e23 News Archive: December 2007

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December 31, 2007: Pleasant Dreams

A mind is a terrible thing to delve too deeply into. Floating around in that super-ego soup are all manner of hellish visions of Bad and Yucky Things. Therein lies the power of a morphean.

The Mind Unveiled: Morphean prestiges up a class that's sure to be gads of fun at your next party. Provided it's a Halloween bash.

December 30, 2007: The News Piece With The Obnoxious And Thoroughly Unnecessary Long Title

Sorry. I couldn't help myself. I was looking at Monsters and Other Childish Things: The Completely Monstrous Edition and, frankly, I got jealous.

But let's just put my insecurities aside for a moment and look at this neato book. It's a roleplaying game about kids and monsters. In a weird twist, though, the kids aren't there to be eaten. It's more of a "hey, lemme eat your gym teacher," "no, you can't send Mr. Smith's soul into the Fifth Circle of Unfathomable Tentacles" sort of relationship.

And we all know what that spells: comedy gold. Oh, and roleplaying opportunities, and storytelling, and yadda yadda yadda. Who cares about that junk. We know what's important. Monsters!

December 29, 2007: But Are They Really Mini?

The tiny people included in Paper Miniatures: Pulp II can actually be quite big on a computer monitor. You just click that little "zoom in" button and bloop! They're no longer "mini."

You might not get that "bloop" noise. In fact, that's probably just in my head. More things should go "bloop." World'd be a lot funnier. But anyway -

When you print the guys out, sure, they're small. But on the screen, in an almost Zen-like way, they are both big and small. So don't just buy them because you need some paper minis. Buy them to expand your consciousness.

December 28, 2007: Hack (Slash Sold Separately)

Hot on the heels of . . . well, nothing in particular, honestly, I've just always wanted to start a sentence that way.

Hot on the heels of something else, it's GURPS Dungeon Fantasy: Adventurers! No longer is it hip to be square, because GURPS just put a hex on your dungeon crawl. This handy 31-page guide offers up advice on how to build a Standard-Issue Dungeon Delver (or SIDD) and how to outfit said character with Villain-Intimidating Cutlery Items of Unimaginable Slaughter (or VICIOUS).

But this is only the first part of a series, for you see we will be following this book with Dungeon Fantasy: Dungeons. That book will cover tips for the actual diving part. Will it be hot on the heels of this book? Nooooooo one can saaaaaay. Guess you better check this website every single day from now until release, huh?

December 27, 2007: Touched By An Angel('s Righteous .45 Of Demon Slayin')

Angels, demons, and rock 'n roll! The In Nomine Core Rulebook had been obnoxiously unavailable for quite some time. Now, with the miracle of modern technology, we'll never run outta copies!

So go ye forth and multiply, In Nomine fans! The rules have shed their physical shell and ascended to a higher state (a digital one!) making it easier than ever to bring new players into the Symphony.

December 26, 2007: Read-A, Read-A, Read Me!

Feeling done in? Can't win? Got an itch to scratch and need assistance? Want a book that'll thrill ya, chill ya, fulfill ya?

GURPS Creatures of the Night, Vol. 1!

And that's just one small fraction of the main attraction. We offer a friendly hand if you still need action.

GURPS Creatures of the Night, Vol. 2!

December 25, 2007: Blast From The Past From The Past

Or, perhaps, "about the past." Well, either way, what GURPS Classic: China lacks in Fourth Editionyness, it more than makes up for in historical fact, historical legend, and historical history.

And what are stats against such a force as history thingies? Nothing, says I!

December 24, 2007: You've Got The Touch!

You've got the po-Mmmffrfmmfmm!

(The Management apologizes for the preceding joke. It was an ill-conceived attempt to advertise the PDF version of GURPS Powers. We have taken measures to make sure you will not be subjected to such misaligned attempts at humor again. We apologize fnord the inconvenience.)

December 23, 2007: Ye Olde Spacee

So some of you didn't make the jump to GURPS, Fourth Edition. That's okay. Really. We understand. Sure, we're not putting out any new stuff for the old edition, but that doesn't mean we don't still want to sell you the old stuff. I mean: continue to support Third Edition.

So pay no mind to the GURPS Space behind the curtain, classic GURPS fans. GURPS Classic: Space awaits you! (Pssst! If you already own the book, this is also a great way to turn your big, voluminous volumes in to tiny, portable, documenty files!)

December 22, 2007: Stupendous! Amazing! Unfathomable!

Mind blo- oh, who am I kidding. It's totally average. See? It says so right here in the title. Modern Floorplans: Average Apartment Complex. Normal. Common. Run-of-the-mill.

December 21, 2007: Happy Horrordays!

