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Illuminated Site of the Week
Nothing says "Happy Holidays!" like turning your entire torso into a large pink cat face.
No, really.
Fans of Something Positive will be sure to recognize Choo-Choo Bear beaming out at them from the pink Murr T-Shirt, and if you wear these shirts, soon everyone around you will recognize him as well. After all, it's very hard to miss a cat that pink. That squishable. That charming. That torso-enveloping. Cheer your friends up. Be Choo-Choo Bear. They'll thank you for it. (Or run screaming, but if so, they probably weren't very interesting friends in the first place. You're better off without them.)
And if Choo-Choo Bear isn't enough to make people feel festive, how about the cast of Something Positive? The Logo T-Shirt features the beaming - okay, smiling - well, three of them are smiling, which is three times as festive as no one smiling at all - cast of the comic. Choo-Choo Bear, Davan, PeeJee, and Aubrey are all there on the shirts, and that's an awful lot of Something Positive.
I had never heard of this site, but when I read this CNN.com story about it, I checked it out and bookmarked it instantly. The Astronomy Picture of the Day is just what it says it is, with the best space (and space-related) photography anywhere. And they've just finished collecting their best pictures in a new book, The Universe: 365 Days, which sounds it might make a great Christmas present (hint, hint).
And for historical NASA photos, check out GRIN . . . Great Images In NASA!
-- Scott Haring
Warehouse 23 News: Something Wicked This Way Comes . . .
Asmodeus, the King of Hell and ruler of the Pit, introduces you to the Legions of Hell, but the Lower Planes are home to evil every bit as ancient and potent as that of the Pit: the Armies of the Abyss.
November 28, 2003: Illuminated Site of the Week: Lovin' The Spin We're In
Some see it as a downward spiral, but you can shine your own light on the evils of public relations in the Disinfopedia. PR firms will give you your opinion on everything from war to washing powder if you let them. But be careful: It's collaborative software, so the publicity machine isn't the only thing trying to sway you in an arena where everyone can have their semi-uncensored say. -- Suggested by David Barrena
Warehouse 23 News: The Master Shares His Knowledge
Across the whole of Norrath and its moon Luclin, the erudite wizard Al'Kabor is synonymous with the search for mysteries of the past and an understanding of the ways of ancient magic. Now all can share his knowledge with EverQuest: Al'Kabor's Arcana.
Our friends over at Worlds Apart Productions - yes, the same ones
working with us on GURPS Online - are very close to launching The Lord of the Rings Online
Trading Card Game, a digital version of the award-winning TCG from
Decipher. The beta is now open to all and sundry for testing, so get in there and
check it out!
Warehouse 23 News: The D20 Starship Adventure Toolkit
Blood and Space is designed to supplement or extend any of the popular d20 space-based roleplaying games. It features extensive rules for starship construction, combat, and crews.
The Steve Jackson Games offices will be closed Thursday and Friday in observance of the Thanksgiving holiday. No one will be here to take phone calls and no orders will be processed. Pyramid will post Friday morning, as usual.
We wish our U.S. customers and readers a wonderful Thanksgiving, however you choose to celebrate the holiday. We'll see everyone Monday.
Warehouse 23 News: From Zero To Infinity!
Inspired by serial episodes from the 1950s, Spaceship Zero is the acme of sci-fi adventure, promising countless hours of atomic-powered pulse-pounding pulp excitement in an infinite number of alternate universes!
Austin got its first real taste of winter Sunday night. But this wasn't written till sometime Monday, because I was hurriedly working to get my outside plants under cover before the freeze. The mercury fell very quickly . . . when I started working in the afternoon, it was no-shirt weather, and by the time I finished up, it was two-layers-and-gloves.
The horticultural scurrying was pleasantly interrupted by a dinner with John Kovalic, who was in town as guest of MillenniumCon. We talked about several upcoming projects and gloated over the massive goodness that is Dork Tower, shipping soon. But all too soon the margaritas were gone and it was time to get back home and back to moving plants and stretching plastic. Well, this is the price I pay for having a yard full of plants, and I think it's worth it.
