Steve Jackson's Blog, page 380

July 4, 2015: Meanwhile In The Future

I recently listened to the first three episodes of the new Meanwhile in the Future podcast, and can say I will absolutely be following this series. Created and hosted by Rose Eveleth, each episode presents a possible future scenario, and then discusses the idea with experts to determine how plausible that future scenario may or may not be. At about fifteen minutes each, these are excellent for the commute to and from the office, and those first three episodes were enjoyable enough that I'm looking forward to hearing what other scenarios Rose presents to the world.



In the very first episode, A World With Artificial Wombs, one of the experts offering opinions on the subject is Lois McMaster Bujold. Neat! This means that we at Steve Jackson Games already have a tenuous connection to the Meanwhile in the Future podcast. 



This is great listening if you enjoy podcasts and love to think about possible futures.



– Phil Reed



Warehouse 23 News: We Built This City On Orcs And Trolls?



Build your own magical city with GURPS Thaumatology: Urban Magics . It has templates, new types of magic, supernatural ways to handle urban problems, and much more. Conjuring this supplement is easier than saying "PDF presto" five times fast . . . but only from Warehouse 23!

June 30, 2015: New Releases For June

Lots of new games come out every month, and it's easy to miss a few. Here are the things we released in June; these are either in your local stores now, or will be very shortly!





Mars Attacks: Ten-Minute Takedown



Destroy the Earthling cities!



Mars Attacks: Ten-Minute Takedown is a fast-playing dexterity game of Martian aggression and global destruction. Flick the custom die from your flying saucer at the Earthling cities, and claim their points as you destroy them.






Star Munchkin 3 – Diplomatic Impunity



More Sci-Fi Hijinks!



After far too long, your favorite space-faring munchkins are BACK! This expansion includes Ships your characters can use to explore the cosmos; a new Class, Ambassador, that can commandeer Ships from other players; and a new Race, Veggie, because even munchkins need fiber. Plus plenty of new monsters, Traps, and Treasures. (Yes, of course there are more Lasers. PEW PEW!)



Star Munchkin 3 – Diplomatic Impunity . . . in space, no one can hear you squee!




In addition to the above, we've also reprinted a couple of things that have been out of print for a while.





Star Munchkin – Space Ships



Munchkin Booty introduced Ships to the world of Munchkin . You guys immediately asked why we didn't have Ships for Star Munchkin as well. So now we do!



Star Munchkin: Space Ships lets you ride in – or on – the Horsefly, the Starfurry, or the USS Secondprize. You can buff your ships with a Quad-Mounted Laser or a Bridge. And you can let your new Sidekick, Otto, do the flying for you.



Live long and prosper and kill monsters!



Note: This is an expansion for Star Munchkin , not a stand-alone set. Space Ships is not collectible or randomized; every pack is the same as every other.


The Awful Green Things From Outer Space





Monsters Everywhere!



The crew of the exploration ship Znutar just wanted to cruise around the Galaxy, discovering strange new worlds and playing pool. But then their ship was invaded by the Awful Green Things . . . and suddenly they were fighting for their lives!



In this wacky two-player game, one player controls the Awful Green Things. They grow and multiply every turn – especially if they can gobble up a crew member! The other player commands the crew, frantically trying weapon after weapon (pool sticks, fire extinguishers, cans of Zgwortz) to find something that kills the monsters.



This classic game by Tom Wham first appeared in Dragon Magazine in 1980, and has been a fan favorite ever since! This edition includes Tom's "Outside the Znutar" rules and counters, for going out the airlocks and fighting on the surface of the ship, and upgraded components: a mounted gameboard, heavy die-cut counters, and a full-color rulebook!




– Brian Engard



Warehouse 23 News: Hone Your Social Skills



Get the best-selling, award-winning supplement that changed the face of GURPS – William H. Stoddard's GURPS Social Engineering . This guide expands and clarifies a jillion interpersonal aspects of GURPS : intimidation, deception, leadership, haggling, propaganda, and much more. Get it today – only from Warehouse 23 – and we'll be your best friend!

July 1, 2015: Bring Your Cavalry Captain Home

Starting today, you have a chance to get the Cavalry Captain card, created in collaboration with The Decemberists . It's easy! All you have to do is purchase any Munchkin Core (or Deluxe) set on Warehouse 23 during the month of July and get the Cavalry Captain card for free!



If you're curious about the story of how this partnership happened, you can read all about it here.



– Anna Meade



Warehouse 23 News: Get A Faith Lift



Add amazing powers to your GURPS game with GURPS Powers: Divine Favor , a complete subsystem that can model the powers of near-historical monks, Old West preachers keeping demons at bay, monster-hunting heroes calling higher powers, and much more. Download it today, from Warehouse 23!

