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 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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Chicago Workings RPG Review
By Matt-M-McElroy | April 21, 2008
Chicago Workings is a World of Darkness adventure released under the Storytelling Adventure System from White Wolf Publishing. Written by Will Hindmarch (with a little help from Ken Hite and Bill Bridges) this adventure puts the player characters in the middle of an ongoing conflict between rival architects. At first that doesn’t sound like such a big deal, but what if these two designers had access to mystical writings? These writings allowed them to build geometric grids of power within the city, forever altering the flow of magic and power.
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Game Fiction: Why it Works (and Why it Doesn’t)
By Monica Valentinelli | April 14, 2008
If you go to your bookshelf and pick up your favorite gaming book, whether it’s from Apophis Consortium or Evil Hat Productions, reread the fiction or flavor text that’s used as chapter breaks or to enhance the setting. Now, check out your other books and see how many World of Warcraft-inspired novels or Forgotten Realms stories you have.
Do you remember what you liked about them? Disliked?
Topics: Articles | 2 Comments »
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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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 »
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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Flash Fire Mini-Reviews! (Live Action Games)
By Matt-M-McElroy | March 28, 2008
Sometimes rolling the dice or holding the controller just isn’t enough…This week’s Flash Fire Mini-Reviews will be exploring some of the different Live Action Role Playing options folks have for getting in character and having some fun.
Whether you are part of an ongoing global campaign like the Camarilla or just looking for a fun party game for a few friends, LARP is available in a vareity of products.
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Flash Fire Mini-Reviews (Post-Apocalyptic)
By Matt-M-McElroy | March 21, 2008
We’ve covered vampires, zombies, magic and more in past Flash Fire Mini-Reviews. This week we’re going to take a look at a genre that often blends Sci-Fi with Horror and Adventure with Mystery…sometimes all at once.
Post-Apocalypse stories often show a bleak future, but can offer a bit hope as well.
The civilized world has come to an end, in the rubble the survivors battle horrors and each other in an attempt to gather resources and perhaps to rebuild their world. Post Apocalyptic settings are the subject of this week’s Flash Fire Mini-Reviews.
We’ve got a mix of games, fiction and a movie to explore this week. Each with a different spin on just what Post-Apocalypse means…
Topics: Flash Fire Mini-Reviews | No Comments »
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 »
Flash Fire Mini-Reviews (Dracula)
By Matt-M-McElroy | March 7, 2008
Another round of the Flash Fire Mini-Reviews is here!
This week we are talking about one of the most well-known characters in horror. Dracula has made appearances in fiction, movies, comics and games. He has been re-imagined numerous times and always comes back for more. New concepts about the character are always being invented and new fans discover the character every year.
What follows are just a few of the many, many Dracula influenced products available today. The original novel with a twist, some games and a couple of movies make up this set of mini-reviews…
Topics: Flash Fire Mini-Reviews | No Comments »
The Harvesters (World of Darkness)
By Matt-M-McElroy | February 29, 2008
People Disappear All The Time. Will You Be One Of Them?
In The Harvesters, the characters are pitted against a group of kidnappers that prey upon the forgotten people and sell them off to the highest bidder. They visit upon those lost souls any torment that pleases them, so long as they don’t compromise the bottom line. But all isn’t as it seems, and what at first appears to be a perfectly normal (if genuinely monstrous) crime begins to show the involvement of something unnatural around the edges, revealing to the characters a glimpse of the strange and terrifying things that lurk in the shadows.
A story in the Storytelling Adventure System for the World of Darkness, inspired by Midnight Roads.
The Harvesters contains a number of interactive links that take you to page reference, reference sheets and even props that you can use at the gaming table.
Download The Harvesters from the Flames Rising - RPGNow Shop today!
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Flash Fire Mini-Reviews (Books of Magic)
By Matt-M-McElroy | February 29, 2008
The Flash Fire Mini-Reviews are back with a mix of fiction, games and comics this week. Mages, Wizards, Witches and other spell-slinging heroes, villains and monsters make appearances in this collection of reviews.
We’re looking at a variety of magical styles, ranging from the dark and evil to the divinely inspired. I’m not talking about spellbooks here, but magic wielding characters or plots about magic in the world around them. We’ve got Harry Dresden, Willow and Redcloak alongside some Live-Action Mage and the Unwanted.
Anyway, let’s get on with those mini-reviews…
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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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Flash Fire Mini-Reviews! (Vampires)
By Matt-M-McElroy | February 8, 2008
Round three of the Flames Rising Flash Fire Mini-Reviews series is here!
This week we’ve got a vampire theme going on with a mix of fiction, comics and games. Some vampire hunters might even make an appearance as well. You can’t have the monsters without giving the heroes a little screen-time too. So, grab your garlic, watch your neck and enjoy!
Topics: Flash Fire Mini-Reviews | No Comments »
Breaking the Law…Vampire Style
By Matt-M-McElroy | January 28, 2008
On Friday I mentioned in the Flash Fire Mini-Reviews how much I liked the Storytelling Adventure System from White Wolf Game Studio. These adventures offer up tips, tools and other dark treats for Storytellers of the World of Darkness games.
Criminal Intent is the latest addition to the SAS line-up. A Vampire: the Requiem adventure written by Eddy Webb, CI offers up some new interactive features and really shows the potential of the SAS product line.
Topics: Resources | No Comments »
New World of Darkness Books (and Scion!)
By Matt-M-McElroy | January 23, 2008
White Wolf has confirmed that Fall of the Camarilla and Scion: God have shipped.
I’ve been looking forward to FotC for some time. Requiem for Rome is an incredible book. I was a big fan of the Dark Ages line for the previous World of Darkness and there are a ton of cool ideas on the table when you combine Requiem and Ancient Rome.
I also noticed that Adamantine Arrow is available.
Update: All three titles are now available at http://flamesrising.rpgnow.com
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Changeling: the Lost Review
By Matt-M-McElroy | December 28, 2007
Changeling: the Lost is a very different game than Changeling: the Dreaming. Some of the terminology may be similar but each book explores fairy tales in a different way and offer up very different types of games. Some fans will want to compare the two games, others will look at Lost as something new and original. I’m a fan of both games. Changeling: the Lost is an amazing book, full of great writing and tons of story elements.
Topics: Reviews, Roleplaying Game Reviews | 1 Comment »
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 »