Zombicide is the latest boardgame that is making the leap to the realms of roleplaying. The Zombicide RPG is being designed by Francesco Nepitello (The One Ring) with longterm collaborating partner Marco Maggi (The War of the Ring; Lex Arcana), alongside Marco Munari and Nicola De Gobbis of Need Games. Originally released in 2012, the popular collaborative boardgame of zombie-slaying and survival has spawned dozens of supplements and spin-off games.
The Zombicide series of boardgames is published by CMON, who will also be publishing the RPG in conjunction with Need Games. The Zombicide series has raised tens of millions of dollars on Kickstarter and has spread away from the ‘now/near future’ zombie apocalypse setting to infect and consume other genres such as sci-fi and fantasy. The last two Zombicide campaigns raised just under $8.5 million and had a combined backer total of 45,722 – so the series is still going from strength to strength.
The RPG, which isn’t scheduled for release until sometime in 2020, will also be funded on Kickstarter with a campaign launching towards the end of 2019. The initial game will concentrate on the modern day setting, as seen in Seasons 1-3 of the boardgame.
The game will feature a prologue which will help introduce the world to the players and help them create the survivors they’ll be portraying during the course of play. An introductory adventure, The Crossroad, will then take the group of survivors and help explain why they have ganged together for survival. The Crossroads has been designed so it’s flexible and customizable allowing it to take place in a variety of zombie-infested locations such as a shopping centre or an abandoned hospital.
The game is obviously still a “work in progress”, and things could change by the time it hits Kickstarter, but I managed to get a brief chat with Francesco about some of the things currently on the table.
“It’s a new system, and it’s a true RPG, not a mix between a boardgame and RPG. Given it is such a strong boardgame property, we’ve looked at what made Zombicide exciting and have looked at translating that into the RPG. So the game will be easy to learn, easy to prep, and play fast. The thing we like most so far are our Zombidice.”
“Zombidice are special dice that only the GM uses. The players use a die pool system using six siders. Zombidice are used to quickly set the difficulty of actions for players, adjudicate the consequences of such actions, direct adversaries in combat, etc. Basically, we have an asymmetric system, regular dice for the players, Zombiedice for the GM.”
Whilst we may have to wait another 18+ months before seeing the Zombicide RPG, Francesco & Marco have a Kickstarter launching in September for a new edition of their very first RPG, Lex Arcana. Created alongside Dario De Toffoli and Leo Colovini, who are also returning to the project, the game enjoyed tremendous success in Italy when it was launched back in 1993.
Lex Arcana, a RPG set in an alternative past where the Roman Empire never fell, mixes history, mythology and legend into a world where Imperial legions clash with barbaric hordes, while ancient monsters, mystical powers and nameless cults threaten the rule of the Caesars.
Look out for more information on Lex Arcana here on EN World before the Kickstarter launches!
The Zombicide series of boardgames is published by CMON, who will also be publishing the RPG in conjunction with Need Games. The Zombicide series has raised tens of millions of dollars on Kickstarter and has spread away from the ‘now/near future’ zombie apocalypse setting to infect and consume other genres such as sci-fi and fantasy. The last two Zombicide campaigns raised just under $8.5 million and had a combined backer total of 45,722 – so the series is still going from strength to strength.
The RPG, which isn’t scheduled for release until sometime in 2020, will also be funded on Kickstarter with a campaign launching towards the end of 2019. The initial game will concentrate on the modern day setting, as seen in Seasons 1-3 of the boardgame.
The game will feature a prologue which will help introduce the world to the players and help them create the survivors they’ll be portraying during the course of play. An introductory adventure, The Crossroad, will then take the group of survivors and help explain why they have ganged together for survival. The Crossroads has been designed so it’s flexible and customizable allowing it to take place in a variety of zombie-infested locations such as a shopping centre or an abandoned hospital.
The game is obviously still a “work in progress”, and things could change by the time it hits Kickstarter, but I managed to get a brief chat with Francesco about some of the things currently on the table.
“It’s a new system, and it’s a true RPG, not a mix between a boardgame and RPG. Given it is such a strong boardgame property, we’ve looked at what made Zombicide exciting and have looked at translating that into the RPG. So the game will be easy to learn, easy to prep, and play fast. The thing we like most so far are our Zombidice.”
“Zombidice are special dice that only the GM uses. The players use a die pool system using six siders. Zombidice are used to quickly set the difficulty of actions for players, adjudicate the consequences of such actions, direct adversaries in combat, etc. Basically, we have an asymmetric system, regular dice for the players, Zombiedice for the GM.”
Whilst we may have to wait another 18+ months before seeing the Zombicide RPG, Francesco & Marco have a Kickstarter launching in September for a new edition of their very first RPG, Lex Arcana. Created alongside Dario De Toffoli and Leo Colovini, who are also returning to the project, the game enjoyed tremendous success in Italy when it was launched back in 1993.
Lex Arcana, a RPG set in an alternative past where the Roman Empire never fell, mixes history, mythology and legend into a world where Imperial legions clash with barbaric hordes, while ancient monsters, mystical powers and nameless cults threaten the rule of the Caesars.
Look out for more information on Lex Arcana here on EN World before the Kickstarter launches!
One of my friends is a MASSIVE Zombicide fan. He bought the first game when it came out. He's been buying every new thing they've put out since. I'll let him know about this on Sunday (our RPG session) if, for some reason, he isn't aware. I know I'll be picking it up. I'm a sucker for a good zombie survival RPG. Alas, most zombie survival RPG's boil down to "kill zombies and don't die" as the one and only goal. I want..."more". I want longevity potential. I created my own "Zombocalypse!" RPG setting that used a modified "Top Secret S.I." system. It worked surprisingly well. But, it too suffered from the "ok, we survived exiting the city...now what?" problem. No real longevity to the PC's. No overall, never-ending "goal".
