Welcome to Dungeon Academy, where monsters and creatures train for the dark world that awaits just beyond the Dungeon walls. Something BIG has come knocking on the gates of Dungeon Academy! The undefeated Waterdeep Dragons have arrived for the Tourney of Terror games, which happens every fifty years and features every monster's favourite sport: Goreball! The Dungeon Academy Flumphs are outnumbered, outsized, and outmonstered! But our hero, Zelli Stormclash (a forbidden human, secretly disguised as a minotaur), is no stranger to impossible odds. Just a few weeks ago, Zelli and her crew, the Danger Club, came face-to-face with a maniacal necromancer and his army of undead! If this wasn't enough to raise scales Zelli's reoccurring nightmare of a dark entity annihilating her world may be more than just a bad dream. Something sinister is lurking in the halls of the academy, and only Zelli seems to notice. But when Zelli uncovers a dark past hidden beneath Dungeon Academy, she unlocks something that will concern everyone at school, every dragon at Waterdeep, and everything within the Forgotten Realms. Get ready for humor, heart, magic, and adventure as middle graders and beyond learn to embrace who they are, accept others' differences, and discover the hidden secrets that dwell deep within themselves, and within Dungeon Academy!

Landscape science tells fascinating stories, whether in fiction or a role-playing game. Earth's varied terrain provides many examples of scene-specific challenges and resources for story characters, with distinctive land features, compelling locations, and intriguing traits. Landslides, floods, coastal erosion, glacier movement, and volcanism can deliver fresh plot points and alter the social character of an imagined region. Characters traveling different river types encounter very different puzzles, opportunities, and combat environments and the same variety awaits within other classic settings, such as caves, mountains, deserts, shorelines, and volcanic zones. Atypical landscapes such as tundra, karst, and vast glacier surfaces can breathe fresh air into any stories. This handbook is a reference source for creative writing and game world building. It delves deeply into many landscape characteristics that help set the tone, shape character behavior, and drive the plot. Chapters are divided into diverse geographic environments, from rivers and shorelines to caves and volcanoes, and show how knowledge of the terrain can deliver plot points, add veracity, pose key problems, establish conflict, and lead into the next scene. Discover how authors and game masters effectively weave land and terrain into their stories.

Dread Trident examines the rise of imaginary worlds in tabletop role-playing games (TRPGs), such as Dungeons and Dragons. With the combination of analog and digital mechanisms, from traditional books to the internet, new ways of engaging the fantastic have become increasingly realized in recent years, and this book seeks an understanding of this phenomenon within the discourses of trans- and posthumanism, as well as within a gameist mode. The book explores a number of case studies of foundational TRPGs. Dungeons and Dragons provides an illustration of pulp-driven fantasy, particularly in the way it harmonizes its many campaign settings into a functional multiverse. It also acts as a supreme example of depth within its archive of official and unofficial published material, stretching back four decades. Warhammer 40k and the Worlds of Darkness present an interesting dialogue between Gothic and science-fantasy elements. The Mythos of HP Lovecraft also features prominently in the book as an example of a realized world that spans the literary and gameist modes. Realized fantasy worlds are becoming ever more popular as a way of experiencing a touch of the magical within modern life. Reworking Northrop Frye's definition of irony, Dread Trident theorizes an ironic understanding of this process and in particular of its embodied forms.

Video Games in Psychotherapy provides the reader with a practical session-by-session framework for using video games, interactive media, and gaming metaphors to help make the process of psychotherapy more engaging for today's youth. Using concepts from narrative, collaborative, cognitive behavioral, and other evidenced-based approaches to psychotherapy, the book gives examples of possible therapist questions, responses, and activities involving language and concepts that are appealing to young gamers. Addressing issues with psychophysiological self-regulation, anxiety disorders, and autism spectrum disorders, among others, this book uses multiple case examples to demonstrate each idea and is written in a way that is understandable for all mental health providers, regardless of their own familiarity with gaming. A review of over 40 popular video games with specific ideas for their use in psychotherapy is provided, allowing mental health providers to easily individualize therapy based on client goals and gaming preferences. Concepts for individual and group psychotherapy using games and interactive media, ranging from Pac Man to virtual reality, are also covered. Providing the reader with useful templates, worksheets, and other therapy resources, this book is a must-have for mental health providers working with children, adolescents, and transition-age youth.

