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Angelus #3
Publisher: Top Cow
by Flames R. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 12/30/2010 15:23:34

When I last saw Danielle Baptiste, she’d just been chosen as the host of the Angelus — and rumor was that she was moving out west with friend (and potential lover), Finch. We’re now three issues in to her new story, told by Witchblade writer Marz and accompanied by Sejic’s usual amazing artwork, and a lot seems to have happened. Sabine, formerly determined to serve as host to the Angelus herself, is now Dani’s willing lieutenant. There’s a villain known so far only as the Conductor. And head of the Darkness, Jackie Estacato, has come to pay Dani his respects — however, that manages to work out.

As the issue opens, three of the Angelus warriors are in hell, stealing an artifact for Sabine (who must have her own agenda — no surprise here, as I didn’t trust her in Witchblade). They encounter another regular in the world — Tom Judge — who warns them about having two artifacts too close together and hints that a big event (probably a crossover event with all the splinter series that have started in 2010, but that may be my comics cynic talking) is coming. In one splash page, the Angelus warriors find out that their activities have not gone unnoticed — in a big (demonic) way. The posture of the Angelus warrior facing the legions of darkness is perfect — Sejic nails the image beautifully.

As the story continues, Jackie Estacato makes himself known and, as is inevitable when the Darkness and the Angelus meet, they explode into battle. Dani doesn’t want things to go the way they always have, but Jackie makes it difficult for her to see him as anything but an enemy. Best part of this battle scene? It happens above Mardi Gras — and the commentary from the by-standers about having had too many shots, etc., is the comic relief for the tense battle above.

There are some quiet images in this issue — Dani and Finch have dessert with Dani’s dad (they’ve returned to her home town of New Orleans), and Sejic does some of that interesting panel work I love: in the top panel, we see what’s above the table and the conversation taking place. In the following panel, we see the feet below the table, and Dani interrupts whatever Finch was about to say. The gap in time between the panels — always existent in comics, which is one of the reasons they’re an interesting medium — is nearly transparent. The way the space is taken up and the way the lines are broken fit perfectly. It’s little moments like this that show that Marz and Sejic really know how to tell a story.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Angelus #3
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Twilight Crusade: Gabriel
Publisher: Moonstone
by Flames R. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 12/30/2010 15:18:51

“Raining Fire” is the first in the TWILIGHT CRUSADE: GABRIEL series from Moonstone and introduces us to a female embodiment of the archangel Gabriel. She’s fed up with her job, has a jaded outlook and some high powered, kick-ass weapons. I’m all for tough heroines and heroes ready to take down the bad guys, and I enjoy a complex good vs. evil story. Unfortunately, I didn’t think there was enough in the first issue to fully deliver the hard-edge and gripping storyline that it initially promises—but there is great potential here for any future issues.

An introductory page gives us some background. It lays out the story of Lucifer and the fallen angels, Michael the other archangels, and the ones that couldn’t choose a side. The latter are called the Hollow because “they were so empty of passion they couldn’t choose a side.” Being banished to earth, many of the Hollow bore children with humans. The offspring were called the Nephilim. Throughout the comic details are added about the rest of the divine hierarchy as well.

All of this is pretty familiar territory, and the basic plot will be recognizable to anyone that has at least some passing knowledge of religion, has watched Supernatural or Constantine, or has read the graphic novels. This isn’t a bad thing, per say; there’s a huge audience for the material, and it’s as good of a start as any.

After the intro, the story begins with a high octane fight sequence between Gabe and a few demons. After the initial showdown with the bad guys, Gabriel meets up with “Lou” (three guesses who that is). Things start to slow down from this point in order to fill in some important details on the relationships between the denizens of heaven, hell, and the divine on earth.

Overall, there’s nothing wrong with the basic idea itself. It’s been proven and it works because people are interested in the classic good vs. evil struggle. But with the number of stories, books, movies, television shows, graphic novels and comics that deal with this type of plot, each creative work that tries to tread that path needs something unique to itself so that readers aren’t saying “hey, this is exactly like this thing over here.” Again, there’s obvious potential present in GABRIEL. I wouldn’t disregard it, and if the trouble spots can be strengthened in future issues then it may develop into a truly riveting comic series.



