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NAGS Society Dispatch Archives — 2004 : Jan • Feb • Mar • Apr • May • June • July • Aug • Sept • Oct • Nov • Dec
December 31, 2004 — Planetary Mysteries We’ll close the year with a link to Planetary Mysteries.com, “where art and science connect.” December 30, 2004 — Mysteries-on-the-Net I’ve never taken the plunge to host a mystery party, but I imagine they would be amusing and fun. Mysteries-on-the-Net provides the resources you need to stage your own personal mystery in your very own home. December 29, 2004 — Submarine History From the blue skies to the black depths, we look to Submarine-History.com for a look at the development of submersible technology from 1580 to the present. December 28, 2004 — Aviation History From the roads to the skies: Aviation-History.com curates an online museum while FlightHistory.com features a nice gallery of photos. For another angle, the Ninety-Nines is an organization devoted to women aviators and has a nice piece on Women in Aviation History. December 27, 2004 — Automotive History The humble automobile sports a long and interesting history. The About.com Inventors site has a nice collection of resources on the history of automobiles, as does the Autoshop.com site Automotive 101. The Encyclopedia Smithsonian features the bibliography to end all bibliographies. December 26, 2004 — Web Holidays Every day someone somewhere celebrates a holiday. Today, for example, is Boxing Day in England (and Australia, New Zealand, Canada, and Scotland, although some folks will celebrate on Monday). If you’d like to bring a little holiday spirit into your gaming, have a look at WebHolidays.com. December 25, 2004 — vs. Monsters Vs. Monsters is an innovative rpg by Philip Reed (who designed Frag for Steve Jackson Games). Philip explains the game in the introduction: vs. Monsters is a roleplaying game in which the players take on the roles of monster hunters living in America. This is the America of twisted minds. This is America as seen though the goggles of distortion that are used by such greats as Lewis Carrol, Tim Burton, Neil Gaiman, and other creators more powerful than myself. This is America as it never really was. America merged with the London of the 1800s. America combined with every twisted ghost story I’ve ever read or imagined. And as I write this, you have a few hours left to go to OgreCave and download the pdf for free as a holiday gift from Ronin Arts. December 24, 2004 — Burton Holmes, Extraordinary Traveler NAGS Society Member Burton Holmes traveled the globe around the turn of the last century and then created a business by telling people about his travels. Holmes invented travelogues — elaborate lectures that included hand-painted magic lantern slides and later, motion pictures. If anyone knew what was going on in fin–de–siècle terra incognita it was Burton Holmes, Extraordinary Traveler. December 23, 2004 — Shark Bytes #3 Shark Bytes, the unofficial Savage Worlds Fanzine, has released its third issue (112p. pdf, free). For your pulp gaming pleasure, issue #3 contains 51 urban legends, notes on a Stalking the Night Fantastic campaign, Infernal Books, Dusty Volumes, Mystical Tomes, Pulp Adventure Seeds, and there’s more stuff in there! December 22, 2004 — Truth Be Known TruthBeKnown is Acharya S’s site that reveals all the truth you can bear regarding Earth and its mysteries. December 21, 2004 — Grim Tales Grim Tales is a new d20 sourcebook from Badaxe Games for pulp roleplaying (and not just 1930’s pulp, but pulp from Conan to Mad Max). Here’s a bit from the press release: The Game Masters’ Section is presented in true tool-kit fashion, allowing the GM to pick and choose from a wide variety of campaign trappings— Spellcasting, Horror, Technology, Vehicles, Firearms, Cyberware, and more— and to integrate them seamlessly into any campaign genre. The book also includes background material detailing the primary arch-villains of Grim Tales: a collection of evil overlords and their minions that can plague humanity (and challenge the PCs!) in any time period or genre. December 20, 2004 — Antarctic Fiction A sudden cold snap puts me in mind of life in the Antarctic. You’ve read Poe, you’ve read Lovecraft, you may have read Kim Stanley Robinson for a modern take. Fauno L. Cordes has put together a little Bibliographical Tour of Antarctic Fiction. December 19, 2004 — Primitive Technology The Society of Primitive Technology publishes a Bulletin devoted to the preservation of good old- fashioned know-how. You can read some of the articles online. December 18, 2004 — Virtual Perpetual Calendars Historical roleplayers who want to get things just right might be interested in these Virtual Perpetual Calendars for figuring out if January 18, 1868 really was a Saturday, for example. December 17, 2004 — D20 Shakespeare For those who take their roleplaying extremely seriously, I can’t resist Dispatching a link to D20 Shakespeare from Louis Porter, Jr. Design’s imprint Devil’s Workshop. Right now you can get two of my favorites, Macbeth and Henry V. December 16, 2004 — Noise Monster Noise Monster is a new company that will release Space: 1889 audio adventures in January. Recorded with a full cast in the spirit of old time radio, you’ll be able to order the recordings on CD for £10.99 in the UK and £12.50 elsewhere. December 15, 2004 — The Last Round The Last Round (Andrew Hind, $7.99 US, 42p. pdf) is an adventure for Pinnacle’s Savage Worlds (and thus easily Fudgeable). It’s set in Portuguese East Africa on the eve of the Great War. It’s the second release in Legion Publishing’s Savage Features line: “a collection of one-shot adventures providing everything you need to run a single evening's play. Each title is based around a theme from the golden age of the silver screen. From B-movie aliens, to sweeping high adventure, to gritty noir attitude, Savage Features put your players in the starring roles.” December 14, 2004 — Pulp Tidbits Here are a couple of mostly pulpy tidbits found while combing the web this morning: Adamant Entertainment is asking you to join the Secret Squadron — a subscription ($29.95 US) to their Thrilling Tales line of pdf pulp resource material. Apparently 30 pages per month are promised. Meanwhile, OtherWorld Creations (publishers of Forbidden Kingdoms) are offering portfolios of original pulp art (volumes three and four do look pretty cool for $3.99 and $5.00 US receptively.) December 13, 2004 — The Dark Continent Revealed The Dark Continent Revealed is one of those lists contributed by readers to Amazon.com. Tim Martin has put together a reading list for those interested in exploring the Dark Continent. And for a gaming version, I remind you of a previously Dispatched resource, Brett Abbot’s Tanzanica, a colonial game using the Mordheim rules from Games Workshop. December 12, 2004 — Radio Lovers Pulp inspiration is as close as your browser when you visit RadioLovers.com and take in some old time radio shows. Roleplaying has been compared to improvisational radio theater — have a listen to some of the real thing to keep your creative juices flowing. December 11, 2004 — The Internet Archive The Internet Archive looks like a fascinating resource for delving into the historical depths of electronic information. Spending a little time will no doubt uncover unexpected treasures. December 10, 2004 — OgreCave for the Holidays The kind souls at the gaming news site OgreCave can always be counted upon to put together a holiday gift giving guide. This year’s contains little for the historical gamer, but they’re all fun games nonetheless. December 9, 2004 — Sultan’s Lost Treasure Yet another of PBS’ excellent companion websites to their television specials, Sultan’s Lost Treasure recounts the quest to recover Chinese artifacts from a shipwreck off Brunei. December 8, 2004 — Victorian Science FACT Decor Our friends at Fiddlers’ Green are working hard to make sure that your office/kitchen/cubicle, or whatever sport the proper Victorian technology adornment: the Early Flying Machines calendar for 2005! Drawn by Derek Roberts (designer of many of the FG cardstock models), this calendar is a 10MB download, with all $3.95 US of the price going straight to Derek for his hard work. The contraptions themselves are fact, of course, though the elevation they achieve in the cartoons is often fictional. But that’s how these early birds deserve to be remembered! December 7, 2004 — Hollow Earth Expedition Late next year, Exile Games promises to treat us to a new pulp rpg: Hollow Earth Expedition. Here’s the press release: Exile Game Studio announced its plans today to publish Hollow Earth Expedition™, a pulp adventure roleplaying game. As the clouds of war gather, our heroes explore one of the world’s greatest and most dangerous secrets: the Hollow Earth, a hidden land populated by lost civilizations, prehistoric creatures, and ferocious savages! Players take on the roles of two-fisted adventurers, eager academics and intrepid journalists who must investigate the mysteries of the Hollow Earth. Meanwhile, on the surface, world powers and secret societies vie for control of what may be the most critical resource in the fast-approaching global conflict. Set in the tense and tumultuous 1930s, the action-filled Hollow Earth Expedition™ is inspired by the literary works of such genre giants as Edgar Rice Burroughs, Jules Verne, and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle. The subterranean action is powered by Ubiquity™, an innovative roleplaying game system that allows for quick task resolution and cinematic adventuring. The Hollow Earth Expedition™ will launch in Fall 2005. December 6, 2004 — Campaign Gear I’ve seen the ads for the CampaignGear CafePress site while checking Miniature Wargaming each day;— I didn’t realize that they were run by the