Prom Dates from Hell Fiction Review
By Flames | April 10, 2008
For those of us who were geeks in high school, comparing prom to hell wasn’t much of a stretch. The same can absolutely be said of Maggie Quinn, who has no intention of getting conned into going to prom. She doesn’t have a boyfriend, so that’s not a concern, and her stalwart friends have mocked the dance as much as she has in the past. But as the dance nears, and supernatural danger strikes, all of Maggie’s plans are scattered. Welcome to Rosemary Clement-Moore’s Prom Dates from Hell.
Review by Alana Abbott
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Hellboy Blood & Iron DVD Review
By Flames | February 12, 2008
Starring the voices of Ron Perlman, Selma Blair, Doug Jones and John Hurt
What do vampires, an ancient goddess and Hellboy have in common? In this animated feature film, Hellboy and all his friends take on myth in his signature, sardonic style. True to the mythos, there is a touch of good versus evil mixed in with some savvy backstory and character development.
Review by Monica Valentinelli
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The Dresden Files TV Series Review
By Monica Valentinelli | January 2, 2008
The Dresden Files, a series of novels penned by Jim Butcher, came to the small screen in 2007 on the SciFi channel bringing with it some variations – both good and bad. This is a difficult review to write for two reasons. First, the series was canceled after only twelve episodes. In such a short period of time, there wasn’t a lot of ability for the directors to explore the setting in this format. As a result, the events in this series loosely resemble only a few, choice events from one or two books. Secondly, this television series didn’t feel like a literal translation from the novels and, as a result, could easily stand alone on its own merits.
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Colonial Gothic Rulebook Review
By Flames | September 17, 2007
Colonial Gothic is a game of occult mystery and darkness set during the American Revolution, I shall try to contain myself from dispelling too many myths about that time or the nature of the revolt, or what the British actually did/were doing and why but even without that making my forehead vein throb this seems, to me, to be a peculiar time period to place such a game in, when there are more pressing matters for both the British forces and the rebels.
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Qin: the Warring States Review
By Flames | September 15, 2007
Qin is to China’s mythological history what Legend of the Five Rings is to Japan’s. While there are superficial and stylistic similarities between the two games and they share the same broad appeal the similarities in no way mean they’re the same any more than the broad similarities between Japan and China themselves mean they’re in any way the same country.
Qin takes a more historical approach - though don’t worry, there are monsters and magic - and has a much more egalitarian and open society structure (considering the source material) than Legend of the Five Rings. Being a peasant or bandit is a much more viable option in Qin and while the social order is divinely mandated and enforced - particularly for women - the period of the setting is chaotic enough and in enough upheaval that this is no longer an issue.
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Chronicles of Ramlar RPG Review
By Flames | December 16, 2006
A soft-cover, perfect-bound book boasting gorgeous full color, wrap-around, Larry Elmore cover art, The Chronicles of Ramlar is a roleplaying game of high fantasy made available by White Silver Publishing, Inc. The book weighs in at a hefty 350 pages (including 19 pages of record sheets and quick references) and contains everything that you will need to run a campaign in the game’s default setting of Eranon, one of two continents on a nameless world (the titular “Ramlar” is the who created the world in question).
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Book of the Arcane (Epic Role Playing)
By Flames | March 17, 2006
Epic Role Playing is a fantasy role playing game system published by Dark Matter Studios and presented in three separate volumes (the Rules Manual, Bestiary, and Book of the Arcane, respectively). Additionally, a setting designed for use with the Epic system is also available in the form of the supplementary Atlas of Eslin (Volume 1). This review deals specifically with the Epic Role Playing Book of the Arcane, while other reviews discuss other Epic core books, as well as the Atlas of Eslin setting supplement.
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Cold Hard World (Dead Inside)
By Flames | November 11, 2005
The Real World Sourcebook for the Roleplaying Game “Dead Inside”
Written by Chad Underkoffler for Atomic Sock Monkey Press
Useful supplements are hard to come by nowadays; not only does the information in it have to be worth the price you pay, but the information needs to be useful in a way that you’d want to incorporate it into your gaming. Cold, Hard World is an expansion for the roleplaying game Dead Inside—offering more nuts and bolts to the original game than fluff. The supplement is a seventy-four page expansion of the first three chapters of the corebook.
