GURPS LITE Add-on:

Zombies
Anonymous
v0.4

Preface

I love GURPS. I wish I could love GURPS Lite. It has the very core mechanics of GURPS,
but it does not live up to the generic or universal in GURPS. This rules add-on intends to fix that
problem for the "zombie" genre by giving new GURPS GMs and players the rules they need for
a basic zombie game, although you can use it for other games (see 6.5). Zombies are one of the
easiest ways to introduce players to a new system, and it’s a shame that GURPS Lite, a product
meant to introduce players to GURPS, fails to have the minimum rules required for a zombie game.
This unofficial add-on uses simplified rules mainly from Basic Set, with page references that
should ease the transition by making the full rules easier to reference. It also has lenses, pre-
generated characters, enemies, and a few examples of play to help you learn the new rules.
I don’t own GURPS, I’m not affiliated with SJGames. This is not an official or endorsed
product. It’s just a fan-made add-on. I don’t own the art, either; click images for source.
Thanks to /tg/ for the feedback.

1
Contents
1 Before You Read 4
1.1 Required Reading . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.2 Referencing Books . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.3 Recommended Expansions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

2 Errata/Updates 4
2.1 Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
2.2 Equipment . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4

3 Rules 5
3.1 Firearms . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.1.1 Firearms and Range . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.1.2 Firearms and Rapid Fire . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.1.3 Firearm Lethality . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
3.1.4 Body Armor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.1.5 Cover DR . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.1.6 Shotguns . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.1.7 Example of Firearm Rules in Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
3.2 Grappling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.2.1 Wrestling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.2.2 Grappling . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.2.3 Example of Grappling Rules in Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7
3.3 Melee . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.3.1 Combat Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
3.3.2 Improvised Weapons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.4 General . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.4.1 Complementary Skill Rolls . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.4.2 Darkness . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
3.4.3 Group Stealth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9

4 Characters 10
4.1 New Skills . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
4.1.1 Fast-Draw . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
4.1.2 Hobby Skill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
4.1.3 Expert Skill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
4.1.4 Professional Skill . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 10
4.2 Lenses . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
4.2.1 Academic . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
4.2.2 Criminal Past . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
4.2.3 Doctor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
4.2.4 Enforcer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
4.2.5 Hunter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
4.2.6 Outdoorsman . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
4.2.7 Police Officer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
4.2.8 Survivor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
4.2.9 Thief . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12
4.3 Pre-generated Characters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
4.3.1 Detective Avery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
4.3.2 Farmer John . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
4.3.3 Thug Vincent . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14

5 Enemies 15
5.1 Zombies . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
5.1.1 Infection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
5.1.2 Injury Tolerance . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
5.1.3 Headshots . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
5.1.4 Horde Combat . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16

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 5.1.5 Example of Hordes in Play . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 16
5.1.6 Zombie Statblocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 18
5.2 Humans . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
5.2.1 Human Statblocks . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 19
5.3 Animals . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
5.3.1 Dog . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
5.3.2 Lion . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20

6 Gamemaster’s Guide 21
6.1 Optional Combat Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
6.1.1 Feint, B365 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
6.1.2 Multiple Parries, B376 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
6.1.3 Shoves, B378 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
6.1.4 Wait, B366 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
6.2 Roll and Shout! B497 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
6.3 Task Difficulty Modifiers, B345 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
6.4 Zombie Game Advice . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23
6.5 Non-Zombie Games . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 23

7 Afterword 24

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1 Before You Read
1.1 Required Reading
This add-on assumes you have already read GURPS Lite, or are reading it concurrently. This is
not a standalone book. It requires GURPS Lite to function.

I have also made a number of GCS libraries for you to use with GURPS Character Sheet
(GCS). It contains advantage, equipment (with a few new weapons), and skill libraries, in addition
to the lenses (4.2) and pre-generated characters (4.3), as well as quick-start instructions for GCS.
It is attached here (Verified working with Foxit Reader v8.3.0.14878 and SumatraPDF v3.1.2):

1.2 Referencing Books

There are some conventions to referencing in GURPS. In general, Basic Set is considered to be one
book, despite being two physical ones. The notation is "B100", which references page 100 in Ba-
sic Set. GURPS Basic Set: Characters is B1-336, while GURPS Basic Set: Campaigns is B337-576.

In this add-on, other books will be referenced by their full name and give a page number, except
Pyramid articles, which are referenced by issue number, issue title, and article title.

1.3 Recommended Expansions

After you run your first Zombie game, you’ll hopefully like GURPS enough to want more. If you
want to drown in zombies, zombie rules, and read the best exploration of the genre in print to
date, buy GURPS Zombies. If you want to expand your game into a general post-apocalypse one,
buy GURPS After the End. If you want to dive into GURPS, buy the Basic Set as a PDF bundle
here. You can use Zombies and After the End with this add-on, but full use requires Basic Set.

2 Errata/Updates
GURPS Lite gets a few things wrong, in regards to Basic Set. This section updates those minor
problems.

2.1 Skills
GURPS Lite does a strange thing where it changes the attributes that some skills work off of from
Basic Set. The GCS libraries use the Basic Set base attributes, and those changes are outlined
below:
• Search and Survival are now Per/A.

2.2 Equipment
If you want a list of non-combat equipment, use Basic Set’s Equipment library in GCS, or the equip-
ment library I have provided (1.1.1). You should only use the Zombies Equipment for weapons, as
I have removed all of the unnecessary information. That said, there is one change to be made:

• The Pump Shotgun deals pi, not pi-. Buckshot is big.

4
3 Rules
3.1 Firearms
Firearms are a critical part of any zombie game, from a cop’s side-arm or soldier’s long-arm to
the all-mighty boomstick. GURPS Lite falls tragically short in delivering rules for firearms. This
section will provide the bare necessities for gunplay in GURPS.

3.1.1 Firearms and Range

Something far away should be harder to shoot than something close, but fiddly modifiers slow down
the game. The table below is the simplified range table which can be found in GURPS Action 2:
Exploits, p. 31, GURPS After the End 2: The New World, p. 43, and GURPS Gun Fu, p. 43.

Figure out the distance from the shooter to the target in yards, look that distance up on
the table below, and apply that distance’s penalty to any ranged attack roll the shooter makes.
Thrown weapons also take these penalties.

Range Band Distance Penalty Description

Close 0 - 5 yards 0 Melee distance
Short 6 - 20 yards -3 Talking/pistol distance
Medium 21 - 100 yards -7 Shouting/shotgun distance
Long 101 - 500 yards -11 Out of earshot/rifle distance
Extreme 501+yards -15 or worse Out of sight/sniper distance

3.1.2 Firearms and Rapid Fire

Firearms can be shot up to their RoF in a single turn. However, GURPS Lite has no rules for
multiple hits with multiple shots, and doesn’t tell you what that funky 2x9 means for the shotgun.
This section gives rules for rapid fire, hitting multiple times, and defending against firearms. Basic
Set details Rapid Fire on B373-5. Rapid fire bonuses are as follows:

• Firing three rounds grants a +1 bonus to your attack roll.

• Firing one shotshell grants a +2 bonus to your attack roll. Firing two grants +4.

Now that you know the bonus for rapid fire, it’s time for determining how many times you hit.
You can only hit up to as many rounds as you expended. One shotshell holds nine pellets, thus
the 1x9 for its RoF statistic, so it is possible to hit up to nine times with a single shotshell. The
simplified formula for calculating hits is as follows:

1 + (Margin of Success / 2), round down.

If someone scores multiple hits with a firearm against you, you may roll against Dodge. This
is not dodging bullets, but evasive movement that makes you harder to target. The formula for
calculating number of hits dodged is as follows:

1 + Margin of Success.

