Erik and his merry band of cultists over at Gaming Paper have a Cthulhu Wrapping Paper project up  on kickstarter that needs supporters.  I am doing my part to publicize Great Old Cthulhu and earn his favor. By favor I mean being eaten last. ;-)

Trask, The Last Tyromancer

Looney Labs

The Labs were showing off three new products. First is Pirate Fluxx, which released in February. As the many other Fluxx flavors, this adds Pirates to the game. There are a couple new rules (Plunder and Being Captain), but other then that, it is Fluxx.

Second is Seven Dragons. If you are familiar with their game Aquarius, the gameplay is similar. If not, it is a domino style game (with cards) were you try to connect side of the cards together. Also, this game features original artwork by the venerable Larry Elmore. This game will be released in June.

Last, but not least, is IceDice. If you are familiar with Treehouse, this is another game utilizing the pyrimads. In fact, Looney Labs is designing a whole system around these Looney Pyramids. The IceDice is actually the primary game in the set, but it comes with a bonus games to play with the pyramids as well.  They will be selling other sets, expansion sets, and will even have a website were people can post new game they created with the pyramids. They are basically turning there pyramid pieces into a deck of cards, where you can play countless games. And it all starts with IceDice (and Treehouse), coming in June.

IceDice by Looney Labs

Chivalry Games

Last year at GTS, we covered a game, CHAOSTLE, a game under construction since 2005 (they had sample pieces on display). They have experienced pretty much every problem you can experience working with manufactures. However, I was very pleased to walk past their booth this year, and see a huge stack of CHAOSTLE board games ready for sale (it will be in game stores very soon)! The game mixes tabletop miniatures with board gaming in a sort of race/defense feel. I actually won a copy of the game in their raffle, so you can expect a full detailed review of CHAOSTLE in the near future.

Me, Mark Jacobs, and CHAOSTLE by Chivalry Games

Digme Productions, Inc.

Digme was showing off many games in prototype. However, there one game that is in production now is Strike, Spare or In the Gutter. This is a 21+ drinking game (though you could play it Pepsi if you want). It is a simple game. You roll the dice on a Strike, you drink. On a Spare you pass. In the Gutter, you get a card that has some zany activity that you have to perform (do the robot dance), or a question you have to answer (roll a die and name that many NFL Quarterbacks), to the satisfaction of the group. If they do not approve, you get a penalty.

Strike, Spared, or In the Gutter (and other Prototypes) by Digme Productions

Flying Buffalo

It wouldn’t be a GTS without Flying Buffalo. 2010 was their 40th anniversary. Congratulations to Rick Loomis, and everyone at Flying Buffalo, for creating a gaming dynasty.

Arcane Tinman

The main thing at the Tinman booth was The Spoils. The Spoils is a pop culture CCG with a more adult and a more tongue-in-cheek theme. The game has been around for a few years, and is gaining popularity as a tournament game. They also have a new line of Board Game sleeves.

WorldWise Imports

WorldWise Imports is mainly known for two things. Party (mostly murder mystery) games and beautiful varieties of classic board games (mostly chess). They always have a new and interesting chess board coming out. And this year, they were showing off Dragon Chess. Dragon Chess adds two dragons (and two pawns) to the ends of the classic chess board.  The board also has two extensions out the side. This creates some interesting new strategies (and hiding places). This is a great game for the chess buff who isn’t a purist.

Dragon Chess distributed by WorldWise Imports

More tomorrow…

Numbskull Games

They have a couple of recent titles out on the market. Blockade Runner is a Civil War era economic/resource managememt board game.You take the role of an entrepreneur trying to sneak crops and goods through the Union blockade. Popular Front is a Spanish Civil War ERA card-driven war game. It is different then most war games, as it has no dice or charts.  It is more like playing Go meets Poker in a strategy war game setting.

Numbskull Games also purchased the Conquest Company. This venerable gaming company, founded in 1972 by Donald Benge, was in limbo when Mr. Benge died in a car accident a few years ago.  Numbskull has purchased the company and the rights to all the games, and are working to re-release some key titles.  Grand Conquest is on sale now (though sold out in most places and they are shipping them as quick as possible) and the original Conquest game is planned next year.

Blockade Runner from Numbskull Games

Gozer Games

Vampire Werewolf Fairies is their 2011 product, coming by the end of April. It is a sequel to Zombie Ninja Pirates. The games can be played independently or combined together for a SUPER-GAME. Gozer got some great comic artists for this series. They enlisted Phil Foglio (Girl Genius), John Kovalic (Dork Town and Munchkin), Randy Milholland (Something*Positive), Terry Moore (Strangers in Paradise), and Neko Pilarcik continued on from the original set.

