ATZ Campaign, Day 44: Requiem, part 1

All day Robb had stood by the window, peering out at the empty streets of his neighborhood.  Empty, like his house now that his girlfriend Irene had perished at the hands of a zombie who had nearly killed him and Erin, one of the few people they had met still alive in River City, had left him then to go find her missing family.  For hours he had stood, motionless and silent, looking out the window.

Robb glanced down at the black-bladed machete he held in his hand.  It's dull blade reflected the evening light.
"What's that Belle?  You want to go for a walk?" he said to the long knife.  "Okay."

It's day 44 of the zombie apocalypse, and Robb desperately needs some good luck or else this might be the end.  Basically I'm going to have him go out and explore in hopes of getting some potential teammates either through the PEF's or by getting a "Defining Moment" in a building.  The chances of that are so low, however, that I'm more concerned that Robb will be overwhelmed by zombies in buildings instead.

Starting off, the Red PEF is Rep 4 and in zone 4, the White PEF is Rep 4 and in zone 4, and the Blue PEF is Rep 2 and in Zone 5.  River City is a suburb, so it's ER 2.

Starting off, I roll 1d6 for initial zombies and get a lowly one!  It's off to Robb's right, behind a building.  We are off to a very, very good start.

Turn 1: Robb 3, Zombies 6

The streets seemed eerily quiet as Robb made his way down towards the small shops at the end of the street.  He was hoping to find something to drink.  He needed a drink.

The Blue PEF is immediately in sight, but a 0d6 on the result means it is nothing.

Turn 2: Robb 2, Zombies 6

Robb continued down the street, glancing around the corner.  He could have sworn he heard some noise, but there was nothing there.

Robb moved into LOS with both the Red and White PEF's, but both passed 1d6, meaning the ER of the encounter was now 4.

Turn 3: Robb 4, Zombies 3

Robb slowly entered the store, but not cautiously enough to keep the bell mounted to the door from tinkling. Within the small market, two zombies wheeled towards him.  Robb fired a shot in each of their general directions.  The first shot went through a zombie's chest and it fell to the ground, but the second clanged off a metal shelf.  The drooling figure lurched towards Robb, but Robb was there with the machete.  Robb's swing was too soon, and it barely scratched the zombie's chest.

Entering the building, I rolled 6d6 and got 2 zombies.  Not the zero I was hoping for, and now Robb's in for a fight.  The zombie surprise total was 6, Robb's was 9, so he'd get off a shot.  I thought I'd go ahead and split my shot between the two and hope to get two Obviously Dead's, but only one shot hit.  Despite the Easy to Kill Rule, I rolled too high and the zombie was just knocked down.
Melee began with Robb getting 2 successes to the zombie's 2, and the melee was locked in place.

Turn 4: Robb 1, Zombies 6

Robb kicked out at the zombie, knocking it backwards over his fallen compatriot.

In melee, Robb got 3 to the zombie's 2, and of course didn't roll a 1, so now both zombies are knocked down.

Turn 5: Robb 6, Zombies 6
Turn 6: Robb 6, Zombies 1

Both zombies got back to their feet and rushed at Robb.  Robb held one back with the hand holding the pistol, and managed to get the machete in his left hand up under the chin of the second.  It's face went slack and it fell to the ground.

On the zombie's activation, they recover from Knock Down and re-engage in melee.  Robb got 3 successes to 3 on the first, but 4 successes to 0 on the second, getting an Out of Fight that becomes an Obviously Dead in the case of a zombie.

Turn 7:  Robb 6, Zombies 6
Turn 8:  Robb 6, Zombies 3

Robb shoved the zombie backwards with the butt of his pistol.  It fell backwards again to the ground.

Robb beat the zombie 3:2, and once again got a Knocked Down result.  Can he capitalize on it?

Turn 9:  Robb 5, Zombies 5

The Colt .45 ACP in Robb's right hand barked out with a loud shot, and the zombie's head exploded in a gush of gore and bone.

Robb turned away from the still figure on the ground, walked behind the counter of the store, and grabbed a large bottle of brown liquid.  He moved back towards the store's entrance.

If there is one benefit to Robb's situation, it is that he as the "Initiative" attribute, meaning he reacts as if his Rep was one higher, IF HE'S ALONE.  Since the zombie is down, Robb can finally "pop the weasel."  What's more, no zombies are summoned.
Searching the building (now at ER 4), Robb passes 2d6 and finds a luxury item.

Turn 10: Robb 2, Zombies 1

Robb opened the door.  A zombie, dressed in the tattered remnants of some hospital gown roared at him with ghastly teeth.  Robb looked blankly at it, fired two shots, and then stepped over the slightly twitching body.

Robb opened the door to discover the one zombie at the beginning of the game had finally made its way to the building's entrance.  He fired twice, hit once, and got the OD.  No zombies were summoned.

Turn 11: Robb 6, Zombies 4
Turn 12: Robb 1, Zombies 5

With nothing else in sight, Robb moved across the street towards another small restaurant.

Turn 13: Robb 2, Zombies 5
Turn 14: Robb 4, Zombies 2

Robb pushed his way into the building.  The place looked empty, and Robb began to move towards the back where he hoped to find some food.  Suddenly from the coat room two zombies surged at him.  Robb swung out with his machete, knocking one of them back but the other enveloped him in its arms.

Again, the 6d6 showed two zombies in this building.  I guess it will be harder to find people than I had hoped.  The zombies surprise total came up 7, while Robb's came up 7 as well, meaning he wouldn't get off a shot.  In melee, Robb beat the first 3:1, getting a Knock Down, but tied the second at 3:3.

