Hidden Fiction Review
By Flames | May 6, 2008
In 2037 there will be an outbreak (a plague, maybe) that kills a whole lot of people. Don’t say I never warned you.
Excluding the prologue, this novel takes place in 2093. The world is now divided into four parts: the Northern Waste, the Equatorial Band, Africa and the Southern Hemisphere. Born in a laboratory in the icy Northern Waste, Tatiana is now free. But there’s something seriously screwed with her genes, clearly evident when she slices off a bloke’s hand with no weapons other than her own hands.
Review by Tez Miller.
Topics: Fiction Reviews | No Comments »
The Host Fiction Review
By Flames | May 1, 2008
Welcome to the future, where souls have the options of many planets and species to inhabit. The souls have invaded Earth, creating a utopian society where violence doesn’t happen and money is not an issue. Wanderer is inserted into host Melanie Stryder, after a mighty struggle to avoid the souls. Usually the host fades, though their body is well and truly active controlled by the soul. Mel remains fighting furious, but to reach common goals she has to work together and get along with Wanderer, nicknamed Wanda.
Review by Tez Miller
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Inquisitor’s Handbook (Dark Heresy) RPG Review
By Flames | April 29, 2008
The Inquisitor’s Handbook is a hodge-podge of bits and pieces scattering all around the game system and the background. It’s a goody-bag of weapons, skills interpretations, new background options and new ‘fluff’ which may or many not suit a particular player group. To me it didn’t feel like it had quite the same character as a player’s guide for other systems - ones which generally limit themselves to player advice and increasing player options - but it felt like an expansion of the corebook material overall, for both players and Games Masters. I felt, reading through it, as though some of the content here should have been in the corebook and vice versa, particularly the background information and the Calixis sector particulars. It would have made more sense, to me, to have increased the player and character creation options in the main book and then had the Calixis specifics in a sourcebook, or collected in this volume with the specific data appropriate to it. The ‘imposition’ of the Calixis sector as the group’s playground is just another aspect of the ‘hemming in’ that has been a criticism of Dark Heresy.
Review by James ‘Grim’ Desborough
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Street: Empathy Now Available!
By Flames | April 17, 2008
In the future, telepathy is no longer a fantasy; it’s a job.
Gina- just Gina- is a woman with no future, trying to make her living along the Street of Eyes, where people go to hire the desperate and the suicidal for their unique services. She is one of the sellers, the new underclass, who use “third eye” or “Spice”- a powerful drug that gives them the ability to read minds- as their way of making ends meet. The drug has only one downside- it drives the user insane.
Street: Empathy is the first volume of the acclaimed online series by Ryan A. Span. Buy it now from Amazon.com.
Topics: Flames Rising | No Comments »
Lynne Thomas, Professional Geek
By Flames | April 12, 2008
For the past, five years Flames Rising has been fortunate to publish content from some interesting folk. From musicians to up-and-coming authors or horror fans, our reviewers have come from all walks of life. Flames Rising review Lynne Thomas is no exception. Here Lynne opens up and describes her fascinating job as the Head of Rare Books and Special Collections at Northern Illinois University in DeKalb, IL, where she focuses on Science Fiction, Fantasy, and Horror literature.
Come take a look at this awesome day job, and learn how you can help preserve the science fiction, fantasy and horror books you love to read.
Topics: Articles | 1 Comment »
Swarm Press Announcement
By Matt-M-McElroy | April 3, 2008
Horror, Sci-fi and other strange fiction has a new home…
More information and announcements regarding the Swarm Press publishing schedule is on the way.
