[Archaeus]

Because sharing is caring, folks,

So, as a reminder, if you feel the need to participate, simply develop your Zombie plague scenario and post it in this little thread here. Judgement will take place at the end of the month.

I'm working on mine. How about you?

[Random Avenger]

I can't believe no one else has tried this yet.

I'm not even that much of a fan of Zombie Plauge scenarios.

I used to work in an office park across from a great big cemetery. I often thought about writing some kind of story in which the corpses in the cemetery rose as zombies and shambled toward the office park. I wondered what people would do, how they might get out, etc. But I never developed it too much. A good friend of mine was buried in that cemetery, too. That would *not* be the way I would want to see him again.

Maybe the others could flesh this out a bit.

http://maps.yahoo.co...2520City% 2520MO

Here's a general map of the area that inspired my ramblings. I figure we'd have been the first line of defense for the people in the houses across the interstate - not that this would have helped a lot. It was a really big cemetery.

This post has been edited by Random Avenger: 15 June 2009 - 03:50 PM

[Bebop Cola]

First things first...

My contribution.

Here's a general map of the area that inspired my ramblings. I figure we'd have been the first line of defense for the people in the houses across the interstate - not that this would have helped a lot. It was a really big cemetery.

Personally, what I like about the Z-Apocalypse is that human resistance really doesn't gel for a while in the face of the horde. The sheer horror of the situation prevents people from dealing with it in any organized sense.

In other words, "Nuts to those houses! I'm outta here!"

A few days later, perhaps, those who hid out successfully in the office may venture forth into the nearby neighborhood(after the horde passed, of course) to search for weapons and supplies. Office snacks only keep you going so long.

Still, it is reminiscent of the opening scene in Romero's Night of the Living Dead. Somewhat comical to modern sensibilities, but still a classic. I think the true gold of the Z-Apocalypse story(and where even those who don't care for the zombie aspect can perhaps find their inspiration) is less about the zombie and more about how the survivors deal with them and the knowledge of what is happening. Night of the Living Dead did this well enough, though Romero's later movies in this series were less than successful with this. You could see the start of this in Day of the Dead, really, where the scientist tries to train a zombie back to sentience and culminates with Land of the Dead's intelligent shepherd zombies that lead around the rest. That's not to say that there isn't any human drama to be had in the later films, just that the zombies start having a semi-sympathetic role.

As a mindless enemy, they are horrifying and require no justification to fight. As an intelligent creature, they suddenly take on a sympathetic quality as can be seen in the main character's sentiment in the latter move above where he decides against shooting the shepherd zombie because it was just trying to find a home like living humans were. Unfortunately for you, foolish hero, his home is wherever you live and, as far as he is concerned, your home is his belly..

[Zibik]

I'm in the third of 4 weeks worth of a physical science class that meets for five hours a night...so my free time is pretty much non existant at present. Once it is done I'll be able to correlate the ideas that have been spinning and do something with them.

I'm hoping it will be good.

[Random Avenger]

Further development:
When I worked there, the building I was in was largely taken up by tech support for a local phone company. I'm not sure who is there now - the company moved, that's why I no longer work there. Security wasn't real tight - there was a guard at the door and we had magnetic card keys that let us into the building. The doors wouldn't open without a card key, unless you could get the guard's attention.

I'm sure we would have been hosed in a zombie apocalypse because the first floor had a lot of glass. Although safety glass is hard to break, I am sure a determined bunch of zombies could probably bust it. If we could secure the stairs, those on the second and third floors might stay safe(er) but then how would they get out?

The other buildings were similar, although they housed other areas of the company, such as finance and billing. They moved out before we did, mostly colleges and banks are there now.

On a more general note, why would the zombie horde go away if there were still tasty morsels around, even if they couldn't get to them right away? Zombies, especially early on, are not known for their intelligence.

[Bebop Cola]

I'm sure we would have been hosed in a zombie apocalypse because the first floor had a lot of glass. Although safety glass is hard to break, I am sure a determined bunch of zombies could probably bust it.

Certainly at the time most dramatically appropriate to the story and, generally, the most inconvenient for the survivors behind those panes of glass.

If we could secure the stairs, those on the second and third floors might stay safe(er) but then how would they get out?

If the nearby buildings are close enough, it might be possible to construct a crude platform system to travel from rooftop to rooftop. The nearby buildings could then be likewise fortified or be a possible escape route while the horde is tied up in the first.

Similarly, a distraction of some sort could be made within the zombie controlled areas of the building, keeping them inside while an escape attempt is made from an upper floor window with a makeshift rope.

On a more general note, why would the zombie horde go away if there were still tasty morsels around, even if they couldn't get to them right away? Zombies, especially early on, are not known for their intelligence.

