GURPS 4th edition. Zombies

163 Pages·2013·13.744 MB·English

by  Sean Punch

GURPS Zombies_GURPS4e.qxp 10/1/13 12:14 AM Page 1
Written by SEAN PUNCH
Additional Material by S.A. FISHER, KENNETH HITE, PHIL MASTERS,
WILLIAM H. STODDARD, and HANS-CHRISTIAN VORTISCH
Cover by ALEX FERNANDEZ
Illustrations by ALEX FERNANDEZ, KRIS JUSTICE, and ALEX McVEY
ISBN 978-1-55634-805-1 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10
STEVE JACKSON GAMES
GURPS Zombies_GURPS4e.qxp 10/1/13 12:14 AM Page 2
C
3. ZOMBIES! . . . . . . 49
ONTENTS
ZOMBIETRAITS . . . . . . . . . 49
Zombie Attributes. . . . . . . . 49
Zombie Advantages. . . . . . . 50
Common Zombie
Advantages . . . . . . . . . . . 52
INTRODUCTION . . . . . . . . 4 Zombies in the News: And Really Unlikely Ones . . 52
Zombies 101. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Zombie Insects. . . . . . . . . . . . 21 Zombie Perks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 55
Publication History . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Zombies in the News: Pestilence and Affliction. . . . . . . 56
About the Author. . . . . . . . . . . . . 4 Zombie Drugs. . . . . . . . . . . . . 22 Zombie Disadvantages. . . . . . . . 57
Military-Industrial Zombies. . . . 23 Common Zombie
Disadvantages . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
ZOMBIEAPOCALYPSE. . . . . . . . . 24
Somebody Else’s Problems. . . . . 58
The Dead Rise. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 24
Zombies and Self-Control. . . . . . 60
The Zombie Plague . . . . . . . . . . 24
Programming and Precedence . . 63
The End?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
Zombie Quirks. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
2. VICTIMS Zombie Features . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
AND KILLERS. . . . . . 26 Zombie Meta-Traits. . . . . . . . . . 68
GETREADYTOFIGHT. . . . . . . . 26 ZOMBIE-MAKER. . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
1. Vital Signs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 70
Advantages . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
2. Brains . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71
Survival Traits. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
The Zombie Mind: Servitude . . . 71
Hordes in
Matching Traits to Zombies. . . . 72
1. GETTING TO KNOW GURPS Mass Combat. . . . . 28 Matching Traits to Zombies:
Heroes, Resistance,
YOUR ZOMBIES . . . . . 5 Adjectives. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
and Immunity. . . . . . . . . . . . 30
What Are We Dealing With?. . . . . 6 The Zombie Mind:
Perks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
WHYZOMBIES?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 Disadvantages. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 32 Scrambled Brains. . . . . . . . . . 74
Zombies as Fears. . . . . . . . . . . . . 6 3. Brawn. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
Are They People?. . . . . . . . . . . . . 33
The Z-Word . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8 Fatigue Points. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 34
Zombies as Social Criticism. . . . 9 4. Sustenance. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
Discovering Zombie Flaws. . . . . 35
Zombies as Targets . . . . . . . . . . 10 The Zombie Mind: Appetites. . . . 79
Techniques. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
Ghouls, Infected, and Walkers. . 10 5. Fatal Flaws. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
Spells. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
THEORIGINOFTHEZOMBIE. . . 11 DISPOSABLEHEROES. . . . . . . . . 37 The Zombie Mind:
Historical Zombies. . . . . . . . . . . 11 Fears of the Fearsome. . . . . . 81
Screaming Victim . . . . . . . . . . . 37
Fictional Zombies . . . . . . . . . . . 14 The Zombie Mind: Inhumanity
”Can I Play a Zombie?” . . . . . . . 38
Zombies in the News . . . . . . . . . 14 and Humanity. . . . . . . . . . . . 84
Hardened Survivor. . . . . . . . . . . 39
Zombies in the News: 6. Contagion. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 85
Zombie-Master. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
Zombie Walks. . . . . . . . . . . . . 16 7. Mutatis Mutandis. . . . . . . . . . 86
Creepy Assistants. . . . . . . . . . . . . 42
Look and Feel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87
ZOMBIEARCHETYPES . . . . . . . . 17 ZOMBIE-FIGHTINGGEAR. . . . . . 43 Social Traits for Zombies . . . . . . 89
The Meat. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
Weapons. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 43
Undead Zombies INSTANTZOMBIES. . . . . . . . . . . 90
