(or, "How I Learnt To Stop Worrying And Love The Rising")

My day job is third-line support for a company that writes software for the shipping industry, which means I spend most of my day shouting at a computer screen in impotent fury (to anyone else in computer support, imagine how much worse your job would be if most of your users and some of your colleagues didn't have English as a first language)

My real job, my career, is as a writer.  Up until earlier this year, I thought I my chosen medium was comics; RPG's were a hobby.  As someone wanting to be a professional comics writer, I read all of the major theorists, particularly Will Eisner (the comic equivalent of the Oscars is called the Eisners - there's a reason) and Scott McCloud.  From Eisner I got the idea that an artist has a responsibility to the society in which he or she lives, to examine, to criticise, to communicate and to challenge.  From McCloud, I learnt that an artist is most effective when they conceal their message behind of layers of medium, idiom, form and, well, art so that it sneaks past the viewer or readers usual defenses and hits them square between the eyes.

Both used the example of Harvey Spielmann's Maus, a graphic novel of the life of the artist's father, a Holocaust survivor.  Spielmann used a deliberately comic-book style of drawing even going as far as to depict the Jews in the book as mice (hence the title) and the Nazi's as cats.  Normally, when we read, watch or hear something about the Holocaust our defences go up.  It's an period of history that we don't even think about because the thoughts are too painful.  But when you read Maus, Spielmann's style cons us into reading it like it's Archie.  Our defenses are lowered and OH MY GOD THEY'RE PUTTING THOSE MICE INTO GAS OVENS!

And all this was going around in the back of my head when I was looking around for an adventure to introduce my players to the new edition of the World of Darkness system (I think it's Maddman's group that uses Unisystem, Tim).

I knew Tim as Nutkinland's self-confessed drunken jackass.  I knew he'd done a zombie game, but I had a copy of "All Flesh..." and besides I didn't like d20.  When he released Hold At All Costs: Zero, I thought "a military adventure written by vet? Could be interesting...", brought it and did a quick and dirty port to nWoD.  I had a blast, my players had a blast, I reviewed it and sent Tim some comments.  

In the meantime, I brought a copy of Year of the Zombie core book and then Fleshmongers.  I'd never read anything like it.  Sure Stephen King, Richard Laymon and Chuck Palunik cover some of the same ground, but Tim, Tim, has actually seen just how bad human beings can be and he wants us to know about it.  Something was going on here, but I hadn't yet figured it out.

Tim invited us to playtest an early draft of the sequel and sent me an early draft of Marauders for comments.  I sent him feedback on both and some suggestions for Marauder groups, he asked if I wanted to write up those groups.  I had so much fun with Marauders I took a chance and sent Tim a proposal for Havens.  You know the rest.

Well, actually, you don't.  As I started researching Havens I started looking at what life was like in places where people try to rebuild their lives with only what they've carried with them and what they find lying around - refugee camps and shanty towns. I realised that Tim was right - real life is actually worse than anything he's written.

But people just don't want know.  There's a refugee, a torture survivor, at our church who doesn't talk about her experiences because people can't cope with it.  A couple that are friends of my parents run a clinic in a remote district of Tanzania.  They've made the decision that she isn't going to work with sharps at all because if he contracts HIV at least she'll be able to raise their children.  As Phoebe said to Rachel on "Friends": "You know that's kind of like when I was living on the street and this man said he'd feed me if I'd sleep with him.  Actually it's not because that was a real problem and yours is a load of made up Yuppie bullcrap."

What's this got to do with YotZ? Well the game is about creating a fictional environment where the players get to act out making the kind of survival decisions that real people make every day in places like Iraq, Somalia and Dafur.  And because it's a game and because it's fun (having a character stick a bullet into the head of a Fleshmonger is wonderfully cathartic) the content sneaks past your defenses and you'll never look at the TV News in the same way again.  It's the same principle that Spielmann used in Maus.

Sure it's also about Tim fulfilling a drunken bet and replenishing his Wild Turkey fund, and I wouldn't be surprised if some of it is therapy for him, but, just like any piece of art it's about communicating the way that the artists view the world.

I'm going to do another post about content and why I think Tim's pitching the level just right and then I'm going to say what I think all this has to do with game design.

Fuck Mark Rein-Haargen right in his dot, this is the "Role-playing Game of Personal Horror".  If your character is weak, mentally, physically or morally they will die and Mr. Hungry will eat them - if they're lucky.

