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Illuminated Site of the Week
December 31, 2007: Reminder: Tonight's A Good Night To Stay In
It's New Year's Eve, and I'm sure there are a megaton of "designate a driver" and "don't drink and drive" messages bombarding your personal bandwidth.
But if it saves a life, I think we can afford to be boring one day.
Celebrate responsibly, be a designated driver if you can, call a taxi if you can't, and be safe!
We've got a bunch of cool stuff coming out in the next twelve months, and we'd hate for you to miss it!
-- Paul Chapman
No, we're not talking Nazis and beaches. Ars Magica: The Lion and the Lily has quite a lot to say about that little part of northern France they like to call Normandy. Particularly in regards to how much of a pain in the butt it is to toy around with the Infinite Powers of the Cosmos up there (as the Order of Hermes is so often wont to do). Which means it's a perfect addition to your game, for what magus doesn't enjoy a good challenge.
And the winners of the Munchkin Common Card Survey are:
Matt Burr
Paul Lenoue
Tarmo Mamers
Martijn Waegemakers
Markus Zimmermann
These lucky folks are getting a grab bag of German Munchkin promo materials. Enjoy!
-- Paul Chapman
Mythic Roleplaying has a killer red cover. Is that a reason to buy it? Who knows. Who cares. Would you have bought into any line we tried to sell you? Didn't think so. You're smarter than that. Ergo, we simply point out the one empirical fact we do have: the book has a red cover. Enjoy.
December 29, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: A Very Dagon Christmas
It's just as well that Yule is over; even as a last-minute gift, the Innsmouth Look leaves a lot to be desired. That's not to say it isn't a source of Christmas spirit, though. It even has its own holiday video. But where most YouTube movies are dull or amateurish or both, It's Beginning to Look Alot Like Fishmen is neither (well, excepting the typo in the title). -- Suggested by Erik Wilson
Warehouse 23 News: The Wee Roaring Twenties
Of all the offices in all the world to materialize into, she had to materialize into mine . . . Fae Noir is a world of dames, jazz, bootleggers, the Great War, private eyes. Oh, and trolls, brownies, tuatha - y'know, the usual sort of supernatural beings you'd see on any given day in 1920s Chicago.
In the beginning, an adventure consisted of meeting an old wizard in a tavern, and following the dusty map he gave you and your friends. Inevitably, you were lead to a complex series of rooms, usually underground, filled with monsters and their treasure. You slew the monsters, took the treasure, and returned to the tavern to celebrate (or heal your wounds).
Now Dungeon Fantasy: Adventurers brings these classic dungeon crawlers into GURPS. Sean Punch, architect of Fourth Edition, guides players and gamemasters alike through GURPS' many options, to create characters who can kick down doors and slay dragons with the best of 'em.
Dungeon Fantasy: Adventurers shamelessly cuts corners, focusing on characters who can “hack-n-slash” to the exclusion of almost everything else. This is a quick reference guide for gamers who want a fast, fun adventure; use it in a serious fantasy campaign at your peril. This volume focuses on the characters; watch for Dungeon Fantasy: Dungeons for advice on running the adventure.
-- Paul Chapman
Warehouse 23 News: Life, Liberty, And Shooting Monsters
When in the Course of human events, it becomes necessary for one people to Get Their Game On, a decent RPG is required. Colonial Gothic, for example. It's a historical/horror game that asks a very simple question: why have one war when you can get two for the same price?
Terry Pratchett, whimsical mastermind behind Discworld, has been diagnosed with early onset Alzheimer's. He's doing quite well, and is continuing to write. In his words, "I think there's time for at least a few more books yet :o)"
-- Paul Chapman
Warehouse 23 News: Jerome's Jihad Jilts Jaded Jockies
Time marches on, even in universes that don't really exist. No one can escape its obnoxiously linear progression, no matter how fictional they may be. Classic BattleTech: Jihad Hot Spots - 3072 advances the fluff-filled world of BattleTech to the year 3072. So don't worry if you feel old. All your favorite characters are getting old, too!
