Home |
Past columns |
Illuminator by E-mail |
XML |
Illuminated Site of the Week
Back in 1980, when Steve Jackson Games was just a fledgling publisher, Elisabeth Zakes handled editing, playtesting, and the million other hats everyone at a start-up wears. She wandered away after a time, but now has returned!
This time, she'll be handling editing (she red-lined this very DI!) and playtesting/game development administration (aka all the paperwork Phil and the Dev Team generate to keep track of where they're at). Since we're no longer "fledgling," we'll let her get accustomed to those two duties before piling on the multitude of responsibilities everyone in a small company gets.
The more things change . . .
-- Paul Chapman
Warehouse 23 News: e23: It's All About Image
Need to "wow" some new players into your Ars Magica games? What you need is an exciting title. Like Return of the Stormrider, say. Just look at that beauty. Right at the start is "return." Where did this "stormrider" go, and why the heck did he leave in the first place? And what a great compound word "stormrider" is. "Storm," like a big scary thing, and "rider," like someone who could control a big scary thing. Which means that person is even bigger and scarier than the big scary thing! What a great book! Go play it right now!
Yesterday, the pallets of Revolution! arrived in our warehouse. Next Monday, the massive flood of cases will begin to flow, from us to various distributors to the shelves of your favorite game store.
If you haven't seen our numerous mentions of this fantastic game, check out one of the reviews on the Revolution! page. Randy's Road Trip featured this game fairly prominently, and we've run demos at Origins and Dallas Games Marathon, as well as locales around Austin. We'll also be running it -- nearly constantly -- at GenCon.
Revolution! is rather different for us, with its Euro-style blocks and bidding mechanic. But designer Philip duBarry created a great game, and the developers here in the office polished the "great" into "awesome." You can learn to play in less than five minutes, and play a complete game in less than an hour. It's rapidly becoming one of my favorite games.
Check it out at GenCon, or at one of the Top Secret pre-release demos our MIB are doing around the country.
Just in! We finished our first Revolution! unboxing video. Go watch on YouTube!
-- Paul Chapman
Warehouse 23 News: e23: We Lie Because We Care
City: the hotshot rookie who doesn't play by the rules. Guild: the tough-as-nails veteran who's seen it all. Together, they clean up the mean streets as City & Guild. This time, it's personal . . . with a vengeance. (This is a lie. It's actually a really cool Ars Magica book. Enjoy!)
July 29, 2009: Shouldn't Have Called It EATR
How's this for a denial? "We completely understand the public's concern about futuristic robots feeding on the human population, but that is not our mission."
Harry Schoell is the CEO of Cyclone Power Technologies, makers of the Energetically Autonomous Tactical Robot (EATR). I would SO like to shake the hand of whoever came up with that acronym. Ahem. At any rate, there seems to be a genuine level of fear among the Internet-consuming class that EATR was actually designed to power itself by feeding on human bodies on the battlefield. Which is why Mr. Schoell had to issue an official denial. "No, folks, we are not designing a robot to CUT UP DEAD PEOPLE AND EAT THEM. Honest. Also, there is no Easter Bunny."
(And why not, I say . . . but then, we have already established that humanity does NOT want me in charge of anything more influential than a game company.)
Anyway, take a look at the Popular Science article. Digest, if you will, the image of EATR. It has a chainsaw. How cool is that? Yet we are expected to believe that it's only for cutting down trees. Hah. I have a chainsaw myself, and . . . well, actually, I just use it to cut down trees. But we all have our little dreams, don't we?
This is still an even cooler robot than my Roomba. And if it's causing dismay and paranoia in the people who move their lips when they read the news, well, that's a bonus.
-- Steve Jackson
Warehouse 23 News: e23: You Want Fries With That?
It's a busy world, a hectic world, a go-go-go world! You haven't the time for the smelling of flowers, you have stuff to do! Your life is a burger in a bag and a foot on the pedal. What you need is your adventures . . . To Go.
July 28, 2009: "Part Munchkin, Part Pyramid, All . . ."
Um . . . All, uh, words? Okay, so I choked. I can't really be expected to always be funny every time, can I? I'm not some clanking automaton that generates whimsy at the command of my fleshy overlords. No! I'm a people! And as such, am naturally chaotic.
I'm not like Pyramid, with its monthly releases. Its schedule. Its consistency. Its ability to deliver high-quality gaming material on a regular basis. Flaunting its clear superiority with its latest issue, Pyramid #3/9: Space Opera. I'm not like you, Pyramid! Go take your clockwork ways, and your awesome articles about spacey ships, and let the good people of the Internet buy you!
