My FFO Campaign - Week 1 - Day One parts 1 and 2

Okay, here it is, my first ATZ-FFO batrep. This sees the hero of my campaign, Scotty "Vampifan" Bryant, on the first day of the outbreak of the zombie plague. The Day One scenario can be downloaded for free at http://site.twohourwargames.com/ATZFFO/DayOneRough.pdf
This batrep will purposefully be rules heavy, as I explain the game mechanics of the new rules for the benefit of new players and for experienced players who'd like to know how FFO differs from the previous rules, Better Dead Than Zed. I should point out that the Day One scenario is designed with the beginner in mind and is very user friendly. Quite a few of the basic rules like In Sight tests, initial zombie placement and PEFs are not used in this scenario. Melee combat against civilians works differently to the normal game to keep things simple.
All notes relating to the rules will be written in blue text to differentiate them from the rest of the batrep. All page numbers will refer to the ATZ-FFO rulebook unless otherwise noted.
The scenario takes place in the centre of Mayhem City (an urban area) for parts 1, 2 and 3 and in the suburban area of Springvale for part 4. It all takes place during the daytime. All four encounters were played on 3' by 3' game boards made up of ground tiles from WWG's Streets of Legend set and an assortment of buildings primarily from WWG, plus a couple from Genet Models and Stoelzel's Structures.

PART ONE - WORKPLACE
Vampifan was on his lunchbreak when he saw a news report on the TV in the restaurant where he was dining, announcing that dead people had reanimated and were attacking the living. The police were advising everyone to stay indoors and lock themselves in until further notice. Due to his job and hobbies, Vampifan was something of an expert on the undead and his initial reaction was to dismiss the news as a hoax. Zombies did not exist in real life, only in fiction. Still, on the off chance that the news was true, he decided to head back to his office, where he was manager and graphic designer of a computer games company called Vampisoft, pick up his gear, then collect his pick-up truck and drive home, stopping on the way to fill up the gas tank. He slowly made his way back to the Vampisoft offices. Just as he was about to cross the road to the office block, two clearly panicked citizens ran towards him.

This photo shows the part of Central Mayhem City where the Vampisoft offices were located. The offices are actually my lawyers' offices but I designed a new logo to temporarily stick above the front door. it's a simple way to transform the building.

This photo shows the main street running from north (bottom of the photo) to south (top of the photo). The board is divided into nine sectors, each 1' square. Sector 1 appears at the bottom left of the photo and sector 9 is in the top left of the photo.The Vampisoft offices are located in sector 5 in the middle of the board.

And here's the reverse view of the same street running from south at the bottom to north at the top.  
Before play could begin I had to roll 1d6 on the Contact Days 1-10 table (see p.61), with a -1 modifier because it was Daytime. I rolled a 4 which was modified to 3 for a result of Citizens. Next, I rolled 1d6 on the How Many table (see p.62), this time with a +1 modifier because the encounter was in an urban area. I rolled a 2, which was modified to a 3 for a result of 2 Citizens. They were placed 1d6 inches in front of the objective and facing the player character. I rolled a 6, so they were situated 6" away from the front door of the Vampisoft offices.

TURN 1.   Activation - Vampifan = 3, Civilians = 2.
Vampifan walked to the corner of the T-junction and began to cross the main street as he warily eyed the two men in front of him. 

The two terrified civilians, charged at him, intent on knocking him out of their way rather than running past him. "How odd!" thought Vampifan.
In the Day One scenario, there is no need to take the Charge Into Melee test against terrified civilians. Melee combat against them happens automatically. Here's how it happens. Vampifan is Rep:4 but under my house rules, he has a Melee score of 3. Because he was unarmed he suffered a -1 penalty, which gave him a Melee score of 2. The two civilians were both Rep:3 and because they were also unarmed they also suffered a -1 penalty to their Melee scores. That meant all three combatants had Melee scores of 2. In FFO a character fights each opponent, attacking them in turn (see p.31 for the Melee Combat table). Both opponents rolled a number of dice equal to their Melee scores and looked for successes. A success being any roll of a 1, 2 or 3 . Against the man in the suit Vampifan won the combat by 1 success to 0. I rolled 1d6 to see what, if any damage, Vampifan inflicted (see p.31 for Melee Results). I rolled a 1, which would normally have been an Obviously Dead result. However, in the Day One scenario, any damage done to a citizen is ignored and he simply runs past your character.