Sign up for e-mail updates at the website: www.swarmpress.com
Topics: Horror News | 2 Comments »
Dark Heresy (Warhammer) RPG Review
By Flames | March 8, 2008
We’ve been waiting a really, really, really long time for a Warhammer 40,000 RPG. I remember buying Rogue Trader - and still have it somewhere in a folder, it having fallen apart with use - and the promise in that was of a full-on Warhammer 40,000 RPG arriving at some point in the near future. That was 1987, it is now 2008 and, finally we get our Warhammer 40,000 RPG. It has a lot to live up Dark Heresy, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay was pretty much a masterpiece and gave D&D a run for its money in UK popularity, the wargames have ensnared generations of kids in their clutches and the 2nd Edition of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, despite being a supplement treadmill and despite getting zero support from Games Workshop, was a success as well. Then, just as Dark Heresy does come out, and sells out pretty much immediately, we learn that GW/Black Industries are dropping ALL their roleplay etc lines, triumph and tragedy in one fell swoop.
Review by James ‘Grim’ Desborough
Topics: Roleplaying Game Reviews | 2 Comments »
Cemetary Gates Movie Review
By Flames | June 9, 2007
Well, this movie has a bunch of scientist chasing a big getaway animal, and who doesn’t like a creature flick? Jaws, Cujo and other such movies showed us that creature movies can be good as long as they have a good plot and a good creature.
Topics: TV Series and Movie Reviews | No Comments »
SLA Industries Review
By Flames | April 24, 2007
SLA (read ‘Slay’) Industries was a landmark game when I first bought it many years ago and I rather regret the series of events that saw my copy deposited on the bed of the River Han in Seoul. It is with considerable joy, therefore, that I found that the original is now available as a free PDF download. Once again there is the chance to become immersed in the nasty doings of the Planet Mort, where 900 years of deception have led to the exploitation of just about everyone by the infamous SLA Industries itself and, above all, where it always seems to be gloomy and raining. This is the future as a Glasgow tenement, or at least so it always was in my imagination.
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Torment: an Obsidian: the Age of Judgement Story
By Flames | November 30, 2006
Alright, let’s try this again. Much more slowly than the first time, I attempt to open my eyes. Everything is blurred for a moment, and my stomach heaves, but I swallow hard and blink a few times. The room obligingly comes into focus. First my gaze flickers down and to my left. All I can see is a delicate, bare shoulder under a fine curtain of hair, the strangest silvery-brown color. Squinting painfully against the dim lighting, I notice a small braid, tied with dark blue thread. I smile slightly, though I couldn’t say why. There is something sweet and innocent about that little braid.
An Obsidian: the Age of Judgement story written by Elizabeth Petersen
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Glint: a Story for Obsidian: the Age of Judgement
By Monica Valentinelli | April 11, 2006
Silas no longer cared if his carefully-sown client was going to do something stupid; his kits were far too valuable and far too difficult to come by to replace. He’d find somebody else, some other paying client to work on. Walking over to the wall, he ripped his sawed-off Nineteen from the wall, and flushed his Boosters. He swore under his breath that he didn’t put on any armor before this appointment. At least he put his shoulder strap on. That strap was like his credbase. He never left home without it.
Topics: Fiction | 1 Comment »
Bloodrayne DVD Review
By Flames | January 19, 2006
Bloodrayne the movie is an offshoot of the original console game. Upon seeing some of the trailers and hearing of the actors that were cast in this movie, it was a decision of mine and several friends to spend the $6.50 to see an afternoon showing of this movie. This was the worst $6.50 I spent this entire year.
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Interview with author Christopher Golden
By Flames | September 30, 2005
How did you get your start as an author?
I had started my first novel in college and, shortly after graduation, I attended a small convention in Rhode Island where I met a number of people who would become influential in my career, including the woman who would become my first agent and Ginjer Buchanan, the woman who eventually bought my first novel, OF SAINTS AND SHADOWS, and subsequently has been the editor of many other books of mine. A lot of writers start with short stories, and I had written a few, but believe it or not, that was my first ever fiction sale.
What differences and/or challenges do you face writing a novel versus writing a comic book?
