Cherche Sourcebook Preview

It's Saturday morning, just before noon and I felt it was time to do some unveiling. Just enough to get your pallet whet and get the ball rolling. I've been on Facebook, Twitter and Google+ and I've checked my email to see who's said what. Already this morning I've posted a few things about the upcoming Cherche Sourcebook we've been working on and here are some of the things we've heard about it.

"Seems like you left [another RPG company] in the dust a long time ago. They'd need The Doctor to catch up with you lmfao."

So what are we unveiling today? Well there's the cover, below. Which we're happy to say was taken in South Bend, Indiana. If you know where this photo was taken, then bless your heart.

Some of the things you can look forward to include: Philosophies. Cherche live according to codes. Each Tribe has a code they live by. These Philosophies include The Blood of the Warrior, The Blood of the King, and The Blood of the Scholar. The three schools of thought for Cherche which include archetypes and jumping points for making your Cherche vampire and the attitudes he/she will be immersed in.

We will be breaking down common stereotypes both inward and outward. It's hard to get an idea of these guys and how they work without seeing what they think of others and how they are viewed. Then, we reveal how they really are. After all, if everyone looks at them and thinks, "Oh OK, got it. So I wear a biker jacket and boots with some blue jeans and grab a baseball bat and motorcycle, that's it." Then they'd be dead wrong. Cherche aren't ALL about that. A very minor few of them might be that mindless rabble but most of them are highly organized, small Tribes who answer to each other out of familial loyalty. Think Lost Boys the Tribe, those kids from Blade Trinity, Hell, think Peter Pan with his Lost Boys. There are tons of movies where a group takes care of their own and forsakes all others.

For those of you who like engaging in politics, we've included some stuff for you too. The older, more experienced Cherche tend to engage in politics more (the non-violent kind) while the younger ones are more likely to hang you by your toenails somewhere.

Taking from mortals
Being a Cherche is all about second chances. It's about getting that second wind when something takes you out of the game. When that BMX rider crashes and breaks his leg and ESPN says he'd never ride again, that's when someone comes out of the darkness and reaches out to him. That's when he has a big comeback doing night shows and explodes to live a life of night concerts and parties for the next ten years of his immortal life.

Want to know more? Wait a little longer. Coming in 2014 are the most rambunctious vampires, tearing up the streets and partying hard.

UPDATE: The Cherche Sourcebook was finished January 5th, 2014 and is available for purchase HERE.

What people have said about Vampire: Undeath

VAMPIRE: UNDEATH

Greetings! My name is John Mascola. I have been in the role-play gaming hobby for almost thirty years now. Along this long and winding road, I have almost played every R.P.G. that one could imagine. Along that way, I have been blessed with amazing people who I have had the honor and privilege to play with many are my friends to this day. In the past decade, or so, the latest craze has either been Live Action Role Playing.

Live Action Role Playing, or LARP, has been considered as the pinnacle of roleplaying games. An average player could easily pretend to be someone else, namely a Vampire. White Wolf Game Studio has been the leading charge in the industry, their World of Darkness series of games which Vampire, Werewolf, and Mage consist even outsold Dungeons and Dragons for over a decade. Sadly though all good things come to an end.

Earlier in this century, White Wolf chose to change in its direction of all of their games. Sadly, many of us throughout the roleplaying community did not like this new direction with high prices for their games. It was almost in comparison to changing the original Coke-a-Cola formula to a new formula altogether. If you are old as I am, you would remember that. Many of us throughout the community were in the very same situation.

Many of us needed a LARP game that was far more realistic, darker, and more mature than the norm. A gentleman named Mykal Lakim, arrived to a great solution to this very problem: Start Over. He has taken it upon himself to create an LARP game that any person with no previous experience of roleplaying, could simply pick up at very little cost, read the very simple rules, and get playing.

I have been personally consulted as have many people have throughout the community to create a good game better. His Vampire Undeath series has been a breath of fresh air; simple yet elegant, practical and loose. There is a balance within this series which is almost unheard of in games today. Rules, Storyline, Game mechanics, characterization, all have been streamlined yet sleek enough to allow the player create the character what they want. A tank character or a brainy character, a seductress, the character creation rules are practically endless. Game play is a no brainer, for those who have been playing LARP games; one should easily understand a very streamlined system that does not take all night for a fight scene.

In closing, if you want a great alternative to the normal LARP game; THIS system is for you. Every serious consideration has been taken into account for roleplaying and getting back to the core of what it should be FUN. There is nothing complicated in having fun in what you are doing in anything in life. This game has been created for gamers by gamers and for the gamers. I congratulate Mr. Mykal Lakim in creating a successful game system to have by all. BRAVO !!!    

