Dead Things is out at Drive ThruRPG. Here is a link to the full bundled game.
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/99495/Dead-Things-Board-Game-Bundle-%5BBUNDLE%5D
The next thing to do is improve the look for the board. To do this I'm going to be using the program called Shuffler by PaperMakeIt, which is a perfect map making tool for building streets and such. You can see it here.
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/product/65402/Shuffler-2.10.3---Modern-and-Sci-Fi-Map-Creator
Sunday, March 25, 2012
Sunday, December 25, 2011
Hit Points and Combat
Last time we talked about the basic guiding rules for Dead Things. This time lets talk about Hit Points and combat
Hit Points
Originally I gave the humans and zombies hit points, but keeping track of them bogged the game down. I figured that each turn a human attacking a zombie got lots of chances to take a zombie down, possibly hitting the creature multiple times. Based on this I just made it that 1 hit puts a zombie down.
zombie movie logic (if you can call it that) is that if you get a bite you die, however there are lots of examples of lucky breaks for the characters in the movies. Renaming hit points "Luck Points" needed to be more than cosmetic. Having a run of bad luck and going low on hit points can make the game boring since you spend all of your time keeping away from trouble. Having the Luck points come back at the end of a turn allows the character to be penalized but still have a chance to get back into the game, if they can stay out of trouble for a turn.
Weapons and combat
In my original concept of the game I had lots of different types of weapons and rate of fire and accuracy numbers. It was the same with zombies attacking the humans, they got bonuses for attacking from behind or a suprise attack. Once again the turns were bogging down. The other question was who rolls for the zombies? The game was slowing down because of the dice rolls.
What to do??
Dead Things (Zombie Horror Board Game) is out and available for download at:
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/produc...ducts_id=97908
Hit Points
Originally I gave the humans and zombies hit points, but keeping track of them bogged the game down. I figured that each turn a human attacking a zombie got lots of chances to take a zombie down, possibly hitting the creature multiple times. Based on this I just made it that 1 hit puts a zombie down.
zombie movie logic (if you can call it that) is that if you get a bite you die, however there are lots of examples of lucky breaks for the characters in the movies. Renaming hit points "Luck Points" needed to be more than cosmetic. Having a run of bad luck and going low on hit points can make the game boring since you spend all of your time keeping away from trouble. Having the Luck points come back at the end of a turn allows the character to be penalized but still have a chance to get back into the game, if they can stay out of trouble for a turn.
Weapons and combat
In my original concept of the game I had lots of different types of weapons and rate of fire and accuracy numbers. It was the same with zombies attacking the humans, they got bonuses for attacking from behind or a suprise attack. Once again the turns were bogging down. The other question was who rolls for the zombies? The game was slowing down because of the dice rolls.
What to do??
Dead Things (Zombie Horror Board Game) is out and available for download at:
http://rpg.drivethrustuff.com/produc...ducts_id=97908
Monday, December 19, 2011
This site is dedicated to my zombie board game Dead Things.
I want to discuss why it functions the way it does and the exterior rules I was going by in order to create the interior rules for the game.
“There are tons of zombie games….literally and some of them are very good.” That was what my friend said when I mentioned I was thinking about writing a zombie game. He was right, however I didn’t think any of them captured the feel of a zombie movie, maybe they were realistic but I was looking for a movie feel. Zombie movies have their own logic, trying to put a rule system that didn’t pay close attention to the rules set forth in the movies wasn’t going to be that satisfying. I put together some rules that show up in most of the movies as a guide for creating the game.
Zombie Movie Rules:
Rule 1
Zombies are lucky and you aren’t. If zombies weren’t lucky the average person wouldn’t have too much of a problem dealing with them. But in a zombie movie the zombies get all of the breaks. If you have a locked room to go and hide in, somehow a zombie will have gotten in there first.
Rule 2
Zombies are ToxicGetting bitten by a zombie is a bad idea and usually leads to becoming a zombie. Even a small bite will kill you.
Rule 3
Zombie Movies move fastSure zombies shamble around a lot but zombie movies move fast. You can’t take forever with rules and stuff if you want to replicate zombie movies. The pace of the film (game) need to move fast. As we go I'll share the option rules for the game as well as the rationale for the rules that stayed in the game.
I want to discuss why it functions the way it does and the exterior rules I was going by in order to create the interior rules for the game.
“There are tons of zombie games….literally and some of them are very good.” That was what my friend said when I mentioned I was thinking about writing a zombie game. He was right, however I didn’t think any of them captured the feel of a zombie movie, maybe they were realistic but I was looking for a movie feel. Zombie movies have their own logic, trying to put a rule system that didn’t pay close attention to the rules set forth in the movies wasn’t going to be that satisfying. I put together some rules that show up in most of the movies as a guide for creating the game.
Zombie Movie Rules:
Rule 1
Zombies are lucky and you aren’t. If zombies weren’t lucky the average person wouldn’t have too much of a problem dealing with them. But in a zombie movie the zombies get all of the breaks. If you have a locked room to go and hide in, somehow a zombie will have gotten in there first.
Rule 2
Zombies are ToxicGetting bitten by a zombie is a bad idea and usually leads to becoming a zombie. Even a small bite will kill you.
Rule 3
Zombie Movies move fastSure zombies shamble around a lot but zombie movies move fast. You can’t take forever with rules and stuff if you want to replicate zombie movies. The pace of the film (game) need to move fast. As we go I'll share the option rules for the game as well as the rationale for the rules that stayed in the game.
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