In the fall of 1846, eighty-seven members of the Donner Party were forced to make a camp near Truckee Lake (now Donner Lake) when the passes over the Sierra-Nevada mountains filled with snow. Having already endured many hardships crossing the deserts the majority of the settlers were unable to continue. They dug in as best they could and waited for a break in the weather, or rescue.

The first rescue party reached the main encampment in April of 1847. Of the 87 pioneers who entered the mountains that fall, only 48 survived. How they survived has become a thing of legend.

To celebrate the eventual rescue of the Donner party and the Feast of St. George (we assume no connection between these events…) Chaosium.com will be holding our annual sale. Save 30% on Chaosium books, monographs, and over 100 PDFs beginning April 23rd through May 1st, 2010. While everyone may not like cannibals, they are quite fond of everyone else!

We also have a slew of new offerings for the stew-pot:

A NEW BASIC ROLEPLAYING GAME!

DRAGON LINES is a game of high flying action, written for the Basic Roleplaying system. Characters can wade through hordes of Lesser Foes, and then duel with other Martial Arts masters. You can survive dangers which would slay ordinary mortals. Walk on water, run up walls and along rooftops, and harness the very powers of Heaven to shoot lightning from your fingertips!

A FREE CALL OF CTHULHU ADVENTURE

MURDER IN THE FOOTLIGHTS is a short Pulp Basic Roleplaying adventure suitable for two to four adventurers of normal to heroic experience.

MONOGRAPH-O-PHILIA

We’ve been working away catching-up on the creation of twenty-some-odd monograph PDFs that slipped through the production cracks. Monographs that had been released some time ago but not available in PDF (or even print) include TERROR, TALES OF DEATH & DARKNESS, the BIG BOOK OF CULTS, and others. For a comprehensive look at the newly-added items, click below:

SWELL PAGE OF NEW PRODUCTS, ARRANGED ALPHABETICALLY

We also have a follow-up monograph to Rise of the Dead. RISE OF THE DEAD: THE RAID is the second in a series of b-movie style post-apocalyptic scenarios for Call of Cthulhu set in the very near future

RECENT RELEASES
• STRANGE AEONS II — illustrates the eternal struggle between man and the forces of the mythos in different eras. No roaring-twenties mobsters or modern-day secret agents will be found here, but you might spy a caveman or a spaced-out flower child or two.
• SECRETS OF LENINGRAD — investigators travel to Leningrad, setting them in pursuit of a mystery older than Russia herself.
• THE GREEN — explore a harsh and beautiful world, includes details on its inhabitants, magic, and history.

Have Fun, The Guys at Chaosium