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Purcell: The Complete Anthems and Services, Vol. 9
Archive Service; also available on CDS44141/51
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Purcell: The Complete Sacred Music
11CDs Boxed set (at a special price)
The two-section Symphony is a fine one, the slow opening once again demonstrating the composers deliciously wistful writing in the most ravishing harmony: the more lively triple-time second section dances in overt joy, but not far beneath the surface, as with so much of Purcells string writing in the anthems, lies the melancholy that makes his music so unique. The soloists first entries overlap the end of the Symphony, graceful both in the French rhythms that had influenced the writings of many leading British composers, but also in the daring melodic lines that are so very English. Short instrumental ritornelli preface and close the more dramatic bass solo Though an host of men were laid against me before the trio of voices return at For in the time of trouble. Here Purcells vocal writing is at its most daring, with chromaticism falling and rising to colour trouble and the immovable rock of stone illustrated with long tied notes: as a conclusion the strings are instructed to play the Triple of the Symph. again. And now shall he lift up mine head is scored for a solo tenor; the word round is treated to three elegant melismas before the strings close the section with another fine instrumental ritornello. The trio return for Therefore will I offer in his dwelling, joyful in their great gladness before embarking on an extended series of Alleluias. Once again their varied material is taken up by the strings before the full choir, in more legato vein, closes a fine anthem.
from notes by Robert King ©


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Michelle Singletary | Kicking the credit card habit
Can I confess?
- Dec. 8, 2013
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After presents and family time during the holidays are done, the New Year arrives and thoughts turn to taxes. For some, it's also a time to think about whether they have enough to retire and when that day might be.
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Ok guys, I've got a set of Simmons V4's that I've taken apart and I want to strip paint off the centres.
Currently, they have a coat of spray can black on them which is easily coming off, and the original factory green paint underneath.
The idea at this stage is to assemble them with stripped, unpainted aluminium centres, possibly with a clear coat over it if its required to prevent oxidisation etc etc (i.e. I want a matte silver in the centre, and chrome lips).
Two questions:
1. What is the cheapest way to get rid of the paint without damage to the metal (paint stripper or sandblast)?
2. What clear coats do people recommend (or are they more or less all the same) keeping in mind I don't have any special compressor type tools (do clear coat spray cans exist)?
I was a little concerned that sand blasting will damage the aluminium. Also, I have no idea if putting clear coat on the aluminium will introduce a shine to it (ideally, I want the centers as matte as possible).
Any suggestions to help a noob out?


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WOLFENSTEIN History doesn't always repeat. by TheMailMan78 August 20, 2009 - Its been years since I played the original Wolfenstein 3D on my friends old 286. Back in 1992 the term "First Person Shooter" hadn't even been conceived yet. All I knew as a 13 year old boy was shooting little Nazis gave me a warm feeling. Kinda like seeing my friends sister in a training bra for the first time. I mean it was so cool to look out of the eyes of the one and only William "B.J." Blazkowicz instead of all the cheesy 2D side scrollers I had grown accustom to in the days of the 16-bit revolution. Wolfenstein 3D was in fact "revolutionary" and remains to be the "Godfather" of all FPS style games. So with this kinda pedigree behind it I assumed Raven softwares latest reincarnation of Wolfenstein 3D titled simply "Wolfenstein" was set to please. After all iD software wouldn't allow Raven to soil the name that pioneered the FPS style game would it? Lets have a look and see shall we? Installation and Interface: Wolfensteins installation went smooth and had all the normal things happen. Punkbuster, DirectX and everything else thats normally needed to play a PC game. There was in fact no pesky DRM which I was happy to see and instead uses a normal old school serial number. Once everything was installed