Steve Jackson's Blog, page 407

October 6, 2014: Treasure Hunt Reviewed On Geek Dad

Another review for Munchkin Treasure Hunt is in! This time, Geek Dad John Booth has told us what he (and his nephews) think of the game, and they seem to really like it. Go read it if you're still on the fence about picking the game up!



– Brian Engard



Warehouse 23 News: The World Ends With... Sheep?



Bunker down and prepare to face the end of the world again. Arm your hardened survivors with Tool Belts and Ketchup Gas in Munchkin Apocalypse 2 – Sheep Impact . Stock up on supplies at Warehouse 23 and prepare for fun!

October 5, 2014: Why Study "Science" When You Can Study "SCIENCE!"?

Are you looking for a way to speed up GURPS and make it easier to keep the game moving? Or perhaps you like ultra-competent heroes who can do what they do with aplomb? Regardless of your motivation, GURPS has a tool that's been little explored . . . until now: wildcard skills. Delve into the possibilities and power of these wide-reaching skills with GURPS Power-Ups 7: Wildcard Skills .



In this supplement, GURPS Basic Set co-author Sean Punch examines all aspects of wildcard skills: defining them, looking at their potential and limitations, and what other benefits they provide those who possess them. Optional rules also greatly expand wildcard skills' utility to relax penalties, enhance critical successes, and much more!
Wildcard Skills also includes more than 65 "official" ready-to-use wildcard skills. Be a Talker!, Cleric!, Assassin!, or Inventor! Streamlined, cinematic gaming is easier than ever, thanks to exclamation points and GURPS Power-Ups 7: Wildcard Skills !



– Steven Marsh



Warehouse 23 News: The War For Reality Continues



If you're lucky, history repeats. If you're not, it just erases. Fight against the forces who want to tip reality to its horrific origins, with Kenneth Hite's GURPS Horror: The Madness Dossier . This complete setting has high-powered heroes pitted against forces the mind can barely comprehend. Sign up to fight for what's real – a download away, and only at Warehouse 23!

October 4, 2014: Get In The Game Faster, With Classic GURPS Templates!

Templates are a great way to get into GURPS quicker and easier than you thought possible. Pick a profession and a few some options, and then bash bad guys or skulk in an alleyway! Two more classic collections of templates are available now from Warehouse 23: GURPS Classic: Warriors and GURPS Classic: Rogues .



Each guide includes a range of possible roles from past, present, and future genres. Peruse the pages of Warriors and select from such concepts as mecha pilot, barbarian, sharpshooter, and aviator. Or casually sneak through Rogues and start a career as a spy, pirate, mobster, or even mad scientist! Each template offers four ready-to-use characters, plus background and insight into each role.



Although designed for GURPS Third Edition, each supplement is a perfect complement to GURPS Template Toolkit 1: Characters , the ultimate Fourth Edition guide to designing templates. Use the suggestions from that supplement to import the options from Warriors , Rogues , or GURPS Classic: Wizards . Adventure awaits; pick a role and go!



– Steven Marsh



Warehouse 23 News: Cowboy Up!



Strap on your pistols and cowboy boots. Munchkins are invading the Wild West! Kick open the saloon door and face the Jackalope and Davy Croc. Steal their stuff and ride off into the sunset with The Good, the Bad, and the Munchkin .

October 3, 2014: John Kovalic On Munchkin Treasure Hunt

Our good friend John Kovalic over at Dork Tower put a great post up on his blog last week about his experience working on Munchkin Treasure Hunt , and how it differed from other titles of ours that he's worked on. It's a fantastic read, and a good insight into what goes into making art for a game. You'll also get to see some art in its earlier stages, including an image we didn't wind up using!



Thanks for the blog post, John, and for the great art!



– Brian Engard



Warehouse 23 News: Munchkin Pride!



You are a true munchkin – a slayer of monsters and hoarder of treasure. Your motto: Keep Calm and Kill Monsters. Now this motto is emblazoned on a T-shirt for all the world to see. Get it today – only on Warehouse 23!

