Hey Man, well this is Babylon

You have my promise, I’m still here. These last few weeks have been remarkably hectic. Admittedly, most of the free time I’ve had lately has been occupied with the games Dead Space and Fallout 3, but happily, there are a handful of… other developments as well (*squee*). Bethany and I have been working on our first-ever “Team Hotness” walkthrough, this one being a spoiler-free romp through the delicious halls of the USG Ishimura in Dead Space.

I’ve also been addicted to the sweet savory crack that is Fallout 3. I’m putting together a series of shorts blurbs about it that I hope to release on here soon.

Also, I’ve returned to a few of my older story projects, getting some creative writing in. No, I’m not one of those NaNoWriMo folks, as I just don’t have the time or desire to cram an entire novel in a month, nor do I personally wish to read the garbage scow of a creation that someone such as myself might actually manage to hastily assemble in such an inadequate span of time. I’ve just had that creative itch return as of late, and I’m liking where it’s going so far.

Uhm, that’s all for now.

- NPC

Just an update, I’ve got four freshly-printed drafts of the the Cannibal Contagion 4th draft rules sitting right here. I’ll be mailing them out tomorrow during a list of other errands I need to run. If you’ve requested such a draft, expect it sometime next week!

- NPC

I made a post over on the Roleplayers LJ community about a party we’re putting together next weekend. If you have any ideas, let me know.

Have you guys ever run or played one of those Murder Mystery games? Well, what I’m thinking of trying to assemble is a cross between one of those and a LARP.

Next weekend, we’re having a party for my roommate’s birthday, and she’s both a huge RPG fan and a huge Resident Evil fan. The party’s theme is “Zombies vs Zombie Hunters,” and we both want to make something of a micro-LARP out of it. Thing is, I’ve never really assembled such a thing, so I’m looking for some ideas.

What we’re thinking is to have basically two “factions” at the party: the Hunters and the Zombies. We’re thinking of setting it up as a LARP, but we want it to be as rules-light as we possibly can. Something simple that can be easily put together in the span of a week and a half. A major consideration: we will all most likely be very, very drunk. Having hidden caches of items could be fun, and of course we’ll all be in costume.

I’ve re-typed this post four times, but I keep finding it hard to write out what I’m looking for, because the whole thing is kinda vague at the moment. So I guess what I’m looking for are suggestions and ideas for building, assembling, and running a small-party zombies vs hunters drinking game RPG night.

A friend just clued me into the existence of two godsbedamned fabulous zombie comics, both of which I am now currently devouring. The first is called Zombie Hunters, and the second is called Dead Winter. I added links to the right of the main page here, so check them out!

*squee* I love me some zombie comics, oh yes, I do…

- NPC

Here’s another update from the art desk, sent to me freshly inked by the amazing Vero and Leo. This piece will open chapter two: “The Survivors”

Bitches

• I’ve got nothing to bitch about today. I had expected that I would, but I’m just not going to let myself dwell on the negative for the next few days, or even weeks.

Roses

• I’ve noticed a handful of folks have already been downloading the new Cannibal Contagion rules. If any of you are reading this, please comment and let me know what you think about them.

Hopes

• This weekend my brother got into a pretty serious motorcycle accident. I hope he has a swift recovery.
• I’ve been working on making some changes in my attitudes and perceptions, and hopefully, these will become more solidified in the days to come.

Awright! I’ve just now compiled and uploaded the new fourth draft of the Cannibal Contagion playtest rules. There have been a crapload of updates and revisions. This will be the last major revision for a while, so download it, read it, and let me know how your play goes!

• Threat Pool now called Adversity pool, so as to no longer cause confusion with Threat scores
• Bad Guys are now called Threats, and have been made a lot easier to distinguish and employ
• Added new Allies rules, which function as special Gear
• Added clarifications to existing Gear and Weapons rules
• Updated and improved rules on Turning characters and threats
• Updated the contagion aftermath effects to fit the new Adversity rules.
• Added a whole mess of new sample NPCs and Threats
• Implemented new “cold open” narrative structure
• Added lots and lots of example text
• Updated CiC and Player sheets to have lots more information and better use of space

As always, the downloads can be found here

I posted this on my personal blog, but figured I’d try the same here. I’m currently looking for a few groups across the country who would be willing to try out Cannibal Contagion’s upcoming Fourth Draft Playtest. To best facilitate this, I’m offering to print out the copies of the playtest rules and send them out to you at no cost. I’ll even include some character sheets in the mix.

So, if you have a group that is up for playtesting something new, and the idea of a comedic survival horror session interests you, drop me a comment, and we’ll work it out. Thanks!

- Nathanael Phillip Cole

Bitches

• Not being able to play Resident Evil all the damn time is a new bitch for me. Fortunately, Resident Evil: Deadly Silence makes that desire a little more possible.

Roses

• I very recently acquired a GameCube, and now I’m addicted to Eternal Darkness: Sanity’s Requiem. It could very well replace Beyond Good & Evil as my most favorite video game, and that’s a bold, almost dirty statement.
• I’m nearing completion of the fourth playtest draft of Cannibal Contagion. Stay tuned, as it’s going to be a big one!

Hopes

• I’m organizing a group read-along of George R. R. Martin’s A Game of Thrones in the next two weeks. I’m really, really excited about this, and I do hope it comes together nicely and turns into a grand fun time for all involved.