Month: August 2003

(Boston, MA) August 28th, 2003 — Innocence Games announced today that it has acquired the license to publish tabletop roleplaying games based on the classic pulp works of William S. Burroughs. The license encompasses both the Warlord of Mars series and the popular Naked Jungle series, starring Tarzan. Innocence Games will release their first Burroughs game in Q4 2004: Tarzan, Lord of the Interzone, based on the first of the Naked Jungle books. Later supplements will incorporate Burroughs’ complex Mars mythology into the world of the Interzone and its street-raised King.

The new games will use the critically acclaimed Transpulp gaming system, the smoothest pulp gaming system on the market. They will be compatible with other Innocence Games releases, including Doc Gold and The Savage Silver Planet.

Projected features of Lord of the Interzone include:

• Complete transubstantiation mechanics for both Christian and pagan gods
• Rules for backalley deals and broken promises
• The flexible Transpulp skill system, which scales to any skill level necessary
• Detailed maps of the Interzone as it existed in 1914
• Enemies, allies, and lovers, from proto-fascist Germans to exotic Martian beauties
• A complete bibliography for the Naked Jungle series, including the pastiche novels by Philip Marlow

Innocence Games is very proud to be the official publishers for roleplaying games based on these classic works of pulp fiction. William S. Burroughs is the first name in pulp fiction, and without his seminal novels the field as we know it would not exist. For the first time, readers can discover the world that inspired Gygax’s Mysteries and Mugwumps in its purest form. Come. Visit the Interzone. It’s just across the hall.

– 30 –

[Text is lies. Words are fiction. Truth is dead.]

[The following is a note to myself. Really.]

The telegram says this:

Telluric ectoplasm projector discovered STOP Located in San Francisco STOP Controls still mysterious STOP Daring agents needed STOP Come at once STOP

The Zatarin Agency is located in the basement of a townhouse in San Francisco’s Noe Valley. Above it is the Zatarin Floral Service, and above that is Paul Zatarin’s residence. Mr. Zatarin is a moral man and a first generation immigrant who is immensely proud of his adopted country. As such, when he discovered the telluric ectoplasm projector in the basement, he immediately wired Max Mercer for advice.

Mercer visited San Francisco in person, with Dr. Primoris at his side. Unusually, the pair was unable to make much headway on the device: they were able to turn it on and test its functioning, but control was completely beyond them and the underlying principles remained somewhat of a mystery. Still, it was fairly clear what the thing did.

In short, the telluric ectoplasm projector creates exact replicas of its users and sends them where they are most needed. The window of operation is fairly narrow; a group of people can all arrange to arrive at the same place, but they can’t control where they go and if someone else comes along fifteen minutes later it’s more than likely that they’ll wind up in another location altogether.

Mercer and Zatarin talked over the possibilities, long into the night. Once Mercer was assured that Zatarin had the best interests of the world at heart, he made his recommendation. Simply put, he proposed that Zatarin recruit daring men and women who would be willing to use the telluric ectoplasm projector to fight evil and crime wherever it might take them. And Mercer, as it happened, knew a few likely candidates…

Which brings us back to the telegram. You just got it. There’s a request for assistance therein.

Off to California — and from a basement in San Francisco, the world awaits!