Public Venue to Start a Zombiepocalypse?

[Kuma Kode]

So I'm gearing up for another run of my zombie setting, Shadow Theory. I've mixed some things up from last time since some of the players are veterans, but I've run into a problem.

All week I've been preparing to start the game in the Miskatonic Museum of Natural History. Unfortunately, I made the mistake of telling the players to prepare a backstory which led to them being there.

While most of the players said, "Is that all? Well, that's easy." I've noticed some metagame thinking while building their characters, such as wondering if they can get a concealed gun into the venue and whether or not the museum has metal detectors.

So, I've decided I'm not going to do a museum. But they don't know that. They'll be expecting one thing (which I'm sure they've got some things planned for museum survival) and when they sit down to game, I'll present them with a completely different scenario, forcing them to think on their feet just like their characters will need to.

The question is... what?

What would be a good place to start a zombie apocalypse game? Preferably someplace public so the characters need not know each other, and someplace that would force them to stay awhile. It's not all that great to have something happen and the simplest answer be, "Well, I walk out the door, get in my car, and go back home while I call the police."

The setting is Arkham, Massachusetts, present day. Arkham's a decent sized city, so it can be a reasonable host for pretty much anything given enough imagination.

[unosarta]

Personal favorite: Supersized Grocery Store. They can choose to fortify the place, go out into the world to destroy zombies, do any number of things. Something like Walmart would be good too, or a Target. If they get creative, some very fun weapons could come out of it.

Way to explain away police: the first outbreak was in the prisons. The symptoms were unknown, so when back-up came to help the guards deal with what they thought was just some riots, it infected the force. So, you could go to the police. But they are all zombies too.

[Worira]

Hmm... One possibility would be a theatre (not a movie theatre, an old-fashioned one). Various happenings can be explained at first as costumes or special effects, and you can put pretty much any item in a theatre's prop room without it seeming out of place. There's also the possibility of some unique scares or combat situations, with the understage and various ropes and scaffolding. Also, there would be plenty of lights and perhaps recording equipment to keep them from being entity-ganked on the first night, and perhaps some small supply of snack food if they choose to use it as a safe area for a short to moderate time.

[Randalor]

One that I've been wanting to do for a short campaign would be an outdoor mall, where there are alot of big stores, but they're spread out over half a mile or so, so if, for example, you wanted to go from the grocery store to the Walmart... you can, you just have to risk a few blocks of doom and death.

Plus this way, if the zombies breech one area, it's not all over for the players if they figured out a way to connect the stores while still protecting themselves. They can fall back and bring down the connection behind them.

[slaydemons]

As a man from the land of massachusetts I ask a little why not somewhere with an outdoor mall like andover, (I believe its andover) or hell the natick mall it would be even more thinking on their feet as that place has no weapons store but its of fair distance (mile or three) from a bowling alley? think of the fun their but its your choice. Other then that I would try a local park. (and remember boston has a subway :D)

[Biffoniacus_Furiou]

A gas line under the museum ruptures and causes an explosion, they're among the survivors taken to the hospital. Hospital.

[Gan The Grey]

A gas line under the museum ruptures and causes an explosion, they're among the survivors taken to the hospital. Hospital.

Secondeded. Cuz the post has to be a certain length. Wait...

[playswithfire]

A gas line under the museum ruptures and causes an explosion, they're among the survivors taken to the hospital. Hospital.

Thirded.

Alternatively, immediately outside a sports stadium after a critical game. The initial zombie attacks are covered by the celebrating/rioting.

[Electrohydra]

Having read your setting completely, I'd have to say a bank would be a great place to start. First, it's a safe place to be, something characters will defiantly need at the start (cameras, lights, and reinforced everything). Second, it won't last forever, when the power dies out (and then more importantly the backup power follows), it will become a death-trap, forcing them to leave their comfort, but hopefully they will have done something with their time. Especially since it has very little provisions (but perhaps a very valuable old tome in one of the vaults ), so they will have to make some expeditions to the outside world for food, water and ammunition.

