What the hell is THIS?

Biocalypse is a survival horror RPG for 2—6 players, inspired by Resident Evil.

One of you is the Game. You control Parasol—the diabolical genetech corporation whose dangerous experiments are
running wild throughout Civet City—plus their grotesque creations and everything else in the world besides the players.
The players are members of special ops task force SAVIOR, or they’re ordinary people caught up in the chaos, or gifted
civilians with a connection to Parasol and its evil plans (maybe trying to stop them, maybe they helped create them).

How to Play

When you take a risk, roll and sum 2D6. You’ll succeed if your result is at least 7. In other words, 7 is your target
number. If you succeed, you do just what you set out to. If you fail, the Game will confront you with a setback or new
danger, or else they’ll hit you with the consequences of dangers already established.

Advantages—like superior positioning, a helpful distraction, useful skills from your character’s background, the right
preparation, or the right tool for the job—let you add extra D6s to your roll (one extra die for each advantage); keep only
the two highest-scoring dice. Disadvantages—like obstacles in the environment, bad positioning, being outnumbered, or
an enemy’s most dangerous abilities—cancel your advantages one-for-one. If you have more disadvantages than
advantages, increase your target number by +1 for each thing that hinders or threatens you.

Stuff that hurts removes hits. Most things (monster attacks, random accidents, traps) remove one hit, but serious threats
remove more. How many hits each player can take before dying depends on your game’s difficulty mode. Only special
recovery items and safe rooms can restore your hits!

Easy Mode Normal Mode Hard Mode Insane Mode

10 hits 6 hits 4 hits 2 hits

If you get bitten, clawed, spat on, or otherwise mauled by one of Parasol’s mutant monstrosities, there’s a chance you’ll
contract one of their experimental viruses. This chance is determined by difficulty mode (see below). When you get
infected, roll on the virus table. The Game should consider hiding the results of all these rolls.

Easy Mode Normal Mode Hard Mode Insane Mode

5% chance 15% chance 30% chance 50% chance

As viruses progress, they’ll change your appearance or behavior, grant you fantastic powers, and ultimately bring you to
a gruesome end. In some cases this will transform you into a bloodthirsty abomination: This is your new character; use it
to murder your former comrades! The viruses can’t be cured (or can they?), but there are special serums that slow their
progress and vaccines that make you less likely to contract them.

Each character type has a special feature: SAVIOR operatives roll with advantage to attack enemies using firearms and
exotic weapons. Normal people are lucky; they can cheat death or avoid infection a few times per game. At the start of
the session, the Game rolls (D3 + 1) in secret (separately for each player) to determine how many times this is. Gifted
civilians get (D3 + 1) hints per session. Hints are given by the Game on request and can reveal what’s coming up, where
there’s danger, where there might be a clue, how to escape, how to use the environment to your advantage, or where
you need to go next. Every player starts the game with one random weapon from the weapons table, although SAVIOR
operatives get to roll twice and choose their preferred weapon.

As an optional rule, encountering terrifying stuff gives players accumulating Panic points. Sometimes gaining Panic will
be avoidable, other times not. The Game decides how much Panic increases each time or might roll a die to find out.
During critical moments, the Game can make players roll panic checks. Each player rolls 2D6. If the result is less than or
equal their Panic, they roll a D3 to see whether they (1) Fight blindly; (2) Flee for their lives; or (3) Freeze helplessly.
Failing a panic check resets your Panic to zero.
Being the Game

You can play games in Story Mode, Survival Mode, or Puzzle Mode. You can also string these together in any sequence
or mix them up in any combination to create more complex scenarios or short campaigns.

STORY Mode: The Game sets up an inciting incident and introduces some supporting characters. Play freely and
follow the story where it leads.

SURVIVAL Mode: Roll, choose, or make up a Location, then give the players a reason to be there and have them use
the exploration tables to move through it room-by-room, level-by-level. Decide how many “levels” (maybe 2—5) the
Location has. The environment should get more dangerous as players ascend/descend levels. The players will need to
stay alive until they find the exit hidden somewhere on the final level.

PUZZLE Mode: The Game defines any number of keys, a term of art for special items, puzzle pieces, literal keys, or
pieces of information that are needed to progress through the scenario. Each key has a lock somewhere (a Game-
controlled character, a literal lock, or some other thing that can be interacted with) that uniquely fits it.

