October 5, 2010: History Is Fun

In the 1950s everyone "knew" massive exposure to atomic radiation would mutate you. It would also mutate the praying mantis in your garden, the corpses under the ground, and the slimy clog in your sink, turning them all into flesh-craving monsters. Or possibly just making them grow to fifty times their normal size. The solution was -- obviously -- to call out the Army to destroy the unnatural thing.

If this sounds like a good time to you, then GURPS Classic: Atomic Horror is the book you need -- and luckily for you, it was just released via e23. Thanks to half a century of education, we're pretty sure that a six-story tall grasshopper is less likely than the target of the radiation being cooked like an egg, but that shouldn't stop you from using the genre as a backdrop for your campaign.

And speaking of a half-century, Space Gamer #41 isn't nearly that old. However, it does date back to the early days of our hobby gaming industry, and the perspective provided by the news, reviews, and articles is fascinating. In this issue in particular, Gary Gygax wrote an article on the beginnings of TSR!

-- Paul Chapman

Randy's Road Trip Update

Tonight, Randy will be gaming at Tate's Gaming Satellite in Lauderhill, FL from 5:30pm-9:30pm. For Randy's complete itinerary, check out our Where's Randy? page.