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by Lost to the Ages

Interview: George Vasilakos

January 19, 2000 in Articles


Graveyard Greg: Who are you?

Unknown Zombie: I’m George Vasilakos, head Zombie Lord over at Eden Studios —
Artist/Designer/Dad.

GG: How did you get into the Gaming Industry?

GV: I started a gaming store after I finished art school. When a few of my
customers and friends formed a gaming company to make the Battlelords CCG,
they needed a graphic designer and art director (and some money). So I jumped
feet first into a small gaming company with big dreams called New Millennium
Entertainment.

The company didn’t do to well with Battlelords, but its second game
Conspiracy X did nicely. When NME went under, I aquired the rights to
Conspiracy X, found some investors, closed my store and started Eden Studios.

GG: I remember Battlelords…and speaking of gaming credits…

Give us your Gaming Industry credits–past and present!

GV: I co-authored D&D with Gary Gygax . . . before I came along it was called
Dungeons and Gophers . . . I set the bonehead straight and the rest is
history.

GG: Tell me you’re kidding.

GV: Just kidding . . . aside from running Eden Studios, I’ve done all the graphic
design and art direction on the Conspiracy X line, the layout and covers for
the WitchCraft line, and some freelance art for Pinnacle’s Hell On Earth RPG.
I also designed the Abduction non-collectible card game.

GG: Are you the Pumpkin King?

GV: No. I’m a mild mannered game designer/artist.

GG: Right now everyone is slavering for the newest RPG coming soon from Eden
Studios–ALL FLESH MUST BE EATEN. Sounds gross! Mind telling the uninformed
about the concept behind this creepy game?

GV: Unlike most traditional RPGs out there, ALL FLESH MUST BE EATEN doesn’t have
one set campign setting or world background. You are presented with numerous
“Deadworlds,” each with a unigue setting and reason why the dead are walking
about. This style of presentation allows gamers to play in any genre,
background, theme or manner they wish. Play a serious survival game, a campy
comedy horror game, a heavy supernatural game, a lighter, more “real” world
game — it’s up to you.

To me, the core of this game is the idea of being trapped and having to deal
with mindless smelly zombies and their insatiable hunger. It’s a game about
survival horror . . . did I mention I used to run a game store?

GG: How did the title come to exist?

GV: Well Christopher Shy, cover artist and co-concept creator of ALL FLESH MUST
BE EATEN, gets the credit for the final title. I was dying when he suddenly
spewed out the name. A game with a name like that is a guaranteed sell, I
thought to myself.

GG: I…see.

Were there other titles in consideration? If so, name a few!

GV:

  • ERNEST vs THE ZOMBIES
  • EAT THIS FANBOY
  • CORPSE: THE ROTTING
  • ZOMBIE: THE SLAVERING
  • SOCK MONKEYS MARCH ON BROADWAY

As you can see, they just didn’t seem to have the same impact as ALL FLESH
MUST BE EATEN.

GG: You got that right!

Favorite Zombie music?

GV: Brittany Spears. Nine Inch Nails comes a close second.

GG: Did you do all of the writing for All Flesh?

GV: Heck no. I came up with most of the concepts and found people who are good at
writing to “flesh” it out. Richard Dakan gets first credit as he worked up my
admittedly sketchy descriptions for the various “Deadworlds” and zombie
creation. The game mechanics credits go to CJ Carella since we are using his
Unisystem, the same rules used for WitchCraft and Armageddon. The flavor text
and short stories get attributed to Albert Bruno III, a very talented horror
writer and old buddy of mine. The book also has a nice Forward by Shane
(Deadlands) Hensley about Zombies. Finally, there’s Alex Jurkat, my partner
in crime over here at Eden. As head editor at Eden, he cleans up everyones
writing, fills in the gaps and transitions, and organizes it all into a
polished product. That said, ALL FLESH MUST BE EATEN does contain my first
attempt at writing. I wrote the introduction chapter.

GG: Favorite Zombie food?

GV: Brittany Spears. Mexican food . . . behold the power of cheese and the All
Flesh Must Be Eaten Chocolate Bar. Yum.

GG: How did you come up with this crazy game, anyway?

GV: That’s a funny story actually . . . see I was on a “date” with a transexual
Vietnamese escort when I happened to spot Tom Hanks across the alley from me.
I said to my companion, “Hey that’s Tom Hanks!” Thing is he/she didn’t
understand a word of English and when he/she tried to speak with her mouth
full, it sounded like “Zombie games are the next big thing.” Who was I to
argue!

