e23 News Archive: April 2009

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April 30, 2009: The Weird, Nuclear, Interplanetary West

First, there was Deadlands: horror in the old west. Then there was Hell on Earth: horror in the old west after the bombs. Finally, we have the conclusion with Lost Colony: horror in the old west after the bombs drop . . . in space!

Or on a different planet, at any rate. That's sorta the same thing. Lost Colony brings the whole Weird West shebang (emphasis on the "bang") to the most final of final showdowns. Will the heroes stare down Death itself, teeth clenched and shootin' irons in hand, as they make humanity's last stand on some distant rock in space? Or are they yella'?

Not that they have to start right in Death's face, of course. Feel free to let them meander around for, oh, a few days or so. Maybe make some house calls to Horrible Disfigurement or Gross Personal Injury first.

-- Fox Barrett

April 29, 2009: Spoiler Alert: The Next One Features The Letter "T"

Cooper continues his march through the alphabet and brings you another batch of revised baddies in Cooper's Compendium of Corrected Creatures: OGL Monster Stats L – S. That takes us from "lamia" to "swarm." Unless you've bought the last two books. In which case, I suppose it takes you from "aboleth" to "swarm."

So, that puts us to the third book. Will the series continue? Shall we see more of these tomes of terror transformation? Well, the last time I checked The Alphabet Song, the last verse after "S" isn't ". . . and the rest!" So it's probably a safe bet. But for now, I shall crack open this volume and see what ol' Coop' fixed this time.

. . . and take a moment to read up on the lamia entry, because I have absolutely no idea what a lamia is. (What can I say? D&D had a decided lack of spaceships and robots for me as a kid.)

-- Fox Barrett

April 28, 2009: Cowboys And Giant Irradiated Demons (Also Indians)

After the bombs drop, we'll all be cowboys again!

That's what Hell on Earth promises, at any rate. The planet gets turned into a charred wasteland,  we all revert to cowboy times.  Also, there's monsters, (some of) the dead rise from the grave, and psionics starts popping up. Which, really, is just taking the usual western conventions to their logical extremes. All that's truly important, however, is that the setting is freakin' sweet.

Honestly, would you expect anything less from the geniuses that brought us the equally awesome Deadlands?

April 27, 2009: Navy SEALs Snipers Sold Seperately

As recent events in Somalia have shown (ooo, I'm so topical!), piracy is an ugly thing. It costs money, it costs lives, and its ultimately self-defeating as a means of gainful employment. It is little more than common thuggery on a boat, perpetrated by only the greedy foolish. The activity is abhorrent, and those engaged in it get everything that have coming to them.

. . . Now that that's out of the way: check it out, we've got the Pirates of the Spanish Main RPG! Sail the high-seas of adventure as you and your swashbuckling cohorts making scurvy dogs walk the plank! You'll swing from ropes, kidnap beautiful damsels, and acquire a bounty of booty! Har har!

Come again? "Cognitive dissonance?" Whas'at?

April 26, 2009: Solomon Kane, The

People with names like Solomon Kane do not grow up to be famers. They do not become doormen, nor golf caddies, nor crossing guards. No. People with names like Solomon Kane have two-fists, gritted teeth, and a bad attitude.

That is why this book is not merely "Solomon Kane RPG." No. It is The Savage World of Solomon Kane. A hardcore title for a hardcore character. This dude has a flintlock, a righteous fury, and one freaking big hat, and he's ready to bite the eyebrows off Evil. Seriously, the dude is intense. Which is why he makes such an excellent subject for a roleplaying game. Who wouldn't want to be that awesome. Grab a copy, step out of your humdrum, get ready to bring the pain to some unsuspecting demonic entity.

Just remember to grimace when you do it.

April 25, 2009: Arm Arm Arm Arm

That's really fun to say. "Arm." If you keep saying it, it loses all mean. "Arm arm arm arm arm arm." It just becomes this weird noise. "Aaaaaarrrrrrrm." Very pleasing sound.

What does that have to do with An Army's Arms? Well . . . everything! Look at the name. It's in there, like, twice. But there's more to the books than the humerus, scapula, and ulna. (On an unrelated note, I love the Wikipedia.) These system free books take fantasy army descriptions beyond their default "pike with pot helmet" descriptors with a good fleshing out. They discuss army composition, training, culture, but mostly . . . it's all about the stabby bits. After all, once your group puts down the orc army, they'd be pretty disappointed if all they found were 4,000 short swords.

