e23 News Archive: October 2009

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October 31, 2009: Home Away from . . .

Wait, no, this is pretty much it. Adventurers aren't really known for holding down a mortgage. As such, this "home away from home" is home, for all intents and purposes. So when you're tired of carrying all your junk around, we now have a ready made junk receptacle for you!

Take a look at 0one's Blueprints: Hunters' Lodge and see for yourself! Perfect for all your rangery needs. If you have any rangery needs, that is. If you don't, then fret not. This place is only one raging inferno away from being the start of a revenge story.

I mean, you gotta have a roleplaying reason for that racial enemy bonus, right?

-- Fox Barrett

October 30, 2009: Have Faith

Some people send their hopes to an invisible man in the sky. Some make offerings to the spirits of the wild. Still more dress like pirates and jabber on about beer volcanoes

Whatever your celestial leanings, Dungeon Fantasy 7: Clerics has you covered. We've got war gods! We've got sea gods! We've got gods that just want you to show that special someone a really good time! This book is designed to take the basic "hit them, heal us" template from the first Dungeon Fantasy and spread it out over a number of a different gods. Now your holy warrior of Brahmfulomrand, Lord of the Unyielding Flame won't look exactly like your cleric of Jub, God of Getting a Good Deal.

Though I suppose at a "50% off all holy weapons" sale the two would still seem much the same.

-- Fox Barrett

October 29, 2009: One of Them! One of Them!

It's Halloween (more or less)! Bring out the freaks! Don't have any? That's okay, you can share ours!

We've got three new additions to the Freakshow line. The disgusting Bloodworms, the somewhat less disgusting Banshee, and the not at all disgusting (but still quite scary) Bloody Wheels. Buy one! Buy all three! Buy one and then maybe pick up a second one once you have the money for it, while holding off on the third one until you finally get around to starting that new horror campaign.

Just do something freaky, whatever you do. That's the important bit.

-- Fox Barrett

October 28, 2009: Any Way You Want It

Horror comes in many flavors. And by "flavors," I mean "genres." And by "many," I mean "here are three specific genres that I want to talk about." And by "horror," I mean . . . "horror." I guess that one is self-explanatory.

Okay, so you guys know Tabletop Adventures, right? Of course. Cool bunch of people, publish all sorts of stuff, have a penchant for running special offers to entice and tantalize. Well, they've taken a few genres, a few books, and squished them together into a few bundles. There's the Fantasy Horror Bundle, for those that like to stab things that go bump in the night. There's the Modern Horror Bundle for those that like to shoot things that go bump in the night. And finally, there's the Future Horror Bundle for those that like to . . . disintegrate things that go bump in the night?

Well, whatever you poison, we have it here for you to pick!

October 27, 2009: Zombie Love

Zombies are pretty popular right now. It probably doesn't help that it's October, of course. Still, even for October, there's an unusual amount of zombie love going around.

I can't believe I just wrote the words "zombie love." I, uh, think I should get to the product before that line of thinking takes its natural course.

Blood Tales: The End is a smashy, squishy, chompy, stompy romp through an English countryside filled to the brim with zombies. Grab a copy and show those zombies just how much you love them.

-- Fox Barrett

October 26, 2009: Halloweek!

It's Halloween! Well, not really, but it's close! It's the most Halloween you'll get before Halloween proper. It's Halloweek, if you will.

That means it's time for you to move your mouse over to the left, click that "Search" link, select "Horror" from the list of genres, and dive into a sea of spooky games. Come to think of it, you needn't even do that! Just click this handy hyperlink! On the other side of it waits all the things in your closet, all the monsters under your bed, all the ghosts in your mirrors, and stuff that's altogether ooky.

I recommend browsing around a bit, but if you're pressed for time, I suppose I should recommend something. If I had to pick one, I'd go with Cthulhu Live. It has Lovecraft, it has costumes, and is there anything more frightening than LARP? Ergo, it's perfect for the holiday.

-- Fox Barrett

October 25, 2009: Hey, at Least I Have Fun

Do we have more Clipart Critters? Yup. Has Postmortem been busy lately? Seems that way. Should you buy these? Absolutely. What are they good for? All kinds of stuff.

Is this style of writing is kind of silly? Yeah, I suppose it is. Will I keep doing it? Probably. Does this really have anything to do with the Clipart Critters line at this point? Probably not. Is it really fun to word everything as a question? Yeah, it kinda is.

Sorry.

-- Fox Barrett

October 24, 2009: Sweet, Sweet Capitalism

He who dies with the most toys wins. He who dies with the most issues of Pyramid wins more. The most recent issue, Pyramid #3/12: Tech and Toys, facilitates both of these things.