Chainsaws and Zombies. . . . . . . 44
and Funerary Rites . . . . . . . . 18 Reading Zombie Stats. . . . . . . . . 90
Personal Protection. . . . . . . . . . 45
The Motivation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19 B-Movie Ghouls. . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
Survival Gear . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Apocalyptic Curses . . . . . . . . . . . 19 Just the Stats: B-Movie Ghoul. . 91
Enchanted Gear . . . . . . . . . . . . . 47
Zombies in the News: Constructs. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
99% Zombie-Proof . . . . . . . . . . . 48
Zombie Diseases . . . . . . . . . . 20 Just the Stats: Corpse Golem. . . 92
GURPSSystem Design ❚ STEVE JACKSON Art Director❚ SAMUEL MITSCHKE Director of Sales ❚ ROSS JEPSON
GURPSLine Editor❚ SEAN PUNCH Asst. Art Director ❚ BRIDGET WESTERMAN Marketing Director❚ LEONARD BALSERA
Asst. GURPS Line Editor❚ Production Artist ❚ NIKOLA VRTIS Page Design❚ PHIL REED and––––
JASON “PK” LEVINE Indexer ❚ NIKOLA VRTIS JUSTIN DE WITT
Managing Editor❚ PHILIP REED Prepress Checker❚ MONICA STEPHENS GURPSFAQ Maintainer❚ –––––––
e23 Manager ❚ STEVEN MARSH Print Buyer❚ MONICA STEPHENS VICKY “MOLOKH” KOLENKO
Dedicated in memory of Michael Ryan –friend, gamer, and fellow fan of B-movies.
Reviewers:Robert “Rev. Bob” Hood, Jason “PK” Levine, and Steven Marsh
Special Thanks:Frederick Brackin, Roger Burton West, Douglas Cole, Peter Dell’Orto, and S.A. Fisher for the last-minute rules check.
GURPS, Warehouse 23, e23, and the all-seeing pyramid are registered trademarks of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. Pyramidand the names of all products
published by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated are registered trademarks or trademarks of Steve Jackson Games Incorporated,or used under license.
GURPS Zombies is copyright © 2013 by Steve Jackson Games Incorporated. All rights reserved. Printed in the USA.
The scanning, uploading, and distribution of this book via the Internet or via any other means without the permission of the publisher is illegal, and punishable by law. Please purchase
only authorized electronic editions, and do not participate in or encourage the electronic piracy of copyrighted materials. Your support of the author’s rights is appreciated.
2 C
ONTENTS
GURPS Zombies_GURPS4e.qxp 10/1/13 12:14 AM Page 3
Just the Stats: Galvanoid. . . . . . 92 Techno-Zombies. . . . . . . . . . . . 103 Digging Out. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
Just the Stats: Zombot . . . . . . . . 93 Just the Stats: Neuroid. . . . . . . 104 SPREADINGTHEFUN. . . . . . . . 124
The Cursed. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93 Just the Stats: ReViv™-ified. . . 104 Dead or Alive?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 124
Just the Stats: Just the Stats: Soldier X. . . . . . 104 Exposure and Resistance . . . . 124
Judgment’s Legionary . . . . . . 94 Zombie Bosses. . . . . . . . . . . . . 104 Splatter. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125
Just the Stats: Nonhuman Zombies. . . . . . . . . 106 Dice of the Dead . . . . . . . . . . . . 126
Possessed Thrall. . . . . . . . . . . 94 Triggers and Timelines . . . . . . 126
Just the Stats: Selfish Dead . . . . 94 4. ZOMBIES IN PLAY . . 108 But It Didn’t Bite Me!. . . . . . . . 127
Fantasy Monsters. . . . . . . . . . . . 95 ZOMBIESINCOMBAT. . . . . . . . 108 Symptoms. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 128
Just the Stats: Biting 101. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108 If Thine Eye Offends Thee . . . . 128
Bloated Carcass. . . . . . . . . . . 96 Fright Checks?. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109 Examples of
Just the Stats: Ghoul. . . . . . . . . . 96 Optional Rule: Zombie Contagion . . . . . . . 129
Just the Stats: Lurcher . . . . . . . . 96 Worrisome Worrying. . . . . . 110 A BETTERTOMORROW . . . . . . 129
The Infected. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97 Wounding Modifiers
Better Dying
Just the Stats: Infected. . . . . . . . 98 and Zombies. . . . . . . . . . . . 110
Through Chemistry. . . . . . . 130
The Infested . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98 Faster Fights. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 110
The Disease Is the Cure. . . . . . 131
Just the Stats: Buzzing Corpse. . 99 Optional Rule:
Reverse the Curse. . . . . . . . . . . 131
Just the Stats: Infester. . . . . . . . . 99 Zombie Toughness. . . . . . . . 111
The Cure Is the Disease . . . . . . 131
Necromantic Reanimates . . . . . 99 Horde Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
