Not true today. A bunch of us are here, taking a few last playtest shots at Car Wars and Frag Expansion 1 - Death Match, trying to find the nasty little corners where things might still be broken . . .
So, we do play. Sometimes. Of course, we do it on our day off . . . Monday, we'll be back at the computers and the phones.
-- Scott Haring
The folks at the online magazine The Wargamer have bestowed The Wargamer Award for Excellence on Deluxe Ogre and Deluxe G.E.V..My favorite bit: "This game is a classic and should be on every gamer's shelf, or better, on their gaming table." You can hit these links to read the Deluxe Ogre review and the Deluxe G.E.V. review.
Thanks for the kind words, guys ...
-- Scott Haring
Combine Set 6 - Mechanized Infantry Company with Escort Squadron (for Ogre
Miniatures)
This set features a brand-new unit: the Combine's "Roadrunner" GEV-PC. The Mech Infantry Company has four Roadrunners, each carrying
three squads of battlesuited infantry. The escort squadron is made up of four "Gremlin" light GEVs. Together, they can strike quickly to
take ground and hold it. This set is packaged in a reusable plastic box and adds 60 points to your Combine force.
#10-2106 ISBN 1-55634-470-8. $19.95
Planetary Survey 4: Glisten (for GURPS Traveller)
The "Jewel of Deep Space," the Glisten system has no habitable world, yet it is the capital of the Glisten subsector, site of a Scout base and a major shipbuilding yard, and home of the Mining School of Glisten. Its rich asteroid belts combine an advanced technology with an almost inexhaustible supply of raw materials. Glisten is a major industrial and economic powerhouse in the Spinward Marches.
This book concentrates on the five asteroids which make up "Glisten City," the government and business center of the system. Trade, business, scientific investigations, and high-level politics rub shoulders with gritty asteroid miners, huge factory complexes, shipyards, and interstellar intrigue.
32 pages. Stock #6804, ISBN 1-55634-511-9. $8.95.
GURPS Spirits
The creatures of the Other World are all around us. Some were once alive. Some were created by human imagination. And some are
completely inhuman but thirst for our souls.
GURPS Spirits is a complete guide to the spirit realm and its inhabitants. It includes a catalog of spirits from around the world: angels, demons, djinn, dryads, ghosts, loas, manitou, raksasha, and many, many more. It is also a campaign guide for characters who see spirits, serve them, use them . . . or fight them!
Also included: an expanded version of the ritual magic rules first seen in GURPS Voodoo, as a system for spirit-mediated magic.
128 pages. Stock #6537, ISBN 1-55634-516-X. $22.95.
GURPS Basic Set Hardback (reprint)
GURPS, the Generic Universal RolePlaying System,
is the most flexible roleplaying system you can use. Adventure in any world you can
think of. Supplements covering many genres are already out -- and more are coming!
But you don't have to wait; the GURPS system is
easily adaptable to your favorite game world. It's easy to learn . . . you can jump
right in with quick-start rules, pre-designed characters, and an easy-to-play solo
adventure. The Basic Set is designed to be "Game Master-friendly," with Table of
Contents, Glossary, Appendix and Index, as well as lots of examples.
#6031, ISBN 1-55634-159-8. $29.95.
-- Keith Johnson
-- Scott Haring
Ah, well, tomorrow will be better. We hope.
-- Steve Jackson
Meanwhile, several new things are shipping this week:
Deck Plan 4 - Assault Cutter (for Traveller)
The Assault Cutter is an armored, reinforced version of the Modular Cutter, popular in military applications. This package includes 8
two-sided maps . . . hexes on one side and squares on the other, to fit any campaign! Included are the cutter itself and seven
modules: boarding, ECM, fighter, Marine command, Marine firebase, medevac, and sensor. Also included is a sheet of full-color Cardboard Heroes miniatures to crew the cutter, including a Rampart fighter for the fighter
module.
Stock #6622, ISBN 1-55634-509-7. $16.95.
GURPS Horror GM's Screen
Four cardstock pages are all that stand between you and your rabid players
. . . On the front is the full-color art from the four new "Summer of
Horror" covers, by Christopher Shy. On the back is a selection of GURPS
charts and tables chosen especially for the Horror GM, with special
attention to Fright Checks and magic. This screen is four panels in one
solid piece (no two-panel bits to paper clip together!) with a durable
gloss finish on both sides. Also included: a 17" x 22" floorplan of a
deserted country farmhouse and a sheet of Cardboard Heroes miniatures . . .
heavy on the zombies, because zombies always attack the farmhouse . . .
Stock #6417, ISBN 1-55634-514-3. $14.95.