Now, if you'll excuse me, I need to return to what I was doing. "Arm arm arm arm arm arm arm . . . "

April 24, 2009: In The Other Beginning

Space! It's out there, buddy, and it's waiting for us. "Come explore me," it says. "I have planets and stuff!" Its siren song has called to us for years, inspiring generations of imaginative souls to write about men in jumpsuits with laser pistols. Eventually, we'll get up there, and when we do, we'll have to start somewhere.

And that's what Pyramid #3/6: Space Colony Alpha is all about. What will the first off-world colony be? Who will we send? Where will we go? Will we have silver underpants too, or just the silver jumpsuit? I do so hope we get shiny silver underwear.

Oh, and this would be a good place to make a little announcement: If your subscription was one of the ones we rolled over from the old version of Pyramid, this is your last issue! (Unless you have resubscribed at some point in the last six months, of course.) If you'd like to keep picking these things up, you'll either need to get a new subscription or start cherry picking your issues as they enter the Interweb Supertubes. Or, I suppose, you could just stop buying our magazine. But that would make me sad. And that's incentive enough to keep buying the magazine . . . right?

-- Fox Barrett

April 23, 2009: A Slight Case Of News Lag

You're probably wondering why I'm here talking (typing?) about Lands of Darkness #5.5: The Home for Wayward Minion when one can clearly see on the cover the words "April Fools' Edition." Would it not make more sense to bring this book up on April 1st? Yes, that would not be an unreasonable expectation. So what happened?

Here at e23, we (and by "we," I mean "I") try as best as we can to give each and every release its own personal attention here on the front page news. Depending on how releases work out, this can put the news queue just a teeny bit behind the actual release date of the item being mentioned. In this case, teeny bit means the better part of a month. So while this news piece didn't run on what is probably the most appropriate date, this method does help assure that it isn't lost in a sea of other releases!

. . . However, it seems I've spent most of my space talking about something other than the product itself. Which might mean this doesn't really qualify as "personal attention." Which means I've failed on both counts. Wow. I'm terrible at this!

-- Fox Barrett

April 22, 2009: Truth In Advertising

This is one of the 0one's Black & White maps.

It's for an inn called White Wyvern Inn.

Well, the name is correct half the time, anyway. And these days, if your advertising is 50% correct, I'd say you're doing pretty good.

April 21, 2009: Final Notice!

As is befitting of a setting defined by the honest-to-goodness ending of the world, Dying Earth is going away. You've probably heard that mentioned a few times, here and elsewhere. Well, I just wanted to pipe up about it one more time before the end.

I do this partially because I have something of an affinity for Railing Against the Coming Night. Mostly, though, its because I want to push more product on you. The last of the Dying Earth books is Tooth, Talon and Pinion, XPS 7/8. It's all about the critters of Dying Earth. Except when its not. In those instances, it's about other things. Critters feature prominently, however.

And, like all things Dying Earth, it's price is at 50% of its normal power level. Also like all things Dying Earth,  there's only just about a week left until it's is gone forever. (For purchase, anyway. You can always redownload the files once you've bought 'em.) If ever there was a time for fast acting, this would be it.

April 20, 2009: A Taste Of Things To Come

I mentioned last month that we'd gotten some of the old Heavy Gear books online. It's part of our lead-up to when we finally start releasing all new Heavy Gear material of our own. (See this Daily Illuminator for that announcement.) While progress on that has been slow, steady, and secret, here on e23 things have progressed rather nicely if you're in the market for some classic Heavy Gear.

The entire Heavy Gear line of books is now available for purchase on e23! From the 1st Edition Rulebook to the, um . . . 3rd Edition Player's Handbook, we're your one-stop Gear shop. Whether your a fan of the miniatures game, the roleplaying game, or some sort miniature roleplaying game, we've got the books you need to make Terra Nova an even bigger wasteland

That is, until we go and write some wholly new ones. You'll need those, too. But for now, these should do nicely.

April 19, 2009: Nice Folks . . . To Visit

There's more to elves than a Dexterity bonus and a penchant for making cookies in trees. Indeed, the fair folk are as varied as we are, and easily twice as scary. Maybe it's just a mischievous boggart with a penchant for hiding your keys. Or maybe it's a red cap, who'd just as soon see you turned inside out as look at you. Or maybe it's the sidhe, who's motivations are anybody's guess.