Turn and Face the Strange. . . . 132
Just the Stats: Zombie Dice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
The Big Reboot. . . . . . . . . . . . . 132
Reanimated Corpse. . . . . . . 100 Hordes and
ZOMBIFICATION. . . . . . . . . . . . 133
Just the Stats: Large-Area Attacks. . . . . . . . 116
Supernatural
Reanimated Mummy. . . . . . 100 Turning the Tide . . . . . . . . . . . 117
Zombification. . . . . . . . . . . 133
Just the Stats: SURVIVINGTHEAPOCALYPSE. . 118 Resistance Is Futile. . . . . . . . . . 134
Reanimated Skeleton. . . . . . 100 Knowledge and Equipment . . 118
Technological
Shattered Minds. . . . . . . . . . . . 101 Biohazard! . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 119
Zombification. . . . . . . . . . . 135
Just the Stats: Crazy. . . . . . . . . 102 Staying Out of Reach. . . . . . . . 120
Just the Stats: Face-Eater. . . . . 102 Sacrifice. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121 5. ZOMBIFIED
Just the Stats: Vodou Slave . . . 102 Hideouts and Vehicles. . . . . . . 122 CAMPAIGNS . . . . . . 137
Just the Stats: Whisperer . . . . . 102
ZOMBIES, ZOMBIES
EVERYWHERE. . . . . . . . . . 137
How Many Zombies?. . . . . . . . 137
About GURPS
Zombie Threat Levels . . . . . . . . 138
Friendly Zombies. . . . . . . . . . . . 140
Steve Jackson Games is committed to full support of GURPSplayers.
How Many Types?. . . . . . . . . . 141
Our address is SJ Games, P.O. Box 18957, Austin, TX 78760. Please include
Dicing for Zombies. . . . . . . . . . 143
a self-addressed, stamped envelope (SASE) any time you write us! We can
ZOMBIFIEDGENRES . . . . . . . . 143
also be reached by e-mail: [email protected]. Resources include:
Fantasy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
New supplements and adventures. GURPS continues to grow – see Horror. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
what’s new at gurps.sjgames.com. Dramatic Bits (and Bites):
e23.Our e-publishing division offers GURPSadventures, play aids, and Betrayal!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 145
support in PDF form . . . digital copies of our books, plus exclusive mate- Conspiracy . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
rial available only on e23! Just head over to e23.sjgames.com. Action . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
Pyramid (pyramid.sjgames.com). Our monthly PDF magazine Futuristic Sci-Fi. . . . . . . . . . . . 147
includes new rules and articles for GURPS, systemless locations, adven- What Do They Eat
tures, and much more. Look for each themed issue from e23! in the Future? . . . . . . . . . . . 148
Internet. Visit us on the World Wide Web at www.sjgames.com for Supers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 148
errata, updates, Q&A, and much more. To discuss GURPS with our staff HEROESORVICTIMS?. . . . . . . 149
and your fellow gamers, visit our forums at forums.sjgames.com. The Power Level . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 149
GURPS Zombiesweb page is gurps.sjgames.com/zombies. The Zombie
Bibliographies. Many of our books have extensive bibliographies, and Heroes Campaign. . . . . . . . . 149
we’re putting them online – with links to let you buy the resources that inter- Replacements. . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
est you! Go to each book’s web page and look for the “Bibliography” link. Susceptibility . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
Errata.Everyone makes mistakes, including us – but we do our best to Dramatic Bits (and Bites):
fix our errors. Up-to-date errata pages for all GURPS releases, including Infected!. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
this book, are available on our website – see above. The Question of Gear . . . . . . . 152
Logistics. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152
Rules and statistics in this book are specifically for the GURPS Basic
Set,Fourth Edition.Page references that begin with B refer to that book, ZOMBIOGRAPHY . . . . . 153
not this one.
INDEX . . . . . . . . . . . . 157
C 3
ONTENTS
GURPS Zombies_GURPS4e.qxp 10/1/13 12:14 AM Page 4
I
NTRODUCTION
Shaun: Don’t say that! Players should then read Chapter 2, on creating and
Ed: What? equipping PCs. Those who like to strategize might first
Shaun: The zed-word. Don’t say it! review the mechanics governing how zombies find,
Ed: Why not? attack, and infect heroes, in Chapter 4 – but much of this
Shaun: Because it’s ridiculous! depends on GM decisions, so it won’t all be reliable infor-
– Shaun of the Dead mation! Regardless, see Chapter 5 to learn what to expect
in a Zombies campaign.
