Dead Reign Rpg

Dead Reign RPG

by Josh Hilden, Kevin Siembieda, Joshua Sanford

Dead Reign is a game of survival, rescue and revenge. Player characters are both the hunted and the hunters as they battle the creeping doom that is the living dead and pray for salvation.



S.D.C. setting.
Zombies have taken over the world.
Zombies control the cities. Humans hide in remote wilderness areas.
Zombies capture, keep and breed humans in food pens.
Several different types of zombies.
Humankind fights to rescue those they can, and destroy as many of the zombie abominations as they can.
Player characters are ordinary people fighting for their very existence or bent on revenge.

Is this the end of the world as we know it? Can Earth be reclaimed by humanity?

Genres: Role Playing Games

222 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2008

About the author

Josh is a native of the Metro Detroit region of Michigan and currently calls Dayton, Ohio home. He cut his writing teeth in the role-playing game (RPG) industry working for companies such as Palladium Books and Third Eye Games. Josh married his wife Karen in 1996. They have six children and two grandchildren. Josh writes in a variety of genres, but the majority of his books are in the realms of science fiction and horror.

Reviews

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Great reference book for this role-playing world. Very well written and laid out. Recommended

[Stan · Rating 2 out of 5]

At the end of the book, it is mentioned that it was first thought of as a supplement for the Beyond The Supernatural RPG. It may have been better that way, the book is just one idea drawn out for over 200 pages. I think this game might be tolerable for a one-shot adventure or convention game, but even a short campaign would get repetitious really fast. Also, the book has artwork that is really unpleasant to look at and makes it awkward to read the book. I can only recommend this one to the most hard core of the zombie fans who also happen to be into role playing games.

[Gonzalo · Rating 4 out of 5]

For some reason, I got a Palladium itch and although I doubt that I like zombies more than any other nerd out there, I decided to give Dead Reign a try. To begin with, I find the organization of this book very confusing—character creation and rules at the very end—but that should not deter anyone from trying this game. I suppose we would call it “rules heavy”, but considering there is no magic or mega damage like in Rifts, it does not seem too complicated, even if it has loads of random tables. It is probably a good entry point to the Palladium system, but I cannot speak with certainty because I have not played this game yet, or any of the many others that share the system.
As far as I can see, you should try this game if you like zombies, and are not afraid of having to do a bit of math while playing. In exchange for your effort, you will get a book with phenomenal art that deserves to appear on the cover of any low-budget punk—and really great, more conventional drawings—and a very unique setting. To begin with: zombies feed on psychic energy released when someone is killed by them. I first thought it odd, but having seen that in Rifts you get a ton of magic points from sacrifices—ok, baddies do—it does make a lot of sense. Because of this psychic energy, living people are like lighthouses, so you can run, but you are going to have one hell of a problem hiding from them. There is a good variety of zombies for those who like that: fast zombies like in “28 days later”, smart zombies, and my personal favorite: mock zombies. They don’t think they are dead, which can make for very funny situations—if you are into horror humor—or truly terrible ones. You also get a couple of human antagonists: Retro-savages, who have decided to forsake technology and everyone who uses it, and the absolute best part of the book: Dead Cults. Yeah, clearly misguides individuals—to say the least—who worship a Death god and keep zombies as pets. In case you are wondering, there is no magic in this game, so these people are absolutely insane. Who fights against the zombie horde and these losers? Regular people like you and me who have survived the initial stages of the apocalypse (this all is supposed to take place a few months after the end of the world) and a couple of more heroic character classes: bikers, soldiers, scavengers, in case you want to give your gaming crew a better chance of survival.
I do not think it is as sinister as “The Walking Dead”, but neither is a bad zombie movie that is just about killing zombies. If run correctly, I think it can be enjoyable for both trigger happy players, and those looking for dark stories about how surviving the apocalypse does not make us any better.