Writing a website post in the middle of a gigantic Magic the Gathering Pre-Release event is kind of like juggling chainsaws while being barraged with sharks fired from cannons. Okay, it’s not exactly like that, but close.
Either way, I have Magic on the brain. And the only way to get rid of it is to tell you fine peoples about the new Magic accessories we received this week. First off there are the new sleeves and deck boxes that coincide with the new Innistrad set. These include a Liliana Vess deck box and sleeves as well as a regular Innistrad box and sleeves emblazoned with some shadowy wolves. Along with that, though, there is a rainbow of
leather mana deck boxes. These babies are sweet as they are sturdier than most deck boxes while also having magnetically sealing lids.
As a recent comic stated brilliantly, when there’s a problem, throw dragons at it. That’s not to say that there is a problem with the fourth edition of Talisman, but it’s always proper to toss dragons about. And so Fantasy Flight has dubbed their newest expansion, The Dragon. Inside its hefty packaging are all the pieces to add the Inner Region to your next Talisman experience. These pieces include over 170 cards, 160 tokens, a rule book, and 
six plastic figures. If you guessed that one of the figures is a dragon-related, you win a prize.
If I had a million dollars and was in the market for a spacey mansion, I do not think I would go much further than a tour on the Mansion of Madness. Each to their own, though. Especially because most would say that they love playing Mansion of Madness, the Arkham Horror offshoot. And they’ll say that even louder if they get their hands on the new Season of the Witch and Silver Tablet expansions. These are print on demand scenario expansions, so very, very, very
(did I mention very?) limited expansions. They both give players an original single-scenario and all the pieces to play it. And they are a lot cheaper than a million dollars!
There are a bunch of sci-fi RPGs nowadays, but how many of them have gun-totting locust people? One: Ashen Stars. Set in a rough and rowdy universe known as The Bleed, games put players in the role of a unit of freelance space cops settling disputes, chasing baddies, and blowing lots o’ stuff up. There are seven different, detailed races to choose from, including the kch-thk which are the 
locusts I mentioned at the beginning. This hardcover also contains all sorts of information on vehicles and NPC threats.
Do you have the next big game idea? Okay, say you do, do you know how to design it and then get people to buy it? There’s a good chance that’ll be a “no”. For those creative people out there Open Design has just printed The Kobold Guide to Board Game Design. This nifty pocket-sized edition has entries from some of the top creators today, including Steve Jackson, Richard Garfield, and James Ernest. Broken into easy to navigate chapters on concepting, design, development, and
presentation this should be on the desk of every self-respecting hopeful designer out there.
The Warhammer 40K RPG universe gets much bigger this week with the new Black Crusade hardcover. It also gets much darker. Much darker. Inside players find the instructions on how to make either a Chaos Space Marine or a Disciple of Chaos gunning to bring 
down the Imperium. As the book is about 400 pages long, rules for just about every possible situation, be it combat or conversational, are held within. And instead of dropping you in headfirst, the book offers up a complete adventure for beginners. Shipping along with Black Crusade this week is the related Game Master’s Kit. If you’re running a game in the world, you’ll want to have the screen for quick reference of NPCs, base rules, and helpful advice.
Fiction log, stardate 9242011. A new Star Trek board game has appeared
on deck. The crew has fallen into its trap of epic space battles spread across an, as to this point, undiscovered region of space. They have selected their sides, being Federation or Klingon, and are currently deploying ships from twelve popular models as strategically as possible so as to defeat rival ships, complete scientific missions, and solve various other obstacles. This game, Star Trek: Fleet Captains, not only covers the original Star Trek universe, but Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager. Personal note: having loved the recent Star Trek Expeditions game from Wizkids and knowing that this is from the same company, has weakened my own resistance, eventually resulting in an out pouring of nerdom.
Jayson’s Documentary about Roleplaying
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