We’re back from GenCon and so are the Flash Fire Mini-Reviews.

This week we’re going to take a look at some of the cool new books we picked up over the weekend in Indianapolis. This mix of Horror and Dark Fantasy game products from large publishers and small press shows off just a few of the interesting items that were available at the convention.

I’ll be upfront and admit I have not completely read these titles yet. GenCon was only a few days ago and some of these books are quite hefty (Starblazer Adventures alone is 600+ pages). So, these are first impressions and notes from playing demos at the convention.

Tales of the Seven Dogs Society is a collection of stories inspired by the Aletheia role-playing game published by Abstract Nova Entertainment. Each of these stories is a possible continuation of the events described in that book.

Tales of the Seven Dogs Society was written by Jim Johnson, Monica Valentinelli and Matt M McElroy. A special limited printing of the book was available at the Abstract Nova booth (#2115) at GenCon in August.

Stop by the Flames Rising RPGNow Shop to order your copy of Tales of the Seven Dogs Society today!

The Gen Con EN World RPG Awards (the “ENnies”) are an annual fan-based celebration of excellence in tabletop roleplaying gaming. The ENnies give game designers, writers and artists the recognition they deserve. It is a peoples’ choice award, and the final winners are voted upon by the gaming public at EN World. This year’s ENnies […]

Abandon Interactive Entertainment invites families, gamers and Gen Con Indy attendees to catch a sneak peek of their upcoming family-friendly, cross-platform MMO video game Freaky Creatures at the Indiana Convention Center – from Thursday, August 14th to Sunday, August 17th in Indianapolis, IN. Attendees will have the unique opportunity to play the new online game and battle each other with fully customizable creatures prior to the game’s release this fall. Freaky Creatures representatives will be on-hand to demonstrate the game and guide players through its various features.

Yes, at Gen Con Indy 08, we’re back!

The Play Collective returns for its second year, a juggernaut of gaming goodness, enthusiasm and energy! And this time, we’ve brought a friend…

This year the Play Collective and the bold adventure that is the Ashcan Front have joined forces to grow our space together. You’ll be able to browse the fine works on display in our half of the booth, then simply stroll a few feet to finger through the assembled ashcans offered by the Front.

The members of the Play Collective are brought together by our passion for independent publishing, creation and design. We want to share our enthusiasm, inspiration and practical advice. If you have a great idea for a game and wonder how to shepherd it through design, presentation, marketing and sales then you need to be right there at our booth, talking to us.

2008 ENnie Awards

The ENnies voting server is up and running, and the virtual booth will be open from July 28th until Wednesday, August 6th.

White Wolf encourages everyone to take a few moments and participate in the awards process. Voters are tracked by IP address, and limited to one vote per individual, tracked by IP. To cast your vote, please click on the Ennies link below.

This is the last preview we’ll have of the Exquisite Replicas RPG before it is released at GenCon Indy. So far we have seen a mix of previews that include looks at the new setting and some of the new mechanics introduced.

Visit the Previews page here at Flames Rising for a complete list of all the teasers we have posted so far. We have had a glimpse at one type of Othersider already, we have also heard a little bit of their dark plans, but we’ve yet to see where they come from…

Today we get a peek at the Otherside…

Gaming Extravaganza Brings Crowds to Indy for the Annual Convention

It’s that time of year again when gamers are gearing up for Gen Con Indy, the original, longest running and best-attended gaming show in North America. With an estimated 27,000 unique attendees converging on the Indianapolis Convention Center, visitors to Gen Con will immerse themselves in the 6,000+ gaming events and more than 250 exhibits over the four day extravaganza that has become the world’s premier game convention. Starting Thursday morning and running round-the-clock attendees can play their hearts out with fellow enthusiasts and by joining in card games, board games, video games, table top and live-action role-playing games, seminars, films, workshops and so much more. Activities range from interactive game play and computer gaming to big money hobby-related tournaments sponsored by industry leaders Upper Deck Entertainment and Wizards of the Coast. The event will be held August 14-17, 2008 at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis.

We’re happy to announce three new products will be available at GenCon!

Slipstream: Beyond the black holes lies the Slipstream, a pocket universe of shattered worlds, desperate aliens, and savage monsters. Ruling over the shattered isles is the diabolical Queen Anathraxa, who some say is close to finding a way to escape this interstellar prison. Strap on your rocket pack, charge your ray gun, and prepare to blast off into the the most wild and exotic Savage Setting yet—the Slipstream!

Earlier Exquisite Replicas previews have shown us the Cover Art and introduced to the basics of the game. Next we learned about The Anonymous and the Shadow Crews.

Now, we see the terrible price that members of The Anonymous pay in their ongoing battle against the Othersiders. Abstract Nova have sent us a sneak peek at some of the new mechanics introduced in Exquisite Replicas.

The first Exquisite Replicas RPG preview introduced the game and gave us a look at the Cover Art by Eric Lofgren, then we had a sneak peek at The Anonymous, the tragic heroes of the this dark game.

