Tempest Times #4 (October 26)
Hail to you, whose name is written in the Tempest Tome, and welcome to The Tempest Times, a newsletter from Tempest Tome Games. Check here each month for updates about ongoing projects, new content from our collaborators, and media recommendations from the Tempest Tome partners!
This month we’ve continued to be hard at work developing and playtesting Order of the Black Chalice. In our recent adventures, the Sect of the Apple faced a dire confrontation with a hidden foe - a serpentine demon called a Sheyd. One timeline over, the Sect of the Sword confronted the dreaded Count Moravia, whose attempts to sunder the Heavens brought a storm of blood to the Carpathians.
Want your Sect’s adventures featured in a future Tempest Time update? Download the free demo and send us your stories!
Meanwhile, Maher and Gennaro have been crafting our new "cozy occult" game, Familiars. Twilight comes forth, and the cauldron bubbles... Expect more updates soon!
What We’ve Enjoyed This Month
Read!
Since our last newsletter, Nimrod finished Nostalgia by Mircea Cărtărescu. An anthology, Mircea’s stories range from Ligottian tales of the doomed and pitiful to strange, modern fantasies that echo Italo Calvino. Fans of Unknown Armies may especially enjoy the first story, concerning a man who keeps winning games of Russian Roulette.
Moonchild by Aleister Crowley was also an interesting read. While it generally falls short as a novel, it does provide an intriguing and legible introduction to Crowley’s ideas.
Watch!
Primetime, by Lance Oppenheim, is perfectly rancid (complementary). Little time is wasted establishing what TCAP is or handwalking the audience through the nauseating malaise of the Bush years. Instead, we’re thrown through sweaty scene after sweaty scene, watching Hansen's (Pattinson) facade tighten to the point of fracture while his underling, Decoy Dan (Gisondo), is groomed by the entertainment machine. A wonderfully unpleasant time at the movies.
Resident Evil was pretty fun! There’s guts, there’s scares, there’s laughs, there’s guts again! There’s some kind of character arc- make of it what you will. When you’re done with that: more guts!
Listen!
“Marci's Mask Lady and Late Night Girl is my latest musical fixation. Marci is better known for her contributions in the soft rock/pop group TOPS, and for what it's worth, their last album, Bury the Key, is among my top 5 of last 2025. Regardless, Mask Lady delivers more of everything I love about Marci's distinct, playful, and intimate sound. Special shout out for Pay Me Now, which is my favorite song I've heard all year."
-- Lou
Gennaro has been listening to Ghost Dubs - Oblique. A deep, meditative dive into a vast dub landscape. While Gennaro found the first release impressive, and in some ways, more traditional in its dub approach, this release represents bass music as more of an extreme genre. A headphone required listen for sure.
Play!
Maher has been playing Vagrant Story (PSX, Square Enix, 2000) on his Miyoo Mini+ handheld. Vagrant Story is a game with a considerable cult following, but Maher is just now getting around to it as an adult after playing it briefly as a kid. Vagrant Story features a unique real-time battle system that smoothly integrates turn-based elements in a way ahead of its time, alongside timing-based combo attacks and movement. A beautiful gothic and medieval aesthetic with catchy music and a strange story tie this wonderful video game together.
Gennaro has been playing Tomb Raider II (PSX, Eidos, 1997) on his Steam Deck. It's hard for good level design and atmosphere to age poorly, and while dated, it's undeniable the Playstation 1 graphics still have their charm. Sure, controlling Laura Croft is more demanding than a lot of modern games, but by the end of the first level, Gennaro found it becoming more second nature. Even after nearly 30 years, the game still manages to provide an enjoyable, yet tense, playground of exploration.
