e23 News Archive: July 2009

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July 31, 2009: Mine! Mine, Too! And That, Mine!

It's not really theft if they're dead, right? And, anyway, what was a lizardman going to do with an Instant Workshop? They don't even grasp the concept of the lever, nevermind metallurgy. Really, you were probably doing him a favor. Not only with this incredibly handy item be put to good use, but now he doesn't live in a dank cave anymore! It's win-win!

GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 6: 40 Artifacts exists to remind us all just why the heck we're spending such a beautiful afternoon 300 feet below sea level. The loot! All those cool shiny things that do . . . well, pretty much anything and everything. They're detailed enough to work straight off the page, but generic enough that you can repurpose them to suit your campaign's needs.

Also, it was written by Sean Punch. He seems to be pretty popular with GURPS players, and I figure there's gotta be a reason, right? So feel free to buy the book based on that alone.

July 30, 2009: The Hitchhiker's Guide To 13th Century (Mythic) Europe

Where ya goin'? Where ya come from? How'd ya get there? What're ya doin' when you get where yer goin'?

These are the sorts of questions you might be able to answer if you owned a copy of City & Guild. For just ten and five American dollars, you could own the quintessential guide to city life in Mythic Europe. What they eat, what they do, where they go shopping. It's all here. That's not to say this is some dry tome full of crunchy charts and equations for calculating the precise amount of hopeless despair a certain percentage of the peasantry feels on any given day. It's a straight forward discussion of how life worked. That means there are lots and lots of adventure seeds and story ideas.

Informative and inspirational? Truly, your life is incomplete without this 144-page blessing upon mankind.

-- Fox Barrett

July 29, 2009: It's Who You Know

Sure, you can split the skies in twain and boil the seas, but if you haven't got the right connections, you'll never be part of The In Crowd. So who's The In Crowd? I have no idea. I just made that up. However, if there is an In Crowd, it's probably one of the groups featured in Houses of Hermes: Societates.

Therein shall you find many a word about four of the Houses of Hermes. Sure, there are other Houses, but these right here? These are the best Houses. These are the Houses of the movers, the shakers, the people who really matter in the world of . . . magic . . . stuff. Okay, I made that up, too. It is a good book, though. Lots of really in-depth information about Flambeau, Jerbiton, Tytalus, and Ex Miscellanea. If your covenant has dealings with the Houses, the book is handy. If you're part of one of those Houses, why I dare say this book is nigh-indispensable!

Failing either of those, I still recommend reading the book. When the politicking and posturing is going down at the next WizCon '63, it might not hurt to have some names you can drop.

-- Fox Barrett

July 28, 2009: Road Trip!

Hamburgers. Gambling. Chakras. Bluesmen. Car chases. Many bullets. More magic. And sweet home Chicago.

I read through To Go and, frankly, I'm not even going to begin to try and understand what I'm looking at. I think there's a big magi-mojo-hoodoo-something-or-other going down, and that fast food is involved. This being a good and proper Unknown Armies campaign means that your characters are, of course, trying to put themselves smack in the middle of it. Because that runs against good sense, you see. If there's one thing that has no place here, it's good sense.

That not to say there isn't a place for loincloth-clad barbarians of the orc-slaughtering persuasion here. Half-naked, bloodthirsty, broadsword fetishists are probably the least-weird thing you'll see on this little trip across America the Weirdiful.

-- Fox Barrett

July 27, 2009: You Didn't Forget About Hero, Did Ya?

I can't have that! No, no, no, this simply will not do. There are just too many excellent offerings from our comrades-in-gaming over there at Hero to let their fine system slip from your mind. Of course, simply saying "oooooh, Hero System is so dreamy!" is no good. I should at least take a moment to point out some specific part of Hero System. Some cool, perhaps previously unmentioned part.

Say, like Star Hero. That would be the version of Hero you take with you on trips to galaxies far, far away. Rather than spandex for fighting crime, you wear spandex to go with your bubble helmet. Not too many tall buildings to leap in deep space, y'see. There's plenty of aliens to shoot, though!

And at the end of the day, isn't that all you really need?

-- Fox Barrett

July 26, 2009: Okay, Mistakes Were Made

We're not perfect. Sometimes, while we're prancing along The Path, we fail to notice that we forgot to put on pants this morning. Sure, we're enjoying the breeze, but everyone seems to be staring at something and we don't quite fathom just what they're finding so interesting down there. Well, now is one of those times for us to put some pants on.