and I had defragged my rig I found the game had installed shortcuts into my Vista "Games" link found on the start menu. I really like this and to this day I cannot understand why more developers ignore that little organization gem Vista provides. Moving on I start the game and I am greeted with a very simple splash screen that simply says "Wolfenstein". So far so good. Edit: The game does in fact use SecuROM 7. I am sorry I missed this but thank you to Fordconcept for pointing it out. Once we get by all the manufacture ads I am finally lead to the games main menu. This is where some things started bothering me. The title screen was very underwhelming and the graphic options leave very little to be adjusted. The control settings are obviously setup by default to use a 360 controller. This is a bad start for a guy like me. Wolfenstein should be a PC game first and foremost. Its where it was born and should stay. Adding support for a 360 controller is one thing. Making it the default is a slap in the face. None the less I struggled on and set up my controls. When I escaped back to the main menu I was greeted with a pop-up telling me there was in fact a new version of the game ready to be downloaded and was asking me if I would like to do so. I did and the damn thing patched up without me having to restart the application! How awesome is that? I wish more games were this way. Graphics and Sound: Some people say that gameplay is the most important part of a game and that graphics are just "eye candy" and don't make the game. These same guys usually have GPUs that could render Toy Story in real time. Hypocrites. If this were true we would all still be playing Pac-Man. Graphics are just as important as any other ingredient of a game. Without decent graphics you will lose atmosphere and in a game like Wolfenstein thats instant death. With this being said my hopes of Wolfenstein having state of the art graphics were in fact small. The game was developed using a quickly being dated engine called "Tech 4". Also known as the "Doom 3" engine. iD software usually develops on a 5 year cycle. Every few years John Carmack (iD Software Co-Founder) wows the world with his new game engines and technological feats. Tech 4 engine was no different......5 years ago. Today the Tech 4 engine still shines and hangs with the best of them if given to the right studio. Its also got a nice thing going for it since its so old. Compatibility and scaling. Anyone with a computer thats two years old should be able to push this engine and get decent frame rates. However for the sake of the review this is what I ran Wolfenstein on. AMD Phenom II 720 X3 @ 3.45GHz MSI DKA790GX Platinum 4 gigs PC 8500 Patriot "Viper" Dual Asus EAH4850 "Top" in Crossfire. On Board Realtek 7.1 HD Corsair TX750 watt Vista Home Premium 64bit The game on my rig ran as smooth a butter. So good in fact that I got tearing in the picture when it was maxed out. I ended up turning vertical sync on. The game opens with a typical CG using a very Indiana Jones esque style. Perfect for a game like Wolfenstein. Why you ask? Because yes this is about World War 2 and the ultimate bad guys "Nazis" but its not meant to be serious. Just think B-movie when you play the game. It will make more sense to you. In game the graphics hold the same style as the CG which is to be expected nowadays. The textures and lighting are very atmospheric and the character models have some really nice animations to them. In fact I once shot a Nazis leg off and he started hopping around on one foot for a good 3 seconds before falling over dead! Kick ass! One thing that Raven added to Wolfenstein that hadn't been done before was they added the ability to aim down the sights of the gun. This was a warm welcome for me. Ever since I got a good taste of that in the original Call of Duty FPS games seem incomplete without it. Overall the graphics while not great were in fact good and do more than enough to get the point across. The music in this game is top notch. Nothing fancy but it fits the mood of the game perfectly. It can be very subtle orchestra music all the way to a blaring symphony. Very cool and sometimes creepy. The sound effects are nothing out of this world but serve the game well. Barrels exploding, guys yelling and such sound fine. The only complaint I have is with some of the gun blasts. This is something personal for me. I in fact have shot most of the weapons of the game in real life. I have high expectations for the "pop" of a gun in a game. Wolfenstein was a let down for me in this arena. For most it wont matter but for me its