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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] first game/WoDoug
Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2000 12:32:07 -0000
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From: Brian Watson <kerr@concentric.net>
To: <flesh_rpg@edenstudios.net>
Sent: Wednesday, February 23, 2000 6:01 PM
Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] first game/WoDoug
> No problem. Use a zombie that DOESNT have any weaknesses. Then see what they do
> about it :)
Don't tempt me.....
I'm planning on running a number of scenarios as a taster for a full campaign. In the first few I'll keep the same weak spot for the Zombies and let my players get nice and confortable.
In the later ones I'll move the weakspot and wait for a player to get cocky. Zombie stumbles in. Player shoots Zombine. Zombies head explodes. Zombie falls down. Players puts gun away and walks off. Zombie stands up again and bites player.
Mmmmm.
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] first game/WoDoug
Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2000 12:58:06 -0000
----- Original Message -----
From: Attila & Helen Imre <rakshasa2@home.com>
To: <flesh_rpg@edenstudios.net>
Sent: Friday, February 25, 2000 12:55 PM
Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] first game/WoDoug
> *QUESTION*
>
> How's the zombie going to bite without a head??? You gona have some
> fruity metamorphosis or something?
>
> Attila
Do you work as a proof reader/editor or such like :)
Sorry.
Maybe the shot blew the Zombies head off and the Zombie then picks it up and puts it back on again.
Oh I don't know.
Why I am even trying to dig myself out of this hole :)
You're just like my PCs, one little mistake and they're on you like a tonne of bricks. I rue the day I ever had them attacked by a "carnivorous" boar.
Regards,
Mark
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] first game/WoDoug
Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2000 08:16:27 –0500
Mark Oliver wrote:
>
::SNIP::
> Do you work as a proof reader/editor or such like :)
>
> Sorry.
>
> Maybe the shot blew the Zombies head off and the Zombie then picks it up and puts it back on again.
>
> Oh I don't know.
>
> Why I am even trying to dig myself out of this hole :)
>
> You're just like my PCs, one little mistake and they're on you like a tonne of bricks. I rue the day I ever had them attacked by a "carnivorous" boar.
>
> Regards,
>
> Mark
Mark,
Sorry for being a pain! I don't mean to be so nitpicky early in themorning... ;)
How's about once the zombie has it's head blown clean off, it's body teeters off balance & then another EVIL looking zombie hybrid thingie starts to claw it's way out of it's torso? Just a thought... it would ROCK for effect & I fear a few of the pc's would be wishing they were wearing a pair of Depends-tm undergarments... HEH! ^_^
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] first game/WoDoug
Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2000 13:35:07 -0000
----- Original Message -----
From: Attila & Helen Imre <rakshasa2@home.com>
To: <flesh_rpg@edenstudios.net>
Sent: Friday, February 25, 2000 1:16 PM
Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] first game/WoDoug
<<< Sorry for being a pain! I don't mean to be so nitpicky early in the morning... ;) >>>
Well it's not early in the morning for me. It's the last few hours of work before the weekend so nitpick all you like, I'm not feeling stressed, honest.....
<<< Just a thought... it would ROCK for effect & I fear a few of the pc's would be wishing they were wearing a pair of Depends-tm undergarments... HEH! ^_^ >>>
Possibly....
I just want to get them used to the traditional headshot Zombie so that they get comfortable. Then I want to pull in something pretty way-out to teach them that they shouldn't go spotting patterns.
If one of the players get's a bit mauled because they're being too confident then a good lesson will have been given :)
Regards,
Mark
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] first game/WoDoug
Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2000 09:36:09 EST
In a message dated 2/25/00 4:59:11 AM Pacific Standard Time, marko@syslogic.com writes:
<< *QUESTION*
>
> How's the zombie going to bite without a head??? You gona have some fruity metamorphosis or something?
>
> Attila >>
If the zombie had more of an asian flavor, it's zombification power could come from the long fingernails it would grow after it's death. "Long-nail" zombies may even be scarier that standard zombies because it'd probably be easier to restrain one from biting you than it would be from getting scratched by one with two arms flailing.
Jon the unshaken.
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] Long-nails
Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2000 06:59:51 -0800
A long-nail zombie could also have a far more infectious scrach than a common zombie's bite. This would be more likely in a magical zombie, but I could see the organic-fretilizer zombies doing this too.
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] Miniatures
Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2000 09:25:33 -0600 (CST)
On Thu, 24 Feb 2000 KGaud35459@aol.com wrote:
> Rafm and Grenadier both have a descent selection (from their Call of Cthulhu
> lines) and I have found that using the Vampire the Masquerade figs works
> well, just paint them like dead people. Some fantasy zombies are ok as long
> as, like you say, they don't have swords or chainmail. Hope this helps.
>
> Kyle out.
Or, if you have a bunch of zombies in chainmail and with medieval weaponry and want to get some use out of them, why not have an adventure where the players meet a Renaissance Festival of the Living Dead!
I should have my grubby little hands on AFMBE in the next few days when my order comes in... can't wait to put my players through hell... heheh...
It'll be a nice break from the ConspiracyX adventure and a good one-off game to get them interested in the system.
Steven Nelson
snelson@meyercapel.com
sdnelson@advancenet.net
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Subject: [Flesh_rpg] AFMBE Demo Game Concept
Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2000 11:48:13 -0500
Here is the background and overall concept for a one shot AFMBE Demo I am planning to run at Wizard's Tower in Nashua, NH March 11th or 18th.
Overview: One problem with demo games is that they either limit the number of players, or get too big for most GMs (ZMs???) to run properly. Either way, players end up loosing out. When I write and run demos I like to have it so it is capable to have players come and go as the demo goes on. The methology that works well is to have the players play until their character dies. If there is no other players waiting to play, give them a new character and get on with the demo, otherwise, the next player in line takes their spot and they get in the line. AFMBE works really well for this concept. It is trivial to have the group run into / find people hiding from the zombies.
<Spoiler Space> Don't page down if you plan on playing this scenario....
Concept: 300 years ago a small band of indians were massacred on the banks of the Merrimac river in what was then known as Nutfield and Dunstable. As the blood thirsty settlers scalped the natives, their medicine man called down a great curse. Fade to present, a huge shopping mall now sits on the land where the massacre took place. Unknown to all but a few historians, it is the 300th anniversary of the massacre. That night, the indian braves rise as zombies and assault the mall.
There are three categories of zombies - one "uber" zombie, the shaman, 12 quick zombies with infection etc... the braves, and the poor infected victims, really basic zombies. The characters are mainly norms, with a few "others" thrown in. One of the characters (a survivor), is the last descendant of the raiding party responsible for the massacre. The Shaman knows this and wants his / her scalp.
The characters have a few different ways to achieve their goal (survive!).
First - Kill all the indians including the shaman, any animated victims will drop.
Second - Remove the curse somehow. To do this they need an inspired person who is willing to do a type of exorcism on the shaman.
Third - Escape the mall. Well, this doesn't stop the zombies, but since only the indians can infect, chances are the national guard will be able to clean everything up eventually.
Fourth - Let the shaman scalp the descendant. Once this is done, the indians will return to their graves at sunrise, at which time the victims will drop. (The rest of the characters will still need to survive until sunrise, so this might not be evident to them if it happens.)
Thats the basic concept. Comments welcomed!
John Bacon
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] first game/WoDoug
Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2000 17:01:59 -0000
----- Original Message -----
From: Attila & Helen Imre <rakshasa2@home.com>
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Sent: Friday, February 25, 2000 2:02 PM
Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] first game/WoDoug
<<< You DO NOT want your pc's to think this is a cakewalk. >>>
Very true.
<<< Try to keep them in suspense >>>
This is where the Zombies with the unexpected weak points come into things. While they're getting used to the system (and me at the same time actually) I'll be gentle and use the familiar brain weak point.
When things are ticking over I'll pull out the stops and be far more creative. They'll try the expected places (head, heart and fire) but I'll tuck the weakness somewhere else. The spine example from the rules might be
a good one actually.....
I'll probably move it for each campaign. Eventually I want to end up with a super indestructable zombie that's really hard to kill yet knows how to play dead when a "normal" weak spot gets hit. That'll teach 'em :)
<<< I'm working on making a pretty special dead guy... one with a SOUL. >>>
Surely dead guys have no soul?
Mmmm, image pops into head of a Zombie sitting at a Piano singing "Tie a Yellow Ribbon" (Brownie points to anyone who can spot why.....)
Regards,
Mark
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Subject: [Flesh_rpg] AFMBE Demo Game - comment
Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2000 09:11:08 PST
John Bacon wrote: <<The methology that works well is to have the players play until their character dies. If there is no other players waiting to play, give them a new character and get on with the demo, otherwise, the next player in line takes their spot and they get in the line. AFMBE works really well for this concept. It is trivial to have the group run into / find people hiding from the zombies.>>
An excellent idea... I've been doing basically the same thing for other games that I run, but AFMBE lends itself better to this concept than almost any other game.
<<spoiler space>>
<<Concept: 300 years ago a small band of indians were massacred on the banks of the Merrimac river in what was then known as Nutfield and Dunstable. As the blood thirsty settlers scalped the natives, their medicine man called down a great curse. Fade to present, a huge shopping mall now sits on the land where the massacre took place. Unknown to all but a few historians, it is the 300th anniversary of the massacre. That night, the indian braves rise as zombies and assault the mall.>>
Are you going to have the weather work against the players by forcing them to stay at the mall for the night? I can see some creative characters getting away (and out of the mall) from such a small amount of zombies fairly quickly. Maybe the security station is compromised and the steel door grills lower early at all the exits, thus trapping everyone inside...?
As for the rest - zombie mix/goals/etc. they're pretty well thought out and should work nicely for you. Good job and an interesting post.
The Quiet Man
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Subject: [Flesh_rpg] Brawl at the mall
Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2000 09:35:38 -0800
Sounds good. I've been thinking of running AFMBE as a series of one-shots. I'll have to see how it goes, but I don't really see a campaign going for much longer then the initial outbreak and then to the end of the "movie" as it were. I.e. the worlds gonna be safe after the clean up, or it's just a matter of time till mindkind is gone. I'm not saying I'm gonna automatically end that story, but I don't conceive it going on right now, but I haven't run it yet either. If I do do a series of one-shots, I think I'll still want to use the same characters. Makes for a bit of b-movie flavor, the player get to develope their characters, and I can make bigger and badder zombies each time too!
I've also been think of have a heierarchy within the zombie "power structure." For every 20 "Privats," there'll be a "Corpral," for every 20 "Corprals," there'll be a "Sargent," and so on...
It'll let the game escalate without giving the players too much to deal with at first.
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] Brawl at the mall
Date: Fri, 25 Feb 2000 13:23:41 EST
In a message dated 2/25/00 5:33:24 PM !!!First Boot!!!, werecrow@earthlink.net writes:
<< Sounds good. I've been thinking of running AFMBE as a series of one-shots. I'll have to see how it goes, but I don't really see a campaign going for much longer then the initial outbreak and then to the end of the "movie" as it were >>
This probably more true than even I want to admit. A couple of examples come to mind however, that might help your goup have more than a B&P session.
1. Earth 2
Remember this show? this is kind of a weak example because it wasn't on very long, but it emphasies inter-party dynamics. reacurring villians, too.
2. Tribe 8
This RPG was pretty good at establishing a society after an apocolyptic event. bartering, gang affiliation, etc. You can probably find this in the bargin bin, to boot.
Give your players a "epic" task like in D&D. travel around, but with a long-term goal like they meet up with a NPC who knows somone in a remote location with a bomb shelter, or such. Then being the evil ZM's I know you are, have them find the bomb shelter decimated at the end of your campaign!
-Chad
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Subject: [Flesh_rpg] Zombies in the News!
Date: 25 Feb 2000 10:49:38 -0800
On another (not so Braaaaaiiin oriented) list someone pointed to this rather timely ABC News article! Beware your grandmothers!
http://abcnews.go.com/sections/world/DailyNews/witch000209.html
There are more things in heavan and earth, Horatio, than are dreamt of in your philosophy.
Hamlet - Act 1, Scene 5
http://www.jvlnet.com/~jdpearson
http://www.oocities.org/jdpearson
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] first game/WoDoug
Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 01:36:45 PST
> *QUESTION*
>
> How's the zombie going to bite without a head??? You gona have some
> fruity metamorphosis or something?
The easy way out on this is to have the shot just blow a big (canalope sized) hole in the zomb's head, but leaves the mouth and at least one eye there. Or, just blow the top part of the head off. That way, when the players say "Must not have got enough of the brain", you can describe how as the zomb stands, bits of flesh and pieces of remaining brain slide out the hole, drip down their torsos and splatter onto the floor.
Who doesn't like fleshy bits splatting on the floor? =]
--
GAry m, minor epot
aka "Sneezy the Squid"
------------------------------
If you're going to pick a hero, ya know, do your research
-- Bill Hicks
DNRC Member since 1995 · ICQ#: 8391493 · #dragoncon on DALnet mIRC
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] first game/WoDoug
Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 01:50:22 PST
<< Mmmm, image pops into head of a Zombie sitting at a Piano singing "Tie a Yellow Ribbon" (Brownie points to anyone who can spot why.....) >>
I sent B. B. King my money. Give to the cause, friends! =]
(Amazing how many stars were in that flick)
(Editor’s Note: The Reference is to "Don ‘No Soul" Simmions" in the flick "Amazon Women on the Moon")
--
GAry m, minor epot
aka "Sneezy the Squid"
------------------------------
If you're going to pick a hero, ya know, do your research
-- Bill Hicks
DNRC Member since 1995 · ICQ#: 8391493 · #dragoncon on DALnet mIRC
rom: "g. m." <gm1970@hotmail.com> Save Address
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] AFMBE Demo Game Concept
Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 01:48:06 PST
> Here is the background and overall concept for a one shot AFMBE Demo I am
::SNIP::
<Spoiler Space> Don't page down if you plan on playing this scenario....
::SNIP::
>That night, the indian braves rise as zombies and assault the mall.
Not bad so far.
::SNIP::
> One of the characters (a survivor), is the last descendant of the raiding party
> responsible for the massacre. The Shaman knows this and wants his / her scalp.
Is there any way for the PCs to find this out? Perhaps a bookstore in the mall has a few local history books on display, if this massacre is known, a la Wounded Knee? Or have a PC be a worker in said bookstore who knows local history? Comnbine perhaps? Perhaps that's why the decendant is there, or he felt "pulled" to the location for a reason he cannot understand, and is drawn to the bookstore for some reason? Since this is a major plot point, I'd try to have one way to have this come out for the "Oooh" factor, and then watch the other PCs look at the decendant and get that "Pehaps if we give him to them, they'll leave us alone". <Yes, I'm an evil bastard at times>
::SNIP::
>Fourth - Let the shaman scalp the descendant. Once this is done, the indians will return to their graves at sunrise, >at which time the victims will drop. (The rest of the characters will still need to survive until sunrise, so this might >not be evident to them if it happens.)
See above. =]
>Thats the basic concept. Comments welcomed!
Generally, I like. Nifty reason for the Zombs, a mall is always fun for the "what neet weapons can I find" and Day o' the Dead references, and a good way to rotate PCs. Think I'll steal the idea from you for a local demo, a true sign of a good
idea! =]
--
GAry m, minor epot
aka "Sneezy the Squid"
------------------------------
If you're going to pick a hero, ya know, do your research
-- Bill Hicks
DNRC Member since 1995 · ICQ#: 8391493 · #dragoncon on DALnet mIRC
From: "g. m." <gm1970@hotmail.com> Save Address
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] Brawl at the mall
Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 01:54:01 PST
> Give your players a "epic" task like in D&D. travel around, but with a
> long-term goal like they meet up with a NPC who knows somone in a remote location with a
> bomb shelter, or such. Then being the evil ZM's I know you are, have them
> find the bomb shelter decimated at the end of your campaign!
Ok, that's it. I've had it with you people being as creative as I am, but being faster typers. =]
My (incomplete) Zomb campagin goes up tonight. I hope you're happy.
--
GAry m, minor epot
aka "Sneezy the Squid"
------------------------------
If you're going to pick a hero, ya know, do your research
-- Bill Hicks
DNRC Member since 1995 · ICQ#: 8391493 · #dragoncon on DALnet mIRC
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Subject: [Flesh_rpg] Death is not the End - Long
Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 01:59:33 PST
Ok all, here's the text from the song that inspired me. I plan on breaking each verse into a section of the campagin that will run for quite a few scenarios, depending on the actions of the PCs. I also have a reason why the dead walk, that will be revealed about 2/3s of the way thru the campagin. But for now, here's the song. Next post is a breakdown of ideas for section one.
Death is not the End
by Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds
Album: Murder Diaries
(Man 1)
When you're sad and when you're lonely,
And haven't got a friend
Just Remember, That Death is not the End
(Woman 1)
And all that you held sacred
Falls down and does not mend
Just Remember, That Death is not the End
(Both)
Not the End
Not the End
Just Remember, That Death is not the End
(Man 2)
When you're standin' on your crossroads
That you cannot comprehend,
Just Remember, That Death is not the End
(Woman 2)
And all your dreams have vanished
And you don't know what's up the bend,
Just Remember, That Death is not the End
(All)
Not the End
Not the End
Just Remember, That Death is not the End
(Man 3)
When storm clouds gather 'round,
And heavy rains descend,
Just Remember, That Death is not the End
(Woman 3)
And there's no one there to comfort you,
With a helping hand to lend
Just Remember, That Death is not the End
(All)
Not the End
Not the End
Just Remember, That Death is not the End
(Men)
For the Tree of Life is growing,
Where the Spirit never dies
(Women)
And the bright light of Salvation
Up in Dark and Empty skies
(Man 4)
When the cities are on fire
With the burning flesh of men
Just Remember, That Death is not the End
(Man 1)
When you search in vain to find
Some law abiding citizen
Just Remember, That Death is not the End
(All)
Not the End
Not the End
Just Remember, That Death is not the End
Not the End
Not the End
Just Remember, That Death is not the End
--
GAry m, minor epot
aka "Sneezy the Squid"
------------------------------
If you're going to pick a hero, ya know, do your research
-- Bill Hicks
DNRC Member since 1995 · ICQ#: 8391493 · #dragoncon on DALnet mIRC
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Subject: [Flesh_rpg] DintE - Section 1
Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 02:05:21 PST
Ok, think of this as an under-developed outline. I also intend to submit this campagin to the Web site or as a book. I already asked the Eden guys (Hi! Love the book!) and they told me to go for it, and look foward to what we can come up with from this. Let's have some fun! (Side note. As I type this, Moonlight Sonata just came on random play on my WinAmp. Oddly apprpo, eh?)
