Steve Jackson's Blog, page 109

November 28, 2022: Brick D6 Dice Set Tooling Samples

For those of you who enjoy building with interlocking bricks and have a passion for dice, our upcoming Brick d6 Dice Set may catch your eye. With a brick design on each of the die's six faces, these new 16mm six-sided dice are sure to pop when you roll them in front of your friends.

These are now available for preorder in our current BackerKit dice store.

Please subscribe to our newsletter to receive news on this and other dice sets we have in development. We've got surprises for 2023 and will reveal the designs as they're ready to move from our brains to the world.

– Phil Reed

Warehouse 23 News: Our Haul-Iday Sale Continues!

Don't miss our Haul-iday Sale, running now through December 19. With discounts on Ogre and Car Wars and more, plus freebies thrown in with $20 physical orders and above, plus lots of promos – it's a win, win, win!

November 27, 2022: Cthulhu D6 Dice Set Second Printing Now Available

First released in 2019, the 19mm six-sided die design included in the Cthulhu d6 Dice Set pre-dates the official release by several years. We created the steel tooling for this design all the way back in 2012/2013 when we were hard at work on the Ogre Designer's Edition . The die saw limited release in the years after the design was first completed, but it wasn't until the first printing of the Cthulhu d6 Dice Set in 2019 that the dice found their way to a wider audience.

Earlier this year, we brought a second printing of the Cthulhu d6 Dice Set into the warehouse and it is available right now to friendly local game stores around the world. If you want to add this pack of six 19mm dice to your collection, please visit your local game store today. If you do not have a local store, you can always find the dice at our online store, Warehouse 23, as well as at Amazon.com and other online retailers.

Will there be a third printing? Too early to say! It will depend entirely on how well the second printing sells through. We try to never say never, but for now we do not have a third printing on the schedule; there should be enough copies of the second printing in the warehouse to last us a few years.

These are also available as a part of our current BackerKit dice store.

– Phil Reed

Warehouse 23 News: Dice Pre-Order Store Now Open On BackerKit!

We know you like dice. And we know you buy lots from W23. But just in case you haven't heard the news yet, we have our semi-bi-annual Dice Pre-Order Store running on BackerKit right now. You'll see some brand-new items there, like the Brick d6 Dice Set , as well as old favorites. So many dice . . .

November 26, 2022: You Can Skip This If You Hate Dad Jokes

We all understand that Frodo, his spirit wounded by the One Ring he carried, made a poor moral choice when the time came to dispose of the deadly bauble, and if not for the faithful Sam Gamgee things might have gone very differently.

So, suppose Sam had simply followed his master's lead? Suppose that he and Frodo had turned away from the molten fissure and used the powers of the Ring, and the lesser magics they had acquired, to wander around the Dark Lands, simply killing Orcs and the other creatures of Sauron for the XP.

What would we call them then? Not heroes.

 

Wait for it . . .

 

Wait some more . . .

 

Mordorhoboes.

– Steve Jackson

Warehouse 23 News: Check Out Our Haul-Day Sale!

It's not Black Friday anymore, but that's okay. Our Black Friday Haul-iday Sale has discounts and freebies for you and all your gaming gang, and it's going on now through December 19!

November 25, 2022: CARnage Printable Cars And Weapons Launching Today On Kickstarter

We talk about customizing vehicles in Car Wars Sixth Edition a lot, and the one comment we receive the most is that players want to customize the minis. And not just for our games, but other car combat games. So we decided to answer that request and give autoduellists an option for their garage!

The CARnage Kickstarter adds printable STL files for cars and, even cooler, an assortment of weapons with which to customize them. We took the great weapon designs we've used on our existing miniature range and made them a bit more modular for use with other cars, such as our own 3-D printable files, or toy cars like Hot Wheels, Matchbox, and other (approximately) 1:64 scale brands. With over 50 weapons and accessories, plus 36 cars and 4 wrecks, even Uncle Al is doing a double take!

Similar to our Fantasy Trip Foes campaign, this project is strictly 3-D printable STL files. There are no physical cars or weapons. However, there are services available (like Shapeways) if you don't have access to a printer. This is a lower-cost way to offer some really fun new options for our Car Wars fans as well as for folks who would like some alternatives for other tabletop ventures. 

