Following on from a post by Yokiboy over on the Steampower forums, and in preparation for Conception in February, I've been dissecting and recreating my favourite horror movie, 28 Days Later, for Dead of Night.

28 Days Later is about the aftermath of an apocalypse brought on by a plague that turned the populace into "infected" - essentially zombies. The core of the film is how the survivors deal with the problem of surviving, and is essentially a protracted escape to safety.

Escape checks should dominate, as should persuade/dissuade and identify, to handle the day to day problems of survival in a world on the edge.

Actual combat with the Infected (see below) should be kept to a minimum as the plague spreads very quickly through bites and bodily fluids. Therefore Survival Point loss should represent a loss of other things rather than injury: loss of resources, allies and safety; creeping insanity (witness the soldiers); and a gradual diminishing of places to run to.

Tension Points Circumstance (p. 72-73): spent to increase Escape checks and decrease Protect checks. Perhaps also insist that whenever the GM spends Tension he must spend at least 2 or 3, to heighten the sense of calm after a storm (see below).

In addition...

Type of Horror (p. 73-79): Grim Fatalism, with the small potential for a hopeful, if hardly happy ending.

Starting Tension (p. 69-71): surprisingly high - at least 5, maybe higher, to represent the really nasty and tense starting point of finding yourself alone in an abandoned city.

Mood (p. 71): should be very bleak and irrepressible, interspersing scenes of frantic fight and flight, with scenes of emptiness and calm. Limit I did it! and Running with Cliches to heighten the sense of impending doom and decrease the traditional schlock horror approach.