No, I am more like Munchkin. I'm noisy and ever-changing; a bizzaro mish-mash of popular culture and oddball rules. Yes, like a mighty, yet amorphous juggernaut, I am - what's that? "The Munchkin Rigged Demo is a fixed demonstration that cleanly explains the rules of Munchkin?" And you say it is available as a free download on e23? And that I should stop repeating everything you say? Well, then . . . I guess I'm not like Munchkin either. Eh, for the game's sake, that's probably best.
-- Fox Barrett
Warehouse 23 News: e23: People To Meet.
The characters that make up A Medieval Tapestry are yours to use and abuse. You could use them as pre-gens for your Ars Magica game. You could make them all have a tea party on the top of a mountain. You could pit them against one another in a secret underground deathmatch. You could even have them all write-up characters for their own Ars Magica game. The choice is yours, so make the book yours as well.
July 27, 2009: Dice: the Common Denominator
Dice. We all started with the classic six-sider in those boardgames we played as kids. (Not that we stopped playing them; they're called "classics" for a reason!) Then we grew into more and more complex polyhedrals in our quest to randomly generate numbers. Sometimes, we went too far.
Topless Robot has created a top ten list of the most shameful dice ever created for roleplaying games. It's a fun look back at some of the craziest dice ever rolled on a table.
Looks like I've owned four of those ten, although including the "d2" (aka a coin) seems like a bit of a cheat.
-- Paul Chapman
Postscript from SJ: Hah. I've owned five (counting the d2). And now I have to get a d5. That's pretty. Dumb dice are FUN and we want more of them. If this guy really gets that upset about other peoples' dice collections, his eyeballs will probably explode if he ever goes to GenCon. (Photos, or it didn't happen.)
Warehouse 23 News: e23: What Is This "Munchkin" Of Which You Speak?
So Munchkin is kind of a big deal around here. "Big" on the scale of "the lights stay on, food goes in on our table, gas goes in our cars." But maybe you've never played it. Or perhaps you have played it, but you have friends who haven't. Or maybe you're willing to humor us for the sake of this ad. Whatever the case, the Munchkin Rigged Demo is now available as a download through e23. Go see what all the fuss is about.
July 26, 2009: Available Again . . . for the First Time!
Here at e23, we're always trying to do what we can to make our products the best we can. And sometimes, that means making existing products even better.
Case in point? Because of a lack of usable source files, some of the GURPS Classic Third Edition reprints we've offered via e23 have had to be made using scanned versions. Our choice was either "scanned copy" or "no copy at all"! However, for a few books, we've overcome technical hurdles that previously prevented us from making original-source versions available. (These are the same kind of problems that kept us from releasing GURPS Dragons via e23 until a couple of months ago.)
So, we're pleased to announce that new, much-improved versions of four classic Third Edition supplements are now available. These are also some of our best-sellers!
If you've purchased any of the above previously through e23, the updated version is yours, free of charge. In fact, it should already be available in your e23 Library; just redownload it at your leisure!
Of course, if you haven't picked these books up before, feel free to check out their new awesome goodness by clicking the links above.
-- Steven Marsh
Warehouse 23 News: e23: Number 9 . . . Number 9
Pyramid #3/9: Space Opera isn't about The Beatles! No! It's about the space opera genre as it applies to gaming! This advertisement is very confusing.
Back in 1994, Jupiter got punched in the eye. Well, not the "eye" of the Great Red Spot, but Comet Shoemaker-Levy 9 did slam into the gas giant with enough force to cause an impact spot the size of Earth. The first fragments fell on July 16, with a total of 21 fragments over the next six days.
This year, the largest planet in our solar system got hit again. On July 20, NASA's Jet Propulsion Laboratory caught infrared images that indicated another collision. That's right -- exactly 15 years later.
Coincidence? A dictionary would tell us "yes," but conspiracy theorists know better. Especially when you factor in the other historical event which happened on July 20: the landing of Apollo 11 on the lunar surface. Were those spots the result of comets smashing, or psychic echos of our first walk on another celestial body? Perhaps what we called "Shoemaker-Levy 9" was a multi-stage lander. Or maybe comets hanging around the outer planets just find themselves drawn to Jupiter's sexy spots.
(Yes, I know "gravity" could explain it all, but the last time I talked to Jupiter, he was rather sensitive about his weight, so I'm trying to avoid the topic.)
-- Paul Chapman
It's con season! Go to a con! Take Munchkin with you! And print out these Munchkin Tournament Rules when you do! Then you can finally prove once and for all who among you is the grandest of all munchkins! (Exclamation points!)
This month marks eight years since Munchkin was first shipped from our warehouse. The first print run was 6,000 copies; the second run was only five months later. The first expansion was just three months after that.
We knew that Munchkin was fun. We knew John Kovalic's art was good. And we knew SJ's humor was wicked. We didn't know how these factors would combine to create something greater than the sum of its parts.
