Immersion Studios, All Rights Reserved

Written and Designed by: Oliver R. Shead

Cover Art (and interiors): Andy Walsh
Other Artists: Joshua Meehan, Alexander
Chelyshev, Bram Boco Sels
Playtesters and Assistant Game Designers:
Stuart Holbrook, Daniel Milne, Jet Liberson,
Rein Drafall

Sampler

elcome to this sample copy of our upcoming setting Infected! a nightmarish vision of the zombie
apocalypse, designed as a Pen and Paper Role Playing Game. This is a game suited for new and
experienced gamers alike.
Infected! is the first RPG setting for Immersion RPG, a totally universal, classless and limitless RPG system
which has been a passion project of myself and my dedicated playtesters and designers for some four years
now (has it really been that long?). It grew out of a desire to have more flexibility in the game without
sacrificing on detail - and to have a high level of realism.
After quite a lot of trial, error, playtesting, frustration and then moments of enlightenment, my aims have
now been achieved in the Immersion RPG system - and so it is with some real pleasure that I can now present
to you a taste of what is to come. This little booklet not only has a small part of the story and details of the
world of Infected!, but it also serves as a showcase for the quality of the work that will be in the final book.
I sincerely hope you enjoy reading it. It has been a heck of a lot of fun to create.
There is a Kickstarter coming soon, planned for early 2015, and it is my hope that through that the full
Infected! book will be released as a full-colour, hardcover book with premium quality art by the end of the
year. And of course, there will be an e-book available too!
If you would like to see more of our projects, check out the Immersion Studios website here: http://
immersion-rpg.com
Any feedback, discussion, compliments, or whatever youd like to say, can be posted on our facebook or G+
pages. I always love to hear from those who have read the materials.

- Oliver R. Shead

WHAT CAN I SAY?

The world fell apart. And when I say fell apart, I mean it totally destroyed itself. I mean
you wouldnt recognise it anymore. I mean, in the last few months, most of humanity has
been wiped off the map. Weve been stamped out like cockroaches.
Maybe it was fate. Those religious fanatics say it was say it was Gods punishment for all
our evil. Others say it was karma, or the product of evolution.
I dont know why it happened. I dont care anymore.
*
It started with a bug. A super bug, they were calling it. Im not sure where it came from,
but all of a sudden it was in Mexico, China and Brazil. Within a week a hundred countries
had cases.

They had extreme, flu like symptoms. Lots of coughing. Lots of gunk coming out of the
nose, the mouth even the eyes.
After a couple of days they also broke out in these weeping red sores all over their bodies.
And theyd scratch them til their fingernails were red with the blood.
Yeah, I know it makes you itchy just thinking about it. Me too. But dont scratch. It makes
people nervous. Seriously. Stop it. Or I ll shoot you. Yes, Im serious.
Anyway, people didnt know it yet, but those people with that weird flu were in the first
stages of the Infection. And it was really contagious.
Three days after Mexico got it, even with border security tightened up, we had cases
sprouting up all over the West Coast.
5

The worst part of it was that most people who had it thought they just had a bad cold.
Some of them still went to work, some of them went to cafes, schools you get the idea.
Everywhere they went, they spread that bug. They killed everyone they came into contact with.
People were still thinking it was just some bad swine flu or something. Some media
hysteria, you know? Life was carrying on like normal.
But then those in the later stages started to collapse. Theyd just go into convulsions of
coughing, with all that white shit coming out their eyes, mouth and noses. Theyd just
suddenly be on the ground, doubled over, eyes bulging as they tried to breathe. And then they
shudderedand stopped.
But they werent dead. Not yet. Instead, they went into deep, deep comas. One that no
one expected them to come out of. The hospitals found themselves suddenly
overwhelmed with emergency cases, and flooded with terrified people in
theearly stages.

There was fear in the air. You could taste it. The supermarkets were filled
with people desperate to stock up, and in some places there were
brawls over canned food.
The Police had their hands full. There were lootings, car burnings,
riots. And through it all, feeding the hysteria, the infection continued
apace. By day seven I think there were something like fifty million cases.
They were just everywhere. You couldnt go down the street without
someone coughing, or without seeing caution tape over doors. They were
still trying to effect a quarantine, though so many people were terrified
of being diagnosed with it, or just refused to believe that they had it,
that they never went to the hospital. And thats just it, too. You get a

bit of a sniffle you dont want to start thinking youve got the damned infection. And then,
a few hours later, its all you can do to breathe youre coughing so hard. And now no one wants
to come near you to take you to a hospital or if they do, you ll infect them for sure. And if
you call an ambulance, chances are they wont be there for days, theres so many cases popping
up, not to mention the number of injuries now popping up.
And so you stay at home. But if you do that, chances are you ll need to go out
sometime to get some food at least and when you do, you
infect everyone you come into contact with.
By now pretty much everyones wearing
masks if theyre going out. But
in some of the poorer areas,
people are jammed in much
tighter and when someone
starts coughing you cant just kick
them out. And so, on and on,
theinfection spreads.
And thats when they
startedto wake up.
In fact, it was only about
forty percent. The rest died
horrible, gasping deaths,
choked on their own
bile and vomit.
7

But that forty percent

No, Im finejust got somethingsomething stuck in my throat
What was I saying? Oh, yeah.
They were different. I dont know why. It doesnt matter anymore.
The Infected werent really human anymore. They werent even like
animals. No animal acts like that
They dont feel. They dont think. They just hunger.
And when they woke up, they were really, really hungry.
Do you understand what that means? It means your mother or your
brother or your wife waking up with their eyes so bloodshot they looked
entirely red. The infection has burnt the flesh from their bones, and theyre
almost as thin as a corpse, the skin stretched tight over their skulls. For a
moment you feel elated they survived! Theyve come back to you. Perhaps you dont
notice the lack of recognition in their eyes. Youre just so pleased theyre alive.
Then they attack you. Frenzied. Choking, clawing, biting seeking only to maim and kill.
Theres blood. Blood everywhere. Thats the worst part. You see, once theyve woken up, theyre
no longer as infectious. Their breathing or sneezing on you wont give you the infection. But
their blood and pus is still a carrier. Get any of it in your system and you might as
well have written your obituary. Youre Infected, bud.
You might be able to guess what happened next. Hysteria took hold. So many people
tried to get away from the cities that the highways became utterly blocked. Fires took
9

hold in some places and raged almost out of control after all, most of the firemen werent
onstation anymore.
Even at that stage, though, when the country was in utter panic, there were still weirdly
normal things. I remember finding a burger joint by the side of the road. The staff were run
off their feet in there, but they were still working.
Of course, someone started coughing in there, and then it started a panic. A guy pulled a
gun and started shooting I jumped over the counter to get at the burgers.
Whats that? Oh yeah man, they were absolutely worth it. You wouldnt believe how
much I miss burgers these days.

