New to GURPS: Zombie Apocalypse

[tanniynim]

This might be a good thread for some inspiration for your characters. It's full of (as the title says) 15cp-40cp character job templates.

You may even want to pull just the job title from the list and let your players look over and choose from them.

[Templates] 15-40cp Job Templates

[Nymdok]

Must...chime....in!

Its a one shot, if you mask the system from your players, then it will be sold not on its own merits, but by the story you attach to it.

With that in mind, write a GOOD one shot. (By write here I mean loosely outline a story and a few set pieces that will help drive the story along).

In the writing of this, consider what you will use as sources and inspiration. It can really take an idea and give it some details. X of the Dead, Zombie Island, World War Z, Quarantine, The Crazies, Left 4 Dead, Call of Duty, Zombietown USA.

Any of those can be used as inspiration of some sort. And each have a subtlety to them.

For example, will headshots kill the zombies instantly? Decide on these finer points ahead of time, and make up as you go the ones you didnt think about :)

On these boards alone there are a myriad of Zombies each set to the power level of the game they are in. Depending on the Zombies you use, get familiar with the grappling rules BEFOREHAND. Its liable to come up.

As an offering, here are some Zombies from Left 4 Dead that you may be interested in.
http://forums.sjgames.com/showthread.php?t=65034

Finally, with regard to the Martial Artist, charachter points are really just a way to measure PCs relative to one another, and those skills and abilities that they choose are very situationally dependant. If your worried about how effective the charachters will be, do your best to find situations where they will be useful and put them in those situations. Specifically for the Martial Artitst, although they might not be aces for killing Zombies, they'll be hella useful against OTHER humans, especially the unarmed ones, or when quiet is at a higher premium than damage.

The point is that if someone builds a one-eyed Welder, and you allow them to build that charachter, then you have essentially made a pact with your player that you will find things that he can do by welding, and ways to penalize him for having one eye.

Nymdok

[Kromey]

Thanks for all the excellent replies, everyone!

I've taken the advice to instead ask my players who they want to be, asking each one to provide 2-3 character concepts for folks that would be found in a typical city. So far (still waiting on 2 players to respond) I've gotten the cheerleader, the nanny, the "Iron Chef", the freerunner, the engineer, the 6th grade kid, and the Vietnam vet with Alzheimer's. When my books get here next week I'll start statting these guys up, and will probably be back here asking for help on at least some of them! :)

Lots of really good zombies showing up, too. I'm going to be keeping those simple, though: a single generic zombie, a big bad bruiser-type (like the Tank in Left 4 Dead), and a stealthy wall-climbing ambusher. Maybe toss in an intelligent one that can exert some kind of control over the others, too.

In general I am wanting head-shots to be the surest way to quickly kill a zombie; I think I remember a disadvantage mentioned somewhere on some forum, Fragile Skull or some such like that, that increased the damage multiplier on the head. Easy enough to hand-wave if there isn't a RAW one in Basic, though. Beyond that, I am considering Unkillable 1 (I think, I'll have to wait until I can see the specifics) to make non-headshots a much harder way to destroy a zombie, but not impossible -- do enough damage in general and the thing stops moving.

As for infection, well, I'm just going to not deal with that for this game. Maybe the PCs happen to be immune, maybe the means of the dead rising again isn't viral or contagious, I don't know -- it's a one-shot, we probably won't get to that point anyway. Not going to do anything to stop folks from acting on their "knowledge" of zombies biting someone to turn them into one of them, though!

And beyond zombies, there will be other things to deal with:
* Navigating hostile territory (the city) without drawing too much undue attention, while avoiding obstacles like fires raging out of control and multi-car pileups becoming like barricades
* Negotiating with survivors who have holed up in fortified locations, attempting to get aid or supplies, or maybe they just feel like helping out
* Evading/fighting/escaping roving bands of street thugs-cum-bandits
* Potentially even having to escape over-ambitious military attempts to address the crisis, such as bombing heavily-infected areas, trigger-happy/over-nervous squads roaming the city looking for zombies to put down, etc.

This'll give non-combat-oriented characters something to do to help the group, as well as (hopefully) demonstrate how well the system can handle so many different things.

[Anders]

Human evolution.

A gif which is relevant for this thread. SFW.

[martin_rook]

You've gotten lots of good advice, so I'll just give you a brief thought on PCs.

