Tommy's Take on Zombie World

A novel concept: An RPG featuring zombies!



All snark aside, Zombie World has a couple of unique hooks that caught my eye during their Kickstarter, so I decided to check it out.

Tommy's Take on AZ: After Zombies

AZ: After Zombies was released late last year by Charles Rice and Apocalyptic Games. Zombies are still big business, and with The Walking Dead going strong, and the (IMO) gold standard of zombie RPGs - All Flesh Must Be Eaten - seemingly dormant, there is certainly room for a new game to satisfy that niche.

100 Days of Halloween Tabletop Horror Recommendations

Hey guys, for those that don't follow me on social media (or who have long since tuned me out), I was guest blogging on The Monster Guys blog, posting 10 games I think you should consider this Halloween.

Two swell dudes.

Without further ado:

Tabletop Horror 1: Zombies!
Tabletop Horror 2: Fantastic Horror
Tabletop Horror 3: Camp & Circumstance
Tabletop Horror 4: Fresh Meat!
Tabletop Horror 5: The Call of Evil
Tabletop Horror: Honorable Mentions (Michael's, not mine)

Enjoy!

World of the Dead is (Almost) Here!

Hey guys, two big pieces of news regarding World of the Dead, the sequel to War of the Dead by Daring Entertainment, which I came on board as editor of with Chapter 3! First and foremost, World of the Dead is available for preorder from RPGNow! All pre-orders receive a free copy of the World of the Dead Players Guide (a $7.99 value) available for immediate download! World of the Dead is a stand-alone sequel to the popular War of the Dead campaign. Although War of the Dead is not necessary to play, a copy of Savage Worlds from Pinnacle Entertainment Group is required. Inside this book you will find:

Five new player races
Expanded Setting Rules
New Edges
Details on living in the survivor kingdoms, plus rules for creating one of your very own
Complete rules for custom building new Living Dead
Adventure Generator
Full Plot Point Campaign and Savage Tales

Available only at RPGnow.com
Secondly, Daring has announced a new policy for fan material for folks that want to produce material for World of the Dead after its release! While full details will be announced when World of the Dead drops, this is the gist of it:

Any fan out there will be able to submit material to Daring Entertainment for approval (basically we are watching content to keep it Savage Worlds PG-13). Once approved, we will release it with the Savage Worlds Fan logo on it as a free download for all fans to grab.

What can you submit? Simple: anything. Characters, locations, adventures, entire Plot Point Campaigns, anything at all.

What is off-limits? Again, simple: Nothing. As long as the material is within the PG-13 rating that Pinnacle Entertainment prefers for Savage Worlds (and Daring Entertainment prefers for all its products) you're good to go. In other words, the World of the Dead Plot Point Campaign ends a phase for the setting, and leaves a ton of areas wide open, subplots open for the GM to resolve however he/she wants, and a whole world to yet explore.

What happens after the PPC is up to you! And your fan-material will help guide that for everyone else!

Because of the open format, and that every game at the table is different, we can even have multiple fan-material submissions for the same topic. In other words, if two fans submit material on the Unified Town of Beacon and the hinted at upcoming Civil War within the towns, and both take that idea in different directions, both will still be released. Which one GMs choose to use in play, or maybe even combine elements of the two for a third option at the table, is up to them. It's all about options and fun.

Stay tuned for more.

DISCLAIMER: The links provided in this blog post contain affiliate links for RPGNow. Any purchases made through those affiliate links will provide me with store credit at RPGNow, which is generally used to purchase more RPG material, usually for review on this blog.

Tommy's Take on Shadownrun 5th Edition, Milecastle 42 and Djinn of the Deep

SHADOWRUN FIFTH EDITION

Fun fact: I actually have no experience with Shadowrun whatsoever. Yes, I know it’s pretty much a classic and one of the bigger fish in the gaming sea…and, yet, here we are. So when I got a chance to review the Fifth Edition of the game, I took it.

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW: First and foremost, this is the 5^th, and most recent, version of the game. The books clocks in at 489 pages, making for a hefty tome. The PDF is about $20, about a third of what the print version is going to retail for, it looks like. Shadowrun is a mix of fantasy and cyberpunk sci-fi elements, a lot of which have now been seen over the years. The system uses a d6 dice pool system, with 5s and 6s for successes and “Glitches” occurring when half or more of the dice rolled come up 1s. The world is ran largely by megacorporations, and people deal in both Augmented Reality and Virtual Reality while Magic is a fairly commonplace element.

