Introduction

Super Dead is a superhero-horror roleplaying game that takes place in a zombie-apocalypse world caused by the U.S. Navy's botched attempt to prevent World War 3. In this game, you will take the role of a mutant-powered survivor and attempt to make what you can out of the end of the world.

You will gather supplies, rescue survivors, and face off against villains, while staying one step ahead of the ever present zombie threat.

Super Dead is designed around tactical combat, cinematic action, and suspense-building horror gaming, inspired by the New School Revolution (See also: What is the NSR?) in tabletop gaming as well as modern tactical war games.

Everything you need to play can be found in this ruleset.

The rules to Super Dead are free under the license CC BY-SA 4.0

Quick Start: 28 Rules Later

If you're an experienced TTRPG player, or you have already read the rules, the following 28 rules might be enough for you to play an entire game or even a campaign of Super Dead.

Characters

1. Characters are defined by super powers and four attributes: athleticism, intelligence, personality, courage.
2. To make an attribute test roll 1d10 under the attribute.
3. To use your powers, roll your power die pool (3d10), count the number of dice at or above the target number (6), and add your power rating.

Powers

4. Powers can be used to create supernatural effects; all power uses must be consistent with the narrative.
5. You can power surge to create particularly powerful effects, at the cost of stress.
6. You can power soak to reduce your power effectiveness, instead of taking a wound.
7. You can power student to use your powers in creative and impressive ways.

Combat

8. Combat takes place in rounds of three phases: (1) movement, (2) hand-to-hand, and (3) shooting.
9. During the movement phase, each character can move 30 feet normally, or 100 feet recklessly.
10. If you move into another's line of sight, they can make a ranged opportunity attack against you.
11. During the hand-to-hand phase, up to three exchanges of hand-to-hand combat can take place for all combatants in immediate range of one another.
12. During the shooting phase, each combatant outside immediate range may shoot at one target.

Wounds

13. You can be hurt twice, before being wounded, severely wounded, and then disfigured.
14. Armor can prevent a number of wounds each round from some types of damage.
15. Recovering from being hurt happens quickly, wounds happens slowly (28 hours for normal wounds, 28 days for severe wounds.)
16. Disfigurement is permanent; if you are disfigured three times, you die.

Stress

17. Life in the apocalypse is stressful. You will accumulate stress when you do hard things.
18. If you accumulate a point of stress, you must succeed at a courage test or crack.
19. While cracked, everything is hard, and any time you try to use your powers any dice below your stress level are subtracted from your successes.
20. You can relieve stress by doing relaxing or enjoyable activities and making a successful personality test.

Zombies

21. Zombies will move towards you as fast and directly as they can, then attempt to bite you.
22. If you get bitten you will likely (8/10) turn undead.
23. Turning may take (1/10) seconds, minutes (3/10), hours (3/10) or (1/10) days, depending on how the virus effects you.
24. You can kill zombies by destroying their head, crushing them, or destroying their bodies with magic or the elements.
25. Making noise attracts zombies and you are more likely to attract them at night.
26. Encountering a horde of twenty of more zombies is stressful and dangerous.
27. Though hordes may be defeated through combat, your best is to run away or use environmental features.
28. Anyone who finds themselves in immediate range of a zombie horde is devoured.

Super Dead Design Principles

1. Tactical Combat Combat in Super Dead is not a combat of attrition. For the most part, combats will be fast and fatal. Even as a super, one well placed bullet can take you from on top of the world, to scratching in the dirt. And that's just humans. Your best bet? Stay out of the fray, unless you know you can end it quickly. Use the environment and always engage on your own terms.

2. Cinematic Action You're not some run of the mill schmuck: you're a super-powered mutant. You can do impressive things. And we don't want "the rules" to limit what you can do with your super strength, or your super speed, or your energy fields. Just know that everything you do will have a cost...

3. Suspense and Horror Death lurks around every corner in the zombie apocalypse, no matter who you are. One bite from a zombie is likely to kill you. And while your powers can keep you safe for the most part, as you build up stress, they're less and less consistent.

Characters

Attributes and Saves

The non-super traits of your character in Super Dead are represented by four attributes: athleticism, intelligence, personality, and courage.

• Athleticism represents feats of strength, speed, and agility.
• Intelligence represents cunning and knowledge.
• Personality represents your ability to persuade and convince others.
• Courage represents your ability to overcome fear and stress.

When something you do might have a cost to you, you will make a save against the relevant attribute by rolling 1d10. If the roll is under your attribute, you have succeeded and you will avoid all or most of the cost. If the roll is above your attribute, you may succeed, but you will incur a setback or pay a cost.

Because not all tasks are created equal, some saves will be harder than others. When a save is easier than normal, you will subtract a number from your roll; when the save is harder than normal, you will add a number to your roll. These bonuses or penalties are added at the game master's discretion.

Designer's Note: Super Dead is not a "bonus tallying" system. So two things that are hard do not necessarily become very hard, and hard and easy do not necessarily cancel out. The narrative scenario is evaluated in full by the game master and a single bonus is determined for the roll.

Skills

Skills are areas of training where characters have mastered tasks that would ordinarily be challenging or impossible if untrained.

The following tasks are hard, unless trained: fighting, first aid, repair, shooting.

The following tasks are impossible unless trained: engineering, medicine, performance, science.

Most characters are unprepared for the end of days and will not have any skills.

Stress

After avoiding zombies, the next most important thing you can do in the end of days is keep your cool. Your success at keeping your cool is measured by your stress.

As you adventure, you will suffer from the stresses of the end of the world. Each time you incur a point of stress, you must make a courage save. If you fail, you have cracked.

If you have more than four points of stress, you are burdened. At your game masters discretion——and especially during the most important moments——the burdens of your stress catch up to you, making tasks hard.

When you crack, everything you do becomes hard. If you have cracked and you are burdened, everything you do is very hard; If you have cracked and you have more than eight points of stress, everything you do is extremely hard.

Stress Relief

Resting in a safe place provides some relief from stress. If you can manage to find such a place, a successful personality test reduces your stress by 1 point for every 8 hours of rest.

Additionally, you will have a preferred form of stress relief. If you engage in that activity during your rest, you reduce your stress by an additional 1 point.

Stress and Bonds

The characters you have bonds with are especially important. If you engage in your stress release activity with a character you have a bond with, double the amount of stress relieved.

If someone you have a bond with dies, you immediately incur five points of stress.

Background

Even if it's hard to remember now, you were someone before the end of the world.

Every character has a background. This background may allow you to have skills, at the game masters discretion, and may make certain tasks easier for you than others.

Backgrounds are not strictly professions, but rather broad areas of familiarity. You should specify your background as it applies to your character.

Flaws

We are all flawed. And our flaws define us as much as our strengths.

In stressful times, like a zombie apocalypse, these flaws are especially likely to rule our personality.

Once per day, you may succumb to one of your flaws and relieve one point of stress.

If you try to resist your flaws in a pivotal moment, your stress will increase. You may try to resist this by making a courage test. On a successful test, you tame your flaw — for the time being. On a failed test you incur two points of stress and succumb to your flaw.

Improving Your Character

As you strive to survive the end of days, certain activities such as killing zombies, rescuing survivors, gathering supplies, and defeating villains will gain you experience points.

As you gain experience, you will level up. When you have enough XP to reach the next level, you can select one of the following improvements for your character:

Improvements

• Gain a new power (+2)
• Gain two new powers (+1)
• Improve a power (+1)
• Gain a skill
• Grain a trait
• Gain a stunt
• Remove a flaw
• Clear all stress
• Gain a new bond

Once an improvement is selected, you may not select that same upgrade for either of the subsequent two levels.

Advancement Table

Character Creation

The following steps can be used to quickly create Super Dead characters.

Super Dead characters can be recorded on a note card, a piece of paper, or dedicated character sheet.

1. Roll Attributes

Roll 4d6. Add 2 to each die and assign each value to an attribute. Higher is better.

2. Powers

Select either:

• 2 powers at +2
• 1 power at +3, 1 power at +1
• 1 power at +2, 2 powers at +1

You do not need to select a power from the table below. And you should work with the game master on the specific manifestations of your powers.

Drawbacks: Optionally, you may elect to have a minor (+1) or serious (+2) drawback for any of your powers.

3. Background

Choose a background or roll 1d20 for a random background.

4. Flaws

Choose two flaws, or roll 2d20 for a random flaws.

5. Stress Relief

Roll 1d6 for a random form of stress relief.

6. Equipment

Add any equipment your character may have, depending on their background.

7. Bonds

Roll a bond for at least one other player character, and once NPC.

Powers

Your character's powers are rated by the bonus they apply to your power rolls.

Using Powers

To use a power, you will compare the result of a power roll to the power scale table to determine if you mustered enough energy to create your desired effect.

To make a power roll, roll 3d10, count the number of dice that exceed the target number, and add your power's rank. The standard target number is 6.

Example. Bianca Blues wants to use a Sonic Blast (+3) to open a whole in a brick wall. She rolls 3d10 and gets a 3, a 6, and a 8. The 6 and 8 are at or above the target number, so her power roll total is a 5: 2 successes plus her +3 rating for Sonic Blast. She compares this to power scale table and finds that 5 successes is enough to destroy brick: brick wall demolished.

