Post by Warrender on Mar 1, 2015 17:51:05 GMT
Welcome to Kidderminster Town
Today is not a good day to be alive. It has been almost 6 months since you last saw any military action within the town limits and knowing the shoot on sight policy they have along the 100ft wall built around the town you know better than to try and escape after witnessing the destructive power of automated turrets designed to seek and destroy any moving object. Not even the birds escape their wraith.
The world outside the safety of your main base is a terrible one, the evidence of chaos is still strewn across the streets and buildings from the blind panic and destruction that occured in this town over 6months ago from people trying to escape. It had started out like any other day, with news about savage random acts of violence broadcasting over radio. Most people ignored the warnings to stay in doors, thinking it more to be a publicity stunt or mad man that would soon be caught. By the evening it was impossible to go anywhere without witnessing someone being attacked and bitten by gangs of raving mad people. Many people tried decided to leave the town limits, opting to wait out whatever was happening only to find the roads barricaded by military personel. Anyone trying to circumvent the roadblock were shot on sight and their bodies burned.
At dawn the military moved in, spreading through the streets dressed in bio-suits and weapons at the ready. Gun fire echo'ed in the air until early evening as they tried to evacuate civilians but it soon became apparent that this threat could not be halted as all military personelle pulled out the town before they were overwhelmed.
The arrival of huge concrete blocks via helicopter one day later and all phones and networks being disconnected spelled doom for the town as a giant wall was slowly built and military installations constructed in order to kill any would be escapist from trying to flee the town. Whatever had happened, it seems clear that the military knew and would do anything to prevent word from getting out.
The town is now filled with the undead, some lumbering slow monsters of disease and coagulated blood coating their skin, others faster and able to close gaps with great speed, blood covering their mouths and bloodshot eyes, both listening for the sounds of life in a silent town as they hunger for the flesh of the living. The one small blessing is that power is still being supplied to the region though gas, water and services are not.
You find yourself with a small band of people who are all loyal to your direction and leadership, whether they be family, friends or complete strangers is up to you as you manage and direct your team to help you prosper in this unforgiving world. Your base is fully equipped with what you need to survive and stay safe as long as the zombies do not find you, but supplies are starting to get low, without rescue from outside the town walls your only choice is to secure new area's and plunder their resources, trade with other stranded people or take what you want by force.
HOW THE GAME WORKS
Before you can start you need to pick your team, then pick the type of building your base will be set in, there is a section further down dedicated for Nation Creation. Please note that if you pick the Supermarket/etc building then you must pick a red zone as your starting location on the map. Unlike normal nation games you do not get a certain amount of points to distribute between all the stats that make up your nation. Instead, each person you add to your team will bring some skills to your nation depending on who you choose, the skills they posses will be added to your nation stats to give you your final total as all your crew will work together. For example, Choosing nothing but soldiers will give you the best attack and defence stats in the game, however you will suffer from being unable to scavenge the best you can from area's as well as being noisy and potentially attracting unwanted attention.
The above also changes how your Action slots work. Normal Nation games give the player 6 action slots, which are 6 things each turn that you may choose to try and do, normally this would be 4 things to do and 2 things to research though this differs depending on the GM. In this game it again works differently. Each player you choose will grant you 2 Action Slots that you can use, so the more players you have the more you can do each turn. It is considered that one action slot is roughly 8 hours long so the first can be considered to be set in AM and the other PM with the last 8 hours in the day assumed to be sleep. If a person becomes injured you lose 1 or 2 action slots depending on how severe the injury is. Serious injury will result in losing 2 action slots until they are healed whereas a minor injury might prevent them from venturing outside but they can still do tasks at base, thereby losing you only one action slot.
Below is a description of each dynamic in the game.
Here is what each player will see turn by turn for their given Nation. Read on for more information on each individual stat. Bar the top three stats, all others use the symbol X to show an ammount visually. So if your attack strength was 50, it would be represented by 5 X's, XXXXX as shown. This is to aid players understanding the values of the stats at a glance.
