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October 31, 1997: Halloween is Eeeeeevil!

Illuminated Site of the Week: Halloween is now the second most popular holiday in the US, right behind Christmas. And, as we learn from South Park, the true meaning of Halloween is costumes and candy. Or is it? Could there be a Sinister Force behind it all? Of course there could. Read the rant at this site.

-- Steve Jackson


October 30, 1997: Blessed Imagination

A new monthly RPG webzine called Blessed Imagination is now online. Every month they have regular columns, commentary, game reviews, adventures and scenarios. The October issue includes reviews of GURPS Ultra Tech 2 and Planet Krishna.

October 29, 1997: Cthulhupunk in Spanish!

We just received a sample copy of GURPS Cthulhupunk - en Espanol - from our Spanish licensee, La Factoria de Ideas. And they're working on Time Travel.

October 28, 1997: GURPS CD-ROM Announced

It is official: Steve Jackson Games will be releasing a GURPS CD-ROM sometime in 1998. It will be an interactive, multimedia product that includes GURPS Basic Set, Third Edition, Revised, GURPS Compendium I and GURPS Compendium II, and possibly other GURPS material and utilities. Both Windows and Mac versions are planned, but many other details have yet to be determined. A FAQ has been set up to answer your questions. It is a little sketchy right now, but it will be updated regularly, so keep watching that URL.

-- Sean Punch, GURPS Line Editor


October 27, 1997: Rogerio Vilela's Web Site

If you have admired the work of Brazilian artist Rogerio Vilela on Knightmare Chess and the Revelations Cycle for In Nomine, you'll enjoy his web site! And yes, he is working on the art for a second, brand-new Knightmare Chess set. More on this as it develops . . .
-- Steve Jackson

October 26, 1997: Illuminator by E-mail

The Steve Jackson Games Daily Illuminator is now available by e-mail, for those of you who don't visit our website daily (but still want to read the Illuminator). To subscribe, send e-mail to majordomo@pyramid.sjgames.com with the message "subscribe illuminator".
-- Kira


October 25, 1997: Angelic Player's Guide Takes Flight

Headed off to the printer this week was the Angelic Player's Guide for the In Nomine roleplaying game.

The Angelic Player's Guide is full of stuff players and GMs alike will want to better understand and play angel characters. Expanded information on all seven choirs, the lowdown on angelic reproduction, more about Dissonance and Falling, special cases like very young or very old angels, more on Relievers -- this book is a must-have.

Look for the Angelic Player's Guide in a store near you at the very end of November, or possibly the first week in December.
-- Scott Haring


October 24, 1997: RAW's Black-Ops

Illuminated Site of the Week: Robert Anton Wilson, I'm sure, needs no introduction. Out soon at your local bookstore is the culmination of a lifetime's study on his part: 'Everything is under Control: Conspiracies, Cults and Cover-Ups - Real, Unreal and Surreal'. No need to wait however, since online you can find more than just a flavour at his Black-Ops page. Working with Miriam Joan Hill , All Is Revealed.

--Number 2, Illuminated Sitekeeper.


October 23, 1997: Relics Contest Winners

Earlier this year, we announced a contest for the design of relics and artifacts for the In Nomine game system, with the winners getting published in the upcoming Librum Reliquarium supplement. We got a lot of great submissions, and here are the winners:

Derrick Blady, Jo Hart, Paul Heaver, Jacob Holcomb, John Ickes, Kjeld Johansen, ALex Karls, Daniel Kwon, Martin Leuschen, Kingsley Lintz, Walt Mazur, Tyson Neumann, Patrick O'Duffy, Christopher Paul, Andrew Rafferty, Jason Reynolds, Leath Sheales, Alexander Shearer, Joseph Whelan, Kurt White and Ed Wisniowski. Congratulations to all!

Oh, and one more thing. We've lost the address for Daniel Kwon. If you know him (or if you are him), please send us an address. Thanks.
-- Scott Haring


October 22, 1997: The Return of ADQ?

