For fans of tabletop horror, few settings promise a more uniquely terrifying experience than the one presented in All Tomorrows Zombies. This official supplement for the classic zombie roleplaying game All Flesh Must Be Eaten takes the survival horror formula and launches it into the deepest, most disturbing reaches of speculative evolution. It's a brilliant fusion of C.M. Kosemen's seminal work, All Tomorrows, with Eden Studios' robust RPG system, creating a campaign setting that is as intellectually engaging as it is horrifying. This isn't just another zombie apocalypse; it's a billion-year saga of body horror and existential dread, perfectly adapted for your gaming table.
This guide will delve into what makes All Tomorrows Zombies (cataloged as EDN8015) a standout RPG supplement. We'll explore its core concepts, provide actionable tips for Game Masters (Zombie Masters, in AFMBE parlance), and examine how it leverages the source material to create unparalleled horror RPG scenarios. Whether you're a veteran of All Flesh Must Be Eaten or a newcomer intrigued by the cosmic horror of All Tomorrows, this review will showcase why this book deserves a place in your collection.
From Evolutionary Epic to RPG Nightmare: The Premise
The genius of All Tomorrows Zombies lies in its foundational premise. Instead of a viral outbreak or supernatural event, the "zombies" here are the tragic remnants of humanity's far future. The book adapts the core narrative of All Tomorrows, where humanity is conquered and genetically reshaped over millennia by a malevolent alien race known as the Qu. What were once poignant symbols of post-human resilience in Kosemen's work become, in this RPG context, the monsters. The Savage Predators, the Symbiotes, the Colonials, the Mantelopes—each uniquely twisted post-human species is statted out as a type of zombie, complete with their own terrifying abilities and motivations.
This shifts the entire paradigm of the zombie genre. Players aren't just fighting for supplies against shambling corpses; they are confronting the grotesque, billion-year-old echoes of their own species. The horror is deeply existential. Are you putting down monsters, or are you committing a form of galactic genocide against the last vestiges of mankind? This moral ambiguity adds a rich layer to every encounter, making All Tomorrows Zombies more than a simple survival game. It's a tabletop gaming experience that prompts philosophical questions amidst the terror.
Inside the Supplement: What Does All Tomorrows Zombies Offer?
The EDN8015 supplement is meticulously crafted to provide everything a Zombie Master needs to run a campaign in this bleak universe. It's not just a bestiary of weird creatures; it's a complete toolkit.
Campaign Frames and Settings
The book presents several distinct campaign frames, allowing you to explore different eras and aspects of the All Tomorrows timeline. You might run a game set during the initial Qu invasion, with players as starfarers witnessing the end of star-faring humanity. Alternatively, a campaign could take place millions of years later, where players are themselves one of the modified post-human species struggling to survive against even more horrifying kin. Another frame might involve time travel or cryo-sleep, dropping modern-era characters into this distant, awful future. This variety ensures that the setting offers long-term replayability.
The Bestiary of Tomorrow
The heart of any All Flesh Must Be Eaten supplement is its zombies, and here they are spectacularly unique. Each post-human species is detailed with its own history, abilities, and role in the ecosystem. The Blind Killers use echolocation, the Symbiotes can control other beings, and the Colonial Hive Minds present a threat of overwhelming numbers and psychic coordination. The book provides full game statistics, templates, and power sets, making them easy to integrate into the All Flesh Must Be Eaten rules. It also includes rules for creating your own post-human zombie types, inspired by the book's themes of forced evolution.
New Rules and Game Mechanics
To handle the scale and weirdness of the setting, All Tomorrows Zombies introduces new mechanics. These might include rules for psychic phenomena (tapping into the latent powers of some post-humans), advanced technology from the Human Empire era, or the psychological toll of encountering your species' future. The supplement also offers guidance on altering the core game's survival mechanics to fit a setting where traditional resources like food and fuel are either absent or completely alien.
Running a Successful All Tomorrows Zombies Campaign: Tips for Zombie Masters
Mastering this supplement requires a different approach than a standard zombie game. Here are key strategies for delivering its full horrific potential.
Emphasize Cosmic Horror Over Splatter
While body horror is inherent, the true terror of All Tomorrows is cosmic. Convey the sheer scale of time—the millions of years of suffering and transformation. Describe the alien landscapes, the ruins of civilizations no human mind can comprehend, and the eerie, non-human behaviors of the creatures. The horror should feel vast, ancient, and utterly indifferent, in the tradition of Lovecraft. The players should feel small and insignificant in the face of evolutionary history gone wrong.
Leverage Moral Complexity
Don't let the monsters just be targets. Seed clues about their origins. Let players find remnants of their culture, or even moments of pathetic sentience. Can the Symbiote be reasoned with? Is killing a Mantelope, a peaceful herd creature, an act of cruelty or mercy? Forcing players to make these impossible choices elevates the game from a tactical skirmish to a memorable narrative experience. This is where the horror RPG elements truly shine.
Start Small, Then Expand the Scope
For the first adventure, consider a confined setting. Perhaps the players' generation ship finally arrives at its destination, only to find a world inhabited by the Temptors. Or maybe they are archaeologists on a "dead" world that is very much alive with dormant Colonials. Starting with a focused, understandable threat allows players to grasp the rules and the setting's tone before you unveil the galaxy-spanning horror of the Qu and the full breadth of the All Tomorrows saga.
Why All Tomorrows Zombies is a Standout Supplement
In a market filled with RPG supplements, All Tomorrows Zombies stands out for its sheer audacity and intellectual depth. It doesn't just add new monsters to an existing game; it successfully transplants the core of one creative work into the mechanics of another, creating something wholly new and potent. It proves that the zombie roleplaying game genre can be a vehicle for sophisticated science fiction and deep philosophical horror.
For fans of All Flesh Must Be Eaten, it is arguably the most imaginative setting ever published for the system. For fans of C.M. Kosemen's book, it is the ultimate interactive way to explore that universe, albeit from a much more perilous perspective. The production values from Eden Studios are typically high, with artwork that captures the bizarre anatomy of the post-humans and layout that makes the dark material easy to reference at the table.
Final Verdict: Who Should Pick Up This Book?
All Tomorrows Zombies (EDN8015) is an essential purchase for a specific but passionate audience:
- Fans of the All Tomorrows Book: This is your chance to live (and likely die) in that universe.
- Jaded Horror GMs: If standard zombies have lost their bite, this supplement offers a profound and terrifying reset.
- Sci-Fi RPG Enthusiasts: While built on a horror system, this is fundamentally a deep sci-fi setting about evolution and loss.
- Creative Game Masters: The book is a masterclass in adapting non-game media into a compelling tabletop gaming framework.
It may be less ideal for groups seeking a light, action-oriented zombie shoot-em-up. The themes are heavy, the monsters are conceptually complex, and the required tone is one of pervasive dread. But for those willing to engage with its dark vision, All Tomorrows Zombies offers an unparalleled horror RPG experience that will haunt your gaming group long after the session ends. It successfully argues that the most terrifying monster of all is the future we never wanted, wearing the familiar face of humanity, twisted beyond all recognition.