Rating:
[3 of 5 Stars!]
Twilight Crusade: Gabriel
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Artifacts #1
Publisher: Top Cow
by Flames R. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 12/08/2010 11:15:44

Here is is, folks, Artifacts #1, the first issue of the big cross-over event of the Top Cow universe.

And is it ever off to a bang. In several of the Top Cow series, we’ve been hearing about the 13 artifacts and how dangerous it would be to bring them all together. (Potentially, you know, the end of the world.) Some of the artifact holders are actively working toward that. Others are, of course, working against it, not wanting to be a party to Armageddon. But when Tom Judge is released from Hell bearing the Rapture, one of the 13, it begins to look like fate (or some power like it) is at work, bringing them together.

We open in New York with Sara Pezzini, the bearer of the Witchblade, fighting a minion of hell who is killing priests, looking for one in specific, the aforementioned Tom Judge. Judge doesn’t know how he escaped hell, but he makes his way to the shop of the Curator, the wise old man who was so vital to Dani, now the Angelus host, Baptiste during the War of the Witchblades. The Curator fills Judge, and by default, the readers, in on what the heck is going on with this artifacts thing — and why it’s vital they don’t all come together.

Meanwhile, despite the protection of the Angelus force and the Darkness, Hope Pezzini, daughter of Sara and Jackie Estacado (the host of Darkness) is kidnapped by Aphrodite IV, making me as an audience member really wish Sara’d killed the cyborg assassin when she had the chance. Also in this issue, a character I’ve been growing to love over the past several issues of Witchblade is murdered. Saying who would spoil the shock value, so I’ll leave it at that (and just hope that some crazy force in the highly supernatural Top Cow universe comes to the rescue in the next issue).

Ron Marz is writing Artifacts, but joining him for the artwork are Michael Broussard on pencils, Rick Basaldua and Sal Regla on inks, and Sunny Gho on colors. The art team does a phenomenal job — it’s not Sejic’s surrealistic style from Witchblade and Angelus, but there’s a great deal to look at in these images, from shattering stained glass to a scruffy looking Tom Judge walking out of the panels. On one page, Sara lets loose with her gun, and in each progressive, page wide panel, the witchblade grows longer on her arm until she’s armored up and ready to fight. (There’s one panel that suffers from “comic-book-women-have-painfully-enormous-breasts” syndrome, but only one.)

The ending of this issue with a “holy crap, they just did that?” moment means we’re likely to get a lot of world shifting moments in this series. If you haven’t been reading any of the Top Cow series, I’m not sure this is the right place to start, but based on the recap from the Curator, Marz is trying to make it easy for new readers to dig in to the universe. If it keeps the tone of issue one, this is going to be a great ride.



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
Artifacts #1
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Ready-Made Player Characters (Werewolf: The Forsaken)
Publisher: White Wolf
by Flames R. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 12/08/2010 11:02:17

The layout in Calm Before the Storm smoothly fits its Werewolf base. The fonts are kind of wild and scratchy. Wickedly cool totems are watermarked into the pages. The only aspect that confuses me still is what the border is supposed to be. Because of its color, I feel like its supposed to be tree bark; however, the name of the group keeps me thinking that it’s rain falling on glass. Despite this mystery, it proves to have a great bordering effect.

This package’s artwork is a bit strange. On a positive note, the lupine sketches are ferocious and delicious. On the negative side, Bridgette Byrne looks as if she may be a zombie. I’m not sure about the stats on a Zombie Garou, but I’m guessing overkill. For a Werewolf package, I’d like to see two character sketches. One in the human form and one in the Garou form. Face it, these are the two forms players are bound to shift to. The shift does exist as a watermark on the character sheets, which is cool. Also, the four-page character distinction breaks here. Each character gets six pages of attention (the booklet is even a tad bigger at 37 pages).

David Hall’s writing considers all the usual questions these packages tend to raise. His five characters have good reason to be together, but enough hidden luggage to summon great in-game interactions. His play support suggests links to some of the SAS games, particularly Parlor Games. One thing Hall did that I found useful in playing these characters with friends is this: he suggests what kind of player might best benefit from each character. It would be harder, though not impossible, to make these distinctions with strangers at a convention. The difficult part would be Tara as you ask the group who would like to be the manipulator seeking an Alpha position.



