This is the scenario:
A small Orc-Hobgoblin Coalition led by the demon-possed Moxel-Pixel is trying to retake the lands of which once was their great empire in the Time of Darkness.
They first, with the of the mad orc cleric Hursk, develop a plague and spread it in a little mining town. The PCs put an end to this, but not before the town lost whatever military forces they had. Thinking that the Hursk was working alone, the PCs left to nearby city, Markdelia. The town was razed shortly thereafter.
The coallition has been cutting the suplies lines to Markdelia via hit and run tactics. And causing great misdirection and concealing themselves long enough, has been fooling the authorities about their numbers and ubication through illusion and the help of infiltrated members of the theives guild, the Red Hand, to wich they food for them to resell and acheive mutaul profit.
In the mean time the coalition was able to recover the body of Hursk who has returned as ¨something else¨ and with his plague now perfected, PLAGUE ZOMBIE VIRUS. Exploiting their deal with the Red Hand they have start delivering infected food. During this time PCs leave the city to perform a task for noble man and to escape from the murder attempts from the Red Hand.
Now the PCs returned 20 days later, not 28, to find the city razed and inhabitated (the noble district being the most fortified was able to hold, but is under siege, but the PCs don't know this yet). The PC walked through the now deserted city to found themsleves surounded by the zombies at nightfall.
They are five, maybe six, 7th level PCs:
-An Eldritch Knight: transmuter with necromancy and evocation banned
-An Undead Hunter Ranger: switch hitter style
-Arcane Sorcerer: non-bloodlines spells are Stinking Cloud, SM III, Gust of Wind, Levitate, Glitterdust
-Barbarian: has Great Cleave
-Monk: Grappling monster, and has Boots of Spider Climb
-Maybe a Paladin.
Could anyone, please, lend me some advise?
Humbly,
Yawar
Edit: I don't want them to, neither hope they, battle the overwhelming hordes of zombies. I want them to escape Maybe with a match with Hursk, no sure what king of undead, and his ¨elite¨ zombies or something. The PCs bypassing the siege to the noble district would be great,
This is the scenario:
** spoiler omitted **
They are five, maybe six, 7th level PCs. An Eldritch Knight, an Undead Hunter Ranger, an Arcane Sorcerer, a Barbarian, a Monk and maybe a Paladin.
Could anyone, please, lend me some advise?
Humbly,
Yawar
Well, you have 2 arcane casters in the party. If they have some area effect spells in their arsenal you can pretty safely swarm them with low level zombies if only for effect, and to drain their resources. Nothing say zombie apocalypse like a horde
You should also consider looking at the classic horrors revisited book by paizo. They have some good ideas in there for what to do with the walking dead.
In terms of story. Is your goal to make them just fight for survival or strive to end the plague? There is a huge difference in what you want to do based on that choice alone.
First, thanks Kolokotroni for the advices. I am gonna check that book ASAP.
The Plague itself is not a problem any more since the authorities has already catch up with the means of spreading. Starvation and the siege are greater trouble now for the remaining city survivors.
Thanks again,
Yawar
Bump, couldn't find a copy of the Classic Terrors Revised among my freinds and need a little bit of help.
Thanks,
Yawar
Bump, couldn't find a copy of the Classic Terrors Revised among my freinds and need a little bit of help.
Thanks,
Yawar
You can purchase the PDF right here:
http://paizo.com/store/byCompany/p/paizoPublishingLLC/pathfinder/pathfinder Chronicles/pathfinderRPG/v5748btpy8ban&source=search
Bump, couldn't find a copy of the Classic Terrors Revised among my freinds and need a little bit of help.
Thanks,
YawarYou can purchase the PDF right here:
http://paizo.com/store/byCompany/p/paizoPublishingLLC/pathfinder/pathfinder Chronicles/pathfinderRPG/v5748btpy8ban&source=search
I am not a fan of PDFs and the shiping to Peru is outrageous.
A friend is going to USA by june, so I might get the hard cover by then, way past the time for that part of the campaing. Until then, I will really apreciate a few tips.
