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Illuminated Site of the Week
The H.P. Lovecraft Literary Podcast is exactly what the name implies: a podcast in which the stories of H.P. Lovecraft are reviewed and discussed. What? You thought the creatures of The Stars Are Right, Chez Cthulhu, Munchkin Cthulhu, and Cthulhu Dice came out of our twisted brains?
The two most recent episodes cover one of my favorite tales, The Rats in the Walls. Even better, they're co-hosted by noted Lovecraft and All Things Weird expert, Kenneth Hite (author of several GURPS books, including the upcoming Fourth Edition revision of GURPS Horror).
-- Paul Chapman
Warehouse 23 News: e23: Comic Book Life
Comic book characters are notoriously ressurection prone. Death isn't much more than a firm suggestion to these guys. How appropriate, then, that Champions has once again been reborn. As is typical with such things, it's bigger, better, and stronger. (And there's, like, a 50% chance that it'll go all Dark Side on ya, tops.)
The office has been a-buzz this week, putting art and words together, brainstorming crazy ideas, and asking silly questions. What's sparked this burst of activity? The conventions of March.
Next month we'll be hitting two big conventions. One of them -- the GAMA Trade Show in Las Vegas -- has been around for decades. As the name implies, it's a trade show, where the exhibitors are publishers and distributors of the hobby games industry, and the attendees are retailers from around the country. We always look forward to this event because of the high concentration of professionals -- it's always a good place to get feedback on our latest (or next!) release, from the guys and gals who are actually selling the games.
The other major show is PAX East (March 26-29). This is the first year the Penny Arcade Expo has taken their event to the East Coast, but it promises to be as big -- or bigger! -- as their Seattle-based shows. This event is nearly the polar opposite of the Vegas show: the attendees are gamers of all genres (console, handheld, PC, tabletop), the exhibitors are electronic publishers, and the focus of the show is playing games. Yes, there are panels and concerts, but the rows of computers and stacks of boxed games take up the majority of the floorspace. In general, it's just a geek-fest with tens of thousands of friends you haven't met yet. (As of this writing, all the three-day passes have been sold, but a few hundred of the Saturday and Sunday passes are still available. --pkc)
The worst part of these two very important shows is the timing. We'll be flying to Vegas for GTS, then directly to Boston for PAX East. Randy may not mind being on the road that much, but having shows back to back wears on my voice. Guess I'll just have to let the dice do the talking!
-- Paul Chapman
Warehouse 23 News: e23: We Hear They Serve Drinks There, Too.
In a universe where dragons are real, old men can produce fireballs from thin air, and people regularly come back from the dead, it shouldn't seem weird that the primary means of finding employment is by standing around in a bar looking impressive. And yet, that's exactly how it works. Thankfully, we also have GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 10: Taverns to explain everything to us.
February 26, 2010: Illuminated Site of the Week: . . . And Touch The Face Of God
At the very least you'll get a good gander at it. The cutting edge of neurotheology is the God helmet, a device that lets you peer at . . . well, it's not wholly clear whether you'll see God or Christ or something/someone else entirely. And isn't that the beauty of science? The uncertainty that at any moment you could tune to the wrong channel in a metaphysical sense and be spiritually assaulted by Xenu or touched by the noodly appendage of the Flying Spaghetti Monster. Contact with demonic entities and a host of other paranormal experiences is possible when this thing goes to work on your grey matter. There are software upgrades, and if you have any questions about your attempts to contact supreme beings, they have technical support.
-- Suggested by Michael Shermer
Warehouse 23 News: Overpowering Dungeonyness
Are the dungeons in Munchkin not dungeony enough for you? Well, with Munchkin 6 - Demented Dungeons, you'll have all the dungeon you could ever conceivably want! Possibly even more than you could want! In fact, bring some friends, lest these dungeons overwhelm and kill you with their overpowering dungeoneyness!
February 25, 2010: Moving Pictures With Sound, On Your Computer!
In December, we went a little YouTube crazy. Not only did we upload a festive holiday greeting with a zombie theme, but we also added three unboxing videos to our YouTube channel, and a brief documentary of our experiences at BoardGameGeekCon.
What? In the hustle and bustle of the holidays, you missed these videos? They're still there -- go check 'em out now! Will talks about Nanuk, Ninja Burger Secret Death Touch Edition, and The Stars Are Right, and he knows his stuff pretty well.