Why does GURPS Zombies exist? Because everyone
Game Masters should follow Chapter 1 with Chapter 5
loves zombies! In reality, of course, many people – includ-
for further inspiration, visit Chapter 3 to select or create
ing plenty of gamers – find zombies disgusting, ridiculous,
zombies, and finally read Chapter 4 to learn how to use
or overused. Even fans have undying debates over what
those zombies.
zombies are, how they should behave, and what sources are
Casual readers will find Chapter 5 a useful source of non-
canonical. Helping gamers have fun even when facing these
GURPS campaign ideas. Chapters 2, 3, and 4 might also be
challenges is the real motivation for Zombies. Converting
inspiring, but they pull no punches when it comes to rules
rabid non-fans is a job for the zombie plague, but this book
and stats.
hopes to “turn” the curious.
For starters, Zombieslooks beyond rotting shamblers. An
inclusive subject-matter guide rather than a worldbook, it
has something to offer all zombie enthusiasts – not just devo- The dead don’t walk
tees of George A. Romero and his walking dead, but also fans
of the fast-moving infected of recent films (like 28 Days around, except in very bad
Later), fantasy gamers seeking lowly undead slaves for necro-
mancers, and purists interested in Vodou tradition. These paperback novels!
viewpoints and countless others have a home here. Can they
all get along? That’s up to you! – George,
Zombiesdoesn’t confine itself to horror, either. Zombies
in Let Sleeping
are monsters,and all kinds of stories need those. They can
be antagonists in sword-and-sorcery fantasy, sci-fi action,
Corpses Lie
and many other speculative genres. They’re often ridiculous
enough to fit comedy. Even when zombies are horror, they
needn’t be survivalhorror – a lone zombie terrorizing a vil-
lage yields old-fashioned creature horror or modern splat-
ter, while zombies serving a vampire master suit stylish PUBLICATION HISTORY
Gothic horror.
To accomplish all this, Zombies delves into many fic- This is the first edition of GURPS Zombies. It was
tional sources but takes the tack that visualmedia offer the strongly inspired by the author’s earlier work, GURPS
best inspirations. Zombies rarely have much to say; the Undead (for GURPS Third Edition), portions of which have
shrieks (or laughs) they evoke stem from their deeds and been updated to GURPS Fourth Editionin this book.
appearance. It’s the sightof the shell of a person that thrills
and chills. Zombiesbrings this excitement to the tabletop. A A
BOUT THE UTHOR
Whatever zombies and genres you like best, Zombiesis
sure to inject new life into your campaign! Sean “Dr. Kromm” Punch set out to become a particle
physicist in 1985, ended up the GURPS Line Editor in
Z 101 1995, and has engineered rules for almost every GURPS
OMBIES
product since. He developed, edited, or wrote dozens of
GURPS Zombies is a long book. Reading it cover to GURPSThird Editionprojects between 1995 and 2002. In
cover might make a zombie out of you, the dear reader. A 2004, he produced the GURPS Basic Set, Fourth Edition
few words on avoiding that fate: with David Pulver. Since then, he has created GURPS
Powers (with Phil Masters), GURPS Martial Arts (with
Everybody should read Chapter 1. It explores the five Ws
Peter Dell’Orto), and the GURPS Action, GURPS Dungeon
and one H of folkloric and fictional zombies, establishing
Fantasy, and GURPS Power-Ups series . . . and the list
terms and tropes invoked throughout the book. For GMs,
keeps growing. Sean has been a gamer since 1979. His non-
it’s a treasury of ideas. For players, it’s a source of worries
gaming interests include cinema, cooking, and wine. He
– what parts will the GM use? For casual readers, it’s the
lives in Montréal, Québec with his wife, Bonnie, and their
chapter without complex game stats.
two cats, Banshee and Zephyra.
4 I
NTRODUCTION
GURPS Zombies_GURPS4e.qxp 10/1/13 12:14 AM Page 5
C O
HAPTER NE
G
ETTING TO
K Y
NOW OUR
Z
OMBIES
Burt: I thought you said if we destroyed the brain, it’d die! might revert to primitive, animalistic behavior, like running
Frank: It worked in the movie! in packs and attacking prey. And the ravages of time or the
Burt: Well, it ain’t working now, Frank! force that made him a zombie might eventually erase the last
– The Return of the Living Dead vestiges of his humanity. But all that is of secondary concern.
