http://www.sjgames.com/ill/a/2025-09-04

If you see this post on Thursday, September 4, then – depending on what time you see it – you might still have time to start down the Path of Mastery!

As I write this, we're in the final hours for backers to be among the first to get the new solo adventure for The Fantasy Trip. Written by David L. Pulver, Path of Mastery lets you begin a new school term as a student of The T'reo School of Martial Magic – a complete ready-to-use locale or campaign that's also available as part of this crowdfunding effort.

New pupils who partake of the Path of Mastery will discover themselves beset with choices, opportunities . . . and danger! With three professorial mentors to pick from, and various options to get into and out of trouble, you can play through the adventure again and again! 

Don't feel like you need to bring an apple for the teacher . . . just your thirst for power, an eagerness to learn, and maybe a Fireball or two. If the late bell hasn't rung, you can still get into class at Kickstarter today!

– Steven Marsh

Warehouse 23 News: The City Never Sleeps Because Of All The Action

There are a million stories in the city, and they're all exciting! GURPS Action 9: The City shows how you can add GURPS City Stats to your GURPS Action campaigns. It also features six sample cities to use with your own action-packed adventures. Download it today from Warehouse 23!

http://www.sjgames.com/ill/a/2025-09-04

http://www.sjgames.com/ill/a/2025-09-03

"Back from Dragon Con" doesn't mean the kind of trek that it used to, now that I am living in Atlanta. The house is less than 4 miles from the convention hotels. Hotels, plural . . . Dragon now takes up five. But it still took me most of today to get unpacked, physically and mentally, and get everything sorted out.

I had a great time, as always. My panels were fun, with rooms full of people asking good questions. We announced Munchkin Vox Machina – A Critical Role Game to wild and much-appreciated applause. (Look for an Illuminator real soon now with details and images.) I even got to see some programming from the audience side, and lo, it was good. And, as always, the hall costumes were a source of ever-changing joy and wonder. I can't even name a favorite this year, but the image of a gaggle of inflatable Tyrannosaurus costumes, in different colors, will stay with me. I remember complimenting a lady on her tooled-leather armor and learning that she had made it herself. And why were so many people dressed as French waiters and carrying baguettes? Perhaps I will find out someday. Perhaps not. Perhaps it's better that way.

And some business got done. I'm not saying what, yet, but I encountered a really neat gadget that just cries out to be Munchkinized. I talked with some new game designers. I bought a towel with a LEGO head embroidered on it (perhaps that's not really business; at any rate, I did not use the company card, Keith, I promise). But now I know where my towel is.

Nobody can ever take in all of Dragon Con. You can't even get close. But it's fun to try.

– Steve Jackson

Warehouse 23 News: Why Is The Darkness Blinking?

They're trapped between the realm of the living and the dead . . . and they're not too pleased about it. The Book of Unlife adds 44 unliving monsters to your The Fantasy Trip campaigns, along with a complete adventure setting. Live like there's too many tomorrows thanks to Warehouse 23!

http://www.sjgames.com/ill/a/2025-09-03

http://www.sjgames.com/ill/a/2025-09-02

The Kickstarter for the new Fantasy Trip solo adventure, Path of Mastery, launched last week, and I decided that makes this as good a time as any to talk about all the work that goes into the visual assets for the crowdfunds we do.

I've long since lost count of how many Kickstarters, Backerkits, Indiegogos, etc. for which I've designed the graphics.  (A bit ironic, since I strive to make each one memorable.) This means creating strong visual themes that will make the project stand out on the crowdfunding platforms and leave a strong impression with anyone who visits the page. Each campaign needs graphics for pledge levels and add-ons, as well as nameplates to organize the sections, a strong main image to help everyone understand what they're backing, and various other images to add a little spice.

Usually I start with the visual identity of the product itself and build graphics based on that. This was the case in the most recent Backerkit: Last Train to Bremen. The game itself was full of cool visual elements: woodcut-style frames and graphics that could easily be repurposed for the campaign. Another recent project, Dahlia's Diversions for Peculiar Parties, was quite similar. I worked the floral patterns from the box into all the graphics I could, while toning them down to the point that they didn't distract from the game on offer. The campaign was about to launch when it occurred to me that the same floral patterns could make interesting borders. I still had enough time to repurpose most of the graphics with new floral frames reminiscent of fancy stationary. It was a small touch I really liked, and it was very much in keeping with the theme of the game.

But not everything we crowdfund has assets ready to go. Our Fantasy Trip line has a visual identity defined by old-school minimalism – lots of text and a few sporadic pieces of black and white art. Definitely great for a nostalgia kick, but it doesn't lend itself to the attention-grabbing campaign graphics I want to make. But hey, getting creative is one of the best parts of the job. For many of our older campaigns, I took to our archive of old-school line art by William McAusland. Adding some color and texture to his banner and stone wall illustrations while enlarging as needed gave me enough to create a few campaigns-worth of assets.

Which brings us to the latest campaign. For this one, Darryl (our Kickstarter manager, if his constant presence around the campaigns hadn't tipped you off already!) wanted something a little different. After trying a few things, I settled on some more simple graphic borders with geometric flourishes on the nameplates. And since I can never resist a good texture, there are plenty of those throughout!

And speaking of Darryl, he's always there throughout the process, helping proofread and organize everything I make. This includes reminding me I still haven't made that one graphic that I also forgot to make for the last three campaigns, and always pushing me to make something a little better and a little more interesting. He has a new idea for a graphic he'd like made in every new campaign, all to the goal of making the campaign that much more interesting than the last one.

If you've read this far in our behind-the-scenes peek, I hope it will encourage you to take a deeper look at our graphics whenever you check out our latest campaign! 

– Ben Williams

Warehouse 23 News: The Autodueling Continues . . .

. . . with the Car Wars Pocket Box Bundle 2! Visit Midville and Black Lake to see its sights and colorful citizens, or take your chances in the Armadillo Autoduel Arena! Will you find glory or defeat? Find out by picking up this Pocket Box from Warehouse 23 today!

http://www.sjgames.com/ill/a/2025-09-02