Savage Worlds (zombie?) post-apocalypse game ideas
So, I am wanting to learn Savage Worlds, and I was thinking of doing so through a relatively easy and fun setting: a zombie apocalypse. This is something I always enjoy, especially when the game focuses on "survival" as much as "horror" in the "survival horror."
However, I have a couple of variant ideas and timeline things to figure out if I am to do this. What interests players the most?
Day 1
The game starts when the apocalypse does. First few news stories about outbreaks, then the clouds break open, a vast storm engulfs the world for a time, and the dead rise. Dark things emerge from the shadows of the world. The Plague sweeps across the world even as you scramble in those early days, weeks, months, to survive. Resources are more plentiful because society is collapsing around you, but that also makes the initial conflicts that much bloodier.
Year 1
The game begins some time after the apocalypse has happened. People are still fighting, and there are enclaves of survivors throughout the cities, but the urban landscapes are scarred. Some cities are complete wastelands, sepulchers of undead and lawless survivors who will do anything to wake up tomorrow. Resources are more scarce because some food has spoiled, a lot of fuel is spoiled, and no one's maintaining the infrastructure.
Another consideration is the nature of the setting. For this I have two different ideas:
"Mortal" Zombie Apocalypse
In this scenario, the Plague may be some virus gone wrong, or something wholly supernatural infesting our world. Either way, there are zombies. Human zombies, animals, and some freakish aberrant zombies that defy either classification. Player characters are all too human, struggling to survive in an inhuman world. They persevere through wits, gear (much of it scavenged, salvaged, and jury-rigged), and luck in a world as savage as the primeval wilderness of old.
"Urban Fantasy" Zombie Apocalypse"
This scenario is as above, but takes place in an "urban fantasy" world. The Plague swept in from realms unknown, bringing with it terrible dark things. Magic once coursed through the world's veins. Witches, vampires, werewolves, psychics, and more were caught up in the apocalypse just the same as humans were. Now they must fight to survive as well.
This scenario hammers on the "horrors" button a little harder. Ghosts are a thing already. Imagine ghosts created by the horrific demise of people in the dark, at the stinking jaws of the undead? What other supernatural entities, terrors as old as the world's bones, awakened when the Plague invaded our world? This one breaks the rules a bit more. Zombies die to headshots...usually. Anywhere someone dies, they rise up as a zombie. Monstrous "mutant" zombies appear more often, and some exhibit truly terrifying powers. Death gods may rule kingdoms of the dead, or necromancers may style themselves as lords of this new world. Vampires need people to feed on, as do the zombies, but they have to protect the dwindling human population.
So, these are my ideas. If you, dear reader and potential player, were to join such a game, what of these options would interest you most?