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Avatar of Lost to the Ages

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

Witchcraft

August 25, 1999 in Reviews

CJ Carella’s WitchCraft is now in its second incarnation, having burned up
one of its nine lives on a failed foray from Myrmidon Press in 1996. It has
been resurrected by Eden Studios, who seems to be competing with Atlas as
the Company Who Breathes New Life Into Games Previously Dead. It seems to
fill a niche as a hipper alternative to White Wolf’s overburdened World of
Darkness, which it fulfills quite well–how viable that niche is for the
game may be another story.

First things first: For those who own the first edition, the revised Eden
Studios WitchCraft, 2nd Edition main rulebook corrects typos, clarifies
rules, smoothes the organization of the book, and adds several new features,
including an index, a detailed table of contents, and appendices. Though
there are a smattering of new rules, if you own the book already you should
be fine.

Physically, the book is smaller than most 8 1/2″ by 11″ gaming books, with a
good softcover illustration and uniformly decent layout throughout (though
the cursive font for the game fiction is quite difficult, and there is far
too much of it). It also makes one ask how a book that is smaller and
paperback can go for $28.00 a copy? RPG prices have been rising, and most
publishers have been pointing at increasing public demand for
coffeetable-style art production quality–what’s the excuse for WitchCraft,
which has none of these qualities?

Being an inquisitive sort, I wrote to Eden and asked them. I got back an
extremely well-written response that this book is competitively priced when
compared with other small-press publications, especially considering
WitchCraft’s 160,000 word count. Looking at their list, I’m forced to
concede that they’re right–but looking overt WitchCraft some more I’m even
more confused about the choice to go with an irregularly sized format.
Didn’t this save them money? If it did not, why did they do it? I have no
answers. Also, a lot of those 160,000 words are taken up with game fiction,
which I consider a blight on the industry and very poor for this book in
particular.

Consider its digest size, this game should be cheaper than most, and make it
part of its appeal. Priced at $18 it would be much easier to give a good
review to the work based on content alone. Great game or not, publishers
need to be held accountable by their public, and $28.00 is over the line for
this particular product.

WitchCraft uses the “Unisystem” for task resolution, a fairly standard Skill
+ Attribute system, rolling a d10 for randomization–it will be very
familiar to White Wolf players. Rolling a 10 or a 1 lets you add or
subtract dice exponentially–very similar to 7th Sea though this also serves
as the “botch” mechanic on a 1, which works a lot better than the World of
Darkness game systems.

Unisystem makes a lot of hay about the fact that the game can be played
diceless, using cards or just storytelling to work out results, but the
reality is a bit disappointing: the card mechanic gets one page of
exposition and is basically a warmed over version of Castle Falkenstein with
no proper accounting for face cards–drawing one generates either a 1 or 10
result, so games played with this mechanic become very botch-filled rapidly.
The narrative system is even briefer, and basically tells GMs to use the
attributes to see who won, then adjust to taste. Eden, I can do that with
any game–it’s nice to include, but don’t then claim that the Unisystem is
an all-in-one system with or without dice.

This all sounds very critical, but aside from the claims of universality the
game’s system seems to be quite competent, if not inspired. The combats I
played out seemed to work well, and the task system is fairly invisible in
play. If you’ve done White Wolf, you won’t have a problem–it’s quite clean
and easy to use.

It is unusual for me to address a game’s rule system before its setting;
with WitchCraft it makes sense, because I feel like I’ve seen this setting
before. It’s a modern day setting where players are witches, bast (cat
shape-shifting people), spirits or other occult beings living beneath the
surface of our normal life. Further, you’re a member of an organization, the
specific details of which you will be able to read about in a series of upcoming
guidebooks. I know: it sounds like the World of Darkness from Vampire, Mage,
et al. This can be forgiven, of course, if the groups involved are
sufficiently inventive enough, and break or preconceptions about the occult
the way Unknown Armies does in an overt way, or subvert them like Nephilim
did.

WitchCraft does neither– you can be a Wicce, or “good pagan person”, a
Sentinel or “bad Church-loving type”, a Solitaire or “independent,
be-what-you-want type” and so on. Even the groups that show some invention
like the Cabal of Psyche don’t have the juiciness of the sects in Vampire or
Ars Magica–they just seem bland. Wile WitchCraft does a great job of
cataloging all the obvious choices, it leaves behind any kind of real
inventiveness–by giving people exactly what they were asking for, it fails
to innovate.

The big metaplot concern in WitchCraft is the Time of the Reckoning, as the
supernatural forces in the world are building and racing toward–so more
demons, more Gifted and more magic is rushing into the world, making it
harder and harder to hide the supernatural. Yes, this does sound a bit like
the Masquerade from Vampire, but let it pass. One neat element I did enjoy
is that mundane hatred ‘jams’ magic, but fear does not–explaining why
witches are forced to hide, and giving more power to the mundanes in the
setting, something the World of Darkness never does.

Finally, I have to comment on the “chicken soup” style of world design used
here. If WitchCraft is intended to be an alternative to the World of
Darkness, it makes sense for them to contain a great deal of variety in the
setting, but make compelling design choices. Having “Mad Gods” in the
setting that are so obviously poor imitations of the Lovecraftian Cthulhu
mythos doesn’t help, and a lot of the setting adheres to the “that’s
good…add that to the game” mentality.

The Verdict

If you can’t stand White Wolf’s World of Darkness but wish to play in a
modern-day occult game that is aimed at covering all the themes, WitchCraft
is a great place to start. But with an expensive price tag for ho-hum
production values and a real absence of fresh ideas, I suspect many gamers
would be able to cobble something together for themselves that works better.
It remains to be seen if the supplements and other materials put out for
WitchCraft improve on this mediocre rule book…and if occult fans will have
the incentive to buy them.

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