Turn 15: Robb 1, Zombies 1

The random event, generated here, was meaningless in this context.  I moved on.

Turn 16: Robb 5, Zombies 5

With a wordless growl, Robb heaved the zombie off of him.  It fell back against a table.

Robb beat the zombie he was locked in melee with 5:3, getting a Knock Down result.  It is very tough to actually kill a zombie in close combat, especially when you are Rep 4 and using a one-handed weapon in your off hand.


Turn 17: Robb 5, Zombies 3

Both zombies rushed Robb together.  The first managed to get himself tangled in Robb's left arm while the second fell heavily against him, driving him to the floor.  The back of Robb's head slammed against the floor of the restaurant.  His vision began to blur.  In the back of his mind, he could hear a voice calling to him...a woman's voice...

Robb remained in melee with both zombies.  He tied the first 2:2, locking him into combat.  The second one, however, defeated him, with Robb only getting 1 success and the zombie getting three!  The result was a Knock Down, which against zombies meant that Robb must now roll to see if he is infected (again)!  I took a deep breath, realized this could be the end, and rolled...

A five!  Robb would avoid being infected!  But now he had bigger problems!

By my understanding of the rules, Robb was now stunned and needed a full turn's activation before he could move again.  I ruled, somewhat on the spot, that if the zombies activated either on the turn he recovered being stunned or before he activated a second time, they would kill him and it would be over.  I began to think about a possible "After the Horsemen" campaign, and started rolling.

Turn 18: Robb 3, Zombies3

Okay, a random event.  Rolling no less than three 1's, the result would be that no more zombies would be summoned in this encounter.  That was great, but first I needed to have Robb survive the next few seconds.

Turn 19: Robb 1 Zombies 6

Robb's eyes fluttered open.  Above him, staring at him inches from his face, was the yellowed eyes of a decaying zombie.  His eyes widened in awareness of what was happening.

Robb's recovered from being stunned.  Now, will he get an activation, or will he meet his final end?  For the sole purpose of creating drama, you'll have to follow after the break.

The Split Level, and some Pre-Endgame thoughts

First, sharp-eyed observers may have noticed that there was a new house on the block during the episode "The Neighborhood Watch," namely the "Split Level" house by Stoelzel's Structures.

Not as easy a build as the "Raised Ranch House," and I'd suggest doing the Ranch House first if you are a beginner like I am.  The house has three levels: the ground level, a small second level off to the side, and a third level above the ground level.  It's a interesting layout, but challenging to build.  In particular, there is a cardstock stairwell that has to fit precisely in a gap that has three separate sides: the vertical wall, the floor of the second level, and the floor of the third level.  Do a better job pre-fitting these pieces than I did.

Also the instructions suggest just making the roof out of cardstock.  No way.  I used a piece of taskboard, which is a sort of matte board that is easy to cut and sand but it still very thin, as the foundation for the roof, then cut two foamcore braces using the cardstock braces as a template.  It's a lot more sturdy than just a cardstock room, and you can barely see the edge.

Now onto some thoughts about the last session.  Looking back, I realized that I made a deliberate choice near the end to forego some shooting in fear of summoning more zombies, something that had happened all that day with remarkable frequency.  I had really hoped I could have Robb (and then later Irene) handle a single zombie, but that guy turned out to be one tough cuss.  I should have had Erin shoot him.

I have to say, despite losing both Erin (who I knew was a flight risk after she got a higher Rep than Robb) and Irene in a single encounter, I loved the dramatic feel to the whole thing.  It felt like a season finale of a zombie-themed television show.  I like how groups don't have stable membership, but instead constantly suffer at least the threat of people leaving either by death or departure, and how if the leader doesn't stay "large and in charge" the group will react accordingly.

As a side note, the real life Irene is glad she died trying to rescue me, and feels that the real life Erin would not only grow in ability quickly, being a very intelligent and resourceful woman, but would also have left me at that point to find her family.  Nice to see art imitating life.

But all this got me thinking about what the endgame of this campaign would look like.  There was a discussion about Rep 7 Stars over at Colgar6 and the Infinite Legion, and I've thought that hitting Rep 7 would probably influence game play a great deal, to the point where maybe it would get to be too easy.

So basically, I told myself I'd run the ATZ campaign until either Robb or Irene hit Rep 7, or both of them were dead.  We're halfway there now on the latter.  I have no idea if it is more likely Robb will find his untimely end or if he can scrabble through to epic hero-dom.  He seems almost incapable of getting a Rep increase, so I could end up throwing zombies at him for a long time.

ATZ Campaign, Day 43: The Neighborhood Watch

All day, Robb and his two housemates had been on edge.  Someone had been spotted moving behind the curtained windows of their house, and a zombie had approached and began banging on the window.  When it didn't wander off, Robb's girlfriend Irene had rushed out with her bat and clubbed it to death and then ducked back inside.  The whole experience had rattled everyone, and as a result Irene had been even more hyper than normal, while Erin seemed to sink into a deeper depression.

Finally, Robb decided to act.  "We're going to work the neighborhood and clear out as many zombies as possible."
"Is that safe?" asked Erin.
"Not particularly, but it will thin out the number of zombies around us, and maybe we'll find survivors living in the nearby houses."
"And," said Irene with a grin, "there's always the chance to pick up stuff in other people's houses."

