tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-143811282024-03-07T19:30:40.092+00:00The Occasional Blog of Phil MastersWhat it says in the title. A place I can go to free-associate or opinionate when the whim takes me. Comments always welcome.Phil Mastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12533451060065715833noreply@blogger.comBlogger235125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14381128.post-32522489377978420662024-01-24T15:20:00.005+00:002024-01-24T15:23:51.888+00:00Me on Video!Hey, <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qDzN_Ov24J0">I've been interviewed by Really Dicey, so now you can see me on YouTube!</a>Phil Mastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12533451060065715833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14381128.post-72472113442124197262023-10-04T22:15:00.004+01:002023-10-04T22:20:01.832+01:00Catching Up on Publications<p> Oops, it's been a little while since I posted here - which wouldn't matter much if I hadn't had experienced an outburst of productivity.</p>
<p><img align="right" alt="GURPS Fantasy Folk Kobolds Front Page" border="0" data-original-height="195" data-original-width="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhbHTQVgqGny-JXEMJtZqacgj4YvkOdjSARvAOZZvWepbr6-5H6U9VAB4akDCNZPMVLDg1gKidBIpZ53bzIjqrgfkf1il8T3xvrAwirAruVIVFmLhRbOYXJt-BT97iP1x0iJxt9wwWYjV9jJzSTQi4yBLg9KVehtubyNUlwBWKb-TmFoGnc2m-GNA/s16000/GFF-K.jpg" />
To begin with, Steve Jackson Games published my second "Fantasy Folk" creation - the short and sweet (well, <i>not too unsavoury</i>) <i><a href="https://warehouse23.com/products/gurps-fantasy-folk-kobolds">GURPS Fantasy Folk: Kobolds</a></i>. Yes, the mild annoying little guys. Except that <i><a href="https://warehouse23.com/products/gurps-banestorm">GURPS Banestorm</a></i> kobolds aren't that small, when you look at them, and I'm also covering more folkloric kobolds, which came in at 245 <i><b>GURPS </b></i>points. Then there's the question of the myth's <i>possible </i>roots in Greek myth... the project was slightly more fun than I might have expected.</p><p>And then, just a little later, I released a couple more books that collect characters who I originally created for volume 2 of <i>Pyramid </i>magazine (i.e. the Web-based version). <i><a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/451827/Pyramid-Characters-Fantasy-Foes-and-Friends">Pyramid Characters: Fantasy Foes and Friends</a></i> has characters for a variety of fantasy settings, while <i><a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/452222/Pyramid-Characters-Crosstimers-and-Other-Oddities">Pyramid Characters: Crosstimers and Other Oddities</a></i> mostly features characters for the <i><a href="http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/infiniteworlds/">GURPS Infinite Worlds</a></i> milieu, plus a couple of others who sort-of fit with that concept.</p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><img border="5" data-original-height="194" data-original-width="150" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhXWRrrUbwkbvmAaP9i0C8RQnmEm4sNx9SV_HwzxJOjFzIJcLZY0Zuvcczg_1mE0YEp5xsShyNSXM9kKYrpO5M_BSpz_B7KAzSuHLOsLK5hi0Pppm2aN9n48eSu0q5rx9zEiTWaTeBhQirZbM7kx5KgC2X5Etvo4tAXlTx83b5bvdlO-2EjtfVUJQ/s1600/PCFFaF_Cover_Small.png" width="150" /> <img border="5" data-original-height="194" data-original-width="150" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEisbqB6k6eCF1QLOHsezhnibH_379nzAgvFv8_yk_AT2GhHPqHkKsLMUPlSiaxLFt_J8HDWOqGaeACcHcj9qMLWlktp_C0LpKiHTaZ-u5tbINwmvolZckV15IO8qkMmX0Grsnd_a9Cgcq5R4TlmYF-cVmd_z77-QaEz_i1LduwSHLtMF4sf_gGZFA/s1600/Crosstimers_Cover_Small.png" width="150" /></div><p><br /></p>
<p style="text-align: left;">(Both of those latter two are currently only available from DriveThruRPG, as Warehouse23 seems to be having some technical issues with third party sales at the moment.)</p></div>Phil Mastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12533451060065715833noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14381128.post-56986839789604578882023-06-30T15:37:00.005+01:002023-06-30T15:42:47.475+01:00Goblin Mode<p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxMpRTBeNpM4VJh6_bWrS3158D4bza4lw3R_cr7S3ZhJUxRXp9jVlZzAI3jURSjj963P320fNpZQfY2PcA86jBr7d_IobUmCKLjDRTegX9LOlwU1WZmMUsWdnhFU7hVTaDwe_xeTeJLS3GO6gQpYKYGVm_xs739BSSIE9VhhO69N4FAye_PVNxdA/s194/GFF-G&H.