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Ready-Made Player Characters (Werewolf: The Forsaken)
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World of Darkness: Book of the Dead
Publisher: White Wolf
by Flames R. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 12/08/2010 10:58:49

The graphic work and layout to this book keeps to White Wolf’s standards, although it isn’t overly engaging. One frustrating bit about this PDF was an error message I continued to receive whenever I opened it. It could be an issue on my end, so I won’t dwell . . . much. The initial fiction was a bit too dark (not so much in tone as in printer toner). A combination of dark backgrounds and sometimes odd fonts made for a difficult read. The good news is that this stops once the game material begins on page 10. There are several “letters” laid out throughout this book and these are used to good effect. Enterprising Storytellers could use these as in-game props and great results. Sidebars and breaks in information look great throughout the book; several tables run seamlessly alongside the borders of the book. Yeah, this book has some hiccups; nevertheless, it still looks good.

Let’s talk about this book’s artwork. Artwork tends to have a direct relationship to the importance of the text. With that said, Book of the Dead must be a critical addition to the White Wolf line. The cover art, which features a Mercy Thompson look-alike, is exactly the kind of cover that prepares me to dig into a book. I would LOVE to mention this artist by name, but (whoops) he or she remains uncredited in the PDF. The interior artwork also shines (or darkens if that is your thing). I think the full-page artwork on page 14 is one rocking little piece. It features a boy decked out in a Green Lantern shirt (and carrying a bit of the dead within him) who seems to have a man scrambling away in fear. Some of the art might prove to be offensive to some sensibilities (see page 106), but a fan of death and the underworld shouldn’t be squeamish about an act that brings about life . . . right? Yeah, well, I had to do a double-take on that page. There are also several pieces that seem to take on the appearance of a chiseled work.

What about the words?

I rarely gush about artwork, focusing instead on the arrangement of sentences and properly spelled words. Book of the Dead is a dense read, riddled with more that two hundred pages of jargon. I think players of Geist will find the material most useful; however, there are ways that any being in the World of Darkness can just, well, fall right through an Avernian Gate.

As I said earlier, the book comes in at 201 pages. The first ten pages are fiction, which is typical White Wolf format. It then turns over to a four page introduction. This introduction sets up the purpose of the book, a quick overview of how to traverse the underworld, and a quick Lexicon for phrases that will appear heavily throughout the book.

Book of the Dead doesn’t mess around. It’s a hoss of a book that says a lot about a rather specific thing. It seemed a little too big to me at times, but the writing remained strong from beginning to end. I’m sure some locales could be edited out, but tastes vary. They decided to hit all the stops with this release.

Read the full review at Flames Rising:

http://www.flamesrising.com/book-of-the-dead-rpg-review/



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
World of Darkness: Book of the Dead
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Goblin Markets
Publisher: White Wolf
by Flames R. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 05/12/2010 09:41:39

A Flames Rising Review:

In Unknown Armies, something called the Swap Meet exists. It was one of those mystical places where you buy the memory of the date you never had in exchange for the memory of watching your first child being born. While Goblin Markets doesn’t come across quite as harshly as the former example, the theme of the book is caveat emptor. The reason why I’m bringing up both games is to illustrate how wickedly cool and troublesome such a place can become. These places are hard to get into and so much more difficult to escape. Oh, you may leave the market easily enough. It’s just the choices made while midst the vendors that will haunt you. These places allow for once-in-a-lifetime meetings between characters, a look at what the characters really want, and enough subplots to seed an entire campaign.

This book comes in at just under fifty pages; nevertheless, I found myself extremely impressed with the attention to layout and artwork. White Wolf appears to be taking a great deal of pride in their PDF releases. With attractive offerings like this, I believe their gamble will pay out for them.

I won’t go into layout much because I’ve covered the ground many times. Each line at White Wolf has its own dedicated fonts, borders, and such. As a reader and avid collector, I am totally one of their targets for doing this. The Changeling line, while not necessarily my favorite, does appeal to me artistically.

