Furthermore, there are several SJ Games fan pages on Geocities, some of which use SJ Games content under the terms of our online policy. The Yahoo! policy requires its users to "warrant that the owner of such Content has expressly granted" permission for Yahoo! to become a co-owner of content on their pages. Needless to say, SJ Games has not granted, and will not grant, any such permission.
It will be very interesting to see how this shakes out. I would not advise either panic or indignation just yet . . . give Yahoo! time to answer. The answer may very well be "Whoops, we didn't mean that, here's our new agreement." Let's hope so.
-- Steve Jackson
You can read the details right here . . . for more info, contact Orc, the Angel of Networks, at orc@sjgames.com.
-- Steve Jackson
The harder, shinier coating is called "film lamination." It's a bit more costly, but the big problem with it is that, at least in the past, it tended to curl or even come off, especially if the book was in a humid environment.
Our printers tell us that this problem has been solved, so we used it for GURPS Russia (with its white cover, it needed all the protection it could get). It seems to have worked all right. So for the upcoming reprint of Compendium I (no, we haven't run out, but we want to make sure we DON'T run out) we'll try the film lamination.
-- Steve Jackson
...befuddle them with the Postmodernism Generator. Andrew C. Bulhak's program uses the Dada Engine to randomly create an essay so confusing and oblique, even the most posturing professor will assume you're a genius.
-- Suggested by Patrick Anders and Phil Anderson
This will also be the first con at which we have the Illuminati Y2K expansion set. I'm looking forward to seeing player reactions . . .
-- Steve Jackson
Come on over to Pyramid and
help us test our deathtraps!
Denis Serazin has created a shareware program called GURPS GURU (the "Generic Universal Roleplaying Utility"). It takes the pain out of character creation by doing all of the gruntwork for you. You'll still need to know the basics of character creation and understand the various aspects of the GURPS books that you are using when creating your characters.
Also, all of the updates and goodies that Denis writes for GURU are available for download here. Along with the downloads, complete instructions for how to import the new goodies are included on the page.
You can download a fully functional version of GURU, which will be good for a month from the time you download it. If you wish to continue using it after the evaluation period is up, you must purchase it from .RegSoft.
From the mind of Rob Prior comes GURPS Traveller Shipyard, a shareware program that allows you to do starship design for GURPS Traveller (or any other space campaign, really) with relative ease and simplicity. It even includes little reminders to tell you what you still need when designing your ship. The interface is user friendly and easy to follow. Plug in what you want and it does the calculations for you! You can download the demo version from the Game Aids page or the BITS site.
Beam Weapon Designer was created by Greg Henle. This ingenious, printable Java-script application does all of the calculations for you. You have the option of naming your custom made weapon, adding a description, telling it exactly what you're looking for, or using default settings. You don't really have to know anything about weapon design or construction to use this program.
-- Reese Harrell
You can also now order a printed copy of GURPS Lite; we had 30,000 printed up. If you order it along with something else from Warehouse 23, it's free; if you
order it by itself, there's a $2 charge for shipping.
If you've ever wondered how the Illuminated Site of the Week is selected, shake up Erik Dewey's site and gaze through the smoky bottom. Our methods are similar, though not quite as scientific.
-- Suggested by Bud Kourik
But it's back.
The Federal Reserve's "Bank Secrecy Act Compliance Manual" pressures banks to develop spy policies similar to Know Your Customer . . . policies that over 88% of banks have begun to implement. After the heat dies down, the Federal Reserve Board plans to repackage Know Your Customer as "policy guidelines" instead of "regulations".
Congressman Ron Paul has introduced the Know Your Customer Sunset Act (HR 516) and the Bank Secrecy Sunset Act (HR 518) that together will repeal existing Know Your Customer reporting requirements, and prevent any new KYC rules from being implemented. Together, these two bills will guarantee that our financial privacy will be respected. But Congress needs to hear from the 250,000 angry citizens who blew the whistle on the original KYC proposal.
Read the updated Defend Your Privacy page to sign an online petition and see what else you can do.
-- Steve Jackson
The theme of every conversation I had (or overheard): Adventure game distributing is still in flux. WotC is making waves by going direct to some retailers with Pokemon. A few distributors are seeing real growth in the market; others are struggling to pay their bills. And the publishers remain frustrated at how poorly even their new product, let alone back stock, moves through the current retailer/distributor system. (One retailer happily picked Car Wars off my table and asked me "When did that come back?" His sales rep had been telling him it was out of print . . . )
So everyone – publisher, distributor, retailer and gamer – is unsatisfied and looking for new ideas. Some of it is just talk; some of it will turn into real action. Relationships are changing, and will continue to change. You can say a lot of things about the state of our hobby right now, but it's not boring.
