New Releases by Matt Forbeck

Con your way into a scholarship. Sleep with your professors. Crash a closed course. Sell your organs for beer money. Get textbooks for free. And more... This book has schooled its readers before...but not like this. This guide is a full-scale assault on the ivory towers of academia, teaching students the ins and outs of college life--from how to handle obnoxious roommates (retaliation) to how to make it onto the dean''s list (cheat). With 101 entries providing a crash course in college survival, this next Forbidden Knowledge installment is perfect for senior and freshman fans alike who aren''t afraid of double-secret probation.

250 years ago, Ascalon burned . . . Desperate to defend his land from advancing hordes of bestial charr, King Adelbern summoned the all-powerful Foefire to repel the invaders. But magic can be a double-edged sword—the Foefire burned both charr and human alike. While the charr corpses smoldered, the slain Ascalonians arose again, transformed by their king’s rage into ghostly protectors and charged with guarding the realm . . . forever. The once mighty kingdom became a haunted shadow of its former glory. Centuries later, the descendants of Ascalon, exiled to the nation of Kryta, are besieged on all sides. To save humankind, Queen Jennah seeks to negotiate a treaty with the hated charr. But one obstacle remains. The charr legions won’t sign the truce until their most prized possession, the Claw of the Khan-Ur,is returned from the ruins of fallen Ascalon. Now a mismatched band of adventurers, each plagued by ghosts of their own, sets forth into a haunted, war-torn land to retrieve the Claw. Without the artifact, there is no hope for peace between human and charr—but the undead king who rules Ascalon won’t give it up easily, and not everyone wants peace!

WELCOME TO THE YEAR 2072… …And a world unlike anything you’ve ever imagined. A world where magic and machines exist side-by-side. Where cybernetics can replace organs or entire limbs with ease, and arcane spells can make the impossible happen. Where the Matrix has become an artificial world of its own, filled with all kinds of pleasure, treasure, and trouble. Where dwarves, elves, orks, and trolls walk alongside humans every day. Some work for megacorporations whose invisible tentacles wrap around every aspect of modern life. Others choose a much less legal career, doing whatever dirty work the corp executives need done—for a price. WELCOME TO SHADOWRUN Featuring fifteen new stories about the men and women who make their living in the shadows of the Sixth World, Spells and Chrome takes you into the dark and dirty streets of a bleak future. Whether risking their lives to execute a mission for an employer who might be planning to double-cross them anyway, or just doing whatever they need to do to survive another day, shadowrunners use everything they’ve got—cyberware, spells, or a very big gun—to get the job done.

Adrenaline junkies took to the first edition like a Molotov cocktail to an empty car, and now we’re back with the eyebrow singeing, nerve-shaking, possible assault-charge causing, second round of forbidden knowledge. Where its predecessor pushed the limits and put the pedal to the metal, this followup explodes through boundaries and sets the reader in a tailspin of danger, temptation, and fun. Inside this edgy four-color self-destruction manual, you will learn how to: Become a mercenary; Amputate a limb; Summon a demon; Pass a drug test; Kite checks; and more. Certain to cause some laughs, scrapes, burns, and scarring—emotional and physical—this book packs twice the punch, kick, and fun.

“It will be a dangerous mission. I don’t expect that any of us will survive. But it’s a chance to save mankind, to save our world. Maybe the last chance.” By the end of the twenty-third century, Earth is a plague-ridden, war-ravaged cesspool dominated by megacorporations whose ruthless armies fight one another for power and for the very scarce resources there are left. Capitol fighters Mitch Hunter and Nathan Rooker are battling the opposing forces of the Bauhaus corporation when a cannon blast exposes and destroys an ancient stone seal in the ground. From the bowels of the Earth crawl hordes of necromutants with razorlike boneblades for arms, hideous humanoids that thrive and multiply by commandeering the bodies of dying soldiers. Mitch barely escapes– only to discover that both the rise of the mutants and the “Deliverer” who will save humanity have been prophesied. Unless Mitch and a group of warriors from each of the megacorporations succeed in reaching the hidden horrors and wiping out the mutant scourge, ouir world will literally become a hell on Earth. Now a major motion picture

The Complete Idiot''s Guide to Drawing Superheroes and Villains, Illustratedis the series'' fourth release in the step-by-step, how-to-draw arena, and the first to venture outside the realm of manga. But like the two manga books before it (The Complete Idiot''s Guide to Manga- Fantasy Creatures andThe Complete Idiot''s Guide to Manga- Shoujo), this guide follows the same 4-color format in which readers learn how to create a variety of characters with more than 400 illustrations that are broken up into six- to eight-step series. Colour is used in each sequential step to clarify how the new strokes add to the work in progress as the reader works toward each final full-colour character. In this book, readers learn to create original superheroes and villains that are patterned after the underlying traits associated with well-known characters, but without replicating what''s already been done by the likes of Marvel and DC Comics. By drawing these unique figures and seeing how they are both similar to and different from the established superheroes and villains, readers gain inspiration for creating their own truly original characters.

