Steve Jackson's Blog, page 399

December 25, 2014: Happy Holidays From SJ Games

Happy holidays, everyone. Game well, enjoy your families, and be excellent to each other.



– Brian Engard



Warehouse 23 News: A Grand Reason To Use Wondrous Firearms



Now that you have GURPS High-Tech: Adventure Guns , take it with you when you go "Across Africa with Iron and Steam"! This near-historical setting from Matt Riggsby found in Pyramid #3/39: Steampunk provides an amazing amount of adventure potential. Download both supplements, only from Warehouse 23!

December 24, 2014: Holiday Comps At SJ Games

One of the perks of working at Steve Jackson Games is that when games are printed and we have them in-house, we get copies of them delivered to our mailboxes, for us to take home and enjoy. While this isn't precisely holiday-related, getting a mess of games a few days before the holiday break certainly makes it feel like the holidays to us!



For those of you parsing the image and trying to figure out what the games are, let me save you some time: you're looking at Munchkin Legends Deluxe , +6 Bag o' Munchkin Legends , and Tile Chess .



– Brian Engard



Warehouse 23 News: Add Some Valor To Your Story!



Inspired by legends of gallant knights and their ladies, Once Upon A Time: Knightly Tales gives you 38 story cards and 17 ending cards to add to your game of Once Upon A Time .



Available from Warehouse 23 .

December 22, 2014: Munchkin Year In Review

It has been a very busy year for Munchkin ! Among the highlights:



We released Munchkin Legends into the hobby and shipped two expansions. Legends  is among our strongest sellers for the year.


The success of Munchkin Pathfinder led us to create Munchkin Pathfinder Deluxe , and both sets are doing very well!


We supported Munchkin Zombies with the Munchkin Board of Health , +6 Bag o' Munchkin Zombies , and of course Munchkin Zombies 4 - Spare Parts .


We also supported Munchkin Apocalypse with Munchkin Apocalypse 2 - Sheep Impact , Munchkin Apocalypse: Mars Attacks! , and the Munchkin Apocalypse Kill-O-Meter .


Munchkin Princesses was an instant hit and Munchkin Holidazed looks to be heading that way!


This fall, we released Munchkin Treasure Hunt through Toys"R"Us. So far, the reviews are good and the sales are strong!


For the first time, we partnered with other companies to release third-party Munchkin content. The biggest news was, of course, Munchkin Adventure Time . Munchkin Panic and Munchkin Loot Letter are also strong games. We're proud of all of these!
A lot of our big Munchkin news from this year was about things coming up next year – more about that another time!



– Andrew Hackard



Warehouse 23 News: Lifestyles Of The Noble And Magical



Ordo Nobilis surveys Mythic Europe's nobility, presenting a detailed picture of this privileged estate. It defines the nobility, their concerns, and their interests. It also provides a wealth of new rules options to support legal trials, a raft of new Virtues and Flaws, and a comprehensive look at the actual nobles of 1220 A.D.



Available in hard-copy or PDF from Warehouse 23 .

December 23, 2014: Of Jetpack Gorillas And Tragic Heroes

Most of you know me as a member of the Marketing team here at SJ Games. What you may not know is that I'm also a game designer. I've done a lot of work for companies like Evil Hat Productions and Rite Publishing, and I've self-published a game, too.







The vast majority of my work in game design is for Evil Hat Productions. I've worked on many, many games for them, but the thing that's occupying a lot of my freelance time currently is a game called Shadow of the Century . ShotC is a follow-up book to Evil Hat's pulp sensation, Spirit of the Century , the game that popularized Fate as a roleplaying system. Spirit of the Century was a game of two-fisted pulp action, biplane dogfights, mustache-twirling villains, and hyper-intelligent gorillas with jetpacks. ShotC moves the timeline forward from the pulp era into the '80s, and updates the style of action to reflect the decade. It's a game where time-traveling robots, techno-ninja clans, and heroic truck drivers all have a place. I'm acting as Creative Director on the game, and I'm having a lot of fun doing it. You're gonna love it.



It's possible you've also heard of the game I did for Rite Publishing a while back, The Demolished Ones . Also a Fate -based game, The Demolished Ones is a dark, creepy, Lovecraftian murder mystery influenced strongly by the movie Dark City . It's a complete system and adventure in one book, and it won an ENnie Award this year!



I also want to take a moment to mention the game I self-published this year, Becoming , a game about a single hero embarking on a difficult quest, and the way that quest changes her and breaks her down over the course of her journey. It's sometimes dark, sometimes funny, and frequently surprising. The game uses a custom roleplaying system wherein one person plays the Hero and three others play Fates. Fates, in Becoming , are a bit like GMs in other games, though the game is adversarial in nature. Also, it's on sale until the end of the year! Right now you can get the PDF for $4.99, the softcover and the PDF for $13.99, or the hardcover and the PDF for $19.99!



– Brian Engard



Warehouse 23 News: Need A Stylish Sci-Fi Shirt?



Look no further than the Ogre Battlesuit T-Shirt . It features a white-on-black design of a trio of battlesuited infantry poised for battle. 



Available exclusively from Warehouse 23 .

December 21, 2014: GURPS Year In Review

On the 10th birthday of GURPS Fourth Edition, the Ogre rolled off into the distance and the little plants and critters it had trampled sprang back to life. Oh, sometimes it was twisted, radioactive life, but we're all gamers here – we can handle that! Which is my way of saying that after a slow-ish 2013, GURPS picked up in 2014. In fact, we averaged one single-author supplement and one issue of Pyramid a month.