Video Games in Psychotherapy provides the reader with a practical session-by-session framework for using video games, interactive media, and gaming metaphors to help make the process of psychotherapy more engaging for today's youth. Using concepts from narrative, collaborative, cognitive behavioral, and other evidenced-based approaches to psychotherapy, the book gives examples of possible therapist questions, responses, and activities involving language and concepts that are appealing to young gamers. Addressing issues with psychophysiological self-regulation, anxiety disorders, and autism spectrum disorders, among others, this book uses multiple case examples to demonstrate each idea and is written in a way that is understandable for all mental health providers, regardless of their own familiarity with gaming. A review of over 40 popular video games with specific ideas for their use in psychotherapy is provided, allowing mental health providers to easily individualize therapy based on client goals and gaming preferences. Concepts for individual and group psychotherapy using games and interactive media, ranging from Pac Man to virtual reality, are also covered. Providing the reader with useful templates, worksheets, and other therapy resources, this book is a must-have for mental health providers working with children, adolescents, and transition-age youth.

With annual gross sales surpassing 100 billion U.S. dollars each of the last two years, the digital games industry may one day challenge theatrical-release movies as the highest-grossing entertainment media in the world. In their examination of the tremendous cultural influence of digital games, Daniel Reardon and David Wright analyze three companies that have shaped the industry: Bethesda, located in Rockville, Maryland, USA; BioWare in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada; and CD Projekt Red in Warsaw, Poland. Each company has used social media and technical content in the games to promote players' belief that players control the companies' game narratives. The result has been at times explosive, as empowered players often attempted to co-op the creative processes of games through discussion board forum demands, fund-raising campaigns to persuade companies to change or add game content, and modifications ("modding") of the games through fan-created downloads. The result has changed the way we understand the interactive nature of digital games and the power of fan culture to shape those games.

The Wildside Gaming System is a flexible, innovative, ultra-realistic role-playing system designed specifically for adult and experienced gamers. Combining realistic and logical character development, realistic combat, and accurate historical elements, the Fantasy Role-Playing Edition is designed especially for Game Masters who like to create their own settings for swashbuckling heroics, magic, and adventure in a complex fantasy world.

Since the release of Dungeons & Dragons in 1974, role-playing games have spawned a vibrant industry and subculture whose origins, characteristics, cultures and player experiences have been well explored. Yet there has been little attention devoted to the meaningful ways RPGs have shaped society at large over the last four decades. RPGs were influential on video game design and have been widely represented in film, television and other media. They have made their mark on other areas of society, as well, including education, social media, corporate training and the military. This collection of new essays illustrates the broad appeal and impact of role-playing games. Topics range from a critical reexamination of the Satanic Panic of the 1980s, to the growing significance of RPGs in education, to the potential for ""serious"" RPGs to provoke awareness and social change. The contributors discuss the myriad subtle (and not-so-subtle) ways in which the values, concepts and mechanics of RPGs have infiltrated popular culture.

Take your game to the next level with the new book from the world's biggest football YouTubers, the F2. We're the F2 and in our brand new book we're going to show you how to take your football skills to the next level. In these pages we turn the spotlight on the greatest players, the biggest teams, and most jaw-dropping moments from across the football world, and teach you the skills and the tekkers it takes to be the best! Want step-overs like Sanchez? Or a piledriver like Ibrahimovic? Or quick-feet like Messi? We show you how. Our book is filled with tips and hacks, as well as the inside track on your favourite stars: Pogba, Suarez, Aguero and the rest. There's even a free app that brings the book to life and shows you how to turbo-charge your tekkers! There's not a moment to lose - open, read, learn, download and get out on the pitch and practise. Love, peace and tekkers.

