The Last of Us GURPS - The Infected

[Railstar]

Originally Posted by Zanfire

One optional rule in the sourcebook I'm writing will focus on the chance of being infected for bad luck just while fighting an infected: this simulate the accidental injestion of infected blood, a splash of saliva into the eyes etc. etc. (GM rolls 3d6 for each melee round engaged by infected, on a 3,4,5 the character becames infected). This is an incredibly nasty rule (and optional because of this), but I think some hardcore players can enjoy the thrill it creates and the sense of impending danger it causes!

I see a problem with that rule unrelated to being hardcore: it is too random. There is no difference between a round where a character sideslips to dodge a zombie and does not hit it in return and a round of brain-smashing with a close-range weapon. It actually encourages more risky fighting because fighting defensively means more random rolls for infection. The guy who uses Retreat, Defensive Attack and kicks/reach weapon to keep the zombie at bay ends up more likely to get infected than the guy who wades into them with All-Out Attack and Close-Combat with a weapon spraying blood everywhere.

Some other thoughts I had about the infected:

Vulnerability (head shots): when Joel beats a Cordy to death with a pipe or throws one then stamps on their head it seems to explode, while human victims die less messily.

Attack skill: Bad Sight or Blindness will give penalties to their attack skills (except in CC). This might be a good thing; if we assume most of their attacks are All-Out & Telegraphic then they might need these penalties to not be too deadly. This might also explain why Clickers & Bloaters are so fearsome, if their Scanning Sense removes that attack penalty.

[Zanfire]

Originally Posted by Devin Lewis

I found this in a Kotaku article from the author's hands on time with the game before it came out. He was sitting with Neil Druckmann, the creative director for the game.

'Tess helps sometimes, occasionally putting a bullet in a Runner's rotting brain just as it's about to free Joel of his jugular. Despite this hunger for flesh, Druckmann ensures these baddies are not zombies. Brain-eating is simply a by-product of their need to spread the pandemic and survive. "If they sense another person is not infected, it's their instinct to attack and try to spread the fungus."'

I'm still not sure I care for the 'runners eating flesh to sustain themselves' idea, but until I find someone talking about it more in-depth, that quote is the closest to 'from the horses mouth'.

Well, that seems to support my idea that the infected do not need to feed, so for now I will stick to this theory. Thanks!

Originally Posted by Varyon

That's not a sense of impending danger, that's "make a new character every few sessions." That's right around 5% per second of melee combat that the character risks getting infected. A character engaged in melee for 15 seconds over the course of his life thus has a 50% chance of having been infected, while at a minute there's nearly a 95% chance. Unless characters have very high HT, are able to consistently avoid melee, or there's a chance of "throwing off" the infection, you're probably going to lose a lot of characters to such a rule. A "per melee combat" roll would probably work out better (and slow things down a lot less), as would lowering the threshold (say, it only happens on a 3). You could even combine these - a short melee combat results in a roll against 3 at the finish, a long or particularly messy combat results in a roll against 4, and a long and particularly messy combat results in a roll against 5.

Originally Posted by Railstar

I see a problem with that rule unrelated to being hardcore: it is too random. There is no difference between a round where a character sideslips to dodge a zombie and does not hit it in return and a round of brain-smashing with a close-range weapon. It actually encourages more risky fighting because fighting defensively means more random rolls for infection. The guy who uses Retreat, Defensive Attack and kicks/reach weapon to keep the zombie at bay ends up more likely to get infected than the guy who wades into them with All-Out Attack and Close-Combat with a weapon spraying blood everywhere.

I see your point. This is something to be fixed, then, but still I'd like to keep the idea behind this rule, allowing a group to play this way, if they like (mine probably will). What about a Dodge test at the end of combat? With a bonus or penalty based on the situation (-1 for every 4 combat round, -1 for every enemy you fought beyond first, +1 for every Hard to Kill level, +2 for Combat Reflexes etc. etc.?). I'm open to suggestions.

Originally Posted by Railstar

Vulnerability (head shots): when Joel beats a Cordy to death with a pipe or throws one then stamps on their head it seems to explode, while human victims die less messily.

I fear I must disagree on this. I just finished my second walkthrough on Survivor+, and I used melee combat most of the time: I can assure that Joel executions on humans are very similar to the infected ones (the knee/foot on the head or when Joel smash enemy face on a solid surface are both very gory): perhaps the presence of fungus growth around the infected brain just add material to be splatted out of head ;)

Originally Posted by Railstar

Attack skill: Bad Sight or Blindness will give penalties to their attack skills (except in CC). This might be a good thing; if we assume most of their attacks are All-Out & Telegraphic then they might need these penalties to not be too deadly. This might also explain why Clickers & Bloaters are so fearsome, if their Scanning Sense removes that attack penalty.

