Super Genius Games

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Strike Force 7 the Savaged! edition is on sale now at the OWC RPGNow.com storefront. It’s 70 pages and includes complete backgrounds for SF 7 and Skorpion, all of the rules updates you need for SW, and an introductory adventure: “Project Osiris”.

You can download it here:

http://www.rpgnow.com/product_info.php?products_id=63145

It’s the cover to our September Call of Cthulhu release. It’s set during the Classic era in a location that should be familiar to fans of Lovecraft. It’s written by a long time industry favorite, and just rocks. The final image is still being tweaked but I wanted to get it up since it’s been a month since our last post. The book will be available in September through our new fulfillment parter Studio 2.

OWC is proud to announce the Fundable fundraising effort for Chill 3rd Edition! The link below has all of the information about this fundraiser. If you’ve got any questions not covered there, please post to one of the lists or email me privately at hyrum@otherworlds.cx . We hope you’ll participate so we can finally get the game out. We’ve been working on this for years and, inspired by the fine folks at Pagan Publishing and Arc Dream Publishing, we’re hoping that this fundraiser will tell us if there’s still enough interest in the game to finish it and then print a limited edition full color hardcopy edition of the game.

http://www.fundable.com/groupactions/groupaction.2009-05-13.8365429432

The fate of the game is in your hands.

Sorry about the lack of updates. We’re in the middle of planning out the rest of year and should have some exciting news soon. Stay tuned Mythos fans!

I’ve uploaded the files and set it for release first thing tomorrow. This new race, for use with 4e, details the Arak, blue-skinned barbarians dedicated to the One. The Arak are the first of the Diomin races to be adapted to 4e, and it was a lot of fun, especially now with PHB2:

In the language of the Arak, the word “arak” means “the First.” This is the source of their pride, their noble carriage and their isolation.

According to the other races of the world, the Arak are little more than blue-skinned barbarians who live in the outskirts of the world. If during a conversation with an Arak you were to call him a barbarian, he would probably snort and mutter, “What do you know? You are but a simple T’endrak.” Unless you spoke Araki, the fact that you had just been given the worst insult that one of the Arak can utter would be lost on you. If you did speak it, you’d know that he had just called you “a Second.”

That is the core of the Arak worldview. You are either one of the Arak, or you are just a Second…simple, foolish and one of the lost.

Play an Arak if you want . . .

• to be a member of a race proud of your ancient heritage.
• to be tough and wise.
• to strike your enemies with the skill of the expert hunter.
• to be a member of a race that favors the barbarian, ranger, shaman and warden classes.

I’ll post a link and more about the product tomorrow.

As we get ready to relase Fantastic Races: The Arak tomorrow, I found myself with some time this morning and thought I’d share the following.

One-armed bandits, playable banks, coin hoppers and drop buckets: These are among the many nicknames given to slot machines over the years. No other game in casino history has such a thorough canon of terminology used to describe it. Needless to say, slots are ultra-popular and here to stay.

With the advancement of videogame technology in the last twenty years, online slots have become the equivalent of a high-definition television set – whereas land-based casinos, for the most part, are stuck in the Stone Age with their massive array of bulky relics.

What exactly makes these videogame-like online slots better than the “real” thing? Well, it’s not just any one thing, per se; although, any of the new-age slots’ mediocre attributes tend to outperform the land-based slots’ best qualities.

For starters, there’s just a convenience factor that can never be oversold. No longer are eager players forced to drive to designated locations, sit beside chain-smoking old women, and refrain from using the bathroom for fear of losing the “hot” machine. Instead, the Internet provides a 24/7, play-in-your-PJs, comfortable environment where players enter whenever they want and leave just as freely. And, not to mention, the payout rates of online slots are far superior to land-based machines.

Then there’s the graphic factor: Today’s slot machines are available in a wide array of colors and themes. Online slots are also available in 3, 5 and 7-reel versions, progressive and regular, and you can even catch a slot tournament at the best online casinos.

Online slots stack up well against their videogame competitors. Although there’s still a gigantic market for FPS and role-playing games – both browser-based and console – the gambling faithful demolish the gamers. It’s really no contest. Being in control of your favorite video game is one thing, but the addictive nature of games of chance is another entirely. Try as you might to escape, online slots will reel you right in. 

This PDF product will be released early next week. It’s for use with 4th Edition and includes everything you need to play this race including a complete history as well as Heroic and Paragon tier racial feats. Here’s a little tease:

In the language of the Arak, the word “arak” means “the First.”  This is the source of their pride, their noble carriage and their isolation.

According to the other races of the world, the Arak are little more than blue-skinned barbarians who live in the outskirts of the world. If during a conversation with an Arak you were to call him a barbarian, he would probably snort and mutter, “What do you know?  You are but a simple T’endrak.”  Unless you spoke Araki, the fact that you had just been given the worst insult that one of the Arak can utter would be lost on you.  If you did speak it, you’d know that he’d just called you “a Second.”

That is the core of the Arak worldview. You are either one of the Arak, or you are just a Second…simple,  foolish and one of the lost.

Play an Arak if you want . . .
 * to be a member of a race proud of your ancient heritage.
* to be tough and wise.
* to strike your enemies with the skill of the expert hunter.
* to be a member of a race that favors the barbarian, ranger, shaman and warden  classes.

Poker and video games both seem like idle pursuits, like wastes of money and time for those with nothing better to do. But only to the uninitiated! 

Talented poker players and talented video game players can profit handsomely from their talents while illustrating displays of skill that can entertain masses of people.

Online Poker and RTS Video Games

The greatest similarity comes between online poker and real time strategy, or “RTS” video games. Both of these allow a player to log on from their home computers and challenge other players (today there’s even poker Mac OS). For both, while there is an element of luck, it is generally the most skilled players who will win the day.

Tactics in Poker and Video Games

Both poker and RTS video games require that players master certain tactics in order to succeed. Without these tactics, a player will be at a severe disadvantage.
Tactics critical to poker play include slow playing, bluffing, trapping and check-raising. Video game strategies that players must at least be familiar with if not implement themselves include the rush, turtling and camping.

Expertise in Poker and Video Games

Expertise in video games does not necessarily transfer to poker or vice versa. However, it should be noted that two of the most successful young poker players today, Ivan Demidov, who made both the WSOP and WSOPE main event final tables in 2008, and Bertrand Grospellier, who has both a WPT and a WPTE championship under his belt, are both champion video game players, with professional level skill in games like StarCraft.

Playing Poker and Video Games

Playing video games that are not multi-player interactive strategy games will probably not hone your strategic or competitive skills too much. This is similar to the understanding that playing free money poker games on the Internet probably won’t advance your education as a poker player. You won’t learn to play poker until you’ve felt the pain of real loss.
However, they can both still be quite entertaining. If you do make the effort to play the high level games, you will probably find you experience significant gains in both arenas, and may even be able to transfer them from one to another.

Charles West, a member of the school board of the Arkham School District has a plan to address our education problems. You can read about it here:

http://www.theonion.com/content/news/lovecraftian_school_board_member

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The fine folks over at Flames Rising have posted a review of Midnight Harvest. You can read it here:

http://www.flamesrising.com/midnight-harvest-review/

They also reviewed The Doom from Below awhile back. You can read that review here:

http://www.flamesrising.com/doom-from-below-review/

Thanks guys!