Survive the Walking Dead (Civ Quest)

[Inkbones]

Doing this because writing is better than not writing. I don't expect this quest to survive for very long. So, without further ado:


As you may know, the world has gone to hell.

People don't die anymore, they just...come back.

Society's collapsed, the cities are overrun, almost everyone you know is dead, and it seems like the only people left are marauding killers.

This is a world where everything seems determined to kill you, you've only survived this far because-

Starting Perk(choose one):

[ ] -you've been lucky. You shouldn't be alive, but more than one coincidence spared you, even as others died. [If you take this, do not take a Malus]

[ ] -you've been protected. You found a safe place, well stocked, safe from the dead, and so far the living haven't bothered you. You're running out of supplies though, you'll probably need to start scavenging soon. [Gain 1 Weeks worth of food, defensible shelter]

[ ] -you're prepared. You saw this coming, it was only a matter of time before society fell. The undead were a bit of a surprise, but you've persevered. You know how to survive, and how to protect yourself. [+50 to scavenging and medicine rolls, one extra starting equipment]

[ ] -you're not alone. You have a partner, someone you trust. Sure, they're a bit of a handful, but you've saved each other too many times to care about that. [Gain companion. See Addendum concerning votes.]

[ ] -you're willing to do what it takes. You've gone through too much shit to be squeamish or remorseful. If someone is a threat to you and yours, you will not hesitate to kill them. You don't go looking for trouble, but you're more than capable of causing it if need be. [+20 to combat, +40 to initiative rolls]


But even with that, it hasn't been easy. Unfortunately, on top of the undead hoard, you also have to deal with-

Starting Malus(Choose one):

[ ] -missing a god-damn arm. You won't go into how you lost it, let's just say it hurt. You can still fight, and everything else, its just that much harder. [-30 to combat, -10 to physical rolls]

[ ] -a kid. You've got a kid with you, a real brat. They're helpful sometimes, but if you're honest you still have to put a lot of effort into keeping them alive. Damned if you'll let them die, though. [Gain a ten-year-old companion. They will require as much time and attention as you would expect]

[ ] -anger issues. Let's just say you don't suffer fools lightly, and if other people are doing something stupid you have a tendency to explode on them. [-10 on social rolls, -30 to bond with people you disagree with]

[ ] -an enemy. You've pissed someone off, someone willing to hunt you down and make you regret it. You've managed to give them the slip, but it's only a manner of time until they find you again. [Gain an enemy. They will make an action once every turn. You will see their roll, but not what they did with it]

[ ] ...well, that would be telling, wouldn't it? [Sign the QM a blank check. Something is wrong, and you don't know what it is. Take an extra Perk]


Well, at least you're not empty-handed. Before everything went to hell, you managed to grab-

Starting Equipment(choose three):

[ ] A pistol (20 bullets)

[ ] A revolver (50 bullets, one round to reload)

[ ] An Automatic Rifle (50 bullets, fires 10/round)

[ ] A Shotgun (20 shells, 1 round to fire, +50 to hit in close range)

[ ] A Crossbow (5 arrows)

[ ] Sniper Rifle(20 bullets, with scope)

[ ] A Sword

[ ] A Boar Spear

[ ] A Knife

[ ] A Baseball Bat

[ ] A Helmet

[ ] A Leather Jacket

[ ] A Bullet-Proof Vest

[ ] A Map & Compass

[ ] A Car

[ ] Three Walkie Talkies

[ ] A Medical Kit

You can only hope it'll be enough. You might find more on the way, of course, but that just opens up more questions. Where are you, and where are you going?

Starting Location:

[ ] A city (Many more undead, but also more resources to scavenge)

[ ] The woods (Less dead, less food, more people)

[ ] The coast (medium undead, plenty of food, medium amount of people)

[ ] Frozen wilderness (much less food, dead are slower, harder to survive climate)

[ ] Desert (much less food, much less dead, harder to survive climate)


Starting Objective:

[ ] Bunker: find a place to settle, survive there for as long as you can.

[ ] Exodus: you have an place you're trying to reach, you can't afford to stay in one place for very long.

[ ] Stronger Together: you need more people if you're going to survive. You're going to find a group, or create one.

[ ] Me & Mine: you were with someone, for a time, but you got separated. You'll do whatever it takes to find them again, assuming they're still alive.


