Well, as a non-combatant you can always keep the zombies busy while the others are busy doing useful tasks. They call this role - bait - just don't run into dead ends, and if you do that is helpful by saving food and resources for the team :P

You will also need clerks, lookouts, labourers, someone to brace the door when the zombies are battering your door, help to distribute ammo and supplies during a siege since you need the fighters on the front line, just some ideas.

Edit: Some ideas for a 'bait' character, example of skills -
Walk Loudly: attracts zombies in a larger radius around you.
Lucky escapee: able to find ways out of a tricky situation allowing escape routes when trapped.
Shout loudly "I am here" - cooldown 10 mins, useful in attracting almost all zombies in the vicinity, use sparingly may not survive the experience.

Quote:

Original post by LmT Quote: Original post by fearghaill More people in your party = more mouths to feed. Sorry for my mistake. Would it be possible to not worry about running out of food if the player can manipulate the amount of manpower at his disposal to overcome the objectives before food becomes an issue? Having the ability to win by killing your party or by letting them live would cater to players of different skill and open up more choices.

Oh, I fully intend to leave it up to the player to decide if they want to try and save everyone they come across, or keep their team small. Of course, steps would need to be taken to make sure the useless survivors they leave behind can never become zombies...