Death is not the End
Campaign Notes
The overall them/feel of the campaign is one of loneliness, solititude, self-reliance, sacrifice, and the struggle to continue. This is a grim campaign. Lots of death, mutilation and sorrow. But then, most zombie movies and stories end very badly for most of the characters, more so than in regular horror stories. Besides, horror games/stores are not known for being particularly uplifting until the end. :) Try to see how your players will take this, as some people do not take these kind of stories well. Know what your groups tastes are. If you don't think they can take an opressivly grim campagin (mine can't), lighten it a bit, but still be ready to use some cast members as food for the ravening horde.
Each verse is a thematic core of a set of adventures. Each set can consist of as many sessions as the Zombie Master desires, for as long as the ZM feels is necessary. These chapters will be set to explore the theme in several ways. However, do not beat the team into their heads, with "See what this guy represents?" Don't even mention themes. If the cast members realize it, fine. If not, fine. Just have fun and let the theme just be an extra layer of fun for the observant.
The chorus is a turning point in the game. Signposts of the overall plot that moves behind the scenes and makes a change in the status quo. Major supporting cast members are introduced, re-introduced or changed.
Verse 1:
(Man 1)
When you're sad and when you're lonely,
And haven't got a friend
Just Remember, That Death is not the End
At first, things are normal. You may start you campaign anywhere, but it is assumed that you will pick a mid-sized city to start in, as opposed to a major metropolitan area. An area that has an unpopulated area close by but has a large enough population to create a good number of starting zombies. If you need a good starter scenario, there is a great one on the All Flesh web page. Or, you can start your PCs separately. In this chapter, the PCs should begin to encounter the zombie threat with supporting characters that they know. And as they do so, the supporting characters are separated from them, lost in the crowds, or falling victim to the clammy hands and hungry mouths of the undead. Or, they crack, unable to cope with the zombie threat and flee/kill themselves. By the time the players get together, they should be a small band, with their circle of friends and acquaintances shrinking to almost non-existence as more zombies rise. They should find a shelter of some kind, a gym or a defensible apartment building, a grocery store or strip mall with other people they do not know. In time, the PCs will be whittled down to just them, and perhaps one or two supporting cast members they used to know, alone in a world full of strangers.
--
GAry m, minor epot
aka "Sneezy the Squid"
------------------------------
If you're going to pick a hero, ya know, do your research
-- Bill Hicks
DNRC Member since 1995 · ICQ#: 8391493 · #dragoncon on DALnet mIRC
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Subject: [Flesh_rpg] DitnE, Secton 2
Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 02:07:24 PST
Ok, here's section two, and it's getting meatier. Itchier. Tastier.
Verse 2:
(Woman 1)
And all that you held sacred
Falls down and does not mend
Just Remember, That Death is not the End
At this point in the game, society is barely holding on. The government is trying to cope with the zombie problem, but failing as peoples selfishness takes over, barricading themselves in their homes and apartments. Police and National Guard troops patrol the streets, keeping the threat only slightly at bay. The PCs should start encountering parts of the system starting to break down. The Government tries to keep order in the cities. Clergy unable to give solace to the faithful. Things that society counts on spiraling out of control, breaking, unable to fix itself as humanity is placed on the serving table. Business collapse as all but the most dedicated stop going to work. Hospitals having to board up their Emergency Room doors to keep the zombies out. The phone lines go down as no one operates the systems, or repair the lines downed in accidents or deliberately cut down. The PCs should run into representatives of these systems and see how they, like what they represent, have fallen. Examples should be Solders and Cops who have either run from the threat, or are trying to force people to help them hold the line. Clergy who either believe that the End has come, and are unable to comprehend why they were not called up, believe they are here to stand against the zombie horde, or feel their faith shatter under the strain. Overturned service vehicles, fire trucks, et certa. At this point, various people who held positions of power of some sort should be introduced to the PCs, who will play a larger roll as the campaign progresses. The PCs should be trying to survive in the crumbling society, and perhaps joining forces with others to protect people in barricades, going on extraction missions from the shelters to bring people in outlying areas to a shelter. Ideas to be fleshed out into full scenarios later: A military officer obsessed with keeping martial law type order with his shrinking units, so he demands all able bodied men of the shelter join up. If they do not, he says that he will not force the issue yet, but that he will return after cleaning out an infested area near by. A police captain/sheriff holding onto the outlying areas trying to maintain the civilian order asking for volunteers. A clergyman of high rank/televangelist who believes that the dead are his new congregation who have taken the "eat of my flesh" a little too far, but that they can still be saved, locked in his church. A mission to the local power plant, to try to help keep it running. Trips to find any survivors and get supplies, perhaps radio equipment to contact authorities after the phones go out, leads them to a Wal-Mart manager who is using the sporting goods department to keep "his" store protected from looters with his staff, but will sell items for double price. "Cash only, no checks and the phones are out to verify credit cards" A trip to the local hospital to find doctors/nurses and medical supplies, and encountering researchers looking to solve the problem. One doctor whose mind is crumbling since this event goes against all his training and experience starting to slip into dementia. Perhaps a gang has taken over, offering protection in return for medical service. This gang or another could make an attempt to take over the shelter. There are lots of potential ideas here.
Most of these encounters should have a way to be settled by diplomacy, depending of your group's tastes. And if things get too slow, throw a passel of zombies at 'em. :) In the end, they should still think that a solution will be found to the Z problem, that the governments will reestablish itself and things will return to normal as they stay at a shelter and build a relationship with those there.
--
GAry m, minor epot
aka "Sneezy the Squid"
------------------------------
If you're going to pick a hero, ya know, do your research
-- Bill Hicks
DNRC Member since 1995 · ICQ#: 8391493 · #dragoncon on DALnet mIRC
From: "g. m." <gm1970@hotmail.com> Save Address
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Subject: [Flesh_rpg] DintE - Chorus 1
Date: Sat, 26 Feb 2000 02:10:19 PST
Just to re-iterate:
The chorus is a turning point in the game. Signposts of the overall plot that moves behind the scenes and makes a change in the status quo. Major supporting cast members are introduced, re-introduced or changed. Here is where the Meta-plot behind the scenes begins to start making an effect on the shape of the campagin, as the PCs have gotten settled into the world, used to their characters and the Zombs.
Chorus
(Both)
Not the End
Not the End
Just Remember, That Death is not the End
At this point, the meta-plot starts making its influence known. The people introduced in the last bunch of adventures, as examples of the old way are killed, unbeknownst to the PCs. As they lay dying, forces move into their bodies, drawn to their dark impulses and strong will. They arise and begin to make plans. Select zombies under their control are selected. If you've had any PCs die before now, without being rendered to bits, they can also be selected for their strong wills by what lies behind what is happening to lead. The PCs should be on another scouting/recovery mission, and they encounter a pack of zombies working together to break into an area with a few trapped people, lead by one zombie (the expired PC perhaps) that is using a tool somewhat effectively. This zombie is working with the others, somewhat intelligently, like a good dog, but is not in control. Think fly-boy from Dawn of the Dead. They should find this new development, smarter zombies, unsettling to say the least.
--
GAry m, minor epot
aka "Sneezy the Squid"
------------------------------
If you're going to pick a hero, ya know, do your research
-- Bill Hicks
DNRC Member since 1995 · ICQ#: 8391493 · #dragoncon on DALnet mIRC
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] new boy
Date: Sun, 27 Feb 2000 05:55:38 PST
Hello All,
I'm new to the list so my apologies if this has already been posted before.
The recent scenario idea about the risen shamen put me in mind of one of the Zombie World comics published by Dark Horse. If you haven't had chance to check these out they may prove a relatively good resource and an entertaining read.
As far as I know there are a couple of stories:
Champion of the Worms (sort of kicks off proceedings)
Dead End (a two issue stand alone)
Eat Your Heart Out (one issue black comedy)
Home for the Holidays (one issue)
Winter's Dregs (my personal favourite; four parter as the dead rise in New York)
Tree of Death (revisits characters from Champion of the Worms, and I think rounds off the titles)
Enjoy!
Ferg
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] AFMBE Demo Game Concept
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2000 14:18:27 -0500
>>Here is the background and overall concept for a one shot AFMBE Demo I am
>::SNIP::
>>
>>
>><Spoiler Space> Don't page down if you plan on playing this scenario....
>>
>::SNIP::
>>That night, the indian braves rise as zombies and
>>assault the mall.
>Not bad so far.
>::SNIP::
>>One of the characters (a survivor), is the last descendant of the raiding party
>>responsible for the massacre. The Shaman knows this and wants his / her scalp.
>Is there any way for the PCs to find this out? Perhaps a bookstore in the mall has a few local history books on >display, if this massacre is known, a la Wounded Knee? Or have a PC be a worker in said bookstore who knows >local history? Comnbine perhaps? Perhaps that's why the decendant is there, or he felt "pulled" to the location for a >reason he cannot understand, and is drawn to the bookstore for some reason? Since this is a major plot point,
>I'd try to have one way to have this come out for the "Oooh" factor, and then watch the other PCs look at the >decendant and get that "Pehaps if we give him to them, they'll leave us alone". <Yes, I'm an evil bastard at times>
Absolutely! Bookstore has a display on local history books. One of the first nect characters they find will be a history buff. The first time they encounter the shaman (not the first time they encounter the indians) he will point the character out. Also, if the group splits, the indians and shaman will chase the group with the descendant.
John Bacon
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] AFMBE Demo Game - comment
Date: Mon, 28 Feb 2000 14:13:05 -0500
"Frank Adams III" <fmadamsiii@hotmail.com> on 02/25/2000 12:11:08 PM
>><<Concept: 300 years ago a small band of indians were massacred on the
>>banks of the Merrimac river in what was then known as Nutfield and
>>Dunstable. As the blood thirsty settlers scalped the natives, their medicine
>>man called down a great curse. Fade to present, a huge shopping mall now
>>sits on the land where the massacre took place. Unknown to all but a few
>>historians, it is the 300th anniversary of the massacre. That night, the
>>indian braves rise as zombies and assault the mall.>>
>Are you going to have the weather work against the players by forcing them
>to stay at the mall for the night? I can see some creative characters
>getting away (and out of the mall) from such a small amount of zombies
>fairly quickly. Maybe the security station is compromised and the steel door
>grills lower early at all the exits, thus trapping everyone inside...?
>As for the rest - zombie mix/goals/etc. they're pretty well thought out and
>should work nicely for you. Good job and an interesting post.
>The Quiet Man
Not really going to use weather. I am going to use the security gates. As for the zombies, The shaman and other indians have an extremely fast infection - around 10 minutes or so after the first bite. The indians manage to infect quite a few people outside on their way in, and some near the exits that manage to leave. However, since the victim zombies crave living flesh etc... they are trying to get back into the mall (nearest source). So there are going to be some zombies milling about outside the primary entrances.
John Bacon
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] Article in Progress
Date: Tue, 29 Feb 2000 05:19:46 -0600
Below is an article I've been working on for Pyramid Magazine and I thought this was the best place to get some feedback. Please remember, this is not complete but a work in progress.
Thanks.
--------------------------------------------------
Techno-Zombie Rampage
An All Flesh Must be Eaten Deadworld
By Philip Reed
History
Mankind entered the twenty-first century full of hope and optimism. A great hurdle had been passed, a new millennium dawned without the apocalyptic visions of the world's doom-sayers taking place. As the years elapsed, the hope and optimism grew.
Technology was already an important part of society in the year 2000 and as 2050 approached, more and more technology emerged: newer, improved transportation, better computers, genetic engineering and cloning entered the mainstream. Even the governments of the world started to modernize, working together on new tech breakthroughs and scientific achievements. All in order to make a more perfect world.
2050 saw the dawning of combat cybernetics. Prosthetics, already in great use by the injured and crippled, were improved upon time and again until the inevitable occurred -- experimentation on soldiers. An experiment based on replacing perfectly healthy arms with improved cybernetic ones. The experiments were successful and over the next decade military forces were enhanced, improved, and just plain cybered-out.
Suddenly, and without warning, the decline of society occurred. The happy, prosperous times were replaced almost overnight with sad, depressing times where unemployment skyrocketed, inflation soared, and the governments turned greedy. By 2075, the governments of the world were hollow shells -- puppets run by the master corporations of the world. People are either haves or have-nots; there is no middle class.
The Zombies Rise
In 2088, with society slipping deeper into a modern dark age, one minor accident made everything much, much worse. The dead began rising from their graves.
Shock was the first reaction of society. As the dead clawed their way from the cemeteries, flooding the streets of the monstrous cities worldwide, most people were in too much shock to react with anything other than a quick scream, a painful death, and then a slow, shambling walk as they joined the growing horde.
As the horror grew, the survivors began to realize what was happening and started combating the undead, fighting them in every city of the world. Shooting and shooting at them, fear dawning as the undead continued coming. The dead could not be killed.
Techno-Zombie Rampage
It is now 2093 and society is very different from the time before the zombies. The corporations have increased their security forces and protections, turning each of their headquarters into an armored fortress with more firepower and manpower than ever held by a private organization before the zombie plague. The people of the world are either lucky, living in one of these fortresses, or very unlucky and living out in the world without any protection other than their own wits and weapons. Ways of killing the undead have been discovered and shared amongst the survivors, but with the billions of zombies covering the world and the countless types of variants, it is not always possible to know what type of zombie you are facing and in what way to take it out.
Most zombies of 2093 are easily killed with a single shot to the head. This type of zombie is easy to dispatch and no danger to anyone but the stupid and careless. The most frightening zombies are those which will not die but must instead be completed devastated and dismembered, their bodies decimated and reduced to bits of bloody, meaty hamburger. There are countless zombies between these two extremes.
There is one common element to all zombies across the world: If one bites your flesh, you become one. What type of zombie you become seems completely random so any time someone is bitten, those around him instantly shoot him in the head and tear his body to bits. There's nothing worse than a dead ally coming back the next day to chew on you. It is in this world our story takes place. Cyber-out, grab a gun, and welcome to Techno-Zombie Rampage.
Cyberpunk-Era Characters and Gear
The following rules are intended specifically for a cyberpunk-style game setting. Players wishing to incorporate any of these new features into any other All Flesh Must Be Eaten setting must discuss the matter with their Zombie Master.
Not all of the usual cyberpunk trappings have been included here for the simple reason they are not all applicable to the type of game usually run by a Zombie Master. Groups wishing to run extended campaigns in a cyberpunk setting are encouraged to create their own rules for desired elements not presented below.
Characters
Create characters as you would for any All Flesh Must Be Eaten game. The following are new rules and gear players will find useful for their characters in a Techno-Zombie Rampage adventure.
Archetypes
All of the archetypes included in the All Flesh Must Be Eaten rulebook (pp. 68-79) are usable in a cyberpunk-era game without any modifications. Players should use their cash (determined by Resources) to purchase any cybernetic implants or futuristic weaponry before the game starts. In addition to the 12 archetypes included in the rulebook, the following new archetypes are specifically meant to be used in a cyberpunk adventure. These new archetypes already have their resources spent on the gear indicated with an "*". Any remaining cash is detailed with the rest of their gear.
Bounty Hunter
Survivor
STR 4 DEX 3 CON 4
INT 3 PER 4 WIL 2
LPs 42
EPs 35
Spd 14
Essence 20
Qualities/Drawbacks
Skills
Gear
Personality
Quote
Fixer
Norm
STR DEX CON
INT PER WIL
LPs
EPs
Spd
Essence
Qualities/Drawbacks
Skills
Gear
Personality
Quote
Street Operative
Survivor
STR DEX CON
INT PER WIL
LPs
EPs
Spd
Essence
Qualities/Drawbacks
Skills
Gear
Personality
Quote
New Qualities and Drawbacks
While the qualities and drawbacks in the All Flesh Must Be Eaten main rulebook are appropriate to Techno-Zombie Rampage, there are a few that need to be added to the list for this cyberpunk-era nightmare of flesh.
Corporate Benefactor
Variable Social Quality
This is similar to Contact (main rulebook p. 39) but a lot more powerful. The character has a benefactor with a high-position in a corporation who supplies him with gear and can even arrange some very special assistance at times. The following table presents the value of gear supplied in relation to the cost of a Corporate Benefactor.
Character Points "Gear Value"
4 $6,000
6 $8,000
8 $12,000
10 $20,000
This "Gear Value" may be spent on anything the character wishes but is only available on very rare instances (at the start of each game session the player should roll 1d10 and on a roll of 1 his benefactor will come through with the goods in that session). This is never given to the character as cash but rather the requested goods/services. Any money not spent during this session is lost. "Gear Value" may not be spent on cybernetics.
Cyber Rejection
8-Point Physical Drawback
You may not use any cybernetic enhancements -- your body automatically rejects them and you will die (in 1d6 hours -- quicker than you could recover from the surgery enough to benefit from the enhancement) if you insist on having one installed.
Gear
Most of the equipment found in the All Flesh Must Be Eaten rulebook is useful in a Cyberpunk adventure but, being a futuristic setting, some new gear must be added to what is already detailed on pp. 127-141 of the main rulebook. The largest concentration of new gear is, or course, cybernetics which will most likely not be useful in any other Deadworlds.
Cybernetics
Just what would a Cyberpunk game be without the cybernetics? Below are some of the more common cybernetics found in Cyberpunk fiction which have been deemed appropriate for a game involving lots and lots of combat.
NOTE: A character's Essence is not enhanced by cybernetics.
Cyberlimb - Arm: The most basic of cybernetic components, a cyberarm is simply a bionic arm which replaces the character's flesh and blood arm. A cyberarm grants the character a +2 modifier to Strength in any task involving only that specific arm (such as an arm-wrestling event). Cost:
$1,500; EV 4/2; AV U.
Cyberlimb - Hand: A cybernetic hand is included with a cybernetic arm though some people may find the need for just the hand and not a completely new arm. A cybernetic hand grants the character a +1 modifier to Strength in any action involving only the hand (including punches and other strikes). Cost: $300; EV 1/1; AV U.
Cyberlimb - Leg: Similar to the arm, a cyberleg adds a +2 modifier to Strength in tasks involving only the leg (kicks immediately come to mind) and also a +1 to Constitution for purposes of determining Speed (+2 if both meat legs have been replaced with cyberlimbs). Cost: $1,300; EV 4/2; AV U.