"Hey, watch it, buddy!" Vampifan shouted as he shoved the man in the suit away. As he turned from watching the guy run away, the second civilian ploughed into him.

Vampifan was sent sprawling and landed on his back, as the second citizen knocked him down.
In the second combat, Vampifan scored 0 successes but the civilian scored 2. I rolled 1d6 to see what damage was inflicted on Vampifan. I rolled a 5 for a result of Knocked Down. Vampifan had to roll 2d6 against his Rep on the Recover From Knock Down test (see the Citizen Reaction Tests chart in the Quick Reference Section). He passed 2d6 and was Stunned. He could not act until he had spent one full turn of activation doing nothing. I could have avoided this if I had remembered the Star Power advantage he had, but I forgot all about it. D'oh!

TURN 2.   Activation - Vampifan = 1, Civilians = 4.
Vampifan remained stunned this turn, and lay on his back getting his wind back.

TURN 3.   Activation - Vampifan = 3, Civilians = 4.
Any roll that totals 7 for Activation results in another roll on the Contact Days 1-10 table (see p.5 of the Day One scenario). This rule appears because the Day One scenario does not use PEFs and so allows for further encounters with citizens or zombies. This time I ended up with 3 Civilians, who were placed 4" away from the entrance to the Vampisoft offices. Vampifan had two things going for him this turn. Being Rep:4, he could could activate this turn and because the Citizens were only Rep:3, they couldn't activate. To activate, a character must roll equal to or less than their Rep scores on the Activation dice (see p.13).
Not wanting to fight a trio of terrified civilians, who had suddenly appeared in front of him, Vampifan decided to run around them.

With a sudden spurt of speed, Vampifan swerved to one side of the startled group and ran past them into the safety of the Vampisoft offices.
The distance between Vampifan and the front door of his workplace was 11", a distance that could be covered if he made a successful Fast Move test (see p.15). Normally, you would roll 2d6 and compare the results to the Reps of all those in the party taking the test. For each d6 passed, the character could add half his Movement score to his normal Movement. However, Vampifan has the Slow Attribute, so I only rolled 1d6 for him. A result of 3 meant he passed the test and could add 4" to his Move of 8" for a total of 12", enough to get him to the front door.
This ended Part 1 of the scenario. Vampifan had not met any zombies and speculation amongst his co-workers was rife as to whether the news stories were true or not. The reward for reaching his workplace first was that Vampifan was able to collect his katana, his laptop computer, one lot of medical supplies and enough cash from the safe to class as 3 Luxury Items. All in all, it was a hell of a good haul. Now he had to go and retrieve his pick-up truck from where he'd parked it not far away from the office block.

PART 2 - VEHICLE
To reach his next destination without delay, Vampifan had to roll on the Getting There table (see p.4 of the Day One scenario). He passed 2d6 by rolling against his Rep and reached the location without delay. At the start of each separate encounter you have to roll 1d6 on the Contact Days 1-10 table and place any opposition 1d6" away from the objective and facing the player character. This time I ended up with 3 terrified citizens, (a boy, a man and a woman) 1" away from the pick-up truck, blocking Vampifan's way.

Here we are, still in Central Mayhem City, and Vampifan takes a short cut past the building in the centre front of the photo above to reach his pick-up truck, hidden from view by that very same building.

This is the view up the main street from the north (in the bottom of the photo) to the south (at the top of the photo). Vampifan's black pick-up truck can be seen in sector 5, in the middle of the board in between the red hatchback and the blue sedan.

This is the reverse view showing the main street from the south (at the bottom of the photo) to the north (at the top).The large office block belongs to a firm of solicitors, even though it looks remarkably similar to the Vampisoft offices.

TURN 1.   Activation - Vampifan = 4, Civilians = 1.
As Vampifan began to cross the road, he immediately noticed the panicked look on the faces of the three citizens running towards him and he had a flash of deja vu. Not wanting to experience his previous mishap, he withdrew his katana and yelled, "just stay the fuck away from me!"

