Zombie LARP

I was asked to share the link to an old blog post. Since it was no longer on an active blog I wanted to re-post it.  You can find the original post and the comments here http://betweentherolls.blogspot.ca/2011/10/zombie-apocalypse-larp.html Hopefully we will see you at the next Zombie LARP planned for June 3rd.  For more details you can visit their site at http://zombiegame.steinbachlarpers.com/

It’s Sunday morning as I sit at my computer for a few minutes trying to keep my thoughts clear in a body that is in pain.  So far this weekend I’ve played 2 different games that I’ve never played before.  It’s been a wonderful way to kick off the October and Play a New RPG month.  This report will focus on the second game I was in. I want to get this out before I forget, because I wasn’t able to take notes during the apocalypse.

Our zombie Survival team

The arsenal.

The Steinbach LARPers Society hosted a Zombie Apocalypse game.  People were encouraged to come out with your favourite Nerf Gun, LARP baseball Bat or whatever else might be found during a modern day Zombie Apocalypse.  Our own group collected a variety of weaponry;

1. ·         A purple royal crown dice bag (that I stuffed with foam) to simulate a dice bag.
2. ·         A knitting needle case the was filled with straws to simulate knitting needles
3. ·         A spray bottle filled with water that was supposed to be a mixture of peroxide that would blind a zombie
4. ·         5 different style Nerf guns.
5. ·         A couple of foam knifes
6. ·         And more Nerf Ammo then you can shake a stick at.

We arrived at the site at about 630 and the parking lot was packed.  People were strapping on weapons and preparing whatever they brought with them.  Some had put an amazing amount of effort into their costumes and their equipment.  We saw a guy dressed as a full on Lumber Jack and another guy had built a car door shield.  One of the things I was really impressed by was the level of organization. The number of people (57 people) who came for this was about double what they had been expecting I think. They did a quick round of announcements and ran through the rules and they started sending people over into the play area in waves of 10.

The pre-game meeting.

Our group was the second wave in and we took out a couple of walkers on the road. Then swung left towards a lit area that was part of a fort, we were pretty certain that the first group had already gone through here. Within minutes we had a small horde on us.  My choice of guns had proven to be terminal, and I was taken out a by a Hunter Zombie. Thus began my time as part of the horde.

There are a lot of different things I could go into at this point and give you a play by play of the whole night. Instead I’m going to share some highlights and some of my favourite memories.

The sign outside the
Zombie Hive

1) It was my third time being killed as part of the horde and I got the opportunity to play a Hunter Zombie.  It was faster, stronger and smarter than a regular member of the horde. We were sent out from the Zombie Hive to attack a group of humans who had holed up and barricaded themselves around the scientist’s lab. Waves and waves had already been sent and wiped out. I was part of the group going into flank them.  A couple of horde members went in ahead of me and a brute. Then we sprang on them, the brute took a couple of hits that would have taken me out but we were able to get in and trash the barricade and take out a few humans. In the end we died but it was worth it, we had at least in part broken up the safe point they had set up.

New members of the horde adding some
extra blood

2) The second time I went out as a human I went alone, I wasn’t looking for safety in numbers or the extra fire power.  I was going to play it full on stealth mode.  I went out and crossed into a row of garages and took up residence nestled in-between them. A short distance away I could hear someone talking and went deathly quiet.  A group of human’s came down the path passing not more than 2 feet from me. It wasn’t until the last one that anyone spotted me. A Nerf axe nearly took off my head before I could get out the word “Human”.  I proved to them that I was human and joined the group. I was a short lived team-up. A hunter took out the one who spotted me right before my eyes and as I jammed the barrels of my guns into his back and called out my damage.  We mercy killed the one who been bit and then stripped him of his gear.  I had a new automatic which later saved my life. 

I split off from the group and hid in a small tower, where I was able to take a couple of minutes and send out a tweet for help. While hidden up in this tower I watched a small group of horde zombie’s shamble right under me.  I was certain that they were going to see me and attack at any moment but they didn’t.  It was after that tower when I moved in to the woods that I was spotted by a brute and hunter.  The newly acquired automatic allowed me to drop the brute by myself but the hunter took me down.

The lumber jack

3) The third time out I ended up hooking up with some of the same people I’d entered the game with.  These two people hadn’t died once. One of them was just wicked with the pair of blades he carried and the other one had a large barrel machine gun. It was by staying with, and working with them I was able to stay alive for the last hour and a half of the game. We lurked and watched them from hidden positions killing only when required and always moving afterwards.  From our hidey holes there was no escaping the sounds of the Zombie Apocalypse. Moans of the undead, screams of the humans, and soft puff of Nerf darts firing. It was very creepy and felt very real.

End result of the night the humans cured the plague with the help of an NPC scientist. There was a large climatic battle in which I died in the end. It was a memorable night and an amazing experience.  The only down side and warning I would offer is if you have glasses either leaving them at home or wear protection on them. I didn’t and now have two nasty scratches on my lens for my mistake.

If you are reading this and you were a player, hopefully you’d take a moment and comment to share some of your memories as well.