Halloween is a great time to try a scary one shot (aim for the head) that just might lead to a longer running campaign. To my surprise, I saw on Amazon Prime that both Daryl and Carol are still alive, so to marvel at their survival let’s roll a random zombie RPG to try this Halloween. Like Daryl and Carol, maybe your zombie adventure will expand into an entire campaign.
1) All Flesh Must be Eaten
A classic, All Flesh Must be Eaten, has all kinds of zombies for all kinds of genres. A large number of Deadworlds are available each with a variety of dangers including a menagerie of grisly zombies. Deadworlds include pirates, martial arts, sci-fi, pulp, western, wrestling, and more. Yes, I said wrestling. You get a GM gold star if you run wrestling zombies as a one shot this Halloween. Uses Unisystem rules
2) The Walking Dead Universe RPG
Where Daryl and Carol still live. A sprawling wasteland of violent survivors gathered in small pockets that all too often get snuffed out by a zombie hoard or by each other. In this RPG, zombies aren’t individual monsters but instead a malevolent force of nature that grow in hoard size to overwhelming strength. It is the humans that are the actual monsters and today’s relucent ally could shoot you in the leg tomorrow to leave you to the hoard so they can escape. There are rules that cover exactly that option, even between PCs. It is a rough universe to play in. The Walking Dead Universe RPG Starter Set is perfect for a one shot with ready-made characters (including Carol!), an adventure, game maps, dice, and a zombie threat meter. You can also read an interview with Nils Hintze about the game. Powered by the Year Zero Engine.
3) SURVIVE THIS!! Zombies!
Another RPG that has been around a while and has decent support. SURVIVE THIS!! Zombies! is a straight up zombie survival game with familiar D20 rules. I ran this during Covid with an 80s hairspray theme. Long Cold Winter was set in Alaska and every time Cinderella comes on my playlist I get a shiver. The rules are easy for anyone to pick up, character creation is fast and varied with people from all walks of life, and a variety of zombies keeps the dwindling survivors guessing. Goals can be simple, like get the plane working and get out of Alaska to somewhere warmer, hopefully not overrun with zombies. Only to land and see the airport become engulfed in zombies who start shambling toward the runway and realize the plane is out of fuel. Played it review of SURVIVE THIS!! Zombies!. First of the long running and excellent RPGs based on the ruleset SURVIVE THIS!!.
4) Zombicide Chronicles RPG
I know the least about this RPG, but the board game it is based on is excellent. The RPG also has decent support. Like in the board game, the PCs must learn to work together, trust one another, and form strategies to fight the zombies if they want to stay alive. The violent betrayal found in the Walking Dead doesn’t appear to be standard here, so you want a “light-hearted” zombie romp of us versus the walking dead this might be the right RPG for you: CMON – Zombicide: Chronicles RPG.
Your turn: If you run one of these zombie RPGs as a one-shot this October or better yet if you have a campaign going, please post here and tell us how the game is going. Did any survivors last through the one shot or maybe even make it through a campaign? And what is your favorite type of zombie?
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