10

Within a day the government brought in the troops, declaring martial law. But they didnt
know at this point who was infected and who not. The streets were filled with desperate and
terrified people. People who would do anything to survive.
They set up perimeters and safe zones or Green Zones, as they call them. But it was
hard to tell who was infected and who wasnt. Those who they found were sick were taken
away and quietly killed, their bodies burnt in massive incinerators. They worked at it like
exterminators, all clinical, like these people werent even human anymore.
But anyway, there was no way the Green Zones could cope. Not with the sheer numbers
of people with symptoms not with the Infected appearing in greater and greater numbers,
spreading chaos, attacking the patrols and response units in more and more numbers.
When you put guys with guns in that sort of situation, shit goes out of control way fast.
I was in a crowd, trying to get into a Green Zone. There must have been fifty thousand
people in just that street, all scared shitless, begging and pleading, screaming and crying. The air
stunk of piss and filth.
I was lucky; I passed the breath-test to check if I was sick. They let me in.

Minutes later, a wave of panic rippled through the mob as a group of Infected reached
them. Its at times like that that people dont give a crap if theres a gun pointed at them or
not. They just dont want to die. More than anything, they dont want to die.
The crowd tried to storm the barricades, and the soldiers opened fire. The barbed wire
became choked with bodies women, children, men, it didnt matter. But there were so
many of them, and the pressure from behind pushed them on.
They overwhelmed the soldiers by sheer weight of numbers, trampling them, taking
their guns, the dead littering the ground and then they were inside. The Infected came
with them, screaming and howling, covered in sores and open wounds, their shredded
clothessoakedwith blood.
It was a lesson I learnt then, and one I will never forget: crowds are death.
That crowd, those tens of thousands of people, died like flies.
It didnt happen like a movie, with society collapsing straight off and everyone dying in days.
Nah man, thats not how these things work. For starters, there were still plenty of people
alive when it started going crazy. And these people were pretty determined survive. The
government wasnt able to cope, though, and so people broke off into all these little desperate
groups. Some were looters or criminals just trying to take what
they could most of them didnt care if they killed you
along the way. Those sorts of people did some
pretty awful shit over those first few weeks
and months. Other groups were burn mobs,
out to catch anyone with the infection and
burn them alive or dead. Some of those
were religious nuts, reading passages from the

11

Good Book whilst they fried people. Then there were groups of soldiers going AWOL, out for
themselves. These guys were the most dangerous. They had guns, and usually didnt give a shit
about anyone. If they wanted your food, theyd just shoot you for it.
Most people were just normal, like you and me, trying to survive all this insanity. Thing
was, most of those people just died. They got infected in a crowd, or they got murdered, or
eaten by an Infected.
Though the cities were collapsing, it was gradual. The Green Zones shrank slowly, under
constant pressure. They called in artillery, air strikes, used tanks - whatever. Some cities were
nuked. I hear New York copped it pretty bad in that way.
Didnt stop the Infected though. It only slowed them down. Week by week, their
numbers grew more and more, whilst the survivors and soldiers grew less and less. Paranoia,
exhaustion and startvation splintered most organised
groups. There were no supply lines anymore. No air
drops. Nothing. They were on their own, and the
realisation made a lot of soldiers off themselves.
Cant blame em really.
And so, piece by piece, society splintered
and fell apart.
You see over there? Yeah, that
big bunch of industrial

12

buildings? Theres a Government base over there. I dont know how many there are maybe a
coupleofhundred?
No. Screw that. Were not going over there.
Why?
Because theyd probably shoot us. Or theyd give us a gun and tell us to join them. And to
hell with that.
But you see, theyve been there for months and months now, ever since the rest of the army
broke up. Youve got to watch out around here, cos theres a few little groups of guys whove
gone AWOL and theyre real bad news.
Look over there you see those blocks of apartments? Yeah, the ones that are mostly rubble.
There are Infected there.
Youre kidding right? How many of
these movies did you watch? Well,
I ll tell you something, these Infected
arent like that. Yeah, theyre crazy
and theyre strong, and they ll kill
you pretty quickly. But
theyre not stupid.
Think of them
as really evil, really
smart monkeys. They
canmove silently,

13

watching and listening and smelling for you. And when they find you, theyre likely to get
a whole bunch more of them before they attack. They might even wait until youre asleep, if
theyrereally smart.
Theyre not just going to go out and charge that bunch of army guys. Others of them have,
when they got too hungry. But theyve learnt now. They know what guns are. They know
they ll just die. So theyre waiting. They know the army groups got to move some time. And
when they do, the Infected will come for them.
Thats something for you to learn, and learn well. Dont underestimate the Infected.
They ll pick up weapons, throw things at you, even use bait to lure you on. Sometimes they
hibernate, when they get too tired from hunger, and you might walk right past them thinking
theyre dead only to have them jump on your back.
And another thing watch your feet. There are snares all around here.
No, the Infected didnt set them. The Cannibals did.
What? Is that really that surprising to you? Youve got a lot of prime meat on you man.
Youd feed a group for a week!
Dont look at me like that. Its not like IM going to eat you.

14

Its like this pretty much everywhere. I know Chinas copped it worse than we have. I mean,
think about their population density Last I heard of Europe, it was in a shambles. Apparently
England isnt so bad though. They closed their borders pretty quickly. Maybe they managed
to contain it? Africas just a basket case. Most of those places couldnt contain a common cold,
let alone this thing. I saw some pretty horrible shit before the TV stopped working. I wonder
how many survivors there are.
South America is pretty bad, but theyve got lots of jungle still. Lots of places to run. Still,
from what I hear of Rio de Janeirowell lets just say Im glad Iwasntthere.

