Over on the ENWorld Forums “MongooseMatt” has offered up a huge amount of the Mongoose Publishing d20 catalog for a free wiki project…

We produced a great deal of OGC under D20. Most of these books are now out of print, with just PDF copies available – by the end of the year these will disappear too, as it is not realistic for us to remove D20 licensing off every product we produced over the years. Just too many!

However, it seems a shame to have all this material simply disappear, so. . .

If there is any interest, we would be prepared to make the vast majority of our D20-based content available freely. In the past, there has been talk about an OGC Wiki of sorts, and I think we can kick such a project off in a sizeable way.

“Backup,” a twelve thousand word novelette set in Jim Butcher’s ultra-popular Dresden Files series. This time Harry’s in trouble he knows nothing about, and it’s up to his big brother Thomas to track him down and solve those little life-threatening difficulties without his little brother even noticing.

Backup is available for pre-order at Amazon.com.

It is no secret that I’ve been a fan of many of the products White Wolf has released over the years. This site started out as a resource for a Live Action Vampire: the Masquerade game I was running in the Milwaukee area. Eventually it expanded to include other Horror games like Cthulhu Live, Obsidian: the Age of Judgement and All Flesh Must Be Eaten.

Over time it evolved into the current set-up featuring just about anything Horror & Dark Fantasy you can imagine. Still, we continue to play, review and generally enjoy many of the current and classic White Wolf games and fiction. We’ve even added new Previews of upcoming products recently.

Back when I interviewed Eddy Webb there technically was not an “Alternative Product Developer” at the company. He had been working on developing and writing Mind’s Eye Theatre: The Awakening which became the first product to be released in both eBook and Print on Demand formats.

This August Abstract Nova Entertainment (Aletheia, Noumenon) is bringing us a new horror game with a twist. We’re pleased to bring you the first of several previews of this new game here at Flames Rising.

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.

Many of today’s best (and best-selling) fantasists got their start writing shared-world fiction supporting roleplaying games. This massive anthology collects more than a dozen thrilling tales from R.A. Salvatore, Michael A. Stackpole, Monte Cook, Ed Greenwood, Elaine Cunningham, and more, providing an exciting overview of the original worlds and characters of authors who achieved their greatest fame writing stories they do not own.

Edited by James Lowder (The Book of All Flesh, Prince of Lies), Worlds of Their Own presents an unprecedented sampler of fantasy and science-fiction adventure tales from some of the best-loved and best-known authors in the genre.

The Heart of Darkness opens once again – to free the Trail of the Brotherhood!

Designed by the man who brought you Arkham Horror and other fine games, Richard Launius, Trail of the Brotherhood is Lovecraft writ large as a boardgame. And the featured illustrator of the game is Samuel Araya – known for his dark and distinctive work on other games, such as Unhallowed Metropolis and Abuse: The Final Insult!

The Hot War Intro told us that this is a game of horror and survival that takes place in the city of London, England in the freezing winter of 1963. In addition to the basic introduction we featured two dark images from the new book.

The second preview featured information on the Special Situations Group. The SSG is tasked with hunting down monsters, madmen and other enemies.

What sort of monsters might the SSG encounter? Today’s Hot War preview will give you a sneak peek at three types of monsters twisted by some strange blend of science and occult…

Individual PDFs from Bloodlines: The Hidden available at RPGNow.com Alternative Publishing Developer, Eddy Webb, has worked with our friends at RPGNow.com to offer something new for our Vampire: The Requiem fans. Available now, for $1.99 each, you can purchase the individual bloodline descriptions originally published in Bloodlines: The Hidden. Khabit, Bohagade, Oberlochs and others are […]

CCP Unfolds New Storyline and Gameplay in Free Expansion

CCP, one of the world’s leading independent game developers, today announced the launch of the eighth free expansion for EVE Online, its popular massively multi-player online game (MMOG). EVE Online: Empyrean Age destroys the peace of New Eden as long suppressed political tensions between the four major Empires of EVE boil over into direct conflict. Stalwart starship pilots join the newly mustered militias and make solitary strikes deep within enemy territory. By choosing sides in this epic war, players have the power to direct the course of the conflict. New players can quickly immerse themselves in the EVE universe by diving into large-scale factional battles.

Beneath the dim light of a full moon, the population of Cincinnati mutates into huge, snarling monsters that devour everyone they see, acting upon their most base and bestial desires. Planes fall from the sky. Highways are clogged with abandoned cars, and buildings explode and topple. The city burns.

Bestial: Werewolf Apocalypse is the new horror novel written by William Carl and published by Permuted Press. You can order this twisted tale at Amazon.com.

Today’s preview is the continuation of Chapter One of Bestial. Be sure to read last week’s preview to get caught up with the story…

Electronic Coupon for 20% off the following PDF products at RPGNow.com

For one day only – this Friday, the 13th of June, White Wolf is offering a discount on the following, appropriately thematic supplements from the World of Darkness. Naturally, this is a special day in our offices and we thought, why not share with our fans?