Similar to Dead Inside, the pdf is written with definitive voice changes throughout. Dead Inside draws you in at key moments by addressing the reader; other times you’ll hear the voice of an instructor showing you how to play the game. The voice changes do have an effect—it makes the work more readable by explaining the ins and outs of Underkoffler’s vision. Chapter One has repetition, but this pdf supplement does necessitate repeating key, setting concepts from Dead Inside—the ideology is the game.
Character organization, key characters, places, and settings suggested for game play in Chapter 2 are both ironic and whimsical. Underkoffler took elements of our own society and related them to his ideology with a philosopher’s hand. “The Beautiful People” function logically as “Free Spirits”, the “Gothiks” are truly clueless “Dead Inside”, and “The Phenomena Project” sounds a bit like a certain modern-day religion—a bit of faith and lots of science. Regardless of personal taste, there are enough ideas to play a wide range of characters. All include some sort of spiritual dogma or motivation, as well as a function within society that ranges from socialization to economics. Within these character groups, iconic characters are described to both give examples to GMs and ideas for players on character creation. The characters are, for the most part, multi-dimensional and conflicted.
In this setting, sometimes you need an item that may be enchanted. Objects are not as they appear, a simple “Juice Box is a small, common object that may be enchanted with healing energies” (pg 50). Putting this type of enchanted object into a game can be very rewarding for a non-combat character who chooses to stop, look, and listen. A few, more archaic sounding items are described as well, for those who like a bit more of the occult feel to their game.
To give your adventure a bit of randomness, Cold, Hard World plants the “Seeds and Scenarios” (Chapter 3) reminiscent of a “Choose Your Own Adventure.” I liked the fact Underkoffler pointed out that “moral ambiguity” works best for this RPG. I loved the option to roll dice for your adventure idea. How does it work? You need an “Actor” an “Action” and a “Target”—you roll through pre-generated tables (pg 60). Based on levels of success, you come up with the elements to create a “Seed” that grows into a Scenario. Using these tables takes the guesswork out of starting a Scenario for the game, and adds the element of chance. Examples are given to tie everything together.
Don’t like Dead Inside’s cosmos? Chapter 4 is all about adding your own elements. At first I was really torn about this chapter, so much of the supplement is devoted to expanding the current cosmos, but this chapter is less about going outside the realm of the game and more about tweaking the game concepts in specific, playable ways. Examples for story concepts are included as well as modifications for both Dead Inside and for Cold, Hard World, showing the uniqueness of each.
You won’t find a lot of art within this supplement, what you do find are small pieces intended to accent this challenging cosmos. The art is well placed and functional in Cold, Hard World, these are purposeful pieces that instruct. A mix of spot color, photo-imaging and line art means two things; the pdf is easy on your printer, and you’ll get more text within this pdf’s 74 pages for your money. At $8, if you like playing Dead Inside you’ll appreciate the usefulness and functionality of Cold, Hard, World.
Overall, this supplement is extraordinarily useful; it branches out into areas that aren’t as dark as Dead Inside. At times it reads as a brainstorming session; if you’re looking to play strictly darker sessions there’s plenty of material to satisfy you in the midst of other, more satirical pieces. In reality, this supplement could have been broken out into two, separate pieces—those who expect a Dead Inside feel to the setting, and those who aren’t as sold on the concept but want to explore it through other avenues.
So what should you expect when you buy the pdf? Expect a variety of information; a few rules and tables that will help you nail down the “rules light” system, a few expansions of the corebook, and plenty of ideas to walk away from that dark and dangerous road to self-discovery and play something a bit lighter. Regardless of your take on Dead Inside, the price is right for this supplement. Available through RPGnow, if you even remotely like the key concepts—you’ll be interested in what Cold, Hard, World has to offer.
Reviewer: Monica Valentinelli
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Dominion vs. Excorcist: the Beginning
By Flames | November 1, 2005
For those unaware, this is the “alternate” version of the Exorcist prequel, directed by Paul Schraeder. It marks the first time in history that two entirely different versions of a film have been commissioned by a studio, and that both have seen major release (though Dominion’s theatrical release was far more limited than that of The Beginning.) Naturally, watching the films inevitably breeds comparison between the two. So which is a better film? Which is a better prequel? Are the two mutually exclusive or do they go hand-in-hand? Let’s see, shall we?