In that preview we learned of the fight against the Othersiders. The alien beings who have been stealing parts of our world and replacing them with “fake” versions. Today we are going to take a look at some of those Othersiders…

The Monsterpocalypse is upon us!

Join Privateer Press (booth 1201) and celebrate the world premiere of the Monsterpocalypse collectible miniatures game. A limited amount of sneak preview starters and boosters will go on sale for the first time ever on Thursday, August 14th. The sneak preview contains a sampling of the figures in Series 1: Rise. The figures are not limited edition and are identical in all respects to the figures in Rise due out October 2008. Be among the very first to play Monsterpocalypse in its debut event at Gen Con Indy!

Last week, we gave you a sneak peek at the upcoming Exquisite Replicas RPG from Abstract Nova.

Exquisite Replicas is a role-playing game of paranoia and horror where intolerable choices collide with the fragile hope of what it means to be human. The war must be won, but it is up to the players to decide at what cost.

This week we get to read just a bit about The Anonymous, the characters who face off against alien horrors, risking everything…

This August Abstract Nova Entertainment (Aletheia, Noumenon) is bringing us a new horror game with a twist. We’re pleased to bring you the first of several previews of this new game here at Flames Rising.

Exquisite Replicas is a role-playing game of paranoia and horror where intolerable choices collide with the fragile hope of what it means to be human. The war must be won, but it is up to the players to decide at what cost.

Convention season has begun once more. The Flames Rising crew has a few favorites and we’re always looking for more places to check out and new events to try. While did not get the chance to attend WisCon right here in our hometown, there is always next year.

Coming up in the next few weeks are Origins Game Fair and Wizard World Chicago, both of which I hear are a fun time. We just might be stopping by WWC on Saturday June 28th, so let me know if you will be attending.

An upcoming convention we would love to check out is GenCon Oz, taking place July 3rd – 6th in Brisbane Australia.

The next big convention for us, and a personal favorite of mine, is GenCon Indy, taking place August 14-17 in Indianapolis, IN.

Previous Hunter topics include Light in Shadows, Professions and Endowments. Each of them explored just a bit more of the setting of the upcoming game.

We’ve talked briefly about the daily lives of the Hunters, made a small mention of compacts and conspiracies once or twice already. There has been a lot of speculation about each of these words (and their possible meaning) on forums and blogs.

Just to recap some of that text:

Hunter society is small and secretive, even in large cities like London or New York, but it is also vibrant and constantly in flux. Individual hunters band together to form cells, pooling their skills and resources to take on solitary monsters that threaten their communities. Sometimes these hunters become aware of other cells in their area and they form broader ties that grow into larger compacts, creating a network that spans entire cities or regions. In rare cases, hunter compacts grow so large that their resources and influence span entire countries.

Gen Con is pleased to announce that once again Wizards of the Coast, will be a co-sponsor of Gen Con Indy. Fans of all ages come to Gen Con each year to see and experience the latest in analog and digital gaming, and Wizards’ participation is a highlight for many fans. This year, Wizards of the Coast will be showing off their latest offerings, including the release of Dungeons & Dragons® 4th Edition.

“We are so pleased to have Wizards of the Coast once again be a sponsor of Gen Con. Its long history with the show, as well as the popularity of its products makes it an integral part of the entire Gen Con experience,” said Adrian Swartout, president of Gen Con.

Last week I talked a bit about the theme of Hunter: the Vigil. The theme of the game is Light in Shadows and I talked about how Hunters team up to fight against the things that lurk in the shadows of the world.

I also mentioned that most Hunters have “day jobs” since nobody really gets paid to stake or shoot supernatural creatures. This week we’re going to take a closer look at the “day job” element of Hunter: the Vigil.

In Hunter: the Vigil these “day jobs” are called Professions. They seem to be the everyday “real” careers that “normal” people have in the world. The trick for a Hunter is balancing the demands of the hunt with the realities of the job.

The theme for White Wolf’s new game, Hunter: the Vigil is “Light in Shadows” and this theme is well presented in the advance materials I’ve seen already…

family, or those driven together by maddening circumstances. They protect
their stretch of forest, their city block, their network of women’s shelters. They don’t know the depth of what’s out there, they only have the meager light of their own candles to light the way.

Candles give way to torches, to cells who band together in localized compacts. They pool resources. They provide moral support. They present a more unified front against the denizens
of darkness.

And torches give way to raging bonfires as those compacts grow outward globally and backward through time. Ancient groups and modern conspiracies supply their hunters with potent weapons, some of which are so strange that those who use them can only wonder how long they can truly maintain their own humanity.

This theme continues throughout the text. Individual Hunters acting as a point of light, driving back the shadows. Together that light shines brighter, those shadows retreat or are destroyed outright by the fire. Still, those shadows never go quietly and there are always more of them creeping their way into the world.

The countdown has begun and gaming enthusiasts all across the country are planning their annual trek to Indianapolis in anticipation of what gamers everywhere know to be as The Best Four Days in Gaming. With 91,000 turnstile attendees, Gen Con Indy is understandably the place where consumers and the industry come together to see and play all that is gaming. For the sixth year in a row, the event will be held at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis, taking place August 14 through 17.