We have a couple more videos in the works (I won't spoil them yet, but the titles do contain the words "Dice," "unboxing," "Zombie," and "Cthulhu"); watch for those in the upcoming weeks. We should also remember to bring a camera-type object to GTS and PAX East, just in case anything interesting happens there. 'Cause it might . . .
-- Paul Chapman
Randy's Road Trip Update
Tonight, Randy will be gaming at Cool Stuff Games in Winter Park, FL
from 5-9pm. For Randy's complete itinerary, check
out our Where's
Randy? page.
Tunnels & Trolls: Specialist Classes is a collection of specialist classes for Tunnels & Trolls that will set you back a little more than a dollar. Which classes? What do they do? How do they smell? Sorry, we have to leave something for the book itself to tell you.
From every single person on Twitter: "omg have u seen teh cupcakes?" Yes . . . yes, we have. Linked to 'em, too.
says "@ I'm going to have to break into fanboy for a moment and declare that you are a complete legend. Are FF books still going?" Sorry, you have the wrong complete legend. The Fighting Fantasy books were done by the other (British) Steve Jackson. Well, except for three that he and Ian invited me to do, giving me the unusual distinction of having ghostwritten under my own name . . . At any rate, as far as I know, no new ones have been released in many years, and it's been many, many years since I got a royalty statement, so, if they're not dead, they are resting very, very hard.
@wilw asks "Are you saying that great Cthulhu slumbers in your bathtub?" Actually, he's awake and playing with the rubber pirate duckies.
@lunarempire asks "What is UltraCorps?" It's a browser-based MMO that we acquired more than five years ago, simply because I was a big fan and the original publisher had gone under. It took us this long to get it re-implemented in Perl and to add the features we thought it should have (it's a complex so-and-so, and we are not exactly computer game specialists at the moment). We still have to solve some payment issues before we open it up for paid subscriptions.
asks "how would I go about getting permission to use a munchkin for a tattoo?" I don't know. Who normally approves your tattoos? Significant other? Commanding officer? Spiritual leader? But leave me out of it :-)
-- Steve Jackson
Randy's Road Trip Update
Tonight, Randy will be gaming at The Tower Game Center in Lawrenceville, GA
from 4-8pm. For Randy's complete itinerary, check
out our Where's
Randy? page.
Warehouse 23 News: e23: Thanks, Rome!
Apart from the sanitation, the medicine, education, wine, public order, irrigation, roads, the fresh-water system, and public health, what have the Romans ever done for us? Why, they provided an awesome roleplaying setting, of course! Rolemaster: Rome has what you need to stop stabbing gnolls and start stabbing those pesky barbarians.
As mentioned before, the Sanity counters for Cthulhu Dice are a lovely shade of green, as you can see. Since the printer included clear ones in the prototype, we were a bit anxious when the first copies arrived. But all was well once we opened the boxes.
Those boxes, and the POPs hidden within -- and the games hidden within the POPs -- have been on display with Phil at the New York Toy Fair. He's rolled the big green (or purple, or black, or yellow) die with toy retailers from around the country. Afterwards, the games will head back to Austin with Randy, on the second leg of his Road Trip.
-- Paul Chapman
Randy's Road Trip Update
Tonight, Randy will be gaming at Here Be Books and Games in Summerville, SC from 2-6pm. For Randy's complete itinerary, check out our Where's Randy? page.
Warehouse 23 News: e23: Starships Set Sets Ships Starward!
Sci-fi settings seriously need stocks of sturdy spacecraft. But if your supply is sparse, your simulation suffers substantially. So slide over to our store and score yourself Avalon Counters, Starships Set #1. You're sure to smile when you see these supremely satisfying ships.
February 22, 2010: Buy Our Stuff, Or We'll Let Him Write More Ad Copy
This week I have two products that couldn't be more different. And yet, in three paragraphs, I must try and fuse them together through the power of advertising. How shall I do it? With cunning, finesse, and more than a little nonsensical rambling. So confident am I that I can link these two items into an unstoppable force for profit that I've even wasted the first of my three paragraphs rambling about the situation.
And so begins paragraph two. Here I would like to bring your attention to Pyramid #3/16: Historical Exploration. It's Pyramid, so you know it's good, but why should you care about this one in particular? Why, because you're a gamer! And if there's one thing I know about gamers, it's that they love filling out maps. You guys will map anything, and you're darn good at it, too. So why not run a game that's expressly about filling out a map?