EXAMPLE
Player Name : Bob
Faction Name: The Fallen
Faction Type: Mixed
Crew numbers: Four
Att Strength: XXXXXX (60)
Def Strength: XXXX (40)
Scavenging : XXXX (40)
Technology : XXXXX (50)
Morale Level: XXXX (40)
Food Supply : XXXXX (50)
Base Defence: XXXXXXXXX (90)
Escape Level: X (10)
Noise Levels: XXXXXXXX (80)
Zombie Level: Green
Injured Crew: None
Player Name :
(Your Darkstorm username, duh)
Faction Name:
(The name your group of people go by. In some cases, your backstory for characters means they wouldn't consider themselves a gang, therefore put "None")
Faction Type:
(This is whether your group is a mix of backgrounds, all ex-soldiers, all civillians, survivors who are all staff at a petrol station etc. This information will unlikely have a bearing on gameplay but may be used to give a more tailored experience when the GM writes up the events each turn)
Crew numbers:
(This is how many people are in your gang. Each person in your gang allows you two additional actions per turn, however it increases your noise level as well. Small groups may not be able to do as much in as short a time as a larger group, however they are less likely to get detected by zombies as they generate less noise. See Stat "Noise" for more information)
Att Strength:
(This is the physical strength your group collectively has when battling against Zombies or other players poeple and is based on the skills and the weapons you have access to. The higher the stat the more damage you can do in a set amount of time)
Def Strength:
(This works exactly the same as the above but relates to how much damage your group can collectively handle. These two work in tandem as while you might be extremely good at dishing out damage you might be very suseptable in being hurt in return. For example, wielding a suit of armour might make you nigh impossible to hurt, but would mean your attack rating is so low that players can easily dodge your every attack, zombies less so)
Scavenging:
(This stat is how good the combined efforts of your camp is at finding sources of food. A high scavenging skill represents the ability to pick the best possible sources for food and thus saves time and allows more sources of food and special items to be found in less time than a lower skilled scavenger)
Technology :
(This is how capable you are at fashioning new tools or inventing and represents the equipment and tools at your disposal. Having a high tech level could indicate access to electric tools or workshops for example. Therefore, the higher this level the faster you can complete actions that require tools)
Morale Level:
(This is how level headed and upbeat your gang is. When things start going bad, this stat will start to drop, when things go well, your gang perks up. Be warned, if your Morale drops to zero then chances are one of your gang members will commit suicide)
Food Supplies:
(This is how much food and water your gang has access to and can be anything from tins of beans and cola to fresh fruit and water. Each turn this level will drop based on how many gang members are consuming your supplies. If suipplies start to get low with no fresh supplies in sight then an unsavory option would be for one gang member to commit suicide or go out in a blaze of glory to lessen the drain)
Base Defence:
(This stat is how good your main base is at fending off direct attacks from players and zombies, it represents a year of learning every nook and crany and boarding up entries and access in the best possible locations to ensure you have the best possible chance of fending off an attack. Safe houses are not included in this stat due to the amount of time and resources required to make a new base and the difficulty in running multiple homes)
Escape Level:
(This stat is how likely you are to succeed in an escape attempt should the defences of your base be breached by zombies. Low values represents a limited or difficult number of routes available when trying to flee. Hopefully it'll never come to it but might be worth thinking up novel ways to increase you chances of escape in low escape buildings)
Noise Levels:
(This is how much noise your gang makes. This figure is set depending on how many people are in your gang walking about and doing their normal routine. The more people in your gang the more likely a nearby zombie could hear you. However, be warned, certain player actions may cause this stat to rise, even to the point where it is impossible not to be heard. Do you really think it's a good idea to fire that gun off? Or perhaps you do, but only when outside someone elses camp)
Zombie Level:
(Although Zombies are everywhere and you might be sending people out all over town, this value only applies to the district where your main camp is located and represents the zombie level in that area. High zombie levels (Red) means tasks take longer as you constantly need to avoid higher numbers of the dead and if attacked could result in a large number of zombies attacking at once. Methods can be found to divert zombies into other districts to make your own safer. Remember that gas truck you saw the other day? Why not make use of it? Also, the higher the level of zombies the more of them you are likely to encounter and need to dispatch but also the higher the chance of attracting more unwanted attention and initiating a swarm)
Injured Crew:
(This is a written stat that will detail who is hurt and how long until they are back on their feet. For each person injured you lose one or two action slots depending on how severe the injury is, meaning you are doing less each turn. At the same time, injured people still drain your supplies so you may wish to evaluate if your longtime buddy who lost his leg would be better off dead considering he'll never again be able to help as he once did)
CHARACTERS MOVING AROUND ON THE MAP
Your base will always stay in the same place, though the ability to fortify other places may become available throughout the game. Each action slot is assumed to be roughly 8 hours long which is why each person grants two action slots, 8 hours in the monring, 8 hours in the evening and the last 8 hours of the day are assumed to be sleeping.
Therefore, the actions you choose to do will use up hours depending on what you are asking them of and this also includes traveling. When you send someone out to another district to perform a task it uses up 1 hour worth of time of that slot, plus another hour because they need to travel back. So if you send someone out to travel two districts in order to scavenge the person will only be able to spend 4 hours searching. This is because it takes 2 hours to get there safely, 4 hours to do the job you asked and 2 hours to safely return back home.
