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Welcome back from GenCon, friends. For those of you who were unable to attend, this column's for you. Yes, the gaming Mecca may well have had its last show in Wisconsin, and thoughts are already at port for the new location. With the backing of WOTC, anything's possible. HOT ITEMS: VOR: Maelstrom from Fasa and Ral Partha (both soon possible subsidiaries of Decipher by the time of this writing) is a big hit, and represents these aged companies entry into the world of tabletop 28mm wargaming. The minis are, naturally enough, very well done, and the rules are, well, I'll tell you a story. We have a customer who hates most game systems that come out, and merely dislikes the games he plays. He, too, attended GenCon, played VOR, and upon seeing it on the shelf, purchased a copy immediately. When asked why, his response was: "It's good." We at the store sat in stunned silence after this announcement. So check out VOR. "It's good." Feng Shui: The Shadowfist Role-Playing Game is back, and this time Atlas holds all the cards (pun intended). This is the real thing, folks, the true "Martial Arts Cinema Meets Saturday Matinee Rubber Monster Movie With A Dash of Sorcery, Time Travel, and Talking Monkeys Thrown in for Good Measure Game." Welcome back, friends, we've missed you. Pagan Publishing has finally released the suppliment for Delta Green, titled Countdown, and it is 432 pages of rumpin' skunkin' madness. If you like Cthulhu, it is a must buy, no questions asked. The folks at Pagan are known for their quality product, and this may well be the best yet. Holistic Designs has also been busy with their Fading Suns system, and have introduced the 2nd edition of the game. Although structurally the same as the previous edition, it launches into more detail about the character creation process, streamlines the psychic and blessings tables, and has a nice hardback cover. AEG, creators of the L5R RPG and Clan War have released several suppliments for their systems. Unexpected Allies for L5R has a huge host of NPCs and the Book of the Shadowlands 2 is a wonderful look at the Shadowlands from within. No GM should be without the latter. For Clan War, we see the Shadowlands Horde and the Naga expansions. While the Horde box has little in the realm of new rules, it has some of the nicest undead skeletons we've seen, and some truly evil spells and items. The Naga box has great rules expansions, some damn fine models, and a host of action cards that must go in your fate deck. If only the Mantis would come out soon. TSR has announced D&D 3rd edition. They have made no claims, and only the playtest groups "know" what to expect, but they promise us it will make the 1st edition diehards happy, as well as appease the pallette of the 2nd edition fans. Aside from this, TSR has been quiet. Not so for their parent company, WOTC. Pokemon is the word, no matter which way you say it. They announced $500 million in sales at the end of July, and supposedly Hasbro offered a similar sum for the entire company. I can only assume the they were laughed at by the WOTC reps. Anyhow, Pokemon is here to stay for the meantime, and the Fossil expansion is just around the corner. For Magic fans, the Mercadian Masques are coming, but what they will be remains to be seen. To cover all that happened at GenCon would take quite a while, so I'll let interested readers check out the recent issues of Dragon, White Dwarf, and the various and sundry web sites that cater to that sort of thing. All I can say, for those who have yet to go, is "Auction Room!" See you at the gaming table!

Copyright © 1999 Craig Gaddis

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