In this paragraph, I shall write of another item. It's called The Stars Are Right Scoring Track. It's a game aid for (believe it or not) The Stars Are Right that helps you keep track of your score while you play. "Ah-hah," I hear you say. "He can't possibly link these two products together." Ah, but you are wrong, my friends. For you see, this item is completely free. So who cares if they're related? It's free! Just go get it anyway!
-- Fox Barrett
Randy's Road Trip Update
Tonight, Randy will be gaming at All Fun and Games in Apex, NC
from 6-10pm. For Randy's complete itinerary, check
out our Where's
Randy? page.
Warehouse 23 News: e23: Cavemen Rejoice!
Dinosaurs and cavemen have about as much to do with one another as gas-station attendants and Mayan priests do. Still, one can hardly deny the appeal in watching people in loincloths hit dinos with rocks tied to sticks. So don't sweat the details of Cave Girl, Mini-Game #93. Just hit something with a rock and everything will be okay.
Game conventions come in many different types. Some focus on boardgames in an open gaming environment, like BoardgamegeekCon. Some bring big name publishers together with special events, like Gen Con. Some mix traditional games with digital, like PAX.
And some bring playtesters together with game designers, like ProtoSpiel. For events like these, there are no Munchkin tournaments, no RPG sessions, no seminar tracks, and no special guest signings.
We've attended ProtoSpiel the past couple of years, and enjoyed it, both as playtesters and as designers. Now, we'll have one even closer to home: ProtoSpiel South will be held May 28-30 here in Austin.
If you've got a game design you'd like fresh eyes to evaluate honestly, or you love looking at gaming works-in-progress, this is the event for you! We'll be there with whichever prototypes we've got at the playtest stage, and we'll be looking forward to the new designs others have in store. After all, ProtoSpiel is where we found Nanuk . . .
-- Paul Chapman
Randy's Road Trip Update
Tonight, Randy will be gaming at One Eyed Jacques in Richmond, VA from 1-5pm. For Randy's complete itinerary, check out our Where's Randy? page.
Warehouse 23 News: e23: The Scores Are Right
Counting can be hard. It's okay, though. We're here for you. The Stars Are Right Scoring Track takes care of all that messy counting for you (for free), leaving you to focus the whole of your attentions on the truly important things in life. Like going crazy and bringing down the Great Old Ones' wrath upon the Earth.
So: We worked on iPhone projects last night, and when we quit, the plan was to do more today. So it's not surprising that I dreamed about an iPhone game. I tried to hang onto it as I woke up, because sometimes that yields a good idea . . .
But when I came fully awake, I only remembered fragments. I was playing someone born to lose; the game was about failure. The phone was in a plate of water (?) with flat, bright-colored plastic animals floating in it. The screen was mostly dark blue, with white squiggly letters and buttons. To play, you swiped a fork across several buttons; the phone remained in the plate of liquid. I hit a 2 and the phone said "The Mayor has picked the crummiest car. Shall we just give it to him?"
I do not understand the message here, and I don't know if I want it to be re-sent . . .
As I type this we are storyboarding a Zombie Dice app, which seems quite sane by comparison.
-- Steve Jackson
Randy's Road Trip Update
Tonight, Randy will be gaming at Legends Games and Comics in Towson, MD from 5-9pm. For Randy's complete itinerary, check out our Where's Randy? page.
Warehouse 23 News: e23: It's Just That Good
Normally, we'd try to entice you into purchasing a copy of Pyramid #3/16: Historical Exploration by extolling its virtues and explaining how much better your life will be with the magazine in your possession. In this case, however, we're confident that this issue is so good that you'll just spontaneously decide to buy it. Yup. We're certain you will. Any second now.
These items are available to your friendly local game store for ordering, and may already be on their shelves. Go!
Chez Cthulhu
Prepare for an encounter with the most sanity-blasting entities in all the dimensions . . .
Your roommates.
