Bruised and Bloodied

Something I didn't specifically mention in my last post was that Quarantine Zone  doesn't use health points.  If a character gets seriously injured they will accrue a bloodied token, taking +2DC on everything they do until healed.  Every time a character gets injured they are significantly less able to overcome challenges until they eventually are caught by zombies and devoured.

From my combat post:

" When the ZM (Zombie Master) wins a fight he or she gets to roll one or more times on a Zombie Melee chart, once for each attacker success which exceeded the defender's success total.

Zombie Melee Chart 
1-3= Ineffective
4= Maul
5= Bite
6= Grab---> next turn- Rend

The Maul and Bite result both are "Critical" hits and will leave a character "Bloodied", the Bite result might also transmit disease. See the future section on Conditions to find out more about being Bloodied, the short explanation though is that each time a character is Bloodied they take a +2DC on ALL checks until they are healed.

A character who is Grabbed can do nothing in their turn except make an opposed Brawn check to try to break loose of the grab. Alternatively another player might be able to rescue the Grabbed player by either knocking or killing the Zombie(s) doing the grabbing.

If the character is still Grabbed in the next Zombie attack round. The Zombie(s) preforming the grab will attempt to Rend the player- the player must make another opposed Brawn check. If the character succeeds they become "Bloodied" (or take another Bloodied token if they were already Bloodied)- if the character fails they are ripped to pieces by the grabbing Zombie(s). See the future section on Zombie Feeding Rules to find out how much time the other players will have to run while the feeding Zombies are distracted by their former comrade."

Survivors are more likely to win combats against single zombies but it will be difficult to "kill" them, whereas zombies are far more likely to injure and kill humans if their attacks are successful. I expect combats will be battles of attrition that players would be wise to avoid. PCs will inevitably loose if they try to take on a zombie horde. These rules are meant to be tough on the players, combat against zombies should never be undertaken lightly- a single mistake could spell disaster later on. I wanted to set it up so there will be desperate struggles to save wounded friends which have been grabbed by zombies.

More on this later-

comments and questions are welcome

Death by Zombie

I have decided to name my zombie rpg game "Quarantine Zone" instead of the previous title GTZ. A quick google search did not bring anything else up that is already using Quarantine Zone so I'm using it. What do you think- good,bad or ugly?

I have made up a few cards to keep track of "conditions" during play. Conditions are temporary effects characters might get, which often stack. Conditions are generally harmful effects which will increase the DC of certain ability checks, I have four currently and might add some more in the future.

Front

                                                                                 

Back

These condition cards are just cue cards which have been cut in half. I made four cards for each condition, hopefully I won't need more than four at any one time.

Condition Descriptions:
Shook: +2 DC on all Nerve checks.
A character will usually become shook after seeing something truly horrific and then failing a Nerve check to keep their cool.  A character will remain shook until they are able to regain their composure in safety away from the cause of their fear.

Tired: +1DC on all checks.
A character will become tired if they over exert themselves mentally or physically. The tired condition effects every check the character makes and will thus lower their overall performance dramatically. Once a character is able to get sufficient rest they will no longer be tired.

Knock:  +1DC on all checks until the end of your next turn.
The knock condition represents a character being momentarily staggered and off-balance. This effect is usually the result of combat dmg roll. The knock condition can also apply to zombies, unlike most other conditions. A zombie who gets knocked is forced to release a grabbed character.

Bloodied: +2DC on all checks.
This is a very dangerous effect which represents a character suffering the effects of a significant wound. Any dmg roll which results in a "critical" will cause the bloodied condition, most often from a zombie maul or bite.
Several bloodied results will cause a stacking +2DC on all checks, meaning eventually a character will no longer be able to function effectively if they take enough wounds. A character will stay bloodied until they receive first-aid or possibly more serious medical care.

In Quarantine Zone characters will usually not die in a single turn. Although instant death from gunshots, falls, fire and buildings collapsing are possible, characters are more likely to be torn apart by zombies. Characters will usually get bloodied in a scuffle with zombies and then will be grabbed. A wounded character will not be able to resist zombie rend attempts for very long and will become bloodied again and again until the rend is successful and kills them. Any one of the conditions listed above are very dangerous for a character to suffer from because each will make the chances of  getting another condition much higher. A character who is bloodied, tired, and shook will take +3 DC on Brawn, Reflex,Attitude, Intelligence, and Search checks AND +5DC on all Nerve checks.

Wise characters will take the utmost care to avoid getting any of these conditions so they can remain functional and not become a liability to the group.

-comments and questions are welcome.