It's day 43 of the zombie apocalypse, and Team Robb is going to canvass the neighborhood.  This is a simple "Search" mission where the team is going to check a few houses on the table in hopes of finding loot or, even better, other survivors.

The table is a suburb, making it ER 2.  The red PEF is Rep 4 and in zone 1, the white is Rep 6 and in zone 3, and the blue PEF is Rep 2 and in zone 1.  Every one of the team has slept well and suffered no problems.

The 3d6 rolled for zombies at the start get us seven, four off to the right of the team, two straight ahead, and one off to the left.

In this encounter, Robb and Irene are Rep 4, which Erin is Rep 5.

Turn 1: Robb 1, Zombies 3

"There's lot of people out on the street today," commented Irene dryly.  She aimed her shotgun at the crowd approaching by the side of house to their right.  The blast took the head off of one and knocked down to others.  Erin aimed her rifle at another and took its head clean off.  Robb fired two shots at another, one of the shots clunking into its chest and staggering it into the ground.

Robb ran over to one of the zombies still standing and swung his machete into its skull, killing it instantly.  Erin fired her rifle into the skull of one of the zombies lying on the ground but still moving.  "We're off to a good start," said Robb.

Irene hit 3 but only OD'ed 1.  Erin got hers easily with her new Rep of 5, and Robb hit once with two shots but only got a knock down.  Between all the shots fired, a grand total of four zombies were summoned.  Not good!
In melee Robb got 3 successes to the zombie's 1 and got the Obviously Dead.  Erin "popped the weasel" on one of the Knocked Down zombies.

Turn 2: Robb 2, Zombies 1

One of the few zombies still on its feet rushed towards Erin, who fired off a shot from the hogleg and dropped it.  "There's still a few around," said Robb, "let's get inside quick."

Robb threw the door to the green house open and stepped inside.  Erin and Irene followed behind.  "Hello, if the zombie apocalypse happened tomorrow, would you be ready?" Irene quipped.
"Quiet!" Erin hissed.
Suddenly several zombies rushed out from a back room.  Erin got off a shot, killing one of the zombies.  Robb and Irene were too slow to fire, but Robb got his black-bladed machete up in time to take the head off the zombie rushing towards her.  Irene smashed another in the jaw and it fell back.  Erin stabbed another through the eye with her knife.

A zombie charged Erin, who easily passed her being charged test and got one shot, getting the OD easily.  The white PEF showed up, but it was nothing.  
Entering the building, I rolled 6d6 looking for 5's or 6's and got a shocking 4.  For the zombie surprise total, I rolled a 3 for a total of 7.  Robb got a total of 6, Irene a total of 6, and Erin a total of 9, meaning she was the only one who could fire.  She fired once with her rifle, getting an OD on the charging zombie.
In melee Robb beat the zombie 3 to 1, but managed to get an OD.  Irene beat her zombie 2 to 0, but got only a Knocked Down.  Erin beat hers 5 to 1, and got an OD.

Turn 3: Robb 6, Zombies 6
Turn 4: Robb 4, Zombies 5

Robb slashed down with his machete and killed the zombie that Irene had knocked to the ground.  "That's the last of them," he said.  "Let's look around and see what we can find."
A quick check found quite a bit of food in the kitchen.  The group stuffed as much as they could into their bags.  "Shall we look upstairs?" asked Erin.

Robb beat the prone zombie 4 to 2, and then managed to roll a 2 on the melee result, getting an Out of the Fight, which becomes an Obviously Dead for a zombie.
Robb, Erin, and Irene all got 1d6 on their looting result, meaning three food parcels.



Turn 5: Robb 1, Zombies 4

Robb tiptoed upstairs, trying to make as little as noise as possible.  At the top of the stairs of the split-level house, Robb spotted three zombies moving around in the hallway.  Irene quietly pushed Robb aside.  "Three all together like that?  That's tailor-made for my shotgun."
She fired, the closest two tumbling to the ground.  Unfortunately neither had been hit in the head.  Robb fired awkwardly down the hallway, missing both times.  Erin fired a shot past them both, killing the one still standing.  She and Robb ran forward and shot the two that Irene had hit previously, making sure that they stayed down.
They searched the bedrooms on the upper level.  Robb and Erin found stashes of chips and other snack food tucked away in the bedrooms, while Irene found several liquor bottles in the drawer of a nightstand.  "A little something to help them sleep, I guess."

I handled the upper floor like a separate building.  Rolling 6d6, I got three zombies.  What's with all the 5's and 6's?  The zombie surprise total was 5.  This time, Robb got an 8, Irene a 10, and Erin a 7.  Irene shot first, getting to Knock Down's.  Robb missed with two shots.  Erin got one with her shot.  That Rep 5 is really, really nice.
With both zombies knocked down, Robb and Erin could "pop the weasel."  Finally the dice were a little kinder, giving me only one zombie summoned by the shooting.
Looting gave Robb and Erin another food parcel, while Irene got a resource.  I decided it would be a luxury item.

Turn 6: Robb 5, Zombies 1

Outside the house many zombies were gathering, attracted by all the gunfire.

Turn 7: Robb 3, Zombies 6

"Okay, we're done here.  Back downstairs.  Be careful."  said Robb.

On their activation, Team Robb moved back to the lower level.

Turn 8: Robb 4, Zombies 4

Robb and the others stepped back outside the front door.  They quickly took in the many zombies staring at them hungrily.  "Where did they all come from?" asked Irene.  She fired her shotgun at the most closely-packed group.  One fell back clutching its face, but the other two just fell backwards.
"It doesn't matter.  We can't let them overwhelm us." growled Robb as he fired twice at another.  It's head blew into pieces.  Erin shot another in the head.