All that put me a day behind on Illuminati: Crime Lords . . . but only a day, and that's being caught up tonight. The game changes a little bit every time we play, but remains similar enough to Illuminati that if you like one, you'll like the other - but different enough to be interesting.
-- Steve Jackson
Warehouse 23 News: The Most Astonishing Discovery In The Universe Is Yours!
The Stargate SG-1 Roleplaying Game allows you to enter the stargate and explore the farthest reaches of the galaxy as a member of the SGC.
we watch films about gaming? Well . . . sometimes. Our Tuesday movie a couple of weeks ago was The Gamers, a not-completely-professional, but very funny, film about a group that really ought to be playing Munchkin. Included on the DVD is "A Gamer's Perspective" by Monte Cook. Hee, hee . . .
And I just reread a book that I rather like . . . but as far as I know, nobody else has ever heard of it, which is a shame. It's Alien Taste by Wen Spencer. It's SF, about a man with some . . . interesting . . . abilities, and no idea how he got them. Spencer does a good job of dropping you into the action and letting you share his protagonist's thoughts, to make what you will of them. This author deserves more attention.
Finally . . . Mia loaned me a copy of Jasper Fforde's The Eyre Affair, which is kind of a thriller, kind of a detective story, and mostly a romp through an alternate and weirder world in which popular culture has embraced art and literature (which is good) and Fiendish Menaces threaten Life As We Know It (which is not so good, but Fforde's heroine is up to the challenge). This is a silly book, and I'm going to go out and buy it . . . and I was delighted to learn there are two sequels, Lost in a Good Book (which seems to be only available now in hardcover, darn it) and The Well of Lost Plots (scheduled for a February release).
-- Steve Jackson
Warehouse 23 News: It Seems Simple Enough
Enter the abandoned fortress, track down the bandit spies, retrieve the treasure, and collect the reward. But this simple task is only the first step in Arcana Unearthed: Plague of Dreams, an adventure filled with intrigue and betrayal.
Okay, so we're not exactly coming out with breaking news on the STIKFAS. Everybody's already seen them. Bought them. Played with them. Posed them in spiffy martial-arts maneuvers so they're balancing on one foot, delivering a kick, or back-flipping into action. Taken the horse and the regular human and made their own centaur. Practically old news, by this point. Who hasn't already stuck the microwave sticker on the giant robot or tested how many ways you can pose a teddy bear? Who hasn't considered that they're more fun than a barrel of monkeys and then wondered just when they'll come out with a barrel of STIKFAS monkeys?
But now we have them, so it's news to us. The long and perilous journey it took to acquire STIKFAS from the ancient and puzzling gods of toy manufacture is too fraught with terror and trauma (and tedium) to recount, but now . . . STIKFAS! Four kinds of STIKFAS! (We wanted to get more, but we only passed four of the five Deadly STIKFA Worthiness Tests, so four it is. We will all mourn the passing of poor Harold, but he really should have known that the capital of New York isn't New York.)
We have the Delta Boy Extreme, Mechana Segmented Robot, G2 Alpha Male Chinese Warrior Monk, and the super-duper deluxe set of Omega Male Armored Knight with Stallion. Get them while you can.
A face transplant, long the realm of science fiction and the occasional John Woo film, is actually easier to do than reattaching a severed finger -- in theory, anyway, according to these members of England's Royal College of Surgeons, who are itching to give it a try.
Reuters UK has the story.
-- Scott Haring
With Fiery Dragon's Counter Collections and Counter Packs, the right image is available for nearly any encounter.
November 21, 2003: Illuminated Site of the Week: There's A Sucker Sired Every Minute
If you feel no one understands you, with your aversion to pungent garlic and your tendency to keep late hours, know that you are not alone . . . at least, not in New Jersey. -- Suggested by m_nadrakas
Frigid, cold, bitter, glacial, polar . . . and cuddly. All of these describe the intense life force that is commonly known as the Plush Ice Dragon.