Four PDFs available on e23 were recently updated. These books were originally "scans" rather than "conversions." That is, they weren't drawn from the source files we originally sent to the printer; we scanned in a copy of book we had lying around. As you probably know, the results are . . . less than stellar. The books were readable, sure, but they certainly could have looked nicer. Well, no longer! We've gone back to the source, converted these books, and replaced their files on e23.

The lucky four are GURPS Classic: Modern Firepower, GURPS Classic: Steam-Tech, GURPS Classic: Who's Who 1, and GURPS Classic: Technomancer. If you've already purchased them (and if you have an e23 account), you can redownload the files from Your Library. If not, well, this would certainly quality as a "there's never been a better time" time!

-- Fox Barrett

July 25, 2009: Free Munchkin? Tell Me More . . .

We ran out of the printed version of the Munchkin Rigged Demo quite some time ago. "Oh no," we said. "What a dilemma," we exclaimed. "What will become of Christmas now," we pretended to say.

Well, here's the answer: a digital version! Now you can download the Munchkin Rigged Demo whenever you like. What's more, you can do it all for the cost of "none monies!" Aside from what you're paying for your internet access, that is. And any paper you print it out on. And your time, of course.

Look, this is a good thing, just trust me, okay?

July 24, 2009: Geometry

Like its namesake shape, there are three sides to Pyramid. The first side is GURPS. The second side is editor Steven Marsh. The third side is "a steady release schedule." That third side is represented, today, by my good friend Pyramid #3/9: Space Opera.

This fine addition to the pantheon of Pyramid is all about space. (And possibly singing fat ladies.) Not the sort of space you get when "I need space" comes out of the mouth of a spurned lover. No, sir! This is the sort of space where spaceships are all "pew pew pew, kerrrraaaaoow, zew-zew, BA-DOOM!" The best kind of space. Which may well mean that this is the best of the three sides! (Sorry, Steven! Install some lasers and we'll talk.)

. . . I am being informed that pyramids have, in fact, four or five sides, and that three sides gets you a triangle. Well. Um. I suppose I should rewrite the above, but why live in the past? Onward, to Pyramid!

-- Fox Barrett

July 23, 2009: And The Winner Is . . . (You!)

We may not have been nominated for any ENnies, but we're not about to let that stop us from pushing in front of you any nominees that we have in the store!

Shameless consumerism aside, the ENnies present a nice cross section of quality gaming from the prior year.  You can see the full list over here, of course. However, I'd like to take a moment to draw your attention to the stuff we've got that The People have decreed is "pretty cool."

Up for Best Setting is The Dreadful Secrets of Candlewick Manor. Can't say I disagree with that one, as it is one spooky-cool idea that I'd have never thought of. Good ol' 0one has a nomination for Best Cartography with 0one's Blueprints: The Great City, The Saltshack. If anyone knows how to make a map, it's Mario Barbati. Resident e23 tech helper guy Thomas tells me that Expeditious Retreat Press is good people, so I'm willing to bet that Lands of Darkness #1: The Barrow Grounds truly is the Best Adventure. And last, but certainly not least, there's The Extraordinary Adventures of Baron Munchausen. It's up for Best Writing, but I'd be willing to put that little gem up for the "Best Pretty Much Anything Ever" award.

-- Fox Barrett

July 22, 2009: End Of The Road

The Road to Revolution series of adventures reaches it's crescendo with the latest (and last-est) installment, The Sundered Legion. The outcomes and actions of the previous adventures in the series all come crashing together in this explosive finale that is best described with even more exciting adjectives, like "thriling" Or "mind-blowing." Or perhaps "enervated."

Wait. Maybe not that last one. Man, this word-a-day calendar has not been as helpful as I'd hoped.

Anyway, the end is nigh, so pick up the tail end of this arc and bring this chapter of your adventures to a close. Unless . . . You have bought all the other Road to Revolution adventures, right?

July 21, 2009: Have Some Roleplayer

Yeah. That's right. I'm advertising a magazine from 1986, and I don't even care! Woo! I'm unstoppable baby! I'm a loose cannon!

We've got all sorts of weird stuff all over e23, and Roleplayer is, to my mind, among the weirdest. At roughly two bucks a pop, these PDFs are kind of neat in the same way time capsules are. It can be fun to pull back the clock a bit and see what we thought was the cool, cutting-edge thing at the time or what "is definitely coming in the future."You can let the nostalgia kick in and reminisce about rose-colored Good Old Days, or you can mercilessly mock the choices and prevailing tastes of the day. Or, for some of us, you can simply be informed of what gaming looked like back then.