Australia and New Zealand are a bit different. I know the bug got down there, but I think,
of any place, they had the best chance to contain it. Thats the place to be - an island. Some
place the Infected can never get to you.
Here, take this. Know how to use it? You ll catch on. If you see any Infected, shoot em in
the head. Just make sure you leave one bullet in the magazine. Just in case, you understand?
Im going to survive this. No matter what it takes.
We stand a better chance together.
But slow me down and I WILL leave you behind

15

It Seemed Like It Was happening so fast, but actually it

took a long time for everything to fall to pieces. Day by
day things got worse.
At first it was over there, it was happening in places
outside, over there, away from you. Then it started
happening right next door, right beside you, in your
neighbours house - then in your own.
When it started to go real bad, it went quickly. There were
just so many people sick, so many dying. It was all the news
talked about, and soon it was all you could think about.
There were stories of huge crematoriums working overtime
to burn the dead. And even then there were bodies spilling
out of the hospitals in such numbers that they could only
pile them and cover them with a tarp.
There was still some sort of order at that point, even
though riots and lootings were starting to pop up. People
were civilised, and they thought thats just the way things
were - civilisation just was.
When the Infected started to wake, that all changed. I mean
god-damn, they were f---ing eating people! At first these
were just stories, panicked reports on the news, things you
heard through someone whod heard about it.
And then you heard the screams as they attacked someone
just next door.
The army came in...and thats when you know this shit is
real. because you hear the shots. Day after day, you hear
them until you only notice the close ones. There are doors
spattered with blood and bullet holes. And you know the
people who used to live inside.
But then, worst of all, after weeks and weeks of this shit
you hear the soldiers screaming. You see their bodies. And
then you know youre really F---ed.

Chapter Two

Outbreak

he virus came out of nowhere.

At first appearing vaguely similar
to a much worse strain of the flu
virus, it appeared first in China, then
rapidly spread from there to Mexico,
Brazil, Europe, North America really,everywhere.
Theories for its origins
pointed to several individuals
who may have been some
of the first to be exposed to
the infection. However,
within hours of
their exposure their
symptoms made the
virus airborne, as they
coughed and sneezed, and this
spread the sickness on to
countless others.
Within a day, upwards of
two hundred people would
have been carrying the virus. At
least three of these people
got onto international
plane flights, and
whilst they were in
the air, their symptoms
emerged. Airborne particles
saturated the planes,
infecting hundreds more,
who then went on to spread the
bugyet further.

Inside of a week, estimates place the sickness at having infected more than ten thousand people.

The authorities had no idea what was happening, but within two weeks the outbreak had reached the entire
globe. Thousands were infected, and the rate of expansion was exponential. Health organisations across
the globe scrambled to react. Still unsure of the full nature of the epidemic, the nations of the developed
world immediately began strict quarantine rules in all hospitals. Hospital workers across the globe dressed in
hazmat suits and instigated stringent new procedures for all those found to have this new Super Flu.

-2- Outbreak

That was when the medical authorities from several nations first started to notice it. Because after several
days, one of its most noticeable symptoms emerged, when the victims broke out in itchy, pus-leaking sores.
By this time, the sneezing had stopped, and the virus was no longer airborne. However, the pus and blood
from those sores was far, far more infectious. Should any of it enter a person's mouth or blood stream, they
would almost certainly become infected themselves. And it could be even tiny amounts. After scratching a
sore, the infected person might then touch a dollar bill and pass it on. This person would then touch the pus
residue, and later put their hand in their mouth, or rub their eye and within hours, they, too may be coming
down with the sickness.

People were worried, the media played up to that fear, and kept updating people on the latest progress of
the sickness, the number of new cases, as they soared up into the hundreds of thousands, then millions. The
symptoms of those with the illness were increasingly bad, and included horrendous joint and muscle pain,
nausea, vomiting and weakness. The first deaths were also reported at first just a trickle, then a flood.
The infection had now been proceeding for less than three weeks, and the World Health Organisation
WHO was recommending severe actions be taken to get in some sort of quarantine. So far, any attempts at
a complete quarantine had met with repeated outbreaks, even with hospital staff themselves. It was more
virulent than anything they had ever seen.
There was a charged air on the streets.
Tens of millions were now infected. Hospitals across the globe were getting jammed with patients that they
couldnt tend to, and couldnt cure. Thousands were dying. The infection was now seen for what it was: the
worst killer since the Bubonic Plague.
People started staying inside. Businesses started closing. Here and there, looters smashed things and took
what they wanted. In Africa, bloody riots were flaring into life in city after city, and there was no putting them
down. In the Developed World, life was more organized and there were more police and soldiers. But they
didnt need to use them yet. The infection had claimed millions, possibly tens of millions, but that was still
just a drop in the ocean of humanity. It was the unlucky ones who were infected. The one-per-centers.
Then the infection gave its next surprise. En masse, patients started slipping into comas. And as the days
slipped by, they began to waste away and die. By the thousands. And still, the infection spread. Everywhere,
on news reports updating every few minutes, there were coloured depictions of the hot spots, where the
outbreaks were worst across each city and country. Some cities and towns were still uninfected, but as the
days continued on, more and more of them reported an outbreak, and then the cases would start to climb.
As the outbreak continued to worsen, showing no signs of abating or even slowing down, panic truly started
to grip the West. People made runs on the supermarkets, stocking up on canned food, bottled water, petrol,
and any supplies that might be useful. Banks closed as their customers tried to withdraw all their savings. The

19

-2- Outbreak
stock market crashed, sending yet more economic
woe through society, and further fuelling the rush
for comestiblesandequipment.
Many people missed out, and their fear rapidly
turned to resentment and violence. Now lootings
started becoming commonplace, robbery, hijackings
and even murders. Police responded with force,
and riots flared into life, rapidly spiraling out of
control. They werent isolated either in some
places they overran the police stations themselves.
In some cities, it grew even more ugly, as people
attacked hospitals in an attempt to kill anyone
whowasinfected.

20

Desperate, most nations declared Martial Law

and called in the National Guard, the Reserves
really anyone who could possibly restore order
out of the looming anarchy. Even as they rolled

in, the infection was spreading still further out

of control, fuelled by the riots themselves, as
people with the airborne symptoms carried it on to
thosearoundthem.
Then, amazingly, some of the infected started
towake up.
They were thin, as the virus had burnt away much
of their muscle and fat. Their eyes were sunken into
their head, sores oozing pus over sallow skin. But it
was their eyes that took most first observers. They
were bloodshot. Red. And there was no recognition
within them. Only a terrible hunger.
The waking Infected wasted no time at all before
launching themselves at people and attempting
to feed. Their bodies were already close to death,
just on the precipice, and were hanging on by the

-2- Outbreak
tried to keep it hushed up, moving infected
patients to secure facilities, where they gunned
them down, then burnt or buried the bodies.
smallest of margins. Whoever they once were had
been stripped away by the horrors of the infection.
Whether they still remembered anything of their
former lives seemed unlikely as though the person
within was no longer there, leaving only a very, very
hungry and desperate organic being.