It is therefore advisable that if you plan to make regular use of certain distant area's that you spend valuable resources to secure a safe house, that while it could never afford you the same defence of your home camp it will at least allow your people to sleep safely for the night with their rations if they are unable to return in time safely or if you want them out in the field.
Please note, that Kidderminster is a big town, just because players may know which district you are in doesn't mean they know where your base or safe houses are. With so many building boarded up and silent it is hard to determine precise locations and only a high noise level could give it away.
How the Zombies work
In each district there are a certain amount of zombies, the number of which is shown using a colour code as described above under *Zombie Level*. Throughout the game zombies will meander through looking for fresh sources of food to feast upon. It is rare but possible for zombies to leave an area and thus lowering it down a level and making it safer, though it is more likely that player actions will determine any changes to Zombie numbers. When players character move through area's in order to do tasks they will automatically do what they can to avoid detection and performthe task asked of them safely. But, the higher the Zombie level the higher the chance of being heard or detected so careful consideration is needed when deciding who will do what and where they will do it. It is quite possible for a crack team to enter Red zones and accomplish their goal without incident.
Your characters will make every effort not to be detected, even if this means keeping still and quiet for several hours while they wait for a zombie to leave the area, in some cases they may kill the lone zombie to ensure they remain undetected. Where the base is concerned, the only way for Zombies to attack the main base is if something happens that the noise you create is enough to attract them to your location. Example, if you use electric drills in a green zone and you are still using them when a hoard arrives turning it into a red district and thereby dramatically increasing your risks of detection.
Likewise, some players may decide to purposely set off loud noises to either draw zombie hoards to or away from districts. The louder the noise made the more zombies hear the noise and are drawn to it. Simply setting off car alarms would be a slow but steady way to slowly drain a district until it's risk level lowers. Likewise, loud noises such as a bomb could not only draw zombies from one district but also its neighbouring ones as well.
From the map at the start of the game you will notice that the majority of the centre of town automatically starts at Red as this is where the majority of people were when they became infected. This also means that a lot of the supplies come from these area's due to the inability to scavenge them safely, making them more favourable hunting grounds.
TRYING TO LEAVE THE TOWN
The military went to great lengths to build a wall capable of surrounding the town. Guard towers and automated gun turrets surround the wall making any attempt to leave the town a fools errand, even approaching the wall will find yourself being targetted and fired upon. That and the ring of zombies attempting to asail the vertical wall from being attracted to the sound of whirling gun fire day in and day out would make approaching the area just as hazardous. In the opening weeks of being isolated within the town a man even tried to use his microlight to escape. Even from within the town centre he was targetted by a missile and shot down. The general rule of thumb is Don't try to leave the town.
NATION CREATOR
There are three parts to creating your nation. First, pick your team from the list below. Then pick the type of building you want your base to be in from the list below that. Lastly, pick a district on the map you wish your base to be located. Included is an excel file you can download, this file will alow you to quickly create a nation and change things if you're not happy with the final result. You will find it much easier to work out your stats if you use it.
Attachment Deleted
Pick your team
Mechanic:
Stats: (Att:1/Def:1/Scav:2/Tech:3/Morale:1/Noise:2) (10)
Notes: You friendly neighbourhood mechanic, bringing with him/her their own array of light tools and a dab hand at fixing and building things up faster than the average person.
Bonus: Chance to fix/repair broken items faster
Medic :
Stats: (Att:1/Def:1/Scav:1/Tech:2/Morale:3/Noise:2) (10)
Notes: Having a medical expert is always useful as well as making a positive impact on your crews morale and having a few handy tools that may prove useful.
Bonus: Chance to reduce a persons time spent in injury
Civilian:
Stats: (Att:1/Def:1/Scav:3/Tech:1/Morale:2/Noise:2) (10)
Notes: Your generic body on the ground and although having only basic skills they are handy at getting the materials you need to survive and are generally upbeat and positive.
Bonus: The amount you get from scavenging is greater when teamed with another crew member(people watching their back)
Child :
Stats: (Att:0/Def:0/Scav:6/Tech:0/Morale:0/Noise:4) (10)
Notes: Noisy, clumsy and unskilled but who would kick out a child? They might eat your food and make lots of noise but they are also great at scavenging as they can get to the places you can't and find unseen holes and access.
Bonus: Chance to raise the escape stat of the group when attacked.
Soldier :
Stats: (Att:4/Def:2/Scav:0/Tech:0/Morale:1/Noise:3) (10)
Notes: Soldiers, Police or security workers who were in the town before it was sealed and have stayed for their own reason. Well trained though their weapons are now empty from use.
Bonus: Chance to raise defence of crew due to their training.
