Steve Jackson's Blog, page 71

December 8, 2023: Teaching Kids Soft Skills With UnboxEd: Auction Ends December 10

Board games aren't just all about fun.  Over the years, many scientific studies have found that board games can improve all sorts of mental skills (like creativity and logic), have emotional benefits (like increasing patience and lowering anxiety), and social benefits (like improving sportsmanship and creating a sense of community). There is one Austin-based nonprofit called UnboxEd that aims to help kids in low-income settings close achievement gaps by playing games (all at no cost to the students).  One of their core offerings, Entrepre-Newbies, uses role-playing games to teach 3rd and 4th graders entrepreneurship, economics, and financial literacy – many things that I never learned until college. Right now they are running a charity drive and board game auction to help fund their program. You can check out more information about the auction that runs until December 10th here and about the program here.

– 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!

December 7, 2023: What Board Games Mean To Me

. . . is the title of a new book from Aconyte, an imprint of Asmodee. I have an essay in the collection, and I'm in very good company. Other contributors include John Kovalic, James Wallis, Holly Nielsen, Sir Ian Livingstone, Matt Forbeck, and a couple of dozen others! There's also an interview with Reiner Knizia. The designers were given a lot of latitude . . . basically, "here's the title of the book; now write something that fits." The results are definitely NOT cookie-cutter.

This is both a good read and yet another sign of the hobby's maturity. We're now looking back at ourselves and talking about WHY we do it, as well as just "what we did last year."

If you're lucky enough to still have a local bookstore, you know what to do! Otherwise, that company named after a river (Danube? Mississippi? It'll come to me) will deliver it to your door.

– 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!

December 6, 2023: Music Recommendation: Security Project

Here's a music recommendation I've used and enjoyed at the gaming table: Security Project. This is a band devoted to the music of Peter Gabriel and Gabriel-era Genesis. If that piques your interest, then you've probably already clicked the link (or might even own their tunes). If you haven't, then check out their Bandcamp page or YouTube and give them a listen.

I especially like them at the gaming table because they're interesting without being distracting, have that nice feeling of familiarity while still sounding different, and suit a variety of moods. Thus they don't overshadow the session but also aren't invisible to us as we play. (And, of course, I also like to listen to them in those rare moments we're not gaming . . .)

Oh, and if you get a chance to see them in concert, I recommend that; they put on quite a show at the one I attended.

– 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!

December 5, 2023: A Plug For St. Ick

Last year about this time, give or take, we released the first Foes collection of STL files. One of the monster types was "octopus." And a special model was good old St. Ick . . . that is, Santa Claus depicted as an octopus. It was just one of those things that you have to do, once you think of it. And for better or worse, we thought of it. And lo and behold, it was done. Ho ho ho.

St. Ick has a hat and a bag of goodies, and the $5 package includes two versions: one standing, one designed to be hung as an Xmas ornament. He meets or exceeds all your possible requirements for "octopus hanging from Christmas tree." If, that is, you have any such requirements.

So, if you have a 3D resin printer, please consider allowing our slimy saint to grace your holidays. There's still plenty of time to print him, paint him, and inflict him on your tree. Or that of a friend. If you have that kind of friends, and I hope you do.

– 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!

December 4, 2023: A Rag Man's Daring Idea: "I'd Dig Anagram Arenas"

Here's another RPG idea for GMs: anagrams. Take any interesting name the players would recognize (hero, villain, locale, etc.), and plug it into an anagram generator. Then see if the outcome is inspirational. Maybe a villain is hiding in plain sight, or a hero becomes ensnared in some lexiconic dilemma.

Perhaps, for example, the arcane Joudt relics the heroes have been accumulating actually contain the life force of long-lost and beloved monarch Lord Justice. Or maybe the twin magical Iron Cities the heroes are exploring are actually the stronghold of arch-enemy Cinisterio the Cursed.

The Internet Anagram Server is my go-to generator (I even have its shortcut plugged into my Alfred app!), but there are others online.

– 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!

December 3, 2023: Steve Jackson Games' 2024 Schedule Announcement!