Most governments had also already begun a

campaign for people to dob in infected people
around them, and ambulance, military and police
units were already pressed to the limit trying to
collect them all. Many attempted to flee, fearing
what would happen to them in government hands.

The infected began to wake in small numbers at

first, but their attacks invariably met with regular
success, as they bit and clawed uninfected people,
creating yet more victims to the virus. Many even
managed to escape the hospitals, whilst others had
never been in them in the first place, and as they
woke were free to rampage around cities and towns,
infecting innumerable new people.

By now, some six weeks after the outbreak, the

infection had already taken over three hundred
million victims across the globe. That meant
hundreds of thousands to millions of infected
people within almost every single country. And as
word spread of the infected waking, true panic
started to hit. Those Infected who were loose
within the cities spread chaos, terror and the virus
wherever they went. Like wolves, they attacked
where they werent expected, hid from those trying
to hunt them down, and used what little analytical

Horrified and revolted, governments rapidly closed

up security on the hospitals, and many began
euthanizing infected patients en masse. They

21

-2- Outbreak

privations. Crime
ran high in these dismal
places and fear. Those
who sneezed or coughed were
often shot, beaten to death or
lynched. Some were even burnt alive,
which was seen as the cleanest way to be
rid of a potential Infected.

power
that was
still left to
them.
The
populations of
many cities started
to head away, fleeing
into the country and other less populated areas,
hoping to escape the virus there. But they only
took it with them, ensuring these places would now
get overrun with cases they were not equipped to
handle.

22

Most governments started setting up severe

measures to try and contain the virus. Huge Green
Zones were created within cities and towns, where
the government control was strongest. They were
fenced and barricaded off from the rest of the
world, and were enforced with the utmost scrutiny.
Signs and loud broadcasts told the people waiting
outside that any threats would be met with lethal
force. Tanks and armoured vehicles brooded by
the sandbagged gates, the soldiers covered from
head to toe in hazmat gear. Many people were
allowed access thousands of more were not. As
the rejected waited, the meanest sort of refugee
camps sprouted into existence, with terrible

Within these sprawling camps, security and hygiene

was non-existent. Not only could the virus spread
unchecked, but other sicknesses could spring up,
devastating the camp populations. Terror here
was a constant companion. Shootings became
commonplace, as desperate people tried to storm
the barricades, or threatened soldiers who no
longer cared about human life.
In the cities around them, military forces attempted
to exert some sort of control. Now they no longer
tried to hide the mass murdering of those with the
virus. Anyone discovered to be sick got a bullet and
was sent off for incineration. Every day, the trucks
were loaded to the top with bodies. Ironically, this
made the infection many times worse, as people
with the first stages of the sickness hid from
authorities and other people, only to emerge from
their rooms weeks later, changed.
In fact, not everyone woke from their comas.
Nearly sixty percent simply died from the sickness.
Less than forty percent woke again to begin their
rampage. But this was enough. Some eight weeks
since the outbreak, nearly a billion people were
estimated to have been infected across the globe.
Engaged in running battles with Infected in every
city and town, military and police forces were
suffering from exhaustion, lack of supplies, and
mounting casualties. The Infected struck at civilian
targets, then fled as forces came to confront them,
only to strike somewhere else. As their numbers
swelled, they grew bolder, attempting to attack,
and even trap and ambush soldiers. Increasingly
pushed to their limits, running low on ammunition,

exhausted beyond reason, more and more soldiers

were caught by the frantic attacks. Even if they
werent killed outright, they were infected, and
were now themselves forced to choose: to die,
ortoflee?

Themselves attacked
relentlessly,
picked at by
Infected by
night and day,
the crowds
waiting for
access to the Green
Zones demanded
entrance. They were
people god damn it!
And they had a right to
live. Refused yet again, many of them
attempted to storm the Zones by force,
prompting mass slaughter from the terrified
soldiers. Still, some of the crowds were more
terrified of the Infected in their midst, and
swarmed over the barricades, compromising
the safety of the very place they were fleeing
to.
In other areas, massive packs of Infected
assaulted the Zones, testing them again and again,
looking for weaknesses, trying to pierce them any
way they could. Most Zones held on, but as the days
passed and supplies grew thinner, they started to
realize that they could not hold out forever.
Besieged on every front, many governments
decided to hammer the Infected with artillery and

Some of the Zones were saved from being overrun

as the rest of the city was levelled around them.
Some cities were levelled altogether, as the greatest
bombs of all were used. In other places, untended
nuclear reactors overloaded, spilling toxic waste
into the skies and scattering grey
ash for thousands of kilometres.

-2- Outbreak

Under such intense strain, some military units

started to simply lose cohesion. Anarchy swallowed
them. Many splintered into small groups, cut off
from the main body and unable to get back. These
groups broke down further still, until many were in
ones and twos. When they in turn finally ran out
of ammunition, there was nothing for them to do
except attempt to flee.

carpet bombings. They had lost streets, suburbs,

even whole cities. Now it was time to stop the
Infected spreading yet further from there. It met
with some success. With those areas reduced to
rubble, there were less places for anyone to hide.
Though thousands, if not millions of innocents
were lost, the government no longer saw them as
anything other than potential Infected.

Weeks and months blurred

together. Government
forces tried to hold on as
best they could, whilst the
world died around them.
Even scorching their cities
had not proved to be a
permanent solution.
The virus returned
again and again, even
within the mega-secure
Green Zones. Again,
terrified they would
be discovered, many
people tried to hide
the virus, only to infect
yet more people. And so
the nightmare would begin
again, paranoia and terror
filling the Zones.
There were other dangers. With no clear leaders,
power struggles started erupting, and militarycontrolled regions soon found themselves
wondering what exactly they were fighting for?
Here and there, totally autonomous states
emerged sometimes as little as a town, sometimes
much larger. Others still clung to the concept of

23

their former countries. But all had put aside their

old world. This was a new, harsh time, with different
rules. Death was cheap. Life was hard. Cry more.