WHAT WORKS: I like the fantastic elements like the elves and dwarves and orks and trolls, blending them with the modern world. The magic system has some very neat points to it, with my favorite part being the mentor spirits. The book is a gorgeous piece of work, with some impressive art. There is a “random run generator”, essentially a random adventure generator, which I always love. Character creation levels are provided, so you can start campaigns with street level newbies, capable warriors or power players.

WHAT DOESN’T WORK: In-game fiction doesn’t do too much for me, anymore, and there seemed to be a lot of that here (maybe it was just my perceptions), especially for the price. I’m not a fan of the approach taken with the system…for the most part, I’ve moved towards “lighter” systems over the years, and a skill heavy system like this isn’t really in my wheelhouse (75+ skills is a bit much for me).

CONCLUSION: Shadowrun isn’t really for me. I’m not surprised, as cyberpunk isn’t a genre that really interests me, and when I do have a desire to scratch that itch, I have a perfectly good Savage Worlds alternative waiting for me (Interface Zero). The book never really “clicked” for me, making it difficult for me to engage with it, and I think that might be the “Dracula” effect: In short, all those trends that Shadowrun kinda helped set are a bit overdone now, and so it has a bit of a “been there, done that” feel to it. That said, if the system were more my speed, I really think I could get into the setting due to the “magic plus sci-fi” mish-mash. Not a bad product, just not my cup of tea, unfortunately.

MILECASTLE 42

Open-ended adventures are always a good thing, IMO. One of Silver Gryphon Games’ newest releases is just that, an alternate history sandbox adventure called Milecastle 42.

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW: This 27 page adventure costs $5 and is, in a nutshell, Romans versus Zombies. The PCs are stationed at a Milecastle, essentially a lighthouse which is part of a series of such houses 5 miles apart. The night before, Milecastle 42 signaled in desperation but now their light has gone out, so it’s up to the PCs to investigate. The PCs are given objectives and guidelines and then turned loose to investigate Milecastle 42 as they will. The outpost, of course, has been overran by zombies (this isn’t a complete surprise, as the Romans are living with the plague in this reality) and most of the zombies are capable of little more than pack mentality and animal cunning. That a more intelligent foe is directing them shouldn’t be a big surprise, but where the adventure really wins out is in the climax, which comes out of left field in an awesome way.

WHAT WORKS: The “Final Boss” is really kinda epic. The page numbering is all in roman numerals, which is a nice touch. I love a good, open sandbox adventure.

WHAT DOESN’T WORK: All the characters are going to be a bit “samey” by the nature of the game, as PCs are built off of a template that is customized.

CONCLUSION: A fun one shot or convention game, Milecastle 42 also allows for a few options for continuing the game depending on the success or failure of the PCs. I’m not a big fan of what amounts to pregens, even though I understand why they’re there, but as I don’t run a lot of one shots or convention games, I’m not really the target audience. If you’re not tired of zombies yet, or if you want them in a different milieu, then Milecastle 42 is well worth picking up, especially for its “OH CRAP” moment at the end of the adventure.

DJINN OF THE DEEP

Another one shot/convention style adventure, this one casts the PCs in the role of pirates who learn that there’s always a bigger fish…

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW: This nautical adventure weighs in at 22 pages and $5, and is also part of a bundle that includes deck plans for a freighter by Dramascape for only 99 cents more. Players are given a template to customize, as well as a primer on the rules of pirating. The adventure is pretty straight forward: The PCs get to raid a ship, get overtaken by a bigger ship (a shark-shaped submarine, in fact), and wind up bumping noses with the biggest fish in the sea. References to pulpy authors abound and genre fans will surely catch the nods. It is built as a suitable convention or one shot adventure, though tips are provided for expanding it beyond that point.

WHAT WORKS: The layout is gorgeous, and I think a lot of folks will appreciate the assumption that the PCs are actually playing pirates and not Disney Pirates. The crazier, pulpier elements are a nice touch without getting into full blown supernatural.

WHAT DOESN’T WORK: Act Two essentially hinges on the PCs essentially becoming subservient to an adversary, which is hard to pull off without frustrating players. The editing on the version I received left a lot to be desired, but that may have been cleared up in the final retail release.