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="194" data-original-width="150" height="194" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjxMpRTBeNpM4VJh6_bWrS3158D4bza4lw3R_cr7S3ZhJUxRXp9jVlZzAI3jURSjj963P320fNpZQfY2PcA86jBr7d_IobUmCKLjDRTegX9LOlwU1WZmMUsWdnhFU7hVTaDwe_xeTeJLS3GO6gQpYKYGVm_xs739BSSIE9VhhO69N4FAye_PVNxdA/s1600/GFF-G&H.png" width="150" /></a></div><br /> After a bit of a lag (for, as I understand it, administrative reasons), my latest effort is now out (in PDF form) from Steve Jackson games: <b><i><a href="https://warehouse23.com/products/gurps-fantasy-folk-goblins-and-hobgoblins" target="_blank">GURPS Fantasy Folk: Goblins and Hobgoblins</a></i></b>. It's a generalised sort of guide to playing and GM'ing the creatures known by those names in RPGs - and not just genre fantasy games. (I'm rather pleased with the goblin template for <i><a href="https://www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/monsterhunters/" target="_blank">Monster Hunters</a></i>.) It walks the line between "very generic RPG fantasy" and "what words actually originally meant", and I hope avoids falling off.<p></p>Phil Mastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12533451060065715833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14381128.post-47406920846413064562023-04-19T13:51:00.001+01:002023-10-04T21:56:23.503+01:00Transhuman Space: What is Old is New Again<p> Oh yes, this blog still exists.</p><p></p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirMj312eoyhb595Z5GVcDZNvKUb0NXX0eJTR-8P8aNAYFqQlYhdFxcH4yLcVpGpfCFcLHOgHiSwE_lMVLPjW1QfFOH_T_U2tJhTgS7LUMvPPMngQZUDhlY5l6zpGUh4W4RN12Xt0CwPTTp4vWZr2HXsxv9mPfl-R75k10Ds4lMyGFqD7vt3po/s1164/Cover_Front_small.png" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1164" data-original-width="900" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEirMj312eoyhb595Z5GVcDZNvKUb0NXX0eJTR-8P8aNAYFqQlYhdFxcH4yLcVpGpfCFcLHOgHiSwE_lMVLPjW1QfFOH_T_U2tJhTgS7LUMvPPMngQZUDhlY5l6zpGUh4W4RN12Xt0CwPTTp4vWZr2HXsxv9mPfl-R75k10Ds4lMyGFqD7vt3po/w154-h200/Cover_Front_small.png" width="154" /></a></div><br />Well. I have a new (small) roleplaying book out - self-published, even. (Though some people would doubtless quibble with "new", because some people are born to quibble.) <b><i>Transhuman Space: The Pyramid Personnel</i></b> brings back half-a-dozen NPCs for the Transhuman Space setting which I originally wrote up as short articles in <i>Pyramid </i>magazine volume 2 (the Web page version), but which haven't been available to new readers since that went offline. So I negotiated a deal with Steve Jackson Games, put together a 30-page compilation, and am now selling this. It's available as a PDF from Warehouse 23, and as the same PDF or in print on demand form from DriveThruRPG:<p></p><p><a href="https://warehouse23.com/products/transhuman-space-the-pyramid-personnel" target="_blank">The Pyramid Personnel on Warehouse 23.</a></p><p><a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/419525/Transhuman-Space-The-Pyramid-Personnel" target="_blank">The Pyramid Personnel on DriveThruRPG.</a></p><p>(One note; some people seem to be under the impression that DriveThru do all their print-on-demand printing in the USA, with ensuing exorbitant shipping costs to Europe. This is out of date; they now have printing options on this side of the Atlantic.)</p><p><br /></p>Phil Mastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12533451060065715833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14381128.post-26886335155183988982022-04-03T20:23:00.004+01:002022-04-03T20:23:51.882+01:00Leaving LiveJournal<p>Just for the record, in case anyone is interested; I'm dropping my LiveJournal account (because reasons), and will probably delete it entirely in a few days. It was always echoed here, anyway, and this will remain as much of a blog as I've got.</p>Phil Mastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12533451060065715833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14381128.post-49186793773393096482021-11-08T18:15:00.003+00:002021-11-08T18:15:58.493+00:00Back in Print (on Demand)<b><i><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQJU3tVRLYkebclf76rU2yAXaEdIBQXnc6pJnGbkTwkWgzc9wiy31UdXF3sOXusYtdJ5SYViOZdrWlwS2LhCKTxPZmIPlS0HFUQKk3alU0RFCrVFX7PobtjZuJ5hbHR4gxnuij1g/s615/New_Discworld_cover_lg.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="615" data-original-width="458" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjQJU3tVRLYkebclf76rU2yAXaEdIBQXnc6pJnGbkTwkWgzc9wiy31UdXF3sOXusYtdJ5SYViOZdrWlwS2LhCKTxPZmIPlS0HFUQKk3alU0RFCrVFX7PobtjZuJ5hbHR4gxnuij1g/s320/New_Discworld_cover_lg.jpg" width="238" /></a></div><br />The Discworld Roleplaying Game</i></b> went out of print a while back, but the thing about modern technology is that "Out of Print" no longer means quite what it used to — at least sometimes. <a href="https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/1556349785">The book is now available through Amazon's Print on Demand service</a> — just follow that link.<p></p>
