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January 31, 2002: We're Doing Hellboy!

Steve Jackson Games and Dark Horse Comics announced an agreement Wednesday for a roleplaying game based on the hit “Hellboy” comic series.

"I've always felt that Hellboy and his little 'world' would be a natural for a roleplaying game," said Hellboy creator Mike Mignola. "I'm excited that it's actually happening and very pleased to be working with the people at Steve Jackson Games. They seem very concerned about doing the whole thing right and I'm happy to be helping out."

The Hellboy Sourcebook and Roleplaying Game will be graphic-novel sized and will be a complete game, as well as a fan guide to the world of Hellboy . . . as seen from the inside. It will feature a brand-new short story by Christopher Golden, author of the new “Hollow Earth” Hellboy spinoff.

In the game, players will take the roles of agents of the Bureau of Paranormal Research and Defense, including Hellboy himself, Abe Sapien, and original characters created by the players . . . solving occult mysteries, beating up demons, falling from great heights, and saving the world from Things Man Was Not Meant To Know.

Golden, who will also be helping to assemble the game’s background material, said “Steve Jackson Games always do a nice job and I'm happy to be involved . . . The world Hellboy exists in should provide a million cool adventures for gamers. If they survive that long.”

The first Hellboy RPG release will be in stores in August. Authored by Phil Masters (GURPS Atlantis, GURPS Discworld) and Jonathan Woodward (GURPS Ogre), it will use the award-winning GURPS system, already featured in over 150 different roleplaying sourcebooks.

Suggested retail will be $24.95; ISBN 1-55634-654-9.

For more information, contact Philip Reed (phil@sjgames.com) at (512) 447-7866.



January 30, 2002: Big Announcement This Evening

Pyramid subscribers are cordially invited to join us in chat at 7pm today (Wednesday) for a big announcement. Yes, it's good news.

Those who can't make the chat can read the press release here Thursday morning.

Warehouse 23 News: Where Are the Hockey Rules?

Rifts Canada includes unique monsters, D-Bees, and O.C.C.s, maps and descriptions of key places, an in-depth overview of the coming CS-Free Quebec War, and, the most important part, the Pro Hockey Skating Skill.

January 29, 2002: Halfway To Green Eggs And Ham

Japanese scientists claim to have created a pig with genes from the spinach plant. The Yahoo story did not report whether the announcement was accompanied by maniacal laughter.

Warehouse 23 News: The Ultimate Free Market

The sequel to Rifts Atlantis, Rifts Splynn Dimensional Market is a place where one can purchase anything, including forbidden magic, alien technology, and people!

January 28, 2002: Promotions

Thanks and congratulations to some staff members taking on greater responsibilities: -- Steve Jackson

Warehouse 23 News: And When You're Done, You Have a Place to Put Your Drink

Cosmic Coasters, from Looney Labs, is a ten minute game of interplanetary invasion for two, played using fleets of seven coins on the moons of Jupiter (represented by the coasters).

January 27, 2002: Now Shipping!

The following products are now shipping, and should be available at your FLGS soon!

GURPS Religion
Back in print! Everything you need to delve into the mysteries of creation and divine power. Players can create gods from fantasy and myth, or design their own pantheon. Also covers design of clerical characters and rules for the magical powers granted to the faithful.

176 pages. Stock #6510, ISBN 1-55634-202-0. $28.95.

GURPS Vehicles Expansion 1
Time for a tune-up! David Pulver's long-awaited supplement for GURPS Vehicles has dozens of vehicular design options and components. Create supercavitating submarines that race through the ocean at Mach 1, monstrous cybertanks invulnerable to anything short of a nuclear weapon, and elegant spacecraft that ride the solar winds on magnetic sails. There are plenty of options for mundane vehicles as well, with expanded rules for building everything from historical sailing ships to combine harvesters.

32 pages. Stock #6541, ISBN 1-55634-601-8. $8.95.

Transhuman Space
In the last decade of the 21st century, advanced biotech and interplanetary colonization have transformed our solar system into a setting as exciting and alien as any interstellar empire. Pirate spaceships hijacking black holes . . . sentient computers and artificial "bioroids" demanding human rights . . . nanotechnology and mind control. Transhuman Space is the core book of a new "hard" science fiction series, created by David Pulver and written by the top GURPS authors. More Transhuman Space books will appear through 2002 and 2003.