CONCLUSION: While I appreciate the pirates, the adventure just doesn’t click with me the way a lot of other Silver Gryphon stuff does. It’s not a bad product, and the bundle with the Dramascapes map is a great deal, and Djinn of the Deep may well hit that tonal middle ground between Pirates of the Spanish Main and 50 Fathoms. Recommended if you’re wanting pirate fun without the fantasy weirdness of 50 Fathoms.

Hellbrood: Countdown to Invasion released!

Hellbrood: Countdown to Invasion was released by Daring Entertainment for Savage Worlds this week!

Countdown to Invasion is a supers event series in which the world is assaulted by the Necroleans, an alien race armed with nefarious weapons that cause the dead to walk and turn the heroes and villains into superpowered zombie nightmares.

Countdown to Invasion leads into the Hellbrood setting book and plot point campaign, and is intended to only be the first event for the world...(I edited the thing, so I can tell you that plot seeds are woven throughout that take you well beyond the scope of just the one event, even as big as it is).

Designed for the award winning Savage Worlds role-playing game and the Super Powers Companion, this volume includes five playable races, new Edges and Hindrances, and new setting rules— including how to perform Power Stunts and expand your hero's capabilities.

You can read the previews on the Daring Entertainment website: Countdown to Invasion, New York, The Hellspawn and the Necroleans.

Tommy's Take on Reclamation

Reclamation is an interesting RPG...it's a post-apocalyptic RPG about hope. See, the title refers to the move to restore the planet, rather than let it fester in a post-apocalyptic waste.

"My only advice to you is simple: Do as much good as you can in this world for as long as you possibly can." - Nikolai Federick

WHAT YOU SHOULD KNOW: The PDF has copy and paste disabled, but is clickable, searchable and bookmarked, which is good since it runs almost 300 pages. The book is black and white, with art ranging from "alright" to "really good". The PDF is $14.95 and the hardcover is only $29.95, with a bundle available at RPGNow.

The Prologue lays out the premise: Essentially, the Sickness swept across the land, drove people nuts, and pushed the world to nuclear war. And sometimes people get completely consumed by The Sickness and its gets worse, they become part of the Mortis-Horde. So, yeah, it tosses a little zombie apocalypse in there on top of the "regular" end of the world. It's a good fiction piece that provides the set-up, hitting all the big points like the world is wrecked, but nature has adapted strangely (including maze-like forests sprouting up and deserts flooding), people gaining powers and people organizing into "cells" (setting up the perfect starting point for PC groups, may I say). More importantly, it introduces the reader to the Reclamation, which injects some hope to the setting.

The Introduction covers the basics in plain English: Post-apocalyptic, this is an RPG, breakdown of the character sheet, etc. The game doesn't use dice, it uses decks of playing cards. That is, a deck per person. When performing an action, you flip over one or more cards depending on your attributes and you add black cards to the total but subtract red cards...and aces are kind of a big deal, both ways. There's an optional rule for taking two cards off of the deck, called "Burn cards", to skew attempts at counting cards.

Character creation is handled through a few steps. First, you select your Mark, which is how the Fallout has affected you. You can be a Survivor, which means that you bear no outward signs of being affected by the Fallout (but you have been). The Magi can cast spells and bend reality to their wills. The Host have become part machine. Pariahs have become, essentially, monsters. Paragons have become something more...the next step in humanity. These all have little history bits to them, with information like where the Marks started, or linking them to aspects of our history and mythology.

Next, you pick a Generation, which determines your trait points and talents. Forerunner has more talents, God's Ten Percent has more trait points, Descendants are in between.

Then, you pick a Background: There more than a couple dozen of these, with options like Anarchist, Avenger, Dreamer, Nomad, Prophet and Warrior. Each one gives you a mechanical advantage in the game and a role-playing advantage. A Cynic, for instance, can spend a Drive Point to determine if someone is trying to screw them over, and can gain a Mark of Experience when they expose the truth about someone.

With that all done you spend Trait Points, spread out over 8 traits (Strength, Dexterity, Speed, Resilience, Intellect, Manipulation, Perception, Spirit), with 20 being the mortal limit, 1 being poor, and the rest scaling in between. Pariahs and Paragons can actually break those human limits, by the way. You also get a number of Secondary Traits (like Movement, Damage Bonus and Dodge) that are derived from your Primary Traits.