I'm not exactly sure how all these sense-based advantages/disadvantages works toghether: Bad Sighted (Nearsight) just give a -2 to melee, and thats it; Blinded give a -6, while Scanning Sense (radar, tageting) give a +3, resulting in a flat -3 to melee. As for basic rules, it is not clear if Discriminatory Hearing helps on attack rolls, because the advantage don't specify exactly when the bonus it gives is used (a generic any "task that utilizes hearing"); if Discriminatory Hearing work, Clicker and Bloaters will have a total +1 on attacks.

With this in mind, stalkers are actually quite dangerous, because they have Bad Sight (Nearsighted) + Scanning Sense (radar, targeting) + Discriminatory Hearing, for a final modifier of -2+3(+4)= +1 or +5!!! Perhapse I should remove Discriminatory Hearing from Stalkers.

Actually, after some thought, I felt that the infected had a too low brawling skill (from 10 to 12), so I incresed their value a bit (Bloater now have 14), but it is still to be settled definitively.

I'm actually trying to figure out how to build some new equipment, like "baseball" & "dress & plate" armors, improvised weapons (baseball bat + scissors). Moreover I'm thinking about adding to all infected fire vulnerability/fear (as it seems it is a weak point for them, but truth is that being burned alive is a weak point for every inflammable organic being: in the videogame, Flamethrower is 1 hit-kill against all human enemies...)

Thanks all for the support. If you're interested in following this work, you can find what I've created so far in this link: http://zanfire.blogspot.it/2013/07/t...-gurps-40.html

[Railstar]

First of all, I really like the sourcebook.

I am not sure about suggestions for the random infection rule. I will think about it. General ideas I can think of for factors that might influence things:

CC or grapples are more risky.
Gory splattering blows are more risky (major wounds, especially with cutting weapons).
Longer reach weapons should reduce the risk.
Dressing for the occasion might also reduce the risk (clothing that will stop scratches or blood reaches pre-existing scrapes, also surgical mask or safety goggles would stop mouth or eyes being used).
Fight-bite, when you punch someone in the face and cut your fist on their tooth.

Disagreeing with me is nothing to fear. I am not that scary. :D

I would give the bonus from Discriminatory Hearing to attacks for Clickers & Bloaters since they are blind, so it definitely utilises hearing. I would not give Runners or maybe even Stalkers the same bonus, since their relatively better eyesight would reduce how much they utilise hearing to attack.

On building equipment, GURPS Horror has an improvised weapons table. Some improvised armour is covered to a very limited degree by GURPS Low-Tech – essentially you make a skill roll at +4, the armour is cheap-quality (-1 DR), but you can do stuff like sew a pile of shirts together or make splinted armour. GURPS High-Tech has stuff like motorcycle helmets and football shoulder pads. I think another possible source is the Low-Tech Companion 2, Weapons & Warriors for rules on modified weapons, although it really applies more to purpose-built medievalish weapons than improvised ones. The general rule is if you want to add something sharp, like binding a shiv to a pipe to make a pick/axe, it is -1 damage but changes the type to impaling.

Also look at the rules for special materials. A lot of things used for shivs or blades will often be inferior material to weapons-grade steel, reducing the stats further below the cheap-quality rules.

Improvised gear could be a specialty of the Armoury skill.

Fragile: Flammable might work to encourage the use of fire. I know there is not much difference between the effects on infected vs humans, but it might serve to mitigate the resistances that the infected have. Another factor to consider is for blind monsters the roar of flame and the stench of burning flesh is probably going to drown out their senses.

I saw a problem with one of my earlier suggestions: Berserk gives immunity to stun and shock, which might not be wanted for Runners. Maybe On the Edge would be a better way to force Runners to neglect defence without enabling them to ignore injury? I might throw Bloodlust in there as well.

Also, Noisy might be a good disadvantage to include. Runners tend to weep and pant, Clickers click, etc.

For the army man template if you want to develop them, the Retired Soldier from GURPS Horror might be a good starting point.

I hope all that helps.

[Zanfire]

Originally Posted by Railstar

First of all, I really like the sourcebook.

I am not sure about suggestions for the random infection rule. I will think about it. General ideas I can think of for factors that might influence things:

CC or grapples are more risky.
Gory splattering blows are more risky (major wounds, especially with cutting weapons).
Longer reach weapons should reduce the risk.
Dressing for the occasion might also reduce the risk (clothing that will stop scratches or blood reaches pre-existing scrapes, also surgical mask or safety goggles would stop mouth or eyes being used).
Fight-bite, when you punch someone in the face and cut your fist on their tooth.

