World of Darkness: Innocents Now Available
By Flames | May 8, 2008
The World of Darkness Through Innocent Eyes
Monsters don’t just lurk in remote forests, nightclubs, slums and the rooftops of the city. They’re in your neighborhood, watching you as you walk to school. They’re waiting for you in the woods behind your house as you and your friends build your fort. They’re under your bed.
Adults have learned to live in the World of Darkness by ignoring the supernatural, by pretending it isn’t there and going about the lives they have made for themselves. You don’t have that luxury. You see the world through a child’s eyes, and that means you haven’t learned to look away.
Topics: Horror News | 1 Comment »
Hunter: the Vigil “Light in Shadows”
By Matt-M-McElroy | May 6, 2008
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…
Candles give way to torches, to cells who band together in localized organizations. 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 organizations grow outward globally and backward through time. Ancient groups and modern agencies 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.
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The Resurrectionists RPG Review
By Flames | May 5, 2008
It is curious that Vampire adventures seem to be particularly susceptible to this kind of role-playing when the rules-givers at White Wolf are forever bringing out new rules constraining vampire characters to behave in certain ways and to react to each other based on templates relating to membership of different social organizations and family structures. This seems to be rather un-American to me – no wonder there are so many foreigners in the World of Darkness. Europeans, for example, with their dastardly class-based societies and ability to speak languages. Rafael Pope, a central figure in this adventure, for example, is described as ‘a tall European man, probably Italian.’ Not Scandinavian, then or Slavic or Gaelic. In any case, obviously someone to be watched and subject to the vampiric versions of phone-tapping and having to take his shoes off before being allowed on an aeroplane.
Review by John Walsh
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Pre-Order Lords of Summer
By Matt-M-McElroy | May 1, 2008
Lords of Summer is a Character Book for Changeling: The Lost
Swear again your allegiance to your Court
take up your knight’s banner and badge once more
The ties between us shall be renewed, and the old oaths fulfilled
We all stand together in summer, the season of war
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Hunter: The Vigil Logo Revealed
By Matt-M-McElroy | April 22, 2008
The folks at White Wolf may be at GTS (GAMA Trade Show) but they still have a few surprises in store for the fans this week…
The first one is the new logo for Hunter: The Vigil. Check it out -here-. While the logo is certainly interesting it was the flavor text that got me thinking…
As long as monsters have prowled the darkness, brave and desperate mortals have walked out of the protective ring of firelight to pursue those shadows.
Some die. Many go mad.
But someone else always picks up the candle and steps into the dark…
Sounds like hunting monsters is not only lethal to mortals, but they have a good chance of going crazy while they are at it. I’m guessing they have something along the lines of Clarity from Changeling: the Lost which measures how well these Hunters balance their “normal” lives with their “hunter” lives.
What do you think?
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Lords Over the Damned: Ventrue
By Matt-M-McElroy | April 10, 2008
They Win. They Always Win.
The Ventrue — ancient kings and cutting-edge moguls — have a simple reputation. They win. They always win. They are known as Lords, and across all the World of Darkness, wherever you find vampires, you’ll find Ventrue behind them, pulling the strings.
Ventrue: Lords over the Damned is a clanbook for Vampire: The Requiem.
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Scion Companion Part I Review
By Flames | April 7, 2008
Scion is about the only recent output from White Wolf that I’ve really cared for other than Exalted. While the game overall seems to have been completed with Hero, Demigod and God it’s nice to see that it’s getting some ongoing support and even more nice to see that White Wolf seems to be one of the first companies to really start taking PDF publishing seriously. There’s still some imperfections, I believe the idea is to sell sections of the Scion companion bit by bit as complete PDF releases, but to omit some final sections which will only be present in the print version, but it’s a big step in the right direction and one that I hope will be followed up on by other companies. Incidentally, I was about to write a Celtic pantheon fan-offering up for Scion when this came along, so they just managed it in the nick of time!
