The syrallax rivals the dark elf and aboleth for domination of the subterranean realm. While syrallaces lack the sheer numbers of other races, they make up for it with the impressive stable of minions and thralls they keep and their ability to maximize those forces through superior strategy. Through intimidation and their poisonous gaze, they force others to serve them out of fear.

In this first set of poison pages from One Bad Egg’s Poisoncraft Fourth Edition line, you’ll find a set of monsters bound to make your upper paragon-tier players quake as they reach for the anti-venom.

Poisoncraft 4E: The Syrallax is available at the Flames Rising RPGNow Shop.

It is a story of Richard Cypher, a woodsman in a village of the Westland. To him magic was a myth or a legend and he never thought of it more than an afterthought. Then he stumbled across a woman dressed in white named Kahlan and everything in his world changed instantly. He finds out he is the Seeker of legend and he must cross the boundry to fight the evil Darken Rahl.

The good and bad thing about fantasy is that there is a very true formula for how the story is written. It is good because when someone that can truly write gets a hold of it, it can be a magical thing indeed. It is bad because of how predictiable the story can be sometimes. This book had both the good and bad of that equation.

Review by Stacey Chancellor

Wizards of the Coast has released the Beta version of Duels of the Planeswalkers, an arcade-style video game for Xbox LIVE Arcade developed in conjunction with UK company Stainless Games. The game is rated T for Teen and is scheduled for spring release for the Xbox 360.

Duels of the Planeswalkers takes players on a journey through a Multiverse in which they take on the roles of Planeswalkers, powerful wizards who battle others for glory, knowledge and conquest. Throughout their journey, Planeswalkers battle with, or against each other in lush interactive 3D environments. Similar to the Magic: The Gathering trading card game, Planeswalkers are equipped with an arsenal of spells and creatures that if used wisely will help advance the Planeswalker through the game.

As we continue to break into new shadowy depths for 2009, Flames Rising needs your help. For over five years we’ve poured through books, games and a few films to talk about horror. This year, we want to continue that effort, but also want to reach out to all the fans that have made Flames Rising possible. Our goal is to build a supportive community of minions and hellions that share in our passion for the things that lurk in the dark. We’ll share with you articles, posts and trailers beyond what we have here on Flames Rising. From contests to breaking horror trailers, join us on Twitter and Facebook and stay on top of your favorite genre.

Join @flamesrising on Twitter. Get breaking news, interesting links and a chance to win free stuff!

Gen Con LLC announced today that the US Bankruptcy Court of Western Washington has confirmed the company’s plan of reorganization and approved the company’s rejection of a hostile takeover bid.

“This is bright day for us”, said Adrian Swartout, CEO of Gen Con. “The entire team is looking forward to 2009 and continuing our growth as a stronger, more focused company. Our emergence from Chapter 11 is a testament to the skill and perseverance of our employees and the strength of the phenomenal Gen Con brand. Everyone here is excited to begin working outside of Chapter 11.”

Since filing for bankruptcy protection in February of 2008, Gen Con has significantly reduced its expenses and increased its cash position.

Races in Dungeons & Dragons 4E are good for laying down the broad strokes of a character, but they often don’t feel as “lived in” as the ethnicities we encounter in everyday life. One potent reason for this is a general lack of cultural complexity and diversity. D&D races tend to be presented as monocultural societies—all elves are the same the world over, and so on.

Hard Boiled Cultures aims to make it easy to change that, outlining versatile, easy methods for diversifying the ideas of culture and race in your D&D 4E game. Better yet, the methods break down how to give this diversity real weight in the system, rather than simply relying on “color” text to do the job.

Hard Boiled Cultures is available at the Flames Rising RPGNow Shop.

DriveThruComics.com and Moonstone are offering Twilight Crusade: Gabriel as a free download!

Twilight Crusade is a battle of Heaven vs Hell right here on our Earth, where the READERS will decide who wins!

In the War between Heaven & Hell, one soldier has been on the front lines of the battleground since the very Beginning.

Twilight Crusade: Gabriel is free for a limited time at DriveThruComics.com.

EVE Online: Apocrypha Uncovers a New Version of the Universe Itself

CCP’s massive free expansion slated for March Release

CCP, one of the world’s leading independent game developers, today announced the launch of the tenth free expansion for EVE Online, its popular science fiction massively multi-player online game (MMOG). EVE Online: Apocrypha is the most ambitious EVE expansion in the game’s over five year history and it coincides with the March 10th, 2009 release of EVE Online as a boxed product through a partnership with Atari.

A new horror design essay has arrived here at Flames Rising. Author Maurice Broaddus tells us a bit about the creative process that went into his recent project with Wrath James White.

Religion and Horror

Some people have asked about what the thought process behind bringing Orgy of Souls to light. So I thought I would explore that for a bit.

Wrath James White and I have very little in common beyond being bald, black horror writers. Our writing styles, our lifestyles, our politics, our worldviews, our spiritual perspectives – on paper, we shouldn’t even be friends.

Goodman Games has a new Age of Cthulhu series, which starts with Death in Luxor. Set in 1924, this adventure centers around a group of investigators as they explore a murder/suicide and the events that could have provided the catalyst for the violence. This adventure comes in at exactly fifty pages (including cover art) and, due to its structure, is a hefty read.