We're about to interview for two positions at our new Las Vegas site. Your contact on this is Gail Barton at resumes@sjgames.com. Note that if you attach a file, it should be named with your name and not just "resume" . . .
Pay will be commensurate with experience. We provide health and dental benefits.
Warehouse Supervisor: Full time position. Warehouse and freight shipping experience required. Computer experience necessary. Supervisory experience highly desirable. This is a hands-on position, so you should be fully capable of tossing those cartons around yourself when necessary.
Full Charge Bookkeeper: Full time position. MAS200 experience preferred. Automated accounting required. A/P and A/R experience a must.
Signs & Portents 2, Signs & Portents 3, and Signs & Portents 4 provide support for all of Mongoose Publishing's lines, and explore Ivanova, Garibaldi, and the alien Pak'Ma'Ra from Babylon 5.
The Cassini spacecraft, on its way to Saturn, took a gorgeous picture of Jupiter in the gibbous phase. Some kind folks have posted it here for everyone's enjoyment. This is a true-color image; if you were at Jupiter, this is what you would see.
Warehouse 23 News: Alternate Realities
Shades of Earth is an alternate-Earth historical roleplaying game. The first supplement, House of Vega - Shadows of War, explores the Spanish Civil War as it might have happened.
Scooting out the door just in time to hit your local store's shelves for the Thanksgiving weekend shopping blitz are the following products:
Ninja Burger
Now you can join the elite Ninja Burger delivery team! You will learn to deliver tasty burgers and fries anywhere. You will bring honor to your franchise. Failure is not an option.
The twisted minds that brought you Chez Geek and Munchkin are back. Based on the popular website at www.ninjaburger.com, this hilarious card game, designed by Steve Jackson, pits you against your fellow trainees in a new Ninja Burger store. Learn the secrets of stealth, swordsmanship, and customer service. Fight for honor, respect, big tips, and that coveted promotion . . .
It's fast-moving. It's fun. You get to be a ninja. What more can you ask from a game?
No matter how secure your office,
how deep your bunker,
how dedicated your guards . . .
we deliver your burger in 30 minutes or less.
Boxed game: 144 oversized cards, three dice, and a rulesheet.
Stock #1430,
ISBN 1-55634-610-7.
$24.95.
Munchkin Master's Screen
Tired of your every plan being exposed? Sick of not being able to fudge die rolls? Tired of not being able to put your head down and take a nap while they go through that tedious "roleplaying" they seem to love so much?
The Munchkin Master's Screen contains everything you might need to run a Munchkin game while hiding your true plans from your players. It's got Munchkin Cardboard Heroes miniature figures. It has Jeff Tidball's brilliant adventure, The Village of Omelet: A Space Odyssey. And it has tables . . . lots of tables. All the tables you could ever hope to use . . . and probably a couple you hope not to.
This is the accessory you never knew you needed . . . until now!
Special note to players: Buying the Munchkin Master's Screen for your DM earns you 10,000 XP. Really. It says so inside.
The Munchkin Master's Screen requires at least one copy of every Munchkin book for use. Even the ones we haven't thought of yet. And the card games, too. It's just that good.
Four-panel cardboard screen, with Cardboard Heroes sheet and 16-page adventure.
Stock #3406,
ISBN 1-55634-718-9.
$14.95.
Warehouse 23 News: The Other Side Of The Looking Glass
The Plush Cheshire Cat is the purr-fect gift for fans of the classic Alice in Wonderland.
"Police have removed the corpse of a man believed to have hanged himself at least a year ago after builders and students at Budapest's University of Arts had initially mistaken it for a modern sculpture." Here's the whole Reuters story.
It could be worse. Here in Austin, which has a bad Public Art Problem, the guy could have been left to hang a lot longer, people who complained could have been mocked as cultureless art-haters, and some "artist" could very well have collected a five-figure check from the city government.