Ed's Midnight Tales might not exactly be the sort of Yuletide reading one typically engages in, but hey, there's no tradition like a new tradition, right?

Besides, someone needs to put the "savage" in Savage Worlds sometime, and who better than Ed and what better time than the present? Wouldn't want people to think Ed is some kind of procrastinator.

December 20, 2007: Guns. Lots Of Guns.

Also survival gear and medical supplies and spy toys and, heck, even a towel!

GURPS High-Tech has arrived on the scene, and with it comes a deluge of dodads! As seen on GURPS, that is. Everything from TL5 to TL8 that bleeps, wirrs, bangs, clanks, or zips is here!

Ah, but then you say "but I already have this book, why do I, loyal SJ Games print book purchaser, care?" Because we've also just released GURPS High-Tech: Weapon Tables! Now the next time you need to the Rcl rating of a TsNIITochMash SPS, you needn't flip through all those obnoxious pages to find it. (Page 101, as it happens.) Instead, you need simply open up this handy reference. (Page 5, as it happens.)

December 19, 2007: Click And Deliver!

Heart-pounding sword battles up flights of stairs, romantic rogues that fight for the poor, and the ever-loved cry of "Yaarrrr!" These are the domain of GURPS Classic: Swashbucklers. With a sword in hand and dry remark on its lips, this book will guide you through the world of romantic adventure as defined by the worlds most generic and universal of roleplaying systems.

Now, yes, the stats are for Third Edition. That doesn't stop the world information from being quite useful to anyone with a penchant for the flamboyant, however.

December 18, 2007: A Mind Is A Terrible Thing To Waste

Don't just sit there, letting your lump of gray-gold go to waste! Get out there and exercise that wrinkly gray muscle. Whadda ya mean "where?" Can't find any institutes, huh? Oh, now, that's no excuse!

GURPS Traveller: Psionics Institutes is your A to Z listing of places to get your head embiggened. Don't let silly things like "legality" get in the way, go get yourself a slice of sweet psi pie.
-- Fox Barrett

December 17, 2007: Weird Science. No, Weirder.

Yeah, that weird. Andy Weir's wacky webcomic may have ended, but it lives on in the hearts and minds of people everywhere. People who download GURPS Casey & Andy also get to have it live on their gaming tables!

A word of warning, however. A space-time rift had to be opened to finish the book before its deadline, and some residual anomalies may still be lurking between pages. It's probably nothing serious. In fact, forget we brought it up.

On an unrelated note, e23 is not responsible for any unusual growths, unexpected discharge, or what we like to call "phantom head syndrome." Just, y'know, FYI.

-- Fox Barrett

December 16, 2007: Tool Time

Savage Worlds is a flexible system. It's perfect if you have an active imagination and a hankerin' or hackin' (on monsters).

Unless you're like me and can't be bothered to do things like "think" or "plan ahead." Heck, I don't even know how I'm going to finish this news post! Woo, I'm a free-wheeling renegade, baby! Wooo-hoo-hoo!

So since I can't form a coherent thought, I often find genre toolkit books helpful. And if there's one thing Savage Worlds has, it's helpful toolkits!

Adventurers with two fists might enjoy the pulp toolkits, adventurers with two swords would benefit from the fantasy toolkits, and those with two heads might like either the horror or sci-fi tool kits. It really depends on how they feel about eating human flesh.

-- Fox Barrett

December 15, 2007: Arm . . . Ripper?

S'what it says. Wicked Fantasy Factory #3: Throwdown with the Arm-Ripper. It also says "throwdown," but what really jumps out at me is the words "arm" and "ripper" right next to one another.

A monster that rips arms? Does it rip anything else? Does it rip your arms or its own? Does it rip them off, or is it more of a putting a rip in the arm thing?

Frankly, I'm fascinated. And terrified. Like a train wreck. Won't you buy a copy and come look at the train wreck with me?

December 14, 2007: Water, Water, Everywhere.

50 Fathoms is a setting of buckled swashes and ears that are buccaned. A world of privateers, Sea Hags, and lots 'n lots o' water. Lots of water.

I mean, it's right there in the title. Fifty whole fathoms worth of the stuff. There must have been a sale or something that day.

-- Fox Barrett

December 13, 2007: Big, Brawny, And Brainy

Yup, the "big and dumb" stereotype has been dashed (dashed, I say!) against the rocks. Now "big and brain filled" is what's in. Races of the Mind: Half-Giant gives our marginally taller brethren something they've hither to been missing: mind bullets.

Why settle for crushing someones skull when you can pop it like a balloon as well? It's all about variety.

December 12, 2007: The Brighter They Are . . .

. . . the harder they . . . dull?