The author, Harley Stroh, also directed the game’s art, which is one of its strongest features. The cover art provided by Eddie Sharam depicts the adventure’s more Sanity-blowing moments and is, quite simply, one of the better cover pieces I’ve seen in ages.

Review by Todd Cash

FORGET AULD LANG SYNE – ROLL THE DICE ON SOMETHING NEW! 2008 is out, 2009 is in, and more than ever, it’s is a time of change. That means it’s a great time to try a new game! We really like to encourage people to try new games at RPGNow.com, and we are willing to […]

I was excited to receive my review copy of this corebook. There are genres that I enjoy and there are genres that I love. Preventing Apocalypses falls into the latter category. In fact, I hoped it could provide the mechanics for a two-year old campaign I have been running.

The idea of agencies combating the supernatural, while not original, remains a wide open field. There are several facets of the genre that can be explored, be it comedy, splatterpunk, or Lovecraftian horror. The game’s subtitle–An Action, Horror RPG . . . with a twist of Humor–relates the focus of API. This is a lighter look at the supernatural, something along the lines of Hellboy.

Review by Todd Cash

Goodman Games has posted details on their February and March releases!

DCC #61: CITADEL OF THE CORRUPTOR (FEBRUARY)
GMG5060, 48 pages, $12.99
Level 7-9 adventure. In a world of arcane magic and divine might, some secrets are best left hidden. When the forces of the wicked Mountain King discover an eldritch weapon of unmatched power, the future of the Northlands hangs in the balance. Following in the wake of bloody, madness-induced slaughter, can the heroes prevail where an army has perished? Blood and madness are in store, for where Lord Ablair the Corruptor passes, death must surely follow. Only the most cunning and courageous of heroes can triumph against the Citadel of the Corruptor!
More info at http://www.goodman-games.com/5060preview.html

Arcanum Imperii is a Cthulhu Live 3rd Edition script set in ancient Rome designed for a dozen or more players that includes introduction, timeline, prop, and costume information and character stats and bios for more than 30 characters. This download comes with three different variants of the game script — color, black-and-white, and background-free — and each of these comes in low-resolution screen-friendly and high-resolution printer-friendly versions.

Arcanum Imperii is available at the Flames Rising RPGNow Shop.

It’s already too late to run…

The Zombie Apocalypse is upon us!

The End is HERE!

In this book, you’ll find ways to introduce zombies into any game, set any time and anywhere. A multitude of zombification theories are presented for use or inspiration, as well as campaign ideas to fight against them. The core of the book centers around creating the undead machines, and using 13 separate qualities, each with 4 separate levels of ability, any kind of zombie can be created. Any type of zombie can be emulated from any source, or you could create your own. Eleven types of sample zombies are given in the book, from the easy to put down, easy to run from Slow Zombies, to the deadly assassins known only as Shadow Stalkers.

Zombacalypse is available at the Flames Rising RPGNow Shop.

Raw magic power: the essence of all true fantasy role-playing games. In a world where magic permeates all aspects of daily life, a wizard is the undisputed lord of arcane lore. If you think that a wizard’s only way to express his true might is by casting a mundane fireball, take a look at the QUINTESSENTIAL WIZARD and think again!

In this book you will find a brand-new origins system, over 70 new powers, new rituals, 14 paragon paths, new feats, four new arcane implements, and many magic items specifically designed for arcane casters, including runes. Your wizard will be truly unique and will be able to choose from a wide range of options. This book also features guidelines to play your wizard in combat and non-combat situations, organisations that may help or hinder your efforts, and new rules to build your perfect mansion, a magical tower to keep all your treasures and secrets.

The world is a strange and mysterious place. In Aletheia, each player portrays a member of the Seven Dogs Society. They investigate the anomalous phenomena and impossible occurrences that defy logic and commonsense. This includes conducting eyewitness interviews, on-site analysis and observation, and forming hypotheses – all in an attempt to answer the big questions […]

Adamant Entertainment’s d20 MasterKit line, which includes such acclaimed products as CORSAIR, HOT PURSUIT and others, will be discontinued and removed from our inventory as of Friday January 1st, 2009. We currently have the entire product line on sale for $1 each, from now until the products are taken down for good. It’s your last […]

An unknown virus spreads across the globe, turning ordinary people into ravenous killers. Only a small population proves to be immune, but most quickly fall prey to the infected. Isolated on the rooftop of a school near the outskirts of Chicago, Bill Thompson and a small band of survivors come to the frightening realization that, without food or water, they will perish quickly under the hot sun. Some wish to migrate to a safer, more plentiful refuge, but the school is surrounded by rampaging murderers.

The Rage Plague is available at the Undead Shopping Extravaganza.

Talisman Studios is celebrating the festive season by previewing a new free feature for Suzerain, our Origins Award Nominee RPG. If you go to our website and click on the vault you’ll find that we’ve launched a beta of our brand new on-line character generator.

Unlike some other companies we could mention, our application is totally free to use and hooks into the master database of character feats. You can look up any feat from any Suzerain setting and then create a character using the ones you want. Save your characters and download them as pre-filled character sheets, ready to print out and take to the gaming table.