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Old 07-14-2010, 08:55 AM   #21
tanniynim
 
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Default Re: Building a better zombie

As a rabid Romero fan, I NEVER change the zombies once they've been established in my campaign setting. I HAVE, however, given them weak locations that are not as stereotypical, such as the heart, or the base of the spine. I've made them slow, but with a quick, lunging attack once they get within 10-15 feet. I've made them see in IR instead of standard vision.

If you haven't, I really suggest reading the Walking Dead comics. They're a great inspiration on how to keep zombies scary even as it goes on and on.

What I will do is:

1) Limit ammunition availability. When you do give them caches of ammo, give them HUGE caches of ammo that make them slow. If they have a huge cache of ammo, then you MUST go to:
2) Add more zombies. Not scared of 2 zombies? Add 10 more. Not scared of 12? Add 20 more. Not scared of 32? Add 50 more. Get the picture. Overwhelming odds and hopelessness is a trope of the genre.
3) Add human threats that weaken the PCs. Think of zombies as the main boss in DF and other human threats as the traps and mobs in a dungeon. The PCs get comfortable holed up in their secured grain silo? Eventually, a large survivor group (that just happens to be morally reprehensible) gets the same idea and stops by to gather some grain leftover in the silos. I'd even play the PCs against each other if they're mature enough to handle it. Survival situations are extremely stressful.
4) Zombies don't get tired. Sure, you're faster and can get away. But when you stop to eat or rest, they keep coming. When you stop to get comfortable in a shelter, there may not be any zombies there, but as the days go by, they will pile up against your walls, creating a siege situation.
5) One of my favorites: YOU MISSED ONE! Another trope of the genre is that zombies jump out of unexpected places, even if you've looked around for them ahead of time. Zombies come at you when you sleep, when you're mourning over your dead brother, and any other time you think you're safe.
6) Finally- Make sure that everyone understands that at some point, their character WILL DIE a horrible, hideous death. They can choose to end their life on their own, but if they don't someone else will. At a dramatically and story-appropriate time, END THE CAMPAIGN. Kill everyone who hasn't died yet. MAYBE let one or two escape anyway "off into the sunset." :)
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Old 07-14-2010, 09:02 AM   #22
MattStriker
 
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Default Re: Building a better zombie

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Originally Posted by SolemnGolem View Post

And if they saw a fierce red glow appear in the undead eyes, they weren't above calling a retreat-and-barricade while they regrouped.
'Assuming direct control.'
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Old 07-14-2010, 09:26 AM   #23
Allu
 
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Default Re: Building a better zombie

Make them intelligent, passable as human and infectious. Convince your most capable roleplayer ahead of time to have his PC become a zombie and don't tell the rest of the players.
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Old 07-14-2010, 09:48 AM   #24
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Default Re: Building a better zombie

* Have zombies surrounded by a biting insect that carries the infection.

* Make the insects the zombies with an infectious bite. The characters will be doing the macarana all the time.

* Give the zombies an attack that doesn't cause pain and in the heat of battle one might not know they got "hit" (i.e. you could get cut by one but not know it.) The players will spend time after every battle inspecting one another for "tell tale signs."

* Zombies with guns

* Zombies with spells
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Old 07-14-2010, 10:12 AM   #25
Kale
 
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Default Re: Building a better zombie

Another good tactic is to have none of the normal weaknesses work. I was running a modern day weird horror game where an evil spirit was out to get the PCs. The spirit animated the corpses of a bunch of workers and attacked. The PCs went for head shots-which did nothing. After expending a fair bit of ammo in a panicked shooting retreat, they realized you had to completely destroy the body to make it stop. They used up all their grenades doing so, thus finally ending the attack. However they used up a lot of their resources which made the next encounter that much more difficult...
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Old 07-14-2010, 12:41 PM   #26
lexington
 