A comprehensive Mythras campaign resource that mingles meticulous history with legend, myth and adventure set in medieval Byzantium.

This collection of essays is devoted to the philosophical examination of the aesthetics of videogames. Videogames represent one of the most significant developments in the modern popular arts, and it is a topic that is attracting much attention among philosophers of art and aestheticians. As a burgeoning medium of artistic expression, videogames raise entirely new aesthetic concerns, particularly concerning their ontology, interactivity, and aesthetic value. The essays in this volume address a number of pressing theoretical issues related to these areas, including but not limited to: the nature of performance and identity in videogames; their status as an interactive form of art; the ethical problems raised by violence in videogames; and the representation of women in videogames and the gaming community. The Aesthetics of Videogames is an important contribution to analytic aesthetics that deals with an important and growing art form.

A lot of work has been done talking about what masculinity is and what it does within video games, but less has been given to considering how and why this happens, and the processes involved. This book considers the array of daily relationships involved in producing masculinity and how those actions and relationships translate to video games. Moreover, it examines the ways the actual play of the games maps onto the stories to create contradictory moments that show that, while toxic masculinity certainly exists, it is far from inevitable. Topics covered include the nature of masculine apprenticeship and nurturing, labor, fatherhood, the scapegoating of women, and reckoning with mortality, among many others.

Recruit new soldiers, face new foes, and explore the mysteries of the Carpathian Mountains in two new campaigns, one competitive and one for solo or cooperative play. High in the Carpathian Mountains stands the crumbling Castle Fier. Once home to a powerful warlord, the castle cast a dark shadow across the nearby villages, until crusaders attacked with sword and flame to put an end to its menace. Though history passed into folklore, the ruins of Castle Fier remained shunned by all as a cursed site. Now, horrors have been seen moving at night. An army gathers. Something has awoken in the ruins. With the political situation in the surrounding region becoming increasingly unstable, France, Prussia, Britain, and the other powers have dispatched their best agents to investigate the ruins, eliminate any threats, and acquire any treasures that could prove useful in the ongoing fight against the harvestmen... and each other. The Carpathians: Castle Fier is a supplement for The Silver Bayonet: A Wargame of Napoleonic Gothic Horror, in which the special units must fight their way through the ruins of a menacing haunted castle. It features two campaigns - one competitive and one for solo or cooperative play - as well as new monsters to fight, soldiers to recruit, and treasure to unearth.

While many nations flocked to the side of the Allies, others joined forces with Germany as part of the Axis. This volume is the definitive guide to the armies of Italy, Hungary, Slovakia, Croatia and Finland. Refight the Winter War against the Soviets, hold back the British in North Africa, or help shore up the German offensives on the Eastern Front with this latest supplement for 'Bolt Action.'

Set off with your adventuring party to gather 25 days' worth of gifts from the world of Dungeons & Dragons! Collect dozens of little treasures inspired by the Forgotten Realms in this official Dungeons & Dragons countdown calendar. Your party may have all the weapons they need, but this engaging gift calendar is filled with dozens of items you'd never think to bring on a quest. With mini books, stationery, buttons, tech accessories, and more, you can celebrate your love for the game with this countdown calendar featuring a monstrous assortment of presents!

