Steve Jackson's Blog, page 75

October 30, 2023: Nine FREE Scenarios For Car Wars

Back in the original Kickstarter campaign for  Car Wars Sixth Edition , supporters unlocked nine free scenarios for use with the game. And this promise has now been fulfilled! In conjunction with the campaign for the  Car Wars Companion – on Kickstarter through tomorrow, October 31 – we've released three packs of three scenarios each – free on Warehouse 23.

Now on Warehouse 23: Car Wars Sixth Edition Scenario Pack 1, Scenario Pack 2, and Scenario Pack 3.

Observant autoduellists will inquire whether this means that any news about Cycles may be forthcoming . . . and to that I say, 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!

October 29, 2023: The "Einstein" Tile – Now A Puzzle/Toy/Thingie!

You probably read about the "einstein" (one stone) tile a few months ago. Mathematician David Smith discovered a single shape – complex but strangely appealing – that could be repeated indefinitely to tile a surface without ever falling into a pattern. This is way cool and, as far as I know, has no practical application at all. Yet. (Okay, maybe bathroom floors, but there are other solutions to that problem.)

But trust me, we all looked at it and said "Somebody is going to make a game out of this!"



Somebody did.

Atlas Games has launched a Kickstarter for InFUNity Tiles in two sizes. They are molded from recycled plastic (yay) and have a good feel in the hand. Right now the application is "freeform puzzle," but they are thinking about practical ways to use it to build a gameboard.

Anyway: Please check out this Kickstarter. Support it if you think it's cool (it is). But help spread the word! This is a math geek's dream toy, and it is not (yet) getting the Kickstarter love that it deserves. So I need for you to post links where math geeks hang out, so they can find out about it, and make the project succeed, and have fun and be happy. That's not a big ask, is it? Math geeks should be happy too. I have supported it, and I'll be happier if I get my einstein toys.

– Steve Jackson

PS - If you had NOT heard about the "aperiodic monotile" problem and its brilliant solution, you can catch up by reading this beautifully illustrated Scientific American article.

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!

October 28, 2023: 72 Hours To Graceland Out NOW!

The second entry in Three Ravens Publishing's high-octane Dead Man's Run series came out yesterday, and is now available wherever ebooks are sold! 72 Hours to Graceland is an exciting and deceptively heartfelt story about an unlikely duo with everything to lose. I'll let the back cover blurb speak for itself:

Bobby Hank is one of yesteryear's living legends, an autoduellist once known as the Pale Rider. These days he's scraping out a living in the Hampton Roads Dead Zone, chased by old age, regret, and a cannibal horde. If he slips up, his wife Kat stays dead, and he really will be a has-been. But opportunity is knocking . . . Gordon Cory, an old pal from his bygone days of glory, has Bobby in mind for one last ride – the Dead Man's Run, a nationwide road rally ending in the badlands of North Dakota.Enormous cash prize aside, winning would mean a spot for Kat in a Herolutions research program. To start, he'll have just three days to get to Memphis, Tennessee. Can the Pale Rider survive long enough to win big?

Get ready for a wild ride! And if you're enjoying the series, be sure to leave the team a review!

– 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!

October 27, 2023: Scurvy Buggers - Found Family RPG With Pirates!

Shed blood, shed tears, follow your flag and your heart wherever they lead in the Golden Age of Piracy . . .

Now on Kickstarter is the first published game by our Car Wars line editor, Irene Zielinski. It's Scurvy Buggers from 9th Level Games; it uses the Polymorph system, and if you like Our Flag Means Death, you want this!



(Steve thwacks self on head, gets out of Marketing Writer Voice.)

Seriously. This game is going to be fun. I had the privilege of reading the first draft, and it was awesome. (Yes, I like Our Flag Etcetera; need you ask?) This is NOT a game that I, personally, could have written, and I like it all the more for that. No beans are counted and very few numbers are crunched. This is about relationships (good and bad), about roleplaying and found family, and, yes, of course, about bloody murder in the Caribbean!

It's a troupe game. Someone else may be playing "your" character in the next session, and you'll get to enjoy their interpretation of your creation. Because it's a Polymorph game, there are four character classes, but they don't limit what you can do . . . they just showcase what you do best . Your "stats" have to do with your relationships with your fellow crew members. Some of them have your back. Some want to put a knife in your back. And some of them hardly know that you exist, personally, but they'll still interact with you to help their friends, spite their rivals, or, because they are pirates, just for the Hell of it.

You'll play as a Genteel, a Dauntless, a Stalwart, or a Menace. You'll test your Savvy, Swagger, Blood, and Guts to perform a piratical feat or protect a comrade-in-arms. Or, as Master of Chanties, you'll pose the night's problems and help the bold pyrates work through it and triumph, or at least retreat in good order, or at least survive in hiding on a desert isle. Whatever. Pirating, 'tis a rough trade.

And take a close look at the cover. There's more there than meets the eye.

– Steve Jackson

PS - As the creator of Evil Stevie's Pirate Game , it is my distinct pleasure to welcome Irene into the secret League of Pirate Game Designers. This club is so secret that we haven't gotten around to notifying the other members. but members they be and we thanks them for their services. Arrrr.

