Green Flu Interpretation Part One

Open a new tab or window, and check out a music video on  "The Escapist" called "The Dead Don't Shuffle". Bookmark that site while you're at it - many of the the other songs by this artist are good as well.

Back? Good. Fell psyched up about doing a zombie game? Even Better. 

Shall we see what it takes to convert what you've just seen into Dead and Back?

The Left4Dead Wiki has more information for those who want to replicate this video game. Unofficially of course, I have no affiliation with Valve Software - though I do like their products. 

Common Infected
Although numerous, the average Green Flu infected is only a minor challenge for the prepared. A few handgun bullets to the torso or a good swing with a melee weapon will take them down easily enough. These are an excellent example of a simple one Necropoint unnatural creature, with a low SDI.

Over confidence is dangerous, however, as the song points out, these are running and somewhat athletic creatures. It is not unknown for them to fall twenty feet and keep running when seeking prey.

Common Infected Stats:

• Stregnth: 3
• Tech: 2
• Quick: 2
• Wits: 1
• Close Combat: 3
• Ranged: 1
• SDI: 1
• NecroPoints: 1
• Speed: 7 (Human Jog)

Of course, they don't come one at a time. This is the sort of thing the D&B horde factor is for. Groups of ten  might be HF2/NP1 - two attacks, and need at least two hits of 2 damage to break up the group. With an SDI of one, a good burst of assault rifle fire or a pipe bomb will do wonders.

Further complicating matters are the occasional uncommon types - people who succumbed to the plague while wearing protective gear. Simplest to replicate are former police officers and soldiers in anti-ballistic vests - simply raise the SDI to three or four to show how its harder to land a telling blow without armor piercing weapons. Government personnel in Haz-Mat suits are immune to fire, in addition to having a higher SDI than normal - three would suffice.

Special Infected:
Recreating the special infected takes a little more thought. As of yet, there is no point buy balance system for the abilities of creatures - without more feedback or time, its a bit unlikely. However, like all rules in an RPG, those are more guidelines than requirements, and a good GM can manage the game as they see fit.

The Boomer is a corpulent walking bomb. It spits a noxious bile that can partially incapacitate humans, and acts as a powerful attractant to bring on additional infected. Failing that, being killed at close range or falling from a large height will cause it to burst, releasing its noxious bile over a wide area. Its rather fragile and slow however, with the main threat coming from its ability to bring other creatures into ambush positions.

Boomer:

• Strength: 2
• Tech: 2
• Quick: 2
• Wits: 1
• Close Combat: 2
• Ranged: 1
• SDI: 2
• NecroPoints: 1

Opposite of the slow and fragile boomer in almost every way, is the the huge Tank. It is dangerous with out allies, by upending cars, pavement, or simply smashing survivors with its bare fists. Rather than an ambush predator, it is a battering ram going straight for the target.

It definitely counts as an Abomination type of creature., rather like the anarchy zone's Type Three or Lambda. (Perhaps a little less dangerous without the built in technical upgrades seen in the latter though.)

Tank:

• Strength: 8
• Tech: 2
• Quick: 2
• Wits: 1
• Close Combat: 6
• Ranged: 2
• SDI: 4
• O O O
• O O O O
• O O O O
• O O O O
• Speed: 6, -1 per at half health