If the game has a central theme it's that human beings are basically weak, nasty, evil pieces of shit.  You might want to quibble about this, but it's a central tenant of most of the world's major religions.

That's the offensive thing about it.

This game is offensive, this game is obscene, but it isn't gratuitous.

Richard Laymon is gratuitious.  The sexual violence rarely, if ever, advances the plot.

If Tim and I are both thinking of the same novel, Stephen King is gratuitious with the rape scenes in Stake.  The sub-plot has nothing to do with the main story; personally I think had a novella that needed padding and wanted to see if he could write a rape scene.

Tim and I can provide page after page of references showing that when the rule of law is removed the great mass of humanity quite quickly reverts to savagery.  You and I are less than a week from doing whatever it takes to survive.  Scary, isn't it?

Personally, I'm quite comfortable with a reviewer knocking a couple of marks out of ten off the score for Havens because the content disturbs them.  It's supposed to.

Most people in the developed world are complacent, decadent and almost utterly unaware of just how vunerable they are.  Think about it - if your power went out right now where's your torch? When was the last time you checked the batteries?  If you tripped over while looking for it and gashed yourself, where's your First Aid Kit? Do you know how to apply a bandage one-handed? Where's the torniquet points for the upper arm?

That's another central theme - particularly of Haven's.  If it makes just one person think about putting together a go-bag or taking a First Aid Course then we'll have done our job.  If, God forbid, the Shit ever does Hit The Fan and we have to re-create civilization from scratch and just one person gets to use the line "I didn't spend all those years playing Year of the Zombie not to learn something about where to site a latrine." then we'll really have done our job

Because sometimes we can shine.  Sometimes people are suddenly thrust into a situation where they have to make a split-second decision to do the Right Thing and then do it.  But that requires knowing what the right thing is and, a lot of the time, having the guts to do it.

All this stuff isn't in YotZ.  There aren't huge tables about the effect of latrine placement on community health - as one footnote says "This a game of butt-kicking zombie action, not Hydrology: the Settling".  But your characters will need to know this and there are rules for what happens if (for example) they haven't bothered to filter the water.  After playing a Haven-based campaign you'll certainly know all the issues.

Quote from: Hastur T. FannonMost people in the developed world are complacent, decadent and almost utterly unaware of just how vunerable they are.  Think about it - if your power went out right now where's your torch? When was the last time you checked the batteries?  If you tripped over while looking for it and gashed yourself, where's your First Aid Kit? Do you know how to apply a bandage one-handed? Where's the torniquet points for the upper arm?

.

The tourniquet points for any limb are no less than two to three inches above or below the closest joint between the injury and the heart. Preferrably as close to the injury as possible. Provided you can keep a certain peace of mind, possibly inhuman, it is relatively easy to do a tourniquet one handed on yourself, provided you have the materials. Never use narrow rope or wire for a tourniquet, though if it a choice between bleeding out from a arterial gash or loosing the rest of the limb, you may ignore that warning at your own discretion.  Seek medical attention immedeatly, and you think that medical attention is possible at some point, you can make a note on your forehead of when the tourniquet was applied, in case you pass out. Use your own blood if nothing else is available. On the other hand, such a note only serves as an informational purpose, as the descision to save or remove the limb will ultimately fall upon the diagnosing surgeon, and may not include such details in the process.  If you suspect you are going to pass out, lie on your side if possible to prevent choking on your own vomit.  

Raise the injured limb above your heart if possible to reduce blood loss and shock. If in a post apocalypitical senario, particularly one populated by flesh eating zombies you are going to die. Have a nice day.  

This has been a public service announcement from your freindly neighborhood Pika.  



Also: don't eat zombies. They taste bad and icky.

Quote from: SpikeThe tourniquet points for any limb are no less than two to three inches above or below the closest joint between the injury and the heart. Preferrably as close to the injury as possible. Provided you can keep a certain peace of mind, possibly inhuman, it is relatively easy to do a tourniquet one handed on yourself, provided you have the materials. Never use narrow rope or wire for a tourniquet, though if it a choice between bleeding out from a arterial gash or loosing the rest of the limb, you may ignore that warning at your own discretion.  Seek medical attention immedeatly, and you think that medical attention is possible at some point, you can make a note on your forehead of when the tourniquet was applied, in case you pass out. Use your own blood if nothing else is available. On the other hand, such a note only serves as an informational purpose, as the descision to save or remove the limb will ultimately fall upon the diagnosing surgeon, and may not include such details in the process.  If you suspect you are going to pass out, lie on your side if possible to prevent choking on your own vomit.  

