Our Brilliant Ruin is: “the first story-world developed by Studio Hermitage. Created for multiple formats including tabletop and video games, Our Brilliant Ruin features the Dramark, an elitist society unraveling against the backdrop of a preternatural catastrophe. Welcome to a gilded age in which upstairs-downstairs personal and sociological drama meets existential horror.”

Created by Justin Achilli, Pam Punzalan, and Rachel J. Wilkinson, the Our Brilliant Ruin tabletop roleplaying game is a speculative fiction setting-rich in a class-divided world falling into catastrophe inspired by Victoriana, Lovecraft, and Downton Abbey. The location for the game is a world spurred to invention in the wake of a dead star’s light touching the planet centuries ago. At first, the ruling upper classes failed to identify and deal with the issues caused by the Ruin. Now, all of humankind is suffering, and a deep-seated hatred bubbles through every interaction. The game centers human interactions in a class-based society of three strata that’s falling apart. Choose from the aristocracy, the truefolk operating in guilds, and the unbonded who refuse to live according to society’s dictates. Then, choose your faction within those layers, to align your values within a family, guild, or selected archetype.

The Lovecraftian elements quickly come into play, because before you create a character you learn there is no possible way to “win”. The light of the Ruin cannot be stopped and will continue to exact a heavy toll. Thus, what matters is whatever you decide. What would you do in the wake of fatalism? What would you do knowing the world will end no matter what you do?

Basic Rules and Character Creation

After almost ninety pages of setting, it’s time to build a character. Character creation is split into three templates pending your decision to play as a member of the aristocracy, truefolk, or an unbonded. Before making a decision, I recommend reviewing the character sheet on page 280 to give you a preview of the narrative-heavy gameplay. I would also strongly recommend reading through the rules before making your decisions, because your choices are important.

The rules of the game are explained in chapter 4 and outline the gamemaster’s and players’ roles. Whenever a player wants to take action, a negotiation between them and the gamemaster is triggered before the player rolls a pool of six-sided dice. This is to acknowledge there are several ways to approach a potential action, and it’s up to the player to declare how they want to proceed. After dice are rolled, the results are tabulated: only sixes and ones matter. Sixes are “brills” and indicated measures of success, whereas ones are “gloom” and represent failure or catastrophe. Health is measured by your physical well-being, Vitality, and by your mental and emotional health, or Distress. When either drops to zero, the player can no longer take any actions. In addition to your core stats, you can also affect your dice pool by adding Passion. Lastly, in Chapter 5, you and your fellow players devise “community property” or a shared estate you can use as your home base of operations.

The second-half of Our Brilliant Ruin is designed for the gamemaster and includes NPCs, both friends and foes, along with monsters, obstacles, environmental challenges, and a full gazetteer. Most gamemasters will want to pay special attention to the introductory adventure found on page 262. Fortunes Turn at Crowscroft Manor is essential to understanding gameplay and the roles both gamemasters and players have. A game centered on human interactions requires a different type of adventure design, because there needs to be pain-or-pressure points that invites the players to act.

Impressions

Though the societal structure is dominant in character creation, the Ruin (pgs. 78-79 and pg. 145) is omnipresent and disaster is all but guaranteed in subtle and overt ways. This style of horror can be both unpredictable and fun at the table, because the mold on a cellar’s walls could be caused by the Ruin–or it could simply be a moldy cellar. To counteract this, clear objectives, like the missions laid out in the sample adventure, are a necessity.

Who would enjoy playing this game? My first thought was fans of The Walking Dead. Though the society and its technology is circa early 20th century on a world succumbing to alien starlight, you and your friends are struggling investigators who know full well how dangerous the Ruin is–even if other people pretend they don’t. Just like a virus, you can’t fight the Ruin–but you must deal with its effects on people who suffer from its taint, whether they’re human or forever changed.

Art, Format, and Availability

Heavy on aesthetics, Our Brilliant Ruin provides gorgeous, evocative art that underlines the Dramark. The effects of the Ruin aren’t as dominant in the art as the characters, manors, and setting, however, and some white text is harder to read on the dark backgrounds in the two-column format. The hardcover has been printed in a brilliant edition, funded on Kickstarter, and a standard edition; collectors will want to know the brilliant edition’s cover art is designed similarly to the standard edition published by Dark Horse. The brilliant edition’s cover, however, is bound to perfection and covered with a fine, emerald-green linen and embellished with black-and-gold details. Inside, the brilliant edition features embossed end pages, gold foil edges, silk ribbons, and superior color printing to highlight the thematic art.

Our Brilliant Ruin is now available in hardcover and digital. The Our Brilliant Ruin TRPG corebook, map packs, and several Clawmoor Heights character packs are available for free on DriveThruRPG.com.

Also available from Dark Horse is the Our Brilliant Ruin: Horror at Crane Mansion graphic novel adaptation. You can read our review of the graphic novel here at FlamesRising.com.


An unsigned brilliant edition of the Our Brilliant Ruin TRPG was provided to FlamesRising.com for review. This review, written by Allie Brooks, contains affiliate links.

There, in a crooked house lives a Crooked Man with a crooked grin. He raises crooked arms to a Crooked Tree at the edge of midnight and hears the whispers of the Old Ones…

The Crooked Moon is a 632-page folk horror compendium of setting, species, subclasses, backgrounds, feats, dark bargains, spells, monsters, and a self-titled adventure. Designed as a 5th edition-compatible supplement, The Crooked Moon is a blend of atmospheric worldbuilding and new rules to run and play a 5th Edition horror campaign.

The book, in many ways, is three separate full-length supplements combined into one massive book: a setting guide, a player’s guide, and a ready-to-run campaign that provides one-to-two years’ worth of play. Sectioned into three parts, players will run from (or play as) monsters in the land between life and death: Druskenvald.

Druskenvald features thirteen, distinct provinces that provided unique opportunities for original and thematic horror adventures. They include:

Ardengloom: A dark forest of long-forgotten tales filled with the bones of ancient feyfolk and new species like the gnarlborn.

Astramar: Celestial mysteries and the arcane arts can be found in the azure sky and lands of this magical province. This province includes some Grecian overtones.

Bubonia: A plague-ridden province, a nod to 14th century Europe during the Black Plague, filled with the plagueborn, sinister guilds, and mutant creatures.

Chernabos: Lawlessness and guile reign supreme in this provincial hellscape where the ashborn live amongst erupting volcanoes, earth-splitting quakes, and bold seekers of fortune.

Edwardia:: Edwardian gaslight fantasy is dimmed in the province of Edwardia where the Grey threatens all. An entity, an omnipresent fog, and a curse, the Grey pushes back against innovative inventions.

Enoch: The agrarian cycle of planting, harvesting, and dark rituals is dominant in Enoch, where fields are magically grown in the dark of night.

Kalero: Inspired by the Mexican holiday Dia de Muertos, life and death are celebrated in equal measure in a province filled with the relicborn and untold treasure.

Nerukhet: Deep below ground, labyrinthine caverns riddled with lightbearing geodes house the silkborn and the divine, gemstone-encrusted Bejeweled: sacred insects and oversized arachnids.

Olmarsh: A Lovecraftian province in the dark seas surrounding Druskenvald, the people of Olmarsh and the deepborn face nautical phantoms, eldritch horrors, and the abyss.

Pholsense: Inspired by the deadly European witch trials, Pholsense inquisitors demand its residents live and practice magic according to a law called the Silver Path.

Picco: Picco is a dark carnivale-themed province of chaotic, gleeful fun. Its locales are distinct, like Dinopolis and Captain Bone’s Lagoon, offering a customizable experience and a break from the horrors omnipresent throughout the other provinces. It also includes a nod to Curse of Strahd.

Syndramas: Eternal winter and endless battles are fought throughout the Drakkonite mine-filled necropolis of Syndramas. A trio of undead factions that includes the Rimeshade, Bloodboil, and Marrowfeast Legions are locked in an unceasing war.

Zulrogg: Humid, swampy jungles riddled with bogs, ancestral spirits, and spirit beasts are home to the trollish bogborn and their spirit priests.