The digital technologies of the 21st century are reshaping how we experience storytelling. More than ever before, storylines from the world's most popular narratives cross from the pages of books to the movie theatre, to our television screens and in comic books series. Plots intersect and intertwine, allowing audiences many different entry points to the narratives. In this sometimes bewildering array of stories across media, one thing binds them together: their large-scale fictional world. Collaborative Worldbuilding for Writers and Gamers describes how writers can co-create vast worlds for use as common settings for their own stories. Using the worlds of Star Wars, Lord of the Rings, A Game of Thrones, and Dungeons & Dragons as models, this book guides readers through a step-by-step process of building sprawling fictional worlds complete with competing social forces that have complex histories and yet are always evolving. It also shows readers how to populate a catalog with hundreds of unique people, places, and things that grow organically from their world, which become a rich repository of story making potential. The companion website collaborativeworldbuilding.com features links to online resources, past worldbuilding projects, and an innovative card system designed to work with this book.

Thaw of the Lich Lord is a complete campaign for Frostgrave that will challenge both new and veteran players. Through a series of linked scenarios, players discover the existence of a new power in the Frozen City, one who was old when the great city was still young, and who saw both its rise and its disastrous fall. Warbands will confront the Lich Lord's minions, race against his agents to seize possession of mysterious artefacts, and brave the perils of Frostgrave in search of his lair. Eventually, they will need to muster all their courage to venture into the depths of the city and face the Lich Lord himself. Not all wizards will seek to stop the Lich Lord, however, and full rules for giving into his corruption and following the dark road to becoming an undead lich are presented for those who crave power and immortality above all else. While the campaign presents many new threats against which wizards and their warbands must test themselves, including an expanded bestiary, it also offers additional resources, such as new henchmen that can be recruited and unique magical treasures that can spell the difference between survival and oblivion.

Key aliens and NPCs from Starfinder's Threefold Conspiracy Adventure Path come alive on your tabletop with The Threefold Conspiracy Pawn Collection, featuring more than 100 creature pawns for use with the Starfinder Roleplaying Game or any tabletop science-fantasy RPG! Printed on sturdy cardstock, each pawn presents a beautiful full-color image of an alien, NPC, or starship from The Threefold Conspiracy campaign, including agents of the mysterious Unseen, strange shapeshifters, uneasy allies, and dozens of unique creatures. The Threefold Conspiracy Pawn Collection, together with the creatures and characters from the Starfinder Alien Archive Pawn Box and Starfinder Core Rulebook Pawn Collection, provides pawns for nearly every Threefold Conspiracy encounter. Each cardstock pawn slots into a size-appropriate plastic base from the Alien Archive Pawn Box, making the pawns easy to mix with traditional metal or plastic miniatures. From devious masterminds to shape-shifting infiltrators, find all of the enemies and allies of The Threefold Conspiracy Adventure Path on these beautifull illustrated pawns! While creature pawns are broken out by base size, all starship pawns use medium bases, from the tiniest fighter to the largest warship. Starfinder The Threefold Conspiracy Pawn Collection includes: Small Creatures Aerial Devil Autofly Swarm (4) Bug Furry Friend Experimental Nanobot Mimic (4) Extiomi Fech "Sparkles" Goba Flying Viper Eel Swarm (4) Gray Abductor (3) Gray Bounder Gray Engineer (2) Gray Ooze Wrangler Gray Researcher (6) Gray Surgeon Keji Swarm (4) Memory Muck (2) Needlehawk Host (4) Oni, Spirit Overseer Gyru Pik Nath Proog Psydrake Robot, Gray Observer (2) Scouring Swarm (4) Spookfish Swarm (4) Troll Polyp (2) Zaxo Zernivian Medium Creatures Aanung-An Algiada Iom Arc Moray (2) Aykins Segrue Azer Spy (3) Barghest Cargo Creep Chop Cycle (3) Combat Clone (2) Diorama Guard (2) Docksmythe (3) Dormakhabu Eiyol Marrill Ephecta Erem Esra Fluerasik Enforcer (4) Gamut Bio IT Staff (2) Gamut Bio Janitor (4) Glacial Borer Gray Shell Guardian Rhino Hesper Veeldiz Jincheroga Jox Hird Kaniko Breez Kibotu Knight of Golarion (4) Knight of Golarion Squire Krelo Danesh Kriegakos (3) Laoe Araae Orderly (4) Lawless One Lozu Pahir Ludvya "Firespitter" Zyakama Lunabellox Debrie Marduq Char Melta-Man Mersadask Rycast Modified Swarm Corrovox Molu Umana Dylaska Narla Yalamis Night Hag Orgot Nalkus Orvir Pike Phryine Callajam Psychic Clone (2) Qub Rel Nodens Reptoid Host (6) Reptoid Steward (4) Rig Technician (2) Robot, Incapacitator (2) Sarzael Fallion Shadow Hopper Shez Daiasha Silverlight Construct Space Pirate, Human (4) Steward Rookie (2) Steward Constable (2) Steward Worker (3) Tavin Arill The Monitor Threshwolf Host (2) Thylas Starhammer Torv Graycrag Trostinek Vee Andano Vora Rinn Wem Wetzelt Xych Vorsen Yona Raito Yox Large Creatures Barathu Patient (4) Doctor Flo Elmeshra (2) Gamut Bio Management (2) Garaggakal Polymath Golem, Abysium Hrog Hungerer from the Dark Jesara Hy Nevintsi Jynma Kunnid Linyf Megalonyxa Obfuchsia Phixara Protean, Xiritix (2) Quanma Ge Uliyu Replicant Ooze Troll, Quantum Varigneous Verifier Ki Huge Creatures Barathu Bruiser Driftlure Lava Strider (2) Xanthos Starships Gray Collection Saucer Gray Monitor Capsule Gray Mothership Gray Research Vessel Gray Watcher Pod Reptoid Chameleon Reptoid Changeling Reptoid Instigator (2) Reptoid Nest Platform Roselight Oracle Sanjaval Palanquin Shimmering Blade Steward Banshee FA Frigate

