Dang! I'm in Akron, and I even have the day off, so I could make the drive no
problem -- except I already have plans for Friday night. Good luck, though...
I'd be interested to know how it turns out!

I just wanted to let as many as possible know
that I will be doing a demo of Pocket Universe at
Ravenstone games in Columbus, Ohio on the evening of the 21
st. Feel free to stop by www.ravenstongames.com and
check out the directions for how to get to the store,
and feel free to stop by the store to check out the
games!<br><br>Jeff Venture

This is the UNIgames demo policy:<br><br>Get your
demo listed on a store or convention web page, and
email us that URL. If they don't have a web page, then
get listed in print on a flier or program and send
that to:<br><br>UNIgames<br>9815 Copper Creek Dr.
#1210<br>Austin, TX 78759<br><br>We'll send you a copy of the
Pocket Universe Basic Rules, and Teenage Demon Slayers
too if that's what you're scheduled to demo.
<br><br>Each demo after the first one will earn you a $5 gift
certificate that you can use on any PU product or on any
WarChest or Living Legends products from Lance & Laser
Models (since those lines are licensed by UNIgames):
<br><br><a href=http://www.lance-and-laser.com/
target=new>http://www.lance-and-laser.com/</a><br><br>Again, we need to see some
verification of each
scheduled demo first. Mail in your certificates for
redemption at the UNIgames mailing address listed above, and
NOT to Lance & Laser. We will cover the shipping
costs.<br><br>-Jeff Dee<br>UNIgames

I just received my Pocket Universe rules the
other day and I'm quite impressed! I've been a fan of
TWERPS for over a decade, but I've always had a hard
time persuading my friends to play something so
minimalistic. Pocket Universe looks like it will be a great
step up -- enough structure and detail to make
everyone feel "comfortable", but simple enough for me to
run a game without pulling my hair out.<br><br>The
production values are impressive too -- I like the nice
glossy full-color cover! And each copy comes in its own
protective baggie, just like TWERPS.<br><br>At the moment my
only regret is that the funky d4, d8, d12, and d20
(and even the old standard d6) won't be getting a lot
of use. But maybe I'll find a way to work them in...

sdanderson4_5 wrote:<br><br>&gt; I probably
should drop the Scholar Alchemy <br>&gt; skill for now
and spend that point to give her <br>&gt; literacy
with her native language.<br>&gt; <br>&gt; Which
brings up a question: Some languages use <br>&gt; the
same writing system. Most western European <br>&gt;
languages use the Roman Alphabet. How much <br>&gt; default
should English/literate get with <br>&gt;
French/literate or German/literate?<br><br>As much as the GM
chooses to allow. That's one <br>of those details that's
beneath the radar of our <br>already jam-packed little
rulebook.<br><br>&gt; I noticed something in the rules that strikes
<br>&gt; me as odd.<br>&gt; <br>&gt; Section 2.31
describes Artos as having a Block <br>&gt; of 3, a Parry of
2 and a Dodge of -1.<br>&gt; <br>&gt; Now a -1 in a
defense roll system is not a <br>&gt; problem. It means
you're lousy at it but a <br>&gt; poor chance beats
doing nothing at all to <br>&gt; defend
yourself.<br>&gt; <br>&gt; But PU isn't a defense roll system. You
<br>&gt; subtract that score from the attacker's
skill.<br>&gt; <br>&gt; If I have Diane fighting Artos, on her
attack, <br>&gt; her 10- becomes a 7- if he blocks, an 8-
if he <br>&gt; parries, a 10- if he doesn't defend
at all and <br>&gt; 10 - (-1) = 11- if tries to
dodge?<br><br>If he isn't defending himself at all, the rules
<br>in 5.34 apply.<br><br>&gt; The review is ON rpg.net,
it just isn't listed <br>&gt; in the table of
contents... Maybe it gets <br>&gt; unveiled with the Thursday
stuff. Then again, <br>&gt; maybe I should wonder how
many rpg.net reviews <br>&gt; get lost like
this.<br><br>&gt;
<a href=http://www.rpg.net/news+reviews/reviews/rev_5412.html
target=new>http://www.rpg.net/news+reviews/reviews/rev_5412.html</a><br><br>Than\
ks, I went and had a look. It all seems fair <br>and
honest. I'm puzzled by your concern over <br>potential
misuse of the Trained advantage, <br>though, because
Advantages are not purchased <br>with EPs.<br><br>-Jeff Dee

