Have an idea for a world and I would like to see if anyone has tried anything Similar. Karavar; A world where the Necromancers have already won.

Karavar is a world where survival would be as important as adventuring. It is a world that had pretty much already gone through its version of the Zombie Apocalypse. 100 years a group of liches and necromancers were able to open permanent portals to the World of the Dead and bolster their power like never before. With their armies combined the Necromancers were unstoppable and they kingdoms of Men, Elves and Dwarves all fell one after the other.

The world that would've been your typical fantasy world in the past is now much different. Much of the old cities and towns lie open and abandoned, slowly rotting away as time goes by. Zombies and other undead horrors roam where ever they please, One could go days without seeing a single rotter and then wake up to find there are dozens of them. The dead range from stupid moaners to clever pack hunters to lumbering hulks made from multiple people.

Life is hard, short and cruel. Those who do not live in walled fortresses must live as nomads in the wilds where wild and mutated animals are just as much as of a threat as the monsters that now roam. You could run into a pack of wolves that have been transformed into blink dogs or deformed kobolds with black scales and acidic bites.

The Dwarves have found a way to seal the entrances to their cities off from the rest of the overworld. They maintain order through absolute control. But things are starting to go wrong. Food was already hard to grow underground and now a blight is destroying Dwarven crops. Hunger runs rampant and the common people are beginning to lose faith in the nobility. One Dwarven king has a plan. Send spies into the overworld and see if they can find human villages that have found a way to survive and then sack those villages when they are found.

The elves have seemed to fair the best in the new world. They are able to use their magic to hide their cities in the forest so that no one, not even other elves, could find them unless they were supposed to. The elves are able to use their mastery of magic and nature to maintain a good stock of food and medicinal herbs, enough to support a population thousands strong. The Elves know this cannot last though. A council of mages taking refuge in the hidden elven creature have discovered a terrifying side effect of the portals; as the Deadportals remain open they allow a corrupting force to seep into the world of the living. The rate at which this corrupting force enters the world is growing faster and faster every year. The world has already been permanently damaged and in as little as a century all life might be destroyed and replaced with unlife.

Gold has become worthless in this world. Only valued by collectors. A person is more likely to trade your their potion for water, food or pelts. Much of trade is done with the direct bartering of items or services. Blacksmiths are very rare as most places are not stable enough to have dedicated craftsman. Most weapons were made before Dead took over and if you want a new weapon or piece of armor you're going to have to find it on a dead person or kill someone and take it. In this world bandits don't try to take your gold or your jewels, they're after your food... Or trying to make you into food.

Silver is an extremely rare commodity in this world. The dead rightfully fear it's power and have done all in their power to find it and destroy it. Many silver weapons, armors and other objects have been locked away in vaults under guard, have been melted down or thrown to the bottom of lakes and rivers. Only mages who need silver for research are even allowed to possess it.

Wizards and other spellcasters are hated and feared by the public, usually being blamed for causing the rise of the dead or accused of working with them. Being a mage is something you would have to hide from people you don't trust.

Paladins and Clerics are respected and feared. Many towns live or die based on their holy men being able to defend and provide for them, but the dead also fear holy men and will usually send strong forces to crush them.

Travelers are rare and often mistrusted. Gone are the days of friendly villagers, well-stocked shops, and helpful innkeepers. If someone invites you to stay in their home or seems eager to help you, you should probably run quickly in the opposite direction.

The only proper cities left are the necropolises with Lich Lords who rule with absolute power while the undead carry on a horrifying and twisted mockery of day to day life. In these places, mortals are raised on farms as cattle, used as slaves, forced to fight each other in arenas, and used by dark mages for experiments. Temples to the dark gods are raised while temples to the gods of light are destroyed or desecrated.

Karavar is a world inspired by stuff like The Walking Dead, Crossed, and Dark Souls. The world would hopefully feel somber, bleak and a little frightening. The characters may be on an epic quest to defeat the Lich Lords, but many of those quest will be broken up by struggles for survival. Rules about eating and drinking would be enforced. The party may come across a group of deer they can kill and eat, come across a bear and decide to eat it after the fight or come across another group of people and try to steal their stuff. My only concern is that I hear that enforcing food and water rules really kills the fun of most games.

I would also like to have the world evolve more organically. I'm trying to think of at least 6 different paths I can get my players to follow or jump between. So far I've thought of.

1. You find a dead body with a book written in Draconic. Upon reading the book you discover that the author was a sorcerer who was searching for a legendary valley if Dragons far to the north in the frozen mountains. He planned to go to these dragons and ask them for aid against the undead

2. you are taken by a group of bandits that have taken over a fortress. You think they are going to use you as slaves but upon reaching the base you are told you can join the bandits if you fight another group of prisoners to the death.

3. During your travels, you fall into an ancient ruin that once belonged to a powerful guild of monster slayers. Within this ruin you find silver weapons, books on monster weaknesses and battle strategy as well as a map that shows the locations of other guild houses. One is marked with a large red X.

4. You awake one day to find your village being overrun by the dead.

5. You are sent by the church to find the blade of a legendary paladin. This blade is said to be able to destroy any undead creature or demon.

6. You are spies working for Dwarves to find towns that could be taken with minimal loses on the dwarven side. Your mission; to appear as brave heroes while you learn the towns weaknesses and ready for the assault.

7. Vampires are surprisingly nonplussed about the new balance of power. Mortal blood has become a high-priced commodity and many vampires starve or go mad. There is a secret cult of Vampires that considers themselves to be the protectors of the balance between life and death and they want to find a way to return the world to balance.

My last thought is that I'd implement a rule about any creature who can become a zombie being turned into one 1d4 hours after death if they do not have their head cut off or body burned.

So that's all I have. I only came up with the idea a few days ago so it's still a little rough. All advice is appreciated.