So, what exactly appeals to me? The artwork is in a mix of greens, blacks, and whites, which lends well towards the Fae. None of the pieces in this release doubled me over, but the talented cover art by Justin Norman is riddled with details. It’s a bit dark (the reds and blacks mesh a little too much at the center of the cover). It carries the atmosphere of the market well (as do the pieces within the book). The artwork shows a few of the vendors, of which I found the spider coolest.

This book is broken into five sections:

  1. Prologue: Bought and Broken
  2. Introduction
  3. Chapter One: To Market We Will Go
  4. Chapter Two: Buying and Selling
  5. Chapter Three: Market Stories

All in all, I’d say the only harm with this book is that it perhaps is too specific. A book devoted to strange shopping isn’t going to pull in many impulse buys. I think this is a shame considering the well-written end result. This book can take a night’s game down intriguing new avenues. For me, that’s a selling point.

While this is a White Wolf release, the materials inside can mostly be mined for other settings. I’d be inclined to say fantasy settings work best, but games like Shadowrun could also benefit from a little marketplace action.

Read the full review at FlamesRising.com:

http://www.flamesrising.com/goblin-markets-review/



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Goblin Markets
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Supernatural Role Playing Game
Publisher: Margaret Weis Productions
by Flames R. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 05/12/2010 09:38:56

A Flames Rising Review:

If you are already a fan of the Supernatural TV show and want to play out the kind of adventures that happen to its protagonists, this book will come as a real treat. If you don’t know the show, or are just looking for a game in which present-day heroes deal with supernatural menaces, this probably is not the game for you.

Written throughout in a casual style (almost as if written by Dean Winchester) and laid out in full color with lots of (uncaptioned, alas, and rather dark) shots from the show as well as evocative collections of items that might rest on a hunter’s desk, the work begins with an Introduction by Sara Gamble, one of the show’s writers. Clearly, she’d quite like to join in, and it ought to get you into the right mood for this game from the outset.

If you enjoy the TV show and want a game specifically tailored to its nuances, this is for you. It is presented beautifully and atmospherically, and should empower you to recreate the show in your game. It could even spread to wider, but similar, themes – say you wanted an X-Files or Warehouse 13 themed-game.

Read the full review at FlamesRising.com:

http://www.flamesrising.com/supernatural-rpg-review/



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Supernatural Role Playing Game
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Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space
Publisher: Cubicle 7 Entertainment Ltd.
by Flames R. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 04/28/2010 07:42:24

A FlamesRising.com Review:

I have to make a confession. It’s not an easy confession to make since I’ve been a card carrying sci-fi geek all my life, but it’s best you all know the truth. The truth is this: I know next to nothing about the Doctor Who Series. Cubicle 7 games have decided to introduce me (and many others) to the good Doctor in a big way. Although I’m reviewing a full-color PDF of the game (thanks to Cubicle 7 for my reviewer’s copy), they have created a RPG rarity in this day and age–the RPG box set. Yep, for $59.99 game lovers will get three books–players, game masters, and adventures, a handful of blank and filled-out character sheets, and other bits of goodness. All of these are also in full color and look quite smart.

Let’s talk about that smart look right now. The book is laid out in full-color glory. Beautifully bordered by graphics that include the TARDIS, the two-column layout is impressive. Sidebars are off-set in blue and work to keep (a) information separated properly and (b) important information in a good place. For example, the core make-up of characters–attributes, skills, and traits–earn one of the first sidebars. The character sheets look good, but are eerily similar to Eden’s character sheets for Buffy, Ghost of Albion, and Army of Darkness (more on this later). The graphic design and layout team did a stand-out job on this project from the books to the gizmo sheets. About the only thing that isn’t really attractive (or needed) are the Story Points sheet. Sheets like these aren’t really important because I find most groups tend to use chips, coins, or a myriad of other tokens. Printing out oodles of heavily colored paper probably won’t appeal to most groups.

There is a four-page quickstart guide, which is handy for giving to all the players at the table. The player’s guide proves to be a great starting off point for the game. It’s here we find four chapters–an introduction, character creation, basic rules, and a short tidbit on player advice.

