Have to say game concept definitely has me interested but I did have an amusing thought.

What happens if you are the only player to die during a game half way through, it's not like you can roll a new character since it's well... um..... you?

Maybe aliens decide to clone you from your remains for some unknown purpose or you could play someone you know?

Maybe everyone just gives you the nickname Baromir and everyone laughs.

Not a serious topic, just the musings of my rambling mind.

You make a new character, doesn't have to be you, or you get permission to take a defect of some impacting value and keep going? That zombie bit you sure, but you chopped off your hand in time, just make sure you don't get a normal infection. You aren't dead from that cthulian monster, but you're quite crazy gibbering about a prophecy of some sort. Robots are easy, they tried to assimilate you, or you were too damaged, now you're part cyborg. Make sure to hide it.

Or you die, you see a bright light and when you open your eyes you wake up in a nearby church. What happened? can you meet up with your friends? How will they react? Did you get resurected? what's going on? - Your GM may have the answers...

Or take the AFMBE route and play as a zombie. actually i'd like to give that a try.

While there are certainly interesting things you can do, I wonder how it'll be resolved, rules-wise, or what the game will suggest.

Because it is potentially a pretty big issue. While it's certainly cinematic to see someone somehow survive (I should know; WH40kRP pulls this off majestically, with the GM being able to completely free-form narrate something utterly devastating or amazing to resolve the situation) it would get old very quick, if players know that there's no viable way for them to die a permanent death, and it would be equally terrible if someone would be knocked out of the game and well, that game was over.

This isn't too uncommon in RP:s, with players not having ready backup characters when they die, and they'll just have to sit a session out, maybe due to being mortally wounded, and so on. But unless this is dealt with adequately, this might kick someone out of a game permanently.

Of course that won't happen in the real world, a GM and players would work something out, but how will the rulebook deal with it?

I'm with FGDSFG on this.

There are certainly plenty of interesting ways to keep someone alive but when the whole idea is to see how you would fare in an apocalypse it kind of defeats the point. On the other hand if you are not miraculously saved, then you pretty much miss the rest of the game.

Even the standard saves might be hard to implement though. Sure cutting off the bitten limb quickly might stop the zombie virus from taking hold but it might be hard to do when I am running around flailing wildly whilst screaming and crying like a little girl. After all I'm a public service accountant who likes to role-play, we're not exactly known for being hardcore.

Be interesting to see if some players take it personally too since it's actually them being killed, especially if it is a very "creative" death.

It also has the potential to be quite dark considering pretty much everyone you know will probably be killed off in the initial attack/infection etc. Imagine the GM describing you running home to find your wife lying in a pool of her own gore, your young son, flesh hanging loosely from his mutilated face, gleefully devouring her entrails the look of horror etched permanently on her cold, dead features.

Considering you are dealing with real people who actually matter to the person in real life it might be enough for a player to take a swing at the GM if it's not handled delicately enough.

It also has the potential to be quite dark considering pretty much everyone you know will probably be killed off in the initial attack/infection etc. Imagine the GM describing you running home to find your wife lying in a pool of her own gore, your young son, flesh hanging loosely from his mutilated face, gleefully devouring her entrails the look of horror etched permanently on her cold, dead features.

Considering you are dealing with real people who actually matter to the person in real life it might be enough for a player to take a swing at the GM if it's not handled delicately enough.

Yeah, I'm going to specifically ask the married people in my group, especially with children, how they want their spouse and offspring handled. You defintely don't want to cross that line without asking.

So, no End of the World - The Crossed edition?

So, no End of the World - The Crossed edition?

Oh...Sweet Throne why?!

I'm with FGDSFG on this.

There are certainly plenty of interesting ways to keep someone alive but when the whole idea is to see how you would fare in an apocalypse it kind of defeats the point. On the other hand if you are not miraculously saved, then you pretty much miss the rest of the game.

Even the standard saves might be hard to implement though. Sure cutting off the bitten limb quickly might stop the zombie virus from taking hold but it might be hard to do when I am running around flailing wildly whilst screaming and crying like a little girl. After all I'm a public service accountant who likes to role-play, we're not exactly known for being hardcore.

I can think of a copule of accountants, one especially, who are not only hardcore but well armed.

Be interesting to see if some players take it personally too since it's actually them being killed, especially if it is a very "creative" death.

It also has the potential to be quite dark considering pretty much everyone you know will probably be killed off in the initial attack/infection etc. Imagine the GM describing you running home to find your wife lying in a pool of her own gore, your young son, flesh hanging loosely from his mutilated face, gleefully devouring her entrails the look of horror etched permanently on her cold, dead features.

Considering you are dealing with real people who actually matter to the person in real life it might be enough for a player to take a swing at the GM if it's not handled delicately enough.

I think we all know or have seen some players for whom this just might be the wrong game due to them not being able to disassociate themselves from the character version of themselves.

As an aside, you've really got a great descriptive going there.

Yeah, I'm going to specifically ask the married people in my group, especially with children, how they want their spouse and offspring handled. You defintely don't want to cross that line without asking.

I really like this, great thought there. With that consideration to peoples feelings, I'd play Zombie Apocalypse if you were the GM.

I do have to wonder if the original designers thought that most of the players would be single college age types with few attachments locally?

So, no End of the World - The Crossed edition?

It would alow you to keep playing after becoming infected.

Gm: "so steve ,you are now a frothing maniac. do you want to kill your former friends first and then eat them, or just skip straight to skullf*cking them in both eyesockets?"

Steve: T.T

Are you guys forgetting one person who always dies? The GM. I mean unless there is always a Gm Pc then the Gm always gets killed in the apocalypse!

Nah our Gm has already stated he "just happened to have won a boat cruise around the world when the zpocalypse starts"

But I thought the premise was that the PCs are sitting down to play a game of Rp when the apocalypse happens?

I'm looking forward to plotting out my death scene. Plus I expect plenty of mourning or else...

The more I think about this game the more I'm excited but I am also wondering whether it wouldn't play just as well as ahorror comedy in the vein of lost boys or zombie land.

Haha yes I plan on a spectacularly gruesome death for myself to kick off the game as well, maybe I should start a link on creative ways for the GM to die at the beginning of the game?

The way most people role-play the game will probably end up more like lost boys or zombie land but I think the premise is to see how well you would go in a real live apocalypse which goes against the grain of making it a farce/comedy (at least deliberately).