Steve Jackson's Blog, page 76

October 20, 2023: Gamehole Con Report

Only one day in and we're already having a great time!

I'm at Gamehole Con in Madison, along with Amy and Irene. We are running demos and having a fantastic time. If you ever imagine that working for a game publisher is the same as getting paid to play all the time, you're so wrong. Except when you are doing demos at game cons. Then that's exactly what it is.

This afternoon I demoed Darwin Bromley's Express . The players went into the session thinking it was going to be a nice friendly little color-matching train game. They learned differently, as the train wrecks and backstabbing piled up! After it was done, I got my very favorite post-demo question: "When will this be out?" And this evening I ran a new TFT scenario for a great group of players. Four out of the five even survived!

The con runs through Sunday and I'm looking forward to every minute of it.

– 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!

October 19, 2023: Convention Fashion Suggestion

As I've noted in the past, I dabble in many areas of geekery: tabletop games, video games, LEGO, Doctor Who, theater, etc. As a result, I also go to a nontrivial number of cons as my mood is stricken. Decades ago, I stumbled on a convention "fashion" idea that's worked for me, which may inspire you also.

I prefer, like many, to wear T shirts when I'm at a con (or, to be honest, when I'm living 98% of my daily life). But when I'm attend a convention, I try to wear a shirt that is not related to the convention that I'm at.

My logic is this: If I'm at (say) a Doctor Who convention, and I'm wearing a Doctor Who shirt, it's a conversational cul-de-sac: "Oh, I can tell by your shirt that you like Doctor Who. Me, too." There's nowhere for that to go, because it's self-evident by the convention you paid money to attend.

But if I'm at a Doctor Who convention and I'm wearing a Munchkin shirt? Well, suddenly I'll have folks go, " Munchkin ?! Oh, wow! I love that game!" And then we strike up a conversation: what's your favorite set, some epic moment that springs to their mind, etc.

No, not everyone at every convention will get my unrelated shirt, but that's okay! It feels more special to discover fellow fans of Men Without Hats, escape rooms, Doctor Who, etc. in totally unexpected places.

– 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 18, 2023: Late Pledges Now Open For Tabloids

If you missed our Tabloids Kickstarter, don't worry! You still have time to get your own copy of this hilarious headline-building game. Late pledges are now open and include three separate pledge tiers:$19 for Tabloids $49 for Tabloids and Conspiracy Theory $59 for Tabloids, Illuminati, and the Smiley Pyramid d6 Dice Se t Tabloids lets you and your friends create weird and wild headlines that are sure to give those supermarket papers a run for their money. Late pledges will be open until October 23, so don't delay. Make your pledge now!

– 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 17, 2023: Explore Paths Less Traveled With The Noctivagant Podcast

True crime podcasts are as popular as ever, but I've never had much interest in learning about ghastly murders or other illegal acts. But when it comes to supernatural weirdness, I just can't seem to get enough. Tales of alien abduction, haunted homes, and mysterious phenomena have intrigued me since I was a kid, but it wasn't until COVID struck that I found myself craving stories about the otherworldly once again. (Odd, I know.)

One of my personal favorites is Noctivagant, a paranormal book club that hosts cozy conversations about books like John Keel's The Mothman Prophecies, Jacques Vallée's Passport to Magonia, Mitch Horowitz's Occult America, and many more.

Hosted by Nick, Rory Wix, and Jay Wix, each episode of Noctivagant focuses on a specific book and the topics featured therein. Whoever is acting as the main host for that week will summarize sections of the book, then break for a discussion session so all three hosts can voice their opinion. The conversation is lively and thought-provoking, with each individual offering unique perspectives based on their own research and personal experiences. I often find myself pausing the podcast to discuss a point with my husband or simply to consider the implications of their source material. Nick, Rory, and Jay also host discussions with authors, paranormal researchers, and other subject-matter experts related to the books they've covered in previous episodes. (Their conversation with documentary film maker Dan Olson about conspiracy thought is particularly fascinating.)

If you enjoy intelligent conversation, humor, and a hefty dose of weird, you'll want to look for Noctivagant on your audio streaming service of choice.

– 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 16, 2023: RPG Zine Club

Are you into indie roleplaying games? How about pizza? Do you want to play all-new games, support emerging creators, get access to excellent online community spaces to discuss and play games, and earn free pizza, all at the same time?

Look no further than Zine Club from Plus One EXP! 

Zine Club is a monthly subscription filled with all-new RPG content. You can choose between three types of membership: one focused on story games, one for adventure gaming, and one for ALL THE ZINES. And you can always skip a month, add or remove items from your box, or change your membership. Possibly the most important perk is access to the Plus One Pizza Party at in-person conventions with a stamped Zine Passport . . .

