Breathless

The city has been sealed off from the outside world, trapping survivors inside with hordes of "Crawlers"—zombies driven by insatiable hunger. You are surrounded by strangers in a crumbling urban landscape where ammunition dwindles, weapons break, and every breath could be your last.

Theme and Setting

The setting draws from zombie media like Shaun of the Dead , Left 4 Dead , and The Last of Us , emphasizing desperate survival over heroic action. There is no rescue coming, no cure on the horizon—only the relentless pressure to survive another day.

How Play Feels

Breathless centers on a dice degradation system: skills and items are assigned die ratings from d4 to d12. When you use a skill or item, you roll that die hoping for a 4+ to succeed—then the die degrades to the next step down (d12 → d10 → d8 → d6 → d4 → exhausted).

What Makes It Distinct

This creates an economy of diminishing returns where your best tools and abilities wear out exactly when you need them most. The "Catch Your Breath" mechanic allows recovery during quiet moments, but at a cost—accepting a narrative complication in exchange for restoring dice.

Where It May Not Fit

You want combat and action to drive most of the session You want low-tension or low-threat play.