Chez Cthulhu brings the horror of Lovecraft's Mythos right into your apartment . . . as if the leftovers from the Pizza with Absolutely Everything weren't bad enough. Work your job -- will you be a Morgue Janitor, a Sanitarium Guard, or a Gravedigger? Buy things to give you Slack, like a comforting Straitjacket . . . or some Friendly Tentacles to make your day a little brighter. Invite people over to your room . . . and sacrifice them! And Nookie . . . don't forget the Nookie. Preferably without the Ectoplasmic Slime.
Chez Cthulhu combines the classic Chez Geek system with everyone's favorite Elder God. . . and adds a new Madness mechanic. This set includes 110 cards and two blanks, a die, and counters for both Slack and Madness.
Warning: Mixing Chez Cthulhu with Chez Geek can lead to bouts of giggling and excessive silliness. The game itself will play just fine, as long as your brain doesn't break when you use "cigarette" and "tentacle" interchangeably.
Boxed, with 112 cards, die-cut tokens for Slack and Madness, a six-sided die, and a rulesheet. Stock #1397, UPC 8-37654-32036-5. $19.99.
-- Paul Chapman
Randy's Road Trip Update
Tonight, Randy will be gaming at The Games Keep in West Chester, PA
from 6-10pm. For Randy's complete itinerary, check
out our Where's
Randy? page.
Warehouse 23 News: Home, Home On De Range
Where the gnolls and the troglodytes play. Where seldom is heard a non-violent word, and the loot is all taken away. (The preceeding had little to do with Munchkin 5 - De-Ranged, but it struck the writer as particularly clever. We've decided to be nice and humor him. Please do not hold it against De-Ranged.)
With one last run through the exhibit hall, the New York Toy Fair is now officially over. I've packed my bags and will soon head back home to Austin as Randy sets off on the second leg of his great adventure. The show was hugely useful for work, but my secret life as a hardcore toy geek was also enriched by spending my off-hours wandering the hall and chatting with toy designers and manufacturers. You may not know it, but when I'm not deep in games I unwind by working on my toy site -- www.battlegrip.com -- where i write about toys, art, and anything else that interests me. I've been posting a few toy-related updates over at the site, but I thought I'd steal some space here to point out the really cool non-SJGames stuff that I saw at the show.
- While visiting with the team at Shocker Toys I ran into Chris and Alan Hebert, a pair of creative madmen who were busy pushing the upcoming action figure for their comic, Lazerman. It's always fun to talk with comic creators, but when you find out that the characters and situations in the comic were inspired by too many sessions of GURPS Supers the conversation takes a turn for the weird. We had a blast discussing comics, toys, and games, and I hope the guys succeed with their new action figure.
- At the Triad Toys booth I drooled on the fantastic 12-inch scale action figures and action figure displays. Drew and Louie were friendly, happy to chat about toys and manufacturing, and even made sure that I ended up with their Grave Danger display. This huge polystone action figure display is going to look great if I can manage to get it home without breaking it.
- Tiny action figures are always fun, and when the figure is a wacky platform toy it gets even better. That's why I was immediately drawn to the Idolz Toys booth. These are stackable figures with interchangeable parts, which means that I'm going to want way more than the one figure that was given to me. And I really want some blanks so that I can customize them.
I took many, many photos at the show and I'm slowly posting them to my personal Flickr account. If you're a toy geek you may want to jump over and take a look at shots of upcoming Iron Man 2, Marvel Universe, and Star Wars toys. There's a lot of great toys hitting shelves this year and I know that I'm excited about a few of the bigger releases (like the 19-inch Galactus action figure).
Toy Fair. The only place my toy geekness is appreciated and welcome.
-- Phil Reed
Randy's Road Trip Update
Tonight, Randy will be gaming at Jester's Playhouse in Northfield, NJ from 3-7pm. For Randy's complete itinerary, check out our Where's Randy? page.
Warehouse 23 News: e23: Who Gave Them Guns?!
Look out! It's British people! And they're armed! Just take a look at the Paper Miniatures: Zulu Wars Redcoats Set. See? Guns! We're sorry about all the "pip pip" and "cheerio" jokes, really!
February 17, 2010: Drake Fenwick Strikes Again And We Like It
Once again, Drake Fenwick of Supermegatopia has drawn The Funny with Munchkin characters.
Did I say once? I've got three links for you . . .
• Big Munchkin
• Ties
• Enhancing (you'll need to click on the image to make the talk balloons big enough to read).
-- Steve Jackson
What is Advanced Adventures #12: The Barrow Mound of Gravemoor? One more than 11, that's what!
