Book picks similar to
Fountains of Bright Crimson by Ree Soesbee


world-of-darkness
vampire-the-dark-ages
vampires
role-playing-games

Night's Black Agents


Kenneth Hite - 2012
    Bush's War is winding down. You were a shadowy soldier in those fights, trained to move through the secret world: deniable and deadly. Then you got out, or you got shut out, or you got burned out. You didn't come in from the cold. Instead, you found your own entrances into Europe's clandestine networks of power and crime. You did a few ops, and you asked even fewer questions. Who gave you that job in Prague? Who paid for your silence in that Swiss account? You told yourself it didn't matter. It turned out to matter a lot. Because it turned out you were working for vampires. Vampires exist. What can they do? Who do they own? Where is safe? You don't know those answers yet. So you'd better start asking questions. You have to trace the bloodsuckers' operations, penetrate their networks, follow their trail, and target their weak points. Because if you don't hunt them, they will hunt you. And they will kill you. Or worse. Night's Black Agents brings the GUMSHOE engine to the spy thriller genre, combining the propulsive paranoia of movies like Ronin and The Bourne Identity with supernatural horror straight out of Bram Stoker. Investigation is crucial, but it never slows down the action, which explodes with expanded options for bone-crunching combat, high-tech tradecraft, and adrenaline-fueled chases. Updating classic Gothic terrors for the postmodern age, Night's Black Agents presents thoroughly modular monstrosity: GMs can build their own vampires, mashup their own minions, kitbash their own conspiracies to suit their personal sense of style and story. Rack silver bullets in your Glock, twist a UV bulb into your Maglite, keep watching the mirrors E and pray you've got your vampire stories straight.

The World of Darkness


Bill Bridges - 2004
    Only rarely do our experiences draw back the veil of shadows and reveal the horror in our midst. These glimpses into the supernatural can cause us to retreat into comforting lies - 'There are no such things as monsters' - or stir our morbid curiosity. Only a few, however, can overcome their fear and dare to look deeper.The World of Darkness Rulebook introduces a version of our contemporary world where the supernatural is real. Players join to tell tales of mystery and horror, where theme, mood and plot are more important to a character s experiences than his weapons or equipment. Inside are rules for character creation, task resolution, combat and any activity your character attempts as he delves into the shadows.

Clan Novel Saga, Volume 1: The Fall of Atlanta


Stewart Wieck - 2003
    Now, the entire epic is represented in four beautiful trade-format volumes. The Clan Novel Saga reorganizes the chapters from all 13 novels (and the Clan Novel Anthology) in strict chronological order, showing the progress of the epic night by night and minute by minute.The Fall of AtlantaVolume One features a variety of prologue material and the dramatic events of June 1999. The vampires of the Sabbat move into the Camarilla city of Atlanta, and the dreaded relic called the Eye of Hazimel makes its appearance on the scene.With a Foreword by Stewart Wieck and an All-New Story by Philippe Boulle

Vampire: The Dark Ages


Jennifer Hartshorn - 1995
    In the WORLD OF DARKNESS series, this book includes everything necessary for playing the Damned of the Middle Ages, allowing characters to experience the events that have influenced our age.

When Will You Rage?


Stewart WieckJohn H. Steele - 1994
    But the rise of mankind has seen an increase in the power of the Wyrm, a decayed entropic force that seeks to ruin Gaia. The Garou will not have this and wage a war that they have been losing for a millennia.The second edition of this anthology contains the best stories from the first edition, as well as new stories that even better reflect the world of Werewolf: The Apocalypse "TM" as presented in the revised edition of the Storyteller game.

Hunter: The Vigil


Russell Bailey - 2008
    A fire is lit: is it a lamp perched over the inscription upon an ancient blade? Or a roaring conflagration consuming the house in which the howling fiends wait? Things will never be the same after this. You've set forth on a damning path. Carry the Vigil. Fight back the shadows.Rulebook for Hunter: The Vigil This book includes: * A rulebook for playing hunters, those humans who have seen the truth of the World of Darkness and are spurred to action. * A many-faced Vigil for many types of hunter: characters might choose a path of violence, of investigation, or even of rehabilitation. Decipher mysteries and confront the horrors. * Provides new player types and antagonists for crossover- intensive chronicles as well as those chronicles focused only on hunters.

Changeling: The Dreaming


Ian Lemke - 1997
    Only the world of humanity remains. Without any awareness of our true nature, humankind crushes us beneath its banal heel. Joy and laughter are gone; only the Dreaming remains.We are changelings, the forgotten ones, neither fully fae nor wholly mortal. The last of our kind on Earth, we have built ourselves an invisible kingdom. We are everywhere, yet you have never seen us. We hide, not behind some fragile Masquerade, but in plain sight with the power of our Glamour. We exist within a real world of make-believe where "imaginary" things can kill and" "pretend" monsters are real.The storytelling game of modern fantasy. The Kithain are heirs to Earth's secret kingdom of faerie. And yet they are only part fae; they are forced to adopt mortal guises to survive disbelief in magic. The fae must strive to forestall the coming Winter and bring about an endless Spring lest Banality consume all and the Dreaming be lost.Changeling Second Edition features a clarified and expanded setting and cosmology, as well as completely new and revised rules. Yet it's fully compatible with first edition and the rest of the Storyteller games. A full-color, hardcover book with art and graphics like you've never seen before.

