I had the pleasure to take a look at three new sets of dice from Q-Workshop that will be out soon, and they do not disappoint. Q-Workshop is up to it’s usual, and also blazing some new trails with these three new sets, available soon!

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I had the chance to sit down with Colen McAlister, of Lone Wolf Development, and he let a few things slip about what we can expect to see from the creators of the 2010 ENnie Award Nominated HeroLab and Army Builder.  We talk about software design for the gaming industry and many other interesting topics.

About Lone Wolf Development

In a nutshell, Lone Wolf Development is a very small company that believes it can accomplish more than other companies of much larger size. How is this possible? Through innovative ideas, unconventional approaches, determination, hard work, and a heartfelt commitment to excellence. Lone Wolf Development is built upon integrity and other old-fashioned values that are becoming scarce in today’s corporate culture. Perhaps we’re idealists, but we like to think the qualitative results we achieve makes it all worthwhile.

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It’s been a while since we shamelessly plugged some groovy stuff to give our listeners, so here we go …

Our friends over at Troll in the Corner are holding a contest to give away some free Pathfinder books.  More information here.

And from our friends over at RPGNow, we have some Christmas in July goodness starting today and going through Monday.

Plus, you can use the following code to get 20% off products from the following companies at RPGNow as well.

4 Winds Fantasy Gaming
Action RPG Counters
ComStar
Crafty Games
DragonWing Games
Erisian Entertainment
Generic Universe Publishing
Holistic Designs
Kallisti Press
Louis Porter Jr. Design
Magnum Opus Press
Necromancer
Pinnacle Entertainment
Polgarus Games
Silver Gryphon Games
Simon Burley Productions
Team Frog
Thenodrin Presents

Just enter the code JulyDriveThruBlogPod2010 to get the discount! Be sure to use our affiliate link!

Also be sure to check out The Clerf, a community where people can come to get information on stuff they might find important.  The site isn’t up, yet, but the Facebook page is the place to look for info.

That’s all for now!

I am a comic book fan.  Not only that, I am a comic book roleplaying fan.  I have been for over 20 years.  I’ve had experience in the Marvel Superheroes Roleplaying Game, Champions, Heroes Unlimited, and Silver Age Sentinels.  When Green Ronin announced back in 2002 that they were publishing a superhero game, I largely ignored it, thinking I had been there, and done that.  I thought that I had milked all the enjoyment out of crunchy game systems with overcomplicated combat mechanics, and that I didn’t want to look at a new system, let alone a new superhero game.

Then Mutants & Masterminds hit the shelves.

I couldn’t toss away my old rulebooks of Silver Age Sentinels fast enough, once word got to me how sleek and shiny M&M was.  Of course, I was a bit skeptical, so I picked up the core book at Gen Con that year … and the rest, as you know, his history.

The second edition of the game came and went, and improved the game even more, proving even moreso that Steve Kenson had a firm grasp on mechanics and the comic book genre.  I, of course, thought to myself, “How can they top this edition?  It seems perfect!”

Then Green Ronin announced that they would be publishing DC Adventures, a RPG based on the DC universe using a variation of the Mutants & Masterminds system.  On the heels of this announcement, they made it public that they would be making DC Adventures the flagship of the new Mutants & Masterminds 3^rd Edition!

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This past week at KantCon, I had the opportunity to play a cheap-ass game.  Well, in actuality, it was a real Cheap Ass Game, from the company of the same name.  The game is the acclaimed zombie board game called “The Great Brain Robbery.”

Released originally in 2000 by Cheapass Games, and designed by James Ernest, the Great Brain Robbery, you are a zombie, and you need a brain.  However, supply is low and demand is high, so you and your zombie compatriots decide to rob the local commuter train for a fresh supply of brains.

Oh, and the train is also carrying government cheese, which also functions as a brain in some capacity.

The mechanics of the game are simple.  You are a zombie, you have a movement rating, a hit rating, and an IQ rating.  You grab the morning commuters from their seat, tear out their brain, and have the option of dropping it into your empty skull.  Some brains cost some experience points to slap into your noggin’, but there are also some pretty darn cheap brains out there as well.  You gain experience points by losing (that’s right, losing) fights, and tearing brains out of passengers.

However, there are some limitations.