<p>(I've not seen a copy of this version; it's paperback, of course, and I'll be interested to see what the quality is like.)</p>Phil Mastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12533451060065715833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14381128.post-12279211601327038832021-10-26T09:19:00.007+01:002021-10-26T09:19:55.219+01:00First Thoughts on Dune part 1<p> <span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, "lucida grande", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Hmm.</span></p><span style="background-color: white;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, "lucida grande", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Spoilers follow, of course.</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, "lucida grande", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, "lucida grande", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, "lucida grande", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">I walked out of the cinema moderately impressed, but then I often do. I’m a sucker for ci</span></span><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, "lucida grande", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="background-color: white;">nematic techniques, and anyway I’d seen it on IMAX and had just spent two hours being physically assaulted by Hans Zimmer’s score (which is definitely great). But the refrigerator logic hit before I’d even reached the refrigerator.</span></span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, "lucida grande", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, "lucida grande", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, "lucida grande", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">It looked impressive. The sets and scenery were epically vast. It reminded me of that historical theory about the end-state of all civilisations being stasis and architectural giganticism; every building and spaceship was ten times bigger than it needed to be. But then, equally, the movie itself could be taken as an art film which had succumbed to giganticism.</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, "lucida grande", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, "lucida grande", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, "lucida grande", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">And dear god, I wish that Villeneuve could find a lighting cameraman or set designer with the guts to to tell him that murky fog isn’t big and isn’t clever. The murk was appropriate in </span><i style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, "lucida grande", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Arrival</i><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, "lucida grande", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">, but neither </span><i style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, "lucida grande", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">Blade Runner</i><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, "lucida grande", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"> nor this needed so much of it.</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, "lucida grande", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, "lucida grande", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><div style="text-align: left;"><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; background-color: white; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, "lucida grande", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">And then I was reminded of my personal response to some of the Harry Potter films. I should explain that I’ve never read the Harry Potter books, so I came out of the later movies especially thinking “well, there was clearly a story in there, but blowed if I know what it was” — but the people who went in knowing the story generally enjoyed it. Call me literal-minded, but I feel that an adaptation of a book should be more than a set of illustrations of scenes from that book.</span></div><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, "lucida grande", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, "lucida grande", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;"><span style="background-color: white;">And there was certainly a lot squeezed out from the book. Sometimes that’s necessary, but the blink-and-you’ll-miss-it moment when Thufir Hawat’s eyeballs turn white as he does some mental arithmetic suggest that mentats were supposed to be in there, but had ended up on the cutting room floor. Couldn’t they just have cut half an hour or so of Timothy Chalamet looking slightly angsty? Losing the idea of mentats just turned Hawat into an all-purpose bureaucrat, and also made Yueh’s attempted revenge and Leto’s death scene less interesting and plot-useful — because by killing the Harkonnen mentat, you set up Hawat’s move into his position for the second half of the plot (and grant Yueh some posthumous revenge).