Once again powered by Crytek’s proprietary CryEngine, the latest in the series returns to New York, with players taking on the role of Prophet. The city has been encased in a large dome, and is now overgrown with trees and rainforest wildlife.

Crytek’s CEO Cevat Yerli explained that the studio aims to deliver a mix of sandbox style gameplay with first-person combat. The game will feature seven environmental themes, as players aim to uncover the truth behind the dome’s “Seven Wonders.”

Microsoft Studios has announced that Halo 4, the newest entry for one of the Xbox 360′s biggest exclusive franchises, will launch around the world on November 6.

Halo 4 will be the first numbered released for the series since 2007, as well as the first new game release to be shipped by developer 343 Industries, which took over the first-person shooter property from Bungie several years ago.

Since opening in 2007 as a subsidiary of Microsoft Studios, 343 Industries has shipped a remake of 2001′s Halo: Combat Evolved and the Halo Waypoint Xbox 360/mobile app. It’s also released updates for 2010′s Halo: Reach developed by Bungie.

Halo 4 is meant to be the first of a new trilogy for the franchise. Microsoft Studios’ corporate VP Phil Spencer says the game starts a journey that will encompass the next decade of Halo games and experiences.

Since its debut a decade ago, the Halo series has sold more than 40 million games around the world. Microsoft has capitalized on its popularity with licensed novels, live-action shorts, comic books, apparel, action figures, and other Halo merchandise.

Microsoft claims Halo 3 had the biggest consumer launch of all time when it released in 2007, after the Bungie-developed game generated some $170 million just 24 hours after going on sale in the United States.

Media research group Nielsen recently polled gamers and found that Halo 4 is their most anticipated title for Xbox 360 in 2012, followed by Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed III, Rockstar’s Max Payne 3, and Electronic Arts’ Madden NFL 13.

The UK website for Call of Duty: Black Ops 2 appears to have gone live before the official reveal later today, stating that the game will be set in the near future during a 21st century cold war, moving the spin-off to be more in line with the Modern Warfare part of the series rather than its 20th century-based predecessor.

Activision said in September last year that the original Black Ops had seen sales of 23 million, while 18 million copies of the map pack DLC for the game had also been sold.

The company’s Call of Duty Elite social network will be integrated into Black Ops 2, as Activision attempts to bolster the franchise’s monthly active users’ count even further.

According to Activision, a major update will launch with Black Ops 2 that will add new features, dubbed Call of Duty Elite 2.0.

Call of Duty Elite currently has over 40 million monthly active users, with 10 million of those playing the original Black Ops, and 20 million logging in via Modern Warfare 3.

After unwittingly accepting a pact with a cambion, Farideh realizes that she has made a huge mistake. After the town she grew up in learns of her unfortunate pact, Farideh, her twin sister, Havilar, and their adoptive father, a dragonborn named Mehen, are forced out. Thankfully, they find work as bounty hunters, but Farideh realizes that she still doesn’t fit in, and it doesn’t help that the cambion, Lorcan, keeps popping up. As the trio track a bounty towards the ruined and rebuilding city of Neverwinter, Farideh may have found a way out of her pact, or at least a way to control it. The only problem is the powers in Neverwinter has their own plans for the devastated city, and Farideh, Havilar, Mehen, and Lorcan find themselves in the middle of it all.

Criticisms:
1) References. Brimstone Angels has a lot going for it. There’s great characters and an interesting plot. However, there is one problem that doesn’t pop up until close to the end where there seems to be a slew of references to events outside the story thrown out for the reader to try to digest. The story at this point becomes bogged down with references to the Abolethic Sovereignty, current events in Neverwinter, and some other references that may go over a new reader’s head. This wouldn’t have been a huge issue, but the amount of information given in such a short time span is overwhelming. It does take you out of the story, for a short time, and make you wonder what exactly is going on.