I mean, I was only 3-years-old when in 1986. Not much for me to reminisce about where dice are concerned. (Unless you're talking about games with little pop-o-matic die rollers.)

-- Fox Barrett

July 20, 2009: Wait, Am I Out Of Jokes?

I was looking over Dungeon of Terror #5: Mad Mage Chambers (West), thinking about how to sell it to you fine folks, and it occurred to me that I might be out of ways to do so. I've used up my jokes about how scary the title is. I've done the "mad means angry" thing. Made compass jokes. Done rhyming couplets. Done alliteration. Absurdism, hard sell, desperate plead for cash? All done.

I'm . . . I'm out of material! So what the heck am I supposed to do now? (Besides panic.) I mean, I'm guess I'm sorta doing this "meta" bit right now, but even that's a rehash. Wait, I know what to do! I'll break open this glass marked "in case of emergency, break glass!" And . . . there! Okay. Now I have a small pile of glass on my floor and an empty box.

I don't think that helped. Oh, but that brief destructive interlude did make me momentarily feel better, as needless destruction oft does. And looking up the screen, it appears I've hit my target length for an advertisement. Ah! Perfect. Enjoy the, uh, product! Whatever the heck it was!

July 19, 2009: A Word Of Caution

WitchFinder is lotsa fun. All kinds of running about in WWII Europe, dodging Nazi agents, and facing horrors from beyond the stars. And since it's a script for Cthulhu Live, it's got all that live-actiony goodness you just don't get on top of your table. And it's a big 'un, too, designed to be played all around town, so there's plenty of roles to play.

There's just, um, one thing you should probably think about before you run it. Costumes are always great, and LARPers are known for their great costume work, but . . . you might want to consider being somewhat less that historically accurate on this one.

Y'know. What with the Nazis and all.

July 18, 2009: Fanciful Females Fit For Framing

Sometimes we sell games. This? Not one of those times.

Sometimes we sell art. This? This is art time.

ZelArt1: Fantasy Females is the art. Now is the time. Over there is the hyperlink. Here is where I stop being silly.

-- Fox Barrett

July 17, 2009: I? Oh, You!

Me? I never went to college. Time, money, and all that stuff just didn't line up, so I skipped the whole collegiate experience. Everything I know about it comes from Revenge of the Nerds and Back to School. Oh, and this book. GURPS Classic: IOU.

So I don't know much about college. From I've been able to gather, however, college is a place where you're forced to share a living space with eldritch horrors, where the natural laws of time and space are warped, where predator gleefully feasts upon prey, and where all your money is sucked away into some nebulous vortex and is never seen again. That's my understanding, anyway.

That sound about right?

-- Fox Barrett

July 16, 2009: Honestly, I Just Like The Word "Stuff"

People like stuff. And you? You're a people. You like stuff! We have stuff. In fact, all we have is stuff. Bad Baby gave us some stuff to give to you. What kinds stuff? All kinds of stuff!

Stuff like Star Fury, Set #3, Mini-Game #8, which is a game. A game all by itself, that you can play, and have fun with. Stuff like Battle Axe Expansion #2, Magic, which is not a game. It's an expansion. You'll need other stuff to play with it. And lastly, stuff like Bad Baby Clip Art, Animals. You, uh, don't really play with that one. But you can still buy it!

See? Stuff. Lotsa stuff. Come buy some stuff!

-- Fox Barrett

July 15, 2009: Revisiting The Revolutionary War, Revisted

You might know about Colonial Gothic. We've had it up on the site here for a while now, this game of the horrors of war intermingling with the horrors of monstery stuff the 1770's.  What you might not know is that the core rulebook was just revised and rereleased. It's now Colonial Gothic Revised. Ah, so appropriate a title pleases me.

Maybe you don't know about Colonial Gothic, though. If that's the case, well buddy, nows a great time to dive in. See, they just revised the rulebook. It's got a spiffy red cover and everything!

So, new or old, go get yourself in on this colonial gaming goodness. It's like Cthulhu, only with powered wigs. Which are, themselves, more terrifying than any betentacled beastie could ever hope to be.

-- Fox Barrett

July 14, 2009: How Bad Could It Be?

Things here on Earth aren't that bad. We can't really be facing a catastrophic breakdown of everything we hold near and dear.

Okay, yeah, so there's a few too many people on the planet. But that's not so - okay, yes, there's the whole peak oil, thing, I admit. But we also - yes, yes, deforestation is a problem, too. Still, there's - yeah, I know, global warming is seriously messing up the planet's ecosystem. We can always - true, the economy is is miserable shape right now.