> Maybe I'm not quite understanding your
<br>&gt; notation, but... 1 EP in a skill yields +0, not
<br>&gt; +2. You list a total of 10, which is correct,
<br>&gt; but you say she's getting
+2<br><br>Typo.<br><br>I probably should drop the Scholar Alchemy skill
for now and spend that point to give her literacy
with her native language.<br><br>Which brings up a
question: Some languages use the same writing system. Most
western European languages use the Roman Alphabet. How
much default should English/literate get with
French/literate or German/literate? I'll grant you the spelling
may be horrifying without spending the point. 'Voo
ayme Mishure day bahsones?' for 'vous aimez monsieur
de boissons?' for example.<br><br>I noticed
something in the rules that strikes me as
odd.<br><br>Section 2.31 describes Artos as having a Block of 3, a
Parry of 2 and a Dodge of -1. <br><br>Now a -1 in a
defense roll system is not a problem. It means you're
lousy at it but a poor chance beats doing nothing at
all to defend yourself.<br><br>But PU isn't a defense
roll system. You subtract that score from the
attacker's skill.<br><br>If I have Diane fighting Artos, on
her attack, her 10- becomes a 7- if he blocks, an 8-
if he parries, a 10- if he doesn't defend at all and
10 - (-1) = 11- if tries to dodge?<br><br>The review
is ON rpg.net, it just isn't listed in the table of
contents... Maybe it gets unveiled with the Thursday stuff.
Then again, maybe I should wonder how many rpg.net
reviews get lost like
this.<br><br><a href=http://www.rpg.net/news+reviews/reviews/rev_5412.html
target=new>http://www.rpg.net/news+reviews/reviews/rev_5412.html</a>

