Describe your zombie apocalypse

[Mark]

One idea for a zombie apocalypse that I had ...

The setting was during the Great War. Both the Allied Powers and Central Powers had fought each other to a standstill in the battlefields of Central Europe. In order to break the stalemate, both sides had started to use new weapons - everything from aircraft to tanks and chemical weapons. While these did not break the stalemate, these weapons did result in greater carnage than before.

A fantastic idea. I'm going to have to inflict it on a group at some point.

[Blood axe]

An interesting take on the Zombie idea is Stephen King's - Cell, and Simon Clrak's Blood Crazy. They arent really "zombies", they arent undead- but they travel in ravenous, blood-thirsty crazy hordes. They are still alive. Kind of act in a "hive mentality". If you read either of those books you will know exactly what I mean.
Think about it- its easy to kill Uncle Joe- when he's missing an arm and half his face is gone- he's a "monster". But when he is still a living, breathing person, the hope of a cure is there- even if its hopeless.

[Adapt]

Sorry to disappoint, DWD, but my favorite parts of all zombie movies (aside from my favorite, Fido) are all when the characters are trapped in a house/mall/bar/car/whatever and are trying to fend off the zombie hordes. Who cares what caused the bad guys when there are mounds of them attacking you?

Well sure, I love that too. And it will be a key type of element to take place in my games. But that's not the whole game, or we'd be playing Last Night on Earth (fun board game btw). Don't you roleplay and storytell?

I don't think that the two are mutually exclusive. To me, the most intriguing part of a zombie story isn't "How did the zombies come to be?" but "How do people react and adapt in this horrific new world?". To me, that's where the real story and character development can truly be found. If I were to run a zombie campaign, I might spend a little time thinking up an explanation for it all but I might also just jump right in to things and figure that out later. If the players ever discover the whys and wherefores of the phenomenon, it would probably be an "end game"/"campaign climax" thing.

[Adapt]

An interesting take on the Zombie idea is Stephen King's - Cell, and Simon Clrak's Blood Crazy. They arent really "zombies", they arent undead- but they travel in ravenous, blood-thirsty crazy hordes. They are still alive. Kind of act in a "hive mentality". If you read either of those books you will know exactly what I mean.
Think about it- its easy to kill Uncle Joe- when he's missing an arm and half his face is gone- he's a "monster". But when he is still a living, breathing person, the hope of a cure is there- even if its hopeless.

"The Crazies" also falls into this sort of category.

[gentleman john]

One idea for a zombie apocalypse that I had ...

I LOVE it. You mean I can kill Nazi Zambies??! .

How does it spread to the united states? Asia?

Afraid not. You're about 20 years too early for that one. the Great War, or World War One, was from 1914 to 1918. However, there are plenty of Nazi zombie settings out there.

As for it spreading to the USA and Asia - that's easy. While Europe and the Mediterranean were the main theatres of the war, the Japanese were allies of the Great Powers and the Chinese had a counter-revolution to restore the Manchurian dynasty in 1917. It is entirely possible that the same chemical weapons could have been deployed in the Far East as were deployed on the Western Front.

As for the USA, they got involved in 1917 as well. Bring a few soldiers back home to be buried, and watch the catalytic reaction spread.

Have fun.

[gentleman john]

[quote="Adapt"
I don't think that the two are mutually exclusive. To me, the most intriguing part of a zombie story isn't "How did the zombies come to be?" but "How do people react and adapt in this horrific new world?". To me, that's where the real story and character development can truly be found. If I were to run a zombie campaign, I might spend a little time thinking up an explanation for it all but I might also just jump right in to things and figure that out later. If the players ever discover the whys and wherefores of the phenomenon, it would probably be an "end game"/"campaign climax" thing.[/quote]

I have to agree with this sentiment. However, the background to the setting will help determine how people react and adapt. If you don't have background mores then the players will not have to violate them. After all, that is the core of a good zombie movie.

No. The PCs do not need to know what has happened to cause the zombie apocalypse. However, unless you are going to do a bog-standard adaptation of Night/Dawn/Day of the Dead, then you do need to put your zombies in context. Modern zombies will be different from sci-fi zombies will be different from historical zombies ... etc, etc, etc. The background suddenly becomes very important.

[gentleman john]

Meanwhile, because DWDStudios asked nicely: Nazi Zombies.

In the closing days of World War II, the desperate German Reich developed a number of Vergultungswaffen - or vengeance weapons. These were designed to be weapons that would inflict terrible damage on the enemies of the Reich and turn any victory on their part into a pyrrhic victory. The most famous of these were the V1 and V2 missiles. Lesser known was the V3.

