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[Interest] All Flesh Must Be Eaten

Professor PhobosProfessor Phobos Registered User regular
edited October 2009 in Critical Failures
I am thinking of running an online AFMBE game every so often, probably just via a Steam group chat. I'm wondering who would be interested. This wouldn't be a regular, every-week, same-time sort of thing and it would definitely not be a play-by-post.

Basically just an intermittent pick-up game of zombie survival horror. If it goes really well and people are committed, it could be a more regular thing.

For those who don't know, All Flesh Must Be Eaten is a survival horror RPG published by Eden Studios. It uses a very simple game system (which I have simplified further) and is suitable for both one-shots and ongoing "long-term survival/reclaiming society" games.

It's designed to be open-ended, with extensive zombie customization so it can handle basically any kind of zombie or undead.

The campaign concept I'm thinking of is the characters are basically the handful of truly competent people (veterans, police, etc) in a small town in Kansas or Colorado (probably called Jericho, to rip-off the show) who have taken a leadership role in the immediate aftermath of a zombie outbreak beginning and must defend and guide the town through the apocalypse.

PM me if you're interested in such a thing. If you don't have/use Steam, it'd be just as easy to do it via IRC. Don't worry if you don't know the system, it is super simple and easy to explain. I'm thinking of posting the chat transcripts into this very thread so people can follow along if they're interested.

Professor Phobos on
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Posts

  • Edith UpwardsEdith Upwards Registered User regular
    edited October 2009
    Will the zombies spew flame or have X-Ray vision? Will they starve out eventually? Will they rot? Do you have to be dead before you become one of them?

    Edith Upwards on
  • Professor PhobosProfessor Phobos Registered User regular
    edited October 2009
    Erich Zahn wrote: »
    Will the zombies spew flame or have X-Ray vision? Will they starve out eventually? Will they rot? Do you have to be dead before you become one of them?

    Depends. You'd have to find those things out in game.

    Professor Phobos on
  • samurai6966samurai6966 Registered User regular
    edited October 2009
    You got my attention. Where do I sign-up, were do I get the rules, and/or where do I play?

    samurai6966 on
  • Professor PhobosProfessor Phobos Registered User regular
    edited October 2009
    You got my attention. Where do I sign-up, were do I get the rules, and/or where do I play?

    You PM me to sign up, we're playing online at a time everyone can meet and the rules are something I'll fill you in on. (It's add attribute+skill+d10+/-bonuses or penalties, anything over a 9 is a success)

    EDIT: I should make timing more clear. It would probably take place on a Tuesday, Wednesday or Thursday night sometime in the evening Eastern Standard Time; these are the times I am free. The exact date/time can vary; I'm thinking a more casual pick up game than a regularly scheduled event. I could also probably manage the occasional Saturday.

    Professor Phobos on
  • Judge-ZJudge-Z Teacher, for Great Justice Upstate NYRegistered User regular
    edited October 2009
    Depending on the timing, I could be down with this. AFMBE can be quite fun. Friend of my runs an event every year at a local con based on stereotypical 80s teen coming of age flicks - with zombies. Might be fun to try out something more serious.

    Judge-Z on
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  • illgottengainsillgottengains Registered User regular
    edited October 2009
    I'm very interested. Love shooting me some zombies. Only thing is I work nights (us east) and my schedule flips around from time to time. I tend have either tuesday off, or monday and wendsday off.

    illgottengains on
  • PolloDiabloPolloDiablo Registered User regular
    edited October 2009
    I'd be interested in this. I could really only do Tuesdays, though.

    PolloDiablo on
  • Professor PhobosProfessor Phobos Registered User regular
    edited October 2009
    How does Tuesday work for people? Say, 8:00-11:00 PM EST? (I could also do 9:00-12:00 PM) Three hours is my standard length for an IRC game session, but two works fine as well and is easier on the eyes.

    Professor Phobos on
  • Professor PhobosProfessor Phobos Registered User regular
    edited October 2009
    AFMBE is great. I can't get my regular group interested in it, though. I figured with all the L4D fans here, I'd be set.

