Z is for Zombie

"Zombies are the new Vampires." - True Blood

Funny quote and mostly true.  Thanks to the various "Dead" and "Resident Evil" movies, not to mention new TV shows, Zombies have never been more popular.

Actually I have never cared for Zombies.  Sure I enjoy them as much as the next horror guy, but I'd rather read about ghosts, vampires or almost anything else really.

Same is true for games.  But I have to admit that one of my favorite games is All Flesh Must Be Eaten.


WotC may have D&D and White Wolf has the vampires, but when it comes to wipping out hordes of the walking dead then you need this book and Eden has it.

All Flesh Must Be Eaten (AFMBE) is THE premire Zombie roleplaying game. Everything you need to know is here and it uses the fantastic Unisystem game system so beginners can play it fast and pros still enjoy it. Plus it is 100% compatible with all of Eden's games like "WitchCraft", "Armageddon", "Ghosts of Albion" and "Buffy the Vampire Slayer". With the d20 conversion guide in back, it is also compatible with tons of d20 games.
I enjoy it because it is so flexible.  The power rating can be altered to suit your mood. So street level normals armed with baseball bats to gods walking the earth again.

What makes AFMBE so nice is the collection of Dead Worlds that Eden publishes for it.  And like the core book, these are also compatible with other Eden games.

All Tomorrow's Zombies takes AFMBE and makes it Zombies...IN SPACE!! And in Cyberspace and all sorts of "SF" tropes with zombies thrown in. An excellent "Zombie World" book from Jason Vey and Eden. If you like AFMBE and are a fan of Sci-Fi then this is a must buy.  Even if you don't then there are plenty of high tech devices to use in other games, such as Conspiracy X.

Pulp Zombies is a collection of Pulp Era Deadworlds. This one focuses on the two-fisted action adventures of the 1930s.  A special emphasis is given on the mystical side of the pulps and of course Nazi Zombies.

Enter the Zombie is Kung Fu action theatre at's its best.  Emulate the action from Enter to Dragon to Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon to the latest John Wu film to Big Trouble in Little China.  There is more though too.  Expanded Chi powers, role-playing in mytho-historical Japan and China or the streets of Hong Kong and San Francisco.  Plenty of options for characters, players and Zombie Masters.

Fistful o' Zombies where the Quick and the Dead are often the same thing.  Plenty of new character archetypes for a wild west game. Whether the wild west of Clint Eastwood or Gene Autry. New qualities and drawbacks and plenty of weapons from the time.  I use this along with other Victorian era games.  The gem though in this one is the conversion notes between the original Deadlands game and AFMBE.

Zombie Smackdown. I was not sure what to think about this one.  But I am glad I got it.  I am not a fan of Professional Wrestling, but the mix of wrestling and zombies is too cool to pass up.  Plus there are plenty of good rules for matches and even Luchador wrestlers. You can do your Santo-inspired character justice.

Dungeons and Zombies brings D&D to the Classic Unisystem fold.  There are rules for using more WitchCraft like magic in your AFMBE game.  This book covers all the tropes including many new races such as elves, dwarves, halflings and orcs.  High Fantast, Low Fantasy. King Arthur and Lord of the Rings-style play.  Combine it with WitchCraft to get a full range of magical abilities.  Combine with Terra Primate for tons of new adventure ideas and races.  And of course use the AFMBE-Revised appendix to converst any d20 information you need.  Far more flexible than most d20 based fantasy games.  Really well written and one of my favorite Dead World books from Eden.

ARRGH! Thar Be Zombies! I'll admit I am not a fan of pirates.  I enjoy the recent round of pirate movies, but that is the exception rather than the rule.  What makes this book so good is that pirates and zombie just seem to go together well.  And while I may not be a fan of pirates I am a fan of ghost ships crewed by zombies.  So I use this in a modern WitchCraft game instead.  The ship to ship battle rules are great and provide an extra layer when using them with All Tomorrow's Zombies.  The voodoo in this book is a short hand version of the Vodun from WitchCraft, but still nice to have.

One of the Living is something akin to a "Players Handbook" for AFMBE.  The focus is more on new skills, qualities and drawbacks for the characters; not so much for the zombies.  Though there is plenty of Zombie Master only information.  In particular is how to run long campaigns instead of the one shots that AFMBE are really good at.

Worlds of the Dead: A Collection of Deadworlds is a collection of smaller "Dead Worlds" that don't have enough material for their own books.  Great for a starting idea, fleshing out an game of your own or adding to one of the other Dead Worlds from the other books.  Since it is also 100% compatible with Eden's other games, they can be added to those as well.

