Unburied

Survive, rebuild, and reclaim a post-apocalyptic Earth beset by unkillable undead

Unburied is a rules-light horror tabletop roleplaying game (TTRPG) with both multiplayer and solo journaling options. Play as survivors on a post-apocalyptic Earth ravaged by four types of undead:

• Ashes, which are suffocating clouds of dust and cinders
• Cadavers, which consist of bones or flesh
• Rots, which are putrefaction incarnate
• Spirits, which are insubstantial entities that latch onto hosts or anchors

Cooperate with other survivors to achieve player-selected shared goals, and navigate challenges via teamwork, tactics, luck, and the occasional sacrifice.

Content warnings: violence, death, human remains, body horror, possession

What you need to play: the rulebook, a six-sided die, a journal (optional)

How It Works: Unburied includes rules for gamemaster-facilitated play for groups of up to 5 players, as well as modified mechanics and prompts for solo journaling play.

To create a character, select their main method of survival:

• Athletic Talent
• Compassion
• Education
• Improvisation
• Luck
• Preparation
• Social Network
• Stealth
• Trade Skills

Each method has associated prompts to kickstart the process of creating a backstory. Once all players have a character, as a group, they either select one of the included goals (e.g. “Establish a trade and communications with surviving enclaves”) or work with their gamemaster to create a unique goal.

Actions that have chances of both failure and success are referred to as “challenges.” Once the gamemaster provides a difficulty score for the challenge, players may choose to change course or proceed. If they proceed, they first tally up relevant bonuses from employing their survival method, from equipment, from situational advantages, and from teamwork. Afterward, the player rolls a d6. If they roll too low, players get a limited number of luck points they can spend to reroll the die. They may also elect to gain another die by committing to negative narrative consequences (e.g. sacrificing a valuable resource).

Solo players may choose between creating a group of characters or creating a single character, and should modify their challenge scaling accordingly. Creating a group is better for examining interpersonal relationships, while playing as a solitary character makes it easier to explore themes of loneliness and grief. Sets of journaling prompts are provided for both options.

Legal Info: Text and layout: © 2024 Julia LaFond. Cover and Interior Art: © 2024 David Ball. Logo: © 2024 Zachary Schwartz. All rights reserved. Reproducing, distributing, and transmitting this publication in whole or in part is not allowed except for personal use, as permitted by US copyright law, or with written permission from the copyright holders. This publication may not be used, in whole or in part, to train LLMs or other generative AI.

Image Descriptions:

Cover: The title reads "Unburied." At the bottom is the tagline "You can die. The undead can't," and beneath that is a smaller line that says, "Product of Calenmir's RPGs." The cover art is of a doll with blank eyes and a cracked face staring ahead; in the background is damaged buildings and power lines, plus shambling silhouettes against an orange-red sky. The doll has red hair, light pink skin, a missing nose, a row of upper teeth, and a purple dress

Rot Illustration: a skeleton lies at the base of a pile of bubbling, translucent green conical ooze; the ooze is reminiscent of a fumarole. The left arm of the skeleton has broken off and is floating in the ooze. The skeleton's boots are outside the ooze. In the background are two other conical oozes, and a green haze that obscures a city skyline

Cadaver Illustration: a Cadaver with a blue mohawk is carrying a studded baseball bat. His skull and ribs are visibly skeletal, but there is flesh on his arms and exposed torso (though his left hand is skeletal). He's wearing a torn denim vest and denim jeans, with a belt and brown boots. His left boot is mostly horizontal, suggesting a skeletal ankle