[ ] The New Age: civilization fell, but humanity did not. Nothing was lost that cannot be found again. Death itself may have turned traitor, but that shall not be the end. You will not let it be the end. From the ashes of the old world you will build a new one, an empire that will stand against any foe, even it's own dead. [This becomes a Civ Quest] Please pick this one.

 

[Inkbones]

Spoiler: Winning Plan

[X] Plan Family Trip Gone Wrong
-[X] -you're not alone. You have a partner, someone you trust. Sure, they're a bit of a handful, but you've saved each other too many times to care about that. [Gain companion]
-[X] -a kid. You've got a kid with you, a real brat. They're helpful sometimes, but if you're honest you still have to put a lot of effort into keeping them alive. Damned if you'll let them die, though. [Gain a ten-year-old companion. They will require as much time and attention as you would expect]
-[X] A Map & Compass
-[X] A Boar Spear
-[X] Three Walkie Talkies
-[X] The coast (medium undead, plenty of food, medium amount of people)
-[X] The New Age: civilization fell, but humanity did not. Nothing was lost that cannot be found again. Death itself may have turned traitor, but that shall not be the end. You will not let it be the end. From the ashes of the old world you will build a new one, an empire that will stand against any foe, even it's own dead. [This becomes a Civ Quest]

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You awake to a feeling of suffocation, as if a horrible weight is crushing your chest. You jerk awake, taking in the sight of two hazelnut eyes held mere centimeters from your own. Ah. Turns out that there is a horrible weight squatting on your chest, and her name is Sophie.

You turn over on the sofa, depositing your daughter onto the floor. Amid shrieks of laughter you sit up to glare at your husband, who sits there grinning like the unrepentant jackass he is.

"I thought you'd prefer being woken up by your daughter's beautiful face, instead of me." he says as Sophie runs out of the room. You feel a spike of panic as she leaves, before remembering that you've already scouted out the house(and dealt with what remains of the occupants).

"Theo," you say in the most acidly sweet voice you can muster "soon, you won't know when, but soon, I'm going to leave a very special present in one of your boots for you to find in the morning."

He has the nerve to actually laugh at that, the bastard. A sunbeam hits the side of his jaw as his head tilts back, and for a moment he looks so beautiful you want to punch him through a wall.

"Come on Alex, you should have seen her. She put so much effort into not waking you up, I didn't have the heart to stop her."

"Fu-udge you Theo." You say as you sit up. Three years since the adoption and you still barely catch yourself swearing. "I felt like I couldn't breath. I had a nightmare about it."

Like a light-switch, he goes from jovial to concerned. "Was it about the basement?" He immediately comes and sits beside you on the sofa as you shudder.

Three months, since it happened. Still makes you chest feel tight. The military had bombed the hospital you worked at, some desperate attempt to contain the outbreak. You'd been crushed under the rubble, in the dark. The only sound the dry rasping that they make as they hobble towards their prey. You've never been as close to dying as you'd been that day, but you got yourself out of it.

You pull yourself out of those dark memories, shaking your head.

"No, it wasn't that. It was my old nightmare about drowning at sea, you know the one. I haven't had a nightmare about the basement in months, Theo."

He pulls you into a hug anyway, the supportive jerk. You're still mad at him, damnit. Now is not the time to remind you why you married him.

[Alex-Theo-Sophie social bond= Lv. 10(Max.)]

You eventually push away, wiping your eyes.

"C'mon," you say, getting up "let's go do the morning chores."

The sun lances your eyes as you walk outside. Must be late morning, at least. You stand on the porch blinking for a few seconds.

Finding a remote beach-side house was a lovely change of luck. Its not exactly defensible, but it was nice to sleep in something resembling a bed for the night. Looks like the lights in the windows have attracted some attention.

Spoiler: Dead Roll

3d6= 6,3,1
1 Success
1d4=2

Looks like there's just two of them today. Thank goodness there isn't a herd, you hate dealing with those in the morning.