A very committed Car Wars fan is interested in reviving Autoduel Quarterly. We'd like to see that happen . . . if there is really enough interest to make it worth everyone's effort. To that end, we'd appreciate your filling out Yet Another Web Poll to help us decide whether the magazine can return.
-- Steve Jackson


October 21, 1997: Beautiful! Shiny!

Mystically potent? That's YOUR call. In Nomine and Illuminati jewelry is now available. We now have bronze and silver crosses for In Nomine (Angelic or Demonic, your choice). Available soon will be silver and bronze "eye in the pyramid" pins. (The colored cloisonne pins will be available again soon, but these new ones are all metal, a tiny bit larger, and very classy looking.) All these treasures can be ordered from our web catalog.

If you like the designs, but want some special treatment, like 14k gold, or the pyramid pins as a pendant, or whatever, contact the artist directly.

Special note: coming soon, In Nomine and Illuminati keyrings. As always, if you have any comments on these products, or have suggestions for ancillary products you'd like to see, send me a note. Thanks.

-- Micah Jackson


October 20, 1997: This Week's Sign That the Apocalypse is Upon Us

Set your VCRs -- this year's Magic: The Gathering World Championships will be televised, tomorrow night on ESPN2. The individual championships will air Tuesday, Oct. 21 at 1:30 am Eastern, 10:30 pm Pacific. Team championships will air next month, Tuesday, November 25 at 1:00 am Eastern, 10:00 pm Pacific.

For the complete press release, click here.
-- Scott Haring


October 19, 1997: GURPS In Nomine

Paul J. Taylor recently sent us the GURPS In Nomine rules, converted to Adobe Acrobat (pdf) format (complete with sidebars). Thanks, Paul!

You can download the Acrobat reader direct from Adobe.


October 18, 1997: Online Reviews & Interviews

Steve Johnson, in www.mania.com, offers a general review of the GURPS system.

Dino Hunt is reviewed in Kulkmannīs G@mebox (Reviews of English and German Games and Boardgames and Collectibles Corner). This review includes a discussion of the German version, which uses a gameboard.

And our own Dr. Kromm was interviewed by RPGnet; you can read the interview here.


October 17, 1997: 5/5/2000

Illuminated Site of the Week: On or around 5/5/2000 there will be global choas. You knew that, right? Richard Noone definitely wants you to know. You see, Mercury, Venus, Mars, Jupiter, Saturn, not to mention the Sun and Moon will all 'line up' on one side of the Earth to produce 'major stress on Planet Earth'. All hell will break loose: earthquakes, polar ice cap movement, tidal waves, East and West Coast USA under water - lordy. What can we do? Well, buy Rick's book of 'Basic Preparedness', that's what. It's amazing what you can do with a sheet of tarp and some plastic on your windows in situations like this. Just for the record, I'm one of those those rash dissenters who doubts that Earth will be pulled apart by tidal forces raised by the other planets. But then again, what the hell do I know?

--Number 2, Illuminated Sitekeeper (site submitted by Grog).


October 16, 1997: Final Revelations Cycle Titles Revealed

Steve Jackson Games has announced the titles of the final two books in The Revelations Cycle of supplements for the In Nomine roleplaying game. "We kept them secret for a while because they gave away more details than we wanted people to know," Managing Editor Scott Haring said. "But now the time is right."

Book IV of The Revelations Cycle will be called Fall of the Malakim. The Malakim, purest of the angels and Heaven's ultimate weapon in the War, have never Fallen. Most believe they *can't*. But in Los Angeles, a demon-controlled cesspool of selfishness and cruelty, something awful has happened and the truth might shatter the millenia-old balance between Good and Evil. Fall of the Malakim contains expanded writeups on David and Lilith, an in-depth description of Los Angeles as a setting for the In Nomine roleplaying game, and the adventure Fall of the Malakim. Look for Fall of the Malakim in late 1997.

