Zombie Outbreak

This is a post apocalyptic apartment crawl. Buildings are packed together. Survival is not guaranteed.

Proof of concept

Rules
There are always 1d4 zombies when encountered

DM Moves
Elevator Shaft - the DM can place one elevator in any building over 6 floors. The operational status of which should be entertaining.
Fire - once per campaign the DM can have a building catch on fire as long as the party is inside of it and it's hard to get out.

Depth Rules
At  1 Depth, a -1 Depth = an exit to outside
At Max Depth, a +1 Depth = the rooftop

Max Depth = Building's total floors

Add 1 zombie per Depth level when encountering zombies
Go up one letter on the loot table per Depth Level

3 Random Plot Hooks

100 Letters from Iwo Jima encounters

1. Soldiers pull pins on grenades to die honorably
2. Soldiers dig pillboxes
3. New general walks his new base camp
4. Bombing run
5. Large invasion is imminent
6. Soldier blows brains out instead of surrender
7. Soldier pulls pin on grenade and is shot
8. Ally holds squadmate at gunpoint for running
9. Abandoned cave system dug for cover
10. Rusted artillery left behind
11. Flame-thrower trap
12. Grenade lands in front of you
13. Several soldiers beat an enemy to death with bare hands
14. Incompetent soldier accidently points gun at ally
15. Bayonet soldier charges you
16. Several men bayonet and torture one enemy
17. Lantern boy comes by with ammo
18. General gives rousing speech over loudspeaker
19. Detachment holes up in cave system
20. Detachment decides to die fighting
21. Kamikaze soldier draws sword for combat
22. Flares signal approaching enemy
23. Gunfire in the knight lights up area
24. Commander stares at map looking for possible solution
25. Commander draws sword to execute allies for abandoning their post
26. Fog rolls through a field, it's an omen
27. Darkened soldiers fire from cliffside
28. Wooden posts are only cover in this field
29. Gravesite of recent battle
30. Detachment hides in cave, unable to join battle
31. Radio is down, detachments don't have orders
32. Field of dead soldiers
33. Soldiers wipe allies blood on themselves for disguise
34. Soldiers gather ammo from the dead
35. Soldier dies with photographs in hand
36. Soldier shoot to wound so they can interrogate prisoners
37. Soldiers shoot to wound so they can randsom soldiers back
38. Several soldiers in chains for running from combat
39. Enemy soldiers is from your hometown
40. Ally soldier shares his sob story
41. A detachment of conscripts
42. Soldiers hang flag to spread patriotism
43. Soldiers take men from their homes to join the war
44. Soldier tries to spare the life of a dog
45. Commander berates soldier as if he was a child
46. Officers and wives attend a ball
47. Soldier gifts ally a decorative gun
48. Soldier burries enemy soldier with honor
49. Dead enemy soldier has letter from his mother
50. Shellshocked soldier lies in field with dead detachment
51. Blind soldier wears bandana around eyes
52. Crippled commander tells his detachment to leave so he can die honorably
53. Mortal lands in front of you - doesn't explode
54. Officer executes fleeing soldier
55. Enemy soldier waves white flag
56. Two soldiers watch two enemy prisoners
57. Something is uncovered by soldiers digging pillbox
58. Field of bullets from previous battle
59. Woulded ally holding white flag, slowly dying
60. A full canteen, never used
61. It begins to rain
62. A horse is hit with shrapnel and is crippled
63. Soldier cries over fallen ally
64. Enemy executes line of prisoners
65. Crossfire must be traversed to reach safety
66. Enemy pulls pin on grenade and runs at you
67. There's no more water
68. Everything happens in threes
69. Officers paints battlefield in remembrance
70. Detachment has been without food or water for 5 days
71. Officer gives you a cup and says "dig for worms"
72. Detachment is out of ammo
73. Officer makes a spirit offering for divine intervention
74. Troop from a distant detachment show up with bad news
75. Soldier tells you his normal profession
76. Messenger arrives with news - 50/50 good or bad
77. A child sings a song for fallen troops
78. Mass of beleagured soldiers parts for their leader
79. Someone tells you to be proud to die for your cause
80. Soldier burns classified documents before enemy can kill him
81. Enemy charges into camp with melee weapons in the dead of night
82. Charging war hero imobilized by shrapnel
83. Soldier burries something sacred to him before being taken prisoner
84. Blackened field of battle, enemy pokes through for survivors to kill
85. Soldier drags injured commander away from battle
86. Crippled commander about to be beheaded by fellow soldier
87. Two soldiers lie far away from battle, both shot in the head
88. Wounded commander orders you to bury him
89. Commander leaves you his sacred weapon before dying
90. Commander refuses to use enemy ammo, even though they are running low
91. Soldier digs grave alone
92. Enemy soldier found dead far away from battlefield - has ceremonial sword
93. Shellshocked enemy found hidding behind a rock
94. Crazed grave digger swings shovel harmlessly at anyone who comes near
95. Scholars excavate a former battlefield
96. Letters from home rain down from the sky
97. A quiet beach, the sun is rising
98. A mountain side filled with hidden enemy caves
99. A field of dead bodies
100. War secrets hidden inside a locked pillbox

