The concept of a group of people investigating contemporary strangeness and paranormal events is not a new one, but this book provides a coherent and well-considered approach to what is going on that makes it worth investigating.

It begins with a short Introduction that provides the obligatory “what is role-playing?” explanation and describes the core premise of the game: that the characters are members of a society dedicated to hunting out the truth. It also states that the following four chapters can be read by players and game masters alike, while the rest is best left to the game master alone. As with any game in which there are secrets to unearth, it’s best not to know those secrets in advance if you are one of the people trying to unearth them… but it does presuppose that only one member of your group wishes to game master at least for this system.

Aletheia is a journey into the weird world on the fringe of our own. It is an exploration of the supernatural and the paranormal in the modern world, and while the characters may find this experience holistically terrifying, terror and horror is not built into the system. Characters are designed as individuals, but they are brought together as a team due to their pasts and genealogical connections, regardless of profession or ability. The team has a residence and funds that are intricately connected to the setting, and after the team is assembled, they take off on their investigations of the paranormal and the weird.

Review by Kevin Rohan

Tales of the Seven Dogs Society is a collection of three short stories framed against the background of the Seven Dogs Society, the player group of Abstract Nova’s Aletheia RPG. If the game is unknown to you, I recommend taking a look at the reviews found at rpg.net, flamesrising.com and abstractnova.com, as they will reveal a great deal about the setting which I cannot go into here. The cover is one of Eric Lofgren’s typical pieces, showing an evil-looking man leering at the reader, with flames rising around him.

The short stories give some useful ideas for an Aletheia GM, and (if you don’t mind the spoilers), for some good ideas on how a PC can be integrated into the team – Matt McElroy’s narrator, a former private eye, for example, is recruited after getting a name for himself as a missing persons expert on ‘weird’ cases.

Review by Nick Lemming

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 […]

Tales of the Seven Dogs Society is a collection of stories inspired by the Aletheia role-playing game published by Abstract Nova Entertainment. Each of these stories is a possible continuation of the events described in that book.

Tales of the Seven Dogs Society was written by Jim Johnson, Monica Valentinelli and Matt M McElroy. A special limited printing of the book was available at the Abstract Nova booth (#2115) at GenCon in August.

Stop by the Flames Rising RPGNow Shop to order your copy of Tales of the Seven Dogs Society today!

Tales of the Seven Dogs Society is a collection of stories inspired by the Aletheia role-playing game published by Abstract Nova Entertainment. Each of these stories is a possible continuation of the events described in that book.

In the Aletheia RPG, players are presented with a detailed history of the strange events that led to the formation of the Seven Dogs Society, including some interesting supernatural phenomena that to this day remain unexplained. The book also gives describes how the Society works and just what types of characters might be recruited to join up.

Abstract Nova Entertainment produces unique and imaginative role-playing games.

You can now find these great titles at Indie Press Revolution.

Aletheia – Written by Werner Hager, Lee Foster, Monica Valentinelli

Alien abductions. Crop circles. Spontaneous Human Combustion. The Seven Dogs Society investigates the weirdness at the fringes of reality.

Noumenon Written by Darwin Leary, Lee Foster, Monica Valentinelli

Noumenon is a role-playing game of mystery and abstraction. Players control the Sarcophagi, strange insect-like creatures trapped within an otherworldly landscape called the Silhouette Rouge.

Have you entered the Flames Rising Favorite Horror Game Contest?

Well, if you’ve been following the recent Flash Fire Mini-Reviews, you’ve just seen a small glimpse of what we have to give away. So far, in Contest Edition and Contest Edition 2 we’ve highlighted new games, like Thousand Suns and supplements like All Tomorrow’s Zombies. With over 12 publishers sponsoring our contest, our prize pool is getting so huge we just had to blog about more of the great prizes that are perfect for any horror fan.

Here are just a few of the great prizes available in the Flames Rising Favorite Horror Game Contest.