Routinely Itemised: RPGs #89

Oops. If you tend to read Routinely Itemised after getting a prompt from the daily digest email you might have noticed it was missing.

It was late. I missed my own 6pm automatic cut off by how many seconds WordPress needed to fart around for.

It turns out that I can’t count to seven either. There are seven stories, at most, in any daily digest email and by Saturday Routinely Itemised: RPGs #88 was the 8th oldest on the site and missed the cut. Again.

Sorry, my bad.

Zine Quest is creating work! As you may have noticed, the usual tradition of only doing one Kickstarter article a day has been suspended due to the wave of great pitches. During this special season, Geek Native has been doing two crowdfunding posts a day, when I can manage and no more.

Standard service will return when Zine Quest concludes in a few days.

There’s been no shortage of other news, not with Wizards of the Coast getting a significant promotion within Hasbro and eOne talking about multiple movies and TV shows.

Win Bahamas

RPG news from Geek Native

• Geek Native reviewed the cyberpunk Altered Carbon RPG.
• There’s a new D&D book on the way, first, there was a teaser and semi-leak, a name, a price and before the official announcement, Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft had a cover.
• Hasbro restructures and promotes Wizards of the Coast to one of three top tier positions and has the division in control of digital licensing too.
• Hasbro also confirmed they’re working on several connected D&D TV shows.
• Fandom, the owners of Cortex Prime, D&D Beyond and thousands of wikis bought the game retailer Fanatical.
• The third edition of Whitehack has been released.
• Modiphius released the free to download Achtung! Cthulhu 2d20 Quickstart.
• Zadmar Games released the free to download Deep Trouble in Oldport Bay.
• The quickstart to Far Away Land is also free to download.
• The QuestCompanion creator Barna Toth talked to Geek Native about plans for the site.
• The mobile app RoleEver is free on early release.
• The Alien RPG and The Forbidden Lands come to the Foundry virtual tabletop.
• The RPG Daemonium Venatrix is free to download but only for the duration of the Kickstarter campaign Wait, That’s a Game?
• The latest Roll20 data from The Orr Report shows that the virtual tabletop has over 1 million homebrew games.
• Fantasy Grounds then confirmed D&D’s dominance with their own game sessions report.
• WizKids expanded its D&D range of minis.
• Magpie Games hires award-winning designer Liz Chaipraditkul.
• The Bundle of Holding has a generous Hero System 6 and Champions deal.

RPG Publisher Spotlight: EN Publishing

RPG news from around the web

• Dicebreaker’s Chase Carter gets some early info and notes Avatar: The Last Airbender RPG first details: five playable eras, keeping Balance and how bending will work.
• Carter also told us that Possible Worlds is a subscription service that gives you a new micro-RPG to play every month.
• The New York Times’ Jake Halpern wrote Desperate for Distraction, We Chose Dragons.
• Alex Meehan penned thew new Quest supplement as the Quest: Cosmic Fantasy Edition transports players to a sci-fi version of the RPG.
• EN World compiled a list of Everything We Know About The Ravenloft Book.
• Corey Plante at Inverse opined ‘Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft’ is a sequel to the best D&D book ever.
• Polygon’s Charlie Hall noted D&D’s new Ravenloft book could help you bring characters back from the dead.
• Paizo kept us up to date with their upcoming releases with Adventurers of All Sizes!

