Science Fiction Hobby Games serves as a history and guide to tabletop gaming franchises set in original science-fictional milieux. Its subject is the pen and paper role playing games and model and counter based wargames that preceded modern videogames and still evolve alongside them, as well as the gamebooks, board games, card games and postal games that are their less famous cousins. Included are detailed critical overviews of more than a hundred fantastical universes published between 1969 and 2013, along with essays on popular types of tabletop game and the natures of their settings and stories. Throughout, sf games are treated as an integral part of the long history of science fiction, and as a new way of enabling its explorations of the future and other worlds. Based on the author's contributions to the Hugo Award winning third edition of the Clute and Nicholls Encyclopedia of Science Fiction, this book contains an extra 20,000 words on additional games and other topics, specially written for this new version of the text.

'I will vanish into the night; change my body to wood or stone; sink into the earth and walk through walls and locked doors. I will be killed many times, yet will not die; change my face and become invisible, able to walk among men without being seen.' This is the convenant of a ninja of the Way of the Tiger, taught to you by your slain foster-father Naikishi. Before you were ever known as Avenger, before your quest for vengeance would change the world of Orb, you were to face great evil in the idyllic Island of Plenty. You are the youngest of five Initiates of the Inner Circle challenging to become Grandmaster of the Five Winds. Your journey will lead you from ancient cities, across towering mountains, and into wild forests. There is evil stirring in these lands, determined to destroy you and your allies, and it shall turn your challenge into the greatest ordeal you have yet faced. THE WAY OF THE TIGER is the role-playing adventure classic now revised and expanded for today. You choose the skills and martial arts moves to defeat your enemy, gaining knowledge and honing your abilities to use in further books. ARE YOU READY FOR THE WAY OF THE TIGER?

The Robotic Age is a game where man lives long side machine. Sentient androids are trying to find their place among people that, at best, don't trust them and at worst want to destroy them. Weapon technology is spiraling out of control, killer drones can be built in a garage, and anyone on the street can have enough cybernetic enhancements to make them a killing machine. The world is changing rapidly and no one knows if the new age will be that of peace, or dominance. Build the android, transhuman, cyborg, or human character you always wanted and equip them with the weapon of your dreams, from plasma cannons, to grenade launchers, energy swords and more. Explore cyberspace, fight for android rights, travel to mars, or just help prevent the world from descending into chaos in The Robotic Age.

Parsantium: City at the Crossroads is a city sourcebook for use with all editions of the world's bestselling fantasy RPGs. Parsantium is a melting pot, a cosmopolitan city where trade routes meet and great cultures collide. Inspired by real-life Byzantium with its rich Greco-Roman heritage, Parsantium is packed with characters, monsters and magic from the Tales of the Arabian Nights, ancient India and the Far East, alongside traditional medieval fantasy elements. Featuring evil cults and exotic gods, unscrupulous politicians and nobles, scheming rakshasas and serpentfolk, ancient dungeons buried beneath the city streets, powerful criminal gangs, gladiators and chariot racing, Parsantium contains enough adventure hooks and adversaries to keep your player characters busy throughout their careers, without having to step outside the city walls. The Parsantium city sourcebook contains: 2,000 years of history 17 character backgrounds for new PCs Over 70 detailed city locations Over 200 NPC descriptions 50 power groups, guilds and noble families 35 deities Compatible with the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, Parsantium: City at the Crossroads contains minimal game stats, making it easy to use with whatever edition you are playing. Parsantium can be readily incorporated into your own campaign world or published fantasy setting. Written by Richard Green, author of the Midgard Bestiary for 4th Edition D&D (Kobold Press) and So What's That Shiny Thing Like, Anyway? (Raging Swan Press), and featuring cover art by Joe Shawcross, brand new interior art by Matt Morrow and Marc Radle, and a double page map of the city by ENnie Award winning cartographer Jonathan Roberts.

In 1912, just over a decade after the infamous Jack the Ripper murders, William Roberts builds a device that can record sound from the past. As he walks the streets of Whitechapel he hears the voices of the Ripper's victims calling out to him and becomes determined to stop the crimes from ever happening. As Roberts' obsession drives him to madness, he suddenly disappears from the very streets he knew so well. Now, you follow in Roberts' footsteps, listening to the recordings he made of the victims, solving the mysteries of their deaths, and evading the Ripper as he draws ever-nearer. Discover the secrets of the Whitechapel Murders, upon the actual streets of London, or from the comfort of your own home... but beware, as you slip deeper into this world of poverty and death, you might uncover Roberts' fate by making it your own... A remarkable visual-audio-interactive experience that will immerse you in London's Whitechapel District unlike anything you have ever known before... This VAEO requires a smartphone/camera-enabled tablet, headphones, a QR Code Reader App (i-nigma or Qrafter are recommended) and the ability to face your inner terrors.

Put yourself at the heart of the story...