Now, eight years, eight new boxed sets, 16 expansions, and one boardgame later, we're still marveling at the power of the Chainsaw of Bloody Dismemberment-wielding maniac.
-- Paul Chapman
Warehouse 23 News: e23: The Little Book That Could
They said it couldn't be done! They said it would never happen! They said we were mad - mad - to even try! Ah-hah-hah-hah-hah! (Whoops, got a little Victor Frankenstein there.) Well, dagnabbit, They must have not noticed the name Vorkosigan in the title of this book. A Vorkosigan doesn't know when to give up, and neither do we! The Vorkosigan Saga Sourcebook and Roleplaying Game is here! Or, more correctly, it's there. On e23. Where you can buy it.
The Alcor open house will still take place at our office Saturday at 4pm, as planned.
At the moment, though, it looks as though the medical professionals from Alcor will not be here; they've been called to a standby.
This is fine with me. The purpose of our medical team is to take care of members, including, in the worst case, to get us into the freezer. Meeting with potential members is secondary. So the standby is where they belong.
So please come to the open house anyway. I'll be there, along with other long-time Alcor members and a stack of information. Odds are we can answer any question you have, and if not, we know how to find out, and we'll probably want to know the answers too . . . See you Saturday, I hope.
-- Steve Jackson
We're not "all money-grubbing, all the time" around here. Sure, we are, about . . . oh, let's say 99.7% of the time. But in that remaining fraction of a percent, we cast aside our capitalistic ways. We shed ourselves of greed and don the +2 Coat of Generosity. In short, we offer free stuff. And not just us, but other gamer-lovers like us! Stomp that mouse button right here, and enjoy some no-money-down gamestuff.
July 22, 2009: New Munchkin Bookmarks Up for Auction
We've got two new bookmarks we created for Fairy Dust and Waiting for Santa. We're saving them for the release dates . . . well, except for the handful SJ took to LibertyCon a few weeks ago.
Oh, and we'll certainly have some to go with the sneak peek piles of the booster packs available at GenCon.
Aw heck, let's put a couple up on eBay as well. SJ thoughtfully signed one of each; the Munchkin Bookmark of Holiday Cheer! (for Waiting for Santa, of course) is being bid on right now! We'll put up the Munchkin Bookmark of Sparkly Good Monster Mayhem! next week.
-- Paul Chapman
Warehouse 23 News: e23: Not Bad For Someone Still In Diapers
Kids certainly do have a lot of energy. Perhaps that's how Bad Baby Productions can find the time to release so many products in rapid succession. This month alone we've gotten loads of new stuff for Battle Axe, another entry in the Star Fury series, and some more Bad Baby Clip Art. Now, if we could just find a way to harvest that energy without the use of a giant computer-generated fantasy world that enslaves humanity . . .
"Suspended animation" has been a staple of science fiction for years. So far, it's still science fiction. But every year I get to see more science fiction become real. So . . . for many years I have been a supporter and a member of Alcor, the cryonics organization. The basic theory behind cryonics is: You die, they freeze you, maybe future tech will be able to revive you. This is still completely speculative; no mammal as yet has been recovered from cryonic suspension. But to me it's a worthwhile gamble. If it fails, you're not any deader, and if it succeeds, woot, you get to see the future, and a future advanced enough to revive people from its past is probably going to be an interesting future.
If that sounds interesting to you, Alcor will be doing a presentation this Saturday, July 25th, 4:00pm here at Steve Jackson Games: 3735 Promontory Point Drive, Austin 78744. A couple of Alcor staff, and several Alcor members besides me, will be present. There will be hors d'oeuvres, beer, wine, and time for socializing. (Please note that this is NOT an open house for SJ Games - it just happens to be in our office. If you're tempted to come just to visit SJ Games, this is not the time. Later in the year we want to do at least one open house and game session for our fans, and we'll announce it well in advance.)
For questions contact Shannon Vyff, Alcor volunteer and TX Readiness Coordinator, at (512) 673-3431 or shannonvyff@yahoo.com.
-- Steve Jackson
Warehouse 23 News: e23: It's Not Just About Us, Really!
We who possess all the sales and download info know that that most of you who visit e23 do so to buy GURPS stuff. While that's great (and certainly helps us keep our light switches set to "on"), we at The E would like remind customers that there's a whole world of other people's things on our humble little eFLGS. Steampunk space things, free-form story things, things with dragons, things that are apocryphal, and things that make no sense whatsoever. Dive in and find something weird!
GURPS Classic: IOU! We all know the joke. "What does the O stand for?" Well, maybe that's the wrong question to ask. Perhaps it's of a "what is the O saying" sort of situation. "What is the O doing?" "Is the O a threat to us?" "Where did they get that O from, anyway?" "Hey, didn't I meet that O at a party once in Peoria?"