July 2, 2015: Illuminated Site of the Week: Arsenic And Alsace

Touring France sounds romantic, and it is so long as you avoid areas riddled with unexploded munitions from the Great War. Even a century later the poisons and artillery unleashed in that terrible conflict have rendered parts of the countryside uninhabitable. Known as Zone Rouge (the Red Zone), people aren't allowed to visit some spots let alone live there, and the only creatures within are the rare species that know where the potable water is and the humans who recover lethal shells still lying in wait. Sounds like the start of a weird Horror campaign except it's all grusomely real . . . which is not to say you can't use it. For the story, which will leave you feeling like you need a shower, go here.
 
– Suggested by Pook



Warehouse 23 News: Master Mind!



Do you want to unleash the powers of the mind upon your game world, but want to know what you're getting into? Then you need GURPS Psionic Campaigns , a comprehensive guide to both adding psychic powers and keeping them under control in your setting. Go ahead and download it from Warehouse 23; we don't mind!

July 3, 2015: The Cutest Little Cephalopod

Go read


Done? I think we can all agree that it's the cutest octopus we've ever seen, and that, if Cthulhu manifested as one of these things, he'd be able to eat us all because we'd be so busy making cooing noises at him that we wouldn't be able to get out of the way of his sanity-blasting beak.



Adorabilis indeed.



– Brian Engard



Warehouse 23 News: First, Gather Together A Few Thousand Friends . . .



Assembling an army (or navy, or air force) is easy with GURPS Mass Combat . It has all the rules you need for round-by-round resolution of large-scale combat, and insight into how to make the heroes shine in the midst of large-scale battle. This meaty bestseller is a download away, but only from Warehouse 23!

June 29, 2015: We're Everywhere

The Dawn orbiter has spotted a mountain on the dwarf planet Ceres that mission scientists describe as "pyramid-shaped." Here's the Daily Mail story.



– Andrew Hackard



Warehouse 23 News: Get Organized!



Statting up political groups, businesses, religious orders, and other organizations is easier than ever, thanks to GURPS Boardroom and Curia . Now you'll know the relative strengths and weaknesses of different organizations at a glance – what they can do for you (or against you), how powerful they are, what skills and resources they have, and more. Satisfying your curia-sity is just a download away, from Warehouse 23!

June 28, 2015: Vernon Wells Holding Car Wars Classic

Recognize this guy?







His name is


Car Wars : it's getting closer every day!



– Scott Haring



Warehouse 23 News: Truth, Justice, And The Magical Way



Pulp heroes meet magical might with GURPS Thaumatology: Age of Gold , a campaign setting that combines alchemical abilities with 1930s-style heroism. The Age of Gold is ready to download, but – true believers – only at Warehouse 23!

June 27, 2015: Get In A Bind, With GURPS?

One of my hobbies is do-it-myself bookbinding. I love making my own minibooks and supplements – for RPGs, computer games, tabletop games, character sheets, programming guides, you name it. It's actually easier than you might think. Here's a quick overview of one of the easier ways: saddle stitching. Saddle stitching is a fancy way of saying "folded in half and stapled in the center," and it's the way a lot of classic gaming material was presented. It's great for anything of about 32 pages or less, and it's still feasible up to around 64 pages (depending on paper stock). This makes it a superb way to print GURPS PDFs, such as those available on Warehouse 23 (hint hint). To saddle stitch a book, you'll need:



A PDF you want to print. (Have we recommended the fine wares at Warehouse 23 lately? We have? Okay; we won't mention it, then.)


A printer. A double-sided – or duplex – printer makes it easier, but it isn't essential.


Paper and cardstock. The cardstock is optional, but it goes a long way toward making a durable, attractive book.


A stapler. I use a true saddle stitch stapler, such as this one from Amazon, but there are other options. As I write this, this long-arm stapler is $5.99 . . . and if you're patient, you can even use a standard cheap-o office-type stapler where the bottom swings away.


Imposition software. "Imposition" is a fancy way of saying "getting the pages in the right order." For example, if you have a 32-page PDF, you want to end up with a sheet of paper where that first page has pages 32 and 1 on one side, and pages 2 and 31 on the other side. (If that doesn't make sense, look at the page numbering of a saddle-stitched book and imagine each sheet of paper as a separate entity.) I recommend Bookbinder, because it's free and cross-platform (it uses Java).


A sharp razor and a couple of wood boards. This isn't essential, but it's helpful to trim the edges of your booklet.
Fire up the Bookbinder software, load the PDF, and choose appropriate settings. I use the "Booklet" settings under signature formats, and "Stretch to Fit" under Book Size, but feel free to experiment. ("Stretch to Fit" makes it a bit distorted compared to its original layout, but the extra size usually makes it easier to read on smaller paper.) Click "Generate Document"; it'll output the imposed PDF in the same folder that the Bookbinder software is located.