Non-Trivial Quest

This game is the “flip side of trivia”. It is a trivia game with an educational/family orientation, that focuses on the important things you need to know in life, not esoteric knowledge. This game is designed for 2 to 8 players, ages 14+. The game topics include life skills, money, technology, health, everyday law, first aid, geography, civics, economics, and history. Finally a trivia game that I have a chance of winning! This was there first GTS and their game will be out around the end of March.

Bereb Enterprises Inc.

Bereb has a new game called CampAntics. The idea behind the game is to capture all the fun and mischief of summer camp. This game has a focus of interactivity and social play. At each decision point, the game helps foster conversation and interaction between the players. To help younger players, they have made a comic book that helps teach them how to play in a fun and playful format. Then as players progress (or get older), there are additional rules that can be added to the game to make it more complex and strategic. This game can be played solo or up to 4 players. The age range is targeted for 7 to 14, with the nod to older players who will can play with the kids.

CampAntics from Bereb Enterprises

Armstrong Forensic Laboratory, Inc.

Armstrong was at the show telling game companies about their consumer product testing services.  This lab is certified to deal with CPSIA testing, and they have an interesting approach for companies. Armstrong partners with a Chinese logistics company, where the game manufacturer would ship its product for a 10 day holding period. In that 10 days, the logistics company selects random samples and ships them to Armstrong’s lab in the United States. The tests are processed within that 10 day period before the product is sent to the US. Therefore, there will be no surprises in customs once your game arrives. And in addition, they have partnered with an Insurance and Liability provider who will give a discount on their premiums if you use Armstrong’s services. With this discount you are close to getting the testing done for free.

Cepia Games

Cepia was showing off their new RoadZters game. RoadZters is similar in play to their Bisikle game, although with race cars. The basic premise of the games is that you flick a specially designed marble (the ZBall) with your finger down the track. Where it lands, is where you move your car. Sounds simple? Well its not. There are obstacles, ramps, and of course, other cars in your way. And if you flick the ball off the track.  Na, na, na, na na… Wipeout. This game can be played up to 4 players and is available now.

RoadZters by Cepia Games

The box and the manual:

Nightfall Preview Edition Box and Manual

Nightfall Cards from the Preview Set

I also did a quick scan of a few of the cards, including the “draft” cards for setup and the damage cards. I am VERY please AEG took my suggestions to heart and made the colors easy for color-blind players. They are deep shades that I have no issues distinguishing. Trask happy!

Nightfall Card Samples

I will get more content up after I have a chance to play “Nightfall.”

Trask, The Last Tyromancer

Orbit is a fast paced, strategic game where space racers attempt to win the Rocket Race 5000.  Essentially, the first player out of cards wins the race.  Utilizing special “tools”, space racers are able to “cheat” to win the race.  These tools are represented by 24 special cards throughout the 120 card Orbit deck.  We wanted to build a game where every card in the deck was powerful in it’s own right.  We achieved this by adding the aforementioned special cards, the rest of the cards in the deck have a wild side on them.  That’s a lot of wilds!  By matching the colors on the cards, players are able to maneuver their way around the space track.

The game is quite ingenious as it tailors itself depending on the group of people playing at any given time.  We have had 4-6 year old children play with senior citizens without any issues due to the age gap.  Many people consider Orbit a conversational game as they are able to talk and have a good time while giving the game a minimal amount of attention.  Other players take Orbit very seriously and consider it essential to play each card in the correct place in order to maximize the potential of their hand.  One of the features of Orbit is the ability to take as many turns as possible using the cards dealt to you.  For the longest time the record for most turns taken was seven until it was beaten last weekend with nine!

Orbit was inspired by a much larger game that my brother Benj Hamilton created awhile back.  My father, Doug Chadwick saw Orbit as a separate game and together they started fleshing the mechanics out.  When I came on-board last September I saw the need to add a grief factor to the game and introduced the special cards, tokens and artwork.  We attended the Phoenix Comicon earlier this year and decided to play test Orbit with the public and were astounded when we heard “Can we buy this now?”  We have been working hard since then to make Orbit and 42 Games a reality.  That reality will come true in the next month when Orbit goes into production for a tentative release time of early next year.  A zombie version called Zorbit is also in the works.

I would like to mention that 42 Games is not going to be a one hit wonder, we have 20 unique games in development which cross several genres.  We are a family of gamers running a gaming company, we see an opportunity to do things right for gamers all over.  We will also be taking the suggestions of gamers and fans into account when it comes to the  creation of our games.