3.1.3 Firearm Lethality

In order to keep rifles (and shotgun slugs) from instantly gibbing humans, use the following rule
from Pyramid 44: Alternate GURPS II - Appendix Z, Survivable Guns to bring them back down
to reality: Halve damage for any firearm doing 5d or more damage, and add an armor divisor of (2)
to it. An armor divisor of (2) halves all DR, rounding down. Therefore, a Lever-Action Carbine
does 2d+2(2)pi, a Self-Loading Rifle does 3d+2(2)pi, and a Sniper Rifle does 5d-1(2)pi.

5
3.1.4 Body Armor
Let’s make a minor change to body armor as well. Ballistic and Tactical Vests have full DR against
piercing and cutting attacks, but only have DR 2 or DR 5, respectively, against other wounding
modifiers. This prevents vests from being invincible armor.

3.1.5 Cover DR
When you hide behind cover, it provides DR. In general, thin objects like exterior doors and
flipped dinner tables provide DR 1-2, thicker objects like cars (besides the engine block) and metal
dumpsters provide DR 5-10, and dense, heavy objects like engine blocks, concrete dividers/walls,
and sandbags provide DR 25-50. This means that you’ll want to retreat to substantial cover in a
firefight! If you expose yourself to shoot at someone, you aren’t protected by the DR.

3.1.6 Shotguns
Shotguns need a few extra rules as the symbol of the genre. Primarily, we need slugs. If a shotgun
is loaded with slugs, use the damage and accuracy for a Lever-Action Carbine, and triple the range
of the shotgun, making it 150/375. Change the damage type to pi++, which is identical to impaling,
except that it is for high-speed projectiles. Change RoF to 2; there are no pellets.

When you shoot shotshell at very close ranges, the pellets don’t spread out, so it’s like shooting
a slug that has poor penetration. Use slug damage whenever you fire shotshell at a target within
the Close range band, but it doubles DR instead of halving it. You still get the Rapid Fire bonus
for firing one or two shells.

3.1.7 Example of Firearm Rules in Play

Now that we understand how firearms work, let’s look at an example of play that uses them.

Farmer John (4.3.2) is sitting on the porch of his home, a few weeks into the zombie apocalypse.
He holds in his lap a shotgun loaded with shotshells, ready to defend his family inside from any
zombies that wander by. Today is one such day. John spots movement out of the corner of his eye,
ten yards away next to his tractor, and sees two pistol-toting men (Ranged Raiders, 5.2.1).
Mechanically, this is a Quick Contest of Farmer John’s Perception or Observation against the
raider’s Stealth. John has Observation at 13, which is why he’s on guard duty. The raiders aren’t
professional sneaks, so their Stealth is a mere 9. The raiders rolled an 8, so their margin of success
(MoS) was 1. Farmer John rolled a 11, so his MoS was 2. Both succeeded, but John succeeded
by more, so he spotted them. His Margin of Victory (MoV) is 1, so he spots them right as they
emerge from behind the tractor, drawing their pistols.
Farmer John leaps from his chair and shoulders his shotgun, hollering "Raiders!" to alert his
family inside. This is when combat starts. Farmer John’s Basic Speed is higher than either of the
raiders’, so he goes first. John immediately fires twice on the closer raider.
Earlier, we said that the raiders were 10 yards away, which is beyond Close range, so we use
the normal shotshell damage. Looking that up on the range band table, we see that his penalty is
-3 to hit. We also know that firing two shotshells gives a +4 bonus to hit, so John has a +1 to hit
the raider. Farmer John’s Guns (Shotgun) skill is 11, as he’s done quite a lot of hunting, but he’s
not a professional soldier. The +1 makes his effective skill 12. Farmer John rolls to attack, and
gets a 7. Lucky! John’s MoS is 5 (12 - 7), so he scores 1 + (5/2) = 3 hits.
The raider now rolls to dodge. His dodge score is 8, so he has to roll a 6 or lower to throw off
Farmer John’s aim enough to not get hit by a single pellet. The raider rolls an 8 exactly, not good.
He dodges 1 + 0 = 1 pellets, so two pellets hit him.
Farmer John rolls 6 and 2 for damage. The raiders have no armor and are out of cover, so
we don’t subtract DR from the damage. The wounding modifier for shotshell is pi, meaning the
hits do 6 and 2 injury, for a total of 8. Because the first hit is major wound, the raider has to
roll against HT for knockdown and stunning. The raider rolls an 11, failing the check. The raider
falls down, and drops his pistol. He must Do Nothing on his next turn, and roll against HT at the
end of it to overcome stun. It is the raider’s turn now, and he fails again, rolling another 11, so
he remains stunned, and is at -7 for defenses as he is both stunned and prone (lying down, Lite p.
25). His buddy starts shooting back at Farmer John...

6
3.2 Grappling
What do zombies do in melee? They grapple. What does GURPS Lite not have? Grappling. This
section covers grappling in an oversimplified manner. Full grappling rules may be found on B370-1,
and Wrestling may be found on B228.

3.2.1 Wrestling
Wrestling is a DX/A skill with no default. This skill represents training at grappling. If you know
Wrestling at DX+1 level, add +1 to ST when you make or resist a takedown or attempt to break
free. Add +2 to ST for Wrestling at DX+2 or better.

3.2.2 Grappling
To initiate a grapple, make an Attack, Move and Attack, or All-Out Attack with the better
of your grappling skill or DX. While grappled, you may only make Attack, All-Out Attack, and
Ready maneuvers. You have -4 to DX, which means -4 to attack, -2 to Parry, and -1 to Dodge
while grappled. You can only make attacks unarmed (bite, punch, kick) or use small weapons (e.g.
knives, pistols). You cannot move, Step (3.3.1), or Retreat (3.3.1).

You may try to break free from the grapple. This is a maneuver. You must win a Quick Contest
of ST against whoever is grappling you. They have +5 to the Quick Contest if using two hands,
and -2 with one hand.

You may try to perform a takedown after grappling. Roll a Quick Contest of your ST vs. the
higher of your target’s ST, DX, or Wrestling. If you win, your target is now prone (lying down,
Lite p. 25) on the ground, and they lose their grapple on you if they had any. If you tie, nothing
happens. If you lose, both of you are now prone on the ground. Win or lose, the grapple is lost.

3.2.3 Example of Grappling Rules in Play

Now that we understand how grappling works, let’s look at an example of play that uses them.

Farmer John managed to kill the raiders from before without injury, and decided to bury the
bodies in the forest behind his farm. His wife stays behind on the farm, watching over it and their
two young children. After finding a suitable spot in the forest where his home is hidden by the
trees, he gets to work digging a shallow grave.
Unfortunately for Farmer John, the gunshots from earlier had attracted zombies that were
wandering nearby. While Farmer John is busy tamping down the earth for the grave, a zombie
(Slow Zombie, 5.1.6) had heard his digging and shambled to his location. Farmer John critically
fails his Perception roll, perhaps because this is the first time humans have attacked him and his
family. He worries about if they had friends, if his family will have to flee the farm that’s they’ve
had for generations. The zombie, unseen, lurches out from behind a tree two yards away from
Farmer John, taking him by surprise! This is the start of combat time.
Because Farmer John is surprised, he takes a Do Nothing action on his turn, even though he
would normally act before the zombie. At the end of his turn, he must make an IQ roll to recover
from the mental stun. He has an average IQ of 10 and doesn’t have Combat Reflexes, so it’s a
50/50 shot. Thankfully, he makes his roll, so he will be able to act on his next turn.
The zombie makes the standard zombie attack: All-Out Attack (Determined) grapple using
DX. All-Out Attack allows the zombie to close the distance, as Farmer John is within two yards.
The zombie has DX 8, so the zombie has a 12 to hit. The zombie makes his attack, and Farmer
John fails his dodge roll. Farmer John is now grappled.
Farmer John can now act. However, he is limited according to the grappling rules. He may
only take an Attack, All-Out Attack, or Ready maneuver. Farmer John has an ST of 11 from all
of the hard work he does on the farm, but he also has Wrestling at DX+2 from his college wrestling
days, so his effective ST is 13 if he wants to break free. The zombie has ST 10, +5 for using two
hands, so the zombie’s effective ST is 15. Farmer John feels lucky, so he’s going to try to break
free from the zombie. Farmer John rolls a 10, giving him an MoS of 3, but the zombie rolls an 11,
with an MoS of 4. Farmer John remains grappled.