Humbly,
Yawar
I am not a fan of PDFs and the shiping to Peru is outrageous.A friend is going to USA by june, so I might get the hard cover by then, way past the time for that part of the campaing. Until then, I will really apreciate a few tips.
Humbly,
Yawar
Unless you plan to order it now and have it shipped to the place he is going in the US, I wouldn't bet on finding it. I think you should get over your PDF aversion.
Unless you plan to order it now and have it shipped to the place he is going in the US, I wouldn't bet on finding it. I think you should get over your PDF aversion.
I am not a fan of PDFs and the shiping to Peru is outrageous.A friend is going to USA by june, so I might get the hard cover by then, way past the time for that part of the campaing. Until then, I will really apreciate a few tips.
Humbly,
Yawar
Wasn´t it sold by retailers?
Humbly,
Yawar
There are a couple of variant zombies listed in the Pathfinder Bestiary, the normal, fast, and plague zombie, and there's no reason not to use all three. Justify it as the plague affecting different people differently.
Since creating a zombie is a matter of applying a template to a creature now you can easily go the whole Resident Evil route, with zombie dogs, flocks of birds, elephants, dinosaurs...really any animal some idiot decided to try and keep as a pet. Go wild.
Then there are all of the things that are going to come crawling out of the woodwork during a zombie apocalypse. Ghouls, ghosts, wraiths, survivors who have gone mad. The book World War Z has the idea of quisling zombies, people who have gone insane and survive by acting like zombies, to the point of killing and eating other people.
An idea I had for a scenario recently was to have a fire, like the Chicago or London fires, break out (or be started deliberately) and start to consume the city from one end to the other. With no one able to fight it the PCs would have to attempt to flee the fire along the same routes as other panicked survivors and the zombie hordes.
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for zombie "apocalypse" type stuff, you need a few things:
Devastated normal area. Check - Razed Town.
Potential Safe Area. Check - Noble District
Survivors. Check - Nobles and their retainers.
Zombies. Here's where you make or break the genre. Using normal human/goblinoid bodies for normal zombies makes for great hordes. At level 7 with some decent AoE and battlefield control characters, you can safely hit the party with 2-3 normal zombies per character.
That means, 18-20 zombie humans come shambling on over, per encounter. Let that be the "guide to the Noble's District" event; the PC's can TRY to slog through street after street of potential zombie swarms, OR they can follow the path of least resistance (sewers would be GREAT here...just enough creepiness and good dungeon feel, but not sure how elaborate the whole "underground waste management" infrastructure of your town sits.).
That's "Act 1: Survive the Horde" Goal: Get to the Noble's District without blowing the siege, and without getting bitten on the way.
"Act 2: Revenge" Comes after the party has made it through, has safely ensconced themselves in the survivors' area, and make plans to lift the siege of undead plaguing them. NPC interaction and PC-driven plans will be the centerpoint of the Act, with some tense infiltration type events. Here's where you can really bring out the strange and unusual undead...flaming, exploding, fast, or advanced zombies, Mohrgs and the like, etc.
"Act 3: Escape" Comes after they determine the root cause of the plague, and set out to eliminate it. The main BBEG gets away (or is never there) but the PC's get to find a few clues to his existence, get to kill/capture the boss of the local swarm, and find a few undead-boosting, possible undead-killing MacGuffins.
Acts 4-6 Carry on in the same vein, finally unveiling the ultimate BBEG (cultist of Urgathoa? Zon-Kuthon) and revealing to the PC's how to save the world. Of course, they are learning about the PC's as they go, so they have to deal with undead assassins, real assassins, kidnappings, plagues, and misdirection like a SOB.
-t
Wasn´t it sold by retailers?Humbly,
Yawar
You would have to find a comic/hobby shop that decided to order that specific book and had it in stock.
Thanks psionichamster, you have been a great help.
The PCs survived the first encounter with the zombies, a horde 48 zombies in waves and a morgh.
They have encountered a membered of the city guard who was caugth outside the siege, but is unable to break it by himself. Now they must find a way to bypass the seige and the horde.
I've been planning to pit them against the Husk as a Huecuva with cleric levels if they take the root through the sewers.