sdanderson4_5 wrote:<br><br>&gt; If I may
suggest, a slight rewording might <br>&gt; reduce
confusion:<br><br>(snip)<br><br>Last night I posted the updated version of Quick
<br>Magic that I promised, including some rewording <br>of
the Magic skill description to address this
<br>question along with the needed corrections on
<br>familiars.<br><br>&gt; And as long as I have your attention, my first
<br>&gt; attempt at a wizard. Let's see if it's game
<br>&gt; legal.<br>&gt; <br>&gt; But before I do that, may
I request a Wizard <br>&gt; Character sheet? It'd
be nice to have room for <br>&gt; PSYCH, Mental
Defense and NRG scores without <br>&gt; using the
character pic section. ;)<br><br>Yep. That's already on our
"to do" list.<br><br>&gt; Diane of
Burtislakeshire.<br><br>(snip: attributes & personal traits look
okay)<br><br>&gt; Skills:<br>&gt; Magic [PSYCH/11 +2] 13
(6)<br>&gt; Melee (Hatchet) [DEFT/10 +2] 10 (1)<br><br>Maybe
I'm not quite understanding your notation, <br>but...
1 EP in a skill yields +0, not +2. You <br>list a
total of 10, which is correct, but you <br>say she's
getting +2. At first I thought the +2 <br>was her weapon
hit bonus, but hatchets only get <br>+1. Which
reminds me: this skill should say <br>Melee (Axes), not
Melee (Hatchet), because each <br>weapon skill covers
an entire weapon class. So I <br>think the whole
thing should look like this:<br><br>Melee (Axes)
[DEFT/10 +0] 10 (1)<br>...and she gets +1 for her hatchet,
for a total <br>of 11.<br><br>&gt; Resistance
[WILL/10 +1] 11 (3)<br>&gt; Shield (buckler) [DEFT/10 +1]
(1)<br><br>Again: 1 EP yields +0, not +1. And with shields <br>you
don't have to choose any specialization.<br><br>Shield
[DEFT/10 +0] 10 (1)<br>A buckler does get a +1 to parry,
so she's at 11 <br>after her shield
bonus.<br><br>&gt; Scholar (Alchemy) [INTL/10 +1] (1)<br><br>Scholar
(Alchemy) [INTL/10 +0] 10 (1)<br><br>&gt; Scholar (Magic)
[INTL/10 +1] (1)<br><br>Scholar (Magic) [INTL/10 +0] 10
(1)<br><br>&gt; Total skill points INTL: 10 Trained: Total
<br>&gt; spent: 13.<br>&gt;<br>&gt; Spells (six spell
points)<br>&gt; Aura Vision ('1') skill 13<br>&gt; Locate Mind
('1') skill 13<br>&gt; Flare ('2') skill 12<br>&gt;
Healing ('2') skill 12<br><br>Correct. Mind you, the
difficulty that comes with <br>higher level spells ONLY
affects the casting <br>roll, and not any other aspects
of the spell. So <br>Diane's Flare will do 2/4/6
energy damage (not <br>2/3/4), and her Healing spell
will cure 3 points <br>of damage per point of NRG she
spends (not 2).<br><br>&gt; Contacts: Thadeus of Baldon,
(influential <br>&gt; local, her Magic Tutor/Patron) (7)
Gareth <br>&gt; Parchemaker (average citizen, Neighbor)
(3)<br><br>This looks fine. Diane's looking to save a few
<br>coins on the cost of her magical instruction, I <br>see
;-)<br><br>&gt; I think we can skip equipment. ;)<br>&gt;<br>&gt;
Any obvious goofs?<br><br>Yeah, but nothing too
terrible!<br><br>-Jeff Dee

Thanks Jeff.<br><br>If I may suggest, a slight
rewording might reduce confusion: "For each EP spent on the
Magic Skill, the character gets a spell point usable
for purchasing spells. It is perfectly legal to
invest EP into Magic even though the amount of points
isn't adequate to raise the skill. <br><br>Example:
Venus has a PSYCH of 11 and 4 points to spend on Magic.
3 points will buy Magic at 12, 6 points are
required to raise it to 13, but her player can spend 4
points, and have the skill at 12, but 4 SPs instead of 3
for purposes of getting spells.<br><br>And as long as
I have your attention, my first attempt at a
wizard. Let's see if it's game legal.<br><br>But before I
do that, may I request a Wizard Character sheet?
It'd be nice to have room for PSYCH, Mental Defense
and NRG scores without using the character pic
section. ;)<br><br>Diane of Burtislakeshire.<br><br>PHYS 9
DEFT 10 INTL 10 WILL 10* PSYCH 11<br>1 2 2 1*
4<br><br>Advantages:<br>Attractive +1 (1)<br>Attribute +1 [WILL] (2)*<br>Stipend
+1
(1)<br>Trained (1)<br><br>Disadvantages:<br>Enemy: Rugar (Rogue
Sorcerer) (-1)<br>Nearsighted (-1)<br>Phobia (Heights)
(-1)<br>Quirk: Honorable (-1)<br>Quirk: Overconfident
(-1)<br><br>Skills:<br>Magic [PSYCH/11 +2] 13 (6)<br>Melee (Hatchet) [DEFT/10
+2] 10 (1)<br>Resistance 11 [WILL/10 +1]
(3)<br>Shield (buckler) [DEFT/10 +1] (1)<br>Scholar (Alchemy)
[INTL/10 +1] (1)<br>Scholar (Magic) [INTL/10 +1]
(1)<br><br>Total skill points INTL: 10 Trained: Total spent:
13.<br><br>Spells (six spell points)<br>Aura Vision ('1') skill
13<br>Locate Mind ('1') skill 13<br>Flare ('2') skill
12<br>Healing ('2') skill 12<br><br>Contacts: Thadeus of
Baldon, (influential local, her Magic Tutor/Patron) (7)
Gareth Parchemaker (average citizen, Neighbor)
(3)<br><br>I think we can skip equipment. ;)<br><br>Any
obvious goofs?