208 pages. Stock #6700, ISBN 1-55634-652-2. $29.95.

GURPS Traveller: Heroes 1 - Bounty Hunters
First in a series of mini-books that spotlight interesting professions for adventure! GURPS Traveller: Heroes 1 - Bounty Hunters gives templates for character design, and goes into detail about the risks and rewards of hunting criminals for money. Campaign ideas and adventure seeds are included, along with several completely worked out characters. This book will jump-start lots of GURPS Traveller adventures!

32 pages. Stock #6880, ISBN 1-55634-613-1. $8.95.

Ogre Miniatures: Ogrethulhu Set 2 - Spawn of Ogrethulhu
When the Ogrethulhu started EATING its victims, the fleeing survivors thought they had seen the depths of horror. But the madness had barely started. Because soon the pods on the monster’s back began to swell. Then they burst wetly, and the victims emerged . . . unthinkably changed. The Ogrethulhu creates its own infantry support from its victims! The Spawn are packaged in a reusable plastic box. . . 72 infantry figures of 12 different and disgusting types. These monstrosities are somewhat larger than normal infantry, giving sculptor Richard Kerr more scope for his twisted imagination . . .

Boxed set. Stock #10-2702, ISBN 1-55634-604-2. $19.95.


Warehouse 23 News: More New Minis!

Excelsior has a new line of medieval anthropomorphic miniatures designed for use with the Ironclaw RPG, but perfect for any furries game.

January 26, 2002: Argh! Great Minds Run In The Same Gutter!

Usually when I check out Dilbert in the morning paper, I grin. Sometimes I cut it out. But Friday morning I winced.

Friday morning, Dilbert met "M.T. Suit." Same name, and drawn the same way, as one of the cards for the new Unnatural Axe supplement to Munchkin. If this had come up even a week sooner I might just have changed the card, but the set goes to the printer in a few days . . . John Kovalic has already done the art . . . and he's on vacation now and not available for changes.

So we'll just leave it in. We didn't steal it from Scott Adams and he didn't steal it from us. Great minds run in the same gutter.

Warehouse 23 News: New Mini!

The Giant Ant is now available as an individual miniature!

January 25, 2002: Troubled Waters

Illuminated Site of the Week: If you'll recall, we featured the Ban Dihydrogen Monoxide site in last week's Illuminator. It caused a flood of inquiries, and it should come as no surprise that so deep a topic has proponents everywhere. The mother site chimes in, as does the Dihydrogen Monoxide Research Division. But as steamed as they are, they aren't without critics: DHMO: Your All-Natural Friend tries to douse the flames of ignorance with their decidedly staunch support of this misunderstood compound.

-- Suggested by David Levi

Warehouse 23 News: Five Expansion Sets in One

Brand new from Mayfair Games, Settlers of Catan Card Game Expansions includes 165 new cards and five distinct themes for one low price!

January 24, 2002: The Pirate Game Rides Again!

It is my great pleasure to announce two new venues for Evil Stevie's Pirate Game . . . and both of these should be nice long sessions with plenty of space.

Coming up next month: BricksWest, February 16-18 in Carlsbad, California. This is not a game con . . . it's a Lego con! I have never been to a Lego con before, and I'm really honored (okay, really GLEEFUL) to have been invited as a guest. Those of you out there who are either Lego geeks or interested in the Pirate Game should hit the BricksWest page and register to attend, and I'll see you there. There will be a LOT of cool Lego stuff going on there. And the hotel is a 5-minute walk from Legoland California!

Second, this July . . . Origins. More on this as it develops, but, yes, you heard right, I will be running the Pirate Game at Origins in Columbus, Ohio. The con dates are July 4-7. Exact day of the game has not been set yet.

Warehouse 23 News: More Game Mastering Goodness

Mystic Station Designs's Game Master's Utilities Volume 3 - Electronic provides another installment of roleplaying goodies.

January 23, 2002: Return To World Domination

The core ruleset for Illuminati: New World Order has been polished and refined, to better serve your plans for global control. The World Domination Handbook v1.2 is for consumption by mere mortals.

The WDH 1.2 is available for download in PDF format (176kb). Or, if you'd prefer, here's a brief summary of the changes between Versions 1.1 and 1.2.


