In a galaxy torn apart by the Last War, vast pirate fleets roam from system to system, robbing, extorting, and enslaving. Amidst this chaos, thousands of independent operators - smugglers, relic hunters, freedom fighters, and mercenaries - roam the dead stars in small ships, scratching out a living any way they can. In Stargrave, players take on the role of one of these independent operators, choosing from a range of backgrounds each with their own strengths, weaknesses, and associated powers. Next, players must hire a crew for their ship, recruiting a lieutenant with a unique skill-set and a handful of soldiers, mechanics, hackers, and other specialists. Some captains may even recruit strange alien lifeforms with abilities no humanoid could ever possess. Once the players' crews are assembled, they are ready to dive into a campaign. Over a series of games, their crews will have the chance to carry out a variety of missions - recovering lost technology, stealing data, freeing slaves, and fighting back against the pirate fleets. In time, as the crews gain experience, they will become more powerful and hire more talented specialists. The more they grow, however, the more likely it is that a pirate fleet will take note of their activities and come after them!

In the course of a Dungeons & Dragons game, a Dungeon Master has to make one decision after another in response to player behaviour-and the better the players, the more unpredictable their behaviour! It's easy for even an experienced DM to get bogged down in on-the-spot decision-making or to let combat devolve into a boring slugfest, with enemies running directly at the player characters and biting, bashing, and slashing away. In The Monsters Know What They're Doing, Keith Ammann lightens the DM's burden by helping you understand your monsters' abilities and develop battle plans before your fifth edition D&D game session begins. Just as soldiers don't whip out their field manuals for the first time when they're already under fire, a DM shouldn't wait until the PCs have just encountered a dozen bullywugs to figure out how they advance, fight, and retreat. Easy to read and apply, The Monsters Know What They're Doing is essential reading for every DM.

This book addresses the ongoing scientific debates regarding video games and their effects on players. The book features opposing perspectives and offers point and counterpoint exchanges in which researchers on both sides of a specific topic make their best case for their findings and analysis. Chapters cover both positive and negative effects of video games on players' behavior and cognition, from contributing to violence and alienation to promoting therapeutic outcomes for types of cognitive dysfunction. The contrasting viewpoints model presents respectful scientific debate, encourages open dialogue, and allows readers to come to informed conclusions. Key questions addressed include: * Do violent video games promote violence? * Does video game addiction exist? * Should parents limit children's use of interactive media? * Do action video games promote visual attention? * Does sexist content in video games promote misogyny in real life? * Can video games slow the progress of dementia? * Are video games socially isolating? Video Game Influences on Aggression, Cognition, and Attention is a must-have resource for researchers, clinicians and professionals as well as graduate students in developmental psychology, social work, educational policy and politics, criminology/criminal justice, child and school psychology, sociology, media law, and other related disciplines.

An expanded edition of the Origins Award-nominated Lion Rampant, featuring new rules, scenarios, and sample armies. Take to the battlefield as Richard the Lionheart, Joan of Arc or William Wallace - or forge your own legend - with Lion Rampant: Second Edition. From the Dark Ages to the Hundred Years' War, raids, skirmishes, and clashes between small retinues were a crucial part of warfare, and these dramatic small-scale battles are at the heart of this easy-to-learn but tactically rewarding wargame. Lion Rampant: Second Edition is a new, updated version of the hit Osprey Wargames series title, and retains the core gameplay while also incorporating a wealth of new rules and updates from several years' worth of player feedback and development. Whether they are looking to recreate historical encounters or tell their own stories, the varied scenarios, unit types, and sample retinue lists found in this volume provide everything players need to face each other in quick, exciting, and, above all, fun tabletop battles.

The Art of Ni no Kuni (TM)II: REVENANT KINGDOM is a lavish full-color book showcasing the best art from the highly anticipated roleplaying game. Developed by Level-5 and with collaboration from legendary Studio Ghibli animator Yoshiyuki Momose, Ni no Kuni (TM)II: REVENANT KINGDOM is a beautiful, characterful and exciting game. This book is the ultimate fan resource, showcasing the development of the amazing characters, monsters, vehicles and locations from initial concept sketches through to the finished artworks.

The North African Campaign has begun. Take control of the British Army's Long Range Desert Group and operate behind enemy lines or command the formidable Italian forces opposing them. In this standalone sequel to Undaunted: Normandy, players will once again lead their sides through a varied series of missions. As casualties mount, wounded units leave the players' decks, forcing them to adapt in the face of changing tactical circumstances. Use your cards to strengthen your forces, deploy vehicles to advance rapidly across the battlefield, and seize the initiative as you determine the outcome of the North African Theatre. Ages: 14+ Players: 2 Playing Time: 45-60 minutes Contents: 88 cards, 22 large map tiles, 4 dice, tokens, campaign booklet

A BRAND-NEW COLORING BOOK FEATURING ICONIC ART FROM THE COMIC BASED ON THE VIDEO GAME LIFE IS STRANGE. Color your way through the universe of the award-winning videogame Life is Strange, using stunning artwork by Claudia Leonardi from the bestselling comic series. Featuring eighty pages of stylish black and white linework from the story of Max Caulfield and Chloe Price, complemented by distinctive doodles from Max's journal. Bring new life to Arcadia Bay, create fresh t-shirt designs for the cast, and explore time-twisting new realities at the tips of your pencils and pens! What color will Chloe's hair be in your timeline?