Ex-Soldier:
Stats: (Att:3/Def:2/Scav:1/Tech:1/Morale:0/Noise:3) (10)
Notes: Picking up their weapons once again they trade strength for experience though are usually bitter people
Bonus: Chance to *lower* crew morale
Convict :
Stats: (Att:2/Def:2/Scav:1/Tech:1/Morale:2/Noise:2) (10)
Notes: Pick pockets, thieves, murders or anyone else who commited a crime. Convicts tend to be tougher, stronger and more world wise though lack good senses for finding what is needed.
Bonus: Chance of lowering detection level when moving around or commiting crime against other players.
Pick your building
Below is a list of generic building types for which a base can be safely setup. It is generally assumed that the entire building is under your control relatively speaking with access boarded up. However, for very large buildings it is assumed that although you control the building you have picked an area to contain your base and primary defences. For example, in a high rise building you would likely put your main stay defences at the main entrances due to having no means of escape on upper floors. In schools you'd pick a group of rooms to have the main defence due to the sheer quantity of entrances that cannot be fully defended. A house would have all access blocked.
Each building has two stats associated with it. An escape level stat that represents how easily you can abandon your base if the worse occurs and your defences are breached. And a Base defence stat that represents how good the defences are. Buildings with limited access usually have a high defence value but low escape stat. Each building will also have a bonus applied, so certain crew builds will suit certain buildings.
House/low level apartment block
A standard single or 4 floored building with few access locations. It is assumed that lower windows will be boarded up and doors secured. Bases will always be housed on a level above ground with easy escape routes arranged even for 4 floored buildings (i.e. a pile of matresses set up)
Escape Level:XXXXX
Base Defence:XXXXX
Bonus:Morale +2 and Access to a car with full tank of fuel at cost of raising noise by +10
High Rise Apartments
A standard 5 floored or higher apartment block with few access locations and a lift/elevator. It is assumed all doors on the base level have been boarded up to prevent access and stairwells defended. Lifts will not be functional. This is one of the most defenable locations however should the defences be breached there are no methods of escape available. Roof access is available.
Escape Level:0
Base Defence:XXXXXXXXXX
Bonus:Noise reduction -3 -XXX
Police/Fire Station
An old fashioned 2 floored building with tougher walls and barred windows to deter arson and attack. These buildings tend to have a good amount of defence at a cost of lower escape due to many windows being barred. The majority of good stuff in storage is already missing as it was used in action when the original apocalypse occurred.
Escape Level:XXXX
Base Defence:XXXXXX
Bonus:Att +1 X and def +1 X
Hospital
The town hospital, a large complex of corridors and rooms. There are so many entrances and windows that boarding them would be nigh impossible. Therefore the base would be located in a single wing with efforts made just to defend just that one area. Due to the amount of access points it is harder to defend, however equally there are several avenues to escape through.
Escape Level:XXXXXXX
Base Defence:XXX
Bonus:Injuries in the field are more easily treatable reducing injury time
Caravan Park
On the outskirts of towns you usually find caravan parks filled with static buildings. Due to the light construction of these structures, defence is nigh impossible but the park is generally in open space it makes for the most easily escapable type of building as crew can simply disappear over fences, through hedges or run rings around the caravans. Last stands can easily be made upon the roof.
Escape Level:XXXXXXXXX
Base Defence:X
Bonus:Noise +4 and Scavenging +2
Supermarket/Warehouse/factory
These types of building usually only have a single but large access point which is defendable provided you aren't facing a giant hoard. Aisles are useful for shimmying zombies down specific paths to allow them to be picked off in a running retreat, just like the old Defence Tower games like on the PC. Shame that virtually all supplies are gone after raids. The backrooms are easily defended though sadly these building are usually located in high populated area's. Going on raids is risky business from these buildings but equally they are the only type that exceeds a stat of 10 in total
Escape Level:XXX
Base Defence:XXXXXXXXX
Bonus:Permanent level of High for Zombies in this area
School
Similar to hospital, Schools are large area's with lots of corridors and rooms and a huge array of desks and chairs to make barricades. Bases usually occupy a single building in the school with the open space affording them good visability to aid defence. However recent laws has seen to having high fences throughout making escape a lot more difficult should the defences be breached.
Escape Level:XXXXX
Base Defence:XXXXX
Bonus:Tech +2
Church
Churches are fully enclosed structures that help minimise detection while at the same time granting good defence due to thick doors and high levelled windows. This does work both ways however and means escape can be difficult. And considering how God has abandoned you there is also no positive bonuses
Escape Level:XX
Base Defence:XXXXXXXX
Bonus:Morale -3
Pick your location
Green Zones = Zombies in small numbers. Largely safe to deal with potential for swarming in high noise areas.
Orange Zones = Large numbers of Zombies, care required with high chance of swarming in high noise areas.
