Post/Author/DateTime	Post
betenoire 10-12-07, 03:53 PM	<Lurker mode disengage> Hi all, I've been running a survival zombie Halloween one-shot for some friends, and they find themselves besieged in an Inn, with a whole town filled with the living dead. These zombies are a homebrewed Romero-type zombie with a few special abilities thrown in to keep my players from meta-gaming them too much. Anywho, they've decided the best way to deal with the situation is to just burn down the city. My question to you is: how would you handle this? I'm thinking about Rome burning here - I figure that, for your typical medieval type town, you'd have a lot of factors that might actually make this a viable strategy - a preponderance of trash, closely built buildings made of wood, etc. Ideas? :mage:
deadkoo 10-12-07, 04:49 PM	well, it makes sense.. the zombies probably would of caused a LOT of damage breaking down doors and such, so it could work... one thing you could think of though, fire wont kill zombies as quickly as living(no asphyxiation issues) so be sure to throw flaming zombies at the PCs... could be fun:) and btw, I am totally stealing the idea..
betenoire 10-12-07, 04:54 PM	so be sure to throw flaming zombies at the PCs... could be fun:) Yes, burning zombies...good...good...:evillaugh Any other ideas? I'm curious to know how y'all would adjudicate whether the city burns at all, the rate of the fire spreading, etc... But burning zombies will definitely make an appearance.
Eerongal 10-12-07, 05:20 PM	hopefully your PCs arent too high level, otherwise this (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0243.html) comes to mind.
betenoire 10-12-07, 05:31 PM	hopefully your PCs arent too high level, otherwise this (http://www.giantitp.com/comics/oots0243.html) comes to mind. :D I love oots. They are level one. Should have stated that before.
TarlSS 10-12-07, 05:49 PM	Medieval Towns, and in fact most cities before WWI were notorius firetraps. Just look at the great chicago fire, which was started by a cow who knocked over a lantern. That was as recent as the 19th century. If no one puts it out, the town is going up in flames, almost certainly.
Centor 10-12-07, 06:01 PM	OOTS is the BEST! Yeah the town would certianly burn. I'm running Ravenloft right now, which has a town full of zombies at the start, and my caster kept wanting to cast fireball, I gently reminded him that the houses were made of wood and with in the range of the spell. (Whole town burns no NPCs to give story lines or direction) That would have made the campain very intresting indeed. I would say that burning the town would be an excellent stratigy for the PC, and burning zombies are a great idea. (stealing!) The way I'd do the spread of fire is that it spreads slowly at first, 1d4 squares touching the origin a round for the first encounter, then once a house goes up it 1d4 house and at that point you probably dont have to worry about it just say everywhere they go in town is on fire. I'd also through in some surviors so its a moral delima! Have fun! mmm brains!!
betenoire 10-12-07, 06:17 PM	Excellent. Thanks for all replies everyone! So it seems that the town wouldn't have any trouble going up in flames quickly fairly quickly...now the thing for me to ruminate on is - perhaps it's too much of a good thing? Seems to me that this could easily result in a deathtrap for the party as much as for the zombies (as well as any other commoners - thanks for the idea, Centor). An escape from the burning wreckage of city as the living dead (engulfed in flames) give chase sounds like good times to me.
Slimgauge 10-12-07, 06:26 PM	A *big* factor is the weather. Hot and dry for weeks plus a nice stiff breeze to drive it makes for a HOT fire that spreads QUICKLY. Cold and damp with no breeze, not so much. Too windy and the fire's hard to start plus the flying embers tend to get blown out rather than catch.
nowiwantmydmg 10-12-07, 06:42 PM	Depending on weather conditions I'd give it a spread of 30ft/min or so, It'll take at least an hour or two to burn an entire town(unless it's literally made of matches)
betenoire 10-12-07, 07:03 PM	True about the weather. The time of year is right in the middle of Autumn (of course), and though it has been cold, it has been very dry. I think then it should spread fairly quickly, on balance.
GoriceXII 10-12-07, 07:50 PM	There are other interesting complications--frightened animals and people, someone screaming for someone to save their child, all those sorts of things. Think of the climax of any horror movie where things are exploding or falling apart, that's when tension is highest and when the monsters are sometimes most unexpectedly dangerous. Of course ultimately it should achieve the end they desire. One other thought though...one of the better moments in 28 Days Later was the burning of Manchester and the infected spreading out over the surrounding countryside as a result...
Killydd 10-12-07, 07:58 PM	Depends mostly on roofing material. Thatch in such a dry situation would be a deathtrap. Open grassland will burn faster than a man can run. In forest fires, it is not too rare for the firefighters to be caught by surprise and forced to hide in fire shelters to survive when the wind changes direction. Moderate or high winds is what allows fires to jump fairly wide boundaries, such as rivers or highways. Of course, once a fire gets going, it generates its own wind conditions also. If you have thatch roofing, I'd be rolling every round to determine if the next building catches fire. Wooden roofing would have a better chance of not catching and slowing it down that way.
betenoire 10-12-07, 08:03 PM	There are other interesting complications--frightened animals and people, someone screaming for someone to save their child, all those sorts of things. Think of the climax of any horror movie where things are exploding or falling apart, that's when tension is highest and when the monsters are sometimes most unexpectedly dangerous. Of course ultimately it should achieve the end they desire. One other thought though...one of the better moments in 28 Days Later was the burning of Manchester and the infected spreading out over the surrounding countryside as a result... Good points. I think I really want to play up the chaos here. I intended this to go one more session past this upcoming one, but I think I'll go ahead and let next session be the climax - it can't get much more intense than the destruction of the city. ... A random thought: I can't wait to spring a grappling zombie on the party as they flee, pulling the last in line into a burning building...yes I do believe a few of the zombies just acquired Improved Grab :evillaugh ... As far as spreading the infection out to the countryside - that will be a very suitable denouement. Sure the party successfully fled the city, but at what cost? It's a good horror staple - success is often incomplete or illusory.
Voran 10-12-07, 08:24 PM	I like the idea, though I do advise caution,as you've mentioned that the party is Level 1. Considering fire damage as a close possibility, plus zombies, plus flaming zombies (Ahoy Sailor!), you might consider keeping environmental effects largely in the background and as 'natural barriers' to paths, kinda like how some video games do. They sorta herd you through paths by collapsing buildings in your way or infernos. Its an effective tool in this case, as normal fire can KILL your PCs in short order. As mentioned, higher level chars would just walk through stuff and worry about soot, at most.
betenoire 10-13-07, 12:18 AM	I like the idea, though I do advise caution,as you've mentioned that the party is Level 1. Considering fire damage as a close possibility, plus zombies, plus flaming zombies (Ahoy Sailor!), you might consider keeping environmental effects largely in the background and as 'natural barriers' to paths, kinda like how some video games do. They sorta herd you through paths by collapsing buildings in your way or infernos. Its an effective tool in this case, as normal fire can KILL your PCs in short order. As mentioned, higher level chars would just walk through stuff and worry about soot, at most. True. I like the idea of being able to control their path this way - its like a dungeon in that regard. As long as they have decisions on which ways to go, it wouldn't be railroad-y. But if they choose to go through the obviously deadly fire, then thats their lookout, and I don't believe I'll pull any punches (they are mostly experienced players and are well aware of the dangers of smoke inhalation and heat damage). Thanks for the idea!
The_Ryan 10-13-07, 06:54 AM	But burning zombies will definitely make an appearance. Need the fire to spread in a certain direction, flaming zombie follows a poor commoner running for his life or if need be a stray animal. Ryan