and crannys, as well as open spaces and cover.

DO NOT FORGET SURVIVORS. The others who are still with a pulse will likely be more dangerous than some of the zombies. It gives more interaction.

[Kornaki]

A lot depends on what kind of feel you want the game to have. Is the primary purpose survival? Then you need to keep things stressful for the party. There should be encounters where party members can die before the party can even figure out what's going on if they aren't on their toes. The mere act of crossing a street to get to another building, or searching a warehouse and avoiding any encounters should feel awesome. If anyone decides to pop into the hospital real quick to grab a first aid kit they should die.

Good ways to set up these types of stressful situations are dark areas, situations that require the party to separate to achieve goals, narrow places (an alley one person wide is a good death trap), and even just barriers. If they walk into a building and they see a desk for a security guard, is there a zombie lying on the ground behind the desk? The only way to know for sure is for someone to walk around to the other side and check. The key is unpredictability - create situations where an ambush is obvious, and only sometimes make there be an ambush (and not always from the obvious direction) If they decide to just run as fast as they can away from a zombie it's fair to ask for stamina checks to escape.

Remember the utilities don't run on their own. Fresh food and water in an urban environment is basically a disaster - and the grocery stores were probably the first thing looted when people realized what was going on (or the gun stores, but you get the point).

[CthulhuEatYou]

I love zombies, although I dislike the idea of having players being immune to the virus; it's like half the fun and terror is gone. Although I understand it if you're going to play in a high population setting and/or with running zombies.

Well, I like doing it really gory and really horror inspired. I have a lot of ideas I've used early that might help you, but I have to ask, how big is the psychological aspect?

Also, what is the cause of the virus and how do it work? :)

All flesh must be eaten is an entirely different system focusing on zombies, I suggest you read it for inspiration (not because of the rules, but because of encounter and story ideas.) Furthermore you could always visit one of the several zombies pages dedicated to the genre and survival.

[Rejakor]

Remember grapple checks.


Have zombies be attracted to noise.

Have zombies be stronger than average humans (str 16+).

Have zombies break in through walls, get into cellars, etc.

Start with a relatively large number of survivors, but have them be whittled down despite the PCs best efforts.

Don't forget to write rules for Fort saves and such against the zombie disease if the PCs get bit.


Consider having the zombies mutate and stuff as time goes on so they get more dangerous, like left 4 dead zombies.


Don't make it easy for the PCs to mindlessly 'clear' zombies using ranged weaponry or tactics - make arrows hard to retrieve, and fire spells that kill areas increasingly pointless given the sheer number of corpses wandering the cityscape.

Also throw regular problems at them so the warlock doesn't just sit on a rooftop shooting zombies until eventually no more appear.


Don't forget to have some zombies not walk around and mostly just lurk in dark or shadowed places so even if they exterminate all the moving zombies there are still enough to keep them jumpy.

[CthulhuEatYou]

...

Don't forget to write rules for Fort saves and such against the zombie disease if the PCs get bit.

...

Don't make it easy for the PCs to mindlessly 'clear' zombies using ranged weaponry or tactics - make arrows hard to retrieve, and fire spells that kill areas increasingly pointless given the sheer number of corpses wandering the cityscape.

Also throw regular problems at them so the warlock doesn't just sit on a rooftop shooting zombies until eventually no more appear.

He already said they would be immune :)
Also, since the setting is modern and it's a survival, I think there is no magic or anything like that. However I don't know, I just think wizards, warlocks ect. seems out of context. I don't really know though, that was just my impression.

[Wyrm84]

I love the idea of setting up ambushes with out using them, that will strengthen the suspense and provide more shock value and panic when an ambush does take place.

I will also take to heart the advice about zombies not being the only problem out there. I will set up a few encounters and interactions with NPC's and give the players chances to recruit for the group as well as fight over territory / supplies with other humans.

My group has told me how they want to play, and it is very different from the survival challenge I had in mind. They don't want to focus on resource management or be frail as kittens vs a bite, though I will still keep tabs on when they need to resupply. They want to be heroes, not just survivors. So after a failed attempt or two at saving the world, I will probably have them travel north leading a group of survivors for an extended period of time using random encounters on the road and for resupply stops. Maybe they will try to make a stronghold somewhere.

Going to use a smart guy scientist NPC to influence the parties actions and destinations, but ultimately they can do and go where ever they want. I'm pretty good at running a game on the fly. ( Dialog suffers a lot, but with zombies it will be less noticeable. )

Also, they know the score and cannot come equipped for the apocalypse. For me to get the mechanics agreeable to all they had to be discussed. Wealth will be tricky. But I think I can manage to compensate people with higher wealth scores with personal rewards and higher success rates in searching for what they want.

Inspiration for the world - The Walking Dead [AMC]
Inspiration for the heroes - Left 4 Dead ( immune to zombie infection )

[Wyrm84]

I didn't want them to be immune ether but it was a deal breaker.

Going for some realism here, only humans, modern settings, no magic, etc.

Apocalypse brought on by meteor / comet - as well as magnetic interference that messes with power sources and devices. Spores rain down like snow flakes after debris hits the Earths atmosphere, the spores are the cause, infecting the living so they will turn upon death, and reviving the recently and not so recently deceased.

It will be easy to use guns to dispatch walkers, BUT using the gun will most defiantly draw more attention and they operate on a limited resource.

I want psychology to play a huge role here. At least in the NPC's and I hope for some good RP from my players as well. What to do about the mother and child that want to come with us, mom is bit. What to do, what to do...Toughen up little girl its time to shoot your mommy in the head!

d20 modern core book is all we're working with. I have looked through the apocalypse book and will take some things from there.

**Just had to mention I am excited to run such a game, I am 1 of 2 rotating DM's and I really want the other DM to enjoy it so much he runs his own after mine so I can play!**

[Axier]

So they want to be the shining beacon in the dark seas eh?

Not my style, but lets think...

Resources should be a tad bit scarce at times, but then, bam. They end up into some serious firepower.

Heck, if you want to get fun, later on, you could end up giving them a few low-grade large mechs (you can get most of the important mech information in Modern's SRD* (http://www.systemreferencedocuments.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=132%3Ad20-modern).), and have them go up against hordes! Robot suits with huge guns!

*Download the zipped RTFs from WoTC, it has Modern and Urban Arcana info.

By the way, all of the non-core books are worth the investment. D20 modern is a solid system IMHO, especially compaired to 3.5. You can even do fantasy settings with the D20 Modern (Past) book, and combine it with a little Urban Arcana.