Red Zones = Huge armies of Zombies, any high level noise will result in being overwhelmed by hoards.
Today is not a good day to be alive. It has been almost 6 months since you last saw any military action within the town limits and knowing the shoot on sight policy they have along the 100ft wall built around the town you know better than to try and escape after witnessing the destructive power of automated turrets designed to seek and destroy any moving object. Not even the birds escape their wraith.
The world outside the safety of your main base is a terrible one, the evidence of chaos is still strewn across the streets and buildings from the blind panic and destruction that occured in this town over 6months ago from people trying to escape. It had started out like any other day, with news about savage random acts of violence broadcasting over radio. Most people ignored the warnings to stay in doors, thinking it more to be a publicity stunt or mad man that would soon be caught. By the evening it was impossible to go anywhere without witnessing someone being attacked and bitten by gangs of raving mad people. Many people tried decided to leave the town limits, opting to wait out whatever was happening only to find the roads barricaded by military personel. Anyone trying to circumvent the roadblock were shot on sight and their bodies burned.
At dawn the military moved in, spreading through the streets dressed in bio-suits and weapons at the ready. Gun fire echo'ed in the air until early evening as they tried to evacuate civilians but it soon became apparent that this threat could not be halted as all military personelle pulled out the town before they were overwhelmed.
The arrival of huge concrete blocks via helicopter one day later and all phones and networks being disconnected spelled doom for the town as a giant wall was slowly built and military installations constructed in order to kill any would be escapist from trying to flee the town. Whatever had happened, it seems clear that the military knew and would do anything to prevent word from getting out.
The town is now filled with the undead, some lumbering slow monsters of disease and coagulated blood coating their skin, others faster and able to close gaps with great speed, blood covering their mouths and bloodshot eyes, both listening for the sounds of life in a silent town as they hunger for the flesh of the living. The one small blessing is that power is still being supplied to the region though gas, water and services are not.
You find yourself with a small band of people who are all loyal to your direction and leadership, whether they be family, friends or complete strangers is up to you as you manage and direct your team to help you prosper in this unforgiving world. Your base is fully equipped with what you need to survive and stay safe as long as the zombies do not find you, but supplies are starting to get low, without rescue from outside the town walls your only choice is to secure new area's and plunder their resources, trade with other stranded people or take what you want by force.
HOW THE GAME WORKS
Before you can start you need to pick your team, then pick the type of building your base will be set in, there is a section further down dedicated for Nation Creation. Please note that if you pick the Supermarket/etc building then you must pick a red zone as your starting location on the map. Unlike normal nation games you do not get a certain amount of points to distribute between all the stats that make up your nation. Instead, each person you add to your team will bring some skills to your nation depending on who you choose, the skills they posses will be added to your nation stats to give you your final total as all your crew will work together. For example, Choosing nothing but soldiers will give you the best attack and defence stats in the game, however you will suffer from being unable to scavenge the best you can from area's as well as being noisy and potentially attracting unwanted attention.
The above also changes how your Action slots work. Normal Nation games give the player 6 action slots, which are 6 things each turn that you may choose to try and do, normally this would be 4 things to do and 2 things to research though this differs depending on the GM. In this game it again works differently. Each player you choose will grant you 2 Action Slots that you can use, so the more players you have the more you can do each turn. It is considered that one action slot is roughly 8 hours long so the first can be considered to be set in AM and the other PM with the last 8 hours in the day assumed to be sleep. If a person becomes injured you lose 1 or 2 action slots depending on how severe the injury is. Serious injury will result in losing 2 action slots until they are healed whereas a minor injury might prevent them from venturing outside but they can still do tasks at base, thereby losing you only one action slot.
Below is a description of each dynamic in the game.
Here is what each player will see turn by turn for their given Nation. Read on for more information on each individual stat. Bar the top three stats, all others use the symbol X to show an ammount visually. So if your attack strength was 50, it would be represented by 5 X's, XXXXX as shown. This is to aid players understanding the values of the stats at a glance.