First and foremost, the zombie is us, minus the social
When dabbling in zombies, the most important ques-
behaviors that keep us polite, absent the personalities that
tion to ask (your survival might depend on it!) is, “What is
make us unique. The zombie is a human body – sometimes
a zombie?” There are many common answers:
living, sometimes dead – marching on without a human
Walking dead. Zombies can be “undead,” but that isn’t mind in control. Maybe this is inevitable, or perhaps zom-
required. In Vodou folklore, they don’t always die – they bies don’t start that way but grow more monstrous with
might be still-living people turned into slaves by sinister time; just possibly, some zombies never quite descend into
drugs or black magic, their brief visit to the grave serving to complete mindlessness. But when human judgment is
disguise the misdeeds of the bokor. And plenty of entities replaced by some sort of program – an agenda imposed by
that qualify as “walking dead” aren’t zombies, vampires black magic or mad science, the biological imperative of an
being the best-known example. infectious organism, the base instincts of a brain deprived
Monsters that infect humans to make more monsters.This of conscious decision-making by chemicals or radiation –
is another thing that’s often true of vampires but almost the result is a zombie.
never of traditional zombies, like the Vodou variety. Even
in B movies, contagion isn’t universal – ancient curses,
toxic waste, radiation, and myriad other plot devices give
rise to beings that viewers and screaming victims call
“zombies.” Infection isn’t the definitivezombie trait.
Humanoid monsters that come in hordes. Clustering
is just a side effect of infection. It isn’t necessary – lone
reanimators in horror stories create one-off zombies all
the time, while fantasy necromancers often seem to have
limits on how many zombies they can control. Anyway,
zombies haven’t cornered the market on two-legged
monsters that come in vast hordes; consider orcs or the
legions of Hell. There must be something more.
Former humans that eat people. Some B-movie zom-
bies do this. Others savage people for no obvious reason,
and in a few cases the story takes pains to explain how
they lack a working digestive system. Meanwhile, real-
world cannibals and psychos eat their victims without
being zombies. Many decidedly un-zombie-like humans-
turned-monsters – such as werewolves – eat people, too.
So what is a zombie, then? There is a recurring
theme: the mindless shell of a human being.He might be
mindless because of disease, drugs, or black magic – or,
yes, because he’s dead. As a result of being mindless, he
G K Y Z 5
ETTING TO NOW OUR OMBIES
GURPS Zombies_GURPS4e.qxp 10/1/13 12:14 AM Page 6
What Are We Dealing With?
Before delving too deeply into zombies, it’s neces- fiction (see Fictional Zombies,pp. 14-17) often borrows
sary to establish some ground rules. from tales of demons that were never alive, or applies
zombie-movie tropes – notably cannibalism, contagion,
Mindless, Not Brainless and mindlessness – to strangely afflicted living people.
GURPS Zombies assumes that zombies are, with Finally, even in strict zombie canon, it isn’t always clear
rare exceptions, mindless. In game terms, this doesn’t that the erstwhile human expired from the infection or
mean that all zombies have IQ 0, like brand-new clone curse that zombified him; some zombies crawl from
bodies. Some might, but here, “mindless” means that graves or rise after being pronounced dead, but often all
zombie “racial” templates drastically penalize IQ (racial we see is victims sickening, falling immobile, and rising.
IQ modifier of -2 or worse); restrain or remove free Thus, we accept acquired mindlessness as sufficient.
will via Reprogrammable (p.B150), Slave Mentality
Slow vs. Fast
(p. B154), or Automaton (p. B263); and/or impose disad-
vantages consistent with animalistic behavior, like Bes- Another vocal debate concerns whether zombies
tial (p. B124). It doesn’t follow that when individuals or must be slow-moving. This image originates from
races have such traits, they’re zombies – only that when tales of drug-addled Vodou zombies, which came
someone acquires or is afflicted with a template that along relatively late in zombie lore, amplified by the
stacks atop his racial one, inflicting one or several of opinions of influential horror filmmaker George A.