Irene got 2 KD's and 1 OD her shot.  Robb shot twice and got one OD.  Erin got another one.  She was on a roll today!  But three more zombies were summoned by the shots.
Note: the zombies didn't activate because at the time of the roll, no humans were visible.  I'm not sure if that was the right call, but there it is.

Turn 9: Robb 2, Zombies 4

Erin fired at another of the zombies, but the shot went low and it just stumbled down.  She and the others took off across the street in the direction of the house next door.
"Let's get inside!" said Irene.

Turn 10: Robb 3, Zombies 4

One zombie stood near the front of the door.  "Let's get him, Belle," said Robb to his black-bladed machete.  He swung it in a wide arc, catching the zombie in the neck and removing the head.
The other zombies on the street rushed towards them.  Erin frowned and fired another shot from her rifle.  The bullet went in and out of its head.  Robb's shots were not to accurate, and neither found their mark.  Irene was too busy swinging around on her skates to get off a shot.

One of the zombies plowed into Robb.  He stumbled backwards, catching his feet on the curb and tumbled to the ground.  Robb cried out in surprise, and desperately tried to get the machete between him and zombie snapping and tearing away at him.
Irene shouted "Robb!" and rushed forward.  She began pulling at the zombie lying atop her boyfriend.

Robb rushed into melee, not wanting to risk summoning more zombies.  He got 5 successes to the zombie's 1, and got the OD.  On the zombie's turn, they rushed towards them, and Robb and Erin both passed 2d6 while Irene only passed 1d6.  Erin's shot got one, but Robb missed both of his shots.
In melee, a single zombie managed to get into melee.  In the tight confines it charged Robb.  Robb only passed 2 to the zombie's 3, however!  With a roll of 5, Robb was knocked down!  
Now it was it time for a very, very critical roll.  I needed a 5 or higher on a d6 or Robb would become a zombie.  Holding my breath, a rolled...a 5!  Robb would continue to live.  For now.
Irene moved in, but only got 1 success to the zombies 1.  They were tied.  For now.

Turn 11: Robb 1, Zombies 6

The zombie atop Robb reared up off of him.  He grabbed Irene's shoulders and sunk his teeth deeply into her neck.  She screamed in pain and terror.  Her cry cut off with a wet gurgle.   Erin pulled the zombie to the ground, stabbing at it with her knife.

Entering into melee again, Irene only got 2 successes.  The zombie got 3!  That meant the Irene had also lost combat!  Rolling to see the result, the die came up with 1, meaning Irene was Obviously Dead.  Robb, sadly, recovered from being stunned.

Turn 12: Robb 2, Zombies 5

Robb gaped in shock at the terrible wound in Irene's neck.  His mouth moved, but no sound came out.  "We have to get out of here now!" shouted Erin, firing down the road at a zombie staggering towards them.  Robb howled in fury and shot the zombie on the ground.
Erin pulled the protesting Robb away from Irene's unmoving form, and they hurried back towards their home.

Things had gone very badly.  Erin shot one of the few close zombies, killing it, which Robb "popped the weasel" on the one with which he was in close combat.
Robb passed a Fast Move check, and got 1d6.  Since he was within 12" of the table edge, he and Erin moved off and the encounter ended.

Epilogue

Robb stumbled into his home.  Their home.  He mindlessly staggered to the sink in the kitchen, and he heaved violently into the drain.  Erin, in the meantime, began gathering her things.
"What are you doing?" he said, wiping vomit from his mouth with the back of his hand.
"I'm leaving!" she shouted.  "I'm not going to just stand around here waiting for us all to get picked off one by one!  I'm going to Heart City and finding my family!"
"But, there's got to be millions of people there!  You have no idea where they could be!  Or if they are still alive!"
"I don't care!  I'm leaving!"
"But, it's too dangerous!" Robb said pleadingly.  "And you can't leave at night.  At least wait until morning, and we can talk about this."
Erin looked at him with steely eyes.  "Okay," she said softly, and walked slowly to her room.

The next day, when Robb awoke, Erin was gone.  He stood in the silent house, alone.

In the post game check, Robb failed to increase in Rep, while Erin rolled a 6, increasing her Rep to 6.  Then in the "Keeping It Together" roll, Robb rolled only 4d6 instead of 5d6 (4+1 for Born Leader) because he had lost combat.  In contrast, Erin could roll 6d6 for her Rep. Robb only got 2 successes, while Erin got 5.  At twice the total Robb had, Erin would be leaving (and would have poisoned anyone left behind, if there were any.)

What a brutal game!  Robb nearly died, and I lost Irene and Erin.  Now, Team Robb was just, well, Robb.  What will happen next?

One question

First, I had a blogging question: is the plain text for narrative/italics text for rules interesting or helpful?  I sometimes find myself writing things like

Robb turned and saw the zombie down the street.  He fired twice with his pistol, and one of the bullets took the zombie's head clean off.

Robb fired twice with his BAP, hit once, and got the Obviously Dead result thanks to the Easy to Kill rule.

See, I'm basically saying the same thing twice, without a lot of elucidation.  Do I keep the italics for every action, noteworthy ones, or drop it altogether?

Comments welcome

Louise and Francis

These were a little bit of a quick and rough paint job, because when I rolled two civilians on the Day 28 encounter I didn't actually have anyone painted up for the job!  These two were only partially done, but I stopped mid-game, painted them up, and then put them into the game (clever viewers may notice that the two teens were flocked in the episode like they are now).