Trying Again On The Case Mod Story
Last week I pointed to Mark Jones' Lovecraftian case mod page . . . and naturally, the day the story appeared was the day that site was unreachable. Let's try again . . .
-- Steve Jackson
Warehouse 23 News: History - Done Your Way
A Magical Medieval Society: Western Europe allows GMs and players to export the feel of medieval times without being tied to the history.
Coming from Steve Jackson Games in February, 2004:
Illuminati: Crime Lords
Rival mobs battle for control of the city. Take over the rackets, rake in the dough, and rub out the opposition. It's the American dream.
You'll start with a few gangsters and some cash. Recruit more crooks and take control of income-producing operations like bordellos, chop shops, and loan sharks. The police and the Feds are after you, but your biggest threats are your fellow mob bosses. Scheme, negotiate, backstab. You can share a victory, but it's much more satisfying to say "There can be only one Boss. And it's me."
Illuminati: Crime Lords is based on the Illuminati system. It's not a supplement, but a separate stand-alone game created by Steve Jackson.
Boxed game with 112 cards, rules, die-cut money and status counters, and dice.
Stock #1375,
ISBN 1-55634-720-0.
$34.95.
GURPS All-Star Jam 2004
Nine Authors. One Book.
Take nine fan-favorite GURPS authors. Give them each 10,000 words to write about whatever they want. The result is GURPS All-Star Jam 2004, featuring:
- Kenneth Hite, writing about ghost hunters;
- Phil Masters, with a fairytale world of muskets, ghosts, and strange magics;
- Beth McCoy, channeling Walter Milliken, on a truly dangerous job -- Mythic Babysitting;
- David Pulver's far-future space-opera campaign setting;
- Gene Seabolt, giving us the travails of the last band of Spartan mercenaries, trapped in a decaying Europe;
- William Stoddard, looking at subterranean settings for all types of roleplaying adventures;
- Brian Underhill, with a GURPS take on airships;
- Jonathan Woodward, looking at the science-fictional implications of Precursor races; and
- Jon Zeigler's "Chariots!" -- a cinematic look at the age of flashing bronze and larger-than-life heroes.
Nine (well, ten) top authors at the top of their games -- GURPS All-Star Jam 2004 has something for everybody!
128 pages.
Stock #6421,
ISBN 1-55634-723-5.
$24.95.
GURPS Traveller: Sword Worlds
The Day After Ragnarok
The Sword Worlds stand at the border of the Third Imperium, a small but
proud civilization descended from ancient Terran migrants. Their inhabitants
have spent centuries fighting for independence - from the Imperium, from the
other great empires, even from each other.
A decade ago, the Sword Worlds went to war against the Third Imperium.
They lost. Today, the Sword Worlders are in search of a new destiny, in a
universe where their fierce pride seems headed for an inevitable fall.
GURPS Traveller: Sword Worlds brings
this unique culture to life
for the player and GM. Every world in the area is described in detail, as
are local history, social features, special technologies, and important
people. A wealth of adventure seeds gives the GM plenty of starting
points, for any campaign set in this distinctive region of the
Traveller setting.
144 pages.
Stock #6631,
ISBN 1-55634-725-1.
$26.95.
Warehouse 23 News: Pick A Card, Any Card . . .
This official oversized 54-card Savage Worlds: Oversized Action Deck keeps your game moving like lightning, and features gorgeous full-color art.
November 15, 2003: Illuminated Site of the Week: You Gotta Be Kiddin'...Oh, You Are?
If you think there are too many parents who take demons and vampires too seriously, you should see some of the surfers who cruise into William Travis' Official Bureau 13 Homepage. This old mainstay of horror roleplaying games is apparently so convincing that even those who post to the site think their own posts are real.
-- Suggested by William Blake Smith
Warehouse 23 News: More Data Than Your Rap Sheet
Shadowrun: Rigger 3 expands on this useful class, offering advanced rules for robots, ships, and more. Shadowrun Character Dossier provides 16 pages to record all of a characters details.