EXAMPLE
Player Name : Bob
Faction Name: The Fallen
Faction Type: Mixed
Crew numbers: Four
Att Strength: XXXXXX (60)
Def Strength: XXXX (40)
Scavenging : XXXX (40)
Technology : XXXXX (50)
Morale Level: XXXX (40)
Food Supply : XXXXX (50)
Base Defence: XXXXXXXXX (90)
Escape Level: X (10)
Noise Levels: XXXXXXXX (80)
Zombie Level: Green
Injured Crew: None
Player Name :
(Your Darkstorm username, duh)
Faction Name:
(The name your group of people go by. In some cases, your backstory for characters means they wouldn't consider themselves a gang, therefore put "None")
Faction Type:
(This is whether your group is a mix of backgrounds, all ex-soldiers, all civillians, survivors who are all staff at a petrol station etc. This information will unlikely have a bearing on gameplay but may be used to give a more tailored experience when the GM writes up the events each turn)
Crew numbers:
(This is how many people are in your gang. Each person in your gang allows you two additional actions per turn, however it increases your noise level as well. Small groups may not be able to do as much in as short a time as a larger group, however they are less likely to get detected by zombies as they generate less noise. See Stat "Noise" for more information)
Att Strength:
(This is the physical strength your group collectively has when battling against Zombies or other players poeple and is based on the skills and the weapons you have access to. The higher the stat the more damage you can do in a set amount of time)
Def Strength:
(This works exactly the same as the above but relates to how much damage your group can collectively handle. These two work in tandem as while you might be extremely good at dishing out damage you might be very suseptable in being hurt in return. For example, wielding a suit of armour might make you nigh impossible to hurt, but would mean your attack rating is so low that players can easily dodge your every attack, zombies less so)
Scavenging:
(This stat is how good the combined efforts of your camp is at finding sources of food. A high scavenging skill represents the ability to pick the best possible sources for food and thus saves time and allows more sources of food and special items to be found in less time than a lower skilled scavenger)
Technology :
(This is how capable you are at fashioning new tools or inventing and represents the equipment and tools at your disposal. Having a high tech level could indicate access to electric tools or workshops for example. Therefore, the higher this level the faster you can complete actions that require tools)
Morale Level:
(This is how level headed and upbeat your gang is. When things start going bad, this stat will start to drop, when things go well, your gang perks up. Be warned, if your Morale drops to zero then chances are one of your gang members will commit suicide)
Food Supplies:
(This is how much food and water your gang has access to and can be anything from tins of beans and cola to fresh fruit and water. Each turn this level will drop based on how many gang members are consuming your supplies. If suipplies start to get low with no fresh supplies in sight then an unsavory option would be for one gang member to commit suicide or go out in a blaze of glory to lessen the drain)
Base Defence:
(This stat is how good your main base is at fending off direct attacks from players and zombies, it represents a year of learning every nook and crany and boarding up entries and access in the best possible locations to ensure you have the best possible chance of fending off an attack. Safe houses are not included in this stat due to the amount of time and resources required to make a new base and the difficulty in running multiple homes)
Escape Level:
(This stat is how likely you are to succeed in an escape attempt should the defences of your base be breached by zombies. Low values represents a limited or difficult number of routes available when trying to flee. Hopefully it'll never come to it but might be worth thinking up novel ways to increase you chances of escape in low escape buildings)
Noise Levels:
(This is how much noise your gang makes. This figure is set depending on how many people are in your gang walking about and doing their normal routine. The more people in your gang the more likely a nearby zombie could hear you. However, be warned, certain player actions may cause this stat to rise, even to the point where it is impossible not to be heard. Do you really think it's a good idea to fire that gun off? Or perhaps you do, but only when outside someone elses camp)
Zombie Level:
(Although Zombies are everywhere and you might be sending people out all over town, this value only applies to the district where your main camp is located and represents the zombie level in that area. High zombie levels (Red) means tasks take longer as you constantly need to avoid higher numbers of the dead and if attacked could result in a large number of zombies attacking at once. Methods can be found to divert zombies into other districts to make your own safer. Remember that gas truck you saw the other day? Why not make use of it? Also, the higher the level of zombies the more of them you are likely to encounter and need to dispatch but also the higher the chance of attracting more unwanted attention and initiating a swarm)
Injured Crew:
(This is a written stat that will detail who is hurt and how long until they are back on their feet. For each person injured you lose one or two action slots depending on how severe the injury is, meaning you are doing less each turn. At the same time, injured people still drain your supplies so you may wish to evaluate if your longtime buddy who lost his leg would be better off dead considering he'll never again be able to help as he once did)
CHARACTERS MOVING AROUND ON THE MAP
Your base will always stay in the same place, though the ability to fortify other places may become available throughout the game. Each action slot is assumed to be roughly 8 hours long which is why each person grants two action slots, 8 hours in the monring, 8 hours in the evening and the last 8 hours of the day are assumed to be sleeping.
Therefore, the actions you choose to do will use up hours depending on what you are asking them of and this also includes traveling. When you send someone out to another district to perform a task it uses up 1 hour worth of time of that slot, plus another hour because they need to travel back. So if you send someone out to travel two districts in order to scavenge the person will only be able to spend 4 hours searching. This is because it takes 2 hours to get there safely, 4 hours to do the job you asked and 2 hours to safely return back home.
It is therefore advisable that if you plan to make regular use of certain distant area's that you spend valuable resources to secure a safe house, that while it could never afford you the same defence of your home camp it will at least allow your people to sleep safely for the night with their rations if they are unable to return in time safely or if you want them out in the field.
