[GURPS] Dead Survival - Realistic Zombie Apocalypse (Recruit (2025)

It is recommended that, along with the Basic Set, players have copies of High-Tech and Tactical Shooting. Some elements will be taken from Pulp Guns and Low-Tech.

Not all optional rules in use are listed here, merely the most important. Some remain hidden in the GM notes until otherwise needed.

Handedness
Decide whether you are right-handed or left-handed. Whenever you try to do anything significant with the other hand, you are at -4 to skill. This does not apply to things you normally do with your “off” hand, like using a shield. GURPS assumes you are right-handed unless you decide otherwise or buy Ambidexterity (p. 39). If you choose to be left-handed, any combat result that would damage your right hand affects your left instead, and vice versa. Left handedness is a feature worth 0 points.

Techniques
Techniques are allowed to be studied. The player is expected to maintain their own list of techniques and their skill in them, and it would be appreciated if they included a page number for book reference just in case.

Malfunction
All firearms and grenades have a “malfunction number,” or “Malf.” The weapon will jam, misfire, or otherwise fail to function on any attack roll equal to or greater than its Malf.; see Malfunctions (p. 407). Malfunction number is a function of tech level: it is 12 at TL3, 14 at TL4, 16 at TL5, and 17 at TL6+. A few weapons might be intrinsically more or less reliable. Weapon quality also affects Malf. Finally, lack of maintenance (especially in dusty or humid conditions) can lower Malf.

Changing Posture in Armor
At encumbrance level 0 (None) or 1 (Light), Change Posture takes one second, as usual. At
level 2 (Medium), it takes two seconds to change posture – and so on. While you are partway through a posture change, you are considered to be in the old posture.

Major Wounds
A “major wound” is any single injury of greater than 1/2 your HP. If you are using hit locations, a lesser injury that cripples a body part also counts as a major wound. Any major wound requires a HT roll to avoid knockdown and stunning.

Bleeding
If you are injured, you may continue to lose HP to bleeding. At the end of every minute after being wounded, make a HT roll, at -1 per 5 HP lost. On a failure, you bleed for a loss of 1 HP. On a critical failure, you bleed for 3 HP. On a critical success, the bleeding stops completely. On an ordinary success, you do not bleed this minute, but must continue to roll every minute. If you do not bleed for three consecutive minutes, the bleeding stops for good. Otherwise, you or someone else will need to make a First Aid roll to stop the bleeding; see First Aid (p. 424). The GM decides which wounds bleed. Cutting, impaling, and piercing wounds usually bleed; crushing wounds generally don’t, but there are always exceptions. Minor burning and corrosion injury does not bleed significantly: the damage sears the flesh, cauterizing the wound and preventing blood loss. However, if such injury causes a major wound, treat it as a bleeding wound, oozing blood plasma until properly treated.

Last Wounds
Once you have less than 1/3 your HP left, you can totally ignore any wound to a limb or extremity unless: (a) it is a critical hit; (b) it is enough to cripple that body part; or (c) it inflicts injury equal to 1/3 your HP or more at once.

Accumulated Injury
You can keep track of injury by hit location, in which case total injury over HP/3 or HP/2, as appropriate, cripples the body part. Be aware that this leads to complicated record keeping! Excess injury is still lost under this rule. For instance, if you have 11 HP, a total of 6 HP of injury cripples your arm. Ignore further injury, except for the purpose of determining dismemberment. Repeated blows to a limb or extremity cannot kill you.

Gathering
A successful Survival roll (or Botany or Naturalist for purely plants) gathers one meal of edible vegetable and insect matter, two meals during the peak growing season. A critical success doubles the amount gathered. A critical failure results in poisonous or psychoactive food being gathered; on a 17, the unlucky gatherer is the only one to eat it, while on an 18 he shares with the group. Any afflicted must roll against HT: a success means a loss of 1 HP, while a failure means a loss of 1d HP.

Run With A Gun
Whenever somebody with a gun in hand attempts to do anything but shoot – e.g., climb, drive, or ride a horse – the GM may rule that a failed DX or skill roll indicates an accidental discharge, a malfunction (p. B407), or even a broken firearm...especially if the gunman suffers from Unluckiness or Cursed!