Imagine a land of dark, sweltering jungles filled with nameless monstrosities and savage reptilian head-hunters... hacking through thick undergrowth to uncover forgotten overgrown ruins filled with glittering treasures... discovering mysterious cities of gold hidden high up between the sheer mountain peaks, filled with foul sorceries... uncovering ancient temples still used by secretive cults to practice their abhorrent sacrifices... and worse still, if those gods arose as titanic beasts beyond mortal comprehension, to destroy those that dare despoil their worshippers...Then imagine you've arrived, shipwrecked or magically transported, to this tropical hell and that there is no escape.Welcome to the horror of Monster Island!Monster Island is a fully detailed sandbox setting which can be used in almost any existing campaign, from Swords & Sorcery through to 1930's Two Fisted Pulp. It contains enough material to run a game for years, including: An examination of the native cultures, their strange habits and unsettling magical practices Almost a hundred new creatures, plants and spirits to use in any Mythras campaign Comprehensive tables for encounters, random events, poisons, diseases, treasures and the like New spells, miracles and fully defined cults for those that wish to dabble in the dark arts Several dozen places of interest, half of which have been fully detailed for immediate play Countless plot hooks and scenario ideas, as well as guidance on how to incorporate Monster Island into an existing campaignWith its foetid secrets and gritty adventure, the comprehensive content of Monster Island is guaranteed to inspire any Game Master. Delve back to a time of classic Sword & Sorcery with priceless jewels, fierce dinosaurs and dark horror!Comes complete with a separate full colour map of the Island.

Science Fiction wargame rules for large skirmishes, based on the popular Rampant system. Xenos Rampant is a setting agnostic, large skirmish, miniature wargame for fighting science fiction battles using 28mm figures. Developed from the popular Lion Rampant ruleset, the core mechanics featured within will be instantly recognisable to those familiar with the other Rampant systems, while still being accessible to new players. Xenos Rampant contains all the rules, army lists, and scenarios required to fight science fiction battles as well as a whole host of subgenres including: post-apocalyptic, weird war, near future. So, whatever your science fiction preference, the rules can cover it - just let your imagination run rampant.