irritating. The voice acting is a riot. Its not bad Japanese style acting but more of a Joe Bob Briggs b-movie style voice acting. Again this is the style of the game and it works well. Gameplay and Multiplayer: Remember how I bitched about the 360 controller being the default? Get ready for some more bitching. The default controls suck and whatever you set walk to is also "up" in the menu. I like to use my mouse for walking so whenever I click on a menu item the damn selection moves up. Most people won't notice this but for the few that may its very annoying. In the game however it won't matter. Everything there is pretty straight forward. Primary and secondary fire. Strafing and crouching. The usual. A good feature that Raven added to the Tech 4 engine was a more extreme "bob" to the player when running and walking. This really added to the game. It kinda feels like your a camera man in a movie running. Very cool. Another thing Raven did is add the "Veil". It allows you to switch between dimensions and do stuff you can't do in the mortal world. Super speed and passing through matter are just a few of the things you can do in game. It really adds to the atmosphere also. However I won't go into detail because its tightly knitted into the plot. The game itself has a free flow system which makes the game kinda unilinear. You can pick and choose where you want to go and what missions you want to complete. Kinda like Far Cry 2 but you are confined to one city. Once you accept a mission from a plot member they mark it on your map and you make your way across town to the mission. Usually there is a truck there waiting to take you to a remote location not in the city. Dig Sites, Churches and such. Once you complete the level you go back to one of the bases and pick up some plot twists and on to the next mission. I know it sounds repetitive but its not. Raven did a good job keeping things interesting. One thing they did is added a weapon perk system. All the gold you find along with missions get you money. You can use this money to buy most anything you want for your gun collection. Drum magazines, bayonets etc. Its a small feature but it does in fact add to the game. I like it as an addition to the Wolfenstein series. Now to the section many of you have been asking about. How is the multiplayer?! Well in a word I would say its sucks. It doesn't even feel like the single player game in any way shape or form. I now see why the studio that was in charge of the multiplayer portion of the game was fired right after release. It brings nothing new to the series. In fact they even used the same sound effect as Enemy Territory! There are only a few objective maps and they get boring fast. Another thing they did is put the player cap at 16. What year is this 1999? What made things really sad is they added a perk system with persistent stats and everything. I doubt many people will play this long enough to "unlock" all the weapon upgrades but if you invest enough time you can build one hell of a weapon. Not that you can use it because the game only allows one perk per weapon at a time. This worked in Call of Duty 4 because the gun perks were complemented with other things like air strikes and UAVs. All you have here is the option to ether have extra ammo OR a optical sight. Just not both at the same time. What the hell was iD and Raven thinking with this portion of the game. They really could have put Wolfenstein back on the map but not only did they drop the ball but stomped on it. Some however enjoy the game. When I was in the servers online I asked around and believe it or not some people loved it. However most didn't. For me they multiplayer is crap. For you it maybe gold. To each there own. Conclusion: Over all I enjoyed Wolfensteins single player. Its got a unique charm to it. The game for me doesn't live up to its heritage but honestly I didn't expect it to. iD supported the game but did not develop it. It was developed by Raven. Personally I'm not a big fan of Raven since what they did to Quake 4. Wolfenstein is a better game and Raven while not making the game great did in fact make a good game. For my budget minded readers I would hold off on paying full retail. The game is good but not worth the full price. Wait till its in the bargain bin because the replay is absolutely zero. Anyway I hope you guys enjoyed reading my review and if you have any questions feel free to ask. Screens: Disclaimer: This review is the opinion of one member of TPU, TheMailMan78 and does not in fact represent the opinions or beliefs of TPU or its respected owner and advertisers.
