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Monday, August 23, 2004
Gen Con Indy ‘04 Wrap-up: Sails ahoy!
No really, there was a giant mast, 20 feet high, at the front corner of the WizKids booth. As Mike just reported, WizKids will bring an expansion to Pirates of the Spanish Main out in March. However, I’ve got slightly more info to report than the public press release has revealed. Like the tentative name, for instance.
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Spanish Main expansion planned for March, third printing of core set planned for never
This bit of news is not terribly surprising or rich in details, nor has it been officially confirmed by anything resembling a press release. Normally I’d hold off on posting it on that basis, but “Pirates of the Spanish Main will get an expansion” is about as shocking as “winter will be cold.” What’s more interesting is this quote: “WizKids is estimating that the second printing will provide an eight to twelve month’s supply, and after the second printing is gone the company does not plan to go back to press.” I guess the latter point is not surprising either - WK probably just has an unlimited edition in mind or somesuch - but we’ll just see about the former.
Gen Con Indy ‘04 Wrap-up: Finish Him! OgreCave T-shirt Throwdown
Yeah, it’s over. Gen Con Indy has come to a close for us. The t-shirts have been counted and a winner has been declared. I must admit, I thought I had this one. By the time we had to leave the convention and meet the car to the airport, I had eight t-shirts in the bag.
It wasn’t enough. On the last day, Allan surged ahead and had collected four more shirts bringing his total to ten. The deadlock has been broken. Fatality. Perfect Score.
Ah well, at least it was pretty close. Well done, Allan.
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Saturday, August 21, 2004
Live at Gen Con ‘04: OgreCave T-shirt Throwdown - Three
There is one day left in the ultimate OgreCave t-shirt throwdown! By the middle of the day tomorrow, one of us will be going home with the championship belt while the other will be taking the walk of shame!
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Live from Gen Con ‘04: White Wolf gets Pendragon
Details are sketchy at this point, but after checking with White Wolf’s Stewart Wieck, we’ve confirmed that White Wolf has acquired the rights from Green Knight Publishing to publish new materials for Pendragon. Novels and online games will continue to be produced by Green Knight, but White Wolf has the reigns for roleplaying products. A full press release hasn’t been issued yet, but we’ll be sure to keep you updated when information becomes available.
Live at Gen Con ‘04: Gloom-y days ahead
Lurking in the Atlas Games booth, I ran into Keith Baker, creator of WotC’s Eberron, and Lee Moyer, major contributing artist for same. After talking for a few minutes, Keith mentioned his upcoming card game Gloom, for which John Nephew helpfully brought out the prototype. Set for release in October, Gloom will have players competing to be the most miserable. Each player will heap unfortunate events upon his family of poor souls while stacking good fortune atop his opponents. To enable players to see which “bad” cards cancel “good” cards and vice versa, the cards will be transparent and lay on top of the “character” cards each player has. Looking down through the card stack will show which traits are covered by something else, thereby being cancelled, and which traits are still in effect. When a family dies off completely, the game ends, and points of misery are scored.