I will let you know when the game releases.

Trask, The Last Tyromancer

Players acquire palette color cards by playing hex tiles and combining the two  or more colors on either side of the connection point(s). As one of the many color-blind gamers this mechanic made me a bit nervous, but these are primary colors so it is not an issue.  As with other tile-laying games, I sense many opportunities to mess with other players. “Oh, I am so sorry, did you need that side of the tile? Oops, I blocked it totally without malice and by accident.” Wink, wink, nudge. nudge.

Here is an image of a player making a tile connection.

Here are some of the colors derived from the connections. This shot came from a useful reference sheet that comes with the game.

Victory points derive from completed commissions (all of which are famous paintings) and whatever remains in your hand at game’s end.

“Pastiche” is relatively rules light, with only an eight page rulebook and feels like a “fast” game.  “Pastiche” supports 2-4 players and an estimated play time of 45-60 minutes. Once I get a chance to play it, I will post a review.

Trask, The Last Tyromancer

History was a trash bag of random coincidences torn open in a wind.  Surely, Watt with his steam engine, Faraday with his electric motor, and Edison with his incandescent light bulb did not have it as their goal to contribute to a fuel shortage some day that would place their countries at the mercy of Arab oil.

This is exactly how I like to run events as a DM. I like to have the players encounter a series of events with seemingly harmless (or sometimes seemingly good) outcomes. But those outcomes add up to something far more sinister.

However, back to the topic at hand; using history in the RPG. Many DMs put a great amount of thought into the main “bad guy”, the arch-nemesis. However, most times they do not give much thought to where their antagonist resides when he is not tormenting the players. If there is a man of such evil, why would people not gang-up and hunt him down?

History can help us here. Not many an evil foe has ever had such an advanced system of lairs as Adolf Hitler during World War II. They were called the Führerhauptquartiere. A new book by Osprey Publishing titled The Führer’s Headquarters – Hitler’s command bunkers 1939–45 by Neil Short does an excellent job of of showcasing these 14 known fortifications. It is amazing that in such a short amount of time, Hitler went from simple air raid locations to massive concrete structures able to withstand heavy firepower.

This book details the design and development of these bunkers, talks about each location specifically and includes photos and illustrations of the layouts. The operations of these facilities and how they tied into the war are also discussed. And of course, important events like Operation Valkyrie, which was recently made famous by a Hollywood/Tom Cruise movie, are also brought up.

Sure, this book is not an RPG book, and it will not give you an instant base of operations for your bad guy. However, by utilizing a book like this, you can start to get inside the head of your villain and start thinking about the bigger picture of your campaign. History books like this will help a you become a better DM.

So when you are at your FLGS with some cash burning a hole in your pocket, instead of heading to the RPG section. Maybe every once in a while you should head to the back of the store with that little turn-style rack that has some quality campaign ideas at a decent price.

The Führer’s Headquarters – Hitler’s command bunkers 1939–45 was released on October 19th. It is available in game shops and bookstores or you can order it from Osprey or Amazon (among other places).

Thank you to Osprey Publishing for providing a review copy of this book. My evil masterminds just got a little slipperier.

Stuart

Bibliographic information

Great human empires still exist, but are often mere remnants of greater ancient empires and often teeter on the brink of oblivion. Elves and dwarves live apart from humans and every nation  distrusts each other. Hope is in short supply, while weapons are plentiful.

The new release is just a set of  “quick launch” rules to introduce people to the world and get the organized play rolling. A full campaign book comes out next year. Here is a shot of the cover.

This shot lists the various gods and a cleric doing what clerics do best; turning undead.

Take note of the section labeled “Elorii Deity.” “Elorii” is the Arcanis term for elves. They only have one god listed because the human gods betrayed, killed and devoured all the other elven gods! For some reason, elves now distrust humans…

Finally, a shot of a dwarf slinging some magic.

I am very anxious to check out the book and play a couple of sessions at Gen Con 2010 next week. I will let you know how it goes.

Trask, The Last Tyromancer

That said, I occasionally get contacted on a by aspiring game designers seeking my feedback. I give some comments to every one, but honestly none of the games  have seen the light of day yet.  These games only earn a mention on this site when I believe they have enough drive and skill to actually release a game in the near future.

That said, Platinum Lion’s pitch on kickstarter is quite good and  inspires confidence in me this project will take off.