Whatever that O is doing in there, I assure you that the product is only enhanced by it. It adds that layer of mystery needed for any good book about the weird and wonderful. If this was as cut and dried as "GURPS: Going to College with Space Aliens," you wouldn't buy the book. You'd think, "Oh my, that's a terrible title, and they're terrible people for using it! How dreadful! Come, let us away from this, that we might rid outselves of its aura of failure." See? You gotta have the mysterious O, or cultured people will scorn you!
So we embrace you, oh O. You are the key to our successful business strategy. Without you, IOU would be little more than a very silly book featuring very silly art, and would never reach it's ful potential! Why, it might even be . . . normal! Perish the thought. (. . . and then go buy the book!)
-- Fox Barrett
Warehouse 23 News: e23: Girls Are Real!
Don't let the name fool you. Despite being called ZelArt1: Fantasy Females, women are, in fact, quite real. Not, uh, the women in this particular book, of course. They're fantastic. But all the rest of the women? The ones not rendered on a 2D plane. Oh yeah, they're real, all right. We just wanted to clear that up, in case this fine (and fantastic!) product caused any confusion.
July 19, 2009: Illuminated Site of the Week: Who Cares?
Everyone uses and abuses it, but does anyone ever think to ask the Internet for its opinion? No, too busy selfishly ego-surfing and what not. If you would know, go to whatdoestheinternetthink.net (their clunky nomenclature, not ours) and enter something into its search field. It then tells you roughly what the wired world's opinion is of the topic. Russell Crowe and Bigfoot are pretty popular, but then it's surprisingly enthusuastic about certain dictators, too. It loves character actor Richard Kiel, and still hates those hanging chads. Say, maybe it tells us it likes these things because it just wants to feel like it's a part of the crowd.
-- Suggested by Rob Kamm
Warehouse 23 News: e23: Forgotten, But Not Gone
Did we mention that we have character packs for Hero Designer? Because we do. It just seems like the sort of thing we should mention.
Anyone can roll dice. But for online games, you need an objective roller, capable of generating as many rolls as you need. And if you're GamesByEmail.com, you need quite a few -- over 80,000 every day!
After tinkering with a Lego version, Scott Nesin has constructed the Mark II Dice-O-Matic, a "7 foot tall, 104 pound, dice-eating monster, capable of generating 1.3 million rolls a day." He's got a chain driven dice bucket, 200 dice in a hopper, and a USB camera counting the colored pips.
His page has quite a few nice pictures, but for the real feel of what the Dice-O-Matic is, watch the YouTube video. The sound of hundreds of dice rattling through their random paces . . . glorious!
-- Paul Chapman
Warehouse 23 News: e23: Back To School
Colleges. These institutes of higher learning serve as crucibles for the young minds of the world. The events and decisions of this period often determine the course of entire lives. GURPS Classic: IOU is unique, however. It could determine the course of several of your lives. Provided you survive, of course.
So Phil asked me if I wanted to come along to the Dallas Games Marathon. And I said "Sure." A couple of days of gaming sounds like a very good idea. I will no doubt get roped into helping with our demos, but mostly I'm going to play Whatever Looks Neat. See you there, maybe?
-- Steve Jackson
July 16, 2009: I Think This Is Taking "Transformer" a Bit Too Far
Everyone needs shelves. Eventually, everyone will need a coffin. Designer William Warren offers a single product that serves both purposes. Starting as a fully functional shelving unit, the boards can be repurposed as a real coffin, customized for each buyer.
Of course, the undecorated shelf doesn't really look much like a coffin, so your goth friends won't be too impressed until you tell them about it. But on the other hand, the risk of your boss or parents recognizing it is comfortably low.
Unless your boss and/or parents are goths themselves, that is. This is the 21st century after all; these things happen.
-- Paul Chapman
Warehouse 23 News: e23: Wars And Witches And Wehrmacht, Oh My!
WitchFinder has everything! The Balkans. Nazi special agents. Even Cthulhu! (Or something Cthu-ish, anyway.) Specifically, the Nazis are in the Balkans, looking for some Cthulian horror. And you know what that means. Right! Road trip!
Another quarter has flown by, and that makes it time to recap the releases of our favorite digital retailer, e23. Here's the brand-new items:
The grand total is 9 releases, with a total of 564 pages. The year-to-date page count is now up to 971 pages over 19 products. That's nearly 80% of last year's total, and we're only halfway through!
We only uploaded four products from the GURPS Classic line -- GURPS Classic: Mars, GURPS Classic: Traveller: Starports, GURPS Dragons, and Transhuman Space Classic: Under Pressure -- but not every quarter can be GM's Day, can it?