The two miniatures are from Reaper, "Denver" and "Joplin," whose names clearly come from the movie Zombieland.  Ironically enough, I was just in Joplin (the city) right before Christmas.  It's an interesting little town, and you can see still where the tornado hit.

I was really bummed out that Louise beat Robb in the "Meet and Greet" and went on their way, but I'll be keeping them around for a return appearance.

ATZ Campaign, Day 28: Beans and Bullets, part two

You can read the first part of this adventure here, but to quickly recap:

Robb, Irene, and their new teammate Erin are exploring the city in a desperate search for ammunition and food.  They have successfully found ammunition in a gun store, but are now being chased by a small horde of zombies as they make their way to the food market.  Behind that building, they find a surprise.

"I said,'who are you?'" the voice repeated.

Robb looked with surprise at the two teenagers standing behind the market building.  One was a small young woman with mousy brown hair pulled back in pony tail and a scuffed jacket.  She held a small pistol in each hand.  The other was as swarthy, slender kid pulling a suitcase.  He was wearing a gray hoodie and had a double-barreled shotgun slung under his arm.
"My name is Robb.  This is Irene and that's Erin," Robb said, quickly pointing to his friends.  "We're obviously alive like you but we won't be for long unless we get out of here.  There's a lot of zombies on our tail, and we need to get inside there."
The girl looked skeptically at Robb.  "That's just great.  The last thing we need is to be hooked up with three losers like you.  C'mon, Francis."  She started to move away from the them.
"Louise, are you sure?" Francis asked.
"Yeah, c'mon!  Let's get out of here!" said Louise urgently, and the two began running through the back lot.
Robb let out a cry of frustration.  "There's nothing we can do.  They obviously aren't going to listen." said Irene, going for the rear door of the market.

The Red PEF showed up, having made its way across the board.  Surprisingly, it passed it ER roll by 2d6, meaning it was something.  Another roll revealed...civilians?  The next roll said there were two.
Louise is a Rep 3 Civilian grunt with the Runt attribute and two pistols.  Francis is a Rep 3 Civilian grunt with the Fast attribute.  I thought this would be an easy recruitment, but Robb flunked out his "Meet and Greet" roll, passing 0d6, while Louise passed 1d6.  That meant they would "exchange pleasantries" and move on.  Robb must not have inspired much confidence.

Turn 9: Robb 2, Zombies 6, Louise 3

Sighing heavily, Robb opened the door to the back of the store.  It opened into a small room with a second door leading onto the main floor of the store while a set up stairs led upwards.  "There must be an apartment up there," said Irene.

"We'll check it out if we have time, but I don't think we will," said Robb.  "There's still those zombies behind us."

"Presuming they didn't follow the kids," said Erin quietly.

Looking at Irene to make sure she was ready, Robb opened the door to the store quietly.  Inside the store, several figures could be seen wandering the shelves.  None of them looked healthy.

Irene fired at two of them, but her aim was low and the just tumbled to the ground, wounded but still alive.  Robb fired is pistol as well, but his shot also just sunk into the zombie's body, and not its head.

Robb ran forward and slashed at one of the prone figures, chopping it in the head with his machete.  Erin also moved forward, stabbing into another zombie's head with her knife.  Irene had less success clubbing at the zombie with her shotgun, and it kept thrashing around.

So again, rolling 6d6 for zombies within the building, I get three.  Rolling a 2 on their surprise die, their initiative total is 5.  This time Robb and Irene's total was 9, but Erin's was 6, meaning she would not shoot before melee.

Irene hit two with her shotgun but only knocked them down.  Robb shot once (I was getting antsy about attracting more zombies to the table), hit but only knocked his down.

Melee had Robb and Erin handily killing their zombies (+2d6 against a prone opponent helps), but Irene only managed to knock hers down again.

Louise and Francis passed their Fast Move roll 2d6, and moved off the table to safety.  Maybe we will see them again.

Turn 10: Robb 2, Zombies2

With a snarl, the zombie that Erin had stabbed in the face clambered to its feet.  The knife wound had apparently just gone into the lower skull, missing the brain.  Erin kicked back at it, making it fall into a rack of potato chip bags.

Doubles again, and this one it said one dead zombie comes back to life and charges.  Rolling randomly, it turned out to be Erin's opponent.  The zombie got a bonus to its Charge into Melee roll, helping it beat Erin's 1d6, but Erin managed to beat the zombie in melee 3 to 1.  She only got a Knock Down however.

Turn 11: Robb 4, Zombies 5

Irene continued to try to smash the butt of her shotgun into the zombie's face.  "Hold still, dammit!" she said angrily.  Robb's machete blade rose and fell into the skull of the zombie staggering out of the potato chip rack.

Erin couldn't seal the deal on her knocked down zombie, even with the advantages of it being prone, but Robb managed to handily get the Obviously Dead result.  Irene, however, was tied at 3 to 3.

Turn 12: Robb 5, Zombies 2

Leaving the dead zombie on the chip rack, Robb stepped over to Irene just as the zombie she was fighting had made its way back to its feet.  With a rough shove, Robb knocked it to the floor again.  There was a loud bang and its head exploded.  Erin stood there, rifle in her hands.  "Tell me that's all of them," she said.

The zombie made its way back up to its feet on its activation, but Robb got 5 successes to its 1.  Sadly, he couldn't kill it.  Erin decided, no longer have an opponent, to move over and "pop the weasel," by shooting it.  Thankfully no zombies were summoned.

