The Walking Dead

[Janx]

Doesn't have to be a zombie apocalypse to make it a rational action. Could simply be trying to escape/hide from an army/militia know for being vicious, trying to outrun a nasty plague being spread by perfectly function carriers, running from That which man was not meant to know, trying to survive stranded on an alien world with hostile flora and fauna (think Predators or other sci-fi).

All have the same underlying threat, something scary wants to kill you. You know you need to act to outrun it. Someone is preventing you from acting. Do you try to negotiate with what you instinctively feel is a fatally flawed premise in a life or death secnario, or do you remove said obstacle to your survival.

This is all good drama and story. You can roleplay the psychological aspect of having to make these kinds of choices, and I personally think a Walking Dead game would be a great place to have a sanity/humanity mechanic, like the Jenga Tower thing. As you shed your humanity, you get closer to going over the edge. Once you've gone so far over (your Jenga tower falls), your character is now an NPC, whether psychologically broken and useless and traumatized, or becomes an antognist.

Naturally, it'd take a consistent pattern of tossing aside humanity to completely lose it.

Given that the show Walking Dead is really a drama/soap opera, all of this conflict is in fact "good" roleplaying. Except for the part where you take action against the party.

The point in drama is a lot of talking and arguing. Only at extreme points does it come to unretractable action (like throwing a character to the zombies).

So, sitting in the cooler, the party should be arguing and having that throw the weak ones as bait discussion. That doesn't mean you actually do it. Out of character, you take a final vote, and then in-character, your PC reluctantly follows along (so as to maintain meta-game cohesion).

One of the initial problems I see with the OP, is certain expectations of high-octane action, that isn't part of the initial session.

Frankly, in the beginning, no matter where the PCs go, you'll find it has an infection rampant. No matter where you hide out, the horde will finally surround it. The first act of any zombie story is the protagonists being off-guard and on the run and overwhelmed.

If you survive that (and play through it) and finally get to someplace safe, then you build up and go on the offensive or are prepared to mount a proper defense from an attack.

But until then, your dreams of chainsaw cars, mowing with Combines are just dreams because your PC won't likely have a chance to locate the equipment and prepare the attack.

 

[Mark CMG]

Given that the show Walking Dead is really a drama/soap opera, all of this conflict is in fact "good" roleplaying. Except for the part where you take action against the party.

That's a fairly regular feature of the show.

 

[Kzach]

What I see in your OP, OP, has nothing at all to do with The Walking Dead and everything to do with you being a problem player. You've basically told us that once you get fed up with doing what the group wants to do, you become abusive and murder whoever opposes your rule and do whatever you want, regardless of the in-game or out of game consequences.

Personally, I wouldn't be asking you to watch or read The Walking Dead to get a grasp of the genre, I'd be telling you to either pull your pants up or you're out of the group.

 

[NewJeffCT]

All have the same underlying threat, something scary wants to kill you. You know you need to act to outrun it. Someone is preventing you from acting. Do you try to negotiate with what you instinctively feel is a fatally flawed premise in a life or death secnario, or do you remove said obstacle to your survival.

They had an argument in game, then he knocked the guy out. The unconscious guy was no longer in the way.

There is a big difference between having a disagreement/argument in game and going different ways and literally tossing somebody to the wolves.

There were a lot of "in between" things that could have been done, even after the guy was unconscious.
1) left the unconscious guy in the cooler and made a break for it
2) Send out somebody fast as a runner to distract the zombies and then make a break for it. (If it's a Walking Dead scenario, the zombies are walking and not running like 28 Days Later.) You could leave the knocked out guy behind, wait for him to wake back up and take him with you, or lugged his body out with you.
3) Wait it out and hope for another distraction to arise.
4) Use what weapons you have left to attack & kill the zombies.

I'm sure I'm missing a few other options as well.

 

[BryonD]

The most important is that "The Walking Dead" is not about the zombies. It really isn't. They're background, a threat, a situation to react to. "The Walking Dead" comic is a drama and a story. The zombies are not the stars, they're plot devices and scenery.

I'd love to run a Zombie Apoc game. I'd do it in a second.

I'd love to run a Walking Dead game. But I'd need to really think about it because it would be much more challenging.

 

[Janx]

Having re-read this, I gotta say, the OP exhibited a lot of mistakes.

At the end of the game my friend said he was starting a zombie game based on The walking Dead comic and tv series. I have never seen or read this so i just assumed it was a going to be a zombie kill fest.

When the GM tells you the game is like XYZ, look it up. He was advising you that combat was lethal, dangerous and not something to be undertaken frequently. It was not a zombie kill fest and anybody familiar with zombie themes would have known this. The majority of zombie films are NOT about the protagonists killing lots of zombies and having a great time.

We all created small town characters as the GM instructed using GURPS 4E.

We played our fist game Tuesday night. Just to get a feel for the game before we play this weekend. I have to say my idea of how to survive in a dystopian world full of zombies is completely different to how the GM forsore how we were going to play.

The internet is chock full of how to survive a zombie apocaplypse. I'm pretty sure your way is NOT on the list.