Spoiler: Round One

Z1=Hex 1
Alex=Hex 1
Theo=Hex 1
Z2=Hex 2

Theo Strength roll(3d6)= 1, 5, 5 Success
Alex Agility roll(2d6)= 6,6 Crit!
Alex +1 Bonus action

Z1=dead
Z2 moves to Hex 1

Alex Agility roll(2d6)= 4,6 Success

Z2=dead*

Theo, of course, sticks the closest one through the chest with the boar spear(I got it from a weird uncle, don't ask). A zombie will push themselves along a spear if it means getting closer to you, but the little cross guard at the end meant it was pretty much stuck waving its arms at him.

Anyway, I slice through the thing's head as Theo holds it there, then go and dealt with the other one for good measure. We've been doing this song and dance for months, so we've gotten pretty good at it, all things considered.

I wipe the machete clean with my handkerchief as I step inside. It looks like Sopie had been watching at the window. She's trembling a little.

I reach down and put my hand on her shoulder.

"You alright, sweetie?"

After a second, she nods.

"I know you don't like it when me and Theo fight the bad things, but we need to do it to protect all of us."

"I know, dad." finally, some good old-fashioned eye-rolling. You know you're being a good parent when your kid is constantly embarrassed by you.

"You still have your knife, right?"

She begrudgingly takes out the switchblade.

"And you're not supposed to use it unless-" you recite for the umpteenth time.

"Unless running isn't an option." she finishes for you, putting the weapon back in her pocket. "How come you and Theo can fight the monsters, but I can't?"

Because you are not raising a child soldier, that's why.

"Because you're not old enough yet. Ask me again in a year." and you'll get the same answer 'till you're at least 18. "Now, I believe there's another comic book in my backpack. Why don't you go check for me?"

That gets a smile, and more importantly gets her out of the room. You turn around to face Theo, who looks decidedly nonplussed.

"We can't stay here Alex."

"Well, of course not. Not indefinitely. We'd have to set up a fence, find a supply of ammunition-"

"No. Let me put it this way: We. Aren't. Staying here. There were just two dead today, Al. What about tomorrow, when there's thirty? What if we get found by another gang, like those bikers?

You wince and rub your shoulder. Still have a burn there from when one of those assholes put out his cigarette on it.

"We'd have to deal with problems wherever we go, Theo."

"Why? The whole plan was to get a boat and find an island. No dead, no marauders. We could give Sophie something resembling an actual childhood."

"The more I think about the island idea, the less sense it makes. We'd have to farm our own food, for starters. Do you know anything about farming? Cause I don't. But I do know that we'd need-" you start counting off on my fingers "soil, fertilizer, seeds, an irrigation system, and who knows what else. We'd still have to grab all that stuff, which won't be easy, and bring it with us on the boat. And we'd still have to go back to the mainland from time to time."

Theo is a tall S.O.B., if you hadn't made that clear. When he gets mad, he can be damn terrifying.

"Alex-" unfortunately, you're too engrossed in your argument to listen.

"What if one us gets sick, we'll need medical supplies. We're running our of epipens, and there's a chance Sophie'll eat something with peanuts-"

"Alex!" Theo almost(almost) shouts, grabbing your shoulders and forcing you to meet his eyes. "I'm scared about Sophie too. But let's not pretend that's what this is really about. I know you have this fantasy about becoming god-emperor of mankind, or something like that, but it isn't happening. The world ended. It's never going to be like it was. You have to accept that you aren't going to personally rebuild civilization."

God, he makes you so angry sometimes.

"Theo, it isn't like that. You're right, Sophie deserves a childhood. And she deserves to grow up into a world worth living in. We can't just hide in a hole somewhere and hide from the world, we have to do something. Everything I do, I do for her. And besides, do I really look like a 40K fan to you?"

He snorts, despite himself, surrendering your shoulders.

"Look," he said as he grabs the spear and moves past you further into the house. "whatever we do, we need to decide now. I still think we should shoot for the island, but if you really want to stay here...I guess I could get behind that as well."

Well, he's right. Time to make your choice.

[ ] Stay here: the house is completely out in the open, but it's raised off the ground enough to protect against the undead. Sophie seems to like it here.[Gain Territory: beach house. House Layout]

[ ] Keep going: you can see a city in the distance, with a port. You can probably find a boat there. Your map includes the location of nearby islands.

[ ] Write in

*Combat rules will be explained in a later post, consider this a tutorial.

