This is a fun little book (52 pages/no ads). I can see why it’s holding at number one at Flames Rising RPGNow Shop since its release. It’s a useful little bastard that gives canon material to what gamers have been doing since Masquerade’s end and Requiem’s release. I guessed it would be a book about translating the old system to the new, but it doesn’t play favorites. It goes both ways.

The first three pages detail the similarities and differences between the two lines. For example, the original line ran with the “we’re the Childer of Caine” speech where untrustworthy memories make any origin story suspect in Requiem.

Signs of the Moon takes a look at one of the few aspects (pun intended) I love about the Werewolf (both of them) lines. The Auspices appeal to me because it always seemed realistic, as realistic as a game about shapeshifters can be. People are pulled by the moon in ways we barely understand. Just as sure as a hot August day can statistically cause a homicide rate to rise, the moon too plays a role in our little dramas. Why not write a book about it? This is a hefty 227 pages of new gifts, rules, filler and more.

The artwork to the book keeps to the feel of the line. It’s a visceral, tribal style that is so much stronger than what the original line offered. My personal fave is on page 207. I usually shy away from talking about layout in a White Wolf book because, well, they set the standard for high quality.

White Wolf Publishing seems to have covered everything possible for Vampire the Requiem; it helps they had a previous edition of the RPG – Vampire the Masquerade – to hash out what players though was useful and what they didn’t want. Along comes a small tidbit like Invite Only, and I for one am left wondering “Why didn’t anyone think of this sooner?”

Written by David A. Hill Jr. and Chuck Wendig, Invite Only is a guide to parties — more specifically, parties hosted or attended by the Kindred. Besides giving the less combat-oriented Kindred something interesting to do, parties are also the focus of a lot of deals and surprises in the V:tR world. A Kindred who pays attention could learn a lot at a party – if she survives long enough to make use of this knowledge.

Halloween is coming and White Wolf is celebrating with a huge sale on tons of titles. Calling all trick-or-treaters!

Have we got a sweet deal for you! If you love games that go bump in the night, then grab your flashlight and slink on over to check out White Wolf Publishing’s Halloween Sale!

This sale includes Vampire: The Masquerade, Werewolf: The Apocalypse, Hunter: the Reckoning, Demon: the Fallen and more! Enjoy twenty-five percent off books from the original World of Darkness. What a treat!

Sale ends on Halloween so don’t wait until the last minute. Break out your fangs, your claws and your dice today! Check out all of the titles on sale at the Flames Rising RPGNow Shop!

To help you get into the spirit of Halloween, FlamesRising.com project manager talks about making a costume — for her dice. In this article, find out how Monica made her dice coffin and where she got the inspiration to add black tulle, a mask, and red roses to the coffin lid.

Here’s a sneak peek at what she has to say: Victorian-inspired Halloween decor is one of the hot themes this year; you can find black lace and dead roses almost everywhere you look. Birds like ravens and owls are pretty popular, too. Now, I went a little crazy nutso with the scenery because I wanted it to look three dimensional. I used black tulle, which you can find in any wedding aisle. The flat, red roses were from the scrapbooking section of our local craft store and the owl, mask and bat were die cut stickers from a Halloween display.

Find out more in this fun post about Monica’s quest to make a dice coffin costume.

The vampires of White Wolf’s World of Darkness are consummate predators. Predators – generally speaking – don’t often suffer the company of other predators, particularly those that compete for the same food source, and rarely willingly when it does happen. One of the few things that encourages vampires to interact with each other is affiliation within a covenant. Such affiliations tend – by the very nature of their members – to be relatively loose ties, but they are not fleeting; vampires in the World of Darkness take a very dim view of those who willingly sever their connection to their covenant-mates. In The Invictus, White Wolf takes a look at the feudalistic covenant envied by many and hated by most – even by some of those within.

A good PDF should be more than just a scanned version of a book. Okay, so many of them are laced with hyperlinks and bookmarks, which are great. Some PDF releases really explore the potential behind pure digital media.

When the second edition of Vampire: the Masquerade came out, I didn’t care about the Tremere at all. They were, to me, an excuse to make sure yet another RPG had a wizard hidden within it.

