HinterWelt Fora

So, I was discussing this idea on another site and thought I would move it over here as it is becoming a bit more serious. Here are some of the posts from there, let me know what you think.

Moved this over from Open. The goal here is twofold. First, design a quick action d6 system for cinematic RP. Second, flesh out a setting. Here are my ideas from the other thread.


No, actually that has been discussed before in other threads. I think All Nuts Must Be Eaten would be a good title but I also like the Squirrels of the Living Dead. Unfortunately, the boss thinks the idea sucks.


Simply, the setting. I am not big on selling the system but I think it would be somewhat lite but not what folks would call lite. I will get into that more below. The setting would be, most likely, a mixture of genres. Currently, I was talking post apoc and zombie but I might throw sci-fi in there as well. Again, more below.

1. The first idea I have is a alien space ship crashing onto Earth. I mean crashing, like tons of dust and a year without a summer. Possibly an extended darkness. Then, a bioform nanite that was meant to terraform a primitive planet (i.e. was never designed to interact with anything more complex than single celled animals) is released. This is the "finishing blow" but we were on the ropes before that.

2. I am really torn. I like the idea of just after the Darkness. Say, maybe 6 months to a year?


I like it. I would go one further and stat out a couple of versions not seen a lot. Stuff like zombie birds, constructs (protein matter that the bioform has reorganized), herd animals and what I call group zombies (a malfunction of the bioform and its ability to communicate basically links several zombies into one).

Here is my first thoughts:
Alien unmanned probe (big mother) malfunctions and fails to do a close approach analysis of Earth. It tries to land but instead crashes in North America doing some serious damage. The world reels from the environmental damage but the effects are survivable (probably not so much for the US). Then a team investigates the crash site and is surprised to find a relatively intact ship. They are quickly infected and the bioform spreads fast from there.

...Zombiepocalypse...

Now, I have a couple of competing ideas.
1. The bioform mostly creates zombies but in those it does not kill, it "enhances" them. So, you end up with exaggerations of existing abilities. Enhanced characteristics, sight, hearing, smell and in rare cases things like ESP, telekinesis, telepathy and pyrokinesis.

2. The alien ship has an AI on board that has gone mad in the millennia between the stars. It now is dedicated to terraforming this planet at all costs. It has limited control over the zombies.

3. The characters come from a bunker/think tank that is now trying to find the source of the infection and to retake the surface. There are still those that live above ground but they are some tough mofos.

For the system:
1. three stats Mind Body and Spirit. Linda has suggested taking 3d10 and taking the highest to generate them. I kind of like a d6 system.

2. Infection meter. Say, eight levels of infection with points of no return. So, you might be able to get bitten 3 times but then be able to recover on your own. 4-6 times and you need an anti-viral or a special herbal medicine. 7-8 times and you need that anti-viral. Beyond three times you slowly gain infection levels.

3. I think I will need a good auto-fire rules and maybe a targeting system.

4. Some sort of feat/stunt/super skill system to juice up skills to cinematic levels. So, the ability to take a Running skill and spend a point/make a roll and suddenly you can run through the complex maze of pipes in the old abandoned power station.

Anything else you like your zombie game to do? Comments? Suggestions?

Thanks,
Bill

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Bill Corrie
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Yeah, I remember that one. I still think this would be a good premise for the setting. Slight diffferences and we would see if they make any real difference.
1. These are biological bio-form viruses. So, they are meant to interact with existing biomatter. The advantage her would be you could have "immunes" who are not able to be infected or partial immunes who could be partly turned.
2. The ship is big. Big enough to have an adventure in. I have toyed with it being a bio-form itself and having it growing.
3. The setting will not be "Stop it from spreading" so much as "how do we recover".

However, good analogy. What can we learn from the episode and bring to the table? Morphing zombies? Bioform reorganization? Additional monsters?

Thanks,
Bill

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HinterWelt Enterprises
Bill Corrie
815-557-7365

Perhaps we could have a ground zero and then rings coming out from the ship for the weirdness of the creature. So, zombies are everywhere but the winged zombie is only within 100 miles of the ship or some such. Just an idea.

System Ideas
Stats:
Body
Mind
Spirit

Range: 1-10

Skills: Short list
Range: 1-6

Tests: 3d6

Thoughts?

Bill

_________________
HinterWelt Enterprises
Bill Corrie
815-557-7365

So, some fiction.

