So the first arc won't include any information on how the system works besides vague allusions to it as I'm still undecided per the poll.  The first Arc will just be the three? days leading up to the start of Zombie outbreak which will introduce the system to everyone or maybe it won't?  Not sure if I want the system to be up front and make itself known or have it be in the dark until someone figures it out and word is spread.  For the level of the outbreak I'm wanting total society annihilation.  The only thing really left would be small pockets of survivors who managed to control an area like a school, apartment building, mall, etc.  The story is set up in a fictional city because I honestly can't be bothered to research a city layout just in case people get nitpicky, but the world is basically a copy of ours in terms of technology and culture.  The story would be taking place in the equivalent of the USA for culture points.  This does lead to some interesting things like letting me add pockets of the city being something like "china town" that exists in many USA cities.  The main driving force for the main character will be to protect his family, which at this in point in time is just his little sister and brother who are going to a private middle school.  The main reason for this setting is I think it would be interesting that the first major group of survivors the MC has to look after will mainly be children with few adults that will be able to pitch in and help.  Putting extra strain on him at the start of the outbreak.  The other is a lot of private schools tend to be inside a large gated area that would lend itself as a decent initial base for the outbreak.  The main character would be in his mid 20s and working full time to provide for his siblings after his parents died in a car accident a few years prior.  Now of course one could argue the MC should take his siblings out of school and try to go to some remote area to survive and while this may be ideal if it was just a normal zombie apocalypse it's not the case in this world.  Zombies will evolve, people will evolve, animals will evolve.  The system introduces the whole power stones or whatever I decide to call them and you can gain stats and abilities from those stones.  Think of them like monster cores from other series, but even people have them too.  More applicable to like a dantian from a cultivation system, but it only really grows thru subsuming other cores.  There will be no class system, but just the raw stats + abilities.  The abilities will be broken down pretty simply without much fanfare.  Combat and Utility.  Combat abilities could be something like a fireball, weapon manifestation, summoning, etc.  There is basically an unlimited number of Combat abilities.  Utility could be things like Spatial magic (teleporting, storage, spatial tears, etc.)  healing abilities, plant growing abilities, regeneration, whatever really.  Utility abilities aren't necessarily non combative, but they definitely aren't the main focus.  I'm thinking that the system is pretty simple in fact as you eat absorb more power stones you gain "xp".  Every level will give you stat points to allocate and at certain level points and will advance to a higher tier.  Every new tier gives a new ability slot.  It was considering having power stones be different with some being ability stones, but then that kind of breaks the idea that animals, humans, zombies are all the same when it comes to their "core".  It wouldn't make sense for some to bestow abilities and others wouldn't.  I could make it so only higher tier beings do that, but then what decides what gives what ability?  I'd rather it just be higher tier cores give more xp and have abilities form as an ability crystal that can manifest randomly at times.  The abilities will be color coded by being "red" for combat and "green" for utility abilities.  There is no form of "inspect" or anything in the system so the only indication is the color and what ability someone gets could be random.  Since there is no form of verification what ability people get could be predetermined or crystal based.  Ability crystals will be used to level up abilities even if there is open slots, when you subsume an ability crystal you get to choose to gain an ability or an ability point.  The more powerful an ability gets the more points it takes.  The ability level ups are qualitative changes to the abilities not just strength. An example of this would be if the first ability is "fire magic" At level 1 it could generate simple things like scorching rays for single target attacks.  A level 2 ability could potential make fire balls.  At max level they would gain complete mastery over "fire magic" and could form the fire into any shape or effect they desire.  That is pretty end game though.