Next, players are introduced to thirteen new playable species including the humanoid, harpy Azureborn, the doll-like construct Threadborn, and the undead Relicborn. Players can further flesh out their characters with 15 new subclasses and 13 new backgrounds as well as new feats, dark bargains, and spells. The subclasses are tied to the twelve, core classes and infuse straightforward classes with horror. For example, the Bard can specialize in the College of Whistles to “whistle” ghostly companions, while the Fighter can become a Barrow Guard and command the undead. The new subclasses and backgrounds infuse several horror tropes, like Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde, into character creation for a creative and more well-rounded player character.

The book’s third and longest portion is The Crooked Moon adventure, which I’m not going to narrate in its entirety to avoid spoilers. It is a campaign that walks players from level one to level fourteen; it is filled with multiple characters, monsters, and locations that includes a broad range of horrific and supernatural elements.

Capped by over 145 pages of appendices, stats and write-ups are included for monsters, familiars, fabled heirlooms, cursed curios, paranormal potions, curses, music, tarot–and more!

A personal favorite is the Reveler of Stories, because that monster is not limited to one, unique form. The chaotic neutral Dingpot is cute in a mischievous way, and can be easily outfitted to other, similar yokai-themed creatures. Cursed objects like the Midwife Shears are thematic and flesh out urban legends that can be wielded by both new and existing species, while potions and tonics have useful purposes, like the Nightwatcher potion, as well as narrative hooks, like the Tincture of Mourning.

Based on the Edge of Midnight, a folk horror campaign produced by Legends of Avantris, the material in The Crooked Moon is dense, playable, and adaptable. A “must have” for players who want to plump the depths of folk horror and its tropes, The Crooked Moon is now available in the following formats:

* The Crooked Moon 5th Ed (2014) PDF
* The Crooked Moon 5th Edition (2024)
* The Crooked Moon Roll 20 VTT
* The Crooked Moon Hardcover

The Crooked Moon is a one-of-a-kind 5th edition supplement and Avantris Entertainment’s first product.


This post contains Amazon and DriveThruRPG affiliate links.

This review has been written by FlamesRising.com contributor Allie Brooks. A copy of The Crooked Moon was graciously provided by the publisher for review.

Up in the sky! It’s a bird! It’s a plane! No, it’s the super kitties!

Atlas Games, publisher of Magical Kitties Save The Day 2nd Edition, has launched and funded a Kickstarter for three new supplements: Mice’s Gambit, Trouble in River City, and a new city book called “Mewotropolis.”

Meowtropolis is a big, bustling city filled with supervillains plotting to control the planet, steal the world’s largest diamond, or get revenge on everybody who ever laughed at them.

When Meowtropolis is threatened (and it’s threatened A LOT), the city’s magical kitties need to save the day. Unlike most magical kitties, THESE kitties wear bright costumes and have superhero names like Thunder Kitty or The Invisible Claw. But they must keep their secret identities hidden!

Trouble in River City is a collection of six full adventures, filled with all-new challenges for your kitty krew that includes: Strange Fairyland, Little League, The Cavern Beneath, Mall of DOOM!, The Great Scavenger Hunt, and an adventure written by FlamesRising.com contributor, Monica Valentinelli, called “A Pocket-sized Problem.”

Delve into a magical mystery in Mice’s Gambit, the solo puzzle gamebook for Magical Kitties Save The Day 2nd Edition. This journal-sized book is 64 pages of full-color adventure that takes your kitty to Danbury’s Antiques Shop and its labyrinth of hidden treasures and enchanted relics. When the mischievous Mice Resistance steals a powerful enchanted chessboard, it’s up to your magical kitty to recover the pieces, thwart the mice’s plans, and restore order to the shop and River City.

Meowtropolis by Atlas Games on Kickstarter has already funded, but there’s still time to pledge. Backers enjoy several freebies when they pledge, and stretch goals include additional, fun adventures like the unlocked tale Case of the Cursed Mirror!

Dream Realm Storytellers, known for their immersive 5E worlds (Svilland, Bloodpunk, Corpus Collection, and Silverplate) are excited to announce their newest project, Demonheart – The Vile Codex for Daggerheart. Demonheart is a 3-book codex with over 450 pages, a new class, 7 new domains, 66 new subclasses, a Hellish setting, a full adventure, and more for Daggerheart.

This project marks DRS’ first descent into Daggerheart, a system originally created by Critical Role. It will include the first major adventure ever written for the Daggerheart system, and embraces an edgy, unflinching plunge into a biblical Hell that is very dark and very gory. Players descend into a brutal infernal metropolis of torture, execution gardens, and endless chains, taking on the roles of the damned themselves. With subclasses inspired by the Seven Deadly Sins and a new Sin Domain mechanic, Demonheart challenges players to face demonic legions and terrifying tyrants as they ascend the ladders of damnation.

“This is not a safe story,” says the DRS creative team. “It’s an exploration of a raw, bloody world. Demonheart is about finding a path forward in the darkest possible world, and asking what it costs to take that path. Beware and despair.”

Demonheart embraces themes of corruption and damnation, pushing players toward uncomfortable, high-stakes choices. It will include unusual mechanics, like instructions for turning player characters into demons, for example. Centered on narrative play, Demonheart’s story evolves through the choices players make. Players actively shape the tone of the game by building Hope or inviting Fear, turning every roll into a meaningful story.

Highlights include:
* Three books, each 150 pages
* Demonheart supplement book for new mechanics
* Demonheart setting book with descriptions of Hell and its inhabitants
* New Daggerheart content
* Unusual Mechanics
* Dark Themes
* Narrative Depth

Demonheart – The Vile Codex for Daggerheart will be launching on Kickstarter on April 21, 2026, with exclusive early backer rewards and limited-edition goodies that fans won’t want to miss. To learn more and gain access to an exclusive Hope pin and Hope die, follow the campaign: Demonheart to Launch on Kickstarter

Rebellion Unplugged has just launched Tunnels & Trolls: A New Age, a brand-new roleplaying game and reimagining of Ken St Andre’s classic Tunnels & Trolls from 1975, the world’s second-ever RPG, after Dungeons & Dragons on Kickstarter.

Your characters are at once ordinary but fated Kindred, and adventures take you deep into dark tunnels, dangerous caverns, bustling cities and face-to-face with ancient trolls.

Tunnels & Trolls: A New Age is lightning-quick, immediate and thrilling, with a fresh, streamlined ruleset that is easy to learn for newcomers while evolving the most loved elements of the classic game for veteran fans.

Solo adventures were a huge part of the original game and are not forgotten. Rebellion Unplugged has launched Solo Sidequests, starting with The Wailing City and another to be unlocked during the campaign.

Rebellion Unplugged has put a lot of heart and soul into Tunnels & Trolls: A New Age to create a bold reimagining of the world’s second ever roleplaying game. If you’re curious about the brand-new game, you can download the Tunnels & Trolls: A New Age quickstart for free.

Tunnels & Trolls: A New Age on Kickstarter includes several tiers for the 256-page corebook, supplements, and several add-ons. Already funded, the campaign has generated a lot of interest and more announcements will be forthcoming.

Continuing with my reviews of tarot decks, I’m diving into Tarot del Toro. This tarot deck and guidebook draws from the world of award-winning filmmaker Guillermo del Toro. Designed and illustrated by Tomás Hijo, this deck features original artwork inspired by the themes, imagery, and characters of some of del Toro’s most popular films including Pan’s Labyrinth, Hellboy 2: The Golden Army, Crimson Peak, and The Shape of Water.

For many tarot card readers, the physical aspects of the cards and the deck box are important, so let me address that aspect before addressing the art and off-page elements of this unique horror-themed deck. The back of the cards has a design that does indicate which position it’s in. The position of the skull indicates whether you’ve drawn the cards in the upright or reversed position. The cards are printed in a limited color palette on a matte card stock that feels velvety-soft to the touch. The box the cards arrive in can be considered a true keepsake box: a red satin ribbon helps lift the cards from the interior box, exterior words are printed in raised, embossed lettering, and the box has a thematically-appropriate interior print that’s then covered with an additional piece of cover art. These details, along with the 87-page guidebook, present a deck worthy of del Toro’s vision.