Praises:
1) Characters. There are a few things that make Brimstone Angels a phenomenal book and it all starts with the characters. Every single character in this novel is wonderful. Not only are they developed, they go beyond that. They seem like real people in their actions and motivations. You don’t see that much depth to characters in stand alone novels. The most impressive thing about the characters is that none of them came off as cliché. They didn’t rely solely on one note personalities, defining attributes, or paper-thin motivations. The characters are so vivid that talking about them would cause this review to go on for a long time, as well as cheapen the experience of meeting these characters. Needless to say, everyone in this novel is just phenomenal and is a joy to read about.
2) Story. Another thing that makes Brimstone Angels work is the story. The story takes the typical “save such-and-such” and puts it in the background, and focuses more on being a character-driven story. The plot on its surface is about Farideh saving Neverwinter, but it never felt like it was about that. Instead, the characters seemed to drive the plot, leading it all the way to its conclusion. Everything the characters did had a direct impact on the plot and made sense. There never felt like there was any deus ex machina to help move the plot along. Instead, the characters felt totally in control, or at least as much as they can be. It all was logical with how events unfolded. Everything just worked with each other to make the plot work.
3) Settings. Brimstone Angels has some very interesting settings. Each place that comes up feels real and seems to have a life of itself. While Neverwinter is an interesting locale with all the events surrounding it, the most interesting setting is the sixth layer of Hell, Malbolge. The Hells seems to only be talked about and rarely seem to take a large role in Forgotten Realms novels. In Brimstone Angels it is prominent and paints an interesting, and frightening, picture of the layer. The amount of details and descriptions for Malbolge makes it easy to picture, in all its horrific glory. The same can be said about Neverwinter, with the amount of detail, but Malbolge just seemed more interesting. With Neverwinter, it feels like you were taking in the sights of the city with Farideh. But with Malbolge, it felt like something entirely new and exciting. All in all, the settings really helped in bring Brimstone Angels to life.

Side Notes:
1) Infernal Pact. It’s nice to see a novel focusing on how warlock pacts work and it’s interesting to see how they develop as time goes on. I also found the interactions between Farideh and Lorcan very intriguing and something that seemed to be missing from other warlocks that I’ve read. Just having Lorcan directly interact with Farideh felt different and unique.
2) Abolethic Sovereignty. After reading Brimstone Angels, I felt like I finally began to understand what the Abolethic Sovereignty is about. Kind of. It’s still vague, but now I understand that it’s supposed to be vague.
3) Cover Art. I really like the cover artwork for Brimstone Angels. The characters look great and exactly how I pictured them while reading. Farideh and Havilar look fantastic. You can almost see the cocky attitude that Havilar has and Farideh’s worrisome nature. Also, it’s a nice touch to have Farideh’s eyes the two shades, silver and gold. Most covers may overlook this fact, but I’m glad it’s noticeable here. The character that steals the show on the cover is Lorcan. He just looks awesome, and that’s the best way to describe it. Also, there is a noticeable feeling of action going on. Just looking at it makes you pumped up to start reading the novel. It’s one of those covers that you’ll just enjoy.

Overall: 5/5
Final Thoughts:
Brimstone Angels can be summed up in one word; phenomenal. Everything about the novel felt right. Even the problem with the slew of references doesn’t bog it down for too long. It’s noticeable, but it doesn’t affect the overall enjoyable experience you will have by the end. Characters are phenomenal, the story is just wonderful, and the settings are vivid and exciting. Everything works and makes it one of the funniest books I’ve read this year. If you want an enjoyable, character-driven novel, definitely pick this one up. If you don’t want that, still pick this one up. There is a reason Erin M. Evans is quickly becoming one of my favorite authors, and Brimstone Angels will show you why.

But what about if the players don’t want to go for the safer, surer approach when creating an adventuring party? What if no one in the group is keen on playing one of the four “Core” classes (this tends to happen quite a lot with the Priest class)? While having their characters survive the challenges you throw at them is an important goal of the game, most gamers agree that having fun as a group is an even better goal. And having everyone play a class they enjoy definitely translates to a gaming session that rocks!

And if there are more than four players in your group? Why, that’s an even better reason for playing alternative, non-”Core” classes! The more heroes in the adventuring group, the closer their special abilities and skill-sets will converge to that of a “four Core-classes party”, especially if the players choose non-”Core” classes that were designed to be an hybrid of two or three of the “Core” classes.

Whatever the situation is, just remember that the goal is to have fun!

And what could be more representative of fun than playing the ever-popular Ranger class?

The Ranger

Most non-”Core” classes are designed to be a mix between two “Core” classes. In the Ranger’s case, these would be the Warrior and the Rogue. Rangers do consistent physical damage like Warriors, but are slightly less hardy overall, which means they’re less equipped to go toe to toe in the frontlines of a fight. They get several Rogue abilities, mainly those related to sneaking around and hiding in the shadows, but like the Rogue, these skills only function when wearing light or no armor.

So far, it might look like the Ranger doesn’t measure up to what one would expect from a Warrior and Rogue hybrid class. But that’s because we haven’t looked at the skills that are unique to the Ranger: deadly long-range attacks that can take down anything in sight.

The Ranger is a guardian of nature – they roam the wilderness, living as comfortably in verdant forests and rolling hills as city-dwellers do in their smoke-filled cities and castles of stone. They are stalwart defenders against the encroaching progress of human civilization, to thwart and destroy all those who would seek to defile their territories and lands.