Describes how to draw in the shoujo manga style, providing step-by-step instructions on developing characters, scenes, and action poses.

The Bad Bay Hackers win the "Spike!" magazine tournament and are invited to the Tabazco Bowl. The team sets off for the fabulous land of Lustria, but soon Dunk and his friends must fight off zombies, cannibalistic pygmy halflings, and pirates, in this latest installment of the Blood Bowl series. Original.

As interest in reading manga has grown over the past few years, so too has the desire by many to learn how to create their own manga characters. In fact, in its first year in print, The Complete Idiot''s Guide to Drawing Manga, Illustrated(ISBN- 1592573355) has sold more than 20,000 copies. The Complete Idiot''s Guide to Manga Fantasy Creatures Illustratedis positioned to ride the coattails of the original title by offering readers how-to instruction specific to creating fantasy creatures in the manga style. With more than 300 illustrations, readers will learn stroke-by-stroke how to create everything from chibis and furry creatures to dragons and monsters. Each step-by-step illustration builds on the last, using a second color to highlight the new strokes, and ends with a full-color rendering of the final creature.

Book 3 (of 3) in the riotous Blood Bowl series. In a fantasy kingdom where violence is a way of life, the number one sport is Blood Bowl - gridiron football where anything goes. Dirk ''Dunk'' Hoffnung and the rest of the Bad Bay Hackers thought they''d taken everything the game of Blood Bowl could throw at them, but now they literally have to play the game of their lives to prevent the destruction of their kingdom.

They''ve been hunted across the Mournland, captured in Karrnath, and attacked in a dragon''s mountain lair. One band of adventurers has had enough. One young woman will have to decide to give in or embrace her destiny as the Queen of Death. Original.

This two-part story will change the Knights of the Silver Dragon forever, as it delves deeper into the history of Curston, revealing one of the Order''s deepest secrets and the whereabouts of Driskoll and Kellach''s missing mother.

The Knights of the Silver Dragon rely for protection on the dragons which long ago pledged to save their order. However, the Knights are not prepared to cope with a traitor from among themselves.

Mayhem reigns in this latest installment of the Blood Bowl series. Superstar Dirk "Dunk" Hoffnung has already tasted the high life as a star Blood Bowl player, but now he has to start all over again in the Goblin Leagues. Original.

Moyra, Kellach, and Driskoll must outsmart zombies, goblins, and an owlbear to unlock the secret of the spiritkeeper to save Zendrick the wizard, who was put into a lifeless sleep.

"I see you You go about your life like nothing ever happened. You think you''re safe now that it''s done, like a problem that you''ve solved once and for all. You''re wrong. I remember what you did. You might have killed me, but I''m not gone. I stayed behind and I won''t go until you''ve paid." This book includes: * Your first opportunity to play mortals as characters with the Storytelling System * The mystery of the World of Darkness grows with five ghost stories to play around your gaming table * A great prequel to Vampire, Werewolf and Mage chronicles.

"Unapproachable East" provides a detailed look at the eastern region of the Forgotten Realms world. In addition to new spells, magic items, feats, character races, prestige classes, and a wealth of new monsters, this title includes descriptions of people, places, and unique cultural elements from throughout the region. Full color.

For Forgotten Realms fans, this new book features extended descriptions of each of the character races of the Forgotten Realms( campaign setting. Maps.

Deadlands: The Weird West, Pinnacle''s award-winning game of supernatural horror in the Old West continues to roll along. In 2000, new products allow players to take on the role of operatives for the Agency, wrestle with the curses of lycanthropy and vampirism, and learn the secrets of the latest developments in the New Science. This regional sourcebook for Deadlands: The Weird West explores the City o'' Lost Angels in the aftermath of the devastating events in last year''s Devils Tower: Heart o'' Darkness. Discover what havoc Reverend Grimme has wrought.

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