They are entirely different disciplines. Writing a novel is creating an entire world, with all the texture and visuals and themes and heart contained within the words. In comics, it’s much more collaborative, like writing a film script. You’re providing the skeleton, the structure that the artist will build upon. You still, hopefully, provide much of the theme and heart, but so much of the texture comes in the art, so much of the story is there. Tone and atmosphere are all in the art. The biggest challenge in comics is that very collaboration. Unless you’re very successful and can barter that success for creative freedom, it’s difficult to get what you really want out of a comic book, at least in my experience.
Do you consider horror to be a mood or a genre? Why?
It’s both. Really, they’re too separate things. Horror as a genre contains a great many things. I’ve written a lot of novels that truly are not horror, by my definition, but some have been published as horror. Fine by me, that’s all to do with what the publisher is trying to accomplish in the marketing of the book. But to me, what constitutes a true horror novel is the intention of the author. If the author has set out to terrify the reader, to me, that’s a horror novel.
What advice do you have for hopeful authors out there?
Simple as it sounds, my advice is always the same. Read as much as you can. Write as much as you can. Network, meet people, go to conventions, and get to know your field. And try to find an agent who believes in your work. That last one is the hardest. I’ve been representing myself for the past five years or so, but that would have been very difficult to do at the beginning of my career.
How did you get involved with Buffy and Angel?
I had been speaking with Nancy Holder about the two of us one day collaborating on a book together, but we could never figure out what it ought to be. Then we both watched the Buffy pilot. The morning after it aired, we talked on the phone and said “this is it.” My agent found out who had the rights to do original Buffy novels and we pitched one. They liked our pitch, but the caveat was that we had to write the book in four weeks. We did it in three and a half. The rest is history.
Do you have a favorite episode of Buffy and/or Angel? Why?
Not any one episode. With Buffy I have a handful. “Passion.” “Hush.” “Once More With Feeling.” A few others. With Angel, ironically it was the episode where Darla gives birth to Connor. Amazing stuff. Unfortunately it also signaled the beginning of a disastrous storyline. I hated all the Connor stuff.
What can you tell us about your work on the Hellboy RPG?
Not much to it, actually. I read over some of the material, if I recall correctly, and commented. And I wrote the short story, “Dakini,” that’s in the book. I’m much more involved in the new novel series coming out from Pocket Books, working as editorial coordinator on that, choosing writers, vetting manuscripts, working with Mike to approve outlines, that sort of thing.
What can you tell us about your other Hellboy projects?
In addition to performing editorial coordinator duties on the line of Hellboy novels at Pocket Books, I’m scheduled to write the fourth one in that series. It’s tentatively called HELLBOY: THE DRAGON POOL. I also have a non-Hellboy project in the works with Mike Mignola, but it’s a bit premature to get into detail on that.
What challenges do you face when writing for established settings like Buffy, Hellboy and X-Men?
My attitude with any media property is to deal with the characters just as I would my own original characters. I try always to approach them as though they’re real people, three dimensional, and to look at their motivations and relationships. If all a writer does with work for hire properties is put the characters through their paces, what’s the point?
What can you tell us about Ghosts of Albion?
Ghosts of Albion began its life as an online animated series Amber Benson and I wrote for the BBC. We did two hours of animation, serialized, focusing on Tamara and William Swift, who have just inherited the power and responsibility of the Protector of Albion. That means they’re suddenly the most powerful sorcerers in England and they’ve got to protect their homeland from the forces of darkness. It’s a blast, really. It’s set in early Victorian England and its filled with demons and ghosts and zombies and dragons and fairies and vampires and every other thing you can think of. Plus, sex, and some funny as well. We had the greatest voice cast for the animation, including Anthony Daniels and Emma Samms. It was just a blast. Now we’ve written the first GHOSTS OF ALBION novel, ACCURSED, and it hits stores on October 25th. Amber and I are thrilled. You should go check out the new website, www.ghostsofalbion.net when it goes live on October 1st.