Tony is a friend – and one-time MIB – and I'm really excited to see this project take off. I'm thrilled about all of the opportunities that Plus One continues to create for emerging designers and artists. And of course I'd love to get one of my games into a Zine Club box someday!

So what are you waiting for? Go get some zines!

– 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 15, 2023: Old School Redux

A while back, I mused a bit about what it means to be "old school" as far as gaming. Those thoughts resurfaced for me as I saw a trailer for Wizardry: Proving Grounds of the Mad Overlord . If the title sounds familiar, it should; this computer game was originally released in 1981.

That trailer I linked to, however, is for a new game. Or rather, the old game, but with new features. As best I can tell, this version by Digital Eclipse is running the original Apple II code and overlaying modern effects on top of it. At any point, you can (as I understand it) "look underneath" to see the original version of the game. It's an interesting approach, not entirely dissimilar to what's going on with the Autoduel software on Warehouse 23. The Digital Eclipse game seems to take the idea much further.

The game also claims it includes various "quality of life" improvements to make it more accessible for modern folks, which harkens back to my earlier "What makes old school 'old' school?" pondering. It's in early access now, for Windows. I'm not a Windows gamer, but I'm still curious to see how it turns out. If any of you get to experience it (especially if you have memories – fond or otherwise – of the original), I'd look forward to your comments 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!

October 14, 2023: Spooky Savings On Warehouse 23!

Through Halloween, take 13% off our creepy curated collection, which includes:Cthulhu coins, dice bags, and plushies Munchkin Apocalypse ,   Munchkin Cthulhu,  and  Munchkin Zombies Zombie Dice  games and accessoriesSpine-chilling digital  GURPS  adventures and supplementsWant to give out something less sticky and cavity-inducing for Halloween this year? Try a bowl of our spooky dice!



This is also a great time to find a new spooky favorite for your Halloween gatherings, or plan ahead and stock up on  Munchkin  to spice up your Thanksgiving dinner!

– 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 13, 2023: Gamehole Con In Madison

Gamehole is probably the best-run small con that I have ever attended. It just ticks like a clock, if clocks were full of fun and games, games, games. (BONG!) I'm happy to be going back. They have a stellar lineup of gaming guests, and among their features are the True Dungeon and the Kovalic-centered Dorkstock. So you should definitely come. I am just saying!

Among the things we'll have with us are the new Melee demo scenario For The Effigy of the Oil Wastes and a couple of copies of The Op's brand-new Munchkin Scooby-Doo . . . to be played and then put in the prize pool.

If you've got the weekend of the 20-22 open and can make it to Madison, you really should visit the Gamehole site and get signed up. Fun will be had.

– 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!

October 12, 2023: Fight Night With The League Of Swords

When most people picture a swordfighting show, they probably imagine two people swinging swords on a stage during a Renaissance festival, or maybe two lightsaber-wielding characters duking it out at Galaxy's Edge in the Disney theme parks. But in the League of Swords, mastery of the blade is just the beginning. As creator Mike Fatum says, "Imagine the world of professional wrestling, but with the wrestling replaced with sword fights, and the wrestlers replaced with wild characters like an arcade game boss who literally punched his way out of the cabinet and an immortal wandering samurai, traveling the universe to find his own justice. If it sounds cartoony and over the top, that's because it is." Mike was gracious enough to answer some questions about the League of Swords, how it came to be, how pro wrestler Kidd Bandit got involved with the League, and why people should check out the League's next show on October 21 in Burbank, California.  [This interview has been edited for length.] Steve Jackson Games: How did you get the idea for League of Swords? Mike Fatum, League of Swords Creator: I've loved swords my entire life – I don't really know when it started. But they've always been such a huge part of me. When I was in middle school, my school put on what was called a "Roots Festival," which was basically a science fair but for the arts. I wrote a play that was very much a rip-off of Star Wars (with some dialogue taken directly from X-men comics) and included several sword fights. A professional fight choreographer named Eben Young was in residence at the school, and he taught all of us kids how to do stage combat with swords. For the first time in my life, I got to do a swordfight in front of the audience, and it was the biggest rush I'd ever had. When the adrenaline hit, my opponent and I went way faster than we ever had before, and I actually almost fell off the stage.  So swordfighting became a huge passion of mine, but about a year later I discovered professional wrestling, which became another hyperfocus. Fast forward about 20 years, and I observed a class at a local wrestling school to see if it was something I'd like. The instructors put on a practice match with the students, something went wrong, and one particular instructor started screaming at his students. I'm real bad with people yelling, so I reached out to my friend who is a pro wrestler, and he confirmed that this stuff was kind of common. And I was feeling sorry for myself, because it felt like one of my dreams was going away.  And then lightning struck. What if I made my own performance combat thing? With my true love, swords! And it felt . . . better than any idea I'd ever had. Suddenly my whole life seemed to click together, and this is what I was meant to do. Sounds crazy, I know, but it was an incredible feeling. SJG: You describe League of Swords as, ". . . the world of professional wrestling, but with the wrestling replaced with sword fights and the wrestlers replaced with wild characters." What do you think makes this setup more compelling than wrestling – or your average sword fighting show, for that matter? Mike: Since we're using the same storytelling style as pro wrestling, I think the thing that makes us more compelling is going to be storytelling. And we're aiming for a different crowd than the WWE or AEW are going for. The goal is to bring back a style of storytelling that was lost long ago in the US. The complete sincerity of something like WMAC Masters, with an eye on entertaining kids while also making something fun for adults, with a dark, edgy atmosphere but heroic storytelling. But while that storytelling style was pretty huge in the 90s, the thing we're not taking from that era is the homophobia, racism, transphobia, and other forms of bigotry that ran rampant. The League of Swords is for everyone, and if your definition of "everyone" excludes people, then you can never be a Swordmaster. Then you take something like Medieval Times, which is an excellent show except for the fact that they aren't respecting their performers' attempts to form a union and are ignoring their demands for better pay and better care for their animals. If you go to a Medieval Times, you're going to see the same show every time you go – different choreography or actors, for sure, but the story of the show itself will be the same "day," repeated endlessly for all eternity. Our shows are going to have a continuing storyline that you'll be able to follow on our Youtube channel if you couldn't make the show in person. Characters will grow and change, and the world will change with them. 