Friday, August 20, 2004
Live at Gen Con ‘04: ENnie winners announced
The winners of this year’s ENnie Awards were awarded at a quicker-than-usual ceremony, and much fun was to be had. Here’s the list of winners:
Best Aid or Accessory
Gold: Roleplaying Tips GM Encyclopedia (Roleplayingtips.com)
Silver: Counter Collection Gold (Fiery Dragon Productions)
Best Art (Interior)
Gold: Nocturnals: A Midnight Companion (Green Ronin Publishing)
Silver: Bestiary of Krynn (Sovereign Press)
Best Cartography
Gold: Thieves’ Quarter (Green Ronin Publishing/The Game Mechanics)
Silver: Redhurst: Academy of Magic (Fast Forward Entertainment/Human Head Studios)
Best Graphic Design & Layout
Gold: Nocturnals: A Midnight Companion (Green Ronin Publishing)
Silver: Redhurst: Academy of Magic (Fast Forward Entertainment/Human Head Studios)
Best Art (Cover)
Gold: Grimm (Fantasy Flight Games)
Silver: Arcana Unearthed (Malhavoc Press)
Best Official Website
Gold: Hero Games
Silver: Green Ronin Publishing
Best Publisher (Overall)
Gold: Green Ronin Publishing
Silver: White Wolf
Best d20 Game
Gold: Arcana Unearthed (Malhavoc Press)
Silver: Grimm (Fantasy Flight Games)
Best Adventure
Gold: Lost City of Barakus (Troll Lord Games/Necromancer Games)
Silver: Black Sails Over Freeport (Green Ronin Publishing)
Best Campaign Setting
Gold: Dawnforge (Fantasy Flight Games)
Silver: Redhurst: Academy of Magic (Fast Forward Entertainment/Human Head Studios)
Best Setting Supplement
Gold: Crooks! (Green Ronin Publishing)
Silver: Thieves’ Quarter (Green Ronin Publishing/The Game Mechanics)
Best Rules Supplement
Gold: Crime and Punishment (Atlas Games)
Silver: Torn Asunder (Bastion Press)
Best Monster Supplement
Gold: Crooks! (Green Ronin Publishing)
Silver: Bestiary of Krynn (Sovereign Press)
Best Revision/Update/Compilation
Gold: Complete Book of Eldritch Might (Malhavoc Press)
Silver: Book of Fiends (Green Ronin Publishing)
Best Non-d20 Game
Gold: Cthulhu Dark Ages (Chaosium)
Silver: HARP (Iron Crown Enterprises)
Best Non-d20 Supplement
Gold: Fantasy Hero (Hero Games)
Silver: 50 Fathoms (Pinnacle Entertainment Group)
Best Non-d20 Setting or Setting Sourcebook
Gold: The Turakian Age (Hero Games)
Silver: To Go (Unknown Armies)(Atlas Games)
Best Non-d20 Adventure
Gold: Champions Battlegrounds (Hero Games)
Silver: Shades of Black (Champions) (Hero Games)
Best Licensed Product
Gold: Nocturnals: A Midnight Companion (Green Ronin Publishing)
Silver: Babylon 5 RPG (Mongoose Publishing)
Best Electronic Product (not free)
Gold: Sidewinder: Recoiled (Dog House Rules)
Silver: Roleplaying Tips GM encyclopedia (Roleplayingtips.com)
Best Free Product or Web Enhancement
Gold: Initiative cards (The Game Mechanics)
Silver: Ezine Archives (Roleplayingtips.com)
Best Fan Site
Gold: Roleplayingtips.com
Silver: SWRPGnetwork
OgreCave extends its congratulations to all the winners. Same time next year, then?
Live at Gen Con ‘04: OgreCave T-shirt Throwdown - Part Deux
Okay, it’s been a rough day but I’m starting to make up some ground on that punk with six t-shirts. Today’s count: four for me, six for for the guy who is soon to be humiliated on his own website.
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Live at Gen Con ‘04: The Red Star
To call the world of The Red Star merely an alternative universe or alternative future is to do it a disservice. The comic book created by Christian Gossett seems to be so much more than that.
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Thursday, August 19, 2004
Live at Gen Con ‘04: Finding monsters expeditiously
Suzi at Expeditious Retreat Press brought the noise and the funk — or at least a thorough list of D&D beasts. Monster Geographica: Underground, a collection of 200 3.0 and 3.5 monsters, released here at Gen Con with a new approach to its menagerie listing. As the title suggests, all the creatures in its pages dwell in subterranian areas. The monsters are then listed by their Challenge Rating, not alphabetically, placing the right size of threatening adversary at the gamemaster’s fingertips. More Monster Geographica titles are planned, for other terrain types such as Mountains, Forest, and Plains. D20 gamers can bring the easy reference book home for a mere $20.
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