Urban Dead

“Urban Dead is a low-tech zombie apocalypse browser game where thousands of survivors and zombies battle for the control of a quarantined city.”

So reads the front page of what, out of necessity, has become my favorite online diversion in recent months. It’s rather fitting that the only game my shambling wreck of a computer can run these days is one in which humans stalwartly slog it out with semi-functional corpses. If anyone is here looking for a game on par with Resident Evil, Dead Rising, or even Zombies Ate My Neighbors in terms of graphics and storyline then you’ll be sorely disappointed with Urban Dead. If, however, you’re looking for an intriguing text/browser-based zombie MMO which also happens to be free…then you’ve come to the right place.

As I’ve alluded to already there are no real graphics and there is virtually no story in Urban Dead. What you do have is an intelligent game based on the time-honored horror movie premise of zombies taking over a city and the human survivors fighting for their lives. The game is set in the city of Malton which is divided up into a 10 x 10 square grid of suburbs. Each suburb is further divided into a 10 x 10 square grid of streets, buildings, cemeteries, parks, monuments and so on. These 10,000 squares give players a pretty big sandbox to play around in and as far as I can tell a freshly created character might begin the game in any of the one hundred suburbs that make up Malton.

Creating a character is quick and easy as you simply select a class, provide a name and password and begin the game. There are nine classes from four different categories to choose from all with distinct advantages and disadvantages. The Military classes are the Private (your basic grunt who is competent with a gun), the Medic (a healer armed with a pistol) and the Scout (the most effective class at evading zombie threats). The Scientist classes are the NecroTech Lab Assistant (who deal directly in identifying zombies and in turning them back into human survivors) and the Doctor (who begin the game with the ability to see the hit points of all fellow survivors). The Civilian classes are the Police Officer (similar to the Private), the Firefighter (specializing in the fire axe), and the Consumer (John Q. Public armed with a random improvised weapon and a mobile phone). The remaining category is Zombie and there’s only one class – the Corpse (any of the above classes can become a zombie if infected or killed by another zombie, but the Corpse starts out stronger than survivors who are later turned into zombies).

The four categories of classes directly relate to the four types of skills available to characters in the game: Military, Science, Miscellaneous (or Civilian) and Zombie skills. Civilian characters pay the same amount of experience points (100 XP) for all four types of skills. Military characters are predisposed to learning Military skills and can thus purchase them with fewer experience points (75 XP). However, as it’s further from their area of expertise, Military characters must spend far more on Science skills (150 XP) than other characters. The exact opposite is true for Scientist characters. I have yet to play the game from the point of view of a career Zombie, so I can’t say exactly how it works for the Corpse class.

Military skills are based almost exclusively on the use of firearms. If you want to gun down zombies with a pistol or shotgun (the only firearms available in the game unless you count the one-shot flare gun), then you’ll want to focus on Military skills. Perhaps the most universally useful Military skill, however, is called Free Running. It allows survivors to move from building to building throughout Malton without having to travel through the zombie-infested streets. Free Running is extremely useful for staying alive in Urban Dead as survivors often over-barricade buildings making many of them inaccessible from outside.

Scientific skills are of basically two types: 1) those related to NecroTech Labs and 2) those related to mundane healing. The NecroTech skills allow you to create and use devices such as DNA Extractors (used to test a zombie to see what abilities they possess and who they were before becoming zombies) and Revivication Syringes (which allow you to turn a zombie back into a survivor). The healing skills are just that, they allow you to either heal more points with first-aid kits or to diagnose survivors.

Miscellaneous or Civilian skills are simply skills that don’t fall into either of the above categories. It includes everything from Construction (allowing you to barricade buildings and repair equipment) to Body Building (providing you with a bonus of +10 hit points). There are quite a few of these skills and they’re far more varied than either Military or Scientific skills.

