In its 42nd year, Gen Con: Indy will be a convention to remember. Perfect for fans of anime, science fiction, gaming and a whole lot more, be sure to check out the GenCon: Indy 2009 Events to see why this is one of the country’s best conventions!

Flames Rising has been attending Gen Con for several years and we’ve always had a great time. Last year, Flames Rising won a 2008 ENnie Award, too!

Now we want to share the fun with one, lucky Flames Rising reader. This year, Flames Rising is pleased to announce we’re hosting a Gen Con Indy 2009 contest to celebrate this year’s event. We have a very cool prize pack that includes a free, 4-Day pass to the convention and some gaming gear from some awesome publishers.

Since Gen Con is centered on friendship and fun, we want you to recommend a winner for our contest!

An Ancient Text Revealed and Re-Examined

The story of Longinus is not a secret story, although some would hide it. But neither is it an open story. It requires study. It requires respect. To some it is the final source of wisdom, freedom, survival. To others it is an evil book, the source of all oppression. No matter what viewpoint you hold, the fact remains that the Testament of Longinus cannot be ignored.

It is our history.
– Henry Matthews, Editor of the Revised Edition

A PDF-exclusive Chronicle Book for Vampire: The Requiem

The Testament of Longinus is available at the Flames Rising RPGNow Shop.

The intention behind this book is to introduce new races, classes and powers as options that players can choose when designing their characters. The Introduction launches off with some grandiose claims about being a ‘significant expansion’ – well, it is fair to say that five new races and eight new classes broadens your options… it just depends if what is offered happens to suit what you want to play. The second part of the Introduction presents the ‘Primal Power Source’ which underlies the supernatural powers available to the barbarian, druid, shaman and warden classes presented later on. It links to the spirits of nature, the power of the world itself that originally arose to protect it from the depredations of squabbling deities and primordials. Having banished them so that they can only exert an influence the primal powers, a myriad of spirits, have established what is perceived as the ‘natural order’ – the cycle of life and death, the turning of the seasons. The characters who draw on them are thus firmly rooted in nature.

When it comes to all things gaming, nothing compares to the gamers paradise that occurs every August at Gen Con Indy, the nation’s largest annual consumer fantasy, electronic, sci-fi and adventure game convention. With Co-Sponsors like Upper Deck Entertainment and Wizards of the Coast and hundreds of other exhibitors, 6,000+ gaming events, anime and more, there is much to look forward to at Gen Con. For the seventh year in a row, the event will be held at the Indiana Convention Center in Indianapolis from August 13-16.

Gen Con, celebrating its 42nd year and going strong, is the quintessential “destination” for all types of gaming , for all ages. Activities range from interactive game play and computer gaming to big money hobby-related tournaments sponsored by industry leaders such as Upper Deck Entertainment and Wizards of the Coast.

Cheerbleeders is a short horror film by Peter Podgursky, the proud owner of a MFA in Film Production from USC. In fact, these eleven minutes of cinematic fun comprised his thesis project and it has since made the rounds at several horror film fests winning best short at the Phoenix Fear Film festival 2008.

Here’s the dirt: Best friends, Penny and Devon (Laurel Vail and Wyatt Fenner), are high school misfits in Blackfoot, Idaho – a tiny and isolated burg. When Penny brings an ancient urn to class, it accidentally spills its black slimy contents on Devon. This black sludge is essentially a gnarly love potion, turning him into…gasp…the most popular kid at school! Drunk with power, Devon holds sway over everyone, including the cheerleading squad, which he commands to massacre the football team, midgame. Can Penny stop the insidious evil known as unrestrained adolescent popularity?

As the Last War rages, ancient adversaries emerge. But new heroes rise, armed with terrifying abilities and the darkest of magics.

Written by Enrique Cachafeiro, Dire: The First Creed of Pandemonium is a new sourcebook for Dread that expands the Pandemonium Universe into strange new directions. Published by Pandora Peeks Press, this 48-page sourcebook features:

25 mind-bending new spells, including Detritavore, Pinata, Sangrial, Ferialis, Versacrum, Dispater, Actaeon, and Nero.

The Meiga, a new character class. Deformed and inhumane, Meigas wield the powers of demonkind to stalk, hunt, and defile. This power comes at a price, though, because Meigas who can’t learn to control these abilities can lose their humanity, becoming just like the demons that they fight.

