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Its been a little bit. Life has a habit of getting in the way of my internet life. I know I am not the only one, but it still annoys the hell out of me. So, time to get back into the swing of things. This month, I am working on one of the other major roleplaying game genres – horror. Let me be up front, I normally really dislike horror rpgs. I have yet to see horror treated in the same manner in rpgs as novels or movies – those two mediums pick up the feelings that horror creates so much better than most roleplaying games. While I think rpgs are the ideal medium for Sci-fi and fantasy, not so for horror. For my money, there are very few quality horror rpgs out there, but here are few that I’ve found that are worth your time.

However, the good horror rpgs' I mean the really good ones, knock my socks off and rank as some of the best rpgs ever produced. The key to being one of the great rpgs is twofold: 1) the rpg has to have a great setting, and 2) the rpg has to lend itself to some great gamemastering. Now, as a setting junkie, we’ll address this first. The best horror rpgs are going to be the ones with the great settings. The second part of my criteria is much harder for me to articulate since the game needs to lend itself to a good gamemaster using the rpg and forming it into something creepy' something scary. Rules, setting, mood, and, most importantly, a good gamemaster are the things that make an rpg lend itself to good gamemastering (a bit circular, I admit).

So, with a concentration on my first criteria, but with an eye towards my second let’s get to the meat-and-potatoes of this article:
My Top Five Horror rpg settings
Honorable mention:

Nightmares of Mine (I.C.E)- not actually a setting, and just barely an rpg supplement, this book is absolutely invaluable to a horror gamemaster. Ken Hite hits a homerun in his analysis of the horror genre and advice on how to treat it with respect in horror rpgs. Buy this book if you run (or want to run) a horror rpg.

Kult 3rd ed. (Paradox Entertainment)- Three incarnations and still going strong. It takes a heavy dose of Gnosticism and the creepy parts of Christianity to create a nifty dystopic otherworld. Think Hellraiser and you are not far off.

Wraith (White Wolf): Someone else said it better than I ever could: Wraith I the greatest game no one plays. While it has some wonderfully creepy ideas, the mechanics and weird setting hurt the playabilty of the game.

Obsidian (Apophis Consortium): So close, yet so very far.

5. All Flesh Must be Eaten (Eden Studios). The zombie survival rpg. Anytime you think of a game that will feature zombies heavily, this is the game that should be at the top of most lists. AFMBE is a toolbox game, everything you want or need to run the game is in the core book. Right from the start AFMBE presents a lot of options for creating zombies and the book is that much stronger for all those options. I am a fan of zombie flicks, and it took me a while to finally admit AFMBE is the game for zombies- but it really is. Eden did a great job with the game.

The Unisystem engine for AFMBE is quite solid and there are a lot of people who think the Unisystem engine is second-to-none. Part of the reason AFMBE is such a good game is how seamlessly it works with the Eden engine. From tense escape sequences to full fledged firefights, Unisystem handles the possibilities of AFMBE well.

The art in AFMBE is great. I am under the understanding that AFMBE was co-imagined with Christopher Shy, and his stellar artwork is all over AFMBE (including the cover). Interspersed with some solid pencil work, the feel that AFMBE conveys is quite appropriate for the genre. The writing is pretty mechanical, with the occasional additions for color. All-in-all, AFMBE does a fine job in creating the basics for games with zombies.

My problem with AFMBE is that it is too general. There are options for settings (some of which are great, others are uninspiring) but nothing that reallt defines AFMBE as a great horror game. The addition of some really off-the wall options (while useful), and some really kitsch settings hurt the ability to really create a creepy atmosphere. As a toolbox AFMBE has no equal, as a horror rpg it has potential, but is left behind.

The current in-print version of AFMBE is the 2nd edition. Either edition is okay though- the tweaks to 2nd edition are nice but not a deal-breaker. The supplements are all solid with one exception. I would avoid the Book of Archetypes 2 (it is too repetitive and uncreative when compared to the 1st).

4. Orpheus (White Wolf). I really, really like Orpheus. It was developed by one of most favorite personalities in the rpg industry, Lucien Soulban. Mr Soulban has been the creative force behind some of the best rpg supplements in existence (Vimary for Tribe 8 and Montreal by Night to name two). When I heard he was going to be at the helm of the 6-book limited run of the Orpheus line, I could not have thought of anyone better for the job. Much to my delight, Mr. Soulban did an excellent job with Orpheus.

