Monday, June 19, 2017

AFMBE Morsel - The Community College

What follows is a morsel of a setting for the All Flesh Must Be Eaten roleplaying game. 

Neighborhood:  Beaverton Community College

The Beaverton Community College is on one edge of town, nestled between a shopping plaza, a wooded neighborhood, and a small apartment complex. The college has seven buildings, all brick. The properly is surrounded by a ten foot tall, gothic, wrought iron fence. There are two gates as points of egress. The buildings include the original Lutheran church, an administrative building, a mixed-sex dormitory used mostly by foreign students, a performing arts building, a science building, a business school building, and a general studies building.

This community college has a student population near 2,000 and most of its funding comes from the high cost of tuition. However, several of the college’s students are philanthropists who have bequeathed money to the college.


Sights
Person:  The Professor
1.        The professor is not an actual professor. The professor is actually a local who hung around the college discussing philosophy and other arts topics at the local coffee shops with students. He smells equally of body odor and marijuana.
2.        The professor is a local drug dealer who sold junk to the students at the university. The students provided the nickname to avoid suspicion by the real staff and professors on campus.
3.        The professor is a former instructor who was dismissed for unethical teaching. There are many rumors surrounding the professor’s dismal. They include creating drugs and selling them to students, teaching students how to make said drugs, inappropriate relationships with students, conducting scientific research against the college’s religious organization’s wishes, conducting scientific research deemed unethical by a scientific review board, and creating the drug that created zombie patient zero.

Place:  The Church
1.        The church has a basement. The basement has a door that leads to hallways under the college. At one time, the tunnel system connected all of the buildings. However, after a highly publicized rape occurred in the tunnels, they bricked over the doors in the other buildings. Various supplies are scattered throughout the hallways. There is a rumor one of the manhole covers on campus leads to the hallways.
2.        The church is on holy ground and the zombies will not go near the property. No one knows who originated this tail, as the gates and fence are intact and have been since everyone on site arrived.
3.        The priests of the church were heavily involved with helping the local food pantry. They would stockpile supplies at the church and make donations once a month. The goods gathered the month prior to the rise of the zombies are still in the church. Food, water, clothing, and toiletries are there for the taking.


Thing:  Medicine
1.        The science department had several grants from major pharmaceutical companies. They were working on several miracle drugs when the outbreak started. The different types of drugs in development included cures for cancer, cures for liver and kidney disease, and help recover from diarrhea and vomiting.
2.        The college offered a pharmaceutical degree. One of the professors taught an elective course on early medicinal practices and one aspect to the class included learning how to make the drugs used by early cultures and apothecaries. Those same drugs are still available on campus and so are the class notes on how to make the drugs.
3.        The infirmary is in the basement of the dormitory. It was rarely used and is fully stocked with first aid medical supplies, as well as, several prescription drugs of potential interest to the player characters (painkillers, antibiotics, antihistamines, and antidepressants).

Threats
1.        Rumors about the availability of drugs on the campus have many people interested in the community college. Which drugs are available does not matter; use any of the above storylines for this threat. If the drugs are of illicit nature, then that crowd is attracted to the college. Conversely, if using the infirmary or pharmaceutical angle, then a group of people arrives who have need of an important drug. Perhaps a young man broke his leg and needs painkillers. Someone with severe allergies and no source of antihistamines will desire those within the gated community.
2.        There is a small group of survivors living on campus. There is no discernable leader and the group tends to decide major decisions by committee. There are various cliques and alliances on campus and it is impossible to determine who really is on whose side.
3.        The ROTC unit attached to the college is in charge of the community. They fancy themselves a tough bunch and are actually bullies and thugs. They set fire to the nearby apartment complex when the people living there refused to give them tribute in the form of food. They raided the shopping plaza and left behind traps for unwitting scavengers. They take in people looking for a home, taking their things, and then offering them slavery or leaving without their things. This group is trouble and may have heard the right rumors about the player characters to consider the player characters their enemies.

Specific Locations
The Administrative Building
The Admin Building is a maze of cubicles, desks, and tables. Ingenious players may realize the cubicle walls, desks, tables, and filing cabinets make great barriers for zombies. Lining them against the fence to blocks the view of the campus. Affixing them across doors and windows creates a further barrier against anyone trying to gain entrance to the buildings. The admin building is also filled with boxes of copier paper, reports, ledgers, and other paper products to help with starting fires, creating documentation on experiments, and researching the college itself.