</span></span><span style="background-color: white;"><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, "lucida grande", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, "lucida grande", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, "lucida grande", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">(Losing the stuff about Yueh’s psychological conditioning also deprived the Harkonnens of some Evil Schemer points, and makes the Atreides look a bit incompetent in having defences that can be brought down by one undetected traitor. But then, “unbreakable conditioning” that could be broken by the baddies pulling the age old “we have your wife, bwah-hah-hah” tactic never made sense to me, so whatever.)</span><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, "lucida grande", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><br style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, "lucida grande", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;" /><span style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; font-family: verdana, geneva, lucida, "lucida grande", arial, helvetica, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">A lot of what felt off to me may be patched in part two. We’ll see. But that would make part two a very different film to part one, so I suspect we’ll mostly get murky fog and Timothy Chalamet looking vaguely angsty. Or maybe there’ll be a five hour director’s cut with all the Herbertian politics back in.</span></span>Phil Mastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12533451060065715833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14381128.post-91089280602279817522021-07-08T18:36:00.001+01:002021-07-08T18:36:34.419+01:00Unleashing Osiris (for just $3)<p><a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/warehouse23/steve-jackson-games-gurps-2021-pdf-challenge">The latest Steve Jackson Games <b><i>GURPS</i></b> Kickstarter project</a> again offers the possibility of acquiring a PDF of my creation -- in this case, <b><i>GURPS Infinite Worlds: The Osiris Worlds</i></b>, a brief collection of alternate history settings centered on alternate versions of Ancient Egypt. Actually, it offers the definite possibility of getting twelve <b><i>GURPS </i></b>mini-supplements for just $3, if you act in the next few days.</p>Phil Mastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12533451060065715833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14381128.post-48430796491561078442020-08-30T18:55:00.005+01:002020-08-30T19:24:49.785+01:00Twelve Towers and Turrets<p> </p><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;" wfd-id="2"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaA2gmPV-YnUaQ4TKPw30eBKwRfcj7oAwiuGaffV97RGngeeT6X0PsVwbjQOd1AFKNG9eELg-NR5i80iQZ2f-lmcjSfZ-JA2YBiq1H5Q05Bn96PgbRCTQDTVr_e7aCXDRiJ4PNjA/s1164/Back_sm.jpg" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="1164" data-original-width="900" height="210" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhaA2gmPV-YnUaQ4TKPw30eBKwRfcj7oAwiuGaffV97RGngeeT6X0PsVwbjQOd1AFKNG9eELg-NR5i80iQZ2f-lmcjSfZ-JA2YBiq1H5Q05Bn96PgbRCTQDTVr_e7aCXDRiJ4PNjA/w162-h210/Back_sm.jpg" width="162" /></a></div>Just for the interest, I recently made a small addition to <a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/browse/pub/10517/Phil-Masters" target="_blank">my very small collection of personal works on DriveThrough RPG</a>; specifically, <i><a href="https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/326190/A-Dozen-Castle-Images" target="_blank"><b>A Dozen Castle Images</b></a></i> is mostly what it says - twelve full-colour pictures of castles (processed photographs, to be precise), large enough to show to players (especially perhaps on-screen while playing by video) and each with a brief note including some ideas for game events and plots.<p></p><div wfd-id="1"><br /></div><div wfd-id="0">So that's a bunch of generic, illustrated game ideas for just one dollar...</div>Phil Mastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12533451060065715833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14381128.post-62075180160258473632020-07-02T13:10:00.000+01:002020-07-02T13:10:07.694+01:00Kicked to StartI find myself on Kickstarter for the first time. Sort of.<br />
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Steve Jackson Games are currently running <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/warehouse23/steve-jackson-games-gurps-2020-pdf-challenge" target="_blank">a Kickstarter promotion in which a bunch of short PDFs are made available to anyone who backs it</a> -- exactly how many depends on how much the Kickstarter raises, but it's currently nine, and will probably rise to twelve by the time things are done. And one of the nine is my "Broken Clockwork World" steampunk setting.<br />