Cyborg Body: This is the one for those of you either badly injured or just plain crazy. This procedure involves replacing the flesh torso and organs with a metal one. It grants a +2 modifier to Strength and Constitution and a -1 modifier to Dexterity. A character with flesh and blood arms and legs may not lift or carry weight over the human maximum (as indicated on p. 30 of the main rulebook). A character with one cyberarm or leg may add 1/2 the listed arm or leg modifier to his attributes for any action while a character with both arms and/or legs replaced may add the full modifier. Example: A character with STR 4 and a CON 3 adds a cyborg body, a cyberarm and a cyberleg. His modified STR is now 8 (4 + 2 + 1 + 1) and his modified CON is now 5 (3 + 2) or 6 for purposes of Speed. The same character, replacing all of his limbs with cybernetics, has a STR 10 (4 + 2 + 2 + 2) and a CON 5 (3 + 2) or 7 for purposes of Speed. Cost: $7,500' EV 8/4; AV R.
Cyberlimb Armor: A cybernetic limb (or full body) may be armored, giving it some protection against most forms of attack. The base cyberlimb has an Armor Value equivalent to the Leather Armor on p. 138 of the main rulebook (D6 + 1 (4)). Increasing the armor of a cyberlimb uses the following table.
Armor Value EV Cost AV
D6 + 6 (9) +4 $200 U
(D6 x 2) + 9 (15) +10 $400 U
(D8 x 2) + 9 (17) +16 $700 R
Damage done to a cyberlimb that penetrates the armor value causes Life Point damage (yes this is unrealistic, but then so is the concept of zombies). Any single attack causing 5x the average AV of a cyberlimb in damage rips it completely from the body of the cyborg causing an additional 1d4 x 2 LP damage to the cyborg (armor does not protect against this additional damage).
EV and Cost are in addition to the base EV and Cost of the limb being armored.
NOTE: The cyberhand may not be armored. The Cyborg Body may use cyberlimb armor with a x3 modifier to the listed armor costs.
Implanted Weaponry: Almost any weapon may be implanted into a character (either right into his meaty body or into a cybernetic limb) with some money and a little time spent in surgery. The following table lists various weapons and what location of the body they may be implanted in.
Weapon Possible Locations EV Surgery Cost
Claws* Hand +1 $500
Garrote* Hand +1 $500
Small Knife Hand, Arm +1 $500
Large Knife Hand, Arm +2 $500
Handgun# Hand, Arm +4 $2,000
Submachine Gun# Arm, Body +6 $4,500
Shotgun# Arm, Body +7 $4,500
EV and Cost are in addition to the base EV and Cost of the weapon being implanted.
* Indicates a new weapon detailed below.
# Ammunition capacity is 1/2 the original capacity of the weapon implanted.
Concealed Weaponry: The costs for implanted weaponry were for weapons protruding from the modified body part. To conceal a weapon (hidden from view until it "pops" out for use) costs an additional 50% of the base surgery cost. Revealing or concealing a weapon takes a complete turn. Weapons are equipped with safety features which prevent their use when concealed.
CyberOptical Enhancement: Nothing more than cyborg eyes. The base cybernetic eye costs $100 and may be enhanced with either Night Vision (+$300), Magnification/Zoom (+$300), or Infrared (+$500). The listed costs are per eye.
Enhanced Reflexes: The entire body is "hardwired" for faster-than-human reflexes. This is purchased in levels, with each purchased level adding +1 to the character's Dexterity. Maximum level of +5. Cost: $800/level.
Weapons
Presented below are weapons which may be found in a cyberpunk world. Players may select weapons for their characters from those shown here or the lists in the main rulebook.
Close Combat Weapons Table
Weapon Type EV Damage Cost Avail
Claws* 1/1 (D4 + 1) x STR $500 U
Garrote# 1/1 # $100 U
* This weapon may only be used as a cybernetic implant and not on its own.
# The garrote is a thin wire used by assassins to strangle their enemies. A successful use of a garrote requires a Strength test between the attacker and defender. If the attacked wins then the rules for suffocation (p. 108 of the main rulebook) must be used, with a new Strength test being rolled every 30 seconds. The Zombie Master must use his judgement regarding success and failure of this weapon.
Ranged Weapon Table
Weapon Range Damage Cap EV Cost Avail
Zombies of the Dark Future
Zombies intended to run against cyborged warriors of the future need to either work in massive groups (always fun to dump 100+ zombies on the
characters) or be tough, nasty, and scarier than the average flesh eater. The following are a few zombies perfect for use against over-powered thugs commonly encountered in a Cyberpunk setting. Zombie Masters should also include any of the undead monsters from the main rulebook he feels are appropriate to the adventure, mixing zombie types within a single horde. The Basic Zombie on p. 146 of the All Flesh Must Be Eaten main rulebook should be modified slightly before being dropped into this Deadworld. Simply change the Weak Spot to Brain and the Power from 5 to 11 and the Basic Zombie is reading to feast on your players' characters.
No Flesh?
Zombies encountering cybernetically-enhanced characters will no doubt be very upset at the lack of meat on each modified human body. To balance things out a little for the unfortunate zombies, simply subtract 1 from the Power of the zombie for each cybernetic enhancement in the party (yes, implanted weapons and cybernetic eyes count). This will throw more and more zombies at the cyborgs which makes things more fun for everyone involved and helps stomp those "munchkin" players in the group.
The Zombies
And now, for those of you anxiously awaiting an army of new undead, here are the zombies of a possible dark future.
Cybernetic Zombies
Story Ideas
The Techno-Zombie Rampage Deadworld is one of cyber-horror, a world where things that were once dark and depressing have suddenly become much worse. Following are some brief ideas for Zombie Masters wishing to run an adventure in this world of neon lights, dirty streets, and the walking dead.
Break-In
Even though zombies have overrun the world, that doesn't mean that corporate greed has disappeared. Corporations are constantly attempting to infiltrate the opposition "fortresses" and steal whatever new bit of technological superiority they may have developed. It's just that things are a little more difficult now that there's a constantly growing army of the undead between them. An air infiltration is no good since it's way too easy to mount anti-aircraft defenses for just such instances. The characters are either hired by a corporation or are members of a corporate infiltration team. They must make their way to the target fortress either on foot (suicide in this world) or (preferably) on a vehicle of some kind. The journey there and back will take them through countless zombies but it is the actual infiltration of the fortress that will put their skills to the test.
The target corporation has been experimenting with captured zombies, increasing their strengths and speed and working on various forms of mind control. Everything they did worked, except for that bit about mind control. The "super" zombies have taken control of the inner-fortress and are starting to work their way out. The initial defenses the characters encounter know nothing of the problem deep in the corporate HQ but as they work their way deeper and deeper into the structure the PCs will begin to realize something is horribly wrong.
To complete their mission they must now go through not only the corporate security but also the "super" zombies, find their target (usually a computer disk or working prototype of some new device) and get back out -- preferably without becoming a dead statistic or another shambling undead. If they succeed, they still have to make it back to their starting point -- through more zombies, and with the target object. Otherwise they won't be paid and/or may lose their jobs and be forced out into the world, away from the protective walls of the corporate HQ they had recently called home.
Treasure Hunt in the Sewers
The characters have heard rumors of a lost weapons cache somewhere in the sewers of the city. They have been approached by someone who claims to know the exact location of this cache and is interested in retrieving it -- with the PCs' help.
Philip Reed
Production Artist
Steve Jackson Games
www.sjgames.com
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] Article in Progress
Date: Tue, 29 Feb 2000 13:29:36 +0000
Michael Harley@PSYGNOSIS
02/29/2000 01:29 PM
Great concept Philip, i'd been thinking of doing a cyberpunk/zombie thing and you may have given me the spark. My own thoughts were always based upon an 'Appleseed' concept of an isolated city state needing resources etc from 'badside' where the zombie hordes are. I now see possibilities for city states ran by corporations/federal gov/military/religious groups and anarchists...basically whatever you want. These city states are engaged in conflict over resources (i.e won't agricultural corporations be in a lot of demand?). They are also in conflict with the undead and then there are the usual internal cyberpunk tensions.
I also liked the idea of the super zombie in the corporation. Here is another zombie twist that may surprise a few players. After time the zombies may mutate/advance to the point where the more flesh certain ones eat the more normal they look and intelligent they are. Now you have intelligent zombie infiltrators in human society who must feed to keep up their appearance. Of course they are also plotting the downfall of humanity in subtle ways so as not to attract attention to themselves. One day your players see a guy get run over, he gets up after having his torso crushed and immediately starts looking for flesh to keep up his cover - add a little paranoia and the players may suspect everyone of being a zombie in 'disguise'. Just thought - really dangerous zombies take on the skills/abilities of the flesh they have just eaten, roll on mad scientist/gun fu/kung fu/cybernetics using villains.
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Subject: [Flesh_rpg] RE: Raisinlove Comix: Zombie Commandos From Hell!
Date: Tue, 29 Feb 2000 22:18:52 -0500
This is ssssssooooooooo sweet!
http://www.raisinlove.com/zombies/
edchuk
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Subject: [Flesh_rpg] Where's the Flesh???
Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2000 18:27:38 -0600
Hey out there! How many people are on this list anyway? Let's get some chatter going!
Just got a copy of the game and I think it's great! What does everyone think?
I do have a question is for the designers out there listening: Are the
next two AFMBE products for March on schedule? About what time can we
expect them to be for sale (in stores and online)?
Zombie Master Kevin
"Nature is honest, we aren't; we embalm our dead"
---Ugo Betti, Goat's Island (1946)
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Subject: [Flesh_rpg] Target Penalties
Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2000 22:20:18 -0500
Hail to thee:
I was reviewing Chapter 5 to see what kind of sick zombie I could construct when I noticed that the "to hit" penalties are different than what is listed in Chapter 3. I was wondering why should it be harder to hit a zombie's vitals than a live one's. Here are the differences I saw:
Area Chapter 3 Chapter 5
Brain (head) -4 -5
Heart (vital) -2 -6
Spine (vital) -2 -4/-5
Just curious.
Staying on the Road, Manilla Mike
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Subject: [Flesh_rpg] pricy
Date: Thu, 2 Mar 2000 23:51:07 EST
I've read a couple of reviews and as I'm a college student, I can agree on the pricy comment that comes up in most reviews. Other than that of course, they've all made it sound wonderful. And yes, I know 30 bucks is the going main book price in rpg books these days. Now, onto the next part... I love the concept, and was thinking of running short running campaigns off of the zombie movie concept for a few years now. Though I was thinking of using white-wolf rules for that... I can see using almost any system to run this though (as my games are usually story based). And to my round about way of asking questions...
What makes AFMBE a good buy for someone who already has a copy of the unisystem rules (ala witchcraft, and I do love the unisystem rules)?
Adam
The semi-experienced roleplayer
From: Jay Rutley <jay.rutley@sympatico.ca> Save Address - Block Sender
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] Target Penalties
Date:
Fri, 03 Mar 2000 18:56:32 -0600
MKirk2112@aol.com wrote:
> Good question about the target penalties. As someone else said, assuming
> someone didn't drop the ball making those charts up, here is my 2-cents.
>
> Maybe what they are trying to get at with these rules is that you have to
> inflict far more damage to a "dead" individual's organs to have an affect on
> it than a "live" individual's. So, even if my heart is "nicked," it's really
> going to ruin my day. For an undead, however, you may have to destroy a very
> large chunk of it's heart to have the same "day-ruining" effect. Same with
> the brain, same with the spine, etc.
I think that what you have to look at is the fac that aiming at the brain is different than aiming at the head. If you score a brain shot, that means that you are avoiding the jaw and neck, and that's about 1/3 of the head right there. Some systems have the different difficulties / charts for hitting seperate parts of the head (Phoenix Command - shudder), but you can assume that that a "brain shot" could be more severe than a "head shot".
Likewise, there is a difference in aiming for the "vitals" and the spine.
Vitals realy just refers to major organs like the heart, lungs, etc..., you can get shot in the stomach and live for a long time. Siming for a specific vital body part should be harder.
> However, if this were the case, a rule modifying the damage inflicted by an
> attack to these areas may be a better way to go.
>
> I also like the comment that someone else said about organ atrophy, making it
> smaller to hit, or organ displacement in a dead individual's body because of
> physical changes due to death, so that you end up targeting where the organ
> "used" to be or "is" in a live person, rather than where it is now in a dead
> one.
This is also a possibilty, but I don't think that they'd atrophy *that* much...
> Hmmm, maybe someone did drop the ball on this one?
>
> Zombie Matt
Probably is a mistake, but I like trying to justify it!
Jay
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Subject: [Flesh_rpg] Mein Zombie: Achtung! Achtung!
Date: Sat, 04 Mar 2000 04:26:28 PST
Hi All
Mein Zombie has captured my heart!
And once more allowed me to indulge myself in some of the classic war films
and old comics I was raised on (Battle, Warlord etc). With that in mind I
was toying with adapting some of the story lines of old films to work with
the Mein Zombie setting.
They're still a bit rough and feedback would be appreciated to give them some polish. (I plead forgiveness for any gross historical inaccuracies).
Inspired by The Guns of Navarone
Background:
The Nazi Scientists have hit upon the solution to take Britain out of the war equation. In a remote rocket base the scientists have secretly been testing a toxin (or virus) based on the zombie serum. In gaseous form, this hard to produce 'Nerve Toxin M', can kill and then resurrect the newly dead. Unfortunately, the scientists have yet to work out how to make these zombies obedient to the Fatherland's cause, and they lack even the frighteningly low intelligence of the existing zombie army (but, of course, the hunger remains). This has made the new toxin impractical for home use.
However, if the toxin managed to be dropped on the major English cities, the devastation would be enormous: the city populations would perish and ,rising again, would devour the remaining civilians and army. A major Allied stronghold would be smashed, and there is no fear of contamination of the continent from this island.
So, Nerve Toxin M has been loaded onto a collection of V2 Rockets kept at a secret base deep in a German forest and is ready for launching.
But nothing runs smoothly. A canister has already cracked, the toxin leaked, and dispersed killing all living things for a quarter mile radius from the base. And now things are stirring in the woods...
The Cast:
This can be taken from a couple of angles.
a) The Allies have got wind of the 'secret'. And there are those in the War Cabinet who believe it could be put to Allied use. After all, how long could the Germans maintain their push, if they are being attacked from within. The risk is minimal: being an island works both ways. The Cast are sent in to either retrieve the toxin, or if you'd rather have them go in blind, to stop the rockets. The Allies are unaware of the accident, and ZM's could play up the 'race against time' angle.
Parachuted in behind enemy lines, danger lurks in the forest and base. Likewise there are secrets to be revealed, and players may need to decide whether to destroy the toxin and all the records pertaining to it, or for the more career minded, to take the details home, or even retarget the V2s (definite promotion possibilities). However, things may be complicated by the arrival of a crack German squad.
b) Contact has been lost with one of the V2 bases, and it is believed that the Allies may be involved. Take a squad, secure the base and report back to German HQ. It is imperative that you launch the missiles.
The Cast are highly trained German soldiers sent on this mission. When they get there they discover the base in ruins and many of the occupants staggering around strangely. Does the squad discover the cause? Does it realise the consequences? Does it launch the missiles or destroy the evidence of the toxin? And does it notice the arrival of an Allied squad?
Various Consequences:
I thought about a couple of things here. What would happen if one unlucky trooper became victim to a weakened pocket of the toxin and began to 'feel a little odd'? The V2 rockets reach Britain and you have a full zombie problem similar to Rise of the Walking Dead (though set in the forties). I got this idea after reading '48' by James Herbert (no zombies, but definitely similar themes). Or the toxin/virus spreads through Germany? You now have two armies, zombie soldiers, wandering zombies and a multitude of victims. ZM's also have the option of having squads trapped behind enemy lines, as the war efforts of both sides descend into chaos and villages and towns become taken over by zombies. Could soldiers of both sides work together and side by side? Or are the differences too great? Endless possibilites really. As you can probably tell, I'm quite keen on complicating a bloody conflict even further.
Inspired by A Bridge Too Far
(This needs a bit more work. Why does the bridge need to stay intact? Why not blow it straight away?)
Background: The German forces are pushing onwards and are relentless. As the fragmented Allies are forced back in tatters, they cross a wide river, a natural barrier, which will at least delay the push, provided all the bridges are blown, and give them a chance to regroup.
The Cast:
The players are part of a squadron who have 'volunteered' to stay behind and hamper the German army. They are to cause as much damage to the Germans as possible, and should things go wrong blow the bridge as a last measure. It was all going fine while the opposition was alive. But now, four days later, no matter what you hit the soldiers with, they just keep running at you. They're slowly advancing and building a spearhead, so it's time to set off the charges. Except nothing happens. Men are needed to go onto the bridge and sort out the problem. (you can guess who this'll be)
And while they're on the bridge, wouldn't it be a shame if the Germans had found a way to flank the Allies by crossing this stretch of the river, and The Cast found themselves between a rock and a hard place! And how can The Cast halt this new crossing point?
That's all for now. Feedback would be gratefully received. With the opening of 3 Kings in the UK this week, my mind now wonders how Kelly's Heroes can be given a zombie twist. Any thoughts?
Ferg
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] Target Penalties
Date: Tue, 7 Mar 2000 11:55:32 EST
In a message dated 3/2/00 10:21:21 PM Eastern Standard Time, wallace@franklinisp.net writes:
<< Area Chapter 3 Chapter 5
Brain (head) -4 -5
Heart (vital) -2 -6
Spine (vital) -2 -4/-5 >>
Hey all,
Sorry for the late response. Been moving the Eden Studios offices out to Ca.
No mistake (there anyway). I intentionally varied those numbers. In my view, it is harder to hit a brain than a head, a heart than any vital spot, and a spine than any vital spot. The strength of the tissue and such really goes to damage, not striking.
You might quibble with my choice of modifiers, but I think the rationale for varying the numbers makes sense. Then again, as always, you are free to ignore all my hard work (sob) ;)
My two cents,
Alex Jurkat
Eden Studios
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Subject: RE: [Flesh_rpg] Don't take the blue acid!
Date: Tue, 07 Mar 2000 22:30:10 -0500
Hey zombiephiles! Got a twisted idea for a one shot scenario set in the 1960s. Here goes!
The time is the '69, the place is Woodstock. All the hippies are peaceing out and trippin' on their favorite drug, LSD. The bands are kickin' it and the scene couldn't be more righteous, but these poor unfortunate peacemongers are really in for a surprise. Unbeknownst to them a well known chemical company, along with the US military decide to experiment with a new chemical that turns those who take it into mindless, flesh eating ZOMBIES!!! The agent of choice, blue acid man!!!
Just sit back and watch those tripped out hippies try to figure out how to live when their friends get a bad case of the munchies... for them!
Example of this scene:
HIPPIE #1: Hey man! You shouldn't eat that guy man! That's not right man! You're totally violating his rights man!
ZOMBIE: BRAINS!!!
HIPPIE #1: Hey man, get off of me man! That really hurts man! I'm not kidding man! OUCH man! CHOMP! CRUNCH! SLURP!