-2- Outbreak

Surviving The Now

Some six to twelve months on from the outbreak,
the world is utterly transformed. Here and there,
remnants of society clings to life in tenuous
fortress-towns, Green Zones and camps. Few
places have working power, water, sewerage or even
enough food. Violence and brutality is extremely
high amongst these lucky citizens, who live packed
together in shanty towns within the ruins of
civilization. They are walled in, and are as secure as
humanly possible. The rules are usually brutal and
to the point dont get sick, dont leave by yourself,
and never leave without permission. Some of these
places are somewhat benevolent, ruled by someone
who is attempting to
represent the

government, or at least run a community that is

for the people in it. Butothers are tyrants, and
sometimes of the worst sort. Others are almost
completely anarchistic, with violent coups, and rule
by force. Yet others are ruled by cannibals, sadists,
bandits or zealots.
Lack of clean food and water is an ever-present
threat. The possibility of contamination with the
virus makes everyone take extreme precautions
with such matters, as well as with clothing. Most
people have some sort of gas mask and goggles,
as well as gloves, and clothing that covers them as
much as possible.
Paranoia is an ever-present companion for those
who have made it this far. Seeing as at least
ninety-five percent of the world has succumbed
to the virus and everything that followed after,
they wouldnt have made it this far without being
watchful. Everyone has lost friends and relatives
to the infection. Many people have lost literally
everyone and have also seen the ugliest side of
humanity at the same time. By now they know: if
anyone is infected, then they are a threat. They
will be reported without a second thought, if not
immediately killed by those around them.
At the same time, they realize that to become
infected is a certain death sentence. Many choose
to kill themselves. Others flee the communities and
try their chances in the wilds beyond.
Lack of supplies, food and water is the real
problem. Most have withstood countless
attacks from the Infected, who have now
either moved on for easier game, or lie
waiting for their opportunity to strike. It is
a foolish community that ever thinks the
Infected have given up. Their capacity
for cunning, and for merely
survivingisincredible.

24

The problem is,

without new
supplies,

The Infected
It appears that the Infected operate
in some sort of cohesion with
each other, even following
vague pecking orders within
their packs. Leaders will
emerge, and these will tend
to be the very smartest of the
Infected. These are known
as the Alphas. Somehow,
these Alphas have held
onto some of their ability
to reason, and like a
cunning wolf they plan
their attacks with a
frightening precision.
Obedience to an
Alpha is absolute, and
interestingly, amongst
the Infected, the Alphas
show the greatest
regard for their own
lives. Many will seek
to retreat, or will
send another Infected
to attack something they
desire.
Those who have observed the Infected behaving
around Alphas have been horrified to notice there
is even some sort of communication between them,
and they behave remarkably like an animal pack,
even if they show little signs of ever truly relaxing
or enjoying themselves, unless they are simply
hibernating.

And this is the other alarming thing about them with a lack of available food sources in their local
vicinity, a pack will go into some sort of hibernation,
gathering in small groups to sleep and conserve
their energy, whilst only a few maintain a vigil. At
the slightest disturbance however, the entire pack
will wake, ready to feed once more.
At the same time, they will also send out Hunters.
There are Infected who go in search of food in
small groups. When they find their
prey, one of them will return
to the main pack and lead
the entire group to the
new source, where
they will attack in
concert. Unlike
most Infected,
Hunters rarely stay
together with other
Infected. They are
fast frighteningly
so. But they
rarely attack
prey themselves,
unless starving,
desperate or confident
in their success.
As the Infected
get older, the more
their body comes
under strain from
the virus. They slow
down, growing heavier,
their bodies becoming
covered in pus and fluidfilled sacs. The worst of these tend to be on
their heads and shoulders, and the truly old Infected
have absolutely massive sacs bulging from necks,
face, shoulders and back. Under impact, these will
burst, spraying highly contagious fluid onto anyone
standing close by. These are known as Bursters, for
obvious reasons.

-2- Outbreak

these communities will die. Furthermore, without

additional aid, they will find themselves cut off and
overrun. To answer these problems, they send out
brave volunteers into the wilds. The casualty rate
amongst these groups is appallingly high, but they
have little choice to do anything else would be to
sentence the entire community to a slow death.

25

-2- Outbreak

26

Still others have adapted in yet another way, as

Mimics. Rare as these are, they are amongst the
most hated and feared, for these Infected have
retained control over their voices, and can mimic
the sounds of their prey humans. Usually each
mimic has only learnt a few sounds and phrases,
which they use again and again. But this is truly one
of the most terrifying aspects to the Infected, for a
survivor in the ruins may hear a young girl crying,
pleading for help, only to turn the corner and find
a hideous creature crouched and waiting, with a
dozen more of its friends ready for the ambush.
The Infected also occasionally use weaponry.
Poles, rocks, bricks, bits of timber whatevers to
hand at the time. Some people even claim theyve
seen Infected using the occasional tool, even
creating things, like pitfalls, punji stakes, and other
rudimentary traps for their prey. Whether this is
true or not remains to be seen, but it is certainly
the case that the longer people observe the
Infected, the more they see an eerie reflection of
humanityitself.

The World Beyond

The world beyond the communities is a dangerous,
desperate place. Quiet, eerie, and swiftly returning
to wilderness, there are yet pockets of survivors
scattered here and there, clinging to existence in
ones and twos or small groups. Sometimes they set
themselves up in makeshift shelters, or even semipermanent huts or other dwellings. Other times
they just live in the ruins, eking a hard existence out
of whats left.
There are gangs, cannibals, rogue soldiers, zealots,
and crazies similarly roaming the wilds. Quite often,
the line blurs between one and the other. Necessity
makes for strange bedfellows.
Most cities are nothing more than ruins, rubble
piling against the sides of once-great buildings, now
shattered and broken, their windows staring out at
those who scurry on past. There are burnt out cars,
vehicles packed into once-busy streets remnants
of the traffic jams that played out in the last weeks
of the fall. Grass and weeds are starting to grow
amongst the debris, covering cars, bodies, rubble
and buildings with a gentle green haze. It doesnt
take long for the occasional sapling to sprout up.
There are millions - hundreds of millions - of
Infected still out there, slowly hunting
down what few survivors remain. But
still, thats less than one might
think. The world is a big
place, and there arent all
that many people left in it.
Besides, despite some
90% of the world getting
Infected, and then some
40% of those rising as
Infected, countless
millions of them
died in the fierce
battles, bombings,
starvation,
nuclear fallout

and everything else that rocked the world in the

months of the fall.