7
 The zombie attempts to bite Farmer John. This is another All-Out Attack (Determined), again
made with DX, so the zombie has a 12 to hit. He succeeds, so now John has to roll a defense.
Farmer John’s modified Parry score for Brawling-10 is (10/2)+3 = 8, -2 for being grappled makes
it 6, while his Dodge is 8 - 1 = 7. He rolls dodge, and succeeds.
On his next turn, Farmer John fails to break free a second time. The zombie bites again, and
Farmer John again manages to dodge, against all odds. John realizes that he isn’t going to get free,
and decides that he’s going to grapple the Zombie back. As the zombie made an All-Out Attack,
Farmer John just needs to make a successful attack roll. The zombie can’t defend. Because he has
DX 10 and Wrestling at DX+2, that’s a 12. He makes it as a Telegraphic Attack (3.3.1) for a +4
bonus (Smart tactics!), and succeeds. The zombie now has -4 to DX because it is grappled.
The zombie is very upset about this. His food keeps squirming, and it’s difficult to eat. The
zombie decides to attempt a takedown. The zombie’s ST is 10, DX is 4 due to being grappled, and
it has no grappling skill, so it chooses to attempt a takedown with ST. Farmer John has ST 11,
DX 10, and Wrestling-12. However, because he has wrestling at DX+2, he gets +2 to ST to resist
a takedown, giving him ST 13. Farmer John also rolls against ST.
The zombie rolls a 5, while John rolls a 9. Unfortunate for John, he loses by 1, so he is thrown
down to the ground. He may not be grappled anymore, but being prone has its own penalties
(Lite, p. 25). He’s finally free, though, so he can get away. He could get up and run, or pick up
that shovel just within hand’s reach...

3.3 Melee
3.3.1 Combat Options
GURPS Lite is missing some rules that break combat if they’re missing. This section will first
fix the combat options in GURPS Lite, then add in additional ones from Basic Set and GURPS
Martial Arts. Slow Zombies never utilize the new options. Fast Zombies will.

• Revised: All-Out Attack (B365) allows you to move up to half your Move, round up, in a
straight line forward. This represents the classic zombie lunge.
• New: Deceptive Attack (B369) may be combined with any melee attack. You make a swift,
tricky, or unexpected strike. For each -2 penalty you take to your attack roll, your target’s
active defense rolls take a -1 penalty against your attack. You cannot reduce your effective
skill below 10. The GM may make Deceptive Attack a flat -4 to hit for -2 to active defenses.
A common tactic is to combine Deceptive Attack with All-Out Attack (Determined).
• New: Retreat (B377) is an option you may take before making an active defense. You must
move one yard away from your attacker to Retreat. This is separate from a Step. If you
retreat, you add +1 to Block or Parry, or +3 if you Dodge, use a Karate Parry, or parry with
a Fencing weapon. This bonus applies to all of your attacker’s attacks this turn (you’re still
in reach for them). You may Retreat (hit the dirt) from gunfire. If you do, you are prone.
• New: Step (B386) allows you to move one yard in any direction while taking an Aim,
Attack, All-Out Attack, Feint, All-Out Defense, Concentrate, or Ready maneuver. If you are
kneeling, you may Change Posture as the Step part of any Step legal maneuver. You may
Step before or after making an attack.
• New: Telegraphic Attack (GURPS Martial Arts, p. 113) is the inverse of Deceptive Attack.
You make an obvious attack, gaining +4 to your attack roll, and your target gains +2 to
active defenses against your attack. This is a flat bonus and cannot be modified. It does not
make you more likely to land a critical hit. It is mutually exclusive with Deceptive Attack.
A common tactic is to combine Telegraphic Attack with All-Out Attack (Determined) when
attacking an unaware enemy, often targeting the Skull (5.1.3) on a zombie for a net +1 to hit.

8
3.3.2 Improvised Weapons
Zombies are fought with anything and everything. Cue balls, ashtrays, crowbars, shovels, lawn-
mowers, chainsaws. If you can think of it, somebody’s already done it. In general, improvised
weapons behave like the weapon closest to them on the Melee Weapon Table on Lite, pp. 20-21,
but have a few distinct differences. These rules are from B404.

First, if the attacker ever critically fails an attack roll, or if a defender ever critically succeeds a
parry or block roll, the weapon is broken. Very fragile weapons may break if they roll max damage.

Secondly, improvised weapons are improvised. All improvised weapons take a -1 penalty to
skill when used if unsuited to combat (e.g. rebar and shovels are penalized, baseball bats are not).

Thirdly, you will need to adjust damage based on the size of the improvised weapon. If it is
about the same size as the weapon that is most like it on the Melee Weapon Table, its damage
should be unchanged. If it is smaller, damage should take at a -1 penalty. If it is larger, damage
should receive a +1 bonus. Use whichever wounding modifier makes the most sense, e.g., a garden
shovel would swing for the same damage and type as a Thrusting Greatsword and a baseball bat
would swing for the same damage as a Broadsword, but have crushing damage.

3.4 General
Rules here don’t fit anywhere else, but still belong in a Zombie campaign.

3.4.1 Complementary Skill Rolls

Teamwork is vital to surviving the zombie apocalypse. In order to implement teamwork into our
games, we use complementary skill rolls. These rules come from GURPS Action 2: Exploits, p. 5.

The GM may allow a different skill to complement the main skill for any given task. Roll
against the unmodified complementary skill before the main skill, and apply one of the following
modifiers to the main skill roll based on the complementary skill’s result: +2 for critical success, +1
for success, -1 for failure, or -2 for critical failure. The main skill must take this modifier. Don’t
trust unskilled people to provide help.

3.4.2 Darkness
Sooner or later, the heroes will find themselves stumbling around in the dark, on purpose or
otherwise. While Lite mentions darkness penalties on p. 27, they could use some illumination.
In general, the darkness penalties for seeing by campfire light, torchlight, or flashlight are -3,
moonlight or candlelight are -5, and starlight or unlit nighttime interiors are -7. Many GMs prefer
to ignore darkness penalties if they don’t reach one of the above thresholds.

3.4.3 Group Stealth

Your party will want to sneak around. In order to do this as a group, the character with the
highest Stealth skill rolls with a penalty equal to the number of characters that do not have even
one point in Stealth. These rules come from GURPS Action 2: Exploits, p. 5.

For example, Thug Vincent (4.3.3) is sneaking past raiders with Detective Avery (4.3.1). De-
tective Avery’s default is DX-5, so she would be rolling against a 5 if Vincent wasn’t covering her.
Because Avery does not have even a single point in Stealth, Vincent takes a -1 penalty to Stealth
and rolls against 9.

9
4 Characters
The player characters are the stars of the campaign, even if they are normal people just trying to
survive. This section will provide character lenses for fast character creation, and a few pre-gen
characters for those that need to play now.

Your zombie game can have a few different point totals. Point totals are listed as X/-Y ($Z),
where X is the points characters receive, -Y is the most points they can get from disadvantages,
and ($Z) is the default allowance. The following list outlines the recommended point totals and
allowances for new GMs and/or new players:
• 50/-25 ($500): At this point total, characters are normal people and are likely to get hurt
facing a lone zombie, or die if facing hordes.

• 75/-25 ($1000): At this point total, characters are above-average people that can handle
zombies on their own. They may be able to face off against a horde with luck.
• 100/-25 ($1500): At this point total and above, characters are heroic and can handle
hordes with teamwork.

4.1 New Skills

GURPS has a lot of skills. In the interest simplicity, I am going to use three general skills to cover
almost everything not in GURPS Lite: Hobby Skill, Expert Skill, and Professional Skill. These can
be useful as complementary skill rolls (see 3.4.1). Some specializations (e.g. knot-tying, finance,
soldier, etc.) are their own skills in GURPS Basic Set; they may be found in Chapter 4: Skills.

