Shadowrun

Shadowrun General => General Discussion => Topic started by: drjmoriarity@gmail.com on <08-04-18/0357:37>

Title: Zombies In Shadowrun?
Post by: drjmoriarity@gmail.com on <08-04-18/0357:37>
So I am not all that up on the lore, but as my groups designated DM its my duty to learn as much about the lore as possible and put together a game.
One idea i have for a potential misssion is a zombie apacolypse type deal with the party surviving a night in a quarenteened area of the city with treditional, infectious bite zombies with a weakness for headshots.

I cant find any information on the wiki however except for "Corpse Cadavers" The page on them has no information either, so I am hoping the community can fill me in on the lore in this regard.
Title: Re: Zombies In Shadowrun?
Post by: Reaver on <08-04-18/0410:55>
Technically, there is no "zombies" in Shadowrun. But we do have 2 types of critters that may fit your bill.

The first and the closest to what you want are Feral Ghouls. Feral Ghouls are Ghouls whose mind has "gone" and they have succumbed to the most base animal instincts. And, they are infectious with a simple scratch, condemning those they infect to ghoulification through HMHVV...

The second are the Shedim, Spirits from another metaplane that have to find a host before they fade to nothing... Sadly, their preferred hosts are metahuman bodies.... which gives them a "walking dead" vibe. However, they are not infectious - other then wanting to kill all living things by ripping them apart...



Ghouls are covered in the CRB 404
Shedim are page 93 of Street grimore
Title: Re: Zombies In Shadowrun?
Post by: Michael Chandra on <08-04-18/0513:57>
Feral Ghouls (in contrast to Ghouls that are still sane) would be your best shot, though don't expect them to be sluggish.  ;D

By the way, mechanics-wise (Run Faster p143) HMHVV Strain III is a bit tricky. It has 6 Power and you get 10 resistance tests of Bod+Wil to end up at 0, but if I read this right, each test is at threshold 6 and whenever you fail a test, the remaining threshold is added to the next test? That would mean Bod+Wil vs a threshold 6, which is rather tricky... Of course Cure Disease will add a dice bonus to your tests, and I'm not sure but I guess I'd rule that a Medicine test also gives bonus dice?

Oh, and losing the final test requires burning Edge to not become a Ghoul.
Title: Re: Zombies In Shadowrun?
Post by: Sphinx on <08-04-18/1102:18>
I agree that feral ghouls are probably your best bet for the kind of scenario you described.

If you were curious, though, you can find out more about "corps cadavres" in Hard Targets (p.128). They're basically a kind of homunculus (SR5 p.298) using a dead body as a vessel. They're made by vodou and obeah practitioners, so they're mostly found around the Caribbean. A corps cadavre that escapes its creator's control is called a "grand zombie." They don't last long; a few days or weeks, tops.
Title: Re: Zombies In Shadowrun?
Post by: Bamce on <08-05-18/1809:06>
Quote
For some backstory the villain is a crimeboss vampire who lures them out with a potentially easy job but its a set up to ambush and kill them while testing some new weapon or something. Anyway what can you all tell me?


Why in the hell would he bring out incredibly skilled people to try and kill them in a test?

Don't just screw over your players for no reason.
Title: Re: Zombies In Shadowrun?
Post by: Mirikon on <08-05-18/2332:38>
Quote
For some backstory the villain is a crimeboss vampire who lures them out with a potentially easy job but its a set up to ambush and kill them while testing some new weapon or something. Anyway what can you all tell me?


Why in the hell would he bring out incredibly skilled people to try and kill them in a test?

Don't just screw over your players for no reason.
Because if he used low-level goons, it wouldn't be a true test of the system. And it doesn't even need to be screwing them over. More than one run has been an 'external security review', where you hire runners to hit a site to expose flaws in the system. Of course, the guards on site don't know that they're being tested.
Title: Re: Zombies In Shadowrun?
Post by: drjmoriarity@gmail.com on <08-06-18/2154:15>
Suppose the same reason Wesker tested his virus on stars agents? I am not screwing them over i figured a zombie outbreak scenario would be some fun variety in mission objects, Iv actually changed my mind on the how and why like 5 times now that was a random suggestion before i fleshed out the world a little more.

I will just use in lore ghouls it should be fun anyway, have the shadowrunners exposed to a goul querenteen in the slums. I actually dont even think the pharma company that exposed the population to the HMMVV ( or whatever ) virus will even account on them getting involved, by this point they wont be on his radar, he is just hitting the poorest parts of town ware they happen to be stationed.
Title: Re: Zombies In Shadowrun?
Post by: Reaver on <08-06-18/2221:03>
Just keep in mind too that some governments offer bounties on Ghouls.... (or at least they did).

And you are getting yourself into a huge possible can o worms issue....
Title: Re: Zombies In Shadowrun?
Post by: drjmoriarity@gmail.com on <08-07-18/1417:34>
Just keep in mind too that some governments offer bounties on Ghouls.... (or at least they did).

And you are getting yourself into a huge possible can o worms issue....

I think in a situation like that if there was a full scale outbreak the government would probably refuse to pay the guy who shows up on the front porch with 300 zombie corpses. It could be fun having my runners deal with a stingy government official who refuses to pay the lot and unfairly snubs them for there work.
Title: Re: Zombies In Shadowrun?
Post by: Mirikon on <08-07-18/1501:29>
Just keep in mind too that some governments offer bounties on Ghouls.... (or at least they did).

And you are getting yourself into a huge possible can o worms issue....

