Hey Man, well this is Babylon

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

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

Finally, all the updates are live. There’s quite a few, which is why this has taken so long to get out:

• Added option rule in the Gear section for “inventory slot” mechanics, allowing a simulation of the Survival-Horror game inventory management.
• The “Threat Pool” and NPC sections of the GM side of the book have been almost entirely re-written, and completely reorganized. NPCs are now purchased with fewer Threat Pool tokens, and enter the game with frequently-higher Threat scores. They’re supposed to be dangerous, and now they are.
• Expanded section on game themes, and how to effectively incorporate them.
• More info in both the Player Tips and CiC Tips sections.
• A bit more detail in the introductory scenario. Still working on that one.
• A large handful of errata updates, typo fixes, and corrections to outdated information.
• Added spacers for several future additions, such as Index, character sheets, and a few planned art pieces.
• A few more sections of example text have been added.
• Added advice for using player-framed scenes.

The updated rules and sheets can be found here, as usual. Next on the immediate design list is to create some additional helper cards, to assist with management of the optional limited inventory system.

There will most likely be a new update to the Cannibal Contagion playtest rules in the next day or so. I’ve been adding spacers for art, ads, character profiles, and an index. Additionally, I’m working on a somewhat thick section on evoking game themes, such as survival, macabre humor, and paranoia, among others. I’ve also added a few additional rules and clarifications, including a section on mechanical limitations on a character’s Gear (thank you, Resident Evil!).

As usual, when the update is ready, look for it on this blog.

- NPC

I meant to do this Friday, but only just now found the time to get around to it. The playtest rules have been updated considerably:

• Added placeholders for four pre-generated example characters
• Removed the Agsomafa mechanics
• Updated the Showdown outcomes: now the total play pile = Hurtin’, and faces and aces can be exchanged for Facts and Awesome tokens
• Added two new Joker-specific power maneuvers to replace the Agsomafa. One mechanic involves an all-or-nothing desperate move, the other allows you a boosted result should you win with a joker.
• Updated glossary
• Updated character sheets and accessory cards
• Removed the Awesome-for-Hurtin’ weapon modifier

The updated rules and sheets can be found here, as usual.

I just posted a new revision to the Cannibal Contagion playtest rules. This one’s kind of a biggie, and consists of two big changes that were suggested by recent in-house and external playtesting. The first one: I’ve renamed the four core characteristics. Yep, those four silly acronyms were irritating to most people, so they’re gone. The Agsomafa is staying, but that’s it. The new names: Kill, Cool, Grit, and Savvy. The rules and the character sheets have been updated to reflect these changes.

Second, the text has been completely reorganized, with a few sections merged and the table of contents shortened significantly. Things are easier to find, flow more logically, and most of all, the bare bones text is getting organized in preparation for the eventual art that will accompany it.

As always, the downloads can be found here.

* Cleaned up the organization of the character creation section
* Added more example text in Character creation section
* Added missing information to Random Character Creation rules.
* Filled out more information on the Quick-Tables
* Now with 13 total Mojo powers.

As always, the rules can be downloaded here.

In this post I mentioned some changes I was making to the rules involving Infection, Crazy-Go-Psycho rules, and a few other things. Those changes are now live, with an additional 11 pages of content and formatting going into making the rules more cohesive and flowing. As always, download them here.

Yesterday afternoon I met with Jake, Nathan, and Tyler at Empire Games, down on SE Foster. I’d never been to this place before, nor did I even know it existed, as it has a pretty low street visibility (and I never find myself that far down in the SE, really). The game of the day was to be Cannibal Contagion, and I brought along a fresh print of the rules, a deck of playing cards, some tokens, some pre-cut blank NPC cards, and a fresh scenario idea involving planes, snakes, dingos, lost islands, velociraptors, reality-television cults, and infectious cyber-psychosis. The idea was to merge Lost, Snakes on a Plane, Fantasy Island, and Land of the Lost all into a comic survival-horror game. Read more