This:

"Because you’re playing yourself at the end of the world, instead of a thousand-year-old elven warrior, the gear available to you is similarly restricted. As luck would have it, the apocalypse begins as you and your friends sit down to play a roleplaying game. There’s plenty of pencils and paper close at hand, but that won’t do much good against a zombie horde. Do you bring cash and hope that other survivors accept it as currency? How much battery life does your cell phone have left? A butcher knife from the kitchen might be the best weapon you can find at short notice."

What if, like me and mine, you are utterly not described by the above? The paltry best any group of my friends could do on short notice (as in roughly 10-30 seconds) is a FN-FAL, Sig 232, Sig 226, a Winchester 1300, a Remington 870, an M1 Garand, etc...

Not all nerds are helpless folks. Do we get all the above for free at character creation while other folks are frantically looking for steak knives and fyring pans?

Bring it, zombies.

Yeah, I'd go to work and get an MRAP!

What if, like me and mine, you are utterly not described by the above? The paltry best any group of my friends could do on short notice (as in roughly 10-30 seconds) is a FN-FAL, Sig 232, Sig 226, a Winchester 1300, a Remington 870, an M1 Garand, etc...

Not all nerds are helpless folks. Do we get all the above for free at character creation while other folks are frantically looking for steak knives and fyring pans?

Bring it, zombies.

You have fun and hope you can hold out against the human looters that heard someone has actual firearms so they try and storm the place? No one said "nerds" are all helpless, but not a lot of people have immediate access to firearms.

Could easily reach a point of military police have decided that they're going house to house demanding firearms for a full on living dead resistance, what does your group do? Hand them over or try and hide a few as a last ditch? What if someone snitches?

Right, I understand real world survival situations and potential threats believe me. What I'm pointing out is that the description SPECIFICALLY states how the game starts and then describes the situation from the assumption that the best any nerd playing an RPG can muster is a kitchen knife. That premise is critically and, for us, somewhat hillariously flawed.

So don't play under that premise. I really don't see the problem here. They can't include every scenario, so they go with a stereotypical description. I mean stereotyping is bad sure, but it's there because people can relate to it on some way. Counting ammo will be fun though, just think of when you're down to that last clip on all the times you wasted, or someone else even, a shot.

I took all that as suggestions - if you have lots of guns nearby then play it that way, it's your game

Personally I'm looking forward to taping some scissors to a stick like in The Last of Us.

@ Navajas

FN-FAL? Sweet! As a Belgian, I approve!

Altough i really wish i had an AA-12 Full auto shotguns are awesome.

@ Navajas

FN-FAL? Sweet! As a Belgian, I approve!

Altough i really wish i had an AA-12 Full auto shotguns are awesome.

Yeah, Belgium makes great baked goods and guns. Decent beer too I suppose.

The FAL is my best friend's, not mine. It's pretty sweet. He's 100% French and claims it as his heritage. When I point out it's Belgian, not French, he says "France makes crap guns, so, this is close enough for me." Haha. My brother has a SPAS-12. Not full auto but I think that's gratuitous for a shotgun anyway. Unless you're a cyborg or something I guess.

@Doctor: Right, I get that, but I'm talking about systems and game mechanics. If this was just a setting it'd be no big deal, but it seems mechanics and balance are at issue here. Not only are we all armed, we're all more than competent shots. If the first few introductory adventures are based on hapless unarmed bystanders that won't work for us. It's a cool idea, I'm only hoping it's agile and deep enough to really account for its "You are who you are" aspirations. We're not the only armed nerds in the world, and, there isn't a nerdherd as armed as we are who haven't sat around many a late night talking zombies apocalypse. Don't forget our demographic!

Decent beer? who are you, a german? we make great bear. And Gin to.

Ahahhahaa lol, yeah Herstal is in the french speaking part of Belgium so its close enough to France.

If you are worried about balance issues you could start the game somwhere away from your guns (I asume you don't usaly take your FN with you to work or school) and try to get back home to gear up. Or the Gm could throw in a military unit who doesn't want gangs of armed civilians wandering around the place.

NRA: Nerds and Rifle Association

Decent beer? who are you, a german? we make great bear. And Gin to.

Ahahhahaa lol, yeah Herstal is in the french speaking part of Belgium so its close enough to France.

If you are worried about balance issues you could start the game somwhere away from your guns (I asume you don't usaly take your FN with you to work or school) and try to get back home to gear up. Or the Gm could throw in a military unit who doesn't want gangs of armed civilians wandering around the place.

NRA: Nerds and Rifle Association

Honestly, I think the best beer in the world comes from the US. I'm about as far from a nationalist as someone can get, so understand that's a critical assessment, not rah rah USA. Always fun to poke Belgian's about their beer though, sure to get a rise. And for the record, German beer sucks.

No, no FAL's or M1s at work. We were talking that we'd probably start the game at a restaurant or something, so CC pistols only. Then there's the fight and flight back home.

God **** I love zombies.

To each his own and every country hould be proud of it's own produce. And you're right, trolling beligians about beer will always work (especialy if you say the dutch have better beer, but this will usually get you laughed at.) But we got some stuff brewed in our monastaries that will get you nice and hammerd from one glass, rather than having to down an entire sixpack.

