goblinoidgames.com

For sale at RPGnow!

This time you can't win $10,000...

...but you can try regardless to solve the secret of the Sandman!

After over 25 years, Sandman: Map of Halaal is back! Goblinoid Games has purchased the rights to Sandman, reuniting it with its sibling TIMEMASTER and new kid on the block ROTWORLD. The Pacesetter SystemTM family of games continues to grow.

Widely viewed as a psychedelic, dreamy ride, Sandman: Map of Halaal was one of the tragedies of Pacesetter Ltd.'s demise. Sandman only saw the completion of what would have been the first in an Instant AdventureTM series.

Sandman uses a "lite" version of the Pacesetter SystemTM, which is easy to learn and quick in play, both of which are essential to the more story-driven adventures in the original Sandman boxed set.

For the first time ever, the original Sandman boxed set is now available in electronic format. We are currently investigating options for putting it in print. Whether future expansions are published depends entirely on audience demand. Show us you love Sandman and we'll make it happen!

We have a very limited number of original boxed sets for sale, still in original shrink wrap. (US $20 plus shipping) If interested, email goblinoidgames "at" yahoo "dot" com--orders will be filled on a first come, first served basis.

Looking for more Pacesetter System[sup]TM[/sup] games? Michael Curtis has just finished writing and playtesting an all new game using this system. It will be opened for additional playtesting very soon to members of the Labyrinth Lord Society!

From the back of the box:

The train whistle screams, and your passenger-car plunges into another tunnel. Six shots snap in the darkness. When sunlight floods the compartment once more, a man lies bleeding on the floor. He whispers a warning, then mysteriously fades away. Who was he? Why was he murdered? And, most importantly, who are you?

THE SANDMAN

He knows your name.
You don't.

He knows where you are.
You don't.

He knows what you have done, and why you must die.
You don't.

To survive, you must journey through a tempestuous world in search of the answers to a question as tenuous as your own existence. You play the role of an amnesiac traveler, lost in a world beyond the natural. The rules are brief, preparation easy, and the story rich.
The SANDMAN is watching....Why don't you face him?

Goblinoid Games wrote:

For sale at RPGnow!

This time you can't win $10,000...

...but you can try regardless to solve the secret of the Sandman!

Halaal means death in hungarian. Solved!

So this is a solo game? A single person trying to figure out where they fit in the world?

Curious minds want to know

Atomic Ray wrote:So this is a solo game? A single person trying to figure out where they fit in the world?

Curious minds want to know

Nope, not a solo game, but I am seriously considering making any future supplements solo games.

Readers of these forums can use the code below to get the PDF for only $5 until May 6th!

50569

And I might actually use that code. My boxed set has been run perhaps 2 dozen times over the years and is beaten nearly to death.

Basically, what you get is an extremely minimalist RPG, which is a stripped version of the Pacesetter system. Then you get 4 pretty linear adventures in the inimitable Pacesetter style. The linearity makes it a breeze to run for people who do not play many RPGs, but the rails may be a bit grating for very modern players.

THAT said, the adventures are several thousand shades of weird, and silly, and kind of brilliant. Nothing is sacred, and while it doesn't go for the cheap parodies of Paranoia and Tales from the Floating Vagabond, this is that kind of adventure. In some ways, Sandman ends up being funnier for the sheer ludicrousness of the thing. So I totally adore Sandman, and always have.

My one real question is: do you have any notes of exactly what the hell is going on? There is no setting book or anything, and Sandman was intended to be the first of 4 boxed sets. The only other thing I ever saw on it was a brief mention in a late Pacesetter or 54'40 Orphyte catalog of something called "The Sandman Solution". When I spoke to Jay Tummelson about it, he was trying to locate it but never actually seemed to find a copy.

Thus I fear it may share the same fate as the never-finished TImemaster Board Game. I remember speaking to (perhaps Gail Sanchez) at a con once who told me that Mark Acres could never quite get it working.

Goblinoid Games wrote:Readers of these forums can use the code below to get the PDF for only $5 until May 6th!

50569

Hmmm... can't seem to get the code to work. Keeps coming up as "invalid code".

Try this direct link:

http://www.rpgnow.com/index.php?discount=50569

That did the trick. Thanks!

Wow, the return of Pacesetter. Back in the '80s I got my hands on all their stuff -- Chill (RPG (+Mayfair version) and Boardgame), Timemaster, and Sandman. Just recently pulled out the latter for old times sake (almost near mint condition with some of the components, but do have all components), and may try running it again soon. I just wish it allowed for more than 3 players. In regards to the mystery, I seem to recall that in Timemaster, there was mention of a special division of "timecops" who dealt with alternate dimensions including those that involved literary sources (characters, places, and such). It's members were generally viewed by their fellows as more than a tad "off." Considering the four adventures in the game with its characters and places from books and movies all mashed up, my theory is that the player-characters are amnesiac members of this special division...the Sandman perhaps being the bad guy the team was after. I would love to see more published,or at least what the answers were. According to the product sheet in my game, the next installment was titled "The Inland Sea."