So I had the best idea ever.
Dark Heresy is probably the most violent pen and paper RPG I've seen. FATAL is probably worse, but I don't want to know anything about FATAL.
You know what else is violent? Zombie Apocalypse. Yes. You know you want this.
Here's what I'm thinking right now, post if you have an idea.
I'll set up a city, make a map for it, get an idea of what items are where, and set up dice tables to determine what's actually there.
There should be vehicles, I have the vehicle rules apocrypha, but I'll probably have to make modifications to the rules to make zombies a threat. I'm thinking there should be a serious risk of being dragged out through the windows if you drive into a crowd of zombies.
I'm trying to decide whether or not there should be career progression. Part of me says yes, part of me says no. Progression would make it easier to differentiate similar careers, but at the same time I feel like a survival game shouldn't have you leveling up.
Another thing, of course, is zombies. I suppose I could make multiple types of zombies and let the players pick what kind of apocalypse they have. Other people GMing with the same ruleset could do their own thing with the zombies or use one of the predefined types I'll figure out.
Here are the zombies I've thought about, you guys may know more.
Romero Zombies - Slow, shambling, can only be killed via destroying the brain or severing its connection to the body(Or if you're going with some of the other movies, by completely destroying its body). Can do basic human things like open doors, and when no brains are to be found mill about in places they used to frequent. I don't know if I'll use this, because I don't like the idea of zombies that can open doors.
Non-Romero Shamblers - Slow, shambling, brain thing, huge hordes, can't open doors. This seems like a likely choice, along with...
Infected Living Humans - Technically not zombies, although only jerks actually call you on that. Fast, sometimes faster than humans, and the infection means they can run without stopping for longer than a human. If we use these you're going to want to use vehicles for travel, because I will be going with the one-bite-and-you're-infected rule.
I may allow you to spend experience at character creation to be immune, but it's going to be expensive, because immunity is no fun. That goes for all of the zombie types except Romero zombies. Everyone comes back to life with that apocalypse, whether you were bitten or not.
Here are my ideas for careers. I'll be treating it as if I will use career progression, but if it's clear that that's not the path I decide to take, I'll change it.
Ex-Convict - Strong, tough, dumb, low fellowship. High melee and barehanded weapons skill, pistol skill, maybe shotgun skill. Probably minimal building/mechanical skill from prison shops.
Citizen - Average attributes, weak combat skills, but good at navigation(?), and foraging in malls and the like.
Cop - Strong, tough, dumb, higher fellowship. Pistol skill, shotgun skill, vehicle skill. Probably rifle skill at higher progressions, assuming I use them. You may be starting to see why progression looks good. A lot of these careers are going to be redundant without career paths to differentiate them.
Mechanic - Strong, tough, dumb. Can repair(and improve? via tuning up?) vehicles, minimal building skill, melee weapons skill.
Redneck - Strong, tough, low(Or high?) fellowship - Vehicle skill, handgun skill, maybe rifle skill at higher levels, minimal(Or moderate?) building and mechanical skills, skill at foraging outside the city limits if we decide to include nearby forest/country areas.
Military - Strong, tough. Skill with most weapons, possibly vehicle and mechanical skill, probably building skill, superior equipment. Will need some kind of disadvantage to balance him out. Less starting XP, maybe?
Construction Worker - Strong, tough, dumb. Melee weapon skill, high building skill, good for setting up fortifications.
What else is there? I know there should be less strong/tough careers. I don't plan on including things like tesla coils and automated turrets, because they're lame, and that limits the viability of having things like a geek career, I'd need to figure out what they could do in a zombie apocalypse.
Somehow I completely forgot most of the actual gameplay in the premise. It'd be basically an open-ended survival game. No real pre-set goals except to survive and maybe escape the city. You'd need to eat and drink, of course, which would necessitate some moving around to gather supplies.
So that's what I have so far. Questions, comments, suggestions?
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Topic: Zombie Apocalypse RPG - This is going to be more work than I thought. (Read 11065 times)