There is a Monty python sketch from Live at the hollywood bowl: in wich they compare american beer to "making love in a canoo". ie it's "f*cking close to water"

Ze germans have atleast the quantity of beer right. Go big or gome, right? and they go big.

You love zombies? Necrophiliac! But yeah i get what you mean and i agree! I got tons of zombie movies and boardgames at home, can't wait to add some more rpg's aswell.

You got guns? You get guns.

You got replica ancient weaponry? Good luck with that.

There will probably be a blurb that says "If you actually have a stockpile of major weaponry, then koodos to you! You start with military grade weaponry!" For example, one of my friends knows a family (ironically named the Payne family) that actually has a whole stockpile of weapons. Not a metaphorical stockpile; a literal militia stockpile for when the day comes we of the state of Idaho need to protect ourselves. My game plan would be; get to their house, get the guns, shoot the zombies.

Of course, this will never be necessary since that friend of mine hates zombies, meaning he'll never be playing, and I'll never be able to convince my pals that it's true. Plus I'm always the GM. Plus I'd die in two seconds.

I suck at this.

Bare in mind that having a ton of weapons and ammo dose you no good if your on the move. Army Rangers can haul 100+ pounds of gear for 18 hours a day but that is the exception not the rule. Surviving on the move means only taking what you need and in the event of a steamrolling horde of zombies, no hold the line scenario works.

Something to consider before your group starts breaking out the imaginary arsenal

There is a Monty python sketch from Live at the hollywood bowl: in wich they compare american beer to "making love in a canoo". ie it's "f*cking close to water"

Any Monty Python sketch would have been from the days when US beer was confined to three or four corporate mega breweries and did, in fact, suck. When I say US beer is the best in the world it's because (well regionally in the PNW anyway) we have a massive craft brewery industry. Seriosuly, our beer is amazing. Of course I'm comparing it to European imports which might suck as bad as our US exports, so.... <shrug>

@Korr: Yep. Ammo is heavy and the Army Rangers famously carry way too much weight.

This:

Not all nerds are helpless folks.

I wouldn't consider my group helpless in the least and there is not a gun between the 6 of us...

This:

"Because you’re playing yourself at the end of the world, instead of a thousand-year-old elven warrior, the gear available to you is similarly restricted. As luck would have it, the apocalypse begins as you and your friends sit down to play a roleplaying game. There’s plenty of pencils and paper close at hand, but that won’t do much good against a zombie horde. Do you bring cash and hope that other survivors accept it as currency? How much battery life does your cell phone have left? A butcher knife from the kitchen might be the best weapon you can find at short notice."

What if, like me and mine, you are utterly not described by the above? The paltry best any group of my friends could do on short notice (as in roughly 10-30 seconds) is a FN-FAL, Sig 232, Sig 226, a Winchester 1300, a Remington 870, an M1 Garand, etc...

Not all nerds are helpless folks. Do we get all the above for free at character creation while other folks are frantically looking for steak knives and fyring pans?

Bring it, zombies.

And why do you have all those weapons? I mean, there is no immediate threat around you is there? Do you live in a warzone or something like that?

I don't see why having lots of guns at the beginning would be a problem for the mechanics, it's just something for the GM to deal with. Add more zombies, for example, or make nearby people jealous of your stash and hostile; it's nothing unfixable.

Also - all beer is rubbish; cider's where it's at.

Snakebite FTW

Heck even in a gun shy country like the Netherlands, where I live, I am well aware where I could find weapons. There are gun clubs and police stations, depots, etc. I know people that have weapons and I thik the journey to go get those guns might be a great start off point for an adventure!

And why do you have all those weapons? I mean, there is no immediate threat around you is there? Do you live in a warzone or something like that?

Because he's possibly a gun enthusiast?

And why do you have all those weapons? I mean, there is no immediate threat around you is there? Do you live in a warzone or something like that?

In case of a unannounced zombie apocalypse, of course. Also, looters, widespread disorder, sudden revolution or impromptu counter-revolution, self-defence.

Really, if you have the opportunity and the chance, why wouldn't you have a weapons storage, a panic room, your own water purifier, generator, food and fallout shelter?

And for the record, German beer sucks

Your first scenario will now include Wehrmacht zombies driving a Leopard II.

How did they get to the USA you might ask?

German beer is magic .

That is precisely why I think this game works best as a surprise.

You may own an FN-FAL and a Remington 870, but you probably don't have them with you on game night. If it's not on you or in your car, it's not starting equipment.

However, since you know where it is, you've just given yourself an optional campaign objective.

There seems to be an element of disbelief here from people who live in countries were there aren't many guns, with people saying "even in x you can still find guns easily enough". /You/ might be able to, but I think that's probably atypical. I think I know about one person who might own a hunting rifle, and they don't live close. There sure as heck aren't enough guns in the UK for everybody to have one, not by a long shot. I also have no idea if the local police station would contain a gun, and if it did I doubt it'd be easy to get at.

I think we need to face facts - for a lot of people this is gonna be a gun-free game. Which is fine by me.

That is precisely why I think this game works best as a surprise.

You may own an FN-FAL and a Remington 870, but you probably don't have them with you on game night. If it's not on you or in your car, it's not starting equipment.

However, since you know where it is, you've just given yourself an optional campaign objective.

Good points there, but a lot will depend on where your gaming group meets. Mine meets at the various members houses (on a rotating basis) so depending on which house it could go from being well armed to very lightly armed.