How the "Run" system works
Zombie is an intensive game. Unlike regular LARPs which may operate turn-based combat or frequently pause to adjudicate rules/use downtime, Zombie is a near total simulation. There are no pauses or breaks in character unless a player is injured and needs assistance, or the action is getting out of hand - only, really, in extreme circumstances. There locale and plot demand that players run around a lot (they don't have to run around - it just tends to help if they do). The health rules and situation give the average character a lifespan of around half an hour.
Also, being a Zombie is not terribly exciting. We had a few people permanently acting as Zombies for the six-hour period last time, but the determination to get out there and maul survivors all night is not something everyone shares. Not a problem if we needed a handful of NPCs - unfortunate, really, that we need 30 or so. I don't know 30 people who are that devoted; being a Zombie is fun, but everyone wants a shot on the NERF guns, right?
To remedy these problems, Zombie works on the Run System. Players are divded up into groups before the night gets underway and given letters or numbers to mark them out (last time we used the Greek Alphabet - so Alpha Run, Beta Run, etc). During your team's run, you are Survivors - the player characters that emerge from a previously locked room somewhere in the complex and do your best to escape. This is timed - we generally impose a limit of an hour, but no team overshot that at the last event. Everyone else who is attending the event will either be in the Common Room or playing Zombies for you to beat up/get mauled by.
Playing a Zombie is simple. We train all players and NPCs (even returning ones) in the rules before the event, a process which takes a full ten minutes. Zombie does not have many rules. You will be placed under the command of one of our fine Zombie GMs and for the period of the run and they will position you in rooms to set up traps, guard objectives, and move you around if the situation needs adjusting. We have several bottles of fake blood which serves us excellently as far as makeup goes. Note that Zombies are referred to in a different sense than NPCs - our NPCs are humans who are not part of the Survivor party. Zombies have no motivation or personality and are all under control of the GMs, so they're referred to simply as "Zombies."
The Common Room is a new introduction. At the last event we had 35 attendees, a number we could easily handle. This time round we'll have many more people to manage and we're certain that putting our full complement of players in as Zombies at one time would result in too high a percentage of player deaths. To remedy this we'll have a large hall set up as a Common Room. Here, we will be cycling through the players as and when they're needed for NPC duty - we reckon that a third of our players will be in the common room at any one time. Full details about the myriad wonders of the common room (including the radical free food and drink policy) can be found here.
You're welcome to use the common room at any time; one of the problems we had last event was tiredness, as running around a large two-level structure late at night does little for your physical well-being. By offering players a chance to rest for a run we hope that we can avoid burnout. Similarly, if you're feeling energetic, feel free to take part in the game. We have ways of adjusting the rules to accomodate for more players.
After one Run has ended, the Survivors from that stage become Zombies or Cultists (or NPCs) and the players for the next run wash the fake blood off their faces/change out of Cultist costume and get kitted up for their Run. But don't worry - the night is not simply a half hour of running and screaming and ten hours and shambling and moaning. We hold special runs after the main ones have taken place. Depending on how well a team does (and we have a points system) they will be selected for a Special Mission. Last time we the winners played teams of special forces - they were given their pick of the guns and had to fight their way through a Zombie-infested complex, plant an incendiary bomb, and escape before it blew. The "Pro Team Run" is one of the better videos we have on youTube, and it shows one of these runs.
We'll have some different stuff planned for the last runs, but rest assured, there'll be lots of foam-based warfare in there.
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