Second Sight – Not every entity with supernatural powers is one of a species of creatures that prowl the night. Solitary psychics, crazed sorcerers and doomsaying cultists all share the World of Darkness. This book explores their unique abilities. A character and setting book for all World of Darkness Games

Steampunk has grown as a genre over the last few years and some very cool stuff has hit the shelves recently. Everyone has their favorites and we have compiled a list of the seven “must have” Steampunk books and games for fans to check out.

Steampunk

Replete with whimsical mechanical wonders and charmingly anachronistic settings, this pioneering anthology gathers a brilliant blend of fantastical stories. Steampunk originates in the romantic elegance of the Victorian era and blends in modern scientific advances—synthesizing imaginative technologies such as steam-driven robots, analog supercomputers, and ultramodern dirigibles. The elegant allure of this popular new genre is represented in this rich collection by distinctively talented authors, including Neal Stephenson, Michael Chabon, James Blaylock, Michael Moorcock, and Joe R. Lansdale.

This second edition of Blood! updates an original game from 1990, although quite why the author wishes to do this rather than create a completely new game which just rips off (adapts) some of the original concepts is not clear. As author Desborough points out, this makes the game a little unusual in the current environment in that games now tend to be rules-light and high-concept, while Blood! is a comparatively rules-heavy game. There are, for example, something like 400 weapons which can be used, including a fishing rod and a knitting needle. There are also extensive critical hit tables describing what might happen to the human body when it is variously bitten, stabbed, crashed into by a moving vehicle, shot, electrocuted and so forth. These are generally quite graphic in nature and this underlines the principal approach to the game, which is that of the gorefest.

Review by John Walsh

The Compass of Celestial Directions, Vol. IV—The Underworld

A Guide to the Land of the Dead

The fourth of five books dedicated to the supernatural locales of the Exalted setting, this supplement focuses on the Underworld, land of the dead. Created by the death of Primordials in their war with the Exalted, the Underworld is now home to billions of ghosts who have escaped the Cycle of Reincarnation. Will the returned Solars unite to destroy it as an affront to the proper function of Creation, or will they be seduced by its dark beauty and the power its dark art of necromancy offers, becoming like the corrupt Abyssal Exalted who call the place home?

In normal Dread play, this is where henchmen and cultists would begin to interfere: the mook-battering is designed to wear down the PC’s Fury so that the final conflict is tough (and usually deadly, to one or more PCs). But being a one-shot con game, Raphael paced the scenario faster and got us on the trail of the first, possessor demon fairly quickly. A few chats with a scatter-brained crackhead, a store clerk, and other contacts, and we realize we’re on the tail of the mayor, possessed by a demon that loves to destroy the lives of its victim before finally destroying the possessed itself and moving on to new hunting grounds.

Review by David Artman

Chuck Wendig has contributed to over sixty books for White Wolf Game Studios. His short fiction has infiltrated Whispers From the Shattered Forum, Not One of Us, and an upcoming Carnifex Press anthology.

In this interview Chuck tells us about how got his start at White Wolf Game Studios. He also tells us a bit about working on the previous World of Darkness, Requiem for Rome and, of course, Hunter: the Vigil.

Countdown is that very rare kind of book: a thriller that is genuinely thrilling. This is action-packed, non-stop adventure, combining the physiological, psychological and technological in a story that grabbed me immediately and didn’t let go.

The Great Plague twenty-five years ago caused havoc, and Earth hasn’t been the same since. It’s no wonder that everyone who survived is itching to catch a shuttle Offworld. Like Agent Orange, the Great Plague led to birth abnormalities: including Kira Jordan being born with psi abilities. But they’re only low-level…or are they?

Review by Tez Miller

The first Hot War Preview was the smallest of teasers, introducing readers to the overall concepts of the new game and debuting a couple of images by some very talented folks.

This time we are going to take a closer look at the Special Situations Group. The SSG is made up of military, police and civilian personnel and have the unenviable task of hunting down monsters, those who created monsters, power crazed madmen, terrorists, traitors, infiltrators and all sorts of nests of enemies. Player Characters in Hot War are members of the SSG.

We’ve had our review of the 4th Edition Dungeons & Dragons posted for a few days already. The review seems to be pretty popular as well. We also reported that Wizards of the Coast will be a Co-Sponsor at GenCon recently.

Flames Rising is primarily a Horror & Dark Fantasy website, but we really can’t ignore a new edition of D&D. Other sites with a bit more focus on the game have plenty of interesting discussion going on, the RPGNet D&D Forum, EN World and Story Games, just to name a few.

Initial reports have been pretty positive, some retailers are mentioning decent sales and online offers from Amazon.com and Noble Knight Games also seem to be in high demand.

Horror Roleplaying in the Worlds of H. P. Lovecraft

The Great Old Ones ruled the earth aeons before the rise of humankind. Originally they came from the gulfs of space and were cast down by even greater beings. Remains of their cyclopean cities and forbidden knowledge can still be found on remote islands in the Pacific, buried amid the shifting sands of vast deserts, and in the frigid recesses of the polar extremes. Now they sleep — some deep within the enveloping earth and others beneath the eternal sea, in the drowned city of R’lyeh, preserved in the waters by the spells of mighty Cthulhu. When the stars are right they will rise, and once again walk this Earth.