SJG: How did Kidd Bandit become involved in your show? Mike: I first saw Kidd Bandit on DPW, and she immediately stood out. She had one of the coolest presentations and was one of the most unique characters I'd ever seen. Then she and I became Facebook friends at some point in the distant past – I think we had some mutual friends in the wrestling world or something – and she made a post asking for folks to hype up their projects. I mentioned the League, and she messaged me almost immediately. However, life got in the way and she wasn't able to make our first performance at last year's Los Angeles Comic Con, and we sort of lost track of each other. When I started planning this show, I had planned to do it without her – and then fate kind of intervened. I was putting up posters around LA and I walked into this tiny martial arts supply store. There was only one person in there – a famous wrestler who used to work for the WWE. I chatted with him for a bit and gave him a poster, and when he asked who was going to be in the show, I mentioned Kidd Bandit. Apparently, he texted her and told her to get back in touch with me, and the rest is history. I'm so excited to work with her, too. We had our first rehearsal the other day, and she was an immediate natural for stage combat. She's a font of ideas and energy and it's such a pleasure working with her. SJG: What's next for the League of Swords? What do you have planned going forward? Mike: My thoughts are so filled with promoting this show and getting people in the door that it feels like the universe kind of ends on October 21. But of course it doesn't, and the exciting thing is that we are already booked for our next show at LA Comic Con from December 2-3. Exact dates and times haven't been announced yet, but if you're coming to that convention, look for us in the program! And sign up for the League's mailing list for more info as it comes in.

– 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 11, 2023: Tabloids Designer's Notes By Steve Jackson

XXX STARLET SEES UNDERGROUND DINOSAUR WORLD

I started working on this game at least 20 years ago. I set it aside because it wasn't quite right, for itself or for the market, even though it playtested well. Like most first drafts, it was too complex, with a scoring system that encouraged too much brow-beating.

Last year I picked it up again, made some changes, and presented it to the gamers at LibertyCon. They liked it! Since then it's been moving forward – we played at PensaCon and Nerdi Gras, got feedback and lots of laughs, and the Kickstarter was a delightful success. (Late pledges are still open. Getting the Kickstarter version now means you'll get all the stretch goals, which of course means more cards!)

But what's it ABOUT, Steve? Glad you asked! It's about creating sensational headlines of the sort you see in supermarket tabloids or clickbait ads. Everybody has a handful of cards and tries to pick the ones to string together for, say

SENATE CANNIBAL SEX SCANDAL

or

WEREWOLF STOPS NUCLEAR PLANT DISASTER

The group votes on the best one . . . and you do it again! There are two kinds of cards: Shockers (the eye-grabbers like WEREWOLF or CANNIBAL) and Fillers (the ordinary ones that you need to make things work). Most cards have two words on them; you can use either one, but not both. The cards are designed to overlap, so you can combine words – or use only the last few letters of a word – whether it's just to make something plural or to create something completely unexpected.

WIZARDS OF CALIFORNIA UNITE FOR HOLLYWOOD CROP CIRCLE

Each round starts you off with six of each type of card. You absolutely don't have to use all the words you get. Sometimes the punchy headlines are the best!

END OF WORLD WEDNESDAY

A round takes three minutes, though I recommend allowing a lot longer for the first round if you have new players. The game ends after seven winning headlines, which usually takes about a half- hour. There are 328 cards in the basic box. 

INTERNET SUSPICIOUS OF NAKED INCEL PROTEST

– 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!