Please note, that Kidderminster is a big town, just because players may know which district you are in doesn't mean they know where your base or safe houses are. With so many building boarded up and silent it is hard to determine precise locations and only a high noise level could give it away.
How the Zombies work
In each district there are a certain amount of zombies, the number of which is shown using a colour code as described above under *Zombie Level*. Throughout the game zombies will meander through looking for fresh sources of food to feast upon. It is rare but possible for zombies to leave an area and thus lowering it down a level and making it safer, though it is more likely that player actions will determine any changes to Zombie numbers. When players character move through area's in order to do tasks they will automatically do what they can to avoid detection and performthe task asked of them safely. But, the higher the Zombie level the higher the chance of being heard or detected so careful consideration is needed when deciding who will do what and where they will do it. It is quite possible for a crack team to enter Red zones and accomplish their goal without incident.
Your characters will make every effort not to be detected, even if this means keeping still and quiet for several hours while they wait for a zombie to leave the area, in some cases they may kill the lone zombie to ensure they remain undetected. Where the base is concerned, the only way for Zombies to attack the main base is if something happens that the noise you create is enough to attract them to your location. Example, if you use electric drills in a green zone and you are still using them when a hoard arrives turning it into a red district and thereby dramatically increasing your risks of detection.
Likewise, some players may decide to purposely set off loud noises to either draw zombie hoards to or away from districts. The louder the noise made the more zombies hear the noise and are drawn to it. Simply setting off car alarms would be a slow but steady way to slowly drain a district until it's risk level lowers. Likewise, loud noises such as a bomb could not only draw zombies from one district but also its neighbouring ones as well.
From the map at the start of the game you will notice that the majority of the centre of town automatically starts at Red as this is where the majority of people were when they became infected. This also means that a lot of the supplies come from these area's due to the inability to scavenge them safely, making them more favourable hunting grounds.
TRYING TO LEAVE THE TOWN
The military went to great lengths to build a wall capable of surrounding the town. Guard towers and automated gun turrets surround the wall making any attempt to leave the town a fools errand, even approaching the wall will find yourself being targetted and fired upon. That and the ring of zombies attempting to asail the vertical wall from being attracted to the sound of whirling gun fire day in and day out would make approaching the area just as hazardous. In the opening weeks of being isolated within the town a man even tried to use his microlight to escape. Even from within the town centre he was targetted by a missile and shot down. The general rule of thumb is Don't try to leave the town.
NATION CREATOR
There are three parts to creating your nation. First, pick your team from the list below. Then pick the type of building you want your base to be in from the list below that. Lastly, pick a district on the map you wish your base to be located. Included is an excel file you can download, this file will alow you to quickly create a nation and change things if you're not happy with the final result. You will find it much easier to work out your stats if you use it.
Attachment Deleted
Pick your team
Mechanic:
Stats: (Att:1/Def:1/Scav:2/Tech:3/Morale:1/Noise:2) (10)
Notes: You friendly neighbourhood mechanic, bringing with him/her their own array of light tools and a dab hand at fixing and building things up faster than the average person.
Bonus: Chance to fix/repair broken items faster
Medic :
Stats: (Att:1/Def:1/Scav:1/Tech:2/Morale:3/Noise:2) (10)
Notes: Having a medical expert is always useful as well as making a positive impact on your crews morale and having a few handy tools that may prove useful.
Bonus: Chance to reduce a persons time spent in injury
Civilian:
Stats: (Att:1/Def:1/Scav:3/Tech:1/Morale:2/Noise:2) (10)
Notes: Your generic body on the ground and although having only basic skills they are handy at getting the materials you need to survive and are generally upbeat and positive.
Bonus: The amount you get from scavenging is greater when teamed with another crew member(people watching their back)
Child :
Stats: (Att:0/Def:0/Scav:6/Tech:0/Morale:0/Noise:4) (10)
Notes: Noisy, clumsy and unskilled but who would kick out a child? They might eat your food and make lots of noise but they are also great at scavenging as they can get to the places you can't and find unseen holes and access.
Bonus: Chance to raise the escape stat of the group when attacked.
Soldier :
Stats: (Att:4/Def:2/Scav:0/Tech:0/Morale:1/Noise:3) (10)
Notes: Soldiers, Police or security workers who were in the town before it was sealed and have stayed for their own reason. Well trained though their weapons are now empty from use.
Bonus: Chance to raise defence of crew due to their training.
