allgeektout

Shambles is a new RPG from Duane/aterribleidea that takes the normal zombie story and turns it on its head. Instead of playing a human that’s fighting off the invasion, you play one of the recently converted. It’s available at DriveThruRPG for $9.99 (affiliate link).

Shambles is one of the more fun RPGs I’ve read. Duane never seems to take his idea completely seriously, which is definitely for its benefit. That isn’t to say you can’t play the game seriously – one of the suggested modes of play is “I Want My Life Back”, which, as the name suggests, is all about people who aren’t happy as one of the undead. But Shambles doesn’t just feel like a textbook, which makes it more entertaining to read.

The mechanics are very simple. Each character is assigned six stats – LURCH, FLAIL, CLUTCH, BRAWN, CHUCK, SENSE – and whenever you want to complete a task associated with a stat, you just roll a number of d6s equal to your rank. You can adjust the rolls (yours or other people’s) with LAFF points (short for Light, Adaptable, Fast, and Flexible), which are earned by, as you might expect, making the GM laugh.

Zombies have a bit of a special life. For one, they have to avoid decay, because they lose one hp per day. If they don’t eat brains, then they’re going to fall apart into pieces. Also, they have plenty of organizations out in the world, both working for them, and against them. I was surprised by the organizations, but they were also one of my favorite parts of the book.

I’m sure that there are weaknesses to Shambles that my untrained eye can’t see, but as I’m writing this, I can’t think of any that I noticed. It might not be the mood you’re looking for, but beyond the writing it’s fine for most any mood. It’s a fine first effort from aterribleidea, and I can’t wait to see what comes next.

Hits: Entertaining to read, quick and easy mechanics, cool organizations.
Misses: None that I can think of.

One Twit’s Opinion:

Shambles is a strong first effort from @aterribleidea – it’s entertaining, funny, and cheap, considering.

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