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The Final Kill
By Flames | November 1, 2005
It was getting cold. He looked forward to starting a good fire to warm his aging bones. Almost the oldest of dragon hunters, he’d earned his experience the hard way, and his body bore the brunt of his hunts with the monsters he’d fought. Every ache, every scar, told a tale, and he had many of both.
Written by Rob Stratman
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Desert Dreams RPG Review
By Flames | May 31, 2005
Desert Dreams is the first supplement produced by Sacred Wolf for its Ignotus modern D20 setting. Ignotus is a dark world in which the eponymous supernatural realm poses a grave threat to humanity and its hideous denizens work to undermine society. Shadowy government agencies and vile religious cultists combine to make the real world, beneath the level of consciousness of most people, nasty, brutish and short.
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Interview with Stuart Renton
By Flames | January 6, 2005
JW: Will you please summarise the Darkness Rising setting? What makes it particularly interesting and exciting?
SR: The Darkness Rising setting is an old story: evil fighting evil with the PCs caught in between. It’s interesting because it focuses exclusively on a number of warring factions: the minions of the Void, the forces of Creation, and the Powers of Light. These three highly detailed factions are enough to draw any PC into the war. It’s exciting because it’s very new, with an emphasis on role playing and choices. Nothing you do in the DR setting is without consequences. Become a vampire – but you could very easily lose your soul – what makes you unique - to the Void. Become an Arcane Lich and gain great power, but you become a target for the minions of the Void.
Everything in the setting is like that.
JW: Your books - Vampires, Liches and Zombies - have all received excellent reviews and are considered high-quality productions. Now you are publishing the first novel in the setting. How do you see Bottled Imp progressing from here?
SR: We need to release a lot more cool and exciting products, as well as further increasing our production values. We want to get every book looking just right style-wise. We went a lot of the way there with Zombies, but there’s still some improvements that can be made.
Our next release will do just that, but no! I won’t say what it is – yet.
JW: What do you find to be the biggest challenges as a writer and publisher?
SR: As a writer, I think the greatest challenge is the considerable amount of time it takes to actually write RPG products. It can take me six months to finish a 128 page game book, while I can finish a novel in fewer than six weeks. I’m always fiddling here and there, and always asking myself ‘is that really good enough?’
As a publisher, the greatest challenge is to actually get retailers to buy our books. Naturally, they want good sales, and with the vast glut of d20 products of a few years ago, they are burned and rather cautious. Where before they might have bought a book to test the water, now they don’t buy anything but the trusted companies, which, while great for them, is terrible for new companies like Bottled Imp Games.
JW: More and more companies are entering the market through online offerings only. How do you see the industry developing in the next few years?
SR: It’s hard to predict. Certainly, there’s an awful lot of competition for what is essentially a very small market. I think fewer companies will be releasing print products and we’ll see more diversity in each print company’s range. Already we are seeing many companies break away from D20 and concentrate on their own games.
JW: What are you working on now?
SR: Book Two of the Darkness Rising trilogy – called Blood Dawn, and our next release…
John Walsh, September 2004
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Initiates of The Art Review
By Flames | December 12, 2004
If you are looking for tens of new rotes and tons of cool rules for initiates you are looking for the wrong place. Initiates of the art consist of stories and dialogs as if It has been written by a group of mage. You can also trace two characters from Initiates of The Art to Masters of The Art, Lee Ann and the kid called Kyle. Other character of notice is Sir Lawrence.
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Kult: Beyond the Veil 3rd Edition Review
By Flames | December 12, 2004
Beyond the Veil is the second English book released from Seventh Circle for the Kult RPG line. The first was a players guide called Rumours that came out over a year ago. Originally this book was to be the GMs guide but with the delay of its release it appears that they have instead turned it into a core rulebook for the game. Which is fine by me.
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Hellboy: the Movie Review
By Flames | September 20, 2004
Imagine you are an FBI agent, called upon to take on a new task with a secret organization. You are not briefed on your assignment and have no idea what to expect. Entering the facility, you discover that you are assigned accompany the world’s most talented crime fighters, who just happen to be demons and creatures with incredible powers. Enter Hellboy: a demon raised by humans, set on the preservation of mankind — his way! Hellboy incorporates demons/fantastic creatures, arch-villains, and non-stop action that is both unique and traditional.
