To help you kick off this auspicious New Year right, we’ve got twenty of the biggest and best RPG products on our site on sale for just $10! These are all “big ticket” books that normally sell for at least $20 or more (some for a LOT more), but we all want to jump start the gamer economy here at the start of the year, and you can help us by taking advantage of this unique and amazing sale!

“Hey, wait… there’s more than twenty products on this list!”

Well, yeah. You got us. The publishers thought this was such an amazingly cool idea, they committed more books than we asked for, and we just didn’t have the heart to choose. So you’re really getting “Twenty-Plus for $10!” Do us a favor and don’t tell the bosses, OK?

Twenty for $10 RPG Sale at the Flames Rising RPGNow Shop.

Pulp meets mutants. Can you picture it? Robin D Laws can, and did well.

The opening fiction caught my attention immediately. In two illustrated pages, it manages to cover most pulp detective crime scene tropes, and set the stage for a slightly tongue-in-cheek mutant x-factor (sorry, I had to.) Then the stage is set with a description of the game’s setting. Arbitrarily ten years in the future, the world has undergone the biggest ten years worth of change possible; due to an odd illness, people began exhibiting superpowers. Simple enough statement, but the quality comes from the explanation of how these mutants have changed sports, entertainment, law enforcement, et cetera. It’s serious, while still being able to put a gratifying smile on the reader’s face.

Review By David A Hill Jr

A stand-alone GUMSHOE game of contemporary super powers.

Ten years ago, 1% of the population gained mutant powers.

…and you’re the cops who clean up the mess.

EVER SINCE the Sudden Mutation Event, people have been able to fly. Phase through walls. Read minds. Shoot bolts of energy from their fingertips. Walk into dreams.

Police work will never be the same.

MUTANT CITY BLUES runs on GUMSHOE, the acclaimed investigative rules set powering the hit new game Trail Of Cthulhu. GUMSHOE offers a simple yet revolutionary method for writing, running and playing mystery scenarios. It ensures fast-flowing play, always giving you the informational puzzle pieces you need to propel your latest case toward its exciting final revelations.

Mutant City Blues is available at the Flames Rising RPGNow Shop.

When you listen to instrumental music or a movie soundtrack in the background while you’re playing game, it’s very challenging to find music that fits a Cthulhu game. Part of the problem is that there are a lot of droning, repetitious soundtracks that sound the same from song to song. The other side to that, of course, are the soundtracks so recognizable that no matter how softly you play them, every one of your players knows what songs you’re playing. In gaming, music often plays multiple roles to heighten or enhance a mood, to “speak” to the theme of the game and to be playable whether the dice is rolling or not. In a lot of ways, music played for any game has to have a lot of variety because there’s a lot of activity going on in game that will “drown out” the music playing in the background.

Four Heart-Pounding Pulp Adventures for Trail of Cthulhu

The first supplement for Trail of Cthulhu this book has four new adventures written by Rodin D Laws. These pulp-style adventures are a good companion for the core book, helping folks get started with the Gumshoe system from Pelgrane Press. The book itself is 82 pages (including the handouts) and has a cover by the talented Jerome Huguenin. Most of the book’s layout is a three-column format with occasional sidebars and dark black-n-white images that show off some of the scenes for each adventure.

On with the adventures…One of the things I’m going to try to avoid in this review is revealing too many details about the adventures and the mysteries within them. That way, folks will still be surprised when they get the chance to play along. Hopefully I’ll still be able to provide enough information to let you know how useful the book is and whether or it will add to your Trail of Cthulhu game.

Four Shadows: Music for Trail of Cthulhu

“There in the narrow hall, outside the bolted door with the covered keyhole, I often heard sounds which filled me with an indefinable dread-the dread of vague wonder and brooding mystery.” -HP Lovecraft, The Music of Erich Zann

What better to set the tone of your Trail of Cthulhu game than some superbly crafted music? Talented musician James Semple has created four tracks specially for Pelgrane Press to enhance your horror roleplaying experience.

Four Shadows: Music for Trail of Cthulhu and more Gumshoe products are available at the Flames Rising RPGNow Shop.

The first print-run of Trail of Cthulhu is just about sold out. That is pretty damn cool. This has quickly become one of my favorite RPGs. The Gumshoe System is easy to learn and fun to play. Check out Grim’s review of the first three Gumshoe books for a bit more detail on the system.

So, even if the first printing is gone you haven’t missed out. You can pre-order a copy of the upcoming second print over at Indie Press Revolution. The books will be shipping in the early part of July.

There are also some great deals on Trail of Cthulhu eBooks at the Flames Rising RPGNow Shop. Instant download, no waiting…

The Flash Fire Mini-Reviews have awoken once more.

This week we will be taking a look at some of the Games, Books and other creations featuring the big green guy (no, not the Hulk) known as Cthulhu, one of the Great Old Ones in H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos. Cthulhu first appeared in the short story “The Call of Cthulhu” and has made many, many other appearances since in fiction, games, toys and artwork. Today we’re just taking a peek at a few of the Cthulhu-related items I’ve come across in the last few weeks.

The folks over at Pelgrane Press have been busy with all kinds of new Trail of Cthulhu updates.

Over at RPGNow you can scoop up the Trail of Cthulhu Player’s Guide for $10.95. This slimmed down volume contains everything you need to play in the game. Of course, your GM should probably have the complete book, which is available at Indie Press Revolution (in a mix of options, including bundle deals) and in eBook format at RPGNow.com.