Help: Surviving Night of the Living NPCs

[Rechan]

Naturally, my players should vamoose.

THe DMG2 talks about letting PCs play NPCs to create a vignette, a lead-in for the story. I have an idea for one, but I need help ironing it out.

Here's the nutshell: the game starts with PCs playing NPCs (in a tavern, of course), in an isolated mining town/walled fort in a mountainy, snowy region. The town is filled with fog, and the place is swarmed by zombies. I have a really good reason for the fog and zombies, but that's not important.

What I have in mind is creating several NPCs, treating them all like minions (One hit kills), and giving each NPC a special skill/technique. One can actually competently use a weapon. One has HP enough to be hit twice. One has good acrobatics/athletics. One is fast. One can use his force of will to halt the undead. One can make fire (long story short, if anyone sparks a flame, they are burned to death, but because this NPC is a tiefling, he has enough fire resistance to avoid death, thus being the town's firelighter).

The Goal of the game is: Survive the Night, or Reach the Town Gates alive (the zombies, I will make clear, are not OUTSIDE the town).

As soon as one of the goals are reached, the survivor NPCs meet the actual PCs, who arrive on the scene.

My problem:

1) Time. Will this take too long? I definitely want to get the "Let's board up the windows/doors to avoid the zombies!" but I don't want the game to drag.

2) Participation. The NPCs are minions, so unless PCs play smart, they should die rather easily. How do I keep players occupied if their guy dies? I had thought of giving them a new NPC - the characters stumbling across another survivor - but that might lose suspension of disbelief, and take away the feeling of Needing to survive if there's a replacement right around the corner. If I don't do that, how do I occupy the players whose characters die?

3) Direction and pacing. Is it not clear enough? This goes back to #1. I want to get the PCs moving on their objectives. But, if the players choose to just wall themselves up in the top floor of the tavern and sit, then this portion of the session is going to be very boring ("You sit on your butt until daybreak.")

4) Is this a good idea, period?

 

[ExploderWizard]

The Goal of the game is: Survive the Night, or Reach the Town Gates alive (the zombies, I will make clear, are not OUTSIDE the town).

As soon as one of the goals are reached, the survivor NPCs meet the actual PCs, who arrive on the scene.

My problem:

1) Time. Will this take too long? I definitely want to get the "Let's board up the windows/doors to avoid the zombies!" but I don't want the game to drag.

2) Participation. The NPCs are minions, so unless PCs play smart, they should die rather easily. How do I keep players occupied if their guy dies? I had thought of giving them a new NPC - the characters stumbling across another survivor - but that might lose suspension of disbelief, and take away the feeling of Needing to survive if there's a replacement right around the corner. If I don't do that, how do I occupy the players whose characters die?

3) Direction and pacing. Is it not clear enough? This goes back to #1. I want to get the PCs moving on their objectives. But, if the players choose to just wall themselves up in the top floor of the tavern and sit, then this portion of the session is going to be very boring ("You sit on your butt until daybreak.")

4) Is this a good idea, period?

Change the goal to making it outside the town or bust. Make it clear that the zombies ARE going to overrun the town and that boarding up is useless for anything other than buying some time.

1) Let the fortifications delay the inevitable but thats it. If the players know staying is a death sentence, then they will move along.

2) Don't tell the players they are minions. Tell them thier HP are hidden because this is a horror scenario and that thier characters are not heroes. Make it clear that fighting is a losing proposition. As PC's drop, let them become zombies and chase thier former companions.

3) See #1

4) It can be! Since these are not the PC's regular characters feel free to slaughter them quickly and end the vignette if the players are not enjoying it. Good luck.

EDIT: Let the players know that if thier NPC makes it out alive then they will get a bit of bonus XP and the PC's will have more information about what is happening. Give out more details for each survivor. If the NPC's all make it then its bonus XP for all.

 

[Jack99]

1) Time. Will this take too long? I definitely want to get the "Let's board up the windows/doors to avoid the zombies!" but I don't want the game to drag.