Gun Safeties
At TL6+, a firearm usually has a manual safety to prevent it from discharging accidentally (see also “Unsafe” Revolvers, p. 93). When using a familiar weapon (see Familiarity, p. B169), engaging or disengaging such a safety is a free action at either the beginning or the end of a turn – but not both. Those operating at their default from DX or another Guns specialty, or who are otherwise unfamiliar with the weapon, must take a Ready maneuver to engage or disengage the safety. Cruel GMs may require an IQ roll to remember to disengage the safety under stressful circumstances!

If the weapon lacks a positive safety, though – or has a reputation as “unsafe” or as liable to start firing if dropped – then an accidental discharge is particularly likely. It may hit the holder of the gun or somebody else (see Hitting the Wrong Target, p. B389), or at least draw attention at a possibly inconvenient time. Note that a weapon may also discharge accidentally if stowed improperly; e.g., tucked into pants (unless you have the Pants-Positive Safety perk, p. 249) or a coat pocket. This can trip the safety (off or on), or even snag the hammer and fire the weapon. Instead of accidentally discharging, a weapon with a detachable magazine may accidentally eject its magazine. This is a surprisingly common mishap, especially with weapons that have an unprotected magazine release (e.g., the Enfield L85A1, p. 118).

Fast-Draw
A successful Fast-Draw roll lets you ready a stowed weapon instantly, without taking a Ready maneuver. Every turn, you may Fast-Draw one gun per hand at no penalty – although draws with the “off” hand have the usual -4. For instance, a shootist could Fast-Draw a pistol with his master hand at no penalty and another pistol with his off hand at -4. Success and failure have their usual effects in all cases. Any failure ends your turn; you may not attempt Fast-Draw again that turn. Critical failure means you also drop the gun – or both weapons, if trying to draw two guns simultaneously! In close combat and other cramped quarters, you must make a DX roll to reach a weapon before you can Fast-Draw it (see Readying in Close Combat, p. B391).

Crawling or lying down: -4
Crouching, kneeling, or sitting: -2
Grappled: -4
Hanging upside down: -2
Move or Move and Attack: -2 during or after the maneuver
Off-hand: -4

The weapon’s location is another important modifier, the effects of which depend on the weapon and Fast-Draw specialty:

Long Arm: +0 if using a patrol sling (p. 154), -2 if slung over the shoulder, or -4 if slung on the back.
Pistol: +0 if tucked into the belt or holstered at your hip, -1 if holstered at the small of your back or in a shoulder holster, -2* if holstered in an ankle holster or stuck into a boot, or -3 if in a pocket or concealed.

* A weapon in a boot is easier to reach from low postures: when crouching, kneeling, or sitting, ignore the -2 for a weapon in a boot and the -2 for posture, and roll at +0. All of these modifiers are cumulative with each other and those under Fast-Draw (above). Shock, distraction, and afflictions have the same effect on Fast-Draw rolls and DX rolls to reach weapons as they do on attack rolls. Note that the type of holster, scabbard, or sling also affects how quickly you can draw a gun; see Holsters, Scabbards, and Slings (pp. 153-154).

After the Firefight
Gunshots are loud, especially indoors. After a firefight, everybody will be temporarily hard of hearing from the noise (if explosions were involved, see also Side Effects of Explosions, p. 181-182). Apply -4 to Hearing rolls if all of the shooting was outdoors, -5 if inside a building or vehicle. Protected Hearing prevents these penalties; see Ear Protection (p. 70). At night, brilliantly intense muzzle flashes, tracers, and so on will impair natural night vision. This gives an additional -2 to Vision rolls in the dark. Protected Vision prevents this effect; see Eye Protection (pp. 70-71). In either case, impairment lasts for (20 - HT) minutes, minimum one minute. After that, roll vs. HT every second to recover.

