hey all in case you didnt hear, here are two new source books from fgu.... they are free, a pawn shop and cop shop

http://www.fantasygamesunlimited.net/page7.html

John wrote on Jan 20^th, 2010 at 12:59am:


Supposedly, yes. The source books state that they are working on new materials, plus I know that Scott Bizar has several unpublished manuscripts (adventure modules and villain books) that he's had for a couple of decades. So we shall see how this works out.

This all sounds pretty awesome to me.  I'm looking forward to some new stuff!

This is awesome news!

I really like how they sprinkled in lots of mentions of various V&V characters and other items: Fleur de Lis, R.I.N.G., the Logrellians, C.H.E.S.S., Rocker, Doctor Apocalypse, etc.

It's really cool to see new stuff for our favorite superhero RPG!

Kudos to Scott, Dave, Stacy, and anyone else involved!

All of the new material looks incredible--from the police station, to the pawn shop, to the extraterrestrial species stats in the tabloid newspaper pdf. These are great world-building resources!

To all- Thanks for the kind comments, it really helps in keeping the ball rolling when the productive steam gets a little low.
We would honestly have more out by now than the three but as the chief designer I've had a few non-game design related duties as of late that have slowed by progress down to half speed... but on a good note, one of them is a particular internship I'm serving for other interests that is allowing me to see the real life setup and interior of a specialized psychiatric prison.... so don't be too surprised if one of the larger projects down the road incorporates this valuable experience.

Adventures- yes indeed! There are adventures planned... a few even partially completed. I've sorta side stepped full priority of the ones that I'm working on at the time in order to work on getting out at least a few more net freebies for the site.... we plan to make the net freebies a regular/semi-regular feature for the FGU site as time goes by but we'd like to at least offer half a dozen or more really solid locations to get things started.

I can say that the next one will be a hybrid of a typical location and a villain base of operations... well, at least a minor base of operations. This one will be called an "action playset" as opposed to an "action map" as its set up is more of a potential habitat for ongoing villainous activity. In case you are wondering about the "playset" term, I played with the idea of calling products this when I was still actively creating fantasy role playing products. I remembered the playsets of my childhood days that offered a location, accessories, and sometimes figure or two for an action figure toy series... I thought it would be fun to make "playsets" that featured locations, npcs, and maybe a new device or rule additive here and there for a gaming system... basically the playset would be different than an adventure module in the sense that it offered all the same background as an adventure but would allow you to utilize these surroundings for whatever sort of plot you wanted (as opposed to the traditional adventure where the plot is usually pre-set, so to speak).... same deal if you had the "Skully Fortress Of Doom" or whatever for your action figure toys back in the day.
That's the plans with the next one in a sense- it will be somewhat of an experiment to see how this would work for V&V locales. After that we'll probably deviate between a standard action location (since there are a million existing possibilities) and future "playsets".

I hope to possibly have the next release down by the end of the month- if not sooner. Naturally we want to make it right before release but hopefully the next installment is not that far away.

In the meantime, keep the interest going! I'm not only a desginer for V&V but also a diehard fan from way back and it simply thrilled me when I discovered a couple of years ago that Scott had quietly started shop back up and the book was the same as always- the same V&V that I knew and love years ago!

Thanks again and feel free to offer comments and suggestions anytime!

Dave Woodrum
Fantasy Games Unlimited

PS- I let Stacy know about the board so she may be dropping in as well later on.

davew wrote on Feb 25^th, 2010 at 10:43am:


Dave, first off, welcome to the site, and I hope you'll check out some of the other sections we've here. I think it's great that we're getting new material, especially stuff that's being produced by a long time fan.

As far as my wish list goes, I'd like to see - 1) Old material get released 2) New Adventures - say something dealing with either magic, super prison, or an undersea adventure 3) An organization book detailing various bad guy groups.

Either way, it's good to see you here, and feel free to invite anyone else you want.

