e23 News Archive: November 2009

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November 22, 2009: It's Not Lonley at the Top

In fact, it's rather crowded up there in the celestial realms. As I mentioned yesterday, we've detailed what it's like to be Zadkiel, but what of all those other so-called Superiors?

Why, we have books on some of them, too! Like Litheroy, Heaven's chief polygraph technician. And we've got Eli, Archangel of Like, Whatever Bro, Let's Just Chill. Or maybe you prefer something a bit more . . . infernal. As a gamer, you'll may appreciate Asmodeus, the greatest and mightiest rules lawyer in the Symphony. Or if you want to have it your way, I'm sure Lilith would be more than happy to oblige. For a price.

Anyway, the point is, we're the one-stop shop for all your angelic (and demonic) needs. So come buy some books. We promise they'll be absolutely divine.

-- Fox Barrett

November 21, 2009: Mother Knows Best

Clean up your room! Go back to bed! Stand behind me while I stab this Balseraph in the face!

Zadkiel is the sort of person you should listen to. She really does have your best interests at heart. In fact, that's all she has at heart! You can see for yourself in the pages of In Nomine Superiors: Zadkiel. It's your definitive A-to-Z of all things Zadkielish, with a particularly big stop at "P" for "Protection." Because that's the name of the game with Zadkiel: protecting people. Well. Good people.

Bad people? You should go. With great alacrity.

November 20, 2009: Brevity

The subtitle we gave Pyramid #3/13: Thaumatology is quite succinct."Thaumatology." Boom. Done. What's this issue about? Thaumatology. And thus, this becomes an ambiguity-free zone.

And yet, paradoxically, it raises so many questions. What aspect of thaumatology? Is this about the application of thaumatology, or just theoretical discussion? And what the heck does thaumatology even mean, anyway?

For the last question, I'm going to go get a dictionary. For the first two, you'll need the magazine itself. So let's split up and meet back here later to compare notes, okay?

-- Fox Barrett

November 19, 2009: Holiday . . . Spirit?

So maybe yesterday's news piece wasn't all that Thanksgiving-related. In fact, one could use words such as "tenuous" or  "gossamer" to describe the link between it and the holiday. "Diaphanous," even, if you've got a thesaurus handy. Fine. You want Thanksgiving? I'll give you Thanksgiving.

Thanksgiving is a time of year when families all over this great nation of ours engage in a little ritual. There is a gathering of friends and family. There is a sacrifice. And, perhaps most importantly, there is a great deal of speaking - or, more accurately, shouting - in tongues. Does this remind us of anything? Right. Cthulhu. And there you have it. A substantive link between next week's annual feast holiday and the vile forces of inky blackness that threaten to devour us in turn. (PETA would be so proud!)

Now I just need to point to a Cthulhu game. And if I'm going to do that, I may as well point at the best Cthulhu game. That would be Trail of Cthulhu. (See how it has words "Hite" and "Laws" are on the cover? That's Elder God-ish for "the best.")

-- Fox Barrett

November 18, 2009: In Anticipation of Turkey Day

Turkey Day is nigh upon us! (And by "us," I mean "we citizens of these United States of America." The rest of you can participate too, I suppose, but it's not mandatory.) To celebrate, I present to you a rare and precious PDF. This file shares a very special attribute with no other file in the catalog. And this singular property makes it particularly noteworthy for the coming holiday.

For you see, this PDF is the only one with the word "Turkey" in the descriptive text.

Preciesly what Iron Stars: Southern Front is about, I cannot say. The cover has a picture of a spaceship on it, so it's a safe bet that big ships are involved. And there is a small chance that they are talking about the country rather than the flightless fowl. But hey, come on! This still has to count for something, right?

-- Fox Barrett

November 17, 2009: Tabletop Adventures Sale

So, these things come in threes, I guess. First it was Arion Games. Then it was Dog House Rules. Today? Today sees our friends over at Tabletop Adventures hitting their prices with The Savings Stick.

Starting today, all Tabletop Adventures products are 20% less wallet-damaging. The sale will run until December 1st. Why, that's just one day after both the Dog house Rules and Arion Games sales end!

So three companies run three sales, all in the same month, all ending at about the same time. Concidence? Conspiracy? Ah, but that would be telling.

-- Fox Barrett

November 16, 2009: Overkill Is the Best Kill

Y'know what's more fun than beating up bad guys?

Beating up an awful lot of bad guys.

Though I will admit that I am ignorant of the precise details of how the beatings are delivered, I will say that I wholeheartedly endorse the idea behind For The Masses: Fantasy Mass Combat System. Because punching is the sort of thing that's best done en masse.