-- Steve Jackson
Illuminati Y2K
Yet More Illumination! Deluxe Illuminati enters the new millennium with 109 more cards bringing the global conspiracies in synch with (or slightly ahead of...) the times. The set includes 26 new Specials, 76 new groups, 5 blanks to let you create your
own groups - and two new Illuminati, Shangri-La and the Church of the SubGenius! This is a supplement to the recently re-released Deluxe Illuminati.
Stock #1325, ISBN 1-55634-374-4. $14.95.
GURPS GM Screen
Put the amazing flexibility and power of the
GURPS roleplaying system at your fingertips
with this fact-packed GM Screen. Two two-panel screens feature up-to-date
charts, tables, and other essentials. Also included is a copy of GURPS Lite, the 32-page core of the GURPS rules designed to provide a simple
introduction to the system. It's everything the enterprising GM needs in
one compact package.
Stock #6414, ISBN 1-55634-397-3. $10.95.
GURPS Warehouse 23 (reprint)
The global power balance teeters on the brink of chaos. We touch too much too soon. We discover things we were never meant to comprehend: Relics created by the whim of mad genius, or aliens, or gods - or godlike DEMONS... substances so potent that a handful could destroy our world, computers so subtle that no network is secure from their manipulation, sorceries dark enough to annihilate the purest soul.
Somewhere, those with true Power have built a facility to imprison these forces... for proper study. For our own good. To insure order. Until THEY decide to unleash them. They know WE aren't yet ready for the contents of Warehouse 23. But are they?
Your players will be delighted. At first.
Stock #6523, ISBN 1-55634-328-0. $19.95.
In the Deluxe Illuminati box, each stack of cards sits on a mini-platform. If you remove the platform, you can fit 2 stacks into each depression. Thus, Y2K can be easily placed in the Deluxe box without any adjustment. One would almost think we had planned that.
-- Steve Jackson
American Inventor Eric Herr may have found his backer for an honest-to-goodness phaser in Britain's Ministry of Defense. The ministry wants to issue it to police and peacekeeping forces. The freeze ray, as they are calling it, would incapacitate criminals and rioters at 100 meters without injury by paralyzing the voluntary muscles. It's expected to cost $500,000 to make his patent prototype a reality. Any takers?
-- Suggested by Kira
What are we talking about? Cheapass Games from
Warehouse 23! Yes, Kill Dr. Lucky and all of the rest of the Cheapass line are now available for you to order straight from us, including the newest of the Button
Men: Hannah and Kublai!
Ross Jepson is the new sales and marketing contact for Steve
Jackson Games. For the past 19 years, Ross owned and operated TD Imports, one of Canada's largest game distributors. He knows exactly what kinds of problems our distributors face. He's also a long-time gamer, so he understands the customer's viewpoint as well.Ross comments: "The three-tier system is not broken – it is just being manipulated by the whims of a few large manufacturers. Steve Jackson Games is committed to its distributors."
Ross will be working from his home in Alberta (yes, thanks to the net, our staff is getting more and more widespread). He
can be reached at jepsonr@telusplanet.net.
And what about Murphy's Rules? Not to worry -- Murphy's will appear *every week* in Pyramid as well, including the first Friday of the month!
Their little blue faces have haunted your dreams since you were a tyke. The wounds may have faded, but the scars are all over your browser when you plug a URL into The Incredible Smurfalizer. The diabolical Smurfalizer alters that page so it mimicks the Smurfs' infuriating speech patterns.Obviously a Gnomish plot. Fnsmurf.
-- Suggested by Anders Gabrielsson
(And see the Rinkworks site for several more of these filters.)
It's sponsored by CDNow (which is offering $5-off e-mail certificates at the Spam Recycling Center site). Worth a look!
Steve Jackson Games and Bungie Software proudly announce GURPS Myth - a sourcebook for tabletop roleplaying in the world of Myth: The Fallen Lords and Myth II: Soulblighter!
GURPS Myth will flesh out the fantasy world of Myth, where the forces of Light must face cyclic outbreaks of Dark hordes in mortal combat. It will explore the many fascinating races, storylines, and characters of Myth, and the possibilities of combining the best of tabletop and computer roleplaying.
Myth and Myth II are the award-winning fantasy-combat games produced by Bungie Software. GURPS Myth will be produced by Steve Jackson Games under license.
-- Gene Seabolt
I want to get at least one of these – maybe more than one – as stage dressing for the Pirate Game. There's a good one from Captain Morgan's Spiced Rum, and my spies tell me that a standie was also made of Tim Curry as Long John Silver in Muppet Treasure Island. And who knows what else might be out there?
Send me e-mail if you've got one of these, or can (arrrr!) lay your piratical hands on one, and we'll discuss an appropriate bribe.
-- Steve Jackson