Warehouse 23 News: Garweeze Wurld Is Not Enough

The adventures of the Untouchable Trio (plus 1) continue in the brand new Knights of the Dinner Table, Issue 63.

January 22, 2002: More Bio-Tech

Okay, it's not as wizzy-keen as the artificial spider silk we talked about last week . . . but bacterial inoculations that might increase corn yields by up to 10% are probably going to mean more to a hungry planet. Here's the Futuresource story.

Warehouse 23 News: Fantasy Roleplaying, Palladium Style

Palladium Fantasy RPG, Revised Second Edition, includes everything you need (occupational character classes, races, spells, monsters, psionics, world information, player and GM tips) to run a high fantasy campaign and is compatible with all other Palladium Megaverse products.

January 21, 2002: First You Bite Their Heads Off

Animal cracker fans will be delirious with excitement to know that Nabisco is doing a contest to choose a new animal to add to their animal cracker box. The choice is between penguin, walrus, cobra, and koala bear. From the pictures, the penguin has the most biteable head. (Hmm. Didn't James do a game about this? Yep, he sure did..) Though I like the idea of the cobra, because a lot of people will go "Eeuuuw! A snake!" and not eat it, which leaves more for me.
-- Steve Jackson

Warehouse 23 News: From the Beginning

Warehouse 23 now has all six issues of the Girl Genius comic series (Issues 1-5, plus the Secret Blueprints).

January 20, 2002: Any Stackpole Fans Out There?

If you like Mike Stackpole's work, then hit this link - he has something to say to you . . .
-- Steve Jackson

Warehouse 23 News: Gargoyle, Germans, and Comic Strips

Rifts Triax and the NGR includes the Gargoyle Empire, the New German Republic, two comic strips, and a variety of O.C.C.s, skills, equipment, and adventure ideas.

January 19, 2002: And It Makes Really Stringy Cheese

This has been in the works for a while, but it looks like it's really happening: artificial spider silk produced from the milk of transgenic goats. See the Yahoo story.

Now expect to read scare stories in the tabloids and the Rifkinite press, all about the evil gene-meddlers who are creating spiders the size of goats to lurk in the darkness and SUCK YOUR BLOOD. Baaaaaaaaa!

Warehouse 23 News: Good Things Come in Small Packages

Hip Pocket Games is a new product line from Cheapass Games featuring small, super cheap card games. The first two titles are the brand new Nexus and a reprint of the classic The Very Clever Pipe Game.

January 18, 2002: Dihydrogen Monoxide, Dihydrogen Monoxide Everywhere

Illuminated Site of the Week: Finally there's a coalition to Ban Dihydrogen Monoxide. This "invisible killer" is everywhere, killing houseplants, destroying the landscape, and threatening humanity. Can nothing stem the tide? Your contributions can help.

-- Suggested by Jayson Howell

Warehouse 23 News: Cataclysmic Events

Dream Pod 9's critically acclaimed Heavy Gear Storybook series continues with its fifth installment, Distant Shores.

January 17, 2002: Triumphant Pyramid Issue #200 . . . Or Possibly #230

This week marks the 200th issue of the online version of Pyramid, as well as my 100th issue. Admittedly, this is somewhat less exciting since we're a weekly publication, but I still think it's pretty neat. And by my math we should overtake Dragon Magazine's numbering system in 28 months (19 months if you count the 30 paper issues of Pyramid). Set your calendar now.

Celebrate this milestone by subscribing today! And if you're already a subscriber, buy another subscription and stick your computer in a plastic bag to preserve what's sure to be a collector's item issue. Or something like that . . .
-- Steven Marsh



January 16, 2002: Do You Think They'll Patent It?

Another ground-breaking innovation from Wizards of the Coast . . . now your game can use dice!

No kidding. In a recent press release about their "Star Wars" license, WotC said:

"Another unique feature of Garfield's game design is the use of dice for conflict resolution."

What would we do without these guys to show us the way?

Warehouse 23 News: Try a Great Game Cheap

The brand new Dream Pod 9 Demo Games allow you try one of their great tabletop games for less than a dollar.

January 15, 2002: Long Shot Job Opening

I realize this particular job posting is unlikely to find many qualified takers here, but we only need one, so . . .