We all started at the Airport which i thought was a fantastic idea for starting a zombie game. We had no idea about anyone else and all the flights just started getting canceled. Then the military turns up and we have to evacuate to the FEMA camp and they bring in school buses. Everything was going great everyone was getting into it. On the buss ride we used laptops to watch the breaking news of the retro virus thats turning people into zombies. When we get to the FEMA camp everything turns to crap. Zombies everywere. The buss overturns and we have to escape with a bunch of NPC's from the zombies.

Yeah, that makes sense.

From my point of view this is were the game went down hill very quickly. I wanted to head back to the airport and commandeer a plane and get the hell out of dodge. I was out voted and the group decided they were going to head down the highway looking for more people to help. Long story short we end up having a whole bunch of NPC's tagging along with us hardly any surplies only a couple of guns and a handfull of ammo.

Airports are high contagion factor places and large with poorly managed exits. Going there would be a terrible idea.

Few supplies, extra people to help is a common theme of initial zombie outbreak.

Getting out-voted is exactly what happens in a group. When the majority wants to go left, you go left or go by yourself.

We got ambushed at a road side dinner. (i didnt want to go in) The NPC's with the guns (dont ask my why i dont know) drop the weapons and get munched on and the rest of us about 12 now have to lock ourselves in the cool room to avoid getting eaten. At this stage i was not a happy camper so i decleared myself the leader and everyone better toe the line or else. (my character was a construction working built like a tank) One of the NPC's controlled by the GM tried to do the lets be all diplomatic and vote crap so i stamped my displeasure into him with my foot. Everyone at the table is up in arms that i cant do that. I said i had and that i was going to use the unconscious person as a meat shield literally. So i popped the door and threw the guy over the counter. The zombies go after the snack and i get everyone else out the back door. Thats were the session ended.

You would have gotten ambushed sitting in the truck outside. It's a zombie outbreak. Until you find the BEST place to hole up, every place will not be safe for long.

Once you attacked another person, you became OfTheMovie. The party was in their rights to kill you and use you as bait. I'm pretty sure it's in every zombie survival guide to avoid or kill the WhoTakesCharge because he's not just providing leadership, he's hurting the group.

Seriously, that was pisspoor behavior on your part.

After the game i was told thats now how the game is going to be played and that i need to watch The walking dead to get a feel of what the game is going to be about. So i borrowed the GM's dvd of the first season.

This was the group's attempt to reign in your behavior as a PC. It's not about following some plot or style like the show. It's about basic group behavior in an RPG. And you just don't go threatening and killing your fellow party members (including NPCs). The group chose to handle this out of game, rather than in game by killing your PC.

I dont think i have yelled and been so frustrated with a tv show ever in my life. So today i had to inform my GM if he wants to have a game that runs like the tv show that i will have to decline.

He wants to have a game that runs like most zombie outbreaks. They are not like Resident Evil with super-human protagonists. The protagonists are weak, scared and out-numbered and need to cooperate to survive.

You not only got somebody killed, you committed murder of a party ally. In front of the party.

And you did it because you did not get your way. Your friends were trying to cut you a break because you did not get how to behave in a group game.

If I was in a game where a fellow PC just ganked one of the group (and NPCs are one of the group), I would seriously get rid of that PC. Leave him behind while he slept, lock him out, or simply shoot him in the back.

That's how terrible you misbehaved at the game with your friends.

 

[S'mon]

If I was in a game where a fellow PC just ganked one of the group (and NPCs are one of the group), I would seriously get rid of that PC. Leave him behind while he slept, lock him out, or simply shoot him in the back.

That's how terrible you misbehaved at the game with your friends.

Yeah, nearly every PC I've played, if they saw another party member (PC or NPC) throw an innocent man to the zombies, I would shoot the **** immediately. After all, he could be throwing me to the zombies next.

 

[Aramax]

Yeah, nearly every PC I've played, if they saw another party member (PC or NPC) throw an innocent man to the zombies, I would shoot the **** immediately. After all, he could be throwing me to the zombies next.

yup,what he said

 

[Janx]

Yeah, nearly every PC I've played, if they saw another party member (PC or NPC) throw an innocent man to the zombies, I would shoot the **** immediately. After all, he could be throwing me to the zombies next.

my initial read of the OP hadn't fully sunk in just what he had done in that game. Nor had the OP seemed to realize it.

[MENTION=56189]Kzach[/MENTION] nailed it first, which struck me as harsh. But re-reading what he had done, it needed to be called out. I probably should have used politer language though.

As players, we should always be prepared for a mismatch of expectations. Thats on players to feel out the group at the table during the game, and NOT to be disruptive. A sharp player pays attention to the cues and figures out whats expected or how dangerous the world is.

The major faux pas was in bullying a member of the group (even an NPC) and actually killing him. He just established himself as the jerk member of every survivor film whom the rest of the group hates and the audience eagerly awaits his demise.

Why would you treat your friends that way? Playing your character is a terrible reason, and there are ways of being beligerant without crossing the line to villain of the party.

 

[JediMasterGunner]

Hey,

I am really curious about the OP's Disadvantages.

If he has Bad Temper, Impulsive, Bully, and the like he might be roleplaying properly.

That said, cooler heads in the group will probably kill him in his sleep. Who knows who will be killed at the next disagreement?