The Corrupted is the intimate TTRPG version of The Last Of Us

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The Corrupted is the intimate TTRPG version of The Last Of Us

corrupted, Intimate, Play, Reviews, Tabletop games, TTRPG, version

We tend to imagine that the hardest part of surviving a zombie apocalypse is the zombies. But like properties like The Last of Us, The walking dead, and Navaar Jackson's tabletop role-playing game The corrupt ones Show us, they're actually different people.

Although there are other games that deal with the zombie theme, such as the licensed RPG from Free League The walking dead and D&Ds Domains of Terrorthe extent of the problems The corrupt ones are reduced to an interpersonal level – which arguably makes them more devastating. An intimate game about a small group of survivors, The corrupt ones takes a familiar base D20 system and adds mechanics that illustrate the difficulties of adapting to the new normal of a post-Fall world with people you don't even know.

While there are combat mechanics for high-intensity moments, the game's main focus is the emotional toll the apocalypse takes on this small group. Resource management increases the survival element of The corrupt onesas food, water and other tools like bullets are tracked over time.

The game's core abilities include empathy, intelligence, judgment, strength, agility, and vitality – with almost all of these being used outside of combat throughout the game. Not only do missed throws prevent players from achieving their goals, they actively cause stress and a unique “compromised” state that increases the risk of conflict. Unresolved stress then adds up to conflict.

The conflict system mechanically represents tensions that arise from the literal stress and trauma of not only survival but also living with other people. These mechanics affect how player characters interact with each other and themselves, and provide the opportunity for conflict to arise between players as the outside world throws an endless series of obstacles at them.

For those who want to see how emotionally devastating this game can be, Jackson produced it Ties that bind. A real zombie apocalypse slice of life game The corrupt ones, Ties that bind features Jackson alongside award-winning actors Hamnah Shahid and Josephine Kim. AP's stunningly edited audio moves between the everyday lives of three survivors as they grapple with the interpersonal and ethical complications of figuring out what comes after the apocalypse and the lives they led before the pathogen has plagued the United States.

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