Zombie High
a zombie survival one-shot for Genesys.
It's the night of the Halloween Dance at Sentinel Lake High
School, an event which is sure to prove—lively.
SPECIAL CONCEPTS
Infection
Once bitten (see ‘Zombie’ stats), a victim is infected,
and then it's only a matter of time.
There are four levels of illness:
1. Feeling Fine: No effects. (Start here)
2. Sick as a Dog: to all checks.
3. Undeath’s Door: to all checks. Player can
vomit Vile Puke (see 'Zombie' stats) at no penalty.
4. Dead... for the moment. (End here)
At the end of each encounter, infected characters
make a Resilience check: for each they descend one
level of illness; for each they ascend one level (this
cannot cure them). Each player’s first check is Easy .
Each subsequent check increases in difficult by .
Fortification
The middle phase of the game involves our heroes
fortifying a room in the school (their ‘HQ’) against the
looming threat of the Horde’s arrival. Fortification is
represented abstractly as Fortress Points, which can be
gained by acquiring tools and materials, rescuing
useful faculty, setting up traps, and so on. Fortress
Points will influence the difficulty of the final battle.
Any large, risky gambit may be rewarded with a
Fortress Point. When the Horde arrives, a group would
be likely to survive the attack with 3 - 5 Fortress Points.
Moving Around
Moving from one campus location to another is
inherently dangerous, but should not bog down the
game with constant combat. To move around…
1. Make an appropriate Hard skill check using
Stealth or Athletics (sneaking or sprinting).
2. With a Success, the character arrives at the new
location unharmed.
3. With a Failure, the character is attacked enroute:
5 damage + 1 per , and a Bite can be activated
with or (see 'Infection').
Real-time (optional)
I ran this one-shot in real-time, beginning at
7:30pm. No matter what, the Horde would arrive at the
stroke of midnight. I wanted to introduce a sense of
urgency, and force players to prioritize their objectives.
If you don’t want to run the game in real-time, you
can make it midnight in-game whenever you think it’s
most dramatically appropriate.
HALLOWEEN DANCE
It’s 7:30pm on the night of the Sentinel Lake High
Halloween Dance. The students and faculty are making
the most of things in the well-decorated Gymnasium,
and Principal Grossman makes a speech about the
most important thing on Halloween night: safety!
One of the faculty bursts in, dressed in a perfect
zombie costume—or so the students think. Soon
enough, the zombified teacher bites a student, and the
infection quickly spreads out of control.
The players’ first objective should be to get out of
the claustrophobic gym, as panic and infection grip the
dancefloor. This is a group skill challenge:
• The teens need 8 - 12 successes to get out alive.
• On a failed check, the character is grabbed by a
zombie: 5 damage + 1 per , and a Bite can be
activated with or (see 'Infection').
 The Deadline
The heroes retreat, along with a rag-tag group of
about twenty NPC survivors. Wherever they decide to
hunker down is now their ‘HQ’; probably a classroom
or other defendable space.
After the heroes gain their bearings, one of the NPC
students offers a disturbing report: from the roof, a
major horde can be seen headed this way. It will arrive
at the stroke of midnight, so they’d best spend the next
hours turning their HQ into a fortress!
Supplies, survivors, and weapons can be found
throughout the school (this is a good time to give them
the campus map). Each location offers its own risks
and rewards. They can be tackled in any order.
FORTIFICATION
During this phase, players risk life and limb at
various campus locations in order to better fortify their
HQ against the coming horde.
A. Gymnasium Building
Halloween decorations are smashed and snack tables
are overturned. There are more familiar faces here than
you’d like to notice, as the living dead shuffle back and
forth across the dance floor.
Packed with the Dead: This place is swarming with
zombies, and will take a lot of work to clear out; there
are at least two groups per player.
Rewards:
• 5xp for finishing the encounter.
• The gymnasium is the school’s most defensible
location; +1 Fortress Point if the survivors move
their HQ here.
• The equipment room has two sets of Football
Gear (armor, +2 Soak), as well as bats, hockey
sticks, etc. (Collapsible Baton stats, pp. 166).
B. Tech Building
Your descent into the mazelike guts of the Tech
Building is quiet and uneventful. The only signs of undead
are bodies that litter the floor, with puncture wounds in
their heads—or with their heads twisted clean off.
Ambush: Mack MacLane leads a clique of track &
field stars who are using the zombie outbreak as their
big chance kick ass and take names. Mack and his
squad will try to ambush the heroes from hiding:
• 2 - 5 Students, armed with Bows or Javelins (as
Light Spear, pp. 144), and 1 level of an
appropriate combat skill.
• Mack is captain of the wrestling team (Student
with +1 Adversary, +1 Brawn, +1 Brawl).
Mack’s clique wants our heroes’ gear, booze, and
running shoes. They want it bad, but they’re hesitant to
shed human blood. This encounter is the “potentially
dangerous rival gang of survivors” zombie trope.
