Our Story… So Far

Back in the year 1993, I met Phil and Alex at college. We quickly formed a gaming group that tried many systems over the years. Phil ran most of these games as the GM. This may or may not have something to do with his current lack of hair. It definitely molded him into a great GM.

College ended, and we started to drift apart. This real life thing distracted us, what with Y2K in full force. After the world failed to implode on Jan 1, 2000, Wizards of the Coast came out with a new RPG for Star Wars. I got myself a copy, and visited Phil saying we should get a game going. He was already putting a game together, so he ran the idea by the other players. Later reports indicate that one player said that I was “a non-roleplaying power gamer” and sealed my fate.

Hearing this reaction, I accepted the title, and turned it into a badge of honor. Discussing it with a few other like-minded friends we decided to form a union. Thus the Power Gamers Union, Massachusetts Local 404 was born!

In the years that followed, our members submitted new rules to local LARPs, previewed and edited rules systems, assisted players in building, playing, and advancing their characters, and wrote an uncounted number of house rules. The phrase, “404 Approved” became common jargon for any character or rule system that crossed our path. We became known for finding loopholes and exploits and pointing them out to the designer or GM, immediately followed by a suggested fix.

I discovered this quote online and turned it into our mission statement.

“One day the perfect system will be made, one so mechanically transparent, so resource-consistent before and after character generation, and so devoid of loopholes that Power Gamers are no longer needed.

“Until then we must serve in our grim duty, though it often costs us our social status in the very gaming group we protect.”

In recent years, the Union started playtesting for the RPG industry. Our names are found in some of the Star Wars books put out by Fantasy Flight Games. Members of the Union also started reviewing, writing, and running games for the industry. Results were positive, so we decided it was time to go all in.

Studio 404 Games is the result of that decision. No longer simply evaluating or building rules systems, we create new settings, modules, and other tools for gamers to enjoy.

You have the power, Gamers.

-GM Brett