Atlas of the Walking Dead. Part Monster Manual, part scholarly overview of the myths of the world.  Full of creatures including some I had never heard of (and that is saying something!)   A must have for any of the Dead Worlds or any of Eden's other games.  If you are a Zombie Master then you need this book.  If you play horror games then is one of the best works on various zombies you can buy.

Book of Archetypes, Book 1 and Book 2.  Pre-generated archetypes for AFMBE, but usable in any Eden Unisystem game.  Players can use these as starting points for characters.  Zombie/Game Masters can use them as pre-gens, NPCs or anything they set their mind too.  Over 30 archetypes in each book plus new qualities and drawbacks.

With these you will be ready for the upcoming Zombie Apocalypse.

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New Podcast Interview

I recently gave an interview over at Penny Red, website of Victoria author Daniel Hodges.

You can hear it here:
http://victoriaroleplaying.blogspot.com/2012/04/post-36-i-lex-luthor.html

We talk about Victoria RPG, Ghosts of Albion and why Lex Luthor is really the hero of the Superman world.

Enjoy!

ETA: Looks like the file is not working yet.
ETA2: File is working fine now!

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Zatannurday: Y is for Young Justice Zatanna

As Zatanna fans we have been living is some really great times of late.  We had a great Zatanna comic from Paul Dini.  Now we have Justice League Dark and best of all, teen Zatanna in Young Justice.

Of course according to Action Figure Insider we are not going to be getting a Young Justice Zatanna figure.
http://www.actionfigureinsider.com/main/afis-ask-matty-mattel-qa-answers-for-april-16th-2012
Though the Wal-Mart exclusive Zatanna looks pretty close.

We do still have Green Ronin's DC Adventures game.
The official game has Zee's stats, but these are closer to what she was when she had her own title.  Zatanna from Young Justice is just getting into her powers.

Here is the Young Justice version of Zatanna.  I did this from my memory of what she could do in the episodes.

Zatanna (YJ) - PL 7 (104 points)

Strength 0, Stamina 1, Agility 2, Dexterity 3, Fighting 1, Intellect 3, Awareness 3, Presence 3

Advantages
Artificer, Attractive, Benefit, Wealth (well-off), Connected, Fascinate (Deception), Languages 3, Luck, Ritualist, Teamwork

Skills
Acrobatics 2 (+4), Athletics 2 (+2), Deception 4 (+7), Expertise: Magic 8 (+11), Insight 4 (+7), Perception 4 (+7), Persuasion 2 (+5), Ranged Combat: tsalB: Blast 8 6 (+9), Sleight of Hand 8 (+11)

Powers
Magic
   !ediH: Concealment 0
   dleihS: Force Field 8 (+8 Toughness)
   sehtolC egnahC: Transform 4 (Affects: 1 Thing > 1 Thing, Transforms: 12 lbs., DC 14)
   sthguohT yM raeH: Mental Communication 4
   tegroF: Affliction 2 (mind, 1st degree: Impaired, 2nd degree: Exhausted, 3rd degree: Unaware, Resisted by: Will, DC 12)
   tropeleT: Teleport 4 (500 feet in a move action, carrying 50 lbs.)
   tsalB: Blast 8 (DC 22)
Mystic Senses: Senses 5 (Acute: Mystic, Analytical: Mystic, Detect: Mystic 2: ranged, Ranged: Mystic)

Offense
Initiative +2
Grab, +1 (DC Spec 10)
sehtolC egnahC: Transform 4, +1 (DC Dog 14)
tegroF: Affliction 2, +1 (DC Will 12)
Throw, +3 (DC 15)
tsalB: Blast 8, +7 (DC 22)
Unarmed, +1 (DC 15)

Complications
Motivation: Responsibility: Zatanna feels responsible for her father's current state as Dr. Fate.
Power Loss: Needs to say spells/powers backwards to use them.

Languages
English, Greek, Italian, Latin

Defense
Dodge 6, Parry 4, Fortitude 4, Toughness 1, Will 7

Power Points
Abilities 32 + Powers 27 + Advantages 11 + Skills 20 (40 ranks) + Defenses 14 = 104

Not quite yet the powerhouse she will grow up to be.

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How I made my Akemi Homura Costume

In this entry, I’ll share with you guys how I did my Akemi Homura costume. The costume looked really simple on first sight but as usual, it is not if you want to stay accurate.

