Steve Jackson's Blog, page 430

February 8, 2014: The Great Cthulhu Cake

When I celebrated my birthday not long ago, Anne Schweizer asked what I what like to have as a present. I replied, "Something geeky is always welcome," and I added what everyone else at SJ Games most likely does: "But please note: I already have most of the mainstream geek stuff."



So she created the Great Cthulhu Cake, and she was so right. This cake is – or was – amazing. Although it looks like Cthulhu, it is also a cake, and a cake needs to be eaten. I decided to take the Great Cthulhu Cake to the Morpheus Convention, which is the traditional opening con of the new year's convention season in Germany, and sacrifice it there with the fellow gamers.



Here are some pictures of our blasphemous sacrifice ritual. Thanks again to Anne for this great and awesome present! And yes, Cthulhu tasted great, and had hazelnut flavor!







– Birger Kraemer



Warehouse 23 News: Finish Up That Wall!



Building castles in the olds days was a lot harder, but no more!



Castellan is a new castle building game where you cooperate with your fellow builders to construct a castle.



But beware, the King will only award one builder with his prize.



Can you complete enough courtyards to win?

February 7, 2014: Steve At OwlCon!

Gamers in the Houston, TX area rejoice! Our own Steve Jackson is going to be making an appearance at OwlCon, which takes place February 21-23 at Rice University in Houston. Come say hi, get an autograph, and tell people all about that time you met Steve Jackson! Also, check out the rest of Steve's appearances for the year.



– Brian Engard



Warehouse 23 News: Trouble Is In The Air . . .



Control a group of Lovecraftian protagonists in Cthulhu Gloom .



Guide them down a path of horror, madness and death.



Keep your opponents happy, healthy and alive until one group falls prey to the interdimensional doom that awaits us all.



Cthulhu Gloom is a stand alone game, but is also fully-compatible with Gloom and all its expansions!



Get these and other gloomy items HERE!
 

February 6, 2014: Warehouse 23 And e23 Are Going Down

Both Warehouse 23 and e23 are going down today (Thursday) so that we can put up the new version of Warehouse 23. Be patient, it'll be back up on the 10th! If all goes well, you'll have an even better store to shop!



Also, if you need something right now, check your local gaming store!



– Brian Engard



Warehouse 23 News: You Have Dice, You Need Somewhere To Put Them



Now there's a solution.  In pink.



The Munchkin Dice Bag (Pink with Purple ink) gives you all the benefits of the regular Munchkin Dice Bag (like a cool rule printed on the bag, convenient pyramid shape to fit in with your ancient Egypt dioramas, etc.), but now in a bubbly shade of pink.



Available ONLY at Warehouse 23!

February 5, 2014: Reminder: New Orleans Comic Con

Just a reminder: we'll be at New Orleans Comic Con this weekend, running and selling games! Hope to see you there!



– Brian Engard



Warehouse 23 News: Add Some Enchantment To Your Game



In Once Upon a Time , players tell a story together using cards that show fairytale elements and endings.



Now add enchantment and magic to your game with the Enchanting Tales expansion. Find a Unicorn, befriend a Dwarf, but watch out for the Ogre!



Available at Warehouse23 .

February 4, 2014: A New Store And A New Promo

On February 10th, we're going to launch a brand new version of Warehouse 23! The new Warehouse 23 is bigger, better, and more able to serve your needs, and we can't wait to show it to you!



Some things you should know about the new Warehouse 23:



e23 is rolling into Warehouse 23. That means there'll be one site where you can get both your physical games and your PDFs. No more remembering two URLs! (That said, if you do type in the e23 URL, it'll take you to the new Warehouse 23 automatically.)


If you have an account with e23, you'll have an account with the new version of Warehouse 23. Your information should all be the same.


You'll know it when you see it. The new version of Warehouse 23 is visually different from the current version, so there'll be no mistaking when it goes live.
All that said, it's the launch of a new Web store, and such things are hardly easy and rarely without complication. You may find bugs. You may run into problems along the way. If you have a problem that prevents you from buying what you want to buy, email us at orders@warehouse23.com and we'll help you out. If you run into any bug, submit it to our bug reporting site so we can fix it!



You should also know that, on February 6th at 5 p.m. Central, Warehouse 23 and e23 will be down so that we can get the new store up. It'll open back up on February 10th, with the brand new store.



Oh, and one more thing: to celebrate the launch of the new store, we're going to run a promotion on Warehouse 23 from February 10th to February 28th.



All purchases of $50 or more get one free Munchkin Fairy Dust booster. Note that these boosters are a little curled, but they are free!


In addition, all purchases of $75 or more also get a set of Munchkin Fairy Dust Dice .


In addition to that, all purchases of $100 or more also also get this pink dice bag.


As with our other freebies, shipping costs don't count toward these thresholds.