Book V of The Revelations Cycle will be called The Final Trumpet. The earlier events in The Revelations Cycle, from Night Music through Fall of the Malakim, have convinced the more militant Superiors on both sides that the time is right for the final battle -- Armageddon. As the flames of war spread across the world, the angels and demons prepare for battle. Can you save the world from total destruction? More important, *should* you? The Final Trumpet has expanded writeups on Michael, Baal, Kobal and Malphas; two new Superiors -- Khalid, Archangel of Faith, and Magog, Demon Prince of Cruelty; the largest adventure yet published for In Nomine, The Final Trumpet; and rules for combining all five books of The Revelations Cycle into a single mega-campaign. Look for The Final Trumpet in early 1998.
-- Scott Haring


October 15, 1997: Wizards to Enforce Magic Patent

Wizards of the Coast has announced that they intend to enforce their newly-granted patent for Magic: The Gathering and will be asking for royalties from all manufacturers of games that infringe upon their patent. You can read all about it in the press release at the Wizards site.

What does it all mean? Darn good question. We'll definitely keep you informed . . .
-- Scott Haring


October 14, 1997: Top Ten GURPS Sourcebooks

This week's "Out of the Box!" column at the Mania web site is Kenneth Hite's list of Top Ten GURPS Sourcebooks. Since he included one I wrote, I shall not argue with his judgment . . .

Mania is a pretty cool web site, by the way, with lots of stuff on movies and TV shows and comics and toys and SF and other interesting things. If you want to avoid the long and graphics-heavy front page and go to Hite's column directly, click here.
-- Scott Haring


October 13, 1997: Shipping This Week

Got three new products going out this week:

GURPS Black Ops is a wild new sourcebook for GURPS set in a modern world where every urban legend -- the Greys, gargoyles, vampires, slimy things in the sewers, werewolves and more -- is true. As a Black Op, you're trained for two missions: Eliminate the threat, and make sure the public never learns the truth. The guns are big, but the monsters are bigger.

Heaven and Hell is Book III of The Revelations Cycle for In Nomine. It details both Heaven and Hell (duh...) and the Celestial Realms in general, has expanded write-ups for Dominic, Asmodeus, Yves and Kronos, introduces two new Superiors and has a complete adventure, too.

And Pyramid #27 is also on its way to stores, with a look at the Heavy Gear computer game, a short fantasy RPG adventure, a study of the Knights Templar and Hospitaller, a solitaire variant for INWO and more.

Look for all this neat stuff at a game store near you in the next week or two.
-- Scott Haring


October 12, 1997: And He Doesn't Boggle Easily!

S. John Ross, author of Warehouse 23, sends us this story:

"I was at our local Border's Bookstore the other day, and it occurred to me to ask (since we've recently lost the local gameshop) if I could order GURPS books and whatnot through them. The info desk girl looked up "GURPS" in her database (apparently just an electronic copy of Books In Print), and sure enough, she said that they could order GURPS books. She showed me the screen.

"And I boggled.

"There I was, listed as the author of Warehouse 23. There Pulver was, listed as the author of Mecha, Reign of Steel, etc.

"There Dan Smith was, listed as the author of both of the GURPS Compendia!

"[Boggle.]

"As it turns out, the full listing for the books credited them correctly (only in "browse" mode does Smif come up as the author), but it was a priceless expression on my face, according to the friend with me at the time."


October 11, 1997: A Bad Time For Authors, Part 2

Remember the note from Spider Robinson that we reprinted a few days ago? Looks like he's not the only one. Take a look at Norman Spinrad's home page and find out how you could buy the rights to publish his new novel with a $1 advance.

Hard times indeed, mes enfants.
-- Steve Jackson


October 10, 1997: The Cow Liberation Front

Illuminated Site of the Week: It doesn't take a Justified Ancient of Mu-Mu, or rather, Moo-Moo, to suspect the true mission of the The Cow Liberation Front. Did I hear someone say 'Illuminated Cowspiracy'? Surely not.

