It's good to see Aaron's map tiles getting reviewed by OneBookShelf in their RPGnow newsletter. Here's what they thought:

Gamescapes: Story Maps, Fantasy Set 1

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars (from Peter Ingham)

Gamescapes: Story Maps - Fantasy Set 1 is a 80 page pdf product and the first set of fantasy story maps produced by Talisman Studios. This product features nearly 80 1" scale, full-colour dungeon tiles filled with all sorts of magical and supernatural terrain as the set's title 'Mystic Dungeon' suggests. The product comes as a large pdf file, and barring the covers with brief credits, contains only high quality mystical dungeon tiles to create a magical 2D dungeon layout.

There are quite a number of companies that do 2D terrain tiles these days, and more seem to be heading in that direction as time goes by. I've seen quite a few new publishers to this area, which is always a good thing as it provides the customer with a larger variety of tiles to choose from. Talisman Studios' offering of Fantasy Story Maps is one of the more unusual ones, in a good way. It offers a vast amount of different tiles, and probably a selection of tiles that you won't likely find anywhere else. This particular set, Mystic Dungeon, has tiles filled with various magical effects and other mystical features that I've rarely seen in other products. For that Talisman Studios are to be commended.

As such these tiles allow one's imagination to run wild. While some of the tiles are quite confusing and often appear somewhat psychedelic, the majority contain elements that spark the imagination and put a little bit of magic back in the dungeon. It's the supernatural tiles that really make this set, but it also includes several variations on standard wall tiles and various other standard room configurations. But if you wanted a dungeon filled with random and wild magic, the bizarre and the supernatural rather than another series of kobolds and orcs in four-walled rooms, this set of story maps has plenty to offer.

I wish, though, that there had been even a one line or one word description of each tile, as it would help clarify some of the more bizarre tiles and make what they're depicting a little clearer. The images are generally quite dark, so it's hard sometimes to see the detail, or see how the tile is meant to be implemented. For all its wonderful magical tiles and imagination running wild, there's an element of non-user-friendliness to this set. I'm sure that's not the case, but it looks like some of the tiles may have been thrown together to create a bizarre looking tile without thinking what the customer would make of it.

Overall, though, I found this a stimulating product with some good, unusual, interesting and inspiring tiles. This set puts the magic back into the dungeon, and creates an environment that will terrify players and spark the imagination. Here and there the tiles can be confusing as it's not always easy to be certain how a tiles should be used. The sheer volume of tiles, and the balance between standard tiles and mystical tiles, though, makes this a good product that can be used for a wide variety of 2D dungeon tile needs. A good set of tiles from Talisman Studios.

Basically, well done Aaron!

Martin M Klimes
Publisher, Talisman Studios

After many (many) (MANY) hours of blood, sweat and tears, Talisman Studios humbly announces that the following new products are available from our shop:

Shaintar: Immortal Legends print version

Suzerain core rulebook print version

Each book is printed when ordered and shipped direct to you. Printing takes 3-5 business days, and shipping takes about 5 business days within mainland USA (expect double that to Europe). We can't be held responsible for shipping times, but we'll use the best delivery option available to us at the time of your order. We also can't offer shipping tracking or insurance at this time, which means that we can't take responsibility for any delays or undelivered books.

In the coming days we plan to add to our print range in the following ways:

* To offer 'print plus PDF' bundles.

* To offer express delivery (about half the delivery time, and including parcel tracking).

* To offer delivery to other parts of the world (sorry Canada, Alaska and Australia for instance - we couldn't sort out the shipping details for you for our launch, but we haven't forgotten about you).

We're also aware that the shipping rates aren't as good as we'd like. We want to improve on them, but that will take time and a lot of research to find the best value options. Delivering parcels and packages around the world is hellishly complex stuff, it turns out. But we're dedicated to putting that time and effort in.

Meanwhile, the books are available... and they look fantastic!

Happy gaming,

Martin M Klimes
Publisher, Talisman Studios

Here's our latest press release, giving an update on things we've already mentioned here:

May 3, 2008
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Award Selections For Talisman Studios

Talisman Studios is delighted to learn that it has two products at the semi-final stage of the Origins Awards this year. Both Suzerain, nominated for Best Roleplaying Game, and Shaintar: Immortal Legends, nominated for Best Roleplaying Supplement, find themselves on a list of illustrious products.

“Both books really showed their class,” said Martin Klimes, Publisher at Talisman Studios, “being chosen by the Academy Jury for the semi-final stage despite being PDF only products. Our print agreements came just too late to get physical books in the hands of the judges, making it doubly impressive. Well done to all the people who worked so hard to create these books.”

Even better news for the fans, though: sales of books will begin on Wednesday 7 May directly from the Talisman shop at www.talisman-studios.com.

Talisman Studios would like to congratulate each company which has products on the Origins Awards list this year. Looking down the list, it’s clear that it has been a great year for gaming.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Talisman Studios was formed in 2003 as an art and design studio to the adventure games industry, the brainchild of master artists Jason Engle and Aaron Acevedo. The studio is an Origins Award Winner (for Deadlands Reloaded), and has worked on dozens of products. In May 2007 the company stepped up a gear and became a publisher in its own right, starting with its Gamescapes line of game accessories leading up to the launch of Suzerain and Shaintar before Christmas. 2008 will see the company work on more than a hundred high art gaming products.