And, as mentioned above, they are death with a bow and arrows. And when in their natural environment, their tracking skills and ability to set deadly traps are legendary.

While styling your Ranger after a certain dark elf is incredibly popular, that’s not the only route available to aspiring Rangers.

Here are just a few archetypes that can help you flesh out your Ranger:

• A dark and brooding man who saw his entire village destroyed by marauding orc tribes and will now stop at nothing to ensure their destruction, even if he has to do it all by himself.
• A young woman who last saw her little brother taken by a dark druid sect ten years ago. Now all grown-up and learned in the ways of the wild, she searches for the druids’ base, in the hopes that her brother will be alive, and to free him from their clutches.
• A young man who was taken in as a young boy by a peaceful and friendly order of  monks. He now enjoys his time in the woods on the mountainside, always making sure to bring game and food back to the monastery. However, upon his return one day, he sees the monastery in ruins, the bodies of the monks strewn all around the wreckage. His mentor, with one last breath, gives him a final clue about the attackers. And now the man searches for those who destroyed his safe haven, to rain vengeance upon them for killing those who loved him dearly.
• A woman who once spent her younger years looking for the legendary White Fawn. Now middle-aged, the skilled archer knows that she has to find the White Fawn soon, before old age creeps up on her. The Fates smile upon her, however, for she has learned of the White Fawn’s whereabouts from a dark, musty old tome…
• A man who knows the hills and forests like the back of his hand, who is satisfied with his lot in life being part of a small band of rangers that patrols the Eastern Ridge, keeping the Realms safe from the Dark Hordes beyond. However, when a dying messenger finds the band of rangers and hands the ranger a scroll from the High Steward of the Capitol, he discovers that he is the lost (and last) heir to the Gold Throne. Reluctant to do so, but feeling the mantle of responsibility on his shoulders, he rides to the Capitol, to take up his birthright…
• A young girl who lives at the edge of the woods with her father, their humble abode located far away from the eyes of civilization. One day, a party of black-armored knights are at the door of their cabin – the father pushes the girl into a specially-designed  secret basement, right before the knights tie him up and take him with them as they ride away. The girl finds a letter from her father in the basement, addressed to her. In it, he tells her that, in the past, he’s done deeds that he’s ashamed of and that one day, he might be taken away from her. With nothing but the letter and her father’s trusty bow, the girl heads out into the world, to search for the knights who took her father captive.
• An old grizzled veteran of a hundred skirmishes who wakes up on a slab of stone, deep in the forest, surrounded by many cowled faces looking down upon him ominously. And then the druids tell him the truth: they have brought  him back to life with a powerful druidic spell. The reason they invoked the most powerful of druidic spells is because the Hordes of Chaos are gathering in the East, past the Haunted Forest, and they need an experienced ranger to lead their fighting forces in the defense of their homeland.

Role of the Ranger

Rangers usually have two roles in any adventuring party: their primary role is that of a long-range specialist, while the second role is that of of an expert woodsman. With the exception of a Warrior who has focused all her weapon specialization and talents in ranged weapons, the Ranger is the best marksman out there – he still has a high level of accuracy at long distances, his abilities and talents are such that he can pull off shots that other archers can only dream about, and of more value to the party, he can be counted on to deliver consistent long-range damage in battle. With his second role, the ranger is the unquestionable expert when it comes to surviving in the wilderness – he knows how to hunt and forage for food, how to set up traps for animal and men alike, how to track and in turn hide his own tracks, how to camouflage himself against predators and enemy forces – in short, he knows the land, and knows what to do to use the land to his best advantage.

What a good ranger does for their group:

• Deal damage from the backline. With their superb long-range capabilities, Rangers make for excellent damage dealers. But being restricted to light armor makes them vulnerable to melee types, so the best place for them to be is at the backline, sniping away at the enemy lines. As long as the Ranger is not under attack and has enough ammunition, he will, like the Warrior, provide consistent damage round after round of combat. If the enemy engages him in melee, the Ranger usually has some skills to hamper the enemy’s movements so that he can put some distance between the two of them – and once again rain death upon the battlefield.
• Interrupt enemy spell-casters. What is of paramount importance to spell-casters when trying to cast spells on the battlefield? Time. Time to get their spells off before the enemy falls upon them. Each spell has a casting time, and the more powerful the spell is, the longer the time required. That’s why one of the first things each side does in battle is to neutralize the spell-casters. Mages can do this as well because they have access to evocative, long-range attack spells. But Rangers can do it even better, because there’s no spell-casting time required for their deadly arrows.
• Draw enemies towards you. One of the first thing the enemy usually does when you shoot at them is to take cover. And right after that, they make sure to come after you, with the intention of dealing massive amounts of damage on your person – so that you stop shooting at them, perhaps forever. Most enemies will think the same thing -  if you’re picking them off one by one, you’re a bigger threat than the Warrior because at least they can see the Warrior, whereas you, the crafty Ranger, is probably hiding behind some bush or up in some tree. And by luring them to you, you’re not only drawing their attention away from your team’s physically weaker members (priests and mages) but you’re sending down a straight path towards you – a path on which you’ve already set your deadly snares and traps, or one where the Rogue is waiting, hidden in the shadows, and ready to deliver that powerful Sneak Attack that will possibly determine the final outcome of the battle.
• Scout ahead. In a war, good scouts can be a deciding factor between a resounding victory or a surprise defeat – information is a valuable commodity on the battlefield, and whoever has more information on the other side will have a significant advantage even before going into battle. The Ranger might not have all of the Rogue’s many thieving skills and talents, but when it comes to scouting ahead, especially in natural surroundings, the Ranger has all the skills she needs. And with her long-range offensive capabilities, she can even target enemy scouts, stopping them from delivering their reports back to their commanders.  

 © written by Timothy Nakayama

“For a person with your fearsome reputation, Grey Cat, such a feat would be a mere exercise in the basics of thievery, would it not?” Makarr said, a wicked grin etched into the features of his weathered face.

Sitting atop his throne, with the light from the lantern highlighting the sharp angles of his face, Makarr looked like some demonic predator, eyeing its helpless prey with wry amusement.

There’s more to this job than what the Beggar King has revealed. Years of experience have taught him to look for the subtle clues to see when a client or mark is hiding something; Makarr might think himself clever for trying to keep the truth of the matter under wraps, but the signs were there nevertheless. By the end of this, I’ll get him to reveal all his cards, even the ones that he keeps in his sleeves and thinks I know nothing about. Just you wait, Beggar King.

The man who styled himself King of the city’s slums and malcontents licked his lips devilishly before continuing on his honeyed path.

“Did you not manage to steal the sacred vestments from Arch-Magulus Raemon while the entire Lightning Brigade was stationed around the Blue Tower? Or how about the time where you stole King Ebucharizz’s royal crown during the Festival of the Summer Hay, while the besotted fool was dancing with that bastard mistress of his? And I’ve been hearing talk on the streets that it was you the Paladins of Shara hired to crawl into the Fortress of Netherex to disable the Tehnerim’s ancient defenses. With all those deeds and exploits under your belt, getting the dagger back from Lyran Canazzo without him noticing will seem like a 3-second fumble and pick job on some wine-addled sot in comparison.”

As Makarr was rattling off Eric’s so-called exploits, the slender thief paced around the small make-shift throne room – when he had first entered the room, something strange had caught his attention… but maybe it was just a case of his eyes playing tricks on him due to the dim illumination and the flickering shadows.

There was a pause in the conversation – Makarr was waiting expectantly for some sort of reply.

“Well,” Eric began, “the Lightning Brigade were suffering from a recent round of budget cuts, King Ebucharizz paid as little attention to his crown as to his Queen, and talk on the streets should always be taken well-salted.”

Though he replied to Makarr’s barely-concealed taunts with as flippant an answer as he could manage under the circumstances, most of Eric’s attention was focused on studying the statue in front of him.

Like the other statues that lined each side of the chamber, this one was chiseled out of grey solid stone. The woman stood there, clad in fashion that had been all the rage five years ago, clasping both sides of the voluminous lower half of her gown, her face pointed upwards, chiseled in a mask of enigmatic puzzlement. Eric had a discerning eye when it came to works of art, a must-have for someone in his line of work, and it was quite apparent that the artisan who worked on the statue was an expert in his craft – although the woman was clearly middle-aged, the artisan managed to impart a youthful vulnerability to her dignified features. He had done a superb job of the gown she wore as well, managing to coax an intricate layered pattern all along the bodice from the hard grey stone.

But it was her eyes that caught his attention. Eric had a certain weakness when it came to a woman’s gaze, although he admitted that it must surely be a first for him admire those belonging to a woman made from stone.

His admiration lasted for all of three seconds, after which Eric focused his attention back on Makarr, sensing the lull in the conversation had gone on for a touch too long.

“So do you have the plans for Lyran’s place?” he asked. “I’m sure a man of his stature and ambition resides in a grand estate that utilizes the latest measures in residential security. Any information you might have regarding his abode would be extremely helpful. You know how it is, Makarr – in my line of work, going in blind isn’t very conducive to enjoying a nice long life.”