Power Scale Table

In the power scale table, weight indicates the weight that can be lifted over head. The weight that can be thrown 50 feet is approximately 1/10th of the weight shown.

The speed shown is the maximum running speed for 50m. Over a mile or more, the speed is approximately 1/2.

Power Surge

Your powers are not fixed: they ebb and flow with your energy, adrenaline and intensity. At critical times, you can surge your powers to achieve incredible effects that you are normally incapable of. Doing so is stressful, but allows you to temporarily exceed your normal limitations.

When you perform a power surge, you add a number of dice to your power roll die pool and incur a number of stress. To add 1 die to your die pool, you will incur 1 point of stress. To add 2 dice to your die pool, you will incur 3 points of stress.

During your power surge, any 10s rolled during your power rolls "explode": you can reroll them and add subsequent successes to your success count. Any 10s rolled during these subsequent rolls explode as well.

Designer's Note: Because this is a rules-light system that involving super powers, you will often find yourself wondering "would a player's powers be able to do that?" If the answer seems to rest somewhere between certainly yes and certainly not, allow the player to take a power surge to accomplish the feat.

Power Soak

Your powers also provide you with an enhanced durability. You can use your powers to soak damage. Whenever you would take a wound, instead, you may choose to soak that damage with one of your powers.

When you soak damage, you temporarily reduce a power by as many levels as you would have taken wounds. Your power stays at this reduced level for 24 hours, or until you have a full night's sleep, whichever is longer.

Powers reduced below +1 in this way cannot be used until you have recovered.

If you incur more wounds than you can soak with a single power, you can use multiple powers to soak the damage. If damage is partially soaked, the remainder is incurred as wounds.

Power Stunt

Alternative, you can also use your powers to "stunt" other abilities. So long as it makes narrative sense, your game master may allow you to pay a stress to use your power to achieve effects normally associated with another.

After a power stunt has been performed, the next time you advance in level, you may elect to be able to perform this stunt without paying the stress cost. If you elect not to gain the stunt at that level, you must perform the stunt again in order to take it again.

If you are performing a stunt you have already performed this level, the courage save to resist cracking is very easy.

Example. Strong Steve is fighting three zombies. He wants to smash his hands into the ground and create a thunderwave. The game master rules he can do this. Steve rolls his Strength (+7) power pool (9, 4, 7) and counts 9 successes: his shockwave tosses the zombies back several hundred feet. Steve incurs a stress and must make a courage save.

Drawbacks

Your powers may have drawbacks: a cost associated with using the power.

Some common drawbacks are:

• Appearance: your appearance is disfigured
• Activation: you must activate the power before using it
• Build Up: the power starts weaker (-2, -1), but gets stronger as you use it more (+1, +2)
• Charge Up: you must charge up the power before using it
• Dependency: you must wait for something to happen before you can use the power
• Linked: you must use another power to use this one
• Utility Belts / Super Suits: you are dependent on items or equipment
• Vulnerability / Weakness: you are particularly susceptible to something

Power drawbacks can be minor (+1) or major (+2).

Minor drawbacks are drawbacks that hinder the use of a power, but do not prevent the character from performing other tasks or fitting in in society. For example, dependency on a super suit, or the requirement to activate a "fire form" before manipulating fire energy would be minor drawbacks.

Major drawbacks impact a character's ability to fit in in society or significantly reduce the utility of more than one power. Examples of a major drawback would be: an inability to make physical contact with others, or a grotesque and monstrous appearance.

The same drawback cannot apply to more than one power.

Using Powers While Cracked

When you have cracked, controlling your powers becomes more difficult.

Whenever you make a power roll, subtract any dice below your stress level from the number of successes you would have achieved.

If the number of dice rolled below your stress level is greater than the number of successes rolled, you have lost control of your powers.

Roll on the table below:

Combat

You likely never thought you'd find yourself in a life or death fight. Unfortunately, that has become all too common.

Whether you are fighting humans, mutants, or zombies, combat is now a fact of life.

Designer's Note: Combat in Super Dead is not modeled on standard tabletop roleplaying game systems that allows for heroes to make decisions on a second-by-second basis. Rather, Super Dead combat is inspired by modern tactical war games. We've chosen to do this because modern firearms and Super Powers, which are present in Super Dead, feel silly in the extended duel-like encounters of fantasy TTRPGs. Firearms and Super Powers are too deadly, from too far away -- and encourage a style of combat where engaging rarely, and on your own terms, is the best approach.

Phases of Combat

Combat in Super Dead takes place in rounds of three phases: the movement phase, the hand-to-hand phase, and the shooting phase.

The Movement Phase

During the movement phase, you declare your intent to move. You may move 30 feet with standard movement or up to 100 feet with reckless movement.

Reckless movement makes any other task very hard and makes attacks against you easy.

If you move into another character's line of sight, you are exposed to opportunity fire. If you take opportunity fire, regardless of whether or not you take damage, you must make a courage save. On a failed save, you must retreat and find cover.

Opportunity fire is a free ranged attack against a combatant who enters your line of sight. You may take one opportunity attack per target so long as you have ammunition (if necessary). Any target you hit with opportunity fire must immediately retreat to a safe position and make a courage check or be pinned.

While you are pinned, ranged attacks against you by the enemy that pinned you are very easy and movement in the direction of the attackers requires a very hard courage test. You can only remove the pinned condition by retreating or if the attackers die or run out of ammo.

The Hand-to-Hand Phase

After the movement phase is resolved, if there are any combatants within immediate range of one another, the hand-to-hand phase of combat occurs.

The hand-to-hand phase consists of up to three exchanges of attacks. Within an exchange, each combatant declares who and how they would like to attack, and then attacks are resolved simultaneously.

Shooting a pistol or shotgun at immediate range is hard, and shooting a long-gun is very hard. Attacks with ranged powers are also hard.

Obstacles within immediate range can obstruct hand-to-hand combat. If during the hand-to-hand phase you are separated from your intended target by an obstacle, e.g., a table, a car, a chain link fence, etc., your damage from the first exchange occurs during second exchange.

After damage has been dealt, for each exchange, another exchange occurs until one side has been entirely eliminated or until three hand-to-hand exchanges have occurred.

Fighting in hand-to-hand combat when outnumbered is at least hard, but can be very hard, or extremely hard depending on the number and skill of your opponents.

Fighting

To hit in hand-to-hand combat with a handheld weapon--such as a bat, knife, axe, or even your fists--you must make a fighting check. On a successful fighting check, you deal damage to your opponent determined by the weapon you are using.

Because most characters will not be skilled in fighting, the default is a hard athletics save.

The Shooting Phase

Once the movement and hand-to-hand phases have been resolved, combatants in the ranges close, near, and far may declare one target within range of their weapon and make a ranged attack.

All successful ranged attackers roll damage, and damage is evaluated simultaneously for all combatants.

The best way to avoid enemy fire is by hiding behind cover. Cover may make you hard, very hard, or extremely hard to hit, depending on the quality and degree of cover. If you are completely shielded by cover, you may not be targeted.

Shooting

To hit a target with a firearm, you must make a successful shooting check. On a successful shooting check, you deal damage to your opponent determined by the weapon you are using.

Because most characters will not be skilled in shooting, the default is a hard athletics save.

Ranges

There are four ranges of engagement. From farthest to nearest, they are:

1. Far range
2. Near range
3. Close range, and
4. Immediate range.

Far range begins at 1,000 feet and requires the use of specialized weapons.

Near range, from 300 feet up to 1,000 feet, is the ideal range to engage with a rifle, but too far for many powers.

Close range, from 30 to 300 feet is the most typical engagement distance, and is the effective range of both handguns and ranged powers.

Immediate range, within 30 feet, is the range for hand-to-hand combat.

Shooting beyond the range of your weapon is very hard or extremely hard.

Zombies must get to immediate range to attack.

Attacks, Damage, and Wounds

When you deal damage, roll the damage dice associated with the weapon or power and count the total. Damage dice always explode. That is, you can reroll any dice that show their maximum value.

When you take damage, for every five points of damage, you incur one wound. You may choose to absorb any number of wounds with armor, if you are able.

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If you have taken no wounds, you are healthy. If you have taken one or two wounds you are hurt. If you have taken three wounds you are wounded. At four wounds, you are severly wounded. Upon five wounds, you suffer from disfigurement or death.

Being hurt makes things hard. Being wounded makes things very hard.

You naturally go from hurt back to healthy as soon as combat ends.

Being Wounded

If you are wounded, you will stay wounded until you receive medical attention. A successful first aid save will treat the wound, but leave you with its lingering effects for 28 hours. A failed first aid save will leave you with the lingering effects of the wound for 7 days.

For a severe wound, you will suffering lingering effects of the wound for 7 days on a successful first aid check, and 28 days on a failed check.

The game master will tell you how those lingering effects impact your character.

A successful medicine save, assuming the appropriate medical equipment is available, will relieve you of all effects of the wound.

Disfigurement and Death

Upon taking your fifth wound, you will either become disfigured or die.

You may elect to become disfigured up to three times. Each time you do so, you and your game master will come up with a permanent injury your character will suffer, and the penalty for that injury.

If you already have three disfigurements, or you elect not to select a disfigurement, you die.

Using Powers in Combat

You will often want to use super powers in combat. When you do so, make a power roll to determine the strength of the expression of your powers.