Review by James ‘Grim’ Desborough
Topics: Roleplaying Game Reviews | 4 Comments »
New Storytelling Adventure System Website
By Matt-M-McElroy | April 4, 2008
White Wolf Publishing has recently put together a new Storytelling Adventure System website to feature the “Playable Stories for all White Wolf Publishing Games” series of products that we’ve been raving about here on Flames Rising (including a Mini-Reviews of Fear-Maker’s Promise and Criminal Intent).
Check out the new website: www.white-wolf.com/sas for a look recent SAS releases as well as a revised SAS Guide that is free to download. You can also get updated information on the Ratings & Format of the SAS products on the About SAS page.
Lines of Power was the most recent SAS release. Currently all of the SAS products are set in the World of Darkness, but I hear that Scion and Exalted SAS adventures are on the way. Stay tuned for updates on new releases and look for Storytelling Adventure System eBooks at the Flames Rising RPGNow Store.
Topics: Horror News | 2 Comments »
Lines of Power for Mage: The Awakening
By Flames | April 4, 2008
Even Mages are Afraid of Someone Breaking into their Home
A mage’s Sanctum is his home, and the Hallow is the soul of it. When bereft of these two things, the mage is not only robbed of her sanctuary but also the Mana that replenishes her magic. Wars have been waged among mages for centuries over the right to call a Hallow their own, and bitter enemies have been forged from the fires of dying Sanctums. Now yours is on the line. What will you risk for the right to call a place home?
A story in the Storytelling Adventure System for Mage: The Awakening.
Lines of Power contains a number of interactive links that take you to page references and reference sheets to help you stay organized at the gaming table.
Look for Lines of Power and other Storytelling Adventure System eBooks at the Flames Rising RPGNow Store.
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Midnight Roads/The Harvesters Bundle
By Matt-M-McElroy | April 2, 2008
I talked a bit about Midnight Roads when it was released -here- and The Harvesters makes a great companion to it. Well, now you can get a very cool Bundle of these World of Darkness products at RPGNow!
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Vampire: the Requiem Developer Interview at Point Blank podcast
By Flames | March 30, 2008
Joe Carriker speaks with PSI Point Blank
Joe Carriker, the Vampire: the Requiem developer, was recently interviewed by Boyan Radakovich, the Director of Hobby Sales and Marketing for Publisher Services, Inc. (PSI) as part of their new Point Blank podcast. This business-focused podcast is scheduled to regularly include members of the White Wolf development team as a part of its standard format, but Joe’s interview went so well, it is now a segment unto itself!
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Marriage of Virtue & Viciousness Fiction Review
By Matt-M-McElroy | March 20, 2008
A great follow-up tale to Stolze’s earlier Requiem novel A Hunger like Fire, this time we learn about some new members of Chicago’s undead society. Most of the characters in this book, with two notable exceptions, are members of the Lancea Sanctum Covenant. The two exceptions are “Earth” Baines and Aurora…but I’ll get to them a little later.
Events in A Hunger like Fire have put Solomon Birch, the ranking member of the Lancea Sanctum, in a dangerous position. A few members of the Covenant feel he is no longer fit to lead them and begin planning his removal as Bishop. Deals are made, gossip is whispered, and pawns are set into motion.
Topics: Fiction Reviews | No Comments »
Scion: Hero RPG Review
By Flames | March 17, 2008
The characters in Scion are the long-lost, illegitimate, half-human children of the gods of old, the pantheons, the Norse, Greek, Egyptian, Japanese, Aztec and Voodoo pantheons respectively (though I’m not sure Voodoo deserves to be in such company really). There’s the possibility to play scions of other gods and pantheons as well, but these aren’t detailed in this book.
The Scions are contacted, equipped and gifted by their errant parents and put to work to defend humanity from the machinations and monsters impinging on this world at the behest of the Titans. To help them with this they get magical powers, magical items or companions and other gifts from their parents. Superpowered individuals rampaging about the modern world as demigods, fighting monsters and ancient gods (of the wrong sort).
Review by James ‘Grim’ Desborough
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GM’s Day Sale at RPGNow
By Matt-M-McElroy | March 4, 2008
Some of the great products on sale include:
The Harvesters (World of Darkness) - White Wolf Publishing
People Disappear All The Time. Will You Be One Of Them? A story in the Storytelling Adventure System for the World of Darkness, inspired by Midnight Roads.