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CJ Carrella’s WitchCraft Review
By Flames | September 20, 2004
Witchcraft is a tabletop role-playing game set in our modern era. The Armageddon has yet to happen. Before it does, your players will create characters that are attempting to guide humanity to their preferred Armageddon. You can play psychics, witches, sorcerers, Mundanes (humans with no magical abilities), Bast (cats with the ability to perform magics and change into human guise), supernatural hunters, secret society members, and MORE!
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Mystery Codex RPG Review
By Flames | September 20, 2004
The first supplement available for Witchcraft, Mystery Codex provides all the information needed to keep your Witchcraft tabletop role-playing game fresh.
First off, time is taken to update anyone still using an older version of Witchcraft to the current version, as published in Eden Studio’s CJ Carella’s Witchcraft. With this information, you DO NOT need to buy the latest version of the main book if you own the previous version of Witchcraft published by Myrmidon Press.
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Seventh Seal RPG Review
By Flames | September 17, 2004
The Seventh Seal: Roleplaying Game of Prophetic Revelations is a modern day conspiracy/horror game. In it the player characters take on the role of the Chosen Elect, men and women who have been contacted by an Archangel and charged with the task of defending humanity from the forces of darkness. Unlike other games dealing with this subject matter, this one takes place before open war breaks out between the Heavenly Host and the Rebel Angels. The players must survive in a familiar world, while investigating, hunting and hiding from the Infernal Enemy.
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Interview with Fred Hooper
By Flames | March 23, 2004
How did you get into gaming?
I used to play AD&D when I was a youngster, and moved into the Sci-fi stuff as a teen, Shadowrun and the like. As far as how I started working in the industry, I started going to conventions when I was a freshman in college, trying to get started in freelance illustration. I also sent out a lot of mailers and samples. Eventually people started calling for work.
You’ve done a mix of sci-fi and horror, do you have a favorite?
Horror, since I can experiment more with it… but I think that sci-fi can have a lot of horror elements in it and vice versa.
Where do you get your inspiration? How do you keep your work fresh and innovative?
A lot of inspiration I get from reading, movies or playing games. There aren’t a lot of really good horror films out there that are very scary, since I tend to go for the psychological horror over the splatterfest, which is what most horror is like these days. To keep things fresh, I try to make art with a theme. Like this piece is going to be all about the action, the next one is about mood, or this one is about the design. All of that is needed in the final piece, but it’s a way to focus on an aspect to keep me on my toes.
Do you have a favorite medium?
Mixed medium digital Mostly now I do full pencils and use the sketch for digital coloring.
Where do you see art in the RPG industry headed?
Well I think that digital art will continue to become more and more prevalent, since it’s an easier medium on a publisher/printer and can be FTP’d or attached to an e-mail, so sending the work on the day its due lends more time to actually make the artwork, since it will be there shortly after you send it. The artwork itself I think will be more detailed and dramatic. I think people are wanting a story to be told in a still image, so it can lend itself to drama through stylistic choices, color, and the use of shadow. If that makes any sense.
What advice do you have for hopeful artists trying to get into the gaming industry?
The first thing I’d tell people is, don’t get discouraged. It’s pretty easy to get there, if you’ve been going to shows and getting continually shot down by potential employers. I think the worst thing to do is give up on something you really want to do. The other thing I’d tell artists is to draw from life… a lot. I know this sounds obvious, but the more you draw from reference (people, places, things) the better you’ll get. Eventually, you’ll learn enough from it to start bending the rules. Also, if motivation is an issue, then take a class somewhere, its dedicated time to draw and you’ll get to meet like minded people.
What can you tell us about your work on Obsidian: the Age of Judgement?
The artwork I’ve done for Obsidian has been a real joy to work on. I liked working on the underground city piece. It forced me to work with a lot of perspective, as well as try to get the day to day life of the people in the world… That and I got to draw a tough looking woman. 
I always had a lot of fun with the pieces, since they allowed the artist to run with ideas… that’s always cool. The one with the Kultist of the Undead with all of the hands reaching up was a load of fun.
What has been the most challenging work you’ve done in the RPG industry?
The most challenging work I did was my stint at FASA as, and working on Shadowrun 3 while I was there.
What RPG(s) are you currently playing?
Currently, I’m playing D&D, Shadowrun and occasionally All Flesh Must be Eaten.
What’s next for you?
Currently I’m working at Raven Software full time on Quake 4. I think I’ll be working on video games for a long time and doing freelance illustration all the way.
For more information on Fred Hooper, check out his website at www.fredhooper.com.
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