(AIMHack) Zombies 2: This Time, It's Personal

Understated Ur-Drakon · October 1, 2011

(Disclaimer: It's not actually personal. I just couldn't think of a good title)

Well, I think there's enough interest to run this, and Lazarus still hasn't said anything about his campaign, so...

Originally Posted By: THE INTRO

It hit without warning. One day, everything was normal; the next, everything fell apart. The dead spontaneously started to rise, hungering after the flesh of the living, and did so in numbers that were overwhelming. Major cities were overrun within a week; by the end of the month, civilization had all but collapsed.

Cities became abandoned deathtraps, filled with roaming zombies. Small towns that had fared better against the undead threat were plundered by bands of roaming thugs, committing atrocities in the name of staying alive. Large groups of evacuees were soon worn down into small bands of survivors, scavenging what was left in order to survive. And those who had gone underground were being forced to emerge as supplies ran dry.

You were one of the less fortunate, counted amongst the rare lone travelers who were forced out of hiding. Driven by hunger and a lack of supplies, you traveled on a lonely Nevada highway towards the town of Lund. You hoped to find food and a safe place to stay for a while before moving on. Unfortunately, fate had something different in mind...

If it sounds kinda familiar, it is: It's the same basic premise and rules as Zombies!. Your characters have been holed up somewhere safe for the past few weeks, riding out the worst part of the zombie plague, and haven't acquired a lot of skills for surviving yet. Character background is up to you, as it was in Zombies!, and you have the same long-term goal of survival. However, I also want to run it so it's a bit more open-ended as to what the party's other goals are; do you want to just find a safe place to settle down and ride out the plague, search for a cure or reason behind the plague, or do you have your sights on a loftier objective?

Characters start at L1 with limited supplies and inventory. And a word of warning; I fully intend this campaign to be difficult. Food and supplies will be hard to come by, zombies will be plentiful, and player character death WILL be a real possibility. Additionally, this is effectively happening in an alternate continuity to Lazarus's campaign, so things that exist or have happened in his campaign do not necessarily apply here (and vice versa).

The core rules can be found here. There are a few new rule changes (mostly rule additions), which are listed below; while not a necessary read, it might be a good idea to at least skim them to get an idea of what's changed. Be on your guard, though; while most of the information in the core rules about zombies is accurate, you may be in for a few nasty surprises down the road. There's also a few new feats (listed below in spoiler).

Click to reveal.. (Rule Changes and Additions)

Shotgun Damage

Shotguns are mostly the same. The only change is that a blast from a shotgun is now counted as a Burst, which doubles Piercing DR against it and also allows its damage to transfer (more on that below).

Vehicle Rules

Vehicles each have two health values. Chassis HP determines overall structural integrity; if it hits 0, the vehicle becomes totaled. Unless you come across a working auto-mechanics shop and have high engineering, the chassis cannot be repaired. However, the chassis is only damaged via collisions, crashes, explosions, or heavy weapons fire.

Engine HP determines the health of the vehicle's working components; if it drops below 25%, the car becomes prone to stalling, may have leaks or other issues, and may need repair. At 0, an important part gives out, and will likely need replacing to drive again. For example, your average sedan has a Chassis and Engine HP of 15.

Vehicles only take partial damage from most attacks; this is evaluated as their armor score, and mostly acts as a percentile DR. Most vehicles have an armor rating of 50%/Blast, meaning that they take half damage from all attacks not explosive. Smaller or more frail vehicles (such as motorcycles) may have a weaker armor rating, while heavily armored vehicles (such as tanks or armored cars) will have a stronger rating.

Burst Fire Transference

Burst-fire weapons can, if they do more damage than the target has HP, potentially hit others in the line of fire. Everyone in the line-of-fire rolls a save versus the attack roll; the lowest failing save is hit for half damage (full damage on fumble). If all pass, no additional damage is done. This can hit allies as well as enemies, so use caution when using an automatic weapon or shotgun when an ally is downrange.

Attribute Bonus Cap

Most skills get a bonus from their appropriate statistic. However, this bonus is now capped and can no longer exceed the level of the skill itself (so if you have 3 points in Observation, you can only get up to a +3 bonus from your perception). This is mostly to prevent someone with extremely high intelligence from outclassing someone who heavily invested in an INT skill.

Spray and Pray Alteration

Spray and Pray no longer does a flat 2DMG per bullet; it instead varies depending on the type of ammunition being used.

Click to reveal.. (Feats (New ones in blue))

Authoritarian