-- Fox Barrett

November 15, 2009: So, About that Vorkosigan Thing . . .

Hey! Hey! Hey! Remember the Vorkosigan Saga Sourcebook and Roleplaying Game? The GURPS book that talks about Bujold's epic sci-fi tales about one Miles Vorkosigan? Well, wether you do or not, I figured this might be a good time to remind you. You see, the print version is on its way to stores as I write this. So since the book is on my mind, I figured I should put it on your mind as well.

It's sharing, really. I think I remember someone telling me that sharing was good, once. Um, not that you should share the book, mind you. I mean, you can show it to other people, but don't, like, share it in the P2P sense. Um. I think I've lost track of what I was trying to talk about.

Buy Vork! It's neat!

-- Fox Barrett

November 14, 2009: Dog House Rules Sale

Another sale? Didn't we just announce one? Yes, and yes. This time it's Dog House Rules that's offering up their books for low prices. In fact, they might even be low-low prices. Let's go check, shall we?

Sidewinder: Recoiled is now merely $8.25. And Frontier Towns: Fort Griffin Trilogy? Only $7.95. If you really want to see an awesome deal, however, just take a look at Fort Griffin Echo - Volume 1, Number 2 or Quick Quests: Eggscellent Opportunity (available in both OGL and Savage Worlds versions). They're only a buck each!

If you want to get in on these sweet deals, you'll need to place your order sometime between now-ish and November 30th-ish. That's when the prices return to normal, and life as we know it becomes a bleak and sale-less expanse of unending ennui. (Unless you buy these books, of course. They protect against ennui!)

-- Fox Barrett

November 13, 2009: Can You Dig It?

Space. The final frontier. Let's go exploit the heck out of it!

That's the idea GURPS Spaceships 6: Mining and Industrial Spacecraft puts forth. Despite its name, there's actually quite a lot of stuff out there in space. And most of it isn't particularly habitable. What that space stuff does have, however, is mineral wealth. To make those solid assets your own personal liquid assets, you're going to need some equipment, and that's preciesly what our good buddy Pulver has provided.

Just, um, one word of advice? Don't name your ship Nostromo.

-- Fox Barrett

November 12, 2009: Desert Dudes

Deserts are fun! The way they're all . . . sandy and . . . um, hot. Like a beach! Only without the water. Or ice cream vendor. Or really anything that makes the beach at all appealing.

I take it back, deserts suck.

On the bright side, the cruddy mood it puts you in will be plenty enough reason to beat up the NPCs you find there. I recommend allowing the Paper Miniatures: Desert Warriors Set to be your punching bag.

November 11, 2009: Fo' Reals, This Time

Did I say that the Dungeon of Terror was complete? 01 Games has just showed me that they weren't quite finished yet. Good news for fans of dungeon dives! Bad news for my confidence when it comes to trusting my judgment on when a product line is finished being released. But, as that is a relatively small facet of an otherwise complex (indeed, Byzantine) psyche, we shall move on.

The Dungeon of Terror: Virtual Boxed Set represents the pinnacle in terror-based dungeon technology. This bundle pack not only contains the entirety of the Dungeon of Terror series, but also includes a few new extras, like room templates and random encounter tables. If you haven't gotten in on this line yet, now is the perfect time to do so.

Yeah, I know, that's what I said last time. Well, that must mean that now it's even more perfect. Yes, there are degrees of perfection now. Nuts to Merriam-Webster.

-- Fox Barrett

November 10, 2009: Give Peace a Chance

Shattered Peace, that is!

That might not have been as clever as I hoped, but I shan't let that daunt me. I continue with my advertisement! Shattered Peace – The War for Terra Nova Book 1 takes you planetside for the mother of all wars on Terra Nova. Or, at least, the first part of it. Is there more conflict yet on the way for this poor battered planet?

Man, I certainly hope so!

-- Fox Barrett

November 9, 2009: More Monsters

Okay, okay, so Halloween is over. But it's not like October has the exclusive rights to the horror genre! I mean, have you seen some of the family gatherings that happen around Thanksgiving? Brr. So I wouldn't say that buying Freakshow - Body Parts now would be too little, too late. Rather, consider how little your players will now be expecting you to run a horror game.

Especially if it's one that takes place during Thanksgiving.

Especially if you run it during Thanksgiving dinner.

-- Fox Barrett

November 8, 2009: The Player's Guide: Your Guide to Playing

You there! Player! You have no idea what you're doing, do you? No, no, don't argue. It's clear that you need help. Instruction. Guidance.

