KUNG FU ANIMALS (SAVE THE WORLD) is a setting for the hugely-popular and immensely-fun Savage Worlds roleplaying system. It’s a book that gives players the tools to create their own wild universes where semi-human characters become the world’s greatest heroes. We start with your character’s Origin–did they come to being by accident? Experiment? Are they an alien? A machine?–and then build from there. Each step, you get Edges, Hindrances, and Skills that help shape your unique character.

Rich Thomas, founder and creative director of Onyx Path Publishing, in conjunction with Eschaton Media announced a new partnership at Midwinter Gaming Convention. Onyx Path will develop a tabletop RPG called Dystopia Rising: Evolution based on Eschaton Media’s popular post-zombie apocalypse themed Dystopia Rising live-action scenarios.

“I’m really looking forward to working on Dystopia Rising: Evolution,” stated Eddy Webb, developer for the tabletop RPG. “The DR community has been very supportive so far, and I can’t wait to use this rich background to create a great post-apocalyptic tabletop experience.”

It’s ever been a loaded word among vampires. Jyhad is in force everywhere from lofty, perfumed Elysium to cloying, smoke-filled blood feasts. Jyhad’s the eternal game played by elders, Methuselahs, and worse — it’s the agenda of beings so utterly beyond humanity, one such as yourself could scarcely understand its movements.

Luckily for you, you’ve picked up a copy of my diary. With my help you may just take a step on the first rung of understanding. Information worth having is information you must earn through blood, and oh, how I’ve bled for what’s contained within these pages.

Did you know that Steve Jackson Games GURPS corebooks and supplements are now available on DriveThruRPG.com? The publisher has recently uploaded several new titles, and there’s one supplement in particular we were happy to see: GURPS Horror Fourth Edition. GURPS Horror Fourth Edition is the latest incarnation of one of the most popular GURPS supplements […]

The Tipping Point of the Zombie Craze

The zombie genre, like all trends, waxes and wanes as excellent titles by talented people are drowned out by the cascading wave of others merely attempting to capitalize on the trend. It isn’t exactly difficult to understand why the undead find themselves coming and going through our collective consciousness, the themes and moods lend themselves to horrors and fears that have become all but ingrained into our very being. From the panic of diseases to the mutually assured annihilation of the species, the premise plays on the primal fears of the human experience.

As we (that is, Michelle Lyons-McFarland, co-owner of Growling Door Games, and I) started to plan out our proposed sourcebooks for Chill 3rd Edition, I noticed that one thing the 2nd Edition had promised but never produced was a book called The Living Dead. We started thinking about how that might work with our vision of Chill, and we realized that, if you’ll pardon a bit of metaphor, grave dirt is fertile soil for horror.

In planning out the book, though, I realized a couple of very important things, and they both stemmed from the same thought: the undead are ghosts with bodies. Before I get to the two epiphanies I had about outlining and writing the book, let’s unpack that thought a little.

Written in 1967 by Joan Lindsay, Picnic at Hanging Rock is a historical fiction novel and ghost story set in a girls’ boarding school located in Australia. A critically-acclaimed movie based on the book was made in 1975 by Peter Weir. Now, this literary classic slated to be a reimagining of Picnic at Hanging Rock. In 2018, it will be released as an Amazon mini-series starring Natalie Dormer from HBO’s Game of Thrones.

Penguin Classics has just released a new edition of Picnic at Hanging Rock, with an introduction by novelist Maile Meloy. The story was Joan Lindsay’s debut as a novelist at age 70, and is considered to be one of Australia’s greatest literary works. Set in a Victorian 1900, the plot circles around the disappearance of three girls who attended Appleyard College for Young Ladies. The mystery, deftly told, is only the beginning of the story behind this book, however. Lindsay, who wrote the novel in less than two weeks, blurs the line between fantasy and reality, never revealing whether or not these young ladies were real people who disappeared or if they were figments of her imagination.

Return now to dying Mars in its last age of glory. A planet of flashing swords and choking sands, of winking courtesans and lantern-lit canal cities.

Mars, where fortune and heartbreak are two sides of the same obsidian chit, where lost cities and dry oceans stretch between the last bastions of civilization. Where the First Martians, the monument-builders, are but a haunted memory. Where the Red Martians become decadent and reckless in their last days. Where the Pale Martians rule the wastes, remembering a history whose weight would crush a lesser people.

