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I’ve read a few reviews of this book that make statements like “Kiernan has finally found her voice,” or “this set of stories flow together so much better than [insert title of short story collection here].” I’m not completely sure that I agree. Granted, the lines that bind some of these stories together, or with her other novels like Threshold or Low Red Moon are a lot more sturdy, but to say that these stories are where Caitlin finally found her author’s voice just strikes me as a little misinformed. Caitlin’s had her voice for several years now, and while it may not be a shout, it is most certainly distinct and it carries.
Written by Pamela Collins, Aaron Dembski-Bowden, Jonathan McFarland and Morgan A. McLaughlin with artwork provided by Sam Araya, Durwin Talon, Avery Butterworth, Michael Gaydos, Travis Ingram and James Cole, World of Darkness: Antagonists is a sleek, thin hardcover that offers both players and Storytellers a good look at three “generic” types of foils – the walking dead, mortal hunters, and organized (or not so organized) religious threats – as well as a toolbox for the generation of home-cooked antagonists to fit the needs of any chronicle, limited entirely by the imagination of the ST. While World of Darkness: Antagonists is written in a voice that speaks very directly to the ST, the book is most certainly a boon for the player who wants to give their character a nice, solid history and “flesh out” some of their Merits… in the case that you’ve got an Ally out there who happens to be a freelance witch-hunter, that is… and therefore works out a place for itself on both ST and player bookshelves.
For those unaware, this is the “alternate” version of the Exorcist prequel, directed by Paul Schraeder. It marks the first time in history that two entirely different versions of a film have been commissioned by a studio, and that both have seen major release (though Dominion’s theatrical release was far more limited than that of The Beginning.) Naturally, watching the films inevitably breeds comparison between the two. So which is a better film? Which is a better prequel? Are the two mutually exclusive or do they go hand-in-hand? Let’s see, shall we?
When I was running my Mage: The Ascension games back in “the day,” I used to describe Reality as a living, breathing organism. It was as alive and as vital as each and every player character and NPC in the chronicle. Reality was, in many cases, the biggest and baddest NPC there was. The tapestry of the world around our characters, the worlds we create for our players, is incredibly important to every single aspect of our game; mood and feeling are painted in words that we use to describe the world around our players’ characters. Simply put, the stage is as every bit as important as the actors, and it should be treated as such.
The overwhelming majority of my tenure within the World of Darkness has been spent among werewolves. Players and Storytellers of Werewolf: The Apocalypse and its predecessor, Werewolf: The Forsaken are pretty much expecting of a world where the ground walked upon is sacred and every object is, in some manner or other, alive to some degree. Places and things are as alive and as aware as people in a lot of Werewolf games… but why should that device be limited to a single line? Why should the “Living Reality” be relegated only to the philosophy of witches and warlocks? It shouldn’t. I say this with confidence not just because I’ve always believed it personally as a Storyteller, but because of a book like World of Darkness: Mysterious Places.
Available at Amazon.com Fear is the oldest emotion possessed by humanity. Death and what might or might not lie beyond the mortal coil is, quite possibly, the origin of fear in and of itself. As mortals, death is inevitable. We don’t have the luxury of actually knowing what happens when we die, therefore we have […]
Looking for a creepy anime to watch this Halloween? Give “Kakurenbo” a try. “Kakurenbo”, or “Hide and Seek,” is short, visually stunning movie. And I mean short. It’s only 25 minutes long. Yeah, that is pretty short, but instead of a movie think of it as an episode of “Tales From the Crypt.” Short and sweet, well more like short and scary. And something you can definitely fit into your busy schedule.
Delta Green is a new take on H.P. Lovecraft’s Mythos, bringing the fight against darkness and horror to the 90’s and beyond. Delta Green is made up of government agents secretly working against a larger conspiracy of horror and madness. This anthology offers us eight tales from around the world of various agents and the missions that bring them into conflict with creatures of terror.
For those unfamiliar with the RPG world, players assume a character and play a game while “in character” reacting to other players, as well as to situations laid out before them by the GM of Game Master.
While the realm of RPG is best known because of Dungeons and Dragons — a game that is in its third incarnation, and spawned the very entertaining movie of the same name — it is far from the only offering in the field.
