Infectious bladed weapons

[Heavensmith]

Hello everyone,

 

I had this idea that, as far as I can tell, doesn't appear in the "often suggested" or "definitive no" lists. It goes as follows:

 

When using a bladed weapon, the player has the possibility of lathering it in zombie blood, making it "infectious". Hitting another player (or NPC) would mean contact with zombie blood, and thus risk of infection. The chance wouldn't be as high as being bitten, but it could still be substantial depending on the damage done.

 

I actually got this idea while playing the walking dead game. There's a scene where a character hacks another's arm off with a bloodied axe. Even if the arm came off, the blood on the axe would have meant the infection was still there.

 

So basically I feel like it could be a nice little trick to add. Not sure whether it would make certain weapons OP though...

[hrot]

Good suggestion, just like in real life (if blood is enough to get zombie infection, i'm not sure).

[Heavensmith]

Depends on what zombie lore you're based on I guess, but I think pretty much any bodily fluid can do the trick. The default PZ setting is "blood + saliva" as transmission vectors. Saliva transmits the virus through being bitten, but I'm not sure whether there's any implementation of a blood transmission yet.

[ZlolnessZ]

if the implemented blood transmission wouldnt that mean using a blunt weapon if you hit hard enough or it was decayed or bloody enough then blood might splash onto you possibles in your mouth and getting there blood on you would mean a small chance of infection because we do absorb alot through our skin

[WolfeClaw]

For a 'realistic' standpoint, I do like this idea, primarily so with blades and other sharp weaponry. For the sake of gameplay, I think that if the same were done for blunt weapons it would have to be a much smaller chance of infection, of course.

[Heavensmith]

Well I thought that since bladed weapons pretty much automatically break skin it would make sense to give them a chance of carrying infection rather than blunts. You could perhaps add the same mechanic to blunts, but with a much smaller chance.

[AtomicBurn]

Well I thought that since bladed weapons pretty much automatically break skin it would make sense to give them a chance of carrying infection rather than blunts. You could perhaps add the same mechanic to blunts, but with a much smaller chance.

 

If you wanted to balance that also, you could get blunt-force trauma with blunt weapons with a chance at heavy bruising, concusions, and / or fractured bones (with heavy enough weapons.) Bruising would cause your char to swing slower and be in constant pain. Just a thought. Blade weapons would give higher infection chances, where as blunt weapons can cripple you for a few days or a week (obviously fractures could be timed via options to heal quicker or at a more normal speed).

[Heavensmith]

I haven't played any multiplayer yet so I can't attest to this, but I think blunt weapons can already cause fractures. That's what's written on PZwiki anyways.

[bumblemore]

Reminds me of Negan infecting alexandria with bloodied blades.

[Suomiboi]

To me it doesn't quite strike as fitting to pz. It could be fun, but it also could be very annoying in MP and with NPCs. It'd easily lead to something like dipping arrows to zombie blood -> shoot on sight -> instant death sentence situations. If at all added I'd maybe put in a timer to the blood until it dried or clogged up.

 

Not personally my cup of tea, but I can see a definite mod in it. And I would definitely give it a go!

[Heavensmith]

To me it doesn't quite strike as fitting to pz. It could be fun, but it also could be very annoying in MP and with NPCs. It'd easily lead to something like dipping arrows to zombie blood -> shoot on sight -> instant death sentence situations. If at all added I'd maybe put in a timer to the blood until it dried or clogged up.

 

Not personally my cup of tea, but I can see a definite mod in it. And I would definitely give it a go!

 

I was thinking about melee weapons only. Arrows would be horrible indeed since it would allow a sort of delayed one-shot-kill sniping scenarios. Melee weapons though would be a bit more "fair", since you could always try to hit first or else run. And it would make looting indoors that much more stressful in MP, knowing that a swing from a hidden axeman could be the end

[Suomiboi]

I know, I'm just saying that if such a thing would be introduced, there'd be little logical reasoning on why not apply it on other items as well. We'd get a lot of "why can't I dip arrows in blood when i can dip sword in blood". And the answer would be "because you can't, it's not fun".

 

Also the potential for camping behind a corner grows exponentially. Just imagine you walk in a room and have no chance of defending yourself. With zombies you can always make noise but players are intelligent and many want to just grief.

[WolfeClaw]

Also the potential for camping behind a corner grows exponentially. Just imagine you walk in a room and have no chance of defending yourself. With zombies you can always make noise but players are intelligent and many want to just grief.

The ideal situation would then be to be sure to check the house first through the windows. Having that tension of "Anyone could be waiting behind a corner." forces the player to be more careful, which a lot of players like, I believe.

 

But in terms of the infectious arrows, that's pretty OP, but yes, logical. I'm one of the people that disagree with archery as a practical means in an apocalypse (at least without any prior knowledge, perhaps a profession or trait), so I wouldn't want any longbows. Crossbows would be fine for the average guy since  most people can just pick up and use one, but poisonous bolts? I'd have to say 'Naaah'.

[Heavensmith]

I practiced archery for years and I don't have the slightest clue of how to build a viable bow. You would need the right kind of solid yet elastic wood, a super strong string, and some badass carving and knotting skills. A strong stick and some string aren't going to cut it

 

I suppose archery as a skill could make sense, giving the player the ability to do silent long-range kills. However it would have to be learnt like the rest (I mean aside from ripping the skin off their own bow arm, beginners would have a tough time hitting anything).

 

On the other hand, since dipping arrows in zombie blood to make them infectious does sound pretty OP, I would rather see weapon silencers implemented to achieve the same effect. We've already got stocks, slings etc... silencers would be a great addition!