Vox wrote an interesting report on warhammer 40,000 and why it survived so long against leftist invasion. The original post he links to specifies that writing an RPG based in hardcore truths is resistant to woke agendas.
Well, this is precisely why I have made my RPG as it is.
Surviving the Current Zombie Apocalypse (SCZA) is written so as to be both humorous and entertaining yet useful as a learning tool too.
You can get it as a full colour hardcopy from Amazon, or as a PDF from my E-store.
And don’t take my word for it. Here is an Amazon review:
Andy Gryc
2.0 out of 5 stars
Verified Purchase
Fun idea, but ultimately not much usable
Reviewed in Canada on March 24, 2022
The “Inside pages” preview gives you a sense that this is a zombie apocalypse game in a world where all the conspiracy theories are real. Fun sounding premise, right? I thought so, so bought the book, but it wasn’t what I hoped for. For anyone else who’s considering buying this, let me explain my issues with it so you can see if it’s worth it or not for you. The book is in two major pieces – the story of the world, and the role playing system. The first part wasn’t really what I expected, and maybe that’s my fault. Here are my issues with the book. 1) By taking most conspiracy theories as factually true, the world it creates has a definite white nationalist tone. It’s all done tongue-in-cheek, but nevertheless, you have an anti-equality, anti-Semitic, transphobic, bigoted world-view that runs throughout. That’s not the kind of campaign I want to run. I play with women and visible minorities, but I wouldn’t want my campaign to be like this even if it was all white men – it just feels a bit gross to my modern sensibilities. Perhaps it’s my bad that I didn’t expect that outcome from the premise, since that seems to be the logical conclusion of most modern conspiracies. It’s a game that’s supposed to be dark, and I understand that – I just don’t want to breathe life into it. 2) The game also veers into pretty distinct religiosity. Again, I know it’s entertainment, but there’s an awful lot of the story dedicated to the Christians, a particular strain of Catholicism that is the “true” religion, good fighting evil, God and Satan, bishops, popes, priests, etc. This is more than just a normal character class or a faction, it seems like it’s the backbone of the new world order. Meh. Just won’t be that interesting to me or my players. 3) I could be wrong on this, but I don’t believe the zombies are intended to be literally zombies. If they are, it’s pretty darn subtle and easy to overlook. While there are a couple bits of colour text that say the “zombies” might even be commanded eat to flesh, it’s really more about how all the vaccinated are under mind control from the evil overlords. In other words, the “sheeple”. Instead of getting World War Z, it feels a bit more like a dysfunctional version of The Office. Again – unique perspective, but not what I was truly after. This is the factor that’s probably the biggest disappointment. 4) Finally, the game system. I give the author kudos for inventing a system that’s simple, uses standard dice, makes the players fragile, and is built on a bell curve. Those are all great attributes, although for me personally that’s only a 50% win. I think the game system is just a bit too simple – specifically character creation. Basically 2 stats and some optional skills. Don’t get me wrong – I hate Pathfinder and feel 5e is burdened with books and books of rules. But I think Chaosium’s Basic Role Playing has it just right. Just enough complexity for the GM and Player to manage easily at the table as well as giving lots of room to grow the character. Also, on the d6 thing – I’m just not a huge fan of d6 only systems. My crew has “invested” in tons of dice, so limiting them to one set only seems almost a bit cruel. Half the fun of an RPG is owning all the platonic solids. In summary, like most anything you’ll get for a real game, it’s a sourcebook. Every GM has their own personal tastes, and some will be able to use more that’s here than others. What I’ll personally be able to salvage from it in terms of good, usable, and playable ideas is less than a single page. I recognize the work that’s gone into it, and I’m not trying to be critical about the result – it just doesn’t match what I need. If you are expecting something more like a playable version of Max Brooks “Zombie Survival Guide” like I was, keep searching. But if you’re more open to taking today’s world and dialling up the dysfunction and conspiracies up to 11, it might be just for you.
