So, I've been wracking my brain since my first night in Zombie City to come up with a way to run Zombicide as an extended RPG campaign.
What I think works best about Zombicide is the almost minimalist "rules --> investment" ratio. In a lot of zombicide games, I've seen players pick up a character and be instantly invested in that character. I haven't seen that in a lot of games. You might pick up a piece or a color for the game board, but the players are rarely investing in that piece or the story their color is weaving through the game. It's also very minimalist in terms of role-playing investment. These are easily relateable and/or recognizable characters.
I want to keep those aspects along with the RPG elements added. So there shouldn't be a ton of new mechanics for the players, and there shouldn't be a bunch of new story for them to need to learn.
Here's a few of my early ideas:
One idea is to start with a Meta-Map of the area, and section it off into grids. Each grid is a map change, and has it's own adrenaline levels assigned to it, more on that later. In each grid you can randomly place a rolled number "triggers", objectives that will initiate a specific Scenario somewhere in the city denoted by a differently colored objective tile. After picking up a "trigger" objective you shuffle a Scenarios Deck and draw a single card. Each card has a simple description of a scenario written on it that sends you to the scenario listing, in addition there are "trap" cards that effect the grid players are in currently as well as some that effect nearby grids. Scenarios themselves can be anything from something specific to a grid to placing a special objective, like a car or pimp mobile in a specific area that the survivors head towards.
The idea is for the Scenario Deck to act sort of like quests, random encounters, and events all rolled into one without need of DM intervention to push players into it. Much less trying to railroad them into it. They decide whether to go to the area or not, but the Scenario will be in effect in that area whether the players go there or not.
So, for instance, the players enter a grid and they roll a D3 to determine how many triggers objectives to place. They roll a 2, so 2 triggers are placed randomly on the board. While fighting their way through the map, one player pulls up a trigger objective. They shuffle the deck and draw a card that informs them that by reading an angry letter to the management they found out that a Pimp Mobile can be found in the grid to the west, and the sound system must be bangin' to inspire such hatred. Meanwhile a second player decides to pull up another trigger. They shuffle the deck and draw a card informing them that they just stepped on someone's car keys, and activated the alarm on a car nearby. All spawns do so at one lower adrenaline level in their grid, but the grids around them spawn at one higher adrenaline level, including the one with the Pimp Mobile. Oops.
I liked the campaigns put together already so I wanted to steal an idea from them. The "experience bar" tracks adrenaline, so in the campaigns certain areas have players start at a specific adrenaline level. I wanted to translate that over, so that certain grids start you out at certain adrenaline levels. The idea being that certain areas you already know are more infected, and you can only do some of your most amazing feats when have the adrenaline pumping.
Adrenaline level is the same as the experience bar, just a different name. You build up adrenaline as you kill more zombies or hit areas you know to be more wary of and "crash" when you hit safer areas.
Also, the higher you push the adrenaline meter in one area, the higher you push it in nearby areas. So if you're going hog wild in one area, you're drawing a lot more attention. To borrow from Max Brooks "One zombie sees you and moans, a click away, another one hears that and moans and heads towards you. If there's enough in one area, if the chain is unbroken......."
Obviously this isn't going to be permanent, after enough time the adrenaline level from that kind of activity goes down.
Equipment is sort of a question. You want to hit areas already equipped, but you also want to be able to find new equipment without having to constantly sacrifice what you're carrying. In general, I'm all for players being able to decide this one for themselves. But I also like the idea of a "home base". Some place the survivors go to in order to stash goods and equipment. Perhaps tie it into an overarching mission?
Ex: Escape the city - With cities growing out into suburbs who's to say where the city ends and the towns begin? (So sue me, World War Z is worth stealing from) The only way out is to find enough vehicles and gasoline to fuel them to make it out of the sprawl.
Mostly what I want is for this to remain a DM-less game, so the organizer can sit down and be just as surprised and draw in by the events as anyone else. Knowing what's in the cards (literally) shouldn't destroy anyone's enjoyment of the experience, and it should remain random enough to be re-playable.