What can we expect to see in the Ghosts of Albion RPG?
Everything that’s in the animation and the novels and more. Truly, everything that Eden and the game writer Timothy Brannan have done is extraordinary. They’ve added history and depth and texture to this thing that’s so much more profound than what we’ve been able to accomplish. Garner Johnson and Tim have been leading test games at conventions and all of the feedback is basically saying that this is the best game any of these people have played in years. It has EVERYTHING. You can play as all different sorts of characters, from Protectors and priests, to fairies and vampires, to ordinary magicians. The landscape for this game, I can honestly say, rivals any other fantasy or horror game out there, simply because it includes all of those things in one game. One stop shopping, as it were.
What’s next for you?
I’m working on the second novel of a new trilogy I’m doing for Bantam. The first book, THE MYTH HUNTERS, is due out in January. And I’ve just written the novelization of Peter Jackson’s KING KONG, which is due out, obviously, in December. Meanwhile, check out my website for more information at www.christophergolden.com
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Mechanical Dream Review
By Flames | September 25, 2005
For those unfamiliar with the RPG world, players assume a character and play a game while “in character” reacting to other players, as well as to situations laid out before them by the GM of Game Master.
While the realm of RPG is best known because of Dungeons and Dragons — a game that is in its third incarnation, and spawned the very entertaining movie of the same name — it is far from the only offering in the field.
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Interview with Krister M. Michl
By Flames | June 13, 2005
How did you get started in gaming?
Unlike most of my gaming friends, I got into the roleplaying scene rather late. It was during my freshman year in High School that a few of my new friends introduced me to the concept of roleplaying and roleplaying games. They mentioned that they were running Giovanni Chronicles – which is, for those of you who are new to the gaming scene, a Vampire: the Masquerade book series – and they asked me if I wanted to participate. I declined. I simply had no interest in roleplaying and it sounded rather odd to me.
A month or two passed and one evening I was visiting the above-mentioned friends and they were running a short story of Freak Legion (Werewolf: the Apocalypse supplement) and I thought that I might as well try it. That night I played a red-skinned, twisted bishop whose church was the center of some rather nasty activity. I enjoyed it so much that I decided to try playing again… and again… and again.
I played everything from Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Robotech and homemade D&D settings to Vampire: the Masquerade and Werewolf: the Apocalypse. Yet I didn’t feel that I had as much fun as I could. I wanted to run a game, but what? All the games were “occupied” by friends.
While on vacation in Norway I went into a large comics and game shop in Oslo. My eyes landed on Changeling: the Dreaming and within minutes (and after asking a friend if anyone owned it) I purchased the 2nd Edition corebook and the Player’s Guide. With the purchase I was completely hooked in the gaming scene and I’ve been playing and running games for a little over a decade now.
What can you tell us about your work on Dark Ages: Fae?
Oh! Starting off with a good question to get my guard down, eh?
When Matt sent me the list of upcoming books for 2004, I noticed that there were plenty of books that I wanted to work on. However, Dark Ages: Fae immediately caught my interest due to my love for working with faeries in RPG format. I wrote Matt and asked him to assign me to that book even if it meant that it would be the only book I worked on that year. Months passed and I thought Matt had already assigned authors to Dark Ages: Fae. Then, shortly before New Year’s Eve 2003, I got a mail telling me that there were plenty of people who wanted the gig but I made the cut.
We (read as: freelance writers and Matt) immediately began to discuss the outline and the talk on how to flesh the wonderful outline into a fantastic setting. Now, the outline made it clear to us that if we weren’t able to separate ourselves from the vision of Changeling: the Dreaming, we should ask to be relieved of our assignments. This turned out to be no problem at all for me (to my great surprise). Just getting the opportunity to work with the fae again made it all worth it.