Environmental Ratings
Environments for those living off the land outdoors and away from civilization are rated as desolate, poor, typical, good, or excellent. For any environment better than desolate, roll once a month against the average Survival skill of the adult group members (-2 for poor, +2 for good, +4 for excellent). On a failure, the land drops one grade. On a critical failure, a natural disaster like a fire or flood hits. A desolate environment prevents the group from stopping to settle at all, as they're forced to stay on the move to find new areas with food and water.

Hunting
Tracking, Survivalist, Naturalist, and Mimicry are used to locate game. Roll against the hunter's best game-finding ability to locate an animal, with a hunting party using the roll of the most skilled. On a normal success, small game is found. Success by 5 or more reveals tracks of a large animal that can be followed, while critical success provides the finding of big game in sight.

For small game (like birds and rabbits), the hunter may attempt to close the distance through Stealth, Camouflage, or Animal Guise in a contest with the animal's Sense roll (typically 12). If undetected, the hunter has the benefit of surprise for attacking and gets 10 yards closer to the target. If detected, the animal bolts and the hunter must either make one attack (with appropriate penalties, including range) or let it go. With strangling the animal, the hunter rolls vs. DX-3 to keep his grip if he attempts to grapple the animal with his hands or a tool like a stick noose (Grapple-2 to hit). With a stick noose, the noose remains around the animal's neck; roll 1d, with a 1 killing the animal in 1d minutes and a 2 or 3 being 2d hours. The hunter must still track the animal to claim his kill. A successful kill yields 1d meals of meat, with 10-30 minutes to butcher.

Large game is preferably roleplayed in hunting. Getting within range of the animal takes 30 minutes to 2-3 days of tracking depending on the age of the tracks, the terrain, and the results of Tracking skill rolls. Dogs typically have Tracking 16-18; if a hunter has Animal Handling 12+, use the dog's skill to track. Add +1 to the roll for 2-5 dogs, +2 for 6-9 dogs, and +3 for 10 or more dogs.

When the party is 2d-2x10 yards from the animal, perform the contest of skills as described for small game to get closer. Dogs will likely bark and alert the animal before the hunters can sneak up on it. Hunters are given a parting shot with a ranged weapon at a fleeing animal, though some aggressive animals may choose to attack or even flee and circle back around to flank the hunters. Hunters can pursue the animal at half speed through persistance hunting, letting it tire itself out after 1d hours.

Edible meat from big game is half the animal's weight, with one pound of meat being one meal. Butchering takes 1 man-hour per 100 lbs of whole body weight. Other parts can be recycled, like bones for tools and weapons or skin for leather.

Trapping
Use Survival skill for small traps like simple snares or a box traps and Traps skill for traps that can catch large game (or humans) like tiger pits and deadfalls. Naturalist skill helps find a good location for a trap, while Camouflage skill disguises it from view.

Fishing
Fish can be caught with various lures and tools or by hand. Roll at -5 if using bare hands, -2 for improvised tools like a sharpened stick for a spear. Fish can be hand caught in shallow ponds and riverbanks. Muddying the water in small pools or using light and lures/bait allow for fish to be drawn to the surface for catching. Nets can be made from vines or plant fibers.

A successful Fishing roll (with modifiers) catches 1/2 a meal of edible fish plus another 1/2 meal for every point in the margin of success. A critical failure means that the area has been fished out for the remainder of the day. Two fishermen with a large net can triple the yield.

Food Preservation
Food must be preserved to keep it from spoiling. 1 lb. of salt can preserve 5 lbs. of meat or fish, or it can be smoked over a fire; both take 3 days. Sun drying meat and fruit in a hot climate takes 6 days.

Fire
Make a Survival roll for each hour spent foraging for fuel. Modifiers are -5 for desert, barren, or arctic terrain, -4 for swamp or marsh, -3 for tropical jungle or bog, -2 for rainforest, -1 for tundra or grassland, +1 for scrub, +2 for temperate or arboreal forest, +3 for cities (due to the abundance of flammable paper and wooden objects). A successful roll provides enough fuel for 12 hours of burning, and each point of success produces enough extra fuel for 1 hour of a large fire suitable for warmth and cooking.

If a fire is only fueled with green wood, a Survival roll is required to keep it from sputtering out. A critical failure results in smoke inhalation.