Next are Talents, which are divided into four groups (Scholar, Rogue, Leader, Hunter) and cover most of your basic skill options like Biology, Intimidation, Diplomacy and Stealth. There are 32 talents in all. Each one is broken down with flavor text, basic description and in-game examples of uses.

You also get Kewl Powerz, and some book keeping with things like Pain Points, Drive Points, Injury Points, Radiation Points, the Soul Path (which tracks from Despair to Hope) and thresholds for The Sickness.

Chapter 3 is the rules chapter, explaining HOW the system works. Essentially, your ranks in your talents (1-5) determines how many cards you draw, which you add or subtract from your relevant trait. Target numbers are listed on a simple chart, broken down into two types of actions, Measured and Threshold checks. The former involves degrees of success, the latter involves straight up success or failure. There are also Competition checks (contested stuff) and Luck checks, which are pretty much straight card draws.

Drive Points are kinda like bennies, action points, etc...you can spend Drive Points to re-flip new cards (hopefully removing a red card, for instance), add flat bonuses, even bend the rules a bit.

Once all that is out of the way, the book dives into Combat. Initiative is based off of your Speed (Alertness) trait and talent, and there are rules covering things like surprise. Interestingly, you set the Aggression Rank for your attack (from 1 to 20), with a lower rank meaning you are being more aggressive. You would always use that, right? Well, your opponent can either defend or counterattack...and counterattacking is easier, the less careful the attacker is. Nice bit of strategy there (and examples are provided all over the book). The amount of actions per round is based off of your Warfare skill.

Damage is handled with Pain and Injury Points. As you get hurt, you lose Pain Points. Then you start adding Injury Points. Every 5 Injury Points requires you to make a check to avoid passing out. Flipping Aces is a big deal in combat as well...black Aces are critical successes, red aces are critical failures.

Ranged combat has a slightly different set of rules (like no counter attacks), and there are contingencies for stuff like Headshots, Gag n' Stab (think stealth kills from modern video games), Quickdraw, even using terrain to your advantage.

You can even gain Epic Action points, which lets you do crazy, over the top stuff (but they are rare). And there's even optional minis rules (that are very detailed for being optional), along with an in-depth combat example. One other thing I loved in this chapter is how there are stat-free enemy profiles scattered all over the section. Good stuff.

The gear section is a bit different in this book, covering things like food, water and shelter, which are just as important as weapons (especially when you have Kewl Powerz). There's even an interesting paragraph on some Hosts serving as power sources. There's no laser guns, but there are plenty firearms to choose from, and damage for things like electricity and falling are covered here as well. Equipment purchases are handled with Resource Points, rather than cash.

Facing the Fallout covers a lot of the setting aspects, like The Sickness, including theories on what it is and where it came from (The Magi believe it came from a devilish being called The Usurper), and how gaining Radiation points makes you vulnerable to The Sickness...as well as the nasty part: The Marks are powered by Radiation. Using your Kewl Powerz can let The Sickness get its claws deeper in you.

It's all very cool and creepy, with multiple steps that can be fended off essentially by doing Good Deeds. The Sickness can leave psychic scars on you, and that's if you kick the effects of The Black Dream (the feverish state when The Sickness digs in).

Chapter 7 explains the Kewl Powerz in detail. Surivors can rack up Radiation to make Luck Checks to change events. Paragons have five Disciplines, each with their own effects, and can build their way up to Paragon Transcendence. Magi learn rites from four Traditions (Osiris, Gaia, Odin and Khronos), and there are a BUNCH of them (from tricks like Invisibility and entanglement, to making wounded enemies stop fighting you to resurrection). Hosts can "evolve", having a slew of powers they can gain in steps. For instance, they can grow claws...this allows them to form pistols...which allows them to grow shotguns (and so on). Pariahs can develop along different lines, like Daemons, Moon Beasts, Hercules, Psionics, Seraphim and more, each with their own powers. Vampires can regenerate by drinking blood, for example, then gain supernatural strength, and even gain the ability to enslave people. This all culminates in a Pinnacle Power. The Vampire's Nosferatu Power, for instance, activates all the other powers from his gene pool (aside from Enslave). Each gene pool has an Achilles Heel, though, keyed to the type of Pariah.

And yes...you can mix two types of Marks, and the last part of the chapter breaks down what each combination is like.