sdanderson4_5 wrote:<br><br>&gt; Picked up PU
last Thursday. For what it's worth<br>&gt; there'll be
a capsule review of the game <br>&gt; (generally
favorable) written by me on rpg.net,<br>&gt; probably this
Tuesday unless there's server <br>&gt; problems (again,
sigh).<br><br>Cool, thanks! PU needs all the free advertising <br>it
can get ;-)<br><br>&gt; I also downloaded the magic
rules .pdf file <br>&gt; last night and have a couple
of questions.<br><br>&gt; Familiars: I pay the point
to turn a pet into <br>&gt; a familiar. Does it's
PERC become it's INTL <br><br>Yes.<br><br>&gt; and
does it get skill points to purchase it's <br>&gt;
Scholar skill or is that skill level fixed and <br>&gt;
set but just forgotten to be included in the<br>&gt;
rules?<br><br>A familiar has only the expected skills for its
<br>animal type. Scholar familiars also get the <br>Scholar
skill at their INTL +1. Thanks for <br>pointing out
this gap: I'll post an updated <br>version of Quick
Magic with a correction ASAP.<br><br><br>&gt; Magic
Skill: The description's second paragraph <br>&gt;
refers to an 11 Pysch character putting 3 <br>&gt;
points into the skill and having a skill of <br>&gt; 12,
but says additional points into the skill <br>&gt;
only provide spell points to purchase
spells.<br><br>That's not correct. Additional points into a <br>skill
provide BOTH spell points and a higher <br>skill score.
It's just that in the example in <br>paragraph 2 of
the skill description, ONE extra <br>EP is not enough
to raise the character's <br>overall Magic skill to
13 yet. When the <br>character has spent a total of
6 EPs on Magic <br>skill, he'll have a skill of 13
AND 6 Spell <br>Points to buy his spells
with.<br><br>That should also answer your other questions <br>about
Magic skill.<br><br>-Jeff Dee

Picked up PU last Thursday. For what it's worth
there'll be a capsule review of the game (generally
favorable) written by me on rpg.net, probably this Tuesday
unless there's server problems (again, sigh).<br><br>I
also downloaded the magic rules .pdf file last night
and have a couple of questions.<br><br>Familiars: I
pay the point to turn a pet into a familiar. Does
it's PERC become it's INTL and does it get skill
points to purchase it's Scholar skill or is that skill
level fixed and set but just forgotten to be included
in the rules?<br><br>Magic Skill: The description's
second paragraph refers to an 11 Pysch character putting
3 points into the skill and having a skill of 12,
but says additional points into the skill only
provide spell points to purchase spells.<br><br>This
strongly implies some sort of cap is in place for the
skill, but nowhere is any mention of this
made.<br><br>Is this erroneous? Is the cap set at 12? Psych score
+1?<br><br>Further, some spell descriptions give different effects
for spells cast with Magic skill at higher levels
than 12. If 12 is a set forever Cap, how does a
character get Magic Skill 15 and flare damage of 4/6/8?