Munchkin Cthulhu 3 is at the printer, and just before the break we got a look at the press sheets -- actual sheets direct from the printer. We look them over, and make sure all the corrections we made on the proof sheets are in place.
The press sheets are really the very last chance to catch any errors, so when we don't find any, we're happy.
And we're happy. This 56-card Munchkin Cthulhu expansion will be on store shelves in late January.
-- Paul Chapman
Warehouse 23 News: Wait, Don't They Already . . .
Shush! Not everyone wants to limit themselves to werewolves. Some people want werelions or werebears. Or even wereapes! Which, um, kinda look like regular apes . . . well, anyway, The World of Darkness: Changing Breeds has loads of options for the were-inclined. And yes, it covers wolves, too.
We're definitely not in the office today. Some of us are traveling to see family, others are staying toasty warm indoors. All of us will be playing with toys of one kind or another.
Hope Santa brought you something cool!
-- Paul Chapman
Warehouse 23 News: Blind Them With (Mad) Science!
And industrial-grade corrosives! Grab your doomsday device and brush up on your maniacal laugher, because a new semester is starting at Mad Scientist University. Formulate the most diabolical scheme you can with the materials provided to win! Or just lose and use the opportunity to tell the other players what fools they are! But you'll show them! Bah-hahahhahah-haaaaa!
One of the nice things about having a large lobby is decorating it for the season. We've got a nice table display, a nifty wireframe tree, and lights hung around the front doors.
Oh, and Merry Christmas Eve!
-- Paul Chapman
Warehouse 23 News: We're The Immanent Action Liberation!
Not the People's Liberation of Immanent Action! Those splitters . . . And the Popular Action of Immanent Liberation? Forget it! Nope, we're the Immanent Action Liberation. You can read all about us in HeroQuest: Champions of the Reaching Moon. And if you don't care about us, fine. Then you won't get to read about the insane duck/assassin, either.
According to a tribute site set up by Kevin Siembieda, Erick was recently diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. Erick is the creator of the Amber Diceless Roleplaying Game and the Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles and Other Strangeness RPG, and contributed to many, many other game systems, most recently Paranoia XP.
Warehouse 23 News: Cthulhu . . . In . . . Spaaaaaaace!
Covering the events of the film by the same name, Babylon 5: Thirdspace is a horrific romp through 2.5 million tons of steel floating in space. Just when you thought pak'ma'ra "cuisine" was the most terrifying thing the universe had to offer, it turns out there's a bunch of Evil Beings from Another Dimension that prefer us more inside-out than right-side-in. The Universe, huh? That is so like it.
Looking for an unusual gamer gift, but don't have a lot of time? Given that many of you will be exchanging gifts with friends in advance and spending the actual "day of" with family, I'll take this opportunity to point out that your local Barnes & Nobles store has copies of the Munchkin Bobblehead Edition.
It has everything you need to play, so it's perfect for the gamer who hasn't caught the Munchkin bug yet, or for the non-gamer who loves funny card games. With the Bobblehead, this box has something even hardcore Munchkin players haven't seen.
-- Paul Chapman
Warehouse 23 News: The Board Game About The Movie About That Book That's Really An Old-English Poem
That is, Beowulf: The Movie Board Game. It's not as complicated as it sounds.
It's the Last Official Office Day of 2007, so we're blowing off actual "work," and playing some games. Which games, exactly, I'm not sure. But I'm certain we're having fun!
As a corollary, we may be a bit slow to answer the phones today. Most of us will check email, but we're not likely to respond to anything except shipping emergencies. The Warehouse 23 crew will be back on duty December 26, and will deal with the rest then.
Everybody else will emerge from the holidays on January 2, freshly powdered with holiday rest and relaxation. Or wired from clearing 1191 of enemies, depending on what we got from Santa. Either way, that's when I'll post any photos I take today.
