The Nature of Life-in-Death

Player Characters are not truly dead, but neither are they really alive any more, because of their damnation. Rather than calling them "undead" (which carries unwanted connotations,) they are in a state of Life-in-Death. This means:

• They feel hunger, thirst, and pain, and can be injured;
• They can, at least at first, pass for living;
• They can be killed, although they will remain part of the crew if still damned;

But:

• They cannot fool the seagulls or sharks, or rats, ravens or other scavengers; these all see the damned as dead and will attempt to tear at their flesh;
• They cannot always heal, especially from attacks by gulls; the more injury they take while damned, the closer they get to a state of decay.

To track this, there is a special stat called Decay. It starts at zero when the characters first become damned. At the end of every encounter where the characters have taken physical damage, roll 2d6; on doubles, the character has gained a point of Decay. To heal a wound or disguise the effects of death, players must beat the Decay rating with their effectiveness.

The Birth of a Zombie

RPG mechanics can be divided into two broad groups: the portable and the distinctive. For this game, the distinctive rules are those that maintain the structure already described, such as the rules that make catastrophes distinct from flashbacks. Portable mechanics aren't unique; it's stuff like "how to determine when someone's dead".

For my portable mechanics, I plan on using the character description and action effect modules that I've been developing, with just a tiny few setting-specific tweaks. In particular, character generation will be very light:

• pick a couple broad backgrounds, like "sailor" or "physician";
• define how many years you've spent in each;
• add 15 years, set that as your character's age. Maybe add a cushion of years, since you can improve during flashbacks.

You can add up to two labels (descriptors that act as both advantages and disadvantages.) Then pick a broad class of goals/methods your character works towards (a class) and add a distinguishing adjective. Finish with a name, homeland, and any other short descriptive phrases that make the character distinct. It's all semi-freeform.

The big question, at this point, is whether I feel the need for generic abilities. Once that's settled, it's on to the non-portable, distinctive rules that define the structure.