Raise the injured limb above your heart if possible to reduce blood loss and shock. If in a post apocalypitical senario, particularly one populated by flesh eating zombies you are going to die. Have a nice day.  

This has been a public service announcement from your freindly neighborhood Pika.  

Out of the several thousand polls I did, less than 5% knew that. Less than 15% had ever taken a First Aid class, and less than 20% knew how to do a Hiemlich.

Congrats, you're in the top 5%

Quote from: T-WillardOut of the several thousand polls I did, less than 5% knew that. Less than 15% had ever taken a First Aid class, and less than 20% knew how to do a Hiemlich.

Congrats, you're in the top 5%

What can I say? Being a Pika is a dangerous, but oddly glamorous, lifestyle.

I also know what to do about sucking chest wounds. I mean other than grab a shovel and start digging. On the other hand, I suspect that, unlike the tourniquet information, most people DON"T need to know that sort of thing.


But: how many people in your polls knew about the Zombie eating? That's some important shit right there... I was sick for days last time.

Quote from: T-WillardOut of the several thousand polls I did, less than 5% knew that. Less than 15% had ever taken a First Aid class, and less than 20% knew how to do a Hiemlich.

What's really crazy is that a lot of First Aid classes seem to talk about tourniquets and even how to make one, but don't talk about when one is called for or exactly where to put one.

once i finish the Dead (so as to avoid any subconcious plagiarism), i desperately want to read YotZ.  I've heard way too much good stuff about it on just this site alone.  

any chance of it getting a hardbound treatment?  iirc, it's a pdf, correct?

PS - the marking we were taught was a "T" on the forehead with your handy Skillcraft pen, blood, or whatever was available.

PELCRN

Quote from: SpikeWhat can I say? Being a Pika is a dangerous, but oddly glamorous, lifestyle.

I also know what to do about sucking chest wounds. I mean other than grab a shovel and start digging. On the other hand, I suspect that, unlike the tourniquet information, most people DON"T need to know that sort of thing.

Ah, you learned from the same masters of medicine I did about first aid.

To quote Becka:

Quote from: Diaries of Becka...both trained by the hard eyed men and women whose jobs were to ensure that they could fight and survive on any battlefield, and how to keep their fellows alive...

Quote from: kregmosierany chance of it getting a hardbound treatment?

It's out in hardback. You have to order it from the UK Games site, but it is out there. I had an original run copy, and it looked fantastic.

Quote from: T-WillardIt's out in hardback. You have to order it from the UK Games site, but it is out there. I had an original run copy, and it looked fantastic.

outstanding...ty for the heads up.

Quote from: T-WillardAh, you learned from the same masters of medicine I did about first aid.

To quote Becka:




It's out in hardback. You have to order it from the UK Games site, but it is out there. I had an original run copy, and it looked fantastic.

Possible, but of this Becka you speak of, I know nothing... so who knows.  

I think I once kissed a girl name Becka... she said I had zombie breath. The relationship was doomed from the start.  

Just remember, Sucking Chest wounds are Gods way of telling you to Slow Down... unless Zombies are on your ass, in which case its His way of saying 'Fuck you'.

One of these days I might pick up YotZ. One thing that always occurs to me when flipping through Zombie games is what my Survivor character would be thinking long term.

'We can get through this. I need a dozen willing people, some wood, some rope and a source of clean water. We WILL get through this, if I have to personally rebury every fucking zombie in the entire world myself'...

And I've yet to see a single peice of GM advice that would lead me to belive that a GM would ever support that. Not that YotZ does, but at least the mechanics of my monumental failure would be something other than Fiat.  You know...

'you're meticulously planned defences fail and you all are overun in the night by the zombies. How? Oh... they fly now.'

Quote from: SpikeOne of these days I might pick up YotZ. One thing that always occurs to me when flipping through Zombie games is what my Survivor character would be thinking long term.

'We can get through this. I need a dozen willing people, some wood, some rope and a source of clean water. We WILL get through this, if I have to personally rebury every fucking zombie in the entire world myself'...

