2002 DecemberOk so we can all see that in d20 Modern, WotC hopes to take over the non-fantasy gaming world, but are you supposed to do with the book in the mean time? Well Second World Simulations has released a free scenario for d20 modern called Small Worlds and Exiles. SWaE is a 37 page PDF outlining a magical adventure set in New York and designed for four first level characters. And remember the best part…It’s FREE.
Archive for December, 2002
You Bought d20 Modern…Now What
Tuesday, December 31st, 2002Check out the Dorks at Wiz Kids
Monday, December 30th, 2002No this is not another offensive post that Allan’s gonna have to tone down. Wiz Kids is now hosting a new Dork Tower comic strip each monday. Wiz Kids has signed a deal with Dork Tower creator John Kovalic to host Mage Knight, HeroClix, and MechWarrior inspired Dork Tower comic strips on the Wiz Kids Site. It takes a real secure company to pay someone to make fun of them. Then again, they are making more money than god (Odin perhaps) so you gotta spend it on something.
The Mafia Needs You
Monday, December 30th, 2002Citizen Games has put out an all call for freelance writers who think they have a handle on d20 modern or just a thing for “The Life”. Citizen Games, makers of the upcoming Henry Hill’s Mafia RPG are looking for some brave freelancers to take on some assignments for the new game. For information about writing for Citizen Games, check out their about page, or drop an email to Rob Stone of Citizen Games.
New Review: Rookie’s Guide to Criminal Organisations
Monday, December 30th, 2002To start this year ending/beginning week off right, Matthew brings us his evaluation of The Rookie’s Guide to Criminal Organisations by Mongoose Publishing. I keep wanting to correct the British spelling of that last word in the title, but the publisher’s from the UK (and so is the reviewer), so I’ll restrain myself. Have a look and see what Matthew’s judgement was.
Happy Holidays!
Wednesday, December 25th, 2002All of us at OgreCave would like to wish you lots of gaming, or new games, or time with fellow gamers to discuss games. Oh, and a Merry Christmas, too.
Warmachine product line info
Tuesday, December 24th, 2002Privateer Press has announced the product line details for its greatly anticipated Warmachine miniatures combat game. This March, a year after our first glipse of the game at GTS ’02, the first in “an ongoing series of monthly product releases” will hit stores with all the brute force it can muster (which should be considerable; these figures are nice). This will be after the game’s initial release in February, of course. The full details are in the press release, below:
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WotC site updated
Monday, December 23rd, 2002The main page of Wizards of the Coast’s website looks much better now. Far less cluttered, easier to find what you’re looking for. Not as much variety right up front, though, just the big name brands. Hmm… sounds like the WotC retail stores, doesn’t it?
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FAO Schwartz in trouble
Monday, December 23rd, 2002In another ICv2 story, we hear that FAO Schwartz stores aren’t doing that well either. Apparently, the stores have reported a 20% loss compared to last year. Though there are only 23 FAO stores proper, the company also owns 61 Right Start stores and 169 Zany Brainy stores. According to the story, “FAO has asked its bank to relax recently imposed borrowing restrictions, stating that it will be forced into bankruptcy under current conditions.” I’ll have to drop in on the San Francisco store soon, just in case they go under. Neat place, and a wide variety, but a bit pricey overall.
WotC retail stores losing Non-WotC RPGs
Sunday, December 22nd, 2002This ICv2 story has the whole shpiel from Rich Kummer of ACD Distribution. Games Workshop product, WizKids stuff, and third-party card and board games will still get carried, but apparently, Wizards can’t afford the shelf space for White Wolf, Pinnacle or Green Ronin anymore. Given the tremendous array of D20 D&D-support products from third parties, this move seems suicidally stupid for WotC’s brick-and-mortar business moving D&D, but then, I don’t have to pay taxes on all that inventory, so what do I know.
MW Dropship Confirmed At GAMA
Friday, December 20th, 2002OgreCave has received some email from a MechWarrior Battlemaster, telling us that store owners and managers who run MW events got a letter from WizKids recently, telling them they’ll have a chance to get a free Dropship if they attend a Q&A at GAMA. So presumably, the rest of us will be able to get our hands on one at least at Origins, if not before.
My Mechs, I likes ‘em big
Thursday, December 19th, 2002GamingReport has a few probable details about the upcoming “big figure” for MechWarrior, a dropship that’ll hold four full-size Mechs inside and have five combat dials of its own. MWRealms hasn’t picked up the story yet – maybe they don’t do rumors? – but they do have a story about eight-inch Mech figures headed to the toy market.
From the people-still-play-Magic department…
Thursday, December 19th, 2002I don’t have a link for this, exactly, but I had a talk last night with a couple of fairly serious, if amateur, local Magic players last night and they told me something interesting. It is heavily rumored, but unconfirmed, that the next expansion after the current base set (which is Onslaught – the base set, that is) will consist of nothing but creatures. That’s right: all creatures, all the time. The third expansion in the Onslaught block would then have no creatures at all, to balance things out. I’m sure this doesn’t affect any of your lives really, and might not be true at all, but I post it in the hopes that it’ll entertain you for a few seconds. That’s about it. Whee!
Cave Troll surfaces to defend lair
Monday, December 16th, 2002No, Peter Jackson hasn’t resurrected the beast from the first Lord of the Rings movie. I’m talking about Cave Troll, the latest board game design from Tom Jolly, by way of Fantasy Flight Games. For the curious types out there, FFG has posted the Cave Troll rules, but the gist of it is this: each player controls a party of adventurers as they search the cave troll’s lair for loot and magical goodies. As players find these fabulous prizes, they score points. All the while, players must jockey for position against each other and avoid the cave troll and other nasty beasts. Though the concept is similar, the game mechanic is far different than Jolly’s excellent Drakon, making this a game I’m looking forward to test driving.