Trask, The Last Tyromancer

]]> http://www.livingdice.com/4827/kickstarter-project-world-of-trexlin-and-xephyer/feed/ 1 http://www.livingdice.com/4779/first-look-chthonian-stars-from-wildfire-cthulhu-meets-traveller/ http://www.livingdice.com/4779/first-look-chthonian-stars-from-wildfire-cthulhu-meets-traveller/#comments Thu, 08 Jul 2010 11:46:26 +0000 trask http://www.livingdice.com/?p=4779 Update: Please check out our GTS 2011 coverage for a major update on this release.

“Chthonian Stars” (pronounced ‘thonian’ the ‘ch’ is silent) is the new Traveller supplement from Wildfire LLC releasing in October 2010. I spoke with Matthew Grau, vice-president of Wildfire  about the upcoming release, the history of Wildfire and what makes “Chthonian Stars” different from Wildfire’s other Mythos-themed release, “Cthulhutech.”

Chthonian Stars Temp Cover by Trevor Claxton

A bit about the history of Wildfire LLC before jumping in to their product line. Matt returned to gaming after a long hiatus in the film industry and started working in game development in the early ’00s. Wildfire came into being in 2004 and their “Cthulhutech” book released in 2007. In addition to Matt, Mike Vaillancourt, Fraser McKay and Rob Glass are the other partners in the company.

Beyond the RPG line, Widlfire also released a casual card game entitled “Poo,” which just won an Origins Award. This is the first product in the “Wild Things” imprint for Wildfire that focuses on more casual games.

Mongoose Publishing’s successful release of “Traveller” and some discussions between Mongoose and Wildfire resulted in “Chthonian Stars,” a Cthulhu-mythos supplement for “Traveller.” “CS” inserts the traditional H.P. Lovecraft Old Ones and their minions into the science-fiction setting of “Traveller.” Although both have Lovecraftian themes, “Chthonian Stars” is a very different animal than “Cthulhutech.” Matt described “Cthulhutech” as “Lovecraft meets anime meets near future.” It is very much “over the top.”[pullshow]

The world of [pullthis] “Chthonian Stars” is a “gritty” and “realistic” take on the sci-fi/horror genre[/pullthis]
. The year is 2159 and the earth is at relative peace under the auspices of the “Unified World Council,” essentially the United Nations but more competent and powerful. While there is certainly high technology, Jovian colonies and space travel, technology is not fantastic or magical . Matt cited some films used for inspiration, including “Outland,” “Aliens” and “Event Horizon.” In “Traveller” terms, it is a tech level 8 universe with a bit of tech level 9.

Against this background of advanced technology and peace comes the “Chthonian Star.” Locked in a billion-year orbit, the Star draws near to our solar system and the unusual becomes usual. Creatures of legend and myth appear, cults to forgotten gods grow powerful and whispers of “Old Ones” once again strike fear into mankind. The “United World Council” is not blind to the threat posed by the Star and actively works against the changes. “Wardens,” specially trained operatives quietly work against the oncoming mythos. Sometimes directly with guns or magic, but always in secret lest mankind learn too much…

Wardens are the focus of the supplement and while players may choose any “Traveller” PC class they like, the supplement leans towards a Warden campaign. There are also new rules added to the “Traveller” system to handle the usual mythos problems; insanity and horror. As well as an optional point-buy character generation/experience point system and the ability to select advantages and disadvantages for your PC.  Regardless how you build your PC, he must face terrifying horrors…

Matt kindly forwarded some images of those horrors and the art is quite impressive. Both of these critters are the work of Tom Garden.

The Seethari

The Ghast--with Improvements

“CS” is the first in an ongoing series tentatively called the “Cthulhu Saga.” Each supplement from Wildfire will exist in the same universe, but in different time periods. Also planned is a three book epic story arc campaign series and a book of pre-generated adventures. Both are planned, but do not have confirmed release dates yet. Watch the Mongoose release announcements for more information on these products. Matt also mentioned that an Open Play/Living campaign has been discussed, but there are no firm plans as yet.

For some further information, check out the Cthulhutech forums, within which the “Chthonian Stars” forums live until the official site is up and running. There is some additional preview material in the Mongoose Publishing’s “Signs and Portents” free newsletters #81 and #82.  For those attending Gen Con, Wildfire has a booth at Gen Con 2010 and will have some copies of the game to check out, but it does not go on sale until October. For the Gen Con 2010 bound, Wildfire is running “CS” and “Cthulhutech” games, but they are sold out.

I would like to thank Matthew Grau for taking  the time to chat with me and let me get an early look at Wildfire’s “Chthonian Stars.” If you have any specific questions about this book, post a comment and I will do my best to get it answered.

Trask, The Last Tyromancer