4e Left 4 Dead adventure

[Galdor the Great]

I would like to create a Left 4 Dead type adventure using 4e rules, and since I suck when it comes to designing monsters, I’m hoping you folks can help me out. The adventure would be Heroic Tier, for characters of 3 - 5 level. Here are some ideas I have come up with (it’s probably necessary that you’re familiar with the Left 4 Dead video game to get the gist of what I’m referring to):

All Infected (including Special Infected)
- aberrations rather than undead

Common Infected
- Minion
- low move speed but get a speed bonus to charge attack
- low perception unless PCs are within a certain radius (perhaps they have a perception Aura - cannot sense PCs outside aura, automatic detection within aura)

Hunter
- Skirmisher role
- should have a nice bonus to Athletics as they are able to climb with ease and leap great distances
- bonus to Stealth
- primary attack would be some sort of At-Will pounce &knock prone attack

Smoker
- Lurker role
- 20 square range touch attack with his tongue
- should be strong enough to reel in a typical Medium creature with its tongue
- tongue attack has recharge of 4 - 6
- Athletics & Stealth bonus

Boomer
- Artillery role
- not sure if bile attack should be Close Blast or ranged Burst
- Boomer bile summons a Horde
- bile attack would have a recharge of 5 - 6
- Athletics & Stealth bonus

Tank
- Solo Brute
- Large
- incredibly strong
- Athletics bonus, no need for Stealth
- really good at smashing people, places, & things

Witch
- Elite Controller (wise players give the witch a wide berth so as to not disturb her. If she is placed in a choke point, then the PCs’ movement choices on the map are restricted)
- incredibly fast
- knock prone attack

Horde
- Gargantuan swarm composed of Medium creatures
- bonus for Athletics, no need for Stealth
- berserker-like behaviour (bonuses to attack and/or damage)

Please make any comments or suggestions. If someone else has started a conversion along these lines, please point me in their direction. Thanks in advance for your feedback.

[drjones]

Galdor the Great wrote:

Please make any comments or suggestions. If someone else has started a conversion along these lines, please point me...

I was thinking about this too. For me the main thing was capturing the feeling of a zombie movie less than the particulars of L4D which a lot of my players play so being too close to the game would give a nice recognition response but probably make it too easy for them once they knew what was going on.

I think I would focus on survival and escape being the only quest. This might be a great option for a 'how the party got together' quest since it is traditional to mix survivors of different backgrounds and class. It would cause the least world-building problems to place it somewhere remote but civilized enough to point out how much everything has fallen apart. Maybe let the PCs visit in better times to meet the fat butcher who is now a boomer or the young village priestess turned witch.

I can't decide what would be a good villain to be behind the whole thing. Governments/Corporations fit with a different world view than d&d and crazed necromancer/magical experiment gone wrong/demonic meddling are kinda old hat. The key to any zombie tale is that the humans are always the real evil so a quick to double cross NPC would be good.

But to your notes:
Why abberations? I agree they are not standard zombies but I think the PCs will feel cheated if all their anti-undead tools happen to fail right when they really, really need them.

I am a little uncomfortable with swarms. They are handy for modeling being covered by beetles etc. but I just don't find them to be fun to play or fight and not particularly scary in practice. I might go with a non-raging minion template for the standard zombies and a pile of raging minions (boosted speed, damage) for the horde. The downside here is if you want the hordes to happen often it can slow down play to be disposing of a lot of them. Also in standard rules you are not going to have 5 of them in one square. Maybe a hybrid minion that takes 2-3 hits to drop, each hit being one zombie in that square? probably unnecessarily complicated.

[Galdor the Great]

Hi drjones, thanks for your feedback.

drjones wrote:

I was thinking about this too. For me the main thing was capturing the feeling of a zombie movie less than the particulars of L4D which a lot of my players play so being too close to the game would give a nice recognition response but probably make it too easy for them once they knew what was going on.

I'm aiming for a closer feel to the L4D game. My players are all familiar with this video game and we have all discussed how cool it would be to play in an adventure like this.

drjones wrote:

I think I would focus on survival and escape being the only quest. This might be a great option for a 'how the party got together' quest since it is traditional to mix survivors of different backgrounds and class. It would cause the least world-building problems to place it somewhere remote but civilized enough to point out how much everything has fallen apart. Maybe let the PCs visit in better times to meet the fat butcher who is now a boomer or the young village priestess turned witch.

I like your idea about having the PCs return to a village they have been through - maybe they’ve saved it from disaster once before - and find that the citizens are now Infected. Nice touch with the specific people becoming specific Special Infected.

drjones wrote:

I can't decide what would be a good villain to be behind the whole thing. Governments/Corporations fit with a different world view than d&d and crazed necromancer/magical experiment gone wrong/demonic meddling are kinda old hat. The key to any zombie tale is that the humans are always the real evil so a quick to double cross NPC would be good.

