2013 and PPB 3

Well, an other year, an other zombie.

 Happy New Year to my followers, and I hope to be a bit more active on all of my blogs this year.

And part of the new year is the planning for my third Play By Blog game.

This year it will be something different.

 There will be ten spots for players in this game, so if you are interested please let me know by posting your interest in the comments below.

 I will give priority to those that have played in previous games, but those players should be aware this is a game that wont include your characters from the earlier games. (Don't worry -they will be back).

 And it will be a case of first in best dressed for positions in the game.

Also, like the other games, this is only open to followers of my blog.

 If I can't get ten players, I will ask some of those playing to control extra characters.

Players will be allocated characters by random, but if anyone is interested in playing a leader type, please let me know so I can assign figures accordingly.

 Should no one put their hand up to be the leader I will push it upon players that have shown some leadership in previous games.

  And, unlike previous games, I wont pull punches - play smart or get bitten.

 This game will be totally different to what we have played before, and hopefully a lot of fun. (Well, at least one of us will have fun regardless of how many get eaten).

Any one interested?

Merry Christmas!

Merry Christmas to all the followers of my zombie blog.  I hope you and your family have a great one and every one is safe from floods, snow storms or heat waves (depending on where you are in the world).

PBB2 After Action Review

Well, this brings and end to the second play by blog game.

 There will be another game, but not until 2013. Due to the time it takes to play I think one game a year is enough. Having said that, I am contemplating a smaller non zombie game to go on my other blog.

Who won the game? 

 Seeing as every character survived, every one won. Some might feel that it was a hollow victory though, as they didn't get to waste a lot of zombies or they are hiding upstairs, cut off from the others.

 Dan/"Robert" is the clear winner in my eyes for he played the game according to the mission briefing.

 Everyone else broke in to smaller teams to explore the neighbourhood or 'pop' some zombies. It wasn't until there were a lot of zombies appearing that a bit more of a focus on the actual mission parameters occurred.

 This did make it very entertaining though.


The turns from my point of view

 Fixing the maps so that I could move items around easily was a good move... loosing the map on my hard drive at the end was not a good move.

 It was just a pity that I didn't learn how to make the maps this way earlier on.

 At least I know what to do for the next game's map, and next time I will include objects that can be moved as well, such as chairs and sofas.


Future Games

Rules

 The next game will be played using a different set of rules.  They will be much simpler to use and rather generic in places so that they easier to play. More on that at a much later date.

Game Length

 The next game will only go for a certain number of turns. This will mean players will need to focus on the game objectives, and the game wont last for half a year.  Maybe no more than 10 turns for a game seems about right.

 Allowing for real life to get in the way of the game this would mean that a game might take more than 10 weeks to play.

*           *        *          *


I will probably think of some other points for this AAR, but this covers the basics for the moment.

Players are encouraged to add comments or suggestions about this game and others to come.

PBB Turn 17 results

I am unable to post a map for this turn as I can't find the master map that I made. I need the master map as I can move objects around the map rather create a new map each time.

The zombies rolled badly for initiative meaning every one on the ground floor was able to make it to the hatch, or next to the hatch, safely.

Therefor these players are safe from the zombies.

 Vonnie finishes her movement at the bottom of the stairs. She will need one more turn to get to the hatch, and this means risking running the gauntlet through the zombies to reach the hatch, or go back up stairs and hide away in a room until rescued.

If the zombies win the next initiative it will be very nasty... nom nom nom...

If she goes for the hatch there is a jolly good chance they zombies will grab her... nom nom nom...


Going back upstairs is the safest bet for immediate survival.

PBB2 - Turn 16 results

The zombie hoard moves forward, the chance to eat fresh brains urging them on.

Blink looses his nerve and backs away as they approach.

Misty fires a  burst at the on coming zombies and darts off into the kitchen.

Karen, who is very composed takes down four of the undead, giving them a small bit of breathing space.

As Lorenzo re-enforces the window at the bottom of the stairs he is joined by Grom coming down from the upper floor.

In the kitchen Robert climbs down the ladder in to what ever room is below the house.

