I have only talked face-to-face with Ken St. Andre a few times in my 30 years in the hobby, but he is important to me, all the same. He was the designer of Monsters! Monsters!, which was my very first paid project, back in the Metagaming days. I was the developer. The developer on a real game! And it got printed! And I got paid! Fun was had and a career was launched.
Anyway: Ken has this hat. He's had it a LONG time. He lost it in Vegas. But the hat was found . . .
So I really enjoyed the page Rick Loomis of Flying Buffalo created for How Ken's Hat Had More Fun Than He Did. Rick is having WAAAAAY too much fun with this, too . . . possibly even more than the hat did. I can't decide which I like better: the photo the hat took, or the shot of the hat "hanging with some friends."
Thanks for this, Rick!
-- Steve Jackson
Warehouse 23 News: Okay, Send In The B Squad!
Hmmmm. Heroes chopped, skewered, and squashed themselves a nice big pile of monsters, huh? Horde all tapped out? Nothing left in the bag with claws that catch and teeth that bite? That's all right. Here's RuneQuest Monsters II. But, shhh . . . wait until they turn around first.
May 17, 2008: Illuminated Site of the Week: He Was Never Here, He Did Not Sign Your Book
There has to be a go-to guy for the worldwide conspiracy, someone the regular Joes can talk to without all that initiation and chanting, right? It's probably Trevor Paglen, though that's all you're gettin' out of him or us. He spends a lot of time dissecting renditions, secret operations, and the symbology so favored by special forces. Don't blame us if you disappear for the sake of a potential best-seller. -- Suggested by DryaUnda
Warehouse 23 News: Books: Now With Extra Book!
Mage: The Awakening - Grimoire of Grimoires. It's a book . . . about books. It's a book book. While that may seem needlessly complex, we're certain it makes perfect sense to the learned spell-slinging types. Besides, if there's one thing mages like, it's an air of mystery.
May 16, 2008: We Were Offline. We're Back!
The storms that shook Austin Wednesday night dumped hail on cars, uprooted trees, and dropped broken power lines onto the fiber optics that link our part of Austin to the rest of the world. Fzzzzzzt. We came back up a bit before 10pm Thursday, but it was an immensely frustrating day.
Today (Friday) is a game day in the office, celebrating Munchkin Quest going to press. We'll all try to at least scan our mail for emergencies, but it's possible that it could take us until Monday to reply to mail that you sent Wednesday evening. But we're still here and we'll get back to you soon.
Randy will be at Rogue's Gallery Comics and Games in Round Rock this evening at 8pm. What's he going to be doing? If you guessed "something Munchkin-ish," you're right -- Munchkin Booty, to be exact. Come on down and get a look at the rules and cards before they even go to the printer.
If you can't make it tonight, he'll be doing an encore tomorrow, at Great Hall Games, as part of their usual Afternoon Boardgame event. Stop by either store, or both, and get a taste of pirate flavored Munchkin.
UltraCorps players: all game ticks were suspended, so we hope nobody missed any turns. The Thursday night "Short & Sweet" tick was canceled. Regular hostilities will resume Friday.
-- Paul Chapman, with additional reporting by Steve Jackson and Jimmie Bragdon
Warehouse 23 News: Oh, Did That Contract Have Fine Print?
Go into the jungle, guard some outpost for a couple weeks, collect a paycheck. Easy, right? Right. Gamemastery: River Into Darkness certainly doesn't feature a tribe of indigenous jungle-dwellers who are violently opposed to outsiders interloping upon their turf. No, sir. Totally a milk run.
I didn't know that volcanoes came with lightning. Now I do. Here's a great image of the Chaitén eruption in Chile.
And here's a whole series, smaller but still amazing. The dramatic images are the first dozen or so . . . when you hit the people standing around the airplane, you're through with the really good stuff. Though the daylight smoke plume in some of the later ones is also impressive.
I believe this qualifies as a glory of Nature best observed at a distance and from within a speedy and reliable vehicle.
-- Steve Jackson
An old woman. A terrible secret. A world in the balance. An adventure of a lifetime. Squirrels. Pie. Squirrel Attack!: The Pie Incident. This summer, your gaming table will go nuts.
We really like Google around here, and love the logo changes they do on special occasions. (We even copied the trick, for Warehouse 23's logo on the holidays!)
Google has opened their changing logo trick up to a contest for students, called Doodle 4 Google. Prizes include scholarships and laptops, as well as grants to the student's school for improvements to the computer lab.
The entry deadline was last month, but from now until the 18th, the public can vote on their favorites from the Regional finalists.
-- Paul Chapman
Warehouse 23 News: Ogre Miniatures Increase In Value!
Or, at least, that's one way to look at it. The cost of metal, the cost of oil, the cost of . . . of, well, darn near everything has started to take its toll on the Ogre Miniatures line. Starting June 2nd, individual Ogre minis will jump in price slightly. The boxed sets will remain at their current prices, but if you have been thinking about getting a shiny new Banshee Missile Tank, now's the time to act.
The director is a roleplayer. Coincidence? I think not.
-- Steve Jackson
Warehouse 23 News: Try, Try, Try To Understand
It's magic, man. Legend of the Five Rings: Prayers and Treasures speaks of shugenja and all the neato stuff they can do. It also goes into the religion of Rokugan and lists some cool magic-infused thingamabobs, but the mojo is the real attraction. Something about blowing up your enemies' heads has a certain . . . allure, don't you think?
May 12, 2008: Spaceships 2: Ready For Launch!
GURPS Spaceships 2: Traders, Liners, and Transports is now available from e23.
Building from the simple design system found in Spaceships 1, David Pulver has created nearly three dozen sample ships to fill the role of "moving stuff." From tramp freighters and heavy lift boosters, from passenger liners to yachts, this release has ships you need for any interstellar merchant campaign.
Spaceships 2 also covers the financial aspects of finding a ship, booking cargo and passengers, and making a profit. From operating expenses to speculative trade, this PDF details everything you need to know, including how to fudge it all!
-- Paul Chapman
Warehouse 23 News: Let's Start At The Start
No, let's start before even that. Let's roll back the clock to a time when people like to throw around words like "golden age." Exalted: Dreams of the First Age aims the Wayback Machine at a time when Creation was lousy with Solar Exalted, a time when all the neat Exalted toys were made, a time that . . . well, honestly, that we hadn't heard much about. Until now. Cool, huh?
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