We have an immediate and urgent opening for a bookkeeper who is familiar with the MAS200 (formerly known as MAS90) system. We really need someone who already knows the MAS system, not someone who "has used another one and they're all the same." This is a full-time job, 9 to 5 or similar, in Austin.

If you qualify and are interested, click on my signature below and drop me a line.
-- Steve Jackson

Warehouse 23 News: Now Is the Time of Prophecy

The concluding volume of the Conquest Cycle for the Tribe 8 RPG, Liberation brings the epic story of the Fallen and Tribals' conflict with the nations of Z'bri to a close.

January 14, 2002: Origins Award Disgust

I wish I could say things had gotten better with the Origins Awards since last year. But I can't say that.

One of the biggest problems remains the eligibility system, which keeps many releases from even being considered for an award. Specifically, each company is now permitted to pre-nominate one, and only one, product in each category. A company that has more than one quality product in the same category must choose which one to support. Now, this is fine with some companies, who want to put a big push behind one product. It's not so fine with those who think every product should have its fair chance.

This year, when the award committee finally (in December) announced that this year would use the same system that last year did, there was protest on the Academy mailing list. But committee members responded that it was "too late" to discuss anything for this year's awards.

The committee has a new chairman, Mike Stackpole, but he has not posted on the Academy list in quite a while. Weeks, at least. Last year I recommended writing to Rick Loomis, the GAMA president if you had a problem with the awards situation, but you wasted your time. He made it clear to me, and the others on the mailing list, that (a) he had gotten a whole lot of responses and resented the time it took him to send out his form-letter reply, and (b) at the same time, he hadn't gotten enough responses to make him reconsider the issue. He didn't say how many responses it would take. And of course, he's not elected by YOU.

So what can you do? Why am I wasting MY time typing, if the President of GAMA considers your input a nuisance, and the committee goes from "guidelines aren't up yet" to "too late to discuss!"

Two things:

(1) Don't take these awards seriously until there is a serious structural change. Right now it's just like an election in the old USSR: everyone is free to cast a ballot, but nobody except the GAMA President and his appointee, the committee chair, decides how the election is run. Members of the Academy have NO say in the management of the awards.

(2) If you helped create a game product in 2001, or if you KNOW anyone who did, you should use the poorly-publicized escape clause in the current nomination system. Although companies are limited in what they can nominate, a CREATOR can also make a nomination. (This is the committee's reply to all charges of unfairness. If it were well publicized it could make a difference. Problem is, they have never made any visible attempt to get this info to anyone but publishers, who are not passing it on to their writers, and to the small number of individuals who are Academy members.) Go to this site. You can put something on the ballot there if you helped create it.

SPREAD THE WORD. The deadline is January 15. Yes, I wish I'd written this a week ago; I was hoping that the Awards Committee chair would post something, anything, on the committee mailing list. But I heard from several people last year who would never have known they could nominate their own work if I hadn't posted my rant. So it's up to me again this year.

Creators do NOT have to depend on their publisher to nominate their work. You can do it yourself.

SPREAD THE WORD. It's not quite too late.


January 13, 2002: Near Miss

It wasn't a dinosaur-killer, but the asteroid that grazed us Monday was big enough to wipe out a medium-sized country. And though it's around a quarter of a mile wide, we only spotted it about a month ago. If it had been on track for a direct hit, that wouldn't have allowed time to do anything except flee . . . and how do you evacuate half a continent?

So the next time you hear people talking about a federal asteroid-tracking program, say "Good investment."

For more details, see the CNN story.


January 12, 2002: New Limited Edition Hardcovers

We're proud to present two new Limited Edition Hardcovers: Both of these are leather bound and gold-stamped, in the same style as GURPS Steampunk LEH and GURPS Atlantis Limited Edition Hardcover (copies of that one are still available!), although GURPS WWII LEH will have a dark green cover instead of black.

These are available only from Warehouse 23, and only for the next three weeks. This time, instead of printing a certain amount, we'll have a three-week preorder period (ending January 27, 2002) and only enough copies to cover those orders will be made. There will be 3-4 weeks between the end of pre-orders and when the books actually ship. As always, feel free to contact us with questions or comments.


January 11, 2002: Your Web-Fu's Pretty Good

Illuminated Site of the Week: If you think you can do a better job of mixing the soundtrack to a Bruce Lee chop-sockey flick than the crew, you're welcome to try, but as I Know Where Bruce Lee Lives will prove, the results end up sounding the same no matter who does it. Kiiaaii!