All the other reviews are 5 stars, but I am not sure that Andy Gryc’s review is having the effect he intended. I know several people purchased the game as a result of it.
And for those already willing to experiment with the game system, the game could be easily adapted to play out some of the events found in the recent novella In the Shadows of Monte Castello.
The point is that with much of my fiction writing the baselines are rooted in very solid reality.
The whole Overlords of Mars trilogy as found in one volume (Nazi Moon) is soundly based on The Face on Mars written in 1995 and Systema written in 2011 and the thread of Reclaiming the Catholic Church shadows most things I do today.
So while the route and the road may be flexible, ultimately, if your entertainment is any good, it should reflect recognisable realities, regardless of how fantastic the setting might be.
And real virtues, such as courage, moral fortitude, reason, Justice and so on, are ultimately timeless, no matter how much the woke want to pretend otherwise.
I know that pen and paper RPGames are probably a GenX thing now, the Millennials can’t read and the Zyklons keep sliding their fingers on the pages wondering why the writing doesn’t change.
That all said, it was a n enjoyable experience considering the players were a rather autistic millennial, a slightly autistic Gender and my eldest daughter.
None of them had played any such games before, and I did throw at them a rather “advanced” RPG scenario, nevertheless, it was far from a total failure, and I think they did enjoy parts of it.
I am used to battle-hardened RPGers so it was my fault for not giving them a more linear and simple scenario. I should have stuck to simple cowboy antics with maybe a little supernatural thrown in, but noooo, I had to get them into a Red Indian Shaman temporal wormhole opening that threw them into a semi-post zombie apocalypse scenario from the future with things like helicopters that had to be described as giant mechanical beetles (I must have done a good job because it took them a while to realise it was a helicopter).
My old RPG friends would have revelled in that. But these guys could have used a much simpler scenario to get them used to the mechanics, even though they are frightfully simple even compared to old D&D rules.
Anyway, I was dusting off some papers and came across the gaming notes and I read through the rules again for fun, and even if I do say so myself, it is a good little game. Quite possible to run a brief, bloody and fun scenario in an hour even with 4 or 5 players, including character creation if the referee is up to speed with the rules (reading the short rulebook once a couple of hours before is enough to make you player ready. When you have read it through a couple of times and played a few games this becomes ridiculously simple to run games for).
Anyway, even if you have not played pen and paper RPGs before, or you think you are too old, or whatever, I strongly suggest you try it and at least let your children try it. The face-to-face interaction with the other humans fosters interpersonal skills that frankly I think are almost lost to the internet and digital “social” brain-sucking platforms.
Sure I’d love it if you played my RPG games, either this one or the Zombie Apocalypse one, which also has a module out, but either way just play them. I don’t care what game or what system, try it. It really is a worthwhile endeavour.
There are a number of “reports”, which means rumours, in RPG parlance, that may or may not be relevant or even true, concerning the current global FUD (Fear Uncertainty and Doubt).
These are the kind of rumours you’d get in a Traveller role-playing game module, where there is a list of various rumours that the players can encounter, some of which are true and some of which are only partially true or fake. Let’s take a look at things under that type of lens, because assuming it’s an RPG adventure is first of all more fun, and secondly, gives us a certain level of detachment that actually comes in handy when trying to analyse and predict complex, geopolitical situations where we have massive propaganda, lies, and half-truths all nicely blended with what little reality we have personal access to.
So allow me to present the situation thus:
It’s a Traveller module for 2-8 player characters, set on a balkanised planet, with TL (technological level) of 7.5 declared and apparent to most global citizens, but with various black ops factions having up to TL 10 (antigravity and jump capable spaceships) as well as some PSI capable people (but as always, few and far between and with limited potential for real training).