RPG reviews and interviews from around the web

• Nerdarchy interviewed Jay Dragon of Wanderhome.
• Charles Dunwoody interviewed Andrew Cawood author of Monsters of the City.
• At d20Radio, Egg Embry interviewed Density Media’s Barak Blackburn and Ellie Hillis about I Remember When All This Was Trees.
• Chaosium interviewed their own Lynne Hardy.
• Angel’s Citadel reviewed Arium – Create & Discover, Scum and Villainy and, importantly, Consent in Gaming.
• Over at RPG.net Antonios reviewed Agents of Concordia.
• Cedric Chin reviewed Battle Map Board.
• Endzeitgeist had a busy week reviewing Night of the Masks, Quests of Doom: A Midnight Council of Quail, Book of Heroic Races: Player Races 2 (5e), Five Nights at the Scythe
• Jared Rascher reviewed Hit the Streets: Defend the Block.
• Just Push Start reviewed D&D Icons of the Realms: Fangs and Talons Review.
• OnTableTop reviewed Tales from the Loop RPG.
• Rob Wieland reviewed Fantastic Lairs.
• Beth Rimmels wrote a helpful review of Monsters of the City: Sins and Virtues.

RPG new releases

• Tom Clark has released a Forged in the Dark game about vampires and their rise to power with Blood and Sacrilege.
• Batts, Sinclair, Anderson and Sheridan have released .dungeon.
• Whimsy Machine released an alpha version of an RPG about mermaids, magic and monsters in the sea. It’s A Salt Kiss Remains.
• Cubicle 7 released WFRP: Power Behind the Throne Companion.
• Game Designers’ Workshop released the Twilight: 2000 supplement The Pacific Northwest.
• Curious about Free League Publishing’s Year Zero Engine? It has an OGL, and so 3 Skulls Publishing have produced a $2 Year Zero Mini.
• Chamomile Has Adventures released an RPG in which you play as the Big Bad Evil Guy. It’s Dark Lord: Lords and Minions.
• Four-Colour Studios mix tabletop battles with RPGs in Goalsystem Delves.
• Cho Cho San’s RPG of super martial arts is inspired by games like Street Fighter and shows like Dragon Ball. Check out the S.M.ARTS RPG.
• Greater Than Games published Sentinel Comics: The Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook.

RPG ideas, tips and discoveries

• Storm Crow have a deadly how will you die die.
• At World Anvil, Janet Forbes wrote up Worldbuilding Festivals! 5 Ways to Use Festivals in Your Story, Novel or DnD Campaign.
• Obsidian Portal released the 2020 Campaign of the Year Results.
• Technical RPG opined How Technology is Making Game Masters Better…
• Geek Dad’s Simon Yule suggested 5 D&D One-Shots Perfect for 1st Level Characters.
• Tribality suggested 7 Random Generators for Dungeon Masters.
• Cubicle 7 have a great guest post about Warhammer from the art talent Ralph Horsley.

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;

