I'm very proud to announce that my voice makes a cameo appearance in the new RPG adventure Continuity, which takes place in the wickedly cool Eclipse Phase universe. The Eclipse Phase universe is a product of the creator-owned gaming collective Posthuman Studios LLC. I'll share more about my role in Continuity -- and reveal another familiar podfic talent involved with the project -- in a moment. First, some spiffy information about the Eclipse Phase RPG 'verse. If you like my fiction, this righteously spooky shit is right up your alley. From the Eclipse Phase site:
Eclipse Phase is a pen & paper roleplaying game of post-apocalyptic transhuman conspiracy and horror. Players take part in a cross-faction secret network dubbed Firewall that is dedicated to counteracting "existential risks" -- threats to the existence of transhumanity, whether they be biowar plagues, self-replicating nanoswarms, nuclear proliferation, terrorists with WMDs, net-breaking computer attacks, rogue AIs, alien encounters, or anything else that could drive an already decimated transhumanity to extinction.
That sounds like the coolest thing since the invention of the D20, if you ask me. Continuity is a one-shot scenario set in the 'verse. What happens in Continuity?
Your characters, who are researchers on the remote space outpost Kepler, check in for a backup -- and awaken in new bodies to discover two weeks of their lives are missing. They have limited time to find out what happened to their previous selves, and deal with a looming threat.
I've read the adventure, and know what's in store for players. "Looming threat" doesn't begin to describe the madness that unfolds. The campaign, masterfully written by Marc Huete (and produced by a team of brilliant game designers and graphic artists, including Adam Jury -- with whom I've worked in the past) promises to be a suspense-packed mindfuck.
One supremely cool element about Continuity is that the adventure features multimedia elements embedded in the PDF which GMs purchase. With the click of a GM's mouse button, players can actually hear scene-setting narration and reports from the Kepler's A.I. network named "Hans" ... which is played by me.
Indeed, I play a more-than-panicked A.I., and channel my trembling-voiced inner Kilroy2.0 to deliver the goods. More important, fellow novelist and podcast fiction veteran Mur Lafferty also lends her voice to the project, providing (as always) stellarly-delivered narration for the players.
The universe is compelling, as is the Continuity PDF product. Incredibly, this multimedia-enhanced adventure is available for a mere $5 (!!!) over at DriveThruRPG.com. Check it out here, and consider snagging the 5,000-word short story An Infinite Horizon, which is also set in the Eclipse Phase universe, for a criminally-low 99 cents. (Disclosure: Those are affiliate links.)
If you'd rather learn more about Eclipse Phase before pulling the trigger, visit EclipsePhase.com. I hope you do support this independent, creator-owned RPG property, and snag a copy of Continuity. You score a smidgen of Hutchins and Lafferty audio goodness, and more than a heaping teaspoon of slick, suspense-filled sci-fi adventure. Below are a few images to further whet your appetite.
--J.C.
