Microlite Modern/Resident Evil adventure...

[Dr. Bull]

Well I finally got a chance to playtest M20 Resident Evil this weekend.  Greywulf's system held-up admirably and the action was fast-paced.  I was the GM and my buddy was the only player.

Here's a brief run-down:  A veteran named Marcus (injured near Baghdad in 2004) returns to an estranged wife and baby.  His head injuries (from a roadside bomb) have provoked a personality change and memory loss.  While quasi-homeless and trying to assemble his scattered mind, he works part-time at a small garage in Davis, California.  Then things get weird.

He gets news from his homeless comrades that St. Louis was quarantined and then destroyed in a nuclear blast.  People begin hoarding food and looting.  The television news is a garbled mess.  Marcus is working on a car transmission at the garage (along with Mike and Jesus) on a Friday afternoon when play begins...

The first signs of local trouble come quickly.  From outside the garage, a siren whines.  A policeman shouts a warning, shouts again, and then fires several shots.  Marcus rushes out of the garage with a tire iron to see what was going on...

The scene is a mess.  The policeman shoots two assailants who were tearing apart a woman in the street.  The policeman is grappling one of them and the other is still gnawing at the dead woman.  Blood is draining down the pavement.  Marcus jumps foward and helps the cop by clubbing the assailant in the lower back.  The assailant (zombie) doesn't even flinch!  The cop then hits the zombie in the side of the head with his revolver, dropping him instantly.  Marcus and the cop speak briefly and turn around to find the second assailant and the (newly) zombified woman rise to attack.  The policeman is killed in the struggle as Marcus fights for his life...  [several more combat rounds take place]

After making sure that the cop won't re-animate, Marcus plunders the police car for useful items.  He takes the bullet-proof vest, shotgun, ammo, 9mm pistol, radio and first aid kit...

Checking-back with his buddies at the garage, he convinces one of them to come with him in the police car.  They drive off, hoping to find Marcus' estranged wife and baby before the zombies do...

[The encounter described above only took about 20 minutes to complete.]  

Mike and Marcus first check on a nice old lady they both know.  They sneak into her house and find that the nice old lady is already a zombie.  She and 2 other undead attack them in the garden, but the battle is easily won.  Mike and Marcus then drive down a country road, pick-up a scared hippie, and then get into an accident.  When this accident occurs (due to Mike's efforts to run-over a zombie on the road), the car is quickly surrounded by a mess of twisted cars and the undead.  The fight becomes very suspenseful and cinematic.  Mike is killed.  The hippie runs away into the night.  Marcus finishes-off the animated corpses and continues to his wife's house (on foot).

Marcus evades a group of zombies attacking some young men, sneaks through the suburban neighborhoods of Vacaville, and arrives at his wife's house.  No one is home.  No disturbances.  No signs of trouble...

Marcus calls his wife's cell phone and they speak briefly.  His worst fears are realized.  His wife decided that the safest place to take their child was where she worked: at the Umbrella Corporation Bio-Tech Laboratory...
_____________

The adventure will continue in a few weeks...  From a Game Master's perspective, I was very pleased with how the Microlite system adapts to modern scenarios.  Combat was fast, efficient and deadly.  Play was not interrupted by rules discussions or debates.  The focus was on movie-quality action and strategy...  I loved it!

By the way, Google maps (in satellite mode) is a WONDERFUL resource for mapping the action.  We followed the path of the car about 20 miles, through countrysides, suburban neighborhoods, parks, etc.  Whenever an encounter took place, we zoomed-in for more detail.  It worked exceedingly well.

- Dr. Bull

[morganm]

Sounds like it was a blast man!  Makes me wanna play a game of Resident Evil using Md20.  

[Dr. Bull]

After the work I put into making the adaptation of Resident Evil, I now realize that the original M20 mixed with M20 Modern would have been up to the task EQUALLY well.

Like I said in the post above, I was truly amazed by how smooth and quick the combat rounds progressed.  After playing 4.0 over the past winter and spring, I was not used to combat that focused upon quick resolution, cinematic action and description (rather than rules or overly-complex strategy).  In fights like these, very little time can be spent with players debating about "poping-off" a daily power or utilizing a contingency-associated ability...  Marcus was too concerned with keeping the zombies off his back to do anything else!

We went through 6 solid encounters in less than 3 hours.  The character is more than half-way to second level and he's already been through enough material to fill the first half of a good zombie film...

I'm "sold".  

Done deal.  

M20 rocks!

- Dr. Bull

[dymond]

I know this is a bit of a necropost but MAN what a great idea.. I ran a post apocalyptic game via message board on a BBS in the 80s and it was one of the coolest things I ever got to be a part of. I LOVE using google maps too because you can insert whatever you want into a real life area. Not sure if your from Cali Dr. Bull, but I grew a few 100 miles south of your encounter area in Fresno.

[Dr. Bull]

Dymond:

Yup, I live in Davis.  In fact, the first battle occurred at the repair shop that I took my wife's car to a month ago...

Imagine how much hell would break loose in the Sacramento valley if something like that would occur.  The only hope of survival would be to head for the Sierra mountains and avoid any populated area...

The only thing that I regret is that I made it too hard on the player.  Within the first 2 hours, he had lost all of his allies and faced the monumental task of rescuing his estranged wife from a high-security facility.  Maybe I should have just let him run into the Sierras too?

- Dr. Bull