Steve Jackson's Blog, page 408

September 26, 2014: Buy Munchkin Treasure Hunt, Get A Free Journal!

Are you planning on going out to Toys 'R' Us to buy our new game, Munchkin Treasure Hunt ? Save your receipt! It's worth a free Munchkin Treasure Hunt Journal to you, and we'll throw in some cool Munchkin promos as well. The details:



Buy Munchkin Treasure Hunt from a Toys 'R' Us store or toysrus.com.


Send us a copy of your itemized receipt by December 31, 2014. Address: PO Box 18957, Austin, TX 78760


Include a legal-sized (4.125" x 9.5") envelope with your address and $0.69 postage, so we can send it back to you! (U.S. addresses only, please.) Find more details on self-addressed stamped envelopes.


We'll send you a Munchkin Treasure Hunt Journal !


Limit one per customer.


While supplies last. We only have so many of these, so get them early! We'll let you know when we run out. (If you've already sent in your receipt, we'll still send you some promos, so no one is left empty-handed.)


This is only open to Munchkin fans in the United States. We're sorry, but international postage is just too expensive.
– Brian Engard



Warehouse 23 News: What Waits In The Shadows?



On the Island of Al Amarja night brings a sinister malevolence that preys on those caught in the Shadows.  Hideous acts and diabolical plots waiting to hatch in the dark, twisting alleys and dead-end streets of the Edge.  On the Edge: Shadows Booster POP contains 117 new cards to add to your On the Edge game.  Available from Warehouse 23 .

September 27, 2014: Take To The Stars . . . With A Pyramid?!

Space – the infinite frontier. Can't get there from here . . . unless you have a spaceship! This month's Pyramid is here to help, with Pyramid #3/71: Spaceships II . This jam-packed issue features David L. Pulver's timeline-expanding supplement for the GURPS Reign of Steel setting, looking at a future where the evil AIs have set their sights on a new domain. It includes several new GURPS Spaceships vessels that our robot overlords might use to strike against us – or perhaps could be captured by heroes to turn the tide. In space, no one can hear you calculate humanity's demise . . .



This installment also has an expansion of the ideas from GURPS Power-Ups 1: Imbuements , adding the idea to the realm of vehicles. Whether driving a low-tech wagon or an ultra-tech starship, your craft will dodge, speed, ram, or self-repair like never before! In addition, this month includes four sleeper ships that might unleash excitement and danger to unwary travelers, a look at the art of futuristic smuggling, a new way to give starting GURPS heroes their own spacecraft, and more.



Each month, Pyramid explores strange new realms of gaming greatness. Beam this creative cargo aboard individually, or subscribe today and get this issue along with new realms of amazing adventure every month!



– Steven Marsh



Warehouse 23 News: Spaceships, Spaceships, SPACESHIPS!!



The stars are waiting for you, with Pyramid #3/71: Spaceships II . This faster-than-light issue includes an expansion of the GURPS Reign of Steel setting from David L. Pulver, new vehicle-enhancing abilities, and much more! Download it individually, or subscribe today to ensure your gaming shipyard is stocked for months to come – only from Warehouse 23!

September 23, 2014: GURPS Fourth Turns 10 With . . . Matt Riggsby

I've often contended that GURPS Fourth Edition is giving us the finest GURPS material ever, and not just because I'm getting royalties. GURPS has long been my go-to system for ease and flexibility, but Fourth Edition is notable for an editorial direction which looks past the specific needs of any rule and into general cases.



That can make GURPS hard to write for, if you're someone who likes hacking rules. Half of the time when I consider making a new rule, I find it has already been written (usually in GURPS Action 2 ). For example, I didn't have to come up with architecture rules for GURPS Locations: The Tower of Octavius because the Basic Set already had guidelines for wall DR and HP (though I certainly did come up with builder-centric architecture rules for GURPS Low-Tech Companion 3: Daily Life and Economics ).



But extra care in development makes GURPS easy to use. The genius of GURPS City Stats was to present cities as a bundle of traits relevant to visitors and antagonists, meshing with existing rules like GURPS Mass Combat . This made it simple to incorporate stats into GURPS Hot Spots: Constantinople, 527-1204 A.D. in a few convenient boxes.