Orpheus is a full game line, setting, and epic adventure wrapped up in a tidy 6-book set (the core book and five supplements). The game’s setting almost begs for some great games to be run. Basically, you play operatives for a private company (the Orpheus Group) that hunt ghosts. The thing that makes Orpheus stay in business is the fact that its operatives can project their souls into the spirit world- ensuring their “ghostbusting” lends results. Of course, this is a White Wolf game, so you as PCs you get all sorts of nifty powers to go along with projecting your soul.

The successor to the Wraith line (see above), Orpheus was, in my opinion, a successful way of making Wraith playable. Much of the backstory and metaplot of the Wraith line carry over into Orpheus, slowly bleeding over into a truly marvelous campaign. As the campaign unfolds over the five supplements, new powers, new character options, new enemies, and new revelations are revealed- making the Orpheus line fit together seamlessly. Because the supplements work so well together and help create a full campaign that progresses over time, Orpheus is arguably the best use of metaplot used in an rpg. Quite useful, especially for a horror rpg.

Orpheus is at times Creepy, mysterious, and tense. The art is largely quite good, some of the best art in a White Wolf line, ever. More importantly, the art reflects the text quite closely (something I really appreciate)- helping create an idea of what the horrors of Orpheus look like. A nice touch, really. The text is filled with lots of color entries, balancing the art to help add even more description to the world.

The place where Orpheus trips up as a horror rpg is in the non-horror elements that creep in to most of the supplements. Some of the creatures that are introduced are patently not scary or creepy- but simply silly. Also, as the plot progresses Orpheus moves away from its horror roots to be a bit more of an action-adventure game- which hurts the mood set by earlier books. Understand, this is the goal of the Orpheus line- to grow and change with the metaplot. However, taken as a whole, Orpheus loses too much of its horror roots to be ranked as one of the top three horror prgs.

3. Call of Cthulhu (Chaosium and various publishers). The father of all horror rpgs. HP Lovecraft was as much surrealist as horror writer, and the two aspects of his writing work remarkably well together- not only in his rendition of the Dreamlands, but in creating creatures that man was not supposed to know. Many of the tropes and core assumptions found in subsequent horror rpgs first started with Call of Cthulhu. There are reams and reams of discussion on Call of Cthulhu and HP Lovecraft’s work, so I will refrain from going to deep into the relative merits of the game. Rest assured, it is a nifty setting that works exceptionally well with the BRP (Basic Roleplaying) system.

Call of Cthulhu is a great setting that, unfortunately, has not aged well. Cthulhu is no longer scary in my mind. Unfortunately, through no real fault of Call of Cthulhu, the Mythos just isn’t mysterious anymore. Part of what makes the mythos great as antagonists is the mystery that surrounds them- they are supposed to be unknowable- beyond the understanding of normal men. However, to get the feeling of mystery and awe that Call of Cthulhu elicited over a decade ago, you have to start moving beyond the mythos as defined by Lovecraft or start anew with a new setting (as we will see below). CoC is a victim of its own success.

Don’t get me wrong, CoC can still be run as a scary rpg, but it takes a lot of work on the part of the GM and a savvy group to help move beyond what they already know and assume about the mythos to get really scared by a game. The key is having a really good gamemaster that understands the themes behind Lovecraft’s work- however; a gamemaster of that skill could make any horror game scary. In CoC’s case a good gameaster is more necessary than most other games- and so it gets the third spot.

2. Delta Green (Pagan Publishing). Delta Green is Call of Cthulhu, updated and made sexy (“sexy” like in the smoldering eyes of a goth chick who you know is nothing but trouble). Delta Green is widely regarded as one of the best rpgs on the market, and deservedly so. DG takes the tropes and themes of CoC and uses them to take the mythos into new and exciting (and mysterious) directions. The end result is a new game that brings the tense and terrifying atmosphere of Call of Cthulhu back. Still based on the standard (if uninspiring) BRP system, the real gem of this game is the setting.

In Delta Green you play a government agent (or other suitably well established PC) that is slowly confronting the mythos. Delta Green is a disgraced secret branch of the U.S, government that is now part of a grand conspiracy that fights the mythos. Delta Green is a loose alliance of likeminded individuals (of which the PCs form a cell) that have seen things that should not be and whose lives have changed as a result. Delta Green is about mystery and discovery, and the ultimate costs for those discoveries. There are malevolent intelligences at work against Earth, and the PCs are the unwitting vanguard that fights against those intelligences.

