June 13, 2024: Tackling My Next Conqueror Challenge

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June 12, 2024: Scouring The Earth, One Mouse Click At A Time

I remember scouring the retail landscape of the early 2000s (whatever that looked like) for an affordable copy of Green and Pleasant Land – a Call of Cthulhu supplement that detailed the British Isles of the 1920s and 1930s. It was a book that was long out of print when I was searching for it. I eventually found a copy via some kind of community connectivity in October 2001 – maybe via the old Pyramid forums? (I still have the email!) I have dozens (if not hundreds) of other rare gaming goodies that were equally difficult to track down once I realized they existed.

So many aspects of this hunt have become easier in recent years, especially with the advent of POD technology. Hundreds of fans have taken advantage of the relatively recent release of the POD versions of the GURPS Basic Set to add those core books to their collection quickly and easily. (I suspect our international friends . . . [more]

June 11, 2024: Steve Jackson And Jordan Sorcery

If you're interested in the history of tabletop gaming, then you're probably familiar with the work of Jordan Sorcery. Jordan is a YouTuber whose videos cover a wide range of tabletop gaming topics, including gaming history, reviews, interviews with creators, and more. Recently, Jordan sat down to interview our own Steve Jackson to learn more about his career, company highlights, and what people can expect in the months and years ahead. You can also watch Mad Max in Your Pocket, in which Jordan offers a "micro-history" of Car Wars. Check it out!

-- Katie Duffy

June 10, 2024: Questions Three: Sean Punch

As noted in a previous Daily Illuminator, we've been asking some folks around here interesting questions in an abbreviated version of the Questions Three format, as found in Hexagram.

I recently sought out GURPS Line Editor Sean Punch, who has written, edited, contributed to, and guided countless supplements for more than 20 years.

You've been with GURPS since last millennium. What's the biggest change you've seen in your time in the professional tabletop RPG world?

Given my rules-geek reputation, you might expect me to say something like "narrative gaming," "rules-light systems," or "the OSR" – but my answer is "the digital revolution." When SJ Games hired me in 1995, the RPG world revolved around printed games, brick-and-mortar stores, physical gaming tables, and attending cons; today, PDFs, online shops, VTTs, and participation in crowdfunding are becoming the norm.

What's your . . . [more]

June 9, 2024: Two Nights (Or Four Hours) Of Adventure Possibilities?

Like many on the Internet, I was recently enthralled by Jenny Nicholson's YouTube video about the Star Wars: Galactic Starcruiser live-action roleplaying hotel experience set in (obviously) the Star Wars Universe. It's a four-hour video, so it's not for the faint of heart, but I found it worthwhile. The video gives a great overview of the history, build-up, and actual experience of attending the event in an honestly pretty objective-seeming review that detailed both good and bad elements.

As a tabletop gamer chewing on ideas constantly, I was – of course – intrigued by the notion of a space-opera game that expanded on the core premise of the Galactic Starcruiser, as far as an open-world ship-exploring sandbox game on a tight timetable. But I also envisioned running (say) a modern-day mystery campaign set in a similar hotel, with expensive set pieces and a tightly packed LARP experience . . . [more]