Lyhin Sourcebook

Finished the Lyhin Sourcebook today. Going to have it passed around for reviews and feedback this week. So far it's been a ton of fun writing and developing a Sourcebook dedicated to magical constructs which mimic vampirism. Lyhin are like vampires in nearly every way, but they aren't. It's a fine line to walk, especially when they masquerade (no pun intended) as other vampires. Pay special attention to the system area as you'll notice specific rules for playing a construct. Most of the information will work for both vampires and Lyhin, however, some of the information won't. A construct is not a vampire.

The cover is a graphic design of an old leather book with an image of a tree on it. The tree is inspired by both Yggdrasil and the Celtic Tree of Life. The roots in the image are dripping three drops of blood which are symbolic to the Bloodline. Both the branches and the roots are wispy and reach out just like the Lyhin do, branching out in secrecy and shadows throughout vampiric society.

The Houses of the Lyhin reflect the Bloodlines each Lyhin is masquerading as. While most Lyhin interact with the Bloodline they are posing as, the House comes first. As constructs, this is ingrained within their blood as is their Manifestations. As you roleplay a Lyhin, Manifestations should be a monkey-wrench in the game, causing your character to have to cover it up, conceal it, etc. How do you handle the night-to-night demands of your Manifestations?

On page 12 you'll find the Order of Artemis and discover that the Lyhin are in fact, much older than their earlier date of 1200 AD. Before the Inquisition, the Lyhin were an Order of naturalists and practiced Blood Magic which coincided with nature.

On page 21 we see there is an entire structure to the Lyhin including more than just vampires and constructs. Did it ever make you wonder how the Bloodline managed to conceal their actions? Read on and discover just who helps them in their night-to-night quests.

The Lyhin Sourcebook is available on scribd.com along with our other roleplaying supplements. Take a look, enjoy and broaden your roleplaying experience.

What's New At Dark Phoenix

Well, 2013 has been a busy year. With everything from getting the new layout put into the Vampire: Undeath Corebook and getting that whole mess put to bed we've been in negotiations with several writers and artists to get a deadline out for the Deluxe Corebook for Vampire: Undeath. We've heard some moans and groans about how it's going to be in print and a limited print run. "Why would you do that?" We've heard people cry on FB and Google +. Well, the answer's easy and we already said it. Because it will be a limited run. Which means ALL of the Deluxe books will be a limited run, released and then bam, done. Want a copy? Pick it up while it's for sale.

What's Been Released
If you head over to scribd.com you'll see the Bucoli, Daemoni and Makers Sourcebooks are all for sale at the standard $9.99 price. When Makers was first released it was sold for a much lower price as a sale, which ended and now it's at the regularly scheduled price of $9.99. In case you're not familiar with those books let's cover it quickly.

Bucoli are a Bloodline of the Daemoni. They're equipped with Blood Magic and can use a wide array of magical tools, instruments, Rituals and such. They're the darker version of the Eligiere. Bucoli are cut-throat businessmen who put their House before anything else. Spreading their Influence they often bump elbows with the Eligiere who try to power-broker there way into the mortal lives controlled by the Bucoli.

Daemoni believe they are cursed by Satan, descendants of the first Mage they use their power of Viscerorr to turn into living pools of blood to seep into the cracks of the Carpathian Mountains where they have underground castles and structures known as the Breeding Pens. Daemoni do not Turn from mortal stock that doesn't come from their own pens and they are twisted, dark vampires who believe they fulfill a natural purpose as predators. They too have Blood Magic, a more potent form than that of the Bucoli which they use to maintain a hold on the Vampire Nation.

Makers is a sourcebook which covers becoming a Maker. All of the questions regarding progeny and creating said progeny are within Makers. The Sourcebook also covers becoming an elder and what being an elder means for most vampires.

What's Coming
Lyhin is the Sourcebook covering the magical vampires. We've heard fans trying to guess what the Lyhin are and what the book will be about. Lyhin are vampires created by a magical Ritual. They are part Fae, part magical Essence and part mystery. Lyhin masquerade as other vampire Bloodlines and conceal their identities for being caught means alerting the Daemoni, their sworn enemy. Putting the House above all things and masquerading perfectly are the hallmarks of a Lyhin. The Lyhin also use a form of Blood Magic which revolves around nature allowing them to perform some pretty cool feats.