 

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!

October 26, 2023: Munchkin Scooby-Doo Available Now!

Munchkin Scooby-Doo hits stores today! That's right – now you can join Mystery Incorporated as they Kick Down The Door, fight the monster, grab the Treasure, and compete to reach Level 10. Each card features elements from the classic Scooby-Doo cartoon, including characters, monsters, and other fun references. Perfect for families and cartoon fans alike, this game is also a great way to keep rambunctious kids busy during a Halloween party or after trick-or-treating.

Scooby-Doo has become a cultural touchstone since its debut on CBS in 1969. What started as a Saturday morning cartoon show has since blossomed into a franchise featuring multiple TV shows and movies. And yet, some mysteries remain. What exactly are Scooby Snacks? What's up with the color scheme on the Mystery Machine? Is the gang from California . . . or Ohio? And if they are from Ohio, is there any truth to the rumor that Coolsville is located in the same place as a real life town that's home to an abandoned amusement park? (More on that later . . . ) While you may not be able to answer these questions while playing Munchkin Scooby-Doo , we can guarantee one thing – you will definitely have fun. Fetch your copy from Warehouse 23 today!

– Katie Duffy

 

PS from Steve. TOTALLY UNRELATED but cool. A Kickstarter for the "Board Butler" is about to end. It is a device for flattening gameboards in play. If it works it is awesome, and I have ordered a set for Game Night.

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!

October 25, 2023: STL Spotlight

There are two notable Kickstarter campaigns that started on Monday, 10/16. But one of them ends Friday, so read this fast!

One is the Throne of Shards by Matt of the Forge of Many Things. You'll see some of his work in an upcoming project from Steve Jackson Games; he's very good. His new Kickstarter consists of a pair of thrones and their noble occupants, with stretch goals that will expand to the full court. The concept of the twin thrones itself is interesting and well worth incorporating into a game, and the sculpts are just beautiful. The pair are definitely fey, though they could be treated as particularly beautiful humans or even deities as well, depending on your game.

As usual for Matt's projects, this is very affordable, ranging from £1 to £6, or US $2 to $8. He's also offering a limited number of physical prints for £25/$31, an option for people without 3D printers, although shipping from the UK may bite depending on where in the world you are. I would also highly recommend the mimics add-on, because I'm just in love with that fireplace mimic. Go to pet the kitty napping on the mantelpiece and the fireplace attacks, at which point you realize the cat was actually a lure like an anglerfish uses!

These are definitely more campaign rather than skirmish oriented. Or, of course, absolutely gorgeous display pieces.

This Kickstarter ends at 12:20 AM EST on Wednesday, November 15.

The other campaign is Iain Lovecraft's newest campaign, Rum & Razing . It's pirates; what more do I need to say? Perhaps more relevant, it's pirates sculpted by Iain Lovecraft, who's one of my very few "pledge first, look later" creators. The set includes some great pirates and some awesome terrain. Naturally the campaign includes a ship, a fort, multiple buildings, and of course, a lot of pirates.

The stretch goals are even more awesome, including a galleon in addition to the caravel that is part of the base set. Add-ons include sets from some of his former Kickstarters and some new sets for this one: the Cartagena fortifications are probably going to be mine (and waiting in the endless queue to print!).

Iain's sets are excellent for skirmish games like  TFT's Melee and Wizard , or any other fantasy (or historical, in this case!) skirmish games you play. The buildings have playable interiors, which adds to the tactical possibilities.

This Kickstarter ends at 4 pm EDT on Friday, October 27.

Now I have a tremendous desire to game out a raid on a pirate settlement with the octopi from Foes 1 .

– Jean McGuire

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!

October 24, 2023: Choose Cthulhu Books Now Available On Warehouse 23

For those who didn't partake of the hit Kickstarter and are bemoaning having missed the multi-pathed methods of madness, we have tentacular news: the Choose Cthulhu books are now available on Warehouse 23!

These books reimagine Lovecraft's original tales as choosable-path stories, with surprising secrets to expose and dangerous deviations to discover.

Watch in wide-eyed horror as the links below inescapably take you to the respective purchasing pages of these tomes of trepidation:

• The Call of Cthulhu
• At the Mountains of Madness
• The Shadow Over Innsmouth
•
• The Dunwich Horror
• The Dreams in the Witch House

Each volume is available as a perfectly perusable paperback, or as a handy hyperlinked PDF that makes it easy to tap-tap-tap your way to terror. Either or both versions can be yours – if you dare – thanks to Warehouse 23!

– 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!

October 23, 2023: Car Wars Companion Is Headed Toward The Finish Line

 The Car Wars Companion Kickstarter is off to a great start! We blew past our initial funding goal of $2,000 in under 10 minutes, and it currently (when I wrote this!) looks like we're headed north of $50,000. That's a whole lot of autoduelling! If you haven't pledged yet, you'll want to head over to the campaign before it closes on October 31. Car Wars Companion features over 100 pages of new content, including hazards, scenarios, rule sets, and much more! And if that's not enough to entice you, check out some of our reward tiers and add-ons – you'll find all kinds of exciting things there to further enhance your Car Wars experience.  Car Wars fans are an enthusiastic bunch, so we're counting on you to see how far Car Wars Companion can go. Make your pledge today, then share our Kickstarter with your friends. Also, share some of your Car Wars experiences with us – we love hearing about the fun people have with our titles!