I'm pretty sure that means this is the best thing you could possibly buy on our website. Heck, it might just be the best thing you could possibly buy ever. Oh sure, there's a small outlying chance that maybe it isn't. There's a chance, however slim, that you don't actually need this product.

But why risk it?

October 23, 2009: Bundle Up!

(Warning: the following joke contains a lame pun. Reader discretion is advised.)

It's late October as I write this, and slowly the days grow cooler. Pretty soon, even our normally balmy Tejas will fall prey to the icy hands of winter. If you want to keep warm this winter, we suggest you bundle up with one of these Champions product bundles! We have one about villians, one about all the different organizations, one that covers all the happenin' hotspots, and one that'll bring you up to speed on the world.

(Steve Jackson Games would like to preemptively issue an apology to anyone that read the preceding pun. The expressed views do not necessarily represent the stance of SJ Games in regard to poorly conceived word play.)

-- Fox Barrett

October 22, 2009: "Ooo, Let's Go to the Orc Slaying Panel!"

And so the final piece of the puzzle falls into place, and the Dungeon of Terror is complete. Dungeon of Terror #8: Scrags' Caverns is the last section of 01 Games' dungeon to end all dungeons. If you haven't made yourself familiar with this series yet, you've got a bit of catching up to do!

Or not. You see, the whole thing is modular. You can rip out bits of it and use them on their own, or you can mush the entire sprawl together into a gargantuan dungeon dive. You'll need a suitably massive adventure to go with it, though. The maps do offer some hints, suggestions, and hooks, of course. But me? I've got an idea of my own.

I'm thinking that you could use this bad boy as the convention hall for "DungeCon, the world's primere gathering of dungeon denizens!" If you think a cave troll is scary now, just wait until you face one that's asking where your registration badge is.

-- Fox Barrett

October 21, 2009: Back To Basics

With nearly 800 pages of material spread over two massive books, the 6th edition of the HERO System can be a bit . . . intimidating. Flexibility and customization are clearly paramount, but that's a lot for any newbie to take in. Thankfully, Hero Games knows that not all of us took Speed Reading and Copious Free Time at character creation, and they have created a slimmed down version of the ruleset.

Called simply the HERO System Basic Rulebook, this tome strips away everything except the most essential rules you need to start beating up bad guys. And to go with its reduced size, the book is a good deal cheaper than the two standard rulebooks, thereby making it much easier to try the game without breaking the bank. It also serves as an excellent primer for full rules, so they won't be nearly as daunting if you decide to go all in on this system and get the two Big Books of HERO.

There. You no longer have any excuse to not try out 6th edition. Nope! I just took 'em all away. Go right on over to the "add to cart" button and do what you know must be done.

-- Fox Barrett

October 20, 2009: Renegade GMing

Okay, look . . . I know that the Paper Miniatures: Starships Set is supposed to be used for, I don't know, spacey stuff. But I'm just gonna put an idea out there on the table for you to consider. Something a little off the wall. Something different.

Use these miniatures as monsters. And I don't mean in a sci-fi game. I mean I want you to straight up drop these suckers right into a wizard's tower.

Then just act like it's the most normal thing in the world and see what your players do. Better yet, video tape it. This is something you may want to relive.

-- Fox Barrett

October 19, 2009: You Ain't Seen Nothin' Yet

I have more creepy crawlies for you, folks. Creatures of the Wastelands: A Menagerie of Mutants and Mutations (Revised Edition) has arrived on our virtual doorstep, courtesy of Skirmisher Publishing. What's inside? Well, there's a giant enemy crab on the cover. If that's any indication, Awesome Stuff is inside. But I suppose I could crack it open and take a closer look.

Okay, here's an interesting entry. "Ghost Bat." Because normal bats aren't terrifying enough. And I don't know what a "Rocket Plant" is, but it certainly sounds cool. "Flesh Termite" oughta shake up your players' expectations nicely.

Oh my, what's this? An entry marked "Bee, Tiger." Tiger bees, people. Tiger bees. We just entered a whole new world.

-- Fox Barrett

October 18, 2009: Quoth the GM . . .

Your D&D games aren't weird enough. Trust me. They're just not. I've used my weirdometer, and your games are barely registering above three kilofunkys. This simply will not do!