Also, we can't upgrade your box size just to include free swag. This means that orders that are purely or mostly electronic won't get free swag.
Enjoy your free pink sparkly stuff!



– Brian Engard



 



Warehouse 23 News: Walk Your Own Path!



Will you be a Pathfinder, Hellknight, Summoner, or Witch?



Munchkin Pathfinder brings the award-winning universe of the Pathfinder Roleplaying Game together with Munchkin !



Grab a Blackaxe, kill some Goblins and take their stuff.



Available from Warehouse23 .

February 2, 2014: D&D's 40th Anniversary

We're a little late in marking the occasion, but we can't possibly let the 40th anniversary of  Dungeons & Dragons go unmarked. Others have said plenty (here's an example), but here's what people at Steve Jackson Games have to say about it!



Alex Kosarek 



One of my most memorable moments was playing a cleric named Tom. Tom was near death (in the negative hp range), and on a saving throw I rolled a critical. It healed Tom almost to full. Then Tom turned around and healed everyone else in the party to full, with heals left over. Tom was never the strongest character. But what he lacked in power he made up for in healing... and luck. Somehow, even with only doing minimal damage, he always made the killing blow.



Brian Engard



It was my first roleplaying game, the thing that got me into the hobby. Without  D&D , I might never have started on the path I'm on now. I've had an on-again-off-again relationship with the game over the years, but it's the game, the one that started it all. I'll always love it.



Eric Dow



Lifelong friends and more, because of D&D .



I remember all night gatherings of my friends in Jr High.  We could never get enough of what D&D allowed us to be, rather than what we were expected to be. As the years went by, and our group matured, it turned into a sort of problem solving experience that only roleplaying could provide.  For most of us, it gave us a competitive advantage in the workplace, allowing us to think about things from different points of view that our peers, who had not played D&D , couldn't comprehend. Some of us went into sales, some management, some the film industry, but all of us correlate our successes back to the ability to see things though others' eyes.  Now a Psychology degree might have been more recognized and helped us land jobs, but most of us didn't have the time or inclination for more formal education, and what we really needed was just a boost on how to deal with people we had never thought of dealing with before.



We still try to meet up every spring. Head to a cabin in Big Bear, and spend a weekend dusting off the old characters.  It usually only takes us a few hours, and we are back in the groove, it's still that much a part of our lives, thirty years later.



Happy Birthday D&D !



Elizabeth Zakes



I've been playing D&D since 1977. The group I play with every Friday night has been playing together since 1983 (yes, over 30 years), and includes now-grown kids of current players. We're really excited to see what WotC has in store for the new version!







Miranda Horner



While growing up, I ran various editions of D&D for family members and friends, and I played the Gold Box games on the Apple IIc we had. The joy of that sort of fun helped me decide that I wanted to work at TSR, Inc. as an editor so that I could help make fun happen for others. After attaining my degree in English, I got my wish! I've worked on D&D for nearly 20 years now in some official (and career-oriented) capacity, first at TSR, then at Wizards of the Coast. What a ride this has been and continues to be!



Max Clontz



The best quote I can provide from my most recent one-shot: "Bad feeling?  Your bad feeling got that innocent little old lady killed!"



Loren Wiseman



Wow, D&D is 40. I graduated from college and founded a game company before it was published, and still played tons of it.



Devin Lewis



While home from college for the summer I would invite all of my friends over to my parents' house and we would take over the living room.  Baked goods, balors, and incessantly making fun of the bard.  Orcs that critically fail and lose toes, rangers standing on the ceiling, wizards failing their saves versus death, and monologuing villains interrupted by flame strikes.  Excellent times.







Lenny Balsera



It's pretty hard to overstate the impact of D&D on my life. It birthed the RPG hobby. That hobby is the reason I've met and kept a lot of friends and loved ones, and it's also the nexus of my professional life. I owe it a tremendous debt of gratitude.



Brandon McClelland



At age 8, I somehow managed to convince my then-stepfather to let me play D&D with his university group. They took great joy in tormenting the elf I created. The most notable torment was him walking into a dwarven tavern, picking a fight, and getting his ears cut off. Ah memories!



Andrew Hackard



I started playing D&D early in 1981, and have played in every edition from Basic/Expert through the much-maligned 4E. Many of those games still rank among my very favorite roleplaying experiences . . . and some of the events from those sessions have ended up as Munchkin cards -- good luck guessing which! Congratulations to everyone who has ever rolled a 20-sided die on D&D 's 40th anniversary, and thanks to Gary and Dave. We miss you guys.



– Brian Engard



 



 



Warehouse 23 News: They're Cute Little Girls. And They Like To Beat People Up.



Button Men is a quick-playing dice game in which players take turns capturing each others' dice.



But it's not as easy as you might think. In this elegant fight system, small dice mean speed, and large dice mean strength.



