James Herbert is a horror writer who hails from the U.K. He’s been compared to Steven King and, for the first time, his work is available stateside. The novel I read, ASH, is a reprint through Tor Books.

Herbert is a multi-novelist with almost two dozen books out in the wild. (Sadly, the author does not have an official website, or I’d link to it for you so you could see his bibliography of published works.) This is the first time I’ve read Herbert’s work; this type of story is more my fare than a continual stream of blood, guts, and gore. ASH begins with a mystery and a haunted castle. The main character, David Ash, is a ghost hunter and parapsychologist who works for the Psychical Research Institute. His abilities give him an edge and we, the reader, find out more about them as the story progresses.

New Orleans, 1935. Whoever called this “the Big Easy” sure got that one wrong. Things are tough all over. Honest work is hard to find, and even dishonest jobs are getting scarce. The one thing that’s not in short supply is trouble. From shady thugs to crooked cops to Mafia soldiers, there’s plenty of characters out there looking to give an honest Joe a hard time.

And that’s not the worst of it.

There are stories going round about things that go bump in the night. Things you wouldn’t want to meet in a dark alley on a darker night. And those stories aren’t just coming from rummies or saps who read that Epitaph rag.

Deadlands Noir is now available in PDF format at the Flames Rising RPGNow Shop!

We Are Dust is a collection of short stories inspired by Our Last Best Hope, an RPG published by Magpie Games. In the game, players work together to try to save Humanity from a terrible Crisis…

When the world ends, how will we feel?
Will the apocalypse come like a thief in the night, leaving us blind and alone, struggling against the darkness? Or will we greet the end of humanity like noble warriors, striving to forestall our doom no matter the cost?
Will we survive? Will we triumph? Will we matter?
Within these pages are tales with answers to these questions, stories from the edge of humanity, the end of existence: time travelers jetting back to save the Earth before it was born, lonely scientists unmaking the disaster summoned by their own hubris, and college kids who love and fight as the Earth gets ready to die.
Look closely, and we might just see ourselves…

We Are Dust is available now in eBook formats at DriveThruFiction.com.

About a decade ago, White Wolf released a game called Mummy: The Resurrection as the core offering for its Year of the Scarab. When the Time of Judgment rolled around, that game and its continuity were put to rest, along with the other classic World of Darkness lines; but endings breed new beginnings, and in the course of developing the end of that game, a vision for a new mummy-focused roleplaying experience began to take shape. It would be a decade before that vision could come to life, but here we are at last.

Welcome to Mummy: The Curse, a new World of Darkness roleplaying game.

Packed into but four pages (the other four being filled with a fancy cover, the credits and an introduction explaining what it’s all about, and a page of adverts for other Legendary Games product) here is a wealth of material designed to support and enhance one of Paizo’s Adventure Paths. As explained in the introduction, they have chosen not to mention just which Adventure Path (so as to avoid even suspicion of using Paizo’s intellectual property) but as I am GMing the one in question at the moment, it’s not too hard to guess. (‘Carrion Crown’ if you really want to know!)

Edison T. Crux is an author whose first novel, “Tale of the Wisconsin Werewolf” debuts on December 15. The author will be attending an event at Pegasus Games

Twenty-five years ago, Rokugan fought a terrible battle against an invading gaijin army known as the Destroyers. Although the noble samurai of the Emerald Empire were victorious, the conflict was devastating beyond all others, and the lands of the Great Clans were left in ruins by the fighting. To spare her people the threat of further war, war which would surely lead to the death of an Empire, the Divine Empress sued for peace with the forces of darkness, and then dispatched her vassals to claim the empty lands left behind in the wake of the Destroyers.

A generation later, the untimely death of a prominent magistrate in Rokugan suddenly elevates a group of simple samurai to a position of authority, but the magistrate’s unfinished business sends them to the Second City to see it to completion. There, influential samurai from the Empire have almost limitless potential, but the distractions from duty are numerous.

The Second City Boxed Set (PDF edition) is available now at the Flames Rising RPGNow Shop!

While many are pointing at 12/21/12, some people interpret the Mayan calendar to predict this Wednesday, 12/12/12, to spell the end of the world as we know it. But, David Lapham feels fine.