October 2, 2014: Making Of: The Foil Munchkin Box

Munchkin has always been one of our biggest games. It struck a chord with gamers who liked the idea of some zany, back-stabbing fun mixed with a general lampooning of fantasy RPG tropes. And why wouldn't it? It's a great mix of ideas and mechanics. Munchkin did really well in the hobby, quickly outselling our other games and becoming a force to be reckoned with in the industry.



When Munchkin started getting into stores like Target and Walmart, it was huge for us. It was the culmination of a lot of work and effort, and it was finally paying off. It's paying off for you, the fans, too, because Munchkin selling in these outlets means Munchkin in front of even more people. It means a wider group for you guys to play with, and it means we get the flexibility to make even more games – both Munchkin and other games – for you to enjoy!



But something occurred to us when Munchkin started going mainstream: what if potential new Munchkin fans saw the box and had no idea what was inside? Or, worse yet, what if they just completely overlooked the box because of all the other shiny stuff in the same aisle? We had to address that potential problem somehow.



The answer wasn't to redesign the game; Munchkin's a great game, and there's a good reason why it's popular. To take a different direction from that would be a huge mistake, so we focused on something we could change – the box – without being unfair to our existing fans.







The first problem was, "What if someone sees this box, picks it up, and has no idea what it is? What if they just put it down and don't take it home to try out?" We tackled this with a new approach to the back of the box. Instead of talking about the game with words, we used pictures, creating a comic panel-style approach that breaks down the action of the game into four simple steps, complete with big, pretty pictures of some of our cards so that potential players could see the punny names paired with the goofy art. We went through several iterations, but I think the final result does a good job of being both informative and entertaining, and it conveys what it needs to in a really quick and grabby manner.



Problem number two was that we needed to make the box stand out, lest it blend in with all the rest of the boxes on the shelf. So we thought, "Well, why don't we make it shiny? People like shiny stuff, right?" This, too, went through a few revisions; we had to get the shininess just right, after all.



And now it's out there! It's in a bunch of big stores, and if you go pick it up at Walmart right now, you'll even get an exclusive bookmark!



– Sam Mitschke



Warehouse 23 News: And So It Begins...



October is upon us, and it's the season of Halloween. Put on your costume, slay monsters with your Favorite Machete, and steal their candy! Just add Munchkin Tricky Treats to your deck to add some Halloween mayhem to your game. Available on Warehouse 23.

October 1, 2014: Treasure Hunt Reviewed On Father Geek

Munchkin Treasure Hunt has been out for a week now; if you're holding off on making the decision to buy because you're not sure what the game is like, Father Geek has you covered. He posted a comprehensive review of Treasure Hunt a little while back; it tells you everything you need to know about the game, and also gives a summary of opinions on the game from a variety of different people.



Go read it, and then head to Toys"R"Us to get your copy!



– Brian Engard



Warehouse 23 News: Mighty Munchkins Of Myth



Defend yourself against creatures of legend in Munchkin Legends ! Smite monsters like the Wicked Witch of the Midwest and the Boogie Man to steal their legendary treasures. If you need even more mythological fun, pick up Munchkin Legends 2 – Faun and Games . Available on Warehouse 23.

September 30, 2014: GURPS Fourth Turns 10 With . . . Bill Stoddard

My first book for Steve Jackson Games, GURPS Steampunk , was a genre book – a guide to running games in a fictional genre. GURPS Fourth Edition gave me the opportunity to write more genre books: new editions of GURPS Fantasy and GURPS Supers designed for the revised game mechanics. Writing them gave me a fuller understanding of the new system, and in particular of the mechanics in GURPS Powers .



In hindsight, it seems inevitable that I went on to add to those mechanics. GURPS Thaumatology: Urban Magics and GURPS Underground Adventures include chapters of rules in their explorations of possible game settings. GURPS Thaumatology: Chinese Elemental Powers goes a step further, as an entire book devoted to mechanics – a "worked example" of powers as magic, as discussed by Phil Masters in GURPS Thaumatology , but taking inspiration from Jason Levine's handling of special abilities in GURPS Psionic Powers . GURPS Social Engineering developed new mechanics on a wider scale, systematizing and expanding the Fourth Edition rules for social interaction of all kinds.