Yazata is a new Pantheon for Scion done in the style of the Companion Pantheon sections for the Tuatha De Dannan, Celestial Bureaucracy, and Devas in the Scion Companion. It offers a look at a new Pantheon, their history, virtues, and PSP, some Birthrights, sample characters, and an examination of their Overworld, Underworld, and a Titan to menace them. Yazatas also offers a new All Purpose Purview, Stars, and an Adventure, The God, The Bad and the Ugly.

My familiarity with Persian mythology is mediocre. I am more familiar with it than the typical fellow on the street, but I would not say I have a professional’s grasp of it. Take my comments therefore with the appropriate grain of salt. On the other hand, I have run Scion heavily for over three years and have a good idea of how it works. As this is going up on a horror site, I’ll note like the other Scion books Yazata is not a horror game; if you’re looking for something to give a good scare at the table, you will want to give this a pass.

They call it “The Best Four Days in Gaming,” but for me Gencon turned out to be one single day of hyper-kinetic goodness dotted by plenty of booth babes to punctuate my day. Going to Gencon in order to enjoy the event is quite different than being a man on a mission, well, missions. There were some fantastic new products this year, such as new releases in the Cthluhutech and Eclipse Phase lines. I picked up Smallville (and the Leverage Quickstart Job adventure) to see what twists they would bring to the Cortex system. I mean how could Clark Kent sport a D12 Strength when Jayne from Serenity does the same thing (Cam Banks’ answer to that question proves pretty interesting). White Wolf took a bold move by, well, not bringing a single book to read this year (though the booth, which looked like a Vampiric salon, was hopping with excited patrons looking to hear about upcoming products and get their drink on). Companies like Out of the Box had a fleet of new party and educational games while Wits and Wagers had both an expansion and family edition available (would have liked to see Say Anything release an expansion too, but oh well).

The Scarlet Empress returns and, unknown to most, heralds the Yozi Reclamation.

Soon, Creation will be plunged into conflict. Whether they support the Empress’s efforts or oppose her at every turn, the world’s Exalted will be at the heart of the struggle. In the end, as the heavens shake and the Blessed Isle burns, what tales will they tell of your deeds?

Return of the Scarlet Empress is available at the Flames Rising RPGNow Shop.

FlamesRising.com is pleased to present you with an inside look at an event called “The Grand Masquerade.” This annual event, hosted by White Wolf Publishing, is held for fans of the World of Darkness. This interview was conducted by FlamesRising.com’s editor-in-chief Matt M McElroy, who is also a long-time fan, Storyteller and promoter of White Wolf.

I had the chance recently to sit down with Shane DeFreest, World of Darkness Community Developer for CCP/White Wolf, and ask him about the upcoming gathering called The Grand Masquerade. The Grand Masquerade is a World of Darkness Convention being held on September 23-26, 2010 at the Roosevelt Waldorf Astoria Hotel located in the New Orleans French Quarter.

What would I be, if God wanted me to be something different? I would be whatever God saw fit to make me.

Whatever God sees fit for me, one thing will never change. I will always be a monster.

– Solomon Birch

World of Darkness: Mirrors is available at the Flames Rising RPGNow Shop.

From their beginnings in ancient Sumeria, the Daeva have specialized at blending in with human society. In game terms, Gangrel may be the most overtly kick-ass clan due to their mastery of the Protean powers of shape-changing — able to sink into any patch of earth at sunrise, or to instantly grow claws and throw down. Daeva, on the other hand, have mastery over social skills, and the most efficient character builds tend to reflect this and play to that strength. Daeva may not be quite the combat powerhouse that a Gangrel can be, but they excel at manipulating others, inspiring desire, devotion and need.

I have been posting short updates and industry news that I’ve come across over on my LiveJournal for the past few months. Someone suggested that Flames Rising readers might like to hear some of the rattling that goes on in my head so…we’re going to give it shot. These posts will indeed be a bit of a random mix of links and commentary and most likely won’t follow any kind of set pattern. Feedback and comments are welcome.

Last week I was in Atlanta on business for the “day job” (aka DriveThruRPG.com). I’m still trying to catch up on my e-mail, so if I owe you something give me a few extra days. That or it got lost in the shuffle so feel free to ping me with a reminder…

In my previous review of Nosferatu: The Beast That Haunts the Blood for Vampire: the Requiem, I made the claim that Nosferatu was arguably the best clanbook of the series. I still stand by that claim, though Gangrel: Savage and Macabre is definitely a very close second.

