Almost done with Convention Season! For the Halloween weekend, Charlie will be heading off to the south of France to attend Chimeriades, and to again barbecue on the grill they built for him, to talk to some of our French fans, and visit with some of our European licensees. The Magic Book Magic pervades many worlds of Basic Roleplaying, for in the game every adventurer — every character — has the capacity to manipulate invisible powers. Though the beliefs of the user shape his or her approach to magic, all magic works by certain principles which stem from the life force of the user. Life force flows in natural currents throughout the uni¬verse. Its different forms and shapes are determined by perception. The Magic Book explains the mechanics of three independent magic systems (Spirit Magic, Divine Magic and Wizardry) and details Ritual Magic, a system common to shamans, priests and wizards. Here is The Magic Book PDF version. The Gods Hate Me The Gods Hate [...]

Sit-com is most-watched TV program this side of the border Times & Transcript Published Thursday October 13th, 2011 Big Bang is making a lot of noise this year. That's the most logical explanation for the phenomenal - and continuing - supernova-like performance of The Big Bang Theory, Canada's most-watched TV program in the present time continuum. Not just most-watched comedy, or most-watched sci-fi sitcom, but most-watched program. Period. More than 3.6 million Canadians tuned in last week, placing Big Bang atop the ratings charts - ahead of Survivor, ahead of The Amazing Race, The X Factor, Grey's Anatomy, CSI and (thankfully) even a certain sitcom starring Ashton Kutcher in lieu of Charlie Sheen. Why, it's almost enough to make one think Star Trek is cool again. Star Trek is germane because, in tonight's Big Bang episode, The Russian Rocket Reaction, the gang pays homage - again - to Star Trek: Next Generation with a party at Wil Wheaton's house, with Wheaton playing himself. Brent Spiner, [...]

Fantasy game card players gather for championship [here] Published Thursday October 13th, 2011 laura lyall SAINT JOHN - Fantasy card players in the province are prepping for the ultimate battle. This year, Saint John's Gamezilla is hosting the 2011 State and Provincial Championship of Magic: The Gathering in New Brunswick. Gamezilla has hosted the event for the last six years, and the event is currently run by a company of Magic: The Gathering judges. "It's a collectible card came, collectible strategy. It's kind of a cross between poker and Dungeons and Dragons, where you've got the fantasy element but the tactics and the thinking that would be involved are similar to a poker game," said Sandy Lindsay of Gamezilla, a Magic player and judge. But while poker has only 52 cards, Magic: The Gathering has over 11,000. Registration begins at 10 a.m. on Saturday, Oct. 15 at Gamezilla. Players are randomly paired up, while the numbers of rounds played is based on attendance. The final [...]

Canadian marks milestone of the popular One-Man Star Wars Trilogy Published Friday October 14th, 2011 By MIKE DEVLIN Postmedia News Charles Ross is feeling the pressure as he nears a major milestone in his career. Ross is known for his inspired masterwork, One-Man Star Wars Trilogy, which the Victoria resident first performed during the 2002 Toronto Fringe Festival. Thousands of performances later, Ross ranks among the most popular solo performers in the world. Next year marks the 10th anniversary of OMSWT, an hour-long show in which Ross alone plays the characters from the franchise's first three films. There isn't much the 37-year-old Prince George native hasn't done during his decade-long hit streak, so he's considering some drastic measures for next year's anniversary - such as putting the bit to bed. "What else could I possibly do?" Ross said prior to a recent performance in Baton Rouge, Louisiana. "If I could do this show for George Lucas, there would be no point in doing the show [...]

Published Friday September 16th, 2011 Postmedia news An astronomical discovery that would make Luke Skywalker homesick is making waves this week - a faraway planet with two suns. Photo: Postmedia This artist's rendition is of Kepler-16b, the first planet known to definitively orbit two stars. The planet, in the foreground, was discovered by NASA's Kepler mission. A team of experts used the NASA Kepler space telescope to discover the planet, which orbits around two stars - similar to Tatooine, the fictional home of Skywalker in the Star Wars films. In this case, however, the discovery doesn't get the Hollywood treatment in terms of a name. Its name is the far more prosaic Kepler-16b. Nick Gautier, Kepler project scientist with NASA, said although the planet would not support life, it would offer similar views that were seen in Stars Wars when Skywalker gazes out at his planet's horizon and sees two setting suns. "This is the first definitive detection of a circumbinary planet and is the [...]

WOW what an event that was. Check out our facebook site for the pics that are pouring in. As soon as things settle down here at work, I'll get them posted here for your perusing pleasure.

Whew! Our annual gaming convention is just a few days away, tables being delivered, sponsor prizes rolling in, Chaos Chili to be made, added all the new links to our sponsors to the scrolling banner to the right... BUSY BUSY BUSY to make your gaming weekend as perfect as we can. A mighty big thaks to all our volunteers, hardcore fans and our sponsors for making this happen every year, and making it an event worth attending. We will be opening the doors at 6PM, but set up volunteers are always appreciated. See you all there, and as the Chaosium Rep for the region, I'm looking forward to devouring your soul in Call of Cthulhu (;,;). -Chaos Marmoset

Divided Republic: We are looking to publish Divided Republic, a game designed by Alex Bagosy covering the four-way contest of the 1860 presidential election. If you'd like to help make this happen, check out the kickstarter. Additional resources: DR on NSG.com, DR on Facebook, DR on BGG Strategicon: We will be at Strategicon in Los Angeles, September 2-5. www.strategicon.net Coming Soon: Bullfrog Goldfield has finished printing and we are awaiting the arrival of its shipment. If you would like to preorder it, please e-mail numbskullgames@gmail.com. Preorders will be shipped as soon as we receive the game, so you will receive the game up to three weeks before it becomes available in stores. Preordering the game will cost $50, but we will cover shipping in the United States and Canada. Prepotent: Our current new project is under way. Check it out on BGG. Local Conventions: We are looking for ladies and gentlemen to represent us at the multitude of conventions throughout the world we are unable [...]

Pssst... You. Yeah You. Got the urge to game? All that summer activity, sunshine and vacation plans interfereing with your time for conquering the galaxy, or smiting those evil orcs? WAIT NO MORE!!! IR10:Persistence of Vision is nearly here. Come to the Chinese Commerce Centre / Kent Theatre for a WHOLE WEEKEND OF GAMING Sept 9th-11th. Of course, you could just come for the social aspect, but you KNOW you'd rather smack something.

RTimes & Transcript Published Monday August 15th, 2011 Critics of bloody violence and excessive sex on TV have long had HBO's vampire drama "True Blood" in their cross hairs, but now the popular series has another group of wary citizens - witches, real ones. The series' fourth season has focused on Marnie Stonebrook (Fiona Shaw), a seemingly harmless medium and leader of a Wiccan group who becomes the physical conduit for Antonia, a long dead witch who is hellbent on vengeance against vampires who persecuted and burned her at the stake. Marnie winds up as the mouthpiece for Antonia's spell to drive the bloodsuckers of fictional "True Blood" town Bon Temps into the daylight. And that sort of deadly revenge, say some modern-day witches, is what gives witchcraft a bad name. "I'm absolutely disappointed with the portrayal of Marnie," said one witch - and professor of biology at a college in New England - who goes by the magickal name Taarna RavenHawk. "When Marnie gives [...]