Behold! The HERO System Advanced Player’s Guide. Yes, your salvation is at hand. A few bucks and a couple pages is all that stands between you and player bliss. Dally here no longer, that you might suffer the humiliation of being guideless not a moment further. Go, and make the world of playering your own! Stand victorious over your once crippling deficiency of playerness! Go! Go! Go!

No, seriously. Go buy the book. 'Tis neato.

-- Fox Barrett

November 7, 2009: Two for None

You don't have to spend your money here, y'know. And I don't mean closing the browser and going somewhere else. I mean you can get products from e23 without spending money. As proof, I present unto you these two new products.

The first is GURPS Infinite Worlds: I.S.T. It's a brief treatment of the I.S.T. setting as part of the Infinite Worlds setting. Good if you aren't familiar with I.S.T., but perfect if you are. The second is the GURPS Range Ruler. This little baby is precisely what it says on the tin: a tool to help you calculate things like range modifiers quickly and easily. No more stumbling through the book! (Well, not for this, anyway. There was only so much room on the ruler, after all.)

And there you have it. Now go not spend some money!

-- Fox Barrett

November 6, 2009: We're Not Done with You Yet, Car Wars Fans

A little while back, we rereleased the Car Wars Compendium as a PDF here on e23. A few people noted that, while this was very cool, it's kind of hard to play the game without any counters.

That was a very good point. So here are some counters! That is to say, here's Car Wars Expansion Set 6 - The AADA Vehicle Guide Counters. Bit of a mouthful, that one. But the important part is that it's a set of counters you can print out and color to suit your whims!

Now I know what you're thinking. "But Fox, these counters are great, but don't we also need a map to play on?" That, too, is a very good point. Hmmm . . .

-- Fox Barrett

November 5, 2009: Arion Games Sale

Arion Games' products have never been particularly expensive. But they seem determined to save you even more money on miniatures, because they're running a sale for the entire month of November! All Arion Games products are now 20% off until the end of the month.

Dwarves, Egyptians, pirates, robots, modern people - if you've got a genre, they have a set of Paper Miniatures for you. And if you've got a wallet, you can afford 'em! Heck, you've probably got enough change in your couch for a set or two. In fact, I bet your couch has been holding out on you. You should really go shake down your couch.

But act quickly. You only have the entire month of November to get in on these low-low prices! After that, you'll just have to get by with Arion's regular low prices.

-- Fox Barrett

November 4, 2009: An Odd Number

Congratulations, Goodman Games! The Warbringer's Son is the 63rd Dungeon Crawl Classic! Who would have thought, all those years ago, that you'd come this far? But oh, the tales you have told, the caverns you have crafted, and (more importantly) the levels you have gained. Why, you've even followed one game system across three versions! Truly this is a momentous occasion.

And you, good customers of e23, can help them celebrate this occasion by purchasing a copy of Dungeon Crawl Classics #63: The Warbringer’s Son. They can use the money from your purchase to go buy noise makers and champagne and maybe some of those little hats and . . . I don't know, whatever Goodman feels is important to having a good time. Poodles, maybe.

Here's to another 63 adventures!

-- Fox Barrett

November 3, 2009: And What Do We Do with Witches?

Read them! Wait, hang on. I think I might be confused again.

I have a book here, and the words on the first page say Colonial Gothic: Witchcraft. It's all about witches! Not witches as in "hey, let's crush Margaret under some rocks, because I'd really like her house." This is more of the "Margaret made a vile pact with the ebon forces of the damned and we should probably go" type of witchcraft. This book will get your Colonial Gothic games up to speed on what witches are, what they do, and just what the heck you can do about them.

I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that it probably involves fire.

-- Fox Barrett

November 2, 2009: We Really Do

Did you know that e23 sometimes sells fiction? I mean . . . yeah, all these games are fiction, but I'm talking about fiction-fiction. It's true!

Don't believe me? Well fine, here's Gaslight Demons. What's it about? Oh no, I'm not telling you. You didn't believe me! You'll just have to buy the book and see for yourself. Because my lips are sealed, baby. You aren't getting one word out of me.

Well. Okay, you're getting those words up there. And, um, these words right here. But that's all!

November 1, 2009: The Dark Arts

So what is this thing known as ZelArt 3: Female Fantasy? What secrets does it hold? What mysteries does it contain? What locked bundle of hidden things does it hold out of the sight of curious eyes? What, if you will, is it?

It's a bundle of pictures you can buy and use in projects. That's all. Uh, sorry if I built it up beyond reasonable expectations.

They're very nice pictures, if that helps.

-- Fox Barrett

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