Those wizards! Give them half a chance and they will conduct bizarre experiments without a thought for their neighbours… and this adventure, designed for 8-10 2nd-level characters, is all about stopping one such wizard in his tracks. He lives on a clifftop near a village, and the rascal has even been using some of the locals in his experiments. Maybe some of the locals were friends or relatives of the characters, or maybe these budding heroes have been asked to help out.

Welcome to America at the end of the millennium. Do you know who is pulling the strings?

Delta Green knows. Things from beyond space and time that lurk and titter in the shadows, the slow rot at the core of humanity, the dark stars that whirl madly above – these are the true masters of the world. Delta Green has been fighting since the 1928 Raid on Innsmouth, and the fight still rages on.

This book is your weapon and your guide.

The largest Call of Cthulhu sourcebook ever.

Long out-of-print and never before in PDF, the Delta Green RPG is now available at the Flames Rising RPGNow Shop!

This is the first Pathfinder novel that I have read, since getting into the world of Golarion as a DM and player I have wanted stories about it. Turns out there are quite a few available. This is my review of one of them.

First of all I am going to tell you the things I liked the most, then a brief plot description and some final thoughts.

One of the best things this book did was show that it is a Pathfinder story, not just a generic fantasy novel. Yes, the Pathfinder organization was briefly featured, but there was so much more than that to ground this book in the Inner Sea. The way the setting, peoples, places, culture, and even game mechanics was worked into the story really made it come alive. This was more than just mentioning nations and gods, going to Absalom, and using unique monsters. The culture of different areas was discussed, both while the characters were there and by the characters themselves, it felt like a living world that was straight out of the Inner Sea Campaign Setting.

After more than 10 years, GODLIKE: Superhero Roleplaying in a World on Fire, 1936-1946 now has a PDF edition with a paperback on the way. Editor and publisher, Shane Ivey, tells us what it was like running the Kickstarter and getting the game ready for these new versions.

Gamers have wanted GODLIKE in PDF from the very beginning, and gamers made it possible in the Kickstarter project that we held to raise money to get the ancient layout files converted to a modern format and to commission new cover art. We have sent the PDF to Kickstarter backers. Thank you, everyone who supported the project!

Back in the mists of time, I wandered into a meeting of the university’s then wargames club and over the sound of jawbones hitting the floor at the sight of a woman, a lanky fellow asked “Would you like to play D&D?”

Opening this work takes me back to the sheer wonders and excitement that followed. The whole style, the artwork, the words, are redolent of those early books that soon found their way onto my bookshelves alongside the botany textbooks… and yet, this isn’t merely another retro-clone, it is a coherent game in its own right, bringing its own freshness and elegance to the core of fantasy role-playing: the small band of adventurers battling enormous odds and terrifying monsters in search of awesome magics and heaps of treasure.

Conspiracy of Shadows: Apprentice is a short form, self-contained role-playing game centered around one man’s quest to take the place of his master. In the game, you and your friends will take on the role of a small band of northern warriors and the mysterious Apprentice as they travel the wild frozen north to find and destroy the Master. The goal of this kickstarter is to raise funds to publish this short form game, both as a traditional printed document and as a handcrafted artifact.

Gaming has several kitchen sink style settings that mix and match strange elements for unique tastes. Shadowrun mixes dark future heists with high fantasy magic. RIFTS sets as many genres as possible at each other in a war over earth. Deadlands brings creaky steampunk machinery, gory 80’s horror movies, wire-fu, action horror and more to a Wild West time and setting. The West is a great setting for a game and Deadlands brings a lot of excellent flavor to the table. Deadlands Reloaded was recently re-released in a budget conscious Explorer’s Edition for Savage Worlds.