The last chapter is the GMing chapter. A lot of it is pretty basic stuff, but this is also where the enemy stat blocks are, like the dregs, abominations, thugs, and so on. It's not a HUGE selection, but it's a broad one. A sample Haven is provided (set in New Orleans), as well as a sample protagonist group.

I didn't much care for the Epilogue piece, as it seemed too grim for a setting that appeals to me because of the hope of Reclamation.

The book ends with a character sheet and index.

WHAT WORKS: Reclamation. Seriously...I LIKE that there's this growing viral movement of "let's take back this world." That is reason #1 why I would pick this over other post apocalypse games. Reason #2 is the kewl powerz. (Seriously, there's some great options for Magi, Host and Pariahs, and the Survivors and Paragons have their own cool tricks, if not as flashy). Tons of examples, both short and in-depth. The flavor fiction is generally well done and kept short and to the point.

WHAT DOESN'T WORK: At times it seems like it might get over complicated, but nothing that a few cheat sheets can't handle. Some of the art sticks out like a sore thumb against the rest of the pieces. Needs more random tables.

CONCLUSION: The biggest thing that sells me on the book is the whole Reclamation thing, followed by the coolness of the Marks. I like the card deck game system, but some of the book keeping seems like it could get excessive at times. Way more plusses than minus, and probably the post-apocalyptic setting that has interested me the most in a very long time. It does need more random tables, though. You have a big, crazy, kitchen sink setting with fantasy, sci-fi and horror elements...you need random tables that you can draw cards against. That said, I always love a setting where the odds are stacked up against the PCs, and then they are expected to go save the world anyway. Big thumbs up.

Happy Birthday, Dad - An Archetype for All Flesh Must Be Eaten

I wrote this about five years ago and posted it on the Eden Studios Message Boards. It was very well received at the time, but honestly, it's a horrible archetype. Archetypes should be defined by a few stark characteristics and then built from there...this is really more of a full-fledged character, because it is basically my Dad.

Happy birthday, Dad.

(Meant to be used with All Flesh Must Be Eaten by Eden Studios)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Name: Reserve Deputy
Character Type: Survivor

Strength: 3 Intelligence: 3
Dexterity: 2 Perception: 4
Constitution: 3 Willpower: 5

Life Points: 49
Endurance Points: 38
Speed: 10
Essence Pool: 20

Qualities:
Attractiveness +1
Charisma +2
Contacts: Widespread, small favors +3
Hard to Kill +5
Nerves of Steel (3)
Situational Awareness (2)

Drawbacks:
Impaired Sense: Eyesight (-2)
Honorable (-1)
Resources: Hurting (-2)
Bad Luck: Lv 1 (-3)
Obsession: Burying his family (-2)

Skill:
Brawling 3
Cheating 1
Dodge 1
Driving (Car) 3
Driving (Truck) 4
First Aid 1
Guns (Pistol) 4
Guns (Rifle) 3
Guns (Shotgun) 2
Humanities (Law) 1
Intimidation 3
Mechanic 5
Notice 3
Questioning 2
Research/Investigation 2
Streetwise 3

Gear
Glock 9mm, badge, handcuffs, police flashlight, patrol car, pocket knife, two massive rings of keys (half of which no longer go to anything), vehicle radio, extensive tool sets.

Personality
No rest for the wicked, I guess.  I busted my ass for years as a mechanic, turning wrenches to make it for my family.  I was a damn good one…only reasons I didn’t make any more money was because I don’t like to take people for a ride, and I have a tendency to wind up getting’ hurt a lot more than most.  I probably shoulda died more times than I can count.  I’ve broken so many bones that I’ve lost count.  See this limp?  Got a rod in my leg when I broke my femur while workin’ on a big rig.  Slowed me down for about a month.  I went back to work in a wheel chair, then on crutches, until I could make it out to my shop on a crutch.  I don’t let things slow me down.  I always said I’d take care of my family, and one way or another, I was gonna take care of my family.

I got electrocuted about five years back, put me outta work again.  That rod in my leg helped shoot the electricity right through my foot.  Docs said I was lucky to be alive, much less able to ever walk again.  I walked into my house the next night.  I don’t let things slow me down.