HIPPIE #2: That guy just totally eat that other guy man! That ain't right man!
ZOMBIE: MORE BRAINS!!!
DISCLAIMER:
The author of this email has neither a murderous dislike or ravenous hatred for the hippie movement. He does like sick, twist ideas and those who come up with them, though. Any real life hippies injured because of this email are not to blame this author...Ya stinky, no-soap-usin', stoned-out-of-your-gourd, twig-eatin' tree-huggin', dolphin-lovin' freakazoids!
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] Don't take the blue acid!
Date: Wed, 8 Mar 2000 00:06:06 -0500
From: edward tumber
> Ya stinky, no-soap-usin', stoned-out-of-your-gourd, twig-eatin' tree-huggin', dolphin-lovin' freakazoids!
Let's fast-fwd 30+ years. The same issues still exist.
Zombie: Braainnnfff! BraaAAAIIInnnfff!
Modern "Sensitive Guy": Alright. It is clear that you have some issues you have to resolve!
Victim #1: Aaaargh!
M"SG": We should discuss this. How does the Zombie's actions make you feel? Is the Zombie entering into an abusive co-dependence with you?
Doug.
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Subject: [Flesh_rpg] Titan Run, a one-off adventure
Date: Wed, 08 Mar 2000 15:15:09 -0500
Titan Run, a one-off adventure concept for All Flesh Must Be Eaten
"In Space, no-one can hear you eat brains"
Time: The Future
Location: Deep Space, somewhere between Sol and Epsilon Eridani
Yeah baby, we're talking the future, starships and all. When the Tembler Drive was discovered in 2105, everyone thought the stars would be ours. Turns out that even though the drive can get a ship up over the speed of light and into hyperspace, it still takes months to get to any planet worth visiting. What's more, the damn drives are expensive, and the only economical way to use them is to build them into huge ships so you can shift as much material as possible in one go. For most folks, this means being stuffed into a hypersleep capsule, chilled down to just above abosolute zero, and stacked in the hold like kindling. Of course, some folks always want to travel first class.
Hence the TUS Titan, a starship over a mile long and quarter of a mile deep. Titan is currently carrying a "colony-in-a-bottle", a self-assembling city and about a million people to willing populate it, deseprate to escape Earth and the seething mass of war and disease it has become. Of course, that million are travelling low-berths, as human popsicles, but that's okay. Nothing's going to happen to them, right?
First class on this ship is a dream. The super rich (and the crew, when the rich aren't around) have the run of a vast entertainment complex, full of parks, pools, ski-slopes, dance-halls and sundry other places. The place is so big that the crew and passengers use little buggies to tool around the corridors. The plants in the parks will become part of the new colony's ecology at journey's end, but the rest of the upper decks are pure pleasure, to keep the super-rich from making too much trouble during the trip. Could be almost pleasent, but for one tiny problem. Something went wrong with the computer running life support for the low berths, and one million people just died. What's worse, they died in hyperspace, and that's simply never happened before. What the first-class passengers and crew of the Terran Union Ship Titan are about to find out, is that hyperspace isn't empty. It's full of etherial energy beings, hungry for the world of matter, just waiting for a vessel into which they can pour their essence. And they've just found a rapidly warming source of them.
There are about 25 crew on board, 14 "flight attendants" (pretty but dumb sex toys), and 25 first class passengers. Players could either be the ultra-rich, ultra spoiled passengers, or the tired and cynical crew. Does the billionaire have a team of bodyguards? Has the corporate princess learned how to shoot a gun? Is the Rollerball champion up to the game of his life? Populate the NPC's with the usual aray of disaster movie characters, including a fair spread of dispicable backstabbers, and season to taste. The crew has some small arms, locked in a locker to which only the Captain and First Mate have keys (having these two stalwarts die early, and then forcing the cast to hunt down these two zombies and retrieve the keys would of course, be just plain mean...but fun). The amount of re-animated corpsicles that can get out is limited by their position in the hold and the number of doors they can open, (and possibly by the power of the creatures animating them) and the ship is so large that they'll take a while to find the fresh meat (unless you want to equip them with "Life Sense", in which case the running and screaming will start a whole lot faster).
The cast have a number of options. They're still at least two months out when the excrement hits the turbine, and with a million hungry dead on board, sitting tight really isn't a survival tactic. The ship has two shuttles below the engine decks, with room for 10 passengers each and life-support enough to get them to safety, though they'll need to be fuelled and loaded with supplies. There are life pods aplenty, but they just happen to be close to the entrances to the low berths, so using them might be difficult (and of course, they might not be entirely empty - the radioed shrieks of someone who ejects to find himself trapped in a vey small space with a very hungry dead thing might well serve to discourage this line of escape). Sadly, either option is impossible without dropping the ship back into normal space, and with the Captain and First Mate dead, the ship is going to stay on auto-pilot unless the engines are destroyed. Smart cast members might want to eject the low berths into hyperspace, but there are still enough dead already in the passenger decks to cause problems, and the idea of space-walking zombies clinging to the hull and clawing their way back in somewhere else has a certain undeniable appeal.
Additional complications could include the possibility that the energy beings animating the dead are getting smarter. By consuming the brians of the living, they're absorbing knowledge, and a small handful are becoming strategic thinkers. Also, the dead may well have gotten into the vent system, meaning they could be anywhere on board ship. The ships computer may also become a problem, as it's programming won't allow harm to come to the passengers or crew. Unfortunately, the glitch that killed the lower berths means that it can't tell the difference between live passengers and dead ones, so blowing airlocks and flushing the dead into space becomes a whole lot harder (it won't allow corpses to be flushed or incinerated either). Should the cast eventually succeed, the trauma of breaking its programming might just drive the computer insane. Truly nasty ZM's might consider having the cast arrive at the shuttles to find that they need the palm print of a senior crewmember, like the Captain or First Mate, before they'll power up.
Of course, if the colony finds out they've got a ship of the unquiet dead coming their way, they might just blow it up, whether the cast are off or not.
The Zombies of Hyperspace
Hyperspace Zombies are "Slow and Steady" due to their recent emergence from hypersleep. As they warm up, they'll get faster, becoming "Life-Like" and eventually the "Quick Dead" as the creatures possessing them get used to their new vessels. Stregth wise, they start out "Strong like Bull", but don't get much stronger once they've warmed up. Due to the drying effect of being chilled without life-suuport, these withered creatures are damage resistant. Their sense are like the dead, but the creatures within them could have Life Sense, if the Zombie Master feels like losing some friends, or possibly infra-vision. The creatures need to feed daily, and while they'll eat anything, they just love brains. Hyperzombies start out dumb as dead wood, but get smarter with every brain they eat (Wicked ZM's might want to use the option that the dead are all being animated by a single creature, so whenever they eat a brain, they *all* get smarter), and can rapidly become smarter than the crew. Anyone who dies on the ship, be it at the hands of a zombie or not, will re-animate in about an hour. For added fun and games, the hyperzombies could have a Chilling Touch attack, where their flesh is still so cold from hypersleep that it cause burns on those they touch. Weakness are up to the ZM, but I'd make them able to animate severed limbs until the brain is destroyed.
ZM's should think "Event Horizon", "Alien", "Supernova" and "Titanic" for this one. A masterplan of the upper decks might help, but isn't essential. They should have a few key locations planned out before hand however.
A final thought. With the slow rise in temperature in the low berths, several compartments have become clogged with liquified flesh from the rapidly decaying corpses of the first sleepers to die. Wouldn't it be kind of neat to have the cast find out that that huge pool of stinking goop is animated too? :)
Thoughts?
Doctor TOC
--
The Reverend Doctor "The Other Chris" - Wu Name: Jive Talkin' Choirboy
ICQ # 4814586
Time War RPG - http://jump.to/TimeWar
The TOC Files - http://www.fortunecity.com/tattooine/wilhelm/148/
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] Titan Run, a one-off adventure
Date: Wed, 08 Mar 2000 15:49:50 PST
Got to say Doc, I liked this idea a lot.
There's a certain appeal to having the zombies smarten up with each brain - especially if they can start mucking about with the ship's systems at inconvenient times for the players.
But most of all the need for the handprint (captain or first mate) used to launch escape pods/access vital areas; which respectable ZM would not have this attached to a zombie first mate wandering around a huge ship ('Computer, where is he NOW?')? And the fun you can have with an animated hand once you've got it separated from it's hungry owner - let's face it, who'd want the job of carrying that around?
Marvellous
Ferg
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] Titan Run, a one-off adventure
Date: Wed, 08 Mar 2000 19:09:39 -0500
*wipes a tear from my eyesocket*
That was beautiful!
Next, we need a Deadworld involving a pleasure cruiser on earth and an iceberg... filled with Zombie Spooooooooores!!!
-----
On another note, I'm new to the Unisystem. Is WitchCraft and Conspiracy X 100% compatible with All Flesh Must Be Eaten? I'd like to expand my
Zombieverse a bit.
-Earle
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] Titan Run, a one-off adventure
Date: Wed, 08 Mar 2000 21:50:16 PST
> Titan Run, a one-off adventure concept for All Flesh Must Be Eaten
>
> "In Space, no-one can hear you eat brains"
::MASSIVE SNIP::
I love you man.
P.S. I take it no one had any thoughts about how the "Death is not the End"campagin idea is shaping up?
--
GAry m, minor epot
aka "Sneezy the Squid"
------------------------------
If you're going to pick a hero, ya know, do your research
-- Bill Hicks
DNRC Member since 1995 · ICQ#: 8391493 · #dragoncon on DALnet mIRC
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Subject: [Flesh_rpg] Death is not the End
Date: Thu, 9 Mar 2000 10:55:49 EST
gm1970@hotmail.com writes:
<< P.S. I take it no one had any thoughts about how the "Death is not the End"campagin idea is shaping up? >>
I liked it, but a lot of it was sketchy. I would be interested in hearing a more detailed account as your game progresses.
I enjoyed seeing how you were influenced by music. As a gamer and a struggling wannabe writer I find that almost all of my games and stories are heavily influenced by music. So it was neat to see how this process evolves with others.
Ray Colina
PS I'm also a big fan of Nick Cave
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] Death is not the End
Date: Thu, 09 Mar 2000 08:47:42 -0800
--
>gm1970@hotmail.com writes:
>
><< P.S. I take it no one had any thoughts about how the "Death is not the End"campagin idea is shaping up? >>
>
I like what I've seen. Waiting for more chapters...
--Patrick Barrett
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] Flesh List Archives?+UniSystem
Date: Thu, 09 Mar 2000 12:12:12 -0800
On Thu, 9 Mar 2000 11:09:29 Earle wrote:
>Hmm, I missed the first part of "Death..." as well. Is there any
>possibility of listserv archives being posted on the website
>periodically?
>
>Also, regarding the Conspiracy X and the UniSystem... thank's for the
>info. Now, can someone fill me in a bit about Armageddon, what kind of
>RPG is it? (If not that's fine, since this *is* the AFMBE listserv). In
>the meantime I'll surf on over to Eden Studios and read what's on
>there.
Reader's Digest version: Armageddon is the (or one possible, depending on your viewpoint) future of the WitchCraft world. One of the Mad Gods, Leviathan, has managed to get a foot-hold in our reality. It's up to all the Gifted and supernatural beings to keep Leviathan from completely infiltrating our reality. However, many of them have chosen to side with Leviathan instead, fighting alongside the Church/Army of Revelation, a Nazi-esque group under Leviathan's (indirect) control. Usually involves much higher power-levels than WitchCraft, but not necessarily.
--Patrick Barrett
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Date: Thu, 09 Mar 2000 15:51:53 -0500
> Reader's Digest version: Armageddon is the (or one possible, depending on your
> viewpoint) future of the WitchCraft world. One of the Mad Gods, Leviathan,
> has managed to get a foot-hold in our reality. It's up to all the Gifted and
> supernatural beings to keep Leviathan from completely infiltrating our
> reality. However, many of them have chosen to side with Leviathan instead,
> fighting alongside the Church/Army of Revelation, a Nazi-esque group under
> Leviathan's (indirect) control. Usually involves much higher power-levels
> than WitchCraft, but not necessarily.
OK... now, a stupid question... is it fun? ;-)
As for UniSystem conversions, rock on. Personally, I'd like to see one UniSystem mainbook, with the all the rules and skills brought in with the other games. It would be a mac-daddy game engine. Then you have the settings like ConX, Armageddon, AFMBE focusing more on the settings, each with some suitable Archetypes in them to jumpstart the braaaaaiiins.
-Earle
http://www.opengamingfoundation.org/
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Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2000 01:45:14 PST
> Klaatu... Verada... uhh... (Mumble-Mumble...)...
> (I love that movie...)
> Steven Nelson
Those words (Klaatu Verada Niktu) are actually an inside pun. They where originaly used to deactivate a killer bodyguard robot in an old Sci-Fi classic (Sorry can't remember which. Wanna help me out here?).
Ron
"Suicide is our way of saying to God;
'You can't fire me, I quit!"
-Bill Maher
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] Death is not the End
Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2000 04:24:05 PST
::SNIP::
> I liked it, but a lot of it was sketchy. I would be interested in hearing a
> more detailed account as your game progresses.
Yea, it's very sketchy at the moment. Sort of a work in progress/outline sort of thing. Once things settle down a bit and I have more time (Lament of the 90s) I'll have more.
>I enjoyed seeing how you were influenced by music. As a gamer and a struggling wannabe writer I find that >almost all of my games and stories are heavily influenced by music. So it was neat to see how this process >evolves with others.
Same here, glad you liked peeking inside my twisted head. =]
> Ray Colina
> PS I'm also a big fan of Nick Cave
He rocks. Steven King of rock n' roll.
--
GAry m, minor epot
aka "Sneezy the Squid"
------------------------------
If you're going to pick a hero, ya know, do your research
-- Bill Hicks
DNRC Member since 1995 · ICQ#: 8391493 · #dragoncon on DALnet mIRC
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Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2000 04:27:55 PST
> Hmm, I missed the first part of "Death..." as well. Is there any
> possibility of listserv archives being posted on the website
> periodically?
That would be cool. The Delta Green one is invaluable.
As for the start of DintE, If people want, I can send you what I sent before without "spaming" the list with it again, when I post the next section. However, if more than 5 people ask for it, I'll resend it to the list as that would be easier for me. =]
--
GAry m, minor epot
aka "Sneezy the Squid"
------------------------------
If you're going to pick a hero, ya know, do your research
-- Bill Hicks
DNRC Member since 1995 · ICQ#: 8391493 · #dragoncon on DALnet mIRC
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] Death is not the end
Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2000 04:29:01 PST
>>Klaatu... Verada... uhh... (Mumble-Mumble...)...
>> (I love that movie...)
It's a classic. And I like his cameo in the AF rulebook. And I am sooo going to buy the McFarline action fig when it comes out.
Groovy.
--
GAry m, minor epot
aka "Sneezy the Squid"
------------------------------
If you're going to pick a hero, ya know, do your research
-- Bill Hicks
DNRC Member since 1995 · ICQ#: 8391493 · #dragoncon on DALnet mIRC
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Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2000 04:33:19 PST
::SNIP::
> And I agree with you about the presentation. I would also love to buy one core system book, then a bunch of
> world-books and supplements.
AKA the HERO format of gaming? =] At least the Unisystem less complex than that. (Don't get me wrong, I love HERO, but I've discovered that I like less complex systems now.)
Hopefully the world books, if this way is taken by EDEN, will not have the HERO flaw of adding so many sub-rules that a new edition has to be made and the game gets so dense it collapses under its own weight. Another HERO problem.
--
GAry m, minor epot
aka "Sneezy the Squid"
------------------------------
If you're going to pick a hero, ya know, do your research
-- Bill Hicks
DNRC Member since 1995 · ICQ#: 8391493 · #dragoncon on DALnet mIRC
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] Death is not the end
Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2000 04:35:38 PST
::SNIP::
> Those words (Klaatu Verada Niktu) are actually an inside pun. They where
> originaly used to deactivate a killer bodyguard robot in an old Sci-Fi
> classic (Sorry can't remember which. Wanna help me out here?).
Genre Movies for $1000 Alex!
What was "The Day the Earth Stood Still"?
My head is filled with that stuff. Too bad I learned that rather than a trade. =]
--
GAry m, minor epot
aka "Sneezy the Squid"
------------------------------
If you're going to pick a hero, ya know, do your research
-- Bill Hicks
DNRC Member since 1995 · ICQ#: 8391493 · #dragoncon on DALnet mIRC
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] Flesh List Archives?+UniSystem
Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2000 08:30:32 -0500
Hey all,
I am new to the list and would like to see any info on Death is not the End. Also, I plan on running my first game this weekend. Can anyone suggest any pitfalls or areas to avoid? I intend on playing up the horror aspect of it, and any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks in advance!
Pat
Patrick Kinsella
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> Hey all,
> I am new to the list and would like to see any info on Death is not the End.
Ditto here.
> horror aspect of it, and any suggestions would be helpful. Thanks in
> advance!
Idea (I use this one): Make sure the most skittish person in your party sits nearest to you at the table. At appropriate moments (zombie ambushes, etc.), clap your hand on their shoulder unexpectedly or slam the table as a sound effect. They'll jump a foot, and everyone will laugh (nervously). Repeat as necessary. Always cranks my party up to the point where they leap at chairs creaking under them.
Dylan
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Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2000 09:55:19 -0600 (CST)
On Fri, 10 Mar 2000, Dylan Craig wrote:
> Idea (I use this one): Make sure the most skittish person in your party sits
> nearest to you at the table. At appropriate moments (zombie ambushes, etc.),
> clap your hand on their shoulder unexpectedly or slam the table as a sound
> effect. They'll jump a foot, and everyone will laugh (nervously). Repeat as
> necessary. Always cranks my party up to the point where they leap at chairs
> creaking under them.
That's a good idea! When I was running Ravenloft for my last gaming group we met in a clubhouse in a housing development. The place was nice and bright, with pastel wallpaper and had French Doors that overlooked the pool, plus people were always walking down the adjoining hallway to the weight room and would look in the little window on the door. I was concerned that I wouldn't get the right "atmosphere" for the domain of dread. So I did the following to get the mood set, and I've done the same or similar whenever I wanted the horror effect in a game:
1) dimmed the lights, very low.
2) placed votives on the table and lit them as teh main source of light. If you have clumsy players or fire is a hazard or insurance risk (such as in the back room of the gaming store we used to play in) then use glow sticks, it's a bit more expensive, but you can always make the players bring their own.