Thanks for the warm welcome and reception!
I can't speak for everything for FGU, of course, but I can say that I personally know that there are major plans for the release/re-release of older materials. One of the reasons that I enjoy working on the net freebies is it helps keep me active while I work between larger projects for the regular release... plus its a labor of love, of course!
There are a few bad guy groups already in the works- don't want to give away too much, of course, but there are some. A super prison is definitely on the planning board horizon, and though I do not personally know of an undersea adventure myself, that's something that could be a possible route down the road.... especially seeing that undersea heroes and/or villains are a staple of the super hero genre.

Thanks for inviting me and Stacy on! We are both very fan conscious and while we can't guarantee release of all suggestions (or at least immediate release due to the other many projects already on the design table), we are certainly up for doing our best to please.

Welcome.  Its good to know that there will be some more good stuff to look forward to from our favorite game.

dsumner wrote on Feb 25^th, 2010 at 11:39pm:


I'm the same way... first and foremost: a long time fan. I still thank my lucky stars that I've got the chance to work on developing new material for V&V and I try to do my best to create products that reflect the changes in the world that have happened over the last 20 years or so (the internet, cultural changes, major historical events, etc.) while still keeping the true V&V flavor alive. I enjoy reading everyone's comments about V&V because I'm a fan myself. And I'm beyond flattered about the great, positive response we've received so far in regards to the net freebies. I was worried about some of the different graphic approaches we made with these (especially the pics of me that we used from my brief period in local pro-wrestling as Slik Slander (  gasp!)) but then the format of free products allow us to test around with presentation concepts we would otherwise initially avoid shoving into standard commercial products.... as we are especially concerned about providing V&V the way it was, the way people fondly remember it.

As from what I've heard (remember, I just work on certain projects), yes. There may be the possibility that I will be doing some of the map work for future sale releases (if so, these will be similiar map wise to the freebies) but the art work will be more true to the V&V standard. It is the intention to keep V&V close to expected feel as much as possible but there could be a few new elements here and there. The freebies allow us to play around with newer concepts in art and graphics more, however, in order to gain feedback and such from the community.

Troy wrote on Feb 26^th, 2010 at 12:44pm:


Dave does the actual maps, and I co-write the descriptions with him. That's mainly what I do: write descriptions, characters and with the Tabloid one, lots of "quality" news stories. I'm sure he'll love to hear this. He really does an excellent job!

Troy,
Glad you like the stuff! We are looking forward to making quite a few more of these as time goes on... actually, if I can just get my speed back up to par I'd love to do dozens and dozens of them... there are a million possible places that a bit of comic book action could happen and I'd love to cover as many of them as possible.

Doctor Foom wrote on Feb 26^th, 2010 at 6:56pm:


DF, from my last little online conversation with Jeff, I can't see it happening, but, Jeff's stated he's open to trying to work something out. I really Jeff, Jack, and Scott could all come to some sort of mutual business agreement, and put the last couple of decades behind them.

davew wrote on Feb 26^th, 2010 at 7:21pm:


Good answer. As far as questions go, here's my list. When can we expect to see the first print or PDF release? What price range are we looking at for any new products? And what type of release schedule are we looking at? Monthly, bi- monthly, quarterly?

Okay, the other question... in regards to consumer targeting, I can say that there is probably a heavy consideration towards targeting the existing V&V interest... this, imo, would probably include a great influence on 30 something and 40 something gamers. This is something else I'm probably not at a huge amount of liberty to discuss as FGU is not my company to run, so to speak, as I'm just a designer, but there is that natural sway towards such a lean.
That is not to say that we would'nt like to see tons of new gamers out there, of course.
What I guess I can say is this... in the element of V&V we are interested in marketing that which is V&V to those that want to see V&V. A bit cryptic, yes, but you can probably get the idea. 
On that note, probably the greatest fear that I've had is whether or not I would regret the addition of the photo stock and more modernized graphics in the police station and the tabloid... I didn't want the gaming audience to think that we were out to radically change V&V... it was just that the different look worked at the time for both products (the mug shots for the police station and the photo stock for the tabloid... as well as the fake covers).