The campaign launches later today, so please don't forget to follow the Kickstarter page to receive email notification when the project goes live. Drive Offensively! 

– Hunter Shelburne

Warehouse 23 News: Looking For Some Stocking Stuffers?

Grab both of our new holiday games, The 12 Dice of Christmas and Bad Christmas! It's all about getting what you want for Christmas, while making sure others don't. Get yours today from Warehouse 23!

November 24, 2022: Black Friday Comes Early To Warehouse 23

Happy Thanksgiving! We hope you get your fill of food, friends, and family, and hopefully a few games. And we've got a few more games for you now on sale on Warehouse 23! Avoid the crowds this weekend and get some holiday savings with our Black Friday HAUL-iday Sale, happening now through December 19. We've got a number of discounted items from classics like Car Wars  and Ogre  to our dice, accessories, and much more. For roleplaying game fans we've got some great deals on The Fantasy Trip and cult classic In Nomine , too.

Cheap is nice, but you know what's better? Free. And we've got that, too! Physical orders of $20* or more get free swag based on the size of the order. Orders of $125 or more unlock all the free stuff, including dice, accessories, and multiple Munchkin mini-expansions. Knock out your holiday shopping and keep some extra goodies for yourself! Or maybe keep it all. I don't want to tell you how to shop . . .

Knock out your Christmas shopping and stuff your favorite gamer's stocking with these HAUL-iday deals! 

– Hunter Shelburne

Warehouse 23 News: Discounts And Free Stuff Abound!

Need some goodies for the munchkins in your life? We've got you covered with our Haul-iday Sale. See all the details here!

November 23, 2022: Dice Store BackerKit Now Open!

Our semi-regular Dice Store is back in business, and we're ready to roll with a slew of brand-new dice on pre-order! New additions to the store include the highly anticipated Elder Futhark Die and Bad Luck Die , along with a full roster of polyhedral dice. That's right, now you can roll a critical hit in your favorite tabletop roleplaying game with  Munchkin ! Or Kittens! And we've got new dice bags to store it all in. You can find a full list on the store, where you can pre-order these dice, accessories, and more.

The Elder Futhark   Die functions similarly to our Zodiac Die (also available). It's both a unique die and a great tool to help create a character for your favorite roleplaying game. Our Bad Luck Die is great for players with superstitiions, as its sides represent some of the most unlucky actions you can commit! Breaking mirrors, walking under ladders; you're just asking for trouble with this die. 

For our Munchkin fans, the Munchkin Polyhedral Dice Sets come with promo cards that correspond with the color of the dice, so you can use them with your favorite Munchkin game just as easily as your favorite RPG. We've actually been highlighting some of these cards in our Munchkin Monthly newsletter (you should sign up for that so you get the scoops early). 

We're also giving free dice sets with orders based on the amount spent! Spending $90 unlocks three extra dice sets, for instance, so if you want even more dice for your bag, that's the way to go. The Dice Store is open until mid-December – enough time for everyone to get their orders in for hundreds and hundreds of dice! Oh. Maybe that's my order . . .

– Hunter Shelburne

Warehouse 23 News: Kick It Old School!

Fifty-five monsters from the oldest of old-school games, compiled under the OGL, and translated to The Fantasy Trip by Steve Jackson himself. Negotiate with the Grippli! Flee from the fearsome Gnolls and their Flind masters! Find a way around the Gelatinous Cube — and think fast, because it's still coming . . .  Order Old School Monsters now on Warehouse 23!

November 22, 2022: Yes! Car Wars Fiction!

Three Ravens Publishing will create a series of novels in the Car Wars setting, with the first one set to release in early 2023. Three Ravens is the award-winning publisher of the bestselling "It Came from the Trailer Park" anthologies, as well as a variety of fantasy and SF titles.

The initial series will be "The Autoduel Chronicles: Wasteland Runners." A 15-book arc is planned, with novels by William Joseph Roberts, Christopher Woods, Benjamin Tyler Smith, and Marisa Wolf, and side stories by J.F. Posthumus, Philip K. Booker, and others. The authors are now engaged in playing Car Wars , soaking up years of lore from our ADQ and AADA Road Atlas archives, and (as our agents report) giggling madly!

