Epic Role Playing is a fantasy role playing game system published by Dark Matter Studios and presented in three separate volumes (the Rules Manual, Bestiary, and Book of the Arcane, respectively). Additionally, a setting designed for use with the Epic system is also available in the form of the supplementary Atlas of Eslin (Volume 1). This review deals specifically with the Epic Role Playing Book of the Arcane, while other reviews discuss other Epic core books, as well as the Atlas of Eslin setting supplement.

Available at Amazon.com Epic Role Playing is a fantasy role playing game system published by Dark Matter Studios and presented in three separate volumes (the Rules Manual, Bestiary, and Book of the Arcane, respectively). Additionally, a setting designed for use with the Epic system is also available in the form of the supplementary Atlas of Eslin (Volume 1). This review deals specifically with the Epic Role Playing Rules Manual, while further reviews will cover the other Epic core books, as well as the Atlas of Eslin setting supplement. Review written by James Hargrove

Dead of Night is a horror RPG packed into a 219 page book that’s only 4 ¼ by 5 ½ inches. While the game professes that more than one style of horror could be played, Dead of Night is geared towards playing out those campy “B” movies we watch with the lights turned low.

Mad Max – what a trilogy. Dustbowl landscapes, battered old sedans, Australian accents and stubble. It had them all. Plenty of RPG’s have attempted to capture the post-apocalyptic genre in all its glory and few have fully succeeded. Introducing the latest contender: octaNe. Will it roar off into the healthy radioactive glow of sunset on wheels of fire, or will it get a razor-edged boomerang in the forehead?

By the way, the capital N is all part of the product identity. I thought it was going to stand for Nitro or something similar, but according to the introduction it just looks cool. Go figure. It kinda makes me want to pronounce the word oc-tay-NEH. Given the content of the game though, the odd grammar is well in-theme.

Useful supplements are hard to come by nowadays; not only does the information in it have to be worth the price you pay, but the information needs to be useful in a way that you’d want to incorporate it into your gaming. Cold, Hard World is an expansion for the roleplaying game Dead Inside—offering more nuts and bolts to the original game than fluff. The supplement is a seventy-four page expansion of the first three chapters of the corebook.

Similar to Dead Inside, the pdf is written with definitive voice changes throughout. Dead Inside draws you in at key moments by addressing the reader; other times you’ll hear the voice of an instructor showing you how to play the game.

Written by Pamela Collins, Aaron Dembski-Bowden, Jonathan McFarland and Morgan A. McLaughlin with artwork provided by Sam Araya, Durwin Talon, Avery Butterworth, Michael Gaydos, Travis Ingram and James Cole, World of Darkness: Antagonists is a sleek, thin hardcover that offers both players and Storytellers a good look at three “generic” types of foils – the walking dead, mortal hunters, and organized (or not so organized) religious threats – as well as a toolbox for the generation of home-cooked antagonists to fit the needs of any chronicle, limited entirely by the imagination of the ST. While World of Darkness: Antagonists is written in a voice that speaks very directly to the ST, the book is most certainly a boon for the player who wants to give their character a nice, solid history and “flesh out” some of their Merits… in the case that you’ve got an Ally out there who happens to be a freelance witch-hunter, that is… and therefore works out a place for itself on both ST and player bookshelves.

When I was running my Mage: The Ascension games back in “the day,” I used to describe Reality as a living, breathing organism. It was as alive and as vital as each and every player character and NPC in the chronicle. Reality was, in many cases, the biggest and baddest NPC there was. The tapestry of the world around our characters, the worlds we create for our players, is incredibly important to every single aspect of our game; mood and feeling are painted in words that we use to describe the world around our players’ characters. Simply put, the stage is as every bit as important as the actors, and it should be treated as such.

The overwhelming majority of my tenure within the World of Darkness has been spent among werewolves. Players and Storytellers of Werewolf: The Apocalypse and its predecessor, Werewolf: The Forsaken are pretty much expecting of a world where the ground walked upon is sacred and every object is, in some manner or other, alive to some degree. Places and things are as alive and as aware as people in a lot of Werewolf games… but why should that device be limited to a single line? Why should the “Living Reality” be relegated only to the philosophy of witches and warlocks? It shouldn’t. I say this with confidence not just because I’ve always believed it personally as a Storyteller, but because of a book like World of Darkness: Mysterious Places.

Available at Amazon.com Fear is the oldest emotion possessed by humanity. Death and what might or might not lie beyond the mortal coil is, quite possibly, the origin of fear in and of itself. As mortals, death is inevitable. We don’t have the luxury of actually knowing what happens when we die, therefore we have […]

For those unfamiliar with the RPG world, players assume a character and play a game while “in character” reacting to other players, as well as to situations laid out before them by the GM of Game Master.

