Anyway, onwards and upwards -- or pluen kaj supren, as they say in Lingua Terra. More on this once the book is available for sale, which I'm hoping should be sometime within the next few weeks.
Wednesday, November 30, 2011
At Last (or Nearly So)
Just in time for the end of the month, it looks like the revised Thousand Suns rulebook is finished and ready to go to the printers. I'm doing a last minute eyeballing of the PDF proof, but, barring the discovery of any errors or typos I can detect in the next little while, I can finally scratch this project off my to-do list and get back to work on my many other delayed ones. I fully expect to find some huge and obvious error after the book is actually printed up, but such is life. In the meantime, I'll bask in the conclusion of a year-long obsession that's been brought to a very happy conclusion, thanks in no small part to my indefatigable layout guru, Adam Jury.
Anyway, onwards and upwards -- or pluen kaj supren, as they say in Lingua Terra. More on this once the book is available for sale, which I'm hoping should be sometime within the next few weeks.
Anyway, onwards and upwards -- or pluen kaj supren, as they say in Lingua Terra. More on this once the book is available for sale, which I'm hoping should be sometime within the next few weeks.
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I look forward to this with bated breath.
ReplyDeleteLooks beautiful
ReplyDeleteFor those of us who were not in on earlier editions could you give a the "hollywood short hand" summary? Is it like "Tootsie" in Ancient Rome with "Terminators"? Or is it like "Westside Story" in Middle Earth with "Aliens"?
ReplyDeleteThousand Suns is basically Poul Anderson and H. Beam Piper the Roleplaying Game, but with 21st century special effects. Does that help?
ReplyDeleteBooks that have huge teams of guys working on them still end up needing a page or two of errata. Just the way it goes. As long as it isn't like OD&D and have a thing in a paragraph that glaringly contridicts something in the previous paragraph, there should be no shame in whatever fumbles that pop up eventually.
ReplyDeleteI don't say this about many gaming products, especially the Sci Fi ones, but yeah that is one really good looking cover. Kind of reminds me of a textbook cover from a higher math book, but those are often nifty looking so no big.
Look forward to reading it. Will it be available on DriveThru RPG?
ReplyDeleteCongrats! I can't wait to read it.
ReplyDeleteDude! I LOVE that cover! It's reminiscent of the piles of old 70's era sci-fi books that were in my Dad's stacks in the basement. The old Herberts, Asimovs, and Simaks. Just on that fact alone, I am tempted.
ReplyDeleteAlcazar: Yes, as a PDF, softcover POD, and hardcover POD.
ReplyDeleteImfamous: Well, the first thing I did when designing the cover was download the covers to almost every single title that James lists in the bibliography, and then I went "goddamn, I still love how Futura looks." ;-)
The cover is super awesome. The first name that came to me was Asimov.
ReplyDeleteI've seen the previous editions of this game before, but since I already have a bookshelf full of SF games I ignored it. With a new edition coming out, I think I'll pick up a copy and have a look-see.
ReplyDeleteThat cover is totally wicked.
ReplyDeleteWill be watching for its arrival at my FLGS.
ReplyDeleteWill be watching for its arrival at my FLGS.
ReplyDeleteFor the moment, the rulebook isn't going into regular distribution but will be available through RPGNow and DriveThruRPG, as bot a print and electronic product. Given how small an operation I am -- one man -- distribution isn't really something I'm concerning myself with. In the future, who knows?
It won't be arriving at your FLGS.
ReplyDeleteIf I can do Legend of the Galactic Heroes, I'm sold.
ReplyDeleteSounds like i'll need to revive my moribund RPGnow account.
ReplyDeleteI love the cover. The contemporary green-and white actually reminds me of Traveller without actually being Traveller. Well done; looking forward to this. ;)
ReplyDeleteIt's a good looking book, though. I hope it does really well!
ReplyDeleteWhile I do love Stars Without Number, this cover is much less garish... it makes me think of a green-screen computer vid display. Kind of calming and cool. Definitely '70s SF.
