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Humble Apologies

We must begin this issue's RPG News by pointing out the factual errors we accidentally printed in this section last issue. We mistakenly listed Chaosium as the publishers of the Delta Green setting for Call of Cthulhu. That game is in fact produced by Pagan Publishing, who are licensed by Chaosium. We also indicated that Mortal Coils was a Delta Green product, when it is actually a release for the standard CoC line. The next Delta Green release we can expect is entitled Delta Green: Countdown.

We must apologise for this oversight, and state that it was completely unintentional. No offence was meant to these games or their publishers. We will try to ensure this sort of thing does not happen again. Many thanks to J. Snyder, for pointing our error out to us. Now, on to the news!

Beam Me Back Down, Scotty!

A long time ago, a company called FASA took a great licence and turned it into a great game. That game was Star Trek: the Role-Playing Game, and it was hugely popular. Unfortunately, the game disappeared a few years later due to a lengthy and convoluted licencing battle betweem the creators, FASA and Paramount. The upshot of all this was that the Trek licence became so embroiled in legal entangles that the gaming community despaired of ever seeing another Trek RPG, despite how popular the movies and spin-off series have proved.

But all that has finally changed. Last Unicorn Games have acquired the licence, and recently announced their plans for a line of RPGs in the Trek universe. The company will produce four separate but similar core games based on each incarnation, with supplements building on each line. This begins with a Next Generation game, due out in the next few months. These lines will also be backed up with miniatures and miniature battle rules, plus a live-action system. Though they will be hard pressed to beat the quality of the original, this can only be a very good thing for the gaming industry. Star Trek being as huge as it is, the potential for this enterprise (sorry) as a marketing machine and as a drawcard for new gamers is incredible. The future of gaming most certainly looks bright.

Love at First Byte

Vampire: The Masquerade and games of its ilk are stretching their cybernetic wings of late. Activision has announced that they will be bringing out a series of games based on White Wolf's Vampire games, for all platforms. They will begin next year with a 3D role-playing game, developed by Nihilistic Software. The game will apparently be full of the old vampire stand-bys: intrigue, vengeance, passion, lust and gothic sensibilities. Sounds great!

Meanwhile, Forbidden Fantasy is a new website which offers everything a vampire (or similar) player could want. Links, a host of chat rooms, and a mailing list, plus an world-wide directory of every RPG or LARP club and event they could find out about. Simply search by your home town, and find out where the vampires (ahem) hang out. All great for making contacts locally and around the world. The site also includes its own game - Live Forbidden Fantasy - and conversion rules. A relative net-Mecca for the children of Cain.

And if Vampire: The Dark Ages is your particular bent, there's now a new mailing list just for you.

Playing On-Line

One of the biggest gaming networks in the US, Multi-Player Games Network (MPG-Net) is working with the American telecommunications company AT&T to create a new on-line gaming area. AT&Ts internet service is the largest direct ISP, and will provide quick and easy access for any amount of gamers. This high performance will be used to provide shopping, messaging, chat rooms and of course, games. This could rapidly become the ultimate connection for gamers all over the world, but we will have to wait a little while yet before it is realised.

If you prefer on-line gaming of a slightly slower pace - Play-By-Email, and are feeling creative, then Mindless Games wants to hear from you. They have been running a game called Serim Ral for eight years, but are now looking for something new. They ask that "if you have any good ideas lying around..., send them to a good home". Could be a good way to break into the industry.

The Lighter Side of SJ Games

Ever thought that GURPS was just too complicated? Then the newly released GURPS Lite is for you. This is a much-stripped-down version of the game, covering character creation, the basic rules, combat and adventuring. Specifically designed to introduce new gamers to GURPS, it reduces the 300-plus page original rules to a tiny thirty-two pages! Yet it covers everything a beginning GURPS player or GM needs to know, and presents in a glossy, approachable fashion. Best of all - it's free. You can download a PDF version, and later it will be distributed through stores, mailing lists, or included free with supplements.

And speaking of supplements, there's no stopping them of late! Re-releases of GURPS Camelot, and GURPS Robin Hood (both classics) were joined by GURPS Magic Items, Volumes 1 and 2, and the indispensible GURPS Religion. If you've ever used religion in an RPG, you can't miss that one. But the most exciting of all is the new GURPS Bunnies & Burrows . As this issue's history elaborates, Bunnies & Burrows was an RPG based on Watership Down which appeared very briefly in the late 70's. Though the system was ordinary, the setting is brilliant, and it's about time somebody brought this one back to the light of day. If you love Hazel, Fiver, Bigwig and the rest, this is a must-have.

Endless Quest Fails to Start

The rumours are true. TSR are producing a RPG based on the worlds of the TV shows Hercules: The Legendary Journeys and Xena: Warrior Princess, apparently called Endless Quest. The word is that the game has now been completed, but the release has been delayed because of promotion details. This, then will be one to watch for in 1999 - hopefully. While you wait, you can amuse yourself with the Hercules and Xena CCGs, which will be out later this year.

Stupidest Game of The Issue

As in last issue, this dubious honour goes again to Wizards of the Coast. Seemingly desperate to wring every last cent out of the Magic phenomenon, they've come up with another stupendously stupid marketing tack. And no, we don't mean the new Magic comics. We're referring to Instinct. Instinct takes Magic-like cards and uses them to play a style of game normally played with a regular pack. Indeed, the game seems almost identical to Oh Hell, a Whist variant that has each player trying to guess exactly how many tricks she will win each round.

According to the Wizards, the game will be ideal for family and social occasions. Of course, you'll first have to persuade Mum and Dad to replace their usual games of Bridge with a cheap imitation in which the cards are covered with bizarre fantastical artwork. Yeah, good luck! Once again, congratulations to Wizard for continuing to produce such mindless ideas. Will they hang onto their title in our next issue? Only time will tell.

And Now...Late Breaking News: Release of Revolutionary New Game!*

Major RPG company, Coloured Animal today announced the release of their new game. Entitled Noun: the Adjective, the game has players taking the role of these Nouns, who live in secrecy in a darker version of our modern world. The Nouns must come to terms with the horror of the Adjective within themselves, or else be destroyed by the ever-present Adverb. At the release, the game's creator was emphasising the revolutionary nature of the game. "There has never been a game like this ever before." he said. "This game will change the world of gaming as we know it. Not only that, but it will make everyone who plays it a better human being!"

In response to this, gamers of the world told the representatives of Coloured Animal to kindly go Verb themselves.

**Whoops! This isn't actually 100% true, in fact. So sorry.

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