First, there was a ton of straight-up "core" material useful in just about any campaign. Newcomers to the game got How to Be a GURPS GM – the first-ever "how-to" guide published for GURPS by SJ Games. More seasoned hands received GMing advice in the form of GURPS Template Toolkit 1: Characters . And gamers of all experience levels benefited from the quick-and-easy rules for organizational intervention in GURPS Social Engineering: Pulling Rank and the handy collections of traits in GURPS Power-Ups 6: Quirks , GURPS Power-Ups 7: Wildcard Skills , and GURPS Power-Ups 8: Limitations .



Specific genres also enjoyed a lot of support. On the fantasy side, there was GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 16: Wilderness Adventures , GURPS Magic: Death Spells , and GURPS Magical Styles: Dungeon Magic . . . for those times when you need to get really organized, kill everything inside the dungeon and out, and take its stuff (or something like that). Higher-tech gamers got GURPS High-Tech: Adventure Guns to help them with their killin' – and to keep them honest, GURPS Horror: The Madness Dossier , whose horrors don't care how big your gun is. And truly high-tech gamers were treated to Transhuman Space: Wings of the Rising Sun (which, come to think of it, describes an organization that would work well with Pulling Rank ).



And as I said, Pyramid delivered. It delivered core rules concepts in the form of #3/65: Alternate GURPS III and #3/70: Fourth Edition Festival . It delivered fantasy in #3/66: The Laws of Magic , #3/68: Natural Magic , and #3/72: Alternate Dungeons . And it delivered support for settings ( #3/63: Infinite Worlds II and #3/74: Wild West ), character types ( #3/64: Pirates and Swashbucklers , #3/67: Tools of the Trade – Villains , and #3/73: Monster Hunters II ), abilities ( #3/69: Psionics II ), and vehicles ( #3/71: Spaceships II ).



So if you're sitting around during the holidays, gloating over cash tucked into cards by well-meaning family and friends, why not consider completing your collection in the new year?



– Sean Punch



Warehouse 23 News: Need A Gift For A Munchkin?



Grab a Munchkin Christmas Greeting card and make the holiday for that Munchkin in your life. It even has a special rule for Munchkin games!



Available exclusively from Warehouse 23 .

December 20, 2014: SJ Games At New Orleans Comic Con

We will be there!



More specifically, Stacy, Rhea, and Devin will be at the New Orleans Comic Con from Jan. 9 to Jan. 11, demoing all manner of games for the fine folks who stop by booth 207. You should totally be one of those fine folks!



– Brian Engard



Warehouse 23 News: Get Twice As Much Dungeon For Your Dollar!



Goodman Games – creators of the Dungeon Crawl Classics Roleplaying Game , the Age of Cthulhu line of supplements, and more – is having a sale! All their downloads are 50% OFF! But hurry – this amazing sale is only through December 31. Get it now, from Warehouse 23!

December 19, 2014: Reminder: SJ Games Closing Down For The Holidays

Just a reminder, we'll be closing down tomorrow, December 20, and reopening January 5, 2015. Today is our final shipping day for the year, so get your orders in by noon Central!



– Brian Engard



Warehouse 23 News: Riding With Cthulhu!



Pop the clutch and get ready for some Mythos motor sports madness with Cthulhu 500 . It puts you in the driver's seat for a ride from the depths of R'lyeh and doesn't stop until the checkered flag drops and the winner devours his opponents. Available from Warehouse 23 .

December 18, 2014: Holiday Game Day!

Every year, on the day before our winter break, we have a company game day: we take the day off from work and spend it playing games with our co-workers. Today is that day! We're going to hang out, play some games, and just generally enjoy each other's company on the day before we all scatter to the four winds.



And this year, you get to be a part of it! Sort of. We're going to be shooting video footage throughout the day, documenting the occasion, talking to staffers, and so forth. On New Year's Eve, we'll post the completed video on our YouTube channel! We're excited to share this with you.



– Brian Engard



Warehouse 23 News: Getting A Little Chilly, Hmmmm



We've got you covered with the Munchkin Sweatshirt . It will keep you warm and even comes with a special rule for Munchkin !



Available exclusively from Warehouse 23 !

December 16, 2014: Announcements For May

Check out what we've got coming in May* of 2015!

Mars Attacks: Ten-Minute Takedown



Destroy the earthling cities with your flying saucer!



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. It's easy to learn, and the evocative art is sure to grab attention.



MSRP: $9.95



– Brian Engard



[*We sent out some information to various news sites earlier this month stating the release date as April 2015; it's since been delayed.]



Warehouse 23 News: The Best Game On Yrth!



It's a realistic take on a fantastic world, in a setting like you've never seen before! is your complete guide to the low-tech magical land of Yrth, where strange storms pluck people from across the cosmos – including our own world! Get the hardcover or downloadable PDF now, from Warehouse 23.

December 17, 2014: Munchkin World Invitational Signups Are Open!

If you're planning to attend Munchkin World NYC (and why wouldn't you!?) and you wanted to try for a spot in the Munchkin Invitational, signups are now open and will run through the morning of January 12.

Good luck!



– Andrew Hackard



Warehouse 23 News: Adventure And Glory Await You!



Pieces of Eight is a rousing combat game of rival buccaneer ships on the high seas. You play with a stack of coins that represent your ship. The coins you chose and the order you play them determines your ship's strength, and you use the coin's special abilities to destroy your opponent's coins so you can get at his captain. Dare to enter the age of blood and gold with either The Cursed Blade or The Maiden's Vengeance ship set.