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Illuminated Site of the Week
Welcome to the next campaign of one of our favorite live-action roleplaying games. In vs. Deadlines, the players take on the roles of highly creative employees at a game company that finds itself under constant assault by a variety of evil creatures known as distractions. To play vs. Deadlines you will need a job at Steve Jackson Games, several co-workers (who are on your team, so work with them and not against them), and the right mixture of genius and insanity to take on – and eliminate! – the evil distractions.
Today we welcome back an old player, Phil Reed. With hundreds of past sessions under his belt, and extensive experience battling distractions for both his own PDF publishing company and other game companies, we’re proud to say that our returning player knows what he’s getting himself into and is ready help lead the game group through the new campaign. In his new role as Managing Editor, we’re hoping that he will slay the latest batch of distractions and fortify our defenses against future ones.
We invite you to check back frequently to watch as the campaign unfolds. You will know the players are winning when you see new products hit the shelves on schedule.
Warehouse 23 News: Not Just Power. Pow-Ah!
"Power" is what weak, feeble, and ultimately impotent kings wield. "Pow-ah" is the sole possession of wizards. Dying Earth: Rhialto's Book of Marvels is 128 pages of raw pow-ah just waiting to be tapped. But don't wait too long. Pow-ah hasn't got all day, y'know.
March 30, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: Assaulted Batteries
Want something for nothing? Sure, we all do. How about energy? Yes, we're going down that road again. The IPCtec research labs have the answer, or at least they're a clearing house for the bits they have worked out. It's hard to tell because the English version of their page doesn't always work (you might want to bring along a translation tool). See pictures, find formulae, follow threads, and watch videos of electrified Pepsi cans powering antigravity. Or something. -- Suggested by Iggy
Warehouse 23 News: Drawing A Blank . . .
We wanted a particularly clever ad blurb for the Munchkin Cthulhu Blank Cards, but, wow, we've got nothin'. Oh well. Next time, perhaps.
If you belong to a college or university game club, you can apply for a grant from WotC, provided D&D is the "primary focus" of your group's activities, and you "passionately pursue roleplaying" and are "passionate enough to apply."
Suggested uses for the grant include "food for club gatherings."
Hands up, everyone who's passionate about pizza!
Warehouse 23 News: Featured Folio Feeds Fighters' Frenzy For Feasts
If fighters prove anything, it's that feats make the man (or woman (or genderless half-celestial, half-dragon werewolf that was raised by dark elves)). The Book of Unusual Feats, by that logic, can make enough men (or women (or . . . you get the idea)) to field a small army.
March 28, 2007: Job Opening: Warehouse 23 Shipping Clerk
Warehouse 23 has an immediate opening for a Shipping Clerk at our Austin office. Take a look at the job opening if this sounds like something that might interest you.
-- Shadlyn Wolfe
Warehouse 23 News: Your Helpful Guide To Getting Killed
The Dungeoneer's Field Guide to Hazards is a more marketable title, to be sure, but there is a certain honest charm in the above.
March 27, 2007: Do They Know They've Designed A Game?
Engineers at MIT have created SpaceNet, a program that models the allocation and transfer of resources between "nodes" in an interplanetary research/exploration/development scenario.
For instance, if you have to keep five astronauts alive at Tranquility Base and two more are arriving next month, you'd better have put extra food in the pipeline quite a while ago. To say nothing of oxygen. But some resources will in time be produced at nodes off Earth, and distributed among other nodes.
Sounds very useful, but even more . . . it sounds like there's a game in it.
Warehouse 23 News: Ride 'Em In, Shoot 'Em Out
Two fists, two guns, and two shots of whiskey are all you need to survive in the Old West. vs. Outlaws is all you need to pretend you're the kind of person that can handle two fists and two guns after two shots of whiskey.
A news story at the BBC site tells about Liverpool's newest attempt to deal with its pigeon problem:
"Ten robotic birds of prey are being brought into the city centre to scare off the pigeons and visitors are being warned not to give them food."