Deadlands Reloaded merges the classic setting with the mechanics of Savage Worlds. Savage Worlds started as The Great Rail Wars, a miniatures skirmish game for the setting. Since then, Savage Worlds has been hammered into one of the most prolific rules sets outside of d20. Coming back to Deadlands brings the setting full circle. The setting has spanned novels, a few attempts at a video game and a CCG that is very well regarded. The game even spawned spin-off games set in a post-apocalyptic future and exotic space frontier. The company even recently held a Kickstarter to fund and all new chunk of the settings set in 1930’s New Orleans.

Terrors lurk in the darkness, subvert the souls, and corrupt the mind. Secret detachments of psychics remotely view our every move. Powerful occultists perform secret rituals in hidden locations, manipulating our world to their ends. Mysterious forces invade our very souls, twisting and distorting the weak into strong and violent predators. Creatures flee from humanity’s encroachment on their territories, then strike out when prying eyes get too close. Spirits haunt the edges of our silent fears.

This is the paranormal side of the world of Conspiracy X. Operatives struggle to uncover secret occult cabals, exorcise dangerous spirits, investigate the creatures of myth, and project their minds into future. The threat of alien invasion may loom, but the corruption of humanity by paranormal forces lurks behind every mission. Can you truly say you are prepared for the direst of humankind’s imaginings? The ageless battle against the paranormal continues.

The Paranormal Sourcebook is available now at the Flames Rising RPGNow Shop!

Race to Adventure! is a fun, family-friendly board game for ages 8 and up that can be played in about half an hour. Fans of pulp will love the brightly-colored world of talking apes and flying jet-men, and busy families can have an evening of fun that doesn’t take over the whole night.

For experienced gamers who love the “role selection” dynamic in board and card games, Race to Adventure! offers a strong introduction to those concepts that your friends will find less intimidating than similar Euro-games, yet still packed with enough complexity and configurability to challenge everyone.

The Stoker-award winning editor of the acclaimed, eclectic anthology The New Dead returns with 21st Century Dead, and an all-new lineup of authors from all corners of the fiction world, shining a dark light on our fascination with tales of death and resurrection… with ZOMBIES!

The stellar stories in this volume includes a tale set in the world of Daniel H. Wilson’s Robopocalypse, the first published fiction by Sons of Anarchy creator Kurt Sutter, and a tale of love, family, and resurrection from the legendary Orson Scott Card. This new volume also includes stories also from other award-winning and New York Times bestselling authors, such as: Simon R. Green, Chelsea Cain, Jonathan Maberry, Duane Swiercyznski, Caitlin Kittredge, Brian Keene, Amber Benson, John Skipp, S. G. Browne, Thomas E. Sniegoski, Hollywood screenwriter Stephen Susco, National Book Award nominee Dan Chaon, and more!

Flames Rising is pleased to present an excerpt from this collection by editor Christopher Golden.

Summer is the best time ever. No more pencils, no more books, you know the deal. And this year, it’s going to be extra-awesome because you’re spending two weeks at Camp Howland Rolf where you’ll be swimming, playing sports, running around like crazy, fending off the attacks of ravenous woodland creatures… Wait—what was that last […]

“Godlike in their abilities, let us hope this new breed of man will carry the burden of a suffering world to our ultimate and unwavering goal — freedom for all the people of the Earth.” – Franklin D. Roosevelt, November 10, 1941

At the dawn of World War II, a handful of people called “Talents” manifested strange powers that set them apart from the rest of humanity. With these powers man took to the air without mechanical aid, explored the depths of the sea without life support, and touched the rim of space.

To others, Talents seemed godlike in their power. Only the Talents themselves, pushed to the front lines of every battle, knew the truth — that these newfound powers seemed pointless in the face of death.

That their power set them apart from family, friends and enemies.

That it made them more, and yet somehow less.

These fears, like the power that feeds them, are godlike in their scope.

“The world is richly super [yet] delightfully bleak and war-torn…. Look, up in the sky — and take cover.” —Kenneth Hite, Out of the Box

A GAME LIKE NO OTHER

Visionary Comics brings the weird west world of Deadlands to full-color life with a series of comics by a variety of artists and writers. Five different issues featuring five different main stories combine to give readers the full-bore Deadlands experience. Combining elements of the classic Western with Steampunk – a fairly natural fit, as it happens – and horror, Deadlands offers a unique experience to gamers. It was only natural that such a two-fisted, four-color setting would make the jump to a more visual medium – comics.

