August is here once again, and like most Augusts it is hot outside. This August is of course special in the fact that it features one of those lovely dates (08/08/08) but also because the Summer Olympics are underway. Personally, I am a bigger fan of the winter games, but I enjoy the Olympics no matter what the season. I had intended to post this column on the 8th, but due to computer troubles, it is a few days late.

This time around we have a couple of reviews and several news articles from the past month. If you are a fan of werewolves, or find yourself running a campaign that features werewolves prominently, you will want to check out our review of The Complete Guide to Werewolves. Our other review is of the first chapter of the second adventure path in the Pathfinder line. Speaking of Pathfinder, Paizo Publishing has announced a milestone in the life of the Pathfinder RPG Alpha. In other news, another longtime RPG developer passed away near the end of July. Both of these stories are be detailed in our news section below.

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   On July 23rd, N. Robin Crossby, original creator and writer of HàrnWorld passed away after a long battle with cancer. Robin began work in the late 70's on Hàrn and continued work on it until 2003, when he left Columbia Games and began publishing under the Kelestia Publications banner.

   Paizo Publishing announced on July 28th that the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game Alpha PDF had topped 25,000 downloads. The Pathfinder Roleplaying Game is a complete, standalone fantasy RPG that will be released as a massive hardcover book at Gen Con in 2009. Published under the 3.5 Open Game License, the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game updates the 3.5 edition of the world's most popular roleplaying game by adding new rules, new features, and correcting common game play complaints while also staying backward compatible to the 3.5 rules.

"When we announced our intentions to stick with the 3.5 rules via the Open Game License, many internet pundits declared us fools for not going with the flow of the new 4th edition," said Paizo's Publisher, Erik Mona. "The 25,000 individual download threshold suggests to me that we were right to identify a stable audience for the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, and the response to our Open Playtest has been nothing short of phenomenal."

The Beta version of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game will be released at Gen Con as a 408-page, full-color, soft-cover book for $24.99 as well as a free PDF download from the Paizo website. This release will launch the final, 10-month long open playtest of the rules system. To find out more about the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game, visit paizo.com/pathfinderRPG.

GenCon is just around the corner, and unfortunately this year I am not able to attend. So if you go to GenCon, and want to share your opinion of the show, please feel free to send an email with your report. Until next time...

Martin "GenCon-less" Drury