4.1.1 Fast-Draw
Fast-Draw is DX/E with no default. Specialize in one of ammo, arrow, knife, long arm (e.g. rifles
and shotguns), one-handed sword, or pistol (both semi-auto and revolvers). For weapons, on a
successful roll, you may Ready a weapon as a free action; failure takes a Ready action as normal.
For arrows and ammo, a successful roll halves turns required, rounded up (simplified from Basic
Set/GURPS High-Tech, pp. 86-8 for ease of use); failure means you drop the ammunition.

4.1.2 Hobby Skill

Hobby Skills are either DX or IQ/E, and default to their controlling attribute at -4. They are skills
for hobbies and background flavor, and generally most characters won’t have more than a point
in any of them. You must specify what your hobby is. DX-based Hobby Skills require agility or
a delicate touch (e.g. juggling, kite flying, needlepoint, knot-tying, and origami), while IQ-based
Hobby Skills focus on knowledge and trivia (e.g. comic books, rock music, science fiction, and
tropical fish). They won’t come up during play often, but can be used to relax, entertain, or
otherwise come in handy.

4.1.3 Expert Skill

Expert Skills are IQ/H, and have no defaults. They represent cross-disciplinary knowledge of a
single, narrow theme. You must specify what your expertise is in. Examples include Computer
Security, Egyptology, Epidemiology, Finance, Forensics, Military Science, and Political Science.

4.1.4 Professional Skill

Professional Skills are DX or IQ/A, and most default to their controlling attribute at -5 (GM’s
discretion). This is the job skill skill, and you should have your Professional Skill at 12+ if you are
competent. You must specify what your profession is. Examples of IQ-based Professional Skills
include air traffic controller, barber, brewer, farmer, florist, game designer, journalist, prostitute,
soldier, and zookeeper. DX-based Professional Skills focus on precision over recall. Examples
include carpenter, glassblower, professional basketball player, tailor, weaver, etc.. Roll Professional
Skill when another skill wouldn’t cover the task at hand and the Professional Skill is a relevant
profession.

10
4.2 Lenses
A "lens" in GURPS is a small, pre-made package of traits you can use to help assemble your
character. The number in brackets is the point cost of the trait you are taking. You can use them
as a base for your character to build off of, or chain several together. They are not immutable if
you want to tweak skill levels. These lenses are taken whole cloth or modified from GURPS Action
4: Specialists.

4.2.1 Academic
[30] Points
Attributes: IQ +1 [20]
Skills: One of Humanities, Mathematics, Natural Sciences, or Social Sciences, all (IQ/H) [4];
Public Speaking, Research, and Writing, all (IQ/A) [2].
Equipment: Academics often have a small library at home and access to university facilities, plus
whatever their discipline would logically give them access to.
Notes: Academics are often unexpectedly helpful. Their chosen field of study can be good for
complementary skill rolls, their ability to talk to the public can sway small crowds of survivors,
and their ability to research and write means that, if they don’t know something, they can figure
it out and write a guide on how to do it. Enhance this lens by increasing IQ and putting more
points into knowledge and social skills.

4.2.2 Criminal Past

[14] Points
Skills: Carousing (HT/E) [2]; Either Fast-Talk (IQ/A) [4] or Intimidation (Will/A) [4]; Holdout
and Streetwise, both (IQ/A) [4].
Equipment: Those with a criminal past don’t necessarily have any equipment, but it is possible
for them to have drugs, counterfeit money, or other proscribed items.
Notes: This represents a deep knowledge of the criminal element, but doesn’t necessarily represent
your criminal skill set. If you’re a criminal with a rough past, take the Enforcer lens (4.2.4). If
you stole for a living, take the Thief lens (4.2.9). If you were a con-man, take Acting or Gambling
and Charisma. In general, increase IQ.

4.2.3 Doctor
[30] Points
Attributes: IQ +1 [20]
Skills: Diagnosis (IQ/H) [4]; First Aid (IQ/E) [2]; Physician (IQ/H) [4];
Equipment: A first aid kit is essential for providing first aid. Serious treatment of sick patients
will require medical facilities, such as a clinic for humans or animals.
Notes: Doctors keep people alive, and might be able to stymie (or even cure) the zombie virus.
When a patient under your care rolls HT for natural recovery or to recover from disease or poison,
Physician may act as a complementary skill to the patient’s roll. Unless the GM says otherwise,
this does not work on the zombie virus by default. Enhance this lens by investing in IQ and
IQ-based skills.

4.2.4 Enforcer
[25] Points
Attributes: ST +1 [10].
Secondary Characteristics: Will +1 [5].
Skills: Either Brawling (DX/E) [4] or Melee Weapon (DX/Varies) [4], then take the other at [2];
Intimidation (Will/A) [4].
Equipment: Enforcers often have a melee weapon and a mean look.
Notes: Enforcers are people who bust heads and keep others in line. They’re strong and difficult
to influence. Bouncers and goons both fit the archetype nicely. Enhance this lens by taking a level
or two of Fearlessness and increased ST. Combine with Criminal Past (4.2.2) for goons.

11
4.2.5 Hunter
[16] Points
Secondary Characteristics: Perception +1 [5].
Skills: Camouflage (IQ/E) [2], Guns (Shotgun) (DX/E) [1], Observation (Per/A) [4]; Tracking
and Traps, both (IQ/A) [2].
Equipment: Hunters usually hunt with a shotgun, and may have hunting blinds and animal traps
(although bear traps aren’t common).
Notes: Hunters are good at ambushing and securing an area with traps, and great at being a
lookout. If you want to be more than just an "afternoon" hunter, combine with the Outdoorsman
lens (4.2.6).

4.2.6 Outdoorsman
[25] Points
Attributes: HT +1 [10].
Skills: First Aid (IQ/E) [2]; Hiking (HT/A) [2]; Navigation (Land) (IQ/A) [2]; Naturalist (IQ/H)
[2]; Scrounging (Per/E) [2]; Survival (IQ/A) [4]; Swimming (HT/E) [1].
Equipment: Camping equipment and first-aid kits are common.
Notes: This is not a hunter lens; it’s for anyone that loves the outdoors, who often camps off-site,
hikes rough trails, and studies nature. Naturalist may be used as a complementary skill in untamed
wilderness for Camouflage, Stealth, Tactics, Tracking, and Traps.

4.2.7 Police Officer

[25] Points
Skills: Area Knowledge (IQ/E) [1]; Choose either Brawling (DX/E) [2] or Karate (DX/H) [2];
Criminology (IQ/A) [2]; Driving (DX/A) [2]; Guns (Pistol) (DX/E) [1]; Guns (Shotgun) (DX/E)
[2]; Professional Skill (Police Officer) (IQ/A) [8]; Search (Per/A) [1]; Shortsword (DX/A) [2];
Wrestling (DX/A) [2].
Equipment: Police officers usually have a pistol with one full reload, handcuffs, and a baton
(treat as shortsword that does crushing damage; not an improvised weapon).
Notes: Community police often take Diplomacy, while police officers in worse areas have Intimi-
dation, but neither are strictly required. Police officers often have a higher Will score, or a level or
two in Fearlessness. Increased HT and ST are also appropriate. Detectives will want Interrogation,
Expert Skill (Forensics), higher Criminology, and increased IQ.

4.2.8 Survivor
[25] Points
Secondary Characteristics: Perception +1 [5]; Will +1 [5].
Advantages: Luck [15].
Notes: This is a template for anyone who wants to survive a zombie apocalypse. Survivors are
more perceptive and harder to spook than the average person, but it’s Luck that keeps them alive.
Luck may be replaced with Danger Sense, if the GM allows. This lens should be taken alongside
another.