100 Horror Adventure Seeds - Postmortem Studios
100 Horror Adventure Seeds presents 100 game session ideas, one to a page, with three twists, an epilogue and some ideas to help you make that session a better game.
Don’t Rest Your Head - Evil Hat Productions
Don’t Rest Your Head is a sleek, dangerous little game, where your players are all insomniac heroes with superpowers, fighting—and using—exhaustion and madness to stay alive and awake for just one more night in a reality gone way wrong called the Mad City.
There are 3890 items included in the GM’s Day Sale from a huge variety of publishers. The sale only lasts a couple days, so don’t miss out.
Click here to visit the GM’s Day Sale page at RPGNow.com
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Free RPG Day 2008 Updates
By Matt-M-McElroy | March 3, 2008
For Free RPG Day, Impressions Advertising & Marketing works with hobby game retailers and RPG publishers to bring NEW RPG Quickstart Rules and Adventure Modules into the hands of gamers. Consumers will be able to grab brand new material for a variety of RPGs — no overstock, retail-priced or dead product here. The goal of Free RPG Day is to get gamers inspired to play a new RPG, which will in turn, create sales through local game stores.
Check out the updated Sponsors and Retailers that are taking part of this event.
I’m especially looking forward to the Hunter: the Vigil quickstart from White Wolf and Mysteries of the Mythos from Skirmisher Publishing. There are also 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons items from Wizards of the Coast and some other very cool promotional freebies up for grabs.
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World of Darkness: Midnight Roads
By Matt-M-McElroy | February 21, 2008
The roads are lovely, dark and deep…
Matt McFarland has put together some pretty impressive World of Darkness titles over the years. He even won an ENnie for the Awakening Demo.
Now he brings us Midnight Roads, a story book for the World of Darkness.
Hitchhikers, ghost towns, new Merits and a host of interesting characters. This is a book I’ve been looking forward to ever since I first heard about it on the White Wolf LiveJournal a few months ago.
Some have described this as the perfect sourcebook for Promethean considering how many of the Created travel to avoid the effects of Disquiet.
Midnight Roads is available at RPGNow and Amazon.
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Wouldn’t Gangrel just eat the lawyer?
By Matt-M-McElroy | February 20, 2008
If a copyright suit involving video-game zombies isn’t scary enough, now we have a trademark case involving a vampire named “Gangrel” to sink our teeth into.
This basically comes down to World Wrestling Entertainment still using elements of the “Gangrel” character after their contract with White Wolf has expired. Too bad it had end up in the courtroom. If any more information becomes available, I’ll be sure to update.
Topics: Horror News | 2 Comments »
Howlings from White Wolf
By Matt-M-McElroy | February 14, 2008
The new eQuarterly from White Wolf Publishing was released yesterday.
All kinds of sneak previews ranging from World of Darkness: Innocents to Exalted: Dreams of the First Age and other bits throughout this free download. There are a ton of interviews regarding new books and other developments. The fan submission section has art and fiction, I’m especially digging the Vampire: the Requiem submissions.
Over 50 pages of goodies for free. Go download it yourself and enjoy.
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Eddy Webb, White Wolf Freelancer Interview
By Flames | September 22, 2007
In this interview we talk to Eddy about Mind’s Eye Theatre: the Awakening, membership in the Camarilla and other LARP topics.
Topics: Interviews | 1 Comment »
Exalted 2nd Edition Review
By Flames | September 14, 2007
From first edition Vampire through to about a year or so before the end of the Old World of Darkness line I was a bit of a White Wolf fanboy. Not a drooling fanboy, they still did things that annoyed me, but by and large I agreed with their design philosophy and found that their games appealed to my style of play and the sort of games I wanted to run. With their cackhanded interference in their LARP society (not that it could have made things much worse than they already were) and their wrap up of the oWOD I fell out of love with them for the most part and aside from the occasional bit of curiosity I haven’t really followed their games.
Except for Exalted.
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