How to Play Only 99¢

DG-HTP-3DTo celebrate Gen Con starting this week – and the release of Dangerous Games: How to Win tomorrow – I’ve put Dangerous Games: How to Play on sale for only 99¢. You should be able to find it at the following places for this bargain price:

Please share the love and tell your friends and neighbors. I’m thrilled to be heading to Gen Con this week, and I want you everyone to be able to get in on the fun too, even if only through my books.

If you’re going to be at the show, you can grab the book too, but be sure to also come to one of my events and say hi. I have a special Dangerous Games panel on Thursday at 6 PM, and I’d love to see you there – or at any other time during the show too. I have my full schedule posted under “Upcoming Appearances.”

Happy Gen Con Week!

Stretching for the Red Aegis RPG

My pal Matt James (founder of Loremaster.org) and his brother Brian James launched a Kickstarter drive earlier this month for their brand-new roleplaying game Red Aegis. It’s a game about sweeping epics, in which you play not just a character but a familial line. Besides Matt and Brian – both excellent, proven designers in their own right – they’ve lined up help from folks like Ed Greenwood, Erik Scott de Bie, Stephen Radney-McFarland, Miranda Horner, Eytan Bernstein, and Claudio Pozas.

They’ve already funded and have reached a number of stretch goals, bringing in support for Pathfinder and Fate Core versions of the game. They also have 13th Age and Dungeon World rules on the horizon, as well as skirmish miniatures rules. Plus, if they hit $65k, I’ll write a short story for them as well.

Given that they’re already at $40k with 15 days left, there’s a solid chance they’ll make that goal. If you enjoy epic fantasy that gives you the sense of the world’s strong sweep of history, be sure to check it out.

The Battle Isle: Threshold Run Comic

logoI’m working with the fine folks at Stratotainment on some material for their upcoming video game, Battle Isle: Threshold Run. Although the game’s not ready yet, you can already start to enjoy some of it in the form of a series of short online comics I’m writing for them.

For those who don’t remember, Battle Isle was a hit series of turn-based tactical games that launched in the early ’90s. Thomas Hertzler, who worked on both the Battle Isle and Settlers series, co-founded Blue Byte Software, which published those classics. He sold the company to Ubisoft back in 2001 and retired from games, but he’s back now with Battle Isle: Threshold Run, which already looks like fantastic fun.

Stay tuned for more information about the game, and be sure to check in at the Battle Isle: Threshold Run site for more episodes of the comics soon.

Star Trek Catan at Gen Con (and Me)

star_trek_catan-right.pngMy friends at Mayfair Games are running a huge event at Gen Con based around their game Star Trek Catan, and they’ve invited me to be a part of it. They’re taking over Georgia Street, which runs east out of the convention center (it was the place with all the food trucks last year), and they’re hosting a free block party open to the public. It starts at 6 PM on Thursday, August 14, and it runs until 11.

The center of the event is the Star Trek Catan charity tournament. Tickets go for $100 each, with all proceeds going to benefit Big Brothers Big Sisters of Indiana. There will also be entertainment by magician Michael Mirth and music from DJ M4RC3L0.

While the tournament’s going on, Mayfair’s going to record a live episode of their Bob & Angus YouTube show, in which two sheep puppets host a variety show centered on games. To lead off, they’re going to interview Mike Stackpole and me at around 7:15. After that, Walter Koenig will be on the show, followed by a number of other gaming industry guests. Wil Wheaton himself will be there to play in the tournament too.

In short, it’s going to be a huge amount of fun, and the money raised will go toward a wonderful cause. If you’re going to Gen Con – or if you happen to be anywhere near downtown Indianapolis that night, be sure to come out and join us.

[Edited: Corrected Wil’s involvement.]

My Gen Con Schedule

panel_title-4e6f320b47bea9fe352538c1dac282deIn honor of Dangerous Games: How to Cheat launching today, I’ve updated my schedule at this year’s Gen Con, where the novel is set. This year, the show runs from August 15—18.  I’m an Industry Insider Guest of Honor again, 11 years running. I’m also working with the Writer’s Symposium once more.

If you can make it down to Indianapolis for the show, be sure to track me down at one (or more!) of these events and say hi. My schedule includes:

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Dangerous Games: How to Cheat on Sale Now!

DG2-3DHow to Cheat, the second book in the Dangerous Games trilogy of thrillers set at Gen Con, is on sale now. I uploaded the ebook to the various resellers last night, and at the moment you can purchase it through:

Or you can grab it right here on my site. I’ll have it up with other resellers soon, and I’ll have print copies available in about a month.

Over at GeekDad.com, James Floyd Kelly gives it a rave review. He says:

It’s a whirlwind story… I read the entire 200 pages within hours of getting my digital copy. Matt’s thrown a great little mystery into the mix along with some fun name drops, more behind-the-scenes details of the game publishing world, and a very likable lead character and a despicable villain.

At Amazon.com, John Patrick gives it 5 stars! He says:

In this book we see the tone shift from mystery story to suspense story. The final act is straight out of an 80’s action film, complete with a Rocky-style reunion between the hero and his lady. This book was a quick, fun, read just like book one. I can’t wait to read book three and find out what happens in the final act.