As long as you achieve at least one success, in your power dice pool, you will deal damage. If you do, make a damage roll based on the corresponding intensity.

If all your dice are below the target number you deal no damage.

If you are cracked, subtract any dice below your stress level from the number of successes before counting your successes.

Example: Fionna Firefist is engaged in hand-to-hand combat with two bad guys. She rolls her Bravo 2 power "fire control" and gets a 3 and an 6. The 6 is above her target number (4), so she succeeds in her attack and can deal damage. She can either choose to deal 9 damage to one opponent, or 3 damage to one and 6 to the other.

When Supers Fight

When you are engaged in combat with another super, you may call for the Super Phase of combat to be added.

During this phase, you may declare up to one other super-powered target. You and the super you targeted then make opposed power checks, using the power of your choice. The super who scores the fewest successes on their power roll, after adding bonuses, must reduce one of their powers by one.

If they have no more powers to reduce, they are knocked unconscious.

If a super is targeted more than one time in the same Super Phase, they count 1 less success for each time they have been targeted.

Example of Play

The following is an example of play, including a combat encounter, designed to introduce you to the world of Super Dead and the mechanics.

Two heroes, Max "Mouse" McMillan and Emily "Electric Girl" Evans—played by Kyle and Sarah—are braving the night to save their friend: "The Botanist", a weak mutant who's ability to encourage plant growth has nontheless become highly valuable in the end of days. The botanist was abducted by several survivors that Max and Emily were staying with. After investigating the matter, they've discovered that their friend The Botanist is at the town library, under the thumb of the city's former mayor: Moira Mullens, and a group of thugs in her employ.

NB: In the following section

Things the game master says look like this

Player name: And things the players say look like this

You have made your way to the outskirts of the library. The building is in sight. It's two stories tall, with large glass windows on the second floor, a door on the first, and a flourishing "public garden" out front. You feel confident that you're hidden around the corner and no one can see you. What does Max do, Kyle?

Kyle: Max looks around to make doubly sure that there's no one nearby. And if it's all clear, he'll turn into a mouse and make his way into the library.

Okay, and Sarah, what is Emily doing?

Sarah: If Max is turning into a mouse, Emily will sneak between the buildings and get as close as she can while staying hidden, to try and see what she can see inside.

Okay. Max turns into a mouse and the two of you try to sneak closer to the library. Max finds it easy to hide in the lush garden, but unfortunately, the door is still in pretty good shape and you can't seem to find an easy way in. Sarah, give me an intelligence test to see how Emily does sneaking.

Sarah: [Rolls a 3 on 1d10 versus her intelligence of 5] Success.

Alright. Emily manages to stay hidden as she approaches and can make out the shadows of two people near the door.

Sarah: It looks like the door is guarded. Let's try to draw them out. Get out of there Max; I'm going to light up the garden.

You want to try to burn the garden with your electricity? Give me a power roll.

Kyle: Max starts scurrying out of the way.

Sarah: [Rolls 3d10: 7, 4, 2] One success, plus three for my power level is four.

Great. A small flash of lightning springs forth from Electric Girl's fingers and darts towards the dry grass keeping the soil moist. At first the fire starts small, but more and more plant matter begins to catch, and soon, there's a good deal of fire and smoke. As the smoke builds, it catches the attention of the guards you spotted behind the door, and they open the front door, walking into your line of sight. You get opportunity fire against them if you'd like, Sarah.

Sarah: I'll take it.

Alright. Make a 3d10 power roll against each. If you succeed, they'll take damage and be pinned.

Sarah: [3d10: 8, 9, 4; 3d10: 2, 3, 1] Two successes plus three, for a five on the first. And then zero successes on the other.

A strong flash of lightening jolts from your hand, striking one of the guards as he walks into the open. The other dives over the railing on the stairs and manages to duck out of the way. With five successes, that will be a 2d10 damage roll for the one you hit.

Sarah: Alright. [2d10: 6, 8] That's a 14.

Lightning strikes the guard and smoke begins to waft from his ears. His hair is gone and his body falls to the ground lifeless. Kyle, what does Max do?

Kyle: Now that the door is open, I'm going to begin to call on mice to enter the building and look for The Botanist.

Alright. Give me a 3d10 roll to see how many mice you can muster.

Kyle: [3d10: 6, 9, 8] That's three successes, plus one, and I'll keep calling on mice for the next four rounds if I can, to bring it to plus five. So four total now, and eight total by the time it's fully built up.

That's going to be a lot of mice! Alright. Max starts calling on mice, and from the buildings around you, the dirt, and the sewers, mice start swarming into the building droves and the begin to search for The Botanist. With this many mice, they'll need just four rounds to cover all the open areas the library.
Now, because you attacked the guard, you are in combat. You're about 50 feet from the guard, do either of you move to engage him? It appears as if he's going to fire on you.

Sarah: I'll engage. I'll use my electric teleport to get over there and deliver a shocking punch.

Okay. Because you're already in line of sight, there won't be any opportunity fire. Give me a 3d10 power roll.

Sarah: [3d10: 2, 2, 8] Not my best, one success, plus 2 for the teleport power is three total successes.

Your teleport brings you within hand-to-hand range, but you have to close on him by foot. Roll 1d10 for damage based on your three successes. And the guard is going to fire on you as well. [rolls 1d10: 3] He gets a 3, which is below his athletics, even with the penalty for shooting in hand-to-hand. His shot is going to hit.

Sarah: [1d10: 10 (5)] I got a 10, and then a 5 on the bonus roll, for 15 total damage.

And the guard rolls for damage [2d10-2: 7, 10 + 6]. Oof. 21 damage. That will be four wounds.

Sarah: I'll soak one wound with my teleportation power and one with my electric shock—so that will only bring me to hurt.

Bang! The guard fires a shot right into your side, but in an electric flash, you zap to the side and you go sprawling into the ground. Then, with a twist and a lunge, you deliver a swift kick to the guard's sternum, along with shocking bolts of electricity that go skittering through the guard. He falls to the ground.

Because of the gunshot, I'm going to make a noise roll. [Secretly: 2d10 (10, 2 = 12 zombies)] You know zombies are inbound now, it's just a matter of time.

Kyle. Shit, do we know where the Botanist is yet?

Mice continue to swarm into the building, over the top of the two zapped guards. And yes, you've located The Botanist. Your friend is being watched by yet another one of the mayor's thugs upstairs. You also begin to hear screams from inside the library as the mice are sending people into a panic. These screams are going to attract even more zombies [Secretly: 1d10-2 (10 - 2 = 8 zombies)].

Kyle: I've found her, Emily. She's upstairs, imprisoned by the mayor's thugs. Let's go quick! And Max runs into the building.

Sarah: Max! We need a plan! And Sarah follows after.

Kyle: There's no time for a plan. Zombies are on the way and we'll all die if we don't get out of here soon. Do my mice know anything about the location of any other armed survivors?

Yes, they do. You know that the mayor has two guards with her. They're currently fleeing one of the meeting rooms and barricading themselves in the archives, and there's another guarding The Botanist.

Kyle: So the path is clear. Excellent. Max charges up the stairs confidently, and I want to have my mice attack the guard keeping The Botanist hostage.

Awesome. Give me a 3d10 power roll and use your full build-up bonus, because you've been channeling mice for some time now.

Kyle: [3d10: 3, 6, 8] That's two successes, plus 5, for 7 total.

Yikes. Give me a 3d10 damage roll with that.

Kyle: [3d10: 8 + 4 + 3] That's 15 total.

Your mice swarm over the guard and he begins to scream and thrash as they do. In a panic, he rushes towards the glass windows and tosses himself through it, splattering on the ground. The shattering window makes even more noise, and is going to attract even more zombies. [Secretly: 1d10+1 (3+1 = 4 zombies)]

Kyle: I talk to the Botanist. Are you okay? We have to get out of here quick. Can you walk?

"You know, while many farmers believe mice to be pests, some plants have adapted to a symbiotic relationship with mice. I always liked you, in particular, Mouse. Yes, I can walk. How are we getting out?"
And as she asks that, you can hear the telltale groaning of zombies and screaming of their victims from downstairs. With your mice, you can tell that there are a dozen zombies.

Sarah: Max, I can blast them, attract them up here, and we can jump to get away from them. What do you think?

Kyle: I'll be fine. Botanist?

"I'll land soft as a field of wildflowers. Go for it, Electric Girl"

Sarah: Alright, I head back to the library stairs and let out of blast of electricity at as many zombies as I can see, trying to get them to follow me, and the race towards the glass window and teleport down.

Okay, give me two 3d10 power rolls. How are is Max getting down, Kyle? Just jumping?

Kyle: I'll turn into a mouse as I fall. Lower mass should equal lower damage, right?

Okay, give me a 3d10 power roll as well.

Sarah: I'd like [3d10: 4, 10, 9; 3d10: 6, 10, 10] Wow. Big rolls. Two successes plus two and three successes plus one is four for the lightning and four for the teleport.

Okay, that'll be 2d10 damage. And you can distribute it among the zombies as you'd like.

Sarah: [2d10: 8, 7] Fifteen damage. And I think I'll have it his as many of them as possible for a single point.

