Thursday, June 11, 2015

A fundraiser for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention

On June 11, 1936, short-story author and poet Robert E. Howard took a gun from the glove box of his car and shot himself to death. His suicide came as he was reaching new creative heights, and his career was shifting in a more literary-oriented direction. We'll never know what great stories and characters evaporated at that tragic moment. Roy Thomas and Sandy Plunkett dramatized the tragedy in this illustrated story.

NUELOW Games is currently engaged in an effort to raise funds for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention by offering all of the Robert E. Howard-related products in a single discounted package--that also includes a great Howard-inspired RPG from Bedrock Games--and donating all of its proceeds. Click here to check out the bundle, or read on for more information.

A page from Shadows of Dream, featuring poetry by Robert E. Howard.
It's one of 25 different books in the Suicide Prevention Fundraiser bundle.

THE WHY & THE WHAT
If you've been paying even the slightest bit of attention to NUELOW Games in recent years, you've noticed that the works of Robert E. Howard have been an important part of many of our releases. Steve Miller loves Howard mostly for his action/adventure and horror fiction, and L.L. Hundal loves Howard primarily for his comedy stories. Both think his non-fantasy work is his best work.

But the vast majority of readers only know him for being the creator of Conan, and many never move beyond those stories--if they even get that far, given all the comic books and movies and pastiches by other authors that are most likely encountered first. To share our love for Howard's other writings--writings he himself stated he wanted to be remembered for rather than Conan or even Kull and Kane--we produced a number of anthologies collecting his non-fantasy short stories. Given that NUELOW Games is, well, a game publisher, we've also released a number of ROLF! battle scenarios making use of characters that Howard created (even Conan)--battle scenarios that are compatible with "The Violent Worlds of Robert E. Howard," a complete RPG which was included in the Fists of Foolishness short story collection.

Every year, we've one a special sales event to mark the anniversary of the tragic end to Howard's life, hoping to attract more attention to the fantastic stories he left us. This year, we have gone a step further.

The 24 Howard-related books and game products featured in this large bundle are the majority of the Howard-related releases we've produced over the few years. They can be had for just $20-- a savings of over 50 percent off the cost of purchasing them individually. You can get dozens of great short stories and more battle scenarios than you can shake a bucket of dice at for every little money. What makes this deal even more attractive is that NUELOW Games (in conjunction with partner Bedrock Games) will donate all of its proceeds [$13.50 after distributors and contributors have gotten their cut] to the American Suicide Prevention Foundation.

The Suicide Prevention Fundraiser bundle will be available until the end of June, and NUELOW will makes its donation to the AFSP by the middle of July. Click here to see what is in the bundle, or to get your copy right now. Be a small part in helping modern-day Robert E. Howards get the support and help they need before it's too late.

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE BUNDLE
* The complete Sertorius rolelaying game
* Stories and novellas Howard wrote that he would have been preferred to be remembered for, collection in Oriental Stories, Oriental Stories Vol. 2, and Oriental Stories Vol 3: A Texan in Afghanistan. These books feature some of his best writing.
* Samplings of Howard's "Southern Gothic" horror/action tales in Shadows of Texas and Names in the Black Book.
* The complete collection of Howard's comedic tales of boxer Steve Costigan in Fists of Foolishness and Shanghaied Mitts.
* The complete collection of Howard's comedic western tales featuring dimwitted mountain man Breckinridge Elkins in Bath-time on Bear Creek, The Misadventures of Breckinridge Elkins, and Breckinridge Elkins Rides Again.
* A sampling of Howard's poetry in Shadows of Dreams.
* NUELOW Games designer favorite ROLF! battle scenarios based on Howard's writings, such as ROLF!: The Hopping Vampires of Yao Ping, ROLF!: The Tornado vs. Steve Costigan, and ROLF!: The Sheik.

And ten more short story collections and game products that celebrate the creations of Robert E. Howard--all at a steep discount, and all currently on sale to support a great cause.

Get your copy of the Suicide Prevention Fundraiser from NUELOW Games from DriveThruFiction, DriveThruRPG, or RPGNow.


Monday, June 1, 2015

We went rummaging through the art archive again...

... and the result is another batch of artwork that's being made available for you to use in any project you can conceive of, personal or  commercial.

Art by Ross Andru (included, logo-free, in collection)
NUELOW Stock Art Collection #7: The Deadlier of the Species contains illustrations from the pens of Art Saaf (of Judy of the Jungle and Princess Pantha), Matt Baker (of Voodah and News Hounds), Ross Andru (long-time Spider-Man and Wonder Woman artist), Alex Schomburg (who Stan Lee described as "the Norman Rockwell of comic books"), and others. Five of the illustrations are included in both black-and-white and color versions.

Click here to see previews of the set, or to get your copy. Start illustrating your website or books with drawings from some of the greatest talents to ever contribute to American comic books!

Monday, May 25, 2015

A draft feat for patriot/nationalistic/ethnically focused heroes

A draft of an OGL d20 feat that's suitable for characters like Captain America, Sabra, Pat Patriot, Major Victory, Bronze Terror, and many others. If used with OGL Modern, it should be added to the bonus feats available to Dedicated Heroes.