Zombie skills are exactly what they sound like: skills which improve the Corpse class by leaps and bounds. While I haven’t played a zombie myself some examples include Lurching Gait (zombies move as fast as survivors), Memories of Life (zombies can open doors to buildings) and Scent Fear (zombies can track badly wounded humans). Each of these allows access to greater powers later on. For instance, Scent Fear leads eventually to Scent Trail, allowing a zombie to track any survivor who has recently occupied the same square in which the zombie is located.

That’s pretty much it for skills. All characters start the game with 50 hit points and some equipment related to their chosen class. This equipment could be anything from a pistol to a pool cue or from binoculars to a first-aid kit. First-aid kits are the best way of healing either yourself or fellow survivors, but bottles of wine or beer will heal minor wounds in a pinch. Long-distance survivor-to-survivor communications require that both characters have a Mobile Phone and that they are on each other’s Contacts List. Properly tuned Radios will allow you to listen to anyone broadcasting from a specific station with a working Transmitter, as well. There’s an assortment of other items, both useful (reading books is a slow, but safe way for characters to gain experience) and cosmetic (newspapers, poetry books and crucifixes are attainable, but they serve no practical purpose).

The goal of Urban Dead is simply to stay alive or, if you happen to be undead, to convince survivors to join your ranks by gnawing on/killing them. The usual set up is that survivors barricade themselves inside buildings and zombies try to infiltrate those buildings and attack survivors, but sometimes you’ll see this scenario turned on its head. I once saw a military fort filled with survivors get overrun by zombies and just two days later the entire fenced-in nine square city block was populated with the living dead. Of course, sometimes the best defense is a good offense, so you’ll often see survivors venture out into the streets to try and take down some zombies and earn some sweet XP. This is fine as long as you remember to give yourself time to back to safety before you run out of Action Points.

Everyone starts out with 50 Action Points which regenerate at a rate of 1 point every half hour. These points, as their name so aptly states, allow a character to perform 50 actions per day* before becoming exhausted. Everything your character does from searching an area to moving from one street to another to firing a weapon uses up one Action Point. If you happen to run out of Action Points your character immediately goes to sleep. If this occurs while your character is outdoors the next time you log in you will likely find yourself zombie chow…and thus a zombie yourself. If this happens you can either decide to make a career of eating people or you can find your way to a revivification point ASAP. Revivication points are various places in each suburb (often a cemetery or an area near a NecroTech Lab) where NecroTech scientists have established a safe zone for zombies looking to return to their former lives. Of course, there’s nothing stopping a survivor who doesn’t know better from blowing your undead brains out even if you’re standing in a dedicated revivication point. For that matter there’s nothing to stop survivors from blowing each other’s brains out either…

Player Killing (PKing) is prevalent in most MMOs so it should be no surprise to find it in Urban Dead. In fact, there are entire groups dedicated to PKing. Groups are basically organizations of like-minded players working towards a common goal. The most common type of group is a Pro-Survivor group, but there are also Pro-Zombie groups composed of deadites and even some groups composed of mortals who were once Zombies and seek to aid their undead brethren by working against the survivors. You can find groups that are extremely militant, groups that focus solely on healing, groups of axe-wielding Firefighters…pretty much anything you can think of.

A lot of the joy of playing Urban Dead is lost on those who only give it a cursory glance. If I had a computer that could run anything other than solitaire or owned a console, I probably wouldn’t have taken the time to get beneath the surface of this game. If you really want to learn how to play the game you’ll pretty much have to familiarize yourself with The Urban Dead Wiki. It’s invaluable to the player who doesn’t want to stumble around blindly and wake up dead or lost every time he/she logs in.

Beginners should also probably choose a class based on what they most want to accomplish early on in the game. Privates are the best choice for a character who wants to focus on firearms. Scouts are great for traveling long distances right off the bat because of their Free Running skill. Firefighters make the best melee combatants as they’re already trained and equipped with the fire axe. If you don’t mind staying close to one area and avoiding combat, the Doctor is easily the best choice as they can gain XP by healing other survivors. Either way you go the first skill you’re going to want to procure is probably Free Running. It’s the safest way to travel and the easiest way to get access to heavily barricaded buildings.