I find the Tarot del Tarot deck interesting for a lot of reasons. First, if you didn’t know this was a deck of tarot cards based on del Toro’s works, Tomás Hijo’s art remains compelling regardless of whether you recognize the characters. By that, I mean that this deck feels like a work of love to encapsulate del Toro’s vision that doesn’t fall into the trap of reprinting images from films or concept art just to put art on the cards. Hijo’s linocut style and its limited palette are perfect for a deck inspired by the legendary director, because they are cards that depict the essence of a character, theme, or scene. The lines are sharp, and the card printing even captured the depth of the linocut lending each card a three-dimensional feel.

This deck is a departure from traditional tarot, however, because it’s a blend of filmmaking inspiration and symbols. Themes are present in the Major Arcana, the ace of each suit, and the court cards. So, cards two-through-eight in each suit of gears, goblets, knives, and branches are elements rather than full scenes. For some tarot card readers, that detail may be a turn-off, but for myself I think this artistic choice lends to the uniqueness of this deck rather than detracts from it. In so many tarot card decks, each suit has a minor, narrative arc. Here, those narrative arcs are harder to glean, but aren’t necessarily important to the overall theme. I can’t imagine choosing unique themes, symbols, and images found within all of del Toro’s popular movies to mark the traditional stories inherent within tarot–whether del Toro himself uses tarot to tell stories (as he describes in his introductory letter) or not.

To use the cards, you must read the small guidebook. I was especially interested in Hijo’s experiences with a member of his community, Don Miguel and the older Tarot des Marseilles (as opposed to the Rider-Waite-Smith deck), and the stories about his mother’s tarot card readings. It is refreshing to read about how an artist not only drew inspiration from another creator’s work, in this case Guillermo del Tarot, but also from other people in their community. Thus, what we get, as both tarot card readers and fans of del Toro’s work is a deep look into each card and the choices made. The minor arcana, as I mentioned earlier, is different because here Hijo describes how the progression of cards in each suit describes the same or similar journey within a suit. This is different from typical tarot. For example, the numbered cards each have a similar meaning described on page 70. Nine is the Harvest or Happy Ending of the process. If you read tarot, you might have had the same reaction I did: Wait, the Nine of Swords is the same as the Nine of Cups? But, yes, that is what Hijo intended. In this way, the departure from traditional tarot is intentional to ensure, just like del Toro’s popular films, that this deck stands apart.

Included in the booklet are Don Miguel’s sample readings and the encouragement to lean into your intuition when reading the cards. More than just a collectible, the beautifully-illustrated Tarot del Toro is truly a work of art.

DriveThruRPG is embracing Game Masters everywhere by putting 1,000s of titles on sale. The 2026 DTRPG GM’s Day Sale is massive! We took a peek, and got excited that some of our favorites games, comics, and stories are on sale. Here’s a list of our recommendations! Our lists are not arranged in any particular order–we just thought you’d like our hand-picked recs that include games with GMs, games without, and games for solo play–where the GMs get to play, too.

Top 10 Games for GM’s Day Sale

1. Into the Wyrd and Wild Revised Edition: Into the Wyrd and Wild is a supplemental book for those seeking to incorporate a weird and terrifying wilderness into their role-playing game. Players and GMs who enjoy a level of horror and prefer the sweeping, darkened landscapes of forest and mires to the well-trodden cobblestone of dungeons will love this game.

2. The World Below Core Rulebook: The World Below is a game of adversity, heroism, terror, and awe. Your characters will overcome or be defeated by terrible beasts, environmental calamities, and Kaos storms ravaging their surroundings and the souls they encounter. They will chart their journeys, chronicle their tales, and pass their stories down to their descendants, who will, in turn, become your characters when your old ones perish or retire.

3. Witch Souls Second Edition: Witch: Fated Souls Second Edition is a modern, dark fantasy game where you play a witch who sold their soul to a demon for power. Your soul might be lost, but there’s still hope for redemption if you can outwit your demon! This game deals with witches—known as Fated—people who sold their souls in a demonic bargain.

4. The Yellow King RPG: Inspired by Robert W. Chambers’ influential cycle of short stories, The Yellow King RPG pits the characters against the reality-altering horror of The King in Yellow. This suppressed play, once read, invites madness. Or a visit from its titular character, an alien ruler intent on invading and remolding our world into a colony of their planet, Carcosa.

5. Through the Breach RPG: Control your destiny.Journey back to the early 1900s, where a dimensional rift leading to the magical world of Malifaux has changed human history. Steam power and steel collide with magic and monsters in this dangerous and exciting roleplaying game. Are you brave enough to change your destiny? This second edition rulebook has been designed to be backwards compatible with all first edition Through the Breach supplements and adventures.

6. The Terror Beneath: An Investigative Roleplaying Game of Weird Folk Horror: The Terror Beneath is an investigative roleplaying game of horrors both ancient and modern, inspired by the works of master horror author Arthur Machen and powered by the GUMSHOE system. Imagine Britain at the dawn of the 20th century. In the depths of the countryside, cults celebrate ancient rites in hidden clearings and caverns, beasts of legend emerge from their lairs to prey upon the unwary, and powerful beings of folklore and myth stir once more. In the urban sprawl of London and other cities, secret societies struggle for power and dominance, rogue alchemists pursue occult ambitions, and scientists fuse modern technology with ancient mysticism to create new horrors.

7. Our Woodland Gods RPG: Our Woodland Gods is a guided, GM-less, RPG about animal-folk cultists seeking a new eldritch god to worship. Together, you and some friends can explore this story of escalating horror via the safe, comfortable lens of your not-quite-innocent woodland village.

8. Grim Noir RPG: Grim Noir is a film noir RPG about occult mysteries and shady deals in dark alleys and glamorous restaurants. In Grim Noir you take on the role of a group of detectives that gather clues in order to piece together a solution to the mystery your game master has created. In Grim Noir mysteries have a supernatural or an occult twist that makes them too dangerous for the City’s regular police. But not for you. You are are a Reaper.

9. Wreck This Deck: Wreck This Deck is a dark urban fantasy game of solo journalling, demon summoning and deck crafting. Summon and bind demons into your Demon Deck, defacing the cards as you go. Demon summoning is dangerous and you’re bound to get into some sticky situations as you play but it’s nothing you can’t handle – right?

10. Hunter The Vigil Second Edition: FlamesRising.com contributor Monica Valentinelli was the developer for this fun, modern game! Hunter: The Vigil Second Edition is a standalone game that can be played by new or existing players. The lore has been updated to not only reflect the uptick in monsters, but also the fact that hunting monsters is not exclusive to a location, group of people, or time period. There may be more monsters than ever before, but now there are more ways to fight them, too. In Hunter: The Vigil, anyone can be a hunter — provided you are committed to the hunt. It is a game of personal horror and sacrifice that tests relationships and encourages teamwork within a cell, compact, or conspiracy.

Top 10 Comics

1. Our Brilliant Ruin: Horror at Crane Mansion: In “Horror at Crane Mansion,” investigator for hire Elizabeth Ranseur finds herself in deep when a simple job vetting a wealthy woman’s suitors becomes a death trap. Who is a tragic victim, and who is the ruthless hunter? Created in collaboration with Studio Hermitage and in association with the TTRPG of the same name, Our Brilliant Ruin explores a gilded Edwardian setting where intricate social ties of allegiance and conflict are threatened by the presence of the Ruin—a mysterious force that turns creatures and people into horrific monsters.

2. Helm Graycastle Book 1: The last dragon prince has been abducted—kept prisoner by an unknown threat: AZTEC MEXICA! Helm Greycastle and his outsider comrades are here to save the prince—but are recruited by a resistance plotting to overthrow Montezuma.Will Greycastle help save the people of MEXICA or save the dragon prince and flee? BONUS! HELM GREYCASTLE includes 5E-compatible adventures, monsters, and more!