Cutting Trees
A man of ST 10 with a handmade stone axe can clear 50 yards of deciduous forest in 1 hour, producing 1200 lbs. of wood. Cutting down a 12 inch oak takes 30 minutes, while cutting down a 12 inch pine takes 10 minutes. An axe of any kind can cut down 100 trees before it needs resharpening. Irregular stone axes (without polishing) take 50% longer to work and become irreversibly dull after 50 trees.

Stone Knapping
A TL0 version of Armory used for making tools and weapons from stone, wood, and bone. Carpentry is used for building structures from wood, while Masonry is for building stone structures.

Harsh Realism
A variety of rules put in place to make for more realistic unarmed combat:

Bruised Knuckles: Striking with an injured body part inflicts the shock penalty for its accumulated wounds (maximum -4), due to aggravating the injury. This can be mitigated by taking a damage penalty equal to the total shock penalty BEFORE striking. High Pain Threshold lets this be ignored, while someone with Low Pain Threshold must make a Will roll at the shock penalty or miss due to flinching.

Defense Limitations: Boxing, Judo, and Karate are at +3 to Parry while on a retreat. Reduce this to +1 during non-stepping movement (like jumps and rolls). Dodge penalties for things like maneuvering, techniques, combat options, and enemy action are instead applied to Parry for these skills.

Low-Line Parries: A standing person has -2 to parry an attack on his legs or feet if using bare hands or a weapon with reach C. Leg and foot parries are not penalized.

Parrying Weapons: Unarmed combat skills parry any weapon at -3. Failure by 3 or less is a "success" in the sense that the attack hits the limb used to parry instead and rolls usual damage. In close combat only, ignore this drawback for Judo and Karate parries vs. rigid crushing weapons like clubs and sticks.

Striking Bone: When striking the skull with an unarmed attack, Hurting Yourself (p. B379) applies. If you strike the leg with a shin kick, roll 1d. On a 1 (or a 1-3 if the opponent tries and fails a leg parry), you knock shins. Apply Hurting Yourself unless you have the advantage Striker (Crushing; Limb, Shin, -20%).

Strong and Weak Hands: When using your off-hand (automatically the left hand unless Ambidexterity or Left-Handed is selected at character creation), you are at the usual -4 to skill (and therefore -2 to parry) and -2 to ST (giving -1 to punching damage). Off-Hand Weapon Training becomes a Style Perk for all barehanded striking arts, and it and the Ambidexterity advantage eliminate this penalty.

Ignoring Partial Injuries
While adrenaline takes care of shock after only a second, wounds start to hurt after a while. Any non-cripping injury can be ignored for 2xHT seconds before impairment begins. The precise effects depend on the severity and location. Use the worst applicable result. High Pain Threshold halves DX penalties, rounded in your favor. Low Pain Thresholds multiplies DX penalties by 1.5, rounding against you.

Arm
Injury up to HP/5: -1 DX for any action involving that arm, including two-handed tasks.
Injury over HP/5, up to HP/3: -3 DX.
Injury over HP/3, up to HP/2: The arm is almost broken. It hurts so much that you must make a Will roll to use it. Roll at +3 for High Pain Threshold or -4 for Low Pain Threshold. Success lets you act at -5 DX; failure indicates you Do Nothing!
Injury over HP/2: Cripples the arm.

Leg
Injury up to HP/5: -1 DX to kick with the injured leg. Kicking with the good leg is at -1 if standing – you must support your body with the injured leg – but at no penalty if lying down.
Injury over HP/5, up to HP/3: -3 DX to kick with the injured leg. If standing, kicking with the good leg is at -1, but
any roll to avoid falling is at -3. If lying down, there’s no penalty to use the good leg. Dodge is at -1 and Move is 80% normal if standing.
Injury over HP/3, up to HP/2: Your injured leg hurts so much that you must make a Will roll to kick with it, at +3 for
High Pain Threshold or -4 for Low Pain Threshold. Success lets you kick at -5 DX; failure means you Do Nothing. You cannot kick with the good leg from a standing posture – your wounded leg won’t support your weight – but you can use it as usual if lying down. Dodge is at -2 and Move is 50% normal if standing.
Injury over HP/2: Cripples the leg.