Sometimes I think it would have been better to be under The Ship the day it crashed. I say crashed because to say it landed would be utterly inaccurate. I was part of the national guard in Illinois. The Ship came down in the heart of Michigan, near Detroit. We were mobilized and the world began turning upside down. At first it was just cloud cover and wild fires. The guys in my unit could not believe pieces of it had been thrown all the way to Colorado and were starting the fires. As the month passed though, we began to see the infected. It started near where the biggest pieces landed. Strange plants grew, stuff that would move, with thorns that would tear you up if you got close. Dogs and cats and any animal too small would get pulled in to feed it. Then it started going after the kids.

Jimmy Callow was the first we rescued. He ran a fever, had convulsions and bleeding. He changed. Within an hour he was different. He bit Doc Roberts and his nurse and they changed in minutes. My unit was there and we shot them down where they stood. It took so many bullets. There was so much blood. Jimmy was still strapped down but now, instead of just moaning, he was screaming and growling like a feral dog. It was about then that we lost contact with division command. Shortly after that the T.V. stopped braodcasting. The last reports were full of panic, full of mad men in the streets.

Over the year we have had few days of sunshine. We have fought off wave after wave of attacks by the infected. Jimmy changed one night. Changed so much that the restraints did not hold him, a 12 year old boy. He slipped away with the two guardsmen that were watching him. We are down to our last supplies of MREs and canned food. There are only 14 of us left. We will hold up in the hospital as long as we can.

We are planing on leaving in the company Humvee. It has armor on it so it should hold up. All the food plants died out but these Thorn Plants as we have come to call them are everywhere. Cpl. Thomkins couldn't take it anymore. We found him hanging in the cafeteria. We are planning on moving away from the cities and heading west.

May God have mercy on us. We leave today. I leave this letter for anyone who might find it so they will know what happened here. We will leave IR markers along our path if you want to try and follow us.

Staff Sgt. Joseph Peshel, U.S. National Guard

_________________
HinterWelt Enterprises
Bill Corrie
815-557-7365

So, let's see what I have rattling around in my head for a system.

1. Random Chargen

2. Stats
Body: 1-10
Mind: 1-10
Spirit: 1-10
Immunity: Body + Spirit
Infection: =Body

3. Skills
Ranks: 1-5
Skill tests: 3d6 < Rank + Stat = success
Mods: Difficulty/combat/distraction/infection

4. Schticks (Taken from my Bizarre Tales System) - Essentially a "special thing" that a character can do. This would work like a skill but have meta-game aspects. So, something like "Squeeze into Small Places" would require a check Schtick + Stat (in this case probably SISP + Body) and the character would find a place where the infected could not get to them (log, crevice, air duct).

5. Wound Levels : instead of hit points, characters will have wound levels. So, their Body will determine how many. I am thinking 1/2 in minor, 1/4 in wounds and 1/4 in critical. So, for 10 it would be 5 minor, 3 wounds, 2 critical but for a 5 Body it would be 3/1/1. Always weighted to the lower wound levels so you would get 3 minor levels but only 1 wound and critical. Wound levels will affect skills but not schticks. I am thinking wound levels should be able to be removed with "proper" medical attention;i.e. someone rips a shirt and makes a first aid check to bind the wound.

6. Combat: Roll under skill check. I really want to go contested check here. So, you roll your attack + mods for weapons. The opponent rolls check + mods for armor and the result is wounds or miss. I am open to suggestions.

That is what I have so far.

Bill

_________________
HinterWelt Enterprises
Bill Corrie
815-557-7365

Annotated Google map for the Zombipocalypse. I will be adding more as we go along.

Bill

_________________
HinterWelt Enterprises
Bill Corrie
815-557-7365

WOW
That's a really diferent angle on a zombie apocalypse!!!

Pretty darn cool, (although I would drop the ship on Japan or Russia )

Love your little script there Bill, it makes me think Gamma world meets All Flesh (and yes, I lovedthe All nuts must be eaten title )

Alan Hume

Cover idea...

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HinterWelt Enterprises
Bill Corrie
815-557-7365

Another Version...

_________________
HinterWelt Enterprises
Bill Corrie
815-557-7365

I like it
shades of original Traveller

mayday,mayday...

You certainly hav e a lot of games on the go now
nice to see

sayijg that though
i would probably go for a more traditional illustration than the
stylised art you are using there, just my feelings but I would probably go for some kind of image where you have a wall of zombies being fouoght off by guys with shotguns and axes and stuff
maybe even have a SWAT guy in there as a homage to (the original)
Dawn of the Dead

I like the first cover better than the second cover.

The rules look nice and simple. Maybe Mind + Spirit/2=Skill points?
Maybe Skills are at -2 when wounded and -5 when critical?
Add a list of skills, some Schticks, some equipment and weapons, a few Zombie stats, and you've got a game!

