Twenty Zombie Encounters/Seeds
It was just any other day, another testament to the mundane dreary lives of the living. No one was prepared for their coming, how could they be? They entered the bodies of the living, transforming them into blood thirsty monsters, all in an instant.
Contact has been lost, and all bridges have crumbled. All attempts to leave have been met with disaster. It's as if there is some malevolent force out there wishing for them to stay.
The dreams of the modern day man are often fraught with terrible nightmares that pale in comparison to their reality. The monsters that haunt them, be they slow or fast, desire the blood that flows through their veins. Their arrival heralded the apocalypse, vile forces corrupting the spirits of men and shifting them into mindless beings devoid of life.
Feel free to add some!
Earl
Earl is a near 300 pound walking abomination of putrid boiled flesh and stomach wrenching stink. With a pair of tattered jeans and blood splattered work shirt, you can make out 'Earl's Auto Shop' stitched onto the back of his shirt. His moans for 'sustenance' are no different than the other creatures that he shambles with. What makes him interesting is the ring of keys he has clutched into his meaty hand
One can easily discern that these keys lead to his auto shop. If willing, the players can either fight their way to Earl, or try and lure him into some sort of trap. If his locked auto-shop remains untouched, they may be privvy to an assortment of tools or even an automobile, then again it could already be raided all the effort for naught.
ZOMBIES! (the apocalyptic kind)
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Let the Zombies Attack!!
No one has ever returned from a trip into the subway. Those who had survived the longest can tell of all the lost souls who have ventured down there. Either through personal contact with a soldier, or listening in on their radio dispatches, the PCs learn that a militant group is preparing for a concentrated expedition down there.
Their reasoning is that they've recieved contact from some source down below, and that a way of escape now appears plausible. They're taking any recruits willing to venture down there with them. Little does anyone know of the horrors that dwell down there, creatures other than the monsters and roam the streets. Would the PCs be willing to gamble their lives for a chance of escape?
While scavanging supplies within an apartment complex, the PCs find a collection of recent paintings within a partially fortified studio. Each painting depicts a very detailed undead being set behind a colorful abstract back ground.
With the paintings set on the walls, the PCs notice a chained up undead creature devouring the supposed artist. On the floor next to the partially eaten man is a near complete portrait of the creature that is eating him.
This seems like a recent occurance, so the Artist may still have some food and light weaponry lying about. More artistic minded PCs could also raid his art supplies. Then again it won't be long until the Artist rises himself, and who knows what other 'muses' he has stored away.
The PCs are thrusted into an all out free for all while exploring an untouched resource. Three militant groups all having heard tale of an untapped market converge into one violent tempus of blood and bullets.
The three groups are well armed and will resort to melee if out of ammunition. They'll blow away anything not wearing their colors and or crest, leaving PCs with the option of weathering the storm and fight back, or attempt to escape. With each side fighting fanatically, one can only guess what could be inside the location.
To add more fuel to the fire, the undead are still a factor and more will come attracted to the sound of gunfire.
The PCs stumble on a group of leather clad musicians traversing the zombie apocalypse for one thing. Beer. They're following the rumors of a still operational brewery and are willing to establish a new community at the location. Those who offer to join the group will be granted some of their supply, aslong as they're willing to work for it.
The PCs run into a millitant group of religious zealots who preach of their role in the apocalypse. They'll regail the PCs with notions of transcendentalism and claim that the beginning of the apocalyspe was actually the rapture, with pure religious souls having transcended leaving behind their mortal coil to be inhabited by denizens from below.
If there is truth to their words, it is to be discerned at some other time, what is known about these radicals is that they believe it's their mission to purge the unclean. Those who do not listen to their gospel will find their lives shortened. It is for when they accomplish this task do they take one step closer towards transcending from this mortal plane themselves.
Possibly a violent advesary for unfaithful PCs, or a supportive resource to those who hear their message.
The PCs witness a man cornered by undead. Dressed in a tattered lab coat, cracked spectacles, and a brief-case in his hand, it appears without aid this man will be left to the undead. If saved, he'll graciously introduce himself and claim he was on his way to the nearest university so that he may conduct some experiments. The man is obtuse and at times rude, but still appears grateful for the rescue.
He claims that he believes the phenomena is a mutation of DNA and that he may know how to trigger the destruction of internal cells if he could only perform some tests. If aided, he could provide an invaluable weapon against the undead or he could just be wasting their time.
If the PCs or undead kill him, his briefcase contains the useable information to perform the tests he would of spoke about.