same person! It would be a great way to support such an excellent resource and to acquire appropriate apparel for gaming to purchase a Rivets and Steam or Aether and Iron tee shirt. December 5, 2004 — Engines of Our Ingenuity Engines of Our Ingenuity is an NPR radio show that “tells the story of how our culture is formed by human creativity.” If your local station doesn’t carry it (as mine does not) you can listen to a streamed version online. Of course, I like the ring of the title as it’s quite close to that I gave to my VSF resource page, Ingenious Engines and Clockwork Enigmas. December 4, 2004 — Le-Bris Albatross and Degen Ornithopter Fiddler’s Green has released a couple of new pre-Wright Brothers flying machines in cardstock. The first is the Albatross of Jean-Marie Le-Bris, a nice looking contraption from the 1850s-60s. The second is a real pioneering conveyance: the 1809 ornithopter of Jacob Degen, which apparently actually flew when tethered to an air balloon. December 3, 2004 — The Lost World Not enjoying the luxury of cable television or a satellite dish, I rely upon the release of DVDs to see many popular television shows. The Lost World, based on Conan Doyle’s classic VSF novel, is one such show, the first three seasons of which are now available on DVD. December 2, 2004 — London’s Science Museum & Rippers London’s Science Museum has a nice website with a number of online exhibits worth a look. Pinnacle’s horror skirmish wargame Rippers is now available for download as a pdf (80p., $16.95). December 1, 2004 — Pulp Pot Pourri Continuing the pulp vein of the past few Dispatches, Adamant Entertainment has released a six page pdf pulp resource for d20 Modern called Thrilling Tales. The first one details an advanced class: Man of Mystery. It would appear to be the first in a series of pulpy tweaks for the d20 Modern system. For those who prefer their pulp with a wargame edge, the most recent playtest version of .45 Adventure (which was briefly called Noir) is available at the Hot Lead Steel Sinews website. The final rules are apparently set to go to press in January. And finally, Chris Palmer, co-writer of GASLIGHT, announced in a thread on the Miniatures Page that the pulp supplement To Be Continued… by GASLIGHT is a few days from going to the printer. November 30, 2004 — Forgotten Futures IX Marcus Rowland has posted a little news on the Forgotten Futures website regarding the imminent release of Forgotten Futures IX, which I believe is entitled It’s My Own Invention, and covers the wondrous world of Victorian science fiction gadgetry. November 29, 2004 — Adventure Street Omnibus Hank Harwell has put together Adventure Street Omnibus — a nifty online resource for roleplaying the pulps with Risus. November 23-28, 2004 — The Pulp Companion The Pulp Companion is a monthly online ezine from ThePulp.net devoted to the pulps, classic and modern. Nota Bene: Dispatches will be on a holiday hiatus until Monday, November 29. November 22, 2004 — ET Friends Beneath the Sea Among the many folks on this Earth who know more than I, the ET Friends website relates the truth regarding our humble planet and its contact with extraterrestrial visitors. Apparently they have developed a close relationship with cetaceans. November 21, 2004 — Agyris Terra Incognita cover illustrator (and designer of the Fudge logo) Daniel Davis’ website Agyris has been getting some good press of late, being mentioned online at OgreCave and in print in December’s Dragon Magazine. I hope you all will take a few moments to poke around and appreciate the incredible amount of love and labor that went into the site. November 20, 2004 — Inspiration from 1948 Bloodstone Press has put together a great page of inspiration in support of their pulpish alternate history/ pulp/WWII rpg 1948. November 19, 2004 — Dandelion Books The NAGS Society has Dispatched about them before, but Dandelion Books offers free subscriptions to a number of online newsletters on topics of interest: the Unexplained, Ancient Mysteries, perhaps even Uncensored News & Views. November 18, 2004 — Neo Noir There was an rpg awhile back entitled Noir, but it would seem that due to its departed, out of print status, Green Ronin has decided to call the new Mutants and Masterminds supplement Noir. This one looks cool, though, and should wear the name well. November 17, 2004 — Discovery of Atlantis I admit to borrowing this scoop from the Steve Jackson Games Daily Illuminator, but the Discovery of Atlantis website features yet another take on the present location of the lost island — the island of Cyprus. They’re hawking a book, of course, but the website itself has a good bit of interesting stuff November 16, 2004 — Mad Scientists’ Club One of my inspirations for the NAGS Society was a book I read as a child, The Mad Scientists’ Club by Bertrand Brinley. A bunch of young sleuths, decidedly not Hardy Boys material, solve some fascinating mysteries in the town of Mammoth Falls. The stories usually involve some type of technological wonder cobbled together with bailing wire and bubble gum. Have a look at the Mad Scientists’ Club website for more information and you can order the books from Purple House Press. November 15, 2004 — Mapping Resources Drawing maps have always been one of my favorite parts of the roleplaying experience. The Mapping Resources page offers a variety of mapping formats in pdf format— including the offset square, which I had never thought of, but looks interesting. November 14, 2004 — Surfing the Short Waves In this age of the internet, it is delightfully anachronistic to pursue alternate communications methods such as short wave radio. Teich’s Tech Tidbit of the Week from 9/4/00 concerns one of the intriguing mysteries that rewards those who surf the short waves. November 13, 2004 — Blowing Up Hong Kong … And elsewhere in China, Atlas Games has released Blowing Up Hong Kong, a sourcebook for their excellent Feng Shui rpg that ought to provide copious information on another great adventure setting. November 12, 2004 — Tales of Old Shanghai From an excellent GASLIGHT campaign setting by Luc Burlage posted in the GASLIGHT Yahoo Group files section, comes this link to Tales of Old Shanghai — a wondrous resource for pulp or penny dreadful campaigns set in this exciting Chinese port. There are photos of Luc’s game at GASLIGHT Photos. November 11, 2004 — Back of Beyond Times The second issue of the Back of Beyond Times is now up, in what looks to be an online homage to Bob Murch’s excellent 28mm pulp minis called Pulp Figures. November 10, 2004 — Good Stuff from Gutenberg John Reiher on the Space: 1889 Yahoo Group (message number 19261) passed along an interesting list of books, the text of which is available online for free from the excellent Project Gutenberg. Among the titles were The Book of Were-Wolves, Clairvoyance and Occult Powers, and Steam Steel and Electricity. November 9, 2004 — Wee Willie Winkie One does not usually think Shirley Temple when thinking of good colonial era movies, but I just thoroughly enjoyed John Ford’s Wee Willie Winkie (1937). The backdrop of the Northwest Frontier in 1897 is helpful to gamers, but better yet are the characters, any of whom would translate wonderfully into role-playing. November 8, 2004 — Proper VSF Attire Nothing helps one to derive maximum enjoyment from one’s VSF or colonial games as obtaining the proper accoutrements. As I type this I wear the Superb sun hat and goggles pictured on the Rivets & Steam website. My online transactions with Studio Foglio and the Village Hat Shop were both expeditious and satisfactory. And, somehow, my games take on a more realistic quality when I take off my helmet to mop my fevered brow. November 7, 2004 — The Old West is Busy The Old West is enjoying one of its periodic gaming resurgences right now. If you preorder Warhammer Old West from Old Glory, they’ll give you four free 28mm cowboy figures for free. Meanwhile, Task Force Productions have released a free 9 page pdf for playing their We Can Be Heroes in the Old West. And finally, after many press releases, Green Ronin has brought out the paper version of Sidewinder: Recoiled. November 6, 2004 — Report of the First Bly Expedition The action-packed report from the first expedition mounted by Miss Bly into Darkest Jimland is available for your reading pleasure. Go to the Jimland Yahoo Group and check the files section for report #247. Of course you have to be a member to download files, but membership is free and well worth the few moments required to complete. The Bly Expedition marks my first foray into Jimland. The game was played solo with 15mm figures on a two-foot square piece of hardboard. With just a few figures, a little bit of scenery, and the space on the top of your desk, on can explore the mysteries of terra incognita. November 5, 2004 — Guy Fawkes Day English members of the NAGS Society celebrate Guy Fawkes Day today. For more on this historically based revelry, have a look at the Guy Fawkes and Bonfire Night website. November 4, 2004 — Enigma Enigma: Paranormal Phenomena is part of the Parascope site devoted to topics of paranormal interest. November 3, 2004 — Sweeney Todd PBS has a wonderful site devoted to that archetypical penny dreadful villain, Sweeney Todd, the demon barber of Fleet Street. November 2, 2004 — Constellation Chamber The Constellation Chamber is an as-yet-incomplete but thoroughly impressive site devoted to astrology. The sections on individual signs include a wealth of information such as links to the tarot and mystic events and celebrations. November 1, 2004 — Undersea SF Kathleen L. Fowler at Ramapo College in New Jersey (USA) has created this list of science fiction reading for young people with an undersea or “living ocean” theme. Scroll down past the magic Schoolbus books in the list to find inspiration for