You, my good friend, need Nevermore. Yes, need it. Without this book, you risk your players becoming complacent. They will start expecting things. They may even start seeing a pattern to the world. And we can't have that, now can we? No, we must keep the players on their toes, keep them guessing, keep them, y'know . . . paranoid. Well, that's what Nevermore does! It presents a mixed-up land of wonder, whimsy, and sheer terror to delight and befuddle to most jaded dungeon diver.

Basically, it's darn cool, and not your typical fantasy setting. Go buy it!

-- Fox Barrett

October 17, 2009: Me and My +1 Shadow of Loneliness

Kick you out of the party, will they? Sheesh, you plant a hammer in the head of one obnoxious, smug, stuck-up elven noble and now they don't want to work with you anymore. Fine! Their loss! Stupid party, what good are they anyway? With their stupid magical missiles, their stupid trap checking, and their stupid . . . healing! Okay, maybe that last one is kinda useful. The one before it sometimes comes in handy, too . . . And fireballs are pretty cool.

But whatever! You don't need them. You've got a sword, you've got your strong arms, and you've got a very thick helmet. That's all the friends you need! And you know you can handle 1 on 1 Adventures #12: Journey into Riddle Canyon all by yourself. And you won't miss those jerks in the least. Nope. Not at all.

. . . Stupid elf noble.

-- Fox Barrett

October 16, 2009: My Way, On The Highway

Guns don't kill people. Micromissile launchers, flamethrowers, ram plates, pulse lasers, and autocannons kill people. In a world where strapping missiles with high-explosive anti-tank warheads to the hoods of sedans is considered not just normal, but necessary, a mere gun seems so (if you'll forgive a small pun) pedestrian.

Welcome to Car Wars, the game where road rage is a lifestyle choice. The Car Wars Compendium contains every rule you could ever need to simulate four-wheeled combat in the dystopian future of 2045. But perhaps you already know all this. Perhaps a little black box full of tiny cars was your introduction to Steve Jackson and his games before this weird beast called GURPS trod across your path. This PDF might be a great way to show these whippersnappers what a game looked like in the Good Ol' Days.

Whatever you are, be it a grizzled veteran of the AADA or an unsuspecting greenhorn just waiting to get splattered, the Car Wars Compendium is here for you! And remember: drive offensively.

-- Fox Barrett

October 15, 2009: Mystique

Today, I have just four words for you: Klingon Armada Ship Cards.

Okay, that doesn't look as good on the screen as it did in my head. It seemed awfully . . . dramatic when I was thinking about it. Now that I've actually written it down, it lacks the punch I thought it had. I was hoping it'd have this sort of minimalist appeal. Like you might read it and think, "Oh my, I am intrigued by this combination of words!" Or maybe, "I am inexplicably drawn towards this hyperlink, and I seem to be pulling my wallet out!" I wanted an air of mystique and curiosity.

But now I just feel silly. Worse still, it looks like I'm out of room. Oh well!

-- Fox Barrett

October 14, 2009: Some Treasure Ain't Worth It

The area presented in The Dungeon Under the Mountain: Level 9 is very wet. It is also just beneath an area known as the Undercity. So what we have are subterranean waterworks that rest directly beneath a wretched hive of scum and villainy.

Where I come from, that's called a sewer. Oh, it says there's monsters down there, too.

Y'know what? You guys go on without me. I'll just stay up here on level 8 and wait for you.

-- Fox Barrett

October 13, 2009: Presenting Amarillo Design Bureau

Once again, e23 has coiled its inky black tendrils around another hapless publisher of fine roleplaying materials. This time, it's Amarillo Design Bureau, a company you may know from an obscure little game called Star Fleet Battles.

Their first offering is Module Prime Alpha. It collects all sorts of handy information for running a Prime Directive game in our very own GURPS! (Note: that's Third Edition, mind you.) The topics here are are varied, covering things like new skills, interspecies medicine, various technical goodies, deck plans, and even an adventure or two.

This is just the first book, however. More are coming! What does the future hold? No one can say! (Safe money is on more cool Prime Directive stuff, though.)

-- Fox Barrett

October 12, 2009: Self-Preservation Is for the Boring

Sure, the world has ended. That doesn't mean there aren't places to go and things to do! Creatures of the Wastelands: Habitats prooves it.

Okay, granted, these aren't the sorts of places you go vacationing. They aren't what one might traditionally categorize as "fun," on account of the bloodthirsty mutant hellbeasts that live there. Names like "Boiling Oasis" and "Gut Falls" don't typically find their way into travel brochures for obvious reasons. Anyone with even a modicum of good sense will steer clear of these literal death traps.

On the other hand, it is the end of the world. Not like there's anything on TV tonight. Let's take a trip!