You blast lightning out across the zombies, cracking in the air, bouncing off the zombies and into the ground. Their dead flesh burns and smells foul on the air. Their heads whip up the stairs towards you. They begin to give a slow chase, but you're already on your way out of the building. Electric Girl leaps from the library second floor and zaps herself down to the landing. You're joined by The Botanist, who jumps and lands a lush pile of flowers. Kyle, what did Max get?

Kyle: [3d10: 2, 8, 10] Two successes.

You take mouse form and manage and doing so reduces the impact from falling. The three of you have escaped the library. And as you get to your feet, you notice another four zombies stumbling down the street towards you.

Kyle: Just four? We can take 'em.

Sarah: I think we should run, Max. There are probably more on the way.

Kyle: Alright, alright, let's scram. Create a distraction for us, will you?

Sarah: I can do that. Electric Girl will try to create a huge electric storm as a distraction [3d10: 6,6,8] Three successes plus two is six. I want to create a huge thunderbolt off in the distance to create a lot of noise and draw the zombies away from us.

Okay. With six successes, a bolt of lightning blasts from your hand and shatters into a building. It's mixture of metal and wood goes up in flames and creates a roaring noise. You know all the zombies in the area are going to be headed towards it. The ones directly in front of you, however, are locked on you and move towards you to attack. What do you do?

Kyle: Stand and fight! I charge into the mix and start to attack with my baseball bat.

Even as supers, just a single blow from a zombie could mean death, so be careful.

Sarah: Electric Girl will join the fray too — I'll use my lightning powers at close range.

Alright. The zombies won't attack until after all three hand-to-hand exchanges have passed, and there are four of them. Make three attacks each. Kyle, you must make a hard athletics test, so give me 3x 1d10 rolls to hit. Any hit that deals more than 2 damage will kill a zombie. Sarah, the electric damage isn't particularly potent against zombies, so you'll need to do 15 or more points of electric damage to a zombie to kill it.

Kyle: [3d10: 1, 3, 7] My athletics is 5, so hard becomes 4. I got two successes. [2x 1d10-2: 6, 8] And for damage, I got a 5 and a 7.

Awesome, you charge into combat with the zombies and smash two heads with your baseball bat, their brains splatter over the sidewalk and the corpses fall to the ground. Sarah?

Sarah: Yeah. [3x3d10: 1,5,7; 6,7,8; 7,8,8]. Woo! Two successes, three successes, and three successes. Plus two thats four, five, and five.

All of those will be 2d10 damage. Beat 15 to to take down the zombies.

Sarah: Come on, 15! [3x2d10: 6+1, 5+3, 5+6] Oof. 7, 8, and 11 damage.

Electric Girl summons a tempest of elemental energy and zaps away at one of the zombies, burning its limbs into an immobilized crisp. She turns her attention to the last one standing, but isn't able to bring it down before it grabs at her. Make an athletics test to avoid the zombie's bite.

Sarah: [1d10: 6] Ah! No! That's a six. Just barely over my athletics of five.

Electric Girl is grabbed by the zombie, and for a second it looks like she'll be able to hold him at bay, until she can't, and it chomps down on her arm. I'm going to make a secret infection roll and show you, Sarah, but not you, Kyle. [1d10: 8 - infected: turn in days]

Kyle: Em! I run up and smash the zombie with my bat [3x1d10: 2,4,7]. That's two hits [2x1d10-2: 5, 1] for 3 damage and zero damage.

You smash at the zombie clawing at Emily, splattering blood all over the place. Meanwhile, Elastic Girl is bleeding from the bite.

Sarah: Max! You saved me. But... I think I was bit. Oh my god. I'm going to turn. You need to kill me now.

Kyle: Don't be ridiculous, you'll be fine. How do you feel?

Sarah: I don't know I...

You feel fine.

Sarah: I guess I feel fine. But sometimes it happens like this too, doesn't it? You feel fine at first, and then you get the fever later? You guys have to go on without me.

Kyle: Fine. You're right. We'll head back to the lair without you. But lay low and take it easy and use this first aid kit to patch yourself up. We'll meet at the cannon in the town square in three days—the virus always sets in faster than that.

Sarah: Elastic Girl is holding back tears. Okay. Thanks for the first aid kit, Max. Get The Botanist to safety. Run, quickly. That lightning is going to bring even more zombies down on us. And then Elastic Girl takes off.

Kyle: Max takes The Botanists hand and runs off in the opposite direction of Elastic Girl, looking over his shoulder every hundred feet.

Gear

Equipment is essential to surviving the end of the world. Here are some common items you'll need or encounter.

Carrying and Encumbrance

You can carry a number of items equal to five plus your athletics score without effort. Heroes with super strength or a similar ability can carry 20 items.

When carrying a number of items more than that, you are burdened by the weight. This makes many tasks hard, and some tasks like hiding or sneaking about very hard.

Stress wears on you both mentally and physically. Starting at two points of stress, and for every two points of stress thereafter, you can carry one less item.

Bartering and Scavenging

There is no central bank. No dollar. And nobody needs gold. What people need is food, shelter, ways to stay safe. Ways to relax. And ways to get away.

You won't find stores or shopkeepers in the world of Super Dead. Instead, anything you want, you'll have to find, or barter for. And since everyone has so little, you're going to need to give up something good if you want what someone else has.

Hand-to-Hand Weapons

Hand-to-hand weapons aren't the best way to take on groups of zombies. But for one or two zombies, they are quiet and effective ways of getting the job done.

Table. Hand-to-Hand Weapons

Chainsaw. Attacking with a chainsaw is hard because they are unwieldy. Because they are clumsy, chainsaws only deal damage during the second and third exchanges of a hand-to-hand phase. Using a chainsaw is as loud as a motorcycle.

Firearms

Firearms are a reliable form of self-defense with the significant advantage of being effective outside of biting distance. They are all but ubiquitous in the United States. However, they are as loud as they are deadly.

Ammunition

A significant limitation of firearms is that they need ammunition to fire.

The amount of ammunition that takes up a single slot in your inventory is determined by your magazine size.

Keep track of the ammo that you use. When you have shot all the bullets in your magazine, you may reload only if you have another.

Table. Firearms

Machine guns and Assault rifles are capable of providing suppressive fire. Suppressive fire makes it very hard to take actions in the area under fire. Because machine guns are purpose made for suppressive fire, if you attempt to take an action while under suppressive fire from a machine gun it is extremely hard.

Shotgun. Attacking with a shotgun at immediate range is deadly; shotguns use double damage dice in immediate range.

Armor

Armor is hard to come by in the modern world, but against unarmed zombies, even makeshift protection can be the difference between life and death.

Each piece of armor has three properties:

1. an armor value indicating how much protection it provides;
2. a type, indicating what type of attacks it defends against; and
3. a durability, indicating how it holds up to damage.

Table. Armor

Armor value indicates the number of wounds that can be absorbed by the armor in a single combat round. Whenever you take damage, you may choose to use one or more points of armor to absorb that damage instead.

Armor type indicates whether the armor protects against hand-to-hand weapons, firearms, or both. Armor is only useful against the type of damage indicated.

Durability indicates the propensity for the armor to fail when it absorbs damage. Any time you absorb damage with your armor, roll your durability die. If your durability die shows a 1, your armor is broken and cannot be repaired.

Anytime you absorb damage with your armor and still incur wounds, your armor is damaged beyond repair.

Equipment and Vehicles

Table. Equipment

Anti-Mutant Weapons

When the power of the mutants was understood, the Army Research Labratory developed anti-mutant weapons for both war and policing. Becasue of the unique dangers of the mutant threat, even small-town police forces were provided anti-mutant weapons by the federal government.

These weapons work by delivering an M-shock: an electrical shock similar to a taser, that vibrates at a critical frequency capable of suppressing mutant powers.

Suppression. In addition to their damage, anti-mutant weapons also reduce the power level of mutants a number of steps based on their suppression. These reductions are always applied to the highest-level power first. If any mutant power would be reduced below 1d4 in this way, the super is incapacitated.

Table. Anti-Mutant Wepaons

Suppressor Net. The suppressor net must be thrown at immediate range. Once a mutant is entangled in the suppressor net, they must make an athletics save to escape. Until they escape, they may take no actions other than attempting to escape. You may make one escape attempt during each phase of combat.

Table. Anti-Mutant Armor

Zombies

Zombies are the omnipresent dread in the world of Super Dead. They lurk around every corner, and are an insatiable threat to even the strongest supers.

Zombies Bites and Turning Undead

The thing that makes zombies terrifying as that if they bite you, you will turn into a zombie. Because the virus was originally created as a bioweapon to kill supers, are especially susceptible to this effect.

A bite does not always turn someone undead.

If you are a bitten, the game master will make a bite roll in secret and narrate the effects to you.

Optional Rule: Player-facing zombie rolls. Because zombies are so deadly in Super Dead, you may wish to have your players make all the attack rolls for zombies and—if they are bitten—make the bite outcome roll as well. For players who are not used to high-lethality games, this can give them a sense of agency that makes their characters death easier to stomach.

Bite Outcome Table.

If you turn in minutes, hours or days, over the course of that time you will develop flu-like symptoms, that peak, break, and then disappear as your body gets cold and you become undead.

The Zomb-3

Zombies are ravenous monsters that mindlessly hunt their prey. To a human, it looks like they follow a three-step process.