Survivors tend to keep most buildings EHB (Extremely Heavily Barricaded) which means they’re virtually inaccessible from outside unless you have a Crowbar and want to spend all your action points tearing down walls so you can get inside. Only buildings VSB (Very Strongly Barricaded) or less are accessible from the street and these usually serve as Entry Points for survivors while the EHB buildings basically act as walls to keep out zombies. Unfortunately, it’s all too easy for an incautious survivor to end up trapped out on the streets. Again, referring to The Urban Dead Wiki is probably the wisest choice as you can locate Entry Points before your character starts wandering around aimlessly.

Urban Dead isn’t the kind of game you can just run into blindly and start hacking and slashing. It’s more or less like an elaborate chess game set on a gigantic board with the ability to customize your playing pieces. While it is an MMO, the game has no set system for creating and maintaining parties, so even if you do play with a friend you won’t be able to share XP or trade items. In fact, all you can really do with an ally is communicate, attack walking corpses that are in the same area and heal one another. When it comes down to brass tacks, however, you’re basically on your own in Urban Dead. Just like in any good zombie movie.

*A final note or those interested in running multiple characters. I would suggest you read up on the Hit Limit and how you can exempt a character from said limit by making a one-time donation in support of this excellent game.

Book of Auspices

I wanted to kick off my initial review of obsolete role-playing games with White Wolf’s final book for Werewolf: The Apocalypse (not surprisingly titled Apocalypse), because I derive a certain amount of pleasure from doing things ass-backwards. In the end (no pun intended), I couldn’t be bothered to digest that reference-heavy tome again just now, so I’ll be substituting a slightly older volume from the same system – the Book of Auspices.

A little background information is probably in order for the uninitiated, so here goes. Werewolf: The Apocalypse (W:TA) is set in White Wolf’s World of Darkness, a world very much like our own, but secretly inhabited by a number of supernatural creatures like vampires, werewolves and ghosts. In W:TA, Garou are not the victims of a disease called lycanthropy, however. They are living embodiments of Gaia’s energy and will, beings who live in both the material world and the realm of spirits (the Umbra), who are in fact composed of equal parts flesh and spirit themselves. Garou constantly walk this line between worlds and as such they are part of both, yet belong exclusively to neither. Gaia created the Garou to police the land, to keep the cycle of life moving along its natural course and, in essence, to protect the status quo. Due to an imbalance in the Triat, the world has derailed from that path dramatically in the last century with the rise of the Industrial Age and the focus on material rather than spiritual matters. Furthermore, a corruption has festered in human societies in recent decades, a putrid evil that threatens to bring about the apocalypse and the end of life as we know it. It’s up to the Garou to struggle against the oncoming tide of bleak materialism and devastating malevolence…and time is running out.

Now, anyone who has ever played W:TA knows that there are three major factors that determine a Garou’s basic character. These are: Breed (whether the Garou was born in human form, wolf form, or in the form of a baby werewolf…ouch), Auspice (the phase of the moon under which a Garou is born and what determines his/her role in society), and Tribe (one of the dozen social/genetic factions that divides the Garou Nation). Since W:TA’s meager beginnings back in 1992, plenty of material surfaced about Breeds (see Ways of the Wolf and Guardians of the Caerns) and Tribes (too many books to mention here), but it wasn’t until 2003, the same year it all came to an end in the eponymous Apocalypse, that they bothered to release a book about what might be the most telling selection a player makes when creating a Garou character – choosing an auspice. Better late than never, I suppose…


The Book of Auspices begins with a narrative, as pretty much all World of Darkness books do. This one, “Four Out of Five”, is a cautionary tale about why every Garou pack needs at least one member of each auspice. The story itself isn’t all that captivating, but it manages to get the point across: Every auspice plays a fundamental role in Garou society. An introduction follows, relating exactly what an auspice is, clarifying it as a blend of profession, mindset and obligation. As Garou exist to protect Gaia they are tasked by her with different responsibilities. Essentially one’s auspice represents this duty, but in a setting filled with such profound mysticism as W:TA one’s auspice indicates something beyond mere responsibility, it’s quite literally a Garou’s raison d’etre or “reason for being.” The rest of the Book of Auspices is divided into five chapters, one for each of the five possible auspices: Ragabash, Theurge, Philodox, Galliard and Ahroun.