And there was one digital release that didn't make it onto e23: the Munchkin Level Counter for the iPhone. That's right -- our first Munchkin app has hit the Apple store. Keep track of your level, and get a Boon once per game! That's right: a new way to get a cheat-ish boost in Munchkin. Like you needed another one . . .
-- Paul Chapman
Warehouse 23 News: e23: West Side Sortie
First, there was Dungeon of Terror #3: Mad Mage Chambers (East). Then, there was . . . something completely unrelated to a mage and his chambers. And now, the third chapter in this two-part story has arrived: Dungeon of Terror #5: Mad Mage Chambers (West). This time, it's cardinal.
Phil discovered the Dallas Games Marathon about a year ago, but has been too busy to return to the monthly festivities with anything like the frequency he'd like. So this month, between his vacation in June and our GenCon plans* in August, he's heading up. This time he's dragging Randy along, and they'll call it a "business trip" by showing off Revolution! and The Stars Are Right (both in line for an August release). If you're in the area, stop by and get a demo. Or just stop by and play one of the metric ton of games the DGM group has running.
(Actually, Phil's got one other event this month: ProtoSpiel, up in Ann Arbor MI. DIY game designers showing off their latest and greatest -- Phil and Will are going to be completely in their environment.)
-- Paul Chapman
* Our GenCon plans dwarf anything we've done in years. I threaten to call them bigger than our GAMA Trade Show efforts, but they're too different of focuses to really compare. Needless to say, a good time will be had.
Warehouse 23 News: e23: Redcoats Fhtagn!
Paul Revere, Bunker Hill, Ticonderoga, the Delaware, Saratoga . . . shadowy horrors from beyond the nether realm? Colonial Gothic Revised is a slightly different look at the American Revolutionary War. It's the version of the war that has demons, witches, and vampires. Which, unless you were scribbling in the margins during lectures, isn't the version you're probably used to. (And speaking of revising history, you'll notice that this is the revised version of the game! It's loaded up with all sorts of . . . revisions and things!)
July 13, 2009: They Messed with the Wrong Man . . . and Dog . . . and AIs
"When the Evilbad Cartel fired a missile into the home of Anton Hollick, there was one thing they didn't count on. Joe Kuzenza. Now the Evilbad Cartel face a man that missiles couldn't kill. With him is his companion Rolphie, a talking dog uplifted by Hollick. Together, they and their AI sidekicks are looking for some Wild Justice."
Well, maybe that's not quite what Transhuman Space: Personnel Files 3 - Wild Justice is about. I dare you, though, to read the synopsis and the title and not have that sort of movie trailer pop into your head. The book does contain writeups for Joe, his dog, and the AIs they share wacky adventures with, and it does explain their backstories, but where you take it from there is strictly up to you.
I, for example, decided that "Evilbad Cartel" was a suitable name for my game. I suspect (or, at least, hope) you can do a fair sight better.
Also, Munchkin Level Counter!
Sure, it's not an e23 thing, but it is a computer-related thingie. And if that's not good enough for me to shill it, then I ain't a duly-elected ad writer for SJ Games! So, what's the Munchkin Level Counter? It's an "app," as the kids say, for that iPhone doohickey. At its most basic, it keeps track of your levels during a game of Munchkin. Certainly handy, but there's more to it than that.
See, it also offers up Boons! What's a Boon? Well, once per game, you can ask your all-powerful Munchkin Level Counter to bestow upon you the power to smite your foes, crush your opponents, and generally make a mess of anyone daring to cross your path. And that's for both Munchkin and Munchkin Quest. And if that's not enough, the Boons go up to level 20, if you're feeling Epic.
But wait! There's more! You also get a counter for Chez Geek and SPANC, too! And if that's not enough, we also included a generic counter for . . . whatever! So exciting! Exclamation points!
-- Fox Barrett
Warehouse 23 News: e23: Not With A "Bang," But With A "Splat"
The whole world is circling that big metaphorical drain, baby, and you're coming with! That is, unless you've got an ace up your sleeve to save your butt before the oil dries up, the sea levels rise, and all the money becomes worthless. A way to set up for a soft landing, if you will, for the impending self-destruction of species. Of course, baring besleeved aces, you can always just make sure everyone else goes down first. Won't save you . . . but it sure is fun!
July 12, 2009: From Coffee to Checkmate in Five Steps.
(This may seem like a long trip, but this is just how my brain works sometimes.)
So, I'm channel-surfing the other day, and see Jon Stewart doing something goofy with a bunch of fake coffee products. This reminds me of those old coffee commercials starring Anthony Head, who, of course, played Sydney's contact on the short-lived -- but much loved -- VR.5. (He was also on some show about killing vampires.) He's the brother of Murray Head, who sang lead on "One Night In Bangkoc," from the concept album "Chess." Of course, I'm terrible at chess, so that reminded me of . . .