3. The Saga of the Fire Wolf: The Fire Wolf is on the run, carrying a relic of tremendous power. Alone and outnumbered, she is caught in a storm and driven ashore on a strange island by the Norns, forced to face a destiny that she struggles to comprehend. There her fate becomes intertwined to that of a fallen hero, a legendary warband with questionable motives and a king and queen hell bent to conquer a blood-soaked throne. Will Loki’s luck be enough to get the Fire Wolf off the island alive, or will she drastically change the lives of everyone she meets?

4. Where’s My Shoggoth?: Your tentacled friend has gone missing. What can you do? Go looking for him, of course! Travel from the deepest cellars to the highest spires of a sprawling mansion. Search the grounds from the forest to the lake.?? On the way you’ll meet monsters and demigods, aliens and Old Ones, and all manner of other creatures from the Cthulhu mythos. Surely something, somewhere, has seen your shoggoth?

5. Barbaric Volume 1: Murderable Offenses: Owen the Barbarian has been cursed to do good with what remains of his life. His bloodthirsty weapon, Axe, has become his moral compass with a drinking problem. Together they wander the realm, foredoomed to help any who seek assistance. But there is one thing Owen hates more than a life with rules: Witches. Welcome to the skull-cracking, blood-splattering, mayhem-loving comic brave enough to ask: How can a man sworn to do good do so much violence? Hah! F***ing with you. It’s just BARBARIC.

6. Rickety Stitch and the Gelatinous Goo, Book 1: The Road to Epoli: Rickety Stitch and the Gelatinous Goo is a young adult fantasy, graphic novel series by Ben Costa and James Parks set in the Land of Eem! Meet Rickety Stitch-a walking, talking, singing skeleton bard. He’s the one skeleton in the dungeon who seems to have retained his soul, and he has no idea why. Rickety’s only clue to his former identity is a song he hears snippets of in his dreams, an epic bard’s tale about the Road to Epoli and the land of Eem. His sidekick and sole friend is the gelatinous Goo, who Rickety alone can understand. Together they set out in search of Rickety’s past, with abundant humor and danger galore.

7. Quests Aside Volume 1: A humorous, high fantasy cheers, Quests Aside is a rollicking adventure where Dungeons & Dragons meets It’s Always Sunny in Philadelphia! Welcome to Quests Aside known to all, both far and wide! A skeleton, an apprentice mage, and an exiled princess walk into a bar… for another shift at Quests Aside, the local watering hole run by once legendary, now retired, adventurer Barrow. When the King privately explains that he plans to shut the place down, Barrow must find a way to hold onto his business, the friendships, and the family he’s built around it.

8. Scarlet’s Field Guide to Cryptids & Other Creatures: Scarlet’s Field Guide to Cryptids & Other Creatures is a collection of short stories in field journal format from Scarlet’s point of view as she travels around the world encountering and tracking cryptids and discovering other creatures for the first time. Scarlet is on a mission to track her archenemy, the werewolves, while she continues to search for answers in her mother’s death. The book collects stories and eyewitness accounts of 30 cryptids and creatures and artwork from eighteen artists including Scarlet Huntress creator Sean Forney.

9. Hellboy: The Art of Hellboy: Love Hellboy? This new book features never seen before art, unused and unfinished covers, and drawing upon ten years of sketchbooks, The Art of Hellboy provides the ultimate inside look at Mignola’s design, storytelling, and color work. Page after page of rarely seen art reveals the labor involved in creating one of comics’ most acclaimed books.

10. 2000 AD Encyclopedia: Meticulously researched and compiled for comics fans everywhere, the 2000 AD Encyclopedia is the essential fact compendium to the Galaxy’s Greatest Comic! What are the essential Judge Dredd stories? In which progs did The Ballad of Halo Jones run? What year was the first appearance of Nemesis the Warlock? Just who are the Thrillsuckers? Look no further, Earthlets! Every strip and major character from 2000 AD’s trailblazing 45 year history is catalogued and detailed, accompanied by stunning artwork and illustrations. With this show-stopping collection, must-read characters and storylines from across the cosmos are at your fingertips!

Top 10 Game-Related Aids

1. Forbidden Tales anthology: More than 20 tales of terror await you in this collection of short stories from the world of Forbidden Psalm, Last War, Dread Nights, KillSampleProcess, Endless Horrors and Hope is for the Dead. Written and curated by Will RD the creator of Forbidden Psalm and all its sister games. Includes a choose-your-own-path solo play adventure.

2. HP Lovecraft’s At the Mountains of Madness for Beginning Readers: H.P. Lovecraft’s At The Mountains of Madness for Beginning Readers is a 142 page retelling of the original story of Mythos horror from 1936. Re-written by genius poet-artist R.J. Ivankovic in rhyming verse, and accompanied by beautiful child-friendly and whimsical art on each page, this book is suitable for readers and collectors of all ages.

3. Don’t Read This Book: Down a lonely alleyway, under a starless sky, lies a city that never was, yet is: the Mad City, where nightmares walk the streets, and a good night’s sleep can get you killed. Here, then, is a book from that place. Within these recovered pages are the tales of the Awake, insomniacs who’ve walked those perilous streets, bringing a bit of the power of dream with them to fight back the night—always at a terrible cost. For many, it will not end well. For a few, they might just become heroes—or at least find their way back home.

4. The Thrill of Dracula: In The Thrill of Dracula, Kenneth Hite takes apart Dracula — the novel, the movies, the myth, even the history — into his component pieces: characters, tropes, symbols, story beats, effects. With those pieces, Ken shows you how to build new yet mythic stories about the King of the Vampires or about your own creatures of the night, tuned for thriller adventure, cosmic horror, or even intense personal drama. From the first medieval atrocity stories about Vlad the Impaler to Bram Stoker’s immortal novel to the most recent Universal blockbusters,The Thrill of Dracula zooms through centuries of blood, bats, and – ballet? — to bring you the most complete look at the Count’s story ever!

5. Welcome to Arkham: Welcome to Arkham invites you to venture deeper than ever before into this legend-haunted city, inspired by H.P. Lovecraft’s Cthulhu mythos and made famous by the Arkham Horror series of tabletop games. Welcome to Arkham is a complete guide to the city of Arkham and the neighboring towns of Dunwich, Innsmouth and Kingsport, detailing 115 fabled locations and featuring more than 500 illustrations. Walk the streets of Arkham, ride the Essex County Express, hitch a ride to Innsmouth (and pray you can find a way out), or take a ferry down the Miskatonic River, and read between the lines to discover what other mysteries lurk deeper still in the pages of this tattered old book.

6. Hubris: Hubris: A Magazine by Mad Scientists, for Mad Scientists is a full-color parody magazine featuring written works (reviews, interviews, tutorials tips, articles, ads, etc) and artwork. Works are fictional and created as in-universe pieces, where the contributors and target audience are mad scientists, as in real-world trade magazines.

7. Little Fears: The Wolf Pact: Eleven-year old Nate Torrance is alone. His best friend, Darren, no longer talks to him. His mom works all the time. His dad lives out of state and never calls. He’s pretty much given up on the whole idea of “friendship” until an encounter with a monster gives him a common bond with Jennifer Mills, the new girl in his class. When Darren’s little sister, Lindsay, is abducted, the two set out to save her—and discover an unexpected truth behind the monster they’re hunting and the place where all monsters live: Closetland. This 40,000-word novel is based on the critically-acclaimed Little Fears Nightmare Edition tabletop roleplaying game.

8. Zombocalypse Now: In Zombopocalypse Now, you’re a stuffed bunny and it’s the end of the world. Between you and safety are forty or fifty ­zombies gorging ­themselves on the flesh of the living. If you disguise yourself as one of them and try to sneak past the feeding frenzy, turn to page 183. If you grab a tire iron, flip out and get medieval on their undead asses, turn to page 11. Zombocalypse Now is a comedy/horror ­reimagining of the choose-your-own-ending books you grew up with. You’ll be confronted with undead hordes, ­internet ­dating, improper police procedure, and the very real ­danger that you’ll lose your grip on reality and wind up stark raving mad.