79 Dunkirk Encounters

Here's (almost) 100 encounters taken from the movie Dunkirk.

1. Rogue Fighter Attacks
2. Man on overturned boat - last survivor 50/50 chance he's enemy
3. Propoganda falls from the sky
4. Friendly troops mistake you as enemy
5. Wreckage of fighter jet - 50/50 friendly/alive
6. Enemy fighter strafe
7. Mortar fire
8. Man burying body - stole their stuff
9. Wounded man lying on stretcher, he'll survive if you help him
10. A drowning man
11. Sinking ship
12. Rescue ship looking for survivors
13. Nurse trying to save a dead man
14. A man giving toast and jam to soldiers
15. A column of black smoke rises into the air
16. A cup of coffee - it's still warm
17. Shellshocked soldier - refuses to be near the action
18. U-boat in the water
19. Rowboats full of desperate, screaming soliders
20. Torpedo!
21. Trio of planes flies over - friendly
22. Damaged plane lands near you
23. Overcrowded rowboat
24. Flaming wreckage
25. Shellshocked man reacts violently
26. Group of soldiers flee from battle
27. Soldier strips and walks into water
28. Soldiers building make-shift dock for rescue boat
29. Dead bodies float with the tide
30. Group of injured men left lying on stretchers
31. Group of men just standing still, silent
32. Officer who lost his men
33. Officer desperate to get his men home
34. Abandoned boat on the shore
35. Wounded enemy ship flies overhead
36. Enemy fighter pilot ejects above
37. Detachment hiding in hull of overturned ship
38. Ally civilian looking to help
39. Ejected pilot caught in tree - 50/50 enemy/alive
40. Enemy soldier in ally uniform - or vice versa
41. Enemy fire from fortified position
42. Fleet of Galleons marching to war
43. Detachments of men on a beach
44. Large patch of oil - land or sea
45. Injured child
46. Father and his son looking to help
47. Sinking ship
48. Oil fire - land or sea
49. Something explodes in a big ball of fire
50. Engine stops - land, air, or sea
51. Sea Captain positive that reinforcements are coming
52. Stalled plan soars overhead - ally
53. Plane is diving right for you
54. Ally plane saves your skin
55. Crashed pilot joins up with you to continue fighting - refuses to go home
56. Large city occupied by enemy
57. Beautiful natural landmark gives everyone reprieve
58. Something that reminds you of home
59. Fog rolls over - it's actually smoke
60. Civilian thanks you for your effort
61. Injured soldiers mocks you - "where were you?"
62. Man offering sweets and coffee
63. Old man thanking you by giving you blankets - "well done"
64. Group of soldiers - none meet your gaze
65. Soldier wakes up - detachment left him behind
66. Captain lets him men go while he stays
67. Paper boy in civilian area - thinks he knows everything
68. Your face is in the paper
69. Civilians glad that you're safe - give beer
70. Plane lands safely on the beach - 50/50 enemy
71. Local hero injured in combat
72. Soldiers bury the dead in shallow grave
73. Military Commander gives roaring speech
74. Field of helmets left behind
75. Burning plane wreckage
76. Ally pilot taken prisoner by enemy - vice versa
77. Burning refinery
78. Tattered flag
79. Dozens of crates of supplies, abandoned

Newtype

I made a game. It's about Mechs and trying to stay normal.