 

– 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!

October 22, 2023: News You Can Use With Geek Public

Ryan Omega has been many things over the years – his past roles include director, producer, writer, and host – but his latest venture might be his most intriguing. Inspired by the panel discussions at various conventions, Ryan decided to launch a new project called Geek Public on YouTube. We caught up with Ryan to discuss how he got started, how he chooses which topics to discuss, and what he hopes to tackle next. Steve Jackson Games: What inspired you to create Geek Public? Did you see a particular need for this kind of show? Ryan Omega: In April, my friend Eric (who is now one of my producers) asked me on a whim what I wanted to do in the geekspace. Without thinking, I said, "I wanted to run Geek NPR." So we looked on the internet and saw there were channels and names associated with that idea, but we were stunned when no one took the combination of words "Geek" and "Public" on X/Twitter, Instagram, or a website. It's incredibly rare to find two common words with only 10 letters total that weren't taken. My brain went, "I have to do something with this, but not sure what." I attended and was a guest on several panels at conventions and realized there were incredible discussions and information at these panels. I wished more people could see them or were aware of them because they were so useful or inspiring. However, most conventions don't have the setup to record these panels since their concentration is making sure the attendees have the physical room to have the panel, and a regular convention room isn't an ideal filming or audio space. BUT if we could replicate those same panels with high-level audio and video equipment and put it on YouTube, and then caption all the videos to make those discussions accessible, then it has the best chance of reaching people on the internet who need it. SJG: Your show covers a broad range of topics – some episodes cover geeky topics (like old "Legend of Zelda" commercials), while others cover broader themes (like finding motivation despite fear of failure). How do you decide what you want to cover? Ryan: Because we're new to YouTube as a platform, we don't know what will resonate with a YouTube audience.  So instead of having a set list of topics that we want to cover, sometimes I will gather everyone I want in a group and then figure out a topic that we can all discuss. Because if it's interesting to us, it will be interesting to some group on the internet, even if it's not everyone's flavor of geek. Other times, a topic or idea is so inspiring that I'll gravitate toward certain people and assemble an episode that way. The only rule I have is that I wanted the discussions to be more evergreen or culturally significant rather than "it's only relevant right now." If I'm going to take 10 hours to edit an episode, the topic can't expire in 3 weeks. Some people might call that process chaotic. I call it organic. SJG: What do you hope viewers get out of your series? Ryan: I hope they get inspired to do things and learn the value of long-form discourse in the geekspace. Because we are on social media, many people stress the importance of getting that first impression within 7 seconds before you move on as we do on platforms like TikTok and X. But this means that we, as geeks and nerds, are forgetting an important tenet of our own identity: Critical Thinking. Geeks and nerds are supposed to be "good thinkers." We have forgotten that sometimes because we are used to valuing a quick reaction because there is a sense that a reaction is "more honest," but if we really want to affect change in our community, we have to embrace the longer discussion where we think things through. Also, geekdom takes several forms and looks like everyone. When I did my research for this YouTube channel, it was disheartening that all YouTube recommendation channels were full of the same type of people who did not look like me. (And no disrespect to them: they've put their time into their content and I've learned from how they did their videos how I would like to approach mine.) The ONE video that included a woman or person of color in that recommendation was affiliated with Critical Role.  I wanted some space that shows you did not need to look a certain way or be famous to have a valid viewpoint. SJG: What is one thing you haven't yet accomplished that you want to tackle in the near future? Ryan: Most people can take the larger names in the geek world and say that to have any of them on the show is a goal. For me, it's more interesting if I can get that larger name, put them in a discussion group with someone doing significant work in the geekspace who isn't as famous, and listen to them talk, sometimes about a topic that neither of them are known for. When we talk about "geeking out," we're talking about "being highly passionate about a thing." And I hope this channel inspires people to find that spark to go do the things they are passionate about.

– 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!

October 21, 2023: What's That You Say?

One hears some pretty odd things around the Steve Jackson Games offices. And technically on conference calls as well, as most of us are still working from home. It's best to just take these things in stride. For example, as we ramped up recently for a local convention, I overheard someone asking "How many crab men are at the office?" The response? "About 600 out in the trailer . . ."   And perhaps it's a good thing that "the warehouse is out of Curses "?

Just the other day there was a comment that I'm sure made sense to someone. Maybe. "If you get any good lizard shots, pass them along!" Um. Okay.

We have a very important call at noon every day. Officially it is the "Production" call. On my calendar, I just call it Group. (I know you know what I mean here.) We get to go to Group four times a week. I think it's helping . . .

But one of my all-time favorites was from a couple of years ago: When the late Andrew Hackard was writing one of our recent Munchkin core releases, he would end each call with, "If anyone needs me, I'll be making Babies !" Honestly, it never got old.

Making games is fun! 

– Susan Bueno

P.S. I wouldn't advise going into the trailer.

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!