Two years ago I decided I’d try to do some real good in the community and I became a reserve deputy for the county Sheriff’s department.  It was hard getting used to the schooling, but it paid off.  ‘Course, that’s when my wife of thirty years died.  At fifty years old, just got my commission card from the county, my kids grown up and my wife gone.  I tried to go back to work, twistin’ wrenches while fightin’ with the deputies at the Sheriff’s office…lazy pieces of shit that didn’t wanna do anything.  It was a hard adjustment.

But not as hard as this.

I wouldn’t have believed it was zombies, except I went to my son’s apartment and saw her trying to get in the door.  Most of her friends and even her family wouldn’t have recognized her, but there was no way I couldn’t.  The woman I married.  The woman I promised to take care of.  Standing in front of me again.

I froze, and it was a mistake.  I started crying and she she came over…I thought to hold me.  She leaned in to kiss me and the most god-awful smell came over me.  Snapped me back to reality, but she had already bitten into my neck.  I knocked her off and I ran.  Managed to stop the bleeding, thanks to some friends of mine.  It was real touch and go, and if I wasn’t so damned stubborn, I probably would have died and became one of them.  But I don’t let things slow me down.

That was six months ago.

My commission card don’t mean shit right now, but that’s okay.  Someone’s still gotta serve and protect.   My youngest son’s the only family I’ve got left.  The rest of them are shambling around somewhere, including her. Well, I always said I’d take care of my family.

One way or another, I’m gonna take care of my family.

Quote
“I’m getting too old for this shit.”

War of the Dead Chapter 3 Drops Monday!

Time IS running out to take advantage of the War of the Dead Chapter Three pre-order (as well as the accompanying sales on Chapters One and Two). The pre-order gets you all of Chapter Three in PDF format for $14.99, which is $5 less than the already discounted regular bundle price, as well as an exclusive set of 3D vehicle flats by the very talented Jordan Peacock.

Just hit the little "War of the Dead" link at the bottom of the post and read my reviews of the first two chapters (written at a time in which I had no affiliation with Daring Entertainment, other than being provided review copies). If you dig zombies and Savage Worlds, don't miss this chance to jump on board War of the Dead at a reduced price!

Tommy's Take on War of the Dead: Chapter Two Week Thirteen

Before I review the final Week of War of the Dead Chapter Two, some linkage:

War of the Dead Chapter One
War of the Dead Chapter Two Weeks One through Three
Chapter Two Week Four
Chapter Two Week Five
Chapter Two Week Six
Chapter Two Week Seven
Chapter Two Week Eight
Chapter Two Week Nine
Chapter Two Week Ten
Chapter Two Week Eleven
Chapter Two Week Twelve
The Paper Dead

And now, without further ado, the halfway mark of the series.

Tommy's Take on War of the Dead: Chapter Two Week Twelve

With the impending release of the final Week of Chapter 2, let's take a look at the penultimate week.

Tommy's Take on War of the Dead: Chapter Two Week Eleven

Agh, I got this at the beginning of the week, when I had other stuff queued up, so I couldn't get right to it...but Week 11 of Chapter II came out at the beginning of the week, continuing the "slow finish" of rounding off Chapter II and setting up Chapter III.

Tommy's Take on War of the Dead: Chapter Two Week Ten

The final four weeks of Chapter Two begin, directly after the Fall of Sanctuary...

Tommy's Take on War of the Dead: Chapter Two Week Nine

We are in the homestretch of War of the Dead Chapter Two, as it enters Week 9 and the Fall of Sanctuary.

Last week was easily the most horrific twist in the campaign so far, so I have a hard time imagining what could happen in the final five weeks that could top that.

Tommy's Take on War of the Dead: Chapter Two Week Six

With War of the Dead Chapter 2 at Week 6, we're at (kinda) the halfway point to the chapter. Last week, the PCs made it to the city of Sanctuary, to find a true war brewing between multiple factions...and it was, in my opinion, one of the strongest installments yet.

Does the trend continue this week?

Tommy's Take on ARRGH! Thar Be Zombies

As a long-time Eden fan, it was great to see them get new product out the door in the form of Arrgh! Thar Be Zombies for All Flesh Must Be Eaten.

The question is, is it the resurrection of a once strong line...or its last gasp?

Arrgh! Thar Be Zombies had been in development for quite a while now (I honestly don't remember when)...but the source material feels like an artifact of its time. That is, Pirates were still pretty hot back when the buzz was first building about this...but I don't know if the buzz is still there, at least until Johnny Depp makes another Pirates movie (and it is coming soon enough).