The PCs will eventually realize that no humans, or any of the other normally encountered races, had a part in this (see below).

drjones wrote:

But to your notes:
Why abberations? I agree they are not standard zombies but I think the PCs will feel cheated if all their anti-undead tools happen to fail right when they really, really need them.

Two reasons. The first, all my players have been playing D&D for quite some time (nearly 20 years in most cases). We’ve done the plague of zombies thing many times before. The second reason for having the Infected as aberrations rather than undead is that one of the PCs is a Star Warlock and I want to throw in a few things from the Far Realm. I’ve been prepping that character with visions of something nasty falling from the stars. In this case, it turns out to be some sort of parasite that turns its victims into Infected. I guess a third reason would be to surprise the characters a little bit too. At the beginning, they may think that they’ve encountered a typical zombie outbreak but after an encounter or two they would realize something different is going on.

drjones wrote:

I am a little uncomfortable with swarms. They are handy for modeling being covered by beetles etc. but I just don't find them to be fun to play or fight and not particularly scary in practice. I might go with a non-raging minion template for the standard zombies and a pile of raging minions (boosted speed, damage) for the horde. The downside here is if you want the hordes to happen often it can slow down play to be disposing of a lot of them. Also in standard rules you are not going to have 5 of them in one...

The reason I wanted to have the Horde act as a swarm is that I want to emulate the feeling of being totally surrounded by Infected. The first time I played the video game and was attacked by a Horde, it was quite intense. They were everywhere. I don’t want the PCs to be able to go “back-to-back” and have a safe area. I want them to be completely surrounded, flanked, saturated, engulfed, immobilized, and freaked out the first time the Horde attacks. The only way I can think to do this would be to have the Horde represented by a Huge (or larger) swarm. This way, instead of rolling a couple of dozen attack rolls each round, I can safely assume that each PC will take automatic damage - kind of like some of the auras that certain creatures have. I know that this isn’t RAW, but hopefully it makes for a more intense encounter.

Thanks again for your feedback. Any comments or suggestions on the specific traits I have outlined for the Special Infected? Would anyone else like to join the discussion? Your insight is valued and appreciated!

[Padraig]

Galdor the Great wrote:

Horde
- Gargantuan swarm composed of Medium creatures
- bonus for Athletics, no need for Stealth
- berserker-like behaviour (bonuses to attack and/or damage)

Please make any comments or suggestions. If someone else has started a conversion along these lines, please point me...

FYI There is a huge Zombie Throng swarm in Open Grave you can use as template for this...

Pat

[Galdor the Great]

Padraig wrote:

Galdor the Great wrote:

Horde
- Gargantuan swarm composed of Medium creatures
- bonus for Athletics, no need for Stealth
- berserker-like behaviour (bonuses to attack and/or damage)

Please make any comments or suggestions. If someone else has started a conversion along these lines, please point me...

FYI There is a huge Zombie Throng swarm in Open Grave you can use as template for this...

Pat

Hi Padraig, thanks for your input. I don't suppose the Zombie Throng swarm was ever posted as a free preview on the WotC website...I don't have the Open Grave book and I doubt there would be much in there (besides that swarm) that would interest me enough to make it worth buying.

Thanks again!

[Padraig]

Galdor the Great wrote:

Padraig wrote:

Galdor the Great wrote:

Horde
- Gargantuan swarm composed of Medium creatures
- bonus for Athletics, no need for Stealth
- berserker-like behaviour (bonuses to attack and/or damage)

Please make any comments or suggestions. If someone else has started a conversion along these lines, please point me...

FYI There is a huge Zombie Throng swarm in Open Grave you can use as template for this...

Pat

Hi Padraig, thanks for your input. I don't suppose the Zombie Throng swarm was ever posted as a free preview on the WotC website...I don't have the Open Grave book and I doubt there would be much in there (besides that swarm) that would interest me enough to make it worth buying.

Thanks again!

Alas, not that I know of. Shoot me an email and I'll tell you more: patrickvfx at gmail.com

[Ocnar]

Fantastic idea!

I think I'll be using this in my campaign soon. I'm working on a long undead themed storyline already. I have two set pieces I'll be nudging the PCs into:

-Barricading then defending an abandoned church
-Racing through the city to the docks to escape

My players all love L4D. Personally, I'm going to keep the infected as undead, since we haven't had many this campaign. I'll also change their descriptions slightly so they'll only catch on when they see the creatures' powers.

I've worked up some stats that I think fit the feel of L4D:

Zombie Runner:

Spoiler:

Zombie Runner
Minion
Medium (undead)
Speed 6
Senses Perception -10

Claw (standard; at-will)
+ X vs. AC, X damage.

Zombie Charge (standard; at-will)
The Zombie Runner moves up to 8 squares and makes a Claw attack at the end of the move

Grasping Claws
If a Zombie Runner makes a critical hit using Claw, and the target is adjacent to 4 or more Zombie Runners, the target is knocked prone.

