For a while now, I have wanted to run the Burning Wheel with a zombie apocalypse bent.
Since Kingdom on Netflix has dropped the second season (finally), the idea came back to me.
I want it almost exactly like Kingdom! The zombies are supernaturalish, spawned by Orcs and the Servants’ Dark Magicks, and each stock has their own type of Zombie, a la ShadowRun vampires.
Eg Elves can run, Dwarves have natural armor, Orcs have extra strength, and I was thinking humans have nothing but succumb to death easily and are numerous.
The Crown Prince in the show has the Noblese Oblige trait, as an example of how Kingdom translates to The Burning Wheel. A little busy or I’d type more up. I have a whole folder of ideas at the house.
Thank you for the heads up! I might use this for the “session 0” to help explain many of the rules and mechanics, especially BITs! Zombie bears sounds very in line with what I have prepared.
I like the idea of the black oil, but that isn’t necessarily what I was going for. I could maybe work it in, maybe the Orc Servants are performing rituals corrupting some fluid into the black oil.
The way I was imagining it, some Orcs are trying to overthrow the current Servants, and are summoning spirits (or demons) to bargain with for aid. The demons possess the ritualists and run amok, killing wantonly. Those killed by the possessed are infected (maybe by the corrupted blood of the possessed Orcs, now dead and magicked, a la the black oil) and attack all, consuming raw flesh, even by cannibalism. The infection spreads, and due to the size and cultural barriers of the continent, each stock reacts differently and there is very little trust or assistance between them. The humans, who have warred with Orcs – and their lesser cousins, goblins – for ages, refuse to believe in a cannibalism inducing disease, think the Orcs are just at it again. Dwarves are holed up in their mountains and are waiting for things to pass, leaving the Outcasts to deal with their own problems. Elves maybe have a clue as to what is happening, but their advanced age and reduced population by fewer births makes their efforts not as effective.
I’m telling you, I have a 5 subject notebook filled with stuff, each subject a different stock, capped with a subject dedicated to plot hooks.