If you weren't able to make it to PAX Unplugged this weekend, you missed a not-so-little presentation we gave to unveil our 2024 lineup! Fear not! We have the best bits right here for you to glue your eyeballs to, and throughout the year we will be writing Illuminators to highlight both the new games and the beloved reprints coming to your gaming table.

As the still new-ish CEO of Steve Jackson Games, it was important for me to kick off our new year with a roadmap of where the company is heading. As you can see, we have some really fun new titles in Groo: The Game and Tabloids . We continue to show our love and support for Car Wars , with an all-new 2-player set that makes it easier for new fans to drive into the arena, and will give long-time players some much-anticipated updates.

Munchkin , our flagship, will continue with some punny good expansions, and the all-new Munchkin Shadowrun . But I have to be honest with you: the one I'm most excited about is our collector's edition Munchkin Big Box! This set will have 50 all-new cards by John Kovalic, a treasure trove of exciting memorabilia, and a box big enough to hold your Munchkin collection! I can't wait to unveil more of the details in the months to come.

We also have a couple of semi-secret projects in the works. (Come on, you can't expect us to reveal everything!) One is so secret that if I say any more, I'll be [REDACTED]. And just wait for our all-new as-yet-to-be-titled RPG project!

All right, enough talk. I'm sure you want to see the list!

JANUARY
      Groo: The Game
      Munchkin Snakes
     The Fantasy Trip Hexagram #12 Kickstarter (Estimated release: March 2024)

FEBRUARY
      Tabloids
      The Fantasy Trip Bestiary
      Munchkin Shadowrun Kickstarter (Estimated release: July 2024)

MARCH
      Frag
      Ogre Miniatures Set 4
      CARnage 2 STL Kickstarter (Estimated release: May 2024)

APRIL
      Munchkin Pony Excess
      Munchkin Big Box Kickstarter (Estimated release: September 2024)

MAY
      Car Wars Orange/Purple
      Express
      Untitled Assorted One-Page RPG Set Kickstarter (Estimated release: August 2024)

JUNE
      Munchkin: The Floor is Larva
      Car Wars Expansion Pack 1 (titles TBD)
     The Fantasy Trip Hexagram #13 Kickstarter (Estimated release: August 2024)

JULY
      Car Wars Vehicle Guide
      Munchkin Age of Sigmar: Dire Domains
      Foes 3 Kickstarter (Estimated release: October 2024)

AUGUST
      Munchkin Golems
      Car Wars Expansion Pack 2 (titles TBD)
      Choose Cthulhu Books 7-10 Kickstarter (Estimated release: December 2024)

SEPTEMBER
      Hacker Deluxe

OCTOBER
      Munchkin Ghosts
      Car Wars Expansion Pack 3 (titles TBD)

NOVEMBER
      [Redacted]
      Squarescape Kickstarter (Estimated release: December 2024)DECEMBER
     The Fantasy Trip Hexagram #14 Kickstarter (Estimated release: February 2025)

We will also have tons of support for GURPS in 2024! We continue to bring the GURPS library to PDF, including:

      GURPS Dungeon Fantasy: The Devil's Workshop (January)
      GURPS Template Toolkit: Spirits (February)
      GURPS Infinite Worlds: Atlantropa (April)
      GURPS Meta-Tech (June)
      GURPS Fantasy Folk: The Reptilian Races (August)
      GURPS Monster Hunters Adventure: The Face of Fire (October)
      GURPS Loadouts: Starship Crew (December)

Of course, dates are always subject to change based on manufacturing and shipping issues – however, it's very exciting to have our 2024 planned out!

Now, with 2024 out into the wild, it's time to start working on 2025! We hope you enjoy these games as much as we enjoyed creating them!

– Meredith Placko

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!

December 2, 2023: The New Kickstarter: Best Thing Since ANY Bread

Our current big Kickstarter is a special one to me personally – not just the Foes 2 STLs but the Bestiary itself.

The Bestiary has been a project longer than I've been an SJ Games employee. It took a long time to get it exactly right. In addition to the people credited on the cover, a lot of people have contributed in some way to the project, myself included. Even more people edited and reviewed it for accuracy, both game and real-world. I personally can hardly wait to hold it in my hands after all the years it's been a PDF draft.