. . . Knightmare Chess 2, which is currently available. Some would say, "But I need the first set!" and they'd be wrong, wrong, wrong. KMC2 is a standalone game, adding just as much insanity to the venerable game of chess as its slightly older brother.
No matter if you're a beginner or a registered Master, Knightmare Chess is a great way to add some fun chaos to the traditional game. And as you may have guessed, I'm a big fan of chaos . . .
-- Paul Chapman
Warehouse 23 News: e23: You're Not Crazy. Probably.
See, there's this nice man talking in your head. Or maybe it's a not-nice woman. Or it could just be a sort of buzzy voice of indeterminate gender that doesn't seem either benevolent or malevolent. Or maybe you're just talking to yourself again. Then again, there's a chance that while you are talking to yourself, it isn't you who's talking. And if this is all getting very confusing, don't worry, the only voice you need to listen to right now is the one telling you to go over to e23 and buy a copy of Vox. That'll make everything better. Trust us.
Revolution! is currently on the boat, heading towards our warehouse, where we expect to turn it around to land on shelves in August. But there are copies out there, being played by MIB at various times.
One such MIB is Bob Hood, who is running the game at LibertyCon (hey, that's where SJ is!). In fact, he may be running it right now! Go, if you're attending, and find him. (He may also be running The Stars Are Right, so be prepared.)
Next week, Sean Ferris will be running a session or two at The Only Game In Town (Somerville, NJ) on Thursday. If you're free around 6:30pm, head over and play.
And finally, next weekend, Phil and Randy will be attending the Dallas Games Marathon in Dallas (of course).
More events will be announced at our new MIB Demo Forum. That's where our MIB will be announcing pretty much any demo, event, or tournament they've got planned. Check it often, especially during the summer months, for what our volunteers are up to.
Oh, and two reviews of Revolution! have shown up on our forums too! Take a look at the board titled, appropriately enough, "Game Reviews."
-- Paul Chapman
Warehouse 23 News: e23: Putting The Trans In Transhuman
We here at SJ Games think your Transhuman Space games aren't weird enough. And so, we present Transhuman Space: Personnel Files 3 - Wild Justice, wherein the players might, for example be a dog. Or an AI. And AI living inside the dog's head. Enjoy!
July 10, 2009: Illuminated Site of the Week: "You Want to Get Out of Here, You Talk to Me"
"Me" being Karol Bartoszynski, Road Warrior fan extraordinaire. He and his leather-clad friends from Roadwar USA love the Mad Max post-apocalyptic film series. How much? Well, they decided to reenact the climactic chase scene from the second movie, with killer cars swarming down the road in an endless fight for "Juice." They trick out their vehicles, head out on the highway, and start surrounding a rented tanker truck. Sure, they like the usual convention panels and roundtables too, but this event offers something way special. "Special" occasionally being a code for "a night in jail" (the amazing thing being that it only happened once -- io9 has the story).
-- Suggested by Jeremy Zauder
Death is a fairly integral part of any romp through the dungeoney depths. While the inherent carnage might be the ends to most adventurers, there are also those that see all this fatal violence as a squandered resource. Y'know, necromancery types. Forgotten Heroes: Scythe and Shroud taps into all that death to give you, um . . . well, more death. How delightfully self-perpetuating!
July 9, 2009: All the Birds Have Come Home to Roost
Over the past couple of weeks, we've had staffers flying all over the country. Randy took a road trip north and then wandered over to Origins. Will flew direct to Columbus for that event, then spent some time in Kansas City. Phil toured the lands (and game stores) west of Texas. And Andrew attended CONvergence in Minneapolis.
Everyone's back in Austin now, with varying degrees of the infamous "con crud." All have stories to tell, and photos to share. We'll be adding them to our Flickr stream -- as soon as we answer those last few e-mails left over from vacation.
Oops! And now SJ's flown off to Tennessee for LibertyCon. Nothing sits still here for long. Heck, we're already preparing for GenCon, which is . . . holy cow! Only a month away?
Excuse me, I need to go order some stickers.
-- Paul Chapman
Warehouse 23 News: e23: Canals? We Got Those.
And priests. Heck, we've even got Mars. If you want all three in one complete package, you really can't do any better than The Complete Canal Priests of Mars.
July 8, 2009: Illuminated Site of the Week: Mankind Fights Back
Last time we told you about the likelihood of giant armored spiders roaming the countryside (short recap: Oh, it's comin'), but that was Mother Nature's fault . . . with just a little help from our industrialized society. Sensing somehow (spider senses?) that Mankind was flirting with disaster, someone has answered the call. It turned out to be a Canadian named Jaimie, who's also going to have a giant armored spider as soon as he finishes building it. There's a whole lot of video here, but if you haven't the patience or the bandwidth for that you can cruise around and look at his other projects, including shots of the various injuries Jaimie has sustained in his quest to keep us at the top of the food chain.