Thanks. I agree on these factors as being important. Perhaps this can become an important standard rule of the setting, with a full table showing all the modifiers, to be used by players to prepare their characters for fighting infected: an "Infection Danger" roll can become part of the fight rules, modified by a big number of factors, even to such a degree that the roll can become an automatic success (or failure?) if the character is equipped/prepared well enough to avoid being infected by random fluids!

Originally Posted by Railstar

I would give the bonus from Discriminatory Hearing to attacks for Clickers & Bloaters since they are blind, so it definitely utilises hearing. I would not give Runners or maybe even Stalkers the same bonus, since their relatively better eyesight would reduce how much they utilise hearing to attack.

I agree :) .

Originally Posted by Railstar

On building equipment, GURPS Horror has an improvised weapons table. Some improvised armour is covered to a very limited degree by GURPS Low-Tech – essentially you make a skill roll at +4, the armour is cheap-quality (-1 DR), but you can do stuff like sew a pile of shirts together or make splinted armour. GURPS High-Tech has stuff like motorcycle helmets and football shoulder pads. I think another possible source is the Low-Tech Companion 2, Weapons & Warriors for rules on modified weapons, although it really applies more to purpose-built medievalish weapons than improvised ones. The general rule is if you want to add something sharp, like binding a shiv to a pipe to make a pick/axe, it is -1 damage but changes the type to impaling.

Also look at the rules for special materials. A lot of things used for shivs or blades will often be inferior material to weapons-grade steel, reducing the stats further below the cheap-quality rules.

Improvised gear could be a specialty of the Armoury skill.

Very interesting references: I admit I was a bit worried because I thought I was forced to build new, complex rules and tables for improvised weapons and armor, but If these rules already exists, well, better so. I'll have a look in order to see if they are usable in this setting.

Originally Posted by Railstar

Fragile: Flammable might work to encourage the use of fire. I know there is not much difference between the effects on infected vs humans, but it might serve to mitigate the resistances that the infected have. Another factor to consider is for blind monsters the roar of flame and the stench of burning flesh is probably going to drown out their senses.

This seems a good idea, but I think Fragile: Combustible is better suited, even for its description ("Perhaps it is dry, resinous, or made of wood")

Originally Posted by Railstar

I saw a problem with one of my earlier suggestions: Berserk gives immunity to stun and shock, which might not be wanted for Runners. Maybe On the Edge would be a better way to force Runners to neglect defence without enabling them to ignore injury? I might throw Bloodlust in there as well.

Also, Noisy might be a good disadvantage to include. Runners tend to weep and pant, Clickers click, etc.

All good suggestions. I'm not yet so aknowledged on all the adv/disadv of this game ;). Bloodlust is definitively a must have, as often the infected focus on a victim even if others are shooting them. I' think Clickers and Bloaters should still enjoy by Berserk, as they seems hardly stoppable even with "heavy" weapons. Still, High Pain Threshold is perhaps useful enough to represent their resilience. So High Pain Threshold + On The Edge is probably a better combination than Berserk (+ HPT).

*EDIT*: After some thought, is Bloodlust really necessary? I mean, I surely need something to explain that Infected NEVER spare someone, but is this Bloodlust? Even if I put it as Bloodlust (6), it may happen that, on a roll of 6 or lower, an Infected can "decide" to spare a person, which I think is NEVER possible (perhaps this can happen with a Runner still having some of its humanity, but surely not with Clickers and Bloater). Isn't perhaps better to just explain this kind of behaviour in the monster general description?

Originally Posted by Railstar

I hope all that helps.

Like alwasy!

[Varyon]

Originally Posted by Zanfire

*EDIT*: After some thought, is Bloodlust really necessary? I mean, I surely need something to explain that Infected NEVER spare someone, but is this Bloodlust? Even if I put it as Bloodlust (6), it may happen that, on a roll of 6 or lower, an Infected can "decide" to spare a person, which I think is NEVER possible (perhaps this can happen with a Runner still having some of its humanity, but surely not with Clickers and Bloater). Isn't perhaps better to just explain this kind of behaviour in the monster general description?

A few things to keep in mind. First, monsters/NPC's need not run the same way as PC's. Second, mental disadvantages like Bloodlust are meant to represent the way the character behaves in general - a character with Bloodlust (15) is still going to always try for the killing blow on a target. The SC number is just for when it's a really bad idea to give in to the compulsion - the above character would roll against 15 when, say, killing a target might compromise stealth or waste ammunition.

