The first print-run of Trail of Cthulhu is just about sold out. That is pretty damn cool. This has quickly become one of my favorite RPGs. The Gumshoe System is easy to learn and fun to play. Check out Grim’s review of the first three Gumshoe books for a bit more detail on the system.

So, even if the first printing is gone you haven’t missed out. You can pre-order a copy of the upcoming second print over at Indie Press Revolution. The books will be shipping in the early part of July.

There are also some great deals on Trail of Cthulhu eBooks at the Flames Rising RPGNow Shop. Instant download, no waiting…

EVE Online: Empyrean Age will introduce Factional Warfare to the largest sci-fi MMO this June

CCP, one of the world’s leading independent game developers, has announced the features for the upcoming free expansion, EVE Online: Empyrean Age. Slated for a June 10 release, Empyrean Age brings an explosive end to the fragile peace that has existed for one hundred years between the four central races of New Eden and entices players to pledge fealty to their faction of choice to gain fame, wealth and power.

The first victim was found, mutilated beyond recognition, inside a bathroom. The door was locked from the inside. The second victim was torn to pieces, and the damage was so severe that the body was initially thought to belong to two victims. The coroner’s report indicated that cause of death was suicide. It’s going to be another one of those days…

Neoplastic Press is pleased to announce the release of Pent: The First Gospel of Pandemonium.

The War is Over. The Vampires have Won. But a new campaign is about to begin …

The first battle is over and Nero is dead. Now the human survivors will pull themselves from the ruins of their base to find that the world is a very different place outside Nero’s territory.

Nationally, the vampires have organised themselves into cabals but the scramble for power, raw materials and humans for their food, have led to an uneasy peace. Below the surface each state plots against the other and only the far-reaching power of the Vampire Council holds all-out war at bay.

Their control is slipping. And Peter Harris and his team have a plan that might just push them over the edge…

The setting for this ‘script’ is negotiation over the surrender of a fortress manned and protected by a contingent of Templars. Also present are merchants from a secret society with a very deadly secret, servants, priests and monks and the forces of the Muslim leader who is demanding surrender.

On the surface this is a parley to determine the exact nature of this surrender and how it is to be conducted but under the surface each faction has their own secret agenda and these intermingle between the various forces at work. It’s a nice, tangled knot of interwoven motivations and goals that should be ideal for a one-off convention-type scenario.

Review by James ‘Grim’ Desborough

Death has never looked so good

Love them or hate them, the Daeva are the ones you die for. Tempters and priests, madonnas and horrors, these vampires feed on the blood and vices of the World of Darkness — and feed well. From the best parties to the worst parts of town, be seduced by the beautiful among the Damned. For the Succubi, a good-looking corpse is only the first step in the Danse Macabre.

Readers familiar with Permuted Press‘ back catalogue know what to expect when picking up one of their books: post-apocalyptic mayhem, more often than not including zombies.

Empire does not disappoint. The novel follows a group of survivors in Jefferson Harbor, decades after the zombie apocalypse. Although this may not sound that special, Empire does differ from the standard zombie fare.

Review by Leah Clarke

Fred Hicks just posted some very cool news on his LiveJournal: Good news! Evil Hat has inked a deal with Kenneth Hite to have him write the Occult Chicago chapter for the Dresden Files RPG, blending the locations and events of the novels together with Ken’s real-life research into Chicago, where he currently resides. I’m […]

Previous Hunter topics include Light in Shadows, Professions and Endowments. Each of them explored just a bit more of the setting of the upcoming game.

We’ve talked briefly about the daily lives of the Hunters, made a small mention of compacts and conspiracies once or twice already. There has been a lot of speculation about each of these words (and their possible meaning) on forums and blogs.

Just to recap some of that text:

Hunter society is small and secretive, even in large cities like London or New York, but it is also vibrant and constantly in flux. Individual hunters band together to form cells, pooling their skills and resources to take on solitary monsters that threaten their communities. Sometimes these hunters become aware of other cells in their area and they form broader ties that grow into larger compacts, creating a network that spans entire cities or regions. In rare cases, hunter compacts grow so large that their resources and influence span entire countries.

More than any other shared-world I know, the Forgotten Realms is home to evil protagonists. Shadowbred‘s heroes fall ambiguously into this category: they are assassins, addicts, half-fiends, and shades. Erevis Cale, Chosen of Mask, is doing his best to be a hero, due to a promise gave to a dead friend in a previous adventure. The tiefling mind-mage Magadon strives to control his demonic urges, which are the only thing that keep him from being consumed by the Source, an artifact introduced in previous books. The two are sympathetic figures, striving against the odds to become people they don’t hate.

Review by Alana Abbott

Way back in September of last year I wrote a review of the print version of Cthulhu Live 3rd Edition.

Cthulhu Live 3rd Edition is a great book that is an easy-to-read manual with straightforward information and lots of options to enhance or run your LARP. There are plenty of photos of players in costume, as well as props and monsters, to give you a visual feel for how the game could be played. These photos help set the mood of the game, and give ideas for “how-to-build” your own stories. If you are a fan of H.P. Lovecraft or Live Action Role Playing, it would be worth it to buy this book, get together with some friends, and create some tales of your own.