Herbert Knell has lived within the panic room of his three story mansion for years. With the last breath of a dying old man, he has released a dispatch on multiple frequencies detailing the location of his shelter. In it, he describes, is enough food, arms, entertainment, and gas to keep a small group supplied for a very long time. The catch is that other groups are listening to this dispatch as well.
Will the PCs risk it? Traversing through a zombified city while fighting off other scavangers out to reap the benefits from the old man's bounty? What if it is all a hoax? Perhaps an ambush set by bandits to rob any coming scavenger?
Alex Werner, Dave Werner, and Marcus Werner were three quarreling brothers. Before the zombie apocalypse, they were the grandsons to a wealthy CEO who at one time worried of the apocalypse at the hands of nuclear war. Having created an unused bomb shelter, he gave his grand-children each a piece of the code to unite the three brothers incase they ever needed it for an emergency. Each brother inscribed the code on their ring, only to reclaim it if necessary.
Now, Dave and Marcus are dead and Alex needs to get into that shelter. He'll offer a deal to the PCs, if they can find his brothers part of the code, he will offer them a piece of his grand-father's stash. He knows where they were, and he knows they were among the first to change.
Dave was an intern at the local general hospital, and Marcus an executive for a very successful security firm. The PCs will have to explore the two buildings and locate the reanimated or dead remains of the two brothers in order to reclaim their own prize.
The PCs cross paths with a lanky man dressed head to toe in leather neo-victorian apparel, wearing a large brimmed hat, and comfortably sporting a cheek full of wild unkempt stubble. He seems to be armed with a sharpened wooden pole, a rather blunt sword, and a cross-bow that he wields casually. He introduces himself as Edwin Alacaster, professional vampire hunter.
Edwin seems to believe that the undead are infact vampires, and he has vowed his life to wiping the blood sucking scourge off the face of the planet. He'll stoop to pettiness and defensively argue the correct nomenclature, claiming that the undead do shy away from the light, their vulnerable point is their heart, and they drink blood as well as they eat flesh. All of this true, but Edwin seems to believe that other parts of the myth are true as well, and has come to the idea that there is a head vampire that they could destroy.
In actuality, Edwin used to be a comic book geek who dreamed of emulating the figures in his comic books. Now that it's the end of the world, he has survived long enough to form some skill with dispatching undead, but he is overly reckless and has an irritating flare for the dramatic. If PCs decide to help them, they may find themselves on a wild goose chase, or they may find a powerful creature that knows more about the apocalypse than the PCs.
Old Stinky Pete never had a good head on his shoulders. Before the apocalypse he was often found roaming the streets murmuring to himself unphased by the going ons of contemporary life. People never paid him much mind, as he was nothing more than a piece of decoration on the already polluted tarnished streets. Now that the undead have risen up, not much has changed. Stinky Pete continues to roam the streets murmuring to himself, completely undisturbed by the undead that share his shambling path.
He's still alive, he's still breathing, but his presence never seems to warrant the attention of the undead, which has been his key to survival. The weirdest thing is that no one has ever been able to contact Pete. Every attempt has been met with disastrous failure. But if anyone could ever catch old Pete, they might find out what keeps him protected from the undead. Or they might find something sinister in the soft murmurs of a 'harmless' old man.
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? Responses (11)
Great idea here! I'll be thinking of a few to add to this shortly.
Wow - awesome post! Going to need to add to it too...
Ahh, this smacks of a postapoc campaign. It seems this would be an enjoyable campaign as well.
'The Vault' in particular caught my attention. Well done, VIM40!
4.5/5
Thanks for the support guys! I really appreciate it. If anyone has any ideas, feel free to post them up. I've got a few more that I'll be putting up later.
A great collection of plot seeds for your next zombie infestation. For me was the Beer Run and Vampire Hunter the best. Very enjoyable!
I like those! Stinky pete especially. And as AG said, the vault could be great fun, and the Artist's muse is a great atmospheric encounter.
The three brothers are from Fallout3, correct?
Good collection 4/5
Only Voted
I like these ideas.
Some nicely creative ideas here.
This is a grand idea. I actually would have voted a bit higher had the twenty mark been hit.
I have never run or played in a zombie apocalypse style setting but had ideas to run one. If I did however, I can see going down the list and running these ideas and seeds as full blown adventures one after the other. This has given enough ideas for a campaign, mini or not, to be put together and have plenty of fun, death, zombie, and general annoying human influence to be a success.