e23 News

e23: 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

e23: 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.

-- Fox Barrett

e23: 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

e23: 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

e23: 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

e23: 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

e23: 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

e23: 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

e23: 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

e23: 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