“Well,” the Beggar King began, lightly tapping the fingers of his right hand on the wooden armrest, “we’ve run into a little problem, Grey Cat. And that’s why you’re been brought onboard – you see, this problem is one that you, as one of the most accomplished thieves in all the civilized cities, is uniquely qualified to solve. Why, it’s practically built for a man with your particular skill-set and talents.”

Eric raised an eyebrow ponderously. “Well, don’t keep me waiting in gut-wrenching, nerve-wracking anticipation.”

A very slight tremor around the corner of Makarr’s lips were the only indications of wry amusement, but he spoke the next words solemnly enough.

“The problem we have, Grey Cat, is that our newest Twelfth Lord does not appear to have a permanent abode in the city – he owns no properties, holds no shares or deeds on properties that belong to someone else and, within the period of a month, never stays at the same place twice.”

Makarr paused hesitantly, appearing to weigh his next few words carefully.

“My eyes and ears on the street call him a walking ghost.”

-To Be Continued-

© written by Timothy Nakayama

-          To Be Continued -

The company has had a grip on this record for several years now. Blizzard’s World of Warcraft: Cataclysm was the last fastest-selling PC game when it pushed 3.3 million copies within 24 hours after debuting in 2010. Before that, WoW: Wrath of the Lich King held the record with 2.8 million copies sold in 2008.

Blizzard notes that Diablo III‘s first-day 3.5 million sales does not include the 1.2 million consumers who also received a copy of the game after signing up for a World of Warcraft Annual Pass. Nor does that number include players in Korean internet game rooms, where Blizzard claims Diablo III is currently the top-played game.

After Diablo III‘s first week of availability in numerous regions (U.S., Canada, Europe, South Korea, Australia, Southeast Asia, and others), over 6.3 million consumers have purchased a copy of the game. One analyst previously predicted the game would sell 5 million during its first year on sale.

Despite its early sales success, the game’s launch was marred by errors and problems with its servers that prevented consumers from playing it, even in single-player. Blizzard CEO Mike Morhaime apologized, “[We] regret that our preparations were not enough to ensure everyone had a seamless experience.”

Since Diablo‘s debut in 1996, the franchise has sold more than 26 million units, including expansion packs.

Take-Two’s contract for the MLB license is set to expire within the next 12 months, and a company spokesperson told Kotaku, “MLB 2K12 is our last offering under that agreement. At this time, we have no further comment.”

In 2010, Take Two CEO Strauss Zelnick called the MLB license “a losing proposition.” At least as far back as 2009, the company blamed losses (in part) on the performance of its MLB games.

At the moment, Take-Two shows no indication that it plans to renew the MLB license. During a recent call to its investors, the company said that it expects losses associated with the MLB 2K brand to disappear within the next few years, suggesting that there are no future titles in the company’s projections.

Take-Two picked up the MLB license seven years ago for $30 million, though Take-Two has had trouble benefitting from the deal, as its MLB 2K games have struggled to find consistent success.

With MLB 2K seemingly absent from Take-Two’s lineup, the publisher’s only remaining annualized sports franchise is NBA 2K.

It also means that the Xbox 360 may well not have its own MLB title in the near future, as the only other publisher to develop titles with the license is Sony with its PlayStation-only series MLB The Show.

But where does that leave fans of the fantasy genre? Fans who get their enjoyment from sword-wielding paladins and holier-than-thou clerics, who would rather see their zombies surround a group of heroes in the dark and musty corridors of an ancient mausoleum rather than under broad daylight on the streets of Lower Manhattan.

Well, there isn’t really cause for concern – because fantasy fans have been getting their fill of zombie-mania long before the current zombie apocalypse literary movement came about. Experienced pen-and-paper RPG players will think back fondly on their first hack-and-slash zombie fest, where the goal was to see who could destroy the most number of zombies in one encounter; those with more of an inclination for electronic games would certainly have found zombies under many guises in early console and PC games, where the goal would most likely be the same, although the visual effects would have been somewhat limited due to the game graphics at the time (and the requirement of ratings for games).

So one could say that the main stream is only just now falling in love with what ardent fans of the fantasy genre have been enjoying for decades!

Now, while most of us are pretty familiar with how these new-fangled modern-day zombies are created (usually by some sort of flesh-eating virus or through genetic manipulation), let us take an enjoyable walk down Fantasy Undead Lane and begin the comprehensive tour on our favorite shambling, rotting corpse.

The Zombie

With the stench of the grave following them wherever they go, there’s no mistaking the zombie for what it is: a putrid, rotting corpse animated by fell magic. Because anyone depraved enough to give any semblance of life to a corpse is most likely incorrigibly evil, with nefarious designs for the world (usually involving world domination on some scale), zombies are mostly associated with the forces of Evil. The simple black magicks required to  animate it means that the only command a zombie is capable of understanding is “Kill them!”, which generally coincides with what evil necromancers want their empty-minded minions to do to people who get in their way.

