Today, Charlotte and I travelled to Rebellion's HQ, to make use of their sound recording studio.

You will hear the results on the Black Missions edition of Paranoia's 25th Anniversary rulebook!

Well, I have just been a little whirlwind of activity!

Last week I was in Las Vegas, attending the GAMA Trade Show. For those not in the know, this is a collection of publishers, distributors and retailers of hobby games. We all get together and hob-nob, convincing retailers that they should stock even more of our games, and letting everyone know what is coming up in our release schedule. It also gives us a chance to poke around and see what other companies are up to!

Retailer traffic was slower this year, and there were slightly less exhibtors than usual (a sign of the times?), buit the individual meetings we had with various parties went _very_ well. Look out for some big news in the next few months!

Vegas itself is not a city I can say I truly. . . enjoy. However, Kelly managed to snag us suites in the Trump Hotel which, whatever way you cut it, was not the worst place to stay in the world! Still I was glad to get home. . .

. . . and enter a world of catch-up work!

Fortunately, I had more or less managed to keep up with the inevitable email storm while in Vegas, so there were the usual phone calls to return and a staff round up to see who had been naughty and who had been nice while we were away. We had broguht with us a selection of 'wholesome' American snacks for the office (we are all heart), though the Twinkies remain, as yet, uneaten.

That all tied up, it was back into work, pushing some of our new projects ahead. The biggest of these is probably the new web site. We saw a mock up of it this week, along with some new branding for Mongoose as a whole (and you would not believe the arguments created when a new logo was suggested). The new web site is going to have oodles of new 'functionality', be easier to navigate, and have all sorts of special features for those willing to register and log on (though that will not be compulsory).

We have had some new books completed while we were away in Vegas too. I have just finished looking over Warships of Babylon 5, and I think there will be people who go dippy over it - after all, who would not want to explore a Sharlin, inside out?

I _do_ have some concerns over producing deck plans of larger ships. On the one hand, we cannot go into corridor by corridor detail of a battleship or dreadnought unless we dedicate an entire box set to it - thus limiting the ships we can cover. On the other hand, I know from play experience (with Star wars, as the players crept on board a Droid Control Ship) that even a general guide as to where things lie on a ship is enough to conduct a long series of missions.

We will likely steer clear of very large ships for a while, once Warships has come out, until we find a suitable box set project. That said, we have already produced enough large ships for players to be getting on with for a good while, and in Warships even the 80,000 tonner Tigara has plans that are clear and easy to use. As for the likes of the Warbird and Hermes, well, they will be a joy to get into games!

The release of the Universe of Babylon 5 book sparked some debate about the use of fuel on board B5 ships, mirroring those in Traveller. Personally speaking, I am in two minds about this. It 'feels' a little odd at first, true, but given the (enforced) short life span of the Traveller-B5 line, we wanted to maintain a direct link with regular Traveller vessels, so the two universes could draw upon one another's ships with the least amount of work required for the referee. The next major ship-based sci-fi property we tackle will likely have complete revisions to Traveller-tech!

Oh, and yes, the Shadow Ship is in this book. But don't expect deck plans. . .

The second book being prepped for print this week is Hammers Slammers, and it is currently awaiting approval from Mr David Drake himself. There is no other word for it - this book is gorgeous, as some of our early previews demonstrate. No monkeying around with ships and space travel in this universe! This is full on, hard core, ground force gaming. If you have been toying with the idea of using Book 1: Mercenary to run a campaign, Hammers Slammers has everything you are looking for. Writer Gareth Hanrahan has also written not just a complete mission, but a complete War - and layout artist Will has managed to squeeze both inside the covers, plus lots of pretty pictures of tanks from the complete Hammers series.

This is a book to watch out for.

We have had people crying out for a Traveller Referee's screen - I can now confirm one is on the way, and will be available around July (ish). This will be built from the thick, luxury card stock that our RuneQuest and Babylon 5 screens were made from, and the player's side has a lovely picture of a Type-S cockpit. Just the kind of inspiration needed for Traveller!