And somehow the cautious approach makes it possible to accommodate the grimly realistic and the gleefully over-the-top. GURPS Fourth Edition is a game which can feature both elaborate rules for preindustrial farming (in Low-Tech Companion 3 , made more detailed in "At Play In The Fields" in Pyramid #3/33 , and more detailed still in "Lord of the Manor" in Pyramid #3/52 ) and the Swiss Army polearms and mystical gazebos of GURPS Dungeon Fantasy 8: Treasure Tables . Fourth Edition's far-sighted approach keeps it my Swiss Army polearm of choice.



Warehouse 23 News: Science-Fiction Weapons, On The Table!



Fans of GURPS Ultra-Tech who wish those wonderful weapons could be found in one collection of ready-to-use tables – rejoice! GURPS Ultra-Tech: Weapon Tables contains just the weapon stats, in an easy-to-use format. Those who bought the Ultra-Tech PDF get it free (just redownload Ultra-Tech from your library), while everyone else can get it at a bargain price. The future is here, only from Warehouse 23!

September 24, 2014: Announcing Munchkin Treasure Hunt!

Munchkin is a great game, and we're really excited about how many people like it. We noticed a while back that there was an audience that didn't have a Munchkin game all their own, though: kids! So what did we do? We made a game for kids.



Munchkin Treasure Hunt isn't just another Munchkin core set; it's a whole new board game in which kids (or grown-ups; you know y'all love this stuff too) move their characters around a board fighting monsters and taking their treasure! Monster cards make the monsters tougher, and you can use your Treasure cards to defeat the monsters and get even more treasure. But you'll want to hang on to those Treasures; each one has a Gold value, and the player with the most Gold at the end of the game is the winner!



You can find Munchkin Treasure Hunt in Toys'R'Us stores right now . There are Toys'R'Us stores everywhere, so it shouldn't be hard for kids all over the country to get their hands on a copy, but if you don't live close enough to get there, you can order from toysrus.com , too. Go get your loot!



– Brian Engard



Warehouse 23 News: Munchkin Fu 2 Back In Stock



Quit monky-ing around, and grab your Hong Kong Prong and Tofu Tonfa! Defend yourself against mooks and monsters as you charge Warehouse 23 to pick up a copy of Munchkin Fu 2 – Monky Business . Back in stock today!

September 21, 2014: SJ Games At Nashville Comic Con

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



Play the upcoming Munchkin Panic with Kali and Rhea on Friday, 9/26 at 3pm! There is also a Zombie Dice tournament with awesome prizes, starting on Saturday, 9/27 at 3pm. Come by the booth anytime Friday or Saturday for a wristband, which guarantees you entry into the tournament! On Sunday, play Chupacabra with Kali starting at 1pm!



You're not in the Nashville 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: A Touch Of Madness, Thanks To Kenneth Hite



Are they monsters or incomprehensible deities? (Is "All of the Above" an option?) Learn the secrets of an invisible, invulnerable threat, thanks to Hideous Creatures: Lloigor and its scribe Kenneth Hite. Download it now from Warehouse 23 by itself, or get it as part of the Ken Writes About Stuff Annual Subscription !

September 22, 2014: Munchkin At Walmart

Our intrepid COO, Phil Reed, was at Walmart buying kitchen utensils and jars of mayo (okay, let's be honest; he was there buying toys) when he spotted this shiny gold box on the shelf!



Let's break this down for a second, because spotting Munchkin in Walmart is really cool for a couple of reasons. First, Walmart reaches a lot of people. Huge, dizzying numbers of people shop at Walmart, and now those people will be noticing that shiny gold box just like Phil did. This means that more people will buy Munchkin , which means more people will play Munchkin , which means that you'll have more people to play Munchkin with, and we'll be able to make more cool stuff for Munchkin , like Munchkin Love Shark Baby or Munchkin Steampunk .



Second, the more attention Munchkin gets in general, the more likely we are to be able to pursue really cool licensing deals that allow us to make things (or enable others to make things) like Munchkin Apocalypse: Judge Dredd or Munchkin Adventure Time .