1. Search. The zombie wanders about, following sights and sounds to find potential prey. Zombies will always follow the closest sight or sound that suggest viable prey.
2. Close. The zombie makes its way towards its prey by the most direct means possible. Zombies can avoid obvious obstructions, but will fall for even a modestly disguised trap.
3. Devour. Once a zombie has closed on its prey, it will begin to grab and bite. With each bite, the virus will make its way into the zombie's victim. If they are lucky, they will bleed out before the virus turns them.

Fighting Zombies

Zombies are a predictable, but deadly foe -- you must not let yourself get complacent.

During the movement phase, zombies will attempt to move towards the nearest person they see, until they are in immediate range of at least one opponent.

If zombies are in immediate range of one or more opponents, they will attempt to stay in immediate range.

During the hand-to-hand phase, zombies will attack with their rigor-mortis hardened, claw-like fingers and their infectious bites. Because most zombies are shambling, uncoordinated creatures, their bite only occurs if the zombie is still standing at the end of the hand-to-hand phase.

This means that most zombies killed during the hand-to-hand phase will not be able to infect you.

Killing Zombies

Zombies weaknesses are well known. But taking advantage of those weaknesses is harder than it seems.

The most successful means of killing a zombie are:

• destroying or severing the zombies head
• crushing the entire zombie
• burning or otherwise destroying the zombies body

Many weapons that work well on humans, especially those that rely on causing internal bleeding or organ damage, are ineffective on zombies.

For an attack to kill a zombie, it must:

• deal 2 or more points of damage directed at the head
• deal 10 or more points of damage via "blunt-force trauma"
• deal 15 or more points of magical or elemental damage

Otherwise the attack rends at the zombie's flesh, but it keeps advancing on its prey.

Head shots with firearms are very hard. Targeting the head in hand-to-hand is hard.

Threat and Noise

If a zombies is not actively devouring a victim, it is on the lookout for its next. Zombies feel neither fear nor exhaustion, and their hunger for flesh is never ending.

If you are spotted by a zombie, you are in combat with a zombie.

If you are out of sight of zombies, and you make a loud enough noise, you will attract zombies.

During the daytime, anything louder than a normal conversation will attract zombies. At nighttime, anything louder than a whisper can bring out the flesh-eating beasts.

Table. Zombies Attracted by Noise Level

Once a noise loud enough to attract zombies is made, the zombies are on their way.

If the zombies will arrive all at once, they arrive in 1d10+2 minutes of real time.

If the zombies will arrive in waves, then the first wave arrives in 1d10 minutes, each each subsequent wave arrives 1d10 minutes later.

Designer's note: If you are the game master, making these roles in secret can increase suspense. Set a timer on your phone out of sight of the players, and interrupt the action when the timer goes off.

Fleeing the Scene

When players make noise to attract zombies, they will naturally want to flee the scene. Their chance of successfully fleeing depends on how close the zombies are to closing in on them and how many viable ways their are to approach the location where the noise is coming from.

Zombies will use doors and other obvious pathways to get to their destinations, so if the players attempt to escape by the most obvious means, they are more likely to run into zombies.

Table. Fleeing Zombies

Zombie Hordes

A single zombie may be a threat to a normal person, but most survivors have figured out how to outsmart zombies 1-on-1. Zombies are most dangerous in groups. And in big groups, they are especially deadly.

Groups of 20 or more zombies form a horde. Hordes move insatiably and undeterrably towards their victims before devouring them.

Anyone who sees a horde incurs 1 point of stress and must make a courage save.

Anyone who finds themselves within immediate range of a horde is devoured unless the entire horde is destroyed during the hand-to-hand combat phase.

Your best bet to survive a horde is to run away. A successful athletics save allows you to move one zone away from a horde. If you fail your athletics save, you must succeed at a subsequent save, or else the horde closes in on you.

When a horde closes in on you, your distance to the horde is reduced by one range. This is stressful. And if this would put you in immediate range of the horde, you immediately enter a hand-to-hand combat phase.

Hordes can also be deterred, blocked, or delayed by environmental effects. For most supers, this will be their best approach to surviving a horde.

Table. Zombies destroyed by environmental feature

Shooting at hordes is mostly ineffective because of the sheer number of zombies present. Some very high output, area fire weapons, like machine guns, can be useful against hordes of less than 50 zombies.

Kinds of Zombies

Shamblers

Most zombies are shamblers: slow, drudging zombies that move at you as fast as they can, but that is not very fast at all.

Stats. 4 Ath., 2 Int.

Movement. Shamblers always move at regular speed.

Attack. Shamblers bite only at the end of the hand-to-hand phase.

Crickets

Crickets get their name from the way they hop about on all fours. These zombies are fast and agile, in addition to being enraged.

Stats. 8 Ath., 2 Int.

Movement. Crickets always move at reckless speed.

Attack. Crickets bites happen at the end of each hand-to-hand exchange.

Poppers

Poppers are bloated zombies, full of infectious fluid. They move slowly and awkwardly, with stiff joints struggling against taught, waterlogged flesh.

Stats. 3 Ath., 2 Int.

Movement. Poppers always move at regular speed.

Attack. Poppers bite at the end of every hand-to-hand phase, like shamblers.

Popping. If a popper takes damage during any phase, it has a 1-in-2 chance of popping. If you are in immediate range of a popping popper, you must succeed at a hard athletics save or be subject to the effects of a bite.

Mutants

Most often, when a mutant becomes infected by the virus, they lose their powers. This was the intended purpose of the virus. Sometimes, however, the full effect doesn't take and a mutant will retain their powers in zombie form.

Combining an insatiable thirst for flesh with super natural powers, mutant zombies are truly fearsome.

Their base zombie type determines their stats, however, these are augmented by one or more super powers.

Running Zombie-Supers Pulp Horror

This section is for the gamemasters: new, aspiring, experienced, or grizzled.

If you've run a TTRPG before, running a zombie-supers pulp horror game like Super Dead is going to feel familiar -- but it's not the same as your typical dungeon-crawl.

And the more you lean into what makes Super Dead different than other TTRPGs, the more unique of an experience you'll find it, and -- we hope -- the more fun you'll have.

Running a Supers game

There are a few unique things about running an explicit Super Hero game. First off, Everyone wants to feel powerful and do cool stuff. Now, that isn't necessarily too different than any other game -- who wants their character to be boring? But Super Hero games promise that the characters are going to be protagonists. They are going to be mixing it up and making things happen. As a game master, keep this in mind and work to find moments for each character to shine.

In a Supers Game, we also need to be aware that we're not playing by "earth rules". We're playing by comic-book rules. You'll want to be careful how far you stretch this, because there is a natural tension between the heroism of comic book rules and the grittiness of the zombie apocalypse -- but it essential to lean into some degree of comic book eccentricity and camp to give the full comic book feel.

Third, your villains shouldn't go away that easily. Did your heroes soundly defeat the villain by pushing them into a pit of acid? Did they fling them out of a building? Flatten them with car? No matter. Villains come back. Your players will want their villains to come back. A recurring rogue's gallery of foes that they can build relationships with is part of the intrigue.

With that said, not all villains must be evil all the time. Feel free to team your villains up against the heroes. Or have a villain invite the heroes to team up against another, even stronger villain.

And the anti-hero type fits in perfectly with the zombie apocalypse setting. These not-quite good, not-quite evil enigmas are an excellent foil and frustration to players who have heroic feats and deeds in mind.

Running a Zombie game

Zombie games are horror games. That means they are about dread, fear, and anticipation. Super Dead has a few mechanics to create these situations, namely: the stress mechanic and the noise/zombie attraction mechanic. You must use these mechanics.

Put your players in situations where they must do things they don't want to: create noise, or super-charge their powers. And then let the game build the tension as stress and the number of incoming zombies grow.

Another essential way to test your players in a zombie game is to put them in moral quandaries. Give them lose-lose situations where survivors must die, or killing the big bad guy would result in being devoured by a zombie horde. These choices are fundamental to what makes zombie stories interesting: who are we when society has collapsed and it is only our own moral code telling us what to do? Give your players the opportunity to find out how their characters will answer the call.

In that same vein, zombie stories are about social dynamics. How do you treat the people around you when there is no one to keep you honest but yourself? Create factions with diametrically opposed personalities and see how the players respond. And remember, in many of the best zombie stories: humans were the real monsters all along

Putting it all together

Ultimately, both Super Hero stories and Zombie stories are about people. So make the relationships between the players and the NPCs matter. Make the faction leader personalities large and obvious. Don't be afraid to make them larger than life caricatures -- that fits in nicely with super hero themes and creates obvious hooks for the players.

When making designing adventures and making rulings, be flexible with what is possible, but stringent with what is necessary. The players can do a lot of things, especially when using their powers and taking on stress. But they also need a lot of things: food, water, shelter, social interaction, safety, and relaxation to name a few. Make them feel the tension of a Super Hero, who still needs to eat just like everyone else.

Starting a Session

The opening moments of a gaming session are your time to set the stage for the hours to come. Your session kickoff should have the following

• Recap
• Situation Summary
• Hooks / Next Steps
• Stakes

Recap. Remind your players what they did last time, focusing on things that are relevant to what you have planned for the upcoming session. If this is the first session, tell them how they arrived here.