The Dormitory
Most of the students tried to take all of their belongings with them, when they fled. Very few succeeded in that endeavor. There are beds, sofas, chairs, desks, refrigerators still closed since the fall of man, clothing, boxes and cans of dried foods, toiletries, and drugs. Going through the entire six-story building will take some time, but it will be worth the effort.

The Gardens
The gardens were once a beautiful flower garden. Soon after the fall of man, the professor organized the residents to convert it into a vegetable garden. It is not producing much yet. However, they are working on a plan to bring in more water to help the plants grow. There are hoses running from the gardens into the arts building.

Connectivity
Travel times and difficulties to nearby, known communities

Place
Travel Time by Foot
Notes
Airport
1D6 (3) hours
Surrounded by zombies
High Rise Apartment Complex
1D4+2 (3) hours
Surrounded by zombies and connected to a parking garage with crashed vehicles blocking egress points
Big Box Store / Supermarket
1D4+2 (3) hours
Aggressive group currently controls this location
Hospital
1D6 (3) hours
Some floors are safe, some are not, surrounding by roving bands of zombies
Hotel
1D6 (3) hours
Defenses are not the great, but the residents are nice enough
Office Park
1D8 (4) hours
Poorly organized community with a Lord of the Flies feel to it
Police Station
1D8 (4) hours
Less than ten people here, none are police and all of the weapons were looted days ago



Friday, June 16, 2017

AFMBE Morsel - The Apartment Building



AFMBE Morsels

My living document on how I plan to create "morsels" is here:  http://derekas.blogspot.com/2017/06/villages-of-living-dead.html

The Apartment Building
These apartments were once a high class hotel. After the war, business dried up and the owners eventually closed it. Sixty years later, an investor purchased the properly and remodeled it into urban apartments. The décor is exposed wood and steel.

The building is eight levels tall with sixteen apartments on floors 2-8. The first level is a small grocer, drug store, conference rooms for rent and the apartment sales office. The basement serves as the home to all things maintenance and property management.

Sights
Person:  Miles
1.        Miles is Miles Rose, the investor who purchased the old hotel and turned it into the apartment complex
2.        Miles ransacked all of the apartments, collecting all of the alcohol he could find, prior to securing his hideout
3.        Mile is not from the area, but instead from where the vector originates
Place:  The Roof
1.        The only survivors in the building are on the roof
2.        A military crate missed its drop location; instead, it landed on the roof of a building where all the residents are zombies
3.        Prior to the fall, residents set up a mini-farm on the roof, complete with vegetable gardens and a chicken coup
Thing:  Water
1.        A water main broken somewhere in the building and water is free flowing inside the building
2.        The former survivors who lived here left behind a roof full of buckets and barrels to collect water
3.        There is an access point to the sewers in the basement; it was originally an access to coal tunnels, until those tunnels were converted

Threats
1.        The disease vector swept through the building very quickly and 85% of the residents are dead inside
2.        The handful of survivors in the building are all together (on the roof or in an apartment). They are not getting along and a major blowout will happen soon. They are not opposed to using the player characters to do the dirty work in a fight.
3.        During the rise, the inside of the building suffered a large amount of damage:  fires broken out, faucets were left in the on position, windows were left open allowing animals and the environment into the building, and residents broke through walls and floors in efforts to escape the zombies or the disasters.

Specific Locations within the Community
The Roof
Prior to the rise the roof was used by the buildings younger residents as a hangout. There is an old dinner table, moldy couch, 1D10 (5) buckets to collect rain, and 1D8 (4) Norm level archetypes on the roof. There is an access door to the stairs into the building. These are not the fire escape stairs to the ground floor. The door is held shut by boards shoved under the threshold. The fire escape is accessible from the roof.

Elevator Shaft
The elevator shaft does not contain a ladder. However, the support structure inside the shaft is such that ascent and descent is possible with several climbing rolls. The elevator shaft descends past the basement level by four feet. This area is filled with mechanical parts, machinery, and a century of trash. The elevator car is currently at the third floor. The top of the elevator car is latched shut and is opened with an easy strength check. The elevator car doors are open due to a mess of bodies in the way.