November 14, 2003: Job Opening: Receptionist / Office Manager
We'd prefer someone with experience keeping an office organized.
But we'd consider a candidate with NO experience, if he seems trainable and has a good phone voice . . .
This is, obviously, an Austin job; the opening is immediate. Pay rate commensurate with experience. Our standard benefits: health and dental insurance if you're insurable, vacations, free games . . .
E-mail inquiries to mia@sjgames.com.
Warehouse 23 News: Creatures And Villains Of The Age Of Shadow
Midnight: Minions of the Shadow provides in-depth information on the creatures under Izrador's command.
At Necronomicon a couple of weeks ago, I saw this great Lovecraftian case mod, created by Mark Jones. He's done a fantastic page about it, too . . . though on my monitor the case photos look brownish, and it's really a truly revolting green. This would be the perfect case to use to play a horror game . . .
-- Steve Jackson
Warehouse 23 News: Sidhe Sells Sea Sails . . .
7th Sea: The Sidhe - Book of Nightmares introduces the Sidhe as they truly are - a complex race of beings driven to experience Théah in every way possible. And when a party tires of dry land, 7th Sea: Ships and Sea Battles has everything needed to adventure on the high seas!
November 12, 2003: Accepting Applications: Art Director
Steve Jackson Games is accepting applications for the position of Art Director. This is a full-time position, with benefits, located in the Austin office. For more information, please head over to this page.
-- Andrew Hackard, Managing Editor
Roleplayers looking for that added touch of violence in their games can create a military campaign from Blood and Guts: Modern Military or start a martial arts free-for all with Blood and Fists: Modern Martial Arts.
Check out what Dan Efran has done: simple Lego models of the Ogre units.
Diceland: Space - Extra Space contains eight new dice for use with any Diceland set.
Scientists think that Voyager 1 has reached the accepted boundary of the solar system, approximately 85 times as far from the Sun as Earth's orbit. Read the New Scientist story for more information.
Warehouse 23 News: Show Your True Colors!
Mechwarrior Faction Dice allow MechWarrior and BattleTech players to show their loyalty to their chosen faction: Swordsworn, Bannson's Raiders, Dragon's Fury, Highlanders, Spirit Cats, or Steel Wolves.
Once again, researchers show us that Transhuman Space is closer than we think. Scientists working at Rice University in Houston have developed a "gold bullet" barely 100 nanometers across. It targets and kills cancer cells that can't be operated on or are too small to even find.
NewScientist.com has the story.
-- Scott Haring
Warehouse 23 News: Don't Settle For Less
A beautifully designed plastic game board with drop-in tiles and plug-in roads and settlements enables you to enjoy Settlers of Catan: Travel Edition almost anytime and anywhere.
November 8, 2003: Illuminated Site of the Week: See Ceto. See Ceto Abduct. Abduct, Ceto, Abduct
Not that much of what Brother Blue has to say makes a lick of sense, but The B:.B:.'s take on the Leah Haley kid's book Ceto's New Friends is tough to nail down. Pro or con? Hogwash or the right idea done the wrong way? Offer your insights at the site.
-- Suggested by Shawn McMahon
Warehouse 23 News: Cutting Edge Science Fiction For Any Taste!
Whether it's the giant mecha combat of the Heavy Gear Player's Handbook or the deep space combat of the Jovian Chronicles RPG Player's Handbook, the Silhouette system has a world for any science fiction gamer.
Help Wanted: We could use a couple of temp workers for assembly and shipping, starting asap and ending at the end of the year when the warehouse is packed up and moved. If you're in Austin and interested, contact paul@sjgames.com.
Pirate Game: Rising Star is a convention near Salem, Virginia, this weekend. They'll be running the Pirate Game. Yes, Virginia, there IS a Pirate Claus. Arrrrr!
I Lied About France: It turns out that the French edition of Munchkin not only isn't out yet . . . it hasn't even gone to the printer. Alors! Je whackez le monster pour 2 levels! Be patient; it'll come.