-- Paul Chapman
Warehouse 23 News: Buy This Game Or The Terrorists Win
Grab your duct tape and prepare to be both shocked and awed, 'cause here comes War on Terror: The Boardgame! We'd tell you more, but someone's beating on our door, shouting about "national security" or something. You'll never take us alive, coppers! Just ask the Secret Service!!
We've just released GURPS High-Tech on e23. Yes, this is early. Yes, this is a change in policy.
As announced back in February, the policy has been to release the PDF version of a GURPS book three months after the print version ships. Over the past ten months, we've been watching the impact these releases have on the sales of print books. The result, as you can likely guess, was "minimal" -- releasing the PDF has virtually no effect on the sales of the print product.
So we're adjusting our policy. One month after a print GURPS book ships, we'll release the PDF on e23. We will, of course, continue to watch the correlation between print and digital sales.
While we're doing that, I'd be remiss if I failed to mention a related product: GURPS High-Tech: Weapon Tables. The title is quite descriptive -- this product is, in fact, the 27 most useful weapons tables from GURPS High-Tech in one easy to reference PDF. We'll be bundling it with the main GURPS High-Tech PDF, but if you don't want the full thing, we are selling it separately.
-- Paul Chapman
Warehouse 23 News: Five Feet Of Irrefutable Air Space
With con season slowly creeping up on us, perhaps it is time to consider how you will survive the throngs of . . . how to put this nicely . . . hygiene-deprived, socially awkward fanboy-types. Whenever you're in doubt, we recommend you remember d20: anyone within five feet of you gets a free smack. To avoid legal repercussions, we suggest you give them fair warning by wearing our Attack of Opportunity T-shirt.
Munchkin Quest is seeing a bit of activity this week, as we're adding extra in-house playtests to hammer out the last few kinks before the full-scale blindtest stage.
What's a blindtest? Most companies stick to standard playtesting, where the designer or his proxy sits down with a group and plays the game. A blindtest takes this one step further. A group sits down and plays the game, but the designer and his proxy -- indeed, anyone who worked on the drafts -- just sits and watches. No hints, no rules questions, no nothing -- just observation.
It's difficult, because the developers always want to tweak things, and watching a group struggle with a poorly written rule can make you crazy. But it's also very important, because the rule that "everyone" understood isn't really that clear when the guy who wrote it isn't there to clarify.
We don't do it for every product, but we definitely do it for the unusual ones, and the important ones. And you can bet that we consider Munchkin Quest both.
-- Paul Chapman
Warehouse 23 News: The Rise And Fall Of Humpty Dumpty
Where children are eaten and trolls reside / Where mirth and myth and nightmare do collide / Where a Rotten King spoils all around him, /
This dark, defaced place is the land of Grimm.
. . . Christmas cards, actually. Lots of 'em.
Yep, the Munchkin Christmas Card is our Official Company Holiday Card, and SJ got to sign each and every one.
The grand total was well over four hundred; what you see here is just the first batch.
-- Paul Chapman
Warehouse 23 News: A Fist Full Of Munchkin
While you're certainly welcome to accept our vision of how the West was won (and then quickly looted of all its stuff), The Good, the Bad, and the Munchkin Blank Cards are now available to let you devise your own devious depravity.
As in years past, we're technically closing the office for about a week during the stretch between Christmas and New Year's Day. I say "technically" because the Warehouse 23 crew still needs to do inventory, and will be shipping during that time. Also, a couple of the work-a-holics will sneaking in and finishing up various projects.
Our "no one will be in the office at all" days are December 24 and 25 -- Warehouse 23 will be shipping on December 24th, but they probably won't be answering phones. Also, the office will be vacant January 1; most of us won't have hangovers, but pretty much everyone else in Austin will.
Finally, we're going to do another Game Day on December 21. We will be slow to answer the phone, and distracted once (if!) we do, but in an emergency, you should be able to reach most of us.
Between December 24 and January 1, however, we make no promises. It is very likely that any questions will need to wait for January 2, when we all reappear.
-- Paul Chapman
Warehouse 23 News: Don't You Mean "Elves?"