This new edition of the multi-award-winning fantasy skirmish wargame offers improved rules based on years of player feedback, a revised spell list, and a host of brand-new scenarios. It remains fully compatible with all previously published Frostgrave supplements, allowing players to revisit past adventures as well as face new challenges. Choose a wizard from one of ten schools of magic, and select from a list of eighty spells. Hire a warband filled with soldiers, from lowly thugs and thieves to mighty knights and barbarians, then lead your men into the frozen ruins of the magic city of Frostgrave on the hunt for ancient treasures and the secrets of lost magic. Be warned - it is a deadly place, filled with rival wizards, wandering monsters, animated constructs, and demonic entities. Do you dare enter the Frozen City one more time?

Ireland is awash with would-be kings, power-hungry pretenders, and self-professed rulers. The provinces are in disarray, and the common folk are paying the price. The land needs a leader. In Brian Boru, players will strive to unite Ireland under their domain, securing control through might, cunning, and matrimony. Join forces to fend off Viking invaders, build monasteries to extend your influence, and gather support in towns and villages throughout the land. To become High King of all Ireland, you will need to navigate a web of shifting alliances, outmanoeuvre your enemies, and grab history by the reins. Includes rules in English and German. Number of players: 3-5 Ages: 14+ Play time: 60-90 minutes Components: Board, 46 cards, 139 tokens, 125 wooden discs

A tense, economic eurogame for one to four players, charting the rise and fall of the 12th Century's greatest city.

The ancient city of Merv. A gateway between the East and the West. A hub of scholarship and trade. The greatest city in the world.

In Merv: The Heart of the Silk Road players are vying to amass power and wealth in the prosperous city at the centre of the land. Through careful court intrigue, timely donations to the grand mosque, and securing favourable trade deals, players attempt to redirect as much of that prosperity as possible into their own pockets.

Meanwhile, beyond the city walls Mongol hordes approach. If you help construct the city walls you give up on precious opportunities to build up your own stature, but leave it unprotected and you will burn with the city. Every decision is weighty and the consequences of each misstep are dire. Will you rise to prominence or fade into oblivion?

Number of players: 1-4
Ages: 14+
Play time: 90 - 120 minutes
Components: Board, 25 tiles, 48 cards, 100+ wooden pieces, 100+ tokens

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.

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.

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.

The Frostgrave Folio is the complete collection of all previously released Frostgrave mini-ebook supplements in one printed volume. This includes Hunt for the Golem, a three-scenario campaign in which the warbands hunt down a rogue golem, Sellsword, which introduces rules for experience-gaining captains to help lead warbands, Dark Alchemy, which expands the rules for potions and potion brewing, and Arcane Locations which gives additional options for bases and base upgrades. The book also includes a completely new mini-supplement, The Ravages of Time. Collecting nearly two years' worth of Frostgrave material, this collection is a necessary addition to any wizard's library.

Today, it seems as if everyone from heroic-yet-angsty teenagers, to giggling schoolgirls, to middle-aged businessmen, to bored moms are finding themselves whisked away to save distant worlds from some kind of unspeakable evil. But how do you prepare for such an amazing adventure? And, more importantly, how do you make it through without getting horribly maimed or killed along the way? Fortunately, this handbook has analyzed the accounts of numerous heroes who have traveled to magical lands and returned to tell the tale in order to create the definitive guide to survival and success no matter where in the fantasyverse your adventures may take you. In these pages, you'll learn how to increase (or, if you prefer, decrease) your chances of successfully being chosen, what types of preparation and training you should undertake beforehand, and how to hit the ground running on arrival and become the legendary hero that you were always destined to be.**Makes no guarantees of destined heroism and cannot be held liable if it turns out that you are instead destined to be eaten by a giant toad.

Constructing a functional system of magic that helps readers suspend disbelief is a crucial part of worldbuilding in the fantasy genres. Yet creating a believable, compelling and original fictional universe can be daunting. To help inspire writers, this guide provides an overview of how magic has been understood in history and used in myth, legend and modern fiction. Different forms of magic are explored and a broad range of stories-from Nordic myths to modern novels-are described and referenced. Discussion explores how magic as a concept shapes, and is shaped by, fictional worlds and societies.

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.'

In this unique deduction game of honest misdirection you are all cryptozoologists, trying to be the first to discover definitive proof of a cryptid in the wilds of North America. Each player will be given a unique clue – one piece of crucial information about where the creature lives. When combined, the clues identify a single space on the map – the creature’s habitat.

Each player’s clue either states an area where the creature can be found or where it cannot be found, based on the terrain and structures on the board. During the game, you will ask each other questions with the aim of guessing each other’s clues. The first player to correctly use all of the clues to find the habitat wins the game!

The King is dead. The kingdom is divided. Three factions – the Scottish, the Welsh, and the English – vie for control and, across the sea, foreign invaders prepare to take advantage of the chaos. Players must marshal their limited resources to influence this power struggle, while ensuring that the faction that rises to dominate the realm favours them above all other claimants to the throne.