Then print the pages of the imposed PDF. I recommend printing pages 3-4 at first; depending on your printer, you might need to tweak your printing settings and methods to get the pages lined up right, but it's pretty obvious if you don't. (Fold that sheet in half and pretend to read the book; if page 3 leads to an upside-down page 31, then there's a problem...) Once you know what you need to do to get your pages lined up right, print the rest of the pages (from pages 5 on). If you have cardstock, print pages 1-2 on that.



Then fold the whole thing in half (I recommend a couple of pages at a time). Take a flip through your unstapled book and make sure the pages are all right. If they are, staple them using your stapler. (If you're using a Swingline, keep the pages tight together and try to staple it into something, like a cork board. Then pry it off that surface and carefully fold the staples in manually.)



Once you're done, firmly press the book between two boards, so that the top board is your cutting edge and your bottom board is your cutting surface. Trim the right-hand edge; I prefer to use a light touch and "go over" the entire line, trimming a few page edges at a time, but use whatever technique works for you.



And that's it! Your book is done. If the book doesn't quite lay flat, place it under something heavy overnight, like a large stack of GURPS hardcovers you could purchase from Warehou- . . . well, you know.



This isn't ideal for all applications. You can't bind super-thick books this way, and – on a standard printer – your books will be "undersized" compared to their original 8.5" × 11" size. (Someday I'll own a printer that can print an 11" × 17" sheet of paper . . .) However, the resulting books are quite readable, and may be more useful at your gaming table than a PDF.



– Steven Marsh



Warehouse 23 News: The Galaxy Awaits



Build, fly, fight, and repair your own spaceship! It's easier than you think, thanks to GURPS Spaceships . Your journey to the stars starts with a download exclusive to Warehouse 23!

June 26, 2015: BREAKING: "Nerd Girl" Joins Steve Jackson Games

In a totally unexpected move, Steve Jackson Games has hired a Nerd Girl for their new Assistant to the Marketing Director position. But not just a nerd girl! Reportedly, she's a writer, singer, actor, and hopeless geek sprinkled with a touch of whimsy. And snark. Word has it she started AD&D in middle school, making very detailed world maps on graph paper, then graduated to original World of Darkness in college. Now Fate is her system of choice.



Judging from the fact she's often seen off-site with a book in her hand, we're gathering she's an avid reader; favorite authors include Tolkien, Austen, and Fitzgerald. "If I lived on a desert island, I'd starve to death because I'd only pack books," says Meade. She's also an old-school video game nerd, especially NES and SNES. FFIII (VI) and Secret of Mana were her RPG jams. Ooh, and Battletoads. It's rumored that on one long car trip to Colorado, she beat her youngest brother 119 times at Tetris.



Notably, she's worked with Onyx Path Publishing on the new V20 Vampire books and is collaborating on a super secret new book for Evil Hat Productions. She runs a literary blog called Yearning for Wonderland which covers all manner of geek and whimsical matters. She's been performing onstage since she was eight; her favorite roles are Kitty in "The Drowsy Chaperone" and Amanda in Noel Coward's "Private Lives". She's also directed a production of Shakespeare's "Much Ado About Nothing" and written original adaptations of "The Gift of the Magi", "The Snow Queen" (which she also directed), as well as producing two original full-length plays she wrote: "Feet of Clay" and "O, for a Muse of Fire".



Within the marketing department, it's expected she will wreak havoc in an awesome and totally professional way.



Now a word from our sponsors: MONSTER TRUCKS THIS SUNDAY . . . SUNDAY . . . SUNDAY



– Anna Meade



Warehouse 23 News: Come To Your Senses!
Harnessing awesome inhuman senses is easier than ever, thanks to GURPS Powers: Enhanced Senses . This trove of new options and abilities expands the sensory possibilities of GURPS ; learn how damaging a rock concert's noise is, how hard it is to read by candlelight, and much more. Download it from Warehouse 23 and upgrade your sensory abilities!

June 25, 2015: Zombie Dice Is BACK!

Remember when we told you that Zombie Dice had all but sold out? Well, it's back, and it's got brand new packaging. You now can see all the dice and their designs; the back cover is redesigned to make it easy to pick up the game and play right away. We've even upgraded the game cup to a thicker, more durable plastic . . . the better to make loud, rattling noises with. Despite inflation AND the cup upgrade, this game is still only $13.13.



Thanks so much to our Zombie Dice fans who've supported the game since its release in 2010. We ship the new Zombie Dice in September; now is also the perfect time to pick up the expansions: Zombie Dice 2 – Double Feature and Zombie Dice 3 – School Bus !



– Anna Meade







Warehouse 23 News: Now With Deluxe Brains!



In this twist on Munchkin , the players are zombies, kicking down doors and eating brains. The "monsters" they're attacking are people, with a few rogue zombies thrown in. Munchkin Zombie Deluxe features six zombie pawns and a level track. So bravely as a zombie you go forth, with mousetraps on your feet and a bowling trophy protecting your poor rotting head . . . to level up, or to die. Again.