Warned not to feed the robotic birds of prey? (Visions dance through my head of tourists tossing them computer mice . . . of vendors selling little bags of nuts and bolts . . .) But sadly, no, it's just a poorly constructed sentence. The BBC is usually better with grammar than that. But it was a wonderful image anyway.
-- Steve Jackson
Warehouse 23 News: Tuala Or Not Tuala?
Fantasy Hero: Tuala Morn, that is. And if you didn't find that joke funny, please remain where you are. A Retrieval Squad has already been dispatched to take you to your local Processing Center for Humor Realignment. Thank you fnord your cooperation.
The very good news: not only has George R. R. Martin recovered the RPG rights to his epic fantasy series, following the Guardians of Order debacle, but in the settlement he also acquired the remaining stocks of the super-deluxe hardcover edition. These can now be purchased through his own site. I have seen this book and it's beautiful . . . it's a shame that it was associated with such disappointments to the people who worked on it.
The not-so-good news, from my own perspective, is that SJ Games will not be bidding on these rights. I am a dedicated reader of everything GRRM creates, most especially "Song of Ice and Fire," and I know that GRRM is a GURPS player. So I've thought seriously about it! But the inescapable fact is that this is just not the year to take on a new licensing project. As I said in my Report to the Stakeholders in January, this is the year to sort out our production pipeline and do right by Munchkin.
Ah, well. I wish the best of good fortune to whoever does get the license . . . and they had better do it RIGHT, or I shall GLARE at them.
-- Steve Jackson
Dork Tower just scored! Wait, or is that twenty . . . Dork Tower just half-scored! Dork Tower: Dork Decade brings together ten years of laughter, tears, and tears of laughter, and it does it with all four wondrous colors!
A persistent legend spread at SF conventions is that US law makes it illegal to talk to space aliens. Cameron Tuttle's excellent Paranoid's Pocket Guide (scary book, highly recommended) repeats this story. But in fact, that's not what Title 14, Section 1211 of the Code of Federal Regulations actually says (and it's been repealed anyway). See the master debunkers at snopes.com for the details.
Warehouse 23 News: Back In Black Iron Plate Mail
If Munchkin has anything, it's numbers. Numbers that go up, numbers that go down, numbers flying willy-nilly from every orifice. There once existed an official Munchkin Level Counter (or "that level-keeper-tracker-of doodad"). It was small, made of metal, and freed up your head space for dubious plotting. And now it's back!
March 23, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: Saturn Is In The Hizzouse
The University of Iowa's Radio and Plasma Wave Audio Group has collected some of the solar system's greatest hits. Hear lightning in the heart of Saturn, or listen to collisions with the solar winds. Just be sure to turn your volume down at Space Audio. It's cool, but the music of creation is . . . well, it's kind of annoying. -- Suggested by liddell
Warehouse 23 News: Call Of Kill-Grab-Stab-Thulhu
When a game as demented as Munchkin loses its metaphorical marbles, it doesn't simply go crazy. It goes cthazy! Munchkin Cthulhu has all the monster-killing and buddy-betraying you know and love, only this time it's insaaaane. Or even more insaaaane, if you think about it. Yeah, we'd recommend eye protection.
Paul and Ross are at Games Expo in Las Vegas this week. This is a new trade show for game publishers, not to be confused with the venerable GAMA Trade Show next month. What cool news or hot deals will they bring back for us? Stay tuned.
Warehouse 23 News: In The Beginning, There Was You
Don't let those all-powerful snobs have all the fun. Flex your metaphysical muscles with Campaign Cartographer 3 and sculpt a world of your own design! Land and sea, hill and valley, grass and . . . something that isn't grass! It's all yours to command.
March 21, 2007: Cthulhu Wants These People Now
Fidel Lainez and Chris Oakley used our Munchkin Card Suggestion Page to contribute card ideas which wound up in Munchkin Cthulhu. (Thank you! Evil ideas are good!) But there was no reply when I sent e-mail to the addresses they left. Gentlemen, if Cthulhu hasn't already taken you away, contact me . . . I have a copy of the game for each of you.