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And the good news is that one can get this material for just $3. (There are also larger backer levels which add other GURPS material in PDF form, making this a good deal for anyone who wants to buy a bunch of such stuff.) So if anyone is interested in any of this, the cost really is quite negligible.<br />
<br />
The URL for this is <a href="https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/warehouse23/steve-jackson-games-gurps-2020-pdf-challenge">https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/warehouse23/steve-jackson-games-gurps-2020-pdf-challenge</a> .Phil Mastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12533451060065715833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14381128.post-71593041436886638262020-06-17T11:45:00.001+01:002020-06-17T11:45:37.224+01:00Expand, Contract (57)Just briefly - the final draft of my little (okay, not that little) project for Pelgrane Press has gone in and been accepted, so now it's out of my hands. It may even see literal, physical print in due course, which always feels nice. Nothing against PDFs, but they're weightless.<br />
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So now, well, there's so scenarios to work on that should in due course see use at conventions (yes, initially online conventions, I had noticed the state of the world). Then it's over to the project for Iron Crown...Phil Mastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12533451060065715833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14381128.post-36396192784330084542020-05-12T11:28:00.000+01:002020-05-12T11:28:44.798+01:00Blast From My Past<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Back in the '80s, I was a big fan of the <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Champions</em> roleplaying game from Hero Games, which is why my first published RPG book, at the end of that decade, was <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Kingdom of Champions.</strong></em> While I went on to work for other publishers, I did a bit more for Hero over the next few years, and I've been quite pleased to note that the books in question have in recent years started to be republished in PDF form.</div>
<div style="background-color: white; border: 0px; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin-bottom: 1.5em; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">
Well, if anyone is interested in seeing both what caught my attention back then and what I did for Hero, now's your chance to get there on a budget. <a href="https://bundleofholding.com/" rel="nofollow" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #547488; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_self"><strong style="border: 0px; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Bundle of Holding</strong></a> are currently running a pair of really generous Fourth Edition Champions bundle deals which include my work for Hero and much more. If you stump up $35.19 or more for the <a href="https://bundleofholding.com/presents/2020Champs4Universe" rel="nofollow" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #547488; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_self"><strong style="border: 0px; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Champions 4E Universe</strong></a> bundle, you get, well, quite a lot of books, but the list includes <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Kingdom of Champions</strong></em> and also <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Champions Universe,</strong></em> to which I contributed quite a bit of material including an extended scenario (and the bundle <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">also</em> includes things like the classic multi-universal <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Champions in 3-D,</strong></em> and the quite unique <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Foxbat Unhinged,</strong></em> by my late friend Alison Brooks). But you might want to start with the <a href="https://bundleofholding.com/presents/Champions4Essentials2020" rel="nofollow" style="border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #547488; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_self"><strong style="border: 0px; cursor: pointer; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Champions 4E Essentials</strong></a> bundle; drop $30.35 on that and you'll get not only the <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Champions</strong></em> core rulebook but also <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">Champions Presents 1,</strong></em> to which I contributed an adventure, and <em style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;"><strong style="border: 0px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; vertical-align: baseline;">The Hero System Almanac 2,</strong></em> which includes my treatment of the UNTIL agency. Along with a lot else, of course.</div>