    Professor Phobos on
  • HylianbunnyHylianbunny Registered User regular
    edited October 2009
    If this is an intermittent thing, I might be in. jdarksun's game was good times before I was unable to show up regularly.

    Hylianbunny on
  • EgosEgos Registered User regular
    edited October 2009
    If this is an intermittent thing, I might be in. jdarksun's game was good times before I was unable to show up regularly.

    Last I remember we ended up in the house of a Scientist you killed with a infected teenager locked in the bedroom.

    edit: I forget, who was insanely angry at me that I didn't immediately de-infect him? Mainly I think because I wanted to get us out of zombie harm first.

    Egos on
  • HylianbunnyHylianbunny Registered User regular
    edited October 2009
    Egos wrote: »
    If this is an intermittent thing, I might be in. jdarksun's game was good times before I was unable to show up regularly.

    Last I remember we ended up in the house of a Scientist you killed with a infected teenager locked in the bedroom.

    edit: I forget, who was insanely angry at me that I didn't immediately de-infect him? Mainly I think because I wanted to get us out of zombie harm first.

    It's a hard knock life being a foulmouthed, chain-smoking Russian spy in the middle of a zombapocalypse.

    Hylianbunny on
  • Professor PhobosProfessor Phobos Registered User regular
    edited October 2009
    Gonna give it one more day so people notice the thread, then start things up tomorrow (in terms of chargen/scheduling; the earliest we could actually play is probably next week).

    Professor Phobos on
  • samurai6966samurai6966 Registered User regular
    edited October 2009
    Hey, I sent you a pm for info on this game? I never got one back.

    samurai6966 on
  • EgosEgos Registered User regular
    edited October 2009
    How many people do you need?

    I may be up if you need more.

    Egos on
  • Professor PhobosProfessor Phobos Registered User regular
    edited October 2009
    I feel li ke when we actually get around to scheduling there will be a lot of attrition as not everyone can make every time work, so I'm gonna try to work in as many as possible.

    Also with IRC games about half of people who say they're gonna come never actually show up, so over-recruitment is fine.

    Professor Phobos on
  • Professor PhobosProfessor Phobos Registered User regular
    edited October 2009
    Alright let's talk some scheduling. How is everyone's TUESDAY, OCTOBER 13th, 8:00 PM-11:00 PM EST.

    Probably via IRC. Also plenty of time for people to make characters ( a big post on that is coming). If you can't make it that night, post the times you are free- as a pickup game, it'd be fairly easy to do things on different nights. I'm thinking a kind of ensemble cast with the same setting (Jericho, Kansas) so with a varied group it just means there's a different focus on characters handling separate crises. And people can always die off-screen to explain their absence; AFMBE is a deadly, deadly game.

    Professor Phobos on
  • samurai6966samurai6966 Registered User regular
    edited October 2009
    I could but I have to leave my dorm room at 10:45 to head to work. I'm good normally on Friday night or Saturday night.

    samurai6966 on
  • Professor PhobosProfessor Phobos Registered User regular
    edited October 2009
    I could but I have to leave my dorm room at 10:45 to head to work. I'm good normally on Friday night or Saturday night.

    You can always leave a little early; I usually run out of steam by the 2 1/2 hour mark anyway.

    Professor Phobos on
  • Rawkking GoodguyRawkking Goodguy Registered User regular
    edited October 2009
    Tuesday nights, you say? I can do this.

    I'm absolutely into making some kind of fatalist, cracked daredevil guy that thinks that we're all going to die, and that that is awesome.

    Rawkking Goodguy on
  • samurai6966samurai6966 Registered User regular
    edited October 2009
    I could but I have to leave my dorm room at 10:45 to head to work. I'm good normally on Friday night or Saturday night.

    You can always leave a little early; I usually run out of steam by the 2 1/2 hour mark anyway.

    Count me in then. It should be fine. It will be between bowling and work.

    samurai6966 on
  • Professor PhobosProfessor Phobos Registered User regular
    edited October 2009
    CAMPAIGN PREMISE:

    Anyone ever watch the TV show Jericho? It's about a small town trying to survive in the aftermath of a massive nuclear attack on the United States- while several characters investigate the origins of that attack.

