March 17, 2025: In Search Of Dave Martin

We seem to have lost track of artist David L. Martin (Dave to his friends, and I count myself his friend . . . he and a bottle of wine were key to the genesis of the Illuminati game, for instance, which is one reason I asked him to do the cover). But we have not spoken in a while, and the email address in our records is now bouncing.

Dave, are you out there? It would be, as our British friends say, "to your advantage" to check in. I have interesting news. My signature on this Illuminator is a mailto link.

As for the other several billion people in the world: If you are in touch with Dave, kindly call this to his attention! Thank you very much.

With my fingers crossed, I remain yours sincerely &c &c . . .

-- Steve Jackson

March 16, 2025: Fighting Fantasy Kickstarter – The End Is Nigh!

We're in the final stretch of the Fighting Fantasy Kickstarter, the start of our journey to deliver the beloved British gamebook series to the brave adventurers of the United States.

In case you missed the news, we've announced a new pledge level: the beautiful Slipcase Set. Give your five-book set a snazzy home with the full-color slipcase. As I mentioned in a recent Kickstarter update, these are very challenging to work out logistically, so the odds are unlikely they'll be reprinted. If you're the sort whose future-collector self kicks your past-collector self for missing out on goodies like this, consider this your notice from the . . . um . . . present (which will eventually be the future's past).

But the stars of the campaign are clearly the first five gamebooks: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, Deathtrap Dungeon, City of Thieves, and two others. Created by famed designers – . . . [more]

March 15, 2025: Imaginary Cards Jam On Itch.Io

When you're sifting through your TCG collection, do you ever find a card that you don't recognize? An artifact from a totally unfamiliar game, maybe one that doesn't exist in this reality?

. . . No? Just me, then?

If you would like an excuse to create such an artifact, look no further than the Imaginary Cards Jam on itch.io, with submissions open through March 24, 2025. The contest is hosted by Sharang Biswas, Pam Punzalan, and Viditya Voleti with bonus mystery judge John Harper (!!!), and the itch page promises that there WILL be prizes for the winners.

I love this sort of open-ended prompt; my first attempt at creating something similar was for the System Fictional Game Jam back in 2022, and I had a blast.

So go forth and make some weird art!

-- Irene Zielinski

March 14, 2025: MidSouthCon

MidSouthCon is an ancient and honorable science fiction convention with a heavy gaming slant. I was a GoH at MSC in 2013, and had a great time . . . and I'm going back!

The event this year is just outside Memphis. The dates are March 21 through 23, right around the corner! I will be there with Irene Zielinski; we'll be running a lot of games, both new stuff and classics. As, I hope, you would expect by now! And for my GoH talk, she's going to interview me for "Grognard Story Hour." We did that bit at Granite State Comic Con and it was a (slightly embarrassing) blast.

By all means, come see us. The con is not sold out. The author GoH is Keith R.A. Candido, who has written – among many other things – some really fun fantasy police procedurals (check out Dragon Precinct and its sequels at your local bookstore or at some giant company that sells books on the Internet). The other guests are . . . [more]

March 13, 2025: Yazeba's Is A Nebula Finalist!

Hard on the heels of the Yazeba's Bed and Breakfast nomination for a GAMA award comes more awesome news: this innovative RPG from Possum Creek Games is a finalist for the 60th annual Nebula Awards, in the Game Writing category!

The Nebula is an old and prestigious award given by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA). It's right up there with the Hugo in significance; the difference is that the Hugos are voted on by fans at the World SF Convention each year, while the Nebs are awarded by a vote of SFWA's membership – that is, your fellow professionals are judging your mastery of the craft. The Game Writing category is fairly new and is almost always dominated by computer games (for their dialog, not for the coding). This is largely, in my own opinion, simply because the pros doing the nominations are more familiar with computer games than tabletop RPGs, . . . [more]