The V3 had been developed by the infamous Japanese Unit 17. It was a micro-organism that would lie dormant in its host until their death. The micro-organism would then multiply and instil a hideous pseudo-life into the victim, turning the unfortunate into one of the walking dead - a zombie. In turn, the micro-organism was duplicated by the Germans, using concentration camp inmates as their guinea pigs. The V3 micro-organism was spread across the battlefields of Germany and into Europe by the V2 and V1 attacks..

As the Allied Forces entered Germany, the V3 began to take effect. Both Allied and Reichswehr troops fell in battle and were resurrected as zombies. The infection continued to spread. The Reich high command had managed to immunise their key officials and military personnel. In the ensuing confusion, the Third Reich had a respite.

Now, with zombie hordes rising across the world, the race is on to find the cause and finally end the Second World War.


Now, if you want Atomic Zombies from the Cold War, driven by the evil vibrations of Hitler's Brain, that's your affair

[DwDStudios]

YES YES YES NAZI ZOMBIES... w00t!!

hehe

[DwDStudios]

I asked my brother-in-law (creative intelligent guy, but doesn't like RPGs) to theorize how a zombie apocalypse might occur and he sent me this email:

----------------------------------------------------

In the year 2001, the Bilderberger group and the Trilateral Commission set in motion steps that will bring about the end of the world as we know it today. Their plan: to save the planet by reducing the surplus population to a manageable number. That number: 10 million men and women, chosen by virtue of their position, IQ, or accomplishment. A new human race will be born of these remains. Through selective breeding, and genetic manipulation, man will be made in their image, according to their plan, a perfect race.

In December, 2011 a genetically engineered “super virus” dubbed “Hades B” by its creators, sweeps across the globe. Over 125 million people die by March of that year. In October of 2012, Bilderberger scientists miraculously find a cure in the form of nano bots, controlled by an autonomous computer system called “The Beast”. The death toll is now 1.6 billion.

By mid December, the disease is eradicated. 52% of the surviving population has auto-immune boosting machines in their blood streams, while nearly 99% are fitted with RFID tags during mandatory testing. The final death toll: 1.8 billion.

At 6:30 G.M.T on December 21, 2012, Protocol 7 is initiated. All persons inoculated with A.I.B. machines now find they have lost control of all motor functions below their shoulders. 2.5 billion people are forced in horror to watches as their bodies, under control of “The Beast”, run down and slaughter those deemed unworthy of the new world being created. The streets are packed with those controlled by A.I.B. machines. They are fast, tearing through their victims at an incredible rate. Each person identified then dispatched with clockwork precision.

However, these are not the undead, not most. No, these “zombies”, if you will, are aware of the atrocities that they are committing. Some scream warnings like, “Stay away from me!” or “Run! Please, God, run!” Others are in shock, their eyes glassy and blank as they move through the crowd seeking victims identified by RFID chips. Still others recite prayers, the Hail Mary or the Lord’s Prayer, through heaving sobs and pleads for forgiveness from their prey. Worse are those whose minds have crumbles into insanity or those who actually enjoy their situation; running through the streets laughing hysterically or taunting their fleeing victims.

By far the most terrifying sight is the dead or unconscious -- running about, heads flapping side-to-side or back-and-forth, grabbing anything they touch. Ripping, tearing.
By January 31st, 2013, the killing is done. The last free human has died. Those carrying the A.I.B. machines begin to fall to the ground, their bodies burned and broken. Most have been dead for a while, flies swarming about them. Others embrace death as a comfort, a long time sought.

It has been 40 days and 40 nights and the world is born anew. God help us.

[Zevious Zoquis]

Personally, I'm not a fan of the "crazies" and "infected" takes on zombie apocolypse. the end result is very similar (a sort of apocalypse) but to me they don't have the same sense of creeping horror that actual undead zombies have. I do love a good old-school zombie apocalypse though and I have spent some time imagining how one might occur. One of my personal favorite versions involves nono-technology run amuck. Possibly research intended to help reactivate the nervous systems of those paralyzed in accidents and so forth somehow went wrong and the technology that was supposed to help instead unleashes the horror...

My ideas usually break down after about the 3 or 4 month point of the ZA. Unless theres some mechanism for constantly adding to the zombie ranks it seems to me the dead will simply rot away to nothing fairly quickly and the survivors will be left to rebuild in a zombie-free and much less populated world. So if its a plague of some sort that kills and then re-animates the victims and the survivors are the lucky ones who happen to have an immunity then it won't be long till the dead become un-viable in a structural sense and cease to be a concern. So the nanotech thing provides a means for new zombies to be provided - as soon as somebody dies the nanos start to work re-animating the cadaver and "driving it around" until it falls apart...