Steve Jackson's Blog, page 60

March 27, 2024: True Tales Of The Illuminati

True Tales of the Illuminati  is a full-cast audio drama podcast about conspiracies gone wrong, currently in the final week of a crowdfunding campaign to produce a third season. The show follows a team of hapless Illuminati goons, bouncing through history, snatching defeat from the jaws of other, weirder defeat.  Discerning readers of the Daily Illuminator may well pick up on a hidden influence . . . one that the team was all too happy to confirm when reached for comment by the Secret Masters.

"I grew up playing Illuminati: New World Order with my gaming group. We found it in middle school and played it all the way through college. Something about playing INWO as a weird teenager with my friends and laughing about the intricate, nonsensical power structures that emerged where the Girl Scouts controlled the Trilateral Commission, which controlled breakfast cereals, which controlled NASA . . . it had a huge influence on me. "Whenever we explain the current 'big scheme' of the Illuminati, I recall that organizing logic. They're just grabbing up resources like kids getting first crack at a pinata so they can vacuum up as much power as they can before people catch on. They'll figure out how to fit it all in their stomach (the stomach is their organization) later. "That's why, in Season 2, the moon landing is a ploy to create a logo for MTV, which is being made to sell more soda, which is a ploy to sell more denim per unit, and eventually it all ties back into timeshares and crossfit. In Season 3, they're going to go up against a rival Illuminati organization, just like you do in INWO. I'm really excited to have our band of knuckleheads deal with the "real" "historical" Bavarian Illuminati . . . which we've taken, let's say . . . extensive creative liberties with."– Max Kreisky, Showrunner

In their first season, Deputy Head Underboss Beck and her crew failed to keep the pyramids a secret. In the second, they failed to fake the moon landing so hard that they actually had to land on the moon. In the third, the Illuminauts will be going up against their toughest foe yet – The Enlightenment. Supporting the campaign can get you early episode access, stickers, a zine full of cut jokes, or immortalized in the conspiracy with a producer credit (phony or sincere). There's even a reward tier to have one of the showrunners run you a TTRPG one-shot! Their funding goal is flexible, so they'll be producing as many episodes as they raise the money for, but they're  so close  to meeting their goal right now. If you want to help them get there, go support True Tales of the Illuminati on Indiegogo. The Illuminati wills it.

 Illuminati, Ollominoto! Fnord!

– Irene Zielinski 

Warehouse 23 News: The City Never Sleeps Because Of All The Action

There are a million stories in the city, and they're all exciting! GURPS Action 9: The City shows how you can add GURPS City Stats to your GURPS Action campaigns. It also features six sample cities to use with your own action-packed adventures. Download it today from Warehouse 23!

March 26, 2024: Go Hard Or Go Home!

That's the title of the new Car Warriors anthology from Three Ravens Press. It drops April 19, but you can pre-order it now. I have already read it (gloat) – and this is something that all Car Wars fans will enjoy. (And non- Car Wars fans too, if they find it. And they might. Game lit is a growing genre!) These stories are well-written . . . and exciting . . . and stuff goes fast and blows up.

Here is the Amazon link. Uncle Albert says to click it. Nothing can go wrong!

– Steve Jackson

Warehouse 23 News: The City Never Sleeps Because Of All The Action

There are a million stories in the city, and they're all exciting! GURPS Action 9: The City shows how you can add GURPS City Stats to your GURPS Action campaigns. It also features six sample cities to use with your own action-packed adventures. Download it today from Warehouse 23!

March 25, 2024: On Demand – Internationally!

We recently announced the expansion of our On Demand offerings with two new additions. Well, three . . . err, nine. It's complicated; go check out the past Daily Illuminator posts about the and .

This program – which uses Amazon's print-on-demand technology to keep our library available as physical books – has been remarkably popular. However, it came to my attention that a couple of would-be fans looking to expand their print libraries were having problems because Amazon was telling them that the books were "out of stock."

This turned out to be an easy-to-solve issue: Simply make sure you're ordering from your country's Amazon store! Our links default to the United States, and that's where we link (say) GURPS Tactical Shooting . But if you want to buy it from, for example, Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom, Australia, or Japan, simply make sure you either search for it on your country's version of Amazon or change the URL of the link so it points to the right store.

Nothing can stop the global reach of GURPS ! Oh, except a bad URL or wrong Amazon storefront search; that'll do it . . . but that's what posts like this one are for.

– Steven Marsh

Warehouse 23 News: The City Never Sleeps Because Of All The Action

There are a million stories in the city, and they're all exciting! GURPS Action 9: The City shows how you can add GURPS City Stats to your GURPS Action campaigns. It also features six sample cities to use with your own action-packed adventures. Download it today from Warehouse 23!