Iv Played it... The Graphics are hardly any better than "Return to castle Wolfenstein" Polygon counts where low - Texture detail was not so hot at all - and the engine relies SOLELY on pixel shaders, bloom & fog, to distract you from the faults & blur everything to the extent that you cant notice any glitches. Wet & rusted metal, as is becoming standard, has a shiny- slimy alien skin bump/light map on it for no apparent reason - But there is a GOOD explanation for all of this This is a CONSOLE GAME and anyone looking for a PC GAME ,must not waste their time. Aiming is just a theory - it's almost impossible to die - you cant precision hit anything because, as is also becoming more popular, IRONSTIGHTS block off the entire screen and you cant see jack when you try and boom headshotsz... Not that it matters, this is a CONSOLE GAME, so again aiming means nothing - why where you bothering to try in the first place? This is a Story on a train-track - and they may as well replace most of the game play with "Wiggle stick now to see next cut scene" You can literally run around for 10 minutes in a room full of enemy's and not die. (Seriously - try it at home) - Without "Life" there becomes very little point to even continue interacting with the product at all, unless you are really that interested in watching the rest of the story. It's a GREAT console game - and I think the Console Level games will really enjoy it. On a TV the GFX will look great, and with auto aim and infinite life - everyone will be able to enjoy the full story. It's a horribly incompetent PC game. And such a waste of effort & potential. I would have thought after the resounding success of titles such as S.T.A.L.K.E.R. that game producers would have realized that a PC gamer requires something a little more intelligent & refined, at least as far as input and control is concerned. Fear of death, and ability to chose where & when you shoot are pivotal components in a PC shooters ability to draw a player into the story, and make them genuinely relate to their character, and this title attempts to forge ahead without either. Good luck. Edit : This is also ONLY my personal opinion, that I do not expect anyone to respect. I don't like Hanna Montanna either - but look how much money that BS makes. Perhaps this kind of useless gameplay is intended for Hanna fans? They clearly represent a large market...
great review... I like that you compare it to fc2 but say it isnt repetitive, makes me want to play this game.
Well for the purpose of general review NORMAL - but its not about difficulty - you have NO LIFE... If you get hit enough, phantom blood splats form around you and all you have to do is take cover for a bit and they vanish... and you are 100% again. WTF? , But as I also said its a console mechanic for console gamers - it's impossible to play a shooter accurately with a joystick no matter how convinced you are that you can, and infinitely regenerating health is how a console deals with this fact, giving you far more space to try and point your kill stick in the vague direction of your enemy, and wait for auto-aim to do the rest. It's GREAT... for a console. A Seasoned BF2/STALKER vet will never be able to accept it. This game should have just stuck to consoles as was clearly its intended Initial design, instead of dumping a last-minute port of the console version to a PC. Its a perfectly fine console game, but it has no legs to stand on as a PC game, and unless they where going to do a PROPER PC conversion they should have just left well enough alone. Edit : Don't mind me anywase - I'm just grumpy because their trailers had me so ampe'd and when I got a chance to play it, it was like getting spat in the face, after playing things like (again for example) STALKER that where so fantastically well implemented as far as interface and immersion where concerned.
On the higher difficulties a single hit can and will kill you based on where it hits you. This lack of a health bar is nothing new, lots of games currently use it. Aiming works fine, Iron Sight is nothing new. Means that people can't run and shoot from hip with pinpoint accuracy. Graphics aren't as bad as you're saying, comparing to Return to Castle Wolfenstein is pretty much absurd. Edit: I'll admit the videos made it appear more bad ass than it currently is at the point in the game where I'm at.
interesting read! @TheMailMan78, thanks for the insight shared. This was a complete review and persuaded me to give it a go.