Hand or Foot
Hand and foot injuries don’t give a DX penalty, but they hurt if you use the wounded extremity to strike. Use the “Bruised Knuckles” rule under Harsh Realism for Unarmed Fighters (p. 124).

Torso
Injury over 1/3 HP: -1 to DX for all purposes.
Injury over 1/2 HP: -2 to DX, Move is 80% normal.
Injury over 2/3 HP: -3 to DX, Move is 50% normal (the usual penalty for having less than 1/3 your HP remaining).

Hammerless Handguns
Handguns with exposed hammers get -1 to Fast-Draw (Pistol) rolls in addition to the -3 for drawing from a pocket. On a failure, the gun is caught in the pocket and can be removed the next turn. On a critical failure, it rips into the pocket lining and takes 1d+1 turns to be extracted.

Gangsta Style
A variation on the Boxed Cannon information on p. 14. When a handgun is held sideways, it has Acc 0, ST reduced by 1, and Bulk made 1 level better.

Armor Gaps
Many armored vests only fully protect the front and back of the torso, leaving gaps (Targeting Chinks in Armor, p. B400) along the sides. For a sleeveless vest, use the usual penalty (-8) – but a successful hit ignores all DR! If a vest has
removable trauma plates, they can instead be avoided at only -6 to hit; if successful, apply the vest’s DR without plates.

Extra Bulk
A bulky armored vest can get in the way of a long arm’s shoulder stock. The GM may rule that any armor which fully protects the torso and is not concealable imposes -1 to Guns skill. Weapons with adjustable-length stocks, such as the Colt M4A1 (High-Tech, p. 119) or FN MK 16 MOD 0 (High-Tech, p. 121), are exempt. Similar penalties can be applied for thick winter clothing, etc.

Vest Holsters
Armored vests often interfere with standard hip holsters, resulting in -2 to Fast-Draw; this can be avoided by attaching the holster to the vest front or using a tactical holster (p. 72). A vest may also get in the way of other belt-worn gear, such as magazine pouches, for -2 to rolls (e.g., DX, Fast-Draw) to access it quickly.

Pelvic Shot
The pelvis is added as a new hit location. The hit location is described as follows:

Pelvis (-3): The pelvis or pelvic girdle is a set of bones in the lower abdomen. Treat as a torso hit, except that a major wound (p. B420) has the following results: You fall down! You cannot stand, and can only fight if you assume a sitting or lying posture. Until healed, you have Lame (Missing Legs) (p. B141). Any armor specified to cover the lower abdomen or the torso and groin protects it.

Bullet in your Head
While the skull is the primary hit location for an instant kill, the easier-to-hit face (p. B399) is also a painful place to be shot! Any wound (even 1 HP) forces a knockdown roll (p. B420), and a major wound (injury over HP/2) gives -5 to the roll for a likely knockout. The GM may roll 1d, with a 1 meaning the projectile penetrated into the skull; see p. 137 of Martial Arts for details. Finally, critical hits to the face always use the same (more severe) table as the skull and eyes (p. B556).

Money
Money rapidly loses its worth during the apocalypse; while some people at the beginning will try to charge cash or valuables for even basic services to get rich off of others' misfortune (often at vastly inflated prices), they'll either die off or find that people no longer assign value to items not directly related to survival. Within a few weeks, bartering will become key.

At the beginning of the apocalypse, corporate, franchise, and chain stores will likely close entirely and be open for looting (though not without potential penalty). Private individuals will raise prices by 5x to 10x and may only take innately valuable items like gold, jewelry, and gems. The merchant uses his own Merchant skill to appraise valuables other than cash, with the possibility of a haggling Quick Contest. Private stores may close, but even ones that remain open rely on the toughness and lethality of its owners and employees to keep it from being overrun with looters.