So how do survivors live in the wilds, when the

world is such an intensely dangerous place? The
answer is never going to be simple. The search
for food occupies most of their thoughts. Getting
enough of it to be able to hide somewhere for
weeks, months or years is the goal of many people.
But the likelihood of stumbling onto a cornucopia of
canned food grows less likely by the day.
That means that survivors have to scavenge for
every last scrap. All the while being absolutely
paranoid about contamination and infection. There
are other diseases out there that can take your life
just as easily as the Infection. Not to mention that
there are also packs of wild dogs, and
even coyotes, bears, wolves,
and escaped zoo animals
like elephants, hippos, lions
and tigers all of whom can
pose an incredible threat, or be
a
potential source of food for a survivor
with a rifle.

Firearms are also loud, and this is most definitely a

bad thing. In cities that have grown quiet, the sound
of a bullet carries a long way, and the Hunters are
most adept at tracking it down. Using firearms to
solve your problems may sound like a great idea,
until a pack of Infected locate you. Even then, your
gun wont be nearly as helpful as you think. Infected
are smart enough to know that guns are bad. Using
hit and run tactics, theyll surround you before
you realize it, bottle you, then come for you when
youve got nowhere else to go. Or they might make
you run, make you shoot, make you use up your
precious bullets as you shoot at half-seen targets, at
sounds from behind fences, bushes and buildings.
Their shrieks will force you
on,
pushing you, until you
see only one
exit a

-2- Outbreak

Survivors can go for days, if not weeks or even

months without seeing a single Infected. But when
they do, they realize its time to get the hell out
of there for where theres one, inevitable many
more will come. And quickly. Worse, the Hunters
will pursue survivors, helping lead the rest of the
pack towards them. And once one pack has made
contact, other packs are often drawn to the sounds
of violence, their own Hunters bringing them in
from near and far, until a small horde is banging on
the doors.

Ironically, bullet guzzlers like machineguns and

automatic rifles are largely shunned. They just
consume far too much ammunition to be practical.
Unless youre sitting on a stockpile, every round is
to be treasured because one day, there wont be
any of them left.

Guns are also growing rarer. That doesnt mean

theyre rare yet, but they arent exactly being
produced anymore, and countless numbers of them
have been lost, buried or destroyed in the fall.
Those that are left are usually cherished, and their
ammunition is hoarded.

27

sprint for freedom, down an undefended area. And

thats exactly where theyll ambush you, swarming
in from all sides in a feeding frenzy.
The Infected have got killing humans down to a fine
science. And so what if they lose five, ten, twenty of
their own to get to you? Theyoutnumber you like
thirty to one. Theyrestillwinning.
With these grim thoughts in mind, many survivors
prefer to use much quieter weapons, such as bows,
crossbows, and melee weapons like axes, swords
and spears. Spears are actually some of the best
weapons, as they allow one to stay at a distance,
and avoid getting any blood or pus onto themselves.
Another problem for survivors is transport. Petrol
is now an absolute luxury. Even for those in
settlements, petrol is not something to be wasted.
Its just too hard to get more of it. That being said,
if youve got ready access to a reservoir, it could last
you a really long time. But when you run out, how
are you going to get more?

28

As the months turn into years, cars become

increasingly rare. So do military vehicles like
tanks, which end up becoming stationary pillboxes
anchoring defences, unmoving for months or
years, until their tracks are completely overgrown
with weeds, and theyre half-sunk into the earth.
Many tanks use a gallon of petrol per mile of
travel, which is simply too much to contemplate
spending. Still, they make for virtually invincible
cornerstone defences at least until they run out of
ammunition, or their electronics and batteries start
failing them. Even those need the engine turned on
once in a while.
Countless numbers of military vehicles are left
where they stopped. Sometimes in vast convoys
stretching for miles across roads that are slowly
being assimilated back into the wilds. Within a
year, they are covered in dirt, rust and patches of
grass. Within ten years they may be nothing more
than strange humps of grass and weeds, with the

occasional barrel sticking out through the mass of

foliage - yet another relic of a bygone age.
Planes are even rarer. The military used plenty of
them during the opening stages of the outbreak.
Fleets of bombers were sent out again and again, to
demolish the very cities they were originally built
to protect. Missiles, nukes, napalm, gas they tried
it all. And it all required an immense amount of
petrol and resources. When the support structure
for these things collapsed around them, there was
no way that they could keep going. Many pilots took
their planes to remote airstrips, hoping to avoid the
worst of the infection, others held on in the hangars
and airfields as everything slowly went to hell
around them. Some hang on still. Most were faced
with starvation and repeated assaults from Infected,
until they either fell victim or were forced to flee.
Now most airfields lie barren and empty, casually
scattered with all sorts of aircraft, like the discarded
toys of some massive child. Aircraft lie on their
sides, piled into each other, rusting and blackened

after devastating fires, or just sitting quietly

at their stations, still waiting for a crew that
willneverarrive.
Fuel is the big problem. But solve that, and you
would have aircraft at your disposal if you knew
how to fly them.
Many survivors also eschew vehicles for the very
good reason that they attract a lot of attention.
In a quiet landscape, an engine is really, really
loud. Its sound echoes off buildings and hillsides,
and generally announces your presence long
before youve arrived. Not only does that make
the Infected more than likely to take an interest
in you, but it will let every other undesirable sort
knowaswell.
People in cars die.
Most people seeking to avoid attention travel on
foot. Some have taken to riding on horseback, if
they can catch the horses. There are, in fact, small
tribes of horsemen forming in various places around

29

-2- Outbreak

the globe returning to the old ways of bow and

spear. Those who never left these ways are truly left
in the best position.
Something that few people in the Developed World
fully realised until the fall, was that the night is truly
very, very dark. Cities make it seem light. Electricity
gives one a control over darkness that simply
does not exist without it. Fires and lamps provide
poor substitutes. They require fuel to burn. Most
settlements do not have power, and virtually no-one
living in the wilds has any power either.
The night is dark. And it is also a time for hunting.
The light of a campfire can be an incredible comfort,
but it will also advertise your presence - even a light
as small as a candle is bright enough to be noticed
from hundreds of metres, if not kilometres away.
Only the foolish advertise for trouble.
Many survivors living in houses have already
barricaded their windows, then covered them
in cloth, so no light will escape. But this also
blinds you to whats out there. Fear and closedin spaces dont mix well. More than one group of
survivors have ended in murder and suicide as the
occupantsgomad.
The other major form of transport in the world is by
sea, but sadly, being that a ship is a very confined
space, usually with air conditioning systems
pumping through every room, it is also the ideal
breeding ground for the infection. The infection
caught so many people unawares, whole vessels
were stricken before anyone truly had a clue what
was happening. By the time people started showing
the sores and were quarantined, they had already
infected dozens around them with the airborne
virus. These people then infected dozens more
before they showed the sores as well, and so it went
until the whole vessel was utterly contaminated.