Just plan a few happenings when players do these things. Maybe place some other NPC's and have one push over a lantern and set the small room on fire.

2) Participation. The NPCs are minions, so unless PCs play smart, they should die rather easily. How do I keep players occupied if their guy dies? I had thought of giving them a new NPC - the characters stumbling across another survivor - but that might lose suspension of disbelief, and take away the feeling of Needing to survive if there's a replacement right around the corner. If I don't do that, how do I occupy the players whose characters die?

Have him control a couple of zombies when needed. Also, since it's a vignette, don't hold back. Slaughter them in gruesome ways.

3) Direction and pacing. Is it not clear enough? This goes back to #1. I want to get the PCs moving on their objectives. But, if the players choose to just wall themselves up in the top floor of the tavern and sit, then this portion of the session is going to be very boring ("You sit on your butt until daybreak.")

As noted above, have things happen if they do that. maybe the zombies have found them, armed with pickaxes or whatnot. A wooden wall in an Inn wont last long.

4) Is this a good idea, period?

Yes

 

[Rechan]

Cool ideas. Thanks!

I like the XP incentive. Although I'm not sure how much info the PCs might be able to get. Although a detail of the interior of the fort, and possibly "pockets of survivors" would be useful - I think the first real Encounter (with the place full of zombies and fog) should be "Help get survivors out".

Also, since it's a vignette, don't hold back. Slaughter them in gruesome ways.

The funny thing is that the zombies aren't the worst threat. As soon as the PCs get outside, near the gate is a Chillborn zombie - which, given its aura, kills any NPC that gets within 10 feet of it. Naturally, they'll see a survivor who's not in their party get frozen where he stands by simply running past the zombie. And then the cold zombie turns to regard their characters...

 

[Wik]

A few ideas.

First, yeah, I'd make it "get out, or bust". That's the way to go, because it keeps things moving.

Second, if a guy dies, he becomes a zombie.... or, as I like to say it, "Co-DM!". Let him turn on his former comrades.

Third, pacing is fine. Just so long as you're aware of it, you're good to go. If the players are all having fun, roll with it.

Fourth, it's a great idea.

I'd keep the XP incentive for making it out alive, but lose the XP incentive for the whole group getting out. Make the XP reward equal to an individual quest reward. To keep things more "zombie movie esque", give each NPC a backstory, and a goal in that backstory that if they accomplish, they get an additional reward (provided they make it out alive).

Make those rewards run counter to the group goals. Ie, "You hate NPC 2, because he is you 'baby daddy', and doesn't pay child support. Teach him a lesson by letting him get turned into a zombie" or "Geez. You've been bitten. You're already feeling sick. Hide this from the other characters - maybe there's a cure in that temple?"

This way, the PCs can try to get out of town (which is fairly easy), but forces within the group will try to push towards their own goals (ie, both NPCs detailed above might want to go to the temple... the first because there are a lot of zombies, and she wants to use the commotion to make sure NPC #2 dies, while the second is hoping for a cure).

This is, of course, core to how zombie movies work - the zombies are never really the problem... humans themselves cause the problems (seriously. If you watch any zombie movie, only about half the people are ever killed by zombies... the rest are killed by human stupidity/greed/passions).

Finally, I'd make each NPC along the lines of a companion character, with hit points, an at-will, a power of some sort, and so on. Here's the thing - PCs with 10 hit points might try to do stuff that a minion would never do... while 10 HP isn't anything (and you can make sure all the rolls behind your screen always go at least 10 HP), but it at least provides the illusion of a safety net, allowing PCs to do more than just "I run away", which is kind of boring against slow zombies.

Introduce mini-quests along the way. Other survivors boarded up - should the NPCs try a rescue? Or do they watch as the zombies break in and tear them to shreds? ("Good idea we ran, instead of holing up!"). And try to set up encounters so that players can come up with "clever" solutions that you "never would have thought of".