Thanking all your help,
Yawar
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This is the scenario:
** spoiler omitted **
They are five, maybe six, 7th level PCs:
-An Eldritch Knight: transmuter with necromancy and evocation banned
-An Undead Hunter Ranger: switch hitter style
-Arcane Sorcerer: non-bloodlines spells are Stinking Cloud, SM III, Gust of Wind, Levitate, Glitterdust
-Barbarian: has Great Cleave
-Monk: Grappling monster, and has Boots of Spider Climb
-Maybe a Paladin.Could anyone, please, lend me some advise?
Humbly,
Yawar...
Ooo! An actual Undead Apocalypse as opposed to Rage virus... this can be harder than you think. I suggest you check out a 60's - 70's flick called NIGHT OF THE LIVING DEAD. Basically space radiation caused the recently dead to rise from their graves but it also is transfered by bite. THis is the beginnings of the RAGE virus Zombie era as opposed to the slow moving corpse.
APOCALYPTO
BRAINNZZE!
Bernard ran. He had been running all day and his body burned. The crowd behind him were tireless in their pursuit and they were hungry for him.
Bernard impacted against the towering, reinforced gates and screamed for someone to let him into the safety of the haven beyond the impressively high walls. They wouldn’t have long…the feeders fell on him.
Alvo watched from his hiding place as the Mob ripped the Stranger to pieces. There was only enough in here for him.
The Movie Zombie Apocalypse is distinctly different from an Un-dead Apocalypse in which the Vampire lord sends his undead horde into your Kingdom. The Nature of the Zombie is distinct from those of the D&D Variety. In truth it is more like a Lycanthropy outbreak without the Lunar Limit.
If you are going to introduce a Zombie Apocalypse into your D&D campaign there are probably ten things you need to consider:
1. Why has the Apocalypse Happened? Is it the Rage Virus or have he Death Gods kicked the bucket leaving no-one in charge?
2. How wide spread is this thing? If it is local (by limit or spread the PCs might be able to put it down early. If it is Global then it is already too late.
3. What are the rules of its spread? Is it passed by one infected to an uninfected by a bite, or do the immune spread it? How long does it take to turn the infected from bite victim into Raging Zombie?
4. Ordinary People are weak but PCs are near unstoppable. The PCs Power only makes it worse at higher levels.
5. The Zombies keep coming and are fast. Really fast and they will be constantly on the PCs heals until they get what they want. You need to play it this way as DM.
6. The PCs need food, Water, Shelter, Rest. If they don‘t get it, they will break down and loose power and strength and health and sanity.
Fatigue and a relentless tide of Zombies will eventually get the PCs.
7. Other Survivors? There always seem to be other survivors. They can be Infected and on the verge of turning or Carriers with an immunity. They can be helpless or they can be Hostile and out to kill your PCs and take their stuff. How do the PCs react to these people? Do they help others and share what little they have or Slaughter them?
8. Is end is nigh? In a regular D&D game the PC has a prospect of Survival. In a Zombie Apocalypse there is no future unless the PCs can outlast the virus or become immune. The problem is that in the ZA the monsters are not in Dungeons, they are sheltering in Homes and running toward you in the Streets. Friends and loved ones are all rabid dogs looking to tear you a piece.
9. There are no points of light here. They are more like dying embers.
10. Prolonged Battles are a no win situation here. One Bite is the difference between Survival and a permanent case of Zombie.
Anyway…good luck with the Zombie Thing; I am going for canned goods and shotguns.
APOCALYPTO
ITS THE END OF THE WORLD AS WE KNOW IT
1. Rumours are the Devil's Tool
"I'm telling you I smelt it." Farmer Derran huddled over warm ale in front of him and stared at his fellow farmers. "It was the foul scent of a fiend."
Anek the Turnip farmer leaned in.
"If it is, then a Second Demon War may be upon us. There would not be a fiend inside the Wards unless it was the case." The others nodded in agreement.
Briefing: Rumours spread in a small community of a Second Demon War. These rumours spread across the realm bringing instability and paranoia. Adventurers with no official authority (and Strangers) are attacked and treated with suspicion.