Turn 13: Robb 3, Zombies 4

The three quickly began to search the store, gathering up canned goods and other items that looked safe into their pockets and bags.  After a minute or two, they had gathered all their could reasonably carry.

From the back of the store, though, they could hear pounding on the back door.  The zombies had clearly not gone after the kids, but were trying to get in.  What's more, a lone zombie was trying to smash in the glass door of the front of the store.

Robb, Irene, and Erin all passed their loot checks by 1d6, which was a stroke of good luck since I needed 3 food items for next month.  Two zombies battered at the back door, but couldn't reduce it to DR 0.  The same was said for the zombie at the front.

Turn 14: Robb 2, Zombies 5

"There's fewer out front than out back," said Robb, throwing open the front door and firing twice.  His shots were wild, however.  Erin fired her rifle, striking the zombie in the chest and making it fall to the ground.

"No time to finish him off, just run!" said Robb, stepping over the body and limping off down the street.

Robb fired two and missed, but Erin got the KD on her shot.  The white PEF showed up, by the way, but turned out to be nothing at 0d6.  

Turn 15: Robb 4, Zombies 6

Turn 16: Robb 4, Zombies 6

Robb and his friends began walking down the street.  Robb was still concerned about his ankle, and didn't want it collapsing on him.

Turn 17: Robb 6, Zombies 4

Behind them, the horde of zombies had smashed down the rear door and were moving through the store.  Out in front of the store, the zombie that Erin had shot got to its feet and charged towards them.

Turn 18: Robb 6, Zombies 4

Robb turned to see the zombie Erin had shot moving close to them.  He fired twice but missed.  Irene let loose with her shotgun at point blank range, pulverizing its head.

Robb had clearly started having problems shooting, but thankfully Irene's shotgun took care of things.  The shots summoned a zombie right in the direction they were heading, however, cutting off that route unless they could go through him.

Turn 19: Robb 5, Zombies 2

Turn 20: Robb 5, Zombies 2

The large mob of zombies exited the store and began moving towards them.  Another gave away its presence, growling as it came down the street.  In the back of his head, Robb realized that there were nine zombies, and only three of them.  Things looked pretty bleak.

"Teal, teal, teal!  Kill, kill, kill!" shouted Irene as her face took on a manic gleam.  She fired her shotgun into the crowd, shouting the battle cry of her roller derby team.  Gore sprayed in every direction as the slugs tore into them.  Robb began firing his pistol into the crowd of zombies as they surged towards him.  A bullet tore through the head of one and it fell.

Erin seemed paralyzed with fear.  "I don't want to die!  Not like this!" she wailed.

Then they were upon them.  Robb struck one in the head with his machete, then another in shoulder.  Erin snapped out of her panic just in time, lashing out with her knife to stab one in the side of the head, then slamming a second with her hip, bowling it over.  Irene neatly kicked out at one, breaking its knee sideways. As it fell, she clipped in neatly in the back of the head with her shotgun.

Hoo boy.  You have a moment in this game when you realize that this might be the last entry.  I needed EVERYTHING to go right here if the group was to survive intact.  Irene got the ball rolling, though, getting a surprising 3 Obviously Dead's from a single shot of the shotgun.  Robb managed to add another with his shot.  Erin passed her Being Charged roll 0d6, and could only melee.

Robb took on two opponents, getting a surprising Obviously Dead after beating one 3 to 2, and a more predictable Knock Down after the other 3 to 2 win.  Erin redeemed herself with her own Obviously Dead on a 3:1 win, and a second KD on a 3:2.  Irene got the third OD of the melee with a 4:2 win.  Seven down, two to go.

Turn 21: Robb 3, Zombies 5

"This ends now," said Robb, driving his machete point-first into the skull of the downed zombie.  Irene crushed her skate into the head of the other.

They looked around.  The street was completely quiet.  Nothing seemed to stir.

"That's all of them, I think," said Robb quietly.

"Time for home," said Irene, and they walked silently back.

Melee continued, but the odds were now on Team Robb's side.  Robb and Irene both beat their opponents 4:0 and got OD's.  That was the last of the zombies on the table, incredibly enough, and Team Robb could opt to exit the table or continue searching buildings.  Deciding to not press my luck, I had the team leave the table.

Epilogue

That evening, Robb found Erin sitting quietly in the living room.  Irene was humming away happily in the kitchen, cooking up a small meal for the three of them.

"You okay?" he asked.

Erin was silent for a moment.  "No, I'm not.  I'm thinking about those two kids we saw today."

"Yeah, I wish they had come with us."

Erin was silent for a time again.  She looked away from him.  "I had a family, you know."

"I didn't know.  Were...they killed after the...you know..."

Erin smiled ruefully.  "No, they weren't.  I don't know what happened to them.  When all this started, they were in Heartland City.  They were trying to get back, but the roads were jammed and people were being told to go to shelters.  My husband said he would try to find out, to let me know where they had gone.  I haven't heard anything from them..."  Erin broke down with a sob.

Robb didn't know what to say.  "I can imagine that the cities might have had some ways to help people, to keep people safe," he said.  He didn't say what he was also thinking, that the cities would also be more heavily populated, prone to panic, and fertile ground for the zombie outbreak.

At that moment, Irene came in, balancing three plates of food.  In silence, they all began to eat.