Hm. So things are a little bleak. I suppose that doesn't really help me sell you a copy soft landing, huh? Um. Impending collapse of civilization as we know it aside . . . the game is really fun!

July 13, 2009: A (Space) Man, A (Space) Plan, A (Space) Canal

The Complete Canal Priests of Mars! Mmm. That's a good title. No part of that do I hate. "Canal priest? What the heck is that?" I don't know, and I don't much care. Because it would seem that they're also from Mars, which is totally sweet. (Note: things are always cooler when they're from Mars. Always. Try it at home and see for yourself!) And the fact that this is "complete?" Well, I'm sold! Awesome weird things from another planet, presented in their totality, is just the sort of thing I go looking for in my life.

So I like the title. Let me also tell you about the book.

The book is a canned adventure for Space: 1889 (itself possessed of an incredibly cool title). In fact, it's an update of an old canned adventure that had a bunch of material cut from it. It's about London, and Mars, and this trip you take in between, and I'm pretty sure there are Martians, and, oh, there's these ships that fly through space, and . . . Y'know, basically everything you could ever want from an adventure. Enjoy!

-- Fox Barrett

July 12, 2009: This Place Is Dead-On

If you've got a crypt, you gotta keep it cold. Ever left a corpse out in the heat? Right. That sucker'll fall apart faster than you can say "wait, what am I doing with a dead body?" So, if you're looking to preserve a dead body, you want a cool, dry place. And that's what makes 0one's Blueprints: The Great City, Cold Crypts so perfect! (At least for storing dead bodies, anyway.)

It's a crypt. Okay, so we can put bodies here. It's cold. Okay, so the bodies won't fall apart quickly. And it's in a great city. Okay, so the neighborhood is nice.

What more could someone with a lot of bodies and nowhere to put them ask for?

July 11, 2009: Just Very Slightly Mad

You can't be going crazy. The voice in your head says you aren't. If you can't trust a voice inside your own head then who can you trust?

So Vox is a little different than most RPGs. It's kind of a . . . well, the rulebook is sort of . . . see, it's got this . . . Okay, so maybe I don't have the best grasp on how to tell you what Vox is. As ol' Laurence Fishburnemight say, "you have to see it for yourself." What I can tell you is that Vox is weird. Vox is different. Vox is . . . Vox. You won't be slaying any orcs or boarding any bug-filled derelicts, but you will tell one heck of a story.

And if that vague block of extremely vague vagueness was just a pinch too vague, I can give you something more concrete: it was written by Michael Fiegel. Yes, "the Ninja Burger guy. " If the game itself doesn't blow your mind, that juxtaposition surely will.

July 10, 2009: A Boy And His Dog (And Two AIs)

What do a security guard, an uplifted dog, a crazy AI, and a (surprisingly, given the situation)  sane AI have in common? Revenge.

We've got kind of a weird one with Transhuman Space: Personnel Files 3 - Wild Justice. The four characters included in this one are, as I mentioned above, a regular Joe with a laser gun, a very smart canine, and a pair of intelligences that are toted around by the dude and his dog. The four of them have been mushed together into a truly rag-tag team by the death of a common friend. Their boss/creator/whatever got himself a little . . . missiled. Seems someone wanted Mr. Anton Hollick dead and weren't above using self-propelled computer-guided explosives to do the job.

 Now the four of them are jobless, homeless, and more than just a little curious why someone decided to blow up their house. It's kinda like Turner & Hooch meets Blade Runner meets The A-Team. And now that I've tried to visualize that, I think I need to go lay my head down for a minute.

July 9, 2009: Death: What A Way To Live

Black eyeshadow, capes, and jewelry with a skull motif needn't be the domain of the eternally mopey. Nope. It can also belong to those that slink in the shadows, those that raise the dead, those that command the elemental force of death itself.

Yeah. Go on. Make fun of their pale skin now, buster.

If you've a penchant for dark clothing and enjoy slaughtering your enemies, Forgotten Heroes: Scythe and Shroud is the book for you. It's good to be goth. (Um . . . in an evil sort of way? Whatever.)

July 8, 2009: Aaaaaand We're Back!

Actually, we were back on Monday. The news queues are timey-wimey things that don't conform to your feeble linear time. They come and go as they darn well please, regardless of what the calendar's feelings on the matter. In any event, the staff of Steve Jackson Games are returned to their computers, and I with them. Lucky you.

There's a small backlog of Stuff for us to work through. Actually, by the time you read this, the e23 backlog probably will be thoroughly worked through. In which case I say, "hello! How's the future? It must be nice up there. Back here on Tuesday, we're still quite busy. Once we work through all this, you'll have more of the usual incoherent bable that graces the e23 front page.