Dire: The First Creed of Pandemonium is available at the Flames Rising RPGNow Shop.

I had the chance to play in a short demo of Little Fears: Nightmare Edition at Madison Games Day on 5/30. I thought I’d share a little about my character and the game.

The game sessions at MGD were about 2 hours long each and all of the characters were pre-generated by Jason and Caz.

I played Jackson, a 10 year old who liked to swim and was taking Kung Fu lessons at a local Dojo. Jackson is Big For His Age, but he has Trouble Fighting When Small Kids Are Involved. This was a fun character to play because he had some cool personality quirks and interesting skills, but he also some specific limitation that were fun to work into play.

Ed’s Midnight Tales (TWL0032) gives fans of Savage Worlds and Pine Box, Texas another forty-two pages of information ultra-helpful for both. As the title suggests, this is a brief collection of scenarios (mostly one-shots). The stories do not need to be interwoven, but could easily be fused together in a long-running campaign. The book is broken up into an introduction and five chapters, each progressive chapter offering a more detailed storyline for players.

Finishing out the book is a special edition of the Pinebox News, complete with strange articles and story seeds. The PDF comes in two versions, a typical version and a printer-friendly version.

While 12 to Midnight tends to focus on supernatural horror in modern settings, this collection doesn’t always include supernatural threats. Forest creatures and gang-bangers fill out of the ranks of things to fear.

Apex Publications is pleased to announce that we are now partnering with the fine folks at DriveThruSciFi.com to provide our titles in ebook format.

Open Your Eyes by Paul Jessup

Last Dragon by J.M. McDermott

The Convent of the Pure by Sara M. Harvey

Apex Publications is a small press dedicated to publishing exemplary works of dark science fiction and horror.

Not too long ago I would’ve decorated my kitchen with Evil Dead wallpaper had such a product been available. I was fully prepared to name my first born child Ash and the thought of having a chainsaw-enhanced appendage didn’t seem all that bad to me.

Then Sam Raimi made three underwhelming Spiderman movies and I managed to get married. These events ushered in a new, more restrained era in my life and I agreed to relinquish both the home decorating and child naming duties. I also grew bored with Sam Raimi as a filmmaker. I got through it mainly by buying approximately 17 versions of each Evil Dead movie on VHS, DVD, and Blu-ray. It’s obvious that those in the Home Video racket understand there are suckers out there like me, so why not release these movies incessantly and with slightly different packaging? I’ll buy them. But I digress.

Demon Hunters, published by Margaret Weiss Productions in conjunction with Dead Gentlemen Productions, is a comedy-meets-demon-hunting experience unlike any other. Integrated with video, the Demon Hunters RPG is billed as a “field training manual” instead of a game, where you train to be part of the Brotherhood by taking part in Tabletop Combat Simulations.

Take a look at this introductory video:

I usually shy away from anthologies. Not that anthologies are inherently “bad” or anything…but it seems to me that the stories either grab you and then drop you off at the next corner, anxiously wanting MORE…or really just fail to snag you in the first place. Anthologies tend to cater to a wider variety of subjects/ interests and I know my own tastes tend to be more focused.

In spite of this, Tales of Heresy is focused enough to be fun for anyone interested in delving more in to the extremely popular Horus Heresy series.

Since each of the stories is independent, not really tying to one another in any way, I’m going to break down each short story within independently as well.

Review by Jeff Preston

The British publisher of role-playing adventure games and card and board games, Cubicle 7 Entertainment has announced that it has joined the Rebellion Group of companies.

Founded in 2006 Cubicle 7 Entertainment was set up by Angus Abranson and Dominic McDowall-Thomas, two gaming entrepreneurs who wanted to create a games publisher fostering some truly iconic brands. Since then the company has published role playing games from a growing list of properties including Victoriana, SLA Industries, Starblazer Adventures (based on DC Thomson’s 80’s Starblazer comic series) and 7th Circle’s Chinese fantasy Qin.

The third installment from Third Eye Games fittingly brings three new demon races to the world of Apocalypse Prevention, Inc. This minor races don’t merit a full book like the recently released Lochs supplement, but still offer some quirky newness to an API game. This trim PDF comes in at eight pages, which consist of one cover sheet, six pages about the creatures, and a one page ad. Let’s see what these three writers offer when only given two pages to play with.

We’ll also see how long a review is on an eight-page PDF.