The RPG industry has created a very extensive backlog of work in its short existence, the majority of which is totally or nearly forgotten by now. How many books are printed, sold off and never reprinted, only to drift from collection to collection until they fall apart or are thrown away? How many titles will never be read again? Of course every gamer has at least one old book they still read or use. Let's shed a little light on these bargain bin favorites.
I'll start with one I just picked up in the used book section of my local game store for 3 bucks.
Black Lake, California, the idyllic small town you've always dreamed of . . . clean air, sparkling water and a scenic countryside . . . friendly townfolk and an easy life style . . . a perfect haven where everything is beautiful and peaceful!
Almost.
There's the mayor who doesn't remember hiring the investigators, the phones that give a constant busy signal, the sudden storm that drowns three brothers, the mysterious van that cruises the streets of Black Lake.
And then the dead begin to walk . . .
As the investigators unfold the strange events shrouding Black Lake, they are drawn deeper and deeper into a complex web of horror, uncovering a sinister plot that is paralyzing the whole town. Only they can foil the plot that threatens to turn Black Lake into Zombietown U.S.A.
I haven't read the whole thing, but Zombietown presents a believable small town, with detailed maps of every building in the town and the actual scenario is quite fascinating. It's written in a very bizarre manner though. The background behind the zombies and the actual plot isn't revealed until the last 2 pages of the 64 page module and even then it's only written in a sidebar! The game devotes more space to the greasy spoon diner than the reason why zombies are attacking the town.
However, the actual plot is pretty fucking cool. Basically a mad scientist invented a cloning machine that can copy a person's mind and grow a clone of them in 6 weeks. He can edit the person's memories and inject them into the clone. So, he's literally killed everyone in the town and replaced them with clones that are fanatically loyal to him. The zombies are just deformed clones with incredible regenerative powers. Oh and he's doing this to kill a rival scientist who's holed up in a mansion near the town. And the mad scientist's henchmen are badass mercenaries called the four horsemen, each of whom are named after a color (white the albino, black the black guy, red the native american and yellow the asian merc)
And it's dual statted for autoduels, which gives everyone in the town guns and a heavy tank cannon that can hit anything in a 3 mile radius around the town.
It's insane and I can't wait to run this 20 year old module.