AtbZ's is 160 pages in black and white, $25 for print and $17.50 for PDF. For the production values, it's probably a good deal for the print, less so for the PDF. The book marks are...not impressive, though searchability and copy and paste are enabled.

AHOY MATEY

Pretty standard opening chapter for an AFMBE genre book, with an extensive bibliography and glossary of pirate-speak. We also get an impressive timeline, running from 1492 through 1722, hitting every major recorded event in historical piracy in order to give you a good perspective on the non-zombified source material.

The timeline and glossary really elevate this section above and beyond the normal opening chapter. A very nice addition to the book.

YE PIRATES AND PRIVATEERS

This is the basic pirating chapter and we get a more in-depth history of the pirates, as well as some discussion on the various motivations for being a pirate (some seeking adventure while others were making political statements)...and, of course, greed. The book also plugs Enter the Zombie for fun with Asian pirates.

In a section on disease, we get disease rules for Unisystem, covering dysentery, malaria, scurvy, smallpox, syphilis, typhoid and tuberculosis...full mechanics for each, including contracting the diseases, their effects on your PC and curing the diseases.

As is typical in roleplaying books, slavery gets mentioned but not focused on, just a nod to the existence of slavery in the era.

We also get a version of the 8 Articles of Piracy, with the caveat that they do change from ship to ship, but this is common enough that it can be used as a jumping off point for most ships. We also get the pirate punishments, such as keel haulin', walkin' the plank, hangin' and so on.

A new character type, the Silver Screen Swashbuckler, is presented, for those wanting a more cinematic approach to their piracy (without going full blown Cinematic Unisystem, which I would totally do if I were truly wanting a cinematic pirate game).

We get a discussion on how some Qualities and Drawbacks have changed, complete with a new table for Resources, fitting the age. New Qualities and Drawbacks are present as well, such as Berserker (a full on berserker rage), Light Sleeper and Internal Compass. We also get some fairly in depth rules for alcohol in there. New Drawbacks include Landlubber (for those who aren't comfortable at sea) and One Eye ('cause it's a pirate game).

Several new skills are present, as well as dueling rules, which are kind of cool, including a variety of maneuvers that one can use.

Zombies get several new Aspects as well, including Billy Bones, which basically turns them into skeletons instead. From The Ashes means the zombie will return, with the power level dependent on when they come back.

Some very nice mechanics that should make this a draw for many All Flesh GMs, as several of those Aspects could be used in any game, as well as many of the Qualities.

TH' TOOLS O' THE TRADE

THe equipment chapter starts off with tables for English, French and British currency, the ones you are most likely to deal with in a historical piracy game. Several pieces of equipment are listed, many of which I believe have appeared before, but with Piracy era pricing now.

Additionally, appropriate armor and weapons for the age are present, including cannons and flintlocks.

Not surprisingly, ships themselves are covered including - in a nice touch - ghost ships, complete with aspects. With a little work, and in some cases none at all, most of the Zombie Aspects can be applied to ghost ships!

A discussion is made on life on the high seas, such as press gangs where people were forced onto ships, and mutiny...but I'm not 100% sure why those wound up in the equipment chapter. There is a small Mutiny Point mechanic for those wanting to track the captain's loss over his men.

The chapter ends with several pages on ship to ship combat, including tables for when the ship's toughness gives way, maneuvers for ships and boarding rules.

The ghost ship rules are especially cool, in my opinion, The rest is largely functional, but not inspiring.

VODOU

The state goal of this chapter is to try to combine historical and cinematic vodou. It uses Miracles as a base (like most All Flesh metaphysics do), and seems to include most of the Loa. I'm not terribly up on my Vodou, but I did notice that Shango is missing (he's one of the few that comes to mind for me when I'm thinking of Vodou Loa).

Several new Miracles are present, many of which could be used in a non-Vodou set-up with minor reskinning, if that, such as Speak True - which forces a person to tell the truth and suddenly makes me want to play an Inspired Lawyer in a Witchcraft game.

Rituals are also present, including Samedi's ritual for making zombies, which should be a bad idea in such a game.

Again, several mechanics that can be lifted and used not only in a non-Pirate game, but in any Witchcraft game that supports Miracles.