Well, strictly speaking, they're called "Aldryami," but "elfs" will do. "Tree hugger," is, however, right out. For further information on how to insult a force of nature shaped like a man, see RuneQuest: Elfs - A Guide to the Aldryami.
As you may have noticed, we recently announced the third edition of Lord of the Fries. But instead of being published by Cheapass Games, it's coming from us. What's going on?
- No, James Ernest hasn't sold Cheapass Games, to Steve Jackson Games or anyone else.
- No, he hasn't won the Tour de France and retired to his Swiss chateau.
- No, he hasn't been eaten by zombies.
We just noticed that a couple of really cool games were out of print. It seems Mr. Ernest has found himself one of those mythical beasts -- a Day Job -- and hasn't been in the mood to update the classics. So we offered our assistance, and he agreed.
What other Cheapass products will their way into our Halls of Production? Watch this space . . .
-- Paul Chapman
Elric of Melniboné: Bright Shadows could just as readily be called "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About Melniboné and the Melnibonéan People, But Were Afraid Might Get You Killed, Enslaved, Or Otherwise Great Inconvenienced," but good luck fitting that on the spine.
And now, here's what's coming in April 2008.
Munchkin Cthulhu Cursed Demo
Remember last year's Munchkin Rigged Demo? It went over so well that we're doing another one, in a prettier format!
This tuckbox mini-set contains 56 cards to help you bring new victims . . . errr, gamers . . . into the wonderful world of Munchkin Cthulhu . . .
First, a special 17-card demonstration deck, drawn from the Munchkin Cthulhu set. The cards are numbered, so you can stack the deck and play out four scripted turns that show the basic mechanics. And it only takes a couple of minutes. Instructions, dialogue, and stupid jokes are included. Or use your own stupid jokes -- we won't mind.
The other 39 cards are promos, to give away to friends, customers, or total strangers. These are completely new cards, each guaranteed to be more munchkinly, more insane, more cursed than the last. And we've included multiple copies. Every munchkin will want at least one of each. Will you be generous? Or will you demand tribute? Of course, you are a munchkin, so you will keep at least one of each for yourself, right?
56 cards and a rulesheet in a tuckbox.
Stock #1456,
ISBN 978-1-55634-777-1.
$4.95.
Tribes
Tribes has been a convention favorite for many years. Designed by Steve Jackson and award-winning SF author David Brin, Tribes started as a very simple roleplaying game which plays a lot like a boardgame. The Second Edition streamlines play further and upgrades the components to a level expected by modern gamers.
In Tribes, the players are cave men and women. They hunt and gather food, make their tribal laws, and deal with natural disasters. But the object of the game is simple: Look after the children! In this game, the way to win is to have the most kids, and do whatever you have to do to make sure they survive to adulthood. The players must know when to cooperate, and when to cut their losses and protect their own families.
Tribes supports 4 to 8 players, creating their own laws and social patterns. With several copies and a referee, it is possible to have several tribes playing at once, competing, trading, exchanging members, and even making war on each other.
This edition features erasable Character Cards and Birth Records, along with a marker; a gameboard for tracking years, games, and children; full-color tokens for Food, Grain, Baskets, and Spears; Chance cards, and three dice, all in a sturdy box.
22" x 7" game board, rulesheet, die-cut counters, 25 Chance cards, 8 Character Sheets, 3 six-sided dice, Hunting tables, Birth Record card and dry-erase marker in a 12" x 12" box.
Stock #1901,
ISBN 978-1-55634-774-0.
$39.95.
-- Paul Chapman
Let us guess. You're here because you need a crazy German special operative lady with a big metal claw on her left arm for your games of Tannhäuser. Thought so. We suggest Tannhäuser: Yula.
We're doing a bit of catching up, so we're announcing what's coming out for March 2008 today, and April 2008 tomorrow.
Munchkin 6 - Demented Dungeons
Now It's Really A Dungeon Crawl!