House of Nicolai is the Sourcebook which reveals a Bloodline of the Daemoni. Around the Dark Ages, a thaumaturgist named Nicolai learned the secrets of Necromancy from mysterious spirits. Since then he has managed to break the bonds of his former masters and created a House far from the reaches of the Daemoni -or so he thought. Laying the foundations of Necromancy, the House Nicolai protect the House and both its' mortal and immortal counterparts.

Hunters is the first non-vampire related release coming. Hunters are mortals who have suffered a great loss. Branching from the foundation of Vampire: Undeath, Hunters must overcome both Delirium and Discord if they are to exact justice and gain their revenge against the supernatural hordes which scarred them. Each Hunter is created as a mortal wounded by tragedy. Through gameplay they find they are not alone and are given the tools to defeat their enemies.

Update: Obia is a Sourcebook which covers the Obia Bloodline. An offshoot of the Bucoli, Obia are masters of darkness and shadows. Mentioned in the Bucoli Sourcebook and the House Nicolai Sourcebook, Obia are vampires who were banished to the Shadow World. Spending centuries in this world is said to have warped them as they struggled for survival. Discovering and refining their Dark Gift of Umbris, the Obia are masters of darkness, able to come and go undetected within the world.

Deluxe Edition Books

So we've long had this thought. What if we put a LOT of love in our books. Not the usual amount of love but an overflow of love. We're talking, pictures every few pages to illustrate points, a new layout, hiring new writers to ensure the game got a good sized face lift making them thicker and packing more information into them. There's a ton of things we could do for a Deluxe Edition and such a run would be a Limited Edition. That means no PDF. Deluxe versions would be hard copy and only available as long as they're in stock. I know a lot of companies probably don't do this but we thought, "What do gamers want from games they love?" Things no one else has. I'm sure everyone's been to a game where someone whips out a book that's hard to get or something people had heard about but couldn't get their hands on. It's like instant fame for the night. Everyone wants to borrow it, look at it and of course the owner, barely lets you see it. He protects it like it's his baby. Why do they act like this? Because many times, it is his baby. Gamers put a lot into their characters. They think of interesting back-stories and imagine all they want to accomplish. I've seen fights nearly break out over characters dying and people feeling "screwed over."

Don't worry, we've already discussed Deluxe Editions of the books. Production starts in 2014 so long as everything stays on track. We're currently searching the field for interested parties and those we want to work with. So long as you're an industry professional (not think you're an industry professional but an actual professional) we'll consider working with you. There's tons of people out there with lots of talent and we would love the opportunity to work with them on our projects. Updates will come both here, on google +, Facebook pages and Twitter (which you can now follow on our website).

Movie Update

We haven't posted an update on the movie in a while. Blood Legacies will be broken down between a ten episode series and a full-length feature film. The idea is to do as many feature films and seasons as there is demand for. We got the IMBD page up and running with updates as they develop. The production company is ready to get the ball rolling and we should have teasers up shortly. We recently discussed licensing the film right for a period of one year to give them plenty of time to get the movie filmed and to see the reaction. Of course, licensing may always be renewed.

Why Scribd.com?

Well, why not? Everything we need can be handled through Scribd.com. Customers can purchase a PDF and instantly download it right there on the spot. One of the biggest complaints we got when we relaunched our website was that people had to wait to receive a PDF via email. We could have gone with DriveThruRPG and sure, that was what we wanted to do. We had the banners being placed on our website and we were really excited to do business with them. Then things went sour. We released a review copy of Vampire: Undeath a roleplaying game we'd been roleplaying in Indiana for YEARS. We'd updated the system a few times and added to the game world and we figured, "Hey, let's release it online for everyone to enjoy." It was already popular with hundreds of people for several years. This told us we had a sustainable product. Those who were sick of D&D, Shadowrun and other roleplaying games told us they LOVED our game. We had people driving from all over to enjoy our game with us.

Scribd.com is a great website with tons of resources. We can upload our PDFs for any price and get a good deal on it. We have plans in the works to upload ALL of our books through them and to work with them on nearly all of our deals.

When Bad Reviews Are... Well, Bad.

Sometimes, we in this industry do all we can to create a clear and understandable message. We're artists, whether we're painting, using digital mediums or writing. The one thing we're working so hard to accomplish is creating a good product and being able to put that good product out for our fans to enjoy. That's the entire point. For the fans to enjoy.

Which is what brings me to write this entry. I don't mind when a person does a review of our products. Typically when I ask someone to do a review and I send them a review copy they read through it and check to see if the content is good, clear and understandable. Then, they check to see if the material is playable. Then, they typically add any comments or concerns they may have with the material. Which is good. That is how we evolve as a company and learn what people want.