Two Bedroom Apartment 
This apartment was the residence of Peter and Emily Mclane. The couple retired from teaching a decade ago and decided to travel the USA and Canada. Their apartment is overrun with souveniers, chotchkees, oddities, no water, very little in the way of boxed or canned food, and no weapons. Native American masks line one wall in the living room and American Literature books that only a college professor could love line the other. According the calendar hanging in the hallway, they are in San Francisco until the 12th of next month.

The Basement
The basement contains everything the maintenance crew would use, including spare motors and tools. The elevator engine room is also located here in the basement. A sewer manhole provides access to old steam tunnels. A partially bricked up door leads to the old coal tunnels, which now provide access to the sewer system. There is no food or drink down here.

Connectivity
Travel times and difficulties to nearby, known communities

Place
Travel Time by Foot
Notes
Airport
1D10 (5) hours
Surrounded by zombies
Big Box Store / Supermarket
1D4+2 (3) hours
Aggressive group currently controls this location
Community College
2D6 (3) hours
Weak defenses versus zombies, little to no defenses versus humans
Hospital
1D4 (2) hours
Some floors are safe, some are not, surrounding by roving bands of zombies
Hotel
1D4 (2) hours
Defenses are not the great, but the residents are nice enough
Office Complex
1D6 (3) hours
Poorly organized community with a Lord of the Flies feel to it
Police Station
1D4 (2) hours
Less than ten people here, none are police and all of the weapons were looted days ago


Thursday, June 15, 2017

Morsels - Villages of the Living Dead

This article is to serve as a host for my outline for creating communities and adventures for All Flesh Must Be Eaten games. It is a living document and will be updated as I develop material.

Last updated:  06.16.2017



Morsels are quick write-ups about different communities, neighborhoods, and villages where the living still live and the dead walk the Earth. They can be expanded into meal courses by adding notes regarding Before the Fall, During the Rise, and After the Fall to the 30 second elevator pitch section and if desired, an archetype or zombie stats at the end. Detailing the entire location would make it a full-on meal. 

The Sights represent rumours (or truths) the player characters have heard about the location. You will notice they will contradict each other. The Zombie Master will need to decide which is the truth for their setting.

Threats are three optional threats to the community the Zombie Master can weave into the story. 

Connectivity is not yet finalized. I am imagining something similar to my subway rules, but I need to revisit it. This may be something that becomes its own minigame and not part of the morsel write ups. 

Goals are a separate structure, but operate similar to Morsels. Each goal will have three potential rumours to go with it. These can form the jumping off point for adventures. I will move these to their own post, eventually. However, until I work up their creation process, these are staying here.

Neighborhood Name
30 second elevator pitch about the location and community

Sights
Person
1.        Xxx
2.        Xxx
3.        Xxx
Place
1.        Xxx
2.        Xxx
3.        Xxx
Thing
1.        Xxx
2.        Xxx
3.        Xxx

Threats
1.        Xxx
2.        Xxx
3.        Xxx

Specific Locations within the Community
Up to ten

Connectivity
Distance and/or difficulty to other local neighborhoods or landmarks


Goals
Water
1.        Person
a.        Xxx
b.        Xxx
c.        xxx
2.        Place
a.        Xxx
b.        Xxx
c.        xxx
3.        Thing
a.        Xxx
b.        Xxx
c.        xxx
Food
1.        Person
a.        Xxx
b.        Xxx
c.        Xxx
2.        Place
a.        Xxx
b.        Xxx
c.        Xxx
3.        Thing
a.        Xxx
b.        Xxx
c.        xxx
Protection from the elements
1.        Person
a.        Xxx
b.        Xxx
c.        Xxx
2.        Place
a.        Xxx
b.        Xxx
c.        Xxx
3.        Thing
a.        Xxx
b.        Xxx
c.        Xxx
Military strength / Defenses
1.        Person
a.        Xxx
b.        Xxx
c.        Xxx
2.        Place
a.        Xxx
b.        Xxx
c.        Xxx
3.        Thing
a.        Xxx
b.        Xxx
c.        xxx