The Dr. Who game has a great deal of promise. I thumbed through an opened hard copy at my gaming store and must say it’s a quality made product. Likewise, the PDF looks fantastic.

I have my problems with the system, but I think there are enough differences between it and Unisystem for me to get over it. Some artwork would have been nice, but most license-based games do the exact same thing.

Read the full Review at Flames Rising: http://www.flamesrising.com/doctor-who-rpg-review/



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Doctor Who: Adventures in Time and Space
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Zero Hunters #1
Publisher: Cinemacomics
by Flames R. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 04/28/2010 07:22:49

A FlamesRising.com Review:

At first glance this seems like it could be tagged as “The Punisher Meets Blade,” and that’s not necessarily a bad thing because there are solid differences that give this comic its own signature stamp, so endless comparisons are not needed. In the first panels we’re introduced to William Garrick, a man that’s part of a special task force hunting “the things that aren’t human.” But he’s also on a personal mission of revenge. The opening gives enough background to get things started before the story moves into a tense and revealing action sequence.

The protagonist here has a slick “don’t mess with me” attitude and there’s a nice mixture of darkness and humor. Some of the dialogue in a few spots is a bit cliché but, because of the fast pace of the story and the composition within the panels, it doesn’t detract from enjoyment of the narrative. Instead, that seems to serve as more of a tongue-in-cheek wink-wink to the readers that would likely be familiar with other works in this genre.

The artwork is strong; there’s depth, a feeling of immediacy, and the action sequences as well as the slower panels flow. There’s a very nice use of page space and also an overall glossy look to the art that gives it that “live” feel. The cover composition foreshadows with artistically detailed and carefully-placed items. I also found that the dialogue bubbles were easy to follow from one speaker to the next and the lettering throughout was solid.

This comic seems like it will continue to deliver a decent read and a visual experience that will be welcomed by many readers.

Read the full Review at Flames Rising: http://www.flamesrising.com/zero-hunters-1-review/



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Zero Hunters #1
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Ready-Made Player Characters (Promethean: The Created)
Publisher: White Wolf
by Flames R. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 04/28/2010 07:19:52

A FlamesRising.com Review:

Promethean: the Created allows for some memorable characters; this quintet illustrates the point perfectly. The Refuse is a group of outcasts who joined each other for companionship and protection. Each member–Dennison 23rd, Gargoyle, Hellas, Worm, and Dove–prove to be some insightful creations. They really have to be since Promethean proves to be such a challenging system. Playing a group of vampires isn’t the same as playing these beings. Vampires are social creatures and, for the most part, can interact with the six billion humans on the planet. With the exception of Hellas, these characters are pariahs who even affect the environment around them should they stay in one place too long. These facts work to generate a fairly unique gaming experience.

The layout for this is simple, but plentiful for what is needed. The book is 28 pages and has a border of what looks almost like x-ray photos along the top border (except on pages devoted to characters). The headers are a blurry blue font that I really think looks neat. The icon for this throng is a literal twist to the three-arrow recycling icon. One of the arrows is broken or twisted. I think it would be hard to find a better icon for this group.

Avery Butterworth’s artwork is one of the better collections I’ve seen for these character collections. In my earlier reviews, I’ve loved and hated the depictions. Although Dennison 23rd pushes my personal tastes, I think the sketched characters for this supplement are the best thus far.

Read the full Review at Flames Rising: http://www.flamesrising.com/flash-fire-ready-made-wod/



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Ready-Made Player Characters (Promethean: The Created)
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Ready-Made Player Characters (World of Darkness)
Publisher: White Wolf
by Flames R. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 04/28/2010 07:18:43

A FlamesRising.com Review:

Kelley Barnes’ collection of characters almost does something I never expected. Only one of the five characters has any real supernatural ties (he senses dead people). Another character had a brush with it, which is why she can’t sleep without drugs or drink. The five characters for Legacy Security and Courier Services fit in to Spycraft or Shadowrun just as easily as they do their ended setting, which is the World of Darkness. They aren’t a Vigil, which the writer covers in a sidebar.