9. Vampires: A Hunter’s Guide: Vampires: A Hunter’s Guide contains all the information necessary to recognize and combat the growing vampire threat. After exploring the origins of these dark and terrible creatures, it examines the numerous vampire species and subspecies that exist around the world today. Focusing on the hunters’ weapons, tactics and skillsets, this book provides information on identifying and eliminating vampires, noting the best practices from the secretive, powerful and dedicated hunters from around the world, and throughout the ages. With full-color illustrations of predator and prey, this is the ultimate resource in the fight to save humanity from the vampires.

10. The World of the Witcher: Dive deep into the world of monster hunters, as the prominent characters from the universe take you on a guided tour of the fascinating dark fantasy adventure that is The Witcher.This gorgeous, illustrated volume contains in-depth knowledge about the locales, the deadly beasts that inhabit them, and the lethal weapons used to put them down–a perfect companion to The Witcher RPG!




This post contains affiliate links.

Evil has never required this much teamwork. From the wicked minds of Headlock Games comes Dreadquarters, a 1-4 player strategy game of villainous cooperation and tactical defense, launching on Kickstarter April 7, 2026.

In Dreadquarters, players take on the roles of supervillains who have been “strongly encouraged” to cooperate while establishing a new shared evil lair. Each villain brings their own unique deck of cards, play style, minions, and objectives. Objectives include building doomsday devices, harvesting souls, and hatching insect swarms all while working together to defend your lair from waves of do-gooders aiming to destroy it.

“We wanted Dreadquarters to feel like you’re building an engine that should actually work, while balancing the need to defend yourself, enact your evil scheme, and begrudgingly fit your masterwork together with those of your allies. With so many different villain playstyles, hazards, and cities, every game should feel unique,” said Paul Kramer, founder of Headlock Games. “It’s packed with more original art than any sane person would usually attempt for one game, but the visuals are a huge part of what makes it come alive.”

15+ artists have contributed to Dreadquarters, each bringing their own distinct style and imagination to its world of villains. Every card, token, and board is a piece of original art, handcrafted without the use of any AI.

Each round, players expand their wing of the lair with bizarre rooms, reinforce them with over-engineered upgrades, and deploy their minions to work stations, city raids, or last stands. When the heroes arrive, the villains’ traps trigger, and combat erupts. Everything either works together beautifully or collapses. With dozens of villains, cities, and scenario combinations, no two lairs will ever look, or collapse, the same.

Dreadquarters plays in 60-120 minutes and is recommended for ages 14 and up. Kickstarter and Extras
The Kickstarter campaign will feature the core game along with an array of collectibles and expansions including:

* Villain Deck Expansion
* Neoprene Playmat
* 10 Enamel Pins
* Art Prints and Art Book
* Stickers and Themed Tuck Boxes
* “Insolence” Plush Mascot

Those interested in backing this project can follow the prelaunch page now at https://prelaunch.dreadquarters.com/ to receive updates and early reveals before the campaign launches.

The Delver’s Guide is a Player’s Manual for The World Below.

Delvers may be brave, but that doesn’t mean they don’t require help once in a while. That’s what this guide is: help for all delvers, explorers, and survivors in the World Below. New Callings and weapons, new Dialectics and powers, a new scenario and fresh rules for crafting and harvesting, and much, much more await within, so every delver can feel properly equipped for the adventures ahead.

The Delver’s Guide provides a massive array of new material for The World Below RPG, including:

– New Dawns, Dialectics, and Callings, complete with new powers, Theses, Syntheses, and Sorceries.
– New detailed systems for crafting, harvesting, and generational play.
– A full scenario that can be run straight from the pages of the book.
– Three appendices filled with random encounters, Kaotic Retaliations, and every single World Below Trick compiled into a single place.

Secrets of Kalm and Kaos is a Storyguide’s Handbook for The World Below.

There are hundreds of tales to tell of the World Below. From stories of adventurers braving Kaos storms to intrepid explorers who throw themselves into the dreamlike Obscura or harrowing Abyss. From chronicles of settlements rising and falling to those of bold delvers who go so far as to tame the beasts of their realm and call them pets. New playable options, new powers, new rules for Kalm, machinery, monstrous mounts, and more besides await within.

Secrets of Kalm and Kaos provides a huge range of new options for The World Below RPG, including:

– New playable options from among Dawns, Dialectics, and Callings; along with new powers, Theses, Syntheses, Sorceries, and rituals.
– New systems for machinery, beast taming, Kaos storms, portals, gaming, and fishing.
– In-depth explorations of the planar spaces such as the Dark and the Obscura, and settlements such as Telver’s Hearth and Oracaster.
– A full scenario that can be run straight from the pages of the book.
– Three appendices filled with random encounters, interesting characters, and every single World Below Trick compiled into a single place.

Find out more information and support this project over at BackerKit.com

Our Brilliant Ruin: Horror at Crane Mansion is described as: “upstairs-downstairs drama meets existential horror in this Edwardian-inspired comics tale of high society and creeping dread. Created in collaboration with Studio Hermitage and in association with the Our Brilliant Ruin TTRPG, the comic explores a gilded Edwardian setting where intricate social ties of allegiance and conflict are threatened by the presence of the Ruin—a mysterious force that turns creatures and people into horrific monsters.”

Published by Dark Horse Comics, Horror at Crane Mansion collects the first three issues into a graphic novel, and features writing by Cullen Bunn, art by Christopher Mitten, colors by Piky Hamilton, letters by Frank Cvetkovic, and covers by Helen Mask.

***WARNING***SPOILERS AHEAD***WARNING***SPOILERS AHEAD




Horror at Crane Mansion is about an investigator, Elizabeth Ranseur, who’s been hired to vet a wealthy woman’s suitors at her estate with her assistant, Arielle Wren. In Chapter One, Bunn introduces key characters and name-drops guilds that they’re associated with, but doesn’t explain what those terms mean or how much weight they bear for the story being told. Ending on a cliffhanger, Chapter Two opens with a grisly discovery and a mystery that forces Ranseur to switch gears lest anyone else get hurt. Here, Ranseur proposes that a monster is the culprit. We are introduced to the dark forces churning below the surface: The Ruin, a mysterious force that twists a human into a monstrous creature. Thinking quickly, the culprit is believed to be the host’s mother, Lady Milidreth, but is exposed as the host, Constance, herself. With the identity of the murderer revealed, the next piece in Ranseur’s investigation unfolds in Chapter Three. Though it is obvious Constance is affected by The Ruin–it is not clear how until rage triggers her. The lady’s ballgown, once worn by her mother, is the source of the taint, turning her into a chimera. In the penultimate chapter, knowing that The Ruin’s source and the murderer has been identified, Ranseur must eliminate the threat. Constance’s childhood friend and crush, Judith, desperately tries to help her friend remember who she is to restore her humanity. Though she attempts to jog her memory with a story, Ranseur dusts the room in powdered sugar and lights a match. Writhing in the flames, the chimera dies, and the investigators close the case.

In the confines of a dark Edwardian setting, it’s clear there are societal mechanisms present at Crane Mansion that are not fully fleshed out. While the factions were the most mysterious and unclear aspects of the story, the emphasis on Ranseur’s investigation at Crane Manor kept the stakes focused and manageable. This allowed the setting’s horrors–THE RUIN–to take center stage. Not only was the monster interesting, the creation of the chimera was refreshing. Instead of chanting incantations, grafting skin, or changing due to a bit, The Ruin was found within the confines of a gown. Wearing that fabric changed her into something else, something monstrous, and she could not regain her humanity. What’s more, The Ruin tainted the family, forcing them to pretend that the horrors didn’t exist. Without explaining what The Ruin truly is or where it comes from, Horror at Crane Mansion relays unknown horrors are often more dangerous than what can be dealt with.

Horror at Crane Mansion is a well-paced story that works well as an introduction for the TTRPG, because it’s atmospheric, provides a clear example of the type of investigation a player can expect during the game, and hints there’s a lot more setting to latch onto. The choices made, from the colors to the art to the dialogue, are all expertly managed. If you’re curious about the new TTRPG, this comic will scratch that itch. If you’re simply a fan of murder mysteries, pick up Our Brilliant Ruin for a story that touches on society’s ills and the horrors in plain sight.

Review provided by Allie Brooks.

