So after watching Shaun of the Dead, Dawn of the Dead, 28 Days later, and combining the fact that i’m in the process of reading Cell by Stephen King, I’vee had zombies on the brain.
Zombies are a classic horror element. There will always be zombies in the horror genre I imagine. Hell, there’s somthing undeniably creepy about the fact that they always win. They get you in the end. There’s really no denying it. So I figured since there’s nothing in the gaming rants section I figured I’d go off a bit on the old dead-shamblers as a campaign angle.
Now zombies have been done in roleplaying likely countless times. Hell the first thing that comes to mind is All Flesh Must Be Eaten, a tabletop RPG that’s pretty much all about zombie horror. Not to mention the ever-popular Resident Evil series for the video game fans out there. I figured I’d discuss a bit about running a zombie horror game on Seven13. Now while I ralize that the core book isn’t out yet it’s perfectly feasible to pull this off using the lite version of the rules from the Siege.
First off: the setting. This has to be a city. Townships and outlands will do. Population is the key to zombie horror. Townships or outlands are the goal for the PCs because it’s likely that after the shit hits the fan there will be more hope of survival away from civilization. What you generally want to do in this angle is put the characters in the center of a major city. Make sure they’re good and in the thick of it. No edge-of-town easy out; set them up for sull force. The population of the area the opening scene will be set in is a primary and generally unchangeable factor.
Second: Design your zombies. How nasty do yo want them to be? In the Romero era of the zombies we had the classic shamblers. These are slow moving creepers of dead people who, like the Cauldron Born of Lloyd Alexander’s Chronicles of Prydain are generally slow moving but equally relentless. Images of one-shoulder-up shuffling moaning folk come to mind here. Then we have the 28 Days Later/Dawn of the Dead remake era, where are zombies are screaming maniacs who run with reckless abandon on visual perception of a living target. Also, we have our horror-mixes from Resident Evil or Silent hill angles where you throw in other forms of horrific creatures. Now, I’m perfectly aware that if you run this angle using the supernatural aspects (Raze, Eth, Avatar) then the players are far-better equipped, but are they? Generally I think not. One may be tempted to throw all different forms of Dark creatures into the mix, however in my opinion the sheer numbers that a zombie horde creates are enough to wax a party of chracters in a stand up fight, powers or no. Moaning/shamble zombies or screamers/runners provide an element of safety. But in the end personally for horror I think there’s nothing creepier than those who neither scream nor moan, but give only a slight death-rattle. These creepies can sneak up out of the shadows on even a suspecting and paranoid PC. I like to make ‘em dread sundown. Either way, you need to have an idea of how your zombies will behave before you begin the onslaught.
Next it’s good to figure out how it starts and how it spreads and whether or not it will ever stop. This final aspect is the most important aspect of all for initial considerations. Will the PCs have any hope of end survival? If the zombies will never stop then the PCs will lose. Period. In zobie horror, there is nothing wrong with this I think. Generally I’m a GM who will kill the PCs only if it really works for the scene or if I have legitimate campaign-reasons to do so. But in zombie horror, all bets are off.
Traditionally as of late, it has become the general concept that zombieism is caused by a virus. However there’s really no fictional support for this. A virus runs its course, whether it kills you or not. If said virus can reanimate flesh, then we can expect that eventually, even if fueled by the eating of living flesh, that the virus will itself die. After the large population of a city is completely used up, and if zombies gain nothing from eating other zombies, we can safely assume that after a relatively short period of time (based on the nature of the need to feed the virus) then said zombies will expire. This idea leads us to believe that eventually it could be survived, if only by a fraction of a percentage of population. In the Romero era, there was no explanation for what started the plague of the undead. This is what made it even more horrific. There was no reasoning nor logic that could be applied. One day the dead just crawled out and the horror began. We were left with only the pondering line “When there is no more room in Hell, the dead will walk the Earth.” Creepy shit. Either way, you have to figure out what causes it and how it spreads, the classic of course being from saliva (bites). How fast does it incubate/kill the character and, from a system perspective, can it be resisted or cleansed through supernatural power?
Once you have these factors in mind you are ready to get the horror on. Now, my advice is to call for standard character creation just like any other game. Allow or don’t allow powers (I would generally say I prefer to make this type of campaign totally CoE independent), but don’t give the players any idea of what the campaign will be about other than the setting will be [insert major city name here].
Once you open up the session, don’t just throw the zobies at the players. Build it up. Let the campaign seem to get going, perhaps even provide some angle leads of any style you like for them to follow, or simply let them take normal life-actions. Describe people on the street, actions they take, normal, everyday things they do. Emphasize life as the PCs know it, as we know it for that matter. Show them people being good to one another and show them people being assholes. Make it real above all. Make the players part of it. Introduce them to NPCs that you knowingly plan to kill violently, but make the NPCs real. Make the characters care about them. Once you see that the PCs are getting into the flow, it’s time to make them hurt.
Opening the zombie angle should, in my opinion, be first strange, then extremely violent. Perhaps the characters are standing around and hear an odd-argument or a cry for help from far away. Then someone on the street pops out from an ally and tears the throat out of the person next to them, showering the characters in arterial blood. Bring in an odd amount of sirens and then a few dull concussive explosions or suddenly have cars spinning off the road. Be talking in a perfectly calm manner when you do this, then raise your voice and go totally frantic. Make them wonder what in the name of the gods just happened.
Once you have this opening, you’re good to go. No matter which way the players go, make sure they get stalled and make sure something goes frustratingly wrong. Luck in zombie horror isn’t a nicely placed car that still runs, it’s falling asleep for five minutes and actually waking up with the zombie one foot fom your face rather than tearing your face apart. We’re talking nerve-wrenching anxiety driven onslaughts of terror. If you do give them extended moments of calm, go for the drama and develop the characters of anyone the PCs pick up and make them good, so it’s harder on the psyche of the characters when you axe them later. Above all, do not let the characters get free of the city (I made this mistake a few weeks ago and it died right there). If you do, make it even worse somehow on the outside. Break spirits whenever possible and make them frantic. Generally I say the GM should never be against the players, but in zombie horror it’s the only way to go. If a PC dies, let them take over an NPC or make a new character on-the-fly and bring them in. Keep it going and if you run out try letting someone else take over the GMs positiion and you roll in as a player. If done right, you can make an entire campaign out of a zombie scenario.
Make sure, also, to twist it up. Find new ways to get to the PCs, inventive places to hide zombies and interesting angles with the surviving NPCs. If you dont plan on doing this, just run it as a one night scenario and see who among the PCs lasts the longest. This is fun as well.
For soundtrack, I recommend Octane by Orbital, Silent Hill (particularly 2) and Resident Evil. Throw in some really heavy metal (Cradle of Filth, Death, Napalm Death) or whatnot when they really get into it.
That’s all I have for it I suppose. It’s nearly 7am and I’ll be calling it a night soon. Just figured since I had that in my head I’d share it with you folks. My recommendations, personally are:
– 100 point characters, Human, no powers allowed
– Silent shambling zombies for the opening, if the players survive long enough make them mutate into runners.
– Hybrid horrors in the outland/townships if they get that far
– Virus spread by bites; allow AFF + DEF – 5 save if bitten.
– Virus will run out if zombie has not fed on living flesh in 72 Hours.
Enjoy the flesh fest folks.
– Ashe
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