 

[Inkbones]

Character Sheets​

Alex

Stats:​

Strength: +​

Perception: +​

Endurance: + ​

Charisma: + +​

Intelligence: + +​

Agility: + +​

Finesse: + + ​

Social:​

Theo: 10(Max.)​

Sophie: 10(Max.)​

​

Theo

Stats: ​

Strength: + + +​

Perception: + ​

Endurance: + +​

Charisma: + ​

Intelligence: + ​

Agility: + ​

Finesse: + +​

Social:​

Alex: 10(Max.)​

Sophie: 10(Max.)​

​

Sophie

Stats:​

​

Strength: + (-1)​

Perception: + +​

Endurance: + (-1)​

Charisma: + ​

Intelligence: + ​

Agility: + +​

Finesse: +​

Social:​

Alex: 10(Max.)​

Theo: 10(Max.)​

​

​

Miscellaneous ​

Gear:

​

Map & Compass​

Three Walkie Talkies ​

Boar Spear(Theo): Can attack in melee or any adjacent hex. Agility check to kill zombie, strength check to hold them in place. ​

Machete(Alex)​

Stiletto Knife(Sophie)​

Food (12 portions)(12/3=4 day's worth)​

 

[Inkbones]

Stats​

The basic rules for stats are an unholy amalgamation of the Fallout SPECIAL system and the Action ratings from Blades in the Dark. I will probably end up revising them if/when they start to get too clunky for the story.

When a character makes an action, I roll a number of d6s equal to their Action Rating, which is the number of plus symbols by their stat. Each die that lands on a four or higher is a success. Some extremely difficult challenges require several successes, but for the most part you just need one. If multiple sixes are rolled, it's a crit. Every stat starts at one, because you can attempt to do something, even if you're not good at it.

Hexes
​

A hex is a basic unit of distance. We'll mostly be using it to show how close a hoard of z-words is. A zombie that's sighted prey moves at one hex a round. A walking human is two hexes, a running human does three, and a limping human is one. An unaware zombie moves one hex every three rounds.



Feel free to ask questions if I haven't been clear.

 

[Inkbones]

Winning Plan: [X] Stay here: the house is completely out in the open, but it's raised off the ground enough to protect against the undead. Sophie seems to like it here.[Gain Territory: beach house. House Layout]

I know it's been a while, but in my defense its also been finals week.
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Sophie, of course, squeals when you tell her we're staying here. As you return her hug, you try to convince yourself that this is the right choice. You're still not sure.

Theo was right. Kind of. When the world fell, the only thing that kept you going was your certainty that someone would rebuild. As the months passed, and every settlement the three of you came across was burned or overrun, you'd resolved that you would be that someone. You will build Sophie a world she could grow up in, even if you have to tear down everything else.

But, for the moment, a nice house would do.

A very nice house, really. Right next to the water, built on stilts for when the tide comes up. Marble counter-tops, varnished furniture, the works. The bathroom alone looks like it costs more than our original apartment.

It's got a lot of problems though, foremost being the refrigerator, which you can smell from the family room even though none of you have opened it yet. Three months worth of rotting food that have to be disposed of. Then there's the three bodies of the former inhabitants(they were dead when we arrived, if not "dealt with") that we piled in the screen porch, and the two outside that you and Theo just dispatched. We'll have to figure out a way to get rid of those, and you doubt that they'll be the last.

A less stinky but more pressing problem is that of defense. We've broken the lock on the back door, and there are a lot of windows. We could be in a lot of trouble if a big herd of dead arrive, or humans.

Then, of course, there's the house. You've only slept here one night, and ya'll didn't really search the place very thoroughly. There probably isn't any food left, but you could still find something useful.

As for food, you're okay for the moment but you've only got enough to last a few days. You're gonna need to do something about that.

Finally there's this crazy idea you had to build a fishing pier. The benefits of this idea were obvious: access to a stable food source without having to worry about surprises reaching up from the depths(and isn't that an image worthy of nightmares). The downsides were if anything more obvious: you have never worked with wood in your life(not that your dad hadn't tried.) You'd been a physical therapist before the fall, Theo had been a customer service rep (he likes to joke the apocalypse was an improvement).

At the end of the day, there are only three of you, and you're sure as heck not tasking Sophie with anything strenuous.

