GURPS: A Zombie Survival Game?

Apocalypse Anyone?

We all know the Zombie Apocalypse is just beyond the horizon. The question isn’t if the zombies will appear, it’s when and how.

Are you ready for the zombie apocalypse?

If you have found yourself needing some practical, no nonsense guidance on dealing with zombies through creating your own GURPS Zombies survival game, or simply crave anything zombie then you’ve come to the right place.

No longer will you live in fear of the undead or, conversely, be forced to hold back your excitement until the day you hear that ominous shuffling outside your house. Put your plans into action and see if you would actually be able to survive a zombie apocalypse.

Preparedness is Everything

If you haven’t realised it yet - practice makes perfect! Think about it; how many zombies have you killed up until now? How many times have you seen your best friend/mother/boyfriend suddenly turn into a flesh eating monster and chase you around the city? Never?

GURPS is a generic role-playing game system that is excellent at simulating real world conditions in any setting. A properly designed GURPS Zombies RPG will allow you to get the feel of being thrust into the zombie apocalypse without actually having to suffer the real life consequences.

So it might not exactly help you deal with the rampant death and stress of it all but being even a little prepared is much better than not being prepared at all. If you are one of those people that are relishing the idea of zombies walking among us then this might not be that much of an issue for you.

Building Your GURPS Zombies Campaign

There are two major factors you have to keep in mind when starting a GURPS Zombies game; the first one is your setting. You can set the game in any location.

If you want a truly realistic game create a setting that is based on, or very like your home or city so that you can really relate the situation to an actual zombie apocalypse.

Characters are an important part of the game. If you are starting the game off in your home don’t forget to include your family members as NPC’s and don’t overlook the possibility of them becoming infecting and becoming enemies.

You can choose to make the cause of the zombie outbreak known up front or have the characters discover it during game play. The possibilities are endless.

Don’t forget that your campaign needs a good back story because just sitting your characters in the middle of a zombie horde to fight their way out can get pretty old fast. It’s better to have them working towards a common goal like a safe house. Another important consideration is how far into this zombie outbreak the campaign starts, because the reaction and psychology of your characters will depend on how long they have been, theoretically, battling the zombies. Just keep in mind that the setting has to be realistic and the story must be compelling or your characters will fall flat.

Character Design

The second step in designing a GURPS Zombies game is the character and NPC designs.

Character design for your game is going to be a lot more difficult than the setting. Making yourself into a GURPS character will take time, especially if you want to be realistic. Some people will find it difficult to decide what their points should go into, talk about it and give each other pointers about what you think each other’s strengths and weaknesses are.

Your zombies should all be NPC characters. Please resist the urge to make them all mindless shambling dolls with no IQ points and low dexterity; it will be more interesting if you have several types of zombies in the game. Think about it this way, if Bruce Lee were zombified would be on the same level as your best friends grandmother? As for actual game characters, it’s smart to limit them to 100-130 character points. That way you can avoid getting into Super Rambo style zombie killers. The players have to keep in mind what type of person would survive in these situations and create a character that is consistent.

The End is Nigh

And you thought that GURPS was only good for your average fantasy role-playing! This GURPS zombie survival game could be the key to saving your life some day, so you should take the time to design your campaign right.

Just remember, the more realistic your game is the more prepared you will feel when the time comes. Because, all die-hard zombie fans know that this is really how the world will end.

Information based on author’s personal experience; images taken from www.sjgames.com.