"Feeding" rule

[arveljoffi]

After the first couple of times that we played it, we noticed that the zombies seemed to have an advantage. They would kill one character and then move right on to the next victim. So it hit me--they're after human flesh, right? New rule:

Upon killing a hero, all zombies that space and adjacent spaces lose one turn as they feed on the hero's corpse. Zombies in adjacent spaces are immediately to the "corpse" space.

It's very common for heroes to be close to one another, so we felt like it lent a nice cinematic touch for one hero to narrowly get away as the other is torn to pieces by a zombie horde! And it seemed to balance the game a little better.

[mqstout]

Not a bad house rule. I would give it a value of probably 1 DOT (according to Growing Hunger's DOT system).

If your heroes are having a hard time winning, they're probably doing something wrong -- possibly even rules-wise. Read around the rules questions forums for explanations, or reread the rulebook in detail.

[arveljoffi]

(03-25-2011 09:39 PM)mqstout Wrote:  If your heroes are having a hard time winning, they're probably doing something wrong -- possibly even rules-wise.

Good point. It was our first couple of times playing, and we kept finding things we were doing wrong as we played more and more. Heroes win more often now, but we still like the feel of a horde of the undead devouring some poor, unlucky prom queen.

[Russ]

I had this same idea, but more for thematic reasons rather than balance reasons. I think a lot of people find the Zombies too powerful when they are fist playing the game. I know I did, and so I created a bunch of custom characters that were more powerful to "balance it out." After we had played several games though, those slightly overpowered characters started dominating the game. Once everyone knows what they are doing, the game balances out pretty well.

I do like the idea of including the rule via the 'dot' system. Seems to me it might be worth more than just one dot, but kinda hard to say without playing around with it a while.

[mqstout]

Have a suggested (also "one dot") rule to counterbalance Feeding, but against the heroes?

[Russ]

(03-27-2011 11:57 PM)mqstout Wrote:  Have a suggested (also "one dot") rule to counterbalance Feeding, but against the heroes?

Hmmm....Maybe when a hero kills a zombie in a fight, they also have to use an additional turn. Of course, they aren't eating the zombie, but maybe they need an extra moment or two to actually kill the zombie, either by burning the body, (like in resident evil for game cube,) or crushing the skull or whatever. One turn would be enough to properly dispose of all zombies sharing a single space, and zombies killed with guns would be except from the rule, (headshot!)

Actually, I'm not sure I even like this idea. But, just throwing stuff at the wall to see what sticks. Maybe it will inspire someone.

[Jarheadmartian]

I like this rule. If it was applied to the basic game then it would mean any time a Hero was killed the Zombies would be attracted to the dead body to Feed like a type of Zombie Hunger.
And if playing the advanced game, then Heroes would "Turn" into Zombie Heroes during the black zone. After this period they would die normally (not "Turning") and the Zombies would Feed.
So in the basic game, there would be a slightly greater advantage to the Heroes.
In the advanced game there would be the usual advantage to the Zombies in the black zone getting Zombie Heroes, but then the Heroes gain the advantage after the black zone with the Zombie Feed rule.
So for clarity, does Zombie Feed over rule Zombie Hunger completely?

[Russ]

I dunno...in the movies I think zombies tend to favor living flesh. I can't think of an instance of a zombie not going after a person because they happened to see a dead body on the ground nearby. I figure it's the same reason that a dog chases a car: even though it may not be the best course of action, they can't help it. They are compelled to chase the moving object rather than a stationary one. On the other hand, a zombie already wrist deep in a yummy feast of blood and guts will probably not focus on anything but feeding until it is finished.

I guess what I'm trying to say here is, I think if a zombie is adjacent to a living hero and a hero that just died, the rule should be that they go after the live hero. If there are not live heroes in adjacent squares, they should be drawn to the body.

Or, for simplicity, you could make it so only the zombies that are sharing the space with the hero when they die get to eat the hero. Maybe other zombies can't get there in time.

[samuraitrev]

If you were a zombie wouldn't you stop to feed?

   

I can see where you guys are coming from with this feeding rule. As in films the z's like to get down and dirty at feeding time. But from a game point of view the zombies are pretty damn slow as it is. This would make them even slower. Maybe for a certain scenario it could work but it's something I will leave in your blood stained hands

[thegamelord]

Simple rule:
Heroes who stick together live together