Help me build and introductory Zombie adventure

[italianranma]

I've got a bunch of friends who've never played any kind of table top RPG, but have fun with some board games like Descent and Arkham Horror. So I'm making a two shot zombie game using d20 modern rules. The objective is to make something that will get them interested in tabletop games in general. I've DM'ed in the past and I'm very familiar with the rules and pacing, and player surprises. My biggest weakpoints have always been mystery adventures, and good clue giving.

Since none of my players have d20 experiance, I'm making some pre-built characters for them. I'm using the d20 modern basic classes (slightly modified to make them more balanced) at 2nd level, and then I'll give them enough experiance points between sessions to introduce them to level advancement. I'll have one of each of the basic classes then, with appropriate skills and redundencies to accomodate 3 to 5 players (which is what I'm expecting).

For the story, the characters will be playing college friends who go camping up in the Oregon redwood forests. I'll have about 10 extras (NPCs) for friends and professors along with them. During the dead of night the PCs (who will all be in the same cabin) will be woken by someone pounding on their door: It's a local, but he looks very strange: Blood shot eyes, pale skin, a blank stare, putrid yellow teeth, and a horrible smell.

After their brief introduction to combat they'll find that the rest of the camp is being attacked and is in turmoil. From their I'll let them make the desicion to either try to go back to the road for help (possibly using the bus they came in on) or to escape into the woods.

If they go south on the road they'll find more zombies coming from the town they passed on the way in. North will bring them to an abandoned house.

If they decide to hide in the woods, they'll eventually stumble on the same abandoned house.

Now after this, I'm not quite sure where I want to go. I've played the resident evils before (and dead rising) and most of my friends have seen all the zombie movies. I don't want to make the plot too predictable, but I want to have some kind of resolution so the players feel they've accomplished something. Whatever it is I want the first adventure to center around the house, and climax when they've descovered the terrible truth. The second adventure should focus on escaping with the truth, and broadcasting it somehow.

I'm very open to ideas, so please help me get this adventure off the ground.

 

[Quartz]

> It's a local, but he looks very strange:

Are you sure that isn't normal for a student?

 

[Stormborn]

First, upon arrival have one of the PC's notice an ancient "No Trespassing Sign" hung on a fence post mostly covered in vines. If any of them should go back they can discover that the post is covered in strange carvings (runes). Let that just be what it is without explination. Have one of the Proffs mention that his family has owned this land for years but as far as he knows no one has come out to this old camp in a while. Play up that aspect in the introduction.

After the inital attack by the zombies have them steered toward the house you mentioned, but slowly. Along the way through in a few encounters:
- The PCs come across a pickup truck that has been the sceen of a massacre (zombies from town got the hunters) but there are a couple of shotguns and some other supplies that they can use. However, near the truck is a large undead 12 point buck that they have to stop or avoid.
- In the woods they come across a small abandoned family plot and the ruins of a burned and ruined farm house. Depending on which you think will be creepier have the graves already empty (and let them figure out that something came out of them) and the zombies wandering around the farm house area or let the graves burst open as the PCs pass.
- Other small undead animals rising out of the undergrowth periodically, not to mention wandering zombies keep chasing them up hill. A swarm of undead zombie squirrels could be fun, but if you are going for really scary could ruin the mood.
-From a break in the trees the PCs see the town a blaze. Be sure to hint at this periodically by mentioning that they smell smoke and that a bright light seems to be coming from the direction of town.

Let them go to town if they like, or anywhere else, just throw up zombie road blocks that force them back to the wood time and again.

Finally they arrive at the large house just ahead of the zombies, who seem to be drawn there. Inside the house they discover the corpse of a necromancer whose ancient curse has caused the dead of the area to come to life "When one of my no good kin should dare try to claim my property!" The posts were wards that activated when the proffesor went brought the students in to clean up the old camp. Somewhere in the house is a magical device that is generating the zombies. Through an old diary, books, etc the PCs should discover this information. They will likely come upone the conclusion that destruction of the object will destroy the zombies. How they do that is up to them. They can spend time looking for it, all the while the zombies are trying to get in; they can burn the house down (with some convinient kerosene they find) but risk not completly destroying the curse; or they can try and escape by making it on foot to the next town over. Provide sufficient resources for them to do any of this, but keep the pressure on them. If they do make it to the next town the sherriff and deputies are already aware that something has gone wrong and are willing to be directed to the old house where they can deal with the problem. But no one will belive its really zombies, they will think its some kind of strange cult or a plague or similar. The terrible truth that the PCs learn is simply that magic is real and once they know that there are people who will want to recruit or silence them as needed.

Or you could try Trouble at Blackrock from the d20 Modern website. Its a deserted town with ghouls roaming around and a clear way for a group of PCs to deal with it.