I played it on the Acer 22" 1680 x 1050. Joe this game was and never will be STALKER. Its a different style of game. As for the difficulty Ill disagree. Put the difficulty on "Death Incarnate" and run around a room full of Nazis and let me know how that works out. As for the graphics they are on par with Doom 3. You know the engine it was based off of? Anyway like I said this is a good game. Just not worth full retail IMHO. Thanks for not being a troll in my first review. I expect you to troll my second. If not Ill be disappointed
Sounds like a rehash of return to castle wolfenstien while it was good back then it kinda doesn't live up to it now, i hope to god its not a rehash and that im mistaken! Graphics are okay, do the job. The textures to me don't like as good as you say but whatever personal taste i guess; i mean some like the blocky outlines on the megadrive some like the smooth look of the snes, textures are as expected for the engine. Would you say it is worth a video rental as opposed to a full purchase at this stage, not that i have a video rental store near me as mine got turned in a bakery a few years back lmao! Gameplay would you say it feels like return to castle wolfenstien? I am not sure but how can you say it is a console game? I dont understand is there something that makes console games dramatically different to other games mediums? As far as i see control scheme shouldn't be a factor as they should have options which im sure it does. Pacing is that it, do you feel console games are paced different to make them better to jump in and play for short bursts? Punctuation im not good at grammar myself but to break up the reading you need to use commas and semi colons. Try to refrain from large overbearing sentences not that you did that lol. Yes i do admit that i use average grammar and come across as a bit of a hypocrite but reviews need high levels of grammar so its easier to read and be more professional. Only other thing is that the short paragraphs kept making my eye flicker away from what i was reading. Decent first review as i know you liked the classic games and still do. My comments are as by no means derogatory just meant to let ou know what i felt as a reader of your first review and a few friendly follow up questions.
the game has a seriouse problem with mouse lag! and i have to agree with you mailman the game is a FAIL atleast for the PC
KieranD: Console games tend to have two things: 1. Graphics that consist of a poor looking engine (low quality textures and models) with shader effects on top. They cover up their lack of decent hardware with blurry effects that hide the textures, models, and low framerates. Of course, its rather silly to see this ported to a PC, which has more than 256MB of ram and could handle good textures in the first place. 2. Controls. You can easily tell if a game is based on a console, because it never supports more than a few buttons! look at fear 2, no lean, no side mouse button support, no quicksave/quickload - all very reminiscent of a console port. Some things are also obvious, such as defaulting to controller based designs, or having things such as "press start to begin" or tips that popup during the game telling you to "push X" on your 360 controller (such as lost planet) when you dont even have one connected
BazookaJoe, I'm a huge STALKER fan, and I can still enjoy a good game, even if it has health regen. Like TheMailMan said, put it on Death Incarnate and you WILL find it hard at some parts. Granted, I hate this health regen thingy as well and think good ol' health packs would have been better, but it sure doesn't make it a mediocre game. And most of the time, I don't notice the somewhat dated graphics anyway, I'm busy trying to kill these jet pack flying nazis.
i like health regen, just because i've ended up saving a game in between waves of enemies, only to find myself screwed over cause i didnt have enough heath to fight my way out - and either resorting to cheating, or loading an earlier save.
All feedback is welcome man. I like doing reviews and even tho Ill never do them officially for TPU I would like to do them as a contribution to the members. Ill work on the grammar and stuff a little harder next time. This one was kinda rushed and on a whim. Hell I typed it in an hour Now to answer your questions. Its not a rehash but more of an expansion of the original RTCW which was based off of the Tech 3 engine (Quake 3). I would say a definite rental if you have a console. Of course if you have a console ALL games should be retails before you buy. For a PC game it's a bargain bin game or a weekend special on Steam. Its a lot of fun but has zero replay after you beat it.
hm, i really wish that this gamepowerup thing was successful, i even tried to be part of the team but never got a response, it would be cool to have a all gaming site based off TPU, and actually have people devoted to reviewing and stuff. Good review and thanks for it, i trust people who are on this site more than i do IGN, or Gamespot. Hm, if they decided to do a website for it i'd be down to help just saying.
Love the review MailMan, very nice job. For spelling and grammar, use this. http://www.spellchecker.net/spellcheck/ Once you have the content copied and pasted into spellchecker, you can check the spelling and check grammar by ticking the "grammar" tab. Tumbnail pics would be nice (I'm looking into how to do it) and with the smaller pics you could split up the text and possibly add some funny/entertaining captions to the pictures. <--Click me for bigger pic! Got the thumbnails to work, it goes like this (no spaces) [url = http://i403.photobucket.com/albums/pp112/erocker414/gt500.jpg]http://i403.photobucket.com/albums/pp112/erocker414/gt500_small.jpg[/ img][/ url ] You need to make two images, one regular sized and one small. As you can see there are no image tags for the "gt500.jpg", but there are for gt500_small because you want to show the gt500_small image. Basically follow that format (no spaces). The thumbnail picture should always be "whatever"_small which is vbulliten speak for thumbnails.