Gangrel follows the same basic pattern as Nosferatu; a low-status vampire – probably a novice – is recruited to write a journal on the nature of the clan, along the way interviewing a number of clan members for their thoughts and insight. In this case, the book begins with a note that the author, Alice, has apparently gone AWOL. She eventually left this journal on the chest of a dead man, and as time goes on has been taking fewer and fewer pains to cover the tracks of her kills. She seems to be slipping deeper into the arms of the beast that afflicts all vampires – the thing that stirs within them, driving their animal impulses to hunt and kill without thought or care.

I’ve been a recent convert to White Wolf’s World of Darkness system, and have enjoyed immensely playing Vampire the Requiem. My initial character was of clan Ventrue – almost by default – but after reading through the Nosferatu clan book, I think I know what clan affiliation my next character will have.

Nosferatu describes the most repellent of the Kindred clans; the most disquieting vampires in the whole World of Darkness. No matter their sire, the vampires of this clan – Haunts, Freaks, and any number of less pleasant terms – have characteristics that set them apart from everyone else – even other Kindred. Their deformities may be physical, or they may tend toward having a powerful odor following them.

FlamesRising.com is pleased to present you with an exclusive preview for a new supplement for SCION, published by White Wolf Publishing. Entitled Yazata: The Persian Gods, this supplement takes an in-depth look at the gods of ancient Persia. What’s in store for fans of SCION? New Boons, Knacks, Birthrights and Purviews, including a new general Purview called “Stars” which we have an exclusive sneak peek of right here at Flames Rising.

Yazata Developer Eddy Webb tells us “This is what’s great about fan-proposed products. Siavash sent in a proposal, and instantly we saw the potential of it. It took a while to find the right place for it in our schedule, but I think the work that he and Dean put into it is worth the wait.”

The Unbidden is Mage: the Ascension’s contribution to the Night Horrors line. For those who haven’t read my earlier reviews on this line, these books detail the kinds of monsters that monsters fear. You may be saying to yourself that the spellcasters in Mage aren’t really monsters. They are trying to enlighten the world, which isn’t high on many evil “to-do” lists.

What is horrible about these do-gooders? The authors address this question in the introduction. Magic is the horror that the typical Mage has to face. Magic is temperamental, akin to catching a tornado in a mason jar. Yeah, it may look cool in there, but there IS going to be a mess down the line. There are also antagonists in this book (great ones, I might add); however, they all boil down to the dangers of magic.

The Introduction sets the scene: for a long time the Dragon-Blooded have ruled Creation (or at least, the Realm of the Scarlet Empire) but now their position is threatened, particularly by the resurgance of the Solar Exalted but also the rise of the deathknights and other disquieting – at least, if you’re Dragon-Blooded – events. A rule that seemed certain, fixed, timeless, is now at risk and an all-encompassing war seems likely. Interesting times, as they say… and good if you want to run an exciting game! The purpose of this book is then stated, to present a wealth of further detail about the Dragon-Blooded to enrich that game, whether you want really well-developed rounded adversaries or want to actually play Dragon-Blooded characters. The first part of the book focusses on information about the Scarlet Dynasty – the Great Houses of the Realm – and on those Dragon-Blooded who Exalt outside of that organised structure, then there comes all the rule mechanics you need to create Dragon-Blooded characters, and rounds off with notes on the sort of games in which all this detail will be of benefit.

In this episode, Lavender and Blake deal with the contents of the boxes and catch up on some old business with Kyle.

Lavender and Blake head over to Bootlegger’s, a kind of a blue collar-ish sports bar, to catch a quick bite to eat. Trying out her new “toy,” she tries to put the one-word whammy on a college kid and fails miserably, so she goes for the gold and entrances him. Leading him out to her car, she has a quick bite and wonders how to make better use of “Dominate.” After having a quick bite, she takes the mortal over to Coyote Ugly and dumps him in a sea of waitresses. On the way back to Bootlegger’s, Lavender notices Blake heading out with another woman, so she heads back to her apartment and finds a bunch of new books on the shelf.