Oh, shoot, I don't seem to have mentioned a product. How the heck am I ever going to sell anything if I can't even make time to write advertisements! Wait, here we go. We just got in a couple of new Clipart Critters. For the unaware, that's low-priced artwork you can purchase and use for your . . . well, anything, provided you follow the included license. And with that, I return to work. Work that is already done by the time you read this. I hate time.

July 7, 2009: Where Was I?

Oh, right! Selling stuff. So I've got this map for you folks. The name on the front is Dungeon of Terror #4: the Maze. I'm thinking to myself: "Dungeon, terror, maze. Yeah, those all add up." But then I'm looking at something else.

The number. "Four." Just sittin' there. Tauting me. Challenging me. Saying, "Hey, I'm part of a set. You don't want me on my own, do you?"

No, little Dungeon of Terror map, I don't. Oh, Dungeon of Terror map, why must you taunt me so!

-- Fox Barrett

July 6, 2009: Hero + Adventures = Fun!

Not quite a math joke, not quite a pun, but I'm on vacation right now, so if you have any complaints you'll just have to shout at the screen. I'm already long gone and your slings, arrows, and demands for quality comedy will not reach me.

Now that I'm done being all "meta," I can actually talk about Hero Plus Adventures. These are adventures for, well . . . Hero. Don't know exactly where the "plus" comes in, but i'm sure it has something to do with the petrodactyls. Or maybe the Nazi death-zombies. Or maybe that Captain Battle guy. Who knows?

You will, if you pick up one of these big-on-game/small-on-price gems.

-- Fox Barrett

July 5, 2009: It Does More Than Just Superheros, Of Course

It whips! It blends! It makes Julienne fries! The Hero System, you're one stop shop for . . . everything, gosh darn it!

Example? Well, just take a look at Fantasy Hero. See any capes? Okay, dumb question, it's fantasy so yeah, there's bound to be a cloak or two. But you know what I mean! The only people leaping tall buildings are the ones being launched in catapults.

So don't write Hero off as a masked one-trick pony. It can dungeon dive with the best of its generic, universal kin.

-- Fox Barrett

July 4, 2009: Have I Mentioned Battle Axe Latley?

Still more expansion sets are now available for purchase on this little site of ours. I wouldn't say the pace has been "frenzied" on these, but Bad Baby is wasting no time in making sure there's support for the line. Which is great news for us (the store) and you (the customer.) Really, it's only bad news for Bad Baby Productions, who have to keep putting these together in such short order.

Well. "Bad" news There is that whole "making money through sales" thing, I guess.

Anywho, here's a link to the latest from Battle Axe. Go have a browse.

-- Fox Barrett

July 3, 2009: Who Says Print Is Dead?

Hero Games has a magazine! It's full of all kinds of neat stuff about, well, Hero. So there! Take that, you defeatists out there that bemoan the loss of print. We've got us a magazine right here that says different! Hah!

. . . What was the name of this magazine again? "Digital Hero?" And you say it stopped last year with issue #47?

Oh. Er. Nevermind. Please enjoy some Hero stuff!

-- Fox Barrett

July 2, 2009: Kevlar > Spandex

Some superheroes are all about flying through the air and stopping Dr. Vile Von Evilbad from unleashing his mutant apes upon the unsuspecting populace of Megaplace City.

Some superheroes are all about flying through the air while emptying round after round from their H&K MP5s into the chests of unsuspecting mafiosos.

You are now welcome to speculate which of the two Dark Champions is built for.

-- Fox Barrett

July 1, 2009: Want A Legend? Need A Quest.

That might not be the intent they had when they named the game Legend Quest, but I'm not about to let that stop me from writing the usual sort of stuff I write!

So, here you are: legendless. The reason for that is because you, my good friend, are not on a quest. If you aren't questing, you aren't accumulating fame. No fame, no epic poem. No poem, no legend. Thus, we start at the beginning of the chain. You need a quest, an you need one pronto if you still want to be around to enjoy the living part of "living legend." These things take time, after all.

I recommending diving straight into The Amberrose Incident. Don't know what it's about, but "amberrose" is involved, and that should be enough for any decent adventurer to work with. Once you're finish being amberrosed, step right over to The Empty Crypt. I know, I know, but trust me, the name is misleading. The crypt is a veritable cornucopia of fame and glory just waiting to be devoured. Hop to, fledgling legend! Your poems await!

-- Fox Barrett

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