 1st edition of Kalmo, 1999 | |
| Designers | Risto Hieta |
|---|---|
| Publishers | Arctic Ranger Productions |
| Publication | 1999 |
| Genres | Zombie horror |
| Systems | unknown |
Zombieroolipeli Kalmo (The Dead: The Zombie Role-Playing Game) is a Finnish role-playing game written by Risto "Nordic" Hieta and published by Arctic Ranger Productions in 1999 in which players take on the roles of zombies.
Kalmo is a light-hearted role-playing game where the players control characters who are newly created zombies. Because zombies are universally hated and feared, players try to integrate their zombies into normal society, hoping that no one will notice and destroy them. [1]
Risto Hietal created a series of small role-playing games in the early 2000s that were published by Arctic Ranger Production, one of these being Kalmo. [2] In the Finnish magazine Skrolli, Hieta explained, "Over the decades I have often tried to come up with something at least slightly new and original. Sometimes it has been realized with good sales, sometimes with slightly less success. In my opinion, a rather successful example of diversity is Rapier, which is still one of the few role-playing games in the world that focuses on elves. Kalmo also belongs to this group; there still aren't that many RPGs where every player takes on the role of a zombie." [3]
Hieto also developed Elokalmo, a live action role-playing game version of Kalmo. [4]
A gamemaster is a person who acts as an organizer, officiant for regarding rules, arbitrator, and moderator for a multiplayer role-playing game. They are more common in co-operative games in which players work together than in competitive games in which players oppose each other. The act performed by a gamemaster is sometimes referred to as "Gamemastering" or simply "GM-ing".
A role-playing game is a game in which players assume the roles of characters in a fictional setting. Players take responsibility for acting out these roles within a narrative, either through literal acting or through a process of structured decision-making regarding character development. Actions taken within many games succeed or fail according to a formal system of rules and guidelines.
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The history of role-playing games begins with an earlier tradition of role-playing, which combined with the rulesets of fantasy wargames in the 1970s to give rise to the modern role-playing game. A role-playing game (RPG) is a type of game in which the participants assume the roles of characters and collaboratively create stories. Traditionally all the participants but one take on characters and determine the actions of their characters based on their characterization and the actions succeed or fail according to a system of rules and guidelines, and one of the participants takes on the role of game master who narrates the story, plays all the non-player characters and determine the challenge rating and the outcome of various actions. Within the rules, the participants may improvise freely; their choices shape the direction and outcome of the games.
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George Vasilakos is president and art director of Eden Studios, Inc., and manages the company's daily operations.
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A tabletop role-playing game, also known as a pen-and-paper role-playing game, is a classification for a role-playing game (RPG) in which the participants describe their characters' actions through speech, and sometimes movements. Participants determine the actions of their characters based on their characterization, and the actions succeed or fail according to a set formal system of rules and guidelines, usually containing Dice-Rolling. Within the rules, players have the freedom to improvise; their choices shape the direction and outcome of the game.
Western role-playing video games are role-playing video games developed in the Western world, including The Americas and Europe. They originated on mainframe university computer systems in the 1970s, were later popularized by titles such as Ultima and Wizardry in the early- to mid-1980s, and continue to be produced for modern home computer and video game console systems. The genre's "Golden Age" occurred in the mid- to late-1980s, and its popularity suffered a downturn in the mid-1990s as developers struggled to keep up with changing fashion, hardware evolution and increasing development costs. A later series of isometric role-playing games, published by Interplay Productions and Blizzard Entertainment, was developed over a longer time period and set new standards of production quality.
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Powered by the Apocalypse (PbtA) is a tabletop role playing game design framework developed by Meguey Baker and Vincent Baker for the 2010 game Apocalypse World and later adapted for hundreds of other RPGs.
Risto J. Hieta, also known by the pseudonym Nordic or Nordic the Incurable, is a Finn connected with the role playing and computer game culture.
Chicago by Night is a tabletop role-playing game supplement originally released by White Wolf Publishing in 1991 for use with the first edition of their game Vampire: The Masquerade, and released in updated versions for the game's second and fifth editions in 1993 and 2020. As a sandbox-style setting sourcebook for storytellers to use in campaigns, Chicago by Night describes the city of Chicago as it is portrayed within the game's setting, reinterpreted as having a large population of vampires.