Most of the work in the early days was done via e-mail and chat sessions where we presented ideas and tore them to pieces before rebuilding them. In retrospect I see that the area where my ideas had most impact on how it turned out in the game was with the Sprites. I still have the sprite mails left and when I go back and look at them I feel proud of those ideas and discussions. While some sprite facts changed later one, I still see quite a few factors that remain from my initial suggestions (one being the concept of sprites turning into fae through the use of a cantrip).
The entire design process on Dark Ages: Fae is something that I hold close to heart because it was just such a wonderful time. I could spend pages upon pages discussing the process but it’s time for me to move on to the actual question at hand – my work on Dark Ages: Fae.
My assignment was to write the character creation and drama chapter (now known as Chapter Three: Characters & Drama). I had to come up with ways to explain the character creation process and adapt it to the Dark Ages standard presentation, in addition to explain what Mists and Weaving really was, what the concepts meant to the faeries of Dark Ages, and how Storytellers and players should utilize them. Yet, out of all sections in the chapter, the hardest part was to develop a working Feature system (and Features is, as you know, the most important part in character creation).
At this point, I might add, the Feature system consisted of a rating from 1-5, just as most other traits in the World of Darkness games. The initial idea was that fae grew more alien through their increased knowledge of Dominions. The closer they got to their primary Dominion (higher the rating), the more they embodied either their Court (or nature of the Dominion in case of Solstice fae). This system went into the playtest but was eventually scrapped and replaced with Lesser and Greater Features. (One idea that I still like from the old system is that Features could follow a system similar to the Beastmen Gifts in Exalted: the Lunars.)
When two of the original authors of the book had to drop out of the project, Matt assigned me half of the second chapter (the introduction and the three Origin splats). While it was sad to hear that the authors in question had to drop out, I was happy because it allowed me to get even more involved in the book. Also, because of this, Aaron joined us and thus I got to know another freelancer that I now call a friend.
Another event that made my assignment on Dark Ages: Fae special was when Matt contacted me, approximately halfway through the first draft period, and asked if I wanted to take on a chapter for the upcoming Brujah Chronicles. Although I wanted to accept immediately, I knew that Dark Ages: Fae and Brujah Chronicle’s deadlines wouldn’t be too far apart. Add to this dilemma that Bruce Baugh asked me if I wanted to work on an upcoming Gamma World d20 book that eventually became Beyond the Horizon (released last year). I sat down, thought long and hard about if I had energy and time for all of the projects and decided to accept.
When we got close to the first draft deadline, I felt as if there was something missing in the book. We talked a lot about the war between the Courts and the different agendas, but nothing about the regular lives of the fae. I took a small risk and wrote the section that talks about titles, marriages, oathcircles, and everything else that can be used to flesh out the daily life. Now, why a risk you may wonder. Well, the risk stems from that this is nothing that usually is in a character creation chapter, but to my advantage Matt read it and seemed to like it a lot (from what I could gather) and it got to stay. (Tidbit: There was a section on divorces but it didn’t end up in the book.)
I really don’t know what else to say about it. The work on Dark Ages: Fae is something that I will cherish forever since it was (and still is) unlike anything else I’ve done.
Talking about it makes me miss working for Matt. And to be completely honest, I miss it a lot.
What challenges do you face when writing for a historical setting like Dark Ages?
Honestly, I have to give two answers to this question.
When it comes to the writing process it’s when to keep matters all fiction, focus on historical accuracy, or mix the two. I constantly must ask myself where fiction works better than historical accuracy in a game.
With Dark Ages: Fae it was clear from the beginning that I had to work with fiction over history. Yet, the fiction had to be based on historical accuracy since the general Dark Ages setting is anchored in real life history. Naturally, the main source for Fae became old tales that I could locate in the libraries or encyclopedias. One book that I found especially useful for planning Features was “The Encyclopedia of Things That Never Were”. Borrow or buy it if you are interested in some good suggestions to new Features or fae creatures that player characters can encounter in your games.
My second answer to this question is: Where to locate historically accurate sources?