Beyond writing game books, GURPS Fourth Edition gave me a great toolkit for running my own campaigns! This started with Salle d'Armes, a mini-campaign that took GURPS Martial Arts out for a test flight – and also helped inspire Social Engineering , from my exploration of the social context for all that swashbuckling and dueling. I'm now on my eighth Fourth Edition campaign, an exercise in fantasy world-building heavily influenced by the Path and Book Magic rules in Thaumatology . Whether I'm exploring published GURPS settings or building my own, Fourth Edition's logic and realism have kept my players happy and coming back.



Warehouse 23 News: Ten-Sided Shinies



Elevate your Munchkin status by bringing a genuine Munchkin Level Die to the game. This die features a Munchkin head in place of the "10" on the die, so when you finally beat that last monster, everyone will know you are the Munchkin King! Available in six different colors on Warehouse 23.

September 29, 2014: SJ Games At Austin Comic Con

Visit our booth at Austin Comic Con next weekend and play games with us!



Play the upcoming Munchkin Panic with Max on Thursday, 10/2 at 6pm! There is also a Zombie Dice tournament with awesome prizes, starting on Friday, 10/3 at 4pm. Come by the booth anytime Thursday or Friday for a wristband, which guarantees you entry into the tournament! On Saturday, play Chupacabra with Randy starting at 1pm!



You're not in the Austin area? Watch our Conventions We're Attending page to find out where we'll be next. Maybe we're visiting a convention near you!



-- Kali Dugan



Warehouse 23 News: Munchkin + Zombies = Uh Oh.



Munchkin Zombies Pawns are looking for you! These brain-eating pawns in bright colors will help you mark your place during games. Plus, get special munchkiny bonuses while you're at it. Available on Warehouse 23.

September 28, 2014: Being A GURPS GM Is Easier Than Ever!

Have you ever wanted to run a GURPS game but were daunted at the prospect? So many wonderful options, exciting decisions, and worlds of possibilities – how do you start? Or maybe you've run a GURPS game for years, but feel you could use some additional wisdom or pointers? Whether novice or master, How to Be a GURPS GM has something for you!



This meaty guide covers everything you need to get a game up and running, from the moment you pick up the GURPS Basic Set to when your gaming group sits down at the table – and beyond! Discover tricks to prepare your setting, make characters that fit your adventure concept, choose the supplements that are most useful, create challenging encounters, and design exciting adventure.



This supplement also provides canonical insight from GURPS Line Editor Sean Punch on a multitude of topics: what to do when a hero's disadvantages clash, what skill and attribute levels your characters needs to be as proficient as they want to be, and much more. With GURPS Fourth Edition entering its second decade of greatness, it's never been easier and better to be a GURPS player or GM, thanks to How to Be a GURPS GM !



– Steven Marsh



Warehouse 23 News: Winter Is Coming...



You sit around the fire and boast of your hunting prowess with your fellow hunters, but who among you can follow through.  Will you find the inuksuk and glory or Nanuk the great bear and die trying?



Nanuk is available from Warehouse 23 .

September 25, 2014: I'm At ThinkGeek!

Today, I'll be visiting the ThinkGeek offices to tour the place and then play games with a bunch of the staff. I sure hope I get to meet Timmy!



ThinkGeek already carries Munchkin, and we expect to see more of the line appearing there over the next few months. Thanks to our awesome buyer, James, for bringing us on board!



– Andrew Hackard



Warehouse 23 News: Fangs, Claws, And Swords. Oh My.



Become a vampire and get the blood running by sinking your fangs into Munchkin Bites! Crash through a haunted house to kill other monsters and take their stuff. Even curse other undead Munchkin players while you're at it. Available on Warehouse 23.