For the "Keeping It Together" post-scenario roll, Robb only managed to tie Erin with 2d6, despite his Born Leader advantage.  What's more, while Robb and Irene failed to get an increase, Erin did, becoming Rep 5.  Erin would become increasingly difficult to keep in the group unless Robb got a lucky break.

On the upside, the scenario was a complete success.  Robb and Irene are now back to full speed (for now) and they have enough food for the three of them for the next month.

As always, comments welcome.

ATZ Campaign, Day 28: Beans and Bullets, part one

"Okay, I have been reading the phone book and have come up with a solution to our problem," announced Robb as he came into the living room.  Irene and Erin looked up from where they had been playing cards for the upteenth time.
"You've been reading a phone book?" asked Erin.
"I didn't even know we had a phone book," said Irene.
"We've been cooped up in here for so long, I know everything that is in the house," said Robb.  "And I found two places relatively near each other.  One place might have bullets for my pistol and Irene's shotgun.  The other might have food."
"Food?  Food's good." said Erin.
"And bullets is even better," said Irene. "How far away is it?"
"Far enough.  It'll be a bit of a hike, so we should start early to make sure we have plenty of daylight."
Irene grinned.  "I'll just be glad to get out of the house.  I can't stand being cooped up in here."

It's the end of the first month, and Team Robb really needs to stock up.  By my notes they have three food items, which they will expend at the end of the month.  If they don't have food during a given month, then retaining grunts (like Erin) becomes more difficult.  As a Rep 4 Grunt, Erin is already difficult to retain, even with Robb's "Born Leader" attribute.  In addition, both Robb and Irene suffered a "low ammo" situation as as result of rolling double ones and random events in the previous scenario.  So for this game, if a double one is rolled on either Robb's BAP or Irene's shotgun, that weapon is out of ammo until it is replenished through looting a location.

For this encounter, the two target locations are the newly-created food market, and the gun store I built earlier.  Locations are not easy picking in ATZ:FFO, however.  First, each building can have randomly generated zombies, the same as rolling 6d6 against the type of community, which in this case is a suburb, meaning a zombie on a 5 or 6.  If you get zero zombies, you then treat the location like a PEF, meaning another chance at zombies or the rare human occupant.  Hostile humans are one of the most dangerous things in the game, so there is more than a little risk involved.  My hope is to either eliminate the initial zombies or at least seriously thin them out we the group can get to stores without difficulty.  PEF's have so far not been a problem because of the low ER rating of the town.  Then a clean sweep of the stores, and acquire some loot.   As a special rule (just to give Team Robb a chance), any "food" results in the gun store will count as ammo.  Passing 2d6 will count as either ammo or a gun.  In return, they can only find food in the food market. The real tragedy would be getting through all that and getting no loot at all...

Scenario background: Robb and Irene are at this point both Rep 4 Star Survivors.  Erin is a Rep 4 Grunt Survivor.  The town is a suburb with an ER of 2.  It's day 28 of the Zombie Apocalypse.

The Red PEF is Rep 6, and in zone 3.  The White PEF is Rep 4, and in zone 1.  The Blue PEF is Rep 6, and in zone 1.  All are out of sight, but the high Reps mean they will be appearing earlier rather than later.

Team Robb began their initial "from the edge" move by rolling for a Fast Move and passing 1d6.  That meant they could go 12" in from the edge (and aren't we glad Robb's ankle has healed?).  Rolling 3d6 for starting zombies got us nine, about average.  Rolling my trusty d12, I placed them about the table.  Using a d12 means that they are more scattered than just using a d6 and doubling it.

Turn 1: Robb 1, Zombies 5

"The streets are crawling with zombies!" said Erin.  She saw a lone zombie nearby and shot it with her rifle.  The round plowed into the zombies chest and it fell backwards but was still twitching.
"Head shots, dear," said Irene as she fired into a crowd of zombies, one of whose heads flew apart.  She expelled the round from the shotgun.  "And...I'm out."
"Out?  Already?" said Robb incredulously.
"Yes, I had one round and I used it.  Is that a problem?" Irene replied fiercely.
Robb gritted his teeth.  "I guess not."  He fired twice into the same crowd of zombies, hitting one in the head and another in the shoulder.  It staggered and dropped to its knees.

I moved Team Robb closer to the gun store.  They would need to address the ammunition issue before tackling the food store, or the many zombies on the table.  Erin shot once with her rifle and hit, but rolled a 6 and just got a Knock Down result.  Irene got only 1 hit from the 6d6 on her shotgun, but got the Obviously Dead result from the Easy to Kill rule.  Unfortunately that bad round of shooting had two 1's in it, and she was out of ammunition for the shotgun.  Thankfully she has the bat and her backup BAP.
Robb fired at two different zombies this time, hit both of them, but only got one OD.  The other was just a knockdown.
As a result of all the gunfire, three more zombies were summoned, however, meaning that Team Robb had a negative gain for this round.

Turn 2: Robb 2, Zombies 2

Robb suddenly felt a stab of pain shoot through the ankle that had been injured the week before.  He let out a cry of pain and staggered a bit.  "It's my damn ankle again!"
"Seriously?" said Erin, half in despair, half in anger.  "She's out of bullets, you're dragging us down again.  It's like I'm living the same nightmare all over again!"
"Robb didn't to get hurt again," Irene snarled, "and for your information, they are cartridges, not bullets!"

Doubles on activation, and at or under the ER of the location means a random event, and the dice came up with the twisted ankle situation once more.  And again, the random die roll landed on Robb. He must have not have taken it easy enough over the past week and it hasn't healed all the way.

