Tabletop Review - Zombie Dice

Zombie Dice is exactly what it sounds like, a dice game with zombies. The banner above says it all, "Eat brains, don't get shotgunned."

It is a quick game, which can be played with as few as two people, with no real hard limit on the maximum. The object is to roll dice.

These dice, specifically. Each have a brain, a shotgun blast, or footprints. Green 

have more brains than blasts, red are the opposite and yellow are in between.

Each round, players take turns reaching inside the dice tube, and pulling out three dice at random. They roll, and check the results. Keep brain dice for score, keep shotgun blast dice (the hits and you're out), and reroll footprints. Before each roll, draw enough dice so that you're always rolling three.

The round continues until the player stops or when they've gotten three shotgun blasts. If the greed was real, and they got blasted, the player receives no points. Otherwise count up your brains and pass to the next person.

The game continues until one player has 15 brains, which begins the final round. All other players have one last chance to match or surpass the brain score without getting shotgunned.

With the set up out of the way...

When I said Zombie Dice was a quick game, I mean it is quick. The games usually last between five and 15 minutes, depending on the number of players.

It is an "in-between" game, which is best enjoyed either between sessions of longer games like Risk, or when you've got a few minutes to spare before going somewhere.

Due to it's ease and quick, competitive fun, Zombie Dice gets a Board of Dice rating of 3/5: I shot the law and the la-oh my god he's eating my brains!

If you want to see Zombie Dice in action, be sure to check out Geek & Sundry's TableTop episode:

More than meets the eye

What better joy than finding a treasure chest behind a locked door in a deep, dark dungeon. Your party moves in close, ready to gorge themselves on delicious loot only to be attacked by a ravenous mess of teeth and tentacles.

The mimic, a monster that assumes the shape of something desirable, like a treasure chest, in order to ambush its prey and score its next meal.

Mimics are great way to spice up a tabletop RPG that has spent the first few levels with battles against bandits and goblins, and needs to mix it up a little.

Like the Owlbear, mimics are an old staple of Dungeons & Dragons, as well as any games based around the same system.

In combat, the base form mimic isn't the toughest foe to fight. Generally meant for level 2 or 3 parties, the mimic doesn't hit the hardest or soak up a lot of damage before falling. It does, however, comes with a few nasty surprises.

The base form mimic has a +20 to disguise, meaning it gets the result of a 20-sided die +20 to pretend to be something it is not. Most players at low levels would not be able to match this check with their perception or spot, so the mimic would go undetected. This stealth allows the mimic to make the first strike.

Of course, as with any monster in tabletop RPGs, there are stronger versions, both pre-written or adjusted on the fly to suit the needs of the dungeon master.

While the mimic is most commonly associated with disguising as treasure chests, they can choose any fitting form. A treasure chest may look out of place in an open air garden, but that leaves all the more room for a dread gazebo.

Superb Owl Sunday

The Owlbear, a staple creature of role-playing games dating back to the first edition of Dungeons and Dragons, is still regarded as one of the fiercest and popular creatures in the beastiary.

In both D&D and Pathfinder canon, the origins of the owlbear are unknown and contested. Some say it is the result of a wizard's twisted imagination. Others claim it is a prototype create of the Fey, the First World, and has somehow migrated to the Material Plane (the main world we play in).

Out of game, the owlbear is credited to Gary Gygax, co-creator of D&D.

The owlbear as a monster, lives and hunts primarily in forests and wooded areas. They can strike alone, or in groups of two to six. Or more, if the dungeon master/game master (DM/GM) requires more.

Since I play Pathfinder more than D&D, some things may not cross over fully. That said, in their current PF iteration, owlbears are given a base challenge rating of 4. So a party consisting of 3-4 members should start to run into one owlbear at around level 3. (Average Party Level +1 should equal CR for a challenging fight.)

Owlbears are fiercely territorial and will attack anything that comes into their area. They can be tamed, by skilled (or lucky) druids or rangers, but most of the time the owlbear will attack relentlessly until defeated.

The attack with razor sharp claws, gashing at their enemies. Or by grabbing an enemy and forcefully holding it in place while it bites and stabs with its beak.

Owlbears aren't particularly intelligent animals, at least at base level, but aren't mindless either. Should one be given intelligence through the spell Awaken, they'd be an even deadlier threat.

The beastiary lists variants of the owlbear, including the higher-level and deadlier Siege Owlbear, but with how customizable games like D&D and Pathfinder are, the GM can adapt the creature to suit the needs of the story.

 

For more information about Dungeons & Dragons or Pathfinder, check out the links.