    I've always liked the premise, I'm just swapping out nukes for zombies. I'm going so far as to borrow the Hawkins plot from Jericho and there will indeed be one or more characters with Mysterious Pasts Mysteriously Linked to the Mystery of the Apocalypse. The game will take place in and around a small Kansas town called Jericho- though it's more like "Generic American Small Town" than anything particularly Kansas related.

    Characters should basically be "important individuals" of that town- most people are just regular folks, but you guys, for whatever reason, are highly skilled and competent and have assumed leadership/problem solving roles. The goal is not only your personal survival, but the survival of Jericho as a community. That's the game-wide goal; individual character goals can vary to taste and circumstance. And of course if you fail and have to leave the town as it is overrun, it will be a more conventional "small band of survivors" sort of game. You don't have to be a permanent resident of the town; it's easy to say you were passing through and decided to stick around because hey, an apocalypse is going on. I would prefer a majority of characters to have some ties to the town, however, just so it's easier to explain why the townsfolk have effectively put them in charge/depend on them to save the day.

    TOWN CREATION:

    The town is a fairly small, generic "Middle America" sort of place, so anything that makes sense to be in that area or in a neighboring town is there- doctor's offices, gun store, high school, etc. However, by default the town is only going to have the absolute basics, meaning you'll have to scavenge/explore neighboring towns for certain crucial items like specialty medicines or equipment. I want to let you guys customize things a bit, so...

    Every player gets to choose one Asset and one Liability for the town. An Asset could be something like a hospital serving the region (and thereby vastly increasing available medical resources), a stable source of fresh water, abundant farmland, an isolated location, a radio station, an easily defended location, etc. It could also be individuals- an allied biker gang or apocalyptic death cult, for example. I'm going to run Assets as fairly robust- if you pick something like "A lot of farms" then I'll assume that so long as those farms are intact the town is self-sufficient on food and so you won't have to worry as much about feeding hungry townsfolk. Additional assets can be acquired in game; your characters might not necessarily survive, but you can kind of "level up" the town in this respect. So if you don't start out with a stable source of water but later acquire/discover one, you can stop worrying about water. And so on.

    If you pick an Asset you must also pick a Liability. A liability is a downside- right next to the highway, bad farmland (so food is a greater issue), a divided townsfolk, a hostile rival town (like New Bern in the show) a hostile biker gang, a serial killer, a nearby apocalyptic death cult, a haunted house, an evil corporation's research lab, an ancient indian curse, a zombie-outbreak hotspot, tainted water supply, etc. Liabilities can be incurred during the game.

    These are all things that either existed before the apocalypse or start up immediately after the outbreak begins. Use your imagination and come up with something interesting rather than just something that makes the town perfect. It'll be a lot more fun if you have to desperately struggle against long odds than sit around an invincible fortress-city, after all.

    CHARACTER CREATION:

    There are three basic ways we can do this. You can make a fully customized character using the AFMBE rules (that will be the next post), you can take a pre-made character Archetype and then tweak it (so the stats are already done for you) or you can describe a character to me and I will attempt to make one that matches your vision on your behalf. There are a lot of archetypes available for the game since its high-lethality practically demands speedy replacement characters. Archetypes are also customizable to taste, so when you get the details of the one you've chosen we can tailor it to fit more closely to what you want.

    In AFMBE there are three basic character types (some supplements introduced new ones but we won't be using them). The "Norm", the "Survivor" and "The Inspired." Norms are regular people who get a fairly limited amount of points; these are for agonizingly desperate games. Survivors are regular people who have a degree of badassitude. Inspired are people with supernatural abilities; in the corebook it's basically True Faith-style miracle working.