Munchkin is about kicking down doors, killing nonsters, and stealing their treasure. But where are the dank walls of the subterranean labyrinth where our heroes engage in their murderous exploits?
Demented Dungeons introduces a new twist on Munchkin. Now you can enter the Dungeon of Elvish Excess, where everyone is an Elf. Or take a Portal to the Dungeon of Manga Wrangling, where tentacles are even more dangerous. Or power up in the Dungeon of Unexpected Epicness -- although it's hardly "unexpected," given the name. Or all of them at once!
Each of the 20 double-sized Dungeon cards adds a new rule that affects the entire party, and maybe the monsters too! Use the 16 Portal cards to jump from one Dungeon to the next in your search for gold and glory.
Munchkin 6 - Demented Dungeons is an expansion for the classic Munchkin set, and was designed by Steve Jackson and illustrated by John Kovalic.
20 double-sized cards, 16 standard-sized cards, and a rulesheet in a tuckbox.
Stock #1457,
ISBN 978-1-55634-778-8.
$9.95.
Lord of the Fries
Welcome to Friedey's, the Fast Food Restaurant of the Damned!
Our whole staff is dead, and we’re really short on brains. But we'll do our best to fill your order! Even a horde of nearly-mindless zombies can assemble combo meals. Sort of.
And now you're one of us. Combine frighteningly generic ingredients like "Cow Meat," "Sauce," and "Drink." Play from eight different menus, including Ratherbee's Steakhouse, the classic Friedey's Restaurant, and the new McPubihan’s. Build orders like Bovine Spongiform Yum, Yum, Yum!, Penne for Your Tots, Synaptic Relay Deteriorator, and Sheep wit' da Fishes. But be quick -- the customer is waiting!
Whoever fills the best orders gets the most points, and the zombie with the most points becomes . . . The Lord of the Fries!
This new edition of the classic Lord of the Fries includes large, full-color menus, a new restaurant, 8 alternate decks designed for 3-to-5-player games, color-coded dice, point tokens, and a timer.
100 cards, two dice, die-cut tokens, timer, full-color menus, and rulesheet in a 6" x 9" box.
Stock #1801,
ISBN 978-1-55634-776-4.
$24.95.
Note: Steve Jackson Games did not buy Cheapass Games, nor has James Ernest been called back to the mothership. We'll do another Daily Illuminator on what the actual relationship is, later in the week.
-- Paul Chapman
Warehouse 23 News: Length, Width, Meet Depth
Your characters aren't 5-foot by 5-foot squares. They are 5-foot by 5-foot by 5-foot cubes. Very important distinction. CartoGraph Pro is built to take that sort of thing into account. Now, getting your players to have some depth, well . . . you're on your own with that one.
I discovered Ensemble's Age of Mythology several years ago, when I was a guest at a convention that got blizzarded in. Very few fans showed up, but the staff and guests were already there when the snow hit. So we all had a lot of unscheduled time, and they had a lot of videogames set up, and I discovered the joy of building an army of mythological creatures and watching them tear up a Roman city with the aid of lightning from the gods.
So earlier this year I decided to check out Age of Empires III, figuring it would be interesting to see what this sort of game looked like with more recent technology. Not brand new, though - AoE was a 2005 release. So this is not a review. It's more of an "oh, wow."
Things I like about it:
- It's absolutely beautiful. The game is just a visual feast, both in terms of artwork and animation. I could babble about this at length, but I'm stopping now.
- Although it's very firmly in the Real Time Simulation camp, the designers have brought in concepts from other sorts of games, including traditional roleplaying and even console gaming (kill something, and a point score comes floating up . . .!) Because I don't play nearly every computer game that comes out, I don't know how much of this might have been evolutionary as Ensemble developed the line. I just know that as I explore the many elements of AoE and the way they link together, my designer spider-sense is tingling very happily.
- In particular, the "Home City" concept - which was definitely introduced in this game - is very ingenious, because every game you play, even a one-shot skirmish against the AI, adds to your city's "experience" and builds toward unlocking new units. Addictive and sneaky!