Ideas for Skills: Melee Combat(B), Ranged Combat(B), Acrobatics(B), Stealth(S), Perception(S), Diplomacy(S), Education(M), Repair Stuff(M), First Aid(M). This would keep the list short and tie three skills to each ability. Each skill would be very broad and general. GM's can just take anything that doesn't really fit into any existing skill, and put it in the closest skill and apply modifiers.

Ideas for Combat: Melee combat = opposed roll of Melee Combat+Body, a tie means they counter each other for no damage, otherwise loser takes a wound; Ranged combat = Ranged Combat+Body > Acrobatics+Body. ( I'm thinking a -3 penalty for not having a melee weapon in hand. Four ranks in Melee Combat negates this penalty, to simulate unarmed combat proficiency.)
Add modifiers to Melee and Ranged Combat for weapons. Add modifiers to Body for armor. +1 for simple/ small weapons and light armor. +2 for normal weapons and medium armor. +3 for big/heavy weapons and heavy armor.

At the very least I hope this provides some food for thought!

Linda does as well.

Alan, chances are slim I would go with custom cover art since this is kind of a low budget endeavor. Think of it as me stretching my creative wings.

Actually, I am going with life path generation. I have some really good stuff going on with a Childhood, Mature and Professional skill progression as well.

For chargen, you pick Urban or Rural Childhood and get
Urban - Driving (2), Dodge (2), Running (1)
Rural - Dodge (2), Hunting (2), Firearms (1)
Then you get to promote those if you wish with your Mature skill ranks (Spirit stat). As well, you then get your Mind stat for professional skills. Childhood skills can only go to rank 2, Mature can go to 4 and with Professional to 6. The nature of the skill changes as well reflecting a Childhood skill in, say, Driving is only a limited understanding of Driving and not really highspeed chases or the like. A Mature would be like an adult driver while a professional has received formal training.

As for wounds, I am not sure but the penalties will most likely look like what you describe.

Good breakdown but I would change Acrobatics to Athletics and include some stuff like Piloting/Driving and maybe Dodge to figure in with countering unanticipated attacks. I am still trying to figure out where to go with the skill system. I am a fan of stuff that is extensible so stuff like Education (Computers).

I like the idea of both attacker and defender going at the same time. I would substitute acrobatics with Dodge.

As to Weapons, I have talked it over with Linda and one of the things we came up with is a difficulty for each weapon. This would be a mod that would be applied when using the weapon. So, say, a bat might be -1 while a chainsaw (yes, I have a chainsaw stated out) would be -5. This means, you would need to roll higher than someone with their weapon on 3d6 + Mele weapon + Body. Is that the kind of thing you were talking about?

Armor, I am thinking will actually give you minuses to any skill (including combat) that uses Body. However, it will block between 1-4 wound levels. So, if someone was wearing a rank 3 armor, they would have a -3 to Body but you would have to do 4 ranks of damage to them to actual deal 1 wound level to their body. All weapons have different wounds infliction rates from 1 to 10. When dealing damage, the player rolls the WIR of the weapon in d6s. For every 5 or 6 you deal one wound. If you roll a 6 you roll an additional die. Roll 5 6s and roll 5 additional d6.


It did! Especially the part on combat.

Thanks,
Bill

_________________
HinterWelt Enterprises
Bill Corrie
815-557-7365

Your rules are looking more complex than I thought you were going for, so my ideas were for a very simple game. Anyway, with the Skills, I was just trying to tie an equal amount of Skills to each Ability. My thinking was, if there are only three Abilities, you want the players to really think about where to put each Stat.

Maybe you could have a point based ability creation as well. All Characters start with twenty points to spend on Body, Spirit, and Mind? This would make it easier for you to figure out how powerful to make the Zombies. Oh yeah. and the players would all start out on equal footing (no whining because they rolled crappy).

If you're going to use the Life Path for Character Generation, what did you have in mind for Character Development? (By the way, I like the Life Path.) With few Skills, I'm thinking a slow progression. Maybe one XP per session?

Also, this sounds like a good game for Karma.

Feel free to use/ignore any of my brilliant/inane ramblings! I'm happy to give you plenty of ideas, because I know, if you don't use them, they may at least get you thinking, and sometimes that's half the battle. Scott.

I still do not anticipate the rules being more than 6-10 pages but we will see. The setting stuff will be the bulk of the book.

I added an option based on 15 points. This would allow 5 in each stat or average. I am considering lower though. Maybe 12 or even 10. This would allow the gambler to go for a big gain.

Agreed.

Always welcome Scott. Especially if the person has played and knows what my games are like. I think this one will be a bit different from the norm.

Thanks,
Bill

_________________
HinterWelt Enterprises
Bill Corrie
815-557-7365