[Kuma Kode]

A gas line under the museum ruptures and causes an explosion, they're among the survivors taken to the hospital. Hospital.

No offense to the other suggestions (which I may very well work in in other ways, theatres are creepy at the best of times and banks are built for combat encounters, if action movies are any indication), but this pretty much ends the thread. That is an even better switch than sitting down and saying "So you're all at the grocery store..."

But now that we've started the topic, more generally... what areas would make a good zombiepocalypse encounter location once the apocalypse has started?

Vast grocery stores have lots of twists and turns and rely heavily on artificial light for anything not in the front.

Sanitarium is almost too obvious.

The aged Miskatonic University...

Football stadium screams "boss battle."

[Jallorn]

How about a college campus? Or a library? Libraries of any sizes, but particularly small ones, have very cramped corridors, lots of small objects that can be used as bludgeoning weapons, and great big structures that can be knocked over on an enemy.

I was actually going to suggest a museum when I entered this thread.

[Sith_Happens]

One that I've been wanting to do for a short campaign would be an outdoor mall, where there are alot of big stores, but they're spread out over half a mile or so, so if, for example, you wanted to go from the grocery store to the Walmart... you can, you just have to risk a few blocks of doom and death.

Plus this way, if the zombies breech one area, it's not all over for the players if they figured out a way to connect the stores while still protecting themselves. They can fall back and bring down the connection behind them.

This. Of course, your players will probably have the words "Dead Rising 2" running through their heads, so expect to see a lot of them enter field scientist so they can go all Chuck Greene on the zombies (in which case it might be fun to remove the action point cost from Scientific Improvisation).

[Arbane]

Is Miskatonic a seaside town? How about they're all on a ferry when the fog rolls in...

[Kuma Kode]

Arkham as Lovecraft had it is more of a backwoods town, but for my campaign I combined the allure of Arkham and Innsmouth, so it's seaside as I have it... I should probably use that.

[FelixG]

A college is a good place to start them off, lots of reasons to be there and if you are mean you cn tell them they had to leave their weapons at home because its against campus policy ~.^

Also police are trained to aim at center mass, security guards are trained the same, they will get eaten really quickly if they dont aim for the head...so calling them will just add to the zombies they have to deal with!

[Rasman]

A gas line under the museum ruptures and causes an explosion, they're among the survivors taken to the hospital. Hospital.

Hospital screams Left4Dead though...sry...if any of your players have played the original, they'll make the connection and Metagame you to death...

If you want them to be REALLY creative, start them off in a Traffic Jam that's being held up by Police Check Points. They could all have been on vacation together or in cars next to one another when **** got real. Oh...I know...tour bus. Something like a Greyhound that was headed into the city. It might not have been their last stop, but after this, it will be.

[BobVosh]

Airports are a classic. Lots of people, easy to explain why you are there, and HARD to explain why you have a gun.

Also makes them sit around awhile waiting, like you asked for.

[FelixG]

Airports are a classic. Lots of people, easy to explain why you are there, and HARD to explain why you have a gun.

Also makes them sit around awhile waiting, like you asked for.

This one wins.

[nedz]

Their home street.
Just as your having your breakfast in the morning, prior to going to the Museam, there's a knock on the door. It Marge from next door, she looks awfully pale ...

[Electrohydra]

Any place with young children still alive(a school where they fortified themselves on the cafeteria for example) could make for an interesting moral dilemma when the creatures get through, do we run and save ourselves or risk our lives to save the children?

[Yora]

Hospital screams Left4Dead though...sry...if any of your players have played the original, they'll make the connection and Metagame you to death...

Sorry to disappoint here, but Zombie Hospitals are so much older than L4D.
Silent Hill had hospitals back in 1999, and I don't think they were the first either.

[Rasman]

Airports are a classic. Lots of people, easy to explain why you are there, and HARD to explain why you have a gun.

