"And this shall be the plague with which the Lord will strike all the peoples that wage war against Jerusalem: their flesh will rot while they are still standing on their feet, their eyes will rot in their sockets, and their tongues will rot in their mouths. And on that day a great panic from the Lord shall fall on them, so that each will seize the hand of another, and the hand of the one will be raised against the hand of the other." - Zechariah 14:12-13
City Outskirts, Z+1
"Take three men," the Old Man had said, "And find out why the Laboratory has gone silent." So Morgan had picked his team, and they'd driven out to the Laboratory. The gates and the building within were locked, but he had the entry codes, so that wasn't a problem. The guard was lying face down in the car park as if killed while running from the building, which was. Probably it was nothing more serious than a broken phone line and a drunk guard, and they'd just laugh at him later, but maybe it wasn't, and he'd face laughter over bullets any day. They parked up outside the building and got ready.
He considered his team mates. Allen was a sneaky S.O.B. and would need to be watched. Baker cultivated an air of mystery, but was probably less interesting than he wanted everyone to think. Campbell was downright cruel, the sort of man who'd probably spent his boyhood pulling the wings off flies. All in all, Morgan thought, he could've drawn better subordinates; but you go to war with the army you have.
Setup
Here I'm experimenting with Grimdark Future Star Quest as a scenario and campaign engine. A campaign has 1d3+1 chapters, followed by a final chapter, and each chapter has 1d3 missions. A few dice rolls tell me this campaign has two normal chapters and a final chapter, which have 1, 1, and 3 missions respectively; short, but should give me enough of a chance to try out the new rules, and there's nothing stopping me running another campaign following on from the first.
Our first mission is Investigation, in which two markers are placed randomly on the table and each must be checked out. Secondary objective is interrogate, so the AI goal is the centre of the table; I deploy 1d3+2 = 3 search markers, but ignore optional challenges, hazards, and random events. I draw a card from the ATZ Risks & Rewards deck and find the first wave is four zombies.
I deliberately pick a small map, as GFSQ looks like sessions will run quite a few turns, and a smaller map generally leads to a shorter game.
Turn 1
Initiative: Heroes 5 of Diamonds, AI 4 of Diamonds. The heroes close up on the first objective marker and check it out (Notice roll, success and raise, so I remove the marker); it makes sense this should be the remains of the guard, so everyone gets a Spirit check. The AI sentries can't see the heroes, can't shoot or get into charge range, so run to the AI goal.
Morgan gestures the others to keep watch and kneels by the guard's body, turning it over so his GoPro can capture some footage. The man's throat has been ripped out and something has been eating him. The other soldiers can't help themselves and peer over Morgan's shoulder; Allen loses his composure and his breakfast, in that order. Unfortunately for his ability to sleep at night, Morgan has seen worse.
Turns 2-6
Morgan and his team move into the building and up to the reception area seating, where they search the items left behind in what seems to have been a hasty evacuation and discover a briefcase full of cash and a smaller case which proves to contain a loaded medical syringe in a fitted foam layer.
"Do we need to report this, Corp?" asks Campbell as they open the briefcase. Morgan just points at the GoPro, which is still running.
The zeds are where they want to be, so they stay put.
Meanwhile the alert counter has been ticking up, and at the end of turn 6 another wave of enemies joins the fun. I have to draw multiple times from the R&R Deck to avoid casters and vampires, which I allow to appear in month 2, but eventually get a single soldier with an automatic rifle.
Turn 7
Morgan and company move deeper into the building, but soon hear gunfire from the north-east, followed by screams.
The AI movement rules bring the new soldier directly on top of the four zombies, and he opens up on them as soon as he sees them. However, while he destroys one, the other three pile on him in close combat, but fortunately fail to injure him.
Turns 8-10
Morgan's team runs towards the continuing noise, and rounds a corner to see an armed man in a melee with three zombies, greatly outnumbered but holding his own. Morgan maintains his composure at the sight of the undead, but Campbell loses it and runs away past a bemused Allen and Baker.
The hard-pressed human kills one of his assailants, and Morgan - making a quick decision - pumps one round into another, which it ignores. Campbell keeps running back to the team vehicle, while Baker and Allen form up on Morgan.
One zed peels off and charges into melee with Morgan, but with a lucky blow he bashes its head in. The remaining zombie finally lands a solid hit on the lone human, incapacitates him and begins to feast. Morgan and Allen manage to contain themselves, but seeing the zombie eating a man alive is too much for Baker, and he runs away screaming. Campbell, meanwhile, has reached the jeep and the others hear the motor turn over.
The noise attracts a young woman Morgan will eventually learn is called Carolee, who blows the remaining zombie's head off with a well-placed shot from a magnum revolver. She also has a katana on one hip.
"Come with me if you want to live," she says.
At this point I call the game, as Morgan can reach and examine the second objective and be halfway out before the next wave of enemies appears, while Allen can get the final Search Objective.
GM Notes
Credits: Rules - SWADE, Grimdark Future Star Quest, All Things Zombie Risks & Rewards Deck. Maps: Loke Battlemats. Tokens: Fiery Dragon. VTT: Roll20.
Well, that was pleasingly chaotic. Strictly Carolee and the lone soldier should have been hostile too, but that didn't seem to fit the fiction of the game so I let them side with the PC against zombies.
The game actually took about 6 hours spread over a couple of days - two hours' play and four hours of interruptions, which would've killed most games, but a solo session in Roll20 is more resilient. The combination of products and rules worked really well together, but I wonder if I'd be better served by All Things Zombie on its own. For further study.
May the real Carolee rest in peace. And Baddawg, too.
"Come with me if you want to live," she says. Always a classic.
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