30

Naval vessels were no exception. Many were

completely compromised, along with whole naval
bases, long before they were given the order to go
to sea and escape the mayhem there, in complete

isolation. Many vessels were almost completely

overcome by the virus in the first few days and
weeks after heading to sea, often leaving only a
very, very few people alive to run the whole vessel.
And then the Infected woke.
Naval vessels are uniquely designed to be
completely defensible inside and out, but even so,
locking oneself away in a room is only a good idea
if youre on the Bridge and you have some sort
of way out. Outnumbered a hundred to one, and
slowly starving to death, most survivors simply killed
themselves or attempted to go out with a bang.
Others grounded their ships, or even charged the
shore, hoping to somehow survive the collision.
Many such death-ships still wander the seas, drifting
aimlessly, packed with dozens, if not hundreds or
even thousands of Infected, who wait hopefully for
a fresh meal to come their way.
Despite such immense losses, if one can completely
effect a quarantine, then a ship is really the safest
place you can be. Infected are notoriously terrible
seamen and are unlikely to come after you. But
this then begs the question where do you plan
on getting your fuel from? How about your food?
Water? And how many people are on your ship?
How many of them might start going mad in these
close, cramped conditions, with all their friends and
family on shore dead or dying? How many people
might decide to try to head back and see if they can
save someone, instead of sitting off-shore and doing
nothing? Think you can survive a mutiny?
These problems are things countless ship crews
have faced all across the world, with varying degrees
of success. Fuel can sometimes be solved by gaining
access to a tanker, or some sort of reservoir. Usually
one has to kill the Infected who lurk around such
places first, and possibly repeatedly, as they will
be drawn to anywhere that people go. Tankers are
certainly the most secure, except for the fact that
the Infected will lurk in the cramped passageways
and rooms, and youre bound to take casualties.

Amazingly, there are actually people who are

immune to the virus. Making up a tiny percentage of
the population (less than 2%), they are completely
impervious to the airborne and blood-borne strains
of the disease. The exact number of these people
actually still left alive is open to question, as many
of them would have died in the apocalypse that
followed. But those that are alive are some of the
luckiest people in the entire world.
Theyre also the subject of intense scientific study
making them also some of the unluckiest people
on the planet. Governments across the globe have
become aware of them, and have reacted in a
variety of ways. Most have decided to do extensive
testing but some have taken it a step further and
turned them into lab rats or subjects of vivisection.
So far all of these tests have failed.
There are also those who are
resistant to the disease, and many
people are certainly this, as
their bodies rapidly adapted
to cope with constant
exposure to some
form of it or another.
Almost no-one would
have survived without
thisimmuneresistance.

days. The people who are left alive are the ones
who arent likely to succumb to a single sneeze, or a
bit of blood on their face. They mightbut it would
be unlikely. Instead, they would need to actually
ingest some of the blood or mucous, or have
someone sneeze repeatedly and closely around
them. A bite or scratch that draws blood is one
such way the virus spreads. This is nearly always
adeathsentence.
Survivors have also learnt that there are some
very specific, very brutal, ways to keep the virus
from getting a hold. Some of these are probably
more superstition than anything else. Others
legitimately work. Generally this involves dousing
oneself in whatever disinfectant, bleach or other
cleaning liquid is to hand. Sometimes it involves
boiling water on the affected area. Other times, if
a survivor has been bitten, he will simply cut away
the affected area of flesh. Others bleed themselves
in that area, to clean the blood of the virus before it
has a chance to circulate around their body.

-2- Outbreak

Then there is the problem of pirates. Countless

people with guns have access to small, high-speed
boats, and these require but a little fuel. Pirates are
a very real threat. They want your food, your fuel,
your guns, and your women. And theyre more than
prepared to murder you for them.

All of these methods have worked for some and

not worked for others. But just having the hope
is enough. And really, do you want to test
whether youre totally immune?

This doesnt mean

the virus is less
deadly not
at all. But it
is just a little
bit harder
to infect most
survivors these

31

I used to be a firefighter . Seems like a long

time ago now. A different lifetime perhaps?
Still, those skills have come in handy from
time to time.
We were being chased - hunted really by these goons from Grenton. THey kinda
thought of themselves as soldiers. Even had
a fancy patch on their arms. Cant remember
whatitsaid.
THey had already shot Jesse - put a red
mess through his right arm and forced us to
carry him. Dunno what they were planning
for the rest of us, but I can imagine their
intentions towards the girls werent exactly
honourable.
They were chasing us through this thick
wood, with lots of undergrowth, and I got to
thinking about how many times I had fought
fires in places like this - they were powder
kegs waiting for a match.
But wait a second, I thought - I have a match!
So I lit it, and let that little fire blossom.
I know how to put em out - but I also know
how to make them burn, man.
And by God did that fire burn.
Those Grenton Lads wont be bothering us no
more, THAT I can assure you.

32

33

Chapter Three

Character
Creation

ust like in books or movies, there are

certain people that the story follows
throughout their adventures and
journeys. These are the characters that
the players will be playing (known
as Player Characters, or pcs). But
in order to work out who exactly
these characters are you need a
way to actually develop them. Who is it
that you will be playing? A hard-bitten
mercenary? A bandit with no scruples?
A father intent on saving the life of his
only daughter, who is all he has left? Or
perhaps even a general with the ragged
remnants of his army, trying to save
whats leftofsociety.
The type of characters you play
will greatly affect the type of story
you will be playing, and so it is certainly of great
importance.
The Narrator should work out what sort of
game he would like to play, discuss it with
his players, see what ideas they have for their
characters, and how the story could evolve from
there. Quite often this will lead to more story ideas!
It is often a good idea to let these ideas flow, to
allow the players to make what characters they
want, and then work out story and plot based off of
those characters.