4.2.9 Thief
[18] Points
Skills: Area Knowledge (IQ/E) [2]; Either Lockpicking (IQ/A) [4], Search (IQ/A) [4], and Stealth
(DX/A) [4], or Holdout (IQ/A) [4], Pickpocket (DX/H) [4], and Shadowing (IQ/A) [4]; Streetwise
(IQ/A) [4].
Equipment: Lockpicks are common, as is baggy clothing for hiding stolen goods.
Notes: You’re a thief. The skill choices decide what type of thief you are. If you have Lockpicking,
Search, and Stealth, you are a burglar. If you have Holdout, Pickpocket, and Shadowing, you
shoplift and pick pockets. Enhance this lens by taking Climbing and Jumping, increasing DX,
Move, and Per, and by combining it with the Criminal Past lens (4.2.2).

12
4.3 Pre-generated Characters
This section contains pre-generated characters that your players may use as PCs, or you may use
as an NPC in your games.

4.3.1 Detective Avery

Detective Avery, [50] Points

ST: 10 HP: 10 Speed: 5.00

DX: 10 Will: 11 Move: 5
IQ: 11 Per: 11 Weight: 125 lbs.
HT: 10 FP: 10 SM: 0

Dodge: 8 Parry: 8 DR: 0

Punch/Kick (11/9): 1d-3 crushing for a punch, or 1d-2 crushing for a kick.
Auto Pistol, 9mm (Older model) (12): 2d+2 pi. See full stats on Lite, p. 21.

Lens: Police Officer.

Traits: Fearlessness 1; Honesty; Sense of Duty (Friends and Companions); Truthfulness; Quirk,
Physical (Sensitive respiratory system).

Skills: Area Knowledge-12; Brawling-11; Criminology-12; Diplomacy-12; Driving-10; Expert Skill

(Forensics)-12; Guns (Pistol)-12; Guns (Shotgun)-11; Interrogation-12; Professional Skill (Police
Officer)-12; Search-10; Shortsword-10; Wrestling-10.

Equipment: Duty pistol and two magazines of ammunition. Dust mask for "contaminated" areas.

Notes: Detective Avery is smarter than the average person, good at her job, and difficult to
intimidate. As a strong believer in the rule of law and honesty, she detests lying and committing
crimes, even during a zombie apocalypse. She was a straight-edge police detective who was in
the middle of interrogating Thug Vincent when the zombie apocalypse broke out at her police
station. The two narrowly managed to escape the city with their lives, and now Avery won’t let
Vincent "out of her sight," lest her suspect escape. Good roleplay can come from her sticking to
her principles, especially around career criminal Vincent.

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4.3.2 Farmer John
Farmer John, [50] Points

ST: 11 HP: 11 Speed: 5.25

DX: 10 Will: 10 Move: 5
IQ: 10 Per: 12 Weight: 155 lbs.
HT: 11 FP: 11 SM: 0

Dodge: 8 Parry: 8 DR: 0

Punch/Kick (10/8): 1d-2 crushing for a punch, or 1d-1 crushing for a kick.
Double-Barreled Shotgun, 12G (11): 1d+1 for shells, or 2d+2(2) for slugs. See full stats on
Lite, p. 22, and Shotguns (2.1.5)

Lens: Hunter, Outdoorsman

Traits: Acrophobia (Heights); Sense of Duty (Family); Unluckiness; Quirk, Mental (Charitable).

Skills: Area Knowledge-10; Camouflage-12; Climbing-12; First Aid-11; Guns (Shotgun)-11; Hiking-
12; Observation-13; Professional Skill (Farmer)-12; Scrounging-12; Survival-13; Swimming-12;
Tracking-12; Traps-11; Wrestling-12.

Equipment: Double-Barreled Shotgun and ten shells of buckshot. First aid kit, which grants
+1 to First Aid rolls.

Notes: Farmer John is a fatherly man. He cares deeply about his family, and is welcoming
to most people as long as they aren’t outright hostile. He sleeps furthest from the window because
of his fear of heights that developed when he took a tumble while hiking as a youth and broke
his ankle, forcing him to crawl home. He’s also prone to bouts of misfortune, which may be the
reason why he’s traveling with Avery and Vincent. Due to his love for his family, he will want to
take them with him if they are around, or will want to go find them if they’re gone.

4.3.3 Thug Vincent

Thug Vincent, [50] Points

ST: 12 HP: 12 Speed: 5.00

DX: 10 Will: 11 Move: 5
IQ: 10 Per: 10 Weight: 175 lbs.
HT: 10 FP: 10 SM: 0

Dodge: 8 Parry: 10/9 DR: 0

Punch/Kick (12/10): 1d-1 crushing for a punch, or 1d crushing for a kick.

Nightstick (14): 1d+2 crushing. Treat as shortsword.

Lens: Criminal Past, Enforcer.

Traits: Fearlessness 1; Bad Temper; Impulsiveness; Quirk, Mental (Criminal tendencies).

Skills: Hobby Skill (Comics)-11; Brawling-12; Carousing-12; Holdout-11; Intimidation-13; Shortsword-

14; Stealth-10; Streetwise-11.

Equipment: Avery’s nightstick, stolen comic books and gum from a raided corner store.

Notes: Thug Vincent is just entering adulthood. He’s had a rough life since he was a kid,
and fell in with a gang because of the bad situation at home. He started out stealing comics and
candy from corner stores, and never stopped. He grew tall and strong, so he was the one the gang
called on when arms needed twisting. He’s brash and hot-headed, which causes him and Avery no
end of problems. He was being interrogated by Avery as a suspect in an armed convenience store
robbery when the zombie apocalypse happened.

14
5 Enemies
There are three general types of enemies in a zombie game: Zombies, other humans, and animals.
This section covers them and gives two statblocks for each.

5.1 Zombies
Here we are, the main event. You can’t have a zombie game without zombies, and you can’t have
a zombie with the rules in GURPS Lite. It’s missing three critical components of what makes
zombies zombies: Infection, Injury Tolerance, and hit locations. Infection is Infectious Attack,
which may be found on B140, and the rules for it on B50 (It uses an advantage’s rules). Injury
Tolerance may be found on B61-2, while hit locations may be found on B398-400, and crippling
rules on B420-1.

5.1.1 Infection
When a zombie bites you, you risk being infected. When you are bitten by a zombie and it does
injury, you must roll 3d vs. the HP injury received, at most once per day (the GM can make this
roll in secret). If you roll under that amount, you are infected, and will turn into a zombie at the
GM’s discretion, or in 2d days. This means that zombies are going to have a hard time infecting
people even with All-Out Attack (Strong). If the GM wants deadlier zombies, they may increase
the ST of the zombies, roll against double injury received, or require players to make HT rolls at
a penalty equal to the injury received to avoid contracting the zombie flu. Use one of the above.

5.1.2 Injury Tolerance

Zombies have an advantage called Injury Tolerance (Unliving). It makes them difficult to kill
without a headshot. Injury tolerance replaces wounding modifiers for impaling and piercing attacks.
Round down in all cases, minimum 1 injury.
• Impaling and huge piercing (pi++) becomes x1
• Large piercing (pi+) becomes x0.5

• Piercing becomes (pi) x0.3

• Small piercing (pi-) becomes x0.2

5.1.3 Headshots
The classic zombie weak point is the head. Therefore, we need to know how to target the head,
and what happens when we do. We also want to be able to dismember zombies, because that is
fun. These rules may apply only to zombies if you wish, or to everyone.

In case you’re wondering, attacks default to the torso. The torso has a hit location penalty of 0.

To get a headshot, you attack the Skull. You take a -7 penalty on your attack roll when target-
ing the Skull. The Skull has DR 2. All wounding modifiers are replaced with x4; i.e., if you used
an axe, it would lose the x1.5 wounding modifier for cutting and gain x4 for the Skull. In addition
to the wounding modifier, whenever you are hit in the Skull, you must make an immediate HT roll
to avoid knockdown and stunning. This roll is at -10 if you suffered a major wound. The skull hit
location is unaffected by Injury Tolerance (Unliving).