Point is, things go a little deeper with these guys than their funny ears. Critter Cache: Fey Folk will give you a nice primer along side some blocks o' stats you may need if someone in the party is dumb enough to be rude.

Or have a funny looking face. Or sneeze at the wrong time. Or any one of a thousand reasons a fey might want to pound you into a thick, gooey, paste. Enjoy!

-- Fox Barrett

April 18, 2009: Moral What-Dary?

Sometimes, it's important to subtle shades of gray that show no group is truly above reproach or truly depraved beyond redemption. To have antagonists to be more desperate, misunderstood, or just plain different rather than evil. To have a moral quandary that requires true soul searching.

And sometimes, you just need the bad guys to make a very satisfying thump when they hit the ground.

Square jaws and rocket packs abound in Slipstream, a Savage Worlds setting of pulp sci-fi. It has all the self-righteous violence of a dungeon crawl you know and love, but with more ray guns! I mean, with the main villain being named "Queen Anthraxa," you know its gotta be good.

-- Fox Barrett

April 17, 2009: Little Green Men. Or Maybe Microbes.

Maybe the Red Planet has giant three-legged machines of unfathomable devastation. Or maybe its indigenous life is more . . . bacterial than that. Since we can't actually go there and start knocking on doors just yet, what you choose to believe is pretty much your call. Of course, we wouldn't mind offering a few suggestions.

GURPS Classic: Mars takes a 128-page look at our closest cosmic neighbor. We stuffed some science in there, some superscience, and some "this isn't even remotely science, but, well, it's just so dang cool." Do your terraforming thing, or just grab a ray gun and save our women from the Terrible Martian Menace! We're generic and universal that way.

Come to think of it . . . haven't we been releasing some books about spaceships recently? Coincidence?

-- Fox Barrett

April 16, 2009: The Savage West

I'm a big robot guy, never was too into the whole swords, sorcery, and stabbin' gig. But if I can't have a robot, then my next choice is easily cowboys. Dudes and dames with big coats, bigger hats, and even bigger guns, roaming across the dusty plains, righting wrongs, wronging rights, and generally making a glorious mess of things. And if you start throwing in zombies, ghosts, and other such horrors? Well that just sweetens the pot!

Needless to say, that means I've always had a special place for Deadlands. The latest incarnation of this classic game of Cowboys and Unspeakable Horrors From Hell is Deadlands: Reloaded. This version runs on the rules presented in Savage Worlds, so even old hands will have a new way to look at this gem.

Of course, if you're new to the setting, I bid you welcome! And a little advice? If you're commin' ta Texas, yer gonna need a bigger gun than that, son.

April 15, 2009: Adds Dimension To Any Game!

. . . Provided that the game only has one dimension to start with.

Okay, so the figures in Gothic Adventures: The Americas Figure Flats ain't exactly as "well rounded" (so to speak) as honest-to-goodness lead might be. They ain't as expensive, either. Ten measly little dollars gets you a veritable army of figures for your gothically-inclined games. Or, really, any game you're running that could use a few undead conquistadors.

And if you're game doesn't need an undead conquistador, then sir, I ask you this: Just what the heck kind of game are you running that it doesn't feature at least one undead conquistador?!

April 14, 2009: How I Make It Day To Day

I like purdy pictures. When I look at them, they make the Happy Parts of my brain turn on. When the Happy Parts are activated, I can forget about all the horribly bleak life I lead. The crushing, dismal, soul-bleeding dispair that fills my daily existence. It wipes away all that terrible . . . terrible . . . woe . . .

So it's a good thing we have purdy pictures for sale! And, as an added bonus, I can tie it into this this Heavy Gear stuff we've been bringing into the store recently. The first two books are The Art of Heavy Gear Volume 1 and Volume 2. It's got purdy robots 'n stuff! If you're looking for something more spacey, we also have The Art of Jovian Chronicles Volume 1 and Volume 2. It's got purdy robots and spaceships 'n stuff.

Aaaaah . . . Happy Parts.

-- Fox Barrett

April 13, 2009: Monsters, They's Fer Stabbin'

Unless you've got a party of baby-eating cutthroats to GM for, you're going to need some monsters. Big, muscly, brutish things with spikes and acid spit and poison stingers and lot 'n lots of teeth. Y'know, so the part has something they can kill without feeling all guilty about it and stuff.