But seriously . . . I think AFMBE been something every gamer has wanted. I
know I’ve wanted a game like this since the first time I saw DAWN OF THE
DEAD. Once Resident Evil came out and brought those damn zombies back into
the light, it was only a matter of time before we saw a paper and pencil
roleplaying game based on zombie survival horror. I remember sitting in front
of my TV playing Resident Evil 2 coming up with initial designs for the game.
Someone had to do it and take the blame. So blame me.

GG: What is the best zombie movie you’ve ever seen?

GV: Titanic.

GG: Oooooooookay.

Worst zombie movie you’ve ever seen?

GV: The Brittany Spears Story.

GG: …

In your opinion, what makes zombies so scary?

GV: They look human but they’re not . . .
They cannot be reasoned with . . .
They have no jobs, no desires, no hopes . . .
They smell bad . . .
They are ruled by their undying hunger for more . . . more . . . more.

(Did I mention I used to run a game store that sold collectible card games?)

GG: Yes, you did.

The dead have risen from their graves! It’s time for CELEBRITY DEATHMATCH!

Waiting at the 3rd tombstone is John Kovalic, creator of DORK TOWER. His
opponent is none other than JOLLY BLACKBURN, creator of KNIGHTS OF THE
DINNER TABLE. Both are famous for making people drop dead with laughter, but
the one who loses tonight will be fresh meat for the undead! Who wins, and
how do they achieve victory? (NOTE: Be as creative and funny as possible.
You want to add some cameos, go right ahead!)

GV: Well, first John “draws” a large black marker, and pens a Muskrat Pokemon
called Dorkachew. Then, Jolly dives behind a conveniently placed dinner table
and whips out a John Wick Gaming Voard. “No fair!” cries John. Suddenly a
battle beyond description ensues between the John Wick Voard and the
Dorkachew.

Awed by the spectacle, no one hears the shambling of a hoarde of zombies as
they enter the arena. Flesh is ripped from the bone as John and Jolly try to
escape. Stabbing at the undead with art tools, but to no avail, they cannot
stop them. It gets ugly really quick and no one is laughing.

When the dust settles and the blood dries, the only thing left “alive” are
the zombies.

GG: Shameless plug time! You can find your very own Gaming Voard at http://voard.tripod.com/Voard.htm

What kind of supplements can we expect for All Flesh Must Be Eaten?

GV: Pending any Y2K complications here at Eden, we hope to release Enter the
Zombie shortly after the mainbook’s release. This book strives to open whole
new vistas for your zombies-gaming enjoyment. It includes everything
necessary to bring together the thrills of Hong Kong action films and good
old fashioned flesh-eating excitement. This book will have detailed rules on
how to play martial arts zombies. It also introduces four new campaign
settings inspired by John Woo movies, Big Trouble in Little China and Mortal
Kombat. It should be a nice little book.

We are also working on Zombie Master Screen with a 48-page insert that will
come with new archtypes, equipment and an intro adventure. Finally, we have a
a pulp setting campaign sourcebook for AFMBE, currently entitled Pulp Zombie.
This book will introduce various magics and settings set in the 30s and 40s.

GG: Any last words before we send you back to your grave?

GV: Yes, I keep seeing posts and groanings that the gaming industry’s salad days
are behind us. That paper and pencil and dice are going to be replaced by the
modem, the internet and the graphics card.

I don’t believe that. I believe that the gaming industry is headed for a
shining new Renaissance, and new age of creative freedom.

And I believe that the gaming Voard (http://voard.tripod.com/Voard.htm) will
be the bridge that brings us to this new Golden Age.

Remember . . . all flesh must be eaten.

GG: …sometimes I wonder where I dig up these interviewees…

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Avatar of EDG

by EDG

Conspiracy X

April 30, 1999 in Reviews

“Conspiracy X takes place in a world of dark secrets and hidden agendas where the only certainty is nothing is what it seems. The president might not be human, and the sign carrying paranoid on the street corner ranting about CIA mind control satellites may very well be right.

“In other words, a world just like yours, if you could only see beyond the lies.”

These words are from the back of the main rulebook of Conspiracy X, a roleplaying game that makes the X-Files look like the Teletubbies. Why? Because in the world of Conspiracy X, the Greys are just the tip of the iceberg.

