A Zombicide Role-Playing Game is Coming!
I don't normally publish news on this site, but when this hit my mailbox I needed to share it ASAP. See the press release below, but here are my hopes for this: 1) PLEASE let me play in the "Black Plague" world as one of the default options and 2) PLEASE let the "inspired by the board game mechanics" mean that we can use the player boards from the later versions of Zombicide.
The full press release:
For Immediate Release
Press Inquiries: marketing@cmon.com
CMON.com
CMON Limited Announces Zombicide: The Role-Playing Game
Thursday, July 26, 2018 - CMON Limited announced today that they have partnered with Need Games!, an up-and-coming Italian RPG publisher, to design and publish Zombicide: The Role-Playing Game (Z:RPG), based on the celebrated board game franchise.
Z:RPG, designed by Marco Maggi and Francesco Nepitello, merges the classic zombie-bashing action that players expect from the Zombicide line of board games with the exciting character creation and development of an immersive role-playing game. An intuitive set of game rules will allow players to create original Survivors during a Prologue that narrates the players’ first contact with the undead menace. Then, the Survivors will plunge head-first and galvanize into a group of die-hards with their first adventure: “The Crossroad”. This adventure will allow the players to describe where and how they got together, and why they watch each others’ backs. “The Crossroad” is a fully-customizable entry point, created to allow for different play-styles and settings, whether a classic urban locale, an infested shopping mall or hospital, a remote scientific lab, and more.
In Z:RPG, the rules governing gameplay for the players and the Game Master are not the same. Where the players use mechanics inspired by the fast-playing Zombicide board games, the Game Master employs a set of special Zombidice dice that will allow them to quickly determine the consequences of player actions, gauge the strength of their opposition, and even determine the enemy actions during combat. Players of Z:RPG will experience first-hand what it means to witness a zombie apocalypse, and they will discover if they have what it takes to survive it.
“Marco, Francesco and their veteran team have created exceptional RPG work in recent years,” said Eric M. Lang, CMON’s Director of Game Design. “I’m excited to see what they bring to our flagship IP.”
“We in the design team are very excited to be tasked with bringing Zombicide into the world of roleplaying,” said co-designer Francesco Nepitello. “We’re currently hard at work to create a game that will offer a new perspective into such a rich property.”
Zombicide: The Role-Playing Game is scheduled for Kickstarter in Q4 of 2019. Those attending GenCon 2018 will be able to meet co-designer Francesco Nepitello at the CMON booth (#415) from August 2 to August 5 in Indianapolis, IN.
About CMON Limited
CMON Limited is an international publisher of board games, tabletop games and apps. Beginning from small hobbyist roots, CMON Limited has grown into a multinational group that publishes several award-winning games, including Zombicide, Arcadia Quest, Blood Rage and more. CMON Limited can be found on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange Growth Enterprise Market under stock code “08278.” Follow CMON on Twitter, Instagram, andFacebook.
About Need Games!
Established in 2017, Need Games! is an Italian tabletop RPG and board game publisher, based in Milan. Recently, the company successfully funded a Kickstarter campaign for “Journey to Ragnarok”, an adventure module for Dungeons and Dragons: Fifth Edition steeped in Norse mythology. The module is written by Michele Paroli, the Art Director of Need Games!, and it is set to be delivered in Q3 2018.
About Zombicide
Characterized by fast-playing and hard-hitting action, CMON’s flagship game franchise spans the modern era, the medieval past, and – most recently – the far future. A staple of the Kickstarter community since 2012, the Zombicide games tell stories about zombies run amok, towns besieged, and survivors standing together until the bitter end.