The adventurers are tasked with assessing the likelihood of various scenarios, including:
Global Thermonuclear War
Limited Thermonuclear War
Widespread regional war in various continents with some elements of Tactical Thermonuclear weapons or fuel-air bombs but not rising to full ICBM use.
Global financial collapse
Limited but widespread semi-global financial collapse
Projected outcomes for the United States of America faction
Projected outcomes for the Russian faction
Projected outcomes for the Chinese faction
Our heroes are to try and secure the safety and security of various individuals placed in various locations as observers of this backwater tumultuous and difficult planet. Some are related to the Emperor and while they will not leave the planet, so as to not lose face, the adventurers are tasked with trying to ensure they are at least in safe zones.
Right then. Now let’s look at the rumour schedule.
Russians are only committing few of their own troops and are using Donbass regulars and Wagner mercs.
Russian forces and artillery are basically kicking the crap out of Ukis and their multinational mercs. Although holding back on using full force. This is primarily because a war of attrition serves the Russian side more. Depleting the USA led NATO Chaos-alliance that isn’t of both munitions, war machinery, energy, economic well-being and exhausting the patience of its citizens.
China is in Russia’s corner.
So is India. As long as it looks good.
Brazil just had a fake election so who knows where they stand anyway. But then, it’s Brazil, so who knows anyway?
Various US and other special forces plausible deniability “mercs” and “deserters” are active in the Ukraine conflict.
The entire US “government” is basically a deep state run mostly for and often by Jewish Interests. The whole Jeffrey Epstein massive child-sex blackmailing operation after all was a Mossad operation.
Various globalists like Bill Gates, Soros, Schwab and others want to depopulate, enslave, reduce and control, pretty much all of humanity. And the puppets they put in place in various governments do their biding.
Antigravity technology is real and exists and is classified top secret to a point that can and does result in the death of people trying to expose it, re-create it or investigate it successfully.
The history of this planet certainly involves periods in the ancient past where advanced technologies were present, though their origin, whether local or of extra-terrestrial nature is disputed by various factions.
Many Western “governments” are fully compromised by either blackmail, involving ritual sexual practices, money laundering, various crimes against children or all of the above. After all, vast networks of child sex rings have been found and then quickly hidden in the mass media in the governments of UK, Belgium, USA and others, involving police, the judiciary, ministers, senators and so on.
Possibly True
During the exercise of the Admiral Gorshkov all US based Radar, phones and Internet was jammed for 34 seconds. Given the Tsirkon travels at over 10,000km/hr, 34 seconds would mean almost 100km of flight that is “dark” to US defences. Not that there are any defences against this missile in the US arsenal presently.
The various agendas between the various groups are really just theatre and at a higher and deeper level, both sides are simply playing their part. Some truth to this can be seen in the historical context of WWII and Werner Von Braun correctly stating and “predicting” that the Cold War, was merely a front, and next would come “nations of concern” or terrorist states, then the danger of asteroids and finally, a faked alien invasion, all to push the antigravity technology further and further out and gradually make it’s use more prevalent if still hiding its origins.
There are bases on the Moon and Mars that use the advanced technology being hidden from the vast majority of the planet. Commonly referred to as Alternative 3.
The globalists already have crowd-manipulating technology they will use to foment wars, riots and general anarchy, so as to gain control when they “pacify” the situation.
Probably False
If China attacks Taiwan, the USA would go to bat for Taiwan.
Reptilian aliens impersonate many world leaders in an effort to guide/enslave humanity for their own nefarious purposes.
Little grey aliens really like probing human anuses for mysterious reasons.
Alright then, so… given all of the above, what to we think Anno Domini 2023 and on has in store for us?
Here are my predictions, first in a general sense, then as detailed as I can, allowing for pretty big error margins.
General Predictions
Global nuclear war is almost certainly not going to happen. Russia has sent a pretty strong message to the USA which reads “We can bomb you in your own beds and you can’t stop us from doing so if you really piss us off.”