For over twenty-five years, World of Darkness fans have aspired to bring their own unique creations to the masses. Today, White Wolf Entertainment announced, in conjunction with DriveThruRPG, the debut of a new creator content program called Storytellers Vault. Beginning with Vampire: The Masquerade, writers, artists, and game designers can publish their non-canonical tabletop RPG […]

Today, FlamesRising.com is pleased to share a preview of Dagger of Spiragos for Scarred Lands. Artifacts from the fallen titan Spiragos have been recovered, and forces are at work that would see them used for ill. The Dagger of Spiragos and the Ring of Spiragos are now in the player characters’ hands — and they […]

Wildside Press has many excellent Cthulhu Mythos collections as well as a number of Weird Tales offerings. Today they launched H. P. Lovecraft: The Decline of the West by Mythos scholar S. T. Joshi in eBook formats at DriveThruFiction.com.

The author writes:

This book began as an expansion of my essay, “H. P. Lovecraft: The Decline of the West,” in The Weird Tale, but very quickly became something quite different, to the degree that the two works have little save the title in common. I have always been interested in Lovecraft the philosopher, and in my Starmont Reader’s Guide to Lovecraft (1982) I attempted a very compressed account of his philosophical views.

We have shared the world with monsters for millennia…

Chronicles of Darkness: Dark Eras 2 starts out presenting a chapter for each of six historical eras; each of which features two Chronicles of Darkness game lines which include Vampire: The Requiem, Mage: The Awakening, Hunter: The Vigil, Changeling: The Lost, and more! The rules in this book are compatible with second edition Chronicles of Darkness.

It’s difficult to imagine a fresh take on Bram Stoker’s Dracula. Over the years there have been radio and stage plays, movies, comics, collectible and illustrated editions. These transformative works are both a testimony to the power of the original story and its form as an epistolary novel. Now, because Dracula is the public domain, […]

FlamesRising.com contributor, Monica Valentinelli, dropped by WisCon 41 recently and spoke with Bill Campbell from Rosarium Publishing to learn about an upcoming anthology called TROUBLE THE WATERS: Tales from the Deep Blue. This collection of water-themed short stories spans a range of genres–including horror–and is planned to incorporate deities such as Mami Wata, Sedna, Coventina, […]

Torg Eternity is a table-top roleplaying game based on the original 1990 version of Torg created by West End Games. It has been re-imagined and updated for the Near Now. Now, you can play a Storm Knight in this RPG published by Ulisses Spiele in today’s setting. The Torg Eternity Kickstarter has already funded! Now, […]

FlamesRising.com is pleased to present an excerpt from Haven, Kansas. This YA horror novel, written by Aletheia Kontis, takes place in the spooky town of Haven filled with secrets, mystery, and dread. Interested in this latest novel from Kontis? Here’s more information about the book, to help set the mood as you read chapter one. […]

A new edition of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay will be launched by Cubicle 7 Entertainment later this year. The new edition will return players to Warhammer’s grim world of perilous adventure, and takes its direction from the first and second editions of the game.

Cubicle 7 CEO Dominic McDowall said, “Like so many gamers I grew up on Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. It’s an iconic setting and I’m thrilled to be working on this new edition of the game. Our team have a huge breadth of experience with Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, and I’m excited to be able to bring the Cubicle 7 approach to the Old World. We’ll be revealing more of our plans in the coming months, so subscribe to our newsletter and keep an eye on our website!”

Today, FlamesRising.com is pleased to host a special preview from Monarchies of Mau, an upcoming game published by Pugsteady and Onyx Path Publishing. Monarchies of Mau uses a customized version of the 5th Edition rules from the world’s most popular fantasy RPG. It’s been redesigned for streamlined play, with an emphasis on cooperation and action […]

FlamesRising.com is pleased to present an interview with twice-nominated BAFTA writer Lucien Soulban, who works for Ubisoft Montreal. Fans of tabletop RPGs will remember Lucien from his contributions to games like Vampire: The Masquerade and Dungeons & Dragons. Additionally, he’s also written novels for Warhammer 40K and Dragonlance, as well as short stories for various […]

The Dungeons & Dragons team drops by FlamesRising.com today with a special announcement for D&D fans. Check it out! Dungeons & Dragons loves the amazing video streams produced by our fans. This community-generated live-play highlights what’s fantastic about D&D—sitting down together with your friends to tell a grand story! To celebrate, we’ve invited a bunch […]