The terrified citizens totally ignored his warning and seemed determined to rush through him, rather than taking the sensible option and avoiding him.
This time, Vampifan rolled 5d6 for his Melee attack dice (3d6 for his Melee score, plus a 2d6 bonus for using a two-handed weapon). As before, the citizens only rolled 2d6 each, making combat a very one-sided affair. Against the teenage boy, Vampifan won 3-0. Against the man wearing the flat cap he won 2-1, and against the young woman he won 2-0. No damage was inflicted as this was not a normal melee combat.

Vampifan held his ground and the trio rapidly moved past him without any harm being done to either side.

TURN 2.   Activation - Vampifan = 4, Zombies =3.
The Activation dice came up with a total of 7, resulting in a new roll on the Contact Days 1-10 table. This time, I rolled up 2 Zombies and they were placed 2" away from Vampifan's pick-up truck and just 3" away from him. This forced Vampifan to take the Zed Or No Zed test (see p.49). He passed 2d6 with rolls of 3 and 1, so he could now take the Charge Into Melee test.
As two more citizens staggered into view, Vampifan saw their blood soaked clothing and horrendous wounds that should have lain out any normal human. The woman had lost her right foot and and her right hand and was hobbling along on the stump of her leg. The old man was also limping badly, with his left foot facing behind him as it had been twisted through 180 degrees. He also had a metal spike piecing his right thigh. Vampifan had no doubts at all in his mind just what they were - they were the walking dead - zombies! So, the news stories were right after all, he thought. He gulped and gripped his katana tighter in his hands that were now trembling.

He thought about charging and attacking them but by the time he had made his mind up they were on him. He was still amazed at the fact that they could move at all, given the extent of their injuries.
Before Vampifan could take the Charge Into Melee test he first had to pass the Citizens Brown Pants test (see p.30). This test affects all civilians and remains in play until they become either Gangers or Survivors. Vampifan had to roll 1d6 against his Rep. He rolled a 2 and so passed the test. Now he could take the Charge Into Melee test (see p.30). Unfortunately, he suffered a -1d6 penalty for being a citizen and so only rolled 1d6 for the test instead of 2d6. He rolled against his Rep and scored a 6 - a failure. The opposition should also roll but in the case of zombies, they never roll and always count as having passed 1d6. Because the zombies had passed more d6 than Vampifan I had them charging him.

Vampifan quickly regained his composure and swung his katana at the female zombie. The devastatingly sharp blade sliced through the zombie's neck with consumate ease and she crumpled to the ground as her head departed her body in a spray of blood.
Zombies roll 3d6 in melee combat and are classed as using Improvised Weapons (this gives them no bonus or penalty to hit). Vampifan rolled 5d6 because of him wielding his katana in a two-handed grip. He scored 3 successes to the zombie's 0 successes. In actual fact, Vampifan only rolled 2 successes but he gained a bonus +1 success for fighting a zombie (see p.31). Rolling 1d6 on the Melee Results table (see p.31), Vampifan rolled a 3, which was the same number of successes he'd scored but wasn't a "1", meaning his opponent was Out Of the Fight (OOF). However, all OOF results against zombies are classed as Obviously Dead (see p.49). He had just killed his first zombie.

His reverse swing against the male zombie was not so accurate as the katana sliced into the left shoulder of the walking dead man. Still, it landed with enough force to unbalance him and the zombie was knocked over.
In the second round of combat Vampifan and the zombie both scored 1 success, but the +1 bonus for Vampifan fighting a zombie meant he won the combat by 2-1. I rolled for damage and this time Vampifan only scored a Knock Down result. Any result of Knocked Down against a zombie, meant the zombie was knocked down to the ground but was not Stunned. The Recover From Knock Down test was not taken. The zombie would regain its feet when it was next active at the cost of its full movement (see p.49).

TURN 3.   Activation - Vampifan = 3, Zombies =6.
Standing next to the prone male zombie, Vampifan stabbed him in the forehead for an automatic kill. He wiped the blood from his katana as he walked across the street to his pick-up truck.
This ended Part 2 of the Day one scenario. Vampifan's next destination was a gas station to stock up on gas. Because my campaign is set in America, I'm using the American term "gas" for petrol, although I must admit it always baffles me why Americans call petrol, which is a liquid, "gas!"

TO BE CONTINUED