Israel is going to keep trying to have a low profile. If someone with actual nukes realises that almost all the shit that is happening around the world right now has very strong indicators the origins of it all are from Israel, and possibly all the nefarious ones, they might take it upon themselves to nuke Israel and consequences be damned. Now, apparently Israel has the Samson option. The official story is that Israel has nukes and can send them in a massive strike against any offending country. In reality, the more secret and more logical version is that Israel has smuggled nukes into various countries and installed them in all their embassies around the world. Regardless of which version might be true, some countries might not even care if such a retaliatory strike was taken. They might just have enough of the global Jewish world order they see as being imposed on all the goyim, and pull the trigger. Therefore Israel’s best strategy is to keep pretending they have nothing to do with mass media control, child-sex blackmail rings of global extent, production of all the hormone blockers given to children in order to prevent them from having puberty (so they can have sex-reassignment surgery and be mutilated for life) the control of fiat and debt based currencies (meaning usury on a global scale), and the infiltration and almost total destruction of the real Catholic Church.
Actual conflict in Europe is a definite possibility but will probably be limited to Poland and maybe a few other retarded nations. No, wait, no one is as retarded as the Poles in Europe, so we’ll have to assume maybe a few other East-Block countries with totally corrupt politicians. however, if those politicians would survive the ire of their citizens is questionable, so it’s an iffy likelihood.
In the event of missile strikes hitting inside countries other than Ukraine, the general reaction will be a lot of screaming and shouting. Much like two Italians at a busy intersection, swearing, waving hats, shaking fists, and so on, and then they will get back in their cars and drive off as if nothing really happened. Especially if the Russians make it clear that those shouty Euros shouting the loudest will be next. This would be Italian “road rage” as opposed to South African road rage, where they shoot first and don’t make much shouty noises at all.
China will probably not invade Taiwan in 2023. Unless America really does something stupid. America at the moment is completely demented, retarded, incontinent and run by satanic pedophiles, so… it’s still possible. Really stupid things involve: Going for a hot war directly with Russia. Supplying a load of serious weapons to Poland/Ukraine for use in Russia, including warships. Launching nukes. And who knows what else, demented pedophiles are unpredictable after all.
The petrodollar will collapse. When this will happen is not clear to me. I would be inclined to say towards the end of 2023 or end of 2024 at the latest, using logic and reasoning, but, I have been wrong before, estimating the crash of 2008 for “anytime in the next five years max” in 1992 or so. I consistently miscalculate the level of involvement into the Ponzi scheme, because I can’t believe how stupid most humans really are. So, maybe I am wrong and the petrodollar will hold out until 2030. But I wouldn’t bet on it.
The instigated influx of rapefugees and shock troops into Europe will continue. At least until the globohomo governments will begin to collapse. Then, in Europe at least, there will be a very strong and probably bloody shoving of foreigners into the ocean after a brief warning to them to return from whence they came. This is not likely going to happen anytime in the next five years, but you never know. The timelines are the hardest to predict. In the USA it’s too late and nothing short of balkanisation will prevent greater Mexico to spread to anywhere south of the Mason-Dixon line.
There is a non-zero chance that some globalist will end up like the Japanese ex-Pm. Due to, as the gentleman in question, Mr. Yamagami, put it: “dissatisfaction”.
So, overall, here are my best guesses if your particular personage of interest resides in:
The USA – Close to big cities, especially in “asylum” cities, or very “diversified” ones: Run. It won’t be the Russkies you have to worry about. Get all nice and cozy with that cousin of second degree you have from the redneck side of the family. The Appalachians are a good spot. So are the Louisiana swamps. Practice that Southern accent and take up shooting as your main hobby and possibly dentistry if you plan to be wealthy enough to marry that second cousin after all.
