Zombie RPG - Design Update - Morale

I keep forgetting to post Brian Mitsoda's weekly updates for Zombie RPG - fortunately, Rampant Coyote's indie round-up yesterday reminded me to add it to my schedule.  So, this week is the first part of a discussion on Morale:

Morale is one of the major systems in the game.  True to the zombie genre, Morale plays a huge part in the will and behavior of the survivors.  Since it affects a lot of systems in many ways, I’m going to be talking about aspects of it over the next few weeks.

Today I’m going to cover the very basic Morale system and what it means for your character as a leader and what it takes for the Shelter to not fall apart from within.  Morale can be thought of as the sum total of good will generated by the player. Morale is what keeps people’s spirits up, keeps them going, and prevents the pocket society they have created from breaking down. As long as Morale is positive, the player doesn’t have to worry about people leaving, refusing to do tasks, or being difficult in the field. Certain story events, activities, and luxury items can build up Morale. Other actions such as starvation, killing an ally, or having an ally die in the field can reduce morale. Certain allies (especially those with negotiation skills) and upgrades (like the generator) will give the player daily morale bonuses. Like Food, good Morale can be stockpiled, meaning that as long as people have distractions and Food, generally they will forget about the harsher realities of life.