-- Steve Jackson
Warehouse 23 News: The Universe Is Not A Safe Place!
Big Nasty Aliens features a huge number of new sentient races and assorted creatures for the CORE Command universe.
Steve Jackson Games is enormously pleased to announce that Ken Hite has accepted a full-time position as our new Staff Writer. Ken will be working on several Secret Projects for us, including content for e23. His popular Pyramid column, "Suppressed Transmission," will of course continue.
"Ken has thousands of fans out there . . . and a lot right here in our office," said Steve Jackson. "We're looking forward to turning him loose on all the great things he's going to be writing for us. I wish I could tell you about them . . . No, I don't. It'll be more fun to spring them on you."
Ken is best known to GURPS fans as the co-author or author of GURPS Alternate Earths, GURPS Alternate Earths 2, GURPS Horror, GURPS Cabal, and GURPS WWII: Weird War II. His two collections of Pyramid columns, Suppressed Transmission and Suppressed Transmission 2, have received praise both inside and outside the gaming community.
Welcome aboard, Ken!
Warehouse 23 News: This Month, It's A Race To The Moon
Cheapass Games' One False Step for Mankind is a complex and full-color board game about Gold Rush towns with vast resources and only one thing to spend them on: shooting a rocket to the moon.
The folks at SpaceWeather.com say some more coronal mass ejections (CMEs) are coming our way, and that means more spectacular northern lights displays.
Some of these solar flares are so strong that the "northern" lights are being seen as far south as Alabama, Texas, and even Mexico! Check out the Aurora Gallery sent in by professional and amateur photographers over the last few nights, and be ready for more.
-- Scott Haring
Warehouse 23 News: A Guide To Shadazar
Shadazar is Narheim's largest and most dangerous city. Tales of Gaea: Another Man's Treasure provides all of the information needed to survive it.
The Essen show this year was huge, and the new German edition of Munchkin was there! Here's a photo of the Pegasus Spiele booth during the all-day German Munchkin Championship. The final game was settled by a Divine Intervention!
The final four:
- Champion: Marco Landwehr
- 2nd: John Klinkhammer
- 3rd: Robert Grimm
- 4th: Henning Timm
Our thanks to our friends at Pegasus, to the many European MIBs who helped with the Munchkinry, and to everyone who is now playing any of the four (four!!) European editions of Munchkin. You can now kill monsters and steal their stuff in German, Dutch, Italian, and French. Rah!
Warehouse 23 News: A Universe To Conquer
The Classic BattleTech: Combat Operations rules expansion is the most comprehensive rules system for military campaign play ever published for BattleTech.
November 3, 2003: Oh, Argh, Why Didn't I Post This Before Halloween?
That's okay. Get one for next year. The Octodog is every bit as wrong as its website implies.
-- Steve Jackson
Warehouse 23 News: Beauty Is In The Eye Of The Beholder
The Complete Guide to Beholders offers a new perspective on these misunderstood monsters, expanding their social structure and cultural life in new ways.
November 2, 2003: GURPS Vehicle Builder Update Now Available
We are pleased to announce that GURPS Vehicle Builder 1.0 Update 1 is now available for download. It contains many bug fixes, enhancements, and repository updates. All registered GVB customers are urged to download this 5.2 MB file.
Warehouse 23 News: Make Your Mark On The World Of Aventuria!
The Dark Eye has been Germany's premier fantasy roleplaying game since 1983. For the first time, this rich world is available in English, with brand-new fourth edition rules!
November 1, 2003: Illuminated Site of the Week: Remember, Kids Hate To Get The Fun-Size Brains
Nothing beats curling up with a good book when the autumn wind is whistling at the windows and the trees creak. The right book sets the mood, and the really right book may save your life.
The Zombie Survival Guide spends far too much time telling folks how to protect themselves from the hungry undead, and sounds much too accurate doing it.
-- Suggested by Sean Punch
Warehouse 23 News: Top 10 For October
Check out Warehouse 23's best selling items for October on the Warehouse 23 Top 10 page.
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