War is brewing between the kingdoms of Sidonia and Glorianne, a war waged for control of the territories of the New World. Galleons laden with gold ply the seas, and in their wake sail pirates and privateers eager for plunder.

Adrift in an open boat, you make your desperate bid to escape from the sadistic Captain Skarvench. The odds are stacked against you. Even if thirst, hunger and storms don't kill you, there are still formidable dangers to overcome in crossing hundreds of miles of uncharted ocean to reach safe harbour.

Yet you must make it. Because only you know Skarvench's latest and most wicked plan. You are determined to round up a crew, get yourself a ship, and set sail on a voyage of vengeance and justice. You are destined to face many perils: undead pirates, sea monsters, cursed ships, witches and ancient gods. And the greatest threat of all: the vision you have seen of your own death at the hands of your hated foe.

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Critical IF books are interactive adventures with a difference. You can be a mutant with the power to warp reality. A buccaneer whose sword and pistol are a match for any foe. A daring rogue leaping between rooftops. A wizard who can command the elements. Be anyone you can imagine. Choose from almost five hundred different character types, each with their own unique skills.

Strong stories, vivid settings and compelling characters make Critical IF the game-changers of the interactive fiction genre.

A practical and concise tutorial leading the player to understand how to get the most out of their in game time. Packt Gold Strategy Guides are a workout, not a walkthrough! Newcomers or experienced players of the Runescape online game. Both free and pay-for members will benefit from the book.

This definitive sourcebook for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game provides tons of new character options for all seven "core" player character races, from archetypes that allow elf characters to explore their connection to nature and magic, to feats and spells that let a dwarf character carry on the legacy of his multi-generational clan, or a gnome explore her connection to the First World or delve deep into her weird obsessions. Additionally, the Advanced Race Guide offers meaty sections on a dozen "spotlight" races that make interesting and exciting player character options, such as goblins, aasimar, tieflings, dhampyrs, drow, the elemental races from Bestiary 2, and several others, and, for the first time, allows players to create and play characters like merfolk, grippli, duergar, stryx, and every other appropriate monster currently in the Pathfinder game. Lastly, the Advanced Race Guide includes an extensive section that allows players and GMs to build their own custom races, either to emulate more powerful creatures that already exist in the game or to create wholly original characters unique to their campaign.

The Elven Tree of Life Eternal is set up like a choose your own adventure book for those who wish to undertake the challenge to discover their true magical s'elves. It will help one understand if one is a wyzard or a sorcerer, a healer or a warrior, an elf of wood, snow, hill, ocean, starlight, or a sprite, a faerie, a gnome, a dwarf, a changeling, a dragon, or some other magical folk. If you wonder about your true magical nature, explore the ever-flowering branches of the Tree of Life Eternal.

THE ULTIMATE CHRISTMAS GIFT FOR WANNABE SPIES: AN INTERACTIVE PUZZLE BOOK FROM THE CREATOR OF THE BESTSELLING CULT PHENOMENON, JOURNAL 29! In this brain-bending interactive game, you'll solve puzzles on every page, and obtain keys to move forward by submitting answers online. To solve each puzzle, you'll need to think outside the book. You are an agent of CY.P.H.E.R., the secret international agency working on 'unsolvable' code-based cases. Called upon to investigate cryptic clues discovered in the wake of a series of mysterious disappearances, the clock is ticking to crack the codes before it's too late. To escape this book, you must write, draw, search, fold and cut pages, explore virtual escape rooms and think laterally to identify the perpetrator and solve the mystery. All you need to play is a pencil, a pair of scissors, an internet connection, and a curious mind.

A choose-your-own-adventure style gamebook that gives the reader a choice of different quests and adventures. The book is open-ended and provides an almost unlimited number of plot lines. You can be a warrior, explorer, priest, wizard, thief or bard. The books in the series are inter-connected, allowing you to travel all across the Fabled Lands. In this volume you get to sail over the oceans, experiencing fantastic adventures to rival those of Odysseus, Jason and Sinbad.

CHAOS IS NOT A PIT-IT IS A LADDER. MAIN GAUCHE is a supplement for the ENnie award-winning Best Game & Product of the Year ZWEIHAENDER Grim & Perilous RPG - a gritty, dark fantasy tabletop role-playing game. Using this book, you will be able to: * Add 68 all-new Professions to your grim & perilous game * Build fantastic machines, like the Arkwright Cauldron & Rumblebutler * Easily integrate cinematic, vehicle-based combat into encounters * Use alchemy & Wytch-science to gain deadly abilities * Devote yourself as an occultist to elder Daemons * Learn damning Covenant Magick & wield their horrific manifestations * Make soul-altering pacts for Daemonic Gifts of unfettered power * Build your own unique creatures & NPCs on the fly Using the Powered by ZWEIHAENDER d100 game engine, this book expands your options into the realm of chaos and beyond. MAIN GAUCHE is suited for running low and dark fantasy games, along with Renaissance and medieval-style adventures. You can also use this book to create your own homebrewed worlds, whether inspired by the works of Andrzej Sapkowski's The Witcher, George R.R. Martin's Game of Thrones, Glen Cook's Black Company, Myke Cole's The Sacred Throne, Robert E. Howard's Solomon Kane, Scott Lynch's Gentlemen Bastards or other grimdark-inspired media. With a total of 186 unique Professions and over 300 spells across ZWEIHAENDER and MAIN GAUCHE, you now have countless ways to create your own vision of grim characters ready to embark upon perilous adventures. Embrace the left-handed path of MAIN GAUCHE, where chaos awaits!