1) The White dress Top

The white dress top was made with a very soft cloth, a sort of polyester satin mix. To avoid shining the cameras to death, I used the reverse side of the fabric. I’m a fan of using the reversed side of fabric for costume as they tend to give an interesting and subtle glean.

It’s an unusual choice of fabric. Like most people, I would usually go for polyester cotton or something similar since Homura's dress definitely looks opaque white. But in view of the fact that she wears another high collared top inside, I decided it is wiser to choose a fabric that is thin and allows for better ventilation. I don't fancy dehydrating in costume's xD

But I was really regretting my choice of fabric halfway through the construction of the dress. Because soft fabric like these tend to slide around and they are such a hassle to work with! And as usual, I screwed up the measurements many times.

I based my white top on a basic 1 piece dress pattern. I first drafted half of the dress pattern on paper to get the sizing right. As you can tell from the photo, I also used a marker to mark out where the shoulder flap would be to assist me in my visual gauging. After I made sure I got everything right, I proceed to add the shoulder flaps.

If you are not very confident in your dressmaking skills, my tip is to always test and trial with paper first! Even for the grey shoulder flaps, I tested with newspaper before cutting my fabric. 

Click on the picture to see in full.

After I was extremely convinced the white dress would fit me perfectly, I went ahead to mark out where the grey shoulder flaps would go. Making sure I leave an extra 1 inch of allowance, I then cut the extra fabric away.

Using my trusty fabric glue, I glued very thin black ribbons onto the grey shoulder flaps just like how Homura has hers. And then hand stitched the grey shoulder flap onto the dress.

2) Black Inner top

This is how the black inner top looks like. The zip in front starts below the throat and opens all the way to facilitate wearing. And as you can tell, I made it significantly shorter than my upper torso. The reason for designing it so, is to reduce the bulk of the costume around my waist so I’d look less fat and also for better ventilation.

This is how the confusing collar looks like. It took me sooooooo many trials to get the right pattern ! I have seen many Homura costumers who created her collar by splitting it into a ‘collar ring’ and another addition flap. But I was insistent on making it a single flowing design just because I think it is nicer.

This is my paper pattern for the collar. I made and remade so many of them I pretty much forgot which is the final one. LOL =x Don’t worry, this pattern should be fine =X

As usual, collars are always made with 2 layers (main cloth and a lining layer) to ensure the edges are nice.

Sew the bias on after attaching the collar to the top.

3) Pleated Skirt

I made her skirt as a tight knife pleat skirt with lace at the bottom. In fact, I was so lazy I didn’t even bother to make a new skirt. I just altered it from my Kuchiki Rukia Skirt xDD

Watch the video and read my blog entry to learn how to make a pleated skirt

4) Her hand accessory

I panicked when I realised they don’t sell diamond shaped gems in the stores =_= So I had to make one myself (again!).

The diamond gem is made with clear plastic sheet. The idea of it is the same as building a paper model, but with a strong plastic sheet instead.  I first tested the size and shape with a normal paper. After I was satisfied with the template, I traced it onto a piece of paper. I then laid my transparent plastic sheet over it and traced over it with a permanent marker.

The black lines are where to cut. I then create a wedge at the 4 corners of the plastic sheet and stick everything in place with a clear scotch tape.

Lastly, paint the gem. I used purple nail polish left over from my Mogami Kyoko (Prisoner) cosplay xD. My apologies for the lack of photographs. Didn’t have much time to snap progress photos >.< .

The plastic gem placed in the wire frame before colouring to gauge the size

Much like how I did my Alastor necklace (Shakugan no Shana), I made the edge of Homura’s accessory with Gold coloured wires.

I placed the finished gem on a paper and traced the edges out. Then from the diamond base, I went on to draw out the rest of the accessory. This drawing will serve as a guideline for my wire.

What happens next is a lot of twisting and turning with my bare hands. To facilitate the sculpting process, I stuck the wire on to the paper with clear scotch tapes so the wire will stay in place.

Super glue the gem to the wire frame.

After my first photo-shoot, I had the unfortunate chance to discover that the super glue alone was not enough to hold the gem to the wire. So after that shoot,  I stuck a layer of gold adhesive tape to the bottom of the accessory to, hopefully, hold everything together better.

Finally done! Yes, I do understand it’s not very accurate but I tried my best T__T

5) The collar and back bows

I was in such a rush the first time I made the costume I failed to think through each procedure properly. And ended up doing a pretty shameful job with the back bow.