these mental shortcomings, Zombies reserves the right Romero, who strenuously insists that zombies must
to call him mindless (it’s shorter than this explanation!) be dead and the dead can’t move quickly. Asserting
and label him a zombie. that rot and rigor should slow a zombie is applying
logic to an illogical subject, however – traditional
Dead or Transformed? undead are typically faster and stronger than the liv-
Many zombie fans insist that a corpse is a prerequi- ing, and it’s valid to claim that zombies, pushed
site for a zombie.Zombies doesn’t assume this, for sev- beyond human limits by inhuman forces, should
eral reasons. First, while the earliest traditional move quickly. Also, the “atrophied corpse” argument
monsters that one could call “zombies” were undead, isn’t applicable to living zombies modeled on drug-
this line blurred later on, and there’s a good case for the using maniacs (Zombies in the News: Zombie Drugs,
term “zombie” to mean a mind-controlled living slave; p.22) or on rabies victims (Zombies in the News:
for details, see Historical Zombies(pp.11-14). Moreover, Zombie Diseases,p. 20), who may be very fast indeed.
W Z ?
HY OMBIES
Why not? Still, it’s possible to dig deeper, identify some broad the-
More seriously, zombies make compelling monsters – matic categories, and expand on them. Understand that
perhaps even a great theme for an entire campaign – for a these explanations aren’t exclusive, though – many cam-
wide variety of reasons. For one thing, they are us,minus a paigns with zombies will invoke all of them. What varies is
working mind, staring back with hollow eyes. That alone is the mix.
plenty scary, and might be all that’s needed for pure horror!
Zombies also tend to be straightforward in a way that Z F
OMBIES AS EARS
other monsters aren’t. While a curtain of secrecy similar to
that popular in vampire and werewolf tales can make them Obviously, zombies can be scary. When trotted out in
scarier (see Conspiracy, p.146), it isn’t required; gamers the modern media – when made the subject of cute video
don’t expect scheming subtlety from creatures as dumb as games, funky dance numbers, and trendy “zombie walks”
zombies. This directness can spare the GM significant (p.16) – they lose some of that. Scratch the surface,
world-building effort. Related to this is the fact that while though, and zombies are fear. No stylish wardrobe or coy
using devious, powerful monsters as day-to-day antagonists dialog hides the fevered aggression of the infected, the
is hard on suspension of disbelief (“We fight vampires 24/7, inexorable advance of the sorcerer’s slaves, or the shreds
yet nobody believes they exist?”), an unrelenting backdrop of rotting flesh caught in the ghoul’s teeth. And this never
of zombies is a traditional device for enhancingthe mood. quite goes away, even in soft focus; the zombies in the
This can save the GM even more time, as he needn’t dream film Fido may be tame, and those in Shaun of the Dead
up alternative threats or new scenery on a regular basis – might seem silly, but neither would hesitate to tear you
the zombies are a constant, visible danger to everyone. apart under the right circumstances.
6 G K Y Z
ETTING TO NOW OUR OMBIES
GURPS Zombies_GURPS4e.qxp 10/1/13 12:14 AM Page 7
Twofold Terror and carry you off to the bokor or mad scientist for work-
place orientation.
On the most fundamental level, two distinct mecha-
nisms make zombies scary. These often occur together –
Symbols of Fear
but on their own, they give rise to very different kinds
of stories. Beyond being objects of dread in themselves, zombies
can embody more abstract fears. Such subtle, arty stuff is
Fear of Zombies rarely the deliberate focus of B movies. However, the GM
This is the obvious fear. Nearly all zombies are mind- looking to run a campaign rather than a one-shot sur-
less. Most never rest. Many are inhumanly strong, tough, vival-horror adventure might want to explore a few of
and pain-resistant, and a few are fast on top of that. If one these possibilities.
attacks you, there’s no reasoning with it – a fight is certain,
and it has lots of advantages there. You might not be able Fear of Death
to flee it, if it is fast or gets hold of you, and even if you do, Undead zombies have “dead” as a prerequisite, while the
it can search for you forever. infected and enslaved kinds are rarely long for this world.
Suppose the zombie isn’t out to get you – it is a listless This makes almost all zombies powerful symbols of death.
shambler, is restrained by mad science or sorcery, or oth- In horror settings, they’re often found in places of the dead,
erwise doesn’t regard you as a target. It’s still terrifying to like cemeteries. Dying, dead, or undead, they remind us of
look at. At best, it’s a hypnotized human slave with red, where we’re headed. And they can do this without trying to
sunken eyes and sore-covered skin, filthy from forced labor kill anyone – whether they serve traditional sorcerers, fan-
and possibly regular burial. At worst, it’s a rotting corpse tasy necromancers, or priests of fictional death gods, they
with maggots writhing in empty eye-sockets, its stench need only stand around silently to convey that the dead
almost as deadly as its bite. have no voice, in every sense.