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Originally Posted by obatron View Post
* Make the insects the zombies with an infectious bite. The characters will be doing the macarana all the time.
In fact, zombie animals are pretty good as a rule when you want to add some variety and a new sort of challenge.
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Old 07-14-2010, 12:49 PM   #27
b-dog
 
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Default Re: Building a better zombie

Just make zombie mind warpers and you will have enough to challenge the PCs.
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Old 07-14-2010, 12:49 PM   #28
lexington
 
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Just make zombie mind warpers and you will have enough to challenge the PCs.
Mind warpers?
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Old 07-14-2010, 01:29 PM   #29
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Default Re: Building a better zombie

Ah, zombie horror, the genre I have ran the most.

I follow several key guidelines for campaigns, and for zombie creation.

- Its not only zombies. You lose the essence of what zombie horror is supposed to be when you try to overdo their scare factor. What makes zombies scary (or more like creepy) is that they are your neighbors, your former friends, former lovers, and if you arent careful enough... you could become them. Giving the zombie description to their past life, and still giving them the feeling that they were someone.. and that maybe somehow they are still that someone... can be creepy, couple that with the possibility of the reality that the players can end up like that can induce a new kind of fear everytime they stare into one of their lifeless eyes. Watch Dawn of the Dead and note how fran stared at the dead child in the little league uniform as her friends were shooting up all the dead in the mall. Dont make zombies into cannon fodder in every session, give description as to who they might have been, like the Gardner who now stalks the overgrown yard with a pair of hedge clippers danging from his lacerated fingers, and the school teacher whos sweater is soaked in blood and dried crayons.

A zombie with his jaw off is not so scary. Your local mailman who has two daughters and whos wife is pregnant with this third, now smelling like rot as hes shambling with his jaw cut off is.

No one should chop off zombie heads like a videogame. They still somewhat look like the faces of humans. Its not an easy thing to do. This adds to to what I have been saying above.

Fast or slow?

If its fast zombies, then you need to drop their numbers in many scenes, or it will be overkill. Expect a hide and run game. These zombies have to be vicious. The fear happens with the chase, or when the PCs are trying to sneak by.

If they are slow, increase their number to add to the difficulty, expect a more relaxed but still cautious feel of a game (and in the movies... this is what "does" them in... when they note how slow they are until they slip and ones around a corner, or when they think they can take on a crowd of them). The fear for the slow ones is what I mentioned above, observing their strange behavior, and taking note on what they were before all of this.

Other key things that arent traditional, but good for overall horror:

How did it spread? Make them think its airborne, or in the water. A lot of suspense can have them sitting uneasy in their chairs. Spred this feeling for as much as you can, because you will lose it fast.

They need food, shelter, theres crazy GI's shooting at everyone. These are distractions which can outweight the zombies. Try to get them to shift focus not only for variety but for game purposes, because eventually the zombies will return back into the spotlight when the PCs least expect it (which was the case in every zombie movie).

And George Romeros dead did change. They were getting stronger, and uglier (the ugliness was from rot, but also because they had an increasing budget, and Tom Savanis skill). In Day you saw them rip a body apart, and they mention that the dead are getting stronger. In land they got smarter, plus were using weapons. So even the God of the Dead knew that switching things up increases the threat and intensity.

And last but not least.. dont term them as zombies. The word zombies is a funny name, and its actually not appropriate name to what they are. They are the living dead, and it works wonders when you refer to them as The Dead. Its scarier to say the Dead will drag you from your home, then the comical title of zombies.
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Old 07-14-2010, 02:23 PM   #30
Fred Brackin
 
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Originally Posted by The Benj View Post
The main thing that makes zombies a worthy threat is that the protagonists are realistic in their own capabilities. The number one reason for zombies not being scary is if the PCs are buttkicking cinematic powerhouses.
This plus having players who want to do _Horror_,

Stop trying to scare your dungeoncrawlers or any other cinematic adventure genre. It's not only a waste of time, it's annoying too.
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