Situation Summary. Summarize for the players the situation they are in. Tell them where they are and what is going on around them.

Hooks/Next Steps. Let the players know what they were planning on doing, what they were in the process of accomplishing, or what hooks they have uncovered. The players may have multiple hooks -- remind them of all of them.

Stakes. Optionally: introduce an additional complication that puts a time pressure on the players. The end of the world is difficult and stresses the player characters' basic needs. Tell one or more players they have a need they must meet -- and quickly -- or else they will suffer some penalty (usually several points of stress.)

Prepping for your session

1. Local Map
2. Location Map(s)
3. Player Characters
4. NPCs
5. Encounter Tables

Local Map

Location Map

Player Characters

NPCs

Encounter Tables

Tables

Power Scale Table

Zombie Bite Outcome

Noise Table

Campaign Pointers

In a good zombie horror supers campaign, you will create room for your players to adventure and explore. This exploration——discovering what is in new, unexplored parts of the world——is an essential part of the roleplaying experience for both the player and game master.

How do you create the feeling of adventure well still providing a satisfying narrative?

We recommend combining two modes of play——plot-point campaigns and point crawls——to give yourself major set pieces to unleash in high-drama moments, mixed with low-prep content that you can run on the fly, during particularly busy times in your life, or just in between other adventures.

Plot-Point Campaigns

Plot-point campaigns are a style of campaign planning where you set up a number of "plot points"——key moments that define the story——and intersperse any number of small adventures in between them.

A good way to think about plot-point campaigns is to imagine a TV show. Over the course a season——18 or 20 episodes——you're going to have five to eight episodes that really drive the story forward. And then in between, you're going to have a bunch of other episodes that introduce one off character, lesser villains, and single-episode or minor plots.

A plot-point campaign creates that same structure. The plot points are those five to eight core episodes that define the main conflict or arc of the campaign. And in every other session, you are free to do whatever you want. Perhaps the players move the action forward by investigating the main plot. Perhaps the spend a few sessions on an entirely unrelated side venture.

When done well, plot-point campaigns offer a satisfying blend of exploration and narrative climax that mixes the best parts of linear and sandbox-style games.

How do you run one

One of the things that makes plot-point campaigns great is that they don't require a ton of prep, but they do require some. To prep a plot-point campaign you should start by asking yourself what type of session you are about to run: a plot-point session or a sandbox session.

If you're running a plot-point session, familiarize yourself with the plot point you want to deliver. You've likely already done the work here.

If you're running a sandbox session, consider what hooks or leads the players are currently investigating and what they're likely to do next. You generally want to plan out between 30% and 75% of your upcoming adventures. If you've got a strong sense of what the players will do, plan 75%. If you've got a weak sense for where they're going, plan 30%.

Editor's Note: In this section, when we'll talk about leaving some percentage of your adventure unplanned. This refers to a general idea of how much content you are expecting yourself to run based off a predesigned scenario, versus how much you are expecting to generate with random tables.

On the low end, you might only have a few ideas jotted down about the location your players are going to be visiting, and you're planning on creating most of the scenes and encounters from random tables while gaming.

On the high end, you've got a pretty solidly fleshed out scenario, and you're confident the players will stick to the script. You've still got random tables on hand in case things go off the rails, but you're not expecting to need them.

You know where your players characters are, what is going on in the world, and what could be happening: come up with some exciting ideas and stick them in random tables. Use random stakes and challenges to incentivize them or create complications.

Always have a table of random clues for future plot points on hand that you can sprinkle throughout your sandbox adventures. This gives things a sense of continuity and connectedness, even when you're using random tables.

After you run the adventure, update the world based on what happened. What do your villains do as the clock ticks forward? How do your players allies respond to the new situation? These updates create a sense of a "lived in" world and make the players decisions matter in a real way.

Building a plot-point campaign

One of the reasons we recommend running plot-point campaigns is because they are easier to build. You can start with an outline of the plot points, 75% of your first adventure, and you're ready to go.

When outlining your plot points, it's worthwhile to draw a "story arc" and place your plot points along that art. A good story has ups and downs. Sometimes your characters will be low——after losing a big fight, after the villain gets away, or discovering something dangerous is about to happen unless they act quickly——and sometimes they will be high——after defeating a villain, foiling their key plans, or uncovering a clue which will bring them certain victory. Mixing these highs and lows creates a satisfying story.

The classic story arc for superhero adventures is the "Cinderella Arc", which follows a down-up-down-up pattern. Your players will start low: they have just learned about something bad that is unfolding. Then they will rise up: they will overcome the initial problem. Then, a twist will make things even worse. And finally, they will rise again, finding some way to remediate the even worse situation.

If you only ever use this story-arc, you would only be making a small mistake. If you want to map this over a 15 session campaign, you could break your sessions up as follows:

Plot-Point Rumors and Random Encounters.

In between your plot-point sessions, you should come up with rumors or clues, that will keep your players thinking about the plot. This gives your adventures a sense of connectedness——even when they are not actively moving the plot forward, it will still ring in their minds.

Because you are only going to be going 2 to 4 adventures at a time between plot-point sections, 6 clues, enough to fill a 1d6 table is plenty.

Another way of tying adventures together is by keeping the players in contact with the villains henchmen, where ever they go. Stock your 1d10 random encounter tables with 2 or 3 henchmen encounters. That will make it feel like your villain is everywhere, and make the players want to stop them all the more.

Drafting plot-points after the first

As you approach your plot points after the first, sketch these out at a bit more than you might your normal session. You can have about 80% of the adventure flushed out, because you should feel pretty confident that your players will follow the hooks you've laid out.

But because there will always be surprises at the table, it's important to leave that 20% open and be ready to flush it out with random encounters or challenges.

Timeline of events

Another helpful tool to support your plot-point campaigns is a timeline of events, as they would unfold if the villain goes uninterrupted. If the heroes do nothing, what happens?

Sketching this out ahead of time can be useful if the players go off course, if you need help coming up with rumors or clues, or if the players start to fail adventures.

Having this in your back pocket, and using it to update the world between adventures, helps make the world feel more alive.

Point Crawls

Point crawls are an adjacent and supplemental game-planning tool to plot-point campaigns. Where plot-point campaigns focus on supporting a satisfying story, point-crawls focus on supporting satisfying exploration.

The basics of a point crawl are as follows. The players begin at a point on a map. When they need to accomplish something in another place, they declare where they'd like to go. As the game master, you might check for random encounters as they travel. If there is a random encounter, you play it out. Then the players adventure at the new location.

By talking to NPCs or picking up clues by other means, the players will learn of even more locations, which they can then travel to, as necessary, to accomplish their goals.

Point crawls make it easy for you as the gamemaster to reward players with four different types of discovery:

Players can...

1. discover what is going on at a new location,
2. discover a new location on the map to visit,
3. discover something happening while traveling between two location, and
4. discover changes to a previous visited location

Discovering new locations is the most obvious reward for exploration. Players will go someplace they've never been before, and——probably——have an adventure there. If they're lucky, they'll earn loot and make friends along the way.

Discovering a new location to visit is a satisfying reward for talking to NPCs and picking up clues. When players have the opportunity to learn about a location through play and then visit that location, it gives them a tremendous sense of empowerment and self-determination.

Discovering something happening between locations makes the world feel alive. To make this pop, you will want to give a bit of extra love and care to your random encounter tables.

Discovering changes to previously visited locations. That supermarket that your players raided; the warehouse they dueled their arch-nemisis in; the clock tower they blew up accidentally. None of it stays the same. The world is alive. Everyone is living on the ashes of a shattered society. Who is going to come along after your players and make the situation their own——and how?

Rules for point crawls

To run a point crawl successfully, you need to have rules for traveling between locations.

Traveling between locations is all about random encounters, which itself should be viewed as a form of exploration. What are the players going to run into between locations?

When traveling between points under normal conditions, there is a 2-in-10 chance of a random encounter for every 20m or 1mi traveled. So if the player characters are walking for an hour, a 1 to 6 on a 1d10 indicates a random encounter. If the players are traveling for more than an hour, make one roll for every hour traveled. So if the players must walk five miles, you would roll 1d10 for the first 60 minutes, and another 1d10 for the remaining 30 minutes.

Point crawl rule: Monsters come out at night. At night, things are more dangerous. Double the random encounter chance (4-in-10 per 20m) and make a roll for every 40 minutes traveled instead of every hour.

Neighborhoods. When your players are traveling between locations, it is also important to keep in mind what area or neighborhood they are in. Neighborhoods can be regions of factional control, levels of zombie infestation, or just different parts of the city with different personalities. Each neighborhood should have its own random encounter table to reflect its character.

Point crawl rule: Welcome to the neighborhood. Whenever your players enter a new neighborhood for the first time, they must resolve a random encounter.

Building a point crawl

To build a point crawl, draw the major features of your city. Start with major geographic features like bodies or water, key highways and infrastructure. Then, add some starting locations (1-4). You can use these for your initial adventure or adventures. If you're going to be running a plot-point campaign, you'll want to map out the locations that each of your plot points will unfold at. Then, draw in your neighborhoods or regions——so you know when player characters are traveling between regions.