Phil Mastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12533451060065715833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14381128.post-72095834924654737002020-03-17T12:44:00.000+00:002020-03-17T12:44:25.386+00:00Platonic Solidification<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVlZ-61XNP8umyvwHpEjGU5xY_bV7P98IKP-iXFL28Xxo53GJKVnWwV319XP9IPaIxqgMMZrVu5c-L3N6uNZULrtQrVMqeIDFYPjdFYOymG2dffOakYd9tMme5DWBGGw0MxyU4Aw/s1600/Atlantis_cover_sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="199" data-original-width="150" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgVlZ-61XNP8umyvwHpEjGU5xY_bV7P98IKP-iXFL28Xxo53GJKVnWwV319XP9IPaIxqgMMZrVu5c-L3N6uNZULrtQrVMqeIDFYPjdFYOymG2dffOakYd9tMme5DWBGGw0MxyU4Aw/s1600/Atlantis_cover_sm.jpg" /></a></div>
A small note, but - <a href="https://www.amazon.com/dp/1556348819/" target="_blank">my old book <i style="font-weight: bold;">GURPS Atlantis</i> is now available in print-on-demand form from Amazon</a>.Phil Mastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12533451060065715833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14381128.post-41850565445546988372020-01-23T23:17:00.000+00:002020-01-23T23:20:59.332+00:00Expand, Contract (56)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMzknFOXBB62bG1Ykh0sv_9BGyUQ5B3SoITl4G4Tv3NCBqnxX85hCJTQcYqb7zEEEpDqp-SYREIxc06rfC9b81JrYAFbHMBeIa8MXcbee4WC6a8Xez2w_YKDEcVHKLw2IjhnU_4Q/s1600/48A8143B-F2F8-40F7-82DB-FF3346DE83B3.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="270" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMzknFOXBB62bG1Ykh0sv_9BGyUQ5B3SoITl4G4Tv3NCBqnxX85hCJTQcYqb7zEEEpDqp-SYREIxc06rfC9b81JrYAFbHMBeIa8MXcbee4WC6a8Xez2w_YKDEcVHKLw2IjhnU_4Q/s200/48A8143B-F2F8-40F7-82DB-FF3346DE83B3.jpeg" width="153" /></a></div>
I now have a new short-ish <b><i>GURPS</i></b> PDF up on Warehouse 23:<br />
<h1 style="-webkit-text-size-adjust: auto; margin: 0px; padding: 10px 0px;">
<span style="font-family: "helvetica neue" , "arial" , "helvetica" , sans-serif; font-size: small;"><a href="http://www.warehouse23.com/products/gurps-vehicles-transports-of-fantasy" target="_blank">GURPS Vehicles: Transports of Fantasy</a></span></h1>
<div>
(Yeah, it seems to have been a little while. Been doing other things. Still, I’m quite fond of this one, even at just 32 pages.)</div>
Phil Mastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12533451060065715833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14381128.post-18551571814941003052019-08-02T11:54:00.000+01:002019-08-02T11:54:03.098+01:00Scenes From a MultiverseI very much doubt that what passes for my social media activity influences anybody, but in case anyone could use it pointed out - there's a <a href="http://kck.st/32hnXIk" target="_blank">Kickstarter for a print volume 3 of <i>Scenes from a Multiverse</i></a> currently running and in need of a little love. And I'd really like for it to succeed.Phil Mastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12533451060065715833noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14381128.post-5814720377035558082019-03-09T11:46:00.000+00:002019-03-09T11:48:46.767+00:00Expand, Contract (55)<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigSMTh4sAIS9JStec44x0SGptP09OHNvC9pKozKItuvDR9_Cvb3Sv8T-AZ4Mgw533VaLs4rT1UsDsXAoH6HhdPAVApDxJmAhiQytlXE8V3pdH3TQJmvvtYeGBNjBTBca9qb5GHCg/s1600/GURPS_Steampunk_3_Soldiers_and_Scientists.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="350" data-original-width="270" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEigSMTh4sAIS9JStec44x0SGptP09OHNvC9pKozKItuvDR9_Cvb3Sv8T-AZ4Mgw533VaLs4rT1UsDsXAoH6HhdPAVApDxJmAhiQytlXE8V3pdH3TQJmvvtYeGBNjBTBca9qb5GHCg/s200/GURPS_Steampunk_3_Soldiers_and_Scientists.jpg" width="153" /></a><b><i>GURPS Steampunk 3: Soldiers and Scientists</i></b><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.warehouse23.com/products/gurps-steampunk-3-soldiers-and-scientists">http://www.warehouse23.com/products/gurps-steampunk-3-soldiers-and-scientists</a><br />
<br />
Which completes the starting set of <i><b>GURPS </b>4th edition</i> steampunk PDFs (along with <a href="http://www.warehouse23.com/products/gurps-steampunk-1-settings-and-style" target="_blank">1</a> and <a href="http://www.warehouse23.com/products/gurps-steampunk-2-steam-and-shellfire" target="_blank">2</a> and <a href="http://www.warehouse23.com/products/gurps-vehicles-steampunk-conveyances" target="_blank">Conveyances</a>); to put it another way, put those four books together and you'd have approximately the book I'd have written if SJ Games had been willing to do a new-edition <b><i>GURPS Steampunk.</i></b><br />
<b><i><br /></i></b>