-- Suggested by Dave
Warehouse 23 News: e23: Perhaps You Should Consider A Gothy Castle Instead?
0one's Blueprints: The Great City, Cold Crypts is roomy, sure, but there's no central heating. Which might be fine if you're among the shambling damned, but could really put a crimp in things if you're just a villain that likes black clothing and heavy eyeliner. Hard to act mysterious when your teeth clatter like a woodpecker on his fourth cup of coffee.
Or: Where was my e23 release last week?
We were, indeed, closed from June 29 through Sunday July 5. Being out of the office last Thursday prevented us from doing our normal weekly upload of PDF awesomeness. You knew we did e23 uploads on Thursdays, right?
If you didn't, you may have missed one of our releases last month. Here's a handy list, just to catch you up.
Now that we've returned to the office, rested, Illuminated, and ready to tackle the summer season, we'll return to our regular schedule. Look for a new PDF this Thursday!
Of course, being away from our desks for a full week means we've got a ton of email to dig through. (And our network being down for the first half of yesterday didn't help, either.) Please be patient as we deal with the big fires, then the little fires, and then the not-so-urgent-but-has-been-waiting-for-three-days stuff.
-- Paul Chapman
Warehouse 23 News: e23: To Be Fair, We Really Did Need To Fill The Queue
Champions Universe. You may think that this book is about what we've done to these Daily Illuminator "ads" for the last week, for verily we've been writing about Hero stuff a lot lately (and Champions in particular). But you would be wrong! Er . . . Not about what we've been posting, but rather about the book! See, this here is your guide to all the fluffy bits of Champions. The whos, the whens, the wherefores, and so on. Buy a copy and we promise to shut up about it. Just as soon as our vacation is over and we no longer need to make sure the news queue is filled for the week off.
July 6, 2009: New For The iPhone: The Munchkin Level Counter
Now all you iPhone-using munchkins can get an unfair, yet completely legal, advantage when you play Munchkin or Munchkin Quest!
The Munchkin Level Counter keeps track of your level (duh). It also rolls a six-sided die (and doesn't cheat). But best of all . . . once per game, you get a Boon . . . an in-game advantage to help you kill the monsters, steal the treasure, and stab your buddy. There are almost 150 different Boons, all illustrated by John Kovalic. The higher your level when you ask for your Boon, the better it's likely to be. And when you reach the winning level, it plays a fanfare. Your friends will hate you . . .
Bonus features: counters for Chez Geek and SPANC (no Boons, though), and a very flexible interface for creating your own custom counters for other games.
This app is NOT a stand-alone game! It is a game aid for Munchkin, Munchkin Quest, and pretty much anything else where you need to count.
The level counter is $4.99 and is available now on the iPhone App Store.
Randy's Road Trip: Final Update
Today is Randy's last stop on his (Lake Michigan)-coast-to-(Gulf)-coast trip. Catch him at Asgard Games from 5-8pm in Houston, TX! Tomorrow, he'll be back in Austin, filled with tales of his journey. We'll edit out all the references to wine, women, and song, and post some pictures later!
Warehouse 23 News: e23: A Tone So Light You Need Sunglasses
Okay, so teenage supers weren't light-hearted enough? Fine. How about superheroes in grade school? And ones written by comedic mastermind Aaron Williams, at that? Well then, here you go. The ps238 roleplaying game. If your players are worried about your games still being too dark after this one, you should probably ask them to take the blindfold off.
July 5, 2009: British Library Opens Newspaper Archives
Sounds dry, doesn't it? But when the archives in question are online, searchable, and drawn from 49 London-area newspapers from 1800 to 1900, things get a bit more interesting.
The searches are free, as are articles from the Graphic and the Penny Illustrated Paper. Accessing the entire archive of digitized publications will cost, however. For around $12, you get 100 articles over 24 hours; for just over $16 you get 200 articles over seven days. Public libraries in the UK may be able to get free access.
The academic applications are obvious and certainly cool on their own. What was the "must have" style during the War of 1812? What did early reviewers think of A Study In Scarlet? Researchers into family histories can gather not just names and locations, but day to day activities. Was your forefather a bookie? A "Charles Villiers Chapman" -- also operating under the name "Paul Coverdale" -- seems to have been. (I wonder how far back into my family tree I'd need to go to find him?) How were the shocking and lurid events that occurred in Whitechapel reported?
Gamers, of course, have their own use: Victorian plots. Classic Call of Cthulhu scenarios can always use more atmosphere, and real newspaper clippings are just what the doctor ordered. Use it for "notes from back East" in Old West games. Throw bits from the society pages into your Castle Falkenstein campaign.