A few survivors here and there always manage to hide from the horde and wait for it to move on. You're absolutely right in that they are unintelligent and persistent, and will wait you out until you need supplies. That is, if they can find you. Usually those survivors who succeed in hiding out do so by ferreting themselves away in a crawlspace, attic, or even a remote closet, then remain very still and quiet so as to not attract attention for as long as possible. Even when successful, there are always a few straggler zombies that shuffle about after the horde, ready to bring down all nearby flesheaters on those who emerge prematurely.

This, of course, makes surviving with children and others with special needs exceptionally difficult and many a dramatic moment is made as the group is forced to decide what is best for the many at the expense of the few.

[Random Avenger]

I guess it depends on how they know you're there. In some movies, it seems like they have some kind of preternatural sense that allows them to tell that "food" is nearby. In others, you might be OK until they see you. It also depends on the source of zombie-ism. If you have to be bitten or have contact with one, that might keep a group of survivors somewhat safer than if everybody who dies, no matter how, automatically turns into one as it worked in some of the Romero movies.

[Bebop Cola]

When zombies seem to have that preternatural human-detector, it was still reasonable to believe that it was a simple matter of one member of the horde seeing/hearing/smelling the living and the rest of the horde picking up on their semi-social prey calls. That's not to say that the zombies intelligently communicate with one another, rather that zimbies retain a semblance of a social nature in that they respond in groups to certain stimuli.

So when one zombie detects the living, it suddenly changes direction and heads off away from the group. Maybe it moans in frustration of it's unnatural hunger and the chance that it could be satiated if only for a moment. The rest of the group, en masse, picks up on this sudden change of behavior and instinctively follows. The moan sparks their own hunger and gives them a focus of purpose, at least until the alert stimulus wears off.

[Random Avenger]

Also, it's interesting to wonder what zombies do when there are no lunchable humans in the area. Do they lie down and act like corpses until some more humans come along, do they wander around aimlessly, or do they shamble off in search of new population centers to nosh on.

[Bebop Cola]

Personally, I like to imagine that the majority tend to clump together and this tendency keeps them motive enough to instinctively search for new population centers. There will always be a few stragglers that are left behind due to injuries or simply go their own way for whatever reason. These, in the absence of stimulus, may do either of the remaining two options above. If it is to your preference, you might even have some of them return to a mindless and unsophisticated repetition of activities that were once important in their lives. A zombie who was a parent pushing an empty stroller around, or a doctor who returns to the hospital and aimlessly shuffles around the halls with a patient's chart in their hand. Obviously, these behaviors would be instinctive and unthinking, and would be immediately forgotten is prey wanders near. It may give pause for any survivors who are watching from a distance, however.

This would mean areas that appear safe may not be so after all. Survivor beware.

[Archaeus]

A quick and dirty of my scenario before I get off to work. I had planned to give this awesome timeline version, but then I realized I'm not a good writer... lol, So this is all I've got:

The plague originated in the Amazon rain forest, in an as-yet undiscovered section full of dead and dying plants and animals. A bacterium, which would later be called Bascillis Zonbi (sic) was lurking, unable to spread out of the region due to protective wards placed long ago. The workers, while performing the deforestation, got the usual cuts and scratches from the surrounding trees and plants. The bacteria got in, they finished up for the day, and you get the idea. As the plague spread out, the world refused to pay heed the the stories coming out of Brazil and its provinces/ surrounding countires. Only 3 weeks after the 1st infection did the world take notice, but it was too late. Much of the media attention that would have gone to the plague in the 1st few weeks was soaked up by the New Dawn cult (fiction tie in ftw!) and their terrorist actions in Chicago, LA and Dallas. The initial bombings were Zombe free, until the plague reached America. The cult then saw the opportunity to spread thier doctrine of a new beginning for humanity in the next life, using zombies as a weapon. They developed explosives which sent infected flesh and bllod along wit shrapnel into victims, quickly turning them. As such, it seemed like there was no one place of origin in America for the plague, as any "safe" zone was infilitrated and infected, and armies found themselves surrounded on all sides.

You can tell how the rest goes. I'll post the supernatural side tomorow.

[Zibik]

I had originally wanted to write a set of fiction shorts like Arch, but with mine being diary entries posted to Hunter.net by a bluesman turned imbued hunter. But as I had that damn science class (made a B...not really sure how...don't really remember much from those four weeks) and I don't have nearly enough time now to get it right, I'll lay out the gist of it here.

My basic idea was that this hunter stepped off a plane in Memphis, Tennessee, USA to hunt for a sorcerer. (Yes it was my intention to emulate the Marc Cohn song Walking in memphis heh.) Along the way I had planned for various encounters including a werewolf dressed as an elvis impersonator. Eventually our hunter would link up with a local group of hunters who would help him track down the sorcerer.