-- Steve Jackson
Warehouse 23 News: Stuff, Revised And Expanded!
Need more stuff for your Rifts game? Y'know, Rifts-y things, like robots. Rifts: Sourcebook One is happy to deliver all sorts of revised and expanded stuff for your stuff-dry campaign.
It ain't Ninja Burger, but it's close . . .
Ninja Warrior (or Sasuke) is a Japanese game show that pits contestants against an obstacle course. But not just any obstacle course -- in addition to testing speed and stamina, this four-part tournament challenges each particpant's climbing and jumping abilities. To win, you must scale curved walls, climb nets, hang by your fingertips, swing on curtains, and complete a variety of other ninja-like tests.
The translators play this one straight, unlike the similarly themed Takeshi's Castle (also known as "Most Extreme Elimination Challenge"). Besides airing on cable, Youtube has a number of clips, including Makoto Nagano's winning run from last year -- he's only the second person to complete the course!
The new season begins this week; check your local listings.
-- Paul Chapman
There is Creation. There is Chaos. Sandwiched between these two like a big slab of pastrami is the Wyld. Here, the Fair Folk dwell. They call them the Fair Folk because there's a fairly good chance they will feast on your mind if you ever go there. We'd recommend reading Exalted: The Wyld before traipsing through this dangerous land. The brain you save could be your own.
March 19, 2007: Good Thing Nobody Played "Mate"
Herewith, the Supermegatopia take on Munchkin. We laughed. We're still laughing! Because it's so TRUE.
Warning: For some, this cartoon might not be completely worksafe, and some of the other pages on this site are definitely better viewed from home.
Warehouse 23 News: Kick Butt For The Lord!
In One on One Adventures #5: Vale of the Sepulcher, high weirdness has struck the town of Zuria, and the only boy that can reach 'em is the son of a preacher man. Grab that +1 mace, ready your holy symbol, and pray that Palnor does not see fit to swap your Cure Moderate Wounds spells for Inflict Moderate Wounds. It wasn't funny the first four times, and it likely won't be on the fifth either.
Loren Wiseman (our own GURPS Traveller Line Editor) has released a new deckplan!
The 20-ton Launch offers nine configurations for one of the tightest spaces in known space, from military liaison to mobile retail store. It is suitable for Traveller (with rules for GURPS Traveller, MegaTraveller, and Traveller, as well as adventure seeds) on e23.
-- Thomas Weigel
Cultists, raiders, dragons! Thieves of Fortress Badabaskor is a name some of you older (sorry, "experienced") gaming types might recognize from the days of big red boxes and cheap plastic dice. Well, it's back, and it's d20-er than ever!
March 17, 2007: GURPS SEALs in Vietnam Available on e23!
The only easy day was yesterday.
-- SEAL motto
Now available - SEALs in Vietnam for GURPS, Fourth Edition on e23!
SEALs in Vietnam is a weapons catalog, history supplement, campaign guide, and inspirational source for playing grunts in mud, written by Hans-Christian Vortisch (author of Modern Firepower, GURPS WWII: Motor Pool and other genre favorites).
-- Thomas Weigel
Sometimes, you just have to wonder if people build temples or castles or massive underground lairs for the explicit purpose of letting them fall into ruin. We may never know why the ruins from Battlelands: The Ruins at Riverside Farm are ruined, but we do know they make for a really neat backdrop for a number of things. Like fights. Or battles. Or conflicts between forces of well-armed individuals who hate each other.
March 16, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: Reading Is Fairly Mental
You won't find these tomes in your local library (unless it glows an eerie green). Instead, esoterica like this is conveniently collected at The Hermetic Library where its depths can be plumbed safely. Study it, employ it, even summon it if you like. -- Suggested by Woods Stricklin
The alpha and omega of nearly every treasure-seeking expedition (or "monster stabby time") is that ubiquitous rest stop every adventurer has come to know and love: the inn. It is a sanctuary of sorts for the weary (read: low on HP and spells) traveler. Or it was until Bleeding Edge Adventure #4: A Dreadful Dawn came along and upset the natural order with its radical ideas of having an adventure at the inn. Blasphemy!