Previous Illuminators • Steve's Appearance Schedule

The jet is alien. March 17, 2025: In Search Of Dave Martin We seem to have lost track of artist David L. Martin (Dave to his friends, and I count myself his friend . . . he and a bottle of wine were key to the genesis of the Illuminati game, for instance, which is one reason I asked him to do the cover). But we have not spoken in a while, and the email address in our records is now bouncing. Dave, are you out there? It would be, as our British friends say, "to your advantage" to check in. I have interesting news. My signature on this Illuminator is a mailto link. As for the other several billion people in the world: If you are in touch with Dave, kindly call this to his attention! Thank you very much. With my fingers crossed, I remain yours sincerely &c &c . . . -- Steve Jackson March 16, 2025: Fighting Fantasy Kickstarter – The End Is Nigh! We're in the final stretch of the Fighting Fantasy Kickstarter, the start of our journey to deliver the beloved British gamebook series to the brave adventurers of the United States. In case you missed the news, we've announced a new pledge level: the beautiful Slipcase Set. Give your five-book set a snazzy home with the full-color slipcase. As I mentioned in a recent Kickstarter update, these are very challenging to work out logistically, so the odds are unlikely they'll be reprinted. If you're the sort whose future-collector self kicks your past-collector self for missing out on goodies like this, consider this your notice from the . . . um . . . present (which will eventually be the future's past). But the stars of the campaign are clearly the first five gamebooks: The Warlock of Firetop Mountain, Deathtrap Dungeon, City of Thieves, and two others. Created by famed designers – . . . [more] March 15, 2025: Imaginary Cards Jam On Itch.Io When you're sifting through your TCG collection, do you ever find a card that you don't recognize? An artifact from a totally unfamiliar game, maybe one that doesn't exist in this reality? . . . No? Just me, then? If you would like an excuse to create such an artifact, look no further than the Imaginary Cards Jam on itch.io, with submissions open through March 24, 2025. The contest is hosted by Sharang Biswas, Pam Punzalan, and Viditya Voleti with bonus mystery judge John Harper (!!!), and the itch page promises that there WILL be prizes for the winners. I love this sort of open-ended prompt; my first attempt at creating something similar was for the System Fictional Game Jam back in 2022, and I had a blast. So go forth and make some weird art! -- Irene Zielinski March 14, 2025: MidSouthCon MidSouthCon is an ancient and honorable science fiction convention with a heavy gaming slant. I was a GoH at MSC in 2013, and had a great time . . . and I'm going back! The event this year is just outside Memphis. The dates are March 21 through 23, right around the corner! I will be there with Irene Zielinski; we'll be running a lot of games, both new stuff and classics. As, I hope, you would expect by now! And for my GoH talk, she's going to interview me for "Grognard Story Hour." We did that bit at Granite State Comic Con and it was a (slightly embarrassing) blast. By all means, come see us. The con is not sold out. The author GoH is Keith R.A. Candido, who has written – among many other things – some really fun fantasy police procedurals (check out Dragon Precinct and its sequels at your local bookstore or at some giant company that sells books on the Internet). The other guests are . . . [more] March 13, 2025: Yazeba's Is A Nebula Finalist! Hard on the heels of the *Yazeba's Bed and Breakfast* nomination for a GAMA award comes more awesome news: this innovative RPG from Possum Creek Games is a finalist for the 60th annual Nebula Awards, in the Game Writing category! The Nebula is an old and prestigious award given by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers Association (SFWA). It's right up there with the Hugo in significance; the difference is that the Hugos are voted on by fans at the World SF Convention each year, while the Nebs are awarded by a vote of SFWA's membership – that is, your fellow professionals are judging your mastery of the craft. The Game Writing category is fairly new and is almost always dominated by computer games (for their dialog, not for the coding). This is largely, in my own opinion, simply because the pros doing the nominations are more familiar with computer games than tabletop RPGs, . . . [more] Previous Illuminators • Steve's Appearance Schedule		Latest Videos You are the 1711st interstellar sex god here today. (30499825 since August 1, 1995)