I saw a re-run of Dante's Peak today. I live in a small town on the flank of a reasonably active volcano (Ohakune, Mt Ruapehu, NZ).
I think a volcanic eruption + lahar event would make for an excellent setting for a zombie game. Basically, due to the eruption and some other undefined event the dead are crawling from the rent open earth. Sure some of them are incinerated by the lava, disintegrated lahar/landslide but there's enough of them in the mostly deserted (evacuated) town for it to be interesting.
Ohakune is small enough that I can map the whole town, mark every non-residential building etc and have a kind of Silent Hill / 28 Days Later horror survival adventure. The PCs could be a mix of local residents, BPRD investigators (on a skiing holiday?) and local emergency services. Nice. Should run it this Christmas I think.
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And if you read this got to www.rpg.net - especially the forums.
More thoughts for this game (13-Dec-04):
There are 2 lakes in the near vicinity (a couple of kms is precise enough for the game), one is called Dry Lake, the other is Karaioi (carry-oy) Lake. The latter is a traditionally tapu (taboo) area supposedly due to healing properties. For the game it will actually be the home to a taniwha (tunny-fa), a creature from Maori folklore rather like a giant black eel with a slightly human face and sometimes small arm-like forelimbs in addition to normal eel fins etc. Due to the volcanic activity the taniwha, along with all of its ell brethren are leaving the lake and searching for a new home. Important to realise that eels (the NZ variety at least) can actually travel a fair distance over land, especially across swampy ground, or even just dew-wet grass. However, faced with rocky terrain and a thick carpet of acrid ash they are mostly just dying. The taniwha, being larger and (supernaturally) stronger makes it to a nearby house and take refuge in the swimming pool (which is dark and murky due to the ash and the taniwha).
The volcanic activity, along with some nearby cultish activity, and the movement of the taniwha, has other effects: much like St George and the dragon, the taniwha had been bested and confined to Lake Karaioi by a great warrior Pawhara Kaitiaki. The taniwha's desperate escape has stirred Pawhara and the undead warrior will relentlessly hunt down the creature. Pawhara's only objective is to hunt the taniwha; killing it will see it respawn in the lake. He will be ruthless against any obstacle that hinders him in this objective, and while he will not seek to actively attack anyone or anything else, he certainly will not be friendly towards all of the modern interlopers in the traditional lands of his people. A local kaumatua (elder) could offer a karakia and powhiri (traditional prayer, incantation and welcome) in order to get Pawhara's attention and converse with him (in Te Reo Maori only), but even in this occasion he will do only what duty and custom requires and will seek to quickly finish his mission.
Stats for the taniwha and Pawhara to follow.
Some more details about the location. As noted Ohakune is a small town close to Mt Ruapehu. There are 4 key roads out of town. To the west SH49 (Tohunga Rd) crosses the Mangawhero River right on the edge of town (in this scenario the river is a raging torrent of hot, possibly corrosive, mud and ash and the bridge has been swept away, i.e. it's unnavigable). To the south Ohakune Rd leads to another small town Raetihi, however it also goes right past the main cemetery where most of the zombies are originating. To the east SH49 (Rangataua Rd) continues for about 30km to the army town of Waiouru. Unfortunately the main path of the lahar is along the Tangiwai River and so the whole area has become a hot muddy swamp - i.e. unpassable. Some 15kms out of town are the 2 lakes mentioned above so this is the direction the eel/taniwha encounter would come from. Finally, to the north Mountain Rd extends for 17km right up the mountain, though much of this has collapsed or been covered with lava - it is a dead-end. The winding undulating road goes through dense native bush normally, from within this area the warrior Pawhara will emerge.
The game should be about surviving the various threats until some firepower from Waiouru arrives by helicopter, though with thick ash clouds overhead & more possible eruptions they may be a few days away.
So far the PCs will face a large number of zombies, a taniwha, volcanic activity and a determined undead warrior. Should be fun!
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