I'm not sure how anyone feels, but my personal opinion is that I'd rather see fewer releases, if it means we get a higher quality product. I'd rather see you guys take the time to put out something you feel comfortable with putting your name on. But with that said, mind throwing us a bone on what you've got planned for the near future?

dsumner wrote on Feb 26^th, 2010 at 7:50pm:


Well, I can't give away all the secrets... but, here's a few tidbits.
A super prison is a natural. I feel that this is safe to talk about because I've frankly already discussed it in the past. This will probably be a larger, commercial release product instead of a freebie and will be held off a bit down the road for one good reason of quality- I have the rare opportunity to see the operations up a specialized correctional facility due to an internship. No point in creating now when I will walk out a handful of months from now with a personal insight into what I'm developing.
As far as other stuff.... the first thing I ever worked on for FGU will be coming out as a commercial release down the road... can't say much about it but imagine a good book that also helps flesh out the surrounding world stuff and then some (such as organizations, new vehicles, etc.)
There's a technoshamanism/electronic culture product in the works.... actually a very serious minded one, believe it or not. Several new villains- one thing I use V&V for is a creativity jogger... I like to randomly roll up characters simply to present myself with new ideas.
As for the next freebie- there's going to be a snazzy dinner nightclub spot turned criminal hotspot- complete with tons of new stats for common folk.

We've got tons of ideas, as a matter of fact...

Do keep in mind though that this is not a list of the "only things" coming out.... not by far. I'm not the only designer working in the V&V interest.

I will certainly pass it along!
As far as other topics... yes, over time. For now though I've got an unfinished map waiting for me to drop and drag some little letters over... 
(My wife sums up my work with FGU by simply asking "are you sitting at the computer building parking lots again?"... Honestly, I could re-create Grand Central Station and stock it with 10,000 new villains and all she would recognize of it would be me copying and pasting my little car graphics in the parking spaces)

dsumner wrote on Feb 26^th, 2010 at 7:50pm:


I agree with this too.  What good is rushed out crap?   I've waited this long for new stuff,  I don't mind waiting a bit longer.

davew wrote on Feb 27^th, 2010 at 10:22am:


I loved Alone in the Night, and would like to see a similar product. I'd like to see it contain several mini-adventures geared toward varying level characters, say a brand new hero, a hero with a little time under his belt, and one for someone that's been doing it for years. Or a series of mini adventures that could be tied together as one long series of adventures.

Yes, I would love to see more Single Hero mods.  In own games I was never able to get more that 2 players at a time and often played with 1 PC.  We usually roled up a team of 3 to 4 PCs to be played by the Player.  While this works, it usually turns the mod into a combat/action fest because PC character interaction is low.


If there is concern that this will make too much a niche itme.  There can be a section to scale up to multiple characters. 

If played with 2 PC add these 1 villain in sections ...

If played with 4 pc add these 3 villains in sections ...

Jeff Dee wrote on Feb 27^th, 2010 at 10:42am:


Well, if you guys manage to come to some sort of mutually beneficial agreement, I'll be more than willing to promote the hell out of it, every chance I get. Plus, I just might knock the dust off of a couple of proposals I've been sitting on, and submit them. And, welcome to boards Jeff, glad you took the time to stop by, and share your thoughts.

I too hope that Jeff and Scott can come to some sort of mutal agreement.  I would hate to have my favorite game's future growth soured.

Majestic wrote on Feb 27^th, 2010 at 3:20pm:


Majestic- Coolness and much appreciated! I've got some experience as well, but its more in the mental health restoration side of things. As V&V draws forth from the modern real world, I'm always open for insight into real world elements. Thanks!

John- Haven't seen this yet, but will check out.