In short, zombies are innately scary. This is the fear The zombies that best evoke the fear of death are mute,
exploited by traditional creature and splatter horror, and slow, and dull. They lack will. If they’re well-preserved, like
action-horror crossovers (such as dungeon fantasy and bodies embalmed for burial, so much the better – the near-
monster-of-the-week sci-fi). Yet it’s unsubtle and in fact normal appearance serves to emphasize how close life is to
newfangled . . . death. Then again, those that serve death cults might be all
gleaming skulls and scythes, literal avatars of Death.
Fear of Becoming a Zombie
This is the less-obvious fear, but also the older one. Fear of Decay
Three centuries before the first video game or RPG, 250 It isn’t always the end result that frightens us – some-
years before the first zombie movie (White Zombie), and times it’s the process. The rotting undead, the infected rav-
100 years before the first Gothic novel (The Castle of aged by disease, and the overworked zombie slave all show
Otranto), folk who knew of zombies didn’t fear being us that maybe death would be merciful, because who
attacked by them. No, there were scarier things out there, would want to walk around riddled with insects and gaping
such as the sorcerers who made zombies in Vodou lore. wounds? There’s peace in death, but only pain in fever and
What people feared was becoming such a monster, because necrosis and munching centipedes.
that meant giving up whatever free will, joy, and life they To evoke the fear of decay, zombies must look the part.
had to serve a master as an eternal slave. And slaves being If they’re alive, they should be sore-ridden, vomiting, and
valuable assets, masters didn’t set them on people who preferably mangled. If they’re undead, hold that thought but
might fight back. Settling scores was a job for magic – add some rot and beetles and maggots. It’s especially dra-
magic like turning enemies into zombies, say. matic if they’re weak, slow, and fall apart messily when taken
Flash forward to the modern zombie story and this down – no player is going to say, “Hey, I want to be undead!”
fear hasn’t disappeared. The scary thing about infected when that means being one accident away from collapsing
zombies, living or undead, isn’t their combat abilities into a pile of grue. Done right, no player is going to want to
or disgusting appearance. In fact, stories often take let such a zombie get anywhere near his PC, either.
pains to depict individual zombies as stupid, slow, easily
defeated, and not terribly threatening. What’s truly terri- Fear of Disease
fying in many cases is that the tiniest scratch or drop of Decay isn’t the only horror that infected zombies con-
blood can turn you into one of them. Hack and slash all vey; there’s also disease in its own right. People have a
you want – one mistake means you may win the fight but healthy fear of infection – that’s a survival mechanism,
lose everything. arguably a human instinct. We fear sickness even though
This fear is most often exploited for psychological and we know that normal pathogens incubate for days to weeks
survival horror, supernatural mystery and suspense, and (two to 21 days for Ebola, two to 12 weeks for rabies), that
even social commentary (pp. 9-10). However, it also feeds the deadliest diseases have survivors, and that if we beat the
back into the fear of zombies, strengthening genres that use odds, we’ll still be human.
it. Zombies that can turn you have another inhuman power But zombie plagues aren’t so forgiving. They work in
to fear – and another fear means more psychological hours, minutes, or perhaps seconds. There are no survivors
power. The zombie that’s an imposing physical threat and that the plot doesn’t call for. Worst of all, victims who suc-
capable of turning you into one of its kind is twice as scary. cumb become monsters,and go forth to infect friends and
The same goes for the zombie slave that can overpower you loved ones. How’s your fear of infection now?
G K Y Z 7
ETTING TO NOW OUR OMBIES
GURPS Zombies_GURPS4e.qxp 10/1/13 12:14 AM Page 8
The only strict requirement for zombies to evoke fear right? Zombie ghouls turn that on its head. They represent
of disease is that they’re in fact infectious. The means of the veneer of civility crumbling, exposing us for the oppor-
infection can vary: a pathogen borne in saliva or blood, a tunists we are.
contagious curse, even foul macroscopic creatures that The classic way to strike fear into hearts with cannibal-
breed inside the body and creep out to crawl into the ori- ism is to have the zombies eat people. Undead ghouls are
fices of the living. Throw in a little decay to make the dis- scary enough, consuming the living to maintain an unnat-
ease even scarier. ural state. Far scarier are ghouls that aren’t dead yet – crazy
or infected zombies that evoke all the terror of a psycho
Fear of Conformity killer without the faintest hope that words will be under-
While many people throughout history have been happy stood or that remorse will grant a reprieve. Mutant teeth
enough to live according to tradition and be part of the are always a nice touch.