If you happened to catch CBS' "The New Adventures of Old Christine" on Monday night, you may have spotted a familiar game -- GreedQuest!
If you missed it, you can watch the episode (titled "Sleepless in Mar Vista") at cbs.com. Ritchie attempts to teach Barb and Matthew to play, but somehow seems to have mixed GreedQuest up with another game -- a common mistake, I understand, when using a game as a prop in a sitcom.
Other viewers have reported seeing a copy of Memoir '44 in the background of previous episodes, so we may have a gamer on their set crew. If you spot any other gaming products or paraphernalia on TV, drop a note to us in our "Geeks Rule!" forum.
-- Paul Chapman
Warehouse 23 News: Home Defenders Association
When you live in ZombieTown, things like maintaining your lawn or cleaning up after your dog are the least of anyone's concerns. Usually you're too busy, y'know, running for your life and stuff. In fact, your neighbors will probably be thankful that you boarded up the windows and fire your gun at all hours of the night.
We made it through the new Daylight Savings changes this week fairly smoothly. There are a few things that don't seem to have updated with the rest of the systems yet, so we are planning to have the servers down for a short time this coming Thursday evening. The downtime will begin at 9:00 PM CDT and should last less than half an hour. Our web sites, email, and UltraCorps may all be unavailable during this period.
-- Jimmie
Warehouse 23 News: "Droog" And "Guff" And So On
Nadsat is wacky. Like "green, alien ducks in a river of brandy" wacky. Wackier still is the idea that Choo-Choo Bear would get involved with the dregs of society and run around beating people up, vandalizing things, and - actually . . . It's not that hard to imagine, come to think of it. Which is probably why Milholland made the Clockwork Pussy shirt.
Offered without comment or interpretation, for the half-dozen or so of you who haven't already read the story of the fellow whose defense in a case of lingerie theft included "Maybe my (female, elf) Shadowrun character did it." Here's the BBC report.
Warehouse 23 News: Not To Be Confused With The Stooge
That would be Shemp. Conan: Shem - Gateway to the South, on the other hand, is more deserty and nomady. But we can understand the confusion. One is only slightly more violent than the other.
Now that I'm home, recovering from my cold, and mostly unpacked, I still think it was a good show. I got to visit with a number of old friends from the old school, including Greg Costikyan (who won the GDC's Maverick Award, and you can see his acceptance speech here), Eric Goldberg, Steve Peterson and Ray Greer of the original Hero Games, and Andrew Leker (who is now fully on the digital side, but you'll remember him as the creator of Skyrealms of Jorune).
And, of course, I did the requisite breakfasts (and so on) with development studios (and so on), and I thought they were more substantive than similar meetings in past years. The fingers are crossed.
Even as I type, the "GDC 07 Faculty" t-shirt is being washed in very hot water. I would actually wear this one . . . if it weren't XL. Perhaps I should suggest to the GDC that if they are going to give away shirts, they might add a Shirt Size field to their extensive speaker info DB . . .
I didn't make it to as many presentations as I would have liked to, but there were some I wasn't going to miss no matter what. Daniel James and Damion Schubert didn't disappoint. I'm going to point Kira at Damion's talk (on creating good design documents) as soon as he posts it. Not so SHE can write better design docs - that's not her job - but so she can tell me which of his ideas she'd like carried into what I write for her. (Hmm, I see the slides are already up; maybe that's what we get.)
After illustrating almost 2,000 Munchkin cards, you'd think John Kovalic would have gotten to the "I love them all equally" stage. But no . . .
"By the way - the "Find Secret Door" may be my favorite card drawing EVER. :-)"
John Kovalic plays favorites! Think of how low the poor little Loaded Die must feel!