Putting keys in locks can reveal new keys/locks, open up new Locations, bestow powerful weapons or useful recovery
items, or enable you to defeat enemies that can’t be brought down by conventional tactics.

To win, escape, or survive the players will need to find all the keys and locks (scattered across any number of Locations
throughout the city) and put them together in the proper combinations, possibly even in a certain order.

Drop lots of hints so the players don’t get stuck. Keys and locks should be accompanied by unmissable clues indicating
where other keys and locks can be found. Which keys and locks go together should be obvious (a clock-winding key and
a big, ornate grandfather clock; a bronze statue, cupping a missing object in her hands, and a spherical gem of just the
right size). Having puzzles that fit a theme is cool but as far as the actual form and function of key items, they absolutely
do not need to make a lick of sense.

When the players investigate a Location looking for puzzle elements, use the exploration tables to determine what they
find room-by-room.

D12 Locations
1 Abandoned Hospital
2 Gothic Mansion
3 Destroyed Police Station
4 Secret Research Complex
5 Mazelike Fallout Shelter
6 Ransacked Shopping Mall
7 Back Alleys of the City
8 Spooky Amusement Park
9 Dilapidated Apartment Tower
10 Natural History Museum
11 Corporate High-Rise
12 Catacombs Beneath Cathedral

What kind of room is this? (D6) What’s here? (2D6)

1 Corridor leading straight ahead. 2-8 Something bad.
2 Dead end. 9+ Something good.
3 Junction with (D3 + 1) exits.
4 Cramped, cluttered area/room.
5 Large area/room with open floor plan.
6 Large area/room with many obstacles or partitions.
Something Good (D8)
1 Stash with D2 recovery items, D3 of each.
2 Stash with D3 weapons, D2 of each.
3 Panic room, hidden annex, or other safe area. On your first visit, everyone regains 1 hit.
4 One of this area’s [locks / keys].
5 One lock, plus one or more keys that go with some other lock entirely.
6 Lone survivor who wants to know how they can help.
7 Clue about which other Location(s) you should visit.
Exit to the next level. If the players haven’t visited at least two or three “rooms” on this level, reroll.
8
If this is the final level, here’s where the players can EXIT to safety. Congrats!

Something Bad (D12)

1 Trap room. Solve an arbitrary puzzle quickly or die here.
2 Lone monster. It’s [oblivious / busy killing someone / waiting for you].
3 Hidden monster that will follow you secretly and attack later when you’re vulnerable.
4 Cluster of (D2 + 1) different types of monsters, D3 of each.
5 Person who seems cool but is extremely infected. They [tell you / hide it / don’t know].
6 One extremely powerful monster or a normal monster in a rare, highly evolved form.
7 Nest of 2D6 weak or juvenile-form monsters of one type. Optionally: Destroy the nest or more will emerge!
8 Horrifying scene of carnage. Everyone takes Panic.
9 Survivor; they [desperately need your help / seem helpful but will look for ways to get you killed].
10 Unavoidable hazard that hurts everyone in the group (but won’t kill them).
11 Subtly spooky scene. Only the faint-hearted take Panic.
12 Two monsters fighting each other. Can you get past without interrupting?

Draw a crude map as you go along. Players can revisit any room they’ve already been in. If they flee from an area with
monsters, there’s a good chance the monsters will try to chase them.

Never let the players know what you’ve rolled! Each time you roll an entry on the “something good” or “something bad”
table, put a tic mark next to it. Don’t reuse these entries until players reach a new level or switch Locations.

When playing in survival mode, institute these changes: Don’t tick entries on the “something good” or “something bad”
tables; they can all be reused. If you roll a “lock-and-key” type entry, ignore it and roll on the “something bad” table
instead.

If a player gets killed, they can take over the role of any survivor who may be tagging along with the group, or anyone
the surviving players might meet going forward. You inherit this character’s personality and hidden agenda where
applicable. This character has D6 hits and no special abilities. They mostly likely start with little or no equipment.
D6 Recovery Items
1 First aid kit. Restores 1 hit.
2 Healing serum. Restores up to 3 hits.
3 Anti-viral serum. Progression rate of viral infection is slowed by half.
4 Stimulant syringe. Faster and stronger for a while, but double chance of infection while active.
5 Vaccine. Chance to contract virus is halved for next few hours.
6 The Cure. Removes viral infection entirely, but 50% chance of death.