The genius behind Delta Green is that it gives the characters the mundane tools to defeat the mythos- and it falls to the PCs to discover that those tools are still inadequate. Minor aspects of the mythos are emphasized in DG, giving the mythos a bit of a different feel' different enough to make it new and cryptic. Moreover, there are new aspects to the mythos that are introduced, and are done in such a way as to blend with the existing mythos wonderfully. The key is that the writers (some of the best in the business) understand the background to the Lovecraftian mythos and can extrapolate the horror inherent in that background.

Delta Green’s setting is spectacular. If it is the setting that really makes a horror rpg scary, you simply cannot go wrong with Delta Green. The only reason this is not number one is that I think my number one choice holds to the horror genre a bit more firmly- not straying into possible action/adventure as can potentially happen with Delta Green.

1. Little Fears (Key 2). This is my favorite horror rpg, bar none. Jason Blair, the man behind Key 2 is one of my favorite writers/developers along with Lucien Soulban- and part of the reason I like both of them is my unending respect for how they handle the horror genre. With Little Fears Mr. Blair created the definitive horror rpg, staying firmly within the genre while creating a wonderfully evocative setting and suitably colorful system to complement the setting. Little Fears is amazing stuff.

In LF you are a child no older than 12. You face a frightening world, literally. The fears f your childhood are real, and they have a very malevolent reason for wanting your child PC dead (or tortured, or whatever). Shadows are things to be avoided. Under the bed the breathing you thought was the wind is actually the creature’s breath your mom told you does not exist. The closet is' well, lets not even talk about the closet. As a child, you stand alone. In LF your PC is under-equipped, under-trained (obviously), and with none of the resources of society to help you in your desperate fight. Now that is a horror setting.

One of the big things that makes Little Fears my favorite horror rpg is the gaming system. Basically, it is a rules light system that relies more on description and imagination to help drive task resolution. The character sheet is suitably simple but also help create the right atmosphere of isolation and helplessness (honestly, I can’t think of another character sheet that helps promote the feel of the game better than the little two page character sheet in the back of LF).

The writing in LF is suitably creepy and disturbing. The art is overall pretty good, and again, follows the text pretty closely. Little Fears is one of the few games I really consider a product that should only be used by mature gamers- simply for the disturbing themes it promotes. Little fears has all the elements of a great horror rpg- good art, great and descriptive writing, a suitable system, and an amazingly horrific setting.

Get a good GM, turn off the lights, and play a game or two for Little Fears. You will be part of those rare games that you end up bragging about at conventions.

Agree? Disagree? Feel free to pop over to the forums and voice your opinion.

Thanks, and see you in a bit.

Chris Gunning

Someone recently asked me if I had any suggestions for RPG authors who were ready to launch their product. Since I think everyone needs their own website, I wrote this article to give budding RPG enthusiasts some tips on creating their own online marketing machine through the magic of pay per click advertising, web hosting and banner ads.

You gotta have a website!

If you’re going to succeed in marketing your product online, you’ll need a website. Nothing fancy at first, maybe just a few pages describing who you are, a little about your product and where to buy. Sites that have been around a long time have more impact on marketing tools like search engines, so register a domain name, get some web hosting or a dedicated server, and build your site as soon as possible. Here are some links I used when building 1km1kt:
Web hosting:

When I first built 1KM1KT, I knew I was going to need a webhost. I spent a lot of time reading reviews and trolling the webmaster forums for a good deal and eventually found what I was looking for with Lunarpages Web Hosting. Lunarpages offers pretty much everything you need to start a website with plenty of room to grow when you’re ready. They had lots of storgae space, bandwidth, and the tech support is really good. They also came with lots of extras like php, mysql databases, add-on domains, unlimited e-mail accounts and the most intuitive control panel I’ve come across to date.
Payment:

Although our website is free to the public, we occassionally have to make or receive payment. Our preferred method is the Paypal Business account which is free to open and allows us to make payments to online merchants as well as receive them from other Paypal members. The Paypal service also allows us to accept straight credit card payments when the need arises.
Domain name registration:

Since you’ll have to have a domain name (like ours – 1km1kt.net) check out GoDaddy. Their prices are reasonable and you’ll have full control over every aspect of the domain. I like GoDaddy because they’ve been a pioneer in the industry and aren’t a small time domain registration reseller like you’ll find everywhere else.
Site design and maintenance:

Random Development is a group of freelance webdesigners that can help with site design, maintenance, management, and programming. They operate their own webserververs if you want them to host your site and are a consistent source of good advice for us.
Driving the traffic
There are two primary ways I’ve found to drive traffic to your website – pay per click advertising and banner ads. With pay per click and banner ads it’s just a matter of shelling out the bucks to bring traffic to your site. Here’s what we’ve found works best:

Google is the first place anyone looking to advertise online should begin. Their system is simple to use, ads are placed immediately, it’s affordable for most topics and managing campaigns is simple. With a five dollar down payment, you can be on your way in about 15 minutes. This tool is extremely powerful for bringing customers to your site, so be sure you’re only paying for Google placement for people who will buy your products.

Banner ads, on the other hand, are a little less scientific. Purchasing a banner ad on a website can be a crap shoot with the amount of traffic and buyers you’ll receive. When hunting for banner advertisers, try typing in keywords and phrases that you think potential buyers would use to find your type of product into your favorite search engine. Start looking into the advertising costs of any website found in the top ten positions for your keyword. These will most likely give you the highest return on your investment.

The big advice to consider with an online advertising campaign is to keep your target audience in mind and to carefully monitor your return on investment verse your advertising costs.

I was reading through some blogs late last night and stumbled on an article on boingboing.net about RPGNow and how cool they are for selling their roleplaying games in downloadable .pdf version online. The article went on to call the project “brilliant” and “the smartest digital publishing venture I’ve seen so far.” Naturally, when I read about it I said to myself, “1KM1KT’s been doing that for a while now – and we do it for free!” So I sent in a submission to the popular blog and lo and behold, they think we’re cool too. Check out the full article, and be sure to leave a comment and let boingboing know you’re a 1KM1KT fan too.

Keeton

By Joe Prince

Join the savage world of pro-wrestling, create a superstar and battle by fair means or foul to destroy your nemesis and attain the ultimate prize ? The WTF title!

Featuring an innovative betting system for match resolution.

Note: Piledrivers and Powerbombs has recently been published by UKG Publishing and is no longer available as a free download. Congratulations from the staff at 1KM1KT to Joe on his success as a professional RPG author! Pick up your copy of Piledrivers and Powerbombs here.

Myth is a game of high fantasy in the world of Mythica. Heroes will do battle with all kinds of monsters from legends and myth. Do you have what it takes to survive the world of Mythica?

VooDoo Games is brought to you from deep down South. VooDoo Games is based out of Louisiana, and is a recent addition to a very limited market. The goal of VooDoo Games is to bring home the enjoyment of a decent game without the worry of spending tons of cash on pointless supplements and new rules. Check out their website at www.voodoogames.net.

Secrets of the City is a role-playing game set in a city filled with cults, rituals and musty old books. It departs from other role-playing games in many ways.

The first of which is that instead of a class, characters select an “advantage”. They make their own advantage from a list of categories like talent ( eg. con man), Skill ( Chemist), possession, and others. They use this to give them advantage powers, which are like class abilities. There are no levels or experience.

The next is the combat system. Actions take a certain number of seconds and when the seconds are up, it happens at the end of the second. You can pick from a list of actions or make your own. You can either guess at how long the action would take, or you could do it in the air and time it. Characters in this role-playing game are fragile just like people in the real world. The characters are not supposed to just try to kill things like in other role-playing games; neither are Game Runners (GR) supposed to put something in their way just to kill.

The last major difference is that there are no adventures. The GR makes a story or situation with something like cults abducting people or a plan to summon a demon. The GR then is either “passive” and improvises with the information he has prepared while the characters follow their own plan or “active” where he gives the characters things to get them into the story. When the story has ended after a few gaming sessions, it is over; unless the players and GR want a sequel or want to use the characters and the city over again.

I find that an adventure in a role-playing game consists of a series of places to go and things to exchange attack roles with. The actions of the players affect nothing; they will go to each event and talk, attack or solve some kind of simple problem. I hope you enjoy my attempt to break away from this.

Methods of Terror is set in a Game Runner (GR) made world where the government of the country you live in is being taken over by an evil regime that is executing, torturing and doing horrible wrong to people. This is done unknown to the people of the country who think they are letting in a new kind of liberal government. Only you and a handful of people know, and you have formed a good guy terrorist cell to try to bring down the government.