I'm at the New York Toy Fair this week (not as spectacular as last month's Hong Kong trip, but fun), and I'm pleased to report that we've got both Cthulhu and Zombies in our booth. And that's a great thing!
Yep, everything worked out and we managed to get the two new dice games in time for the show . . . which is fantastic, since both games are going over great with retailers, gamers, and buyers. Several times over the last couple of days I've heard "Zombies are awesome," "Cthulhu is huge," and everyone loves the price points and fast play of the two games. I'm confident that we've got two new winners on our hands; now to get them off of our hands and onto store shelves.
SJ comment: Excellent! So we can do more? Those were FUN! And my inner gaming geek really loves making special dice!
We've got two more days of the show, which means that Randy, Ross, and I will keep working the booth, showing off the new games, and answering the always-popular "what's new with Munchkin" question that's coming from almost everyone we meet.
SJ comment: You're not giving them a straight answer, are you?
-- Phil Reed
Warehouse 23 News: e23: A Caring Sort of Mercenary
If your dungeon master is having trouble with his ABCs, then we recommend a copy of The Dungeon Alphabet! It won't help him learn to read, true, but he'll probably appreciate the thought. And we'll have sold a book. That's all that matters, right?
February 15, 2010: Looking Backward. Forward. Again. Whatever.
All this time travel is getting confusing. Okay, so last week I wrote a bit about about the new Transhuman Space PDFs we'd recently put up. Well, this week I have to do that very same thing. We just released Transhuman Space Classic: Fifth Wave and Transhuman Space: Teralogos News - 2101, First Quarter, you see.
But what am I supposed to write? History is clearly repeating itself. So not only am I talking about the future that's from the past, but now I'm doing it for the second time. If our release schedule keeps this sort of thing up, I'm going to have call Geordi in to fix it.
Perhaps it's best to keep it simple, then. Come get some cool Transhuman Space stuff! Fifth Wave is a cool reprint and Teralogos News is free! And don't ask too many questions or you'll rip a hole in space-time!
-- Fox Barrett
Warehouse 23 News: He's Everywhere! He's Everywhere!
Is that a Cthulhu version of Chez Geek? A Chez Cthulhu, if you will? Hmm. The infestation is more extensive than we first thought. Quickly! Purchase the game and begin investigation immediately. No, there's not time to make sure you have money for rent! The fate of the world depends on it! (Probably.)
Got an iPhone or iPod touch?
If not, you're missing out, because NASA -- yes, that NASA -- wrote a free iPhone app that has all kinds of information about past and future missions, including pictures and video. And it's updated all the time with new, cool stuff.
It's wonderful to live in the future . . .
-- Andrew Hackard
Warehouse 23 News: e23: Don't Think About It Too Hard
Transhuman Space: Teralogos News - 2101, First Quarter is book about a bunch of stuff that hasn't happened yet. However, it's written as though that stuff has happened, despite not having happened. So this stuff has happened, even though it hasn't actually happened-happened. It is will have going to happened. Um. Wait, let's go to the flowchart . . .
Want to crush everything beneath your treads? Me too. Here's some user-created Ogre support. Crush the puny humans!
Stephan Beal's Build Your Own Ogre page lets you view a long list of Ogres, both official and fan-created; edit them; and print out record sheets. With these, the puny humans may be expeditiously crushed.
It is unfortunate - but hilarious for me as a Mac user - to note that Internet Explorer is not supported. So if all you've got is MSIE, don't try to crush the puny humans with it. Won't work.
-- Steve Jackson
Warehouse 23 News: e23: On Second Thought
The more things change, the more they stay the same. So you don't really need to read Transhuman Space Classic: Fifth Wave to get an idea of what Earth is like 100 years from now. It'll be just like right now! Only with robots. And spaceships. And genetic engineering. And artificial intelligence. And . . .
Nanuk, our highly social game of bluffing and bidding, went through quite a few iterations before arriving at its final form. Designers Mark Goadrich and Brett Myers share their thoughts on the origins of the game, and recount their journey in their Designers' Notes.
Read how a mathematics course in Louisiana, Thai food in Madison, Wisconsin, moose in Canada, and late nights in Michigan all tied together to make a very fun, very loud game about hunting in the snow fields of the Arctic. Now, at last, you know what you have to do to design great games! It's all here.