Note: I recommend using Zombie Runners at 5 levels below the party, so you can have dozens attack without killing the characters outright. Grasping Claws will occur more often if you have more of them, creating a cinematic effect similar to the game. Also, Claw should do about 2 damage less than standard minions.

Hunter:

Spoiler:

Hunter
Skirmisher
Medium (undead)

Vulnerable 5 radiant
Speed 5

Claw (standard; at-will)
+ X vs. AC, X damage.

Jump (standard; at-will)
The Hunter jumps up to 7 squares

Climb (move; at-will)
The Hunter climbs up to 5 squares

Pounce (standard; at-will)
The Hunter jumps up to 7 squares and then attacks. + X vs. Reflex, X damage. On a hit the target is knocked prone and grabbed. The target receives a -5 penalty to Acrobatics or Athletics checks to Escape.

Skills Stealth +5

Smoker

Spoiler:

Smoker
Lurker
Medium (undead)

Vulnerable 5 radiant
Speed 5

Tongue Grab (standard; recharge 5, 6) Poison
Ranged 10; + X vs. Reflex. X poison damage plus ongoing X poison damage. The target is grabbed and immediately pulled up to 5 squares. The target receives a -5 penalty to Acrobatics or Athletics checks to Escape. The Smoker cannot move while grabbing.

Tongue Pull (standard; at-will)
Pull a creature grabbed with Tongue Grab up to 5 squares.

Smoke Bomb (immediate reaction, when reduced to 0 HP; )
The Smoker bursts into a cloud of smoke, creating a fog area Burst 1. The fog blocks line of sight and provides concealment to those within.

Skills Stealth +X

Boomer

Spoiler:

Boomer
Artillery
Medium (undead)

Vulnerable 5 radiant
Speed 4

Vomit (standard; recharge 4, 5, 6)
Close Blast 3. +X vs. Reflex. Targets hit by the Vomit are affected by Irresistible Pheromones (save ends).

Vomitous Explosion (immediate reaction, when reduced to 0 HP; )
Close Burst 1. +X vs. Reflex. Targets hit are affected by Irresistible Pheromones (save ends).

Sudden Attraction
If any enemies are hit by the Boomer's Vomit or Vomitous Explosion, 1d6+2 Zombie Runners are created outside the line of sight of the PCs, and immediately move toward them.

Irresistible Pheromones Zombie Runners attack enemies affected by Irresistible Pheromones over all other enemies. If a Zombie Runner is within 20 squares of a creature affected by Irresistible Pheromones, it automatically detects that creature.

Tank

Spoiler:

Tank
Elite Brute
Large (undead)

Vulnerable 5 radiant
Speed 6

Fist Smash (standard; at-will)
+X vs. AC. X Damage.

Sweeping Smash (standard; recharge 4, 5, 6)
Close Burst 1. +X vs. AC. X Damage. The target is pushed X squares and is knocked prone.

Hurl Object (standard; recharge 4, 5, 6)
The tank grabs a large object such as a bench or a section of a wall and throws it. Range 10. +X vs.Reflex. X damage. The target is knocked prone.

Climb (move; at-will)
The tank climbs up to 4 squares

Crush Walls (standard; at-will)
The tank smashes and destroys a 1 square section of wall.

Witch

Spoiler:

Witch
Elite Controller
Medium (undead) 

Vicious Slash (standard; at-will)
+X vs. AC. X damage. The target is knocked prone. This can be used as a melee basic attack.

Rend (standard; at-will) +X vs. AC. X damage

Tactics
The Witch remains in one spot and does not enter combat unless any of the following occurs:
-She is attacked
-A PC makes an attack within 5 squares of her
-A PC moves within 2 squares of her

If any of these occur, she charges the PC that incited her with Vicious Slash. She then attacks with Rend until the PC is unconscious, at which point she flees the area and finds another spot to sit and wail.

Note: Vicious Slash should be a high damage, high attack modifier attack. Rend should be a standard attack.

I intentionally left out hard numbers for attacks and defenses. These will vary based on the level of the campaign.

Let me know if you have any suggestions!

[Galdor the Great]

Hi Ocnar, thanks for the feedback & ideas - they're definitely appreciated. I'm flip-flopping between keeping the Infected as some sort of abberrant parasite from the Far Realm or turning this into a good old fashion zombie plague.

I'm thiking of running this adventure at around 5th - 7th level and your ideas for each of the Infected types are quite good. Once I have more time to look into it, I'll post some follow up details.

Thanks again!

[Galdor the Great]

I have been too busy or too lazy or both to post anything meaningful here though I do have a slight update for my plan. I will be most likely using the Foulspawn as the basis for the Special Infected - specifically the Foulspawn Hulk as the Tank and the Foulspawn Mangler for the Witch.

Unlike the Mangler, the Witch won't have 4 arms but she will get an encounter power similar to the Dagger Dance (4 melee attacks). This will probably be reserved for the first time she knocks a PC prone.

That's all for now. Hopefully my slothfullness will recede for a while so I can give this adventure some proper thought...