Upstairs, Vonnie does a quick search of the room she is in before heading out of the room in to the corridor.

Game Notes

 The zombies won the initiative by one point, allowing them to move in on Blink and Misty.

Both were allowed to snap fire at the zombies before makeing GUTS check as the hoard closed in on them.

 Both of them missed killing off any of the zombies, and Blink actually failed his check, meaning he backed into the wall and is suppressed (must pass another GUTS check before taking any action).

 Misty was able to withdraw, so I more or less made her turn as per ordered.

Karen did a lot of damage - for some reason I kept rolling '3' for her wound chances on the zombies.

Robert is safe for the remainder of the game, and unless he wants to come out of the room he is now in, there is no need for Dan to give him any further orders.

Do the rest of the players want to continue for three more turns, or continue until all are dead or are safe in the underground room?

Basically everyone except Vonnie can make it into the underground room in the next turn, while Vonnie would need two or three turns to make it should Clint want to see her safe.

This is of course if the zombies don't win the initiative again.

PBB2 - turn 15 results

The zombies lunge at Karen, the small hoard seemingly flowing into the house.

 Karen backs away from the hoard in a controlled panic and fires into the mass of undead, taking two of them down.

 Blink and Misty add their own shots to the hoard and take a further three zombies out.

 Lorenzo rushes out of the room he was in and heads for the stairs. Reaching the stairs he notices a group of zombies gathering outside the window on the north side of the house.

In the kitchen Robert looks down the hatch he has just opened. He sees the rungs of a metal step ladder built into the face of the hole going down. Lighting, like that of emergency back up lights.

 No noise rises from the hole, suggesting it might be empty...

Upstairs Vonda begins to barricade the room she is in.

Grom manages to break open the last door and enters. Relieved to find there are no zombies in the room, Grom notices a number of boxes with the bio hazard symbol on them.

Game notes

 The zombies won the initiative and would have ripped Karen apart if it wasn't for the fact she passed your GUTS check (just passed) and I was able to employ the "Stumbling retreat" rule to move her to safety.

 It will be very interesting next turn, as it could end in a very messy way if a) the zombies win the initiative again, and the orders the players give aren't in their own best interests.

 As mentioned the previous turn, only one player is in a position to save themselves and possibly the group........

My apologies for the length in time between turns - things should be a lot calmer in my part of the world until early December, so I hope to get turn results a lot sooner.

 This turn did its best to prevent me from finishing it.  I couldn't find my map images for ages, and when I did find them my online image host decided to have a hissy fit.

Plants vs Zombies Gangnam Style

 Having seen it I had to inflict it on others...

PBB2 - turn 14 results

Misty rushes from the kitchen in to the main living room and hastily raisers her SMG and fires a burst in to the zombie in the door way. Unfortunately the burst has no effect on the undead.

Karen enters the living room, takes up position and blows the head off the zombie that Misty had fired upon.

Dropping to one knee, blink steadies his SMG and fires in to the mass of zombies he sees at the door. He manages to take out the zombie next in line to enter the house.

Robert kicks and kicks and kicks at the door and with a crash the door swings open revealing something unexpected.  The cupboard is empty. Empty that is unless you count the hatch in the floor that must go down to somewhere...

Lorenzo begins to look really worried, looking from window to window to door and back to window again. Hefting his machete in his hand as if to reassure himself he keeps watch in his room to make sure no zombies break in.

Vonda manages to bust the door open, and cautiously entering she sees a dead body slumped over a desk.

 Not hearing any need for assistance from Vonda, Grom heads to the third door on the first floor and prepares to open it.

Game Notes

I rolled high for the zombie initiative, but the survivors were able to pluck the initiative away with their good dice rolls.

Things are very interesting right now... will the zombies eat brains for dinner? What is the hatch in the floor all about? Who or what has been killing the people upstairs?

 Given a few things that could happen with orders this turn, I am prepared to allow players to change orders based on what orders Dan gives Robert this turn. Assuming they give orders before Dan does that is...