Also, I would caution against modifying the d20 M classes for the sake of "balance" - they are balanced, but your scenario might not highlight the abilities of each class. Instead I would multiclass any that you didnt feel were viable for this scenario.

 

[Quartz]

Chainsaws. You've got to have chainsaws.

 

[Stormborn]

Chainsaws. You've got to have chainsaws.

One can be in the back of the hunter's pick up truck.

 

[italianranma]

Also, I would caution against modifying the d20 M classes for the sake of "balance" - they are balanced, but your scenario might not highlight the abilities of each class. Instead I would multiclass any that you didnt feel were viable for this scenario.

Thanks for the advice, I mean it: A curse from a necromancer isn't something I would have thought of on my own. I already started writing the adventure and drawing maps for it, and I'm pretty satisfied with the outline. Instead of re-typing it here (because it's hand-written right now) I'll post the finished version here so the community can add some input, but I went with a viral cause for zombies.

Little things like that "no trespassing" sign are money though, because it's those details that bring it to life. One thing that I've planned that could be difficult is a sort of puzzle door: It will have a tile mosaic on it, but no handle and no keyhole or hinges. The door is actually a reinforced metal sliding door that would need a fair amount of explosives to force through. The mosaic will have a horror theme on it, perhaps some kind of fairy tale? The clues to how to open it would be in the mansion the PCs explore. I'm imagining a kind of thing were they'll have to take the sun tile and rotate it, it then changes it's angle and no longer reflects yellow light, and now looks like the moon. Maybe then some other tile could be moved, like a wolf could be rotated to stand on it's hind legs.

First, as far as balance goes, I'm aware of how some classes (particularly the charismatic hero) don't shine very well in this scenario. The imbalance I think goes a little deeper than that: Let's say you make a base class: Something like the peasent class where it's got the absolute minimum progression: 1/2 BAB, 2 skill points, 6 hp (6 is the lowest in d20 modern, as far as I know), 1/3 progression on all saves, 1/3 progression on Defense, and whatever the lowest is for rep. Then you give yourself something like 5 improvements to spread out to make your core classes: Strong hero would get 2 in BAB, 1 in HP, 1 in defense, and 1 in Fort Saves. I think that replecates him pretty closely. You do the same with the other classes and their base stats are balanced. The basic classes just aren't balanced that way, maybe they make up for them with talents, but I don't think so.

Second, every class in a d20 system that is dependent on Charisma is inherently underpowered: Charisma is the only statistic that doesn't modify anything other than skills, and I really think that needs to be addressed. If you change the way that Action Points work (lower the number gained per level and make it a per day or per adventure thing for example) and add Charisma as a modifier to those some how, now you make Charisma a very versitile stat. It's desirable to everyone (since everyone uses action points) and it makes the classes that rely on it more flexable. I think it fits in well with Paladins and Sorcerers, as well as Charismatic Heroes.

Anyway that's my 2c on imbalance in classes.

 

[cleavthorn]

If you want to add a sinister twist, I suggest having everyone "in the morning" thats still a zombie turn back to humans. It may make some of the characters (and players) wonder what they could have done different now that they have killed friends and potential "innocents"

 

[Wolv0rine]

I have yet to encounter the zombie game that didn't get something solid from UKG's Year of the Zombie. It's D20 Modern based, offers takes on multiple types of zombie games, and plays well with others if you give it a cookie.

That said, I like the raw idea of the plot. I will say that my own experience with modern zombie gaming (and zombie movies) suggests that anyone who loves them some zombies should easily find themselves with a feeling of achievement to have survived. To have survived your encounter with the walking dead, when those dumbarses in the movies always end up dead, just seems to give a feeling of swollen-chested machism pride. Even when you know those guys in the movies died because they were just stupid. hehe

I've also found that in many - if not most - cases... having survived (if the game went well) they'll be breathing down your neck in the worst way to get the next session started. Even if "The awful truth" they find at the houses turns out to be nothing more than "Oh great bloody christ, the dead are friggin' standing up and killing people!". If nothing else, even if you go with something like Stormborn offers that has an actual resolution... leave yourself a way that the game could continue in the event that you've just created a group that wants to keep going with it.

Heck y'all could wring more than a few sessions out of just trying to find someone who won't think you're insane, while you move from place to place (hopefully) just ahead of the risen trying to warn people, only to have to fight their way out of the massacre and try to get to the next place. I'd say if you went in that direction, you'd want to keep the places the PCs went to small. It just wouldn't work if they high-tailed it to the city unless you pulled a really good twist on it. But the Oregon/Washington area is rife with tiny little pockets of towns you can drive through in under 5 minutes, and houses that seem for all the world to be in the middle of nearly nowhere.

 

[jdrakeh]

I have yet to encounter the zombie game that didn't get something solid from UKG's Year of the Zombie.

Let me second that. This is an excellent, excellent, product. If you like zombies, you can't afford to be without Year of the Zombie on your shelf.