Contest: The athletes may be convinced to offer a
truce; both parties put a few items into a pot, and they
resolve their dispute with some kind of track & field
contest; winner takes all.
Rewards:
• +5xp for finishing the encounter.
• Fantastic materials for barricading can be found in
the woodworking class (+1 Fortress Point).
• Walkie-talkies.
• Whatever they get from Mack’s team.
• If Mack’s team is convinced to join the players, +1
army token (convincing them should be a hard).
C. Academic building
You hear the shrill chatter of the fire alarm even before
you smell smoke. Hot ash an flames choke the building's
halls, while the screams of survivors can be heard
mingling with the alarm, coming from the upper floor.
The academic building is on fire, and there are
survivors trapped on the top floor.
Fire: Level of fire begins at 2, and increases by +1
per round. Fire cannot be put out—at least, not in time
to rescue the survivors.
Ground floor (start here):
The ground floor is all hallways, lockers, and
classrooms. Out of the rooms lurch 2 - 5 groups of
Flaming Zombies. (As 'Zombies', but only 2 WT, and all
attacks gain Burn 2).
The stairwell leading to the top floor is Long range
from the entrance. Zombies slow the teens down.
This floor also has a fire hose coiled behind glass.
An average Athletics or Mechanics check reduces
the Fire level by 1. breaks the hose.
Top floor (survivors are found here):
Thick smoke fills the air (+1 for bad visibility, and
any character unable to hold breath suffers 3 Strain
per round).
A panicking group of teens are considering jumping
from the far window (Long range from stairwell). The
jump may kill them.
Locked inside a chemistry lab (Medium range from
stairs) is Ms. Brown, the attractive chemistry teacher.
The room's key is in the pocket of one of the zombies
downstairs, so she’s stuck in there, and she's suffering
3 Strain per round.
A fire axe hangs on one wall (Greataxe, pp. 144).
Rewards:
• 5xp for finishing the encounter.
• Saving Ms. Brown will acquires her ability to create
Molotov cocktails (+1 Fortress Point).
• Saving the teens grants +1 army token during the
final battle.
• 3 Molotov Cocktails for player use: Ranged, Dam 6,
Crit 3, Blast 4, Burn 3, Limited Ammo 1.
D. Admin & Faculty Building
The silhouette of the faculty building looms darkly
through the rain. Stalking its perimeter is something
hulking, sinister—and dragging a lamp post behind it.
Principal Grossman reacted badly to zombification;
he has transformed into a hulking super-zombie. He's
drawn to the faculty building, and has an instinctive
desire to give all students detention—permanently!
Encountering him warrants a Fear Check.
 Coach Pitt is also holed up inside the building itself, Chaplain Walsh is a 'Faculty', with +1 Coercion, +1
panic-firing from the window at anything that moves Charm, and the following personality traits:
(he has Ranged; Light Pistol stats are on pp. 166). • Strength: Natural optimist who believes the world
Rewards: can become a better place.
• School Blueprints from the admin office. Moving • Flaw: Prone to self-loathing.
between locations is now an Easy check. • Desire: To be absolved of all guilt.
• 5x painkillers from the nurse's office. • Fear: That he is an insignificant person who
• Coach Pitt. He excels at keeping the students in cannot make any positive difference in the world.
line and at attention. +1 Fortress Point. Chaplain Walsh and his choir have no defenses,
weapons, or supplies. They await their fate.
E. Fields Rewards:
In the shadows of the moonless night, dozens of forms • 5xp for finishing the encounter.
lurch across the track fields and tennis courts. You hear • For saving the students, +1 army token during the
something else: the thud-thudding of hooves on soft earth. final battle.
Two horses with police tack have apparently lost • If they manage to recruit Chaplain Walsh, his
their riders, and now wander the field, ignored by the military knowledge grants +1 Fortress Point.
zombies. It’s not smart to get caught outside, in the
dark, with hordes of zombies roaming around. But Trouble at HQ (optional)
those horses might just be worth it. Run this after the players have acquired 1 - 3
This could be a skill challenge... Fortress Points, and are returning to HQ.
• Stealth, Survival, and Riding are relevant skills. Tracy and Ammar, two popular kids, have been
• 8 - 12 are needed before 3 failed checks, in sowing dissent against our heroes, questioning their
order to sneak through the fields, capture the leadership and ability. In the players’ absence, Tracy
horses, and ride out without making noise. and Ammar have seized leadership of the group and
• If the alarm is sounded, the heroes may still “made some hard choices” about who to protect, and
capture the horses—but now it's a nasty brawl as who to cut loose.
more and more groups of zombies pile on. As for the other students at HQ…
Rewards: • One-third support the new leaders.
• 5xp for completing the encounter. • One-third support our heroes.
• Two police horses (if the players can make clever • One-third doesn’t know what to think.
use of them, give them +1 Fortress Point). Locked out:
• One police shotgun, slick with blood (pp. 166). Returning to HQ, the students find the door locked
• 2 Javelins sprawled next to a broken-open and barricaded against them. Tracy and Ammar refuse
equipment box (as Light Spear, pp. 144). to let them in. “A tighter group is more likely to survive.
