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Customization options revealed!

Update #3 · May 8, 2012 · 2 comments
Attention! If you’ve pledged $15 or more, you have the option of customizing the adventure that comes with the rule book with places and names of your choosing. But what does that mean exactly? It's all explained below. First, you do not have to make any changes if you don’t want to. That should be obvious but we want to make sure that’s clear. Second, we will work with you. The adventure is set in the suburbs of Chicago, USA, and that means some locations might not exactly fit in the adventure; it’s hard to go from Chicago suburbs to the Australian outback. Regardless, we will work with you to find something that meets your expectations. 


Setup 

With the exception of the zombified photo, all of the customization options are found in the introductory adventure that comes with the game book. The adventure takes place in the USA, with the President moving the government from Washington DC to Chicago. Therefore, you should first think about changing these:

  • USA
  • FEMA (Federal Emergency Management Agency
  • US Army
  • President
  • Washington DC
  • Chicago

So if you want your adventure set in the UK, you would change USA to UK, FEMA to Emergency Planning College, US Army to British Army, President to Prime Minister, Washington DC to London, and Chicago to ... well, several cities would fit. Manchester, Birmingham, whatever works for you.

Place Names

Now it’s time to get more customized. Here are the places, in order as they appear in the adventure, that can also be changed.

  • Mt. Prospect (a suburb and zombie-free safe place where the adventure begins)
  • Games Plus (a store in Mt. Prospect where the humans sleep)
  • Generic outdoors retailer (a large store selling guns, fishing gear, etc.)
  • Generic wealthy suburb
  • Generic residential suburb
  • Large shopping mall
  • Poplar Creek Forest Preserve (a large, government-owned park)
  • FirstCountry Loans Arena (a sports arena seating 18,000)
For example, if you wanted the adventure set in California, you could change Chicago into San Francisco, Mt. Prospect to San Mateo, Games Plus to whatever store you like, Generic outdoors retailer to Outdoor World, Generic wealthy suburb to Pacifica, and so on. The fit does not need to be perfect. You could make the Generic wealthy suburb into just about any city, for example. If you're not sure if your location would fit, email us. Like we said, we'll work something out together.

People

Outlive Outdead includes six pre-generated human characters for use with the introductory adventure. These can be customized as well. Simply tell us the name, gender, age, and job for each of the six people you want included. Here are the characters used in the game:
  • Julie Webb | Female | 25 | Unemployed single mom
  • Alexei Bodrov | M | 42 | Strip club owner
  • Michael Dorbeck | M | 50 | Suburb mayor
  • Jacob Reed | M | 38 | Minor league hockey player
  • Micaela Reed | F | 17 | High school soccer star
  • Marcos Flores | M | 23 | Undocumented busboy
There are also several notable non-player characters (NPCs). While we cannot change their jobs (the NPCs are important to the story in these jobs), we can change their names, gender, and ages to whatever you’d like. Here are the NPCs:  
  • Lt. Col. Brian Maddox | Male | 32 | US Army Commander
  • 2 Gang members | Male | 17, 18 | Gang members
  • Shauna Glover | Female | 34 | Call center supervisor
  • Kevin Fox | Male | 54 | Construction foreman 
  • Karl Brown | Male | 24 | FEMA Bureaucrat
  • William Allen | Male | 55 | FEMA Administrator
  • Rebecca Dale | Female | 28 | Allen’s assistant
How to Change Things

There are several ways to get your changes to us. First, you can use the lists above and send us your changes in an email. You can do the same through the Kickstarter message system. And if you think the above is a little confusing, download the Kickstarter Customization Form (Excel format or plain text)  from our website, complete it, and email it to us. Be sure to include your Kickstarter account name so we know which backer wants which changes.


Our email address is: wjmacguffin at gmail dot com.

Be sure to include your Kickstarter account name so we know which backer wants which changes. Thanks! 

Comments

    1. Number6.small

      Creator WJ MacGuffin on June 2, 2012

      It depends. Changing Chicago to London, for example, isn't too hard. Changing Chicago to Guam will be a challenge, but it's doable. Changing Chicago to the International Space Station is too much.