Eldritch Monsters? It's your time to shine. This little gem will help your and your fellow Eldritch Role-Playing buddies keep busy as they move from one hapless village to the next, without their pesky consciences bothering them. It's not "the wholesale slaughter of some unsuspecting (but rather ugly) fauna." It's "justice and stuff!" Troubled conscience: abated.

Now, on the off chance you actually are running a game for a party of baby-eating cutthroats, well . . . just append to the words "a really cute" to the front of every monster name. It basically works the same way.

April 12, 2009: I Wan' A Rock!

Rock! Dun dun na dun, doon da da doon! I want to rock! (Rock!) Do da-

What? There's a rock guy on the cover of Earth Unleashed. And, well, I like Twisted Sister and . . .

. . . Rock!! Dun dun na dun, doon da da doon! . . . Oh, they never let me have any fun . . .

-- Fox Barrett

April 11, 2009: Two For Fun

It's classic science fiction! It's a game supplement! It's both! And it's given me Exclamation Point Poisoning! Hang on, just need a sec to fix this!

There we go. Thousand Suns: Transmission from Piper is a chewy collection of short stories from H. Beam Piper with a creamy Thousand Suns filling. Come for the excellent narrative, stay for the handy new gaming bits and bobs. Or the other way around. It's gaming and sci-fi, married to one another. What's not to like?

. . . Okay, maybe you're more into fantasy than sci-fi. If that's the case, then, ah . . . I don't know, just squint really hard or write something in the margins about a prince named Drizzt Baggins or something.

-- Fox Barrett

April 10, 2009: Spaceships 3: The Shipening

This is our third little venture into the final frontier, and by now I'm sure you fine folks know the drill. David Pulver! Space! You know it, you want it, and so shall you have it: GURPS Spaceships 3: Warships and Space Pirates.

The title, while descriptive, is not necessarily indicative of everything you shall find within. Warships? Oh, yes. Space pirates? Sure. But it doesn't stop there. There's also quite a lot of space dedicated to those warships and space pirates sending Horrible Rays of White-Hot Death at one another as they scream across the stars.

And every game needs more of that. Yes, every. Ssshhh, don't ask questions. Just buy the book.

-- Fox Barrett

April 9, 2009: A Message From Your Friendly Online Game Store

As you may have heard, some wizards who live on the coast have recently pulled their PDFs down from the World Wide Information Supertubenet. Without warning, this left many people unable to download files they had previously purchased. Needless to say, some people have gotten very, very grumpy about this turn of events.

Well, we just wanted to take a quick moment to reassure our customers that this unfortunate turn of events is something you will never see on e23. It's simple, really. You have an account here? You buy a PDF here? Then you can download it here, from now until the sun cools. Or e23 goes under. Which, really, is basically the same thing, when you stop and think about it. Anyway, the point is, we here at e23 appreciate all that money you keep sending us, and we will never be cutting off legacy downloads. Heck, its in the contract we ask publishers to sign when they join e23!

If that's not enough, however, how about a little customer appreciation from some of our publishers? Right now, Tabletop Adventures has its entire line sale at 20%-off. We've also got Ronin Arts' Whispering Vault line down 50%. Both sales end next week. (Our dedication towards DRM-free products and a Download Guarantee policy, however, will last a fair sight longer.)

-- Fox Barrett

April 8, 2009: "The Fools!"

I'm working on my villain soliloquy."The fools!" That's all I've got so far. But I know it's important, y'see. Every good (bad?) villain needs one. Otherwise, what's to distinguish you from all your cronies? I mean besides the fact that you get a cape and they have to wear helmets.

The reason I'm doing this is because of Neccessary Evil. See, all the Good Guys? Yeah, they're dead. Or as close to dead as some of those invincible ones can get. Anyway, the point is, Earth's been taken over by some alien jerks. However, all the villains out there knew enough to not stick their heads into the life of alien fire. They're all that's left of Earth's supers. Which means its up to them to save the Earth.

Well. "Save" the Earth is probably more accurate. So, if I'm going to keep up, I've got to work on this speech. "The . . . um, stupid fools!" I'm, uh, sure I'll get there eventually . . .

-- Fox Barrett

April 7, 2009: Also, Think Of The Children

Can you have too many people to beat up? Is there really a limit? Is it possible to somehow satiate your bloodlust for badguys?