The black diamond-ish designs are cut outs from black felt. In order to know how to cut, I stuck the base of the ribbon onto a piece of paper and traced around it. Then draw out the design on the paper and cut it out as a template.

The bow is basically 2 layers of cloth, sewed and then turned inside out. The black diamond-ish designs are then cut and stuck onto both sides with my trusty fabric glue.

 

If you are making a Homura Akemi costume, remember to sew/stick the black diamond designs on FIRST before sewing the 2 layers of cloth (for the ribbon) together. I sewed and hot glued a big safety pin at the back for easy wearing.

Using a similar procedure as the back ribbon, I made a long fabric tube for the front ribbon and then twist, cut, sew them together in place. A bendable wire was inserted into the top part (where my finger is touching) of the bow to keep it horizontal.

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Alright, this marks the end of my entry. If you enjoyed it, please leave me a comment ^^.

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Cosplay: The Series 1st Anniversary Event (Bandung, Indonesia)

Last weekend, I had the good chance to not only visit Indonesia but also attend Cosplay: The Series' first anniversary event that was held at the Coffee Clinic at Bandung, Indonesia.

My day begun at around 9am. I woke up to an SMS from Chizu who was my host for the entire trip.  She had to pick up her drum pads for the event and I had to wake up xD I continued to just dilly dally around until Kaoru and her Brother came to pick me up at 10:30am. Then a mad rush to get ready ensued xD. foreverslow.jpg

I finally got everything together around 12+ and off to the event we went !

The event was scheduled to start at 2pm but everyone was here early!

The event is actually held in a newly opened 3 storey cafe called Coffee Clinic. It was a quaint little cafe up in the hill with a very refreshing scenery just beside it. The ground floor was alfresco dining.

The view just beside us =)

Bonni, Zilkrie and Kazu discussing something important before the start of the event.

And you know what? This photo is scripted =_=;;

The 3 of them were so aware of the camera, THE MOMENT i raised my puny gear, their victory sign came up LOL! I then commented in annoyance ( lol. bossy) that I was trying to take some BTS photographs of them hard at work and not some poser-ish portraiture. They immediately succumbed to my demands and cooperated by pretending to get back to work xD

Yes… One does not simply snap sneaky pictures of a web drama cast … xD

 

CTS's event standee beside the registration counter. It's a really queer feeling to see my own face on it so I tried my best to avoid eye contact with it throughout the day hahaha.

My green tea macchiato ( i think >.<) with 2 incredibly interesting syringe of syrup! Adjust your own sugar intake with these syringes!

 

How the stage looked like from my perspective.

Stealing some photos from other event attendees since my photography skills sucked.

 
Photo credits: Oni of Ekyu

Programme of the day includes karaoke performance by the very talented crew of CTS, band performances, screening of exclusive Behind-The-Scene videos, auditions for season 3, a discussion panel that I was involved in and the announcement of numerous upcoming new releases. That's a very long sentence I know xD  it's almost as long as the event itself which was from 2pm – 9pm.

Since I reached the event at 12 and left at nearly 12am, the event was a full 12 hours for me! I admit, that was the longest I've ever survived in a costume.  For someone who always get a headache wearing wigs, that's a huge feat for me !

Anyway back to the event !

Highlight of the day was the talent audition finals for Cosplay: The Series’ upcoming seasons. The finalists went through a rigorous round of competition to be here so each one of them was on the stage to wow us.

If I understood correctly, the finalists were not only judged based on their stage performance but also on the creativity and depth of the characters they designed. It was amazing how deep some of them went ahead to conceptualise their own original characters.

In the end, 5 talents were accepted and each with a very different style. EDIT: Apparently I remembered wrongly and 7 talents were selected instead of 5 ^^;;;

Congratulations to all the winners of the audition! I look forward to the upcoming seasons with these new members and I can’t wait to see what Cosplay: The Series will throw at us in the next season.

		Cosplay: The Series, 1st Anniversary Event VIEW SLIDE SHOW DOWNLOAD ALL

More event photographers can be found here.

If you haven't watched the series yet,  pop over to COSPLAY: The Series' Website now . The 18 episodes are less than 2 hours in total and it’s 2 hours you wont regret spending!

Also subscribe to them on YouTube and like their Facebook page to be updated with their latest news!

From what was announced during the event, A LOT of new releases such as novel, manga, Visual Novel, Game and CTS’s very own Lolita fashion line will be hitting us soon!

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