2. The Abbey Falls
Father Stahl knocked and waited for a Nun to greet him and bring him to the Abbess. The Abbey loomed above him in silence...
Someone should have come. He knocked again and waited.
It was growing dark when his impatience got the better of him and he knocked a third time. A Small postern seemed unlocked and creaked open slightly.
Father Stahl stooped to make entry.
Inside, the halls were dark and silent. There at the far end of the entry corridor was a single nun standing in silent shadow.
"Hello? It is I! Father Stahl. Is the Abbess here?" The Nun seemed to float slowly toward him. Her face was shadowed in utter blackness and only red glowing eyes looked out from that darkness.
The hairs on Father Stahl's neck bristled in awareness.
There was something very wrong here.
Briefing: An Abbey is no longer communicating or visiting the surrounding communities. All the Nuns in an Abbey have become undead revenants. This horror is soon unleashed on surrounding communities if Not investigated and dealt with.
3. Hammerfall
Ganth watched from crows perch as the star fell into the sea. The Horizon at site of impact seemed to bulge oddly before spreading evenly with the fringe.
"Captain?" A weary old sailor looked up from the Deck.
"What is it Ganth?" Captain Fraks was tired. Hopefully this wasn’t some raider.
"Starfall Captain. South East. The Horizon bulged momentarily before settling." Ganth could still see a slight glow where it fell.
"What!" Tidal surge. It had to be.
"Hard to port!" Hopefully they could make it back to Harbour long before the Tsunami hits.
Briefing: An Asteroid impacts out in the ocean throwing up a Tidal Wave that will destroy every coastal community in a four thousand mile radius.
4. Plague Ship
They had watched the old ship pass through the heads of the harbour and make for the docks. Only when it failed to reduce sail and call for roapmen to be sent out to tow it into place did they realize that something was wrong. It continued straight in and hammered into the docks tearing up the timbers.
Dockworkers that had moments ago fled the impact now scurried to board the vessel tangled in timbers.
Dabney the Hook man held the edge of the ship with his hook pike while others struggled aboard.
He stared at the Pilot lashed to the Helm. There was something wrong with him. Then he heard it.
"Plague! Theyve got Plague!" Men poured off the floating coffin and others on the dock ran.
The Dock master called for Roapmen with grapnels to tow it out past the heads and fire it. Men with long pry bars struggled to break it loose of the Dock.
Briefing: A ship with a dead and dying crew suffering from the Plague sails into harbour and crashes into the docks.
5. The Wagon master
Aelic the Trader coughed with the flu as he halted his oxen drawn wagon at the signal of the watchman blocking his entry.
Aelic handed over the usual entry fee of eight coppers before he was waved in.
Watchman Francos slipped the coins into his pocket before returning to his stoop against the outer wall. A barely audible thud and one of the Watchmen inside the gate gave a cry.
The Wagon master had collapsed on the dirt road inside the gate.
Francos leaned over the trader.
"Are you all right?" Aelic coughed up blood in a contaminated spray of disease.
Briefing: A Trader arrives in town carrying a flu that will kill most of the population within a week.
6. The Afflicted
Sandoval ran. The predators on his heels were not wolves or some other creature he had heard of. They were all that remained of his own family; His own Village; his own people. They were Afflicted with something that had turned them into slavering hungry dogs bent on devouring his flesh and the flesh of any other uninflected who crosses their path.
Sandoval Ran. He cleared the perimeter ditch separating the fields of the Village of Dungbury from the woods that surrounded it. He passed the bewildered Farmers working those fields with one word on his lips.
“Flee!” His cry shocked and surprised many who were taken by surprise by those who followed Sandoval from the Woods. After the first few field workers were attacked by the hungry mob did the rest get the hint. They ran.
Briefing: An infection takes hold in which the victims become slavering, hungry madmen with a desire to feed on the flesh of the uninfected. They move at a terrible speed with great strength and seem unstoppable as the infection is spread with even a scratch.
I'd apply the Plagued and Fast templates to the zombies, makes them more interesting to play and dangerous for the PC's. Normal zombies always seem so "eh" with their permanently staggered condition.