(Yes, this has all been an elaborate excuse to show off a piece of art from Munchkin 5 -- De-Ranged. Bwahaha!)
-- Paul Chapman
Warehouse 23 News: Yo Ho, Yo . . . No!
So you've crashed the boat into a reef and you're taking on water. The most important thing to do in this situation is to not panic. That's followed immediately on the list by shoving your friends and loved ones out of the way as you run for the Lifeboats. Room is finite, and you are the most important person on the boat. Even if everyone else doesn't realize it.
Warehouse 23 News: Gumbo: The Final Frontier
What hasn't been made into a game? As it turns out, the answer is "nothing." No, friends, nothing yet remains to become a game. You see, even chili is a game now. The Great Chili Cookoff marks the end of an era. We will now have to make up wholly new things to do so that we can make vaguely accurate simulations of them to occupy our spare time.
- or so it looks right now. I did get a miserable cold, starting Thursday not long after getting up, but since my talk was Wednesday, it's a survivable disaster. Responses to the talk were good - at least, no produce was thrown, good questions were asked, and several people caught me over the following days to make happy noises. So I look forward to getting my official GDC feedback. At least, I think I do!
Other than that: as Dilbert puts it, many mighty meetings were held. I got to see some old friends. I did not make a deal to put Car Wars on Xbox Live starting tomorrow, or anything scary-exciting like that. But I think it was a week well spent, if I can just make it home alive and spend a day or so recuperating.
San Francisco is pretty.
-- Steve Jackson
Warehouse 23 News: So Amazing, It's Uncanny
With great games come great big boxes. With great boxes come neat little bits and bobs, like figures or cardboard counters or dice. So how do you get a copy of the Marvel Heroes Board Game so you can get in on all this gaming goodness? Well, with a great credit history comes great purchasing power.
March 9, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: Film At Eleven, If The Barbed Wire Holds
Just what would a zombie outbreak be like? It might be a whole lot like what you see at the Zombie World News. No, it's not news for the flesh-eaters, it's a series of articles from the front lines in the war against them. The site attempts to provide as realistic an accounting as possible of the descent of man during the rise of the dead. That means some cool, clever, but unpleasant content. -- Suggested by Justin Darr
Warehouse 23 News: Powered By Fritz Leiber
Glory! Adventure! Shiny things! RuneQuest: Lankhmar
has all these things! And more! . . . Probably! Odds are fair there's other stuff in the book. We, uh, don't have empirical data or anything . . . but, come on, it's a safe bet.
March 8, 2007: Put On This Hat So We Can Read Your Mind
The technology being developed by Emotiv Systems obviously has applications far beyond gaming. But what do we care, if we can think "hit dragon" and see our character do it? All else is dross.
Warehouse 23 News: From Creepy Crawly To Stompy Splattery
Without monsters, the Cthulhu Mythos doesn't really hold the same appeal. There'd just be a really foreboding ambiance. Though that might still make you go crazy . . . Regardless, Call of Cthulhu: Malleus Monstrorum has all the Old Ones, Great Ones, and Great Old Ones you could ever possibly need. And then some.
March 7, 2007: On The Ground In San Francisco
. . . flew Frontier Airlines and liked it, happily read parts of the GURPS Thaumatology draft while in the air, survived one of the worst shuttle rides EVER, made it to the hotel, had a wonderful sushi dinner . . . Soon I will fall down, and we will see what tomorrow brings.
-- Steve Jackson
Warehouse 23 News: Honorable Mentions
Manticorans. Havenites. You've read the books, you've played the game, you know they love blowing each other up in various and spectacular ways. But what do you really know about them? Their ships, their traditions, their kicky berets? Jayne's Intelligence Review - The Havenite Republican Navy and The Royal Manticoran Navy cover those very things and probably more.
This year marks the hundredth anniversary of the birth of Robert A. Heinlein. A Centennial Celebration is being planned for this July. There is also a campaign afoot (afloat?) to encourage the Navy to name a new ultra-modern destroyer after Heinlein . . . which would be very appropriate, since his first career was as a naval officer.