Print books will be available for purchase through Amazon, or can be ordered through your favorite book store or any online book retailer. Ebooks will be available through Kindle Unlimited, and audio through Audible.

I've been planning this with Scott Tackett, lead editor at Three Ravens, since LibertyCon last year. Scott "gets" Car Wars , plays it with his kids, and is serious about adding quality fiction to the Car Wars universe. I'm looking forward to reading it!

More as it happens . . .

– Steve Jackson

Warehouse 23 News: Ogre Battlefields

Think your Ogre game is big? It just got even bigger! Battlefields contains two giant double-sided maps, each one 28.5" by 33". If you have the Ogre Designer's Edition , these link to the four green maps in that set. If you have Ogre Sixth Edition , they give you a giant new gameboard with multiple types of terrain.

November 21, 2022: Want To Teach Your Friends Munchkin? Tell Them To Watch It Played!

For over a decade now, the Munchkin episode of Wil Wheaton's fabulous Tabletop series has been one of the best introductions to Munchkin . With close to four million views, we know that many of you were first introduced to Munchkin thanks to this video, and we're happy to see it still online and collecting views long after it first hit YouTube.

Earlier this year, the Munchkin gateway grew larger thanks to the release of an official Watch it Played video. The two videos are quite complementary: Show your friends the Tabletop episode and then, if they want to know more, sit them down with a copy of Munchkin Deluxe and the Watch it Played video for a detailed and entertaining point-by-point overview of the game's mechanics. The video does an excellent job of teaching the game, and we hope you will share it with all of your friends.

– Phil Reed

Warehouse 23 News: Authentic Thaumaturgy

Written by professional occultist Isaac Bonewits, the only person ever to earn a degree in Magic from the University of California, this book describes how to create "realistic" magical systems for roleplaying games. It also reveals the "real magical" roots of Magic: The Gathering . This book is a lot of fun to read!

November 20, 2022: Expanding Our Print-On-Demand Offerings

It is taking some time to work through all of the necessary tasks, but we're slowly building our catalog of print-on-demand books at DrivethruRPG. By adding more print-on-demand books at the site, in addition to the GURPS On Demand titles listed at Amazon, we make it even easier to add print books to your collection. 

Although print-on-demand books may not equal the quality of high-end offset works, the quality is far superior to what we saw in print-on-demand books from a decade or two ago. Today's print-on-demand books are so good that casual book fans cannot tell the difference. That's a huge leap from what we were experimenting with as recently as 2008 and 2009.

We add more print-on-demand books to DrivethruRPG every month or so, and we've even started adding print-on-demand cards to the library (please see this Daily Illuminator post), so please check back a few times each year as we continue to build the DrivethruRPG catalog.

– Phil Reed

Warehouse 23 News: Dragon & Skull Dice Pack (Green Glitter)

Dragon or skull? Skull or dragon? There are many difficult decisions in life, but with the Dragon & Skull d6 Dice Set , that's one less decision you need to agonize over. Includes four of each design in glittery green!

November 19, 2022: Is Your Favorite Local Game Store In Our Store Finder?

We regularly ship new games, expansions, and accessories to our distributor partners who then handle supplying those titles to game stores across the world. Local game stores, ranging in size from one-person operations to small chains of retail spaces, are vital to the success of our games . . . and we want to make sure that your favorite local game store is listed in our online store finder.

To meet the goal of including all of the active, fabulous game stores in our database, we need your help! Please check our store finder – located here – and search for your local store. If you don't spot your store in the list, please email retailers@sjgames.com with the name and city of the missing store. We'll take it from there!

And if you own a game store and are not listed on our site, an email to retailers@sjgames.com can solve that problem.

Thank you, everyone, for your help in adding as many wonderful stores to our database as possible!

– Phil Reed

Warehouse 23 News: Steampunk D6 Dice Set

Springs, sprockets, and steam – all the necessary components for a mechanical marvel! The gears were turning, noises were heard, and these marvelous 19mm dice came rolling right out of our workshop. Engineer your destiny with the Steampunk d6 Dice Set ! This set includes six stunning 19mm dice in shades of copper, brown, steel gray, and gold.