Red Markets Countdown Clocks

Red Markets House Rule

When the Market (GM) introduces a mob of casualties (zombies) into a scene they roll 2d10, one black and one red. The black die shows how many casualties there are while the red die shows how many combat rounds the casualties are from biting off the Takers' (PCs) faces off. After each combat round the number of shambles they are away from the PCs decreases until the casualties can make their attack.

It would be beneficial to the game to leverage this mechanic in other areas. Specifically, during Legs (encounters during travel) and the Job (the main mission) there should be countdowns of "number of actions" until certain events occur. For example, if another crew of Takers is in the area that the PCs are in one might make a "number of actions" countdown for how long the PCs have to fortify the area before the other crew barges in. Sometimes these countdowns should be public, sometimes they should be private.

This accomplishes two things. First, for GMs who struggle to know when/how to introduce new complications outside of critical failures this mechanic gives a hard rule that makes sequences more dynamic. Second, it makes the act of taking time fair. Either the PCs have enough time to board up the door or they do not.

The number on the countdown can be decided situationally by the Market or by a roll of a red die. Takers can all be making different actions during each step of the countdown if they'd like, but if one action is reliant on another PC's action being completed it must be down the round after. Some actions take multiple countdown steps, such as those that take a Networking check. If the action takes more steps than there are countdown steps remaining, the countdown result will occur as the PC is taking their action.

Example of a countdown:

The Baker boys will finish patrolling the outside of the mall in eight action rounds. Our two Takers do the following. 1)Find a hardware store 2+3)Loot the hardware store (1 haul) and grab some rope 4+5) Set up the rope and climb down 6) Break into their target shop, which has a simple lock on it 7) One reseals the entrance while the other searches 8) Grab the goods and get ready to leave. The Baker boys enter the east side of the mall at this point, and the PCs hear the down of them hootin' and hollerin' at how excited they are to loot the exact store the PCs are in. A new countdown begins at 5, which will result in the Bakers arriving at the store.