The nights of the New Moon are the darkest of the month and Garou born at this time are experts in the fields of cunning and stealth. These sly individuals are known as Ragabash and they’re often identified as Tricksters. Don’t let the title fool you though, the Ragabash are not mere comedians. They’re the con artists, saboteurs, thieves, scouts and assassins, in addition to the mischief-makers and innovators. It’s their job to question tradition, to use humor as a method of instruction and to relieve tensions within the pack by remaining cool under pressure.

The chapter on the Ragabash begins with a story within a story. It’s fundamentally about a young Galliard by the name of Ian Gleam-In-His-Eye and his apprenticeship under a wily old Ragabash. As Ian learns about the Ragabash so does the reader. This is a common approach in World of Darkness books and it usually makes the reading both informative and entertaining. Unfortunately, it can also seem a little forced at times and tracking down a specific bit of information later is rather difficult (especially as there’s no index). Still, there’s plenty of information on renowned Ragabash, their place in the pack and how they differ in each of the twelve tribes scattered through out the prose. There’s some surprising stuff here, actually, like how Ragabash from the conservative Silver Fangs tend to be extremely eccentric, while those of the nomadic Silent Striders are often very effective hit-and-run combatants. There’s also a brief discussion on how Ragabash view the other auspices and, eventually, the fiction comes to a close.

The rest is basically a brief guide on how to play a Ragabash character. There are tips on avoiding using Tricksters as “comic relief goofballs” (after all no one wants a Jar-Jar in their pack), making sure they always question tradition and what to do if a player has second thoughts about playing a Ragabash. There’s even a section on Ragabash archetypes such as “Stereotypical Tricksters,” “Sneaky Scouts,” and “Trendsetters.” Each of these is discussed in general and then given additional notes on how Ragabash born under the waning or waxing phase of their auspice are unique. The chapter closes with some excellent gifts for the Tricksters, including a level six gift called Firebringer, which allows the user to steal virtually any supernatural power used against her. The catch is the Ragabash can’t use the stolen power, only teach it to others. Furthermore, they become more susceptible to the power if it’s used against them in the future. It looks like the last laugh may be on the Ragabash.


The Crescent Moon sheds little light, but by it things that cannot normally be perceived are made evident. Filling the role as priest, magician, healer, medium and visionary the Theurge perhaps shoulders greater responsibilities than any other auspice. It is the duty of the Seers to interact with the abundant spirit world, the Umbra, as well as entreaty, appease and, sometimes, combat its inhabitants. Theurges are the masters of ancient rites, the guardians of Garou wisdom, the crafters of items of great power, and the keepers of secret lore.

The anecdote opening the chapter on Theurges is a substantial improvement over the one regarding Ragabash. In this tale, a human Kinfolk is angry with a local Theurge who invaded her privacy and announced that she should abandon her current mate, the love of her life, and choose another. It’s up to Philodox Aaron Fourpaws to hear her out and try to resolve their differences, all the while explaining the basic functions of the Theurge in Garou culture. This added conflict makes for fine reading and the resolution is both considered and poignant. Included here is the legend of the first Theurge, the many functions Theurges must fill and, as before, information on the Seers of each tribe and their opinions about the other auspices. One interesting fact from the narrator is that his own people, the diverse Uktena, are often lead by their uncanny Theurges, a fact that troubles him to some extent. There’s also mention of how the Seers of the Children of Gaia tribe are among the most altruistic and self-sacrificing individuals within the Garou Nation.