older readers. October 31, 2004 — PentaCon XX “The Northeastern Indiana Gaming Association (NIGA) is sponsoring PentaCon XX [November 5-7 in Fort Wayne, IN, USA]. PentaCon is the oldest gaming convention in Indiana, held annually in Fort Wayne. With well over 350 games last year, notable special guests, various contests, demonstrations, seminars, and charity events, and nine gaming sessions over three days.” No TI this time, but one Call of Cthulhu game and loads of D&D and those newfangled board games. October 30, 2004 — Haunted Architecture Keeping with the spirit of things, the Glass Steel and Stone site features a list of haunted architecture while the About.com Architecture site offers its own take on haunted architecture. October 29, 2004 — Humberside GASLIGHT From the Humberside Wargames Society and Wayne Olivant comes this site devoted to an incipient GASLIGHT universe that will be inspirational for any Victorian science fiction gamer. October 28, 2004 — The Spirit of the Season The excellent Miniature Wargaming site has unearthed a large collection of web resources for roleplaying and miniatures that are apropos of Halloween. Stop by in the next few days to sample the smorgasbord. Meanwhile, C. Demetrius Morgan at OgreCave has released Night of the Living Gamer — a roundup of thirteen games for horrific roleplaying. October 23-27, 2004 — Victorian Literary Studies and a Hiatus For more conventional Victorian literary genres, try the Victorian Literary Studies website. N.B. Unexpected family business necessitates a hiatus until Wednesday. My apologies. October 22, 2004 — Science Fiction Studies Science Fiction Studies is an online scholarly journal from DePauw University devoted to science fiction. Among other items of interest, Herbert Sussman has a review of a book on Victorian Science Fiction. October 21, 2004 — The Supernatural World … And for even more information, try the SupernaturalWorld. October 20, 2004 — Paranormal Phenomena The About.com page on Paranormal Phenomena can point you in the right direction to what the web has to offer. October 19, 2004 — The Haunted Bibliophile The Haunted Bibliophile has put together some lists of interesting reading that suits the season. October 18, 2004 — 633 and Counting If you’ve not checked it out in awhile, the ENWorld thread devoted to cataloguing 1000 non-RPG websites for RPG ideas is now up to 633! This is an absolutely brilliant collection of the web’s best resources for maps, weirdness, mythology, and just about anything else you can think of. October 17, 2004 — M.U.C.U.S. Jim Skipper, the same fellow who published the much missed Victorian Gamer ezine, also hosted the website for Miskatonic University College of Unknown Sciences, or MUCUS. Like the VG, the site is no longer active, but it’s worth a look nevertheless. October 16, 2004 — A Jimland Scrapbook
October 15, 2004 — The Malleus Monstrorum Halloween Monster Contest Venerable horror gaming company Chaosium has announced a contest. Submit your Call of Cthulhu monster and the winner will be featured in the upcoming Malleus Monstrorum book. October 14, 2004 — Frontier Trails Frontier Trails is a website devote to those thrilling tales from the realm of fact, rather than fiction. If you’ve lived a life of adventure, you can even submit one of your own stories. October 13, 2004 — The Victorian Dictionary Ye gods, the Victorian Dictionary is incredible. October 12, 2004 — Pumpkin Town As we’re fast approaching the spooky season, I feel obligated to put in a plug for my favorite Hallowe’en game: Peter Seckler’s Pumpkin Town — a six mile cube of scary, silly roleplaying. October 11, 2004 — A Great Review I blame my recent return to full-time employ for my unfortunate disconnect from the world of Fudge and rpgs in general, but I am extremely embarrassed to say that I missed the release of a thoughtful review of Terra Incognita on RPG.net by Jonathan Benn. The NAGS Society thanks Mr. Benn for his time and effort and for all his kind words. October 10, 2004 — Web Books by Dr. Konnilyn Feig Dr. Konnilyn Feig (of Foothill College, Los Altos Hills, California) has made available some interesting “web books” on various historical topics, including an article on one of my favorite mystery authors, Anne Perry. October 9, 2004 — An Agreeable Way to Spend a Day For those who think spending years crafting the perfect roleplaying game misses the point entirely, Philip Reed and associates have created the 24hour RPG project. Challenge yourself to take one day — twenty-four consecutive hours — and write an entire rpg, then submit it the 24hourRPG website and share it with the world. And if your imagination holds more wonders, or else you’re already thinking about cross marketing, we’re coming up to November which is National Novel Writing month. Follow your one day game with a one month book. October 8, 2004 — Would That it Were The online historical sci fi magazine Would That it Were has posted a new issue for October through December. In addition to fiction and book reviews, there is a nice article by Michael Ricciardi entitled “The World as Tesla Would Have It.” October 7, 2004 — Whitewash City Grows Eric Hotz has released ten new buildings in his cardstock cowboy town, Whitewash City. A train station, pool hall, and various and sundry businesses add to the most attractive cowboy town west of the Pecos. Eric has also assembled an extensive list of western rulesets, published, free, and rpg. October 3-6, 2004 — Touring Turn-of-the Century America Learn about turn of the last century America from primary sources: photographs of the people and places themselves. The Library of Congress, courtesy of the Detroit Publishing Company, provides this online collection of images. The NAGS Society will enjoy a brief hiatus in Dispatches as we conduct an expedition to the stomping grounds of the dread pirate Blackbeard. October 2, 2004 — History, Day by Day Weblogger Tristan Louis has put together a useful little resource — a calendar of historical events listed day by day. You’ll find, for example, that on October 2 Darwin returned from his voyage on the Beagle (1836), Paul Von Hindenberg (1847), Gandhi (1869), and Groucho Marx (1890 -- Tristan has it wrong), were born, and Rome became the capital of Italy (1870). The History Channel does it too, with This Day in History. Scope Systems’ Anyday offers an expanded list of birthdays as well as deaths. (For example, I learned that Aristotle died [322 B.C.] and Sting was born [1951] on this day.) October 1, 2004 — Four Months Later Somehow the release of the new issue of Fudge Factor — four months ago — eluded the notice of the normally- vigilant NAGS Society! If, by some twist of fate, you are as oblivious as I, have a look. I love the Chronos Academy. September 30, 2004 — Archaeology Online Treat your inner archaeologist to a look at the online magazine Archaeology. September 29, 2004 — Weird Wisconsin The Wisconsin Paranormal Clipping Network is your online portal to the outré in Wisconsin — because we all know that what’s weird in Wisconsin is weird for us all…. September 28, 2004 — Crystalinks Ellie Crystal hosts Crystalinks — an extensive collection of factoids and links concerning just about all of our favorite subjects. September 27, 2004 — Chaos in Cairo Have a look at this press release on the Miniature Page for the scoop on Chaos in Cairo, a pulp skirmish game with accompanying figures from West Wind Productions and Four Color Figures. September 25-26, 2004 — Colonel Marbles Colonel Marbles Miniature Masterworks is an incredible online, period style resource showcasing the variety of (25-28mm) miniatures available for playing Victorian science fiction. Even if you don’t use miniatures, the style is amusing and the images inspirational. September 24, 2004 — Quick CoC Chaosium has just released a free set of quick-start rules for Call of Cthulhu. If you’re curious but have never played, this is your chance. If you’d like to start a new game with your old crew, hand them out as primers. September 23, 2004 — Nyambe.com There’s a new website devoted to Chris Dolunt’s excellent rpg of African fantasy adventure, Nyambe. September 22, 2004 — Cartographic Images Henry Davis Consulting hosts this wonderful online collection of maps, from the ancient (Catal Hyük in 6200 BC) to the Renaissance. September 21, 2004 — Lost I heard a radio review of a new television show in the US that should prove inspirational to all sorts of games — Lost. The premise is that a disparate group of people survive a plane crash on a mysterious island. Through the course of the series they will find out why their plane crashed, where they are, and whether they can ever get home. Of course, they are not alone on the island. The review made it sound not at all like Gilligan’s Island (in case my description did). TV Tome has an informative review. September 20, 2004 — Compendium Magnificum The NAGS Society just received something glorious in the mailbox at the Main Campus — the Compendium Magnificum from Eureka Miniatures. The Compendium is what all miniatures manufacturers should produce — a catalog of their entire lines with full sized photos so that you can actually see what you get and how big it is. Of interest to TI fans will be the Pax Limpopo line of VSF figs from Eureka, but they also carry (and they are also included in the catalog) 15mm figures from Museum Miniatures and my personal favorite, Irregular. The travel time from Australia to the southeastern US was amazing — sent Wednesday, arrived Monday. September 19, 2004 — 1948 Just a tad outside the TI timeline, but Bloodstone Press’ 1948 is “is a historical/sci-fi/fantasy adventure setting that focuses on an alternate WWII history.” They’ve not yet released the core book, but the supplement 1948: Organizations, Agencies and Secret Societies is what caught