Songbird

My RPG is a roadtrip. The goal of the game is to reach the center of the forest. "In the center of the universe is a forest. In the center of the forest is a secret." Or so the saying goes. But like all good dreams, and desires, there's another layer to it. Something beneath it. Our hero might set out to find love, and ends up realizing it's friendship that he needs.

My game is about journeying to the center of the forest. But really it's about the journey. It changes you. It makes you weird and it makes you unique. It's based around "Into the Odd", because that game spoke to me and is very close to what I want. Except that's a game about Greed and finding oddities. My game is about obsession and tragedy.

You will head into the DemonWood to reach the center, but dying or retiring are more likely. All the villages you will run into out there were built by people like you. But they found something else, or had their spirits crushed.

Every session begins with the phrase, "You're lost in the Woods." Because that is a constant state in the DemonWood. You are wandering from place to place, inching closer to your goal, crawling closer into legend.

I'm making this game because I've been playing DnD since jr. high, and my friends and I have never played it like it should be. We never went into dungeons. We had adventures, we had fun, but we didn't spend our time beneath the ground. So my game isn't about dungeons. There are dungeons, sure. But this is about adventure.

This is Cowboy Bebop in a mythic forest. This is Samurai Champloo with weirdness. This is the Arya/Hound arc on Game of Thrones. This is an episode adventure, where ever session is an episode, and every episode ends and begins the same. Every episode you either handle the problem or you don't.

Making a Songbird

My magical girl RPG is called Songbirds.

Creating a character works like this:

Everyone gets 1 heart. This represents your life. Lose it and you die.

Everyone gets a dream and a nightmare.

Your dream is how you level up. Doing something in service of your dream, trying to attain it, is how you get xp.

Your nightmare exists because of your dream. Think of it as a meter, with dream on one end and nightmare on the other. Witnessing terrible things, ignoring your dream, or failing, pushes you closer to your nightmare.

Nightmares are all monsters that you fight in the game. The key is to only fight the nightmares of others, but sometimes shit happens.

The goal of the game is to not become a nightmare.

It's a melancholic game. A fight against unstoppable forces. There will always be nightmares because not everyone achieves their dream. You are the people who stop those nightmares. You are Songbirds.

Dreams

Dreams are your wish. The game begins and there is something you want to fix. This is your ticking clock. It can be serious and devastating to small and personal. Losing a loved one, a friend moving away, your father losing his job, a classmate with depression. There is something that you want to fix. This is what makes you special. This is what makes a Songbird choose you and grant you the power to fix it.

Your dream is like hope in this bleak world. It cannot save the world, but it can make it nicer for those close to you.

To get your dream you have to do things for the songbird that grants you these powers. These things range from strange (burying a memento under a certain tree) to cruel (breaking up that popular couple at your school). If you do enough for them before you become a nightmare, your wish comes true.

Nightmares

Nightmares come true. Everyone has a fear and those fears live in the mind and plague your thoughts. Songbirds face Nightmares in battle. This is where the deck building and card battling takes place.

Sessions
Every session is an Episode. Every episode has a nightmare (if a nightmare is not dealt with during an episode, it becomes a 2-part episode, which adds complications).

These work like mysteries, where the players see a problem caused by the nightmare and have to figure out who is having this nightmare before it spreads and becomes a catastrophe (things like hurricanes, tornadoes, horrible, life-altering events).

(These are just thoughts and need more work)

SOME SONGS

Metallica Songs

Muse Songs

Black Sabbath Songs