Get your cultist robes out because October is USR Mythos Month

Image: Cthulhu by Spankye

October is the best month of the year, without a shadow of a doubt. It's the month of Halloween, my birthday and Autumn is in full swing. This year I'm celebrating October with Mythos Month - an entire month dedicated to USR Mythos, an upcoming Lovecraftian setting for the game.

So get ready for cosmic horrors, eerie locales and savvy investigators up the wazoo! FHTAGN!

USR used in classrooms

Here's a bit of cool information I've just come across. It looks like USR is being used in a couple of classrooms as a teaching aid. There are two examples of this I've found: one from this professor's English teaching blog and the other from this DigiPen University student who even included a short write-up.

USR Galaxy: Marauders

As if the clashing of vast intergalactic empires wasn't concerning enough for citizens of the New Earth Empire, anyone who ventures out into space needs to be wary of Marauders. These galactic bandits often wait in trade lanes to ambush merchant ships, often holding them to ransom until the merchant jettisons their cargo.

Halberd Fantasy Roleplaying: Dragon Rat

Image: Rat Dragon by deviantetienne

Some said that the union of dragon and vermin was impossible, but they soon changed their tone when a great furry winged beast descended on their village and torched their homes. Dragon Rats are a rare breed of creature, with the head and fur of a rat and the wings and propensity to set things on fire of a dragon. They generally don't speak any language, so don't even try to have a chat with one. In fact, it's best to stay away altogether, in all honestly.

Ships in USR Galaxy

A large part of USR Galaxy will be buying your own ship and modifying it to your heart's content. After all, you won't get very far without your own starship and crew. Generally, the players will come together to purchase their own starship, although there's no reason why each can't have their own (although, as you can imagine, they're pretty expensive). From single-crew Mantis fighters to hulking Scorpion destroyers, USR Galaxy will allow players to navigate space in style.

Hacking published adventures for fun and (no) profit

As someone who has written a number of published adventures, it's weird to say that I really don't like published adventures. That's not to say that some aren't really good works of imagination, with brilliant plots, NPCs and shit-hot combat - but running from a book just isn't for me. By nature, most published modules are rail-roady, some definitely more than others, which works for some groups but not for others.

The art of Iain McCaig

Art: Iain McCaig

I can think of few other artists that have made such an impact on me as Iain McCaig. I first came across his work in City of Thieves, the Fighting Fantasy book, which was utterly spellbinding. As well as doing fantasy art, McCaig is a renowned concept artist, having worked recently on Guardians of the Galaxy and The Avengers, as well as the upcoming Star Wars Episode VII. He is well-known for having created Darth Maul and has also done video game work on Titanfall.

USR Mythos: Deep Ones

"Their croaking, baying voices, clearly used for articulate speech, held all the dark shades of expression which their staring faces lacked ... They were the blasphemous fish-frogs of the nameless design - living and horrible." - The Shadow Over Innsmouth

Fighting Fantasy Fest report

Photo: Tin Man Games

It's a wonder what the staff at the Doubletree Hilton in Ealing thought when droves of people, some dressed as vampires and warlocks, began to flood into their hotel on the morning of Sunday 7th September. At one point an armour-clad goblin shuffled through one of the corridors, barking guttural commands to the enthused crowd. It must have been bizarre for 'normal' guests to open the elevator doors and be greeted with this weird sight. Fighting Fantasy Fest had come to London.

What makes a good dungeon?

Last night in Pathfinder my players stumbled across a building that was pretty much a large office complex. GM's familiar with the module Burnt Offerings might have an inkling as to which building I'm talking about - but if you're a players who hasn't played it, here be some very minor spoilers. Anyway, this office building was chock full of rooms. Loads of rooms within rooms, short corridors and doors everywhere. However, there was only one room where the enemies were. As written, there were about 18 rooms full of nothing. The players slogged through the complex the long way and it turned into a bit of a farce when they were opening doors only to find yet another storage room.