text:
You can look out over the city and see what you want to see. Maybe you see the bright lights, and it gives you hope. Maybe you see the tall buildings casting their powerful shadows, and it makes you feel small. But high up, it's not that you can't see the forest for the trees—it's that you can't see the trees for the forest.
Best way to see what&r... [click here for more]
The heartland gushes. Highways like arteries. The map darkens with spreading red. At night, it's all a great big bloody nowhere, a yawning mouth, a hungry shadow. And you have to cross it. It feels like a bad dream. It is a bad dream. This can't be real. This can't be what they want you to do. Of course, you know as soon as you wake up it doesn't ch... [click here for more]
"We don't worship the same gods, you and I,but we're more alike than you think.Together, we are keeping something alive - something that has lived for thousands of years despite the wavering faith of mortal men.The old gods are not dead. They live within us.We give them life, warm blood, and they keep us from death.That's our covenant, our promise. Everything else is fashion."... [click here for more]
Paul desperately roamed the alleys looking for a vendor with what he needed. Booth after booth blurred by, each one having something similar ... [click here for more]
Officer Hutchinson swept over the brutality with dispassion and diligence. With every picture he took, with every swab of the blood, he told himself he was a servant of justice. He was a part of the team that was going to put that asshole away for life. For the past three years, detective Chuck Chalmers mentored and inspired him to whatever minor greatness he'd achieved.
... [click here for more]
Paul desperately roamed the alleys looking for a vendor with what he needed. Booth after booth blurred by, each one having something similar but not the same. He twisted a handkerchief over and over again in his hands, his fingers working it and tying it into knots as his eyes darted over each stall.
As he wandered down one alleyway a shrill scream filled the air, sending a sh... [click here for more]
Cloning represents a very clear, powerful, and immediate example in which we are in danger of turning procreation into manufacture.
- Leon Kass
The Collection of Horrors is an anthology of Storyteller tools inspired by the Horror Recognition Guide that you can either use in conjunction with the Guide or as part of your existing Hun... [click here for more]
Jason Webber's story is a tragedy. Victim of the bizarre Sendack Case. Orphaned by the mysterious murder of his parents. Lost his home to fire. Now he's in state care, surrounded by kids whose futures likely lie in running the streets. His caseworker tries desperately not to let him slip away, but he won't talk to her, or to anyone. Yet the boys in the home gather around hi... [click here for more]
The apartment still reeks of burning carpet and melted plastic, even a year after the fire. People don't go in there any more, not since the Andropov boy snuck in on a dare and came out sick. No one will buy the building, and so it squats on its corner lot, decaying, rotting like a corpse left in the sun.
No one goes there any more, and people cross the street rather tha... [click here for more]
Everyone's read the reports, seen her picture on the evening news, beautiful blue eyes and pageant-queen smile. Emily Gillen is dead. The police finally tracked down the woman responsible for the brutal torture and murder of several local children; she died resisting arrest.
But that's not the end of the story. A hatred as virulent as Emily's doesn't en... [click here for more]
The neon signs flicker on, one after the other, advertising cheap beer. They wink to each other like oversized, gaudy fireflies, and then they stay lit, beckoning the people in from the outside.
In the basement of the bar, a rat wanders into the gap between worlds. Water rises around it, and it vanishes, consumed by the river.
Behind the bar, a woman runs her ... [click here for more]
Mallory couldn't recall how she'd ended up in the middle of the woods, but she was becoming used to finding herself in strange locations with no memory of how she'd arrived. She was a little more annoyed than usual about it, though. She had been in the shelter, looking for the tape. It was important. If they found it, they would learn about the Clutter, and then they would ... [click here for more]
The first thing he notices when he takes her hand is just how cold she is. Not merely chilly, but unnaturally cold, like a statue cut from Arctic ice. He shudders noticeably. She offers a sad half-smile.