Seriously. I once put a decaying temple with a collapsing roof, held up by columns... and then acted surprised as hell when one of the players decided to knock out the columns (even though I knew he would). He felt clever and was rewarded for his efforts. Do that with your zombies, just don't be obvious. The tiefling finds a bunch of liqour bottles in the bar - could he use them as molotovs? ("Gee, I guess so..." you say, smiling to yourself as you look at your notes on exploding booze bottles).

Another tip would be to prepare for a TPK. Players could even enjoy it - I'd suggest allowing players to describe their own death (with a potential small XP reward if they do a good job?). They'll love it, because they have no attachment to the character. And if the real PCs get to meet that zombified NPC later, so much the better.

And, finally, I assume the REAL PCs will be entering the town? If so, make sure your NPCs hit all the important settings for the adventure on their way out. Foreshadow events so that the PCs get to see things later on. Use your vignette to introduce as many plot elements as possible.

Hope some of my ideas help. Sounds like a great adventure.

 

[Rechan]

I was thinkin gof similar, Wik. nice to see that twisted minds think alike.

As a side note. I'm not really granting XP; it's just a "You level up when it's appropriate for the story/feels right", like about three-four sessions. Since it's a bi-weekly game, that means a level every month and a half to two months.

And, finally, I assume the REAL PCs will be entering the town? If so, make sure your NPCs hit all the important settings for the adventure on their way out. Foreshadow events so that the PCs get to see things later on. Use your vignette to introduce as many plot elements as possible.

Aye, I plan to do that.

The "Adventure" is just the courtyard/middle of the town in front of a tower, the bottom floor of a tower, and the top floor. But, the PCs will run past the tower and the chill zombie stumbling out. There will likely also be an old miner/laypriest who can cast a ritual or two to keep himself safe (who will give the Pcs a rtiual book). I'll be sure to show them where the survivors are as the Pcs run past, because I want the first encounter to involve "save survivors while dealing with the ice zombies".

The regular zombies themselves are actually accidental. There are corpses piled in front of a tower - the ground outside is too hard to bury, and usually corpses are burned, but fire hasn't been owrking in the town for a week. All the corpses from folks trying to start fires have piled up. The fog is coming from this tower, which was sealed by ice - being completely filled and encompassed by it. The ice has now melted, and from inside a fog has emenated. The fog is animating the corpses, and anyone who dies is turned into a zombie (when close to a special sort of zombie that regenerates/animates those nearby).

 

[Jack99]

I know it's for 3.5, but if you haven't read this thread, you should. It's a bit more than you plan to run, given it's an adventure, not just a vignette, but it has a lot of great ideas.

Link to first page, which has links to the appropriate pages It's called Zombiegeddon, the part that might interest you. Overall just awesome reading.

 

[Andor]

There is no reason why it should be awkward to replace zombified PCs. Simply have half a dozen extra NPCs they are trying to herd/protect to the gate. As a PC falls they take over one of the remaining NPCs. Or have each player run two or three PC-minions and as they drop, they drop.

 

[coyote6]

I was thinkin gof similar, Wik. nice to see that twisted minds think alike.

As a side note. I'm not really granting XP; it's just a "You level up when it's appropriate for the story/feels right", like about three-four sessions. Since it's a bi-weekly game, that means a level every month and a half to two months.

Then instead of bonus XP, maybe give the regular PCs of any survivors an extra action point, have it count as a milestone, or count getting the NPC out of the vignette alive as an encounter for the regular PCs (and thus halfway to a milestone)? Or, if it's going to be a brutal little trip to Zombieville, give 'em a bonus healing surge as a reward.

If you let the players of dead NPCs have some say in how they die, "best death" might be worth a reward, too.

 

[Rechan]

Then instead of bonus XP, maybe give the regular PCs of any survivors an extra action point, have it count as a milestone, or count getting the NPC out of the vignette alive as an encounter for the regular PCs (and thus halfway to a milestone)? Or, if it's going to be a brutal little trip to Zombieville, give 'em a bonus healing surge as a reward.

If you let the players of dead NPCs have some say in how they die, "best death" might be worth a reward, too.

Action points or healing surges is a good possibility.

I'll have to check out the URL, Jack.