I think in a situation like that if there was a full scale outbreak the government would probably refuse to pay the guy who shows up on the front porch with 300 zombie corpses. It could be fun having my runners deal with a stingy government official who refuses to pay the lot and unfairly snubs them for there work.
That official would be an idiot.

You would have to be in some third world hellhole like Lagos for that to work. As soon as the press got wind of a government official refusing to pay ghoul bounties in the middle of a ghoul outbreak... well that official would be signing his own walking papers with the PR nightmare that would bring down. Especially if the one turning in the bounty was a SINner with no criminal background, doing his 'civic duty'... Yeah, you'd need someplace truly corrupt where there was not even the illusion of free press to make that work.

Now, officially paying the bounty, and then 'noticing' any illegal or restricted gear that the team might have, and using that to decrease or remove the payment due to 'fines and procedures', that would be much better. Always have a legitimate reason when you screw someone, especially if they have access to the weapons and gear to haul in 300 ghoul heads.
Title: Re: Zombies In Shadowrun?
Post by: Sphinx on <08-07-18/1549:03>
"Wow. I see you've been busy. Well done. There are a few legal formalities to get out of the way. If you'll just fill out these AR forms ... don't forget to record the precise time and location of each bounty against any future legal claims for collateral damage. Video documentation can be attached where indicated. You'll need to enter your full legal name, date of birth, and SIN here and here and here ... credit account number and authorization ... place your hand on the scanner and look into the lens there to enter your palm and retinal prints for confirmation ... thank you. We'll process your claim as swiftly as the bureaucracy allows, ha ha. No, really, you can expect approved bounties to be deposited in your accounts within three to six weeks. Have a nice day!"
Title: Re: Zombies In Shadowrun?
Post by: drjmoriarity@gmail.com on <08-07-18/1557:31>
I honestly even doubt my players are going to try and cash in on the bounties, they will likely just be happy to get out alive without thinking of collecting the heads, iv very unique players, none are the "Sever the head for reward" types.
Title: Re: Zombies In Shadowrun?
Post by: Michael Chandra on <08-07-18/1617:28>

You would have to be in some third world hellhole like Lagos for that to work. As soon as the press got wind of a government official refusing to pay ghoul bounties in the middle of a ghoul outbreak... well that official would be signing his own walking papers with the PR nightmare that would bring down. Especially if the one turning in the bounty was a SINner with no criminal background, doing his 'civic duty'... Yeah, you'd need someplace truly corrupt where there was not even the illusion of free press to make that work.
One of the biggest differences of Shadowrun compared to many other settings is that nothing happens in a vacuum. Trees don't just fall in the forest, they fall in the city and it's up to the PCs and NPCs that they do not fall on the road so that nobody feels bothered enough to check out what caused it to fall. But this is a lesson that is hardlearned, without which things are less balanced.

Anyway there's a reason many Missions offer the possibility for someone else to cash the bounty for you, minus a big personal cut.
Title: Re: Zombies In Shadowrun?
Post by: Shadowjack on <08-09-18/1149:14>
Yes, there are zombies in Shadowrun. "A zombie is a dead vessel possessed by a spirit." Zombies can be created with the enchanting skill and are covered in Street Magic, a 4E rulebook. Zombies are typically created with fresh bodies and are used as a form of labor or muscle.
Title: Re: Zombies In Shadowrun?
Post by: Iron Serpent Prince on <08-09-18/1213:57>
Yes, there are zombies in Shadowrun. "A zombie is a dead vessel possessed by a spirit." Zombies can be created with the enchanting skill and are covered in Street Magic, a 4E rulebook. Zombies are typically created with fresh bodies and are used as a form of labor or muscle.

For 5e, they are in Hard Targets, page 131 as a minion ritual.
Title: Re: Zombies In Shadowrun?
Post by: Shadowjack on <08-09-18/1237:30>
Yes, there are zombies in Shadowrun. "A zombie is a dead vessel possessed by a spirit." Zombies can be created with the enchanting skill and are covered in Street Magic, a 4E rulebook. Zombies are typically created with fresh bodies and are used as a form of labor or muscle.

For 5e, they are in Hard Targets, page 131 as a minion ritual.

Cool. I own that book but haven't gotten around to reading it, my group and I decided to go back to 4E.
Title: Re: Zombies In Shadowrun?
Post by: whiteshadow on <08-10-18/0549:55>
Feral Ghouls, they have succumbed to the most base animal instincts
192.168.0.1 (https://19216801help.com)
Title: Re: Zombies In Shadowrun?
Post by: Artemis Entreri on <08-19-18/2142:26>
Hey!
I GMed a long zombie-apoc campaign in SR5 and it has been incredibly fun. It was very heavy, Seattle got slowly devastated and under quarantene. More akin to 28 days after than other staples.
It was a blast: you could still play regular stuff (matrix was still on) and PCs decided to go for a "management" kinda campaign in the final branch, re-starting a small community while going out from the "bunker" for a bunch of foucsed runs.

I used the Vampire Virus as the main issue, with tons of side plottings and a huge conspiracy behind the apoc itself.
Definitely works. Runs feel even more dangerous and the "tech-horror" feel was definitely fun. :)
Title: Re: Zombies In Shadowrun?
Post by: The Wyrm Ouroboros on <08-23-18/2142:31>
Keep the possible apocalypse limited.  Run Fantasy Island. (https://forums.shadowruntabletop.com/index.php?topic=16405.msg291597#msg291597)