Ideas? Suggestions? Death Threats?
What I think works best about Zombicide is the almost minimalist "rules --> investment" ratio. In a lot of zombicide games, I've seen players pick up a character and be instantly invested in that character. I haven't seen that in a lot of games. You might pick up a piece or a color for the game board, but the players are rarely investing in that piece or the story their color is weaving through the game. It's also very minimalist in terms of role-playing investment. These are easily relateable and/or recognizable characters.
I want to keep those aspects along with the RPG elements added. So there shouldn't be a ton of new mechanics for the players, and there shouldn't be a bunch of new story for them to need to learn.
Here's a few of my early ideas:
One idea is to start with a Meta-Map of the area, and section it off into grids. Each grid is a map change, and has it's own adrenaline levels assigned to it, more on that later. In each grid you can randomly place a rolled number "triggers", objectives that will initiate a specific Scenario somewhere in the city denoted by a differently colored objective tile. After picking up a "trigger" objective you shuffle a Scenarios Deck and draw a single card. Each card has a simple description of a scenario written on it that sends you to the scenario listing, in addition there are "trap" cards that effect the grid players are in currently as well as some that effect nearby grids. Scenarios themselves can be anything from something specific to a grid to placing a special objective, like a car or pimp mobile in a specific area that the survivors head towards.
The idea is for the Scenario Deck to act sort of like quests, random encounters, and events all rolled into one without need of DM intervention to push players into it. Much less trying to railroad them into it. They decide whether to go to the area or not, but the Scenario will be in effect in that area whether the players go there or not.
So, for instance, the players enter a grid and they roll a D3 to determine how many triggers objectives to place. They roll a 2, so 2 triggers are placed randomly on the board. While fighting their way through the map, one player pulls up a trigger objective. They shuffle the deck and draw a card that informs them that by reading an angry letter to the management they found out that a Pimp Mobile can be found in the grid to the west, and the sound system must be bangin' to inspire such hatred. Meanwhile a second player decides to pull up another trigger. They shuffle the deck and draw a card informing them that they just stepped on someone's car keys, and activated the alarm on a car nearby. All spawns do so at one lower adrenaline level in their grid, but the grids around them spawn at one higher adrenaline level, including the one with the Pimp Mobile. Oops.
I liked the campaigns put together already so I wanted to steal an idea from them. The "experience bar" tracks adrenaline, so in the campaigns certain areas have players start at a specific adrenaline level. I wanted to translate that over, so that certain grids start you out at certain adrenaline levels. The idea being that certain areas you already know are more infected, and you can only do some of your most amazing feats when have the adrenaline pumping.
Adrenaline level is the same as the experience bar, just a different name. You build up adrenaline as you kill more zombies or hit areas you know to be more wary of and "crash" when you hit safer areas.
Also, the higher you push the adrenaline meter in one area, the higher you push it in nearby areas. So if you're going hog wild in one area, you're drawing a lot more attention. To borrow from Max Brooks "One zombie sees you and moans, a click away, another one hears that and moans and heads towards you. If there's enough in one area, if the chain is unbroken......."
Obviously this isn't going to be permanent, after enough time the adrenaline level from that kind of activity goes down.
Equipment is sort of a question. You want to hit areas already equipped, but you also want to be able to find new equipment without having to constantly sacrifice what you're carrying. In general, I'm all for players being able to decide this one for themselves. But I also like the idea of a "home base". Some place the survivors go to in order to stash goods and equipment. Perhaps tie it into an overarching mission?
Ex: Escape the city - With cities growing out into suburbs who's to say where the city ends and the towns begin? (So sue me, World War Z is worth stealing from) The only way out is to find enough vehicles and gasoline to fuel them to make it out of the sprawl.
Mostly what I want is for this to remain a DM-less game, so the organizer can sit down and be just as surprised and draw in by the events as anyone else. Knowing what's in the cards (literally) shouldn't destroy anyone's enjoyment of the experience, and it should remain random enough to be re-playable.
Ideas? Suggestions? Death Threats?
