Hello! Welcome to the RPG news round-up that is Routinely Itemised.
In this article, you’ll find several sections which divide RPG topics into news, reviews, interviews, news releases and the like.
You’re busy, time is precious, so in each section, there’s only bullet-point summaries of stories and a link to where you can find out more—all decorated by some choice illustrations, competitions and a chart showing the Kickstarter heat generated this week.
Yeah, I know, I’m still to explain the Kickstarter heat chart, but it’s still in beta. Any guesses?
The Kickstarter heat score counts how many Kickstarter launches have happened in this Routinely Itemised period and a boost for how much money they’re asking for.
And on that note; on with the TTRPG news!
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RPG news from Geek Native
- Get more than $350 worth of RPG goodies for only $30 by supporting the Croatian Earthquake Bundle.
- Wizards of the Coast have made the starter set for AD&D 2e the Dungeons & Dragons Adventure Game a free download.
- Derek Kolstad, the talent behind the John Wick movie series, has been hired to come up with the pitch for the D&D TV series.
- Wizards of the Coast have also expanded the D&D design team.
- Handiwork Games will release the Beowulf RPG this month and have shared a preview art teaser.
- The solo-RPG assistant The Augur has had an update.
- Free League Publishing’s The Forbidden Lands are in the Bundle of Holding.
- Free League also announced a Symbaroum Starter Set with Treasure Hunts in Davokar.
- Geek Native takes a look at the RPG convention scene.
- DriveThruRPG, the DMs Guild and sister sites will lose the ability to do print-on-demand saddle-stitching sales.
- After a row about the way a woman was spoken to on social media by management, Funagain Games’ employees have arranged a management change.
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RPG news from around the web
- Dicebreaker’s Chase Carter writes Our Shores designers want their Kickstarter to be the first wave of Southeast Asian RPGs going mainstream.
- Meanwhile, Alex Meehan wrote Quest RPG gets two official adventures: a light-hearted murder-mystery and skeleton cook-off.
- Mainstream newspaper The Independent published You gotta roll with it: How livestreaming made Dungeons and Dragons cool.
- Chaosium have hired an in-house artist and a cartographer as Simeon Cogswell and Matt Ryan join.
RPG reviews and interviews from around the web
- Egg Embry talks Steve Jackson Games’ GURPS with Steven Marsh and Sean Punch.
- Chaosium interviewed the original creator of The Malleus Monstrorum Scott David Aniolowski.
- Gnome Stew reviewed Joshua Fox’s Last Fleet.
- PunVerse offered up a Dungeon Pets Review.
RPG new releases
- Onyx Path Publishing gave us the 5e Yugman’s Guide to Ghelspad Collected Volume.
- GMD Online has released a PWYW (suggested price: $0) The Oracle – December magazine.
- Cubicle 7 published the Warhammer Age of Sigmar Soulbound Shadows in the Mist: Crucible of Life adventure.
- Rob Randolph’s Ashes of the Magi is a story creation engine that prompts players to craft memories from the horrors of the Day of Wrath. The ash-can version is free.
- The Design Mechanism published the RPG Casting the Runes: Occult Investigation in the World of M. R. James.
- Realmwarp Media have released the system-agnostic book of ready-made Great Cities of Magic.
RPG ideas, tips and discoveries
- Ben and the Genre Police look at character generation.
- Use spell cards at your table? Why not make them look like a mini spellbook with these spell card books.
- New Gamemaster Month offers up some tips on dressing things up a bit.
- RPG Research updated their RPG in Prisons article.
- Kobold Press offered VTT Tips: Sharing Kobold Press Content with Your Players.
- Rising Phoenix Games opined RPG Leveling is Broken – Why Levels Suck.
- Jon Peterson looks into The Origins of Rule Zero.
RPG Crowdfunding
You can see those Kickstarters and other crowdfunding campaigns that caught Geek Native’s attention over at Kickstarter watch. Here are some industry projects worth a mention;
- PolyDice Hero asked for £14, 586 to make their character class themed dice, and they smashed that goal. First up is the PolyHero Dice – Cleric, Warrior, Wizard, and Rogue set.
- Alan Tucker has over 100 art-inspired 5e Incredible Creatures.
- Diego Pisa Artworks have a D&D, Pathfinder and fantasy system suitable adventure in the shape of Stop The Gririoh!
- Midlam Miniatures are Kickstarting 28mm scale Bloody Peasants!
- Michael Perez Rodriguez has 3D STL war game essentials modular building terrain files on offer.
- Scott W is working on an OSR/DIY compatible cyberpunk RPG called NEON BLOOD.
- Phantom hand-craft dice inspired by Japanese symbols of luck and good fortune. The campaign is Make 100: Lucky Dice – Adventure in Japan.
- Rinaldo Agostini is Kickstarting new uses for dry corpses with Grave Matters, a new skeletal expansion for Mörk Borg.
- Sandy Pug Games is celebrating some of the best work in the South East Asian RPG scene. Welcome to Our Shores: An RPGSEA Compilation.
- Levi Combs has high octane zine smashed full of weird magical items and artifacts in Magic and Shit: Weird Fantasy for Your OSR RPGs.
- Gavriel Quiroga is working on a primeval science-fantasy RPG inspired by Heavy Metal comics and psychedelia. It’s WARPLAND
- Brian St.Claire-King lets player characters switch between consciousness as they try and stop the
End Times. - Giovanni Maurizio Ali Pola has raised thousands for Shintiara Crusade of Time: Techno Fantasy Setting for 5E.
If there’s a source or news you think is worth monitoring, please get in touch or leave a comment below.