-- Paul Chapman
Randy's Road Trip Update
Holiday weekend or not, Randy gets no rest! Today, he'll be in Baton Rouge, LA, visiting Little Wars from 3-6pm. His demo copy of Frag Gold Edition should fit right in!
Warehouse 23 News: e23: A Much Lighter Tone
If cartoons aren't enough to soften the game, then how about Teen Champions? All the rocket-boot wearing, bad-guy-punching, end-of-the-world-preventing action of superhero stories with all the light-hearted good times one can find in a high school! (Hmm. On second thought, maybe it isn't "lighter" than Dark Champions: TAS . . .)
Happy Fourth of July!
Here in the States, this day traditionally involves outdoor grilling and pyrotechnics. So, have fun, but be safe!
-- Paul Chapman
Randy's Road Trip Update
Randy is spending part of his Fourth at Visions Cards and Games in Montgomery, AL, from 6-9pm. His trip is nearly complete!
Warehouse 23 News: e23: A Lighter Tone
Champions is fairly four-color. Dark Champions is a bit more gray. If you toss them in a Literary Blender, however, you get Dark Champions: The Animated Series. It has Champions' costumed extravaganza with Dark Champions' grim demeanor. Best of both worlds? We dare say so.
July 3, 2009: Everything You Want To Know, Simplified
Nearly everyone knows Wikipedia, that treasure trove of knowledge occasionally corrupted by knuckleheads with more typing skill than sense. And we've all seen the various non-English versions on the http://www.wikipedia.org/ page.
Now there is the Simple English Wikipedia. Like traditional Wikipedia, anyone can add or edit articles; however, the guidelines restrict each article to the 1,000 most common and basic words in English. This avoidance of technical jargon and complex concepts makes the information resource perfect for children, or adults learning English as a second language.
As a huge fan of Wikipedia, I feel this is wonderful -- a tool for the generations who will have broadband before they develop their full vocabulary. However, as a cynic, I'm hoping that same generation quickly catches on to the fallibility of their fellow netizens.
-- Paul Chapman
Randy's Road Trip Update
Randy's back on the road! Today's another double-header, with his first stop in Louisville, KY, to hang out at The Louisville Game Shop from 2-5pm. From there, he'll head down I-65 to Nashville, TN, for some games at The Game Keep, from 8-11pm.
For Randy's complete itinerary, check out our Where's Randy? page.
Sorta. Hero System Sidekick Revised is the leaner and meaner version of the full Hero System rules. If you're looking to break into the game, but don't want to have to break into a bank to do it, this is a great place to start.
Of course, when the scale is "1:1" and the item is question is a mech -- specifically, a RX-78-2 Gundam -- "model" becomes completely insufficient to describe it.
Bandai has built the 18 meter tall structure in celebration of Mobile Suit Gundam's 30th anniversary. There's 15 huge lights inside it, and the head actually moves. Here's a YouTube video of it, and plenty of still pictures here, here, and here.
While I'm not the biggest Gundam fan in the world, I do love giant mechanical humanoids. And just the sheer scale of this puts it firmly in the "cool" category, no matter what your level of geek is (or your opinions of the original series, or the spinoffs).
It certainly sets the bar on 30th anniversary gifts. I wonder what a 1:1 scale model of an Ogre would cost?
-- Paul Chapman
Warehouse 23 News: e23: Everyday People
Without some to rescue, protect, or sell T-shirts to, heroes sorta lose their foundation. If a missle is about to hit a city that has nobody in it, there's really not much reason for Mr. Super Defenderguy to fly out there and catch the thing. He should stay home, kick back, maybe catch The Daily Show. But fill that town little Little Susies and Bob Normals and you've suddenly got a crisis! So, if you a Gwen Stacy or an Alfred Pennyworth (and trust us, you do), then you need Everyman.
CONvergence is a convention in the Minneapolis area that's been getting a lot of buzz among my group of geek friends. So, for my vacation, I'm combining visits with family and friends with a busman's holiday, and will be attending CONvergence. Other than attending a couple of panels to heckle friends, I don't have anything formal planned, so feel free to accost me if you see me and ask about our plans for Munchkin or anything else. (And I just might have some promo stuff to get rid of, or unreleased games to show off . . .)
-- Andrew Hackard
Warehouse 23 News: e23: Fantasy Has "Super" Heroes, Too
Not so much the crime-fighting kind, of course. Still, the fantasy genre has its share of folks more powerful than a steaming locomotive. Only difference is that It's because they're wearing a Ring of Being More Powerful Than a Steaming Locomotive +2, rather than being from Alienplanetia. Fantasy Hero lays out the details. (Although . . . we suppose you could drop costumed supers into a fantasy setting if you really wanted to. In fact, that's just weird enough that we're going to encourage such behavior. Enjoy)
|