We can only save the people we can, like, really count
F. Chapel on, and you losers aren’t it.”
Approaching the chapel, you hear the plinking of piano Players can approach this however they want, but
music and what sounds like a dozen low voices singing a there is little to ‘gain’ here—only to lose.
hymn. The doors are ajar, and there’s no sign of a guard. Rewards:
It’s only matter of time before the dead wander inside. • +5xp for finishing the encounter.
Do you want to know what caused the outbreak? • Be ready to deduct 1 - 2 Fortress Points if the
Well, Chaplain Walsh is convinced he’s responsible. outcome is less than ideal for the survivors.
Walsh is a slightly unhinged veteran who despises his
civilian life, and in a moment of weakness he prayed THE HORDE
for God to damn all of At the stroke of midnight, the
humanity to Hell. ‘Fortification’ phase ends as the
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 Mass Battle Zombie (minion)
Survivors start with 8 army tokens, Zombies start These shambling walkers were your friends, teachers,
with 10; these represent their relative strengths. One teammates. Now they stare at you from the great beyond.
survivor will lead the battle for their team. This
character should have good Leadership. 2 2 1 2 1 1
Heroic Deeds
Each round, any PCs who are not leading the battle
may choose to get personally involved in the fighting,
4 4 NA 0 0
performing heroic deeds to turn the tide. The player Group Skills: Brawl, Vigilance, Perception, Ranged
makes a Hard combat skill check of her choice: Abilities: Slow (spending a second maneuver on
• Failure: They accomplish nothing, and get injured movement always causes 2 strain). Grapple (until start
by a zombie: 5 damage + 1 per , and a Bite can of next turn, enemies must spend 2 maneuvers to
be activated with or (see 'Infection'). disengage. Activating this costs 2 strain). Bite (when a
• Success: Player thrashes the horde, adding +1 Claw attack causes 1+ wounds, may spend or
to their Leader’s next Leadership check. to cause an infectious bite—see 'Infection').
The player should colourfully describe their heroic Attacks: Claw (Brawl; Damage 4; Critical 3; Range
deeds, and may be granted for clever ideas. [Engaged]). Vile Puke (Ranged; Damage 3; Ccritical 4;
Range [Short]; Disorient 2).
The Leadership Check
At the end of the round, the Leader makes his all- Faculty (rival)
important Leadership check. This is a Daunting
check, plus any applied from other players’ heroics 2 1 3 2 3 2
during the round, plus . However, for each
Fortification Point the heroes secured, subtract
from the roll. E.g., 3 Fortress Points would equal . 3 10 NA 0 0
Now resolve the Leadership check:
• For each uncancelled , Zombies lose 1 token. Skills: Discipline 2, Knowledge 2, Perception 1,
• For each uncancelled , Survivors lose 1 token. Medicine 2, Vigilance 2, social skill of choice 1.
• If the roll generates no or , this round is a Abilities: None (or one ability, as-needed).
stalemate as the armies are in a deadlock. Equipment: Improvised weapons, as appropriate.
• always causes the Zombies to lose 1 additional Student (rival)
token; always causes the Survivors to lose 1
additional token. 2 3 2 3 1 2
The Morale Check
If the survivors lose 1 or more tokens, the Leader
makes an Average Leadership check for morale: 3 10 NA 0 0
• Success: The survivors grit their teeth and Skills: Brawl 1, Cool 2, Dececption 2, Perception 1,
continue the fight. Stealth 2, Vigilance 1.
• Failure: Lose 1 additional token per , as Abilities: None (or one ability, as-needed).
survivors flee the battle. Additionally, each PC is Equipment: Improvised weapons, as appropriate.
attacked once (see 'Zombie').
Principal Grossman (nemesis)
Summary of a Round Maybe all that caffein has mutated him into this
1. Heroic Deeds: Players resolve 1 Hard deformed hulk of flesh, sores, and multi-jointed limbs...
combat check to potentially add 1 to the
Leadership Check. 5 2 1 2 2 3
2. Leadership Check: The leader make this
Daunting check, and losses are calculated.
3. Morale Check: If the Survivors lose 1+ army
tokens, the Leader makes a second Leadership
7 22 12 1 1
check ( ). Failure causes losses and attacks. Skills: Athletics 2, Leadership 1, Melee 2, Perception 1,
4. Go Again: If both sides are still on the field, begin Ranged 2.
a new round. Abilities: Rise, my minions! (make an Average
Leadership check; each causes a Zombie to rise from
EPILOGUE the ground; it may act this round). Adversary 1.
Those who survive the Horde manage to find shelter Attacks: Lamppost Club (Melee; Damage 7; Critical 4;
for the night. But as dawn breaks over the horizon, it’s Range [Engaged]; Blast 4). Sticky Bile (Ranged; Damage
clear that no one’s life will ever be the same... 2; Ccritical 6; Range [Medium]; Ensnare 3).