Alongside skeletons, zombies are often the easiest undead for a novice necromancer to summon – just go to a cemetery, burial ground, or some ancient place where a huge battle was fought and presto, you have your new army, mindlessly loyal to you, and ready to stab, slash and crush your flesh-and-blood enemies! And when your enemies fall, well, that’s just an open invitation for you to add even more recruits to your undead army!

And so, because their numbers are so easily replenished, zombies make for the perfect grunts and cannon fodder in any undead army. Feeling neither pain nor fatigue,  the zombie’s role in such an army could well be considered that of a meat-shield – they are, literally, walls of flesh that can soak up high levels of damage.

Let’s take a look at the profile of your typical zombie found in a run-off-the-mill RPG game or doorstopper fantasy book:

Slow

Ask anyone (even those who have never picked up a fantasy book or game) to describe a zombie horde, and one word that you’re most likely to hear is “slow” or “plodding”. In fact, this characteristic slowness of the zombie is one of the defining aspects of the zombie apocalypse movement and what makes the niche-genre so popular with its fans – the fact that, although the heroes might be able to escape the ravenous and unstoppable (and slow to boot!) zombies by running away, the zombies, unfettered by human needs like sleep and food, will eventually catch up with them. As the saying goes: “You can run…but you can’t hide.”

Stupid

As we’ve established above, it’s relatively easy for a necromancer to create a zombie – all they need is a corpse… and it doesn’t have to be a fresh one. The drawback to the zombie-creation process lies in the dark magicks required to create a zombie then bind it to the necromancer’s service – the rituals and spells involved are almost always crude and unrefined. As a result, the necromancer ends up with a foul creature that only responds to and obeys very simple commands – the less syllables the better. A necromancer ordering zombie minions to kill a group of do-gooder heroes traipsing about his dungeons would be giving them a command that they could reasonably be expected to obey; if the necromancer instead orders the zombies to first target the mage, then move on to the paladin and only then focus on the attacking the other heroes, he might as well be asking them questions on philosophy and life.

Damage Soaker (aka. Meat Shield)

Zombies are lumbering masses of rotting flesh – a slash across the belly is not going to stop them in their tracks, nor will a broken nose. Even with both feet cut off, they’ll come crawling after you, relentless in their quest to extinguish the life from your still living, still breathing body. There are survivors of zombie attacks who tell of cases where even decapitation did not stop these slavering undead monsters from trudging on, and on, and on…

Overall Toughness

Zombies, like skeletons, are a sizeable challenge for low-level adventurers. It’s rare to find a zombie wandering around by itself – they are usually found in packs of three or more (usually more). But therein lies the challenge – a lone zombie isn’t going to put up much of a fight against your usual party of four adventurers. To really get the player’s adrenaline juices going, you’ve got to throw more zombies into the fray than there are adventurers in the group – go for twice the amount if you think the players can handle it!

Most zombies come with abysmal armor ratings, slow reflexes and poor melee abilities – but their relatively high hit points and seemingly endless numbers even out the odds a little. For the players, it will be about finishing off as many zombies as they can, trying to score the critical hits that will send undead brain and limbs flying through the air – all the while keeping mobile to avoid being overwhelmed by the sheer advantage in numbers possessed by the other side. All it takes is just one fell blow for the heroes to slip up and be swamped by so much undead flesh, eager to rip them apart into so many little pieces.

Even with the prospect of dismembering zombies in the double digits, some players might find the whole affair a chore rather than a challenging exercise in hack and slash that you want it to be. If you’re a fan of zombie hordes but feel that your players are going to react that way (or if that’s the way they already act), then you’ll be relieved to find that even the most jaded players will take to a zombie encounter with enthusiasm when it has got a bit of oomph and spice behind it. In Part 2, we’ll look at a couple of ways that you can add some flavor to your zombies and ramp up the challenge level for the players at the same time – instead of a yawn, they might even be talking of the encounter for years to come. 

© written by Timothy Nakayama

While JRR Tolkien’s Middle-Earth can be said to have single-handedly given birth to the fantasy genre, there are currently as many fantasy worlds out there as there are writers. Many of these writers may be paying homage to Tolkien’s work when stretching their world-building muscles – you’ll definitely come across a handful of standard fantasy tropes that some writers find so difficult to escape from, but each writer likes to have at least one thing about their world that sets it apart from the “standard fantasy world” that we (readers and writers) are all too familiar with.