If you want players to have an easier time popping zombie skulls, and if it doesn’t matter where
on the head you hit as long as it’s a good strike, replace the Skull hit location above with the Head
hit location. Use the Skull hit location rules with changes as follows: The penalty on your attack
roll is reduced to -5, there is no innate DR, the wounding modifier remains x4 for zombies only
(Humans still require Skull hits (above) for the x4 wounding modifier), and knockdown and stun-
ning rolls for major wounds are only at -5.

15
 The arms and legs are also handy hit locations to have in a zombie apocalypse. Either may
be targeted at -2. Reduce the wounding modifier of imp, pi++, and pi+ to x1; Injury Tolerance
(Unliving) overrides this. They are crippled if they receive over HP/2 damage. If your arm is
crippled, you drop whatever you are holding in it and cannot hold anything with it until you are
at full HP. If your leg is crippled, you immediately fall down and may only sit, lie down, or crawl
until you are at full HP. If you do twice what is required to cripple, the limb is destroyed or severed.

Note that armor in GURPS Lite is assumed to cover all locations equally. If you want piecemeal
armor, you may find it on B282-6.

5.1.4 Horde Combat

Zombie hordes are in every zombie movie. One could say they’re not zombies if they aren’t in a
horde. This section deals with horde combat, which uses rules from GURPS Zombies, p. 115 or
GURPS After the End 2: The New World, p. 29. Horde combat only happens when the zombies
outnumber the PCs by at least 2:1. In the event that zombies stop outnumbering PCs, go back to
standard combat after the PCs finish their turns. Horde combat works just like standard combat,
except for a few key differences.

The first difference is that the PCs always act first, even if they have a lower Basic Speed
than the horde, because hordes get in their own way. The PCs act in turn sequence order, or, if
cooperating, in an order of their choosing. As zombies always act last, decide ahead of time if they
are using All-Out Attack. If they are, the horde does not defend from the PC’s attacks. If Fast
Zombies ambush the PCs, start with the zombies’ turn.

The second key difference is that, instead of tracking HP damage, you remove one zombie for
every full multiple of their major wound threshold (HP 6 for Slow, HP 8 for Fast), e.g. one Slow
Zombie is removed at 6+ HP of injury, two at 12+, three at 18+, etc.

The third difference how zombie grappling works. When zombies grapple a PC, the zombies
use their horde ST and horde DX instead of their normal ST and DX. In horde combat, it is always
two zombies that grapple a PC. If a PC attacks while grappled, they may not remove more than
two zombies from the horde, no matter how much damage they dealt.

5.1.5 Example of Hordes in Play

Now that we understand how Horde Combat works, let’s look at an example of play that uses it.

While Detective Avery (4.3.1) and Thug Vincent (4.3.3) were walking down a backwoods dirt
road as the sun set, they saw Farmer John’s home, with the windows lit. Vincent ran straight for the
home, knowing that where there’s light, there’s people and supplies. Avery followed behind, yelling
for him to not run off on his own. There, they met Farmer John. Detective Avery approached
diplomatically, and convinced John that the two meant no harm, even though Vincent was a
criminal in her custody. Mechanically, Avery rolled Diplomacy and succeeded, although the PC
gets the final say on how their character acts. John decided to allow them to have dinner with his
family, and after getting to know them over the meal, even decided to let them spend the night in
the living room at the front of the house.
Unfortunately, Avery and Vincent had collected a contingent of zombies as they traveled through
the countryside, which now weighed in at ten bodies. The horde followed the pair’s scent, which
remained strong from the litter Vincent left behind. The horde advanced on Farmer John’s house
in the dead of night, clumped on the porch, and began banging on his home’s door. By the time the
house had woken up from the noise, the door was already coming off its hinges. Farmer John was
the first up, rousing his wife to get the kids and take refuge in the barn as he hurried downstairs
to get Avery and Vincent ready, double-barreled shotgun and ammo pouch in hand. Avery leapt
up off the couch, her hand going for her gun, and Vincent reaching for the nightstick Avery loaned
him for self-defense. Farmer John’s wife was still upstairs getting the kids as the zombies broke
down the door and swarming into the living room, making this a fight or die situation. This is the
start of combat time.

16
 As stated earlier, there are ten Slow Zombies and only three PCs, meaning that the zombies
outnumber the PCs far over 2:1. This means that we will be using Horde Combat rules. The PCs
act first. Vincent decides to wait until after John and Avery make their attacks, because charging
into a horde is a bad idea. The zombies are within Close range, just two yards away at the entrance
of the room, so there are no range penalties, and shells act as slugs with poor penetration. John
goes first, hoping that his shotgun will take out a few zombies. These are Slow Zombies; they will
always make an All-Out Attack, so we won’t roll any active defenses for them. John just needs to
succeed on his attack roll to blast them.
He unloads both barrels at the horde, which gives him a +4 bonus to hit. As he has Guns
(Shotgun)-11, that means he has an effective skill level of 15, and can hit a maximum of two
times, as he is firing two rounds. He rolls, and gets a 13, which means he scores two hits exactly.
John rolls his damage twice (2d+2 pi++), and rolls a 9 and a 7. However, shotshells at close range
double DR. Slow Zombies have DR 1, which is doubled to DR 2. Therefore, John does 7 and 5
penetrating. Zombies change the wounding modifier of pi++ to x1, so he does 7 and 5 injury. As
the major wound threshold for Slow Zombies is 6, this means that only one zombie falls. John’s
shotgun is now empty, and he needs to reload, which will take three turns per shell. He mutters a
prayer under his breath.
The horde now has 9 zombies. We don’t check if the PCs are still outnumbered until every
character has acted, though, so we continue to Avery.
Avery is up next. She raises her pistol and fires three rounds into the horde. Firing three
rounds grants +1 to hit, and her Guns (Pistol) skill is 12, so she has an effective skill of 13. She
gets extremely lucky and rolls a 3. The first round fired counts as a critical hit, while the others
are automatic hits, but do normal damage, so only her first round does its maximum damage of
14. She rolls damage for her other two hits, scoring 6 and 11. The Zombies’ DR 1 make this 13,
5, and 10. The first bullet does just over two full multiples of the Slow Zombies’ major wound
threshold of 6 (exactly two full multiples would be 12), so her first bullet manages to brain two
zombies lined up, and her last downs one more.
The horde now has six zombies. We don’t check if the PCs are still outnumbered until every
character has acted, though, so we continue to Vincent.
The zombie horde is two yards away. Vincent wants to step closer and attack, as short weapons
such as knives and nightsticks are generally only usable within a yard. He takes a Step, and makes
a Telegraphic All-Out Attack (Determined) aimed at the Skull, trying to bring down as many
zombies as he can. He gets +4 for Telegraphic and +4 for All-Out Attack (Determined), and takes
a -7 for targeting the Skull, which works out to +1 to hit. He has Shortsword-14, so his effective skill
is Shortsword-15. He rolls to hit and gets a 15, which is a success. He rolls damage (1d+2 cr), and
gets 7. Slow Zombies have DR 1, and the Skull hit location has an additional DR 2, so he subtracts
3 from 7. That’s 4 penetrating, which is multiplied by 4 because of the Skull hit location, resulting
in 16 injury. That’s over two full multiples of the horde’s major wound threshold, so Vincent leaps
in and smashes open two zombies’ heads; both go down.
The horde now has four zombies. As every PC has acted, we now check to see if the PCs are
still outnumbered by 2:1. As they are not, we now enter normal combat time. John spies his wife
and kids trying to sneak down the stairs towards the back door. If the cream of the Slow Zombie
crop notice them...

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5.1.6 Zombie Statblocks
These zombie statblocks are taken from GURPS After the End 2: The New World, pp. 28-9. If
you want even more zombies, buy GURPS Zombies. Note that it will refer to Basic Set a lot for
traits.

Slow Zombie

ST: 10* HP: 10 Speed: 4.50

DX: 8 Will: 15 Move: 4
IQ: 3 Per: 8 Weight: 150 lbs.
HT: 10 FP: N/A SM: 0

Dodge: N/A Parry: N/A DR: 1

*Shove multiples: 1 yard at 8, 2 at 16, 3 at 24.