Shaintar is a fantasy roleplaying game by Sean Patrick Fannon, with art by Jason Engle. In development for over twenty years, its depth of detail has enchanted fantasy players in various incarnations. It is the standout choice for Savage Worlds players or any gaming fans seeking epic high fantasy adventure.

Suzerain is a multi-genre, multi-world game system that was initially released as a limited edition, slip-cased collector’s book in 2000 and has been continuously developed since then until its recent re-launch. Ron Blessing of The Game’s The Thing (www.thegamesthething.com) had this to say about it, “I can't wait to spend time in this playground. The book as a whole is awesome. Suzerain can be as simple or detailed as the players and director want. The print-friendly prints well. The fully-realized, on-screen version is absolutely gorgeous. Hopefully it's obvious I'm pretty high on this product. Wow. Just wow.”

Origins Awards are the premium recognition of the hobby games industry. Administrated by the Academy of the Game Manufacturer’s Association, they are the Oscars of roleplaying and other social gaming.

For contact on this or any Talisman Studios topic, contact Talisman Studios at:

Website: www.talisman-studios.com
Email: hello [at sign] talisman-studios.com

We're adding some new content to our Treasure area, for you to download for free or look at online. For starters we've posted all the covers to our books and Gamescapes, sharing our cover art - we hope you like them.

We're also working on a set of new free downloads for Suzerain, starting with character sheets for the Long Plains Posse and a discussion on Pulse powers in different worlds call, fittingly enough, Powers And Worlds. Expect more character sheets to follow, for use as either pre-generated characters or as interesting extras in your campaign, and a mammoth undertaking - a complete free play book with five sets of pre-generated characters, five encounters, all the feats they have (in full) plus all the rules you need to play. It'll also contain a walkthrough of a combat, from first initiative to last gasp.

Happy Gaming,

Martin M Klimes
Publisher, Talisman Studios

So I see it hit the blogosphere... the list of Origins Awards nominations for 2008. It's the first year that Talisman has a shot at anything as a publisher. And we are Origins Awards semi-finalists in two categories!

Suzerain has been listed for Best Roleplaying Game and Shaintar in the Roleplaying Game Supplement category. Both are among some exalted company, which makes their inclusion all the sweeter. Well done to all of you members of the Talisman family who worked so hard on Suzerain and Shaintar.

It's early afternoon where I am right now, but heck with it. I'm going to the Irish pub on the corner to raise a pint of Dublin's finest black export. Cheers everyone!

Martin M Klimes
Publisher, Talisman Studios

The full list of nominees for those categories follows:

Roleplaying Game

Grimm
Fantasy Flight Games

The Savage World of Solomon Kane
Great White Games/Pinnacle Entertainment Group

CthulhuTech
Mongoose Publishing
Matthew Grau and Fraser McKay

Star Wars Saga Edition
Wizards of the Coast
Owen K.C. Stephens and Rodney Thompson

Witch Hunter: The Invisible World
Paradigm Concepts
Henry Lopez and Erik Weiner

Battlestar Galactica
Margaret Weis Productions
Jamie Chambe rs

Suzerain
Talisman Studios
Miles M. Kantir and Zach Welhouse

Faery’s Tale Deluxe
Firefly Games
Patrick Sweeney, Sandy Antunes, Christina Stiles, and Robin D. Laws

Colonial Gothic
Rogue Games
Richard Iorio II and Monica Valentinelli

Comix the RPG
Shiny Red Button Games

Roleplaying Game Supplement

Legend of the Five Rings: Emerald Empire
Alderac Entertainment Group
Shawn Carman, Richard Farrese, Douglas Sun and Brian Yoon

Pirate’s Guide to Freeport
Green Ronin
Chris Pramas, Robert J. Schwalb, and Patrick O’Duffy

Shaintar: Immortal Legends
Talisman Studios
Sean Patrick Fannon, Aaron Rosenberg, and Chrystyne Novack

Castlemourn
Margaret Weis Productions
Ed Greenwood

Delta Green: Eyes Only
Pagan Publishing
Dennis Detwiller, Adam S! cott Glancy and Shane Ivey

Pathfinder: Rise of the Runelords
Paizo Publishing
James Jacobs and Wayne Reynolds

Ruins of the Wild: Dungeon Tiles 4
Wizards of the Coast
Bruce R. Cordell

Autumn Arbor Campaign Setting
Arbor Productions
Lee F. Szczepanik Jr, Erin Szczepanik, Anna Lunsford, Mordechai Luchinsky and Michael Kuhn

Codex Arcanis
Paradigm Concepts
Team Paradigm

Ars Magica: Societates: House of Hermes
Atlas Games
Erik Dahl, Timothy Ferguson, Andrew Gronsky, John Post, Mark Shirley, and Nick Simmonds