- Eight different nations to play, each with some unique units; some even have unique naval units. Woo. The ships are large (of course), damage each other spectacularly, and sink beautifully. And you can hire privateers as auxiliaries. Arrrrr.
Things I don't like so much:
- The AI is lame compared to, say, StarCraft. Which was done HOW many years ago? (checks) 1998. Nine years ago. The StarCraft AI, once it's gotten that first rush out of its system, can hit me with anything, anyplace on the map, and it expands aggressively. The AoE AI, at least so far, repeats the same sort of attack in the same place often enough that I might as well be playing Tower Defense. And it doesn't seem to scout the whole map at all.
- The documentation is mediocre. Though actually that's a plus, because most computer game documentation is still BAD. Still, if you play this game, you'll be learning it by clicking everything that moves, and then everything that stands still, and seeing if you get an info panel, and clicking everything on THAT . . .
- The theme gets stuck in my head and I dream about it.
- Is there really no way to set a unit to patrol?
- Often I get the same name on two of my warships at once. Come on, guys. That ought to be patched by now.
You will note that the good bullet points really outweigh the bad. So I'm going to play this some more. And if you work for Ensemble and see me at a convention, come up and say hi. I'd like to shake your hand.
-- Steve Jackson
Warehouse 23 News: Et Tu, Vampire: The Requiem?
Vampires are really old. It's sorta their schtick. Sure, there's the blood sucking and seduction, but before all that is the centuries of moping. And if you're gonna mope, what better place than Rome, right? If the beautifully tragic nature of Rome doesn't hit your mope switch, Vampire: The Requiem - Requiem for Rome oughta help set the mood nicely.
We are going to be doing some server maintenance on Thursday night, Dec. 13 from 8pm - 10pm CST (GMT -6). We don't expect any noticeable issues, but the possibility for some intermittent outages during that time period exists. This will affect the SJ Games website, forums, our zines, Warehouse 23, and UltraCorps logins.
-- Jimmie Bragdon
It's Sabotage! If your goblins can't stand it because they know your enemies planned it, check out this expansion for Infernal Contraption.
You knew the Ogre was coming someday.
But did you expect it to come from Carnegie Mellon University?
Perhaps you should have. They're good at this stuff . . .
And perhaps the robot tanks will be escorted by robot infantry.
"B-O-O-K." That's how you . . . oh, you meant . . . Oh. Here, just take this link to RuneQuest: Spellbook and run before this becomes a vaudeville routine.
Have you noticed that David Pulver's GURPS Spaceships has risen to the #4 slot on e23's all-time best-seller list? Good thing we planned on this being an eight-part series!
Just as a further status update, the second installment, Traders, Liners, and Transports, just wrapped up its playtest. The next two after that are nearing the completion of their respective first drafts.
And, of course, the first release is getting a POD edition. Watch for it early in the new year.
-- Paul Chapman
Illuminati Y2K is nothing new, but we were silly and let it go out of print for a little while. In case you hadn't heard: it's back now. And if that sounds like a heavy-handed hint to dash over to the product page and order a copy, well . . . yeah, it kinda is . . . Did it work?
Looking for a Munchkin Bobblehead?
The first place to check is Barnes and Noble stores around the country. The Bobblehead Edition is exclusive to B&N, and includes a complete Munchkin game as well as the Bobblehead. It makes a great gift for the gamer who hasn't taken the Munchkin plunge yet, or for collectors.
If you're just looking for the Bobblehead, they'll be available through your Friendly Local Game Store next February. However, for a limited time, and in limited numbers, Warehouse 23 has the smilin' little guy.
And yes, of COURSE he gives you a benefit, once per game.
-- Paul Chapman
He who dies with the most toys does not win. He who uses the most toys to kill the other guy wins. Patton said that, didn't he? Eh, in any case, GURPS High-Tech certainly has enough toys to dish out a heapin' helpin' of hostile hospitality.