3) got a portable cassette or CD player and played horror sound effects or movie themes. Just loud enough to be audible, but not so loud as to distract. It's when they are not consciously hearing the music, but it's still affecting their subconscious that it's most effective. We sat on the floor around a low table, so I just put the stereo under the table and it dampened the noise while still making it audible to all the players.
4) Give the players a little time before the game starts to blow off steam and talk. Have the atmosphere well lit and don't start the sound effects until you're ready to start the game. If all the hellos and social stuff is worked out before the game in the brightly lit atmosphere, then you dim the lights and create the "mood" atmosphere when the game starts, players will be more likely to recognize the transformation and will get in character more easily.
5) Comic relief is not necessarily detrimental to a horror game, often a small bit of it will get players off their guard and lighten their spirits, setting them up for another good moment of abject terror. Just don't let the comic relief dissolve into slap-happiness that you won't be able to shake off for the rest of the night. Most good horror movies have brief moments of relief, some even built up with suspense (the cat in the original movie "Alien" who sprung out of it's hiding place when you were expecting the monster...
I ran that group through a couple of adventures in Ravenloft back in 1993 and to this day some of them still talk about how much fun they had. I don't chalk it up to my GM skills, but rather to creating an atmosphere that made them feel like they were almost "in" Ravenloft. That and the severe thunderstorm that hit just at the climax of the final adventure didn't hurt (special effects by God)
Anyway, hope those were of some help.
Steve Nelson
sdnelson@advancenet.net
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Hey Pat,
One of the most atmospheric things used on me as a player has been to game by just candlelight for a horror game. (Make sure you have enough light to read sheets and dice though - and stop idiots like me from dropping dice on the floor where they can't be found!)
For extra effect the g.m used a camera flash for lightning (usually when he'd captured your complete attention - thus leaving you blind for his quick attacks)
Hope these can be of use
And good luck!
Ferg
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Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2000 15:51:55 -0500
Thanks for all the good advice. I plan To use music, but does anyone have any mood-music suggestions? (I have until Sunday to do some shopping)
Patrick Kinsella
WSU Computer Repair
(313)577-2471 or Pager: (313)796-7810
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"A grease monkey of the information superhighway."
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Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2000 12:59:41 PST
>Thanks for all the good advice. I plan To use music, but does anyone have any mood-music suggestions? (I have
>until Sunday to do some shopping)
>
> Patrick Kinsella
Don't know if this will reach you in time, but I use mostly soundtracks from movies with the mood I'm looking for. So fare I've used with luck; The Crow I & II, Bram Stokers Dracula, Interview with a Vampire, Alien 3, pluss many more... Also some classical pieces can give a very dramatic feel. I use Enya for my more "quiet" scenes.
Ron
"Suicide is our way of saying to God;
'You can't fire me, I quit!"
-Bill Maher
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] Movies
Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2000 19:22:21 -0700
> Hey all you crazy zombies!
>
> Seeing the mention of --- GORT! --- it made me think of other movies that
> sort of remind me of AFMBE other than the obvious classics
> (Night/Dawn/Day/Return of the Dead, Etc.). For me, the first one to come
> to mind is THE OMEGA MAN. The thought of being the last man on a dying
> Earth filled with zombies-like monsters is way cool!
>
> Does anyone have any other movie suggestions for plots?
An earlier film adaptation of I Am Legend (a wonderful zombie book, BTW), entitled The Last Man On Earth, starred Vincent Price and had a much more supernatural feel than the Charlton Heston vehicle. Definitely worth checking out. Some feel that this movie was an influence on George Romero for NOTLD!
As for others, off the top of my head...
Lifeforce, certainly.
Cemetery Man, listed in the AFMBE bibliography, but worth mentioning again. A one- or two-player campaign centered on the life of a cemetery caretaker during a zombie outbreak is something I badly want to try.
The Seven Samurai. Instead of being hired to defend a village from bandits, a group of samurai is begged to save the villagers from zombies rising from a nearby battlefield. The Shinto aversion to dead flesh would make this very interesting.
- Sean
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] Movies
Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2000 22:31:58 -0500
on 3/10/00 9:22 PM, Sean Briggs at lucifiel@compuserve.com wrote:
> An earlier film adaptation of I Am Legend (a wonderful zombie book, BTW),
> entitled The Last Man On Earth, starred Vincent Price and had a much more
> supernatural feel than the Charlton Heston vehicle. Definitely worth
> checking out. Some feel that this movie was an influence on George Romero
> for NOTLD!
I'm in the middle of reading I Am Legend right now, and it's a great book. As a testament to the history of Wampyres given in AFMBE, the Vampires in this book could easily be transposed with Zombies. Excellent fiction. VERY unimpressed by The Omega Man, after trying to catch in on the A&E Halloween Festival two years in a row and missing it, and I have yet to find a local video store that carries the Vincent Price Last Man on Earth.
> Cemetery Man, listed in the AFMBE bibliography, but worth mentioning again.
> A one- or two-player campaign centered on the life of a cemetery caretaker
> during a zombie outbreak is something I badly want to try.
I feel that Cemetery Man deserves a third nod... so much so that I thought it deserved a chapter quote in the book! But so many Zombie movies, so little time. Cemetery Man really delves into what it *means* to be in a world infested with Zombies, and as Dellamore says, there's too much paperwork to fill out to report the Zombie epidemic to the authorities, much easier to just shoot them in the head.
-e
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Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2000 23:26:26 -0500
----- Original Message -----
From: <mydgardhr@juno.com>
To: <flesh_rpg@edenstudios.net>
Sent: Friday, March 10, 2000 20:46
Subject: [Flesh_rpg] Movies
> Hey all you crazy zombies!
>
> Seeing the mention of --- GORT! --- it made me think of other movies that
> sort of remind me of AFMBE other than the obvious classics
> (Night/Dawn/Day/Return of the Dead, Etc.). For me, the first one to come
> to mind is THE OMEGA MAN. The thought of being the last man on a dying
> Earth filled with zombies-like monsters is way cool!
Watch LAST MAN ON EARTH, with Vincent Price, in a lot of ways, its even creepier. Both movies were based on Richard Matheson's I AM LEGEND. LMOE captures a better feeling of a survivor, alone with his memories, surrounded by the living dead who were his friends. One of the primary antagonists to Price's Neville, was his next door neighbor. This film was recently re-released on video, I believe by Anchor Bay.
Tony Finan
Administrative Geek - Philcon Uh-oh ('00)
The Voice of Radio Free R'lyeh
Arcane knowledge on a need to know basis.
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Subject: [Flesh_rpg] Flesh Availability and Update
Date: Sat, 11 Mar 2000 01:10:29 EST
Ok just spoke with Wizards Attic (Edens new sales department) and they have informe dme as of today we have less than 200 copies in stock.
Alliance Distribution and Zocchi have placed large restocks today and should be getting them soon. Wizards Attic will be informing the other distributors on how low the inventory is for AFMBE and they expect to sell the remainder before the end of the month to distributors.
Now... I just spoke with our printer today that told me that once they get the newly edited disks it will take 5-6 weeks to print up another run of hardcovers. We expect to get them the disks no later than the end of the month. So it will be mid May before the 2nd Printing ships to distributors.
I apologize for the delay this will cause for fans who have not picked up the book. we still have less than a case of the mainbook here at the office for mailorders. We did not realize that the game would sell this fast. We are very happy with the success of the game and will continue to support it and provide you all with quality material (within the best of our abilities).
We plan to update the website before the end of the month with new archtypes and Deadword settings submitted from players and writers and hope to have some exciting information on future sourcebooks at the GAMA trade show March 20-23rd.
I will keep you all posted.
George Vasilakos
Eden Studios
Zombie Lord
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Subject: [Flesh_rpg] Mood Music suggestions (was Archives/Unisystem)
Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2000 22:35:12 PST
> Thanks for all the good advice. I plan To use music, but does anyone have
> any mood-music suggestions? (I have until Sunday to do some shopping)
My music suggestions are:
The Crow Score by Grame Revel(sp) This is all the instrumental stuff, not the alternative wonderland soundtrack.
John Carpenter's The Thing by I don't remember. Really cool, creepy stuff.
Almost anything by Danny Elfman, just avoid the bouncy stuff.
Bram Stoker's Dracula (Coppola version) by IDR, just be sure to clip out the Anne Lennox song at the end.
Aliens by IDR, good if you have any tense action scenes, like defending a mall from bikers and zombies. =]
The Exorcist by IDK. A classic, and wordless choir stuff always spooks people.
The Fog by John Carpenter. I'd avoid the Halloween soundtrack, as it tends to bring up side conversation and can be a mood breaker since it's so identifiable.
The Usual Suspects, by IDR. Good classical sounding and moody.
I made a compolation tape with these and others that escape me at the moment (I'm at work and away from my CD collection), and it's serviced nicely. Just run it in a loop, and if you can, try to match sceenes with the tunes. Takes practice, but it's cool when it comes out right.
--
GAry m, minor epot
aka "Sneezy the Squid"
------------------------------
If you're going to pick a hero, ya know, do your research
-- Bill Hicks
DNRC Member since 1995 · ICQ#: 8391493 · #dragoncon on DALnet mIRC
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] Re: Sound Effects
Date: Fri, 10 Mar 2000 22:47:30 PST
> The PC game, nightmare creatures, has very cool background music on its CD -
playable in a CD player like a standard music CD. The game is fun too.
Yea, that one's cool. Reminds me that the Resident Evil 2 soundtrack is available. Love the piano stuff from the main area of the precicnt(sp) where the statue is. You can pick it up as Biohazard 2 soundtrack. I found it at Electonice Botique at the mall.
--
GAry m, minor epot
aka "Sneezy the Squid"
------------------------------
If you're going to pick a hero, ya know, do your research
-- Bill Hicks
DNRC Member since 1995 · ICQ#: 8391493 · #dragoncon on DALnet mIRC
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Subject:[Flesh_rpg] AFMBE campaign: "The War to End All Wars"
Date:Sat, 11 Mar 2000 10:11:37 EST
I have had this campaign idea kicking around my head since Deadlands came out and I think it works much better for All Flesh.
It is an alternate World War I, the year is 1921 and the war still continues. The secret societies of Europe (Rosicrucians, Templars, Illuminatus,etc.) discovered a way to tap the river of Essence flowing from the battlefields of the Great War. With this plifered Essence they could become far more powerful. What they didn't realize is that by stealing the lifeforce of the dead they unbalanced the forces of positive and negative energies, the negative manifested itself as a aware, hungry, and angry force. It makes its presence felt on our world by reanimated the bodies of the dead. The vast killing fields of Europe and Africa suddenly have a new danger, the living dead. Initially the outbreaks of these things would limit themselves to just the battlefields but as more lifeforce is stolen by the the greedy secret societies and selfish wizards the living dead become more and more prevalent.
This campaign would lend itself to having inspired characters in the group. Not all wizards and secret societies would be aiding the darkness, some would realize what was happening and try to restore the balance and dispell the darkness that has taken form.
Norm or survivor characters also have many possiblities. Soldiers trying to survive the normal horrors of trench warfare are suddenly confronted by the supernatural. Government agents try to identify what is going on from the frantic reports from the front. There are many possibilities.
I have pages of source material for the campaign and as you can imagine, I am limited to just an overview for this email. I would be interested in what other people think about it and am willing to answer questions. If this idea sounds good to you, feel free to use it.
Kyle
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] AFMBE campaign: "The War to End All Wars"
Date: Sat, 11 Mar 2000 13:13:10 -0800 (PST)
<< I have had this campaign idea kicking around my head since Deadlands came out and I think it works much better for All Flesh.
It is an alternate World War I, the year is 1921 and the war still>>
::SNIP::
yes it sounds very good to me.not only would I like to use it.I would like to post what you have on my new site. (http://www.oocities.org/poppocabba).I would give you full credit,and include your choice of an email link or hyperlink.the site is just brand new and I haven't got all the material up yet,but you can at least get an idea...
mike hance
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Subject: [Flesh_rpg] Mein Zombie Schnell! Schnell!
Date: Sun, 12 Mar 2000 05:28:22 PST
My apologies. I can't remember who suggested an adventure based on Where Eagles Dare, but it was a damned fine one. So I gave it a go:
Inspired by Where Eagles Dare
(I'm really gonna have to put some work into thinking of better titles)
Background
'Herr Doktor' is one of the men responsible for the original zombie serum. Having completed his work on the serum, he has been given free reign to pursue further experiments at a Nazi mountain retreat. Herr Doktor has found the mountain fortress to be ideal for his needs after it was discovered that it was built atop a series of interlinked caverns sealed but for one exit, which has now been secured. Herr Doktor has been working on variations to the serum, tweaking the formula, in order to make a more perfect Super Soldier. Ever dissatisfied with the results, his 'children' have been dumped to roam freely in the sealed caverns ever growing in number.
But they love him.
Sure, they rarely see him, but he brings them food. He provides for them. He loves them. The food bringer would never suffer harm at the hands of his children. They live because of him, for him. So long as the food keeps coming...
On one of the many raids over Germany, a squadron of bombers sprung a Luftwaffe trap. Parachuting into the hands of the Germans, the prisoners were gathered, transported, herded onto a train, and incarcerated in cells in a mountain prison. One by one the men were taken away. Their screams and moans could be heard throughout the day and night. When the cries stopped, another man would be taken by the stony faced guards for "a meeting with Herr Doktor". Lieutenant Roy Evans has escaped. Aided by a resistance cell working in the surrounding mountains, he has made his report on the bizarre events at the castle. The higher ranks of the military, combining his information with military intelligence reports, have taken a keen interest in his story...
The Resistance knows something unusual is happening in the castle. It's history, according to the locals, has always been bloody. But now the Nazis have secured it from prying eyes, and the village at the bottom of the mountain is a virtual prison for the residents who have made their home there. Trains come in twice weekly, prisoners are herded up the mountain pathways, and never seen again. The villagers have found it unusual that with the mounting number of prisoners, food requirements have not increased, although the number of trains have doubled over the past month.
After the rescue of the British airman, the resistance thought they had found success when another figure staggered into the cave they were hiding out in: More information, a clue to the secrets inside the castle. But the prisoner was mad! He attacked the guards with tooth and claw, moaning and shambling, unstoppable, even as bullets ripped through him, even as he lurched unaware through the fire. Three lay dead before the prisoner collapsed to the ground. What could drive a man to such madness? What kind of horror would lend such superhuman strength to a man? What is going on in the castle?
Involving The Cast:
- A small, elite squad, specialised in a variety of infiltration skills has been selected to penetrate the fortress of the mysterious Herr Doktor. The squad are to fulfill several objectives: to collect evidence of the crimes being performed against POWs. It is imperative that evidence is recorded, collected and brought back to London (and although the mission is clearly an information gathering one, it is made clear to The Cast that no one would protest should the prisoners be rescued or released "unofficially"). Military Intelligence have also been following the career of Herr Doktor since the zobie threat arose. They are very keen to lay hands on the serum (or any paperwork that pertains to it) that makes the German Super Soldier; M.I are vague as to whether it will be used as a balance in the ongoing struggle or whether they wish to find a counter-serum. Of course, the capture of Herr Doktor himself would be the crowning achievement for those wishing to rise in the military ranks!
- The resistance need information with which they can parlay with Allied forces for more modern and more hard to get weapons. Obviously there is something going on on the fortress castle, but without the benefits of spies and Lt Evans' report information is much more vague. The resistance are more familiar with the castle routines, and the layout of the land. To the resistance any information is valuable, and any dead German is one less to fight later on. The fight is more personal to them, as they may actually have had friends or family taken to the castle. Optionally they may be aware of a landslide/small avalanche that seems to open into a series of caverns directly underneath the fortress. Could these be used to bring the fortress down?
Note: ZMs have the option here. The British soldiers will have better equipment, an idea of what to look for, and the training to match. ZMs running the soldiers may wish to use the resistance as a source of information. The resistance are the group who face more difficulties. Equipment and training is poor, and The Cast have little to no hard information. The structure of the adventure will need to be a little more loose as they try different alternatives out.
Significant Details:
I'll not go into castle design here. Just possible sites within the fortress itself leaving out the multitude of latrines, bathing rooms, sleeping quarters, guardrooms, kitchens etc. The castle is big, it's stone, it's gothic and hard to get into. Throw in your own smattering of guards, doctors and personnel.
Cells - located along one side of the castle, many rooms have been converted into holding pens. Conditions are frightful. Depending on when The Cast arrive (is a train due, or did one just arrive?) the pens are completely empty/full to bursting with little room for the prisoners to sit, never mind sleep. There appears to be no provision for either food, water or sanitation.
A search of the nearby area reveals a wide passage leading to a large elevator to lower levels. This actually drops to a secure and remotely operated entrance to the caverns. Prisoners are regularly herded into the lift and disposed of.
Lab A - Appears to be a large hospital ward, only all beds have no covers, just strong straps to bind arms, legs, torso, head and gags for the mouths. Next to each bed are intravenous drips, and should prisoners be present, these drips feed into mainblood vessels. Each patient and bag has a different code tattoed/written onto it. From Lab A leads a long corridor lined with offices to Lab B. The offices contain much coded information and records of prisoners and progress reports on these. The records show many, many prisoners evolving many strange abilities, but each is stamped with 'Rejected'.
Lab B - Again very similar to Lab A, although there also appears present with the drips, equipment used to inflict pain and devices to baffle senses. There is a variety of drugs used to alter mental states. Records kept in a side office report on how well conditioning is progressing. They also report on times of death. Strangely records are still maintained after this point, and there is reference to a Lab C.
Lab C - Located beneath the castle, Lab C connects to the mountain caverns. A large, heavy metal gate separates the two, and a multitude of warning signs are displayed. Lab C is where Herr Doktor works to make his children come to life. Here he tests their limits; their strengths and vulnerabilites. Lab C is also heavily guarded and monitored closely. Should unauthorised personnel get in, an alarm is sounded immediately, bringing a full response from the soldiers stationed in the castle. No chances are taken in this lab. To the side of this lab are secure cells. Each contains a zombie undergoing tests. When tests are completed the zombie is released into the 'secure' caverns. (Herr Doktor would never kill one of his children).
Herr Doktor keeps all his records concealed here and can be found here day and night, having gone as far as to sleep in the lab, where his children 'sing to him'. (ZMs can place a limit on the amount found).
The Caverns - All Herr Doktor's children can be found here. All the rejected zombies find their home here and are regularly fed with a stream of prisoners unfit for testing. Consequently the population grows, and many stay near to the lift where prisoners are dropped, or to the large gate where guards are stationed near Lab C. However, many do wander around the caverns, and some have even found their way out of the breach in the cavern, sensing the life outside.