"I'm sorry about that, but I want you to know what you're dealing with, here, so that there are no misunderstandings." He nods once in reply. She slowl... [click here for more]
It happens to everyone, or so Lou told himself.
Every day in this city, someone takes a wrong turn on a walk he's taken a hundred times. Sooner or later, everyone is bound to take the wrong short cut between the wrong two Chinese restaurants and end up lost.
Only Lou didn't know of any wrong turn anyone could take off Broad Street that ends up in a b... [click here for more]
A monster in the womb. A frantic 911 call. A dead body. But that's just the start. What begins as a call from a damsel in distress leads to violence, horror and perhaps a monstrous conspiracy about to bear gruesome fruit.
The Collection of Horrors is an anthology of Storyteller tools inspired by the Horror Recognition Guide that you can either use in conjunc... [click here for more]
Corpses litter the scene, the only survivor an old Frenchman with a bleak sense of humor who will not explain what happened.
Can the hunters trust him? And if they can, should they?
The Collection of Horrors is an anthology of Storyteller tools inspired by the Horror Recognition Guide that you can either use in conjunction with the Guide or a... [click here for more]
We'd spent weeks trailing him, certain he held the key to recovering the lost operative. We had it all planned out – the ambush, the capture and the interrogation. It wouldn't be pretty, but time was short and we had to get Emma back. Little did we know that when we finally sprung our trap, we would be the ones held captive – trapped in a situation none of us could ha... [click here for more]
"This might be my last report, but it's gonna be a career maker. I'm going right into the den of the monsters, I'm going to record them on their home turf. It's a great night for the media; it's a great night for…" The recording ends.
Indie newspaper reporter Eddie Ford vanished without a trace. He's been following The Raz... [click here for more]
A hunter cell seeking crucial information finds a broker of secrets who can give them what they need in return for an act of symbolic destruction. But will the hunters realize they have stumbled into an ancient conflict between spirits? And will their new contact use them as pawns in his game?
The Collection of Horrors is an anthology of Storyteller tools inspired by the... [click here for more]
There are moments in any hunter's life when she misses the important details and loses the bigger picture. There are moments in any hunter's life where the detail that she missed, no matter how small, will result in her failure or even her death.
For the lucky few hunters, there is the Man with the Gray Beard. He's been called a hundred names: Our Deepthroat,... [click here for more]
For many hunters carrying the Vigil, the hunt is only one part of their lives. Many belong to hunter organizations-the more localized compacts, or the globe-spanning conspiracies.
Joining such a group comes with varying advantages-safety in numbers, a paycheck, access to unique weapons and critical information, and camaraderie. But it also comes replete with new p... [click here for more]
It's really only a matter of time, he thinks, twirling his gun around his index finger. The girl's moves are obvious, rote. She's a teenager; she doesn't know any better. She'll reach out for the only type of protection she's ever really known.
Which means they'll be coming.
But that's just fine, the man thinks as his badge glistening in the moonligh... [click here for more]
*Please Note: This is a very large book and the file size is very large. The PDF is also in two parts.*
Look, it's simple:See that fat lick over there?With the backpack?When he steps onto the black asphalt of the parking lot, he's mine. Until then, he's in the fields, where any vampire can take him. I am the lord of this ground, and the penalty fo... [click here for more]
This SAS compilation for Changeling: The Lost takes the players' characters into the weirdly fantastic realm of the Hedge, where the terrors and wonders of the Fae lurk, and into the passion and courtly conflict of those who have escaped the Faerie lands and back into our world. Both adventures showcase different aspects of the world of the changelings, as well as providing a ready-made m... [click here for more]
Thralls of the Damned
Slaves to the addictive taste of vampiric Vitae, ghouls trade servitude for that heady substance. Servitude, however, damns them far more than they know, as their unnatural craving drives them to ever greater desperation and depravity. Among those known as blood slaves, there's no such thing as "just one fix."
