Blood & Brains -- it's got style!

[Psion]

Okay, I am not a big Zombie movie fan... outside of Army of Darkness.

But I started browsing blood & brains this morning and it's one of the funnest reads I've had in a while.

First I dive into the starting occupations and had flashbacks not too some cheesy zombie horror flick, but to, of all things, a card game.

Not that I can't see using these in my second world game. A stoner character might think a trip to a fantasy earth is quite a trip.

The feats have style. I thought only Spycraft feats like "One hand on the wheel..." and "...a gun in the other" pretty much owned the category. But "rifle spin", "suck on this", and "whatever" are tidy additions to the category. I could almost see an Ash character forming in my mind.

The "Virgin" feat. Okay guys, the requirements are very funny. But a feat? I guess if you live in the DC suburbs (or in [insert southern state as topic of ridicule] and you have several brothers...), perhaps. But trust me, in the intermountain west, it's a bonus feat.

 

[Cheiromancer]

The "Virgin" feat? What are the benefits? What (besides the obvious) are the pre-reqs?

 

[Psion]

The "Virgin" feat? What are the benefits?

Benefits - a paladin like bonus to all saves as long as... well, you know. Except the save bonus is flat +2, vice charisma based. Guess they wanted the feat to be viable for "bookish girl" types.

(I SO have to make characters based on the Z-man card game for this...)

What (besides the obvious) are the pre-reqs?

If you don't know, ask your parents.

(Yes, that's the prerequisite. Word for word. Hope I don't need an OGL attached to this post. )

 

[trancejeremy]

I actually never thought of Army of Darkness as a Zombie movie. Because well, I don't think there are any er, Zombies in it. The Dead-ites in the movie were more like possessed by demons or something - even though they were skeletons or walking corpses, they still could talk and had personalities and such.

Of course, I think the best zombie movie is The Serpent and the Rainbow

 

[talien]

I actually never thought of Army of Darkness as a Zombie movie. Because well, I don't think there are any er, Zombies in it. The Dead-ites in the movie were more like possessed by demons or something - even though they were skeletons or walking corpses, they still could talk and had personalities and such.

Of course, I think the best zombie movie is The Serpent and the Rainbow

It's a good point. When you start looking at the definition of a zombie, what constitutes a member of the shambling dead starts to become very generic indeed. Zombies have been defined as everything from hypnotized living humans to rotting undead to drugged half-dead humans to cybernetic beings to psionically animated corpses to demonic possession (Evil Dead) to something that seems a lot like a vampire or a ghoul.

It got a little messy after awhile, so just about every zombie type I could think of is in there. I also included a lot of monsters that create zombies. Is a bloodsucking zombie just like a vampire? Your shotgun won't know the difference.

That said, Evil Dead is also noteworthy for defining a hero (Ash) in a movie that on the surface is straight horror. Hell, the first Evil Dead movie disturbed me lots. Which is what made Ash becoming a kind of crazy anti-zombie hero all the more delicious.

Ever since Raimi unleashed Evil Dead, a lot of horror movies are now firmly tongue-in-cheek. Evil Dead (technically, Evil Dead II) isn't the only movie to set the tone, but it's one of the best.

 

[talien]

Okay, I am not a big Zombie movie fan... outside of Army of Darkness.

But I started browsing blood & brains this morning and it's one of the funnest reads I've had in a while.

Thanks Psion! I know you have distinguishing tastes and see an avalanche of d20 stuff, so I appreciate the compliment. My condolences on enjoying my humor.

Also, in reference to your question on the IRC chat about Asian-style influences in the book:

The zombie can hop vertically or horizontally up to 30 feet per round without making Jump checks. It has a +8 racial bonus on any Jump check to perform some special action or avoid a hazard. The zombie can always choose to take 10 on a Jump check, even if distracted or endangered. The zombie can use the run action while jumping, provided it jumps in a straight line.

To be fair, a lot of sources I read have difficulty distinguishing between a hopping zombie and a hopping vampire. But I put it in just in case.

I'm still cooking up some addendums to give out for free, as there's always stuff I feel like I should have added but didn't. Maybe a zombie PC race or something...

 

[Dark Psion]

I actually never thought of Army of Darkness as a Zombie movie. Because well, I don't think there are any er, Zombies in it. The Dead-ites in the movie were more like possessed by demons or something - even though they were skeletons or walking corpses, they still could talk and had personalities and such.

Of course, I think the best zombie movie is The Serpent and the Rainbow

That is one of the good things about this book, it expands the "Zombie" term to fill every possible catagory. Voo-Doo, Chemmical Spill, Plan 9 from Outer space and Dr Herbert West, All types of Zombies are covered here as well as a variant Crtical Hit system for Zombies.

Oh and for D20 Modern Psionics fans this book has a Psychokinetic Advanced class and three powers (one that is missed in the XPH).