-- Number 2, Illuminated Sitekeeper


October 9, 1997: GURPS Space Maps

Eric Smith recently sent us some maps for use with GURPS Space. One is a Planetary Record sheet, and the other is a grid map suitable for making interstellar maps. Both maps are also linked from the GURPS Space page.

Thanks, Eric!


October 8, 1997: Sue's New Home

This past weekend, Sotheby's auctioned off Sue, the T-Rex skeleton we told you about last week, for a cool $7.6 million. Sue's new home will be Chicago's Field Museum of Natural History. Cast duplicates of the skeleton will also be given to Walt Disney and McDonald's, who helped sponsor the winning bid.

You can read more about the auction on the Sotheby's website, as well as on the Field Museum's site.


October 7, 1997: A Coincidence? You Decide ...

When a printer sends us a shipment of books, it's never exactly the number we ordered. Books get damaged in the printing process, somebody leaves the press on a couple of seconds too long, anything can happen . . . anyway, standard printing contracts allow for this, letting the printer get within a few percent either way of the number ordered and call it OK.

So now we have the official inventory report for the number of copies of The Marches that came in --

We got 6,606.

Contemplation on the ramifications of that fact are left as an exercise for the reader.
-- Scott Haring


October 6, 1997: More on the "Trading Card Patent"

Steve Fritz, a columnist for www.mania.com, gives his thoughts on WotC's recently granted trading card patent.

October 5, 1997: A Murphy's Milestone!

With the publication of Pyramid #27 (which is on the way back from the printer as we speak), cartoonist John Kovalic is now the all-time leader in production of Murphy's Rules!

We've had several other cartoonists in the history of Murphy's, including a Pulitzer Prize winner (local editorial cartoonist Ben Sargent), but none have drawn as many Murphy's as John. Congratulations!
-- Scott Haring


October 4, 1997: Librum Reliquarium Playtest Online!

The Librum Reliquarium is a book of relics for the In Nomine roleplaying game. The first draft files are now available here, but only for Illuminati Online members.

There will also be a newsgroup (io.games.sjg.in-nomine.relics) available soon for discussion of what you find. I'll be passing your comments on to book editor David Edelstein, or you can contact him directly.

This is the first In Nomine book we've put on the web for public playtest -- we're all very interested to see how this goes. Thanks in advance for your help.
-- Scott Haring


October 3, 1997: The Death Clock

Illuminated Site of the Week: Well, I always knew I was going to die. Eventually. We all do, well, most of us, anyway. It's just that now I know exactly when it will happen. Friday, 26th June, 2020. I don't know the circumstances. Maybe peacefully in my sleep; maybe violently, screaming as I tumble into the abyss. The Secret Masters were happy to let me worry about that, once they had revealed the date. It's a curse, believe me. You wouldn't want to know your death date. So just stay away from The Death Clock. You'll be glad you did.

-- Number 2, Illuminated Sitekeeper (site submitted by Grog ).



October 2, 1997: Back at the Warehouse...

Jason Aylen provides this offering:

A ham radio set. You can slice bits off and make sandwiches, but that diminishes its AM/FM reception.

Yes, we should be ashamed of ourselves for encouraging this. But we're not.
-- Steve Jackson


October 1, 1997: Discworld 2nd Draft Playtest

We have a new, complete draft of GURPS Discworld from author Phil Masters. Illuminati Online members can access the files here.

Discussion of the new draft is taking place in io.games.sjg.gurps.discworld (also available only to IO members). That's the best place to post your comments and hash things out with your fellow playtesters. We'll try to get Masters and the book's editor, Steve Jackson himself, to join the fun.

One thing we'd like to know fairly quickly -- the current draft is very, very long. What parts of it can you live without? Because we're gonna have to cut something . . .
-- Scott Haring



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