Bartering is roleplayed by the GM for each encounter. Items like weapons, ammunition, food and water, and medical items hold the greatest value (prices listed in the books can only vaguely be used to compare worth; the prices are often based on aspects other than usefulness to survival). Lower down the ladder are luxuries like toilet paper, herbs and spices, hygiene items, candy, and alcoholic beverages, cigarettes, and other recreational drugs. Valuable metals like gold and silver and jewelry and gems have essentially no worth to those who only have immediate survival on the mind, and the number of people who will take such items dwindles as time passes. Paper money is almost 100% worthless except as kindling or toilet paper.

For categories like purchasing materials and replacement parts that are normally listed as a price in the books, a Scrounging roll must be made for the appropriate parts, materials, or equipment for a particular procedure. Modifiers made on a case-by-case basis depending on the difficulty of finding the necessary items and the area where it takes place.

Status
PCs are limited to a max of Status 2, with a recommended Status 0 or -1 for NYC residents depending on profession. As 75% of households in NYC do not own a car, any players with a Status 0 or -1 character who cannot successfully justify their ownership to the GM may opt to roll 1d during character creation: a 1 or 2 means that they can own a car or motorcycle/scooter.

Legality Class
New York City has stricter rules on firearms than New York State (which is already rather restrictive). All firearms are LC3 and concealed carry licenses are an effective LC2 for purposes of determining whether a PC may start with one. Stun guns are illegal in New York State.

Carrying Items
As well as all areas listed on p. 287 of the Basic Set, any weapon of Bulk -2 or smaller can be stuffed in the waistband of a pair of pants.

Influencing Success Rolls
Players may NOT spend CPs to influence a success roll; this game is meant to focus more on long term planning and development than immediate success. The players can influence the scene and setting by asking questions and negotiating with the GM, but cannot spend points to change the game world or affect how they succeed at something.

Fright Checks
Fright checks are required when PCs see or fight the undead, with a -2 penalty. After the first 5 encounters, this is reduced to -1. After 10 it is performed at no penalty. After 15 they gain a +1 bonus to fright checks regarding the undead. After 20 they gain a +2 bonus. After 30 encounters, no more fright check is required except in extreme circumstances (such as an especially large horde attacking). These checks are affected by normal modifiers as listed on p. 360 of the Basic Set.

Changing Fire Modes
Changing the fire mode on particular weapons may be done as a free action if the shooter is familiar with the gun (p. B169) and the design allows for easy access to the fire select. Examples would be the AR-15 and MP5, which allow for it to be switched with the thumb. Weapons like the AK-47, which require reaching over or removing your hand from the grip, cannot get this bonus. Decisions on which weapons get this bonus are made by the GM based on real life information on the weapon.

Reloading
It takes 4 Ready maneuvers to load a detachable magazine-fed weapon from empty: remove magazine, retrieve magazine, insert magazine, chamber a round. Not all weapons follow this. Fast-Draw reduces this to 3.

Double-Action Firing
Some guns can be fired with the hammer down in double-action mode. Firing a DA shot results in a -1 penalty to hit. Double-action only guns always suffer this. NYPD service pistols that are modified with the mandatory 12 pound trigger weight suffer -2 to hit for every shot.

Identifying a Gun
Upon picking up an unfamiliar gun, the player is only given the weight and accuracy immediately. He must examine the gun in more detail (which possibly includes removing the magazine or flipping open the cylinder) to see information like shots (including shots remaining), caliber, rate of fire, and damage. Recoil is given upon firing the first shot. It's possible to simply pick up a gun and fire it without examination, but they will have zero information (except what they glean from firing it) and the GM rolls in secret for damage. Unique aspects (like a revolver needing moon clips to load properly) will need to be experienced firsthand!

An unmodified Guns roll of the appropriate subtype can be used to instantly identify a gun and gain all of the necessary stats and quirks on it without any examination. Defaults can be used.

Flamethrowers
Flamethrowers are more dangerous than they seem. The GM rolls 3d in secret when a flamethrower is fired; on a 15 or 16, some burning fuel is left hanging from the nozzle and drips to the ground, risking starting another fire. On a 17, some of the dripping fuel lands on the user's foot. On an 18, the user's arm is set on fire.

chitoryu12 fucked around with this message at 22:05 on Jun 1, 2014