Perhaps that’s the one word that best sums up a Theurge in general – sacrifice. From their Rite of Passage, during which they face a near death experience that mirrors that of the first Theurge (who sacrificed himself to the spirits to pay for the crimes of his fellow Garou), to their ongoing role as shamans and spiritualists, Theurges function as the soul of their people. The notes given in the second half of the chapter touches on this, but most of it is advice for Storytellers, not players. Apart from a slew of new gifts and some optional rules on rituals, there’s a new background here, as well. A Theurge’s Spirit Network rating determines the number and cooperation of watchful spirits he/she can call upon for reconnaissance or information; sort of like having an Umbral iPhone.


The Half Moon is equal parts darkness and light, therefore a potent symbol of balance. Philodox embody this concept of equilibrium as the lawmakers, intermediaries and arbiters of their people. As such, the Judges are often leaders during times of peace, standing as proud examples of what all Garou should aspire to be. It’s the duty of these wise counselors and philosophers to know and enforce the Litany, the ancient code of laws the Garou Nation is founded on, and to determine punishment for all transgressors.

Chapter Three begins with a mystery of sorts. Two Philodox, teacher and student, are summoned to an out of the way caern to investigate the death of one of their own. However, what initially looks like a clear-cut case of murder by one of the deceased’s packmates turns into a study on prejudice and perception with a twist ending. There’s also a record of distinguished Philodox, the roles Judges serve in the pack, how they differ in each of the tribes, their estimation of the remaining auspices and notes on the training they undergo from cub to elder. The idea that Philodox of the raucous Fianna tribe have perhaps the most thankless job imaginable is rather amusing, but it’s the revelation that the Judges of the Machiavellian Shadow Lords are the real masters of intrigue and stratagem in their clan that may be the most significant. Perhaps they should be called Lawyers…

The section on playing Philodox characters centers mainly on breaking stereotypes, providing ideas for solo or all-Philodox campaigns and offering up some very unusual models like “The Inquisitor,” “The Unready Leader” and “The Itinerant Adjudicator.” These are included to create unique Philodox and I applaud the effort, but I think they’re mislabeled as they’re anything but archetypical. Several gifts, rites and fetishes follow, most of them based on discerning truth and, unsurprisingly, rendering judgment. Commendably, several of these featured prominently in the preceding fiction.


The promise of fulfillment is an intrinsic aspect of the Gibbous Moon, auspice of passion and creativity. Galliards serve as celebrated historians, lorekeepers, teachers, diplomats and artists, crafting and preserving tales of the legendary Garou. These stories serve both as instruction and inspiration to the Bards’ packs, as well as the additional benefit of being high entertainment. Galliards are the firebrands, whipping war-parties into a frenzy prior to battle, and the funerary masters who howl out a dirge for fallen heroes after the encounter is long over. The Bards are also responsible for remembering the deeds of their pack, ensuring all members are fittingly honored for their actions.

In the opening of the chapter, two Bards with a passing dislike of one another take part in a challenge, officiated by another Garou, to find out which can best demonstrate what it truly means to be a Galliard. It’s a clever way of using an important component of the game, the challenge, to illustrate and describe an auspice. All the standard features are here: the origin of Galliards, their function in the caerns and in packs, a rundown of the different tribes and attitudes toward the other auspices, a view of their life cycle, but it’s the affirmation of the importance of the Gibbous Moon itself, that constant striving for, if never reaching, perfection that seems to be at the heart of the Galliards’ values. Most striking on the subject of tribal variations are the city-dwelling Glass Walkers who incorporate multimedia in their storytelling, such as synthesizers, computer-generated imagery and PowerPoint presentations. Even the corrupt Black Spiral Dancers get a surprise mention here, their Galliards being portrayed as gibbering prophets of doom. Good stuff all around.