There are several steps to creating a character,

which will be gone over in the following pages.
But bear in mind that this is merely advice on the
best sequence to take. In reality, you can take any
sequence you wish.

a character is determining his Disposition (though

remember that this is an optional step, and if youd
prefer to play without a Disposition, or to make your
own, then feel free to do so!).

The Narrator would be wise to take the character

creation period with an ounce of care, and go out of
his way to help new players form their characters.
Even if the Narrator is also new to the game, he will
still be able to help, and it will probably make him
more familiar with the rules to do so. Make sure
each player has a copy of a Character Sheet (located
at the end of the book) in front of him, as well as a
pencil and eraser (No pens! Youd regret them later
when you need to change stats.).

Creation a character can be done in a very

dynamic way, with a lot of give-and-take
between the Narrator and players, everyone
bouncing ideas off each other and so on.

Something for every player to bear in mind when

creating a character is that each character is a
person. Just like every real person on the face of the
Earth, they have strengths and weaknesses, talents
and stupidities, foibles and abilities. These are
what make them people, rather than merely fleshy
robots. People have motivations for everything they
do, and reasons why they are the way they are.
This is something of great importance to bear in
mind when creating any character in order for it
to be a true story, one of deep and powerful impact,
it has to be about real people, with real goals and
fears, hopes and aspirations, histories, skeletons in
the closet, vendettas, crimes, glories and so on.
Thus, before creating the character in a set of rules,
the player must first get some sort of an idea as to
what sort of character he wants to make. Once he
knows who the person is, he should start in with the
rules quite often, one will find that in making the
character, more of who the person actually is will
spring to life. Therefore, the first step in creating

-3- Character Creation

Go over with the player each section of the

Characteristics, explaining what each individual
statistic represents, and helping them get a feel for
their options. He can also help them work out what
sort of a character they wish to make.

Dynamic Character Creation

As they work out exactly who their character is,

it is a great idea for the player to start working
out some of their history. Their exact history will
obviously vary a great deal depending on when
the game is set. The Narrator can choose to start
at the beginning of the outbreak itself, or several
months or a year on. In these cases, the player
should work out how the character survived.
What hard choices were they forced to make?
What did they have to do to survive? Did they have
kill anyone, do anything terrible, or if they stayed
true to their integrity, how did they manage that?
One particularly exciting and dynamic way to run
character creation when dealing with how the
characters lived through the outbreak, is to quickly
play through it.
The way this works is that the player describes
who he was when the outbreak started, and the
Narrator tells him what basically happened, gets the
player to give his reactions (quite briefly - you want
to make this exciting, dangerous and interesting,
not a time drag), and then has him make some key
rolls. If he gets attacked, the Narrator could briefly
play through it. To make it really exciting, he should
have the character take damage. His actions will
mean something - so if he is really foolish, or rolls
abysmally, he could still die. Remember, this is the
end of the world, not a picnic.
This will ensure that by the time the character
has reached the present day, he knows what
the outbreak has been like. And he really knows
his character. Thiswill help himto makefurther

35

-3- Character Creation

choiceson
what sort of
circumstances
the character
has. He might
have lost several
fingers when he
got attacked, or have
broken his leg and had it
heal
badly, which not only left him with a limp but also
made him hardbitten and jaded - but also taught
him to survive in the wilds, eating berries and
roots and whatever else he could scrounge. Maybe
starvation then forced him to turn to banditry to
keep himself alive.
That soldier he killed had a rifle on him, so now this
becomes his most precious possession. He knows
how hard it was to win it, and hes not about to let
it out of his sight. Likewise, the boots that he took
off a dead man, which fit him so well, are far better
than limping around barefoot in the cold, as he was
forced to when he was robbed some while ago (and
incidentally, had his hip broken).
He has not forgotten the bandits who broke his hip
and left him in constant pain - and who left him in
the wilds to die. And one day he swears he will hunt
them down and kill them.
Likewise, they may recognise him if they ever see
him again - and they will know to shoot first, and
make certain of things this time.

36

Ifbadthings happen to the player character (and

they are bound to), then the Narrator may need to
insist that Disadvantages are taken as well, to reflect

whathas
occurred. Likewise
if the player character
performs some feat of
incredible bravery, daring and/or luck,
then perhaps he should takeanAdvantage?
Going through things this way will also help the
players and the Narrator to work out the player
characters goals, history, motivation and generally
then what will make for an interesting and exciting
story for them. Obviously, a crew of bandits who are
only out for themselves and who consider the end
of the world to be an opportunity for plunder and
power will not really be interested in saving a town
and gaining the gratitude of the people who live
there (though stranger things have happened).
This is also the time when the Narrator should have
the players work out how their characters got to
know each other, and how they are associated.
In this wise, it is also advisable that the pcs are
somewhat compatible - again, a naive young girl
may not be the best team mate for a crew of
bandits...but well leave that up to your judgement
(you never know, she may end up leading
themoneday).
Ultimately, keep in mind that the player characters
are people, and they will be changed by their
experiences, for good or ill. Character creation
should reflect this - and of course, as they
(hopefully) survive through the stories, they
changeeven more.
Good luck!

Character Creation Process

Formulate Character Concept

Get a basic idea of who you want to be, then choose a Disposition and Archetype (if desired).

-2-

Narrator Selects Starting Experience

Choose from Novice (1200 Exp), Experienced (1400 Exp), and Veteran (1600 Exp).

-3- Character Creation

-1-

-3-

Select Attributes

Choose your Physical, Mental, Social and Spiritual Attributes, which will define who
and what your character is in essence. Experience cost 4x level, compounded.

-4-

Work Out Vital Statistics

Now that you have your Attributes selected, you can determine
your characters Health, and can choose his Morality.

-5-

Select Skills

Choose from the array of Skills available to the character, to represent knowledge
from practice and training. Experience cost 2x level, compounded.

-6-

Select Circumstances

Work out what situation the character starts in. Does he have allies,
friends, equipment, money, and so on? Or has he nothing but the
shirt on his back? Experience cost 2x level, compounded.

-7-

Select Advantages & Disadvantages

Further tweak your character by the addition of Advantages and Disadvantages which
represent the oddities and quirks of that person. Experience cost 2x level, compounded.

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Thanks for checking out our sampler!

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infected.immersion-rpg.com

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(Thanks for the granola bar, sucker)