Not resting on our laurels, two more play aids for Traveller are planned this year. First, a giant and fully detailed poster map of the Spinward Marches (which, if it proves popular, we'll continue doing for other sectors as we expand the universe - you are going to need a pretty big wall to fit everything!). Second, a Character Record Pack for Traveller, much in the spirit of the old Ultimate Character Record Sheet we did for D20. This will include, well, just about everything you need for your Traveller character, from equipment and psionics, to ship maintenance pages and trading records, all bound together in one handy booklet. Like the Ultimate Character Record Sheet, we'll be selling this one for a very reasonable price, meaning you should never lose details of your character ever again!

I should also mention the Judge Dredd miniatures game while I am here. We have the core rules in playtest right now, and Mr Bobby Jackson is currently working on expanding the metal miniatures line - right now he is working on some new Street Judges to give the Justice Department some more variation.

For my part, I have given myself the task of creating the Comprehensive and Integrated Campaign System (CICS?). The basic idea is this. . .

You choose what 'force' you want to play in the world of Mega-City One. This could be something as 'minor' as a bunch of Juves interested mainly in scrawling and tapping, or something as large as a complete Sector House of Judges, or an alien invasion fleet (Kleggs!). Anything in-between would be possible as well, be it a common Street Gang, horde of Mutie raiders from the Cursed Earth, a Blitz Agency, a Brit-Cit Liason Squad, some disgruntled robots. . . whatever, really.

The problem, of course, is balancing all this :) How can a juve gang stand up to a Sector House? One to one, they can't. However, the juves are not looking to destroy the Sector House, and the judges have more to do with their time than babysit the gang - so, I am looking at a goal-oriented approach to the campaign. What counts as a success for juves will never interest a Judge. For example, Judges get a certain number of bonus points/bennies/resources for the crime they clear up, big or small. A juve gang might want to decorate a block with their own scrawls, and if they get to knock over a single judge while they do it, well, their reputation will go through the roof.

In the best of all possible worlds, your 'force' will be able to grow and perhaps aspire to bigger and better things. Juves grow up, and form a street gang. A street gang might get into organised crime. The leader might become a kingpin, with multiple interests and several street gangs under his command - along with the alien mercenaries he has recently financed.

The goal is getting all of this into a single campaign system that is structured, if not always fair.

I have been well and truly immersed in the Traveller universe of late. Tripwire was completed a few weeks ago – a campaign is set in the Jewell subsector that thrusts the players into a world of intrigue, conspiracy and danger. However, it is more than just a campaign as the story takes the players to every system in Jewell, so the book also serves as a sort of “Rough Guide to Jewell Subsector”.

The last few weeks have been spent working on the two new vehicle books (Civilian Vehicles and Military Vehicles). Most of the work thus far has been writing up the existing vehicle design rules and detailing the civilian vehicles which includes bikes, cars, trucks, ATVs, planes, helicopters, grav vehicles, boats, ships, submarines, walkers and a few unusual designs. The military book will be similar but will most likely have an additional chapter dedicated to walkers.

The exact number of vehicles in each one is yet to be finalised but expect between 90–100 per book covering a range of designs, applications and tech levels. The vehicles are not specific to the OTU so you can use them with any setting as appropriate. In short, there will be a vehicle for just about any occasion or you can create your own.

One of the fathers of our industry, Dave Arneson, passed away April 7th. I am honoured to have met the man on several occasions, discussed many things involving roleplaying in general, and even showed him how to play Battlefield Evolution at GenCon two years ago. He told me just last year that he really enjoyed "our stuff", and specifically took home a copy of Trial of Blood to peruse.

Dave, wherever you are now, I know you are happy and gaming with all your old friends. May we all live as long and full of life.

Humbled today,
Bryan

Today has been a busy one and it is only now, at about half four, that I have been able to sit back and take a breather!

We have had a metric ton of new books arrive at the UK HQ today - Fighting Ships, Elven Crystals, Dream Realms, the Trouble with Drazi and Warrior's Companion. They have all been taken from their boxes, sorted, shelved, and mail orders are already on their way out to you all. Look for books in your post box soon, if you pre-ordered (those in the UK should expect to see books on Saturday, if not before, Royal Mail permitting!).

We have also had news today that March was our best sales month for over two years. There has been a steady increase over the past 6 months or so, and last month was when the records were broken. Thank you one and all, dear customers - we are now working doubly hard to get even cooler goodies to you in the future!

Finally, there is a strange new presence in our office. Some say it cannot eat plucked ducks, and some say its ears can only hear the sound of Fiona Armstrong's voice. All we know is that we will have more news on this soon. . .