While the realm of RPG is best known because of Dungeons and Dragons — a game that is in its third incarnation, and spawned the very entertaining movie of the same name — it is far from the only offering in the field.

A/State’s setting is post-apocalyptic futurism, but with a few twists. Unlike other post-apocalyptic settings, there are a lot of unknowns. Something happened, something that ripped the fabric of modern-day reality off from civilization’s spoiled body. Technology is limited, identities are a luxury, and survival of the fittest is a way of life—not just a catch phrase. The City, assuredly a conglomeration of some things that “were”, has no name. In this place with no name, you battle against your greatest enemy—yourself.

Bloodlines is a handy pdf for d20 Modern from the folks at 12 to Midnight. This adventure is written with 5th Level characters in mind, but is not a requirement. With a little prep, a GM can do just about anything with this material. Bloodlines uses the OGL Horror magic system from Mongoose Publishing, but has everything you need included. Coming in both “Printer-Friendly” and “Full versions as a set. The Full version is packed with handouts, bookmarks and is one of the best looking pdfs I’ve seen on the market.

Within the horror and dark fantasy realm, it seems as if a lot of fans are concerned about setting. Sorcerer takes an extremely bold approach – it is more concerned about how you play than where. The book, published by Adept Press, is beautifully bound in hardcover form and retails for about $20.00. At around 140 pages in trade size, the size of the book threw me for a loop. After all, how can such a thin book without a pregenerated setting pack such a big punch?

Sorcerer is a Faustian game for people who want to test the limits of their character and have complete freedom to use their own imagination to fill in all the details.

Available at RPGNow.com Written by Clash Bowley and El Zambo (Flying Mice, LLC.) In order to fully understand a game, there is nothing better than having the opportunity to run an adventure written by the game’s creators. The Prouty Island Adventure, available through RPGNow as a pdf, offers a lot in terms of history, setting, […]

Quick: An excellent game that captures the feel and fun of the movie and expands on the established mythos. Great as a stand alone game, as a “Campaign sourcebook” or as an addition to any other Eden Unisystem game.

White Wolf’s Mind’s Eye Theatre challenges us to enter a world just beyond the mortal senses, to look into the shadowy mirror of ourselves and find a world populated by the supernatural — vampires, mages, and others wage an eternal battle for dominance and survival. Choose your role in this World of Darkness … are you a defender of humanity, or a predator of the night?

Desert Dreams is the first supplement produced by Sacred Wolf for its Ignotus modern D20 setting. Ignotus is a dark world in which the eponymous supernatural realm poses a grave threat to humanity and its hideous denizens work to undermine society. Shadowy government agencies and vile religious cultists combine to make the real world, beneath the level of consciousness of most people, nasty, brutish and short.

Ignotus is Sacred Wolf’s game of modern horror, in which potent conspiracies exist to render miserable the lives of the ordinary people and dark secrets are revealed to show that man is not alone. In the Ignotus Player’s Guide, all of the information required for players to take part in this darkly present world is provided. From formative experiences to feats and skills, prestige classes to starting occupations, the book lays out in plain terms what is what. The emphasis is primarily on the nitty gritty of gameplay rather than the flavour of the setting and it is sometimes difficult to envisage exactly how characters can be made to come alive.

Throughout known history, mankind has been threatened by the malevolent plane known as the Ignotus. How the Ignotus came into being is not clear – some believe it was a remnant of the destruction of Sodom and Gomorrah, while others consider it to be a punishment from God. What is known, though, is that the Ignotus is the source of numerous trials and tribulations, including manifestations of evil spirits, ghosts and all manner of frightful things. As the Ignotus moves closer to the earth, its effects multiply and inevitably it is the innocent who suffer the most.

Review by John Walsh

If zombies took over, would you fight? One of the Living is a supplement for All Flesh Must be Eaten that focuses on the survivors.

The opening fiction sets the tone for this dark, survivalist supplement. While there were a few grammatical errors, the language is vibrant and photographic. You feel as if you are right behind Jack, with a hand on his shoulder, as he struggles to retell his story. When you realize that Jack’s hope orbits around the impending daybreak, you understand that this is not your typical All Flesh supplement. Overall, the flavor text is well-written and does a good job of enhancing the desperate setting.

Oft times in horror role-playing, characters endure deadly consequences to the blood, guts and gore that bleeds through so many games. Every once in a while a horror rpg strives to create the mood and theme of horror through fear, manipulation, and growth of character. Dead Inside: The Roleplaying Game of Loss and Redemption, is a game that steps away from combat and mechanics and focuses on “the reasons for and the manner in which tasks are attempted.”