The Devil's Advocate


Gherbod Fleming - 1997
    Relentless hunger gnaws at them, but no matter how many victims they drain, withered vampires litter the shadows. Not since the Black Death has Owain, Ventrue elder, seen anything like this fatal affliction that ravages the world. But this time vampires are the victims. The anarchs suspect a plot by their elders. The elders blame the Sabbat. The Sabbat fears the return of the antediluvians.There is opportunity in this chaos. As the Masquerade crumbles around Owain, which power will he serve? Or will he serve himself?The first book of the Trilogy of the Blood Curse, set in the world of Vampire: The Masquerade. The story crosses over with The Grails Covenant, for Vampire: The Dark Ages.

Gehenna: the Final Night


Ari Marmell - 2004
    Legends say the undead descend from Caine, the first murderer portrayed in the Bible, who passed on his curse through his blood. Those same legends speak of a final reckoning, when Caine and his mad children will rise from slumber and consume all the undead. Vampires call this time Gehenna. For the vampire Beckett, a researcher among the undead, it means one last shot at understanding the mysteries of the get of Caine — and at outrunning his own sins. Vampire: Gehenna, the Final Night is the first act of the Time of Judgment, telling the story of a wide-ranging Armageddon among the supernatural entities of the World of Darkness.

Vampire Diary: The Embrace


Robert E. Weinberg - 1994
    Slowly but surely, Auston succumbs to the dark call. Can he resist the Embrace, the gateway to an eternity of damnation? And will his master's dark command threaten the most beautiful, most perfect love he has ever felt?

Ars Magica, Third Edition, First Printing


Ken Cliffe - 1992
    

Rifts Mercenaries


C.J. Carella - 1994
    Rift Mercenaries is a Rifts source book focusing of Mercenaries

Domains of Dread: Ravenloft Campaign:


Steve Miller - 1997
    Features new rules for creating heroes native to the domains, adapting magic to the demiplane, and dealing with fear and horror checks when the characters experience the true terror that dominates the Ravenloft "RM" campaign.Night is Falling. The Mists are RisingEmbrace the Darkness.Enter the dark and macabre world of Ravenloft.But beware -once you begin to walk among the mists and shadows,you can never leave.Domains of Dread is the core rulebook for the second edition of the award-winning RAVENLOFT campaign setting - the original fantasy horror role-playing game. Within the pages of this book, players and Dungeon Masters will discover the darkest secrets of the Land of the Mists, including many never-before-seen features:Detailed guidelines on designing anything from short-term horror adventures to long-running campaigns of twisted terror.Complete rules for generating player characters native to the Demiplane of Dread.Four new character classes specifically designed for use in RAVENLOFT campaigns - the avenger, the anchorite, the gypsy, and the arcanist!An all-new player character race - the half-Vistani!Updated and expanded descriptions of the Demiplane and the foul lords who rule its tortured domains!Revised fear, horror, and madness checks to enhance the terror.New rules for power checks, plus thirteen detailed steps that lead from grace to absolute corruption!Summary of content:1: The Demiplane of Dread: general description of Ravenloft, as well as a history and theories about the nature of the dark powers, and an overview of the technological levels in Ravenloft (from Stone Age to Renaissance)2: Domains of the Core3: Islands of Terror (Bluetspur, G´Henna, I´Cath, Kalidnay, Nosos, Odiare, Souragne and Vorostokov)4: Clusters (Amber Wastes (Har'Akir, Sebua and Pharazia), Zherisia (Paridon and Timor), the Burning Peaks (Vecna and Kas's domains) and Pockets (Davion, The House of Lament, The Nightmare Lands and Scaena)5: Secret Societies - short chapter on nine secret societies - Keepers of the Black Feather, Green Hand, Circle, Church of Ezra, Vistani, Carnival, Kargatane, Fraternity of Shadows, Unholy Order of the rave)6: Fear, Horror, and Madness rules7: Powers Checks rules8: The Path of the Priest - changes in the priest class9: The Way of the Wizard - changes for wizards.10: Mazes of the Mind - changes for psionics11: Forged of Darkness - changes for magical items12: The Whispered Evil - curses.13: Tenets of Terror - discussion about the general nature of Ravenloft adventures and campaignsAppendix: ability scores, character races, character classes (some new: Avengers (paladins), Arcanist (wizards), Anchorites (priest of Ezra), gypsy (bard)

The Beast Within


Stewart WieckBill Bridges - 2000
    The Kindred Move Among UsNot merely mad beasts of lonely hunters, the vampires of the World of Darkness who call themselves The Kindred because of the blood that elementally binds them together, are dangerously organized and cunning. They hide behind a plan they call the Masquerade so that they do not draw the attention or ire of mortals, and the society this masquerade obscures is as rich with wonders and as rife with conflict as any ever known among men.This collection of stories concerning the Kindred of the World of Darkness serves as both an introduction to their nature and an expose of the danger they pose. Collected within this second edition are favourites of the first edition, including stories by S.P. Somtow and Mathew J. Costello, as well as two all-new stories from Gherbod Flemming and Eric Griffin, two authors of the bestselling Vampire Clan Novel series.

Shadow of the Demon Lord (SDL1000)


Robert J. Schwalb - 2015
    But in the desperation of these last days, the world will take all those it can get: heroes, blackguards, madmen, and whoever else is willing to stand against the coming darkness. Will you fight the demons - or will you burn it all down and dance among the ashes? Who will you become when the world dies? Shadow of the Demon Lord opens a door to an imaginary world held in the grip of a cosmic destroyer. Enter a land steeped in the chaos and madness unleashed by the end times, with whole realms overrun by howling herds of beastmen, warped spirits freed from the Underworld, and unspeakable horrors stirred awaken by the Demon Lords imminent arrival.