Sweet! Shock: is now back in stock at IPR! I should have my own stock by Wednesday and be shipping copies by the end of the week!
Further cool, IPR just got the books and they’re already going out the door. Validatastic!
Category: shock:
Yes, We Have No Oranges
Hey, ever’body, I’m sold out of Shock: for the next couple of weeks. I put in a big order though, so this shouldn’t happen again for a long time. And if it does, well, super fucking awesome.
Under the Bed is in stock, but that’s because it’s hard to play and makes you cry.
Shangri-La: The Eightfold Path of Submission
In memory of a Shock: game at Dreamation last, I offer this, the flag of Shangri-La, a totalitarian state based on government-controlled reincarnation.
(I can’t for the life of me find my notes. If you could let me know that you were in that game, it would be great. I gotta give credit for the awesome creativity at that table.)
Rob and I Get Gravely
Rob Bohl, podcaster of The Independent Insurgency, just put up (well, OK, a few days ago, but I forgot to announce then) Independent Insurgency #6. We had a fun time talking about stuff from about 2 AM until around 4 at Dreamation 2008. You can hear us get gravelier and gravelier over the course of the conversation.
We talk about all sorts of fun stuff! We talk about publishing, we talk about giving and receiving critique, we talk about making design decisions and why I made some of mine. Give it a listen. It’s about an hour long, and you should count your blessings, because that’s edited down from about two.
Judd Suits Up
Judd Karlman, designer of Dictionary of Mu, just played a game of Shock: with Powered Armor as the Shock and “post-traumatic stress disorder” as an Issue. It sounds like it was a pretty neat game, and he’s listed some of the Minutiæ from it. Minutiæ are, by definition, not talked about a whole lot outside of Shock: games in play, but they’re pretty important in action because they make the world more tangible and complex. I’m happy he’s put this list up!
So Many Shock:s
I just received this email from Vinny, one of the coördinators of Dreamation, a con I’m going to next week in New Jersey:
I have an interesting situation to report to you. So far, I have 4 people trying to get into [the first scheduled game of Shock:] and 8 people trying to get into [the second one], and we’ve barely gotten the bulk of event reservations yet.
Um; what can we do? DREAMATION is too structured to just “thrown extra rounds of the game” into the convention. Do you have a second (or even a third) GM who can take additional tables? Is there any way to raise the max number of players from 3?
If you’re gonna be at Dreamation (and why wouldn’t you?) and can run a game of Shock: might you?
Let me know here or over at Story Games!
Shock: Going Out and Running Out
Everyone who’s ordered Shock: from me up to today should be receiving their book in the mail in the near future. Sorry it took so long, preorderers; I’ve really only just gotten back on track after Gen Con this week, both with shipping and with the rest of my professional life. Man, that thing takes it out of me.
Let me know if you don’t get your books in the appropriate future! Kaare, this especially means you.
This also means that I should bring up something important: Shock: is almost sold out again! I’ve got 5 copies and IPR has 6 remaining. That’s right, 94 sold in the last four weeks. I could learn to love that! I’ll be doing another print run just as soon as I can, but you know the way these things work. It could be a while. So if you’re planning on playing the game soon, buy a book before they’re gone into the land of hazy printer communications!
Not as bad as I thought!
I’d been stupid busy when the Indie RPG awards were actually going out at Gen Con this year, so while I was really happy for the winners, I wasn’t paying that close attention to the standings. It turns out, though, that Shock: was pretty far up there: 6th runner up behind Meg Baker’s 1001 Nights, Fred Hicks’ Don’t Rest Your Head, Jared Sorensen’s Lacuna Part 1, Chat Underkoffler’s Zorcerer of Zo, and Luke Crane’s Burning Empires. Those are all games I’m happy to lose to! In fact, there were few of the 44 entries that I’m not proud to stand beside.
Thanks, John Kim, for running the awards. You’re clearly doing your job well, if those are the games I’m losing to!
The Cupboards are Bare
Guys, I’m all out of Shock: 1.0 hardcopy. In fact, I sold one more than I owned (Sorry, Moreno!), so folks who want a stopgap copy of version 1.0 will have to get it by pre-ordering 1.1 through IPR. You can still pre-order 1.1 through me, of course, though you won’t get 1.0 to hold you off until then.
Thanks for all the orders!
Shock: 1.1 Preorder
I’m not good at keeping my mouth shut, but I win a brownie for this one. Over the last 8 months or so while people were telling me about the unclear parts of Shock:, I was quietly listening and writing a new edition with the extraordinary editorial help of Ben Lehman and Cauley Greene. The new edition is version 1.1 and has gone off to press, so now I can tell people about it.
The new version directly addresses the stuff that was missing or unclear before, integrates the various hacks and recommendations that Matthjis Holter assembled, squishes some strange typos and grammatical choices, and tweaks a number here and there to make the game work a little better.
If you submitted a head for bounty, you can either pick your copy up at Gen Con (assuming no printing disasters) or I’ll ship it to you after the con. Likewise, the four reviewers during Sci Fi Week at RPGnet will each get a copy in thanks for their reviews, as promised.
If you want to get yourself a copy ASAP, you can order Shock: 1.0 from my site now (or Indie Press Revolution, of course) and you’ll get not only a copy of 1.0, but a signed copy of 1.1 when it’s off the press. You’ll be able to pick it up from me at Gen Con or I’ll ship it to you.
The price of the book will be going up once this promotion is done, so get your copy before that happens!
Enjoy the Future!