The Transhuman Space setting sees extensive use of a wide variety of cybershells, artificial constructs that can function as scouts, guides, armor, weapons, tools . . . well, you get the idea. There's a lot of them, and they're put to lots of uses.
Phil Masters has updated the cybershells found throughout the Transhuman Space line, and collected them all into a single catalog -- Shell-Tech. Check it out on e23 now!
-- Paul Chapman
Warehouse 23 News: Crazy Like A Secret Master
Secret societies often have subtle, nuanced symbols or signs that they can use recognize one another. The Illumi-Nutty Pendant has all the subtlety of a man lighting himself on fire in Times Square, but it still gets the same job done.
December 7, 2007: Illuminated Site of the Week: You Need A Tower Just To Store All The Theories
There's a lot yet to uncover in this fascinating world. The computer game Second Life is a mask for the Illuminati. Perennial favorite Dungeons & Dragons has been "upgraded" to a computer game to work its evil in a technological society. The number 23 is working several shifts for everyone from the Twin Towers to Oprah. And all that was just the beginning of the year. BluePrint of Babylon Exposed shows that if you have nothing better to do, you can find occult significance in just about any number (check out especially the "proof" that binary 666 is "really" 1111). This site will give the modern conspiracy theorist every excuse he needs to keep the tinfoil beanie on for years to come. -- Suggested by Jeremy Zauder
Warehouse 23 News: Diminutive Dominar Dominates Domicile Domain
Short, squat, rude, noxious, self-centered, egomaniacal, greedy, back-stabbing, cowardly, opportunistic, and above all, gluttonous. And he's one of the nicer aliens you'll meet. Lucky for you, the Farscape: Lifesize Plush Rygel the XVI is just a facsimile of this charming hynerian.
It's proof time!
Here's Will, checking the proofs of Munchkin Cthulhu 3, received just moments before. Everything looks good, and we're on schedule for a January release.
What's proofing? Before a printer goes through the time and materials required to print a couple thousand decks, they run one sheet off the files they have, and send it to the publisher. We take that sheet and go over each square inch, checking text, positioning of the art, colors -- pretty much everything. We get sheets for the decks, the rules, and the box, and need to check each carefully.
Usually, they're fine. But occasionally, we have found typos, bad art, and, in one case, an image that was completely reversed! We note any needed corrections, then send 'em back to the printer.
-- Paul Chapman
Warehouse 23 News: Warehouse 23 Top Ten
Warehouse 23 has posted an updated Top 10 page for November. Check it out, and see what all the cool kids are buying . . .
Our ISP has informed us that they will be performing network maintenance on Thursday morning. This means that you may be unable to reach our websites or send us email intermittently between the hours of 12:00 am and 6:00 am (CST / GMT -6) on Thursday, December 6th. Most of you will be sleeping, but the night owls and overseas fans will have to drop by afterwards.
-- Jimmie Bragdon
Warehouse 23 News: Don't Solve Your Problems With Violence
That would be selfish. Solve everyone's problems with violence. The king, the old man in the tavern, the hapless maiden: everyone's plagued by some sort of obnoxious happenstance or another. Hack-n-Slash Gamemasters Edition gives you a Fudge flavored way to slice their respective Gordian knots like only a dwarven war axe can.
Everyone likes getting holiday cards (especially if they contain cash!), and we've got a new one from Warehouse 23, featuring everyone's favorite Munchkin.
And yes, it does have a rule. Once per game, you get a holiday gift from Steve Jackson Games: a free Treasure!
-- Paul Chapman
Warehouse 23 News: But Where's "Chong," "Ching," And "Chung?"
They tell us that Chang Cheng means "long wall," which is appropriate when you consider that the game is about building the Great Wall of China. They also tell us that dogs can speak with the Moon People, so we've learned to be very careful trusting Them. In fact, we should probably go lock up the glue before They get to it. Excuse us.
