Watch Well Games #56
Return of the Living Dead Official TTRPG, a few updates, and Free RPG Day.
Welcome to our RPG community newsletter!
Hi. I’m K.J.
Today, Warren Davidson (aka Wazza) returns as a guest writer with a Kickstarter for Evil Genius Games’ Return of the Living Dead Official TTRPG. Braaaiiiiiiins!!! 🧠
But first, I offer up a few brief updates.
What’s Up, K.J.?
Next Saturday, June 21st, is Free RPG Day. A new game of mine will be available in 9th Level Games’ Level 1 Anthology. Look for the entry called “Saving Ruacinth.” Being accepted was truly humbling. I hope you enjoy the game.
Not all FLGSs are able to afford the Free RPG Day packages, so a lot of folks miss out on the fun. Like last year, I’ll be offering up some free content for you, dear reader. Be on the lookout for a special email from me next weekend!
For the last several weeks, I’ve been building out a small team of talented, indie tabletop RPG creators for an endeavor I call the Watch Well Games creators’ coalition. We’re working diligently to release our first-ever team project. You’ll start to see updates for this publication mainly on Bluesky, but I’ll also share some of the fun bits over here as well.
This is just the beginning as we work towards fulfilling the vision and mission I set out for Watch Well Games a year and a half ago:
Vision
Sharing stories. Creating community.
Mission
Producing bespoke, timeless content for enthusiastic fans.
You can learn more about me, some of the coalition members, and a bit of what we aim to offer through this newsletter here.
Return of the Living Dead: The Official TTRPG
by Warren Davidson (aka Wazza)
The Return of the Living Dead Cinematic Sourcebook for the Everyday Heroes tabletop RPG is presented in a similar vein to Evil Genius Games other cinematic sourcebooks such as: Escape from New York, Highlander and Rambo. The final product will be a 126-page softcover book featuring one new Origin, three new Classes, a host of zombie stat blocks, and adventures set in different timelines within the world. This review is for the draft rules and adventure which Evil Genius Games Inc. were kind enough to send me. If your interest is piqued then why not check out their Kickstarter, though be quick as it ends on 24th June:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/evilgeniusgames/return-of-the-living-dead-official-ttrp
You’ll need a copy of the Everyday Heroes tabletop RPG to fully utilise the content and features in this sourcebook, which is based on the D20 Modern rules by WOTC and updated for the 5th edition. There’s a free QuickStart guide and adventure available for download which will get you up and running quickly and give you a good taste of the system. The Kickstarter includes a number of additional goodies including: exclusive dice sets, pins, plushies and VTT support across multiple platforms.
We start with an informative introduction into an apocalyptic world based on George A. Romero’s seminal 1968 zombie film, Night of the Living Dead and a timeline starting in 1969 with the first zombie outbreak caused by the deadly biological weapon Trioxin in 1969. Jump forward to 1985 and we have the events of the Return of the Living dead movie and the games default setting. The timeline continues until 2006 should you want to set your campaign in the 21st Century. There is enough background information here to instill some historical events into your game for added verisimilitude.
We continue with various new player character options to enhance and flavour the Everyday Heroes system inline with the setting. Fancy playing a Zombie? Then you’re covered. Six new backgrounds include the Military Brat and the appropriately named Worm Food for the aspiring Zombies amongst you. Each one modifies your ability scores and skills, provides some iconic equipment and special abilities like the Zombie’s stinking corpse which is sure to send their social life into a nosedive!
There are six new professions, with my favourite being the graverobber, certainly a case of role reversal with the living preying on the undead! Two new classes are presented next: the Rageful Dead in the form of an angry undead pain-fueled Hulk and the Postmortem Technician with access to technology necessary to clean up Trioxin mess. Both classes are detailed through nine experience levels with corresponding increases to their talents. The Rageful Dead is a nigh-unstoppable killing machine with their embedded spikes, blades, nails and razor-sharp glass. But why stop there? Add in an unnerving scream, skull busting bite and the ability to ignore pain and you have the full, nightmarish package. Postmortem Technicians will appeal to those of us who enjoy playing mad scientists and chemists. Like pets? Then have a handy zombie companion to do your heavy lifting and act as your own personal meat shield. And why not reward their undying loyalty by installing upgrades to make them even more formidable. Furthermore you’ll be an expert chemist and Trioxin handler. Both classes are wonderfully ghoulish and provocative and will certainly be fun to play. To round things out there’s some new feats, and a good selection of specialized equipment to suit all your zombie dispatchment needs. You can even drive around in a hearse!
Next are rules covering the infamous biological weapon Trioxin and its horrifying effects on corpses and how these zombies differ from your traditional garden, worm-ridden, variety. These guys are just plain nasty and perfect for GMs looking to shock jaded players who are expecting a run of the mill encounter. We have a good selection of inventive zombie traps but don’t worry they won’t feel a thing!
We finish with a comprehensive zombie bestiary covering every conceivable variety a fevered GMs brain can imagine. There’s enough here to make every undead encounter exciting and unique. We’re presented with the basic Trixon model and work our way up from there, including exoskeletons, vocal mega-mouths monstrosities, the disgusting tarman and the cuddly Zombaby. Ahh!
There is a free adventure which serves as a great introduction to the Return of the Living Dead world and, without providing any spoilers, should keep your group entertained for several sessions including a selection of pre-generated characters. It’s a wild roller-coaster of an adventure packed with horror, chases and combat.
So in conclusion with the free Everyday Heroes QuickStart guide and adventure you can decide for yourself if you want to use the rules and even if you don’t this is an excellent zombie apocalypse sourcebook you can use with just about any tabletop RPG system. If this is a foretaste of what’s to come then we’re in for a tasty treat, just like the zombies!
Botch Dice Kickstarter Update:
🚨UPDATE: The Botch dice Kickstarter will begin July 1st. 🚨
If you missed the last newsletter, you can check it out here. You can also see my Botch Dice review on YT.
Disclaimer: If you use my affiliate link here to order your own Botch dice when the campaign goes live next month, it (A) costs you nothing and (B) helps me know reviews like this are worth the time and energy it takes to make them. Save the link, share the link. Thank you!
That’s a wrap! And remember:
The first depiction of brain-craving zombies appears in Dan O’Bannon’s film Return of the Living Dead, which was released in 1985.
See you over on Bluesky!
Disclosure: Newsletters may contain affiliate links at no cost to you or the creators.
Thanks for reading Watch Well Games. Newsletters drop every 2nd and 4th Friday.
 | A guest post by
|
Looking forward to the coalition project. Great work and it means you are going places KJ :)