The Eisner Award-winning author has three of his own personal series hitting comic shops this Wednesday, all published by Avatar Press. In addition to the debut of Caligula: Heart of Rome – the sequel to his supernatural horror tale set in ancient Rome – Wednesday will also premiere the trade collection of his original Ferals werewolf crime/horror comic series, and the most recent issue of his gonzo detective series, Dan The Unharmable #8.

The Zalozhniy Quartet provides resources necessary to running a complete campaign utilising the Night’s Black Agents concept and ruleset to the full. It’s not, however, something you can flip through and then run, like the game itself it requires thorough preparation and planning by the Director (GM) in advance, but will repay that effort by inspiring an epic and memorable experience for all involved.

Involving the core concept of the game – a vampire-led conspiracy across post-Cold War Europe – the book presents a detailed Conspyramid (the mechanic used to map the conspiracy player-character agents are combating) that spreads its tentacles from central Europe clear across to Baghdad. Resources provided include allies as well as enemies, locations in several cities, complete city details, maps and an almost bewildering array of events that you can throw at your characters… even some pre-generated ones, of particular use should someone fall by the wayside as the adventures proceed.

The God-Machine Chronicle Anthology is The Onyx Path’s opening salvo of a new series of products for the World of Darkness under the auspice of the God-Machine Chronicle. Since the launch of the new World of Darkness White Wolf/CCP has released a plethora of products as part of their toolbox approach to game design while shying away from developing an overarching “meta-book.” While some books have strayed close to the line between the two for the most part each product was a package of tools each troupe could play around with to build the World of Darkness they want to explore. Now Rich Thomas and the many creative forces behind The Onyx Path are stepping over that line and producing a chronicle book, a setting in which we can explore a particular vision of the World of Darkness (which some tweaks to the core rules to match). This anthology begins the exploration of that vision, wetting our whistle for the upcoming chronicle book which we will not get to see until sometime in 2013.

In the labyrinthian maze of endless corridors, annexes, and wings of the enormous medical complex known as the Castle prowls a grief-stricken man determined to redeem himself and bring justice for those victims incapable of doing it for themselves.

During the four months that his son lay dying, ex-con Kasteel lost his job, his wife, and nearly his mind. He became a fixture at the Castle, a phantom prowling the halls in the deep night, a shadow of his former self until he faded from sight and was forgotten altogether.

Now, without any life to return to, he takes it upon himself to become the Castle’s guardian. He lives off the grid hiding among the hundreds of miles of twisting passages, rooms, offices, and underground parking structures. Despair, confusion, and terror are the natural state and trade of any hospital: Not only must the patients endure disease and infirmity, but others are victims of physical and sexual abuse from the outside world or from cruel security guards.

No one would suspect that Ariadne, the cold and deadly “Silent Knife” of Prince Liliane, was once a sensitive college girl who preferred books to blades. But that life ended when her lover Andre cast her aside, into the waiting fangs of an unknown Sire who fled after the Embrace.

Re-shaped by her Prince’s cruel tutelage, Ariadne has fought hard to earn her place in Liliane’s court. Now that court is threatened from all sides: Liliane’s former Seneschal is staging a rebellion, wielding deadly magics that threaten Kindred and humans alike.

Silent Knife is now available in eBook and Print formats at DriveThruFiction.com!

OneBookShelf, Inc., the parent company of DriveThruRPG.com and DriveThruComics.com, announced today that their advocacy event “Teach Your Kids To Game Week” (rpg.drivethrustuff.com/rpg_teachkids.php) will begin on Monday, December 3rd and end on Friday, December 7th.

While DriveThruRPG is the largest digital RPG distributor on the web, the retailer also advocates the positive benefits of gaming with kids.
Teach Your Kids To Game Week is a program designed to reach out to the community and will feature articles, tips, and advice to do just that.

Somewhere, It Burns…

The sands of time slip through the hourglass. The New Earth Government mounts a desperate initiative against the Migou’s seat of power. Those that police the ar- cane underground face an invisible foe. The Disciples of the Rapine Storm descend through the ashes to assault the Land Down Under. A deadly plague suddenly grips the citizens of the New Earth Government. And an unexpected ally returns from the void, a light in the darkness.

The end carries on. Welcome to 2087.

CthulhuTech: Burning Horizon is available now in PDF and Print formats at DriveThruRPG.com!