(The zombies are rejected on the basis of obedience. Herr Doktor can't crack this part of the process, although the zombies do have some recognition of him, and seem to leave him unmolested if there are other food sources present. For this reason Herr Doktor believes he has a bond with his creations.
ZMs: Here is your chance to create all manner of zombies - no two the same - as the results of the experiments. Take the opportunity to vary the weak points and features to keep The Cast constantly off guard!)
Story Possibilities:
- The Cast have to infiltrate the castle. How will they accomplish this? A cunning plan will be needed: Will they scale the walls? Or hang on to the bottom of castle bound trucks? Or walk in with the prisoners? Will they disguise themselves to gain entry?
- What information will be found? Will the alarm go up leading to an all guns blazing adventure, or will The Cast take it slow and silent? If taken in with the prisoners, will they find out the fate of prisoners first hand as they are lowered into the caverns?
- Will The Cast decide to infiltrate the caverns to blow them to kingdom come, and crush the castle? What will they meet? And should they succeed, what will they have released?
- Will The Cast meet Herr Doktor? He will, if in danger, run into the caverns to draw The Cast with him. This sets off the alarms drawing the guards, leaves a door open for the zombies who sense it's feeding time, and leaves enough chaos for Herr Doktor to escape for another day, while The Cast are trapped between two enemies. Or will they follow him?
What do you think? Comments?
Ferg
rom: "Steven D. Nelson" <sdnelson@advancenet.net> Save Address - Block Sender
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] Flesh List Archives?+UniSystem
Date: Mon, 13 Mar 2000 09:09:49 -0600 (CST)
On Fri, 10 Mar 2000 KGaud35459@aol.com wrote:
> Do not tell the players, "A zombie is walking toward you." Make them
> use their imaginations. Tell them, "You see a human sillouette in the
> distance. It shambles drunkenly toward you. As it gets closer the sickly
> sweet smell of decay prevades the air. It's face is finally visible, a
> seething mass of vermin and rotted flesh, its lips curled back into a mocking
> snarl."
> Make sure that there is plenty of roleplaying and a minimal ammount of
> roll-playing. Don't let dice rolls ruin the mood that you carefully create.
> It is OK to make some rolls for the characters without them knowing
> (Perception rolls especially).
That is some good advice. A flavorful description that appeals to all of their senses does help the atmosphere to permeate the game environment.
Also, a quick note on die rolling. When I need a few moments to think about something, or sometimes just to build tension I'll look at the group, or maybe even a player, and then roll dice. Afterwards I may smile, nod solemnly, or even shake my head. At any rate, I've got the players wondering what's going on, and bought myself a few moments to think things through and change plans. Just don't do this too much, used sparingly it helps to plant uncertainty in the player's minds, used too much it just stalls the game and it will lose it's impact.
Also, I like to keep a list of the player's stats for things like perception rolls, so I don't even have to ask them their stats.
If you're looking for a CD for background music, Either Excalibur or Laserlight (the companies that make those $6.99 CD's that record stores sell) makes a collection of classical music that was called "Chiller" if I remember correctly. It had "Night on Bald Mountain", "Faust", "Danse Macabre", "Funeral March of the Marionettes"(great one for a carnival full of zombies...), and lots of other good mood setting classical music on it, I think it also had other orchestral pieces on it like the "Psycho" violin suite. I found that one invaluable. I also picked up a tape with horror movie themes (I think it was called Horror Movie Themes actually...) that had the music for Halloween, Exorcist, Dracula (the old one not the one with Winona Ryder), Poltergeist, and other similar tunes. Good stuff to have going in the background. Keeps a creepy atmosphere.
If you want to really go overboard then check out some Haunted House supply places. You can get a device that sits in a bowl or glass of water and will create a foggy mist. I've seen this sold at places that sell those tabletop fountains. They're not cheap, but with the right prop to have a cauldron or something sitting in the middle of the table with a couple glowsticks in it and a creepy mist rolling over the edges... we used that in our haunted house one year for the witch and it was definitely cool. Just don't get cheesy props, or scary quickly becomes silly. Also avoid strobe lights for obvious reasons. But an electric "flickering" candelabra can still work in lieu of real candles (again in case of fire hazard or liability)
From: Patrick Kinsella <pkinsell@sun.science.wayne.edu> Save Address - Block Sender
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Subject: [Flesh_rpg] Damage Question
Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2000 18:12:51 -0500
Okay, folks, here we go:
I ran my first game of AFMBE on Sunday. I was the one asking questions about mood music, and what I used were these:
The Crow Soundtrack
Interview with a Vampire
John Carpenter's Greatest Hits cd I scammed from a friend
All were good.
Back to the subject, one of my cast created a Biker type that wanted to use a weighted chain in combat. I used a d6*str for damage, but I wanted the list's input. To high, to low, or just right? If it matters, he is a brute (strength 5).
Thanks!
Pat
rom: "Ronald Larsen" <angelicus6@hotmail.com> Save Address - Block Sender
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] Damage Question
Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2000 15:43:27 PST
> Back to the subject, one of my cast created a Biker type that wanted to use
> a weighted chain in combat. I used a d6*str for damage, but I wanted the
> list's input. To high, to low, or just right? If it matters, he is a
> brute (strength 5).
> Thanks!
> Pat
I have no real opinion on the damage question, as my copy of AFMBE hasn't arrivet YET to my gaming store, but keep in mind that a weighted chain is first and foremost a weapon for entanglement..
From: "Paul A. Schreiber" <werecrow@earthlink.net> Save Address - Block Sender
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] Damage Question
Date: Tue, 14 Mar 2000 16:29:04 -0800
>One of my cast created a Biker type that wanted to use a weighted chain >in combat. I used a
>d6*str for damage, but I wanted the list's input. >To high, to low, or just right? If it
>matters, he is a brute
>(strength 5)
I took a quick glance at some other game books and here's my opinion:
Skill level/Damage
0 1d6x(str-1)
1-3 1d6xstr
4+ 1d8
Grappling with a zombie is just asking for trouble, but you can use it on humans too, so, quick and dirty (after a hit is made): Attackers (str+dex)/2 vs. the same of the defender. Attackers wins, then -3 to defenders dex. Attack loses by 4 or more, then -2 to their dex. Anywhere in between, it's just a normal hit
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] Damage Question
Date:
Tue, 14 Mar 2000 21:59:17 EST
In a message dated 3/14/00 3:44:39 PM Pacific Standard Time,
angelicus6@hotmail.com writes:
<< I have no real opinion on the damage question, as my copy of AFMBE hasn't
arrivet YET to my gaming store, but keep in mind that a weighted chain is
first and foremost a weapon for entanglement. >>
Ronald
Please give me your game stores phone number so I can call and find outwhy they have yet to get AFMBE.
George Vasilakos
Eden Studios
Zombie Lord
From: "g. m." <gm1970@hotmail.com> Save Address
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] Damage Question
Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2000 04:30:21 PST
::SNIP::
> Ronald
> Please give me your game stores phone number so I can call and find out
> why they have yet to get AFMBE.
>
> George Vasilakos
> Eden Studios
> Zombie Lord
**THIS** is the kind of commitment to the fans I like to see in a game company! Now I have to go buy some more Eden products to support you all. Kudos.
--
GAry m, minor epot
aka "Sneezy the Squid"
------------------------------
If you're going to pick a hero, ya know, do your research
-- Bill Hicks
DNRC Member since 1995 · ICQ#: 8391493 · #dragoncon on DALnet mIRC
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] Open Gaming & PbeM
Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2000 06:11:37 -0800 (PST)
--- James Pearson <jdpearson@jvlnet.com> wrote:
> Ok, my turn to be stupid,
>
> What is "Open Gaming?"
Check out the link at the bottom of this e-mail...
The Open Gaming movement is kind of like the Open Software movement, a standard RPG-engine that is free and would encourage uniform base-mechanics among smaller game companies.
Basically, it exists to increase RPG commerce. Many people play D&D,
and only play D&D (or a core 1 or 2 games). The public isn't interested in learning a new game mechanic with every new RPG, so sales are lower. However, if they followed a universal mechanism, provided free by the OGL, consumers would be less concerned about learning an entirely new rule system.
-e
=====
---[]---
http://www.opengamingfoundation.org/
http://horrible_planet.tripod.com/
---[]---
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] Open Gaming & PbeM
Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2000 09:36:50 -0500
Earle wrote:
> Check out the link at the bottom of this e-mail...
>
> The Open Gaming movement is kind of like the Open Software movement, a
> standard RPG-engine that is free and would encourage uniform
> base-mechanics among smaller game companies.
>
> Basically, it exists to increase RPG commerce. Many people play D&D,
> and only play D&D (or a core 1 or 2 games). The public isn't interested
> in learning a new game mechanic with every new RPG, so sales are lower.
> However, if they followed a universal mechanism, provided free by the
> OGL, consumers would be less concerned about learning an entirely new
> rule system.
I dunno. I think that a system makes the game most times. Especially with AFMBE and other games like FS and Tribe 8. Thats the great thing about the Gaming industry right now. Companies can tailor the system to fit the game, which makes the game that much better IMHO. If AFMBE had used the Gurps engine or some similar engine (D6, rolemaster) I wouldn't have given it another look as I walked through the store. Same with any other game. Universal Game Mechanics just fail utterly to mesh well with any Genre. Of course my gaming group is a little strange, they jump at the chance to play a new system.
--
When we finish reading even a single sentence, a word, we know more than when we started reading it.
Chuck "Darshu" Payne
ICQ#16586693
Darshu@bellsouth.net
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] "controversial subject matter"
Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2000 10:41:22 EST
In a message dated 3/15/00 7:01:36 AM Pacific Standard Time, EdenProd@aol.com writes:
<< << You know, I ran into this problem as well. There is a fairly major chain of Hobby stores in the metro Detroit area that said they didn't carry AFMBE due to the "controversial subject matter". Go figure, as there were several copies of Vampire etc. I had to drive to a hobby store 45 minutes from home to get my copy. >>
We had this same problem when we released the WitchCraft RPG. Some US distributors asked why we didnt change the blatant name to something more subdued. Because of the name and ""controversial subject matter" they wont carry WitchCraft. BUT they do carry White Wolfs line of products since they are one of the top selling RPGs. Just goes to show that someones morales can be bought in the US. >>
Being older than dirt (Actually I'm only 32, but I've been playing RPG's
since 1977), I've seen some big time nonsense dealing with RPG's over the years. It has ebbed and flowed in waves, but I could have sworn that this crap was just about dead. After RPGing went mainstream and the naysayers got proven to be fringe lunatics with an agenda the general paranoia drifted off to other things like rap music (which sucks not for it's content, but because it's a bastion of untalented spastics). Hard to believe when television shows about magic, demons, and vampires are raking in the rating that they would try this lame excuse of "Controversial".
Jon's Hit List of Controversial Games
AD&D - Bad Physics. Children could get hurt emulating their 26th level warrior who can walk away from a terminal velocity fall with only minor injury.
Vampire - Bad Government. American vampires would stand for that undead hierarchical nonsense for about ten seconds. Stake the posers and throw them in the harbor with the tea.
Gamma World - Bad Genetics. Radiation as a benevolent mutator? Hah, that's like cutting diamonds with a sledgehammer.
Star Trek (FASA or LUG) - Bad Economics. Money is irrelevant in the future? Tell that to the Ferrengi.
Twilight 2000 - Bad History. World War III in turn of the century Europe? Sounded plausible in 1985, I guess.
Of course these are meant to be humerous, but I think there is a valid point within. They are only games and/or tools. Sure, AFMBE can be pointed at as contoversial because it breaks the second biggest taboo (cannibalism, although this can be argued since zombies aren't humans anymore. FYI, the biggest taboo is incest - thankfully no RPG's deal with this directly), but more importantly it can teach lessons of morality. Are we dealing with a zombie world brought about by the excesses of greed or man's inhumanity to man? Is the focus on heroism and courage and sacrifice?
Teaching personal responsibility and morality, now there is a controversial subject.
Jon
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] Open Gaming
Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2000 07:51:18 -0800
IMO, an Open Gaming rule system is a noble idea, but I don't think it's a good one. So many time, the machanics will make or break a game.
Remember the Babylon 5 RPG machanic? That died a quick death for having the worst task resolution in history.
How about Teenagers From Outer Space (TFOS)? The game would have no merit at all if you used GURPS rules to play it.
Or worse yet, try playing AD&D using the TFOS rules.
And what about Battletech by FASA. It does take a fair bit of number crunching, but aside from some tweeking now and then, you're not gonna come up with a better set of rules for it.
A universal system would so unbalance some genres. In a RIFTS of Superhero game system, where strength can go up into the 30+ range would kill a "normal" game where a player would badger a DM until he gave up and let him get away with a 50+ str in the wrong setting.
It's a lofty goal, but it'd be a nightmare as well. Just to make it fit all genres, the backbone would be so bare, and the you'd need 5+ plugins. TOON types, Horror types, D&D types, Cyberpunk types, giant robot types, superhero types, etc...
Each of thes, IMO, can only work with certain machanics. Humanty, sanity, horror checks, silly stuff, etc.
And then you'd have to keep all these plugin straight in your head! Now I've got a photographic memory, but it still all runs together after awhile.
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Subject: [Flesh_rpg] Systems: Part of the Game, or All of It?
Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2000 11:27:30 -0500
> Some people really loved Aftermath, but after 2 hours spent simulating a
> 45-60 second shootout... I lost interest.
Ah, yes, AFTERMATH. "Hey, I got my right index finger shot off!"
I'm another one of those "old hand" RPGers that been around since the days of the little brown books (and if you know what I mean, you'll know where I'm coming from). Systems have come and gone and come and gone, but it's only recently that folks have even begun to realize that if the system bites it's okay to ditch it.
AFTERMATH's a case in point. Way back in Ye Olden Tymes when FGU was spewing systems all over the place -- I still have my copy of MERC, if you want to carbon date me by that purchase -- gamers by and large didn't consider that they didn't HAVE to use the system provided with the setting. If you wanted to play a post-apocalyptic setting, you found a game that "did" that genre and you played it. Want to play fantasy? Pick a system and play in its associated world. If the system sucked the bones of the dinosaurs, then the game was no good and, usually, play in that genre ceased until another system came along that plugged into that area.
Mechanics CAN kill a game, which should demonstrate how UNimportant they are in the scheme of things. If a game is interesting enough to pick up thanks to its setting, and it IS setting that gets you to make that first look, it's got something worthwhile that can only be massacred by an inept system. The system is an appendix, it's the tail that, all too often, ends up wagging the dog. People want to play the game because it's intriguing to them and can be turned off by the system. The answer to this problem is emphasis on the setting, the meat of a game, and not emphasis on rules, rules and more rules.
No one, I say again, NO ONE buys a game for its rules system. There are enough systems out there of sufficient flexibility to accommodate just about anyone and just about any style of play, from the "Slide-rule and Charts Hell" of RoleMaster to the elegant (and personal favorite) non-system of SLUG. Gamers go into the store to have their imaginations stimulated.
Let's pull this back to AFMBE for a moment, since this is an AFMBE list. What part of the game is receiving the most praise? The DeadWorlds. Why? Because that's what keeps the players coming back week after week. I don't roleplay because I like to roll dice. I roleplay because I want to, well, ROLEplay. The settings make my little roleplaying gears turn over, make me want to write adventures and conceive of characters and hook together campaigns. The system? It's a means to an end, and can be easily ignored, because if I want to play, I'll play, even if that means no table, no dice and I'm yakking with the guy in the car seat next to me while driving to the grocery store.
The zombie-design portion of the book is also interesting, because it's really a way to organize a zombie idea by using numbers. One could drop the infrequent UniSystem references and never look back, but still have the zombie-design tools for use when the brain can't work without assistance.
My dream is to see a game store that has lots of great setting lines coming out with all the various and sundry generic system junk in the back where it can be ignored until it's absolutely necessary. Put stats for two or three of the bigger generic systems (GURPS, FUZION, UniSystem) and spend time developing the things that gamers really should be primarily concerned with: ideas and how to make them fun.
rom: Machine-gun Kelly <mgkelly@axom.com> Save Address - Block Sender
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] Damage Question
Date: Wed, 15 Mar 2000 19:10:10 -0600
> >Ronald
> > Please give me your game stores phone number so I can call and find out
> >why they have yet to get AFMBE.
> >
> >George Vasilakos
> >Eden Studios
> >Zombie Lord
>
> **THIS** is the kind of commitment to the fans I like to see in a game
> company! Now I have to go buy some more Eden products to support you all.
> Kudos.
The only other company I, personally, have seen to be this appreciativeof fans and have this much commitment for them is Pinnacle. It's good to see that other game companies out there are following the same trend, because I've come across a number of them that don't or, worse, treat their customers with indifference or even disrespect.
George, expect to have an extremely loyal and rabidly defensive fan base if you keep this up.
MGK
--
"If guns don't kill people, I want my money back."
From: "g. m." <gm1970@hotmail.com> Save Address
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Subject: [Flesh_rpg] Ahem, Excuse me, but...(Was: Systems)
Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2000 12:04:47 GMT
::MONDO BIG SNIP::
Ok all, at my (probbably innacurate) count, we've had about 6 messages about systems that didn't mention AFMBE at all. Some people like one system, others like lots. YMMV. In any case, we've wandered of the Fleshy Path of Zombie Goodness and into the Greater Gaming Debate Woods. I know that I'm not the moderator (we do have one, correct?), but as the discussion on system vs system has a) lost relevance to AFMBE, and b) is getting a bit intense, could we go about moving the system debate to off-list personal discussion, and get the list back on track?
--
GAry m, minor epot
aka "Sneezy the Squid"
------------------------------
If life is a lesson, it's a crash course.
- Derek Lin
DNRC Member since 1995 · ICQ#: 8391493 · #dragoncon on DALnet mIRC
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] Websites
Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2000 07:20:14 -0800 (PST)
--- Patrick Kinsella <pkinsell@sun.science.wayne.edu> wrote:
> Does anyone have any good AFMBE websites? I am thinking of building
> one,
> but I would much rather "contribute" to an existing page. Yeah, I
> took the
> 2 point disadvantage "Lazy". Sue me. :)
>
> Patrick Kinsella
There is a Yahoo! AFMBE Club http://clubs.yahoo.com/clubs/afmbe
As for other websites, I'm sure they'll be springing up soon. Besides playtesters, not many folks have had an opportunity to really get into the flesh of things. ;-)
-e
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] Ahem, Phade to Black
Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2000 10:47:36 EST
In a message dated 3/16/00 6:09:56 AM Pacific Standard Time, jdpearson@pcgeek.net writes:
<< Anyhow, has anyone run the Phade to Black scenario setting - You guys at Eden are just Sick! Who thought that stuff up? >>
In the outline I gave Rick Dakan, I told him one of the "Deadworlds" should have zombies created by some form of disease. He opted for an AIDs variant... nasty aint it.