New Orleans is a city of many faces. The gaiety of Mardi Gras is juxtaposed with the rampant corruption that earned it the nickname "The City That Care Forgot." The genteel decline of the French Quarter, the location of the city's original settlement, stands in contrast to the rich opulence of the Garden District, where the Americans later built their mansions. Voodoo and Catholicism exist side by side. Behind it's shining mask the leering visage of the Mythos can be found.

They hide in the shadows of the hallows. They lurk in the alleys of New York. They slink along the docks of Charleston. What are they? Secrets. From societies, to hidden magic, secrets beat through the veins of the colonies. Some may think they know everything that has transpired in the colonies, but they are wrong. There are dark things afoot. There are those with vengeance in their heart who seek to unleash it. There are creatures prowling the shadows awaiting to entangle the unsuspecting in their maws. There is evil flowing in the wind. Secrets. Secret history. Secret plots. Secret agendas. These are the secrets of Colonial Gothic.

CALL OF CTHULHU ROLEPLAYING] SECRETS OF NEW YORK is a compendium of one of the oldest and most popular cities in the new world, and is a supplement for the "Call of Cthulhu" roleplaying game. This volume explores the strange events above and below the streets and avenues that crisscross the world's financial capital during the 1920's. With a plethora of characters to bring the city to life, and a detailed history to build scenarios upon, "Secrets of New York" is an indispensable tool for keepers and players setting adventures in the Big Apple. Included are maps and historical documents and photographs of 1920's New York City, as well as several scenarios that explore the most popular and less savory locales of this grand metropolis.

Imagine a world of mystery and excitement, adventure and fantasy, waiting for you to explore. A world that reacts to your every move, with characters and companies that talk to you, send you messages, and even give you items to help you in your quest. A world so immersive that you can no longer tell where the reality ends and the fiction begins. Welcome to the world of Alternate Reality Gaming. This Is Not A Game: A Guide to Alternate Reality Gaming by Dave Szulborski is the perfect introduction to the unique and exciting world of Alternate Reality Games. Written by the creator of five successful and critically acclaimed ARGs, This Is Not A Game features detailed sections on the theory and history of Alternate Reality Gaming, as well as a "How To Guide" for aspiring game creators. The book also includes Dave's personal reflections on creating some of the most popular ARGs ever developed, and essays on gaming and cooperative writing by award winning authors Ben Mack and Joseph Matheny.

Future Lost is a science fiction sourcebook that gives players a chance to step into a possible future where America has fallen and immoral corporations have divided up a once great nation. The cities of the new "corporate-nations" are divided further into large gated communities that shelter the wealthy and powerful behind high tech and heavily armed security. Meanwhile the poor are cast out into "other-cities", lawless ghettos where gangs, crime and violence are a way of life. Future Lost contains 276 pages with 9 classes, 27 prestige classes, as well as new skills and skill uses, feats, original psychic powers, unique equipment, firearms and complete new rules for cybernetic augmentation and cybernetic systems. The book also contains a world description of the powers that be: international corporations, merciless gangs, military research facilities, fanatical religious sects and tyrannical government bodies.

Set in the world of the Three Musketeers and Cyrano de Bergerac, En Garde! is one of the original role-playing games. This new edition is faithful to the original game and introduces a new generation to the delights of swashbuckling in seventeenth century Paris.

At long last! A sourcebook detailing the campus, courses, students, and personnel of one of the world's most prestigious institutions of deeper learning. Filled with information on various University departments and professors, this book weaves together the details drawn from H.P. Lovecraft's Mythos tales with the Call of Cthulhu RPG background to create an indispensable sourcebook for Call of Cthulhu.

A fun, fast paced, easy-to-learn horror-comedy roleplaying game, Horror Rules is a great way to lose your marbles (or your life) and keep your sense of humor! Based on popular horror movies such as Tremors, The Evil Dead and 8-Legged Freaks and packed with all your favorite characters, cliches and cut-ups, it's great for experienced and novice gamers alike. Liven up any party or just kill a few hours with your friends. Even non-gamers will find it a fun read and an excellent addition to any horror collection. The basic rulebook is packed with cool artwork, sample Bad Guys, Character Sheets, a free adventure and 100pgs of scare-your-pants-off fun... everything you need to play and more! With plenty of action, scares and tongue-in-cheek fun, it's guaranteed to make you DIE laughing.