-- Suggested by Tom Bolenbaugh


January 10, 2002: Transhuman Space Changes

We've made some changes in the Transhuman Space line plan. Basically, we couldn't get the core book printed in color, at anything like the original bid, and still get it here within months of the originally announced date. So here's what happens:

January 9, 2002: The Geek Hierarchy

Okay, we haven't pointed at the Brunching Shuttlecocks recently. You will by all means want to check out the Geek Hierarchy and find your place on it. Be sure to look at the expanded version and the Frequently Paraphrased Questions.

January 8, 2002: Word Tracking

Words are neat, and anyone who loves words must perforce hold the Oxford English Dictionary in some reverence. Here's a chance for SF readers to actually help collect data for the OED!

This is a pilot effort in which words associated with a special field of interest - in this case, science fiction - are published online so that fans can help find citations showing the first use, and continuing uses, of those words. If this sounds interesting, read more and do what you can to help. I just sent them a couple of continuing-use citations to "uplift," including of course GURPS Uplift.
-- Steve Jackson

Warehouse 23 News: Death to l'Empereur!

The Montaigne Revolution has overthrown the government of the most powerful nation in Théah, but will the new order be any more just than the last? For the 7th Sea RPG.

January 7, 2002: The One Humvee

I have a great respect for the creative abuse of science. That's what we have here. I am now laughing evilly and reading Wil McCarthy's The One Humvee article on scifi.com. The only thing better would be to hear that it had actually been built.
-- Steve Jackson

Warehouse 23 News: Legends Never Die

Brand new from Living Room Games, Earthdawn Companion provides players with guidelines for character advancement, lists new talents and spells, adds a system for large scale battles, and expand the workings of magic.

January 6, 2002: Bare Bones Entertainment

Illuminated Site of the Week: It's just the skeleton of an idea, but it seems to be more than enough to keep you occupied. Now if only they had a snappy intro to catch your attention...

-- Suggested by Fred Wolke

Warehouse 23 News: Part Barbarian, Part Animal, Part Machine

Rifts Warlords of Russia unveils the armies, politics, and technological sorcery that allow the Warlords to dominate the land.

January 5, 2002: More Playtest

Playtest files are now on Pyramid for GURPS Modern Firepower and GURPS Castle Falkenstein: The Ottoman Empire.

Warehouse 23 News: The Legendary Land of the Damned

A new sourcebook for the Palladium Fantasy RPG, Chaos Lands allows players to explore the cursed realm of the Northern Mountains and Great Rift.

January 4, 2002: Planned Server Outage

I'm planning to take the server offline late Friday night to do some maintenance. Depending on how it goes, we could be offline all night, and possibly intermittently on Saturday... so if you stop by to visit, we might not be here. That's your cue to try back a little later. ;)

Sage

Warehouse 23 News: More Game Master Goodness

Usable with any roleplaying system, Game Master's Utilities Volume 2 - Electronic includes encounters, certificates, maps, clipart, and much more.

January 3, 2002: Back. Stack Whacked.

The office is open again, and we're back at whatever it is we do.

I am pleased to report that the stack of manuscripts is currently at zero. I hear the whistling sound of three more scheduled to hit me before the end of the week, and probably at least one more next week, but that is then, and this is now, and being caught up even on one little thing is so sweet.
-- Steve Jackson

Warehouse 23 News: Top 10 for December

Check out Warehouse 23's best selling items for December on the Warehouse 23 Top 10 page.

January 2, 2002: The Book-Burners Ride Again

Our own home-grown brand of intolerance is back in action, with fundamentalists burning Harry Potter books in New Mexico. See the Yahoo story. The good news is the size of the counter-protest . . . the community wanted to be sure everyone understood that the book-burners are extremists, and not representative of their town or New Mexico.

Poor Harry has another problem. A cineplex in Seattle fouled up and started to show an R-rated film to a theater full of kids and moms who thought they were going to see "Sorcerer's Stone." Whoops . . . Here's the Seattle Times story.


January 1, 2002: Welcome To 2002

All in all, I didn't much care for 2001, and I know I'm not alone in that. Let's hope that a year from now we're remembering 2002 as the year when things started to get better.

I thank you all for your companionship and support.
-- Steve Jackson


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