christian_conkle_22203 wrote:<br><br>&gt; PU
looks interesting, and I'm an old fan of <br>&gt;
TWERPS. I'm also a fan of Instant Fuzion, which <br>&gt;
is similar in a lot of ways.<br>&gt; <br>&gt; But
I'd like to know some details about PU <br>&gt;
before purchasing. How many pages? What format <br>&gt;
does the book come in (size, paper)?<br><br>Those
questions are answered on the Pocket <br>Universe web site,
specifically on this
page:<br><br><a href=http://www.io.com/unigames/pu/pu_stuff.html
target=new>http://www.io.com/unigames/pu/pu_stuff.html</a><br><br>&gt; What kind
<br>&gt; of stats do characters
have?<br><br>There are four: Physique, Deftness, Intellect, and
Willpower. Characters also have Personal Traits (advantages
and disadvantages), skills, and contacts.<br><br>&gt;
What's the basic <br>&gt; task resolution premise? Those
sorts of things.<br><br>Attribute scores range from
about 7-14 for humans, with 10 being average. Skills
add to the Attribute score the skill is based on. You
roll 2d10 vs. a target number, which is an Attribute
or skill score (with modifiers), trying to roll the
target number or lower. Doubles are critical: doubles
that succeed indicate critical success, while doubles
that fail indicate a critical failure.<br><br>Please
let me know if you have any further
questions!<br><br>-Jeff Dee<br>UNIgames

PU looks interesting, and I'm an old fan of
TWERPS. I'm also a fan of Instant Fuzion, which is
similar in a lot of ways.<br><br>But I'd like to know
some details about PU before purchasing. How many
pages? What format does the book come in (size, paper)?
What kind of stats do characters have? What's the
basic task resolution premise? Those sorts of
things.<br><br>I'd appreciate any info. <br><br>CC

If you're planning to attend Origins, Gen Con, or
any other gaming conventions next year, consider
running a Pocket Universe event!<br><br>Origins 2002 has
opened its online event submission page. Go to
www.originsgames.com and click on the "events" tab.<br><br>This site
offers a very good index of conventions around the
nation:<br><br><a href=http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/4677/index.html
target=new>http://www.geocities.com/TimesSquare/4677/index.html</a><br><br>If
you know of anyone else who might be interested,
please tell them as well.<br><br>Thanks!<br><br>-Jeff
Dee<br>UNIgames

ogrefist wrote:<br><br>&gt; Just a question about
Wizards Attic.<br><br>&gt; Now that November has arrived,
when will P.U. be shipping out the pre
orders?<br><br>UPDATE:<br><br>Wizard's Attic has begun shipping Pocket Universe.
The
Teenage Demon Slayers books are back from the printer,
and Wizard's Attic will receive them
soon.<br><br>-Jeff Dee<br>UNIgames

ogrefist wrote:<br><br>&gt; Just a question about
Wizards Attic.<br><br>&gt; Now that November has arrived,
when will P.U. be shipping out the pre
orders?<br><br>That's really a question for Wizard's Attic. All I can
tell you is that they will receive their first
shipment of P.U. and T.D.S. from us some time around the
12th. I don't know exactly how long it'll take them to
start shipping stuff out.<br><br>-Jeff Dee<br>UNIgames

Just a question about Wizards Attic.<br><br>Now that November has arrived, when
will P.U. be shipping out the pre orders?<br><br>Anxiously<br>Chris B.

bazaab1 wrote:<br><br>&gt; I was begining to
think that the group had <br>&gt; stopped :) . .
.<br><br>Traffic is going to be slow here until the <br>official
release of Pocket Universe & Teenage <br>Demon Slayers
next month. We haven't even posted <br>anything new to
the PU web site lately, because <br>we're scurrying
to complete TDS. Just finished <br>the illustrations
(both of them!) this morning.<br><br>&gt; Just an
update on my RPG group <br>&gt; -we have been playing PU
now since Consortium <br>&gt; and thus far can't put
it down.<br><br>That's good to hear. Are there any
rules or stats <br>that you find you desperately need?
Post about it <br>here!<br><br>-Jeff Dee

I was begining to think that the group had stopped :) . . .  Just an update on
my RPG group -we have been playing PU now since Consortium and thus far can't
put it down.<br><br>Later!

ogrefist wrote:<br><br>"according to the online
ordering I am not eleigable for delivery as I live outside
the United States.. I live in Vancouver,
Canada."<br><br>Online ordering through The Siege Cart is not under my
direct control. But if anyone has trouble with their
service, you can email UNIgames and we'll work something
out.<br><br>-Jeff Dee

