Zombie Apocalypse Reanimated

[Mr. Handy]

In the dark, distant past (well, 2006), Welsh started a campaign called Zombie Apocalypse on another board, using Call of Cthulhu 6th edition rules. I was one of the players, and when he no longer had time to run it, I took over as Keeper. It lasted for over a decade, moving to this board in 2008, until all of the players mysteriously disappeared (well, a couple of them are still around). I'd like to get the game going again, but a previous attempt to resume the game where it left off with two of the old players petered out, so I'm considering starting over again from the beginning, which will be different for new and old players alike.

Zombie Apocalypse is non-Mythos, though it has its own similar mythology. It is a modern survival horror campaign inspired by Romero's zombie movies, with a massive ensemble cast of characters. It's similar in style to The Walking Dead (though closer to Fear the Walking Dead's early episodes, as it takes place at the very start of the zombie outbreak). It's not investigative horror per se, though there may be some investigation in it. It's highly lethal, which is why players are encouraged to play multiple characters. You can find the original run of it here, but be warned! While things wouldn't play out the same way a second time, there are spoilers within. Also, it's extremely long and highly addictive reading. Chapters 3 through 7 are hosted on this board, and there is also a link (The Story So Far...) to the old board for Chapters 1 and 2. I'm looking for at least four players, preferably more, to get things rolling again. So far, we have two interested. I'll still be using 6th edition. I'm very familiar with it, and I don't even have the 7th edition rules yet.

Zombie Apocalypse may have died, but perhaps it can rise from its grave and start consuming the living once again. Are you prepared to survive in the face of the living dead?

[Cotton]

Oh I've looked over the Zombie Apocalypse thread a couple times. Count me in.

[Mr. Handy]

Excellent, welcome aboard! That's three so far. One more and this will actually be a thing again.

I checked the original character cast, and there are 49 characters to start (more can be introduced later). Six of them must be played by the Keeper, which still leaves 43 from which players can choose. The recommended number of characters per player is 3, though I will allow you to go as high as 4 if you want. However, it will take you more time to play more characters, and if you don't have a slot open when a new character is introduced, you won't be able to claim him or her. There is room for at least ten players, quite possibly more. It would be great if most of these characters are PCs rather than NPCs. It's less work for me too. Losses will be replaced from the NPC pool. If one of your characters dies, you can just take over an unclaimed one. All of the characters have secrets that will be sent to their players via PM. Some characters have secret knowledge and/or agendas, some have unique bonuses and/or penalties, some have real stats that are actually different than what's shown on the character sheet. You won't know until you take a character, and once you've received the secrets, it's too late to change your mind.

There will be some changes this time around, so don't expect the exact same experience. I've learned somewhat from mistakes that were made in the previous run, and while I didn't change things then for the sake of consistency, I can do so now. For example, zombies will work a bit differently. I won't say exactly how. They'll be easier to "kill" by hitting them in the head, but harder to hit that way, at least with missile weapons. Basically, you'll have to roll at half skill to target the head with a firearm or other ranged/thrown weapon. This will burn through a lot of ammo at range, especially long range, but it is safer. Once a zombie gets to point blank range, the doubling of the skill at point blank gives you a decent chance, as it cancels out the halving for aiming at the head. You'll usually go faster than a zombie does, but if you do shoot at point blank, you'd better hit, and you'd better do enough damage to finish it off, or you stand a chance of getting bitten. This makes hand-to-hand combat more of a viable option, plus you can parry with a hand weapon. In the last iteration, aiming at the head only meant you had to use precision aim (which makes you go later, but still probably faster than a zombie) and take a -5 penalty. This was very generous, but I was a player at the time and didn't complain. When I became Keeper, I left the rules the same. Of course, your characters won't know at first to target the head, nor will they even be aware that these crazy people eating other people are zombies yet...

I'll also have to modify some of the characters' ages and backgrounds to account for this taking place in the 2020s rather than the 2010s.

[Mallard]

Hello. I’ve been an on and off lurker here for quite some time now. I’d love to be involved in a reboot of Zombie Apocalypse, if you’ll have me?

[Raiko]

Welcome to our forums Mallard. I've validated your account, so you'll be able to post in the game threads for any game you join.

I'm fairly sure that Mr Handy will say that it's the more the merrier for this game, so I look forward to our characters being slaughtered together.

[Mr. Handy]

Welcome, Mallard! I'd be glad to have you play in Zombie Apocalypse, and there's plenty of room! More players would be better still, but now that there are four, this can actually happen. I probably won't have time to start setting things up until at least this weekend. I'll need to bring over and modify a lot of things from the previous run, though much of the work is done for me. One of the first things I'll want to do is get the character sheets posted so that everyone can look them over and start choosing them.

[Mallard]

Sounds great! I look forward to getting started.

[Mr. Handy]

Zombie Apocalypse Reanimated now has a board. So far there's only the Out of Character chat thread, but feel free to head over there any time. It'll be a while before I can add more threads. Additional players are still welcome to join, of course. The old game is no longer on the main page of the site but is still accessible in the Graveyard, under Modern Era games.