my eye. It’s available as a downloadable pdf from RPGNow. September 18, 2004 — Aviator’s Handbook The NAGS Society is a little late with this announcement, but Deep 7 has released a new supplement for their great pulp 1PG Dime Heroes — the Aviator’s Handbook (15p. pdf for $2.50 US) — great for airborne pulp adventure. September 17, 2004 — Bureau 13 It’s been quite awhile since the NAGS Society issued a Dispatch concerning its sister organization, Bureau 13. All of the books are available from Tri Tac games as pdf files on CD. September 16, 2004 — Planet Pulp Here’s a pulp era rpg that flew under my radar screen — Planet Pulp. I’ve not seen a copy, but from the teasers available on the site, it looks like you get some crunch along with the pulp (separate stats for Aim Left and Aim Right, for example). September 15, 2004 — Eyewitness to History I’m stealing this one from MiniatureWargames.com, but it’s too good not to pass along — EyewitnesstoHistory.com. The site features accounts of famous historical events portrayed as through the eyes of a participant. Dead useful. September 14, 2004 — Unlocking the Archives Unlocking the Archives is an educational site from the Royal Geographical Society. Among the themes of interest is one on Encounters: Images of Empire which treats the mighty British Empire of the nineteenth century, complete with articles and some useful maps, images, &c. September 13, 2004 — Back to Jimland [Updated] Jimland owner and proprietor Jim Wright has, with good reason, decided that Jimland deserves an ætheric home of its own. He has therefore set up a Jimland Yahoo Group where you can download the rules and battle reports and keep up with others who are adventuring in the wilds of Darkest Jimland. Update: Of course, Adventures in Jimland is now available, free for download, on this very website! September 12, 2004 — String Can Phone String Can Phone is Michael Paulukonis’ weblog concerning archaic technology. September 11, 2004 — Up the Nile Without a Paddle Up the Nile Without a Paddle is an exciting photo essay of the adventures of General Lord Colchester Blethering-Blethering in Sudistan. September 10, 2004 — Ever Forward into Jimland [Update on September 13] Author Jim Wright has graciously agreed to share with us his wonderful creation, Adventures in Jimland. You’ll find it all for free download in the files section of the TIrpg Yahoo Group. [See below]. I simply cannot say enough good things about this game. Jimland is a colonial wargame which you can easily play solo, against a friend, or with a game master. Jim has also converted all of the battle reports to pdf files. These contain literally hundreds of pages of reports of the adventures of intrepid forays into the dinosaur-pirate-pygmy-lizardmen-harem girl-and worse!- infested wilds of darkest Jimland. These files are the best record I know of a living campaign. You also get the sense that this campaign involves a number of people who thoroughly enjoy the hobby. I have found no end of inspiration, both for wargaming and roleplaying. If you play GASLIGHT, there is a version called Expeditions by GASLIGHT in the Scenarios section of the GASLIGHT homepage. I and the entire NAGS Society offer our thanks to Mr. Wright for sharing his creation with us. Update: Of course, Adventures in Jimland is now available, free for download, on this very website! September 9, 2004 — Rocket League has Launched Playus maximus, the company of Terra Incognita illustrator DT Strain has launched the website for their upcoming rpg, Rocket League: The Thrilling Roleplaying Game. The site offers some glimpses of the artwork, a précis on the system, and some other tidbits, along with a chance to preorder. There’s even a wonderful tour of a flying saucer. I just preordered my copy. September 8, 2004 — World-Mysteries World-Mysteries.com offers articles about the world’s greatest secrets, the option of reading about them in a number of languages, and they’ll even try to sell you stuff. September 7, 2004 — Tour the Louvre There’s nothing like great art in a mediæval setting to set creative juices flowing. If you can’t make it to the Louvre Museum itself, take an ætheric tour on their excellent website. September 6, 2004 — Victorian Roleplaying Themes I’ve Dispatched it before, but I must once again tout the utility of Mark Whitley’s Victorian Roleplaying Themes, an essential resource for gaming the Victorian era by taking inspiration from period fiction. Even Nineteenth Century English lit majors should find something of note. September 5, 2004 — Essential Housekeeping We here at NAGS Society Headquarters have spent the past two days engaged in some essential housekeeping, parsing Daily Dispatches into their proper locations in the website. If you’ve not browsed the links in awhile, have a look — it’s a respectable resource, if we don’t say so ourselves. September 4, 2004 — Time Traveller’s Guide to Victorian Britain The Time Traveller’s Guide to Victorian Britain offers some helpful links to topics of interest from the Civilized Century. September 3, 2004 — GW Modeling Secrets As I use 15mm figures primarily, I never have need to buy miniatures from Games Workshop (Warhammer, et al.). I will say that their website provides some excellent advice for painting and modeling. September 2, 2004 — Earthlore’s Harbor of Mysteries [This site seems to be gone —They Must have uncovered a bit too much of the truth!] Earthlore’s Harbor of Mysteries is a nice looking and fairly meaty site devoted to some great mysterious topics: King Arthur, gothic art, and Irish mythology. Well worth a look. September 1, 2004 — Forgotten Wonders The Seven Wonders of the Ancient World are well remembered and remarked upon. But have a look at Alaa K. Ashmawy’s homage to some Forgotten Wonders. August 31, 2004 — We Can Be Heroes and Pinnacle A couple of gleanings from the Miniature Page today: Task Force Productions has announced a new skirmish level wargame called We Can Be Heroes: “The game is intended for the playing of ‘Heroic’ small battles with miniatures. By ‘Heroic’ we mean the TV or movie approach, where Heroes and their Sidekicks lead men into battle with an enemy, who may also be made up of Heroes, Sidekicks, and such. Its dramatic action designed to entertain,” according to the website. Also Pinnacle has released more of their Deadlands (and other) product lines on pdf from RPGNow. August 30, 2004 — The Silven Trumpeter The Silven Trumpeter is a free, online and pdf magazine on roleplaying. Pulp aficionado J. “Dregg” Carpio’s “Lights, Camera, Action” column this month concerns the pulps. August 29, 2004 — Victorian Books from the British Library The British Library hosts an interesting website on Victorian books, from popular genres to the economics of publishing to methods of binding. August 28, 2004 — The ABoyd Company The ABoyd Company specializes in myriad oddball models and toys that you never knew you needed. August 27, 2004 — An Amazing Story It seems rather amazing, but Paizo Publishing is advertising for an editor-in-chief for its newest periodical, the world’s oldest science fiction magazine, Amazing Stories. Have a look at the website for more information on this amazing rebirth and their search for a leader. August 26, 2004 — Babylon’s Burning Hetzerdog Industries’ Babylon’s Burning is a new post apocalyptic skirmish wargame available as a pdf from RPGNow. It’s written with the modern era in mind, but who’s to say one couldn’t modify it to play a turn-of-the-last-century catastrophe. August 25, 2004 — Hunt for the Alligator The National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and the US Navy are currently diving off the coast of North Carolina in order to find the wreck of the Navy’s first submarine, the Alligator. National Geographic has a brief article with an accompanying drawing of the ill-fated sub. August 24, 2004 — Surrey Earth Mysteries Group The Surrey Earth Mysteries Group began its quest for the Truth in the 1970’s and is still going strong today. Member Alfred Watkins discovered Ley lines in 1921. August 23, 2004 — Gloriana While predating the TI timeline by a good many years, Gloriana — an rpg of Elizabethan fantasy and intrigue — has been long-discussed by that master of weirdness, Ken Hite. Adamant Entertainment will bring it out next year. August 22, 2004 — Green Flashes Green Flashes are a meteorological anomaly that the NAGS Society has studied assiduously for years. See what non-Society members have discovered on Andrew T. Young’s Green Flash page. August 21, 2004 — Prehistoric Settlement Here is a lengthy review of a Steve Barber’s Prehistoric Settlement game — a wargame for playing prehistoric adventures, such as those novels in last week’s Dispatch. If you go to the Steve Barber Models website you can have a look at the minis and scenes from the game in action. I find games such as these fascinating and they offer inspiration for Lost World adventures. August 20, 2004 — International Fudge RPG Meetup Day Thursday, September 2 is the day to show your support for Fudge by coming out for International Fudge RPG Meetup Day. Let the Fudge Dice tumble! August 19, 2004 — Deep Secrets Deep Secrets reveals, well, some deep secrets regarding the Great Pyramid of Giza, the Golden Ratio and the Royal Cubit. Footnotes, diagrams, bibliography… it’s all there. August 18, 2004 — Ned Kelly’s World Ned Kelly’s World is an informative website devoted to the famous Australian bushranger featured in a recent movie. August 17, 2004 — Places To Go, People To Be Following an extremely lengthy hiatus, the excellent free online ’zine Places to Go, People To Be has a new issue! August 16, 2004 — Pulp Radio Pulp master Joe Coleman on the Pulp_Games Yahoo Group gives us these two links for online connections to Golden Age radio programs of the same vintage as pulp: Old Time Radio