Tetsujin no Llama

I was reading this post by Refplace about common GURPS myths: it's dead (no, it gets regular monthly support and doesn't need a new edition), there are no settings (no, there's a zillion of them), and so on. And while GURPS has lots of stuff, the no-settings meme in particular did get me thinking about notable gaps which still exist in the GURPS line. I can think of three gaps that might usefully be filled. A vehicle design system is, of course, one of those gaps. Many games need no such thing, but general-purpose rules for stuff are very much in GURPS 's lane. The 4e vehicle design book is still going through its interminable process, so I suppose we'll see it when we see it. I'm curious as to whether we'll ever see a similar gun-design system, which would also be appropriate. Then there's a setting line. Yes, yes, I know. GURPS has settings. It has many settings. I would respectfully submit that there's no setting line for 4e in the way the

I've been working with Campaign Cartographer for the past several years to produce the maps I use at the table and in publications. It's excellent software for that purpose for any number of reasons, not the least of which is that I'm a terrible artist. That said, I got a book on fantasy cartography for Christmas, and I started working with it over the past few weeks, just playing with some of the techniques. Mostly pencil, with colors provided by a mix of ink washes, acrylic washes, and watercolor pencil. I don't think this is going to replace my digital tools, but it's kinda fun, so this may become the new doodling on a notebook during meetings.

I've remarked elsewhere on the sad demise of Pyramid . And I mentioned that my not writing as much for the third iteration of the magazine was a consequence of moving on to writing longer works. That's certainly a part of it, but another part was that the looser format of the second edition lent itself to a more eclectic, impulsive style of writing. Something which happened quite often is that I'd read a book, realize that there was a gaming angle on it, and write a brief article about it. "Atomic Zombies of the Pacific," for example, was the result of reading a book about recent exploration of the sunken ships of the Bikini Atoll and dashing off a lightweight piece on the topic before moving on. The tighter format of the newer Pyramid made that kind of thing more difficult (whatever I was reading at any given moment might not fit well with any theme Steven might come up with, though given his historical performance, I suppose that's deeply and unfairly unde

Kromm and others have been indicating that they've been signing a bunch of contracts for new GURPS projects. I don't have one in that stack. Until recently, I've been busy with some other stuff (notably, revising articles for the Pyramid Dungeon Collection , coming whenever and hopefully demonstrating some ideas I've had about building a campaign world) and haven't had the time to concentrate on new stuff. But my part of the PDC, so far as I can tell, is done now, and I can start thinking about the next project. I've got two projects in mind. One is relatively short and largely uses real-world information for GM guidance. The other is likely to turn out longer and is in the location/setting/adventure line. I'm not sure which one to pitch first. The answer, of course, is "whichever one I feel more like writing," which makes raising the question here entirely rhetorical. But writing it down here helps crystalize the topic.