Hunter: The Vigil Quickstart (The Hunt)
By Flames | July 4, 2008
The Hunt
The Special Cases Unit of the Philadelphia PD was used to handling strange cases, but when a flesh-eating ghoul killed one of their own, they’re thrown into a new world where literal monsters roam the night. Now they’re working for an organization known as Task Force: Valkyrie, or they will be after they finish this hunt….
This quickstart for Hunter: The Vigil contains everything you need to play through a scenario (except for some 10-sided dice). This story is set chronologically before our other quickstart, One Year Later, but no knowledge of Hunter is needed to play this stand-alone product.
The Hunt is available for free at the Flames Rising RPGNow Shop.
Topics: Horror News | No Comments »
Call of Cthulhu 6th Edition RPG Review
By Flames | July 4, 2008
In the early 1900s, horror writer H.P. Lovecraft created a series of books and short stories set in a dark world beset by cultist, monsters and unfathomable “things” from space and other dimensions. These works collectively became known as the “Cthulhu Mythos,” named for one of the Great Old Ones that slumbered in the lost city of Rályeh, awaiting the end of the world.
Chaosium’s “Call of Cthulhu” horror roleplaying game captures the feel of Lovecraft’s writings and puts players in the roles of investigators bent on uncovering, and surviving, the dark lore of the Cthulhu Mythos.
Review by Michael Erb
Topics: Roleplaying Game Reviews | No Comments »
Fall with Honor by E. E. Knight Now Available
By Flames | July 3, 2008
Freedom is on the march as the rebellion against the Kurian Occupation of Earth takes the offensive. David Valentine has recruited an ad hoc company of former Quisling soldiers and puts them through a trial by fire with a successful raid against an enemy armory. Now, they’re ready to join forces with a guerilla army planning to establish a new freehold in the Appalachian Mountains.
Valentine knows that a permanent outpost near the East Coast would provide a strategic victory over the Kurians—and he believes that only his old ally Ahn-Kha could be leading the guerillas. But nothing could prepare Valentine’s fighters for what awaits them at the end of their journey.
Fall with Honor is available at Amazon.com.
Topics: Horror News | 1 Comment »
Death Walks the Streets Comic Book Review
By Monica Valentinelli | July 3, 2008
In this prequel issue, the story is about the contrast between the harm people cause to other people, and the harm that comes from evil beyond our understanding. Told in a very cinematic style with artwork to match, we first meet Danielle, a strong female character who works with Malcolm and Michael for the Organization.
Sent to “take care of business,” they hunt down a man named Peter Moore. In a typical suspense-filled mob movie, you might expect that Peter had already met an untimely death.
Topics: Comic Book/Graphic Novel Reviews | No Comments »
2008 Origins Highlights
By Flames | July 2, 2008
Earlier this week we posted an initial Origins Report which featured a few teasers for interviews that guest blogger Michael Erb had lined up while he was at the convention. Also included in that first post is the list of Origins Award Winners for this year. Today Michael shows off a few of the photos he snapped while wandering the hall and highlights some of the publishers he made contact with throughout the weekend…
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Exquisite Replicas RPG: Shadow Crews
By Matt-M-McElroy | July 2, 2008
The first Exquisite Replicas RPG preview introduced the game and gave us a look at the Cover Art by Eric Lofgren, then we had a sneak peek at The Anonymous, the tragic heroes of the this dark game.
In that preview we learned of the fight against the Othersiders. The alien beings who have been stealing parts of our world and replacing them with “fake” versions. Today we are going to take a look at some of those Othersiders…
Topics: Resources | 1 Comment »
Dabel Brothers to adapt Robert Jordan’s “Wheel of Time” in comic book format
By Matt-M-McElroy | July 1, 2008
Dabel Brothers Publishing announced today that they will adapt Robert Jordan’s bestselling Wheel of Time series, which has sold more than 14 million copies in North America alone, into comic book format. The first issue is scheduled to release in December 2008.