In the world of Conspiracy X, there is a group known only as the Black Book, who are funded from Black Projects – secret militay activites of which the public, and the rest of the government, are unware. The Black Book also has ties to alien races known as the Greys – telepathic aliens responsible for “alien abductions”, and Saurians – a reptilian race of whom some members have been molecularly altered to look human, and are known as the “Men In Black.’

Another group is known as Aegis – they exist to determine the true goals and motivations of the various alien races currently on Earth, and to find ways of eliminating them should they prove to be hostile. This group will be the one that player characters work for.

Conspiracy X is a well written book – it was a pleasure to read the timeline of the Conspiracy X world, and was interesting (not to mention disturbing!) to read about some of the real-life events and what REALLY happened – at least according to Conspiracy X.

Character Creation was easy to understand, and there were plenty of options to choose from with regards to occupations, training, backgrounds, and talents. The skills were numerous, and some (like Gun Fu) were dowright cool! The creators did a good job with the character creation.

The Psychics section has two types of psychic abilites: Lesser and Greater, and Conspiracy X has one of the most interesting ways of handling psionics. There are five Zener cards in the rulebook, each with a different symbol – square, cross, wave, star, and circle. The GM shuffles the Zener cards and the player picks one of the five symbols shown on the cards. The GM then draws a number of cards specified by the ability being used. If the card the player picked is among the cards drawn, the player has managed to successfully use his or her psychic abilities.

The world of Conspiracy X also has the supernatural, which is caused by the Seepage – supernatural energies which comes from the subconcious fears of mankind. With the seepage comes Corruption – permanent mental change induced by the seepage – and eventually corruption leads to either madness or transformation into the living nightmares known as the Incarnate – embodiments of the Seepage who boil with supernatural power.

Unfortunately, the system of Conspiracy X is imperfect. The section on Forming a cell for the player characters is daunting and may confuse most starting GMs. The attribute and skill tests will most definititely take some getting used to. The combat system could use a better way to define damage. It has too many abbreviations for damage codes, but this could easily be fixed if the GM Screen has the abbreviations for the codes on hand (at this time the screen is unavailable for review). Also, the skill and variable tests look very confusing at first – too many “if X is equal/greater/lesser than” – but again “practice makes perfect.” Nonetheless, some gaming systems are easy to grasp, but Conspiracy X takes time to get used to it before the game can even begin, which slows down the enjoyment.

The Verdict

Still, with the upcoming release of Conspiracy X to the GURPS system, this game is worth checking out. It has a detailed setting, and the adventures the characters can get involved in are numerous, so give it a try, and good luck seeing through the lies to get to the truth!

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Avatar of Lost to the Ages

by Lost to the Ages

Exodus

April 21, 1999 in Reviews

“Before the dawn of time, they rose to rule the world.

“Sixty-five million years ago, they fought a war so devastating that it
nearly destroyed that world and everything on it. Those who survived
fled into the vast night of space, looking for a new home

“Today they are here, among us.

“Those who know them call them Saurians, viscous looking lizard
creatures with technology centuries beyond our own. For the moment, they
walk among us, hidden within false flesh, barely recognized as their own.

“Soon more will arrive – many, many more.

“Then, the true battle will begin.”

That is a quote from the back of the Exodus Sourcebook, a supplement
dealing with the aliens known as the Saurians for Conspiracy X.

Everything you know about Saurians is correct, but you don’t know
everything about them. There are more species of Saurians that those who
work with the Black Book – would you believe there’s eight types of them?
That they are originally from Earth? And, in less than a century,
humankind will be fighting for their very lives?

Read on, friends – this may be for your own survival!

Chapter 1 gives you an introduction to Exodus, including the obligatory
“How to use this book.” A neat short story begins your venture into the
Saurian Culture.

Chapter 2 begins the descent into the mystery of Saurians, including the
“Lizardmen of Vietnam.”

Chapter 3 introduces us to the Dreamspeakers, a rogue group of Saurians
who wish to learn from humankind on how to be human. They can be used as
a potential ally, or as possible new recruits for Aegis.

BTW, Chapter 3 also gives us what really happened in 1938, when a news
reporter broadcasted an alien invasion.

New equipment, character generation, and a new ability called Hypnomancy
for the Dreamspeakers round out Chapter 3.

Chapter 4 gives us the history of the Saurian Race – their life on Earth,
the Great War between the Saurian Races that forced their escape into
space, and finally their secret return to Earth, with the rest of the
Saurian races to return in less than one hundred years.

Chaper 5 gives us the biology, motivations, activites, and game stats
for the four clans currently on Earth, as well as motivations and goals
for the Saurians.