George Vasilakos
Eden Studios
Zombie Lord
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Subject: [Flesh_rpg] Character Points
Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2000 16:52:29 GMT
Somewhere in the book it says a characters should be able to handle a number of zombies whose combined power levels equal his character points. Where does it tell you how to determine character points?
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] Archetype: Copy Editor
Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2000 10:09:58 -0800 (PST)
Archetype
Copy Editor
Norm
Str 1
Dex 2
Con 2
Int 4
Per 2
Wil 3
LPs 28
EPs 23
Spd 16
Essence 14
Qualities/Drawbacks
Photographic Memory (2)
Hard to Kill 2 (2)
Good Luck 2 (6)
Emotional Problem (Introverted) (-1)
Resources –1 (-2)
Status –2 (-2)
Skills
Computers 2
Dodge 3
Driving (Car) 2
Myths & Legends (Zombies) 3
Research/Investigation 4
Writing (Academic) 3
Guns (Handgun) 2
Language (French) 1
Language (Spanish) 1
Stealth 3
Humanities (Literature) 3
First Aid 2
Gear
MLA Handbook, iBook, Red Ink Pen, Notepad
Personality
I was on my lunch break in the courtyard when it happened. Well, it wasn’t exactly a break, I was hiding from the production manager. And it wasn’t really lunch, it was a packet of crackers. And it wasn’t really the courtyard, it was the basement of the press and I hate my job and the crackers were stale.
When I interviewed for this job, I thought it was a pretty established academic press. They had impressive roster of scientific journals and literary magazines, none I’d ever heard of, but I needed a job. I mean, I really needed a job.
But the scientific journals read more like conspiracy rags and tabloid headlines, and the literary mags were full of pulp crap written by hacks who still used white-out instead of the delete key. So you can imagine things were looking up when the mainstream news started airing stories about a brain virus that was turning small town Americans into psychotic cannibals. Everyone was working double-overtime, sleeping at their desks, making frantic phone calls to anchors at CNN who still didn’t want anything to do with us. I practically had to wrestle copy from the editors before they took it down to layout, just to give it a once over.
The workload lightened up for me pretty soon though, when the FBI decided to take an interest in our editing department. I have to admit, the copy was a little cleaner, but it wasn’t anything anyone would want to read. Though I doubted anyone was reading much then, except for the internet, but you had to keep chasing down the sites with any information because the Feds kept closing down servers.
Pretty soon I was sleeping under my desk too. My neighborhood wasn’t that great to begin with, and when the rumors started flying in the absence of any real information, it was like everyone was everywhere all the time. I couldn’t walk down the street without some whacko trying to talk to me or grab me. My apartment was looted—ha!—and all they took was my underwear. Over a thousand dollars worth of reference books, and they took the thong I wore once for some guy I never saw again. Adios, college. Adios, apartment. Luckily I had my laptop and a change of clothes with me.
Did I mention I was in the basement when it happened? The Feds were long gone by then, with more important things to do, like sealing themselves in underground bunkers. The press was running on a skeleton crew (no pun intended) and publishing online because the trucks that brought our paper just stopped coming. The production manager was going nuts, writing 10,000 word columns on time travel and brain parasites and voodoo. We were running out of material: photographs and field reports had stopped coming in. I thought that was a good sign. I thought wrong.
I know now that the majority of the communication black-outs weren’t orchestrated by the Government. We like to think of the Government as a super-human entity, collectively smarter than the rest of us, but the sad truth is, it’s made up of people who barely graduated from high-school, just to go on to barely graduate from college. People like you and me. When faced with the seemingly unstoppable, the horrific, the thing that chewed on Barry and got blood all over the copy like a leaky red pen and—
The truth is I don’t want to think about it when I have a choice. I’ve got other things to keep my mind occupied now. Someone has to separate the fiction from the facts now, if anyone is going to survive. You may think you can make it with a motorcycle and a shotgun, but when you’re in the basement with nothing but a packet of stale crackers and you see three dead interns shuffling down the stairs, you might be interested in knowing how I got out of there alive.
Quote
"I don’t like people, alive or dead. But at least the living are marginally better spellers."
=====
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Subject: [Flesh_rpg] A Call to Arms (and other animated bits)!
Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2000 13:37:47 PST
It occurred to me that among us we have many skills and talents. Our shared hobby states that we all have fertile imaginations. And some of us have an idea and feel confident enough to post these, and some of us don't: we sort of lurk in the background (I know, I've been lurking on the Deadlands list for nearly two years!) and feel the idea may not have been fully developed, or done before but in a different way etc (but it has value. Oh it may just be a seed now, but it will grow). I figured if we took just one idea from each person and put these together on the list under a shared background, we'd have ourselves something special. A kind of shared world which we contributed to and shaped.
Or am I just sort of dreaming?
OK, so I re-read the excellent Titan Run concept and then a short story by Neil Gaiman (and to my shame watched a bit of Battlestar Galactica) and have tried to merge them.
The Galaxy's a Big Place
Having reached the end of the 21st Century, Earth is ready to burst like the galactic boil it has become. Greenhouse effects have swamped low lying areas driving the ever swelling populations together into closer confines. Famine and disease run amok, and governments collapse unable to aid their peoples. In the race for resources war breaks out, and Earth is as close to the Book of Revelations as it's possible to get.
The governments of the world, in a rare moment of cooperation, come together with a plan: to build three huge colony ships (Faith, Hope and Charity), peopled by scientists of all schools, engineers etc, the cream of humanity's practical intellects, taken from all the countries of the world, which will seek new worlds for instant colonisation. The experimental ships would fold space, explore the furthest reaches of the galaxy and return to deliver the population of the Earth from it's dire future. The governments agreed that the voyages last no longer than 100 years before they returned.
The problem was hit upon quickly. The ships would have to travel for many light years, with fragile experimental systems. The ships would have to be manned continually by their crews: long, lonely and potentially psychologically damaging voyages. Space would be limited in terms of food and supplies, and ships would have to carry vast amounts of equipment.
Solutions were discussed. Families could live and grow in the colony. However, this would see the need for further crew and provision for medical care, schooling etc. Hypersleep was just theory at this point.
Then one pharmaceutical corporation solved the problem. It had developed a drug, 'Endless', that effected the body on a cellular level. The cells were kept alive artificially, never ageing; effectively the body had an unlimited lifespan. It had undergone tests, evidence was soon to be collected, but nobody could foresee a problem. Volunteers were gathered, the ships built and sent forth on their missions.
On Earth it was over ten years before the first hint of a problem occurred: 'Endless' test subjects were losing their ability to retain information, think rationally or coherently, and respond to stimulus. Thought initially to be a form of dementia, medical scientists came to the conclusion that all neurological functions were slowly dying, that the brain was closing down, yet the individual cell types (apart from most of the brain) were continuing to live. 'Endless' had created 'living dead'.
The 'Endless' subjects were tested. They had forgotten all but the most basic drives and needs. To the disappointment of the scientists they proved to be aggressive and cannibalistic and contagious. The 'Endless' subjects were destroyed, and the drug banned worldwide. The governments, concluding that the effects would have effected the colonists, gave up all hope of their return.
Until Charity pulled into Earth's gravity 90 years later.
So where do we go from here?
I had several thoughts:
Charity is empty of life. The events on Earth transpired on the ships. The dead walked and the crews jumped ship on escape pods which directed them to the nearest safe habitable planet. (Of course, these planets would not remain inhabitable for long). Charity has crew logs which tell pieces of the story, but of most value is the journey log. Did the ship find a new Earth?
Faith or Hope show up. Virtually all systems have failed. The hulls are pocked with crater collisions and damaged beyond repair. But they do have a hardy crew and are on a collision with the largest city on Earth. People are needed to prevent this disaster; detonate the ships or steer to safety. Whichever, there'll be a warm reception.
Earth rescues the information it so badly needs to save it's populations. It has worked long and hard to perfect long distance space travel in smaller ships. It needs to send out these scout ships on the Faith, Hope and Charity routes. What will the scouts find when they get there? Or perhaps they come across one of the derelict ships on their journey?
Do "dead" planets exist? What are they like? How will they be made habitable again?
Can anyone add to this? Can WE make it a shared property? What do you think? Post those ideas. Be heard!
As medieval bellringers said:
"Bring out your dead!"
Ferg
From: Earle Wheeler <frankenmac@earthlink.net> Save Address - Block Sender
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] Archetype: Copy Editor
Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2000 17:22:54 -0500
> Righteous negativity? We us Graphic Designers just love it when our editor
> tear our work apart, especially when we just drop in and format text. :-)
> Which is why I always keep my x-acto knife close by.
>
> Bobby
Heh... the age old rivalry between Copy and Graphics...
I have to admit the Archetype is based on my girlfriend, a professional Copy Editor. Both of us got our Degrees in English with a concentration in Editing & Publishing, but I took the dark path of the Graphic Designer, while she stayed on the straight and narrow.
Want to see something funny? Get two copy editors in the same room. The stronger will always devour the weaker, leaving only one plump living spellchecking being. Believe me, I've seen it happen on several occasions.
---
BTW, if anyone liked the Copy Editor archetype, let me know, and I'll post my archetypes for:
Professional Wrestler
No-Good Kid
Conspiracy Theorist
Fanboy
Beatnik
& Serial Killer
From: "g. m." <gm1970@hotmail.com> Save Address
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To: flesh_rpg@edenstudios.net Save Address
Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] Archetype: Copy Editor
Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2000 05:59:52 GMT
> Heh... the age old rivalry between Copy and Graphics...
I did a two year stint as a graphic design hack for Kinko's and had to leave when I wanted to stick pens in peoples necks (You don't know anything about Style or what you want, but you want 5 pages by tomorrow and don't want to pay over $20? DIE!!!!) I'm feeling much better now. =]
::SNIP::
> BTW, if anyone liked the Copy Editor archetype, let me know, and I'll post my archetypes for:
>
> Professional Wrestler
> No-Good Kid
> Conspiracy Theorist
> Fanboy
> Beatnik
> & Serial Killer
I did like, it was very well written. I'd love to see the Therorist, Killer and Fanboy. The wrestler would be fun if he was a Luchador. Esp. if you've seen any of the really fun, heavy cheeze infused Luchador movies from the 50s. MST3K showed "Samson vs the Vampires" and I didn't stop laughing the whole time.
--
GAry m, minor epot
aka "Sneezy the Squid"
------------------------------
If life is a lesson, it's a crash course.
- Derek Lin
DNRC Member since 1995 · ICQ#: 8391493 · #dragoncon on DALnet mIRC
From: "Drake" <drake@televar.com> Save Address - Block Sender
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] Archetype: Copy Editor
Date: Thu, 16 Mar 2000 23:36:41 -0800
> I did like, it was very well written. I'd love to see the Therorist, Killer
> and Fanboy. The wrestler would be fun if he was a Luchador. Esp. if you've
> seen any of the really fun, heavy cheeze infused Luchador movies from the
> 50s. MST3K showed "Samson vs the Vampires" and I didn't stop laughing the
> whole time.
"El Santo vs. the Naughty Zombies!" I could really get intop a game like that...
Actually, the game I'm working up has all the bad movie features. It'll start at a Summer Camp (where 2 of the PCs are camp counselors, and another is a nerdy kid). The plan is for them to eventually run into the fourth PC, who is known around the area as a witch, and then for the Gates of Hell to open...
Some of the ideas I'm using for it are coming from a (soon to be released on tape/DVD) movie called "The Dead Hate the Living" (reviewed in the latest Rue Morgue magazine). It sounds great, and if anyone out there sees it, please let me know!
"It ain't bragging if it's true."
HBK
Drakonia: http://www.televar.com/~drake
From: Earle Wheeler <frankenmac@earthlink.net> Save Address - Block Sender
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] Archetype: Copy Editor
Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2000 07:13:53 -0500
> I did a two year stint as a graphic design hack for Kinko's and had to leave
> when I wanted to stick pens in peoples necks (You don't know anything about
> Style or what you want, but you want 5 pages by tomorrow and don't want to
> pay over $20? DIE!!!!) I'm feeling much better now. =]
Heh. I did a little stint at Stinko's myself. But the worst part of it was when people would call me, out of the blue, and ask computer tech
questions... I mean, if I was in a support job, I would have been making ALOT more money.
But keeping this on-topic, I think it would be cool if we all made an archetype of some crappy-ass job we've had in the past. IMO, the Norms are the best archetypes in the book, the Video Clerk being my personal favorite!
-e
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] Archetype: Copy Editor (OT)
Date: Fri, 17 Mar 2000 15:48:58 EST
In a message dated 3/17/00 6:01:04 AM !!!First Boot!!!, gm1970@hotmail.com
writes:
<< >Heh... the age old rivalry between Copy and Graphics...
I did a two year stint as a graphic design hack for Kinko's and had to leave
when I wanted to stick pens in peoples necks (You don't know anything about
Style or what you want, but you want 5 pages by tomorrow and don't want to
pay over $20? DIE!!!!) I'm feeling much better now. =] >>
I've been doing other people's designs for about 5 years now and I know exactly what you mean! You do a elegant ad, portfolio-worthy even, only to have the customer come back with "can't you put some starbursts or reversed out boxes in that?"
Okay, since I went through the trouble of getting a design degree, I probably don't know as much as you, since you just got a computer and a pirate copy of Corel!
Go fiqure.
-Chad
From: "Dylan Craig" <stalky1@hotmail.com> Save Address - Block Sender
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] introduction
Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2000 02:16:09 PST
Hi all
I'm posting a zombie module I wrote for a local tournament in '96 on my web page at www.crosswinds.net/~eyeballkid/modules.html . It should be up in an hour os so.
Please feel free to download and play. It was written for the Fighting Fantasy system ;), but although I haven't yet seen the AFMBE rules, it should be fairly easy to convert.
It has a staggered character introduction, which I'd like to hear your opinions on.
Dylan
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Subject: [Flesh_rpg] Archetype: Professional Wrestler
Date: Sat, 18 Mar 2000 19:36:32 -0500
Professional Wrestler
Norm
Str 4
Dex 3
Con 3
Int 1
Per 2
Wil 3
LPs 47
EPs 35
Spd 12
Essence 14
Qualities/Drawbacks
Hard to Kill 3 (3)
Multiple Identities (Masked Mortician) (2)
Attractiveness -2 (-2)
Delusions (Delusions of Grandeur) (-1)
Honorable 2 (-2)
Show-off (-2)
Skills
Acrobatics 3
Acting 1
Brawling 4
Dodge 3
Driving 2
First Aid 2
Gun (Shotgun) 2
Hand Weapon (Steel Chair) 2
Intimidation 2
Martial Arts 3
Weight Lifting 3
Gear
Mask & tights, vitamins, gold cross necklace, Bible, shotgun.
Personality
I was as shocked as everyone else when Andre the Giant showed up live on pay-per-view. For one thing, we were a pretty small federation. And for another thing, he had been dead for over 10 years.
The Kilted Ninja got in a big snit, yelling at the promoters about how they’d really crossed the line of bad taste this time. But all the suits and writers had no idea what was going on, and that’s when security tried to get the dead legend out of there. They didn’t do too good.
Well, when some psycho jumps the rails, it’s usually the jobbers who have to run out there and take them out before anyone notices. There’s always some drunk who thinks he can beat the world champ. But when we got out there, and saw the blood, and the lights came up, and the smell...
Well the crowd ate it up. And then it started eating the crowd. I was lucky to get out of there with it’s size 17 boot-print on my head.
Now I’m not going to lie to you, what I do isn’t all real. There’s more foot stomping and planned spots than sport. What I do is put on a show with my body. I take the kind of punishment no real athlete could. But you can’t fake it with the dead, friend.
At first it was hard. You know, I had never even been in a real fight before in my life. When you’re almost 7 feet tall and over 300 lbs, you don’t get much trouble. But you have to learn that the code doesn’t apply to the dead. I only needed one dead granny scoop slamming me through a wall to teach me that. They’re no more alive than the turnbuckle. Don’t even think about it.
But the living is another matter. There are some bad dudes around here, brother. They think that since there’s no more law, that there’s no more honor. Drunk all the time and treating women like cattle, using anyone weaker than them for zombie fodder. And yeah, sure, sometimes I wonder why I keep taking my vitamins and saying my prayers, but when I see the face of a little survivor, man, some kid who needs someone to look up to and believe in, I remember what it’s all about. Keeping America alive. These people need someone to set an example for them, and when I put on the Mask, I can be that person.
Sure I wasn’t ever a champion. I’ve been beaten down by the big names on a weekly basis to earn a paycheck. I just never really had the Charisma to get over, kinda goofy looking I guess. But with the Mask on, the enemy can’t see you hesitate, they can’t call you ugly. And people think you’re smarter. I guess it’s the mystery of it. Or maybe the sequins.
And believe it or not, even the dead seem to stop for a minute when they see the Mask, like I might be one of them, instead of lunch, or something scarier than they are. But you’ve got to move fast out here. There’s no time to think, and I like it like that. U.S.A. forever brother!!!!
Quote: "I see that Zombies have finally come back come back to Chicago. I’m giving you ten seconds to turn around and get back in that grave. So that’s the way it’s gonna be? fine then... what’s your name Zombroni? It doesn’t matter, cause when I want to know your name, I’ll read it off your tombstone, BAM!"
[By Earle Wheeler]
----------
And hey, it was so good, I thought we should all read it twice :-)
Alasdair Stuart--"ZOMBIES! YOU CAME HERE TONIGHT TO BUST UP MY TITLE SHOT, BUT I CHALLENGE YOU TO A FIRSTBLOOD, HANDICAP STEEL CAGE DEATH MATCH!"
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Subject: [Flesh_rpg] Mein Zombie; Himmel
Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2000 08:13:03 PST
A Cold Death
A short adventure for Mein Zombie
General Von Helzer is a German general of the 'old school'. Over the past year he has become disillusioned with the way Germany is being run. Whilst they are now winning, Von Helzer is disgusted with what is being done to his soldiers in the Fatherland's name, and disgusted with himself for turning a blind eye to the atrocities committed.
A month ago he had sought out and joined with others who felt the same, and plotted to rid Germany of it's high command. He failed.
Now the S.S know of his involvement, and are en route to 'question' him. Von Helzer has been warned of their coming by sympathetic friends. He knows he has but a few hours.
But he can still make a difference. If he can escape their clutches with some decisive action, he can make it to England. He can defect. But he will need something of value to the Allies. He's a general of renown. He has access to secrets, and can lay his hands on the identities of agents and moles within the Allied forces.