The layout works as in all World of Darkness releases. A collection of partial superimposed images are laid out as the border. In the larger books, the border makes more sense as the photos are distributed throughout the book. The images in this package are not to be found since all the artwork comes from Avery Butterworth’s characters. Nevertheless, the border looks good and has some nice aspects to it (the lonely shadow in the alleyway strikes well with me).

I’ve always liked the spattery Saw-like fonts for the World of Darkness and this continues to deliver just that.

The all-human cast isn’t as odd to me in this collection as it was in Calm Before the Storm. The characters come from all walks of life and are visually distinguished. Peter Sweeney or Morgan Welles are personal favs for me while I’m colder towards Lesley Porter. She just seems a little more frozen than the other four.

Read the full review at Flames Rising: http://www.flamesrising.com/flash-fire-ready-made-wod/



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Ready-Made Player Characters (World of Darkness)
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DragonArt
Publisher: F+W Media
by Flames R. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 11/30/2009 10:04:46

A Flames Rising Review:

DragonArt covers all the nuts and bolts of basic critter illustration from what is functionally a stick figure, to basic shapes like cylinders/ tubes, boxes, etc. It gets in to anatomy in comparison to real animals (which is crucial in “selling” the image to viewers) as well as perspective and scale. Basic shading (stippling, hatching, cross-hatching, etc) as well as Ink and Color are touched on.

Not only is the basic “western dragon” covered from almost every angle, but so are other varieties. A sizeable portion is given to “other fantasy creatures” such as gargoyles, gryphons, pegasi and unicorns, etc. All of the foundations used previously apply here as well…stick figures, shapes, detailing, pencils, ink, and color.

Overall it’s a fun book with a wealth of good info for new as well as experienced illustrators who are interested in drawing fantasy critters. It definitely has a place on my shelf. The writing is solid and clear. Layout nice and crisp. Artwork is also good.

This isn’t Todd Lockwood-style illustration…it’s not that sort of book. I say the word “Basic” here a lot and it applies. This is a basic book geared for the young adult and beginner artist…and as such it does a perfect job at nailing down the subject matter in a clear, concise manner.

Review by Jeff Preston

Read the complete review at FlamesRising.com: http://www.flamesrising.com/dragonart-review



Rating:
[5 of 5 Stars!]
DragonArt
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Blood Drive (Hunter: The Vigil)
Publisher: White Wolf
by Flames R. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 11/24/2009 09:32:39

A Flames Rising Review:

The art of the adventure lends itself to the artwork in other Hunter: the Vigil books. Most are sketches while one is an enhanced photo. Matt Dixon’s piece on page 25, which depicts a priest forcing a confession, is doubtlessly my favorite bit of artwork in this adventure. Like most of the SAS line, artwork takes a backseat to story. Most of the text’s artwork is reserved for character pics and props. I think this makes perfect sense from the publisher’s perspective and contributes to an overall better product. I’ve seen too many modules with plenty of art and sporadic writing. That just doesn’t work.

This adventure works best with seasoned characters. There are two reasons for this. One, the threats in the game aren’t to be sneezed at. Two, this adventure works really well as part of an on-going campaign. The gist of the story is this: the players are “given” a vampire to transport from Philadelphia to Chicago (it isn’t paramount that these two cities are used, but the distance should be roughly the same). Most Hunters would just want to kill the bloodsucker; however, this particular vamp claims to seek redemption and also promises to reveal some high-level supernatural secrets.

Of course, there is a small amount of lies tied into things as well.

Before the players know it, they are being tailed by multiple entities seeking to kill their “package;” furthermore, their secret-laced penitent has his own agenda to complete. What works about the writing to Blood Drive is the care to make it make sense. In a relative small amount of space, it addresses a yawning stretch of possibilities. Multiple bits of information is possible for the vampire to offer the team (not to mention what individual Storytellers may incorporate). There is also discussion on each compact and conspiracy in regards to how they view this story of redemption and information. Some care about both; most don’t. The feeling is that everyone is playing the characters. Perhaps there is a reason for that. I was surprised that this adventure didn’t offer a bit more to its mental and social ratings.