    Norms get much fewer points, but Survivors and Inspired are basically equal. Since you guys are exceptional individuals responsible for the well-being of a whole community of Norms, you can be Survivors. Since the supernatural will play a huge role in the game, you can also be Inspired if you want. Inspired/Survivors are built on the same number of points; Survivors get more skills, attributes and special qualities, but Inspired get Metaphysics points they can spend on Miracles. (Kind of like spells, really)

    APPROPRIATE SURVIVOR ARCHETYPES:

    Athlete
    Biker
    Cheerleader
    Police Officer
    Soldier
    Grizzled Vet
    High School Janitor
    Bounty Hunter
    Courier
    Drill Sergeant
    Ex-Spy (in Kansas?)
    Fire Fighter
    Great White Hunter
    Survivalist College Student (perhaps home for the weekend)
    Administrative Assistant (for an evil corporation)
    Asylum Escapee
    Mafia Hood
    High-Class Thief (in...Kansas?)
    Mercenary
    Street Fighter

    APPROPRIATE INSPIRED ARCHETYPES:
    Goth Chick
    Priest
    Crusading Preacher
    Camp Counselor
    Miraculous Survivor
    Reborn Druid Sage
    Reluctant Faith Healer

    Feel free to play around with them- the Street Fighter's skill set works for anyone who gets into a lot of hand-to-hand fights, for example. Soldiers or Mercenaries (i.e., private security contractors) can be on leave, stranded in Jericho, fresh out of the service, etc.

    There are a lot of pre-made Norm archetypes (doctor, detective, local politician, etc) that could be kicked up to Survivor status if people want to play a Badass Librarian or somesuch. If you go to www.edenstudios.net, find the AFMBE section and click on "Characters" you can find the rulebook archetypes (listed above) if you want to take a look at the details or the picture.

    Professor Phobos on
  • NotoriusBENNotoriusBEN Registered User regular
    edited October 2009
    Sorry Prof, I wont be able to play, and sorry for posting as such, but the Crusading Preacher just seems too cool.

    Leather Duster, Steel toe boots, and a sledge hammer to "bless" the afflicted.

    NotoriusBEN on
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    Steam - NotoriusBEN | Uplay - notoriusben | Xbox,Windows Live - ThatBEN
  • illgottengainsillgottengains Registered User regular
    edited October 2009
    I'm kind of thinking of playing a pizza delivery guy. Everybody likes the pizza guy, right? Except that sometimes pizza guys get robbed, so he has a concealed weapons permit and a 9mm Ruger, you know, just in case. Also he has a pick up truck and could use the pizza shop for food. (I guess that's his asset.) The liability is that is got a lot of miles on it and is likely to break down at any given time and if the power went out in the town the pizza shop's food would go bad.

    I would like to build him myself so I'll wait until the next post.

    illgottengains on
  • Professor PhobosProfessor Phobos Registered User regular
    edited October 2009
    Why is the pizza delivery guy so badass?

    You know, now that i think about it, the campaign premise is more suited to an ongoing sort of game with character development and the like. Would you guys prefer a more one-shot oriented "horror movie" sort of style? That might work better for a pick-up game.

    (Which would just be random survivors thrown together)

    Professor Phobos on
  • BandorrBandorr Registered User regular
    edited October 2009
    The ex-spy sounds neat. Like black ops CIA etc. I'm in for Tuesdays.

    Bandorr on
  • Rawkking GoodguyRawkking Goodguy Registered User regular
    edited October 2009
    (I didn't remember to ask if I could join the game! Ug, tired...) Tell me to stop posting if you don't want me :P

    My preference would be towards the long-running game. People could go on hiatus after a one-shot by needing to take a break at the town. Maybe have remote locations that would become assets suddenly appear much worse than we thought for the horror movie feel? Basically, I think both elements can be done in one game.

    As for characters... I wanted an highly acrobatic and athletic character with a secondary focus on charisma. Athlete or Cheerleader seem to work (though the character is going to be male no matter what). Probably athlete, though the sports listed don't work for him. Is it within the rules to swap out the sports for more extreme sports (whitewater rafting, hang gliding, skateboarding) and maybe shift focus a bit more towards the acrobatic skills (climb, swim, acrobatics)?

    Actually just read ill's posts, I suppose I'll have to wait to build my character myself.