(And if you'd like a more visual answer to "What's Nanuk about?" check out the unboxing video, where Will shows off each component, and tells you a little about how game-play works.)
-- Paul Chapman
Who was the Lone Ranger without Silver? Who was Lu Bu without Red Hare? Who was Tom Bombadil without Fatty Lumpkin? Nobody! And you're a nobody as well if you don't get yourself a sweet ride for your next dungeon dive. Luckily, Munchkin 4 - The Need for Steed is here to help.
Peanut butter and chocolate. Laptops and wifi. Pencils and erasers. Some things simply go together -- like Cthulhu and roommates. Trust us, it makes sense, especially after you read SJ's Developer's Notes.
Yes, Cthulhu cultists are on the shelf of your local game store, ready for moving into your apartment, eating your food, and keeping you awake with loud televisions. Chez Cthulhu is now available!
(A word of caution when combining Chez Cthulhu with Chez Geek, Chez Goth, or any of the Chez line: The combination works just fine, as long as you treat cigarettes and tentacles as interchangeable. If this doesn't break your brain -- or, like me, you enjoy those types of sanity-fracturing moments -- enjoy!)
-- Paul Chapman
Randy's Road Trip Update
Tonight, Randy will be gaming at Millennium Games and Hobbies in Rochester, NY from 6-10pm. For Randy's complete itinerary, check out our Where's Randy? page.
Warehouse 23 News: e23: Adjective Dominance
This isn't "the okay city." This isn't "the good city." This isn't "the reasonably decent city you visit some weekends." This is The Great City: Backdrops. And don't you forget it.
because Twitter is neat, but 140 characters is too short, and sending eight tweets in a row is cheating. Tweating? Ecccch. I didn't say that.
• By the time this posts, I should be in San Francisco. EFF party Wednesday night. Game (and general BS) session in the Pickwick lobby Thursday night.
• The business office just closed the month of November. The year-end closing should be Real Soon Now. I have most of the 2010 Report to the Stakeholders drafted, but a few very important bits (like, goals for 2010) won't be final until we see the real numbers for 2009. However, exit polls indicate, to no one's real surprise, that Munchkin rules.
• Am I going to get ANY sleep tonight? Don't count on it. That slave driver Phil wants another playtest draft of Nameless Game to work on while I'm gone. But I happen to LIKE this game. The original design came from out of house, and is original, very replayable, and fun. Our mission: to put it into a package that you can open up, understand, teach to your friends, and play. It puts a lot of roleplaying mechanics to good use, but it's absolutely not an RPG. It's . . . interesting. And I'm really pretty close to that next draft (whimper). And yes, it has a name, but I'm not telling. If I have to suffer, you have to suffer.
• We may have a print buying breakthrough (and/or an excuse to accept a low profit margin in order to make a really neat game) on the new Ogre edition that I've been talking about for too long.
-- Steve Jackson
Randy's Road Trip Update
Tonight, Randy will be gaming at Game Masters in Pittsburgh, PA from 5-9pm. For Randy's complete itinerary, check out our Where's Randy? page.
Warehouse 23 News: e23: Urinary Carte Blanche
Some players are wild animals figuratively. Perhaps you should allow them to channel this by letting them play wild animals literally. You can do that very thing with The Noble Wild (Pathfinder Edition). Because let's face it, if one your players is going to pee on the regent's rug anyway, you might as well have a plausible reason for such behavior.
February 9, 2010: We've Looked, But Didn't Touch. Yet.
We're providing the retailers with point of purchase displays (commonly known as POP) for our new dice games, and we just got images from the printer. We posted them on our Flickr account for all to see. Here's the Zombie Dice POP series, and here's the Cthulhu Dice series.
You will, of course, notice that the packaging filling the POP is actually empty. Don't be alarmed -- when the samples arrive here, they'll be filled with genuine dice, cups, and rules. We expect them any day now.
Yes, by the time you read this we'll likely have the actual samples in our hands, and could have taken photos of those. But that would have taken time away from our playing with the dice, so we'll save those for later. I tell you, those dice cups are addicting -- shake, shake, rattle, rattle. And rolling big ol' twelve-siders across a conference room table? Can't stop!
If we can tear ourselves away from playing with these in the office, we'll be showing them off at the GAMA Trade Show (for retailers) and PAX East (for EVERYBODY) this March. You'll be able to get your own copies right around the same time.