Fighting Fantasy Quest: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain adapts the iconic 1982 gamebook into a cooperative dungeon crawler board game for 1-4 players. The game preserves the core ideas that defined the original adventure – choice, consequence, risk, and discovery – while transforming the journey into a shared experience at the table. The publisher, Ulisses Spiele, began demoing the new game last year at conventions like UK Games Expo and is days away from launching a crowdfunding campaign.

To help bring the game to the North American market, Ulisses Spiele is partnering with Goodman Games, a leading publisher of old-school roleplaying games. Best known for Dungeon Crawl Classics, there’s no better team to bring this game to market.

“Goodman Games fans love old-school fantasy adventure, and Fighting Fantasy is perfect for all of us. We’re excited to partner with Ulisses Spiele to bring this fun fantasy adventure board game to even more fans in North America,” says Joe Goodman.

Ulisses Spiele will also be partnering with Scriptarium, a long-standing expert of Fighting Fantasy, to bring the game to the French-speaking market.

“We are quite excited about our new partnerships helping us to not only reach a global audience but work with companies that understand the essence of what our games are about. Our adventuring party just got much stronger!” adds Jan Wagner of Ulisses Spiele.

With English, German, and French versions of the game and strong international partnerships, the re-imagined game is sure to bring this beloved adventure to fans across the globe when it launches on Gamefound on February 10, 2026. Find Fighting Fantasy Quest: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain on GameFound and subscribe for updates. For more information about Fighting Fantasy Quest: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain’s gameplay, visit the official Fighting Fantasy blog.

The Killing Stone is an all new deckbuilding card battler with a 17th century occult horror narrative. Each card battle forms part of a bargaining ritual where you mediate a cursed family’s fate. Use your wits to beat the Devil at his own game. The game features a unique first-person perspective centered around a game within the game – a battle for souls. This card battler showcases beautiful 3D art, game board figurines with dazzling effects, haunting audio, and an original narrative set in the 17th century in a remote region of the Arctic circle.

Key Features include:

+ A Living, Tactile Card Battler. A ceremonial game board centered around the Fanghella, the Killing Stone, featuring a collection of magical creature figurines, spells, and incantations that allow for a variety of clever tactics.

+ Strategic Reserve System with Meaningful Choices. A novel Reserve mechanic lets players stack units and buff incantations above the battle line for later deployment. Creature placement, spellcasting, and bargaining add powerful banes and boons to your deck affecting your chances of success.

+ Occult Horror Narrative. Play as the Maven and uncover the haunting truth behind Mariken Svangård’s death (and life) as you engage family members and animal familiars in search of clues.

+ Navigate Ritual Contracts. To save the family, you must win their souls through ritual combat with various demons. Every contract is signed in blood, then the bargaining begins. Forge, swap, negotiate, and battle through a series of rituals, the outcome of which are permanent banes (or boons) carried to your final reckoning.

+ Dual-Language Storytelling with Acclaimed Voice Talent. The full narrative can be experienced in either authentic 17th Century English or modern prose, with customizable text and voiceover options. Featuring voice performances by Emma Gregory (Baldur’s Gate 3) and Liam O’Brien of Critical Role.

The Killing Stone will be available on Steam for PC on February 18, 2026. A free demo is currently available to download. For more information, or to wishlist the game, visit The Killing Stone Steam page, or follow Question on Bluesky, Instagram, and X.

The Twilight Sword RPG is a heartfelt love letter to timeless video game classics with stunning artwork and innovative game design, all made entirely by humans. Twilight Sword offers a complete, standalone experience for fans of slice-of-life heroic fantasy and enchanting and whimsical exploration.

“We are incredibly excited to bring Twilight Sword to life,” said Riccardo “Rico” Sirignano, co-founder of Two Little Mice. “This game is a passion project that combines our love for classic video games and the limitless possibilities of tabletop roleplaying. We can’t wait for players to embark on their own unforgettable journeys in Radia.”

The Twilight Sword campaign features a suite of beautifully designed books and accessories that bring the world of Radia to life:

* Core Rulebook: Everything you need to create your Champion, including five Kin, six Ways, a rich selection of Feats and Equipment, and the complete rules of the game.

* Lands of Radia: A comprehensive guide for Game Masters, filled with monsters, legendary weapons, hidden lore, and ready-to-play adventures.
Starter Set: A compact box (11x11x11 cm) containing everything needed to begin playing, including a rule booklet, an introductory mini-campaign, dice, pre-made Champions, and tokens.

* Card Chest: A treasure box (11x11x11 cm) packed with more than 200 cards featuring monsters, bosses, weapons, and map tiles to enhance every adventure.

To celebrate the launch, Free League and Two Little Mice have released a free 30+ page preview of Twilight Sword, available now for immediate download on the Twilight Sword Backerkit Crowdfunding page.

“I’m really excited about this project”, said Tomas Härenstam, CEO of Free League Publishing. “2LM are super passionate about Twilight Sword, and I think every game needs that kind of passion and that kind of champion, and that’s what they’re bringing to this one”.

The Twilight Sword RPG Backerkit Crowdfunding campaign is live now. For more information, visit the official Twilight Sword Backerkit campaign.

Cyber Monday has rolled into DriveThru with seventy-five percent off select titles on DriveThruRPG, DriveThruFiction, and DriveThruComics. Deeply-discounted titles range by site. On DriveThruComics.com, find The Few and the Cursed, Destiny Gate, and Hellboy. DriveThruFiction.com includes Arkham Horror, Island of the Dead, and Tarot for Storytellers, while DriveThruRPG.com features The World Below and The Black Ballad.

To review all Cyber Monday deals, check out these feature pages to find heavily discounted…

…comics on DriveThruComics
…bundles on DriveThruComics
…eBooks on DrivethruFiction
…games on DrivethruRPG

The sales end shortly, so be sure to take advantage of these awesome deals!

CCP Games today launched EVE Online: Catalyst, the next expansion for the iconic sci-fi MMO, EVE Online. Mining has powered EVE Online’s player-driven economy for over 20 years; every ship, trade, and conflict begins with ore. This foundation-shaping expansion introduces sweeping updates to mining, exploration, and interstellar navigation, making it one of the most accessible EVE Online experiences to date.

“Our goal is to equip capsuleers with tools that allow them to create and innovate in ways we can’t predict, and Catalyst is designed for exactly that. It is one of the most welcoming expansions in EVE Online’s history,” said Snorri Árnason, EVE Online’s Executive Producer. “Anyone can learn the ropes of mining through the new epic arc. It’s an approachable entry point for rookie pilots and returning veterans alike, designed to ensure EVE Online remains smooth and engaging for everyone.”

“With Catalyst, collaboration intertwines with conflict, making mining more immersive and dynamic than ever,” said Bergur Finnbogason, EVE Online’s Creative Director. “Hyperspace fractures, prismaticite, and the opportunity to land critical hits mean each mining expedition offers higher stakes, higher rewards, and, of course, the potential to become a battleground. Capsuleers will need to proceed with caution and utilize industrial command vessels, including the mighty Rorqual, to survive the resource rush.”

Mysterious hyperspace fractures rich in prismaticite, a powerful new ore, are forming in waves, igniting a resource rush across New Eden. Capsuleers eager to recover as much prismaticite as possible must brave lucrative phase field sites in low and null sec space before the sites collapse – or before rival capsuleers arrive to fight for it.

With the new epic arc, players can enjoy a story-driven adventure that introduces the expansion’s systems and rewards in an easily understandable format. Upon completion, capsuleers receive the Pioneer mining destroyer and gain a better grasp of EVE Online’s mining ecosystem, empowering players to make confident choices while mining.

Watch the Catalyst expansion trailer on YouTube. Key highlights of this expansion include:

* Hyperspace Fractures and Prismaticite: Discover volatile, time-limited fractures to locate Phased Asteroids rich in prismaticite, a new erratic ore type. Players can test their luck with random reprocessing or choose a different base mineral for prismaticite to reprocess into, giving them increased agency for fueling the mining industry and impacting EVE Online’s player-driven economy.

*‘Pioneer’ Mining Destroyer: The first of its kind, bridging the gap between mining frigates and barges. Designed for accessibility, this ship can be piloted by Alpha clones and upgraded by Omegas, offering an accessible gateway to EVE Online’s industrial gameplay.

