September 12, 2024: Hacker Deluxe Print-And-Play

Hacker Deluxe is out now as a print-and-play! That's right – with a printer, a few craft supplies, and a little bit of hacking and folding, you can recreate the classic Hacker experience right at your table.

Okay, official promo hat off. Irene here. I need to tell you a story.

I first played Hacker on a drizzly Wednesday night at my college gaming club. I was able to find the exact date – January 7, 2015 – because I immediately posted about it on Instagram. Twice. My verdict:

"it's . . . really good?"

I was a computer science student and a huge fan of '80s and '90s cyberpunk. I loved Neuromancer and Hackers (1995). Hacker was right up my alley in theme, and the mechanics didn't disappoint – jumping from system to system through indials, squeaking past ICE on government servers, and distinct turn phases to phreak and nark? I felt elite. Finding out that the guy behind my favorite roleplaying . . . [more]

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September 11, 2024: Ogre Miniatures Set 4 Now Available On Warehouse 23

If you missed out on the Ogre Miniatures Set 4 crowdfunding campaign back in January, you're in luck – the fourth and final set of Ogre minis is now available over on Warehouse 23! This set features over 100 unpainted minis, including:

Mk I - x2
Mk II - x2
Combine Ranger Heavy Tank - x8
Combine Banshee Missile Tank - x6
Combine Raptor GEV - x8
Combine Roadrunner GEV-PC - x6 (with 3 infantry each)
Combine Gremlin LGEV - x12
Combine Minotaur Howitzer - x4
Combine Bigfoot Mobile Howitzer - x4
Combine Yankee Light Tank - x12
Combine Alamo Superheavy Tank - x6
Combine Infantry - x14 bases with three minis each (total of 42)
Doppelsoldner treads (can be used to replace the treads from Set 3) - x2

Ogre Miniatures Set 4 uses the same scale as both the Ogre Sixth Edition and Ogre Designer's Edition games, so now you're even more prepared for epic battles with cybernetic tanks. Grab a set. Tell your friends . . .

[more]

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September 10, 2024: Sometimes The Lack Of A Story Is A Story

I've been fascinated by the standoff between X (formerly Twitter) and Brazil – mostly because it meant a huge influx of people came onto Bluesky for the first time. The social-media platform has added millions of new users in the past few days, with some activity seeing a 10-fold increase from a week prior.

What's really interesting from my perspective is that the Bluesky computer systems have continued to remain functional during the surge. Minor glitches have arisen, but certainly nothing to indicate that their servers are on fire; it's continued to just work.

As much as we'd be thrilled if two million new folks were suddenly interested in (say) Gelatinous, I'm not at all sure our web server could handle that many folks curious about the wandering-slime dice game – certainly not without our IT folks furiously rejiggering aflame computers amid a shower of sparks like a Star Trek engineering . . . [more]

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September 9, 2024: How Do The Orbital Mind Control Lasers Fit In?

Here's an article with a truck advertisement that proudly proclaims: "Pizza Hut: Official Sponsor of Dominoes." I'm sure you can guess what's going on, but it still made me do a double take. I'm not saying I see Illuminati games everywhere, but I'm not not saying that, either . . .

-- Steven Marsh

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September 8, 2024: Theft Of Fire

At Imaginarium last month, I heard a couple of dozen quick pitches for "You should read this book!" I gave in to just one of them. I read the first chapter immediately, and hated the antagonist so much that I set the book down to finish later. (I didn't want her to have a redemption arc. I wanted her to go out the airlock.) When I finished the book, it was in one long sitting, and you know why? It's very good!

Theft of Fire is set in the fairly near future. Humanity made it to space, mostly out of desperation. The Asteroid Belt is being mined, and this story is about one of those miners and the worst day he ever had. Except things go downhill from there.