      That said, I'll work with everyone to ensure they get the adventure they want. Also, this is just for changing places. Changing jobs and people is cake.

    2. Small-bio-zombie.small

      Creator Shawn Beatty on June 2, 2012

      Is the adventure written so that it won't matter if we change the names of people, their jobs and the places?

      Or will it get wonky?

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Funding period
Apr 27, 2012 - Jun 2, 2012

  • Pledge $9 or more

    40 backers

    Survivor: You will receive a PDF copy of the game before it goes on sale and your name will be listed in the acknowledgements section with the title “Survivor”.

    Estimated delivery: Jun 2012
  • Pledge $15 or more

    8 backers

    Zombie: You’ll receive a PDF copy, acknowledgement as a “Zombie”, and you can give us names of people and places, and we’ll edit those into the introductory adventure that comes with the book. A customized zombie adventure set in your hometown!

    Estimated delivery: Jun 2012
  • Pledge $25 or more

    43 backers

    Zombie Lover: You’ll receive everything at the Zombie level (customized PDF) PLUS a softcover copy, a “I Heart Zombies” sticker, and acknowledgement as a “Zombie Lover”. Yes, both the PDF and the softcover can be customized with names you give us! (Of course, you can leave the names as is.) Free shipping in the US; international orders, please add $5.

    Estimated delivery: Jun 2012
  • Pledge $35 or more

    5 backers

    Infected Human: You’ll receive everything from the Zombie Lover level (customized softcover, customized PDF, a “I Heart Zombies” sticker) PLUS a vial of a “zombie-infected blood sample”, a signed, personalized thank you from the publisher in the softcover, and acknowledgement as an “Infected Human”. Free shipping in the US; international orders, please add $7.

    Estimated delivery: Jun 2012
  • Pledge $45 or more

    10 backers

    Zombie Actor: You’ll receive everything from the Infected Human level (signed & customized softcover, customized PDF, a “I Heart Zombies” sticker, “infected blood” sample) PLUS you can send us a photo of yourself and we’ll turn it into a zombie and place it in your customized copy of the game as part of the artwork! Yes, both in the softcover and the PDF! Of course, you’ll have acknowledgement as a “Zombie Actor” in the books. Free shipping in the US; international orders, please add $7.

    Estimated delivery: Jul 2012
  • Pledge $70 or more

    8 backers

    Tough Human: You’ll receive everything from the Zombie Actor level (signed & customized softcover, customized PDF, a “I Heart Zombies” sticker, “infected blood” sample, pic included in the game) except the softcover will be upgraded to a hardcover. It will still be signed & customized with names, places, and one of your pics, and you’ll have acknowledgement as a “Tough Human” in the books. Free shipping in the US; international orders, please add $15.

    Estimated delivery: Jul 2012
  • Pledge $115 or more

    6 backers

    Zombie Gamer: You’ll receive everything from the Tough Human level (signed & customized hardcover, customized PDF, a “I Heart Zombies” sticker, “infected blood” sample, pic included in the game) plus two ten-sided dice, a four-sided die, a battlemat for describing your zombie battles during the game, and acknowledgement as a “Zombie Gamer”. Free shipping in the US; international orders, please add $20.

    Estimated delivery: Jul 2012
  • Pledge $350 or more

    0 backers Limited (3 of 3 left)

    GenCon Zombie: Get everything from the Zombie Gamer reward (signed & customized hardcover, customized PDF, sticker, “infected blood” sample, pic included in the game, 3 dice, and battlemat) PLUS one four-day badge to GenCon Indy 2012 (purchased and mailed to you to avoid that huge line at Will Call), dinner/drinks on WJ MacGuffin at the RAM on the day/time of your choosing during the con, and a discussion with him about zombies, creating roleplaying games, how to break into the industry, and so on. Plus, acknowledgement in the book as a “GenCon Zombie”

    Estimated delivery: Aug 2012