Through some twists and turns they eventually wind up in central downtown Memphis just in time to see the sorcerer and his cult complete a ritual. Only the ritual doesn't go as planned and something else happens. Instead of summoning whatever entity they were after a portal opens. The hunters kill the sorcerer but the portal remains open. Through the portal steps a hooded man with a staff in one hand and a book in the other. He speaks a bit of a monolog, looks around, and then declares this world fit for the trials. Our bluesman would have attempted to kill this harbringer if not for his shotgun being empty. (I had a whole lament in the works about him kicking himself for getting a double barrel instead of a pump heh). The harbringer bangs his staff upon the ground and a bright light flashes outward and everybody present blacks out.

His next set of entries would have been dated two weeks later with no memories of what happened after downtown. He wakes up to find himself in a police station locked in a cell with a pair of undead basketball players trying to get to him. After he escapes out of the building he encounters the furry Elvis impersonator and they decide to stick together for safety. It is only then that they notice that there are no stars or moon in the nights sky. The city would be in ruins and the dead walk and not just human corpses either. I was planning on having the two of them meet a couple of elvis's former pack mates. Now souless killing machines stuck in werewolf form.

The final couple of series of entries would deal with them running, surviving, discovering the bad guys, finding survivors, trying to figure out where they are / what happened, and finding a safe place.

===================

As for what's really going on, my zombies and the rest of it...

I stole the basic idea from Eric Flint's Assiti Shards. Basically Memphis and the 15 miles of area surrounding it are transported to an alternate dimension as a testing ground for humanity. If deemed fit the Harbingers will return to earth and cause whatever havoc they'd planned (I hadn't really thought much about that side of it honestly). In the process it kills roughly half the population to power the transport the rest it left with some nasty side effects and scars. (THat'd be the black out for two weeks and some of the resulting side plots / hooks.) What the harbingers didn't know is that not all the energy was used in the transport...What energy was left over sparked something supernatural and caused the dead to begin to rise.

Thus laying the ground work for my zombie fodder. These are pretty much your standard reanimated dead body with a
5 ft / line of sight life detector. By that I mean they can sense the living within 5 feet or if they catch sight of you moving. They are stupid mindless automatons with two purposes. Kill and feed. They might stumble into the most basic uses of items but they are not tool users nor are they creative thinkers at all. But they can be fast or slow, quiet or loud. When somebody dies that energy left over reanimates them after about a day (2d10 hours) unless the brain / spinal cord is destroyed. I know its a bit cliche...but the Brain + nervous system are a pretty good battery and wire eh?

This basic template can also be applied to anything else with a soul and a corporeal body. Hence zombified werewolves. Basically any magical abilities they had that weren't innate (cool powers, etc) are lost when they're reanimated, but stuff like damage resistance, claws etc and the like are still there. As for the soulless or the already dead. This is where it gets nasty. Spirits can inhabit a risen body, A vampires body rots to the point they're indistinguishable from the undead and after a while learn to control other risen as well.

There are also a few natives to the world. A few harbringers are around to watch the progress with some rather nasty powers (think high sphere mages) and a few cosmic horrific entities up to their own devices (again hadn't really planned on touching on that much).

Oh one thing I didnt touch on that I probably should have. I was really going to play up the fact that bluesman is cut off from the messengers (being in alternate dimension will do that) so he doesn't have access to anything beyond his second sight and how much that horrifies him.

[Archaeus]

I really love the idea of the Hunter waking up alone in a cell, and he's already knee deep in zombie-shit. The build up is interesting, as well. I'm just curious, and perhaps I missed it, but what happens in the real world to replace the missing chunk of the world? Or does no time pass in the "real world" and its all instantanious from thier POV?

I'd also like to comment on the awesome amount of creativity coming out of this month's events. Keep it up, folks!

[Zibik]

I hadn't really considered it, but I'm inclined to say something along the lines of Dies the Fire or depending on if you want to give your players some kind of hope...a couple of seconds pass then Memphis is in ruins but not much else has changed...yet.

[Random Avenger]

I found this in Facebook news feed yesterday. Gave me chuckle.

Quote

KCTV5 News
Seriously. A police chase. Involving a zombie. IN A CEMETERY. And yes, baby, IT'S ALL CAUGHT ON TAPE. Can't make this stuff up. Watch at 10!

I watched at 10. It was hilarious. All it needed was for one of the cops to start cussing and chase the guy with a glowing Maglight.

Here's a link to the story.
http://www.kctv5.com...729/detail.html
http://www.kctv5.com...9309/index.html

This post has been edited by Random Avenger: 05 November 2009 - 09:11 PM

[SpanishInquisition]

So I realize this isn't truly Hunter the Reckoning Material, although you could tweak it to oWoD, more like a scenario 'card' I designed for players use in a nWoD one shot involving, yes you guessed it, a zombie apocalypse.