-- Fox Barrett

October 11, 2009: If You Want Something Done Right . . .

So there's this big honking worm, right? Tearin' up and down the countryside, gobbling peasants, that sort of thing. This is bumming people out, until this giant dude named Harold shows up. He and worm throw down, and Harold wins. Everything should be cool now, right? Well, yeah, except that Harold didn't finish the job he started. See, the lazy jerk didn't completely kill the worm. He just . . . mostly killed it.

Pfft. Giants. Typical.

Well, that's okay. You're heroes, and unlike certain other people I could name, you know how to get things done. You're going into Advanced Adventures #11: The Conqueror Worm, and you're not coming back until this problem is solved for good.

-- Fox Barrett

October 10, 2009: Desireable Undesirables

If you didn't want your home to be host to the like of Creatures of the Wastelands: The Thrasher Gang, I can't say I'd blame you. Just look at them! Quite an unsavory bunch. Half-naked, manic of eye, and grotesquely muscular. And that chainsaw? Yeah, that doesn't look very friendly.

But consider this from another angle for a moment. In your post-apocalyptic nuclear hellscape, you need someone for your desperate yet valiant and square-jawed heroes to trounce. And, preferably, it should be someone they don't feel particularly bad about trouncing. (This is after the apocalypse. Beggars can't exactly be choosers here, so you sometimes have to expand your definition of "bad guy" a bit to get your daily trouncing in.) Better still if said someone also poses something resembling a threat so that your heroes don't get bored.

See? They're not looking so bad now. Well, okay, they still look bad, but not bad-bad.

-- Fox Barrett

October 9, 2009: Into the Great Wide Open

Space, a noted philosopher once asserted, is big. Really big. That seems to stick in the craw of the human race, because we don't like big things we don't fully comprehend, haven't quantified, or otherwise haven't measured. We like names, charts, and - perhaps most of all - maps. Indeed, if there's one thing we love doing, it's making maps. We'll take any opportunity or excuse that comes our way to make a map. We could be stomping around an underground tunnel system full of unseen peril, and we'll be more focused on the length of a hallway rather than whether or not that noise we just heard was a charging bugbear.

As so, it falls to the intrepid (or suicidal) among us to venture into the inky blackness and set the universe right. They shall name the names, chart the charts, and with any luck return home in mostly the same shape they left in. They're going to need ships, however. Some advice on what to do when a newly discovered bug-eyed monstrosity says "hi" would not be unwelcome either. It's a shame we don't have a book that discusses those sorts of things.

Oh, wait. We do! A shiny new one written by David Pulver, in fact. Download yourself a copy of GURPS Spaceships 5: Exploration and Colony Spacecraft and get your map on today!

-- Fox Barrett

October 8, 2009: Let Me Make You a Deal

Spaceships? Yeah. We do spaceships. In fact, we've got a wide selection of spaceships to choose from. Our latest, however, is over here in Future Armada: Orion. This strike carrier is everything you could want from a mobile command center. It's got big guns, big fighter bays, big . . . everything, really! We just got these in, so everything you see here is at the absolute bleeding edge of Kill Everyone You Don't Like technology.

If you're willing to make the best spaceship purchasing decision of your life, I might just be convinced to let you walk out of here with some extras. Tinted heat shielding. Neon underlights on the main plasma batteries. Or my personal favorite, stain-resistant upholstery.

Remember, this thing seats 30 or 40 pilots, marines, and other miscellaneous military types. Expect a few messes.

-- Fox Barrett

October 7, 2009: Not a History Scholar

History isn't my strong suit. I must admit, I'm not as well-versed in days past as I am about our potential days in the future. See, they didn't have microwave dinners or cyborg monkeys back then, so why do I care? Still, I have to sell you good people on Colonial Gothic: The Landlord's Daughter whether I'm familiar with the 18th century or not. So, here goes.

This adventure takes place during the formative years of our country. It's about stuff that's very old and isn't around any more. Some of the stuff is quite scary, particularly for people of that era because they did not have microwaves or cyborgs. They thought candles were a pretty swell idea, in fact. So they face down the Horrible Terrors of the Night armed only with their tenacity and guns that take three minutes to reload. Exciting! Suspenseful! Just plain neato!

There. Easy peasy! I have no idea what I'm talking about when it comes to that era, and yet I have successfully enticed you towards considering purchasing this fine adventure. I . . . I did entice you right? I mean, it took me four hours to write that, so it must have worked.

-- Fox Barrett

October 6, 2009: Semi-Random Ramble

Sometimes, random is a problem. Random traffic lights would be bad. Random diagnosis of illness is bad. Random, uninformative, self-indulgent prose is bad. (Hey, wait a minute. . .)