Spirit of a Nation
Identify a nation or ethnic group. You are a champion of that people and aspire to be a living embodiment of their highest ideals.
   Prerequisite: Charisma 15
   Benefit: Gain a +4 bonus to your attack rolls against foes who have declared themselves to be, or are recognizable through their uniform or other means, as enemies of those you champion.
   Special: If you have 5 or more ranks in Sense Motive, you gain a +2 synergy bonus to all Diplomacy and Intimidation skill checks.

Bronze Terror, a defender of his Native American tribe,
tribe, would be a character with the Spirit of a Nation feat.
(Cover from Real American No. 1 by Dick Briefer)

Thursday, May 21, 2015

On sale now: 'The Curse of Egypt'

The Curse of Egypt offers up more OGL d20 feats designed with the goal of incorporating the supernatural and magic into settings without having full-fledged spell-casting classes or magic items on the shelves of the local Wal-Mart or in the police department's armory.

Cover for The Curse of Egypt

The 14 or so included OGL d20 feats give PCs and NPCs access to limited spellcasting abilities, and other supernatural powers, that are treated like special gifts from the Egyptian gods, earned either through service to them or through ancient bloodlines reaching back to antiquity.

The book also contains three classic horror comics shorts that tell tales of mystical forces of Egypt colliding with the people of the modern age. Guess who wins? One of the stories features art by the great Steve Ditko, while the other two are by creators whose identities are lost to history. (We think the work resembles that of either Don Heck or Don Perlin, but neither appear to have done work for Ace Comics, the original publisher of the stories in question. Whoever drew them, they can serve as inspiration for your own RPG scenarios... as well as simply being great reading.

Click here to see previews of The Curse of Egypt, or to get your own copy.

Wednesday, May 20, 2015

ROLF!: The Original Feminist RPG?

We're not exactly marketing geniuses here at NUELOW Games. If anything shows that, it's the fact that we never did brag about the fact that ROLF!: The Rollplaying Game of Big Dumb Fighters included rules for playing homosexual characters until certain big names in the RPG field were being patted on the back for being cutting-edge and inclusive. (Never mind we were there YEARS before they were.)

So it occurs to us... maybe we should start bragging about how ROLF! was the FIRST RADICAL FEMINIST RPG EVER PUBLISHED before someone else stakes out that position. Even if we weren't the first, we're certainly the only Feminism Friendly RPG with more than 100 supplements available for it. There's no question we're the only Feminism Friendly rollplaying game available!

After all, ROLF! is the only game where Female characters can generally turn out to be more capable than Male characters... and it's been that way since the very first version in 1995! (When making a Female character, the player 2d6 to determine the Brains Attribute, which in turn decides how many Combat Maneuvers the character has. Male characters only get a roll of 2d4 to determine Brains.)

How's this for a marketing effort that highlights our trail-blazing feminism-friendly game?:

If you haven't checked out the ORIGINAL Radical Feminist RPG, you need to do so now... before someone decides you're a woman-hating gynophobe!!




Monday, May 18, 2015

Five tales of one of comicdom's original androids...
and OGL Modern rules!

Androids are a mainstay of comics, and in our new comics/rpg hybrid book, Dynamic Man, NUELOW Games presents the adventures of one of comicdom's earliest androids--before he was ret-conned into a high school basketball coach named Bert. As far as we know, this is the first time these stories have ever been collected in one place.

Art by Bill Madden & Charles Sultan
Dynamic Man features five tales of superhero action straight from the Golden Age of Comics. In addition, it contains rules for creating your own super-powered android player characters for OGL Modern and other d20 System-powered games that use feats and talent trees. (This system is fully compatible with other NUELOW Games OGL supplements, such as Feats of Mysticism and Magic and the superpower rules in Madden's Boys.)

Click here to get your copy of Dynamic Man, or to see previews.

Thursday, May 7, 2015

I'm Steve Miller, and today's my birthday!

And I'm hoping that we can give each other gifts!

I'm putting some of the most noteworthy NUELOW Games titles on sale, as well as some of my favorites and/or ones that have fiction in them that I wrote. Several of these titles mark the first (and, as far as I know, still the ONLY time) that the stories within have been reprinted and collected in one place.

My gift to you is savings on great comics, roleplaying game material, and fiction. Your gift to me is the royalties I get on the sales AND the warm-and-fuzzy feeling I get whenever one of the NUELOW Games titles makes it to a general top-seller list.

Here are the titles that are discounted through May 10, 2015; click on the links beneath the cover images to see previews, prices, and to get your copy. (And while you're shopping, check our Sci-Fi Sale!)

The only compete collection of the
Kismet and the Penny Parker series.
Includes OGL d20 System rules.

The only complete collection of the
Miss Espionage and the Angela series.
Includes fiction by Steve Miller, and rules for,
the OGL d20 System and ROLF! game.

The only complete collection of the
Iron Lady series. With fiction by Steve Miller
and a full ROLF! supplement.
Horror comics and fiction from
Saul Rosen, Robert E. Howard, and Steve Miller

An innovative magic system  for d20 Games.
It is expanded upon in many NUELOW releases.


The only full collection of Ralph Mayo & Ann Adams' Starlight series.
Contains a Native American OGL d20 setting.
Golden Age teen superheroes from Bill Madden.
With game rules for OGL d20, ROLF!,
and Hideots & Hoodlums
 
The only complete collection of the Ginger & Snap series.
Light gender-swapping comedy, with a complete
ROLF! supplement included.



NUELOW's flagship game!
(We gave options for gay characters before it was cool!)