When I worked on Brujah Chronicles this turned out to be a real problem for me due to the nature of my assignment. Without going into details, it involved the power struggle within the Brujah Clan, the Baali, and the shadow inquisition; all set on the Isle of Love (Cyprus).
In the beginning my expectations were that it would be easy to locate information on Cyprus in the 13th century since there were plenty of things going on in the area. Yet, all of my initial information talked about the same events over and over again. I couldn’t find any substantial information on the social dealings or historical events that weren’t so focused with the “huge” historical incidents of Europe.
It was frustrating and I began to worry about how to get it to work. Eventually I decided that it was worth a shot and I contacted the library in the capital and asked them before proceeding with more and more libraries. In the end that helped me, but I still view this problem to be the factor that causes the most challenge when it comes to working on a setting like Dark Ages.
For anyone that is new to this business, regardless of if you work on something like Dark Ages or not, I have this to say: Make sure to try everything in order to find historically accurate sources before bringing out the fiction-pen. Research, research, research — I hear plenty of horror stories about newer freelance writers who just rely on their talent for fiction.
What can you tell us about your work on Changeling: the Dreaming?
This question brings back good and bad memories for me. I still miss Changeling and I’m still a bit sad that I didn’t get a chance to work on the Time of Judgment section for the game. However, I’m the first to admit that I’m happy with what Matt, Pete and Carrie did with the chapter. It’s a great toolbox – and stress that word, toolbox – for how to end your Changeling chronicle. The only thing that I missed (for selfish reasons) was a bit on the Aesin.
My works on Changeling are actually the first ones I did as gaming freelancer. During the summer of 1999, I came into contact with Nicky Rea and Jackie Cassada, who had just taken over the reins of Changeling: the Dreaming from Ian Lemke and Justin Achilli (developer of the Book of Houses 2). They asked me to submit a proposal for a Scandinavian noble house that could fit in an upcoming Changeling product, and I naturally jumped at this opportunity to contribute to a game I loved. At that point the house that eventually became Aesin was called Ivaldi — a house of nobles that were more violent and intolerant than the fae that appear in the Book of Lost Houses. That house version was scrapped by me once I began to write the actual drafts of my chapter.
When House Aesin began to take shape I realized that it was necessary for me to make it a Scandinavian house and not just a pure Norse-based Viking house. Unfortunately, it turned out that it was hard for non-Scandinavians (and even a few Scandinavians) to spot similarities to our modern society and what could stem from the Norse sagas and Viking history. However, there is a mix, even if not all detect it, and while I would have done things differently today, I still like the Aesin.
Also, I planned a bit ahead in case Nicky and Jackie would ever allow me to come back to the house in future publications. There are hints on how the house storyline would develop if I got it my way. One part is in the history section, two are in the write-ups of famous Aesin, and there are several more hints that need lines drawn to them. Add all and you get the truth behind a treachery, the fall of someone important, and a possible internal house war.
My assignment on Changeling after Book of Lose Houses was a few sections for the highly profiled Book of Glamour. I updated and rewrote Musing and Ravaging, but I also created the rules for Dark Glamour and, well, I’m not sure I want to go into detail about it now since it was meant to be a secret until release, a second way for fae to fuse Glamour into magic.
When Book of Glamour was in editing, we got message from Nicky and Jackie that the line had been put on ice. It saddened me deeply and left an emotional scar (even if I never thought about it at the time), if I may be that dramatic. The scar never got to heal until Matt assigned me to Dark Ages: Fae, but now I’m okay with what went happened. I have experienced cancellations several times now — about 50% of the books I’ve worked on have had the line put on ice just shortly before the release (including Brujah Chronicles and two Star Trek RPG books for Decipher that I was anxiously waiting to see in stores).
Will we ever see some of the ”unpublished” work for Book of Glamour?
As far as I know at this point the answer is yes.
Am I 100% sure? No. I’m afraid not.