The Wheel of Time began in 1990 with the publication of The Eye of the World; ten more volumes have followed. The most recent four books of the series have reached #1 on the New York Times hardcover bestseller list. It is the story of a world – both our past, and our future – in which the battle between the Light and the Shadow must be fought every day; and of the people, both ordinary and extraordinary, who must fight that battle. Jordan wrote eleven volumes of the series and one prequel; he was unable to complete the twelfth and final volume before his death in 2007. That volume, A Memory of Light, will be completed by Brandon Sanderson, a writer chosen by Jordan’s widow and editor, Harriet McDougal, and published by Tor Books in 2009.
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Daughter of Nexus RPG Review
By Flames | July 1, 2008
Daughter of Nexus is an adventure offering for White Wolf’s fantasy RPG, Exalted. This adventure is published in PDF form and is another prong in White Wolf’s fairly aggressive and welcome acceptance of the PDF medium as a way to do business. This is particularly desirable for Adventures, I think, as the production costs and the sale price can be kept low though, at nearly seven dollars - for which you can get PDFs two and a half times as big and with more content - I still don’t think they’re getting the price point right for their electronic offerings, after all, adventures are pretty much disposable products, with little in the way of replay value and few elements that can be effectively reused.
Review by James ‘Grim’ Desborough
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Wanted Movie Review
By Flames | July 1, 2008
“And what have you done lately?” So ends a fast-paced, winner-take-all honey of a comic book brought to life. Wanted builds from a nicely sardonic character study through a romp of an action film into a colossal final fight built around a twist that suddenly catapults the movie from a fun night out into an edge-of-the-seat thrill ride. It may start out slowly, but this movie ends with a bang so big, it will leave you grinning with malicious glee. All nice words aside, don’t go to this movie looking for high drama and a soaring intellectual quotient—although the movie does, at times, make witty, ironic jokes worthy of a wry smile. But if you enjoy a dark comic book writ large and riddled with as much wordplay as bullets, then this is the movie for you.
Review by Dana Hagengruber
Topics: TV Series and Movie Reviews | No Comments »
Monsterpocalypse: Cataclysm Event and CMG launch at GenCon Indy
By Matt-M-McElroy | June 30, 2008
The Monsterpocalypse is upon us!
Join Privateer Press (booth 1201) and celebrate the world premiere of the Monsterpocalypse collectible miniatures game. A limited amount of sneak preview starters and boosters will go on sale for the first time ever on Thursday, August 14th. The sneak preview contains a sampling of the figures in Series 1: Rise. The figures are not limited edition and are identical in all respects to the figures in Rise due out October 2008. Be among the very first to play Monsterpocalypse in its debut event at Gen Con Indy!
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Godlike RPG Review
By Flames | June 30, 2008
“Godlike” is a role-playing game about super heroes during World War II. But “Godlike” isn’t your normal super-powered game. The heroes, called Talents, are normal people with extraordinary powers, but who ultimately are still very human.
The Talents in “Godlike” don’t dress in spandex and capes while soaring into war. That’s like wearing a giant target on your back. Instead Talents tend to work in small groups, just like a regular military unit, and conceal their extraordinary abilities when possible. The Talents have great power, but ultimately are tools in the war, and a player character’s ability to affect the course of the war is limited and dependant more upon the success of missions rather than just on personal actions.
Review by Michael Erb
Topics: Roleplaying Game Reviews | No Comments »
Impressions of Wizard World Chicago 2008
By Monica Valentinelli | June 29, 2008
Flames Rising was fortunate to attend Wizard World Chicago this year, at the gorgeous Rosemont Convention Center in Des Plaines, Illinois.
This was our first year at the convention, and we’re happy to report that we are making plans to go back next year.
Topics: Articles | 2 Comments »
Origins Interviews & Origins Awards Winners
By Flames | June 29, 2008
Some of the Flames Rising crew was at Wizard World Chicago this weekend checking out new Horror Comics and Dark Fantasy Artists. Michael Erb helped us diversify our efforts and dropped by Origins Game Fair to get the scoop on upcoming games, cool events and the 34th Annual Origins Awards.