Bound to the Night
The world is a dark and dangerous place.
It is filled with enigmas that do not fit neatly into boxes built by scientists or occultists. That doesn't stop us from trying to find an explanation for everything. It is human nature to compartmentalize, to label and identify the things that frighten them - a thing named is a thing neutered. But some things refuse to be categorized neatly. Som... [click here for more]
The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary. Men alone are quite capable of every wickedness.
- Joseph Contrad, Under Western Eyes
In the Harvesters, the characters are pitted against a group of kidnappers that prey upon the forgotten people and sell them off to the highest bidder. They visit upon those lost souls any torment that pleases them, so ... [click here for more]
Strange Encounters The Vigil brings no easy explanations — every night is a new mystery, a bizarre creature, an unknown terror. But hunters are humans, and humans must categorize — they take notes, keep journals, snap pictures and attempt to illustrate the horrors they meet on the hunt. By doing so, hunter cells try to find patterns, solve enigmas, and most important of all, ... [click here for more]
Je suis le monstre sacré de Dieu, le buveur d'humanité.Pendant longtemps,Je n'ai pu voir le rôle qu'il me fallait jouer,parce que je le cherchaisavec des yeux humains, des yeux de mortel.Aussi ai-je chouché la vérite sur ces pages,pour vous qui cherchey comme moi aussi j'ai cherché.Je ne suis pas quelque fauve impiequi rôde ... [click here for more]
Reality is glass, is gingerbread and sugar, is chalk. We break pieces away. We take pieces apart. We reassemble them to suit ourselves. The seams are there for those with the eyes to see. The flaws are there for those with the hands to split them. The configurations are born from those with the minds and wills to create them. This is how it has always been. This is how it will aways be.<>... [click here for more]
I used to be so foolish. I used to think that the world was too small for me, that I was always destined to break through the invisible doors that kept me enclosed among the mundane. Oh, and I was right about that — and I was terribly wrong, too.
Oh yes, I was always destined to break through those doors. I've done it. But I was wrong when I thought the world was t... [click here for more]
We share similar shadows. But that doesn't mean we're the same. They still have to die.
A second time.
A final time.
They die by the flame. That way, both of us see the light, if only for a moment.
This book for Hunter: The Vigil includes:
• An intense look into how the timeless Vigil and the imm... [click here for more]
There are times when the rational world seems, if only for a second, to fall away. The leaves rustling in the trees on a still day. The movement just past the corner of your eye. We are taught to ignore the foolish impulse to react.
But for those who look too long, too closely, there is another world pulsing just behind the façade of the one we know. Unimaginable things skitter b... [click here for more]
It came from nowhere, a spectral shard from beyond the Stormwall, where the lands of the dead are scoured by winds. They say the other side is a blistering hell of storms. Well, you're about to find out because there's a hole in the sky and the other side is leaking through... into the land of the living.
Shadow Games, the next epi... [click here for more]
Running a one-night game of Changeling: The Lost? Wanting to start up a new chronicle, but your players aren't sure what to play? Looking for a fast way to dive into one of White Wolf's SAS adventures? This PDF details "Personae," a motley of player characters designed for instant use in your Changeling <>... [click here for more]
Running a one-night game of Hunter: The Vigil? Wanting to start up a new chronicle, but your players aren't sure what to play? Looking for a fast way to dive into one of White Wolf's SAS adventures? This PDF details "The Keepers," a cell of player characters designed for instant use in your Hunter g... [click here for more]
Running a one-night game of Mage: The Awakening? Wanting to start up a new chronicle, but your players aren't sure what to play? Looking for a fast way to dive into one of White Wolf's SAS adventures? This PDF details "The Heirs of Ahna," a cabal of player characters designed for instant use in your Mage gam... [click here for more]