-- Steve Jackson
Warehouse 23 News: Cannon Fodder Are People Too
We can't all be superheroes. No, some of us have to be the people that run head first into the scene of some villain smashing up city hall, shouting ineffectual things like "Stop!" or "You're under arrest!" or "Argh, it burns my flesh!" Mutants & Masterminds is nice enough to call them Agents of Freedom, but we all know the comic tragedy that is the truth of the situation.
Tuesday afternoon I leave for the Game Developers Conference. Wednesday afternoon I'll be giving a presentation on blindtesting. Wish me luck - and if you're there, come say hi.
-- Steve Jackson
Warehouse 23 News: Rome: The Piñata Years
Barbarians are not particularly reasonable folk. They have little respect for requests like "Please don't take all our stuff and burn down our houses." Indeed, that's their favorite pastime. You can find out for yourself just why they like it so much by picking up a copy of Catan Histories: Struggle for Rome. Just don't expect any barbarians to play with you. They're sore losers.
March 4, 2007: Wherein A Couple Of Plot Threads Are Tied Up
. . . and one more is merely lengthened.
McDonald's Pirate Poster: I never got one. Life is cruel sometimes.
Punch an' Pie: It has now been made clear to me that, had I but watched the South Park movie, I would have had no need to ask for an explanation of the title of a certain new webcomic.
My Sore Wrist: is now only twinging occasionally, but I don't think I will play Wii Tennis again.
-- Steve Jackson
The Godzilla Slippers are perfect companions to a purposeful grimace and a terrible sound. Just don't be surprised if hundreds of teeny soldiers in teeny tanks and teeny airplanes start attacking you with really teeny bullets.
Yes, the first Fnordcast of 2007 has arrived!
In this episode, SJ gives us the Stakeholder's Report for 2006, Randy and Nicolas give us a Shameless Plug, and Will and I put the gamer's eye on GURPS Ultra-Tech.
For a complete minute by minute run-down of the episode, check out here.
As always, give us feedback on the forums, or via email at fnordcast@sjgames.com.
-- Paul Chapman
Warehouse 23 News: Warehouse 23 Top Ten
Warehouse 23 has posted an updated Top 10 page for February. Check it out, and see what all the cool kids are buying . . .
March 2, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: You Say You Want A Digital Revolution
It's small wonder Bill Gates is retiring. He knew it was only a question of time before his creations rose up against him. The Icon War has begun . . . -- Suggested by Christopher J. Burke
Warehouse 23 News: For King & Cubetry
Y'know how hard it is To Court the King? It ain't just a game of dice. Well . . . okay, actually in this case it kinda is, but, uh . . . it's a really complex game of dice. With, y'know, intrigue 'n stuff.
Steve Jackson Games announces for release in June, 2007:
Munchkin 5 – De-Ranged
Munchkin 5 – De-Ranged brings you more of the twisted humor of Steve Jackson and
John Kovalic in a 112-card supplement for Munchkin!
• Treasure! Track down the Philosopher's Scone, put Racing Stripes on your
Steed, and fill your Canteen of Spleen with Carbonated Holy Water!
• Monsters! Beware the Telemarketer, the Poultrygeist, and the Undead Clowns.
• And more monsters: imports! That's right, unique monsters
created by the European Munchkin publishers, available for the
first time in English. Quake in fear at the Brothers Grimm and the Snerks! Or
just kill them and take their stuff. Your choice.
Munchkin 5 – De-Ranged. All the munchkin-ism of a
prestige class, with none of that annoying roleplaying stuff.
Warehouse 23 News: What's Better Than Rodan?
How about a Rodan . . . on fire! While this Godzilla Origins: Plush Fire Rodan is truly a hot new item, postal regulations are quite firm on their stance of not shipping product that is aflame. Thus, the plush itself is not actually on fire. But a lighter or match will rectify that nicely.
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