The world’s system of magic is one of the elements that, when properly thought out, can have a large hand in making the writer’s fantasy world seem truly unique and special. The writer can decide on the world’s level of magic, or lack thereof, and then weave that into his/her world’s mythology. One of the first things a reader remember about a particular series’ is the presence of magic in that world, and what form it takes -  the best worlds are those where there’s some consistency and rationale between the level of magic and all the heroic stuff that goes on in said world.

What do we mean by consistency and rationale? Well, if the world has a high level of magic, and more than a handful of people have access to all-powerful magic, then has the writer thought about what would happen if just one of these all-powerful magic users decided to utter a secret power-word of magic that will obliterate every living soul in the world? There has to be a check, a counterpoint of sorts, in the world to prevent this from happening.

Or, on a smaller less-morbid scale: if magic that allows one to fly is commonplace in the world, then has the writer taken that into account when creating adventures for the heroes? Have the writer also taken that into account when designing the world’s various governments and their standing army? Because if it’s that easy to access magic that allows one to fly, then the heroes would never need to brave the dark, evil Noxdarin Mountains in order to reach the Beautiful Elven Land – they’d just skip it by flying all the way to the end destination. And if every Brave Adventurer and their mother had access to such magic, you’d be left wondering just how believable the world can be if the writer has forgotten to place anti-air units in all the standing armies of his/her world’s governments.

Small little things like this add to the consistency and believability of the story. Sure, it’s fantasy, so readers have to deal with things that don’t make sense in our world – like magic! – but readers can only suspend their disbelief so far. 

And now that we’ve explored how a fantasy world’s magic system and level of magic can help define and shape that world, let’s have a look at the various levels of magic that can be present in the different types of fantasy worlds out there…

No Magic

It’s the rare fantasy world that has totally no magic in it. After all, this is the fantasy genre we’re talking about here – people expect swords and shields, blood and war, diabolical monsters and fantastic creatures, and yes, magic!

However, it’s not impossible to create a fantasy world devoid of magic – it’s not the magic alone that makes the world what it is, it’s a combination of a lot of factors, including the various cultures, governments, ideological factions, religions, creatures or monsters that inhabit your world, etc. If you leave out the magic, then it just means you’ve increased the “realism” level by a couple of notches, but that doesn’t translate to having no fun – after all, the world we live in, Earth, is devoid of what most fantasy fans would think of as “magic”, but there’s still plenty of adventures to be had by all, as evidenced by the many exciting action and adventure books hitting the Top 100 Best Seller’s List every month, or the massive blockbusters that come our way every summer.

Sure, if you’re a fantasy fan, you’re probably looking for more “fantasy” rather than more “realism”, but just because there’s no magic in the world doesn’t mean it has to mirror an Earth-like setting. A setting in which there’s no magic at all is limited only by your creativity and imagination.

For example, one way to go with a no-magic environment is to place the world in a Stone Age setting – also known as going Cro-Magnon! Heroes could play the parts of the first settler-type humans who discover a strange new land, ready to be inhabited and developed into a mighty empire. But they soon discover that there are other beings who call this land home – the very first humans, who have conquered all the strange and deadly creatures found in this part of the world… and they’re not exactly too happy about their home being taken from them. Not happy at all…

Low-Magic Level

A more common alternative to a totally no-magic world is to have one where magic is present, but far from commonplace. Most commoners might tell their children fairy tales that contain magical elements, like wizards who can control the earth and air, or dragons who can breathe fire and acid, but in their minds, those are just fairy tales; if anyone were to suggest that those fairy tales have some basis in reality, they’d just chuckle and shake their heads. Even those with access to education (like high-born nobles) scoff at the notion that there’s real magic in the world. There might be those who claim they practice magic, like herbalists, alchemists or witch-doctors, but learned individuals will know that the people who take up these trades are merely practicing a craft and not real magic.

Real magic is the province of  very rare individuals, those that come along every half-century or so – they are the only ones who can wield the magic without getting burned by it.

Or maybe, magic could have once been very commonplace, playing a very prominent role in the world, but something happened, and the magic started dying. Decades or even centuries later, what remains is no more than a spark compared to the raging inferno available to magic-users previously. The common-folk might wonder about the decline of magic, but they just go about their lives and struggles as best they can.

When magic does appear, it’s never bright and flashy, but still leaves a deep impact on those witnessing it. Maybe it takes the form of a few notes whistled before battle, which will strengthen the wizard’s resolve and morale. Or a few whispered words that causes the pitiful flame in the lantern to burn brighter, giving more life-saving illumination to the party before they descend into the black dungeon cells of the evil-hearted King Vornack.