March 24, 2024: Maker In Glass

A hobby almost completely unconnected to gaming: I love studio glass, and have a small collection. Because it's beautiful.

My most engaging piece is named BRUTUS, which stands for "By Recognizing Universal Truths Unconsciousness Subsides." It's also a reference to the "brutalist" style of architecture. BRUTUS is a marble run . . . made of glass! This is art that does things!

BRUTUS was created by Bandhu Durham, who literally wrote the book on the "lampworking" style of glass art. He's putting Contemporary Lampworking into a two-volume fourth edition, supported by an Indiegogo. If you are a Maker in glass, or want to be . . . have a look.

Here are links to three different BRUTUS videos:

Start with this 20-second clip, shot after it was installed at my house.

If you like it, here's a longer one.

If you really like it, here's the 25-minute documentary about the making and testing of BRUTUS.

– Steve Jackson

Warehouse 23 News: The City Never Sleeps Because Of All The Action

There are a million stories in the city, and they're all exciting! GURPS Action 9: The City shows how you can add GURPS City Stats to your GURPS Action campaigns. It also features six sample cities to use with your own action-packed adventures. Download it today from Warehouse 23!

March 23, 2024: Now Available On Demand: GURPS Tactical Shooting

For those who missed the GURPS Print-On-Demand Extravaganza from last year, we're proud to announce that one of the volumes from that initiative has joined the On Demand library. GURPS Tactical Shooting now can be purchased as a physical volume for your GURPS collection.

This supplement – from gunplay guru Hans-Christian Vortisch – adds extreme realism and intense firearm considerations to your gaming table, with new rules, details, options, and historical insight.

If you're looking to get  Tactical Shooting a friend on your gaming shelf, we humbly suggest GURPS Tactical Shooting: Extreme Conditions . This supplement adds possibilities covering just about every inclement complication that plagues adventurers: rain, snow, sand, heat, vacuums, and more.

Get the GURPS gaming goodness you love, in print as you want it . . . on demand!

– Steven Marsh

Warehouse 23 News: The City Never Sleeps Because Of All The Action

There are a million stories in the city, and they're all exciting! GURPS Action 9: The City shows how you can add GURPS City Stats to your GURPS Action campaigns. It also features six sample cities to use with your own action-packed adventures. Download it today from Warehouse 23!

March 22, 2024: Vernor Vinge

One of my favorite science fiction authors, Vernor Vinge, has passed away. His work is not easy to sum up. Some of his stories were set in a tightly envisioned tomorrow . . . his novella True Names showed us cyberspace many years before reality caught up. Other tales, including the multiple-award-winning novel A Fire Upon the Deep, depicted a very distant future, yet one in which traces of our own lives could still be found.

As usual, File 770 has published a detailed and sensitive obituary for those who would like to know more about Vinge, or just to say goodbye to a writer who gave us so many futures. His books remain, and if you have not yet discovered Vernor Vinge, it's not too late.

– Steve Jackson

Warehouse 23 News: The City Never Sleeps Because Of All The Action

There are a million stories in the city, and they're all exciting! GURPS Action 9: The City shows how you can add GURPS City Stats to your GURPS Action campaigns. It also features six sample cities to use with your own action-packed adventures. Download it today from Warehouse 23!

March 21, 2024: No One Expects The Second Imposition!

Back in February, I wrote about the software I use to impose PDFs – that is, turn the PDF pages into properly formatted booklet pages suitable to make a bound volume.

Adam Wells wrote to me to point out a cost-effective option that might be at your fingertips. And by "cost-effective," I mean "free." Adam reports that Mac users may be able to do so directly from macOS. To quote the relevant section of the macOS User Guide:

If your printer can print two-sided pages, you may see an option called "Print as Booklet." This option uses a two-up page layout with saddle-stitched signatures that can be stapled through the center to create booklets.

Ta-daaaa!

Now, sadly, I can't confirm this option myself, because the feature seems limited to Ventura and Sonoma, and my version of macOS predates it. And, honestly, I don't really need it, because I already have the software I mentioned last time. Still, it's worth a shot if you're already on a Mac. Thanks again for the tip, Adam!

– Steven Marsh

Warehouse 23 News: The City Never Sleeps Because Of All The Action

There are a million stories in the city, and they're all exciting! GURPS Action 9: The City shows how you can add GURPS City Stats to your GURPS Action campaigns. It also features six sample cities to use with your own action-packed adventures. Download it today from Warehouse 23!