crowd, they didn’t have to contend with cities holding tens Even grimmer, what if it isn’t the zombieswho are eat-
of millions (modern-day Jakarta contains more people than ing people? A zombie outbreak could leave survivors hun-
were alive worldwide when the Egyptians were building gry, and we’re made of meat . . .
pyramids for their undead), a globe with billions of souls
(we crossed that line in around 1800), or runaway urban- Fear of the Afterlife
ization (as of 2005, more than 50% of us lived in cities). And All of the previous fears aremundane.We witness con-
countless forces, from communist propaganda to capitalist formity, disease, and decay daily. Even if we’re fortunate
cola ads, say “Conform.” The threat of facelessness hangs enough to avoid firsthand brushes with death, the news
over us all. reminds us of it in the form of crime and warfare. Canni-
Zombies are a wonderful symbol for this fear. Play up balism is rare, but we see predation and madness, which
their lack of creativity, will, and identity. Make them servants are close enough. But the afterlife isn’t ours to know. And
that do what they’re told. Emphasize the huge mobs of the that’s scary.
classic apocalypse scenario, and show how people who had Many could accept life ending at death, but what if the
names, lives, and loves get sucked into the faceless sea afterlife isn’t a paradise? What if it’s full? What if our sins
known only as “the horde.” Or use infection again, but this condemn us to eternal torment? Zombies may well be the
time to capitalize on our fear of becoming just like everybody face of divine punishment, the fate of souls turned away
else, individuality supplanted by an acquired program. from Heaven’s gates, or the consequences of Hell being too
full to hold the evil dead.
Fear of Cannibalism Zombies that play on fear of the afterlife work best when
When some serial killer chops up and eats his victims, or they retain a small vestige of the person they’re made from
a drug-crazed maniac chews somebody’s face off, it freaks – they might be physically intact or just repeat mindless
people out. And with good reason – humans don’t do that. phrases from life. Those being punished may be cursed,
Cities and laws and manners set us apart from the hyenas, perhaps in awful ways that are dangerous for the living.
Ones rejected from Hell should exhibit malice in their
actions and appearance. In all cases, occult lore or
supernatural powers in the setting ought to reveal
The Z-Word
them not to be soulless. Then the PCs can worry about
whether dispatching them is duty or sacrilege.
“Zombie” entered Western lexicons – including Dutch,
English, French, and Spanish – from the Vodou faith (col-
Fear of the Lack of an Afterlife
loquially, “Voodoo”). There, it’s customarily spelled
Perhaps worse than reaching the afterlife and finding
“zombi” or “zonbi,” and can be associated with any of liv-
out that it’s full or horrific, or that you don’t qualify, is
ing-but-drugged slaves, animated corpses, or bound spir-
dying and not going anywhere. Religious or not, most of
its that augment the power of a bokor (sorcerer). Details
us assume that consciousness thankfully ends at death;
vary by individual tradition and with anthropological
then either we wait for Judgment or reincarnation, or
(mis)interpretation.
we’re flat-out done. But with the right metaphysics – or
Having been developed by African slaves in the
the wrong chemicals or radiation in the burial ground –
Caribbean, much of Vodou’s jargon has African origins.
maybe our corpses just sit around, vaguely aware. And
Here the trail gets hard to follow, as various Niger-Congo
sometimes they get up. Death isn’t necessary for this fear
languages offer a bewildering variety of similar terms:
to take root . . . what if the mutant virus or experimental
ndzumbi, nzambi, nzumbe, nzumbi, zambi, zumbi, etc.
serum makes you immortal, but also mindless?
Meanings encompass “fetish,” “god,” and “cadaver or
This fear goes well with zombies that spontaneously
spirit of a dead person.” Vodou practitioners might have
erupt from graves. They’re not necessarily evil – they
borrowed such a name to describe a bound spirit, the
just have nowhere to go. The living kind, made by
fetish in which it was bound, a slave created by such a
immortality-granting superscience, may be fiendishly
binding, or a deity worshipped by zombie-makers.
tough. In all cases, if there’s no Heaven or Hell, then
It’s safe to say that somebody going for a Vodou feel
juju and undead-turning powers might do little good.
could use any of these variants. To the typical gamer,
If the players are roleplaying well, their characters
they’ll sound about the same and send the right message.
should be seriously worried about death not because
For other options, see Ghouls, Infected, and Walkers (p. 10).
they fear it, but because they fear the aftermath.
8 G K Y Z
ETTING TO NOW OUR OMBIES