Hey folks,

Just a note that the just-released Beyond the Storm: Shadows of the Big Easy [currently available as an eBook and available via Print on Demand soon] contains a Shadowrun, Fourth Edition adventure The Voodoo That They Do by WizKids' game designer Brook Willeford. BTS is a charity project, with all funds beyond LuLu.com expenses going to the Red Cross for Hurricane Katrina relief.

Beyond the Storm: Shadows of the Big Easy is a collection of short stories, essays, art and role-playing game materials inspired by the culture, landscape, and city of New Orleans. With contributions from three continents and from across the spectrum of role-playing, all the proceeds from the sale of the book will go to support Katrina Disaster Relief. Join the authors and artists as they explore the Big Easy as it could have been and how it might be...

Beyond the Storm features contributors from a bunch of industry all-stars and some that will be, including some short stories, material suitable for dropping into superhero and horror games [including HERO and M&M stats], a complete adventure for Shadowrun, Fourth Edition, and several complete RPGs - some experimental, some more conventional. All wrapped around a theme of New Orleans. There's a PDF Preview available that features the first page of every article.

Complete contributor list: Aaron Acevedo, Aaron Axelsen, Scott Bennie, Jason L Blair, Leanne Buckley, Heather “Squish” Cornelius, William Edmonds, Crazy Elf, Matt Forbeck, Caz Granberg, Seth Johnson, Adam Jury, Mischa Damon Krilov, Lindsay Labanca, Mur Lafferty, Jason Mical, Veronica Pare, Jeff Preston, Mikko Rautalahti, Sean Riley, S. John Ross, Janice M. Sellers, Angi Shearstone, Geoff Skellams, Adam Tinworth, Ursula Vernon, David ‘Doc Blue’ Wendt, Stacy S. (Niedecker) Wendt, Michael Wendt, and Brook Willeford.

hmm, thats a quote from prodigy - voodoo people ?
or maybe its just a general refrence that somehow reminds me of that song.

Actually, The voodoo that you do so well is a reference to an older song. I first heard it in Labrynth but I know it's older than that. Maybe back to the 20's or further.

Cole Porter.

Danke.

Just a heads up that the Print on Demand [that is, a hardcopy delivered right to your door] version of Beyond the Storm: Shadows of the Big Easy is now available.

Not just WizKids Designer, but also long-time Shadowrun player (thanks for the plug Adam, I didn't want to straight-up toot my own horn). In addition to "That Voodoo That They Do" (which is indeed a reference to the Cole Porter song performed in The Labyrinth), Beyond the Storm contains several well-thought-out and amusing systems and settings, several short stories and poems, and some amazing artwork (with all the beautiful layout done by Dumpshock's own Adam Jury).

I've already got my copy on order, and if you'd like to introduce your SR players to the Big Easy and voodoun, experiment with some new gaming systems, or just contribute to a great cause, I'd urge you to check out the link Adam posted above.

Does it have Semi-official Vodoun tradition guidelines?

Since "That Voodoo That They Do" is designed as an adventure rather than a sourcebook, there aren't guidelines for player-character houngans. There are, however, several houngans that can be encountered by the players, and NPC-worthy rules for being possessed by several of the loa (NPC-worthy in that they aren't detailed enough for a player character to use them to play a houngan, but they are detailed enough for an interesting and balanced adventure). FanPro has seen the adventure and the rules, and it was approved by Rob, but it's likely (read, almost certain) that the rules included in "That Voodoo That They Do" will not be the final rules for possession by loa included in the magic sourcebook (when it is released).

In the meantime, here's some Unofficial Rules for houngans. It's flavor-free, just game mechanics. I'm assuming that you already know about Erzulie's marriage to Damballah and such if you want to play one of these guys.

Presumably rules will come out in Street Magic, but based on the length of time it took the 4th edition book to come out, I'm not going to hold my breath until it arrives.

-Frank