Forums of the Megaverse®

Are they just dead humans or are they nigh unstoppable monsters bent only on killing the living?

well thats the thing in my game u have ur run of the mill not to much of a challenge zed. and then u have the nigh unkillables the ones that make characters lose sleep at night hoping notto run into them again, even after they collapse a building on them and they just get back up. then there r those in between ones like a jugernnat with bone armor or the fast attack that they think they can out run with a car and when they look in the rear view there right on top of them.

Since I use Josh Hilden's Origional setting...I have demons and such to really give my players a bad day. Maybe I like Monster Hunter International a little too much but your average zombie should be PC fodder. it's the beings behind the zombies that should be scary.

Plus if you are really into the zombie genire you should know that it's not the zombies that are the problem it's the people who are still alive. Zombies are just bad weather as far as a story goes.

Well, mine have AR... and need a called natural headshot to kill... if you're trying to kill them that way.. blowing them to bits works to. So does filling them with so much lead they fall to bits. But they are super hard to kill with the AR the way it is.

I use a lot from the Compendium, so natural AR applies, but you don't need a natural headshot. However, there is a penalty to strike the head and taken with the natural AR it makes most zeds challenging to drop at most any distance.

We also use the headshot table in the Compendium, so you could always land the 'assassin's headshot' to the brain for HP x4 damage...

The rule of Double Tap comes to mind when dealing with zombies. Vehicles are a good tool as well as shotguns and such. alot of zombie fights get close up and Point Blank tends to splatter them to the winds and the other players.

Mine are -3 to called headshot with NATURAL AR of 10 simulating difficulty to cause damage that will actually do anything. If the player rolls over a 4 it strikes the zeek but unless it is over 10 they just get a bunch of useless meat.

Also point blank shot to the head just needs to be above 4 (as in no armor save)

My zombies are super! Thanks for asking!

lowered their AR to 10 but head shots are an auto kill but do add the negative modifier. Natural 20 on a called shot to the head is defiantly auto kill.

If and when I run Dead Reign again....I've decided to make the head shot AR situational kind of like a difficulty number.

Examples:
A single zombie 20 feet away unaware...AR 10.
Slouching zombie moving forward 20 feet away...AR 12
Fast attack zombie rushing towards you in the dark 20 feet away...AR16....10 feet leaping at you...make a HF roll 12 or panic...if save AR14 if failed...AR18.

I had problems with the rules as written, so I am taking Kevin Siembieda's advice and modifying them to my taste.

MurderCityDisciple wrote:If and when I run Dead Reign again....I've decided to make the head shot AR situational kind of like a difficulty number.

Examples:
A single zombie 20 feet away unaware...AR 10.
Slouching zombie moving forward 20 feet away...AR 12
Fast attack zombie rushing towards you in the dark 20 feet away...AR16....10 feet leaping at you...make a HF roll 12 or panic...if save AR14 if failed...AR18.

I had problems with the rules as written, so I am taking Kevin Siembieda's advice and modifying them to my taste.

Have you taken a look at the hit location modifiers from the Compendium of contemporary weapons?

It's a called shot at -5 to hit the head or neck of an opponant. While this still means that you need a 17 or higher to hit the head you get your bonuses for knowing how to use the weapon in your hands. Meaning that a competition pistol shooter with his $3,500 racegun has a better chance of killing a zombie as a 12 year old girl useing her brother's airgun for the first time. Trust me there is a huge differance between the two.

I use the -5 to strike head/neck. I do factor in distance and the zombie moving. Point blank bonuses, and anything over 25% of the range of the weapon is an additional -3 to strike. If the zombie is moving (at any speed) I just give a flat -3 to strike.

So a moving zombie at long distance you need a strike roll of 16 or higher to hit the head. Non-moving 13. Close range 13 while moving, 10 while not.

I think that gives some good realism. No AR for the head, my zombies didn't suddenly grow thicker skulls.

The way I look at it, is someone with proficiency in the weapon, at short ranges has a darned good chance of hitting even a moving zombie in the head. A target of 13 isn't all the high if you have a +3 or 4 to strike. Sure that is about even odds that you'll miss, but frankly in "real life" if you are shooting at the head of something moving at you at a fast walk, bobbing back and forth some at 10yds, plus some nervousness, etc I bet even someone fairly proficient with a pistol might not necessarily hit a zombie in the head more than 1 in 2 shots, or some of them might only graze the head.

Get close and the odds are much higher. Get further away and it is harder. Even with a sniper rifle and really proficient, hitting something call it 1ft in diameter moving around at 200yds is pretty damned hard. Same circumstances, but at 40yds with a rifle, not nearly as hard.

Thanks Guys.

All good rulesets...but I'm too lazy for charts, compendiums and whatnot...I will just spew out a target number on a whim.

That way I can play favorites and punish those who vex me.

I dropped AR to 10, and just use standard called shot rules myself.

i gm zombies like the first "night of the living dead movies" headshots dont work they fight until reduced to zero sdc. weaknesses to fire silver magic and psionics. to make up for the beefiness of them i use alot of shamblers

I try to play rules as written, but I usually add bonuses to shots to the head based on range. I have a hard time with a shotgun taking mutiple blasts to take down a sloucher. I think that most Zombies should be "one shot, one kill" if your aim is good and you hit them in the head.

I play with the rules as written until my players get used to the system. Then I might change the rules to something a little less likely to get them killed.