The players begin by making their cell with details like their “basement”, a modus operandi, a plan, and other features. Then they make their characters who have an “advantage”. An advantage is basically the source of the characters powers, and is made by the player from categories like skill (chemist), talent (conman), trait, etc.

When the players are done with talking about their plans, they go do something, which is called an “operation”. The preplanned actions of GR controlled characters, the events the GR has planned and the players actions are co-ordinated with time. Depending on the events that are happening, the GR checks off each hour, minute or second and lets the events continue or stops the players and tells them some event interrupts them. Combat comes up in operations

This game is a difficult one to play. Not everyone can think of a plan to bring down a government or sneak into a building. I have included a list of ideas to use if the players can not think of anything.

I hope you enjoy this role-playing game as much as I enjoyed making it.

Play as a member of an ensemble cast on a science-fiction television show. Survive the episode and upstage the other actors! An RPG where you can actually win.

In Scene Stealers, you’re playing a member of an ensemble cast of a science fiction action show that’s primarily watched by teenage boys. Teenage boys that belong to the science club. Each game takes place during one episode of the show. During the episode the cast members are not only trying to overcome obstacles, they’re also trying to steal the spotlight from the other cast members.

Each episode is broken up into several ?scenes?. These scenes are basic major chunks of time: The crew breaking into an abandoned space station is a scene, running from a bunch of angry natives is a scene, fighting a bunch of bad guys with zapguns is a scene.

1.2 These Games We Play

The crew is captured by the Gamesters of Omegacron-5 and are forced to fight in a gladiatorial arena. Between battles, they try to convince their fellow slaves to stage a revolt against the Gamesters.

Here’s the section where every role-playing game describes what a role-playing game is. It’s pretty straight forward. It’s a GAME. Where you PLAY a ROLE. Look, just go to http://landfill.thesnakefarm.com/aboutrpgs.php and read a delightful comparison between Our Town and a cyberpunk game.

There’s going to be a group of people sitting around a table or at least in the same room with each other. All of the players (except one) control an actor in a television show. (This character is referred to as either an “actor”, “character”, or “cast member” intermittently throughout these rules. They all mean about the same thing.) The other player controls everyone and everything else as well as describes the settings, determines the results of the cast’s actions, and pretty much knows the whole plot of the episode before the others start to play. As this is a game that is about a television show, we’re tempted to call this player something cute like “the Director” or “the Executive Producer” or “the Gene Roddenberry”, but we’ll call him “the GM” instead. (“The JMS” would work in a pinch.)

All the people that aren’t the GM are referred to as “players”, even though the GM is playing the game with everyone else. Role-playing game terminology is pretty silly that way.

1.3 Set Up

On a botched attempt at rescuing a stranded vessel, the crew is mistaken for pirates. Can they prove their innocence to the system authorities before the third moon rise? Each player chooses a character sheet (or creates his or her own cast member using the incredibly simple actor creation rules that follow). The other characters aren’t used in this episode. Separate the plot cards from the script cards and place both decks face down in the center of the table. You’ll also need a couple six-sided dice and some markers to keep track of how much star power the actor has.

The script deck contains 36 cards, all of which can be used to help your cast member outshine the others or add complications to the plots. Each player gets to draw five of these cards. With a full cast of six people, six of these cards will not be used.

If you have more cast members than six, go ahead and divvy up the cards so everyone has the same amount. For this version of the game, there’s just some squares you can cut out and use as cards. If this was created for something called ?7 Day RPG?, these would be actual cards with artwork and everything.

Everybody wants something. How far would you go to get it … how far will the world change to make your wishes come true? And what happens when everything you ever wanted becomes the thing you most despise?

Download this article (.pdf)

A key factor in any role-playing game is the 'willing suspension of disbelief.' This is what allows players to envision themselves as heroes doing great deeds, rather than students or business people gathered around a table with their friends. Anything that can help this 'suspension of disbelief' adds to the roleplaying experience.

People do many different things to try to enhance this suspension. Sometimes people may dress in a sort of costume, which can be representative (for example, a person wearing a shirt with long, loose sleeves when playing a magic-user) or more literal, such as a player wearing a long robe and carrying a thin stick to wave whenever a wand is called into play. Many groups use music as a background, to help set a mood and block out the sounds of everyday life. Dimming the lights and adding candles to a room could also suggest a medieval, fantasy, or horror feel. All of these possibilities boost the imagination through the use of the body's senses.