Our author design series continues today with a new essay from Corissa Baker, who tells us about her new novel The Shadow of Dracula; Harker’s Inheritance.

When I started the research process for The Shadow of Dracula; Harker’s Inheritance I knew that I had to be thorough and committed to Bram Stoker’s classic. From the beginning, I was writing this book for fans of this long-lasting pillar of literature. I was not, be assured, pinning a plot to the success of Dracula in order to capitalize on it.

Beyond the Dice enhances the overall gaming experience by adding emotional depth to the table-top gaming environment.

Phrygian Phish Musical Productions presents the first release in a new line of soundtracks specifically created for the tabletop gaming environment. Beyond the Dice: Symphonic Soundscapes features six dynamic symphonic scores and two bonus music tracks created to provide a musical reference for various gaming scenes.

The moment a happy resident of the natural world becomes aware of the supernatural is a scene that we are all familiar with. Whether this scene appears in literature, graphic novel, television or film we have witnessed the human drama of a character who has realized they no longer understand the world they live in, they are not the top of the food chain and they are not safe. What will they do? How will they cope with these paradigm shattering revelations? Will they survive?

Falling Scales Chapter One takes players deep into this kind of scenario and fleshes it out into a chronicle for characters in the World of Darkness. The characters see something they were not meant to see and they have no choice but to confront this new reality. They are quickly swept up by a group which calls itself the Unmasked, a cult which takes in those who have been exposed to the truth.

The 24th Annual Will Eisner Comic Industry Awards (“The Eisners”) was held last night in the Indigo Ballroom of the Hilton San Diego Bayfront Hotel, showcasing the best in comics for 2011, and publisher Archaia is happy to announce it was honored with three awards for its original graphic novel hardcover, Jim Henson’s Tale of Sand.

This is not a rhetorical statement, dear readers. Vampires are *not* dead. Today, Stone Skin Press shares with you a taste of “Fangs and Formaldehyde,” which was included in the upcoming New Hero anthology. This anthology is part of a Kickstarter for Stone Skin Press – Anthologies of New Fiction.

Why are my vampires different? To be blunt, I wanted a legitimate reason why vampires could not fall in love or get too emotional. In my setting? They die. Not only that, they die horribly. Their death is so terrifying to them, in fact, that the ones who have stuck around for a while strive for ennui just to survive.

Congratulations to the 2012 ENnie Awards nominees!

See the full list at Ennie-awards.com.

Some excellent Horror & Dark Fantasy entries in the list this year from Pelgrane Press (Trail of Cthulhu), Cubicle 7 (Cthulhu Britanica), Steve Jackson Games (GURPS Horror), Chaosium (Call of Cthulhu), Green Ronin (Dragon Age), White Wolf (Vampire: the Masquerade) and a few others. Of course there are some dark fantasy elements in the various Dungeons & Dragons and Pathfinder nominations as well. Traditionally Wizards of the Coast and Paizo do rather well at the ENnies, which is not surprising consider ENWorld is a D&D site first and everything else second. I’m usually more interested in who wins the Silver awards for each category.

Award-winning publisher Archaia Entertainment is excited to announce a partnership with Ishimori Production Inc. of Japan to produce CYBORG 009, a modern adaptation of the classic manga series created by the legendary Shotaro Ishinomori, author of other such notable works as Kamen Rider, Goranger, Kikaider, and Skullman. This deluxe hardcover graphic novel will feature the classic characters and origin story from the original series, re-imagined for a new worldwide audience. The new edition will be written by F.J. DeSanto (The Spirit, Immortals: Gods and Heroes) and Bradley Cramp (Gattaca, the forthcoming film Invertigo), and illustrated by fan-favorite artist Marcus To (Red Robin, The Huntress).