The ONLY thing I can't seem to explain thematically...

[StayPuft]

I am fairly new to this game, so hopefully others have thought of this already. It is funny, because so far, every flaw somebody seems to think they are able to find in the thematic feel of the game, I am able to come up with a way around, or others here on the board have been able to explain around.

The ONE thing I can't think of a way to explain thematically, and haven't seen discussed is this...

How do you get around the pretty much standard zombie rule that one bite turns you into a zombie?

Now, mind you, this is still a board game. They couldn't have it be one wound and all heroes are dead/zombies. That would not make for a very good game. So, if THIS is the only thematic problem there is, then it is MORE than excusable. But, it is still interesting to think about, and makes me wonder if others have come up with an answer.

Now, I did think of one thing. Just because a zombie wounded you doesn't have to mean they bit you. They might have tried to grab you and torn at your flesh a little, or hit you pretty hard a few times, etc.

So, that could kind of explain around it a little. But, if you have a game where a lot of heroes are getting wounded, some even multiple times, that explanation starts to seem a bit of a stretch. Then again, maybe not. I could almost see that working in a zombie movie. After all, there is usually a lot more humans in zombie movies than 4. Often times, the main characters do last a while. So, the idea could be that your four heroes are the main characters, which is why they continue to escape for a while. I'm just not sure if that still seems a bit of a stretch.

I don't know. Anybody else come up with an explanation for this one?

[samuraitrev]

I suppose another way of thinking about the wounds could be the wounds represent fatigue and exhaustion. So let's say Sheriff Anderson is in the Zombie Apocalypse. He hardly sleeps or eats he fights a Zombie which saps his last bit of strength = 1 wound. The next fight he is on adrenaline but loses= 2 wounds. He's now completely exhausted and/or wounded by rending or thrown to the ground or his concussed against the wall or floor. His next wound is the all important bite. Some bites kill (as in completely devoured other bites linger maybe he gets away and turns at a later date. The last wound could also count as a KO if you're playing a campaign...

The fatigue idea would also go towards explaining the students fast recovery times. What with higher metabolisms etc.

First Aid Kits are self explanitary but could also represent Adrenaline Shots and Recovery could represent sleep as the rest of the Survivors take your shift on watch.

So no it doesn't have to be bite, bite, bite= dead.

[mqstout]

Plenty of films have had one bite = infected, you're GOING to turn. Others, only certain zombies or egregious wounds cause turning. LNOE's in the latter group. I've posted elsewhere, but the game has levels of abstraction. Most scenarios are a whole day (or night, depending on if it's sunrise or sunset you're counting til). Your bite could be one moment and it'd be hours later when you finally turn. It's not like D&D turns where each turn is just a few seconds (or even a full minute).

And, as you mentioned (and Trev continued), wounds are abstractions too: it could be a scratch, bite, punch; it could be mental anguish from not following the leader's orders (http://flyingfrogwiki.com/ffpwiki/index....E2%80%9D); it could be spending spiritual focus (Father Joe's Strength of Spirit) and so on.

Continuing with abstractions, the game has plenty of more living humans than the main four you play -- They're the event cards. Sometimes the linebacker's in the scene, taking one for the team. There's always ol' Lizzy the shopkeep hunkering down to the last shell.

(Sound rehearsed? It is. I have this discussion about abstraction in games all the time. So many people who play RPGs hate "hit points" without remembering the abstraction involved.)

[StayPuft]

I can definitely see saying that the wounds aren't necessarily bites. So, I think you both very much agreed with my sort of explanation. Still, I don't know if it is just me, but it just feels like a little bit of a stretch, particularly when you play a hotly contested game that ends up involving a lot of wounds happening.

I kind of think it works, though. I mean, as you mention, mqstout, there are other humans other than the heroes in Woodinvale. So, you can imagine, thematically, that some of them are the ones to bite it... pun intended.

Then, other than that, you can explain away the other wounds in many different ways, with the final wound being a bite. Heck, even if it doesn't turn the hero into a zombie hero, you can explain this as well with at least two possible explanations.

1) The zombies all tore the hero apart/ate them, so there was not enough left for them to become a zombie

2) The zombification process took a little longer than the time left in the game, so they wound up becoming a zombie after the events of the game session.

Anyway, I guess that works well enough. It just felt kind of thin to me when I thought of it. But, if others can agree with the idea that the initial wounds are not bites, then I could see that working.

[scarydk]

I agree with what you are getting at. Theme is as important to this game as the actual gameplay, and it just makes the game feel better once there's some way to sort of explain what is going on RPG style.

I haven't given this one much thought but come to think about it, even in the real world the character of a wound (severity, place, cause and type) differ.

Wounds taken during a fight
- Severe laceration of a characters skin.
- Detachment of a toe or finger.

Wounds taken leaving only one open empty Health box
- Laceration which is arterial or venous in nature causing infectious blood to spread in the victims body (if turned into a Zombie Hero next).
- Avulsion of a victim's skin causing heavy bleeding.
- Detachment of a body part causing heavy bleeding.

I hope this can be used for inspiration.

[mqstout]

Continuing on the wounds, LNOE's zombie transmission could be that you only turn once you're already dead (again, some movies are like that -- the disease doesn't kill you; just keeps you from staying dead). A full wound bar is what actually kills you, not any other intermediate wound.

[argailwall]

I like trevs oppinion(it is how it is explained in ad&d 2nd edition) about the whole health system, each hit is not allways a bloody hit, it sums exhaustion, fatigue etc try not to think the health of a character as pure blood flow

[Emp]

I agree here. Wounds don't necesary means bites that kill/turn you. But fatigue, excaustion, sprained limbs from fighting, ...

It does leave open one thing though...
Wouldn't the heroes get tired from just running around, searching, stress, ... ?
So that damage does not come from fighting zombies but just happens.
Something to think about. Would be cool to add fatigue to the heroes and maybe something to cancel fatigue like cards for food en pepdrinks?

[EvilNed]

Well, do the zombies go for the brains or for the flesh?

If they go for the brains, then they've got more incommon with the zombies from Return of the Living Dead (except they don't run). And those zombies don't transfer their infection via bite.

A fair amount of the cards refer to the zombies lust for brains, making me think this might be the case. But I don't know, it's all really fun and games isn't it?

I'm pretty sure they've just tried to throw as much zombie related stuff in there as possible.

[StayPuft]

Well, with the general consensus seeming to agree on this, I guess we can just go with that as our explanation. ;-) Like I said, when I kind of thought along those lines, it felt a little thin to me, but if others agree that I don't feel quite so bad about it. LOL! Works for me, then.

And, yes, it is definitely just all in good fun. To me, figuring out ways to explain things thematically is part of the fun. :-)