March 20, 2024: James M. Ward, 1951-2024

Jim Ward, designer of the groundbreaking Metamorphosis Alpha , passed away yesterday at the age of 72. His career included many works for TSR and several independent publishers, including Fast Forward Entertainment, Margaret Weis Productions, and Troll Lord Games. Jim was an Original Gangsta in the fledgling roleplaying hobby. His career began at Gary Gygax's table in development games of Greyhawk . He would later collaborate with Rob Kuntz on Gods, Demi-Gods & Heroes, the supplement that introduced gods to the Dungeons & Dragons universe. His 1976 Metamorphosis Alpha , in which players fight for survival on a damaged generation ship, was the fourth RPG published by TSR. He continued to work with the company for 20 years, reaching VP status, before going indie in 1996. He was also known for his work with collectible card games, including the Spellfire , Dragon Ball Z , Tomb Raider , Wheel of Time , and Babylon 5 CCGs. In his copious free time, he was a novelist; he also created book-length programmed adventures. He was well-read and thoughtful and had the hobby's interests at heart. He will be missed.

– Katie Duffy and Steve Jackson

Warehouse 23 News: The City Never Sleeps Because Of All The Action

There are a million stories in the city, and they're all exciting! GURPS Action 9: The City shows how you can add GURPS City Stats to your GURPS Action campaigns. It also features six sample cities to use with your own action-packed adventures. Download it today from Warehouse 23!

March 19, 2024: Experiencing Arrakis With Spice Flavored Drinks

Frank Herbert's Dune has been a mainstay of science fiction since it was first published in 1965. There have been numerous interpretations of the original novel for both the small and big screens, including the most recent films by Canadian director Denis Villenueve. I'm a fan of both Villeneuve's version and the David Lynch film from 1984, but there's one version of the Dune saga that I have yet to fully experience. You see, the YouTube channel How To Drink has an episode that centers on a very niche aspect of Dune – namely, the flavor of the all-important spice Melange.  Greg, the host of the series, creates hilarious videos focusing on alcoholic and non-alcoholic drink recipes from both the past and the present. However, some of his best segments focus on beverages of a more fantastical nature. To that end, he has made several episodes in which he tries to make drinks based on descriptions drawn from Dungeons & Dragons , Baldur's Gate 3 , Cyberpunk 2077 , Skyrim , and other games. But my hands-down favorite episode is the one where he shows his love for Dune, right down to recreating the entire monologue from the beginning of the David Lynch film.  According to Greg, Melange is described as having a flavor that is similar to cinnamon, but with hints of both bitter and citrus notes. Using a combination of cinnamon, gentian root, wormwood, and orange blossom water, he creates a simple "Spice Syrup" that he uses as a flavoring agent in two original recipes – Spice Beer (similar to root beer) and Spice Coffee (an alcoholic dessert drink). They both sound incredible, and not just because I'm a sucker for fantasy recipes. The combination of flavors would lend itself well to a host of beverages and desserts – I can already imagine both Spice Hot Chocolate and some sort of Spice Sponge Cake. I look forward to trying out these recipes and enjoying them with family and friends, perhaps as we gaze at the stars and contemplate stories of other worlds and far-flung futures.

– Katie Duffy

Warehouse 23 News: The City Never Sleeps Because Of All The Action

There are a million stories in the city, and they're all exciting! GURPS Action 9: The City shows how you can add GURPS City Stats to your GURPS Action campaigns. It also features six sample cities to use with your own action-packed adventures. Download it today from Warehouse 23!

March 18, 2024: UK Games Expo Expecting Record Attendance

It would seem that Gen Con is not the only tabletop convention expecting a boost in attendees. Board Game Wire reports that UK Games Expo is expanding its capacity for this year's show, which will feature over 600 exhibitors and co-exhibitors. Attendance is projected to exceed last year's unique visitor count of 32,000, and co-organizer Richard Denning says that the show may need to seek out a larger venue in the near future.  So where does UK Games Expo go from here? It sounds like the show is hoping to feature events and experiences beyond game demos. There don't appear to be any specific plans in place at the moment, though Gen Con-style events like True Dungeon are mentioned as possibilities. The goal is to offer experiences that can't be recreated at home or in small venues like local game stores. Of course, all of this will depend on what happens at this year's UK Games Expo. It sounds like organizers are doing their best to balance the needs of attendees with those of exhibitors to ensure that all parties get what they want out of the event. We'll know more soon enough – UK Games Expo runs from May 31 to June 2, and our own Steve Jackson will be there. 

– Katie Duffy

Warehouse 23 News: The City Never Sleeps Because Of All The Action

There are a million stories in the city, and they're all exciting! GURPS Action 9: The City shows how you can add GURPS City Stats to your GURPS Action campaigns. It also features six sample cities to use with your own action-packed adventures. Download it today from Warehouse 23!