“I’ll never forget the first ghoul I saw. I was out driving at night and a deer stepped right in front of the car. I stopped to check the damage and I saw it lit up in the headlights. It was a deer alright, but it was rotten, putrid. It looked like it had been decaying for days. And then it got to its feet – and started coming right at me!”

–Night of the Meteor, Zombie Apocalypse

The dead rise from mouldering graves, pushing aside soft earth and shambling out of morgue coolers and ancient mausoleums. The world as you know it is about to end. What lies before you will test you to the utmost… and it’s sure to be fun! Zombie Apocalypse is now available at your local retailer and online through our webstore.

Zombie Apocalypse is the first book in The End of the World roleplaying game line. Each book in the line challenges you to survive as the world ends in truly dramatic fashion. Ancient gods may exact their wrath on Earth, aliens from beyond our solar system may invade our atmosphere, or our own technology may develop sentience and turn on us. Naturally, Zombie Apocalypse focuses on the rise of the living dead, and even within that titular theme, there’s plenty of room for different scenarios and adventures.

Can You Survive?

Most roleplaying games begin when you and your fellow players create characters to play as in the game. In Zombie Apocalypse and the other books of The End of the World line, you receive the unique invitation to play as yourself in the midst of the world’s apocalypse! Rather than playing an invented character, you play an abstracted version of yourself, using your own skills and talents as you attempt to survive the end of the world. We gave an example of what this kind of character creation looks like in our first preview of Zombie Apocalypse.

Your skills and talents aren’t the only things drawn from your own life and experience. Your gear and weapons are limited to whatever you may have near you when you begin the roleplaying session. Venturing out of your home to find additional weapons or supplies may be one of the first expeditions you must make – and it may also be one of the most dangerous.

The daily struggle for survival offers dozens of possibilities for adventure and conflict at the end of the world. Grocery stores or restaurants may be an adequate food source at first, but looters and other survivors will quickly deplete their stockpiles. Even finding clean water can be a struggle as the structures of society shut down one by one. Succeeding at these tasks would test anyone’s skills, and as we explored in our second preview, these tasks are handled with an elegant, narrative system that keeps the focus on the story.

Experience the Apocalypse

Five different scenarios are featured in Zombie Apocalypse, each presenting a unique take on the zombies that end the world. You may battle infected rage zombies or parasite-ridden humans that hunt with all the cunning of uncontaminated humans. Dark voodoo rituals may provide the impetus for the zombies’ attacks or radiation from a meteor may cause dead humans and animals alike to rise.

Of course, the apocalypse doesn’t have to be the end. If you’re careful, you may survive long past the initial outbreak of the zombie apocalypse. Each scenario in the book is split into two parts: Apocalypse and Post-Apocalypse. In the Apocalypse section, Game Masters find information on what the players see and experience in the first hours and days of the zombie outbreak. The truth behind the origin of the apocalypse and details about the zombies are also included in this section, though the players may have to work very hard to discover this information.

The Post-Apocalypse section, on the other hand, deals with life after the initial panic and turmoil of the apocalypse have faded. In the Post-Apocalypse, a new “norm” emerges, where humans struggle to adapt to new dangers and eke out a living. In some cases, the Post-Apocalypse may be more dire than the circumstances of the Apocalypse. The land may burn with radiation after nuclear bombs eradicate the zombie plague. A new world order may arise, transforming the world into a dystopia ruled by one man. No matter what happens, both Apocalypse and Post-Apocalypse offer hundreds of possible adventures for you and other survivors! For more information on the scenarios in Zombie Apocalypse, read our third and fourth previews.

Shoot for the Head!

The end of the world has arrived. Zombies are everywhere, and they’re hungry for your brains. If you want to keep your gray matter intact, you’ll need every skill and talent, and you’ll also need the help of your fellow survivors. Can you survive the end of life as we know it? Gather your friends and enter the apocalypse!

Zombie Apocalypse is now available at your local retailer and through our webstore.