So what's the problem you say? Well, here it is. I know you were waiting for it. The problem is, when some people do a review, it's not a review. We didn't even ask them to do the "review," which is pretty much them complaining over internet boards to their 12 friends ranting and raving about what they didn't like or understand about a game they didn't or won't read. That's the largest problem. Here's a perfect example of what I'm talking about.

The review in question doesn't even know who he's reviewing for. The review begins with calling Dark Phoenix Publishing, Dark Phoenix Entertainment which makes you look at him like, "woah, who are you doing this for?" I say this because if you check the Facebook page for Dark Phoenix Entertainment or the LLC information for the company you'd notice that DPE is a film production company. The one we created to produce short films and project using our material. We're currently producing Blood Legacies, a film and series based on the Wastelands of Damnation roleplaying series. Dark Phoenix Publishing is merely a publishing company that publishes roleplaying books, graphic novels and novels. So how'd he mess that up on a popular website? Simple. He didn't do his homework. He went on a rant without even checking his sources. Tsk, tsk.

This next part goes on to do even more than the first part. He calls the system a "LARP/Tabletop/G.A.M.E/L.I.F.E system." So you didn't read the book did you? If you did you would know that G.A.M.E is the old series name which we changed to Wastelands of Damnation to give a greater reflection of our vision. It's not just a general alternative to gaming, it's a whole world of desperation. Then he goes on to say "It's only $2 on Scribd, and contains rules for high level vampires." Well he's partially right. It is on Scribd but not for $2.00. And it does contain rules, but not for high-level vampires. It's got some information for elders but mostly it's a book for Makers, which you can be at any level. Reading the book would have told him that. So the rest of his rant is pretty mute. He talks about "filler" which is actually where we customized the system for Makers so you don't need to carry around a Corebook and wonder, "how would this information apply to my character now that he's a Maker?" At the end of this rant is another rant about us offering coupons which earn you points that you can turn in for discounts on future buys. Because you know, no one wants that. Someone please go tell every bookstore and supermarket they're doing it wrong because this ONE GUY hates that idea. Sure buddy.

I guess that standard copyright notice is our "tenuous grasp of copyright law." Never mind that we have copyright attorneys we consult with if we need to. We did that back in 2012 when we received a letter from another company claiming they had a copyright on the word "vampire." We consulted, our attorney laughed at it and told us to make a few changes. We did and we haven't heard a word since. You know why? Because you can't hold a copyright on a single word like that. Just like you can't copyright _____:_____. Do you know how many novels are titled that way? Just check next time you're at Barnes & Nobles. Oh and as far as his professionalism is concerned, I guess he shows that in his caption: "Snapshot taken from PDF. Suck it, fair use, FTW." Because we're seeing this review thinking, "ooooh he got us."

Here's our suggestion for reviewing our books:
1. Read the book. It'll help you not look like an idiot when you're doing your review.
2. Try to play the game. I know it's asking a lot but if you try to play the game, you might understand how the material fits into it. Refusing to play the game is like looking at a car and staring at an upgrade and going "oh I don't need to drive it to tell you how this will end."
3. Be open minded. If you're constantly thinking about how great the 90's were, you're never going to enjoy anything new. It's like getting into a 2013 Camero and thinking, "gee I miss my 1970 Firebird." If you're always looking back at the past, you're going to miss out on the present.
4. Give us constructive criticism. That doesn't mean "suck it, fair use." It means doing what so many industry professionals do. Write us an email, tell us what you think and why you think that. Odds are we can do a revision if we sent you the review copy to make it clearer, better, whatever.
5. If you spot a problem, please don't go running to the internet with it. Just send us an alert so we can handle it. It will be handled. Much like the 2012 launch of Vampire: Undeath, there were editing problems from rushing the publication. People complained and we did a whole new layout, changed some things around, hired another writer and got more art. It wasn't hard it was just time consuming but in the end, fans were much more receptive to the changes. Of course, it didn't help that there were people talking about the preview edition, which was pulled and is not being sold anymore. Copies were released to those who had purchased the old edition with instructions to delete the file. It took the better part of 2012-2013 but we made the changes and the layout crossed over into other projects, delaying much of 2013-2014's lineup. Was it worth it? Hell yeah.

In closing, please be professional about what you have to say. If you don't like our material, don't buy it. If you're going to do a review, please do a review that makes sense so we know what we're doing right or wrong. After all, we're making these books for you and your friends.