This one is the characters book, which means a lot of templates, but I tried to add more interest with variant skills and disadvantages and martial arts styles and so on.Phil Mastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12533451060065715833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14381128.post-33475411773925808292018-11-06T23:51:00.002+00:002018-11-06T23:51:11.218+00:00Holding Out<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The latest Bundle of Holding, "Bundle of FATE 4", includes my own </span><i style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">The Small Folk</i><span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">:</span><br />
<ul style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px; padding-right: 40px;">
<li><a data-cke-saved-href="https://bundleofholding.com/presents/Fate4" href="https://bundleofholding.com/presents/Fate4" lj-cmd="LJLink2">https://bundleofholding.com/presents/Fate4</a></li>
</ul>
<span style="color: #222222; font-family: Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 14px;">There's some other stuff in there looks quite interesting, too.</span>Phil Mastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12533451060065715833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14381128.post-41628973204196767922018-11-01T22:55:00.000+00:002018-11-01T23:04:14.690+00:00Expand, Contract (54)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPwSQlT6Sy6X3tBdOAaUeIo7P7ls63zxn-G8nxK-05tyPYvIbYr7AhxXGyVIb0ERmudUiv0jut_G1f6AsogkhCuJa_z6rKEKftmbgppwrfSGRPRSFmO8Rc4JsO1B2XFCz5jz9GfQ/s1600/280BAFD8-9318-4A8D-994E-0AF0630CD3A8.jpeg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: right; float: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: 1em;"><img border="0" data-original-height="650" data-original-width="501" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhPwSQlT6Sy6X3tBdOAaUeIo7P7ls63zxn-G8nxK-05tyPYvIbYr7AhxXGyVIb0ERmudUiv0jut_G1f6AsogkhCuJa_z6rKEKftmbgppwrfSGRPRSFmO8Rc4JsO1B2XFCz5jz9GfQ/s200/280BAFD8-9318-4A8D-994E-0AF0630CD3A8.jpeg" width="153" /></a></div>
<b><i>GURPS Steampunk 2: Steam and Shellfire:</i></b><br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.warehouse23.com/products/gurps-steampunk-2-steam-and-shellfire">http://www.warehouse23.com/products/gurps-steampunk-2-steam-and-shellfire</a><br />
<br />
The latest in the little line of steampunk supplements I’m doing for SJGames, and oh so very much the highly necessary gear book.Phil Mastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12533451060065715833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14381128.post-38054716989106033202018-08-25T10:52:00.000+01:002018-08-25T10:52:41.631+01:00Sound<span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">I was at </span><a href="https://athenagames.com/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #547488; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_self">Athena Games</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">, in Norwich, the other weekend, running some Discworld demonstrations at their fifth anniversary event (nice people), and while I was there, </span><a href="https://www.listennotes.com/podcasts/draw-discard/athena-games-5th-birthday-y8vRGzZUToq/" rel="nofollow" style="background-color: white; border-bottom-color: rgb(204, 204, 204); border-bottom-style: solid; border-image: initial; border-left-color: initial; border-left-style: initial; border-right-color: initial; border-right-style: initial; border-top-color: initial; border-top-style: initial; border-width: 0px 0px 1px; color: #547488; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px; margin: 0px; outline: 0px; padding: 0px; text-decoration-line: none; vertical-align: baseline;" target="_self">the Draw & Discard podcast interviewed me</a><span style="background-color: white; color: #333333; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; font-size: 13px;">.</span>Phil Mastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12533451060065715833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14381128.post-74762252062826186482017-08-04T20:01:00.000+01:002017-08-17T23:55:47.549+01:00Expand, Contract (53)<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/steampunkconveyances/img/cover_sm.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; float: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" src="http://www.sjgames.com/gurps/books/steampunkconveyances/img/cover_sm.jpg" data-original-height="195" data-original-width="150" /></a></div>
Occasionally, my work leads to something getting published...<br />
<br />
<b><i><a href="http://www.warehouse23.com/products/SJG37-1731" target="_blank">GURPS Vehicles: Steampunk Conveyances</a></i></b> is now available from Warehouse 23. It's technically the first book in the <i><b>GURPS</b> Fourth Edition</i> "Vehicles" line, but it's also, of course, the second book in the 4e "Steampunk" line, supporting my past discursions on <a href="http://www.warehouse23.com/products/SJG37-0339" target="_blank">settings and style</a> with notes and game mechanics for some very steampunk hardware... A remarkable amount of it historical.<br />