VOODOO QUEEN OF THE SHROUDED ISLES

Here, we get the first of the Deadworlds in the book.

It all starts with two seamen who are tortured under belief that they are pirates and a mother begging to the Petro Loa for vengeance, sparking a zombie plague.

There are a few ways that this can go, with some adventure seeds that put the PCs up against the Voodoo Queen, an immortal female pirate and oodles of zombies with the hopes of setting the world right again. There is even an option for letting the PCs play as the men that started this mess: now zombies on a blood-red ship.

It's a cool little setting and I do like the hook of having the PCs as zombies from the ship that tortured the sons that started all of this.

THE BLACK FLEET

This one is a straight forward race for a crystal skull against the Black Fleet, which borrow some imagery from the Pirates of the Caribbean films.

Like with the previous setting, this Deadworld also allows for a Zombie option, with the PCs playing a ship from the Black Fleet that has been dispatched in its own direction.

ISLANDs IN A DARK SEA

This is, essentially, an AFMBEd Spelljammer with serial numbers filed off and, I must say, that's awesome. Galileo creates ships that run off of personal essence and can fly up into the "Dark Sea", which you and I know as outer space...which is threatened by some nasty buggers called the Necronians. You basically have carte blanche to add whatever you like here, with a saurian race included and even a set of cyborg zombies that the PCs can cross paths with (and who look more than a little like the borg).

Seriously, I think this is the coolest Deadworld I've seen in an All Flesh book and jumps my opinion on the book up several notches.

PIECES OF EIGHT

These are a pair of non-Eurocentric Deadworlds that provide a framework to be built on by the ZM, featuring Asian piracy and Aztec piracy, as well as some mini plot seeds (literally, as one involves a hostile tree).

We do get an EXTENSIVE index at the end.

CONCLUSIONS

On one hand, I dunno, something about the AFMBE layout and set-up feels...dated. Eden has GORGEOUS production values on their licensed products, less so on their in-house stuff. On the other hand, you are also generally paying at least $15 less for their in-house stuff...

Given the lack of features (including usable bookmarks - these are not), the PDF is incredibly overpriced at $17.50...however, the print book at $25 could well be worth it, as there is a LOT that can be mined for other All Flesh games in here, presumable a credit to Daniel Davis.

If this is the new beginning for Eden Studios and All Flesh Must Be Eaten, and not a last gasp, then they could do a LOT worse than give Mr. Davis more work in this line.

It is worth noting that this book heavily references other All Flesh books, including Enter the Zombie (which any ZM should already own, anyway, as far as I'm concerned and Atlas of the Walking Dead).

A must-buy for All Flesh GMs, due to the sheer amount of plunderable material, if nothing else.

Tommy's Take on War of the Dead: Chapter Two Week Five

The next installment of War of the Dead gets ready to drop on Monday, and I have once more been kindly given said installment to give you pre-release review.

To summarize: Week 5 just ratchets up the tension incredibly, introducing a new status quo (as much as this genre has one of those), a new enemy and a very foreboding presence. The "War of the Dead" begins to truly live up to its name and starts to shift from "survival horror" to "apocalyptic epic". Shame on you if you haven't signed on yet.

I'm sure spoilers will abound, so look for the review after the jump.

Tommy's Take on War of the Dead: Chapter Two Week Four

Special thanks to Lee Szczepanik, Jr and Daring Entertainment for sending this along early, as Chapter Two, Week Four of War of the Dead comes out on Monday.

Obviously, there are spoilers, so tread carefully.

Tommy's Take on The Walking Dead

As part of DBloC, I thought I would do a little talking about The Walking Dead today, both the TV series (early candidate for best show currently on TV) and the comic book (probably my favorite comic of all time).

So be warned...there are spoilers.

Tommy's Take on War of the Dead: Chapter Two Weeks One through Three

War of the Dead Chapter Two, by Daring Entertainment, has begun. The first chapter saw the PCs begin on the cruise ship Pinnacle, run afoul of some bikers, have an explosive battle in a church and get welcomed into a new community that utterly went to Hell.

And that was just the first 13 parts.

Since then, a couple of free adventures have been released to tide groups over until Chapter Two began. As before, you can buy these adventures individually, or you can subscribe to the Chapter Two Subscription and save money in the process.

And yeah, that does say "Weeks One through Three"...tread lightly, as there are spoilers, because I have chapters two and three already.