I'm working on a co-op zombie survival game. Focusing less on fighting, and more on survival. But I have a mechanic in place where the players may become infected, and when dieing, have the choice whether to pick a new character, or join the zombie team.
But, I would like to introduce the "mercy killing" an infected friend scenerio from many zombie stories. Or to prevent a potential traitor =-)
What is a good way to handle it?
Allow a player to attack another player they feel is infected?
Make the player make the decision themselves to "eliminate" the infection?
Put the infected player in an infirmary (public knowledge) and allow any other player to visit that action space and "help him on his way"
Right now the combat Vs the zombies is a very simple X + weapons > Z value. Where X = combination of die rolls according to the # of survivors the player commits.
I agree it shouldn't be entirely clear. And up to the player. The shamed "I got bit" look from a good zombie movie. Or the "No! I cut myself on something!" argument.
There will be an event, trigger by the players drawing cards (kind of like Epidemics in Pandemic) which will trigger several in game things, including the zombie kickover. So the players won't be able to say "Ok, we have three turns until he turns, lets use it to our advantage!".
I think I have a good idea for a "punishment" for players killing a suspected infected player.
Excellent comments so far, I'll post some more details soon.