All that said, I believe it was Powers that had the option for traits lacking an SC number, making them be always on. If you really feel the need, simply give the infected this level of Bloodlust.

[Railstar]

A random infection table could work. You could start with a base of chance of exposure (not necessarily infection) of 3-5, then modify for various factors.

-1 for each hex of distance you managed to keep between you and the enemy during combat.
-1 for protected eyes/nose/mouth (blood splatter on goggles may obscure vision)
-1 for stout clothing covering any possible scratches from blood splatter.
-1 for a surprise attack.
-1 for non-bloodletting attacks (shoving it down the stairs, throwing it out a window).
+1 if you already have injuries that fluid could get into.
+2 if striking with bare fists to face.
+1 if you inflict a major wound.
+1 if using cutting weapons.
+1 if getting grappled (+2 if grappled and bare skin).

Etc.

My thoughts on Bloodlust is that nothing says the monster has to make a self-control roll. I would only make the roll if others are shooting at them and it's a really good idea to go for them rather than finish off the guy who is no longer fighting back. If someone is genuinely at the monster’s mercy they would never get spared.

EDIT: I think a lot of disadvantages, such as Berserk or On the Edge, could just be covered the same way by saying "They always All-Out Attack." You could cover any behaviour in the monster's general description. Personally I like to do both and actually include the disadvantage because GURPS is super-flexible this way.

[Zanfire]

Originally Posted by Varyon

A few things to keep in mind. First, monsters/NPC's need not run the same way as PC's. Second, mental disadvantages like Bloodlust are meant to represent the way the character behaves in general - a character with Bloodlust (15) is still going to always try for the killing blow on a target. The SC number is just for when it's a really bad idea to give in to the compulsion - the above character would roll against 15 when, say, killing a target might compromise stealth or waste ammunition.

All that said, I believe it was Powers that had the option for traits lacking an SC number, making them be always on. If you really feel the need, simply give the infected this level of Bloodlust.

Cool to hear. This settle most of the problems, as these advantages should just give the GM an idea on how to use the villain: after all, playing a runner, even if I give the template to build one, would not be that exciting :) !

Originally Posted by Railstar

A random infection table could work. You could start with a base of chance of exposure (not necessarily infection) of 3-5, then modify for various factors.

-1 for each hex of distance you managed to keep between you and the enemy during combat.
-1 for protected eyes/nose/mouth (blood splatter on goggles may obscure vision)
-1 for stout clothing covering any possible scratches from blood splatter.
-1 for a surprise attack.
-1 for non-bloodletting attacks (shoving it down the stairs, throwing it out a window).
+1 if you already have injuries that fluid could get into.
+2 if striking with bare fists to face.
+1 if you inflict a major wound.
+1 if using cutting weapons.
+1 if getting grappled (+2 if grappled and bare skin).

Etc.

This is very similar to what I had in mind. I'm writing the table and the rule right now, at least for a basic reference, as it will need tweaking later on or after some playtest.

At the moment I'm trying to complete most of the textual parts (factions, characters etc. etc.), leaving the GM part (how to GM Last of Us, themes, moods, adventures ideas etc etc) for last.

When I'm done with this cool but a bit boring part (as I am italian and I need to translate most of the material), I'll focus on additional rules.

I decided I want to write down game stats for most of the NPCs finded in the video game (Marlene, Robert, Bill, Tommy, David etc. etc. Even Joel!), in order to give the reader a more complete overview of the setting and people who inhabit it.

The project is becoming quite huge in its purpose and will take quite an amount of time to be completed. If anyone want to give a try in writing characters stats or anything that can help the sourcebook, all help is appreciated (even graphic! And you will be, of course, credited among the creators of the project!).

Originally Posted by Railstar

uMy thoughts on Bloodlust is that nothing says the monster has to make a self-control roll. I would only make the roll if others are shooting at them and it's a really good idea to go for them rather than finish off the guy who is no longer fighting back. If someone is genuinely at the monster’s mercy they would never get spared.

EDIT: I think a lot of disadvantages, such as Berserk or On the Edge, could just be covered the same way by saying "They always All-Out Attack." You could cover any behaviour in the monster's general description. Personally I like to do both and actually include the disadvantage because GURPS is super-flexible this way.

I understand, and this is probably the best way to handle a creature game stats, in order to give a complete overview of its behaviour to the ones who read its values without effectively knowing it!