Thanks for the reply, Jeff Dee.
Great to see you here.
I hope everything works out for the best.

We're getting closer to the next release... I finished the cover a few nights ago, finished the room descriptions last night, Stacy's got the notable npcs down, I'm hoping that within 2 to 3 weeks you should see a release... maybe sooner...

ssmith wrote on Mar 3^rd, 2010 at 9:46pm:


This is great news! My mother thanks you. My father thanks you. My sister thanks you. And I thank you ... for reinvigorating V&V !!!

ssmith wrote on Mar 3^rd, 2010 at 9:46pm:


Ahh, but the cover didn't really require that much of an effort on this one... the map, however, especially the lower level...
Which is alright, I had to make many new graphical bits for the map for this one but once they are made they go into my stock for eventual possible reuse later.

I think the trickiest was the overhead of the piano, well... that and a couple of certain tables downstairs, not to mention the strange new technologies...
the overhead of statues I had done that sort of thing before, when I was still doing fantasy game maps and all.

davew wrote on Mar 3^rd, 2010 at 10:46pm:


"Ahh, but the cover didn't really require that much of an effort on this one... the map, however, especially the lower level...
Which is alright, I had to make many new graphical bits for the map for this one but once they are made they go into my stock for eventual possible reuse later.

I think the trickiest was the overhead of the piano, well... that and a couple of certain tables downstairs, not to mention the strange new technologies...
the overhead of statues I had done that sort of thing before, when I was still doing fantasy game maps and all."


You COULD just say, "thanks, Stacy," Dave...     lol

Looking forward to the next one!  I finally printed and read the Pawn Shop, and really enjoyed it.  The quality is very good, and I look forward to introducing it in one of our adventures.

I'd be glad to help out with any editing/proofreading help you guys want.  I've done quite a bit of it (a lot for gaming companies, even), and would gladly help out if you'd like.  Not that it was loaded with mistakes (just read and played Jeff Dee's "Intercrime: Hostile Takeover" yesterday and it had far more), but tiny mistakes are inevitable, and I've got a keen eye for spotting them (i.e., I'm one of those anal-types that spots minor glitches).   

But despite these extremely minor boo-boos, the stuff you guys have been doing are amazingly good.  I'm not a fan of the real-life photographs (would prefer comic-style art), but they still added to the cool look and feel of the products.  One of my players took the police station and had it done up (with actual 1" squares) with autoCAD, I understand (he used it in a session, but forgot the map at home).  I can imagine that a lot of V&V players are going to get a lot of use out of them, as they are extremely versatile and handy.  In fact, in some ways, they're better than adventures, in that you can use them more than once!

Thanks again for all the hard work you're doing, and don't hesitate to ask if you'd like any assistance!

davew wrote on Mar 5^th, 2010 at 9:15pm:



The maps are great! I can't say enough how overjoyed my campaign buddies and I are to have these new sources!

The maps are wonderfully therapeutic for me... sometimes when I'm run down and can't think or do much of anything else I load up Paint (yes, Paint...) in a couple of screens and just start playing around.

Paint is a funny love of mine... I've had a great deal of gaming associates throughout the years recommend this program or that program but I've always gone back to paint... maybe its a leftover thing from my Commodore 64/128 days... but I prefer to hand draw and copy and paste in the images... in the end I can more closely get exactly what I want.

Majestic- Glad that it worked out on the 1" scale... I've been curious to see how they would turn out but have been a bit nervous because a few things naturally would look a wee bit funny at that level (such as the coffee station...)