Western Europe (North) – Watch as much cuckold porn as you can, because the prevailing social trend in your countries (UK, Sweden, Norway, Finland, Germany, etc) is that if you raise a hand to the 14 rapefugees sexually assaulting your daughter and wife, you are a bad racist man who has no place in society. So it’s best you get used to having a nice African gentleman move into your spare bedroom to avoid the tax on unused rooms and make the best of your wife’s enjoyment of his naturally virile attentions you can now only muster on Tuesdays with a blue pill. Don’t think bad thoughts about the well-endowed African or Islamic gentleman now servicing your happier wife in your bedroom, or else you might be cited for aggressive behaviour.
Western Europe (South) – Things res till too good for any serious revolution to happen, so keep getting your house in order using the four-part series that begins four blog posts down from this one and ends with the one immediately below it.
Russia – If you’re in the military: Best of luck. If you’re a civilian: What me worry? the four part series below might be a fun read but I don’t really know if it’s applicable to you.
China – Eh. Better hope your crushing poverty, possible next bioweapon release, or possibly about to pop giant super-dam don’t really fuck your shit up. Keep that social score up so you can eat a bowl of rice once every three days, and if your country invades anything, be first at the front so you get best pick of the plunder. Otherwise… keep ploughing that rice paddy, Mr. Lee.
India – Who the fuck cares about India? It would be great if they could just stay in India. And by India I mean the entire area, Pakistan included.
Mongolia, Kazakhstan, and some of the other smaller -stans – Keep your head down, keep working, do your thing, no one is really bugging you guys too much and you have enough internal drama to keep you busy. Your version of the four part series below this is probably a very different thing.
Africa – Generally it’s a shitshow, but if you have been there long enough, you might have found a little spot you are relatively happy with. of course, if you have a lighter skin-tone, you could end up missing limbs and being burnt alive from one day to the next, because Africa has been like that since forever, (see the Mao-Mao, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, South Africa, etc, etc, etc.) but hey, until then it’s pretty sunny and rules free.
South America – Kind of like Africa but with a slightly better chance of surviving any uprising if you pick your spot well. Or being tortured to death in a dungeon by military professional sadists if you pick the wrong spot. On the up-side, the women are very slutty. Which is not to say reliable or trustworthy. But hey, there are only so many character points a girl has to spend, right?
Australia and New Zealand – See India.
Godforsaken places like Polynesian Islands, Madagascar, the Falklands, South Pole scientist stations, etc – Too unique to really get into it, but tiny islands are generally relatively safe. At least until they blow your atoll up with a nuke for fun, or a tsunami arrives, or the local populace takes exception to your shade of skin colour, whatever it is one way or the other. The four part series below probably applies to you in miniature scale only.
Well, that’s about it from me. I hope you enjoyed my global prediction for this Amber Zone Imperium interdicted planet.
Let me know your thoughts in a comment below (assuming you haven’t yet been banned for not following the rules).
It’s already here
Vox wrote an interesting report on warhammer 40,000 and why it survived so long against leftist invasion. The original post he links to specifies that writing an RPG based in hardcore truths is resistant to woke agendas.
Well, this is precisely why I have made my RPG as it is.
Surviving the Current Zombie Apocalypse (SCZA) is written so as to be both humorous and entertaining yet useful as a learning tool too.
You can get it as a full colour hardcopy from Amazon, or as a PDF from my E-store.