Without a brain in your skull, you’re pretty dumb, and you can only carry two brains around … one in each hand if you don’t have a brain in your head.  When you got a brain in there, you generally can move farther, hit harder, or do some nifty ability that helps you in the game.

The point of the game is to make it to the engine car before any of the other zombies, and press both the brake levers to stop the train.  When the train stops, the zombie with the smartest (i.e., highest I.Q.) brain in its head wins the game.

Every time you pass from one car to another, you randomly draw a new car to see what car you’re jumping into.  You also make a roll to see if any of the back cars fall off as you stop to instinctively bash the coupling mechanism between cars.  If any zombies are in a car that gets uncoupled, they immediately drop the brains they’re carrying, and run after the train, jumping into the new final train car.  This usually results in many zombie fights as the game goes on.

It’s a fun and entertaining game, that is, sadly out of print.  You may be able to find it in some game stores, and, since it’s a Cheap Ass Game, it’s, well, cheap.  You can usually find a copy for about $5 or $10 depending on where you look.  I highly recommend you try to find a copy, as it certainly is an entertaining beer-n-pretzels brain-munching good time.

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We dive back onto the ENnie Awards Specials this year with a look at the nominees for 2010!

A complete list of nominees can be found here.

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In this special episode, Ethan and Jeremy take on the hosting duties of the second annual KantCon Awards from the floor of the KantCon 2010 Game Convention in Overland Park, Kansas!

Complete List of KantCon 2010 Award Winners

Running time on this episode is 50 minutes.

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As some of you may know, KantCon 2010 is this weekend, and we’re hard at work trying to make it a fun con for everyone.  There are two events that you, as listeners of the Gamer’s Haven, can participate in, even if you’re not going to be at KantCon proper!

About The KantCon Confessional

As a special treat for Con attendees, there will be a special computer and webcam set up for attendees to record their thoughts and experiences as the convention progresses.  Got a thought about the game you just played?  Got something you want the gaming world to hear?  Want to give a shout out to someone at home?  Feel free to sit yourself down in front of the camera, and record something for posterity!

Be aware, however!  Whatever you say will be streamed live over the Gamer’s Haven UStream Channel.

About The KantCon Awards and Podcast

During the last slot of the evening, all attendees are welcome to join the Gamer’s Haven Podcast as they record a retrospective about KantCon where they will talk about what happened at the convention between themselves, and with attendees.  They’ll discuss what worked, what didn’t work, and get feedback on what people would like to see at KantCon 2011!

As a grand finale of KantCon, the Gamer’s Haven Podcast will present a number of awards to convention attendees.  Each Role-Playing Game Event will have a Best Roleplayer winner!  Also presented will be acknowledgements to various volunteers and staff of KantCon and the Gamer’s Haven Social Club who contributed to KantCon this year.

Plus, there may be some special SWAG that gets given away …

So join us on Sunday night, July 11th, starting at 7:00 PM Central Standard Time as we present the Second Annual KantCon Awards!

This event will be streamed live online via the Gamer’s Haven UStream Channel!

In this episode, Ethan, Nathan, and Jeremy talk a bit about sources of inspiration — where to look for ‘em, and how to interpret them.

In the Three Parter, Nathan reviews the old Might and Magic video game series, Jeremy continues his review of Amethyst: Foundations, and Ethan talks about something he’s currently into — comics.

Running Time on this episode is 87 minutes.

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Due to a technical error while editing, Jeremy’s review got omitted from the final episode.  We apologize for the inconvenience.

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Ethan found himself talking with Jon Leitheusser, the Mutants & Masterminds line developer over at Green Ronin at length about the new Mutants & Masterminds 3rd Edition and the DC Adventures RPG.  Jon let a few things slip out that we can expect to see from Green Ronin, and dropped a few breadcrumbs concerning the future of M&M …

About Green Ronin Publishing

Green Ronin Publishing is a Seattle based company dedicated to the art of great games. Since the year 2000 Green Ronin has established a reputation for quality and innovation that is second to none, publishing such critical favorites as the Freeport Trilogy, Book of the Righteous, Hobby Games: The 100 Best, and the Mutants & Masterminds RPG, and winning over 40 awards for excellence. For an unprecented three years running Green Ronin won the prestigious GenCon & EnWorld Award for Best Publisher.

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