Thanks for the compliment though! When I first started creating the modern maps (actually V&V is my first serious modern mapping attempt- I just did fantasy before that), I wanted to try to achieve a medium between "fancy details" and ease of viewing. This may be a throw back to being a child of the 80's but I honestly prefer simplier, easy to view maps over the elaborately detailed maps that I started to see in rpging by the early 21st century.... granted all the lush textures are nice and pretty but many of these maps were impossible for me to look at after I had printed them off, especially on a black and white printer.
On a note of interest- the toliets have changed. The upcoming project will feature the new toliet that is smaller as I have been bothered by the fact that the toliet has been a wee bit off scale in the past. One thing that I take advantage of whenever I can is to make good use of places that have uniform 1 ft. square tile on their floors. Such tiles allow me to make a mental comparison of actual dimensions of items- such as chairs, recliners, etc.
I figure that one day, probably when I am finished with grad school, I am going to go on a quest to measure everything and map everything.... write to me when I go in the mental hospital after my breakdown.

Yes, I agree as well.  When they get enlarged, there's a few things that look a little 'pixelated' (if you know what I mean), but overall the simpler, less busy approach makes them much more elegant and easier to view.

I find your approach interesting, because it's something I do continually as well.  I was escorting someone into a complex machine room (full of large computers and other equipment) one time years ago, and basically just had "guard duty".  That kind of thing could be boring, but I used the opportunity to sketch out the entire room on a 1" = 5 foot scale, just to better acquaint myself with how a room lays out on a map (since I am constantly making new maps for my players).  I've even taken a Google Earth image of my house and property and then drawn it out on graph paper as if it were a V&V map.  I continually find myself viewing things (and distances) and considering how many "game inches" they are away.

I'll probably join you in the mental hospital someday!   

dsumner wrote on Mar 13^th, 2010 at 6:16pm:


Yeah, but who's to say that's the mental hospital they will put both of us in?   

davew wrote on Mar 13^th, 2010 at 7:22pm:



I like your maps, Dave.  They have an old-fashioned feel to them which I appreciate.

Sorry for not posting much lately, folks: I have a cert exam Monday morning and have been trying to cram for it. Things are progressing nicely on this next project, though, no worries. 

davew wrote on Mar 13^th, 2010 at 10:00pm:


...mmm... butter ...

ssmith wrote on Mar 20^th, 2010 at 11:31am:


We're very much looking foward to seeing it!   

I'm hoping soon. The 4th one is finished, verified, approved, and waiting to hit the web and the 5th one is in the editing phase right now. I've been checking for official release as well.

If you want a bit of a teaser in the meanwhile... here's the products coming up as Freebies.

4th Freebie (Playset)- Diamante's. Its a posh nightspot restaurant, its a hidden, illegal casino located beyond the wine cellar below, its a small but suitable underground base of operations for a super villain and this thugs... its Diamante's! The first in a sporadic series of playsets, Diamante's offers you a drop in headquarters and business front for the super villain of your choice. Written by Dave and Stacy- complete with menu! (Cause you just gotta have a menu....)

5th- Any Mart (Action Map)- Your One Stop Gas And Go Market! Any Mart represents the endless varieties of gas station/convenience store stops... particularly the chain varieties although a decent sized mom and pop operation could also be Any Mart. Stop in at Any Mart and grab yourself a fruity slush... and then stand in line forever and wait while some midnight cowboy plays one scratch off after another during his latest session of "Countertop Vegas". Whooo hoooo!!!!

(why a gas station... oh, come on... just think of all the crime stopping action you could have.....)

I hate it... even more than I hate people that park their shopping carts in the middle of the shopping aisle and talk on their cell phones... at least I can take another aisle and get around them... usually.

I'll throw my suggestions in for a couple of freebies. How about an old bookstore, not one of the big mega stores like B&N or Borders, but one of the old ones, tucked away in some quiet corner of the city. One that specializes in old, rare, and out of print books. Or and antique store, with like something from the old Friday the 13th TV series? I figure either one of them would be great to insert into an ongoing game.

dsumner wrote on Mar 27^th, 2010 at 10:40am:



I for one love this idea! Dave?

I love the idea of the bookstore as well...
and it would be a quick and easy because it certainly wouldn't take up a huge amount of floorspace.

Yeah, I could see this one done.