The Lunch Money buttons, designed by James Ernest, are fully compatible with the original Button Men set, as well as with other sets published by Cheapass Games and future licensees.



Each package comes with one rulebook and two pin-back buttons. Players must supply their own dice.

February 3, 2014: Uncle Albert Wants Your Money!

Uncle Albert: a name that for years cunning car warriors and aspiring autoduellists have entrusted with their lives. He's back, with a newly released classic digital reprint of a future-retro catalog. (Is that enough temporal confusion for you?) Munchkin Cthulhu Kill-O-Meter .



It's fiendishly simple!

February 1, 2014: In Soviet Russia, Castle Builds You

At the Ogre Launch Party back in October, enterprising fan Natalya Labbe had a conversation with Phil about how much she liked Castellan , and about the possibility of translating it into Russian. The conversation went well, and Natalya proceeded to do just that. Well, fast forward three months, and now you can see that Natalya's Russian Castellan rules are up and ready for consumption! She did a great job, and we're glad to be able to provide rules for our friends in Russia so that they can play the game too. Thanks, Natalya!



– Brian Engard



Warehouse 23 News: Diiiiiiiiiice . . .



Feed your inner Zombie with our Munchkin Zombies Decay d6 !



They're pretty. Like brains.



Also includes four exclusive new cards for Munchkin Zombies !

January 30, 2014: Munchkin Journal Packs: The Skinny

You may have noticed that, although we announced the  Munchkin Journal Pack 1 earlier in the month, we didn't announce the  Munchkin Journal Pack 2 .   This isn't a mistake or an oversight on our part; the  Munchkin Journal Pack 2 is a bit of a special case. Allow me to explain.



The Munchkin Journal Pack 1 will be available through normal channels. You'll be able to buy it from the same places you buy your copies of  Munchkin , provided those retailers stock the  Journal Pack 1 .   The  Journal Pack 2 is going to be a little harder to come by. See, it's an exclusive reward for GAMA retailers. At the GAMA Trade Show this March, we're going to give six copies of the  Munchkin Journal Pack 2 to every store attending the show. Further, any stores that are GAMA members by March 1st, 2014, but are not attending the show, will get one copy of the  Munchkin Journal Pack 2 .



What does this mean for you, the fan? Well, if your FLGS is a GAMA retailer, you should be able to go in and pick up a copy of the  Journal Pack 2 while supplies last! The best way to find out if your FLGS is a GAMA retailer is to ask them. 



Happy gaming!



– Brian Engard



Warehouse 23 News: Will You Brave The Haunted Woods Of Malthorin?



A mad Elvish Prince has cursed the forest and turned it into a horrific haunted nightmare.



You must make it to the tower, but first you have to get past the Banshee and her horrible wail.



Or will you cross paths with a Grey Spider or a Dark Elf?



Haunted Woods of Malthorin features 55 new Dungeoneer cards, including wilderness terrain maps, special weather cards, and three new heroes for your Dungeoneer game: Elf Archer, Human Druid, and Centaur Ranger.

January 31, 2014: Celebrate Chinese New Year With GURPS!

Today is the start of a new year in the Chinese lunar calendar, and the start of 15 days of celebration in Chinese communities worldwide. If you're looking to add the spirit of these festivities to your GURPS gaming table (and why wouldn't you?), we have a few modest suggestions:



• GURPS Martial Arts describes 10 Chinese styles, from the meditative T'ai Chi Chuan to the pragmatic modern Wushu. Detailed game mechanics let you play out all the tactical nuances of armed or unarmed combat. For a wilder campaign, use cinematic skills and techniques to emulate the special effects of martial arts films and the legendary feats of ancient xia (Chinese heroic adventurers).



• GURPS Thaumatology: Chinese Elemental Powers adds the arcane powers attributed to advanced martial artists or legendary wu (Chinese sorcerers). Inspired by the Taoist cycle of five natural elements, this system of "magic as powers" offers a variety of ways to attack, defend, influence the natural world or the human body, or neutralize other elemental powers. Elemental abilities can augment cinematic martial arts skills – or the peaceful cinematic arts of Alchemy, Esoteric Medicine, Fortune-Telling, and others. A customized version of the rules from GURPS Powers shows exactly how to apply the powers of wood and water in game play.



• And finally, GURPS Classic: China offers an overview of a lot of what makes the Empire of the Dragon so awesome for gaming.



For a campaign set in ancient, historical, or present-day China, or for Chinese magic in any setting, you provide the imagination; GURPS provides the rules!



– Steven Marsh



Warehouse 23 News: Purple Is Perfect . . .



. . .for cultists and for Cthulhu!



Serve the Elder God and roll the Cthulhu Dice with Purple Die and White Ink to drive your rivals mad.



This color is a Warehouse 23 exclusive!