    Rawkking Goodguy on
  • illgottengainsillgottengains Registered User regular
    edited October 2009
    I'm not sure pizza guy would consider himself a badass. Well, maybe when he's speeding. He's just a charismatic guy who owns a pick up and 9mm. Everyone one around town knows him practically so he would make a decent face. I'm not married to it it's just the first thing that came to mind.

    illgottengains on
  • illgottengainsillgottengains Registered User regular
    edited October 2009
    As far style I'm impartial.

    illgottengains on
  • Rawkking GoodguyRawkking Goodguy Registered User regular
    edited October 2009
    Pizza guy needs to be proficient in every type of land vehicle known to man.

    Or maybe just reallly good at driving a van.

    Rawkking Goodguy on
  • crimsoncoyotecrimsoncoyote Registered User regular
    edited October 2009
    I sent a PM, but I should probably blue-dot this as well.

    I should be ok for the 13th at the times given, should I be playing. I'll look through the character creation things tomorrow when I have time.

    crimsoncoyote on
  • illgottengainsillgottengains Registered User regular
    edited October 2009
    Ya, I'm sure pizza guy can handle a van just fine.

    My other idea was an EMT. He could have an ambulance and a medkit. Probably use whatever he found weapon wise. Could be a hunter or something in his free time. The Liability would be that the hospital is 20 miles away or maybe his fiance is in a zombie hotspot or something.

    illgottengains on
  • Judge-ZJudge-Z Teacher, for Great Justice Upstate NYRegistered User regular
    edited October 2009
    13th is fine for me, but it's a bit early - my girls aren't asleep until 9pm or so. If it works story wise, with an ensemble cast, I can drop in whenever it fits with the plot anytime after 9pm. Otherwise, I can just watch, perhaps play a "guest star" role when and if Prof comes up with something neato, or just needs someone to play a less-generic red shirt who won't survive the "episode". Between cons and the occasional drop in at my friends RL (but far away) RP sessions, I'm pretty darn good at filling any needed role.

    Judge-Z on
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  • BandorrBandorr Registered User regular
    edited October 2009
    Ex-spy sounds awesome I'm in. Tuesdays work for me.

    Bandorr on
  • PolloDiabloPolloDiablo Registered User regular
    edited October 2009
    I really like the sound of "Asylum Escapee." That's what I'm gonna go with.

    PolloDiablo on
  • EgosEgos Registered User regular
    edited October 2009
    Bounty Hunter
    .

    Can I be the Boba Fett of the zombie world? D: Maybe dreams really do come true!

    Egos on
  • samurai6966samurai6966 Registered User regular
    edited October 2009
    I call dips on the goth chick (as I've dated a few. Something about the leather excites me. :winky:)

    samurai6966 on
  • Professor PhobosProfessor Phobos Registered User regular
    edited October 2009
    jdarksun wrote: »
    From personal experience the "Spy" thing can be a little tricky.

    Phobos, do you want us to be susceptible to the horror of it all, or kinda immune to at least the "mundane" aspects?

    I'm down for either a recurring game or one-shot. If we do a recurring game, I'm happy to volunteer as a ZM to give you a chance to play from time to time, if you like.

    That could work. You cool with the premise?

    We'll play it by ear. I'll start the first game off as a kind of one-shot but compatible with ongoing hybrid, and if people don't hate my ZMing and want to continue, we'll do a more ongoing thing.

    Anyway, sometime today when I find the energy I'll post the character creation stuff. If you already own AFMBE, feel free to go to town- anything from the corebook or One of the Living is fine.

    Professor Phobos on
  • samurai6966samurai6966 Registered User regular
    edited October 2009
    I just tried the link on post 25 and when I go to the AFMBE page, I get some crazy error saying the page doesn't exist anymore. Has it worked for everyone else?

    samurai6966 on
  • HylianbunnyHylianbunny Registered User regular
    edited October 2009
    Oh, goddammit. Thinking about a character concept has given me the best fucking idea ever for a AFMBE setting, but it needs to be fleshed out first.

    On a more related note, I'm looking at the police officer archetype. (LEOOOOON)

    Hylianbunny on
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