Chapter 6 describes Saurian Technology, with items common to all clans,
and also those specific to a certain clan.

Round it out with an adventure dealing with Saurians, and you have the
making of an excellent sourcebook. The art is wonderful, with the
pictures of the Saurians a we bit too lifelike. Creepy.

My only complaint is the werid lizard-like art on the bottom of the
pages. It makes the type difficult to read whenever it is on that
“skin,” but it still didn’t detract from the enjoyment of the sourcebook.

Finally, one of the most chilling sentences which foreshadows trouble
for Humanity is:

“Some humans have stumbled across them (remains of Saurian’s history)
from time to time, but the evidence was misunderstood or concealed. In
the next hundred years, no amount of disinformation will contain the
secret.”

Extinction is on the way, folks…

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Avatar of EDG

by EDG

Abduction

March 1, 1999 in Reviews

Contents of box: 72 cards, 4 rules cards. 1d6 required to play. The rules are printed on a series of four cards, on both sides. Optimized for 4 players, but more can play with the addition of more card decks.

Abduction is part of a new trend of standalone, non-collectible card games; a trend I give an enthusiastic “attaboy” to Eden Studios for supporting (I won’t digress from this review by ranting about why I hate the collectible card game market, we don’t have the time). Eden Studios is a diverse bunch, having also released Conspiracy X (a RPG) recently, reviewed here. The subject of Abduction is unique and somewhat droll – players step in to the role of victims – specifically, hapless victims of alien Abduction. Players (let’s call ‘em “Abductees” hereafter, in keeping with the rules) start the game in the center of a weird Alien mothership. Thereafter, the victory condition is to get off of the ship by being first to arrive at the exit. The other players are doing their level best to beat you to the punch, and WILL thwart you time and again.

The medium is cards, of course, and that’s how the game plays itself out. There are three card types: Locations (actual rooms on the mothership, placed on the table to build the map), Items (Nifty Alien stuff lying around that helps you defend yourselves), and Events (all the messed up stuff that happens to you on your quest to Exit the Mothership). Events are usually played vs. another player. A map of the mothership is “built” by placing Location cards next to each other within the constraints of the physical layout of the card (to put it simply, doors have to match doors). Each Location has a numerical code depicted on it to depict how hard it is to find Items there, and sometimes a Power that needs to be activated (i.e., a special circumstance that occurs in that location). To use a Magic metaphor, Events are similar to Interrupts. Events target other players to give the player using the Event card some sort of advantage. Sometimes an Event is a defense against another Event (such as an Alien Patrol), and sometimes an event helps you find an Item. In almost every instance, the play of a card in Abduction is either in response to or to bring on a very limited series of outcomes. You Search for Items because Items (usually) help you Evade (run away from the bad guys). You Play Events to (usually) make another player Evade a situation (usually, a group of Aliens). If you fail at something, the outcome is also pretty standard: Blacking Out. When you Black Out, you lose your hand and “come to” on the Holding Cell card, the next turn.

The Play Sequence is extremely simple and highly interactive:


  1. ACTIVE ABDUCTEE DRAWS HAND UP TO FIVE CARDS

  2. ACTIVE ABDUCTEE PERFORMS AN ACTION (MOVE, SEARCH, PLACE LOCATION, PLAY EVENT, ACTIVATE POWER, PASS or DISCARD)

  3. EACH NON ACTIVE ABDUCTEE, IN CLOCKWISE ORDER, MAY PLAY ONE EVENT CARD.

  4. REPEAT STEPS 2 AND 3.

  5. REPEAT STEPS 2 AND 3.

(Pass to left, proceed around the table in a counterclockwise rotation).

The card art is interesting; I’d call it “Dark Green Gothic.” The illustrations are outstanding, very much in keeping with Abduction’s themes. I particularly admired the idea of including little standup Abductee characters that you get to cut out and stand up. These were well drawn and done for laughs. One of them is a cow! I ended up using little plastic HO scale figures, just for a nice 3D effect, but I didn’t have to. The only criticism I have of Abduction’s artwork is that it is somewhat repetitious. One location looks pretty much like another, making them hard to find sometimes. The color choice is superb, however. There’s something about glowing green on black that just screams “Alien.” Must be all that Alien Head schlock I’m starting to see in comic book stores and novelty shops.

Eden Studios is supporting Abduction in style, maintaining a FAQ, mailing list, variants, card pictures and more on their Abduction website.