At DriveThruFiction.com, Megan R. gives it 5 stars too! She says:

Fun. Fluff. Eminently readable. Something to curl up with and enjoy….

For a taste of the book, look below for a free preview that include the first four chapters of the book, including the murder of the book’s first victim.

Spread the word! Thanks for your support!

Dangerous Games: How to Cheat Insider’s List

DG2-3DMy next novel – Dangerous Games: How to Cheat – releases today, Tuesday, July 2. This is the second book in Dangerous Games, the third of the 12 for ’12 trilogies I wrote last year, and it’s set at my favorite place on Earth: Gen Con, the largest tabletop gaming convention in America. 

People who read the first book in the trilogy – Dangerous Games: How to Play – often commented on how many real-life gaming personalities showed up in the book. (I posted a long list of them earlier.) To some, it may seem like I’m dropping names, and to an extent that’s true. I had a ball putting all those people into the book, but that’s because they’re all my friends.

I’ve been going to Gen Con since I was 13 years old, and I’ve gotten to know a lot of people in the tabletop gaming industry. For a long time, I made my living as a full-time freelance tabletop game designer, something I still keep my hand in. I’ve worked with literally dozens of companies and hundreds of different folks.

Once I started putting friends into the book, I found it hard to stop. There were just so many personalities that were perfect for one line or another. The main problem is that, even with three books to play in, I couldn’t possibly manage to work in everyone I wanted – or put them into the spotlight for as long as I would have liked.

Still, I did find space for a lot of them. Consider the following a checklist for the fine people who made their way into How to Cheat. 

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Dangerous Games: How to Cheat Slated for July 2 Release

DG2-3DHow to Cheat, the second novel in the Dangerous Games trilogy of thrillers set at Gen Con, is slated to be released to the public as an ebook on July 2. Backers of the Kickstarter campaign that funded the books have already been enjoying the story for weeks, but this is the chance for the rest of the word to get in on it too.

Print copies should go on sale through DriveThruFiction in August.

If you’re interested in grabbing the first book in the series – Dangerous Games: How to Play – you can purchase it here or through any of the regular channels. For one more week, you can also grab it as part of the Bundle of Holding +3 package, a pay-what-you-like bargain that features fiction from my fellow RPG writers Colin McComb, Greg Stolze, Mur Lafferty, Scott Fitzgerald Gray, John Scott Tynes, and Robin D. Laws too.

Either way, get reading. I’ll have How to Cheat ready for you next week, and How to Win – the third book in the trilogy – should be out in early August, just in time for Gen Con.

Guest Post: Steven Saus on What Fates Impose

Steven Saus over at Alliteration Ink recently launched a Kickstarter for a new anthology of speculative fiction stories edited by Nayad A. Monroe. It features a fantastic lineup of storytellers, including Maurice Broaddus, Jennifer Brozek, Cat Rambo, Lucy A. Snyder, Tim Waggoner, and LaShawn M. Wanak, and it leads off with an introduction by Alasdair Stuart. 

These are all writers you should be reading. 

The anthology – What Fates Impose: Tales of Divination – is packed with stories about what happens when people can predict their future. Many of them go wrong, of course, in spectacular and entertaining ways. By way of a taste for the book, Steven sent me this guest post about his visions of the future. 

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The Bundle of Holding +3 Has Launched!

Bundle3
Late on Wednesday, Allen Varney launched the Bundle of Holding +3. You might recall that the first one ran back in February and that you got a copy of Hard Times in Dragon City if you paid more than the average for it. The sequel – Bundle of Holding +2 – ran last month and featured a number of excellent indie roleplaying games.

This time around, the Bundle of Holding returns to its roots, featuring fiction from veterans of the tabletop gaming industry. Pay as little as $1, and you get ebook editions of:

Pay the current average or more, and you get a number of bonus ebooks too.

That’s a lot of reading for not much cash, and better yet, a portion of the proceeds goes to charity. This time around that bit of the bundle goes to two organizations that promote freedom of speech: PEN International and the Electronic Frontier Foundation.

Ironic bit of trivia: Allen Varney – the man behind the Bundle of Holding – is also a murder victim in Dangerous Games: How to Play. He not only agreed to have his fictional self get killed but then helped revise those bits to make sure I did it right. Here’s what he has to say about the book:

“In How to Play, Matt Forbeck writes a blood-soaked love letter to Gen Con and the roleplaying hobby. If you enjoy seeing famous game designers brutally slaughtered (and who doesn’t?), Dangerous Games is your victory condition.”

– Allen Varney, with the Lead Pipe in the Dealer’s Room

This is a fantastic lineup of books from a team of authors I’m honored to call friends. If you’ve been thinking of picking up Dangerous Games: How to Play, this is a great chance to do that and top it off with a stack of fantastic tales from other folks too.

There are less than 10 days left on this deal, so don’t delay. Get in on it soon, grab some great books, and give a little bit to some fantastic causes too.