PBB game 2 - turn 13 results

Turn 13 Results

The zombies shuffle ever closer around the house, and with a shattering noise their weight of numbers breaks down the front door, and a zombie moans as it enters the house.

Upstairs Vonnie tries to force open the door in front of her, but to no success.

She hears Grom muttering to himself and then the sound of automatic fire breaks the relative silence of the house.

Taking aim through the upstairs window, Grom takes down five of the undead forming in to a hoard outside the front door.

"Hey guys.. Did you miss me?", quips Blink popping a tic tac. "I am going to go upstairs and take you the deadheads from above!"

 Leaving the kitched blink enters the main room and is shocked to see the front door smashed in and a zombie in the house. Firing a hasty burst at the zombie has no effect on the zombie.

Back in the kitchen Misty says "Hi Guys, miss me?" Panting for breath she quickly starts to barricade the rear door, with Roberts help.

 Having helped Misty, Robert checks out the door closest to him and discovers it is only a toilet. Fortunately nothing nasty is in this room.

 Heading back to the upper door in the kitchen, Robert stops in front of it and contemplates the best way to break it down.

Karen silently barricades the window looking out on the road, not wanting to attract the attention of the zombies.

 She is not certain if she alerted the zombies to her presence when she calls out "Hey, guys, there's a rocket launcher and ammo on the couch in the lounge if you want it!"

Lorenzo barricades the last window on the lower floor and flinches when Karen calls out.

Even more zombies approach the house, attracted by the sound of gun fire...

Game Notes:

 The zombies won the initiative for the turn, but as they failed to notice Karen and Lorzeno through the windows I had those characters hold fire.

I halted Blink's movement and fired a burst at the zombie entering the house, as I figured this would be done given the chance.

In fact it seemed to work out better that the zombies won the initiative, as it meant Blink was able to see them entering the house and is in a better turn to give orders next turn.

Robert ran out of full actions to be able to tackle the upper most door again this turn.

And Vonnie would have opened the door with some better dice rolls on my behalf :-P

PBB2 - Turn 12 results

 Turn 12

After hearing some thumps and cries of frustration, Vonnie moves upstairs to help Grom. Noticing Misty and Blink from the upper floor window she calls out to the other survivors 'Friendly approaching!".

Hastily grabbing some items to make a barricade with, Misty darts in and out of the shed and bolts down the path as Robert opens the door for her.

 Blink runs down the side of the house and just makes it into the kitchen as Robert slams the door behind him and locks the rear door again.

Lorenzo moves to the south west room and starts to collect items to make a barricade. He is joined by Karen, who starts to look for items to use in the barricade.

 Grom kicks the door in front of him in a rage of frustration - the door flies open making a loud 'bang' that can be heard through out the house.

 Entering the room he suddenly pales - something is so wrong with the scene before him.

 There are hospital beds and some kind of scientific testing computer in the room. Two of the beds had what appear to be corpses in them. 
 The body of a man in a lab coat lies on the floor, and there is blood pooled around his head. It appears someone or something tried to eat the brains on this body.
 Grom is so repulsed by what he has seen he wants that he looses what little food was in his stomach.

The zombies to the North - North East of the house break through the fence.

The front door looks like it might not hold for another turn due to the mass of zombies pushing on it.

Game notes

 The new map meant I had the moves done in under 10 mins. This was awesome.

 Ok - I tweaked players' actions for this turn a bit, as again if the players were on hand to use knowledge given to them, then I feel sure they would have done some things slightly different.

 Misty & Blink - I allowed them to both gain entry into the house, as they had a slight bit of movement left, and I figured a fear boosted shot of adreniline would have helped.

 Lorenzo & Karen - most of your turn was taken up in moving, so I deemed there wasn't enough actions left to actually barricade the windows in this room. Between the pair of you you should be able to barricade this room completely next turn - provided the zombies outside the windows don't get the initiative next turn. mwahahahahahah

 I used Robert's actions to let Misty and Blink into the house and lock the door behind them.

 Misty grabbed enough nails, tools and wood to barricade one door, but enough extra nails to help out elsewhere.

 Does anyone have a molotov? Upper floor window vs zombies at front door.  Just a thought.