Ex-Soldier:
Stats: (Att:3/Def:2/Scav:1/Tech:1/Morale:0/Noise:3) (10)
Notes: Picking up their weapons once again they trade strength for experience though are usually bitter people
Bonus: Chance to *lower* crew morale
Convict :
Stats: (Att:2/Def:2/Scav:1/Tech:1/Morale:2/Noise:2) (10)
Notes: Pick pockets, thieves, murders or anyone else who commited a crime. Convicts tend to be tougher, stronger and more world wise though lack good senses for finding what is needed.
Bonus: Chance of lowering detection level when moving around or commiting crime against other players.
Pick your building
Below is a list of generic building types for which a base can be safely setup. It is generally assumed that the entire building is under your control relatively speaking with access boarded up. However, for very large buildings it is assumed that although you control the building you have picked an area to contain your base and primary defences. For example, in a high rise building you would likely put your main stay defences at the main entrances due to having no means of escape on upper floors. In schools you'd pick a group of rooms to have the main defence due to the sheer quantity of entrances that cannot be fully defended. A house would have all access blocked.
Each building has two stats associated with it. An escape level stat that represents how easily you can abandon your base if the worse occurs and your defences are breached. And a Base defence stat that represents how good the defences are. Buildings with limited access usually have a high defence value but low escape stat. Each building will also have a bonus applied, so certain crew builds will suit certain buildings.
House/low level apartment block
A standard single or 4 floored building with few access locations. It is assumed that lower windows will be boarded up and doors secured. Bases will always be housed on a level above ground with easy escape routes arranged even for 4 floored buildings (i.e. a pile of matresses set up)
Escape Level:XXXXX
Base Defence:XXXXX
Bonus:Morale +2 and Access to a car with full tank of fuel at cost of raising noise by +10
High Rise Apartments
A standard 5 floored or higher apartment block with few access locations and a lift/elevator. It is assumed all doors on the base level have been boarded up to prevent access and stairwells defended. Lifts will not be functional. This is one of the most defenable locations however should the defences be breached there are no methods of escape available. Roof access is available.
Escape Level:0
Base Defence:XXXXXXXXXX
Bonus:Noise reduction -3 -XXX
Police/Fire Station
An old fashioned 2 floored building with tougher walls and barred windows to deter arson and attack. These buildings tend to have a good amount of defence at a cost of lower escape due to many windows being barred. The majority of good stuff in storage is already missing as it was used in action when the original apocalypse occurred.
Escape Level:XXXX
Base Defence:XXXXXX
Bonus:Att +1 X and def +1 X
Hospital
The town hospital, a large complex of corridors and rooms. There are so many entrances and windows that boarding them would be nigh impossible. Therefore the base would be located in a single wing with efforts made just to defend just that one area. Due to the amount of access points it is harder to defend, however equally there are several avenues to escape through.
Escape Level:XXXXXXX
Base Defence:XXX
Bonus:Injuries in the field are more easily treatable reducing injury time
Caravan Park
On the outskirts of towns you usually find caravan parks filled with static buildings. Due to the light construction of these structures, defence is nigh impossible but the park is generally in open space it makes for the most easily escapable type of building as crew can simply disappear over fences, through hedges or run rings around the caravans. Last stands can easily be made upon the roof.
Escape Level:XXXXXXXXX
Base Defence:X
Bonus:Noise +4 and Scavenging +2
Supermarket/Warehouse/factory
These types of building usually only have a single but large access point which is defendable provided you aren't facing a giant hoard. Aisles are useful for shimmying zombies down specific paths to allow them to be picked off in a running retreat, just like the old Defence Tower games like on the PC. Shame that virtually all supplies are gone after raids. The backrooms are easily defended though sadly these building are usually located in high populated area's. Going on raids is risky business from these buildings but equally they are the only type that exceeds a stat of 10 in total
Escape Level:XXX
Base Defence:XXXXXXXXX
Bonus:Permanent level of High for Zombies in this area
School
Similar to hospital, Schools are large area's with lots of corridors and rooms and a huge array of desks and chairs to make barricades. Bases usually occupy a single building in the school with the open space affording them good visability to aid defence. However recent laws has seen to having high fences throughout making escape a lot more difficult should the defences be breached.
Escape Level:XXXXX
Base Defence:XXXXX
Bonus:Tech +2
Church
Churches are fully enclosed structures that help minimise detection while at the same time granting good defence due to thick doors and high levelled windows. This does work both ways however and means escape can be difficult. And considering how God has abandoned you there is also no positive bonuses
Escape Level:XX
Base Defence:XXXXXXXX
Bonus:Morale -3
Pick your location
Green Zones = Zombies in small numbers. Largely safe to deal with potential for swarming in high noise areas.
Orange Zones = Large numbers of Zombies, care required with high chance of swarming in high noise areas.
Red Zones = Huge armies of Zombies, any high level noise will result in being overwhelmed by hoards.