Also makes them sit around awhile waiting, like you asked for.

Final level of Left 4 Dead...a classic, but classics aren't exactly original either...also gives them too easy of access to firearms from dead guards...although...would give them "fairly" easy access to explosives considering they could find DEAD TERRORISTS...now that would be funny...

Sorry to disappoint here, but Zombie Hospitals are so much older than L4D.
Silent Hill had hospitals back in 1999, and I don't think they were the first either.

wasn't arguing that fact...it's just the most recent example I could think of



Depending on Age categories, I do like the "Sports Venue" idea, but making it low scale, like State Basketball Championship or something along those lines

[Kuma Kode]

I'm not terribly interested in building my campaign around L4D. As has been said, a lot of the classic settings have been done long before L4D and will continue to be done long after. Avoiding a perfectly good setting just because it's been done by [INSERT POPULAR MOVIE OR VIDEO GAME HERE] is as bad as using a cliché.

[Tyger]

Why not combine the original with another idea? Say let them start off in the museum, then have it explode via gas main / burn due to fire / get blown up via some attack / whatever. That way they can start with their metagamed items, but will lose them when they get to the hospital and the emergency staff have to cut off the holster / kevlar vest / whatever...

This way they get the best of both worlds. They get to plan with those plans not being completely useless (as they can find the guns later when they get them from wherever the nurse put them) but still get to be challenged and be unprepared.

This also prevents any (in my opinion) misplaced anger at the DM for stating that you were starting out one way, and then not doing so.

[Rasman]

I'm not terribly interested in building my campaign around L4D. As has been said, a lot of the classic settings have been done long before L4D and will continue to be done long after. Avoiding a perfectly good setting just because it's been done by [INSERT POPULAR MOVIE OR VIDEO GAME HERE] is as bad as using a cliché.

you're the one that said you wanted to try and trump their metagame thinking...avoiding the cliche's is one of those ways, imo

by avoiding cliche's they don't have anything to build off of and have to think originally rather than pull from something they've seen...

I'm merely playing devil's advocate here...it's not that I don't like those settings, but when trying to choose one that is going to challenge players that think like that, you have to be outside the box, otherwise they'll take the obvious routes and you'll end up following a predetermined path. If you want to TRULY challenge them, think of the LAST place you'd want to be when a Zombiepocalypse broke out and put them there.

Frankly, being part of a prison chain gang would SUCK, but you have outs and if they're convicted criminals, then it can open you up to interesting moral dilemmas, especially based on WHAT they were convicted of. You also eliminate the odds/ability for them to have weapons, but when the guards start dropping, they have a CHANCE at getting to one and at getting the keys to get themselves unattached to one another. Now, these types of people tend to be non-violent criminals, so they won't be straight out murderer types, so it'll make it more interesting to see how they play out their characters.

Just curious, what system are you using for this game?

[dob]

I recently started a zombie apocalypse with the characters in a jail, in the drunk tank. Jail is a pretty nice venue. The characters, once free to roam, can easily acquire gear and places to hole up, while the DM gets an arena that's easy to control.

[BallsInABowl]

Golf course, during a pro tournament. Characters are all there either as spectators, vendors, grounds staff, caddies or competitors.

I was lucky enough to get a ticket to the Open a few years ago, and since most golf courses don't have parking for 10,000+ fans you had to park at a nearby mall and ride shuttle buses to the Country Club. So no easy escape, once the zombification happens the busses just leave.

Metal detectors, sure, so no guns and whatnot, but clubs for bludgeoning would be handily nearby as all the golfers and caddies either run away or are eaten/killed/infected.

For bonus fun you could have that the zombiepocolypse started there because they bulldozed over some headstones to expand a fairway or flooded a small old plot of graves to make a water hazard.

[Sith_Happens]

I'm not terribly interested in building my campaign around L4D.

What about Dead Rising? Like I mentioned before, just remove the action point cost from scientific improvisation and watch the broomchetes fly.