Finally, Munchkin doing well means a stronger Steve Jackson Games overall, which allows us to make other cool games, too. Games like Mars Attacks: The Dice Game or Castellan would have been a lot harder for us to make without Munchkin being the amazing success that it is.



In short: Munchkin selling in more places means more Munchkin , better Munchkin , and more other games, too. Woo!



– Brian Engard



Warehouse 23 News: Go Rogue, With GURPS!



A classic has emerged from the shadows, ready to steal your heart! GURPS Classic: Rogues is now available as a downloadable PDF, with loads of ideas for all kinds of thieves. Get this loot today, only from Warehouse 23!

September 19, 2014: Avast, Ye Scalliwags And All That!

Today is the day we all celebrate by talkin' like a scurvey pirate, goin' on about walkin' o' planks and hoistin' o' petards and kickin' o' doors. 



I may be a wee bit confused about what this holiday actually is.



At any rate, we're having a sale! For all of today (Friday the 19th, from midnight to 11:59 p.m. CST), you can get 8% off of quite a few piratey titles on Warehouse 23 in our Pieces o' Eight Sale! Go check out the full list of games, and claim yer booty.



– Brian Engard



Warehouse 23 News: A Time Machine To 1975?!



Travel back to nearly 40 years ago, with JagdPanther Magazine #8 . This downloadable issue includes alternate rules, reviews, strategies, and more for classic wargames. Get it now and revisit then, from Warehouse 23!

September 20, 2014: Crowdfunding Focus: Girls On Games

Women are an important part of the game industry, but they're a part of the industry that has, historically, not had as loud a voice as that of men. Women face challenges that men don't, even though the stuff they do for gaming is just as awesome as the stuff that men do.



That's why, when we saw the Kickstarter for Girls on Games: A Look at the Fairer Side of the Industry , we got interested. Elisa Teague is putting together a book written by women in the industry, giving a voice to people who have had difficulty being heard in the past. Go back it; it's good for the industry!



– Brian Engard



Warehouse 23 News: No Headline Beats "Cathulhu"



What do you get when you combine Call of Cthulhu with feline investigators? Something awesome. Specifically, you get Cathulhu , a guide to an alternate setting where the only thing standing against the forces of darkness are cats. (Insert "How do you tell which side is which?" joke here.) The experience of your nine lives is just a download away, from Warehouse 23!

September 18, 2014: Munchkin Zombies: Armed And Dangerous Now At Books-A-Million And Hastings

Are you still playing  Munchkin Zombies  without any of the expansions? Wow, um . . . well, now's your chance to grab a special edition of Munchkin Zombies 2 ! The new Munchkin Zombies: Armed And Dangerous box set has the same  Munchkin Zombies 2 cards and comes with six zombie pawns so cute they will melt your brain . . . and then slurp it up. (Eeewww.) Available exclusively at Books-A-Million and


Throw in  Munchkin Zombies 3 , Munchkin Zombies 4 , the Munchkin Zombies Decay d6 , and the Munchkin Board of Health for an extra spectacular time of braaaaiiiiinnnnsssssss!!!



– Phil Reed



Warehouse 23 News: Big Mini Excitement



Fire up your printers and prepare for adventure! Warehouse 23 has new downloadable paper miniatures from Arion Games. Choose from the Ancient King Set , Pirate Crew Set , or Old School Fantasy Set . Whether you're taking to the sea or fighting in a dungeon, Warehouse 23 is sure to have something awesome!

September 17, 2014: Rory's Story Cubes, But Obscure

Rory's Story Cubes are spiffy little sets of nine dice meant to spark storytelling. Each die is different, and each die has different images on each face . . . roll the dice and try to weave all the elements into the story. There are three different sets, so you can use more dice for longer or more varied stories.



So: not many people know about this idea, and it's not for everyone, but what if you dropped the Hipster Dice into the story cube mix . . . ?



– Steve Jackson



Warehouse 23 News: Explore Strange Worlds, With Kenneth Hite!



When you're on an alien planet, you want the smart guy telling you what's what . . . and that goes double if the smart guy is Kenneth Hite! Xeno-Archaeology! gives you the tools you need to build intrepid galactic explorers. Download it by itself today from Warehouse 23, or get it as part of the arcane trove that is the Ken Writes About Stuff Annual Subscription !