If you’re coming to Gen Con this year in Indianapolis (August 5th - 8th), be sure to stop by booth #1722 in the exhibit hall to say hi!  (We’re right across from Wizards of the Coast.)

GMSarli Games is hosting two seminars this year:

“Star Wars Saga Edition Retrospective” (SEM1013330) - Thursday 8/5, 2pm - 4pm

Location: Marriott - Indiana Ballroom B

Description: Game professionals who worked on the Star Wars Roleplaying Game: Saga Edition take a look back at the product line, sharing their experiences and what they learned from their work. [Confirmed guests are Gary M. Sarli, Sterling Hershey, Christopher West, Gary Astleford, and Patrick Stutzman; Rodney Thompson and Christopher Perkins currently have a schedule conflict, but both have said that they’ll see if they can get free long enough to attend at least part of the seminar.]

“Introduction to the e20 System” (SEM1013331) - Thursday 8/5, 4pm - 6pm

Location: Marriott - Indiana Ballroom B

Description: The e20 System project is a patron-backed rebuilding of the venerable d20 games of the past decade, seeking to harness the lessons of millions of hours of gameplay. Come to learn more about the project and how to participate.

Immediately after these two seminars, I run the first instance of the “Evolved Delve,” the very first public adventure for the e20 System.  (There are a total of five slots for the game during the convention.)

“Evolved Delve” (RPG1013333) - Thursday 8/5, 6pm to 8pm

Location: Hyatt - Discovery, table 3

Game Master: Gary M. Sarli

Description: A team of spies must infiltrate an enemy installation, rescue a prisoner, and escape pursuit in this fast-paced action adventure. Join the game’s first-ever public adventure even as the core rulebook is undergoing its final stages of development.

“Evolved Delve” (RPG1013334) - Friday 8/6, 1pm to 3pm

Location: Hyatt - Discovery, table 4

“Evolved Delve” (RPG1013335) - Friday 8/6, 6pm to 8pm

Location: Hyatt - Discovery, table 2

“Evolved Delve” (RPG1013337) - Saturday 8/7, 1pm to 3pm

Location: Hyatt - Discovery, table 2

“Evolved Delve” (RPG1013338) - Saturday 8/7, 6pm to 8pm

Location: Hyatt - Discovery, table 1

Currently, all the “Evolved Delve” games are sold out, but previous experience tells us that it is not at all uncommon for someone not to show up for a scheduled game for any number of reasons; given this, I would encourage anyone who is interested in attending to bring some generic event tickets ($2 each) and swing by before the start of one of the sessions. If a slot goes unclaimed, you can take that spot at the table.  This is obviously a first-come, first-served thing, so you’ll want to be there early to have the best chance of getting a seat!

For anyone interested, I was a guest on the “Minis Mayham” podcast this last Sunday.  Tune in to hear me ramble on at length with the occasional worthwhile insight into how I got into the gaming profession, my thoughts on rules and squad building, the ins and outs of building encounter packs and campaign packs here in the store, the highs and lows of being a freelancer, and lots more!

I finally have the chance to do something I’ve been wanting to pursue for quite some time: Printing my own custom battle maps. Initial test prints look exceptional, so we’ve started producing our first design and added it to the store’s inventory.

Ultimately, I want to produce new maps with some regularity — most likely once a month, drawing from my own Saga Edition campaign to create exciting adventure locales.  This not only allows me to show off to my players (”Look! Brand new full-color maps!”) but also gives me a chance to take the map for an extensive test drive during the game, hopefully allowing me to spot any unexpected tactical quirks that might need adjustment.

This is still in its earliest stages and we’re evaluating paper and ink costs as we go, but at least for the time being we’re making these new 24″ x 36″ single-sided maps available at an introductory price of just $4.99.

In addition, we will very shortly be providing a map-printing service: You send us a full-scale, full-color 24″ x 36″ image, and we’ll print it up for the same introductory price of $4.99.  In you have an oversize map you need printed, we can do larger prints — for example, a 36″ x 48″ map (twice as big as normal) would cost $9.99. (We can print maps of up to several feet in length, but no more than 36″ wide.)

We’re still working out the final details (hence the introductory price, as we still need to see it in action to calculate our actual overhead), but I’m confident that this service will remain far less expensive than any print-on-demand alternative.  I’ve never seen a custom 23″ x 35″ poster for anything less than $15 to $20, and even offset printing requires you to print hundreds or thousands of posters to get a price this low.
Here’s the complete item description for our first custom map:

CUSTOM MAPS: Deep Space (Starship Battles) - $4.99 Original map: GMSarli Games exclusive! This single-sided map is printed on high-quality heavyweight matte paper (210 g/m^2, 10.2 mil) measuring 24 x 36 inches. It shows a stellar grid compatible with the Starship Battles set and the starship combat rules in Saga Edition. It represents deep space, with the distant glow of the galaxy in the background (much like the Milky Way in the Earth’s sky). Unlike most battle maps, it uses 2-inch squares in its grid, making it the same scale as that used in the Saga Edition rulebook as well as that used in the miniatures game. In addition, it is compatible with a 1-inch grid as well because the center of each square has hash marks to show where the edges of each 1-inch square would be. (A close-up is provided in the product image here.) Because of this, you can play at whatever scale is most convenient for any given encounter.