I certainly hope not! How the heck else am I going to sell books like Misfits & Menaces: Archenemies. Its wall-to-wall badguys. If you guys don't need badguys, then I'm out of a job. And if I'm out of a job, e23 will collapse. Which will bring down SJ Games. Which is the lynchpin of the entire gaming industry. And without that, our entire society will collapse.

The course, then, is obvious. Buy. The. Book.

April 6, 2009: But Is It Art?

Sure. It says so right there in the title. See? Bad Baby Clip Art. Right at the end.

Can't really argue with something as cut an dry as that.

Oh! Uh, I should talk about the product. This series of PDFs is a collection of pieces of art you can use for . . . well, just about whatever you want! Use it in games, or campaigns, or your Christmas cards, or whatever crazy stuff you've got lying around that would "just be perfect if only it had some art in it."

April 5, 2009: Fantasy And Moderny

We got heroes! Disposable ones! And for every genre you could possible want! (Provided the genres you want are fantasy and modern.)

There's Disposable Heroes: Fantasy Statix 5 (Iron Gauntlets) for the fantastical side of things. Orcs, satyrs, goblins, what have you. For the Information Age, however, there's Disposable Heroes: Modern Gangs.While we here at The Games of Steve Jackson are big fans of mixing and matching things, altering and recreating genres to suit our whim, allow me to impart one cautionary piece of advice.

Don't run at a gang banger with a broadsword while shouting "the day is ours!" It . . . you won't . . . see, they have guns, is all.

-- Fox Barrett

April 4, 2009: Fill 'em With Lead

Lead miniatures, that is! Hah-hah, I'm so darn clever. Heh. Anyway.

Giant robots, space marines, and elves with bows are all well and good, but I am a man who enjoys a little variety in his life. As much as I enjoy deploying a surprise cavalry charge or plotting a firing solution for off-the-table artillery, there comes a time when I'd like a change of pace. Say, a bank robbery. Or a jailbreak. Or just two groups of cowpokes what don't take a likin' to one another.

Tombstones n' Tumbleweeds is such a game. It's like all the minis games you already know and love, but with more rootin' and tootin'.

-- Fox Barrett

April 3, 2009: Places To Be: Check

If you've got starships, you need starports. Thus it is that if you've got GURPS Classic: Traveller: Starships, the perfect companion book would be GURPS Classic: Traveller: Starports. After all, what good is a spaceship if you've no place to land the thing? Just imagine the chaos.

Cargo containers, dumped into orbit, left to the whim of gravity. Passengers, fired from rail guns at passing transport ships. Fuel and supplies, strewn haphazardly around space. Insanity!

. . . Actually, that campaign might have potential, too. But, we're sure you're more likely to want a starport or two in your game than you are to entertain my mapcap sci-fi ideas. And on that point, the book delivers. (Now, to find out what happens when you "rail gun" someone . . .)

April 2, 2009: Not Dead Yet!

Sooooooo . . . remember how I mentioned a while back that Dying Earth would be leaving the site, oh, about yesterday-ish? Well, I'm happy to report that I was wrong! We'll be keeping Dying Earth online until April 30th, so you've still got some time to get in on that sweet 50%-off sale.

Really.

No, this isn't some sort of  weird post-April Fool's Day thing. Sometimes, life just has a bizarre way of lining things up. Usually the Secret Masters help, but this time fate was flying solo, I assure you.

April 1, 2009: Cheaper Than A Steaming Locomotive

Look for a full-size game at a pint-size price? Five bucks and an internet connection will get you a copy of WIld Talents: Essential Edition. Since you're reading this, you've already got at least one of those two requirements. Why not dig out the five clams and go the rest of the way?

Oh, right. I guess it's kinda my job to tell you why. Well, for starters, Kenneth Hite is one of the names on the cover. Unless there another Ken Hite out there writing RPGs, that's always a sure sign of quality to me. It's about supers, and everyone loves leaping tall buildings in a single roll. Oh, and speaking of a single roll, the game runs on the One-Roll Engine. Any set of rules with "Wiggle Dice" is a cool system in my book.

Mostly, though, it's just a darn good value on your dollar. And if that sounds like I'm trying to nudge you into an impulse buy . . . yeah, okay, I kinda am. I don't suppose it worked?

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