* ‘Odysseus’ Exploration Command Ship: Explorationists can take advantage of the hotly anticipated Odysseus, a long-range vessel built for deep-space ventures with a unique expedition hold. With the ability to warp while cloaked and a built-in maintenance bay, the Odysseus enables explorers to lead extended missions into uncharted regions for stellar treasures.

* Mining UX Enhancements: Mining cycles are faster and more enveloping with a refreshed scanning overlay. The addition of real-time data and color-coded readouts enables pilots to determine the value of encountered asteroids quickly.

* 2D Map: Leveraging a clean, node-based layout, the eagerly awaited new 2D map provides players with a variety of ways to view New Eden while feeling familiar and recognizable. Group stars by constellation or region, use arrow indicators to follow regional jumps, and toggle a ship’s jump-range visualization on or off as needed.*Map UI Overhaul: Customize the look and feel of both the 2D and 3D maps for rapid data visualization. Apply the new mining filter category to help discover ore across belts and nearby anomalies.

* Mining Mutaplasmids and Critical Hits: New customization and chance-based yield spikes make resource extraction more unpredictable, engaging, and rewarding.
* PLEX Transaction Logs: Personal PLEX transaction histories introduce transparency to the in-game economy.

EVE Online: Catalyst’s comprehensive additions and changes transform the way capsuleers collaborate, compete, and profit. Each mining operation can become a strategic flashpoint in New Eden’s robust economy – control the ore and control it all.

To celebrate Catalyst’s launch, CCP Games is broadcasting an EVE Online stream live on Twitch from inside a lava cave, deep within Iceland’s volcanic terrain, on November 19, 2025, at 19:30 UTC. Set inside Raufarhólshellir Lava Tunnel, located within the Brennisteinsfjöll volcanic system, this underground experience seamlessly blends spectacle with storytelling. With the Catalyst expansion centered on the foundations of EVE – mining, transformation, and building from the ground up – streaming from inside volcanic rock is a literal expression of the expansion’s spirit: “All of this from a rock.”

Play Eve Online for free at eveonline.com.

Recently, I released Tarot for Storytellers on DriveThruFiction.com. This book is sourced from my personal experiences studying the narrative aspects of tarot and the writing workshops I’ve been teaching. For the past couple of years, I’ve been running a writing workshop called “Tarot for Storytellers” at the Gen Con Writer’s Symposium and online. Often sold out, I walk participants through writing exercises designed to spark inspiration by leveraging a deck of tarot cards and voluntary critiques.

At the beginning of the book, I write that: “The writing exercises in this book are designed for people who love the art of tarot and storytelling. As you use the exercises and guidance in this book, you’ll learn how to rely on your intuition and author’s instincts.” When thinking about how I wanted to convert the workshop into a book, I opted to blend a mixture of timed and untimed writing exercises, lots of examples, and tips to create variations. The ten exercises I designed to intersect with tarot are:

1. Character Sketch
2. Advanced Character Sketch
3. Mind, Body, Heart
4. Past, Present, Future
5. Beginning, Middle, End
6. Four Act Structure
7. Five Act Structure
8. The Calendar
9. Major Arcana Arc
9. Major Arcana Arc
10. Minor Arcana Arc

Each section has a call-out for game masters that draws on feedback I’ve received over the years to help the reader customize the exercises for their needs, too. I wrap up the exercises with a deep dive into the narratives present in modern tarot, then follow it up with game design essays that talk about how to incorporate tarot, either as rules or as setting, and an expansive list of references.

Unlike any other book I’ve written, the development work on Tarot for Storytellers benefited from in-person feedback I received over the past few years before I sat down to write it. Following my second draft, I worked with editor Robyn Bennis to address her comments, and consulted with Matt M McElroy to ensure the game master advice, for both TTRPGs and LARPs, was clear, too.

If you’re curious about the intersection between storytelling and tarot, I hope you’ll check out my new book! Happy writing!

In Cultists & Cthulhu you lead a Cthulhu cult bent on completing nefarious rites while beset by incompetent underlings, meddling kids, and imminent madness.

Cultists and Cthulhu 2nd Edition was designed by William Sininger and John Harris, and is illustrated with full-color, entertaining art by Steve Robbins. The cards are full of geek culture references including Meddling Kids, LARP-ER, We Have Cookies, and several nods to popular Cthulhu Mythos tales by HP Lovecraft. The components are well made and include cute, little tentacle meeples and Ritual dice. Steve Robbins’ Lovecraftian art adds a healthy dose of humor and helps keep the gameplay light and fun.

Inside the box you’ll find:

* 82 Cult cards
* 28 Ritual cards
* 25 tentacle tokens
* 5 custom ritual dice
* 2 custom madness dice
* Rules sheet

Note: all of the components fit neatly back in the box after the game is over, which is an important detail not every game publisher seems to be aware of…

Setting up the 20-minute game for 2-8 players only takes a minute. All of the players start the game with three Cult cards, then roll the ritual dice to see who goes first.

Play begins with Ritual cards, either from the player’s hand or if they don’t have any, they draw from the Ritual deck. After that, they draw a Cultist card and play one card from their hand to various effects. Finally, the player rolls to Incant, which triggers a Ritual they have in play.

Various cards affect whether or not a player can complete a Ritual, including how many Cultists they have in front of them and certain other card effects from Sacrifices (can only be used once and then discarded), Books (also can only be used once, plus only if the Player has a Cultist in play), and Negatives (which can reduce the number of dice the Player has to work with).

When you’re playing the game, make sure you use the Renfield Rule. Though this rule is named after a character from Bram Stoker’s Dracula for some reason…it is a good rule to have in the game. Sometimes, the randomness of the cards drawn can block a player’s actions on their turn. This rule allows a player, who’s stuck with a bad hand, to discard their hand and draw three new cards instead. They’ll skip the rest of their turn, but having new cards can help them in the next round.

Once a Player completes a Ritual that card is set aside and kept for its value. The first player to achieve a total of 21 points in successfully-completed Rituals wins.

At first, the game can seem overwhelming because several variable cards are in play and Players have to plot out different stages before they get to roll dice. However, once you start playing Cultists & Cthulhu 2nd Edition, you’ll pick up the flow quickly. To help you learn how to play, the cards are printed with simple instructions.

If you’re looking to add a little Ia! Ia! in your life, Cultists and Cthulhu 2nd Edition is a fun, quick card game published by Jeff Tidball’s Prolific Games.

This review of Cultists and Cthulhu 2nd Edition was written by Monica Valentinelli and contains Amazon affiliate links. A complementary copy of the game was provided by the publisher.

In Curseborne, which Onyx Path Publishing funded last year, you play as Accursed, descendants of monstrous lineages lurking in a modern world that closely resembles our own. This is the Onyx Path team’s return to Horror game design after years of shepherding the World of Darkness 20th Anniversary lines, as well as Chronicles of Darkness and other games including They Came From Beneath the Sea! and Dystopia Rising: Evolution.

We had a chance to talk to the team a bit about this new Player’s Guide project and some of the material within.

What does the Player’s Guide offer that isn’t in the Curseborne Core Rulebook?

The world of Curseborne is much richer and deeper than we could (or would even want to) cover in the core rulebook, so the Player’s Guide gives us more room to poke in the corners and see what skeletons we can disturb, as well as presenting different playstyle options that switch up the core Curseborne experience. At a high level, the Player’s Guide contains:
• Nine new families of Accursed, as well as Orphans (those without a family)
• A look at how the different Families gather and interact, as well as roleplay advice for each Lineage and family
• New Role Paths, Lineage Torments, and spells for each of the Lineage’s practices
• More information on Venators, including creating Venator player characters
• Templates allowing players to quickly build or randomly roll new Curseborne characters

What can you tell us about the new Families in the Player’s Guide?