Another way to go about it is to simulate the use of the senses through the imagination. By describing what is seen, smelled, heard, touched, or even tasted in a scenario, a Game Master can help move his or her players, in their minds, away from the mundane world and into some other world altogether. Individuals usually each have one or two senses which are stronger than the others, or 'dominant.' Sometimes a person's speech patterns may give a clue to his dominant sense. For example, someone who says, 'I see what you're saying,' probably has seeing as her dominant sense. On the other hand, 'I hear you' might indicate that hearing dominates. Using 'That stinks!' to describe a bad situation could be the choice of a person with a dominant sense of smell.

Because people are different, it's important for GMs to use descriptions that appeal to every sense. That would help stimulate the imaginations of all the players in a game, regardless of their dominant sense. Like the players, GMs also have a dominant sense, and it's easy to give descriptions that include only the senses important to them. A really good description could emphasize two or more senses, but a variety is what is important.

In fantasy RPGs, the Dungeon is the classic adventure location. Many GMs really enjoy drawing up complex maps and filling the dungeon with dangerous creatures, but their imaginations falter when it comes to describing the areas where there are no encounters.

It's hard to explain how there could be a monster living in every room. Magic might make it possible, but it threatens the suspension of disbelief. What, then, is to be said about the rooms that are empty?

Player: 'Do we see anything in the room?'
GM: 'No, it's empty.'
Player: 'There's nothing in there at all?'
GM: 'Well, there's some dust on the floor.'
Player: 'Dust! Are there any footprints in it?'
GM: 'No! It's just dust! What part of empty do you not understand?'

How much better instead to fill the emptiness with a little creativity!

Some descriptions could be geared to people who like to visualize the setting surrounding their characters.

'At an intersection of corridors, your flickering light reveals a charcoal mark upon the wall. It appears to have been made by either a stick plucked from a fire or from the burned out stub of a torch. The smeared mark is about five feet from the floor and forms an arrow that points back the way that you have come. There is no indication as to who could have made it.'

'You come across a backpack that appears to have been ripped open by a clawed hand and teeth. Its worthless contents have been scattered around, torn, and trampled. There are scraps of cloth, a broken flask and some straps of leather but nothing of value. There is also nothing to indicate who the former owner was nor who (or what) the vandal may have been.'

Other descriptions could set the scene with sound:

'The moss is deep, and growth covers walls and floor. Your voices all sound deadened and seem to fall lifeless and still just a few feet away from you.'

'You hear a sound like sobbing and whimpering echoing through the corridor. It is distant and the source is unclear.'

This description could suggest mystery to the person who favors the sense of smell:

'A hint of an odor teases your senses. It is a rich, slightly sweet smell, possibly incense. Just a whiff comes to you, and then the scent disappears.'

Be alert for occasions when a description could appeal to more than one sense.

'You have entered what was once a finely decorated room A faded tapestry depicting a woodland scene is now frayed but hints at former luxury as do the desk, chair, and table. Dim light reflects off the very tarnished silver and brass fittings. A slightly sweet smell of decay permeates the room.'

'The air is damp and cool and the smell of mold torments your nostrils. The light casts deep shadows and you peer ahead into the darkness beyond. The shadows are unyielding of their secrets and as you strain to listen, all you can hear is the creak of leather and clink of mail as your comrades shift their weight. Everything else is very still.'

Opportunities for description can be found in any setting, not just fantastic dungeons. How many adventurers have wandered through a town or city and asked, 'So, what do we see as we walk down the street?' This is the perfect place for a description of sensations that can engage the players' imaginations and pull them out of their mundane existence into a world of heroism or fantasy! Just a few words can be enough to stimulate the imaginations of players and Game Masters alike.

About the author: Vicki Potter writes and edits material for Tabletop Adventures, which publishes the 'Harried Game Master' line of products. TTA is producing books with brief, colorful descriptions to assist Game Masters who, for whatever reason, find themselves short on time or creativity. The first was 'Bits of Darkness: Dungeons' (quoted above), which details things to be experienced in a fantasy dungeon setting. Coming in Winter 24 will be 'Bits of Darkness: Caverns' which will describe some of the wonders and horrors of underground exploration. In 25, 'Shards of the City' will explore the fantasy urban street-scene, with sensations galore for the wandering adventurer. Visit TTA online at www.TabletopAdventures.com. Copyright 24, Tabletop Adventures, LLC.