So much for the peripherals, now for the main event. In terms of game design, Abduction plays quickly and well. I admire a game that plays to completion in twenty minutes or less – they have to be harder to design than a game that takes days or weeks.

Abduction plays very well as a competitive race game – the design favors a “cutthroat gameplay” approach, not unlike some forms of multiplayer Magic: The Gathering. Be warned, this is not a game that fosters cooperation and teamwork. The likeliest event, after repeated games, is a group gang-bang of whoever is in the lead. Personally, I don’t care for this kind of thing as a steady diet; if you just want to have a little non-serious competitive fun, then Abduction is the game for you. I haven’t played Abduction nearly enough to have it loose the Shock of the New yet, but gazing into my crystal ball, I can predict a time where Abduction might grow stale after repeated plays. Since the game is a standalone design, there are only so many factors and combinations that come into play before the novelty wears off. I have no idea if Eden Studios plans any expansion sets for Abduction. I could easily envision an expansion set of more locations, items and events (especially events that result in something other than a black out) without hurting the designer’s intent.

The Verdict

In conclusion, Abduction is a fun, non-serious game that should appeal to the light-hearted. I strongly recommend it for a “between more serious stuff” game, in the same category as, say, The Three Stooges Card Game, GROO, or Guillotine. If you (and your gaming group) can handle a light hearted game with backstabbing competitiveness, then give Abduction a try; you won’t regret the investment. If you’re the kind of gamer that takes every attack on your position as a personal insult, maybe you should pass this one by. Hmmm.. maybe you should take up meditation while you’re at it.

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Avatar of Aaron Powell

by Aaron Powell

Conspiracy X

March 12, 1998 in Reviews


Conspiracy X, by Eden, is the first great in the relatively new conspiracy
genre. It deals with the subject of aliens on earth, studying humanity
for their own uses. The players take on the roles of Aegis operatives,
part of a super-secret organization dedicated to protecting humanity from
the invaders.


If this sounds a lot like the X-Files, well, that’s because it is. The
setting is almost exactly that of Chris Carter’s show, with everything
from the alien Grays to the “bad guys” who keep everything a
secret. What makes this game so fun, however, is that the PC’s get to be
those bad guys. They know all about the alien invaders and they know that
the rest of the world can never get that knowledge.

The premise of the game is this: The players work for Aegis, performing
UFO cover-ups and fighting a continuous battle against the Black Book.
The Black Book is basically the bad guys; they want to sell out humanity
to the aliens in exchange for technology.


Originality: Conspiracy X would have gotten a five for originality
if is wasn’t for the simple fact that the X-Files came first. It barrows
so much from the show that is almost impossible to look at the X in Conspiracy
X and not think about the X-Files (where is that X from, anyway?). The
reason for the four stars is that this game goes far beyond the X-Files.
First, there are three alien races: Grays, Saurians, and Atlantians. Second,
they explain the history of the alien presence on earth quite well (their
account of the Roswell incident is just a little too real). Overall, the
game has enough new ideas to please any UFO fanatic.


System: Three stars. Simple, effective, nothing new. The whole
system is based around a role of 2D6. Basically, you check your level in
a stat and compare it to the GM’s difficulty. You then have to roll below
a certain number. If you do, you succeed. If you don’t, you fail. The main
problem I have with it is the automatic success/automatic failure rule.
If your stat is quite a bit higher or lower than the difficulty, you will
automatically succeed or fail. While it does serve to speed up the play,
it removes a little from the realism. Combat, on the other hand, is great.
It uses much the same system of damage as Shadowrun and Cyberpunk. The
main advantage to this is that it’s very easy to die. You get shot, you’re
out. This will discourage players from using combat to solve all problems.


Writing: Pretty good. While not as great as some things (White
Wolf springs to mind) it is well written and easy to understand. It doesn’t
take a long time to figure it all out and entire book is laced with examples
of everything. It also has sidebars that cover lots of issues with a little
more depth than the main text. It’s kinda fun to go back and read some
of those after playing a few times.


Art: Average. Some of the pictures are cool (pictures of Grays
running around dead bodies are just plain fun). Others are terrible. Don’t
buy this book for the art, buy it for the…


Fun: This is one of the best RPG’s I’ve ever played. If the GM
is willing to take the time to come up with complex adventures – and not
stuff along the lines of “aliens are attacking the town of Williamsville,
Montana; go kill them.” (X-Com?) then it can be extremely fun and
very addicting. Get into it and start looking for those big eyes in the
dark.

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