Bite or Claw (12): 1d-3 crushing (x1 wounding modifier). Made as an All-Out Attack (Deter-
mined). Bites and claws do the same damage as a punch.
Grapple (12): Made as an All-Out Attack (Determined). In a horde, effective grappling ST is
12 and effective grappling DX is 9. See 5.1.4 Horde Combat.

Traits: High Pain Threshold, Infectious Attack, Injury Tolerance (Unliving).

Skills: Slow zombies have no skills.

Equipment: Zombies normally don’t have equipment. A zombie soldier may be wearing a Tactical
Vest, while a zombie melee raider might be wearing "cloth" armor. This stacks with the zombie’s
innate DR 1.

Notes: These are classic shamblers. They always All-Out Attack and are dumber than a dog.
They only grapple and bite, with no caution for their own safety. If their victim continues to
defend while grappled, the zombie will attempt a takedown. See 3.2.2 for takedown rules. They
may make it as an All-Out Attack (Strong), which grants +2 to ST.

Fast Zombie

ST: 15* HP: 15 Speed: 6.00

DX: 10 Will: 15 Move: 6
IQ: 6 Per: 11 Weight: 150 lbs.
HT: 12 FP: N/A SM: 0

Dodge: 10 Parry: 10 DR: 1

*Shove multiples: 1 yard at 13, 2 at 26, 3 at 39.

Bite or Claw (12): 1d+1 crushing. Bites and claws do the same damage as a punch.
Grapple (10*): In a horde, effective grappling ST is 18 and effective grappling DX is 12. See
5.1.4 Horde Combat.
Weapon (9*): Fast Zombies have sw 2d+1/thr 1d+1. Made as a Telegraphic Attack: +2 to defend
against it. Improvised weapons apply skill penalties as normal.
*Often made as an All-Out Attack (Determined) for an extra +4 to hit.

Traits: Combat Reflexes, High Pain Threshold, Infectious Attack, Injury Tolerance (Unliving).

Skills: Brawling-12; Stealth-11.

Equipment: See Slow Zombie, but include a melee weapon from Lite, pp. 20-21.

Notes: Fast zombies are smarter than dogs, and much scarier. They can outrun and overpower
the average human, and are even capable of using weapons. They often go for their own meal,
rather than ganging up on a single survivor. Otherwise, see Slow Zombie.

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5.2 Humans
Zombies are scary in groups, but humans are terrifying alone. A human is a highly intelligent ani-
mal, capable of complex tactics and deception, and above all, has his and his kin’s self-preservation
in mind. Man’s worst enemy is his fellow man.

5.2.1 Human Statblocks

There are two general types of humans that you run across: The ones just trying to get by, and
the ones that prey on others. The former are called "civilians," which are too varied for this small
add-on to cover. The latter, "raiders," however, can fall into two general kinds: Ranged attackers
and melee ones. I will give statblocks for both below.
Melee Raider

ST: 11 HP: 11 Speed: 5.00

DX: 10 Will: 10 Move: 5
IQ: 10 Per: 10 Weight: 175 lbs.
HT: 10 FP: 10 SM: 0

Dodge: 8 Parry: 8 DR: 1

Punch/Kick (11/9): 1d-2 crushing for a punch, or 1d-1 crushing for a kick.
Melee Weapon (12): Melee raiders have sw 1d+1/thr 1d-1. Choose an appropriate weapon from
Lite, pp. 20-21.
Pistol (8): Choose a pistol from Lite, p. 21.

Traits: Experienced raiders might have Combat Reflexes (+1 to defenses) or High Pain Threshold.
Common disadvantages are Bad Temper, Bloodlust, and Overconfidence.

Skills: Brawling-11; Melee Weapon-12; Stealth-10

Equipment: One melee weapon and one pistol with a single reload from Lite, pp. 20-21, "cloth"
armor (leather jackets, football equipment, etc.) from Lite, p. 18, 12 lbs.

Notes: Raiders like to attack in packs and ambush their prey. Remember to account for en-
cumbrance, as melee raiders may be weighed down by their clunky armor and heavy weapons.

Ranged Raider

ST: 10 HP: 10 Speed: 5.00

DX: 10 Will: 10 Move: 5
IQ: 10 Per: 11 Weight: 130 lbs.
HT: 10 FP: 10 SM: 0

Dodge: 8 Parry: 8 DR: 0

Punch/Kick (10/8): 1d-3 crushing for a punch, or 1d-2 crushing for a kick.
Firearm (12): Often a pistol or shotgun. Choose a firearm from Lite, pp. 21-22.

Traits: See Melee Raider.

Skills: Camouflage-11; Guns (Specialty)-12; Stealth-9

Equipment: One firearm and 1d full reloads. Ranged raiders prefer to attack at a distance
from behind cover, and value surprise and mobility over armor.

Notes: Ranged raiders ambush. Roll a Quick Contest of the raider’s Camouflage vs. the PC’s
Vision or Observation for ambushes, range and darkness penalties apply. If the raiders win, the
PCs are stunned when they are attacked. If the raiders lose, the PCs spot the ambush. A tie could
mean both parties are stunned within Close range as they stumbled upon each other.

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5.3 Animals
The following section covers a couple animals that are common in zombie media. These may be
companions of the PCs, hostile encounters, or zombified. If they are zombified, they have +3 ST,
+1 DR, the traits of a Fast Zombie, and behave as Fast Zombies do. Both animals are from B456-7.

5.3.1 Dog
Dog

ST: 9 HP: 9 Speed: 5.75

DX: 11 Will: 10 Move: 10
IQ: 4 Per: 12 Weight: 90 lbs.
HT: 12 FP: 8 SM: 0

Dodge: 8 Parry: N/A DR: 0

Bite (13): 1d-2 cutting. Counts as two-handed grapple. May worry on subsequent turns while
grappling, doing automatic bite damage with no roll required. From GURPS Martial Arts, p. 115.

Traits: Acute Smell 4; Quirk, Mental (Friendly).

Skills: Brawling-13; Tracking-13, can be better depending on dog.

Notes: These are stats for a large guard dog, such as a German Shepherd. They are very scary
to fight, due to their superior Move scores, ability to worry (shaking their head while biting) for
free damage, and high HT. Use against players if they need to be taught a lesson.

5.3.2 Lion
Lion

ST: 16 HP: 16 Speed: 6.00

DX: 13 Will: 11 Move: 10
IQ: 4 Per: 12 Weight: 500 lbs.
HT: 11 FP: 8 SM: +1

Dodge: 9 Parry: N/A DR: 1

Bite or Claw (15): 1d+1 cutting for a bite, or 1d+2 cutting for claws. See Dog for biting rules.

Traits: Night Vision 5; Quirk, Mental (Lazy).

Skills: Brawling-15.

Notes: Lions are much stronger than dogs, but also lazy if they aren’t hungry. Zombified ones are
truly terrifying. Remember that SM+1 means humans get +1 to attack them, as they are larger.

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6 Gamemaster’s Guide
If you are completely new to GMing, this guide isn’t going to be enough for you, because a guide
for those new to GMing would easily be as long as this add-on. The best advice I can give to
completely new GMs is to just do it. Accept that you’ll mess up, because everyone does when they
first start out. Persevere. You and your players will have fun as long as you try.

That said, the key things I want you to understand are Roll and Shout! (6.2), Task Difficulty
Modifiers (6.3), and that the game should be fun. I also suggest reading the Game Mastering
chapter of Basic Set when you get the chance; it’s excellent. If you want a complete understanding
of GURPS GMing, buy How to Be a GURPS GM.

6.1 Optional Combat Rules

These rules add more complexity than strictly necessary for a bog standard zombie game, but
some will warrant them. They are not available by default. In case you need them, here they are.