and EY’s Audio Links. August 15, 2004 — Birthdays August 15 is auspicious for its list of famous births, including Napoleon Bonaparte (1769), Sir Walter Scott (1771), Edna Ferber (1887), the late Julia Child (1912), and my first son (1997). You can look up the famous birthdays for any day on FamousBirthdays.net. August 14, 2004 — Prehistoric Fiction Right out of our time period, perhaps, but dead useful for Lost World adventures… Steve Trussel’s EclectiCity website features a great collection of resources on Prehistoric Fiction — that is, books set in prehistoric times (not novels carved on stone tablets). August 13, 2004 — Worlds of Cthulhu Yet another magazine in support of Call of Cthulhu is on the way. The latest, Worlds of Cthulhu, is an English version of the German zine Cthuloide Welten. According to the press release, it will be 128 and published twice yearly and shall debut at GenCon. August 12, 2004 — Captain Peet on the Æther Captain Peet’s excellent Space: 1889 and Sky Galleons of Mars website is once again on the ætherwaves. Also, with regards to Monday’s Dispatch on Legends of Araby, the Two Hour Wargames site has a battle report starring pulp hero Arizona Bob. Join the THW site to get a file of pulp era weapons called FIN-LOALTL-Firetable.doc and bring Legends of Araby into the TI timeline. August 11, 2004 — The Real Scoop There’s nothing like a roleplaying game to necessitate facts at a moment’s notice. For geographical queries, try the CIA World Factbook for the lowdown on anyplace in terra incognita. August 10, 2004 — Ada, A Programme for Jenny I fear that this one is romance of the Harlequin ilk, but the premise of R.H. Shimer’s Ada: A Programme for Jenny is fascinating, featuring Ada Lovelace, daughter of Lord Byron and associate of Charles Babbage, as a detective. August 9, 2004 — Legends of Araby Although it’s not at all in our time period or genre, I can’t say enough good things about Legends of Araby by Ed Teixeira from Two Hour Wargames. It’s part wargame, part rpg, and part solo adventure. I’m sure it could easily be adapted for adventures in a colonial time frame. Well worth a look. August 8, 2004 — Martian Empires Nascent miniature foundry Black Hat Miniatures has just issued an invitation for folks to join the Martian Empires Yahoo Group and playtest their 15mm VSF rules, Martian Empires, which will soon be supported by a line of 15mm VSF figures (huzzah!). August 7, 2005 — More Lost Than Machu Picchu This brief report from Netscape/CNN reveals that archæologists have discovered the ruins of Llactapata, a lost city in the Andes, and quite nearby the famous Machu Picchu. August 6, 2004 — Truth Stranger Than Fiction RickRichards.com will take you on a ride to the truth you won’t find elsewhere. August 5, 2004 — On the Morrow This one is not in the TI timeline, but a classic from back in the day that I can’t resist: Timeline Ltd. is republishing the Morrow Project, an old-school rpg set in a post-apocalyptic future. Bringing it a little closer to home, the Morrow Project: Reign of Steel converts it to Fudge! August 4, 2004 — Science Frontiers Science Frontiers is a collection of 2000+ digests that examine the edges and not the established paradigms of science. While originally a print publication, you can now browse the archives online. August 3, 2004 — 350 Monsters Mike Harvey has laboriously typed in 350 Monsters from the D&D Rules Cyclopedia and converted them to Fudge stats. If you’re in need of some foes and willing to overlook a D&D pedigree, then this file is for you. August 2, 2004 — Further Underground Continuing my research on the London Underground I discovered this informative Wikipedia entry on the topic. The thing that I found invaluable, and perhaps everyone else already knew this, is that the Wikipedia has entries for every year. For example, see the entry on 1863, the year the Underground opened — day by day events. Simply amazing. August 1, 2004 — Underground History Underground History is the website devoted to those dark and disused corners of the London Underground subway system, which of course is where all the interesting stuff happens. July 31, 2004 — Mirabilis Mirabilis is a blog from Christine from Vancouver which covers topics such as “history & archaeology, religion, books & lit, language, food, environment, fun, animals, insects, etc, computers & internet, miscellaneous, science, art, strange stuff, Italy, Canada, wireless internet, health, Norway, Linux, Vancouver, privacy, outdoors, Christmas, PDAs, Easter, blogging, politics, search queries, and quotations.” There seem to be lots of interesting archæological links of late. July 30, 2004 — Frontier Towns & Paranoia Dog House Rules brings us this new supplement for their western rpg Sidewinder:Recoiled — Frontier Towns:Fort Griffin. This 55p pdf ($6.75 US) includes complete description, NPCs, and floorplans of a passel of western chestnuts like Shannsey’s Saloon and the Pickett Jail. The Dog House Rules site also provides several free maps. An ad on the page reminded me that Mongoose Games (who have recently published OGL Wild West and Steampunk books) will reboot the legendary rpg Paranoia as Paranoia XP. I never played this one back in the day, but I can easily imagine an historical conversion in which a city-block-sized, steam-powered, Babbage-created monstrosity opposes the NAGS Society…. July 29, 2004 — A New Dungeon As I Dispatched last month, the August issue of Dungeon magazine (#114) contains several articles on the classic D&D adventure Isle of Dread, including a new adventure and poster map. As it is replete with dinosaurs, natives, ancient temples, et al., the Isle can easily be adapted to the TI timeline. Also, for the first time ever, Terra Incognita is mentioned in Dungeon (in tiny print in the Metacreator Ad for RPGNow on page 15). Finally, on a non-TI timeline rpg note, the back cover features an ad for Arena Overdrive, a new post apocalyptic Car Wars style game from Testors, complete with a line of cars to customize. July 28, 2004 — First Casualty First Casualty is a new fanzine devoted to Conspiracy X, Eden Studios’ modern era rpg of global secrets and mystery. July 27, 2004 — Prairie Ghosts Prairie Ghosts is Troy Taylor’s ode to ghosts, the paranormal, thanatology, and the mysterious from a Midwestern USA perspective. July 26, 2004 — Great Dreams Dreams of the Great Earth Changes is one of those wonderful electronic equivalents of the notebooks covered in feverish scribbles carried by chaps who mumble to themselves and then try to convince anyone within earshot of the profundity of their wisdom. Which is to say it’s definitely all true! July 23-25, 2004 — Into Space Two space related bits of news (which puts them right out of the TI milieu but have other connections): Carnivore Games, publisher of the Fudge based Now Playing has announced Space 2150, a hard science rpg that will use Fudge as its system; and Playus Maximus, the company of Terra Incognita illustrator DT Strain, is offering a contest for writing fiction or cartoons set in their Smugglers of the Galaxy game. There’s a link for contest details near the top of the page — they use frames so I can’t get you closer. N.B.: There will be no new Dispatches until Monday, July 26. July 22, 2004 — Walking Secret London Diane Burstein offers walking tours of Secret London. See the website for a taste. July 21, 2004 — Computers Old & New If yesterday’s taste of Babbage’s baby whet your appetite for more computer history, this Aussie Educator site devoted to Computers Old & New will take you down binary memory lane. I believe it’s all of a newer vintage than the TI timeline, but it ought to be inspiring in some fashion. July 20, 2004 — Emulate the Analytical Engine John Walker’s Fourmilab homage to the Analytical Engine of Charles Babbage includes a java based emulator of this steampunk staple. Before you let your villain steal one to take over the world, take the Babbage Engine for a spin to what it can do. July 19, 2004 — OGL Steampunk Mongoose Publishing has just released OGL Steampunk, a 304 page meditation upon adventuring with weird science in the Nineteenth Century. The NAGS Society is pleased to welcome this undoubtedly excellent resource into the world of rpgs. July 18, 2004 — Above Top Secret AboveTopSecret.com is your online source for the truth that you won’t find in your run-of-the-mill media. July 17, 2004 — Mondo-Tronics If you’re in the market for an artificial life form, Mondo-Tronics’ Robot Store is the place to go. July 16, 2004 — The Mean Streets of Casablanca Deep 7 has added an interesting item to its eclectic line in Casablanca (35p. pdf, $4.95), a sourcebook for the city featured in one of my favorite movies. July 15, 2004 — Historical Mysteries Dean James has assembled a nice bibliography of historical mystery fiction, from ancient times to World War II. July 14, 2004 — Knuckleduster If you’ve not wandered into the Knuckleduster website in awhile, Forrest Harris is selling some reproductions of 1864 poker cards and will soon have CDs with old western piano music, perfect to liven up those wild, wild western evenings. July 13, 2004 — Weird Research, Anomalous Physics Weird Research, Anomalous Physics is Bill Beaty’s contribution to scientific lunatic fringe. July 12, 2004 — Popular Science Ætheric disturbances at the Home Campus have temporarily delayed Dispatches. Apologies tendered. PopularScience.net is a nice site concerning fascinating topics of scientific import. July 11, 2004 — Isle of Dread The latest issue of Dungeon Magazine (#113) reports that the next issue will feature an all new adventure (complete with poster map) of my very favorite, eminently TI adaptable, D&D module, X1 The Isle of Dread. July 10, 2004 — Steam Automotive Technology Andy Patterson has assembled an interesting collection of information on Steam Automotive Technology. In addition to useful pages on steam engines and autos from the golden age at the turn of the last century, Andy includes pieces on steam cars from the 1970s. Who knew? July 9, 2004 — Pyramid Today’s issue of Pyramid Magazine is chock-full of items worthy of mention:
As always, if you decide to subscribe to Pyramid, mention paigescott as the referring user name and Your Humble Editor get a free month! July 8, 2004 — The Alligator Hank Harwell has updated his Adventure Street Signs with some information concerning the search for the Civil War submarine Alligator, lost off the coast of North Carolina. July 7, 2004 — The Tech Museum The Tech Museum is a commercial site that celebrates technology. There are a number of interesting exhibits in the online museum, such as this one about robotics. July 6, 2004 — Treasures of the Sunken City Treasures of the Sunken City is the companion website to the PBS special (which was rebroadcast last year) recounting the explorations of Jean Yves Empereur in the sunken city of Alexandria, Egypt. Among the discoveries: the Pharos, one of the seven wonders of the world! July 5, 2004 — Victoria Trading Co. If it’s important to you to look the part, try the Victoria Trading Co. for your period dress and accoutrements. July 4, 2004 — On This Day Some dates have memorable events connected with them that can tie into your historical roleplaying. Other days seem less important. The Reference.com page On This Day can help you by listing the significant events in history that occurred on each day. For example, most Americans know that this was the day in 1776 that the Continental Congress adopted the Declaration of Independence, but it was also the day in 1845 that Thoreau went to live at Walden Pond, and the day in 1848 that Marx and Engels published the Communist Manifesto. July 3, 2004 — Now Playing I’ve just finished reading through my copy of Bradford Younie’s Now Playing from Carnivore Games. Now Playing (hardcover, 220p., $35 US) is a Fudge-based rpg for gaming all genres of television shows. As such, the rules included all the Fudge goodies one would need to game comedy, horror, sci-fi, &c. You’ll find lots of good advice for designing adventures and campaigns according to the typical tv program structure, as well as stats for a numbers of beasties and vehicles. The sample program, FPI (the Foundation for Paranormal Investigation) contains, could be a modern offshoot of the NAGS Society. The two adventures, complete with maps and NPCs, are easily moved into the TI timeline. The Big Dig might occur during the construction of Boston’s subway (which was the first in the US). July 2, 2004 — The Making of America The Making of America is a digitized collection of primary sources from antebellum through Reconstruction America. There are nearly 9,000 volumes available, according to the home page, all courtesy of the University of Michigan. July 1, 2004 — The WWW Virtual Library As everyone knows, these electrical Babbage engines are an invaluable resource for conducting research. The WWW Virtual Library can be an excellent resource for information when one cannot adjourn to an actual library. June 30, 2004 — A Request for Adventure The NAGS Society and Grey Ghost Press are putting out a call to all you adventure writers! Try your hand at creating an interesting, challenging, and fun Terra Incognita adventure to run at gaming conventions. Your adventure would need:
Grey Ghost Press will pay a small fee in cash or product. Please contact Ann Dupuis for more details. The NAGS Society counts on you to handle this RFA with your usual dedication and discretion. In addition, Ann has the outline of an “Out of the Gobi” adventure which needs some fleshing out. Contact her if you are interested in doing a little polishing. Also, see the update to yesterday’s Dispatch. June 29, 2004 — Eden’s Gate [Update] N.B.: Dirk has asked us to take down Eden’s Gate for the time being, as he has offered it to a group running Terra Incognita at gaming conventions. Keep your eyes open for TI games in your area to discover the Gate to Paradise. Dirk has agreed to write an adventure set in China and the Pacific exclusively for the TI website. Back from Origins, intrepid NAGS Society member Dirk Collins has released his adventure Eden’s Gate. Your heroes are asked to track down eminent and respected archaeology professor Charles Woodruff, who disappeared just after announcing that he had found the gate to the Garden of Eden. June 28, 2004 — Maiden of the High Seas Moving from below the waves to upon them, Worldworks has released the Maiden of the High Seas, a cardstock vessel worthy of the saltiest sea dogs. Multiple levels for below decks battles and notice the ratlines — printed on transparency stock! (Thanks to Dave Crowell for the tip.) June 27, 2004 — The Submarine Wikipedia Submersibles are among the NAGS Society’s most frequently used craft — fast, stealthy, and discreet. The Submarine Wikipedia page does a wonderful job of providing an illustrated history of humanity’s undersea exploits. June 26, 2004 — Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines Recently released on DVD is a classic race film, Those Magnificent Men in Their Flying Machines (Ken Annakin, 1965). I wouldn’t rate it as highly as the similar Those Daring Young Men in Their Jaunty Jalopies, but watch it for the æroplanes. All of them were reproductions of actual aircraft. Next up: the original Around the World in 80 Days. June 25, 2004 — Circus Murderous I LOVE racing games (such as Walt O’Hara’s brilliant Le Grand Cirque) and have recently discovered a new one — Circus Murderous. While it is fantasy as written, it can easily be adapted for a more steampunk/pulp feel so that competitive Gadgeteers can show off their stuff. June 24, 2004 — Little Lead Heroes Andy Cowell’s superb Little Lead Heroes site includes a fairly regular web log on wargaming and a most impressive, one might say humbling gallery of miniatures and terrain. June 23, 2004 — Paranormal Anomalies The somberly-titled Death and Dementia website has a rather excellent collection of links to resources about paranormal anomalies. There’s a little something for everyone there. June 22, 2004 — Ocean Mysteries The Marine Biology website has a nice section on ocean mysteries such as monsters, mermaids, and the Bermuda Triangle. The site is also a great reference for marine creatures of all sorts. June 21, 2004 — Tomb of an Ancient Hero As this year-old BBC Online story relates, some scientists in Iraq think that they have uncovered the tomb of Gilgamesh, hero of the 4500 year old epic. June 20, 2004 — ZombieSmith If you’re not willing to take the plunge into a new scale (see yesterday’s Dispatch) but are still shopping for undead, try ZombieSmith. You’ll find a pleasing assortment of rotting, shambling zombies in friendly 28mm scale. June 19, 2004 — Moonlight Miniatures Ready for a new scale? Moonlight Miniatures has release a new line of pulpish themed miniatures in the novel 34mm scale. Here’s the blurb: “Set in the 1930’s on an uncharted chain of islands near the Caribbean, daring adventurers and dastardly villains battle vile creatures, horrible abominations and each other as they search for their destinies amid the Islands of Blood.” The minis themselves have a cartoony quality that is bound to attract some and put off others. Nice paint jobs, though. June 18, 2004 — Secrets of Japan The NAGS Society has been patiently awaiting a sourcebook for mysterious Japan — leave it to Chaosium to come through. Secrets of Japan by Michael Dziesinski is currently at the printer and expected in July (348 p., $34.95 US). While intended for modern day adventures, I’m sure there will be enough historical information to sate the appetite. June 17, 2004 — Lost Prehistorica Like nearly everything these days, Lost Prehistorica is intended for fantasy campaigns, but the enterprising historical roleplayer might just find bits of inspiration here and there. “Packed full of new playable races, information upon long lost cultures, lost continents, nomadic tribes and settings specific monsters, this book could be just what you need to spark a whole new range of adventures in a land untouched by time where dinosaurs still roam!” The book is a 3.5 MB pdf file for $6.95 US from RPGNow. June 16, 2004 — Bloomsday Today is the 100th anniversary of Bloomsday, the day that Leopold Bloom and Stephen Dædalus meandered about Dublin, Ireland, in James Joyce’s masterful novel Ulysses. Even if you’re uninterested in the book (it is TI time period, if not genre), then think about creating an epic adventure based upon Homer’s Odyssey — the movie Oh Brother, Where Art Thou shows that the story can be adapted to fit a variety of genres. June 15, 2004 — Iron Stars Majestic XII’s game of Edwardian Space combat, Iron Stars, is now available for purchase, with a line of spacecraft miniatures from Brigade Models to steam their way to Earth this August. June 14, 2004 — Steambots Those in the market for steam powered robots are directed to the Terraform Steambots page from Armorcast. Even if you prefer to build them yourself, the images ought to inspire. June 13, 2004 — Crunchy Vehicles If you are looking for a little more detail, a few more options, in a word, more crunch in your vehicles than TI provides, try Loïc Prot’s Crunchy Vehicles on the Fudge Guide page. You get transportation from bicycles to space colonies, all lovingly described in Fudge terms. June 12, 2004 — Game Quarterly Magazine I’m a big fan of gaming magazines and would love to see this new one — Games Quarterly — succeed. It covers all types of non-electronic games and features articles by popular rpg authors Matt Forbeck and Ken Hite. The premier issue is available for free download. June 11, 2004 — Occultopedia From Aaronic Order to