-- Paul Chapman
(Postscript from SJ . . . Or you can come see me Thursday night in San Francisco, because through the miracle of FedEx, I expect to have actual samples of both games by then.)
Randy's Road Trip Update
Tonight, Randy will be gaming at The Rifleman in Charleston, WV from 6-10pm. For Randy's complete itinerary, check out our Where's Randy? page.
Warehouse 23 News: e23: Gratuitous Misuse of Babel Fish
¡La Muerte viene para usted! ¡La Muerte viene para sus niños! ¡La Muerte viene para sus cabras! Compre el Muerte al Chupacabras! ahora. ¡El sino de sus cabras depende de él!
I've mentioned once or twice in these little advertising tirades of mine that we all live in the future now. And while I do enjoy my personal hovercraft and my regular Pan Am flights to the moon, I feel that it's important to take a step back and remember the good things of days gone past.
Like Transhuman Space Classic, for example. See how it has the word "classic" in the title? That means its old and really good. It's also about the future, which dovetails nicely with my theme. If you're unfamiliar with it, Transhuman Space is basically what would happen if you took Future Shock, cranked it up to 11, and made an RPG out of it. Awesome, right? Well, now it's available as a PDF!
And it's not alone. It has a little friend titled Transhuman Space: Teralogos News - 2100, Fourth Quarter. It's a collection of news articles that give you a ground's eye view of the world. It's also free, and bereft of system-dependent content, so you don't even have to use it with Transhuman Space! (But, uh, we would still really appreciate it if you bought Transhuman Space Classic anyway. Just sayin'.)
-- Fox Barrett
Randy's Road Trip Update
Tonight, Randy will be gaming at The Rusty Scabbard in Lexington, KY from 5-9pm. For Randy's complete itinerary, check out our Where's Randy? page.
Warehouse 23 News: e23: That Word Again
Yup, we're tossing around "free." This time it's attached to the Battle Axe Free Rules and Starter Kit. But hey, if you don't like free, thats fine. You're more than welcome to buy one of the two new sets.
This upcoming Wednesday, Feb. 10, I'll be at the EFF 20th Anniversary party at the DNA Lounge in San Francisco. The MC will be Mythbuster Adam Savage. Come say hello!
The day after that, Thursday the 11th, I'll run an informal "play games and see the new stuff" session. I'll have Cthulhu Dice and Zombie Dice with me, and probably some other stuff. I figure I'll start at 8, and go on until it's time to quit. The venue will be the lobby of the Pickwick Hotel in downtown San Francisco . . . unless somebody comes up with a better idea nearby, so watch the Illuminator and our Twitter page for updates.
-- Steve Jackson
Randy's Road Trip Update
Tonight, Randy will be gaming at The Game Keep in Hermitage, TN from 1-5pm. For Randy's complete itinerary, check out our Where's Randy? page.
Warehouse 23 News: e23: Getting Ahead on the News
You shouldn't be interested in Transhuman Space: Teralogos News - 2100, Fourth Quarter because it's free. That's nice, but ultimately unimportant. You should be interested because it's from The Future. Cool, huh?
Last June, Randy drove from Austin to Minneapolis, over to Columbus in time for Origins, then back to Austin. Along the way, he stopped at 17 game stores, where he taught our new games and talked about upcoming releases. He had a great time, so we decided to do it again!
This time, the Road Trip will take Randy over to the East Coast for the New York Toy Fair. His first stop will be today (Saturday, February 6) at Conway Gaming Center in Conway, Arkansas. He'll be there from 8pm to 12 midnight, showing off Zombie Dice, Cthulhu Dice, Frag Gold Edition, Revolution!, Nanuk, and a few ideas we haven't announced yet.
For a complete listing of Randy's appearances, check out our Where's Randy page.
-- Paul Chapman
Warehouse 23 News: e23: The Really Weird Frontier
What do you get when you cross a robot, a cat, and outer space? Transhuman Space Classic! And what do you get if you purchase and download this PDF? The best darn outer-space robot cat-people RPG this side of Alpha Centauri!
February 5, 2010: Illuminated Site Of The Week: Look, On The Uptown Bus!