For each location on the map, you should write down a sentence or two about what makes that location interesting or the type adventure you expect to unfold there. That will help you run the location on the fly later, or flush out the location more fully if you're intending to use it for a full session of adventuring.

You can also start putting together random encounter tables. You should have one for each neighborhood, with specific encounters that add thematic flair to the neighborhood. So if one of your neighborhoods is run by the police, and those police hate mutants, you'd prefer to have "Three police offers beat up a survivor, accusing them of being a mutant while another survivor looks on, crying" instead of "3 police, 2 survivors".

Your random encounter tables should have a mix of the following encounter types:

• faction-affiliated survivors
• unaffiliated survivors
• zombies
• clues and rumors
• campaign tie ins
• drawbacks or stakes

You can use the following generic random encounter table as a starting point.

Generic 1d10 Encounter Table

Once you've drafted your point crawl map, with notes, and random encounter tables, make a redacted copy for your players. Remove anything that they won't know about right away, limiting them to just a few starting locations. Then, as they explore and discover new locations, help them put new locations on the map.

Organizations

d% Random Organization Table

Civil Organizations

Civil organizations reflect both the best and worst aspects of society. On one hand, they represent self-less public servants who give their lives and careers for the betterment of their neighbors and fellow citizens. On the other, they are home to the most corrupt grifters who line their pockets on the backs of the misfortunate, and the self-righteous zealots who believe they alone can know the good path for everyone.

Government

Where an arm of government has made it to the end of days, it is no doubt due to the charisma of a cunning politician. Savvy and charming, a good politician can encourage their supporters just as well in the end of days as in the before times. Arguably, the skill is even more powerful now: keeping their hands clean while others risk their lives on their behalf.

Followers who are attracted to government organizations are optimists, who believe that their is a return to normal possible. And they look down on those who would turn to crime to stay alive.

Firefighters

Firefighters——both career and volunteer——are fearless and physically impressive. Used to braving danger for their fellow man at a moments notice, the apocalypse is in some way, not so new. The threat, however, is much deadlier than what they are used to.

Firefighters thrive on comradery, self-sacrifice, duty, and action. Where organizations of firefighters have survived into the end times, they always seek to rescue other survivors and organize for safety. With a strong preference for action, firefighters stake out into the world to save lives——often tearing up buildings in the process.

Police

At their best, police organizations are hierarchical, with a strict chain of command, and operate according to the code of law. Because they are well ordered and disciplined, many police organizations did survive into the end of days. There, they largely operate in the same fashion they always have: enforcing rules and protecting the populace, from both zombie, human, and mutant threats.

At their worst, police organizations are rigid, inflexible, and intentionally ignore the suffering of the people they purport to protect——to say nothing of nakedly corrupt. In the end of times, these flaws can be exaggerated. A jaded police organization can grow to see everyone as a lawbreaker, a threat, or simply someone that can be taken advantage of without recourse.

Police Organization Objectives

Because of their role in licensing mutants and protecting the civilian population from mutants during the before times, some police officers have strongly held, negative prejudices towards mutants. Some police organizations even make it their primary goal to eliminate mutants, as they work to restore peace.

Civilian Organizations

Civilian organizations are made up of and run by every day Jacks and Jills of the world. When these organizations survive, it is typically because of luck or an outstanding leader, more than any specific preparedness for the end of the world. Unlike many of the other organizations, civilian organizations are not particularly well prepared for the end of the world. Without help, they are likely to become prey for criminal organizations, or find themselves absorbed into police or military organizations that are better armed and able to protect the survivors that join them.

Corporations

Corporations are driven by one thing: money. And the mega-corporations that were able to survive the apocalypse carry forward with that same motivation. These organizations take from their surrounding areas: pillaging, stockpiling, accumulating, and developing critical resources. Often to give it back to survivors unassociated with the corporation at a significant markup.

People who can help corporations accumulate wealth will find themselves in the corporations good graces—for so long as they are useful. But those who other motives, like putting an end to the zombie apocalypse, will find them subject to a corporations ire.

Religious Organizations

Religious organizations exist to cultivate community and nurture the faith of their followers——and never have community and faith been more essential than in the end of times. While their is nothing that makes these organizations particularly well suited for surviving a zombie apocalypse, religious organizations tend to be close knit and optimistic, as much as one can be at the end of the world.

Labor Unions

Labor unions existed in a state of constant struggle before the end of times——but now their foe is even more soulless than ever. Labor unions are run by——and privilege the interests of——workers and members among others. Labor organizations have no fear about operating two tiered systems, where everyone pulls together, but only true members reap the full rewards.

Labor union organizations can also be home to leftist idealists who view the end of times as a blessing in disguise: an opportunity to rebuild societies free of capitalist exploitation and corporate greed.

Research Labs

Research Labs are collections of top scientists, dedicated to furthering public knowledge in a specific area: usually a deeply scientific area. These organizations prize intelligence and reputation above all else. When they do manage to exist in the end of days, they tend towards one of two tracks: one in which they pursue the same research goals they did before, not knowing any different; and one in which they rotate all their knowledge and brainpower for solving the current crisis, finding a cure, and rebuilding civilization.

Schools / Universities

Like research labs, schools and universities prize intelligence. But unlike research labs, schools are fundamentally democratic institutions, drawing from all sections of the population. The professors and students may be intellectual powerhouses, but the football coaches, janitors, and administrators who make the schools runs are not necessarily so formidable. In this sense, schools serve as a post-apocalyptic mixing bowl, where members of the academic community come together and fight the undead.

Schools and universities have the distinct drawback of being high density areas, which attracted a lot of zombies initially. But once secured, sturdy and regal buildings with Labarynthian corridors are excellent defense against the living dead.

Secret Societies

Remnants of days long past, when skilled tradesmen would meet in shadowy rooms to share secrets and shape the world's events in their favor, only a scarce few Secret Societies existed, and even fewer survived into the end of days. Those that did though, did so because they were prepared. They were a powerful force, lurking in the shadows all along, anticipating an apocalypse——if not several.

Now that its here, these Secret Societies have a plan to rebuild the world in their vision. Those who help them will reap their generosity; those who stand it their way, garner their wrath.

Criminal Organizations

The ruthless and secretive nature of criminal organizations prepared them better, in many ways, for the end of the world.

Now, with governments weakened or destroyed altogether, these criminal organizations--which always had their own codes of conduct and systems of order--can self actualize as twisted, ruthless versions of society.

But being at the mercy of one may still be better than being dead.

Motorcycle Gangs

Motorcycle gangs, outlaw motorcycle clubs, or 1%ers are bad mama jamas who break laws and ride bikes.

While the motorcycle has always been a symbol of recklessness, it is even more so in the end of times. Only the craziest survivors will get on the back of a loud machine certain to attract zombies.

That said, motorcycle gang members are as savage and savvy as they are reckless. Before the apocalypse these gangs trafficked in arms, drugs, and people. All of that has continued since the end of the world.

Where these gangs operate, they are a fearsome threat. Not only because of their propensity towards violence and chaos, but because of the zombies that are inevitable following them wherever their bikes roar.

International Crime Syndicates

International crime syndicates were highly organized criminal enterprises that operated across national borders. Their operations were numerous and nefarious, including: drug trafficking, arms smuggling, human trafficking, and money laundering.

These organizations, such as the Mafia, Yakuza, Triads, and various cartels, are known for their hierarchical structures, extensive networks, and ability to adapt to changing circumstances.

Select International Crime Syndicates with Generic Name and Base of Operations

In normal times, they thrive by exploiting weaknesses in law enforcement and government oversight, leveraging corruption, violence, and secrecy to maintain their power and influence.

In a zombie apocalypse, branches of international crime syndicates were quickly able to leverage their existing resources and cunning ruthlessness to survive and sometimes even thrive amid the chaos.

With governments and law enforcement agencies weakened or collapsed, these organizations have no one to stop them from using their power to further their evil, but profitable operations.

Street Gangs

Street Gangs emerged out of the need for the forgotten people to protect their own. And in the zombie apocalypse, they continued doing just that.

These gangs often have flatter and more dynamic structures than other gangs. And while they may use names that are shared with other gangs, their relationships and alliances are localized.

Street gangs first and foremost objective is to control heir territory and provide a quality life for their full members. And they will do anything to achieve that.

Prison Gangs

Prison gangs are so named because they exist primarily inside of prisons, and exert pressure inside-out: from the prison onto the streets.

The prison gangs that exist in the post-apocalypse world are needing to adapt to the new reality of life outside the prison walls. But because of the prisons natural security, the few surviving prison gangs have large portions of their membership intact.

That makes these gangs formidable forces on the scene where ever they exist, with many members given a second chance at life by the zombie apocalypse that they never would have had otherwise.

Military Organizations

Prepared to defend the homeland, military organizations are some of the best suited to surviving a zombie apocalypse. They are stocked with well trained and disciplined warriors, who have committed to putting the mission first and their own survival second.

Military organizations can be bastions of peace and security. But they can be ruthless if you find yourself on the wrong side of their objectives.

Army

Responsible for invasion and defense by land, the Army is in many ways the best equipped to directly deal with a local zombie threat. They have the most troops, ammunition, and tools to manage direct conflict with infantry-on-infantry combat——like the living dead.