Zygomancy, the Occultopedia is your online source for information concerning knowledge, mysterious and hidden. June 10, 2004 — Oriental Trading Company If you can’t afford a trip to the Mysterious East to load up on precious supplies, try the next best thing — The Oriental Trading Company. From plastic gold coins to glass bottles to a single shot cork gun, you can claim to buy stuff for the kids (or nieces and nephews or neighborhood urchins) but you know who’ll play with it! June 9, 2004 — Urban Legend Reference Pages The Urban Legend Reference Pages provide informative and often amusing details behind a plethora of favorite urban legends. The horrors and history sections are particularly relevant. June 8, 2004 — Atlantis Found… Again The BBC reports that scientists using satellite photography have once again located the probable site of the lost city of Atlantis, this time in southern Spain. June 7, 2004 — DriveThruRPG DriveThruRPG is a new RPG ebook vendor, offering some competition to RPGNow. Right now you can find games by Eden Studios (including Terra Primate), with Chaosium and Dream Pod 9 among others on the way. June 6, 2004 — D6 Adventure West End Games’ venerable D6 system is in the process of being reborn. The D6 Adventure hardcover is now available and D6 Adventure Locations to follow. One of my favorite free rpgs — Craig Griswold’s Into the Shadows — uses the D6 system. June 5, 2004 — Adventure Street Signs Adventure Street Signs is a new web log that discovers the pulp adventure plots in daily television shows, newspaper articles, &c. June 4, 2004 — Astounding Tales! I’ve just received my copy of Howard Whitehouse’s most excellent pulp wargame Astounding Tales! You can use the rules to shoot your own tabletop B Movies. Support Mr. Whitehouse by purchasing it from And That’s The Way It Was… but I should also note that you can get the playtest version by registering at Amazon Miniatures, which includes about 90% of the material in the commercial version. And if you need some inspiration to get started, this week’s Pyramid features a treatise on the Shanghai Municipal Police by Hans-Christian Vortisch. June 3, 2004 — Antique Hardware For those seeking to bring their game world into everyday life, the NAGS Society recommends Antique Hardware, the online store for buying retro hardware and tchotchkis for the perfect steampunk home. June 2, 2004 — Sweet Chariot Just over a year old, Sweet Chariot is an interesting independent RPG from Flying Mice. It’s billed as steampunk/pulp, set on an alien world colonized by humans at some point in the future. The website has some great images of traction engines in the jungle, heroes riding zebras, and airships everywhere. You can buy the 167 page pdf for $8 US from RPGNow. Also, TI illustrator Daniel Strain and his company Playus Maximus have released their new sci fi boardgame, Smugglers of the Galaxy. June 1, 2004 — Army Men While not really in the TI time period, T. and A. Sheil’s Army Men Homepage is an impressive homage to the little plastic soldiers that many youths cut their combative teeth upon. “How much better is this amiable miniature than the Real Thing.” H.G. Wells, Little Wars. May 29-31, 2004 — A Blazing World Monkey Brain Books is now taking preorders for Jess Nevins’ companion to volume two of the graphic novel League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, entitled A Blazing World. Alan Moore writes in the introduction: “Without these two companion volumes, I doubt that the experience of the original work would be as complete, and I also doubt that Kevin and I would have felt sufficiently liberated or encourage to push the concept quite as far as we currently are doing.” The book will be 300+ pages for $15.95 US. The Home Campus will be on brief hiatus until June 1. May 28, 2004 — Hollow Planets Hollow Planets is Jan Lamprecht’s feasibility study for the (quite reasonable) hypothesis that Mercury, Venus, and the Earth, are in fact hollow. You can read news reports, listen to radio interviews, and then, once you truly believe, buy the book. May 27, 2004 — Fort Griffin Echo Dog House Rules have released a free, 36 page pdf supplement for their Old West game, Sidewinder: Recoiled. It’s in the style of the newspaper from Fort Griffin, Texas, is quite attractive to look at, and includes historical information, an article about the Comanche, weapons, prestige classes, and rules for playing spaghetti western style. May 26, 2004 — The Call of the Wild Although it is, no doubt, trite to say so, there is nothing like the inspiration derived from walking in nature. I am fortunate to live in a rural area with nearby federal, state, and local parks, as well as acres of undeveloped land upon which to wander. Even when I lived in New York City, one could travel to the northern tip of Manhattan to find bits of forest dating back to pre-colonial times. Use Google to find a natural area in your area and have a long walk to recharge your creative batteries. May 25, 2004 — HauntedHouse.com HauntedHouse.com is an excellent resource for finding haunted houses, building haunted houses, buying stuff related to haunted houses, and meeting other folks interested in haunted houses. May 24, 2004 — MiniatureWargaming.com MiniatureWargaming.com is a daily web log on a variety of subjects involving gaming with miniatures. The site is wonderfully categorized so that one can easily find items of interest. Well done! May 23, 2004 — Sewergator Sanctuary Sewergator Sanctuary is devoted to one of the most widely cited urban myths, alligators in the city’s sewers. The Sanctuary examines the phenomenon in literature, the press, art, &c. May 22, 2004 — DeMille’s Lost City Here’s a website devoted to a lost city of another sort — the set to Cecil B. DeMille’s epic movie The Ten Commandments, which the director ordered to be buried when shooting was completed. This sounds like the beginnings of a lovely TI, CoC, or d20 Modern adventure. May 21, 2004 — Hypnerotomachia Poliphili The Hypnerotomachia Poliphili, with its unpronounceable title, indecipherable text, and unidentifiable author, is one of the most puzzling, enigmatic and fascinating books ever conceived. Since its publication (1499), it has surprised its readers with its vast knowledge of architecture and landscape and garden design, but also engineering, painting and sculpture. Part fictional narrative, and part scholarly treatise….” MIT Press hosts the entire book in facsimile, perfect for printing as player handouts. Perfect to add to one’s library, right next to the Voynich Manuscript. May 20, 2004 — MIP Showcase – VSF: Steamtanks & Landships Expanding a bit on some of the above abbreviations, the Brabantini Yahoo Group and Paperworlds.com have announced the latest Miniatures In Paper Showcase – Victorian Science Fiction: Steamtanks & Landships. Contribute your own cardstock creation or just stick around to reap the fruits of others’ labor. May 19, 2004 — The Universal General I believe it has quite some time since I’ve praised Rudi Geudens’ excellent Universal General website. You’ll find a plethora of inspiration for colonial campaigns, both roleplaying and wargaming. Just the map of Afriboria is a pleasure to ponder. May 18, 2004 — Unknown Ancient Hellenic History The Unknown Ancient Hellenic History site features some interesting topics such an Ancient Greeks in America and a small selection of Ancient Technology (including our old friend the Antikythera mechanism). May 17, 2004 — O’Neill’s Ghost Stories O’Neill’s Ghost Stories is a wonderful resource for tales that can form the basis for spooky investigations. May 16, 2004 — Inside the Gates of Troy SteamPower Publishing’s Gates of Troy, which apparently includes a nice map of the city, is available for $5 US at RPGNow. Perhaps the movie will inspire some explorations of this long lost city. May 15, 2004 — Mayan Online If you ever have need to create some impressive player handouts in authentic Mayan hieroglyphics, the Yamada Language Center site from the University of Oregon has everything you need — Mayan fonts (Macintosh only), a primer on writing your name, and some useful phrases. May 14, 2004 — Project 1557 Pulp Project 1557, the “quasi-encyclopedic Pulp RPG resource and reference work” has had a number of updates through the months, but could still use contributions. If you have any relevant notes lying about, be sure to add them to the Wikipedia. May 13, 2004 — American Science & Surplus An amazing resource for all Gadgeteers, American Science & Surplus is an online clearinghouse of odds and ends — who knows what one could build! May 12, 2004 — Lost Maps or Manuscripts, Lost Libraries, Gothic Winds Lost maps or manuscripts, lost libraries, gothic winds is Richard Pangburn’s Listmania! suggestions from Amazon.com. The selection of books looks fascinating. May 11, 2004 — Would That It Were Would That It Were, “The Internet’s Premier Magazine of Historical SF,” has been updated, with some new fiction and a nice, succinct article “Definitions of Steampunk” by Cory Gross. May 10, 2004 — Floorplans Galore Finding the perfect floorplan online can simplify the process of fleshing out an adventure. Authentic Historical Designs has a collection of floorplans for American Victorian houses. If you need more variety, CoolHousePlans.com should satisfy. There’s even a cool castle with all the conveniences. May 9, 2004 — Eden’s Gate and a Sale NAGS Society member Dirk Collins reports that his adventure, Eden’s Gate, is now appropriately listed on the Origins Convention website and he will release it as a free pdf after the Con. A quick look at RPGNow.com this morning revealed that a number of great items are on sale, including Two Fisted Tales, Action! Classics: The War of the Worlds, and a number of WorldWorks cardstock building sets. May 8, 2004 — Ancient Worlds AncientWorlds.com