Hi there!<br><br>I am a long time V&V player and
gamemaster. I was out and about looking for some Generic RPG
systems to apply to the adventures I publish and would
love to take a look at Pocket Universe... How ever,
according to the online ordering I am not eleigable for
delivery as I live outside the United States.. I live in
Vancouver, Canada.<br><br>Would you be able to help me
out?<br><br>Chris Bell<br>Goblin Scribe

There's a new thingy on the Pocket Universe
freebies page
(<a href=http://www.io.com/unigames/pu/pu_freebie.html
target=new>http://www.io.com/unigames/pu/pu_freebie.html</a>): a sheet of
character counters with pre-drawn
faces that you can download, print, enhance with your
own hairstyles and costumes, and use as an
inexpensive alternative to miniature figures. Check it
out!<br><br>-Jeff Dee

Hey all! UNIgames has now got a page at the
Wizard's Attic site, and Pocket Universe (and Teeneage
Demon Slayers) are listed among the upcoming products.
Wizard's Attic is the wholesaler that's going to get P.U.
into the distributors, and thus into stores by
Xmas.<br><br>In other news, UNIgames is seeking playtesters in
the Austin, Texas area. If you live near here, or
know somebody that does, email
unigames@....<br><br>That's all for now!<br><br>-Jeff Dee

Ok.  I understand your reasoning.  Thanks for answering!!<br><br>BTW - We all
like the 'set' initiative system.  It makes it interesting knowing what you are
going to get 1/3 of the time :)

Bazaab asks why the character with the lowest
DEFT, rather than highest, wins on an initaitive
tie.<br><br>The reason is that without this rule even a slightly
low DEFT dooms a character to going last nearly all
the time.<br><br>If one character has a 9 DEFT and
another has a 10 DEFT and the HIGHER DEFT wins ties, then
the 9 DEFT character only gets to go first if he
rolls a 9-10 and the 10 DEFT charcter rolls a 1-2. The
odds of that happening are only 4 percent!<br><br>On
the other hand, if the LOW DEFT wins the ties, then
the 9 DEFT character gets to go first any time the 10
DEFT character rolls a 1-2 (20%), and also when the 10
DEFT character rolls a 3-8 AND the 9 DEFT character
rolls a 9-10 (12%). In other words, the 9 DEFT
character beats the 10 DEFT character on initiative 32% of
the time if low DEFT wins on a tie. And that just
feels more appropriate.<br><br>-Jeff Dee

Bazaab is what friends call me :)<br>---<br>Our
first game tonight was good. Some indepth roleplaying,
some kick-butt action (we kicked butt) and a
resolution wiht an open end for more adventureing. The only
real problem we ran inot was initiative. It says he
with lowest DEFT goes first on an initiative tie. We
played this way but feel that it should be the other way
around. <br><br>What was your original concept on this,
as far as why you made this rule this
way?<br><br>Later!

I remember you, Bazaab. (Is that what you want to
be called?) I'm curious to know a little more about
the game you're going to run. Is it fantasy? SF?
Modern? What extra rules (if any) are you having to make
up to handle it?<br><br>-Jeff Dee

Hiya Jim!<br><br>Everybody, Jim is an old gaming
buddy of ours from Michigan.<br><br>"What's been going
on?" All kinds of stuff! I assume you've read the news
pages from my site so I needn't repeat all that...
basically UNIgames is really starting to take off, and I'm
swamped with tons of work! 'Manda's online game Furcadia
is still going strong, too. Life is
good.<br><br>-Jeff

This Wednesday me and my friends are going to
play our FIRST Pocket Universe game. I bought 5 copies
of the book at CONsortium this year and passed them
around and we all agreed that for the price you can't
beat it as a generic RPG. Now we get to test the rules
system. IT ought to be fun.<br><br>I'll let ya'll know
how it goes!<br><br>Later!

Jeff!<br>Hey!  It's Jim Stryker!<br>Looking forward to Pocket Universe, and I
hope more Quicksilver stuff!<br>What's been going on?

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