There are nine new Families in the Player’s Guide. Here’s a brief rundown of each.
• The Eurydicae are a Family of Dead who become obsessed with broken people and try to replicate their lives.
• The Tormentors are Dead who track down those who have abused others and deal out vigilante justice.
• The Menders are a Family of Hungry who try to improve the life of someone and then feed off their newfound success.
• The Plague Doctors are Hungry who feast on diseased blood and flesh.
• The Prenderghasts are Outcasts who believe they’re the servants of the Fae and use servitude to others to infiltrate and uncover the secrets of their origin.
• The Napoleons are Primal werepigs who seek out and hoard Heirlooms.
• The Nest are a Family of Primal wererats who use their affinity for cold to tear down a corrupt world.
• The Gate Openers are Sorcerers who want to destroy cursed objects through destroying Heirlooms, thinking that unleashing their contained curses will improve the world.
• The Memori are a Family of Sorcerers who seek ways into and out of lost eras of time.

This book includes information on creating Orphan and Venator player characters. Can you tell us more about that?

When we released Curseborne, there were a few people who mentioned wanting to play “just” a Hungry or “just” a Dead, without necessarily associating with a Family. Plus, we foresaw characters who were ousted by their Family, or never knew their original Family in the first place. So for those players, we offer Orphans. Instead of having a Lineage-bound Family, Orphans have Community Paths, based around the circumstances and experiences that left them outside the Families in the first place.

Of course, it wouldn’t be a game about monsters if we didn’t talk about those that hunt monsters, and those are the Venators in Curseborne. And the moment we presented monster hunters, there were people who wanted to play them, which is the perfect thing to add to a player’s guide. Of course, in Curseborne, nothing’s ever easy, and Venators are tangled up in the web of curses that afflict Accursed and everyone else in the world. In this book we dig into how Venators differ from Accursed in terms of character creation and mechanics (including how Venators use magic, and new spells just for Venators), and present five Paths to reflect the different Venator organizations (called Operations).

What can you tell us about the creative team on this book?

The creation of the original Curseborne book was a massive team effort over the course of several years, with Danielle Lauzon doing a lot of the hard work taking a sprawling design and turning it into the fantastic book we ended up with. She was very eager to work on the Player’s Guide, and Eddy Webb (one of the people who has been involved with Curseborne since the beginning) stepped up to help her out as a co-developer. The writers are also a diverse team, pulling from people who worked on the original game, those who were heavily involved in previous horror games like the World of Darkness and Chronicles of Darkness, and some brand-new to our world. All in all, it was a fantastic team who poured their hearts and souls out to make the best possible player’s guide we could.

For those that missed the original Curseborne Kickstarter, what options are available to get caught up today?

The Player’s Guide Kickstarter has some great add-on options so folks can get the core rulebook in PDF, print-on-demand, traditional print run, or deluxe hardcover. You can also get the Curseborne dice set and the Storyguide’s screen, and even a compilation of the twelve antagonists we’ve released monthly throughout 2025 in our Tasty Bit Compilation. Everything you could want or need for the game is available through this Kickstarter campaign!

Now that the Player’s Guide Kickstarter has funded, what stretch goals are you hoping to achieve?

We’re very close to releasing an anthology of short stories, and Lauren Roy had so much fun working on it that we’d love to do even more Curseborne fiction. Another anthology would be a great addition to our growing world. The original campaign gave us both a setting book and an adventure book, and we’d love to get a few more adventures into the world. There are so many different kinds of stories you can tell in Curseborne, and we’re eager to show you all the ways you can play, and to help people get a Curseborne chronicle up and running as quickly as possible, or to just enjoy a couple of sessions. If the campaign really takes off, though, the sky’s the limit!

Thank you to the Onyx Path team!

Head over to Kickstarter.com to check out the campaign for the Curseborne Player’s Guide. If you missed the Core Rulebook campaign, you can get both books and more now.

Tarot for Storytellers is a full-color eBook written by author, narrative designer, and FlamesRising.com contributor Monica Valentinelli (World of Darkness, Cyberpunk RED, Shadowrun: Court of Shadows, etc.). The eBook is jam-packed with prompts, guidance, and examples to teach you how to develop new characters, plots, and setting using a deck of tarot cards.

Tarot for Storytellers includes:

* 10 writing exercises

* Lots of examples

* Brief history of tarot

* Tarot card meanings

* Shapes of narratives

* Additional uses for games

* Recommended resources

* …and more!

Inspired by my popular writing workshop presented at the Gen Con Writer’s Symposium, the Rambo Academy for Wayward Writers, and Clarion West, this how-to book is beginner-friendly and can be used by authors or game masters.

Download Tarot for Storytellers on DriveThruFiction.com, DriveThruCards, or DriveThruRPG!

Please note: A deck of tarot cards is not required to use this book. In the Resources section, links to free online tarot card decks are provided.

When I was a teen, I ran a Dungeons & Dragons encounter so badly my players quit.

In my defense, it wasn’t on purpose. This was a long time ago, back before 3rd Edition was replaced by The Best Edition, and I misjudged how many monsters that stun you can put into one fight. They apologised and I graciously didn’t do a “well well well, look who’s come crawling back” routine, so everything worked out in the end. But I’m writing a post about the idea behind Cringe Wizard, a light novel about a man forced to relive his first-ever, terrible campaign, so I want to be clear that I speak from experience.

In Cringe Wizard, a former GM is reborn in a fantasy world based on one of his old campaigns. Unfortunately it’s the one he ran when he was a teenager, and the world reflects all the terrible ideas he had back then: major elements of the world make no sense, the PCs are just as awkward and terrible as they were at the table, and people are going around with names like “Milkcrust”. Zavier finds himself in the body of a quest NPC he based on himself, and must help the PCs if he wants to survive.

The idea came about in 2021. Like most people in the early 2020s, I was indoors doing normal things. This time it was posting fake titles for isekai anime—those stories about people from Earth being transported to/reincarnated in a fantasy world, which often have long, weird titles and weirder premises in an effort to stand out from the crowd.

Reincarnated In The D&D Homebrew Setting I Made In High School And Boy, This Is A Lot was just a quick joke, but the idea behind it stuck with me in a way that, say, Founding The International Criminal Court With My OP Elf Wifes or Reincarnated With The Classmates I Just Shot And They’re Really Making This Awkward didn’t. Unlike those two, I think the experience of beginner tabletop RPG players doing them terribly is universal.

Browse any RPG subreddit or other community for long enough, and you’ll learn that many people have a story (or sometimes, if you are on r/rpghorrorstories, a creative writing exercise) about the time they had That Player. That Player comes in many different forms, but you’ve probably heard the hits: the spotlight hog, the obvious cheater, the horny creep. I’m sure you can list more, so I won’t bother. I will say that I have heard multiple stories about players breaking into the DM’s laptop/files to look at their campaign notes though, which is wild. (What happened to looking behind the DM screen while they’re taking a leak, like a normal person?)
What you don’t hear often are people telling stories about the time they were That Player.

Hearing someone admit the terrible stuff they used to do is like glimpsing a sasquatch on a lonesome forest trail. I mean, I get it! Tales about times you met a bad player can be entertaining; tales about times you were a bad player can be embarrassing. Even if you’re grown up and willing to confront your mistakes, that doesn’t mean you want to pull them out of your closet and wave them at people. (Do you think the time I used too many mind flayers was my worst story? Hell no.)

I think almost everyone has a story like that hidden in the basement of their mind palace, though. It can be for all sorts of reasons: maybe you watched a stream and assumed your game should work like that, or you watched too much anime, or you started gaming with a veteran group that taught you their terrible habits, or you played with That Player and assumed acting like that was normal, or maybe you were just a dumbass kid. It’s a creative hobby, I’m sure you can come up with an excuse that’s right for you.

And that’s fine! Nobody plays perfectly the first time, and they learn and improve with every session they play. Mistakes are just an opportunity to learn faster. That’s how it is for me, and I wrote Cringe Wizard because I think that’s how it is for you, too.

Still not sharing the worst stories, though. You’ll just have to guess which parts of Cringe Wizard are based on them.

by Paul Matijevic

“Paul “Ettin” Matijevic is a TTRPG developer and writer based in Sydney. His works include Hard Wired Island, Breakfast Cult, and Oh, Dang! Bigfoot Stole My Car With My Friend’s Birthday Present Inside.”