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.

Welcome to Darklore Manor, where spirits of the dead do not rest easy, nor do they find release from their eternal suffering… Enter a dark realm of living gargoyles, sinister shadows, diabolical dolls, haunted havens and undead nightmares risen from the grave.

This illustrated anthology contains thirteen tales of terror by Joseph Vargo, Joseph Iorillo and Timothy Bennett, including several stories from Dark Realms Magazine and an original novella based on Nox Arcana’s haunting concept album, Darklore Manor.

Jim Butcher, New York Times best selling Fantasy & Science Fiction author has many interests and they all season his fiction. Jim is a multi-discipline martial arts enthusiast, skilled horseman,and enjoys gaming,fencing, singing, and bad Science Fiction movies.

The Dresden Files are about a wizard who works in Chicago solving supernatural crimes and assisting the Special Investigations Unit of the Chicago Police Department. It has large helpings of action, humor, and old fashioned chivalry in a very modern world.

Walk on the Wild Side In the decaying urban wilds, war-torn cityscapes, and cancerous megabarrens of these Feral Cities only one thing is certain – they all harbor singular opportunities for those brave and foolhardy enough to explore their dangerous domains, factions and secrets. * Sprawls where the usual rules and constants of civilized society […]

TWO DOLLAR SALE! Goodman Games 3.5 d20 products are only $2.00 until December 31, when they go off sale forever. Buy now while you still can! This sale includes: DragonMech Complete Guide Series Xcrawl …and many more d20 titles. Get ’em before they disappear forever, these titles are available at RPGNow.com.

Demimonde, by Justin Achilli, isn’t a pleasant novel to read through. It is coarse, over-wrought, overindulgent in so many ways and unapologetic about all of it. It is Brett Easton Ellis for the 21st century. It is Less Than Zero meets American Psycho, with a dash of Nietzsche, a few sprinkles of Emmanuel Kant and whole lot of King James.

Demimonde refers to the shadowy world of the unvisible, those people gifted with the ability to not be noticed, to be the glimpses on the periphery while feeding their excesses beyond all normal limits. The demimonde is a fae world, where zombies exist because of the faith in their existence but where all-too-human political and religious ideologies rule over both conscious and unconscious thought.

Review by Joe Rixman

Block by Bloody Block is a PDF book for Hunter: The Vigil. It includes:

• Systems to run a Hunter: The Vigil chronicle on a larger scale, reclaiming parts of your city from various supernatural factions

• Eight urban territories, complete with story seeds and Storyteller characters, ready to be dropped into an existing chronicle or modified to your troupe’s tastes

• Storytelling advice on how to create your own territories, as well as running a Block by Bloody Block chronicle

• Links to a Block by Bloody Block online wiki

Block by Bloody Block is available now at the Flames Rising RPGNow Shop.

Two reasons to celebrate the season with Postmortem Studios this year!

Today we have published our 100th Clipart Critter so, if you’re a budding – or existing – publisher and are looking for some excellent, cheap artwork to use in your products, or if you are a Game Master looking for something to visualize your scenes and your big baddies, or if you’re a player looking for a character image, now is a great time to bag yourself some excellent artwork by industry veteran Brad McDevitt (Traveller, Nightlife and many more).

In the age of the pharaohs, a great and unfathomable evil rose from the murky depths to cast its gibbous shadow over ancient Egypt. At the cost of his empire, Ramesses III imprisoned the horror beneath the sands of Luxor, where it has slumbered ever since.

In 1924, a team of visiting archeologists unearthed the last remaining testament of that ancient mystery, only to unleash a terror from out of time. Now death stalks the dusty streets of Luxor and a new age of horror is at hand. Can your investigators succeed where the mightiest of pharaohs have failed? Or will they fall victim to Luxor’s secret past?

Death in Luxor is available at the Flames Rising RPGNow Shop.