This is a great book and a great improvement on previous editions. For the last several months you could only get the book in print for $20 or so, say on Amazon.com.

Well, finally available is the eBook edition of the Cthulhu Live 3rd Edition core book. You can get it at the Flames Rising RPGNow Shop for only $10.

Marvel Zombies: Dead Days (Hardcover Edition)

At last – experience the birth of the Marvel Zombies as told by the creative team of the best-selling limited series, and then witness their rise as they attempt to slake their hunger across two universes!

First, Kirkman and Phillips pull out all the stops as they reveal the secret story of the day the Marvel Heroes became brain-eating monsters in Marvel Zombies: Dead Days! Next, follow the Marvel Zombies into the pages of Millar and Land’s Ultimate Fantastic Four!

The Flash Fire Mini-Reviews have awoken once more.

This week we will be taking a look at some of the Games, Books and other creations featuring the big green guy (no, not the Hulk) known as Cthulhu, one of the Great Old Ones in H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu Mythos. Cthulhu first appeared in the short story “The Call of Cthulhu” and has made many, many other appearances since in fiction, games, toys and artwork. Today we’re just taking a peek at a few of the Cthulhu-related items I’ve come across in the last few weeks.

The Man in the Hat returns once more to the Big Screen, and no one is more excited than us folks at RPGNow.com. Prepare yourself for two-fisted adventures in strange lands, facing off against diabolical villains and mysterious threats beyond mortal ken. Why? Because we’re celebrating with a special sale featuring Pulp Adventure themed products! […]

CCP, one of the world’s leading independent game developers, has announced the results for the election of nine delegates to the Council of Stellar Management (CSM), a democratically-elected representative council of players chosen by fellow EVE Online players after an exciting two-week voting period that ended May 16.

“Since the earliest days of EVE’s development, we have relied heavily on collaboration with our playerbase regarding world issues. CCP has followed and nurtured what governing and organizational structures emerge within EVE and also brought best practices from the real world into the virtual world,” said CCP CEO Hilmar Veigar Petursson. “The formation of the Council of Stellar Management signifies to us that that EVE has extended beyond the parameters of being ‘just a game’ into something more meaningful. As this first group of Councilors works with us over the course of the next six months, we look forward to seeing how our combined efforts can further expand the potential for virtual worlds to entertain, educate and inspire.”

You can outline a story beforehand or write it by the seat of your pants. It’s clear the author wrote Blood Noir the latter way, and not just because I know the backstory. Like Micah, this was originally going to be a novella, until something more developed. And it shows. Not only that, but I would’ve really enjoyed this had it been a novella and not this.

Jason Schuyler has never got along with his father, who is now dying of cancer. But now he has to go home to Asheville and say goodbye. And he’s traumatised enough that he’s bringing Anita Blake with him.

Review by Tez Miller

Recovering con artist Ciara Griffin is trying to live the straight life, even if it means finding a (shudder!) real job. She takes an internship at a local radio station, whose late-night time-warp format features 1940s blues, 60s psychedelia, 80s Goth, and more, all with an uncannily authentic flair. Ciara soon discovers how the DJs maintain their cred: they’re vampires, stuck forever in the eras in which they were turned.

To boost ratings and save the lives of her strange new friends, Ciara re-brands the station as “WVMP, the Lifeblood of Rock ’n’ Roll.” In the ultimate con, she hides the DJs’ vampire nature in plain sight, disguising the bloody truth as a marketing gimmick. But the “gimmick” enrages a posse of ancient and powerful vampires who aren’t so eager to be brought into the light. Soon the stakes are higher-and the perils graver-than any con game Ciara’s ever played…

Review by Jenn Moffatt.

12 to Midnight publishes modern horror roleplaying games and accessories.

In this interview Ed Wetterman and Preston DuBose take us on a tour of Pinebox and then they explain a little bit about the design process that went into the new Steamworks d20 fantasy book.

We also get to hear about why 12 to Midnight likes the Savage Worlds system and get some details on the first ever Midnight Charity Project.

For any of you who were frustrated or disappointed with Midnight Alley (Book Three), you’re in for a treat with Feast of Fools. Feast of Fools takes all that we learned or thought we learned from Midnight Alley and puts it all together in a very entertaining package. I could not put Feast of Fools down, and there aren’t a lot of books that I’ve read lately that I can say that about.

There is a level of tension in the Morganville books that keeps you on the edge of your seat, even in the background scenes you’re waiting for the other shoe to drop. And it always does. Rachel Caine abuses her characters like a pro, and she doesn’t shirk because these are YA books. Claire and her friends go through hell just trying to survive in Morganville.

Review by Jenn Moffatt.

The Ghostories Enhancement Pack contains new material for use with the Ghostories Core eBook.

The Pack includes new roles (expressive artist, martial artist, and new age monk), new character and creature gimmicks, a new pursuit (meditation/mystics), new horror classifications (brownies, liches, lost souls, skin walkers, and trolls), a full-length adventure, and six sample characters.

Publisher: Precis Intermedia
Authors: Brett M. Bernstein, Peter C. Spahn and Matt McElroy

The Ghostories Enhancement Pack is available at RPGNow.com.