Topics: Articles | 1 Comment »
Jeremy Jones talks to James Lowder about “Worlds of Their Own”
By Flames | June 28, 2008
Editor James Lowder shaped Worlds of Their Own around a very simple premise: you might know the writers featured in the anthology for their franchise fiction (such as Forgotten Realms or Warhammer Fantasy), but just you wait until you read fiction set in their own worlds.
“The stories presented herein take place, as the book’s title suggests, in worlds created and controlled by the participating writers,” Lowder says in his introduction to Worlds of Their Own. “[The writers] applied their passion and their skill, and told the fantasy and SF adventure tales they wanted to tell. Sometimes their style or theme dovetails nicely with the author’s franchise work. Other times there are surprising departures. But the stories all depict worlds for which the original author has final say, a fact that places the burden for each work’s success or failure squarely on the shoulders of that author.”
Topics: Interviews | No Comments »
Don’t Lose Your Mind Preview “A”
By Matt-M-McElroy | June 27, 2008
A pair of government agents stalk a runaway girl armed only with a teddy bear. They are never heard from again. A psychopathic hero wields every blade that ever murdered, carving off pieces of his personality in an effort to beat back the Nightmares. A temptress lures the cruel and vile to assault her—only to trap them in a prison built from her own ribcage. Trailing ash and burning footprints with every step, a man cursed with Orpheus’ gift delves deeper into Hell each day on a quest to find the last missing puzzle-piece needed to rebuild his late girlfriend from the wreck she has become…
Topics: Previews | 2 Comments »
Ramayan 3392 AD Graphic Novel Review
By Monica Valentinelli | June 27, 2008
What do you get when you mix an ancient Sanskrit epic that is integral to the Hindu religion with a graphic novel? You get Ramayan 3392 A.D. Created by Deepak Chopra and Shekahr Kapur, the graphic novel attempts to transcend the boundaries of normal storytelling into this visual medium. Is it successful?
To put Ramayan 3392 A.D. into perspective, think about what it must have been like when Marvel Illustrated’s staff put together Homer’s The Iliad into graphic novel form. This particular graphic novel is a re-imagining–not a re-telling–which is an important distinction to make.
Topics: Comic Book/Graphic Novel Reviews | No Comments »
World of Darkness: Dogs of War
By Flames | June 26, 2008
War Is Hell
The service trains you to be strong. It teaches you teamwork, how to rely on others and how to rely on yourself. Which is a damn good thing. You need every edge you can get. You’ll see for yourself when you discover what else is out there in the night.
World of Darkness: Dogs of War is available to pre-order at Amazon.com and instant download at the Flames Rising RPGNow Shop.
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Polymancer Studios launches “FourthRight”
By Flames | June 26, 2008
Polymancer Studios announces it will publish material supporting Dungeons & Dragons 4th Edition under the new FourthRight imprint. Under the terms of the Game System License, products will appear in print and PDF in October 2008.
FourthRight, a new imprint of the publisher of many quality game products, will support the newest edition of the most popular roleplaying game rules system on the market today. The terms of the Game System License (GSL) allow for the rapid development of adventure scenarios as well as monster, power, and NPC compendiums.
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Zombies!!! Review
By Flames | June 26, 2008
Can you make it to the safety of the helicopter before the zombie hoard makes a meal of you? Do you risk a run for ammo or try to slip past unnoticed? Why not slow them down with a few friends instead?
Players each take on the role of one of four survivors in a town overrun by the undead. The game uses a combination of miniatures, tile laying, dice and cards to simulate the twists and turns of a zombie horror flick. Each player has movement, represented by the rolling of a six-sided die; cards, representing different events or items; and tokens, representing a character’s health and how many bullets they have.
Review by Michael Erb
Topics: Other Game Reviews | No Comments »
Exquisite Replicas RPG: The Anonymous
By Matt-M-McElroy | June 25, 2008
Last week, we gave you a sneak peek at the upcoming Exquisite Replicas RPG from Abstract Nova.
Exquisite Replicas is a role-playing game of paranoia and horror where intolerable choices collide with the fragile hope of what it means to be human. The war must be won, but it is up to the players to decide at what cost.
This week we get to read just a bit about The Anonymous, the characters who face off against alien horrors, risking everything…
Topics: Previews | No Comments »