One of my new favorite sites is the Insect Picture of the Day. The photographs are neat, but it's the commentary that hooked me. David Brady is not an entomologist. He's what used to be called an "amateur naturalist," back when amateur was understood to mean "one who studies a subject for the love of it." David loves bugs, and loves learning about them, and thanks to the miracle of the intertubes, he can share a whole bunch of bugs with a whole bunch of people.
I'm right in his target audience. I love bugs too.
A couple of months ago I found an especially neat bug, and took it to the office to show off. Some people said "cool!" and some said "Euwww get it away now please thank you OMG euwww." In other words, people haven't changed at all since I was in third grade. But I digress. I also took some pictures, and after I became an insectpod fan, I sent them to David, and woot! he liked them, and they showed up on the site on November 12 and 13. So if you want to know what kind of bug it was, and see the pictures, you'll have to visit insectpod. And if the idea is interesting enough for you to check out at all, I bet you'll be a repeat visitor.
-- Steve Jackson
You may have heard of StarCraft. StarCraft: The Board Game may be nearly a decade behind its digital progenitor, but if you think of it as "nine years in the making," it sounds very epic. And if it's epic you seek, a game with 880 or so components ought to satisfy.
Last weekend, a couple of us sneaked into the office to use the huge conference table to set up a game of Heroscape. A couple of us played, you may remember, during our last Game Day, and wanted to see a larger game.
The setup this time included Phil, Gina, and Randy versus Will, Fox, and me. The terrain included a river that bisected the area (but turned into a lava field in the center) with a swamp on one side and a couple ruined walls on the other. Not particularly realistic, but what do you expect when six people are throwing together bits, all at the same time?
The actual game was a little one sided. Phil brought his zombie horde (backed up by Red Skull, for some reason), Gina had a bunch of creepy things that resurrected themselves from their hive, and Randy had a mish-mash army of a single giant, a bunch of snake warriors, and a couple of elves. Will, Fox, and I, entirely independently of each other, selected robots and guys in power armor. See the problem? Robots have guns -- zombies do not.
We all had fun, even if Phil didn't get to attack a single person and Randy was nearly wiped out. Next time, we'll try to balance our armies a bit better, but all in all, a very fun way to spend a rainy afternoon.
-- Paul Chapman
Warehouse 23 News: If At First You Don't Succeed
Tri, tri a gon. Blokus Trigon is a fun, family-friendly, minute-to-learn sort of game that deserves better than that. However, since jokes of mass destruction are the humor de jour around here, we're afraid we have no choice in the matter. Our apologies to the fine folks at Educational Insights, net denizens such as yourself, and all sentient life in any coexisting parallel dimensions.
Some people are saving themselves for marriage. Other people are saving themselves for unicorns.
As we're sure you're aware, unicorns kinda have a thing for "pure" types. Sure, they like to say it's some sort of "Oh, I'm such an important and wondrous mythical being that only those of virtue may stand before me" thing, but it's really just equestrian elitism. Unicorns have high standards, and for the bulk of us unwashed masses, this means we'll never get to see one.
This wouldn't be much of a problem if it weren't for the fact that unicorn horns (unihorns?) are in high demand. High demand for horns means high demand for unicorns. This, in turn, means a high demand for unicorn bait. As you can imagine, such people are in short supply.
To help unicorn hunters expedite the bait selection process, we present the Unicorn Bait shirt . This shirt, available both as a standard T-shirt and "baby doll" style shirt, will make it readily apparent to people that you are throughly unsuitable for sitting around in the woods, singing with birds and chipmunks until a unicorn shows up. No, despite your innocent appearance, your . . . past "activities" have precluded your . . . "purity." But you can save yourself an awkward conversation with unicorn seekers by wearing this shirt!
Bonus: this shirt will also protect you from crazed islanders and would-be cultists, as it shows you are totally unsuitable as a sacrifice.
-- Fox Barrett
Warehouse 23 News: So What's Your Story?
You and your friends fancy yourselves StoryTellers, eh? Well, with this game, you'll be the judge of that. Which . . . actually, kinda works out in your favor.
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