The business exec may very well have decent-to-good interpersonal skills like Leadership, Politics, maybe even Fast-Talk. Maybe advantages like Charisma and Common Sense. An IQ score of around 12 or 13.

The taxi driver should obviously have Driving, but also Navigation and Streetwise (don't know how much good it'll do, though). And Area Knowledge of whatever city she drove in, which may be valuable if it's where the game is set. And as someone pointed out, a mechanic would be very helpful.

The fireman would have skills like Forced Entry and at least a little First Aid. In addition to high HT and ST, his Fatigue would probably be bought up.

The outdoors enthusiast might have a rifle, if she's a hunter, or other (now) valuable equipment like binoculars, a hearty GPS, or a water filter. A machete is actually not likely to be taken on most camping or hiking trips. However, she could easily have lots of skills or non-weapon equipment that makes her invaluable outside of combat. Raise Perception a little.

No thoughts on the martial arts enthusiast, other than I, personally, would instead make them a criminal or street thug and go for Brawling and Axe/Mace (for bats or clubs).

For any and all of the characters, I'd recommend you look at Talents (under advantages) and give them a level or two in something -- even if it doesn't relate to their job/role.

The best way to make them stand out as individuals or be colorful, though, is with Disadvantages. It might be tricky to get your players to role-play them if they don't know about them, so I'd furnish them with a brief description to help give them the idea. ("Before the Zombie Apocalypse, you were a high-class business executive. You're smart, decisive, and know how to motivate people and close deals. You know that there's strength in a good organization and you're driven to build something bigger and better than what your father left you (greed and maybe a vow) -- but when it comes down to it you look out for yourself first (selfish), you assume anyone who's survived this long does too (paranoia), and in this new environment you know that means being ready to sacrifice others to save yourself." "You were a firefighter before the Zombie Apocalypse. Dedicted to saving others, you've spent years putting yourself in harm's way to save the lives of others (Selfless and/or Sense of Duty). Even now that hacking up the undead is a way of life, you refuse to harm -- or let harm come to -- anyone living (Pacifism).")



Or... you could base the PCs (loosely) on your players...

[Stripe]

Your ideas and PC group pool sound good.

Seriously consider my zombie as your standard. It does what you are seeking. Damage to the body does little injury. Damage to the head is normal (that is, it does a lot of injury). It has been play tested and tweaked numerous times.

Personally, for my tastes, if I were running a contemporary zombie survival, I'd probably have a standard zombie (which I detailed above) and using that as my base, I'd have a fast zombie (Move 5 or 6); a big-and-strong zombie (ST/HP18); and a smart zombie (IQ 8).

The IQ 8 zombie would be the one to fear. He'd pretty well be a stupid yet normal human other than the fact that it's a walking, rotting corpse. IQ 8 zombies would be very, very, very dangerous. They open doors. They swing axes. They go around obvious traps and certain, immediate destruction. They use basic tactics like "head them off at the pass," or, "Attack from behind while their back is turned."

When you become familiar with GURPS, you'll find it is highly lethal. Increasing the power of your zombies will multiply their lethality in magnitudes. Remember, you're going to have droves of them.

Healing in GURPS is pretty slim, too. You basically regain a few HP a day. That's about it.

[fredtheobviouspseudonym]

IIRC most competitive trap/skeet shooters (shotgun sports) use over-and-under shotguns. Theoretically better balance and you're limited to two shots anyway. Pump-actions are more for hunters and self-defense.

So Junior will have to manage with two shots & a reload.

[Kromey]

Originally Posted by fredtheobviouspseudonym

IIRC most competitive trap/skeet shooters (shotgun sports) use over-and-under shotguns. Theoretically better balance and you're limited to two shots anyway. Pump-actions are more for hunters and self-defense.

The trap and skeet competitive shooters I know all use pump actions, although in most competitions they're limited to 2 shells in the magazine (well, one in the tube, one in the mag -- same effect); when they're not limited in how many they can load, they are limited to only 2 shots per pull.

Well, that's not entirely true -- there's one old sourdough who uses a double-barreled breach loader.

[Stripe]

Originally Posted by Kromey

The trap and skeet competitive shooters I know all use pump actions,

That's because they are all poor people.

I use an 870. I'm very poor.

[Archangel Beth]

(Did anyone mention that taxi drivers are likely to be the best suited for vehicular zombicide?)