The best zombie horror survival game I played in was sold to the group with full knowledge of the premise and run as a one shot. The GM provided a few archetypal pregens (which is unusual for my group) which were all absolutely average people with slightly differing skills that might prove useful but were in no way guaranteed to do so (college sprots star, small firm solicitor, babysitter, etc). We were warned in advance that there was a high possibility of character death but that dead charcters could be replaced with additional pregens from a stack of possible NPCs if the group had met them and saved them from the zombies.

What followed was a frantic dash on the part of the PCs to not only escape the zombies, but also to rescue as many other survivors as possible, with the threat of character death and the need to save replacement characters providing a nice mechanical incentive to rescue other civilians. We managed to fit in the obligatory "kit out at the shopping mall" scene, complete with escape through the airducts. Several characters died, with the availability of replacement characters again providing the incentive for cinematic heroic last stands as one character sacrificed themself to protect the rest of the group.

As regards the OP, we started out with only the barest hint of a backstory and pretty much jumped straight into the action since the constant flight from zombies was more important than the development of background stories for the 2d characters anyway.

Haven't read the rest of the thread, but here's my experience:

In my world famous "Flesh Eaters of SE13" scenario (a one-shot) I dealt with it through a mostly narrated cut scene at the start of the game. The game propper begins when they are all assembled, but I gave each PC a little single of encounter of the "As you go about your average day..." type, and then quickly talked through to the meat of it ("... and so with the zombies right behind you you dash into the relative security of the pub, where a half a dozen other survivors crouch in horror.")

I see those opening scenes as a chance to establish character - a dash of dramatised back story - but the meat of the game is when you have to make your first fight or flight decision.

Ned

Quote from: Ned the Lonely Donkey;223435Haven't read the rest of the thread, but here's my experience:

In my world famous "Flesh Eaters of SE13" scenario (a one-shot) I dealt with it through a mostly narrated cut scene at the start of the game. The game propper begins when they are all assembled, but I gave each PC a little single of encounter of the "As you go about your average day..." type, and then quickly talked through to the meat of it ("... and so with the zombies right behind you you dash into the relative security of the pub, where a half a dozen other survivors crouch in horror.")

I see those opening scenes as a chance to establish character - a dash of dramatised back story - but the meat of the game is when you have to make your first fight or flight decision.

Ned

I've heard of that game, and didn't play in it, clear evidence that it is indeed famous.

Thanks all, some good stuff in this thread, the hospital particularly appeals.

I agree I like the hospital setting a lot gives you a load of options. And I would also always go for its a modern game of some type and try not to reveal I might even openly say modern game and you are all criminals on a heist and give a Reservoir Dogs style entry scene with some charlie detailing how the caper goes down, get a midville map and some matchbox cars for him to talk through the plan on the table then... BAM Zombie fest.
Also you are on a subway train when BAM there is an explosion/Crash the player will be expecting a modern terrorist type game but get Zombie fest.

As for what they have to do as a goal I think there are 3 clear optoins that are all genre
i) Stay alive til the military arrive and give them a definite time for this to occur
ii) Get out of the city (might be too easy)
iii) Get the Cure

The first gives you a defensive game that plays like Assault on Precinct 13.
The second is a road game and is open to some problems as a bright group will armour some sort of truck and you have to find ways to block routes without it feeling liek a rail-road
The Third gives you more of a tradditional 'dungeon-delve' feel as the party work their way towards a goal inside a lab/research station whatever.