Been holding out for a hero? You and Bonnie Tyler both. The World Superhero Registry has a lot of promise, listing several heroes, active and retired. (If you're hoping to get help from one of them, you might want to enter them into your cell phone before you need them.) Several defenders of justice are recognized, but there are dozens of them pending or working their way up through the ranks (just in case you're a hero yourself and are in the market for a sidekick). No, we don't know anything about Doktor DiscorD, and there's no truth to the rumor that you never see him in the same room as SJ Games' staff. Honestly, how these things get started . . .
-- Andy
Warehouse 23 News: Mistakes Were Made
If there's one lesson to be taken away from Munchkin 3 - Clerical Errors, it's that you can save some of the party some of the time, but you can't save all of the party all of the time. Especially if you keep holding your holy symbol upside-down like that.
Geekosystem.com has posted a list of 30 Great Gaming Geeks. Not only am I on it - that's cool enough, right there - but I seem to be ranked at number 1.
Okay, that's just ridiculous. I am deeply honored blah blah blah, but I'm also abashed. Even though we had to buy an office with double doors so my ego could get in, I'm abashed. I mean, come on. CHECK OUT that list. There's not a person there I wouldn't love to listen to for an hour, with my own mouth firmly shut. Even the ones who are already friends, because I don't get to see them enough. I mean, Richard Garriott has been to space. Warren Spector is reinventing Mickey Mouse. And some of these guys I would just plain fanboy at. Will Wright made SimCity. Shigeru Miyamoto created Donkey Kong and Zelda, back in the day, and is still going strong with Wii games! He was knighted for his geekly achievements. I am not making that up. Reiner Knizia invented the Eurogame, sliced bread, and the horse. (Okay, I made some of that up.) And where the heck are Daniel James and Mike Stackpole? And OMG where is Charlie Stross, who not only writes SF that can literally disturb my sleep, but created the slaad?
This is an awe-inspiring list. It boggles the mind to realize how much scary raw talent we have in our little corner of geekdom. Revel in it!
-- Steve Jackson
Warehouse 23 News: e23: Unexpectely Honest
If you're playing with Pathfinder and you'd like some more adventures, encounters, or characters, then Avalon Games is perfect for you. If you're not and you wouldn't, then we ask that you please start. We have books to sell!
Ninja vs. Pirates is a podcast of interviews with game creators. They talked to me about Munchkin. We discussed the challenge of designing games with many expansion sets, the inspiration and design of a silly game, and CHEATING. Want to hear what we said? You can listen here.
Arrrrr.
-- Steve Jackson
We don't know how Flying Buffalo can just give away the Tunnels & Trolls rules like this, but then we also don't know how they made buffalo fly. Life remains ever mysterious.
When we announced the +6 Bag O' Munchkin Babes, we said that we planned to include them in a 2010 Munchkin Quest release. It now looks as though we're going to move that particular release off the 2010 schedule, unfortunately . . . which means that if you've been waiting to pick up the Munchkin Babe pawns, you may not want to wait much longer.
But just because this Munchkin Quest release is getting delayed doesn't mean we don't have evil plans for the game . . . in fact, we're planning an expansion this year that WILL have some new pawns in it. Watch for more details later in 2010!
-- Andrew Hackard
That's right, it's time to take all those boring, unimaginative, normal spaceships of yours and throw them in the fire. Don't worry, it's a pretty big fire, so there's plenty of room for their abundant mediocrity. In their place we shall craft vessels the likes of which have never been seen! At least, not by anyone who hasn't read GURPS Spaceships 7: Divergent and Paranormal Tech.
This book is our key to the strangest, weirdest, and just plain wackiest starships ever to sail the seven galaxies. How weird? Well, page 24 has a section labeled "Zombie Spaceships." And page 7 contains rules marked "Digestive System." Oh, and page 35? There's this odd bit about a sort of time traveling box that's bigger on the inside than it is on the outside.
Hmm. Maybe that last one is a bit too silly. Nobody would ever go for that. But hey, the rest of the book presents a pretty convincing argument for why the best ships are the ones that make their own kind of sense and nobody else's.
-- Fox Barrett
Warehouse 23 News: e23: Oh, Wait. There's One.
Who are the Esoterrorists? What are they doing? Why are they doing it? Do they like puppies? Where did they get those swell hats? If only there was some sort of informative text on the subjext. A sort of . . . Esoterror Fact Book, if you will. Aaah, if only.
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