Halloween will bring more than ghouls and goblins to Nacogdoches this weekend, as local resident Kreg Mosier unveils his role-playing game "The Dead."
"The game itself is basically a pen-and-paper equivalent of 'Dawn of the Dead,'" explains Mosier, referring to the 1978 zombie film, written and directed by George A. Romero.
Andrew Rogers/The Daily Sentinel |
Kreg Mosier explains how to play his zombie-themed role-playing game ?The Dead,? which will be available on Oct. 31.
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Role-playing games are those in which participants take on a role of a fictional character and act out adventures, the outcomes of which are partially determined by chance, as by the roll of dice.
In Mosier's game, which was initially released in an online PDF format in 2007, players take on the role of a survivor of an apocalyptic event that has caused the dead to rise and, of course, begin an attack on the living. He says it follows what he likes to call the Romero rules — named for the writer — in which zombies move slowly and attack the living. And when they attack humans, the humans turn into zombies in 24 hours.
"The zombie genre is one that fascinates people because it has to do with the uncertainty of death," Mosier said. "Zombies themselves aren't single monsters, like Frankenstein or the Wolfman, with a background story and personality, they are a multitude. They are 'Death' personified in such a high quantity that the living are hopelessly outnumbered."
Mosier says that is what he finds so fascinating about the survivor's story.
"These people have fought back against the physical manifestation of death, survived and continue to remain 'human,'" he says.
The game will become available at www.the-dead.net on the morning of Halloween. Mosier said after Oct. 31, as part of the re-release, a magazine-style print edition of the game will be available at the same Web site.
He says the game is relatively easy to play, but it's intended for those who are familiar with role-playing games and for mature audiences.
Mosier got his start in role-playing games at the age of 10 with "Dungeons and Dragons."
"I attribute that to the thing that pretty much got me into college. It helped my grades, because I learned quite a bit about mythology and creative writing and, to a lesser extent, simple problem solving," he says. " ... It's just a fun hobby, and I have a couple of friends here locally who get together when we can."
Mosier says he is hoping to get feedback on the game from the Halloween release that may affect the print version.
"That may help contribute to the final product," he says.
To find the online PDF of the game, visit www.the-dead.net.