Essentially I had a large tracker for "Exhaustion", you tracked the 1-10 trait with beads, it equaled Stamina+Resolve, you had 3 "below zero" levels which gave a -1,-2,-3 penalty respectively. When the penalty boxes run out you're on empty and you begin to suffer bashing damage. Essentially it expands the deprivation rules, water is assumed to be available, but you lose Exhaustion continually, basically 3 per day, 1 per combat scene, and occasionally more for extreme physical activity, lack of sleep, ect. In order to keep going you've got to find food which has a 'Refresh' value (1-3) which adds points back, take drugs, and/or get rest. There's a dramatic and quick scavenging system much like the 'quick' hunting system in vampire the masquerade, but going for food rather than folks.

Anyway, the Players have loved it so far, its a real push to get them out from behind boarded up houses and send them looking for supplies and easily drives home the "survival is its own reward" motif of post-apocalyptic genre.

I basically pulled this game together from WoD:Antagonists, HtR: Walking Dead, and HtV core for designing zombies and other monsters, if anyone wants a complete write up let me know.

This post has been edited by SpanishInquisition: 11 November 2009 - 06:08 AM

[Bebop Cola]

That's an interesting idea, but as I toss it around in my head I'm not sure how I'd use it without it putting my suspension of disbelief on shaky ground. I might just not be understanding your idea completely.

I like fatigue. Even if you don't take any physical damage fighting off the waves of zombies from your bunker, mental and physical fatigue are important to keep track of. Penalties on actions and social rolls are just part of the Zombie Apocalypse theme. They are what cause some teams to fuse into a strong survival machine and others to fall apart and get picked off one-by-one. What I'm not too keen on is the food as a health-pack or power-up analogue(and I apologize in advance if I am misinterpreting you).

It comes too close to the idea that I, an exhausted survivor fleeing a mob of zombies can toss back a couple steaks and be good to go again. There would be some benefit if I was already hungry, to be sure. A food-energy boost is going to do some good to both my mood and physical performance, but if I haven't slept in 3 days and am running on adrenaline then it isn't likely to help too much and may even make me lethargic as my body moves to happily digest the bounty.

While your description is admittedly brief, I'd also be curious if you'd considered morale boosts to the fatigue scale. If me and the Mall Crawlers survivor group toss a propane tank off the roof into the mass of zombies and take out a good 150 shamblers, that's going to give us a good boost for a while as we celebrate the (temporary) victory.

I am interested in the write-up, though. Those were just my uneducated concerns on first reading your idea.

[SpanishInquisition]

Exhaustion
000[][][][][][][][][][]
-1-2-3
Dramatic Scavenging
Dice pool begins at 0 each hour adds 1 die
Multiple PCs may add dice together
Dramatic Failure: a dangerous complication
Exceptional Success: Treat as 1 food type higher
1 time refreshers: amphetamines, rest, full sleep
Perishable degrades 1 per day
Can consume up to stamina to refresh


Loss
Condition
-1
Strenuous Activity (i.e. extended Athletics rolls), every 8 hours, every combat scene, lack of sleep
(24+ hours)
-2
Any previous in Severe conditions (ie freezing), lack of sleep (48+ hours)
-3
Per Day, lack of sleep(72+ hours)

Random Food Table: 1 die
Roll
Food
1
Junk, perishable
2-3
Junk
4-5
Good, Perishable
6-7
Good
8-9
Excellent, Perishable
10
Excellent

Modifiers
+1
Well trodden turf, in suburbia
+2
Old Haunt, solid map, in commercial district, preserved local
+3
Own Neighborhood, near food supply chain, pristine local
-1
Monster turf, rarely visited, business district, bad weather
-2
Arid local, frozen local, unfamiliar area, severely damaged area, industrial sector
-3
Completely unknown place, overwhelmed by dead, under the red fog, severe weather, still burning

Ok to get a little more specific here, the food supply is limited to what the PCs can carry around on their body or in a vehicle, "red fog" refers to the phenomena responsible for this zombie scenario. Basically its a red colored fog that swept in and turned all the dying people (defined as having taken at least their Stamina in Agg.) into Zombies. The food gathering system is similar to VtM quick hunting rules. Now as far as the health pack concern, its more of a constant reminder that time is running out, Players can't stay in one place. With the zombies rolling through the city it is paramount that they keep moving. Yes its a little on the video game side of things, obviously common sense applies, you need sleep eventually, so eating while providing a boost of energy can't make up for sleep loss. Now I did have a reason for including a sort of VG style of play, I've got a newbie who's a big fan of the game Left4Dead and wanted to play something similar. He hasn't played an rpg before so I was looking for something tactile and easy to latch onto. For me its a one shot so I'm not overly concerned about its integrity as a long term game which explores ontological quandaries through running from flesh eating dead.

This post has been edited by SpanishInquisition: 30 November 2009 - 03:29 AM