And I've yet to see a single peice of GM advice that would lead me to belive that a GM would ever support that. Not that YotZ does, but at least the mechanics of my monumental failure would be something other than Fiat.  You know...

'you're meticulously planned defences fail and you all are overun in the night by the zombies. How? Oh... they fly now.'

Ah, for Havens, you want to talk to Hastur T. Fannon, he's writing Havens.

You'd get bonuses for your meticulously planned defenses, bonuses for looting libraries and warehouses, bonuses for the types of people you collected.

See, the zombies don't have to fly.

Just ask the survivors in the 1978 Dawn of the Dead.

Quote from: John MorrowWhat's really crazy is that a lot of First Aid classes seem to talk about tourniquets and even how to make one, but don't talk about when one is called for or exactly where to put one.

I have every edition of the Red Cross First Aid Manual back to 1987 (I keep on letting it lapse rather than doing the refresher).  They all say the same thing on the subject: Don't ever, ever do it, but if you do, here's how you do it.  It's the same with the section about childbirth.  I believe the idea is to discourage people from being keen

I can stabilise a sucking chest wound (lots of clingfilm and duct tape).  Treating it is completely different matter

Quote from: Spike'We can get through this. I need a dozen willing people, some wood, some rope and a source of clean water. We WILL get through this, if I have to personally rebury every fucking zombie in the entire world myself'...

Heh, heh, heh.  Once you get to that stage then the real problems start.  How clean is that water? Really? Do you know how to check for chemical contaminants or are you just going to wait until your kid is born with his eyes too close together (at least you think it's a "he").  Is there enough space in the Haven to site your latrine 30 metres away from your water source and downhill?  What are you going to do about food? What's been in that soil before you've planted? Ok you've got vegetables now, but what are you going to do about B vitamins?

And even if you figure out all that you've still got the inherent problem that all of your defenses are static - ask the Iraqi Republican Guard how well static defenses worked for them.  One of the finest Havens in the setting, Fort Pendragon, the base of the KSCA, was levelled by a Reaver with a grudge and a MLRS

I realised last night who's really going to have their Shit together when it Hits The Fan; Middle and upper-class churches (Episcopalians, Lutherans, etc.).  At Bible Study last night I realised I was in a room where:

• almost every person had a First Aid qualification (even if it had lapsed)
• we had a qualified midwife
• a veteran of Desert Storm who'd trained as a medic
• a radiologist
• most of us had been Scouts or Guides so we had basic survival training
• a leader of a Guide group, so her training was current
• a plumber
• none of us had any compunctions about killing another human in self-defense or defense of another (this came up because we were doing commandment six, it suprised me a little, but there's always been a strong link between the CofE and our Armed Forces)
• and, most importantly, we understood and trusted each other and were used to working as a team

and our group isn't particularly exceptional.  We'll be in your base.  Baking a quiche.

Interesting stuff, Hastur. I gotta admit, I always tend to forget or dismiss the existing social structures that are likely to persevere in crisises... like churches. It's just me, but I'm not a pack animal.  

Quote from: Hastur T. FannonHarvey Spielmann

Art Spiegelman.

Carry on.

Quote from: Elliot WilenArt Spiegelman.

Oops.  Harvey Spielmann's the movie producer, isn't he? My copy of Maus is in storage, that's my excuse and I'm sticking to it

I got PM'd pointing out that certain cultural groups are less likely to revert to savagery when civilization collapses because their more socialized - they teach their members to have an internal sense of morality so that they have an instinctive knowledge of what's Right and what's Wrong.  I was exaggurating to make a point, but one of the saddest things about the setting is that the people who do what they think is the "right thing" (gathering at Aid Stations, following the Major Incident Plan, staying a their post until relieved) are also the people who won't make it through the first three months unless they're really, really lucky.  Of course the sort of cowards who rape, loot and pillage won't make it through the next five years unless they're really lucky so it kind of balances out

But ok, what has this to do with game design?

Spike has this thread talking about the Heart of the Game, figuring out what the game is about and then making sure that everything, every rule, every artwork and every piece of flavour text exists to support the heart.  Though I couldn't quite articulate it when I started work in this line, I can see how we've done this.  Tim's got a whole thread about how the art in YotZ supports the game

Let me give you an example.  I realised that the d20 Modern Craft rules needed expanding to handle group projects.  Tim's taken that and slapped a piece of flavour text on the front about co-operation, unity and strong leadership.  It all goes back to the heart of the game