Commandeering a pilot and a scout plane he has informed his offices that he is inspecting his command from the air. The S.S are at his heels and, suspecting that Von Helzer may be trying to flee, have sent a fighter plane to make sure he never leaves German territory.
The Cast
The Cast can be involved in a couple of different ways, depending on the difficulty ZMs wish to set:
- The Cast are from a British Labourer Battalion, sent to clear routes through snow drifts in this area. A blizzard closed in on the soldiers, the truck broke down, and with the temperature rapidly dropping the troops sought shelter. With luck, they came across an abandoned farmhouse. It provided shelter and a place to hole up until the storm passed.
The squad are poorly equipped and miles from their truck (though this still contains a variety of supplies that couldn't be carried). They have rescued what could be carried, including a radio, low on battery power, salvaged from the truck. They are woken in the early hours of the morning...
- After a convoy was attacked and decimated by a couple of German fighter planes The Cast loaded their gear into one jeep and hightailed it into the mountain passes with the intention of getting back to HQ to report. Trying to beat a closing storm, the driving conditions became treacherous and the jeep rolled down a gully. The Cast were shaken, (unless cruel ZMs wish for The Cast to be really beaten up) and in difficulty.
The radio's broken, and the group have their rifles and very little ammunition. The jeep is a wreck and the blizzard is growing in ferocity. In a lucky break, The Cast have found an abandoned famhouse where they can rest, recuperate and plan their next move. Their sleep is shattered in the small hours of the morning...
- The Cast are a group of British deserters holed up in the farmhouse where they plan to hide and wait out the storm. They have robbed gold coins, meant for the local resistance forces, and are currently being hunted by Allied troops, and a very angry resistance cell.
Unfortunately, the plan went awry, and a quick escape was necessary. The Cast have very little in terms of food or munitions. They have had to make their way by foot, across mountain trails and passes, and are now in the middle of disputed territory, hunted by the Allies, and no friends of the Germans. The quiet, early hours of the morning are shattered by noise...
The Story:
The story opens during a heavy blizzard in the mountains. In the early hours of the morning heavy gunfire can be heard, and the drone of aircraft engines. Through gaps in the driving snow The Cast see a German fighter plane pursuing and firing on a small scouting aircraft with what appear to be German markings. The wing and fuselage have bullets rip through them and the scout craft begins to plummet towards the ground. The craft tries to pull up at the last minute, but fails to, smashing through banks of snow before coming to a rest 100 yards from The Cast. From the wreckage crawls a German general. He staggers to his feet, clutching a case to his chest, and begins to run for the cover of the farmhouse. Meanwhile the fighter begins to bank, readying itself for a strafing run...
Story Factors:
- The General makes it to the safety of the farmhouse just before the fighter plane punches huge, great holes through the roof and walls (ZMs: you may need these holes later). Play up the bullets tearing through the house, have debris flying through the air, bullets buzzing and, if feeling particularly harsh, valuable, life-saving items peppered with shrapnel. The General needs little time to assess the situation and readily surrenders, offering up his secrets as a trade for his defection. The fighter makes a couple of passes before returning to report on the situation.
- The blizzard plays a large part of this scenario. It can constrain the
movement of The Cast, can be used to break up radio signals (there's nothing better than destroying a radio, have The Cast triumphantly repair it, only for them to receive static punctured by "zzt...yes...zzt...two...the...zzt...out.") and conceal the movement of the opposition. The blizzard won't stop The Cast, but it will certainly hamper them.
Story Possibilities:
- The German response is to immediately send two waves. Initially men are sent to return the General. They arrive first, but may prove so susceptible to the weather that a hardier breed of soldier is dropped in ; a hungry breed, who aren't bothered by the weather, but who really go for a warm meal.
The initial attack can be used to soak up ammunition, leaving The Cast's resources a little stretched. The Cast do have the opportunity, though, to restock from the dead soldiers. And of course, if they don't have a radio, this is a good opportunity to let them get hold of one.
The Cast have a couple of options:
- They can choose to remain in the protection of the farmhouse and defend it (remember those holes? They work both ways, and are really useful for grasping hands to make surprise attacks) and try to wait for help to arrive.
- They could make a run for it, giving a good setting for a running battle. Having fought against live soldiers and making a run for it, imagine their surprise as they begin to run into lurching figures who magically appear from out of the blizzard.
- The Cast manage to get a radio signal and arrange a rendezvous with an Armoured Car patrol. They have to either stay put until the cavalry get there, or meet at the rendezvous point at the arranged time. See the above options, or combine the two as The Cast have to recover supplies or maybe a new battery for a dead one in the radio from the abandoned truck/jeep, then either move or stay.
- The deserter Cast may see the General as a golden meal ticket. He, or his secrets, could be used as a currency to pass safely through Allied ranks, or to placate a very angry resistance group, who may appear on the scene having intercepted german radio transmissions. The resistance group could be used to bolster defences, only to turn on the theives later on.
This adventure is really open, with just one goal; to survive.
I've looked at a variety of starting points, mixing Cast backgrounds was one (a couple from the British Labour Battalion, a couple from the convoy and a couple of deserters), so that the group has a variety of options, even though they all start in the same position. This has the greater potential for really throwing the cat among the pigeons (do some of The Cast recognise the deserters? Do the resistance show up and figure the entire Cast for thieves?) Lots of conflicting motives among The Cast, where ultimately they all need to rely on each other sounds like the best idea, but I've tried to leave it as open as possible.
So, what do you think? Comments appreciated.
Ferg
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Subject: [Flesh_rpg] Archetype: The Kid
Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2000 16:05:16 -0500
Originally I had this Archetype titled "Punk Kid," as in what some old foggie would call the kids in the mall with the big pants. But since there's already and Archetype out now called "Punk," I figured that might cause some confusion... so here is, The Kid.
The Kid draws from every terrible horror flick in the 80's that featured a young kid in the film so that kids watching could have someone to identify with. Most of the time, these characters were awful, and had lines that consisted of "No [insert name of sister/brother/best friend]!!!" or "Ow!!" as they were thrown all over the room a million times with force that would have shattered Lou Ferrigno. While Corey Feldman is a worthy template for this character, the worst example of The Kid can be seen in "Return of the Living Dead 2", and the same kid-actor in "Invasion from Mars."
Here's hoping that when you play the Kid, he wont be nearly as obnoxious.
-----
The Kid
Norm
Str 1
Dex 4
Con 1
Int 2
Per 3
Wil 3
LPs 21
EPs 20
Spd 10
Essence 14
Qualities/Drawbacks
Good Luck 3 (9)
Hard to Kill 1 (1)
Emotional Problems (Antisocial) (-1)
Recurring Nightmares (-1)
Status -3 (-3)
Skills
Computers 3
Computers (Specialty: Games) 5
Dodge 3
Driving (Skateboard) 3
Driving (Bike) 2
Escapism 2
Fine Arts (Drawing) 2
Hand Weapon (Handgun) 2
Myth and Legend (Zombies) 5
Writing (Horror Comics) 2
Gear
Comics, headphones, skateboard, handgun
Personality
Fangoria and Famous Monsters of Filmland got me prepared. Old comics like Tales from the Crypt and Weird Stories and stuff like that was good, too. Mom never liked the kind of stuff I read. I didn’t do very well in my classes. Math and History were my worst. Next to English and Social Studies. PE and Science were OK.
I guess I miss school sometimes. Not the classes but the other kids. Not many of them are around anymore. Not any that talk anyway. But my sister is with me and that’s good. Sure we used to fight alot and we still do. I think she’s a skank. But I try to keep her out of trouble.
I don’t know where mom is. Yeah I miss her too sometimes. Dad died when I was too young to remember him. I guess I might meet him someday now. Sis doesn’t like it when I say stuff like that. Whatever.
The whole world is like a big science experiment now. All the stuff I know about Zombies I get to try it out and see results. For now the people we’re with are listening to me. Ever since I told them how the Deadheads talk to each other.
The last group waited until it was too late. Buttheads.
But I didn’t let that get in the way. I know to keep my promises. I didn’t let them get up again. Some people are wussies and they want to cry and keep the dead around. That’s just messed up.
When I grow up I’m going to open up my own comic shop, filled with all the old comics I’ve found along the way. I’ve had to leave lots of them behind but I hid what I couldn’t carry. I’ll be back when all this is over.
Some guys don’t think I should have a gun. Am I Denace the fraggin’ menace? Losers. If it wasn’t for how heavy the gun was I’d be a better shot. Doom and Resident Evil are paying off, too.
I think I turn eleven in a few weeks or so. No one is really keeping track of time now that everyday is the weekend. Sis said that we could have spamcake and sing songs. This is the best Summer Vacation ever. Yeah, right.
Quote: "Put a stick in it’s eye and see what happens... gross!!! OK now do the other one..."
From: Earle Wheeler <frankenmac@earthlink.net> Save Address - Block Sender
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Subject: [Flesh_rpg] Archetype: Conspiracy Theorist
Date: Sun, 19 Mar 2000 17:36:22 -0500
Conspiracy Theorist
Norm
Str 2
Dex 2
Con 2
Int 2
Per 4
Wil 4
LPs 26
EPs 23
Spd 8
Essence 16
Qualities/Drawbacks
Acute Senses (Hearing) (2)
Contacts (Conspiracy Theorists) (1)
Contacts (Anarchists) (2)
Multiple Identities 1 (2)
Adversary (The Government) (-2)
Addiction (Caffeine) (-1)
Delusions (Computers are evil) (-2)
Emotional Problems (Compulsive Disorder) (-1)
Obsession (The Secret Plot) (-2)
Paranoid (-2)
Skills
Acting 2
Bureaucracy 2
Demolitions 2
Disguise 3
Guns (Handgun) 3
Guns (Shotgun) 2
Guns (Rifle) 2
Hand Weapon (Knife) 2
Myth and Legend (Government Conspiracies) 4
Occult Knowledge(Psychic) 1
Research/Information 3
Streetwise 2
Survival (Urban) 2
Traps 1
Writing (Conspiracy) 2
Gear: Portable typewriter, pipe-bomb, passport, handgun, spring-loaded switchblade, issue #13 of "All Zombies Must Be Destroyed" zine
Personality
"CORPSES UNREST MARCH ON GOVERNMENT CONTROL MACINE: BABY, IT’S ROCK AND ROLL
TIME"
The city is a wild animal, and what are we, the parasites, the fleas, the ticks, are we symbiotic, are we homeopathic medicines, are we dying out, are we overpopulated, are we capable of making a decent cup of coffee? Two certain things in life: death and taxes. Now the dead are here to collect on a million years of interest on overdrawn Karma, our currency is measured in bullets, our prosperity in life, our education in survival.
The Ugly American dropped it’s mask, shoot the dead who come back without permission, shoot the poor who are too stupid to burn the dead, shoot the poor who will soon be dead anyway, shoot, shoot, shoot. The power lines went out before the information lines, and in the immortal (now a cosmic joke) words of William S. Burroughs, probably shambling around Kansas right now somewhere, "Cut word lines, cut power lines, smash the control image, smash the control machine."
Why is coffee so hard to find? Stored in a secret government HQ now, with the 12 billionaires who controlled the world, and the Pope, the President’s daughter and Bill Gates, cryogenically frozen on an engine powered by the microwave technology. The power didn’t cut-out on you, innocent savages, blank eyed without your TV’s, the power was diverted into that lair, stored up for one giant atomic shock-wave, until then it powers their cozy lights and Atari gaming machines.
Coincidence that the Zombies chew on coffee beans, that every bag of bean from commercial to generic has been gnawed open or stolen by survivors or hoarder by the aforementioned secret microwave bunker? Caffeine and fluoride and fluorescent lights and Prozac and microwaves, and you thought nothing would happen, just buy buy buy, and while your hard earned dollars are tracked by satellite, solar flares interrupt transmissions from long dead Mars computers (built not coincidentally out of the same material as underground fiber-optic cables) zap pow, add in pesticides getting into the graveyards and what the hell did you expect? KFC and microwave popcorn forever?
Take your money and burn it baby, you won’t ever need it again, pick out all the clothes you could never afford and burn them, too, you need something thicker but allowing for mobility and enough room to hide our new currency from our brothers on the Earth. Take your old ideas and burn them out of your mind, this is our last chance to be human beings, if that means anything, and if you think the dead are the worst of your problems then you’ve got another thing coming.
Quote: "No, smart-ass, this tin-foil hat isn’t to block out alien thought-waves. The zombies home in on you through psychotronic orgone radiation, and your big naked brain lights up like Christmas, all tasty like. So put it on or don’t, I don’t care, but don’t come crawling back to me when you’re dead."
[by Earle Wheeler]
From: "Geoffrey Weber" <s2gpwebe@vcu.edu> Save Address - Block Sender
Reply-To: flesh_rpg@edenstudios.net
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Subject: [Flesh_rpg] online game
Date: Tue, 21 Mar 2000 20:29:29 -0000
I am going to try to run an AFMBE game using AOL IM chat room feature. As it stands, I still have a couple open slots if anyone from this list would like to play. If so please be a patient soul, as this is my first time running a game in a long time, and the first time I've tried to do it over the internet. If interested please email me your character (no attachments).
From: "Simon B. Sinister" <simonbsinister@home.com> Save Address - Block Sender
Reply-To: flesh_rpg@edenstudios.net
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Subject: [Flesh_rpg] A New World in Hell?
Date: Thu, 23 Mar 2000 14:11:48 -0500
I'm new here, so I thought I should ask this question before I started posting: is there any interest in new "Worlds in Hell?" Right now all I've got is the history section to one called "Living Dead Girl." It borrows rather heavily from Chaos Comics, the "Return of the Living Dead" trilogy (the world's name is a giveaway), and several of the current AFMBE worlds, but I'd be interested to see what people make of it. If nothing else, anyone who's interested can always e-mail me privately...
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SIMON B. SINISTER
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http://members.home.net/simonbsinister/index.htm
From: "g. m." <gm1970@hotmail.com> Save Address
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Subject: Re: [Flesh_rpg] A New World in Hell?
Date: Fri, 24 Mar 2000 05:13:10 GMT
>From: "Simon B. Sinister" <simonbsinister@home.com>
Nice to see that others remember Underdog. =]
> I'm new here, so I thought I should ask this question before I started
> posting: is there any interest in new "Worlds in Hell?" Right now all
Yes! Post away, man! Send everything! Send it all!
>I've got is the history section to one called "Living Dead Girl." It borrows
Now I've got the song in my head. Off to the CD rack I go...
> rather heavily from Chaos Comics, the "Return of the Living Dead" trilogy
> (the world's name is a giveaway),
It's a grand tradition, borrowing. I stuck that fine lady in my Champions
game as a major villian after seeing her in a FANGORIA article, way back
when Malibu was publishing Evil Ernie, before the comic caught on. I'd like
to see your slant on her.
From: "andrew ferguson" <andrewferguson@hotmail.com> Save Address - Block Sender
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Subject: [Flesh_rpg] Archetype: Insane Gamer
Date: Sat, 25 Mar 2000 09:28:02 PST
After seeing some of Earle's cracking archetypes, this came to mind (with tongue firmly in cheek (oh, and the conversatin with Garth was real)). What do you think?
Insane Gamer
Norm
Str 2 Dex 3 Con 2
Int 4 Per 3 Wil 1
LPs 26
EPs 20
Spd 8
Essence 26
Qualities/Drawbacks
Situational Awareness (2)
Fast Reaction Time (2)
Artistic Talent (Acting) (3)
Delusions (Weird) (-2)
Reckless (-2)
Secret (Role Player) (-1)
Skills
Brawling 2
Climbing 1
Drive Car 3
First Aid 3
Gambling 2
Gun Handgun 1
Haggling 1
Hand Weapon Club 3
Myth & Legend (Fantasy) 3
Research/Investigation 3
Storytelling 3
Streetwise 1
Tracking 1
Writing 3
Gear
Club of Smiting (baseball bat), backpack, penknife, Iron Rations (crisps, biscuits etc), bag of lucky dice.
Personality
It was after a long session of 'Apocalypse Knights' that Garth and I had the conversation. He was saying how we'd be alright if the apocalypse really came, how we were mentally prepared for it and all; that we'd know how to survive, the best places to shelter, get food and that. I was ready to bust a gut laughing. I couldn't wait to tell the guys! Jeez, some people can take it all a bit seriously.
So there we are passing the old graveyard when over the wall stumbles a figure. We figured it to be a drunk, and gave him a wide circle, but he picks himself up, and moaning, starts to stagger over. That's when the rest of them start coming over the wall. This wasn't no drunk, it was a dead guy. It was freaky; all I could think about was Module F9 'Dead at Dibden'. Well, me and Garth froze, and these dead guys are shambling towards us, and my legs wouldn't move. What the hell was going on? Then it happened...a voice in my head. Dr Tim Flanagan (bookseller of eldritch tomes, Myth Lore 34%): And I say to Garth "Shambling Young of Ngratthii". Well that's when the dead guy lashes at Garth and tears his throat out. And just as I'm about to run, Cainem Flay (Str 18/54) lets out his dwarven war cry and hefts this dead branch (bonus modifier for blunt weapons) at the dead guy's head before I run, still screaming the battle prayer, headlong through the other zombies, and back towards home.
Well it turns out the entire history of the town had risen from the ground.
But Garth was right. We are prepared. I hear the voices in the back of my mind. They cry for my attention and they tell me what to do. If I need to creep around Fernando 'the ghost' Fernandez (Sneak 3d8) comes to the fore; Sergeant 'Mad Dog' Murphy (Rifle 6, Pistol 6) takes care of the firearms, while Cainem Flay has got us out of a couple of scrapes so far with his Club of Smiting. And so what if once in a while they slip loose.
We have a necromancer to find, villages to save and missions to complete. It's all experience, and there's too much work for one man. It's time to assemble a party, and take the forces of darkness on, in a struggle for the world!
Quote
"By the force of Shinkun, I turn thee back foul evil. Ready thy weapons my heroic comrades, mine turning has failed"
From: "Jon David" <oxcart@hotmail.com> Save Address - Block Sender
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Date: Sat, 25 Mar 2000 14:23:20 EST
Hey gang! Just figured I'd let you all know that I'm trying to start up an AFMBE fan-site. http://www.angelfire.com/id/jondavid/
You can check it out if you like. Give me some criticism, whatever. It's not much, but I hope to work on it.
One particular point of interest is an archetype I have posted. The Wiccan Tattoo Artist. Still have to work up his personality, though.
Jon David
http://wicca.drak.net/jondavid/
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"Witches ride brooms because Nature abhors a vacuum!"
"Madness takes its toll. Please have exact change."