D10 Weapons
1 Shotgun. 3 hits at close range.
2 Submachine gun. 2 hits. Unreliable.
3 Assault rifle. 2 hits. Requires 2 hands. Not good at close range.
4 Pistol. 1 hit. Dual-wield pistols to make two attacks at once.
5 Frag grenade. 3—4 hits of area effect damage.
6 Knife. Basically useless, except against other people (1 hit).
7 Body armor. Get +1 hit while worn.
8 Heavy armor. Get +2 hits while worn. Badly restricts freedom of movement.
9 Flamethrower. 2 hits. Super-effective versus enemies vulnerable to fire. Ammo check after every encounter.
10 Extra ammunition* for whatever weapons the players are carrying.

* To track ammunition, have players roll periodically to check ammo for any firearms they’ve used repeatedly.
Suggested frequency is every 3 encounters. Players roll a D6 for each weapon; on a result of 1—3, that’s how many
more attacks they can make with it before its ammo is depleted.

D6 Experimental Viruses

V-Spore: Your breathing becomes increasingly raspy. Your eyes turn a sickly green and your skin grows thick and
1 slimy. When the infection progresses to the point that you barely look human, you’re super-strong and can spit
acid, but you’re also really slow. When hurt, your body spews spore clouds that can infect others if inhaled.

X Variant: Your skin, hair, and eyes start turning a beautiful porcelain white. However, you also become about as
fragile as porcelain (you take an extra hit from all damage sources). In the late stages, you have massive
2
telekinetic powers that are extremely hard to control. Eventually, your brain explodes; this sends out a psychic
shockwave of overwhelming destructive power.

Alpha Variant: Your immune cells somehow start building nanobots that turn you, piece-by-piece, into a
3
grotesque but sort of cool looking cyborg. It’s all good right up to the moment you become a Mecha Freak.

Zegra Virus: The early sign is a mild but persistent stomachache. Later, you start growing tentacles and weird
4 bone protrusions. The tentacles are powerful, and the bone protrusions give you extra armor (+1 hit at first, later
+2 hits). You ultimately turn into a Multifold Abomination.

Virus Prime: The original form of Parasol’s experimental virus. You cough up blood and start feeling woozy. You
5
have trouble speaking coherently. Eventually, you turn into a garden variety Shambler.

Genesis Final: This may be the most terrifying form because it has no obvious signs or symptoms. When its
6
gestation is complete, your body erupts into a flurry of rapid, gruesome mutation. What emerges? An Overlord.

