Zombies and Science?

[Tirisilex]

This site debunks the idea that Zombies could ever inflict us.. Maybe one could think about these 7 idea's and come up with a reason why these things don't apply in a Dead Reign Campaign

http://www.cracked.com/article_18683_7- ... ickly.html

[eliakon]

The same thing that Palladium uses for all their other logical inconsistencies in any of their other books. Either ignore it, hand wave it aside, or throw technobabble at it.

[Tirisilex]

Where is your sense of creative philosophizing?

[Tirisilex]

Zombies are better than us because of their sheer volume and silence in moving. But It's the earlier onset of the outbreak that doesnt make sense.. First zombie goes to hospital. Hospital unprepared for Zombies. Zombie risies attacks like 5 people and kills them.. People panic and leave Hispital soyou got 6 zombies.. Police interact.. Unknowingly you need to shoot in the head.. Zombies over run cops after cops take down 3.. the 2 left create 2.. and so on. The Bite theory seems more plausible for an onset of zombie outbreak instead of the zombie needs to kill you to turn you into a zombie. It's easier to quarantine a kill than a Bite.


Maybe I need to read "Still the first 24 Hours" again?

[eliakon]

Zombies are better than us because of their sheer volume and silence in moving. But It's the earlier onset of the outbreak that doesnt make sense.. First zombie goes to hospital. Hospital unprepared for Zombies. Zombie risies attacks like 5 people and kills them.. People panic and leave Hispital soyou got 6 zombies.. Police interact.. Unknowingly you need to shoot in the head.. Zombies over run cops after cops take down 3.. the 2 left create 2.. and so on. The Bite theory seems more plausible for an onset of zombie outbreak instead of the zombie needs to kill you to turn you into a zombie. It's easier to quarantine a kill than a Bite.


Maybe I need to read "Still the first 24 Hours" again?

Palladium avoids this by simply having a mass infection event, ie 'the wave', which turns a large percentage of the population into zombies all at once. Conveniently the wave is most prevalent in the first responders (since it was a tainted vaccine, that was injected into almost all the military, and police, and CDC, and.....)

The 'animals would eat them all' is just handwaved away. Amazingly in DR there just ISN'T a problem with feral dog packs, except for the ones that attack players (because everything is a threat to players, never to the zombies).

Decay, Heat, Cold, Sight, (and presumably bugs) are dealt with by the 'our zombies are different' clause.

And guns of course are dealt with by the usual expedient of Palladium doesn't like guns, so they are not the solution. Ammunition is rare for some reason, and all the depots got looted first, all the survivors are crazed, etc.

[Tirisilex]

yeah.. I just reread the Wave and the Apocalypse over. The Wave totaly debunks the "debunking" site. When it comes to the initial start of the "plague."

[Tirisilex]

http://news.yahoo.com/5-strange-facts-p ... 06523.html

[Tor]

Who says zombies are more silent movers? I see them as rather clumsy. Plus there's the moaning bit.

[Tirisilex]

Zombies dont freeze and dont rot faster in warmer weather.. And it isnt spread thru bites.. They also Heal via PPE.. That debunks half of the debunk site I posted.

[eliakon]

Zombies dont freeze and dont rot faster in warmer weather.. And it isnt spread thru bites.. They also Heal via PPE.. That debunks half of the debunk site I posted.

Debunk wouldn't be the correct word, since that implies a false premise being revealed as false. It simply means that the DR zombies operate differently than the 'classic movie zombie', what ever that is, that the site used as the basis of its analysis.

Of course the biggest problems (Animals, guns, lack of intelligence, people) are still not addressed directly, but that's just part of the handwave that comes with the premise of a zombie apocalypse setting.

[Tirisilex]

The Wave pretty much diminished the people problem.. Animals may be repelled somehow.. Some unnatural fluid or something that drives animals away.. Some Aura or smell maybe..

Sure there are guns but less people to use them. Lack of Intelligence is nothing compared to volume. And as I said with Guns.. there arent many out there. Thus letting the Zombies continue their Reign.

[ronekiln]

As there's no realistic possibility for zombies at all, I prefer the handwaving response. They just are. Not having an explanation makes them scarier anyway.

Even with the mass outbreak Palladium uses, our real world is currently awash in guns and ammo (at least in the US). Zombies would be very quickly wiped out and the real threat would be other survivors, the real challenge would be putting the world back together. That doesn't make a good "zombie game." So to make a good zombie game, place it in a world with minimal guns and ammo. That makes zombies scarier.

Or, it's YOUR game, do what you like. Maybe in your world the wave of zombie outbreak was even more sudden and near all encompassing, so the mass surplus of firearms and ammo is of less value. Or maybe you don't want zombies to be the primary danger. They may just be the foil that toppled civilization and you really want to focus on rebuilding civilization.

Don't let science ruin a good adventure game. I don't need science to explain elves, magical fireballs or dragons in a fantasy game. I'm not going to stress over the science in a zombie game.

[ronekiln]

Oh, and as far as volume of ammo to zombies, zombies can come in seemingly unending waves. Ammo is crazy heavy. If you don't target shoot much, stop by a gun store and ask to feel the weight of a thousand round case of ammo. I'm not in bad shape, but I'm not jogging far with that weight, plus other basic survival/adventuring gear on me. Heat stroke or a heart attack would kill me before the zombies would if I had to run any real distance.

[Tirisilex]

I just posted in another thread that there are alot of guns and places to get guns in my area.. There are 1500 Members at a shooting range.. Gunsmiths, Hunting stores.. Lots of Hunters.. I know of a bunch of people that keep bladed weapons in the trunk of their car.. A local Tatooist is armed to the teeth with weapons.. About every other house in my area has a gun of some sort. I dunno about a Weapon Shortage.

[CarCrasher]

There is no gun or ammo shortage in my games.I use the "real world" in my games. However as time passes rifles, side arms, shotguns and the like become harder to come across as survivors loot and stockpile what they find. Also why does the supernatural and science have to be mutually exclusive? Just cuz it doesn't have a quantifiable explanation doesn't mean it doesn't exist.

[cornholioprime]

ANY supposed weakness based on the rules of biology fails automatically against the supernaturally-animated zombies of the Dead Reign setting.

[Tor]

Oh, and as far as volume of ammo to zombies, zombies can come in seemingly unending waves. Ammo is crazy heavy. If you don't target shoot much, stop by a gun store and ask to feel the weight of a thousand round case of ammo. I'm not in bad shape, but I'm not jogging far with that weight, plus other basic survival/adventuring gear on me. Heat stroke or a heart attack would kill me before the zombies would if I had to run any real distance.

Could just carry it around in wagons. Noisy, but saves on the exertion. Or just defend locations where your stockpile them.