Devon Eriksen writes well and engagingly. There's no obvious comparison; I can't say "This is like so-and-so's work." He writes like Eriksen, and that's fine with me! From what I can see (he is an engineer, . . . [more]

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Previous Illuminators • Steve's Appearance Schedule

The plump volleyball is white. September 12, 2024: Hacker Deluxe Print-And-Play Hacker Deluxe is out now as a print-and-play! That's right – with a printer, a few craft supplies, and a little bit of hacking and folding, you can recreate the classic Hacker experience right at your table. Okay, official promo hat off. Irene here. I need to tell you a story. I first played Hacker on a drizzly Wednesday night at my college gaming club. I was able to find the exact date – January 7, 2015 – because I immediately posted about it on Instagram. Twice. My verdict: "it's . . . really good?" I was a computer science student and a huge fan of '80s and '90s cyberpunk. I loved Neuromancer and Hackers (1995). Hacker was right up my alley in theme, and the mechanics didn't disappoint – jumping from system to system through indials, squeaking past ICE on government servers, and distinct turn phases to phreak and nark? I felt elite. Finding out that the guy behind my favorite roleplaying . . . [more] Share this post! September 11, 2024: Ogre Miniatures Set 4 Now Available On Warehouse 23 If you missed out on the Ogre Miniatures Set 4 crowdfunding campaign back in January, you're in luck – the fourth and final set of Ogre minis is now available over on Warehouse 23! This set features over 100 unpainted minis, including: Mk I - x2 Mk II - x2 Combine Ranger Heavy Tank - x8 Combine Banshee Missile Tank - x6 Combine Raptor GEV - x8 Combine Roadrunner GEV-PC - x6 (with 3 infantry each) Combine Gremlin LGEV - x12 Combine Minotaur Howitzer - x4 Combine Bigfoot Mobile Howitzer - x4 Combine Yankee Light Tank - x12 Combine Alamo Superheavy Tank - x6 Combine Infantry - x14 bases with three minis each (total of 42) Doppelsoldner treads (can be used to replace the treads from Set 3) - x2 Ogre Miniatures Set 4 uses the same scale as both the Ogre Sixth Edition and Ogre Designer's Edition games, so now you're even more prepared for epic battles with cybernetic tanks. Grab a set. Tell your friends . . . [more] Share this post! September 10, 2024: Sometimes The Lack Of A Story Is A Story I've been fascinated by the standoff between X (formerly Twitter) and Brazil – mostly because it meant a huge influx of people came onto Bluesky for the first time. The social-media platform has added millions of new users in the past few days, with some activity seeing a 10-fold increase from a week prior. What's really interesting from my perspective is that the Bluesky computer systems have continued to remain functional during the surge. Minor glitches have arisen, but certainly nothing to indicate that their servers are on fire; it's continued to just work. As much as we'd be thrilled if two million new folks were suddenly interested in (say) Gelatinous, I'm not at all sure our web server could handle that many folks curious about the wandering-slime dice game – certainly not without our IT folks furiously rejiggering aflame computers amid a shower of sparks like a Star Trek engineering . . . [more] Share this post! September 9, 2024: How Do The Orbital Mind Control Lasers Fit In? Here's an article with a truck advertisement that proudly proclaims: "Pizza Hut: Official Sponsor of Dominoes." I'm sure you can guess what's going on, but it still made me do a double take. I'm not saying I see Illuminati games everywhere, but I'm not not saying that, either . . . -- Steven Marsh Share this post! September 8, 2024: Theft Of Fire At Imaginarium last month, I heard a couple of dozen quick pitches for "You should read this book!" I gave in to just one of them. I read the first chapter immediately, and hated the antagonist so much that I set the book down to finish later. (I didn't want her to have a redemption arc. I wanted her to go out the airlock.) When I finished the book, it was in one long sitting, and you know why? It's very good! Theft of Fire is set in the fairly near future. Humanity made it to space, mostly out of desperation. The Asteroid Belt is being mined, and this story is about one of those miners and the worst day he ever had. Except things go downhill from there. Devon Eriksen writes well and engagingly. There's no obvious comparison; I can't say "This is like so-and-so's work." He writes like Eriksen, and that's fine with me! From what I can see (he is an engineer, . . . [more] Share this post! Previous Illuminators • Steve's Appearance Schedule		Latest Videos You are the 423rd fnord fancier here today. (30049488 since August 1, 1995)