The second half of this chapter is quite impressive too, presenting some interesting character concepts for Galliards. From the diplomatic “Manipulators” to the rowdy “Rabble-Rousers” to the introverted “Artists,” Bards seem to come in all stripes. There’s some very helpful advice for players who may not be performers themselves, but want to play a Galliard nonetheless. Advice such as staying in character and including the other players’ characters might seem like common sense, but they’re solid pointers for those unfamiliar with the game or the auspice. In addition, Galliards receive perhaps the most astonishing level six gift included in the book: Storyteller. This gift basically allows a Galliard to rewrite history, the danger being that the results are irreversible and may have “world-altering ramifications.”


The Full Moon is the moon of war among the Garou and those born under its radiance are the Ahroun, the Warriors of Gaia. While all Garou are blessed with unbelievable strength and stamina, the Ahroun have potent abilities that make them the ultimate killing machines. They are Warriors among a race of warriors and the most straightforward of all the auspices. They are the spearhead of every pack and form the frontline in the battle against the Wyrm.

Without a doubt the final chapter is the strongest of the book. While it includes the same kind of information as the earlier sections, the presentation takes a rather original approach. The fiction here is the 1949 testament of Ahroun William Bloodsong, born to the Aryan Get of Fenris tribe. Far from the stereotypical arrogant, bloodthirsty, war-monger normally associated with the Get, Bloodsong is angry with his own tribe after the events of WWII and pulls no punches in his opinions. There are sidebars to explain that many of Bloodsong’s opinions stray far from the norm, but ultimately that is what makes it such an interesting read. He stresses the fact that Ahrouns, powerful as they are, are ultimately only one-fifth of the equation. Apart from being the grunts and officers on the battlefield, however, Warriors inspire through action, being the vanguard in a spiritual war for Gaia. Ahroun are, quite simply, the heroes of legend. There’s a lot you wouldn’t expect in this chapter, really. Such as Bloodsong’s concern that tribes like the matriarchal Black Furies, through their chosen form of bigotry, might make a similar blunder as his own or that Ahrouns and Galliards are more likely to break the Litany in terms of mating with one another than any other auspice pairing. Still, it’s mainly the no nonsense style and unique presentation that makes this chapter such a winner.

The information for players is sweet and short, consisting of advice about not hogging the spotlight, understanding the Curse and a discussion on the source of Rage. The latter is the most remarkable; contesting the idea that Rage is simply Gaia’s anger at her own destruction, it hints that Rage may very well stem from the Garou Nation’s most significant foe – the Wyrm. This contrasts directly with Bloodsong’s personal opinion earlier in the chapter where he tries to dispel the myth of Rage being mindless and unmanageable, calling it a directed anger with a purpose. As usual, nothing in the World of Darkness is ever black and white; it’s all about the shadows somewhere in between. New gifts and a handful of Merits and Flaws bring the chapter and book to a close.


The artwork in Book of Auspices is pretty good, using some long-time contributors like Ron Spencer (one of my favorites), Jeff Rebner and John Bridges. Steve Prescott contributes both interior art and the cover, which depicts the same five characters used to illustrate the auspices in the revised version of the core W:TA book. It’s acceptable, but I prefer his take on the Glass Walker Ragabash on the back of the cover. Melissa Uran’s anime-influenced style (featured heavily in the Kindred of the East and Exalted lines) does little for me, but it befits the nature of a metaphysical Stargazer Theurge and is confined mostly to the corresponding chapter.

The Book of Auspices is written by three different authors and it shows. The introduction and the chapters on Theurges and Ahrouns were written by Julian Mensch and, for my part, they really stand above the rest. It’s interesting because the name doesn’t turn up on any other rpgs from White Wolf Studios or any other company for that matter. This almost makes me wonder if it’s a pseudonym, because the guy is too good for this to be his only rpg contribution. Matt McFarland (“Four Out of Five”; Galliards) and Deena McKinney (Ragabash; Philodox) are longtime World of Darkness writers. Their work here is reliable and informative, if not particularly rousing. Overall, the Book of Auspices is a solid effort; a satisfying way to dig a little deeper regarding Garou and the various roles they play.

4 Moons (out of 5)