Robert E. Howard’s Conan (the Barbarian) and Fritz Leiber’s Fafhrd and Grey Mouser are but a few examples of heroes whose adventures take place in low-level magic worlds, where magic is hidden far from the eyes of the common man, to be found in secret spots and dark places, at the outskirts and fringes of civilization and within the deep recesses and dusty passageways of ancient temples and fortresses.

And look at how popular their stories were, despite the lack of fireball casting pyromaniac mages.

Medium-Magic Level

This is your standard issue fantasy world – magic is reasonably common, and for a sizeable proportion of the population, present in their everyday lives. Maybe not everyone can wield the magic, but there are enough who do such that magic is not relegated to some frightening folk tale that parents tell their kids in order to get the little tykes to quiet down and behave. In fact, there might even be tales of magic and lore which are inspiring, which tell of famous wizards besting enemies or adversaries with powerful magicks and the clever use of spells.

A commoner who toils his fields day in and day out might not know the existence of the “Magic Missile” spell, but he knows that there are wizards in the Capitol Academy who can cause a body a lot of grievous harm through their flashy and dangerous spells; he might never have seen one actually cast the spell, but he knows that wizards can do such a thing.

Magical items, while still rare, even for those who have access to vast amounts of wealth, are more commonplace than in worlds with a low-magic level. While a peasant or even distinguished member of the smallfolk might never get the chance to lay their eyes on one, nobles and aristocrats might come across a handful of such items during their lifetimes – it could take the form of a prized heirloom of a particularly powerful and rich noble family, a small magical trinket that somehow made its way into the local black market, or maybe they catch a glance of the magical sword the King is reputed to have at his side at all times.

Adventurers, who risk their lives to satisfy either their insatiable wanderlust or hunger for shiny treasure (and often both!), will see far more of the magic than even the high-born. After all, they usually adventure on the fringes of civilizations, to lands where even the most accomplished soldier fears to go. And it’s exactly at places like these, where after defeating dragons, krakens or some ancient evil or other, that they discover wondrous magical items, hidden away for who knows how long. And maybe, just maybe, they will even discover a magical artifact hidden in the dust and cobwebs, so powerful that using it will have world-shattering repercussions…

High-Magic Level

Fantasy worlds with high-magic levels eat, live and breathe magic. Magic is ubiquitous and even common folk have some access to it.  The innkeeper has magical steins that always keep the ale smooth and frosty. The seamstress in the upper districts has the ability to cast small little glamours on the clothes she creates for her wealthier patrons. The peddler knows a minor cantrip that will add a dash of shine and sparkle to his wares.

A sizeable number of the world’s governments are magocracies (ruled by wizards or magi) and wizard guilds abound aplenty in every major city. Such guilds are often powerful and most play a heavy role in the smooth running of the city – they may be in charge of using their magic to design and run a public transportation system (short-distance teleportation), sewage disposal system (water purification spells) or even take part in some urban planning by designing the layout of buildings, streets, alleys, etc. (to ensure that they integrate with the land’s arcane ley-lines, and thus creating a strong defensive matrix that protects the city from any potential invaders).

Adventurers who lives in such a high-magic level world would possess a wealth of magical items, ones they consider must-haves in order to ply their trade. After all, if the King of greatest city in the world offers a substantial reward to any adventuring group who can rescue his kidnapped daughter from her cloud giant captives, who live on the thick clouds just above Mount Elysius, your adventuring group would be at a very serious disadvantage if they didn’t have the one item that all the other groups already possess – a magical flying carpet.

In a way, worlds with a high-magic level are very similar in many respects to those with advanced technological levels; mages and wizards can cast magical spells that simulate future technology, like the aforementioned short-distance teleporting spells that have been designed to be used for the purpose of public transportation.

The similarity can be even more apparent when we do a quick comparison with a world that is relatively modern in terms of its technological level – our very own Earth.

There is a very strong similarity in the aforementioned problem of an adventuring group not having a magical flying carpet which puts them at a huge disadvantage, to a modern-day scenario where competitive swimmers who do not have the latest friction-reducing swimwear face an uphill struggle competing against those swimmers who do.

The carry-away message here is that, if you want to be at the top of your game, you’ve got to ensure that you have the latest in gear. In worlds with lower levels of magic, having the right magical item will give you an edge, but in a high-magic level world, you need the right magical item just to stay in the game.

Summary

In conclusion, what level of magic you have in your world needs to fit the rest of the setting. If you are a GM and you’re designing a world for your players to adventure in, one thing you could do would be to discuss with the players what sort of magic level they enjoy the most, and then tailor your world’s magic system according to what they’re looking for. Fun should, after all, be the end result of any game!

 © written by Timothy Nakayama