Uploaded to DriveThruRPG and RPGNow in time for the weekend (and Halloween!):

Halloween is finally here and everybody has one thing on their mind: CANDY CANDY CANDY. This love of sweets is completely natural but there’s something decidedly unnatural happening tonight. A normal night of trick-or-treating soon turns into something dark and gruesome when the gang discovers someone might be handing out some bad treats—confections that’ll turn more than your stomach.

Be sure to check your candies, kiddos.

As with all the Campfire Tales, “Death by Chocolate” is just $2 for a full standalone episode including two new monsters and four new GMCs for use with this or any Little Fears Nightmare Edition episode.

I hope you enjoy the new tale! If you get a chance to play it, let me know what you think.

Sorry, folks, I need to push the release of Campfire Tales #4 by a couple days. I’m pulling really long hours at the day job which not only takes up a bunch of my time but my energy as well. I was optimistic I would get the scenario finalized by today but it’s just not there. It’s almost there, though! I promise. You’ll have it for the weekend.

I know the last time there was a Campfire Tales #4, it ended up delayed until it eventually got replaced, but I just need a couple more days to finish. In fact, if I go one day over, I’ll release it for free. Guaranteed.

Out this Wednesday in PDF

Every Halloween, it’s the same old stories. None of them can be true, right?

Three new standalone episodes.

Campfire Tales #4: October 19th
Campfire Tales #5: November 16th
Campfire Tales #6: December 14th

Visual proof courtesy of my camera phone and my poor picture-taking skills:

The books are in! I just need to check them, sign them, and stuff them into envelopes and boxes. MOST* pre-orders should go out this week (and standard orders as well). I’ve already had a lot of interest from retailers but if your local shop isn’t one of them, let me know! I love selling directly to you folks but I’m a big supporter of the brick-and-mortar shops as well.

*The downside to this news is that the United States Postal Service has halted all shipments to Canada due to the current labor dispute. So for my northern neighbors, I’ll see what I can do to get your books to you as soon as I can. I’m going to process all the other orders and then dig into my options there.

With the PDF launch just two days away, let’s dig a little deeper into Book 2: Among the Missing by taking a look at the rarest type of missing: those who fall into the gaps between Closetland and the real world, those who are suddenly displaced, those whose very existence becomes questioned, whose families suddenly don’t know them, and whose entire foundation shatters in a heartbeat.

Click below for a PDF preview of Chapter Five: Through the Cracks, a look at the forgotten.

I wanted to get this up earlier but the week before a book’s release is always a maddening (and fun! But oh-so-maddening) time.

I plan to do at least one more sneak peek before the book hits digital shelves on Wednesday, and then a couple more as the print edition gets closer to launch.

Click the image below for a PDF preview of Chapter Two: By Inhuman Hands. It takes a look at the Stolen, those taken by monsters. I hope you enjoy the preview and let me know what you think in the comments below!

While nearly a month remains to pre-order Book 2: Among the Missing and save money off the final price, less than two weeks are left if you want 20% of your purchase to benefit the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. April is National Child Abuse Prevention Month and this promotion is in support of that.

You can click the image above or this line right here to go to the post with the pre-order information.

For those curious, Book 2 is coming along well. As illustrations come in and the book enters final layout, I will start putting up previews for you all.

The book is still on track for a May 25th PDF release. Print date depends on the printer and shipping and whether anything gets messed up and needs fixing but that should only be two, maybe three, weeks later.

Perhaps “Big Changes” is a bit misleading. The title is still Book 2: Among the Missing and it’s still a supplement to Little Fears Nightmare Edition.

The changes are to the book’s structure. Some time ago, I posted the Table of Contents for the book as I originally decided back in 2010. I have struggled with the structure since the idea for the book first came to me. Originally, Among the Missing was going to be a series of PDF supplements (Among the Abducted, Among the Stolen, et cetera including a group who won’t appear until Book 3). When I decided to collect the ideas into a single volume, I smashed the PDF ideas together and slapped them between an introduction and a world chapter with an adventure on the end. Done.

But that never sat right with me. The chapters on the Missing types were self-contained, sure, but I would have to repeat a lot of information—and maybe worse than that, I’d be spreading out similar information, namely character creation. Each chapter would end with character creation but, and this was the core struggle, shouldn’t the system stuff all be together?

I’ve been going through the book, in anticipation of its release, and this kept nagging at me. I decided to listen to my instincts and consolidate the character creation into its own chapter. And, while I was at it, I split the information on the world of the missing into good people/places and bad people/places, same as the core book.

So, all this to get to the following. Below is the new Table of Contents for Book 2: Among the Missing.

Introduction: Gone, Just Like That
Chapter One: Against their Wills: The Abducted
Chapter Two: By Inhuman Hands: The Stolen
Chapter Three: On Their Own: The Runaways
Chapter Four: No Longer Wanted: The Abandoned
Chapter Five: Through the Cracks: The Forgotten
Chapter Six: One of the Missing
Chapter Seven: In Times of Need
Chapter Eight: Avoid at all Costs
Chapter Nine: The Long Way Home
Among the Missing Character Sheet

There you have it. For those curious, the book is looking to be about the same size as the Little Fears Nightmare Edition main rulebook. My initial spec had it at 128, maybe 144, but, well, the book grew.

Pre-Order to Save Cash and Do Some Good
There’s still time to pre-order the book. This saves you money and, if you do so in April, 20% will go toward the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children. Click below to go to the pre-order page for details and purchase links.

The next book in the Little Fears Nightmare Edition line is now available for pre-order! Book 2: Among the Missing looks at missing kids, the monsters who hunt them, the good guys they can turn to, and what life is like for those who live in the fringes between our reality and the world of lost children.

Click here for more information on what’s coming in Book 2: Among the Missing.

Book 2: Among the Missing will be released in PDF on May 25th (National Missing Children’s Day) and will be released in print soon after (about three weeks). 20% of all orders throughout April will go to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children*.

(May 12th Update)
THE PRE-ORDER IS OVER!
Huge thanks to everyone who pre-ordered the book! For those who missed the pre-order, you can still order the print, PDF, or combo bundle of Book 2: Among the Missing using the buttons below:

Order the Print Book + the PDF!
Order the print book plus the PDF and receive your download code on May 25th and your physical book in early June for just $30 (+ s/h).

Order the Print Book!
Order the print book and receive it in early June for just $20 (+ s/h).

Order the PDF!
PDF orders will be processed through DriveThruRPG and RPGNow. You will be able to grab the PDF for immediate download once it becomes available on May 25th for just $10.

If you plan to pre-order both Book 2 and Happy Birthday Little Fears:
You can place your pre-order for Book 2: Among the Missing now and you can combine shipping costs with Happy Birthday Little Fears when it goes on pre-order. (In that case, your physical copy of Book 2 will not ship until Happy Birthday Little Fears ships.)

*I will sum the sale price of all pre-orders received from the beginning of the pre-orders on April 1st through midnight April 30th (CDT) and contribute 20% of the total to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children through their online donation system.