Sometimes, random is good! Dice sort of need to be random. Random name generators are often hilarious. And encounters? The random ones are often the best kind! So it is with Creatures of the Wastelands: Random Encounter. This book not only spices up your game with a nice dose of random violence, it also benefits from a sub-dollar price tag.

The word "free" is probably enough to get you to download a copy of this book just to see what it's about. But if it isn't, you're always welcome to flip a coin. I mean, how apropos would that be?

October 5, 2009: Did We Just Get Some More Clipart Critters?

Why yes! Yes, we did. You can take a look at the new Clipart Critters though this handy hyperlink. Most of this new batch are horror themed, which certainly seems seasonally appropriate.

Now, you might be wondering what the Clipart Critters line is. Normally, I'd be more than happy to tell you. This time, however, I'm going to try a little experiment. I'm going to close my eyes and beam the information into my monitor, across time, and into your skulls in the future. Okay. Brace yourself. Here comes the mind beam.

Did it work? Just beam back your answer! Huh, that's weird, why is there blood on my keyboard . . .

-- Fox Barrett

October 4, 2009: I Think I Just Had a Breakthrough

Did you know that 01 Games has PDFs that aren't maps? It's true! I didn't believe it myself, at first, but I did some digging and look what I found: The Legend of the Steel General. This lil' puppy right 'ere is one o' the first PDFs what ever did exist on the Internet! Or, one of the first d20 PDFs, I guess. Whatever, it's old, is what I'm trying to say. It's something that deserves a revisit.

That's not the only non-mappy thing they've done, either. Seems they have a few other adventures that go along with The Legend of the Steel General. Wow. And here I thought they just did maps. It's like I never truly knew 01 Games. This raises so many questions! No longer can I accept that things are as they seem. My whole world was just reshaped before me.

Pretty profound for a PDF, huh?

-- Fox Barrett

October 3, 2009: Picking Up the Slack

The other day, Paul ran an Illuminator all about the upcomming release of the printed version of the epically-named Vorkosigan Saga Sourcebook and Roleplaying Game. I noticed, however that Paul failed to mention that we currently have the book for sale here on e23 as a PDF! Gasp! Shock!

It's understandable, really. Paul getting on in years. I mean, he's over 30. Can't really expect someone like that to remember everything. May as well put him out to pasture. But that's okay, because SJ Games still has me to make sure everything runs smoothly. So here's just a quick note to remind you that you needn't wait until the print release of the Vorkosigan Book With the Exceptionally Long Title to get your Vork on. You can get it right this second as a PDF here on e23!

Oh, and uh . . . Don't tell Paul I wrote this.

-- Fox Barrett

October 2, 2009: Super Neon Armored Battler Z Go!

Mechanical titans grappling with planet-devastating monstrosities from beyond the stars. Jets that turn into humanoid fighting machines that turn into bizarre jet-man hybrids that look cool but probably aren't all that practical. Pointy-haired 14-year-olds kneeling over the bloodied corpse of a comrade and screaming "Jooooooe!" at the cruel cosmos. This is the stuff of giant robot sagas. This is the stuff of GURPS Classic: Mecha.

This book is all about cinematic battlesuits and the teenage psychos they shove inside 'em. True, a sizable chunk of the book is devoted to building the things for use in GURPS 3rd Edition. However, there's still a fair bit of setting information and genre advice to be found. It also includes David Pulver's Cybermech Damocles campaign setting.

Guaranteed to have 400% more angst than the next leading GURPS Classic book!

-- Fox Barrett

October 1, 2009: Previously, on Champions . . .

Champions, as you might have heard, hit the Big Time recently. They have something that fills the fever dreams of many an RPG setting: their own massively multiplayer online roleplaying game. It launched a scant handful of weeks ago. I, impressionable thing that I am, was wowed by it's enticing super hero simulations and snatched up a copy. The game is certainly neat, but there was one niggling thing lingering at the base of my skull as I played.

All these years in the industry (and still more years just in the hobby) and I still don't really know anything about Champions? I really should fix that at some point.

Hero Games has, once again, employed their staff psionicists to good effect and are now offering up a bundle of books to bring you up to speed. The Champions Universe Lore Bundle is a collection of three PDFs that contain all the gap-filling material you need to mortar the setting to your brain. Of course, it's also just a nice way to save ten bucks if you happen to want to buy those particular three Champions books. Whatever your motivation, here's some books to get you started down the road to Champions-dom.

-- Fox Barrett

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