Hrm. Might need to revisit that one. Anyhow! Tarth was a shiny, happy place until big spiders came along and screwed everything up. They were dealt with, of course, as troubled fantasy kingdoms have no shortage of epic heroes. The damage, however, was done just the same. Tarth never recovered and the big honkin' race wars didn't exactly help matters.

The world of Evernight is, frankly, a mess. But if you don't mind the dark meat from the turkey dinner we call fantasy roleplaying, then Evernight is sure to melt in your mouth.

Y'know, they should really keep me away from analogies.

-- Fox Barrett

December 11, 2007: Good Games, Good Man

Goodman Games is slashing prices! All their backstock is now 30% off until the end of December! Absolutely everything must go!

I know I certainly won't let petty logic stand in the way of a good sale!

December 10, 2007: The Horrors Of War

The prevailing opinion is that "war is hell." Tour of Darkness takes this sentiment to the next logical step. Out in the jungle waits a cunning, deadly, monstrous being that's watching you and could strike at any moment from anywhere.

And that's just the Viet Cong.

Make it past them and you get to deal with an unspeakable evil that's been feeding off of the generations of carnage that Vietnam has suffered. Lock and load, marine. Turns out there's more at stake than the Free World.

-- Fox Barrett

December 9, 2007: Um. Ew?

We all knew the world wasn't gonna be pretty after They Dropped the Bomb, but . . . wow.

I could say that Low Life was written in poor taste, but I wouldn't condone putting your tongue to the setting to find out for sure. In a world where the Twinkie and the cockroach have inherited the earth, you probably wouldn't want to touch much of anything with any part of you body.

If, on the other hand, you own a hazmat suit (and a strong stomach), then we invite you to dive right in to a world truly unlike any other.

-- Fox Barrett

December 8, 2007: The Six-Million Dollar Ovoid

Humpty Dumpty sat on the wall. Humpty Dumpty had a great fall. We can rebuild him.

Okay, okay, okay, so that's not what GURPS Transhuman Space: Shell-Tech is about. It's actually a rules update for the GURPS Third Edition rules powered cybershells of Transhuman Space. Now all your favorite sometimes-sentient robots from the Wooooorld of Tomoroooow have been retrofitted with a GURPS Fourth Edition engine.

So, no. No eggs. Or turtles. Or bipedal turtle-like creatures that hang out in the sewers and practice martial arts.

But I can dream.

December 7, 2007: It's Like A Roleplaying Game . . . From Hell

Some things in the night "bump." In response to this, Rippers "slice," "crash," "burst," "splatter," "burn," "slap," and "stomp."

And, of course, they rip.

Jack may have gone a little nuts, sure, but we have faith you'll handle the Inconceivable Demons of Black Inky Horror that threaten the Victorian world. Though, while one needn't be a paranoid schizophrenic to fight monsters, it might help.

-- Fox Barrett

December 6, 2007: The Perfect Weather For A Cold War

'Tis the season to intercept comrade Spyski's transmissions! GURPS Classic: Operation Endgame is a quartet of adventures set during that golden age of espionage: the Cold War.

Rogue KGB agents, crazed assassins, and terrorist plots - all wrapped up in 128 pages of nummy GURPS goodness! Don you now your low-visibility apparel and get to spyin'.

December 4, 2007: Big And Giant

Øone's Blueprints: Giant Fortress is a book about a giant fortress that's a fortress for giants. See, it's giant-sized, because giants live there and they're really tall. But it's also a giant fortress, because it's a fortress for giants.

It's a giant's giant fortress.

December 3, 2007: Stuff For Things

Need new components to best your opponents? Phrenic Creations: Special Materials is a teeny tome about spiffy stones with a psionic pslant.

Sorry. Got carried away there.

December 2, 2007: It's Good To Be Bad

Sure, nobody appreciated your efforts to kidnap the UN's General Assembly. And that time you stole the time machine from the secret lab in Paris? All it got you was a punch in the face. But a mess of aliens dupe the world's do-gooders, then turn them into do-gooder goo, and suddenly it's "oh, Megalor, you're so powerful!" and "oh, Megalor, you're the best overlord ever!" and "oh, Megalor, I totally regret turning you down when you had those Lakers tickets!"

Necessary Evil is a delightful romp on the dark side of superhero roleplaying. When only the supervillians are left, the battle between Good and Evil is over. Only the battle between Evil and Way Eviler remains.

December 1, 2007: Dead Space

Those nutty zombies. They weren't supposed to follow us into hard vacuum. But they did. Oopsie. Now the human species is down to one planet, and it ain't Earth. It's Necropolis, and in case you can't figure this out from the name, the place ain't exactly Pismo Beach.

It is, however, a braaaains harvestingly good time for fans of horror, a bit of sci-fi, and a whole lotta undead.

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