Paneuropean Set 2 - Panzer Company (for Ogre Miniatures)
Build up your Paneuropean force with these hard-hitting reinforcements. Four troops of three units each . . . six "Jaeger" heavy tanks
and six "Hammer" light tanks . . . 12 vehicles in all! The set is packaged in a reusable plastic box and adds 54 points to your
Paneuropean force.
Stock #10-2202, ISBN 1-55634-487-2. $19.95.
-- Keith Johnson
Pyramid
subscribers can access the playtest files. And if you're not already a subscriber, subscribe today!
-- Andrew Hackard
Our upstairs air conditioner has been on its last legs for quite a while, and the reception area and my office were getting rather warm each afternoon as summer approached. A few days ago, the compressor died, and "rather warm" turned into "sauna." But sadly, sauna dress is incompatible with an office atmosphere. More to the point, if you stay in the sauna for 8 hours, you die, and that's incompatible with getting the new books to the printer.
So we bit the bullet and put $1,300 into a new 3-ton compressor, and the place is actually liveable again. Now you know what game company execs REALLY think about . . .
-- Steve Jackson
Every fantastic phenomenon has its skeptics. Now every skeptic has his critic. It's getting to be a shoving match on the Internet, and the bell for the latest round has been rung on PsyZone. Folks like James Randi take it on the chin, and Winston Wu offers his refutation of the scientific method.
-- Suggested by Brett Slocum
And the new facility is beautiful, and has better connectivity, and we're about to get a T-1 installed to the SJ Games office. Life is good.
-- Steve Jackson
There was so much demand for the hardback Basic Set that we're retiring the softback version - the ones now in the stores are the last ones there will be for a while, if not forever. So if for some reason you prefer softback, go grab one now.
Otherwise, revel with us in the nice shiny hardbound book!
-- Steve Jackson
The folks at RPG Action have posted a review of GURPS Traveller: Planetary Survey 1 - Kamsii - The Pleasure World on their site. My favorite line: "A perfectly executed exercise of how to get the most into a little book."
Thanks for the kind words . . .
-- Scott Haring
What Fictional Character would you choose for President of the U.S.?
Leading the poll handily is our own Steve Jackson, besting the likes of Elminster, Lex Luthor, and even Great Cthulhu himself.
Of course, you're probably thinking you didn't know that Steve Jackson was a fictional character. Well, there's lots of things about Steve you don't know, and most of them you're not cleared for, anyway. Fnord.
-- Scott Haring
This will be a place for all the computer-related Murphies that get sent to John, since the Pyramid readership seems to hate and despise these. This also means all Pyramid ones can now concentrate on card, roleplaying and board games.
Science is always fun until someone gets irradiated. Dangerous Laboratories is all in favor of combining learning and entertainment, but all it takes is one mad scientist Boy Scout to spoil nuclear materials for the rest of us.
-- Suggested by Sean Dalziel
GURPS Alpha Centauri is now in playtest. Pyramid subscribers can access the playtest files. And if you're not already a subscriber, subscribe today!
-- Keith Johnson
Not only does it produce a random number between one and six with merely a light tap, but flashes and beeps in an entertaining and almost hypnotic manner while doing so. You needn't worry about running the batteries down, either, for replacements are easily found and even more easily installed, so play with your Electrodice to your hearts content! Electrodice come in packs of two for the low, low price of only $5.95 and are available in seven pleasing colors.
"An invasion of an alien species with plant and animal
attributes could take place within years. But Earth would be the
departure point, not the destination." Read the CNN story.
The other is for Managing Editor. No, Alain isn't leaving, but she's going back to editing and working on a new special project fnord. We need to find a really good administrator to pull the levers of the Game Making Machine. If that's you, get in touch.
Is it Discordian wisdom hidden in poetry, or the ravings of a disenfranchised artist? Only his webmaster knows for sure.
-- Suggested by Jonathan Vasque
GURPS Transhuman Space: High Frontier is now in playtest. Pyramid subscribers can access the playtest files. And if you're not already a subscriber, subscribe today!
-- Keith Johnson
One optional rule that works particularly well with computer moderation is hidden Ogre damage: the results of an attack can be reported only to the Ogre's owner, leaving the defender in the dark about just how many tread units are left...
Each player will need their own rules, map, and counters. The computer does the rest.
GURPS Steampunk Catalog is now in playtest. Pyramid subscribers can access the playtest files. And if you're not already a subscriber, subscribe today!
-- Keith Johnson
What could such a diverse group be up to? Sorry, you're not cleared for that ...
The indignities suffered by marshmallow peeps in the pursuit of scientific truth were but a prelude to war. Now the hardy little candies are getting their marching orders in Peep War, a tabletop game that pits the glutinous chicks and their jellybean minions in no-holds-barred battle. History is written by the winners, and the losers get eaten.
-- Suggested by Rus Hall