And don’t take my word for it. Here is an Amazon review:
Andy Gryc
2.0 out of 5 stars
Verified Purchase
Fun idea, but ultimately not much usable
Reviewed in Canada on March 24, 2022
The “Inside pages” preview gives you a sense that this is a zombie apocalypse game in a world where all the conspiracy theories are real. Fun sounding premise, right? I thought so, so bought the book, but it wasn’t what I hoped for. For anyone else who’s considering buying this, let me explain my issues with it so you can see if it’s worth it or not for you. The book is in two major pieces – the story of the world, and the role playing system. The first part wasn’t really what I expected, and maybe that’s my fault. Here are my issues with the book. 1) By taking most conspiracy theories as factually true, the world it creates has a definite white nationalist tone. It’s all done tongue-in-cheek, but nevertheless, you have an anti-equality, anti-Semitic, transphobic, bigoted world-view that runs throughout. That’s not the kind of campaign I want to run. I play with women and visible minorities, but I wouldn’t want my campaign to be like this even if it was all white men – it just feels a bit gross to my modern sensibilities. Perhaps it’s my bad that I didn’t expect that outcome from the premise, since that seems to be the logical conclusion of most modern conspiracies. It’s a game that’s supposed to be dark, and I understand that – I just don’t want to breathe life into it. 2) The game also veers into pretty distinct religiosity. Again, I know it’s entertainment, but there’s an awful lot of the story dedicated to the Christians, a particular strain of Catholicism that is the “true” religion, good fighting evil, God and Satan, bishops, popes, priests, etc. This is more than just a normal character class or a faction, it seems like it’s the backbone of the new world order. Meh. Just won’t be that interesting to me or my players. 3) I could be wrong on this, but I don’t believe the zombies are intended to be literally zombies. If they are, it’s pretty darn subtle and easy to overlook. While there are a couple bits of colour text that say the “zombies” might even be commanded eat to flesh, it’s really more about how all the vaccinated are under mind control from the evil overlords. In other words, the “sheeple”. Instead of getting World War Z, it feels a bit more like a dysfunctional version of The Office. Again – unique perspective, but not what I was truly after. This is the factor that’s probably the biggest disappointment. 4) Finally, the game system. I give the author kudos for inventing a system that’s simple, uses standard dice, makes the players fragile, and is built on a bell curve. Those are all great attributes, although for me personally that’s only a 50% win. I think the game system is just a bit too simple – specifically character creation. Basically 2 stats and some optional skills. Don’t get me wrong – I hate Pathfinder and feel 5e is burdened with books and books of rules. But I think Chaosium’s Basic Role Playing has it just right. Just enough complexity for the GM and Player to manage easily at the table as well as giving lots of room to grow the character. Also, on the d6 thing – I’m just not a huge fan of d6 only systems. My crew has “invested” in tons of dice, so limiting them to one set only seems almost a bit cruel. Half the fun of an RPG is owning all the platonic solids. In summary, like most anything you’ll get for a real game, it’s a sourcebook. Every GM has their own personal tastes, and some will be able to use more that’s here than others. What I’ll personally be able to salvage from it in terms of good, usable, and playable ideas is less than a single page. I recognize the work that’s gone into it, and I’m not trying to be critical about the result – it just doesn’t match what I need. If you are expecting something more like a playable version of Max Brooks “Zombie Survival Guide” like I was, keep searching. But if you’re more open to taking today’s world and dialling up the dysfunction and conspiracies up to 11, it might be just for you.
All the other reviews are 5 stars, but I am not sure that Andy Gryc’s review is having the effect he intended. I know several people purchased the game as a result of it.
And there is of course a starter set Module for it (E-store PDF)
And for those already willing to experiment with the game system, the game could be easily adapted to play out some of the events found in the recent novella In the Shadows of Monte Castello.
The point is that with much of my fiction writing the baselines are rooted in very solid reality.
The whole Overlords of Mars trilogy as found in one volume (Nazi Moon) is soundly based on The Face on Mars written in 1995 and Systema written in 2011 and the thread of Reclaiming the Catholic Church shadows most things I do today.
So while the route and the road may be flexible, ultimately, if your entertainment is any good, it should reflect recognisable realities, regardless of how fantastic the setting might be.
And real virtues, such as courage, moral fortitude, reason, Justice and so on, are ultimately timeless, no matter how much the woke want to pretend otherwise.
You might be interested in the following posts:
By G | 22 April 2024 | Posted in Social Commentary, StCZA - Module 0, StCZA - Q.O.R.G.