6.1.1 Feint, B365

Feint is faking out your opponent. Roll a Quick Contest of Melee Weapon skills (Unarmed counts
for this purpose). Your target may roll against DX, if better. If you fail your roll, the Feint fails.
If you succeed, but your foe succeeds by as much as or more than you, the Feint fails. If you make
your roll, and your foe fails, subtract your margin of success from his active defenses for your next
attack only. If you both succeed, but you succeed by more, subtract his MoS from your MoS; that
is his active defense penalty for your next melee attack only. If you don’t want to remember the
penalty, or want to prevent metagaming, use the following rule: A Feint is declared, but not rolled
until right before the attack it would affect.

A common tactic is to combine Feint with All-Out Attack (Double), trading your first attack
for a Feint. Feint is most useful against high defense, low skill targets, and when you need to lower
an enemy’s defenses and strike a weak spot, e.g. Headshots (5.1.3).

6.1.2 Multiple Parries, B376

Simplified from Basic Set. You may parry multiple times, each one past the first taking a cumulative
-4 penalty, e.g. if you parried three times in a single turn, you would parry once at full, once more
at -4, and then the last time at -8.

6.1.3 Shoves, B378

Shove attacks allow you to make distance between yourself and your attacker. The shove never
deals injury or benefits from hit locations. Roll against DX to hit, target defends as normal. If
you hit, roll thrust/crushing, at +1 if using an object to help, such as a shotgun. Double damage,
ignore DR. For every full multiple of target’s ST-2 you do in damage, they are knocked back one
yard, and must roll against DX or Acrobatics to avoid falling down at a cumulative -1 penalty past
the first yard, Perfect Balance applies. You may use normal attack options, e.g. All-Out Attack.

For example, if you rolled 9 damage while shoving an ST 10 Slow Zombie, you would double
that damage, making it 18, and it would knock them back two yards, as 18 is over two full multiples
of 8. You do no injury, and now the zombie rolls DX-1 to avoid falling down, as he was knocked
back two yards.

6.1.4 Wait, B366

Waiting means you do nothing until an event you specify occurs before your next turn, e.g. "The
first zombie to come near me," "Whoever walks through that door," "Slit my hostage’s throat if
anybody draws a weapon." If the specific event occurs, you may make an Attack, Feint, All-Out
Attack (Specified ahead of time), or Ready maneuver, or take your specified action. This interrupts
the turn of whoever you are reacting to if you are reacting to someone. If you have a gun, you
can watch a small area, such as a door or hallway.

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6.2 Roll and Shout! B497
When in doubt, roll and shout! This GM philosophy essentially boils down to "keep the game
going, even if you’re stumped/don’t know what you’re doing." Don’t pause the game to crack open
Lite or this add-on if it’s going to take you longer than 15-30 seconds.

If you don’t know what skill a player should roll, ask them what they think. If neither of you
know, roll an attribute. If you remember a rule you forgot in the middle of play, make a note and
ignore it until after the game. If a player contests a rule and it’s slowing down the game, come
back to it when the session ends. Don’t be afraid to put your foot down.

Use your best judgement for things that aren’t covered in either Lite or this add-on. Learn to
improvise based on what you already know. Don’t worry about how accurate it is to real life or the
rules; your intuition should be good enough for off-the-cuff rulings. For example, if someone wants
to throw someone else onto a gravestone, treat it as a Wrestling takedown (they’re throwing the
person) that does thrust+1 crushing damage (gravestones hurt more than brass knuckles). That’s
how you GM on the fly in GURPS. Use what you already have.

6.3 Task Difficulty Modifiers, B345

It would be an understatement to say that GURPS loves modifiers. There are a lot of them, and
it’s difficult to know when to apply a bonus or a penalty to a roll. Here are the golden rules:
• If you don’t know, a straight roll with no modifiers is fine.
• If giving a bonus would be more fun, give a bonus. If giving a penalty would be more fun,
give a penalty.

Something to keep in mind is that a skill level of 12 is professional, a skill level of 16 is expert,
and a skill level of 20+ is a once-in-a-generation master. 25+ is reserved for superheroes. With that
said, here are some general guidelines for modifiers:

Your skill level represents your ability under adventuring, not normal, conditions. In general,
you would have at least a +8 while at work. This is because you’re doing easy, mundane, or routine
tasks (+4) in a safe environment (+1 to +3) and have quality or especially appropriate equipment
(+1 to +2). Even MSF would be rolling against a +4 in the third world, as they are doing easy,
mundane, and/or routine tasks; most of their work is of the easily preventable and treatable sort.
Truly trivial tasks, such as spotting something in plain sight, are at a +10 bonus. The following
guidelines apply to all skills except combat ones. Use combat options for those!
• Easy/Mundane/Routine tasks should be at +4. Examples include an average small-town
commute, climbing a tree with low branches, perform basic operations with a computer like
e-mail, recalling common knowledge for your area of study, making minor repairs, basic math,
noticing someone is ill, telling a simple lie, and so on. (Adapted from Pyramid 65 - Alternate
GURPS III - Everyman Tasks)
• Favorable tasks should be at +2. These are somewhat risky tasks that most people would
undertake without hesitation, such as commuting to work in a teeming metropolis for Driving,
overclocking your computer, or being tested on your area of study.
• Average tasks should be at +0. An example would be a Driving roll in a car chase, program-
ming a specialized OS from scratch, spotting a purposefully hidden door in a raider’s base,
or recalling obscure/rarely used information for your area of study.
• Unfavorable tasks should be at -2. These are stressful tasks that challenge professionals. An
example would be a Driving roll in a high-speed car chase on a busy freeway, climbing a rope,
or concealing a pistol on your person under tight clothing.
• Hard tasks should be at -4. This is the skill level where experts look for alternatives. An
example would be a Driving roll in a high-speed car chase while leaning out the window to
shoot, hacking into the NSA’s secure databases, or treating a frostbitten patient out in a
snowstorm.

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6.4 Zombie Game Advice
The following are general guidelines for running zombie games.
1. Fun is the number one priority.
2. Make sure everyone is on the same page. If they’re expecting Resident Evil 3 and you’re
giving them Warm Bodies, the game will fail. Point totals help inform this, but double-check.
3. The three goals are escape, curing zombies, and finding people. Decide your game’s goal,
write it down, and move towards it every session. Goals can change.
4. Vary encounters. Have them encounter humans and animals as well. Pit them against
environmental hazards. Have small encounters ready for when the game slows down.
5. Zombie games star resource management. Make them work for their victories. Always tax,
even if only a little, for every victory the characters earn.
6. Fright Checks are your friend. Make good use of them. Penalize them for zombified people
the characters knew, heavily for loved ones. Terrified screams will attract more zombies!
7. End your game with a dramatic last stand, making it to a safe haven, etc. before you and
your players get burned out. Ending too soon is far better than too late, but don’t rush it.
You’ll be able to tell when the game stops being fun. Showing that the end’s in sight can
give your players the burst of energy needed for a strong finish.

6.5 Non-Zombie Games

This add-on can be used for non-zombie games. Simply remove zombies and have society relatively
whole. Raiders become thugs; animals are universal. The paragraph below specifies which rules to
throw away and which to keep.

If you want to run a modern day game that doesn’t have zombies in it, you can and should
ignore Zombies (5.1), Grappling (3.2), Melee (3.3), and Optional Combat Rules (6.1), except Re-
treat, Step (both 3.3.1), and Wait (6.1.4). Melee is much less important in modern campaigns
when ammunition is easily bought, and is an unnecessary complication of combat. However, you
need Retreats and Steps. Both increase the survivability for characters by giving them mobility
and better defenses against firearms. Wait is an extremely common maneuver in modern games,
so it should be used.

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7 Afterword
I hope this guide helps you run/play your first GURPS game. If this happens even once, the
work I’ve put into this add-on will be worth it. If it gets someone into GURPS, I’ll be beyond
overjoyed.

If you want to leave feedback about this guide, hit up GURPS threads and I might see it, I
might not. I’ll warn you ahead of time that I know the art’s low quality. I won’t be making it
higher quality, either; I want to keep the size down, and you can always follow the links if you
want the original versions.

Happy gaming!

- Anonymous

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