*EDIT*: Scannins Sense (Radar, Targeting) has a range of 2000yards, which is almost 2km. It is far too much. Even with the Limited range /10 limitation, it goes as far as 200m, which is still quite alot for a Clicker's standard (and I like the idea of Clickers as quite dangerous but easy to outrun). So, is perhaps better to replace Scanning Sense (Radar, Targeting, Limited Range/10 [200m range]) with Scanning Sense (Imaging Radar, Targeting, Limited Range/10 [20m range])?

[Railstar]

I cannot really make helpful comments on the rest at the moment, but I have some thoughts about Bill (he is one of my favourite characters).

Overweight.
Bad Tempered.
Paranoid.
Code of Honour (as much as he grumbles he should have left them to die, he still risks his life to save them – he has a sense of compassion, maybe even the Responsive Quirk – what else is risking your life for people you have no reason to like?).
Loner.
Quirks: talks to self.
Quirks: writes lots of reminders to self.

This might be a gameplay/story segregation element, but in LPs I saw him shove off a Clicker that grabbed him (it doesn’t always happen, but he can sometimes escape the grapple without help), so maybe high ST and suitable combat skills – though it could just be the equivalent of his kukri counting as a reusable shiv.
SOP perk for being fairly well-prepared.
Fast-Draw skill & probably Combat Reflexes (in fact, Combat Reflexes will probably be fairly common in this setting among hardened survivors).
Armoury skill, probably some levels of Engineer or Machinist for stuff like the bombs he makes.
Scrounging at high level.

One thing I notice about Bill is he is not Batman-like in his preparedness, so it is probably best not to overdo that side of his character. He does mention neglecting the simple s- and is paying for it after an unexpected infected attack, so he does get caught by surprise sometimes.

In a similar vein, not too much durability either. A teenage girl manages to hurt him enough to make him lose his gun (ok, it’s a swinging weapon, but it rules out a lot of defensive advantages). Maybe not too much Perception either, since he did not notice it in time.

[Zanfire]

Originally Posted by Railstar

I cannot really make helpful comments on the rest at the moment, but I have some thoughts about Bill (he is one of my favourite characters).

Overweight.
Bad Tempered.
Paranoid.
Code of Honour (as much as he grumbles he should have left them to die, he still risks his life to save them – he has a sense of compassion, maybe even the Responsive Quirk – what else is risking your life for people you have no reason to like?).
Loner.
Quirks: talks to self.
Quirks: writes lots of reminders to self.

This might be a gameplay/story segregation element, but in LPs I saw him shove off a Clicker that grabbed him (it doesn’t always happen, but he can sometimes escape the grapple without help), so maybe high ST and suitable combat skills – though it could just be the equivalent of his kukri counting as a reusable shiv.
SOP perk for being fairly well-prepared.
Fast-Draw skill & probably Combat Reflexes (in fact, Combat Reflexes will probably be fairly common in this setting among hardened survivors).
Armoury skill, probably some levels of Engineer or Machinist for stuff like the bombs he makes.
Scrounging at high level.

One thing I notice about Bill is he is not Batman-like in his preparedness, so it is probably best not to overdo that side of his character. He does mention neglecting the simple s- and is paying for it after an unexpected infected attack, so he does get caught by surprise sometimes.

In a similar vein, not too much durability either. A teenage girl manages to hurt him enough to make him lose his gun (ok, it’s a swinging weapon, but it rules out a lot of defensive advantages). Maybe not too much Perception either, since he did not notice it in time.

Bill is one of the best character of the game for sure. He is very sensible, too (perhaps because it is homosexual): I think he really is like the "bad tempered guy with golden heart". Still, when they split up, he clarify to Joel as he do not owe him nothing anymore: so he surely has some kind of sense of duty/code of honor, as he pay his debts. All good thoughts as always m8. I think most of the survivor will have some pretty similar advantages/disadvantages/skills set up (so I'll probably write down a survivor "professione" template).

I was hoping this project could capture more attention than it did, in order to have more help by experienced players. Still your contribution is very appreciated. If you ever think you'll have new advices, please fell free to email or PM me at lonetear77@gmail.com ! Thanks :)

[doc143]

Hey, I hope the thread isn't dead. I've played gurps since the eighties and also am considering a Last of Us campaign. I found some great stuff here, will save me a little work, but to be honest, I really want some maps equal to the task.
I will probably have my players play Fireflies or some other faction that is tasked with exploring and mapping a area of a ruined city in preparation of their faction moveing to the area.
Any ideas on where to find good city maps, ruins, anything like that? The terrain of the game really made a lot of the atmosphere.
Thanks, great thread. Have you played any of your game yet?