ReplyDeleteDefinitely '70s SF.
ReplyDeleteIt makes me happy to hear you say that, as that era of SF was a big part of the game's inspiration.
Congratulations, James! Does this mean that the hitherto-"coming soon" Grognardia Games will finally have a little substance as an entity? I see the logo on the back cover...
ReplyDeleteDoes this mean that the hitherto-"coming soon" Grognardia Games will finally have a little substance as an entity?
ReplyDeleteIt'll have as much substance as one guy d/b/a can have, but yes :)
As a huge fan, GM and player with many hours into the original version of TS, I can assure anyone who is even slightly interested in this game that it will be well worth the purchase. The biggest issue I had with the original was the layout, so I expect the additional time and Adam's contribution will take this game to "11". Thousand.
ReplyDelete"Traveller without actually being Traveller" is very much what this game is to me. Updated with modern gaming sensibilities, without the luggage of The Third Imperium. I also highly recommend "Thousand Suns: Starships" by Greg Videll and James, if you can track down a hardcopy. AFAIK, nothing in TS:Revised has made it obsolete, and it is an excellent blend of crunch and fluff for this genre. I've been re-reading it over the past week and cannot wait to start running this game again.
AFAIK, nothing in TS:Revised has made it obsolete, and it is an excellent blend of crunch and fluff for this genre.
ReplyDeleteThat's correct. The Starships chapter of the revised rulebook was in fact largely written by Greg and is simply a simplified version of the rules presented in the Starships rulebook. I should also add that the new rulebook is 90%+ identical to the original in terms of content; the primary difference is its layout and organization, including lots of new artwork. So, if you have the original, there's really no necessity to buy the revision, though, speaking for myself, I can't stand to look at the 2008 version and will be very happy to be rid of it.
I should also add that the new rulebook is 90%+ identical to the original in terms of content; the primary difference is its layout and organization, including lots of new artwork.
ReplyDeleteSo, there's little in the way of game mechanic revision in this version? Mainly an update of trade dress?
So, there's little in the way of game mechanic revision in this version? Mainly an update of trade dress?
ReplyDeleteMostly, yes. The rules have been tightened up a bit (particularly with regard to psi powers) and better explained, but they're fundamentally the same rules as the original. I don't like new editions that aren't mostly backward compatible with their predecessors and the original Thousand Suns was perfectly fine as a ruleset, even if, as a rulebook, it was less than ideal.
Looking forward to it.
ReplyDeleteHave to admit I'm on the fence reading the cover( maybe it's the green) but I dig the hell out of the Grognardia Games logo. Very cool.
ReplyDeleteWell, I like the in your face green cover. Conveys a certain mood. Hope it matches the contents, eh!
ReplyDeleteThat cover looks all kinds of 70s sci-fi awesome. And I love the Grognardia Games logo too! It's up there with the original Brave Halfling logo that was all kinds of cool as well. Is it Cafe Press time?
ReplyDeleteIs it Cafe Press time?
ReplyDeleteFor what?
I presume he wants a T-shirt based on your new cover art, or GG logo, or both.
ReplyDeleteCafe Press is analogous to Lulu.com or other print on demand services but for print on demand logos on hats, shirts, coffee mugs, mouse pads etc. Just a suggestion.
ReplyDeleteLove the cover, love the GREEN!
ReplyDeleteI'm a big fan of that colour with the white font. I can't wait to get my hands on that book.
So, no Lulu, just RPGNow/DriveThrough ?
So, no Lulu, just RPGNow/DriveThrough ?
ReplyDeleteFor the moment, yes. If I find there's sufficient demand for Lulu, I may make that option available, too.
Based on differing print costs, a sale on Lulu is worth five bucks less to James than a DriveThruRPG.com sale.
ReplyDelete(Napkin numbers)
Tempting, very tempting. And knowing Adam's in the game (Hi, brat!), I'm sure this will be a great looking book.
ReplyDelete