Dead Reign Crossover

[Cybermancer]

Despite the fact that I'm not a huge Zombie fan, I have been giving a little thought to a scenerio that could be used in Beyond the Supernatural using Dead Reign material. I'm sure it won't be ground breaking or paradigm forming stuff but I figured I'd put it out here anyway.

The setting:

An isolated community. Could be in the mountains, far north, desert, island or someplace else. The isolation is temporarily increased due to weather. A blizzard, tornado, earthquake, volcano, hurricane or similar natural disaster has cut the communities power grid and possibly limited communications with the outside world.

The Bad Guys:

An evil cult is active in the area. They're using the natural disaster as both cover and fuel for their evil plans. They have found a way to turn the dead into zombies who are then able to create more zombies. They will be using people killed by the disaster as well as those they can dig up in local cemetaries.

Why are the PC's there?:

They may have heard rumors of the cult or been otherwise contracted to investigate. They may have been passing through when the disaster struck (or arrived just ahead of it, looking for a safe haven). They may be visiting friends or family. They may have been on vacation or on business of some sort.

It will be up to the PC's to protect a population that disbelieves what's happening.

Other complications:

A bike gang or similar group arrived just before the disaster and are being blamed for the unexplained deaths and mayhem. Ironically, they know about the zombies (if not the cult) and have been doing what they can to destroy them.

A handful of religious zealots see this as signs and portents of the end times.

Some truly despicable human beings are using the oppurtunity to loot. Ironically, they never run into any Zombies (until perhaps the end).

The local law enforcement and government are looking for people to blame. The PC's look like they fit the bill.

Are other supernatural creatures already in the area? How are they taking advantage of the situation? Are they opposed to the undead for some reason? One or two vampires that just happened to be passing through could really confuse the issue.

When the government arrives, they will cover up the whole incident. While most Zombies will be destroyed wholesale by special military units, some will be crated up and taken... somewhere. The town itself may wind up firebombed. Perhaps with the civilian population still present (unless evacuated by the PC's). How is it that the government seemed to have a "Zombie Plan"? Has this happened/is this happening elsewhere?

LS.org has been 'dead' lately. Anyone want to liven things up a bit with this, or other Zombie scenerio?

[Lord Z]

It seems like fun, Cy-guy. According to the last page of the DR main book, it was originally intended as a BtS sourcebook. The full apocalypse seemed out of style for a BtS game -- at least to me. This suggestion of a limited zombie outbreak might be a better fit. If you use the version of the Cult of Brylyx that we saw in Rifter #45 and one of the demons therein, that could be a very nice fit. Besides, Rifter45 had better artwork than DR.

The complications, honestly, I thought were too much. I'm not a big zombie fan either, but I can recognize that the best zombie movies are the least complicated stories about survival. If you were developing this into an entire campaign, those complications would make more sense.

[Cybermancer]

The complications would be optional portions that a GM could use depending on their short and long term plans. Using all of them might get a bit wonky and I certainly wouldn't suggest them for a game that was intended to be a one off night of gaming. I was merely offering some suggestions to give the scenerio more of a BtS feel as opposed to the relatively normal zombie fare.

Actually, I wouldn't mind seeing other ways people might customize the basic scenerio to give it a more BtS feel.

[Cybermancer]

I'm not a big zombie fan either, but I can recognize that the best zombie movies are the least complicated stories about survival.

Not true the best zombie movies go far beyond scares and survival but play on human interaction and social break down.

I'm all for exploring social break down. One of the more interesting themes in any post-apocalyptic setting.

[wildhood]

Sounds like Resident Evil to me with so more stuff in it. Its all cool to me.