An interesting twist would be to have the PCs fighting your stock-standard Slow Zombies at first, but after a few days the Zombies also gain the Fast Template, and in a week or so, the Disease template, so the Zombies are not only growing more powerful, but more numerous. The PCs MUST chop the Zombies to pieces and after the PCs are confronted by a swarm of Zombified limbs, burned to ashes.
All the while the Cleric they had thought dead is growing in power himself ....
The other thing to consider is that while the Zombies themselves are dangerous, other, more volatile Undead could also be spontaneously arising/being created. Zombies are used by a pack of Ghouls Clerics led by a Ghast Anti-Paladin to herd the living into a dead-end alley before the Ghouls and Ghast turn around and start carving into the PCs, killing the weaker ones and kidnapping the stronger to join their little 'family'.
A Vampire hiding in the city could end up becoming the PCs best ally. Needing the living to survive, the Zombie Apocalypse is the Vampire's worst nightmare, as he or she is rapidly running out of potential donors what with the Living disappearing under waves of stinking, rotting flesh and what food the Vampire could be using to save his or her own pawns is either corrupted or hidden deep behind the ranks of Zombies, and the Orc Cleric is powerful enough to potentially enslave the Vampire if he or she gets too close.
Able to fight indefinitely and needing only a single round per day to suck blood from a willing PC, the Vampire can protect them during the night when the PCs need to rest and can go places they cannot, while they in turn help protect the Vampire from the Undead Cleric and his minions until such time as they can end the Zombie Apocalypse.
Another thing to consider is that it might not be the Orc Cleric at work after all. Darker things than Mortals wait on the other side of the Veil between Life and Death, and the Orc's corpse could be possessed by an Elder Evil or an Oni so twisted and malignant its own kind exiled it or warped it into its present form.
Horror Elements:
PCs could come across Zombies that have flickers of their old selves, ie they could see Zombies trying to go about their normal lives in horrificly grotesque ways, such as a Blacksmith Zombie clumsily trying to forge swords out of the still-twitching parts of other Zombies, or a NPC they knew well pausing and looking at them in vague confusion before the 'mindless hunger' forces him on.
Worse than Undead could be roaming around. Demons, Devils, Yugoloths, Anti-Paladins (Blackguards), Necrophiliacs, crazed survivors, doomsday-cultists... if the PCs don't encounter at least one supernatural threat brought about by the sheer amount of Undead HD staggering around, something is very wrong, and a few encounters with 'normal' people driven to extremes by the situation could be good mood-building encounters as well. The mother willing to kill her friends to give their food to her own children, the priest opening fire on anything that moves screaming that 'all the tainted shall be purged', the pack of children that are slowly turning into Ghouls under the twisted influence of a Imp Sorcerer that is masquerading as a Lantern Archon as it leads the children around and slowly taints not only their bodies but their souls as well.
Were you bitten? PCs might find one of their own has been infected, either through a bite or some other more vile method (No doubt the Orc Cleric is eager to show the PCs the nightmare of his own existence as a twisted display of affection or outright revenge if not totally insane from his current state of being) and the PCs have to ask wether or not it is better to kill the infected PC now before he/she turns or do they risk their own hides in trying to cure the infected PC.
Yellowdingo: wow, but I can't this is just a part of the campaing and the methods are already set. Anyway, great ideas and I must use them later.
Mangskun: I've been using Fast-Plague Zombies an treted the area as an Unhallowed area and switched the CR of the zombies to 1.
HalfOrcHeavyMetal: I like the idea of upgradikng the zombies through time, but the PCs don't have so much time there's aproximatly 30 000* zombies roaming the city and they have just startled a horde with the combat.
The coalition is behind the city, because of an ancient unholy artifact buried beneath it**, so I guess that strange things other than undead can happen now that the artifact is resounding with it.
Humbly,
Yawar
*That's why the Coalition didn't try taking the city by force the city could have overwhelmed their forces with just militia.
**At least that's Moxel Pixel's true reason for waging the war. Said artifact is suposed to be containing the soul of an Spwan of Rovagug and Moxel Pixel want's to tap it power. I haven't reveal this to the PCs so I can change it.