Assign Morning Tasks(Available Workers: You, Theo, Sophie)(Sophie isn't old enough to do a job by herself, but she can help someone else)[1 person completes 1 Job in three hours]

[ ] Muck out the refrigerator [1 Job]

[ ] Deal with the 5 bodies [2 jobs]

[ ] Burn them ​

[ ] Throw them into the sea​

[ ] Write-in​

​

[ ] Make the house more defensible [2 jobs]

[ ] Nail planks over the windows​

[ ] Move furniture in front of the back door​

[ ] Write-in​

[ ] Search the house[increase chance of finding something for every worker you assign]


[ ] Try to fish for food [1 Job]

[ ] Start Working on Fishing Pier [7 Jobs]
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After, we sat down for lunch. Cold beans and corn, truly the food of the gods.

[11 Portions remaining]

As we ate, Sophie showed us her latest drawing. It's a rather charming picture of the house, if you ignore the black bodies she carefully drew in front of it. Yeah, the apocalypse ain't the best place to raise kids. You just...god you don't know what to do about that. Try to raise her best we can, like any parents you guess.

Our meal was rather rudely interrupted by the sound of gunshot from outside.

Spoiler: Dead Roll

3d6= 3, 5, 4
2 Successes
1d8=7

Spoiler: Intiative

Alex(Agility)(2d6)= 5, 3
Theo(Agility)(1d6)= 2
???(Agility)(2d6)= 1,4
Dead auto-fail

Initiative Order: Alex, ???, Theo, Dead

You grabbed your machete and ran out the door as you heard another gunshot, Theo right behind you. There was a man on the beach, a ways away from us. You couldn't make out much aside that he was wearing a leather jacket and had a gun in one hand. He was surrounded by a small hoard of zombies, obviously trying to fight them off.

You cursed under your breath. Gunfire would attract more of them, and you were already uncertain about fighting seven of those things. Not to mention jacket guy was an unknown entity.

You and Theo share a look. You didn't want to leave a man to die, but sometimes you have to do evil things to survive.

[ ] Save Him: run in and help him fight off the dead. Always a risk.

[ ] Let him die: He'll pick off a few of them before he falls, and then you and Theo can deal with the rest. Significantly less risk.

Whatever you did, you needed to decide quickly.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Voting Reminder:

• Morning Tasks
• Save or Die

 

[Inkbones]

Spoiler: Winning Vote

[x] Deal with the 5 bodies [2 jobs]
-[x] Burn them
[x] Make the house more defensible [2 jobs]
-[x] Nail planks over the windows

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------

You and Alex agree non-verbally that you don't want Sophie anywhere near the corpses, which is why she helps you make the house more defensible while he deals with them.

You'd felt a little sheepish when Sophie pointed out that we didn't have any planks for the windows, but you got the idea to pull up planks and nails from the back steps. This way undead can't really get up them, but we still can if we're careful about it.

Spoiler: Theo Rolls

Theo(Strength)(3d6)=6,1,2
Theo(Endurance)(2d6)=1,4

A little while later, Theo staggered in and practically fell onto the couch. He was breathing heavily, and his head and face were covered in sweat. Turns out that even twice-dead human bodies are really heavy, especially on a hot day like this. Theo has a bad habit of pushing himself past his limits and not asking for help. I guess we should be thankful that he didn't pass out like last time.

End of Day Results: 5 corpses burned, windows boarded up, planks removed from back stairs(stairs now require and agility roll to climb in combat). Due to doing the work of 2 people, Theo is winded(-1 to strength, endurance, and agility checks) until end of day.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

Spoiler: Winning Vote

[X] Save Him: run in and help him fight off the dead. Always a risk.

Yeah, no. If nothing else, we need more people if this settlement idea is going to work. We'll have to hope he isn't a monster.

Spoiler: Map

--------------4A
H1-H2-H3-H4-H5
--------------4Z

Spoiler: Round One

Initiative Order: Alex, ???, Theo, Dead

Alex, Theo=H1
???=H4
D1,D2,=H4
D3=H3
D4,D5,D6=H5
D7=4Z

Alex moves to H4
Alex(Agility)(2d6)= 1,5 Success
D3=eliminated

???(Finnesse)(3d6)(Req.2)= 3, 5, 6 Success
D1=Eliminated
D2=Eliminated

Theo moves to H4
Theo(Strength)(3d6-1)= 2-1, 3-1, 4-1= 1 , 2, 3 Failure

D7 moves to H4
D4,D5,D6,D7 move to H4

The stranger is surrounded on three sides with only the beach behind him, with two of them grabbing his arms, although it looks like they can't bite though his leather...trench coat? Seriously, in this heat? Okay, not important.