Haverghast Mansion sits beyond a path through the mist, where crickets herald your coming and cascading violins cry of deadly possibilities. “The 13th Hour”, a “haunting blend of horror movie music, dark orchestration, and chilling sound effects”, is more than just a group of sounds thrown together on a page. It’s a purposeful collection of music designed to tell a story from the first song title to the next. Songs like “Mansion in the Mist” conjure images of a Victorian mansion decayed through time and neglect, flow into the next by an expert set of unseen hands.
Dracula’s Revenge is an adventure-style board game, the first in the Gothica line of games from Human Head Studios. Set in Victorian England, Dracula’s Revenge takes you into the heart of the conflict between vampire hunter and hunter.
Thematically, the story is based on three pieces that merge into a whole. “That Yellow Bastard” comes to life with Nancy (Jessica Alba), and Hartigan, (Bruce Willis). Hartigan is on the brink of retirement; he struggles through his last hours as a police officer to rescue Nancy from the clutches of a high-powered official’s son, Roark Jr., played by Nick Stahl. This segment propels the film. Even if you know what happens, you want to witness their fates. That Yellow Bastard is the punctuation between Sin City and The Big Fat Kill.
A/State’s setting is post-apocalyptic futurism, but with a few twists. Unlike other post-apocalyptic settings, there are a lot of unknowns. Something happened, something that ripped the fabric of modern-day reality off from civilization’s spoiled body. Technology is limited, identities are a luxury, and survival of the fittest is a way of life—not just a catch phrase. The City, assuredly a conglomeration of some things that “were”, has no name. In this place with no name, you battle against your greatest enemy—yourself.
Bloodlines is a handy pdf for d20 Modern from the folks at 12 to Midnight. This adventure is written with 5th Level characters in mind, but is not a requirement. With a little prep, a GM can do just about anything with this material. Bloodlines uses the OGL Horror magic system from Mongoose Publishing, but has everything you need included. Coming in both “Printer-Friendly” and “Full versions as a set. The Full version is packed with handouts, bookmarks and is one of the best looking pdfs I’ve seen on the market.
Within the horror and dark fantasy realm, it seems as if a lot of fans are concerned about setting. Sorcerer takes an extremely bold approach – it is more concerned about how you play than where. The book, published by Adept Press, is beautifully bound in hardcover form and retails for about $20.00. At around 140 pages in trade size, the size of the book threw me for a loop. After all, how can such a thin book without a pregenerated setting pack such a big punch?
Sorcerer is a Faustian game for people who want to test the limits of their character and have complete freedom to use their own imagination to fill in all the details.
Available at RPGNow.com Written by Clash Bowley and El Zambo (Flying Mice, LLC.) In order to fully understand a game, there is nothing better than having the opportunity to run an adventure written by the game’s creators. The Prouty Island Adventure, available through RPGNow as a pdf, offers a lot in terms of history, setting, […]
Quick: An excellent game that captures the feel and fun of the movie and expands on the established mythos. Great as a stand alone game, as a “Campaign sourcebook” or as an addition to any other Eden Unisystem game.
White Wolf’s Mind’s Eye Theatre challenges us to enter a world just beyond the mortal senses, to look into the shadowy mirror of ourselves and find a world populated by the supernatural — vampires, mages, and others wage an eternal battle for dominance and survival. Choose your role in this World of Darkness … are you a defender of humanity, or a predator of the night?
The bullets fly and the zombies pile up in this game from Twilight Creations, Inc. Zombies!!! the board game proclaims to be a no-brainer, but assuredly this is a high-strategy game. As a player you have two goals, one of self-preservation and of zombie hunter. The game is never played the same twice, as you lie out the individual pieces of the board as you play. This adds to the frenzied anxiety of the game, you never know what will come around a corner.
Desert Dreams is the first supplement produced by Sacred Wolf for its Ignotus modern D20 setting. Ignotus is a dark world in which the eponymous supernatural realm poses a grave threat to humanity and its hideous denizens work to undermine society. Shadowy government agencies and vile religious cultists combine to make the real world, beneath the level of consciousness of most people, nasty, brutish and short.
There were parts that I loved, terribly, which were almost all thematic and setting/scene based. There were parts that I very very much hated, and that was all gameplay-based.
Here’s what I loved:
The sanity system. If you look at stuff closely (the priest crucified on the cross, for example) you get More out of the game, but you also lose more sanity points (which gradually recover over time). When you’re low on sanity, you start talking to yourself and hearing things. Apparently when you run out of sanity, you take whatever gun you’re holding and kill yourself.