<br />
(Of course, just because it really existed doesn't make it automatically a good idea. Pre-dreadnought battleships and giant balloons had their little problems, and that "torpedo ram" that gets the one big heroic moment in <i>The War of the Worlds</i>? Only a geek like Wells could think it was a cool idea.)<br />
<br />
But there's also some fantastical stuff, some of it courtesy Jules Verne, though I also raided third edition GURPS books along with dubious dime novels. So there y'go; thirty-plus vehicles, covering land, sea, air, and space.<br />
<br />
<b>EDITED TO ADD:</b> Roger Bell_West has <a href="https://blog.firedrake.org/archive/2017/08/GURPS_Vehicles__Steampunk_Conveyances.html" target="_blank">reviewed the book on his blog</a>.Phil Mastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12533451060065715833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14381128.post-19606563534081761182017-06-22T23:30:00.004+01:002017-06-22T23:30:51.271+01:00Expand, Contract (52)A very brief but somewhat significant note: <a href="http://www.warehouse23.com/products/GURPS-Discworld-Roleplaying-Game" target="_blank"><b><i>The Discworld Roleplaying Game</i></b> is now available for purchase in electronic (PDF) format</a>, for those who no longer like making shelf space.Phil Mastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12533451060065715833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14381128.post-44952031144994976372017-06-08T23:52:00.001+01:002017-06-08T23:52:56.406+01:00Expand, Contract (51)For those keeping score -- the <b style="font-style: italic;">GURPS</b> production process seems to be coming back to life now, as one of my PDF projects heads to production review, and another comes back to me after its first draft has been exhaustively reviewed by the line editor.<br />
<br />
I can't say much more than that for now, but it's a start.Phil Mastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12533451060065715833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14381128.post-30402125366594880252017-02-11T15:30:00.000+00:002017-02-11T15:32:05.587+00:00Discworld RPG OverflowDespite the 408 pages, some stuff got squeezed out of the <b><i><a href="http://www.sjgames.com/discworld/" target="_blank">Discworld RPG</a></i></b>. So I've now made some of that material available online:<br />
<br />
<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="https://www.philmasters.org.uk/RPGs/More-Discworld-Characters-from-the-Books.pdf">https://www.philmasters.org.uk/RPGs/More-Discworld-Characters-from-the-Books.pdf</a> - game stats for assorted characters from the novels.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.philmasters.org.uk/RPGs/More-Discworld-Occupational-Templates.pdf">https://www.philmasters.org.uk/RPGs/More-Discworld-Occupational-Templates.pdf</a> - some extra occupational templates.</li>
<li><a href="https://www.philmasters.org.uk/RPGs/More-Discworld-Spells.pdf">https://www.philmasters.org.uk/RPGs/More-Discworld-Spells.pdf</a> - more sample spells.</li>
</ul>
Phil Mastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12533451060065715833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14381128.post-79482356445339434482017-01-25T11:18:00.002+00:002017-01-25T11:18:25.726+00:00Another ReviewI guess with all the blogs and stuff there are in the world, I should expect a fair number of non-professional reviews. It's nice, though.<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2017/01/rpg-review-discworld-2nd-edition-gurps.html">http://www.belloflostsouls.net/2017/01/rpg-review-discworld-2nd-edition-gurps.html</a><br />
<br />
<br />Phil Mastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12533451060065715833noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-14381128.post-88630196203626699902017-01-14T09:33:00.000+00:002017-01-14T09:34:08.202+00:00The Continuing Saga of the Discworld RPGAaaand another review...<br />
<ul>
<li><a href="http://oneyardhex.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/discworld-rpg-review.html" target="_blank">http://oneyardhex.blogspot.co.uk/2017/01/discworld-rpg-review.html</a></li>
</ul>
<div>
The book is definitely in UK shops now. There've been reports of limited supply in some outlets - apparently the distributors underestimated demand - but restocks appear to be coming in. So if your shop claims that they can't get hold of the thing, tell them to press their distributor, <i>hard</i>.</div>
<div>
<br /></div>
<div>
(Amazon UK still don't seem to have it, though.)</div>
Phil Mastershttp://www.blogger.com/profile/12533451060065715833noreply@blogger.com1