That's two rough turns in a row for Team Robb.

Turn 3: Robb 2, Zombies 1

With the mob of zombies closing in, Erin fired her rifle into the crowd but missed.  Robb fired his pistol, but the pain in his ankle threw off his aim and his missed both of his shots.  Irene pulled out her large pistol and fired twice as well, but like Robb cleanly missed any of the zombies comings towards them.

And that'd be three turns in a row.  At least no zombie was summoned from five shots.  In addition, the Blue PEF showed up, but turned out to be nothing.  It raised the ER to 3 though.

"Quick, into the store!" said Robb, pushing the door of the store open.  The three scrambled inside, pulling it behind them.
The gun store had clearly been ransacked of most of its inventory by someone, the glass display cases smashed and racks of supplies mostly empty.  A figure moved from behind a counter, black drool falling onto his brown overcoat.  When it saw the three standing by the door, the lunged for them.  Irene was the only one fast enough to get off a shot, but it sailed past the zombie and thunked into a poster on the wall behind him.  The zombie plowed into Erin, nearly knocking her over.  She screamed and tried to beat it back.  Irene clumsily struck the zombie with her bat as she wielded it with her left hand.
Robb pulled the zombie back with his right arm and swung the black-bladed machete with his left.  It sunk into the zombie's head.

I moved Team Robb into the gun store.  Rolling 6d6 for zombie occupants, I thankfully only got one.  Next though, I had to roll 1d6 and add it to the number of zombies in the building.  I rolled a 5, making the "zombie number" 6 for initative purposes.  Now I had to roll a 1d6 for each of the humans, to see if any of them could get a higher number.  Robb got a 1 for a total of 5, Erin a 2 for a total of 6, and 4 for Irene, getting her a total of 8. That means that only Irene could fire before melee, and she missed.

Rolling to see which person the zombie would attack first, Erin became the target.  I was stunned to see her pass 0d6 to the zombies 1d6 and then get a Knocked Down result.  Rolling for recover from Knock Down, she only passed 1d6, meaning she was OOF and maybe infected.
Then, I realized I had forgotten the "+1 success if fighting a zombie opponent" rule (ATZ:FF), p. 31).  Erin was now only tied.  Back from the brink!
Irene rolled fairly badly as well, getting 2 successes to the zombies 2 and they were tied.  This lone zombie was one tough hombre!
Robb won his 3 to 1, however, and rolled a 1 for a result, killing the zombie.  Score one for Belle the machete!

Turn 4: Robb 2, Zombies 4

"Irene, lock that door.  And then let's find what we came for," said Robb.
Irene threw the latch and then everyone began tossing the store.  Robb went to the boxes of bullets and pulled out several marked ".45 ball" and pocketed them.  Opening another box, he began stuffing bullets into the several clips he had on him.
With a squeal of glee, Irene found the shotgun shells and began stuffing as many as she could into the various pockets of her belt pouches and quiver.  Erin looked around, grabbing various additional boxes as she came across them.
Outside, a large, overweight zombie looked through the bars of the front door, seeing the three tasty humans inside.

Robb, Irene, and Erin all passed their loot checks 1d6 (not bad, considering they had to roll a 3 or lower).  That meant Robb and Irene were not suffering from the tight (or nonexistent) ammo situation anymore, and Erin's bonus find meant that they would ignore the next double-one roll this game.

Zombies were beginning to gather at the front of the store, though, which meant it was time to review the "battering down doors" rules.

Turn 5: Robb 5, Zombies 2

The large zombie began pounding away at the door of the store.  Everyone jumped and looked over at his direction.  They could see more zombies coming up behind the first.  "That door is not going to hold for long," said Irene.

Zombies can batter down a door by reducing its DR to 0.  The locked door had a DR of 1, and with one zombie pounding on it he failed to do any damage.  Team Robb needed to get an activation, however.

Turn 6: Robb 5, Zombies 2

More zombies appeared at the door and began hurling themselves against it.  With a crack, the lock gave way and they began scrambing over themselves to get in.
"We need a plan, and now!" said Irene.

Up to three zombies can strike a door at once, and rolling 1d6 versus that total, I rolled a 2 and the DR of the door was reduced to 0, meaning it was effectively open now.  And there were a lot of zombies about to pour through.

Turn 7: Robb 1, Zombies 5

"Out the back door! Now!" Robb commanded as he made his way to the rear entrance of the store.  He smashed into the crash bar and it flew open.  The three rushed out, only to see two zombies standing mere feet away from them.  Irene leveled her shotgun and pulled the trigger.  Both zombies fell backwards, the spray of the shotgun's shell piercing both their brains.
"And she's out of the penalty box and back in the jam!" Irene exclaimed with a wide grin.

Finally, a lucky break.  The zombies wouldn't activate, and Team Robb could get away.  There was two zombies (summoned from earlier gunfire) lurking out back, and Irene hit with 3 of her dice and easily got two Obviously Dead results.

Turn 8: Robb 1, Zombies 2

"Around the back, there's probably a rear entrance to the store next door.  Hurry!" said Robb as they ducked around the back of the food market.  Inside the gun store, a half dozen or so zombies were knocking over display stands and scattering loose merchandise and they rushed towards the back entrance.

Robb and his two friends raced around the back corner of the store, trying to get out of sight.  Suddenly, a voice said, "Who're you?"

Cliffhanger!  Who is waiting behind the back of the store?  Stay tuned to the next part of our story!  As always, comments are welcome.