[Starspawn338]

Since most of the other games I've joined have gone dormant, I'm up to try my hand at a Zombie Apocalypse game. Is it still a posting 2 or 3 times per week commitment?

[Mr. Handy]

Great, welcome aboard! Yes, it's still two or three posts per week. It might even be down to one post per week sometimes, depending on how often I can post. It's difficult during the week, but I can usually get at least one major update done per weekend.

[RonaHattingh]

Hi, I would like to join your Zombie Apocalypse Reanimated please? Haven't been here for a very long time, so a Zombie Apocalypse will be a nice enter point.

[Mr. Handy]

Welcome back, Rona! I'm glad for you to join us! We now have six players, which should make a good start, but there's still plenty of room for more.

[Bullfrog]

Mind if I hop in, lads? I've already got a character concept in mind.

[Mr. Handy]

Welcome, Bullfrog! Feel free to follow the link above and head over, but you don't create characters for this adventure. There is a wide selection of pregenerated characters from which you select which ones you want to play. You can play up to four characters, though three is the recommended number. Many of them have been chosen already, but there are still twenty available.

[Leonulf]

Hi, thanks for commenting on my LFG. I am interested in participating, I read that three characters have to be selected from the available options (and I post my choice in the selection thread). I also read that I should be careful not to read threads that one of my chosen characters are not in, to avoid spoilers. As I would be joining "late" how best should I familiarise myself with what happened - or should I just make my three choices and go from there?

[Mr. Handy]

You're welcome. Three is the recommended number of characters you should take, but you're free to take any number from one to four, however many you think you can handle. You can always add more later, as long as you don't go over four. Some of the characters are already played by other players, but most of them are available, even a bunch that still have player names beside them. The only active players we have right now are Silver Priest, Starspawn338, and Aine, so their characters are off limits. I'd like to leave Raiko's characters as they are too, as he's still active on the boards but hasn't had time to play for a while, though he may come back if he later has time. Other than that, they're all up for grabs except the ones labeled Played by Keeper. Or if they're dead, of course (only one has died so far). You may also want to avoid the two characters who have been bitten by zombies, as they're doomed. You should look through the Character Sheets thread and find characters you'd like to play. You can see what their stats and skills are, as well as the injuries and sanity losses they've received so far and their starting weapons. Once you make your selections, you can post them in the Character Selection and Discussion thread. Then I'll send you their secrets in a Private Message. After you've chosen your characters, even before you find out their secrets, you can catch up on what they've done so far by looking at the Current Locations/Weapons/etc. thread. The first post in that thread has a series of hyperlinks for each character to guide you through his or her story. Just click on the first link and start reading. You'll also find hyperlinks within the threads as you read whenever your character moves to a new thread. Note that much of the time you'll go to the middle of a thread in progress. You don't want to read that new thread from the beginning, just from the point at which you enter, so you should use the hyperlinks. They'll take you to the exact posts where you enter threads. Below that you can see what weapons and ammo you have, how much damage they cause, and any skills your character has checked. At the end of each chapter (if you survive), you'll get to make skill improvement rolls.

You should also check out the Rules and Guidelines thread. Many of the rules in that thread are basic, but they're 6th edition, so some things may be new to you if you've only played 7th. There are also some things that are specific to this game. Welcome aboard, and have fun!

[DSIGFUSS]

I'd like to make a new player if that works. And a buddy of mine just joining Yog would like to play wuith. No idea what I'm making but i'm sure it will be zany!!

How many characters do most players have. I'd be into a couple maybe in different threads. But I usually like to focus on one. Is there a high death count in this game?

[Raiko]

Hey DSIGFUSS!

I've had to drop out of Z.A. for the moment, but had to post here to say, welcome back!!

[Mr. Handy]

Yes, welcome back! Unfortunately, you won't be able to create your own characters at this point in the game. It's possible that much, much later, you'll reach an area with a large number of human survivors where this will be possible as it was in the original run, but for the foreseeable future, you'll need to pick pregens. Most players take three characters, but any number from one to four is allowed. Some players have four characters, and Raiko is down to two (sorry, one got killed in your absence. ). There is definitely a high death count, or at least there will be. Surprisingly, only one playable character has died so far, though that is very likely to change soon. You can always replace dead characters by taking over new ones as long as there are any available. Feel free to head on over to Zombie Apocalypse and check out the Character Sheets thread. The Character Selection and Discussion thread has instructions for choosing characters. If there are any you'd like that are still available, you can claim them by posting in that thread. Characters belonging to players who are labeled MIA have been abandoned and are available to play.

[DSIGFUSS]

Hey Raiko! Good to see some friendly faces still round here.


I'm Ok with that Handy. You mind if add a little flair to existing characters? Maybe one guy will be looking for that last can of JOLT COLA. Or another guy will be secretly carrying a pair of Rita Hayworth pumps in his backpack he swiped from an exhibit while the apocalypse was going down and has been waiting for some alone time to try them on in secret.