I run up to the new guy, decapitating one of them as I go past it. As I run up to him, he drops two old-fashioned flintlock pistols(?) winks at me from under the brim of his tricorn hat (??) and makes a motion with his hands that cause two blades to jut out of his sleeves(???!). With a cinematic sweeping flourish, he spins around and neatly slices the heads of the two zombies closest to him.

Before I have time to process how ridiculous that was, Theo comes up behind me and tries to spear the zombie closest to me. But just manages to cut a chunk out its torso, which of course it barely notices. I can tell he's still worn out from this morning, his hands are shaking as they grip the spear. Hopefully that won't kill us.

The three of us put our backs together and form a circle as the remaining corpses close in.

Spoiler: Round Two

Initiative Order: Alex, ???, Theo, Dead
Alex, Theo, ???=H4
D4,D5,D6,D7=H4

Alex(Agility)(2d6)=3,2 Failure

???(Finesse)(3d6)= 6,3,1 Success
D4=Eliminated

Theo(Strength)(3d6-1)= 6-1, 5-1, 4-1= 5,4,3 Success
D5=Held

D6(1d3=2) attacks ???
D6(Strength)(1d6)= 5 Success
D6(Agility)(1d6-1)= 3 -1= 2 Failure
??? is prone. D6 is prone.

D7(1d3=2) attacks Theo
D7(Strength)(1d6)= 5 Success
D7(Agility)(1d6)= 1 Failure
Theo is prone. D7 is prone. D5 no longer held.

I utterly fail to kill the one closest to me, but tricorn guy just shanks it through the eye without looking, before getting knocked over by the one behind him. Theo is so busy keeping the one he catches on his boar spear at arms length that he gets tackled as well. Fuck, we might not survive this.

Spoiler: Round Three

Initiative Order: Alex, ???, Theo, Dead

Alex-Theo bond=lv. 10

Alex attacks D7
Alex(Agility)(2d6)= 6,6 Crit!
D7= very eliminated
Theo no longer prone
Alex has gained a trait!*

???(Strength)(2d6)= 2,6 Success
??? no longer prone.
??? attacks D6(prone). Auto-success.
D6 eliminated

Theo was on the ground, barely keeping the thing at arms length. You could hear its teeth snapping as it tried to bite him.

You swear you saw red for a second. Theo would later say that you were screaming like a banshee, although you don't remember that. What you do remember is jumping on top of the thing, slicing your machete through the back of its head, twisting until the head snapped off its neck, then throwing it into the ocean.

Theo got up, pushing the headless corpse off of him and looking at you with a mixture of fear and respect, as well as *ahem* other emotions.

As you two give each other bedroom eyes, tricorn guy dispatches the last body. You take a moment to survey the beach. There are tons of bodies everywhere, you're even starting to attract some seagulls. God, this'll take even more work to clean up.

The new guy sheathes his sleeve blades(no, seriously, what the hell) and turns to both of you with a smile.

"Well met, fellow warriors. You have my deep and heartfelt gratitude for your assistance in repelling those Shades. How might I repay your generosity and kindness in a matter equal to your valiance?"

He spoke like a bad Shakespeare play, with an accent that was obviously southern but trying to be British. Now that I noticed, he was wearing what looked like armor under his coat, with a bandoleer of cartoonishly large bullets and a belt covered in little pouches. In short he was dressed like a LARPer, except he actually talked and moved with the part.

We are not the presence of a sane man. You and Theo share another look. How are we going to deal with this guy?

[ ] Decline: the last thing we need is an unhinged maniac in our group.

[ ] What do you say?​

[ ] Question him: what do you ask?

[ ] Invite him to join the group. This is what you want after all, right?

[ ] What do you say?​

​

[ ] Write-in

Spoiler: Alex has gained a trait

Hands off my husband: Alex gains +1 to all rolls when saving Theo from immediate danger