The Bestiary is a big book. It's bigger than In The Labyrinth, and exactly three times the size of Old School Monsters. There are several hundred creatures and variants listed. Each creature's listing, aside from TFT stats, describes the habitat where they are found, their behavior and tactics, and many other useful things such as how much meat is on a crabman (like our free sample STL) and how much you can sell it for. 

That makes it very useful for people who use rule systems other than TFT. I've known at least one GURPS player who used old TFT adventures by converting stats. But for whatever game you play, you can just slap a suitable set of stats on, say, a giant Pac-Man frog and have all the benefit of the description, such as the way they lurk in marshy areas and ambush passers-by. After all, the stat block is basically one line (TFT stats are simple) – the whole rest of the page tells you all about the creature and how to use it in a game. Whatever game you play, you can find a lot of useful content in the Bestiary .

In my opinion, this is the best supplement Steve Jackson Games has ever produced for TFT, and a seriously good supplement for other game systems as well. You will like it.

The other half of this Kickstarter is the Foes 2 STL miniatures. I'm the STL Project Coordinator, so of course this is a project I've coordinated. It's been a part of my life since it was a rough list of ideas for what should go into the next Foes .

These are some truly excellent figures. We went through so many revisions of those ghouls to make them properly awful (my favorite one is the second from the left, bottom row). I was blown away when the sculptor sent me the first of the giant rats – he got it exactly! They are just so mangy and infected looking, like they came out of a sewer, not a pet shop. Even the insides of the mouths of the snakes are anatomically accurate. And the dragon in particular has an interesting story to it.

We needed a 4-hex dragon for Foes 2 . Liz Danforth drew our original dragons for the game, and I really wanted an original of her work. So I personally commissioned Liz to draw me a dragon, which came out absolutely gorgeous, and then I sent scans of that art to the sculptor making the Foes 2 dragon. The result, painted by Ben Williams, is what you see in the Kickstarter. The original 2D art hangs on my wall.

These miniatures are the best that some very talented sculptors could make them. They work wonderfully with some of the creatures in the Bestiary, of course, and other TFT resources. But every game needs ghouls and slimes, gargoyles and wolves, and those scrofulous giant rats. Especially, they need that dragon! If you backed The Tremendous Tome of Epic Dungeons you saw the dragon in our section.

These are two really, really good projects, and I wholeheartedly recommend both of them, whether or not you play TFT.

– Jean McGuire, STL Project Coordinator

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!

December 1, 2023: Today's Random Thought: Talon Show

I have never had an RPG campaign that wasn't improved by the addition of pets for the PCs. These critters don't have to be magical, or special, or important. You give someone the opportunity to have a wisecracking parrot, a ferret in a trench-coat pouch, or a headquarters full of bunnies, and that player will be quite probably be happier.

– 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!

November 30, 2023: Then Is Tomorrow

Those who love futuristic settings or exploring alternate timelines, if you want to make your future feel that much more oddball but grounded, consider letting obsolete tech thrive.

What do I mean? Well, there's an oddity when watching any visual medium where future technology can generally only be represented by what exists now, especially for shots of tech that are meant to be used and aren't entirely props or special effects. The most immediate and obvious example of this is how many CRTs exist in the ultra-tech worlds of (say) Star Trek V or 1980s-era Doctor Who. And, of course, Murphy's Rules has examples of "future tech" that fails to reach the realms of a mid-2000s iMac.

So why not embrace that?

Yes, as it turns out, Magical Space Radiation means that CRTs are well-suited for space travel in a way that makes LCDs (etc.) impractical. Wow, it looks like Zip disks were beloved and collectible as a music format in this timeline. Gee, it seems that this setting required miniaturization of FTL-communication tech into stand-alone devices that left no way to include additional computational power, resulting in a universe where folks still routinely carry a dedicated "telephone" and a separate dedicated "PDA"-type device.

Let old tech bloom along with your imagination, while you tear off a dot-matrix printout and handwave-mutter something about "gravitational fluctuations making inkjets and laser printers unreliable."

And if this inspires something in your campaign, please let me know on the forums!

– 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!

November 29, 2023: Shiny Thing Evidencing Voluminous Energy

Not everyone has an astronomical phenomenon named after them. Heaven knows, I don't! But this is a good article anyway.

– 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!