Last year Chris Howard contacted me and said that he was trying to get Book of Glamour and Keys to the Kingdom released as PDF-files. I told Chris that he could use the stuff I wrote, since I’ve wanted the fans to have it for quite some time now, as long as WW were okay with it. Right now I don’t know anything more than the rest of you do since things have been pretty quiet during the past few months. Funny you should ask this question, though, since I mailed Chris a couple of days ago about this and I hope to hear something soon.
What can you tell us about your work on the Book of Bone & Ebony for Exalted?
Bone and Ebony is the second Exalted book I’ve worked on (the first being Exalted: the Sidereals). Compared to Sidereals, where I wrote the Storytelling chapter, I must admit that work on Bone and Ebony was way easier. I didn’t have to ponder things like “what would destiny say about this” or “how do you run people that can check what will happen in the future if they pull some strings”. Instead I had the good fortune of facing questions such as “what is a creature and how do I make it differ from regular ghosts” and “how are creatures viewed by the living/dead/or gods”.
My section was to be a flora and fauna over odd creatures that couldn’t really think for themselves. Creatures that followed a strict pattern and adhered to some sort of behavior dictated upon their creation. At first I planned on having 50 creatures from each direction (North, South, East, West, Stygia, and the Labyrinth), but once writing began, I noticed the word count getting smaller and smaller and the idea just died.
I was extremely focused on everything about the creatures. Where did they come from? How did they appear? Each section took hundreds of words when they should have been half the length. Geoff pointed this out in the first draft redlines and when I got back to cutting I suddenly got room for more creatures. One creature that I added is the Ferrymen (and I just love the image where a Ferryman battles Mirth), and I wish that I could have done more with them. I can honestly say that I added them as a tribute to the wonderful Wraith: the Oblivion.
The final part of the chapter details four possible scenarios that involve the development of the maggots inside Mask of Winter’s mobile fortress. There are million other ways that they could develop other than the four that ended up in the book, but they were the most varied in that they presented different power-scales and didn’t just stick with variations of the “Godzilla awakens” scenario.
Talking about this makes me a bit sad. I see forum posts that deal with this issue all the time, and it seems like there is a small group of gamers that feel a need to adhere to everything that is written in books. To them I say: Don’t do it. Do what feels right for you. If you want the Winter Clones in your game, then by all means use them. If you want to keep the maggots as … well… maggots, do that. I doubt they’ll listen to me but games should be fun and gaming books should a source for ideas – not seen as holy gaming scriptures.
Now for something more fun related to this assignment.
Trivia fact: The only creature that remained exactly as written in pre-first drafts is the Crystal Mice.
Trivia fact 2: Since I planned on having 50 creatures from each section, it means a total of 300 creatures. I never developed all of them but there are still creatures that never got into the drafts and they exist as undeveloped ideas on paper.
What’s next for you?
Right now I’m asking myself the very same question. During the last eight or nine months I’ve focused on dealing with matters concerning my life outside of gaming and writing. Since I’ve just returned to the writing scene, I’m looking for new assignments.
I recently turned in a short assignment for a well-known d20 line and I hope to work with that game in the future. I would also like to work on any of the new World of Darkness lines for White Wolf since I’ve always loved working with them and their games.
What’s next for me after this interview? Well, it’s a cup of coffee, the “Little Britain” DVDs I got the other day, and planning my upcoming Dragonlance d20, Exalted, and World of Darkness games.
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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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Way of the Wolf Novel Review
By Flames | September 24, 2004
This is E.E. Knight’s first book, and I can definitely see it taking off as a very long series indeed, but one which I will be eagerly anticipating each new arrival. The setting is of a near future, starting around 2065, but with the events leading up to that current frame only happening in the next few years that we have to look forward to. Granted, this book is entitled Vampire Earth, and it does have to do with vampires, only not in the traditional sense.
Topics: Fiction Reviews | No Comments »