hosts message boards and links to information concerning ancient sites throughout the world. May 7, 2004 — Vampire Slayers and Bushrangers A couple of new cinematic releases in the US explore different aspects of terra incognita: for heroes, monsters, and cool gadgetry, we have Van Helsing. My newspaper reviewed it as a Victorian James Bond, which sounds perfect. Next up is Ned Kelly, a slightly historical retelling of the famous Australian bushranger. Also, this week’s Pyramid magazine features a steampunk adventure by James Cambias, “The Hidden Valley of Science.” May 6, 2005 — Cthulhu by Cards Those who enjoy Cthulhu and collectible card games have two items to look forward to: the Call of Cthulhu Collectible Card Game from Fantasy Flight Games (you can download sample cards and beta rules and give it a try), and, in an effort to court the NASCAR set, Cthulhu 500 from Atlas Games, which combines the mythos with automobile racing! Also, Fudge Factor 15 is up. May 5, 2004 — A-Tlan-Tis This Ancient Mysteries Newsletter from Dandelion Books posits an Atlantis/Mexico connection. They have an archive of other such nuggets of wisdom, as well as a collection of newsletters on the Unexplained. May 4, 2004 — Mysterious Lake Vostok Visit Lake Vostok, a mysterious body of water in the midst of Antarctica. May 3, 2004 — Alternate Perceptions Get the real scoop with Alternate Perceptions Online magazine. May 2, 2004 — The 153 Club The 153 Club is devoted to travel in the Saharan Desert (the club’s name comes from the number of the Michelin map covering the area). The site describes a variety of people and places one could explore in the desert;— Timbuctoo the Mysterious, for example. May 1, 2004 — SteamPower The well-named SteamPower Publishing has a number of upcoming releases that look promising. Yesterday’s Tomorrows is a “nuclearpunk” game set in an Orwellian United States. Dead of Night will be a horror game while Darksteam features three settings in which industrial technology and magic coexist. April 30, 2004 — Mysterious Australia Rex and Heather Gilroy have assembled this ætheric homage to mysteries Down Under: Mysterious Australia. You’ll find a little bit of everything outré from an Australian perspective, including Yowies and enormous cats. April 29, 2004 — Sea Works From the cardstock realm of WorldWorks Games comes a new set — SeaWorks: The Legend of Skull Cove. It’s obviously intended for pirate games, but who’s to say what sort of adventures transpire on those deserted tropical islands? April 28, 2004 — Playus Maximus Playus Maximus is the new game company founded by Terra Incognita illustrator D.T. Strain. I’m definitely looking forward to Rocket League! April 27, 2004 — Victorian Gamer Though now sadly defunct, Jim Skipper’s ezine Victorian Gamer is a wonderful resource for Victorian tidbits. You’ll find articles on the Babbage Engine, authentic Victorian recipes, and more. April 22-26, 2004 — JSTOR Reading Richard Burton’s account of his exploration of Lake Tanganyika in 1857-59 prompted me to look for online sources to the periodical where he published many of his observations: the Journal of the Royal Geographical Society. This led me to the Journal Storage — JSTOR.org — website which affords access to numerous academic journals stretching back decades, if not two centuries. The only catch is that one needs to be affiliated with an academic institution or public library to access the archives, though common folk can try a demo. So, head to your library or alma mater to have a glimpse at what they were writing about terra incognita back in the day. N.B.: I will be attending to some important business in the nation’s capital through the weekend;— Dispatches resume on Tuesday next. April 21, 2004 — Cartoforge Latest in my ongoing series of fantasy-gaming-utilities-that-I-would-like-to-adapt-to-historical-gaming is Cartoforge, a mapping program for PDAs. From the website: Cartoforge Adventures are created as a series of scenes, each a location where something takes place, complete with a map, notes, and cast members associated with each scene. Create the adventure when you have spare minutes during your day, then use cartoforge at the game to automatically keep track of NPC / Creature details, maps of the action, rewards earned by the players, and more. April 20, 2004 — Tablesmith Express Bruce Gulke at Mythosa.net sells a number of Windows OS utilities for fantasy rpgs. The recent Tablesmith eXpress for Palm OS looks like it could be interesting for players in our time period. In addition to spitting out dwarf and elf names, it does names for demons and angels, Arabic names, Lovecraft names (I’m intrigued), and even Shakespearean insults. One could probably add Vancean oaths for playing Dying Earth! April 19, 2004 — Adventure Tweaking Our intrepid Gadgeteers made a few minor tweaks to the TI Adventure Starter, viz:
Reload the page for a new adventure each time! April 18, 2004 — The Mysterious and Unexplained The Mysterious and Unexplained treats most of the usual suspects, but one is bound to find a new link here and about. April 17, 2004 — The Federal Vampire and Zombie Agency A NAGS Society partner since 1868, the Federal Vampire and Zombie Agency (FVZA) has been a stalwart bulwark against undead incursions. April 16, 2004 — A Gaming Bouillabaisse Ed Allen has posted a slightly-sorted list of gaming links — Game Links. April 15, 2004 — Astounding Tales! Here’s something to look forward to: Astounding Tales! by Howard Whitehouse. See the press release on the Miniature Page for all the gory details. April 14, 2004 — Uncover Eden’s Gate at Origins 2004 Despite being too sensitive for public dissemination in the Origins (June 24-27 in Columbus OH, USA) preregistration materials, Dirk Collins will lead an intrepid group of NAGS Society Members to uncover the Gates of Eden. Here are the details: Name of Event: Eden’s Gate April 13, 2004 — Unorthodox Archæology This is one of those lists people make for Amazon.com, but it may be of interest to the TI fan: Unorthodox Academic Archæology. April 12, 2004 — Rub Al Khali — The Empty Quarter Rub Al Khali — or the Empty Quarter — is the Central Arabian region reclaimed by the desert. This website will point you towards some of its more interesting secrets, including the afore-Dispatched Atlantis of the Sands, the lost city of Ubar. April 11, 2004 — Zombie Run For those who can’t get enough zombies comes Zombie Run from Pinnacle, a 42 page, $7.95 pdf available from RPGNow. “Zombie Run includes detailed scrounging tables, a mini-campaign suitable for many nights’ adventures, and an epic conclusion that should prove a real ‘blast’ for the whole party!” says the blurb. April 10, 2004 — The Dirty ’30s! Paper Dragon Productions has posted a new, extremely informative website — Dirty 30s! — in support of an Adventure Campaign. You’ll find numerous pulpy resources all in one spot. Dig in! April 9, 2004 — World Explorers Club And if one lost city isn’t enough, the bookshop at the World Explorers Club sells a whole series of books on them! N.B.: Tune into the latest dispatch from Darkest Jimland and help Julius Flagstone to choose his next adventure. April 8, 2004 — Ubar, the Lost City Here is the website for the PBS Nova special on the search for Ubar, the Lost City of Arabia. April 7, 2004 — Fighting Fantasy in Your Palm While not at all the TI genre, ProPorta Ltd have licensed the Fighting Fantasy Book 1 by Steve Jackson and Ian Livingstone and programed it in the Palm OS. I love the idea of being able to play solo adventures on a PDA. Perhaps at some point more genres than fantasy will be represented. April 6, 2004 — War of the Worlds Back in 1999, Steve Dismukes created this fine War of the Worlds site. Thanks to the longevity of data on the ætherwaves, we can still enjoy it today! April 5, 2004 — Blood Games, Ætherverse & Rippers Flying Mice are about to release a new modern horror/occult rpg entitled Blood Games;— Multiverse, from Triskele Games, is now to be entitled Ætherverse: the Infinite Game of Miniature Battles;— and Pinnacle Entertainment Group has released further details concerning their upcoming miniature battle game, Rippers. April 4, 2004 — Afristan Afristan is the setting for BlueBear’s (aka Jeff Hudelson) colonial wargames campaign. The site has a number of good ideas worth borrowing. April 3, 2004 — Pulp-Fu Bayn.org has released a new supplement for Wushu, their cinematic martial arts rpg: Pulp-Fu: A Wushu Game of Noir Style & Pulp Action! (38 page pdf, $5.00 US). April 2, 2004 — Fudge Factor 14 A jam-packed issue Fudge Factor has hit the æther waves! You’ll find meaty interviews with Fudge author Steffan O’Sullivan and publisher Ann Dupuis (who makes a variety of flattering comments about TI — blush, blush), and a complete game by Carl Cravens: Department 13: Underfunded, understaffed, overworked — and our last best stand against the Darkness. April 1, 2004 — Miskatonic University Press William Denton is the editor in chief of Miskatonic University Press, an eclectic (and apparently no longer updated?) collection of electronic tidbits. March 31, 2004 — Amazing Stories Paizo Publishing (who now publish Dragon and Dungeon magazines) have announced that they will relaunch Amazing Stories in July. This chestnut from the pulp era (first published in 1926) will include new science fiction and supernatural horror stories — read it to find the H.P. Lovecrafts of the 21st century! March 30, 2004 — The Steampunk Compendium The Steampunk Compendium is a new website devoted to all flavors of steampunk. It’s just getting started, but includes a reference to Dinotopia, one of my favorite explorations of terra incognita. March 29, 2004 — Now Playing The premier release from Carnivore Games is Now Playing, a Fudge game th |
The NAGS Society has authorized the release of a