Organizations built on the remnants of an Army command will distinguish themselves from other military organizations with zombie impenetrable vehicles——tanks and armored personnel carriers——as well as earth-moving vehicles and tactics for reinforcing positions for defense. Whether the Army can use these techniques effectively is another story.

Army organizations are in excellent position to defend against the zombie apocalypse, but their tactics rely heavily on both fuel and ammo. Without these resources, the army's approaches are dramatically less effective. Securing these supplies will become an essential activity.

Navy

Unlike the land-locked army, many naval commands have survived simply by virtue of being isolated on or underneath the water. The nuclear reactors on board submarines and aircraft carriers are capable of powering these vessels for decades without interruption. And these carrier groups are wholly equipped armies, with Marines that can be dispatched for land operations; pilots who can provide surveillance, air cover, and deliver crushing anti-zombie ordinance; and any number of daring sailors, familiar with spartan conditions.

As such, navy organizations take the security of their boats as a first order priority, sending small teams onto land to incrementally secure territory. The limiting factor to their effectiveness——like common survivors, in many ways——is the availability of food, water, and other supplies necessary for daily life.

Air Force

Air Force bases no longer serve as potent sigils of destruction and dominance, but rather, as technological havens. Succumbing to an unsustainable dependence on modern resources—like jet fuel—the Air Force organizations that remain have pivoted into canny and brilliant logistic and technical operations. These outposts are now the sophisticated and well armed engineering operations in the world. Behind their chain fences and armed with simple personal weaponry, the Air Force's technicians build a new set of machines. Not to achieve air superiority, but to dispatch the zombie threat once and for all.

Intelligence Agency

Intelligence Agencies are shadowy organizations adjacent to the military, used to operating in a clandestine fashion. They do not have the large armaments for direct conflict, but they have highly trained operatives and penchant for thinking outside the box.

Their true strengths lie in the ability to form relationships with diverse sets of power brokers, establish a strong situational awareness, and devise cunning plans to achieve their desired outcomes.

Any organization founded on the remnants of an intelligence agency is going to be hard to detect—likely operating under some form of cover—and with a dispersed network of moles and agents throughout the relevant location.

Agent Amy Aspen (3 wounds)
After receiving special dispensation to serve as a Air Force pararescue jumper and serving several tours of duty, Amy disappeared into the intelligence service. Now, she uses her intuition and training to save others, wherever possible.
Ath: 8, Int: 7, Per: 7, Crg: 8
Carrying: handgun, knives, flashlight, rations, cyanide pill, gloves, crowbar, first aid kit.
Skills: shooting, fighting, medicine

Enemies and NPCs

Police Officer

Police officers are the backbone of a civilized society. These officers patrol the streets and keep them safe. They are often armed with civilian hand guns, and have received basic training in small arms and conflict de-escalation.

Gear: Handgun (2d10-2), handcuffs, radio, first aid kit, flashlight, extendable baton (2d4)

Police Sniper

Police Snipers have been specially trained to handle sniper rifles and support highly volatile hostage and counter-sniper situations.

Gear: Sniper rifle (4d10), handgun (2d10-2), radio, first aid kit

Detective

These plain-clothes officers work the streets, attempting to build relationships and gather information about potential crimes. They pride themselves on being a bit more grounded, effective, and independent than normal officers.

Gear: Handgun (2d10-2), handcuffs, badge.

S.W.A.T.

S.W.A.T. officers are the best conditioned and best trained officers a police force has. Like other police officers, they are trained in defensive and protective tactics, and conflict de-escalation.

Gear: Rifle (3d10), handgun (2d10-2), riot shield, extendable baton (1d10-3)

Solider

Infantry are the backbone of the military. Whether Army or Marines, these soldiers are professionals ready for battle -- and most other challenges.

Gear: Rifle (3d10), 7 magazines, first-aid kit, rations, helmet, body armor

Alternate loadouts:

• Machine Gun (4d10), 2 magazines, first-aid kit, rations, helmet, body armor
• Sniper Rifle (4d10), 5 magazines, first-aid kit, rations, helmet, body armor
• Rifle (3d10), 7 magazines, medics kit, rations, helmet, body armor

Special Ops

Special forces are the most elite fighting units on the planet. These highly trained operators are accustomed to extreme stress and deprivation and have been highly trained in battle tactics.

Gear: Rifle (3d10), 7 magazines, handgun (2d10-2) first-aid kit, rations, helmet, body armor

Survivor

An everyday person, just trying to get through the end of days...

Gear: 2 days rations, makeshift weapon (1d10-5)

Scientist

A researcher, doctor, or other scientific professional. Much of what they knew about the world, the cold and dispassionate world of books, has to be thrown out of the window now...

Gear: Pen and notepad, book

Preacher

Persuasive religious figures are able to get many through times of crisis. And there has never been a time where more sought faith than the zombie apocalypse.

Gear: Unarmed. Holy symbol or book.

Zealot

These true believers have chosen to believe in something, instead of succumbing to nihilist temptations of an empty world. Believing makes them strong, if a bit crazy.

Gear: Handgun (2d10-2), holy symbol

Street Criminal

Whether they were privy to a life of crime before the end of days, or have just embraced a world without law, these criminals pay no mind to the old standards. All that matters now is what you can get away with.

Gear: Handgun (2d10-2), knife (1d10), drugs, dice

Crime Lord

All those who live the life of crime are trying to get rich; those who have are crime lords. These powerful figures call the shots, and rarely have to get their hands dirty to get their way.

Gear: Handgun (2d10-2)

Micro Settings

The following micro settings are designed to get you into the game quickly.

Gulf Pearl, Texas

Gulf Pearl is a massive, sprawling graveyard of a city. It’s giant highways served as deathtraps for those who sought to escape, and the mobs of zombies that roam the streets at night prove it: everything is bigger in Texas.

The shining beacon of Gulf Pearl is and has always been the headquarters of the American Oil Corporation. Their business has long since diversified from oil, but now it rests almost entirely on surviving the end of days.

Other surviving factions include the remnants of an international drug cartel and government rocket scientists at NASA.

Gulf Pearl Rumors Table

San Buho, California

They say a criminal always returns to the scene of the crime. That’s exactly what some survivors of San Buho think that the Navy is doing back in town.

With an operational aircraft carrier, and a third of the naval base liberated from the undead, the Navy’s outpost in San Buho may be the most secure place to lay one’s head in the world after.

But some factions aren’t quick to forgive: like the Blind Devil biker gang, or local parishioners and survivors of Our Lady of Guadalupe’s mutant priest: Father Juan Ayala.

San Buho Rumors Table

Skunk City, Iowa

Skunk City’s survivors are the motly, scrappy residents of a Midwestern College town. While farmers and academics, pastors and doctors wouldn’t normally have much in common, they’re finding ways to get along.

But as it has always been with Skunk City, new people keep showing up and they don’t always care about the survivors of Skunk City.

Skunk City’s factions include a coalition of independent farmers, holding onto their land, and a mutant doctor who will do anything to find a cure.

Skunk City Rumors Table

Fellsmore, Maryland

The streets of Fell, Maryland are as dangerous as ever. The surviving residents take to heart that the gang violence their city could never tamper would not be stopped by a zombie apocalpyse either.

While eastside and westside gangsters fight between and amongst themselves, the Dockworkers Union have carved out a patch of life down by the docks, and a group of survivors are holed up in the reknowned Sammuel Johns hospital searching for a cure.

And on the streets, a rumor is going around that a member of the Fell’s Street Five superhero team may have survived after all.

Fellsmore Rumors Table

West Moriches, New York

60 miles from the ruins of New York City, a small sanctuary has emerged in the city of West Moriches.

Protected by Gregory "Geo Dude" Godwin and the rock walls he has erected around the city, West Moriches offers a haven from which survivors can venture out into the zombie wasteland, in search of survivors or a cure.

Designer's Note: Though this setting can be used for any type of campaign, it is particularly intended for a "West Marches" style campaign that gets more challenging as the players farther and farther west towards New York City.

West Moriches Adventure Hooks

Inspiration

This work stands on the shoulders of giants. The following sources of media and games were inspirational in the creation of this work.

Media

• 28 Days Later by Alex Garland and Danny Boyle
• Amazing Spiderman by Stan Lee and Steve Ditko
• Batman by Robert Kanigher and Sheldon Moldoff
• Dawn of the Dead by George Romero
• Dawn of the Dead by Zack Snyder
• From Dusk til Dawn by Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez
• Poison Ivy by G. Willow Wilson and Marcio Takara
• Rec by Paco Plaza and Jaume Balaguero
• Walking Dead by Tony Moore and Robert Kirkman
• X-Men by Stan Lee and Jack Kirby
• X-Statix by Peter Milligan and Mike Allred
• Zombieland by Rhett Reese, Paul Wernick, and Ruben Fleischer

Games

• All Flesh Must Be Eaten by George Vasilakos
• Apocalypse World by D. Vincent Baker and Meguey Baker
• Basic Action Super Heroes! by Chris Rutkowsky
• Black Hack by David Black
• Cairn by Yochai Gal
• Force on Force by Shawn Carpenter
• Marvel Superhero Roleplaying Game by Jeff Grubbs
• Shadowdark by Kelsey Dionne
• Skirmish Ragers by Colin Phillips and Chris Pooch
• Tiny Supers by Alan Bahr
• Savage Worlds by Pinnacle Games