At the cost of a movie ticket, this PDF will provide more than a night’s entertainment. It’s an excellent SAS addition and probably the one I’d most recommend from those I’ve read.

Review by Todd Cash

Read the full review at FlamesRising.com: http://www.flamesrising.com/blood-drive-rpg-review



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Blood Drive (Hunter: The Vigil)
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City in the Sand (Mind's Eye Theatre)
Publisher: White Wolf
by Flames R. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 10/26/2009 18:50:23

A Flames Rising Review:

First, let’s talk about what the four files are in this PDF package. The main file is the game itself, a fourteen page set-up to a story about a forgotten Hollywood set. The second file is a nine page primer for new players. Third is thirty-eight pages of character sheets. The fourth and final file is ten pages of reference sheets. Considering that the new player primer and reference sheets may have to be printed multiple times, storytellers may want to charge admission to this game to off-set printing costs. Yep, I’m still seeing no printer friendly options despite all my “helpful” suggestions with my reviews.

I find the story intriguing because it taps upon a time in Hollywood when it was still fascinating. Many of the Kindred feel the same way, ushering in the story. The thirty plus characters in this adventure (a social/mental adventure with next to no physical altercations) are a properly conceived and diverse mix of film makers, lawyers, criminals, veterans, and more. This packet is meaty in its brief span, but sticks to all the parts it requires. Too much story will never be followed by a cast of three much less thirty. Broad strokes. No railroading. No Whammies.

The new player’s primer irks me a little bit because new players may likely be overwhelmed by this intense booklet. I realize that many LARPs take place at conventions (this very PDF was born out of a SoCal GenCon convention). I also realize that, because of this, the Storytellers and Narrators don’t have time to babysit new players. Nobody would want to rehash this information multiple times. The first four pages of the booklet are things the players need to know. There may be a few too many examples of various Tests, but that would basically trim it down to three pages of hard core information. Pages five through nine are full of good information, but I’m not sure it’s required for newbies. Give the new players the younger kindred and let them learn through the game. It’ll stick with them longer that way.

The reference sheets and character sheets are required reading of course. The cheat sheets are handy little guys. The character sheets are split between the cold stats and some personality/background information about the character. I think the materials on these sheets are extremely helpful to players.

This social-heavy adventure is laced with a good story and plenty of entertainment for competent Storytellers to keep running for a night’s game.

Review by Todd Cash

Read the full review at FlamesRising.com: http://www.flamesrising.com/city-in-the-sand-larp-review



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
City in the Sand (Mind's Eye Theatre)
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Ready-Made Player Characters (Hunter: The Vigil)
Publisher: White Wolf
by Flames R. [Featured Reviewer]
Date Added: 10/26/2009 18:45:04

A Flames Rising Review.

The layout to the PDF is amazing. Sometimes I feel the borders in games are a little hit and miss; however, the borders to this character collection fit perfectly. Angst-driven artwork works as a header and alternates between every other page. The side and bottom borders are a nice green-grey color keeping in synch with other releases in this line. I’m always a fan for “printer-friendly” versions of White Wolf material, but it’s harder to argue with such nice work.

The artwork in this collection shows an improvement in the collections. Artwork is expensive, especially for smaller releases; nevertheless, the artwork in this collection remains solid throughout. The artwork merely depicts the characters and, when appropriate, their compacts or conspiracies.

The Keepers’ writing is what won me over for this PDF. There are a handful of players in my group that would have decade-plus buttons if I were inclined to issue them. One fella, we’ll call him Court, has always been the master of ruining the plans or ending the lives of everyone else’s characters. He doesn’t start out evil, but ends up on par with Arvin Sloan before a campaign runs out. Why am I bringing up my friend? Simple. This group of Hunters are a few secrets away from either serious enlightenment or destruction. No group will play this quintet the same and therein lies the amazing thing about these character collections. I’m fairly sure if I ran a one-shot with these well-tailored characters that everyone at the table would have just another reason to distrust Court.

Review by Todd Cash

Read the full review at FlamesRising.com: http://www.flamesrising.com/the-keepers-review



Rating:
[4 of 5 Stars!]
Ready-Made Player Characters (Hunter: The Vigil)
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