* If you need a system for viral progression, have the infected player periodically roll a D6. On a 1, it gets worse. The
interval for checking virus progression might be something like “after the next D6 hours” (for Story Mode) or “after
discovering the next 2D6 rooms” while using the exploration system.
D20 Biohazards
1 Shambler: A garden-variety zombie. It used to be human and still sort of looks it. Slow but relentless. < 1 hit>
2 Transformed Animal: Any sort of common animal, but vicious and gross-looking. <1 – 3 hits>
3 Spitter: Fast, squirrely 10-legged thing with a hideous face that spits acid. < 4 hits>
4 Brain Spider: A human brain that’s grown eye stalks and eight legs with razor-sharp tips. <2 hits>
Para-husk: A mollusk-y creature with pod-like “feet” that allow it to cling to walls and drop from the ceiling. If its
5
sucker mouth latches on, it’s about to drink lots of your blood. Highly vulnerable to open flames. <3 hits>
Breeder: A gruesome mass of jumbled limbs. Its inner egg sack can generate endless (initially immature and
6
vulnerable) duplicates of any one type of common bio-monster. Unable to attack on its own. <5 hits>
Saurian: A bird- or pterodactyl-like skeletal creature with a bony, knife-sharp beak and huge talons. Unable to fly,
7
but still gets lot of mileage out of twisted wings by using them as weapons. <4 hits>
Lurch: A small, lumpen, almost-human thing that (per its name) lurches fitfully from place to place. When it’s
8
within a few feet, impaling chitin spines burst out of its flanks with shocking abruptness. < 2 hits>
9 Giant Insect: Any sort of insect or arachnid, but huge and malevolent. < 2 – 5 hits>
Hunter: A gaunt, humanoid creature with no face. Moves with lightning speed. Carries a vicious sword made out of
10
the fused skeletons of other creatures it’s absorbed. Fights with fiendishly human-like intelligence. <4 hits>
Mecha Freak: A biomechanical monstrosity, two thirds computer and one third malformed human remains. It’s full
11
of guns with laser sights that emanate from who-knows-where. Vulnerable to strong electric currents. <3 hits>
Seeder: A hugely complex, quadrupedal fungal growth with a bulbous, eyeless head. Grasps clumsily with its
12
fluffy, spore-laden tentacles. When injured, briefly releases a cloud of highly infections spores. < 2 hits>
Multifold Abomination: A Cthulhoid monstrosity of writhing gelatinous folds and swirling tentacles. Its gaze (hard
13
to say where it emanates from) can entrance unwary victims. Its scream can kill. < 7 hits>
Blister Swarm: A cloud-like swarm of gnat-sized nanomutants. If the cloud envelops your body, it will begin to eat
14 away at your flesh bit by bit—faster the bigger the swarm. Nearly impossible to kill with anything other than a
flamethrower, blowtorch, or massive dose of radiation. <2 hits, if you can find a way to damage it>
Surgeon: A leering thing in medical scrubs. Surreal, jerky movements. Swipes at you with a scalpel or other
15
repurposed medical instrument. <3 hits>
Incubus: Bulbous, shiny, coursing with dark blood. Wings like a fly, beating impossibly fast. Grabs you with its
16
disturbingly human-like hands and plunges in its poison stinger. <2 hits>
Succubus: Hypnotizes victims, who hallucinate and see it as someone or something safe and inviting. When
17
they’re fully vulnerable, rips them clean in half with its slavering mandibles. < 3 hits>
Captor: A bipedal, reptilian creature; covered with a thick coat of “fur” composed of countless strands of extruded
18
intestinal material. Its long tail constricts victims so its axe-like face can hack them apart. <3 hits>
Filth Trooper: A reanimated human body wearing a crude “uniform” of sedimented organic matter. Wields a
19
powerful biomechanical rifle that fires various vegetable- or insect-like ammunition with cruel effects. <4 hits>
Overlord: King of the mutant undead. A hulking humanoid super-soldier with terrifying, blank eyes—wears heavy
20
armor and carries a massive chain gun with endless ammunition. <12 hits>

* To make a tougher or weaker version of any of these creatures, simply give them more/fewer hits and play them
more/less aggressively. You can also tone down or ignore some of their special attacks or add new ones you invent.

Don’t limit yourself to these monsters! Make up your own or borrow them from your favorite horror media.
D10 Example Locks & Keys

1 Lock: Plaque with an inscription that reads, “Ars longa, vita brevis” (Latin for “art is long, life is short”).
Keys: The classic “drama” and “comedy” masks.

2 Lock: Marble angel statue, obviously missing its halo.

Key: Golden circle with the inscription “On the wings of angels.”

3 Lock: City bus, school bus, or other large vehicle blocking the way forward.
Key: The vehicle’s ignition key. The attached tag reads “[vehicle type] No. 44.”

4 Lock: Reinforced security door with a label displaying a number or letter.

Key: Keycard bearing the same number or letter.

Lock: A [beautiful, resonant / decrepit, out-of-tune] grand piano.

5
Key: Piece of sheet music with notations for a simple theme. Play it on the piano to reveal something hidden.

Lock: Chessboard, set for play, with all its pieces except one (say, the Queen or King).
6 Key: The missing chess piece. Place it on the board in its starting position to reveal a secret.

Lock: Outdated computer with a floppy disk drive. When powered on, the screen reads “Please insert disk.”
7 Key: Old floppy disk; the label had something written in pencil, but it’s smudged or scratched out.

Lock: Rotating miniature carousel with four different animals to ride; one animal in each quadrant.
Key: Notepad with a poem. The verse reveals how to unlock a secret door by rotating the animals through three
8
specific orientations, in order.

Lock: High-tech, climate-controlled specimen storage locker; access only via retinal scan.
9 Key: Human eyeball suspended in a jar. Packet of disposable latex gloves somewhere nearby.

Lock: Electronic keypad lock, takes a 6-digit code. Guessing would take forever or might permanently lock it.
10 Key: Lottery ticket with a six-digit Powerball number. If you check the date, it’s from 10 years ago.

☣
Contact the author (Ian, he/him) on Discord @DisasterDuck#9357.
https://club-xero.itch.io/biocalypse
No license, so go nuts.
Not for sale; free distribution only.
Please give credit where appropriate.
Art is from Resident Evil 3; used without permission.
Title font is Another Danger. Subtitle font is Gloucester MT Extra Condensed.