• Matt Faltesek is funding a D&D 5e adventure for 3-5 players that’s themed around unique animals. It’s The Elephant Adventure – a module for 5e D&D.
• Monsters in Yosemite? John Lemay is offering digital content for 5E Inspired by the National Parks
• Scott Cramton and the American Immersion Theater have the dream of letting you enjoy some RPG action whenever you need it. Welcome to Camp D&D Online – Dungeons & Dragons Online.
• Ash Cheshire has funded a storytelling game for 2-4 players. Meet All Magical Creatures Great & Small: A Zinequest Game!.
• Villini has taken Pittsburgh to the far future and transformed it to the city-State of Blackvale, a 5e setting. The funding goal has been met for Blackvale: A Fantastical Pittsburgh Campaign Setting.
• Jan Karel de Wolff has a clever idea and a dangerous place to put your beer. Dare you explore the Adventure Coasters?
• Corbzor has a campaign set in a fantasy wild west that never was. It’s Outlaws ‘N’ Owlbears.
• Manifest Your Paracosm, the mantra for David Crennen and Jenelle Rae, is also the public front of a traveller’s zine for bugs, by bugs, the Silk Hollow City Guide (A Traveler’s Zine for Bugs, by Bugs).
• Undiscovered Gems have smashed their funding goal for the micro RPG Contemplation – A zine of personal discovery.
• Haunted Meat will publish a fantasy RPG about extraction, extinction and blowing up a pipeline called Crawler.
• Bleak Horizons Press explores loss, desperation, and hunger with The Lord of Wolves – A Trophy Gold Incursion for Zine Quest.
• 9th Level Games have another zine, a project Kickstarter loves and another success with Zineography – A Bibliography of Zine Quests.
• Ethan Brewerton is funding a project to fuse machines and flesh to produce Cyberwild Augmentations: 5e Magic Item Compendium.
• Jordan from Murder Publishing has bad news. Our God Is Dead.
• Matthew J. Hanson has hit their funding goal for a 5e and PF2e mini-supplement to stop people stealing your stuff. How? With Lock and Key – A Mini-Supplement for 5e and PF2.
• Andrew Zorowitz offers style and community with Dice For All 2: Resin Pride Dice and Alignment Enamel Pins.
• Cobblepath Games have an official story for the Locus Horror RPG with Sticks & Stones – ZineQuest#3.
• Michael Dunn O’Connor has funded a project to explore a strange otherworld and seek a miraculous power with FONT – a story game of hope and loss.
• Wild Magic Life has launched a $1 project for seasonal 5e one-shots with Almanac of Awesome Adventures: Spring.
• Hrothgar’s Hoard has smashed their funding goal for hardwood tiles used to design custom your own Luxury Dungeon.
• Skeeter Green has a book of post-apocalyptic monsters for DCC and MCC. Open the Cryptocodex, critters for your apocalyptic aftermath game.
• Iain Lovecraft has obliterated their target goal to make STL minis and terrain in the theme of The Frost.
• Craig Campbell of Nerdburger has funded another good looking game. We’re exploring altruism in a game inspired by Quantum Leap with What Once Went Wrong (Zine Quest 3).
• Patrick Monari is leading a fantasy incursion into Darl Academia. Funded in three hours and for Trophy Gold, it’s The Academy Chrysalis.
• Saucermen Studios is offering 3d-printable models themed for the Lost Colony: Spaceship Graveyard.
• S.A.S Games has designed a game just for one person. It’s Solo Journeys: Dungeon Descent. RPG.
• Weapons from Japan transformed into tabletop accessories. It’s Xinobi Dice – Ninja throwing stars- Cast metal dice for RPGs.
• Bite-Sized Gaming has found another way to add siege mechanics to RPGs. The project is SIEGE: Pocket Warfare.
• Corey Davies has funded a zine to help GMs get more (fun) from fantasy curses. At Your Peril: A Practical Guide to Curses in TTRPGs.
• Mical Weltsch has hit campaigns goals for an all-male, queer adventuring party ready for any setting. Meet The Band of Misfit Boys: A D&D5e Zine.
• Boat of Bees has funded a lightweight solo creative writing project for one person. It’s an Introduction to Practical Demonology: A Weird Schoolbook.
• Wolf Manzella has a horror zine for Dungeon Crawl Classics with Macabre – Volume I [ZineQuest].
• Lefty’s Comics has all 13 D&D classes available in Dungeons & Plushies Hard Enamel Pins Vol. 1
• Gordie Murphy has funded a tabletop RPG about exploring a megastructure in the far future and finding relics with Reliquary: A Science Fantasy World-Building Tabletop RPG.
• Cole Delaney is on Kickstarter to raise money for a co-operative journaling game called Shipwrecked.
• Grumpy Bear Stuff has exceeded the campaign target for an RPG about drinking tea and helping a girl grow up. Welcome to Little Katy’s Tea Party – ZineQuest.
• Floating Chair Club have a psychedelic adventure RPG in an art-forward unfolding format in the shape of Aether Operations RPG
• Decades later, Steve Jackson Games give people the chance to get the playtest document from 1976 and unpublished work. The project is Steve Jackson Games’ Illuminated Manuscript & Ogre 1976.
• Nick and Jake are funding a starter set for the all-ages fantasy RPG with The Magical Land of Yeld starter set!
• Mister Makebelieve tells us that Pacifica City needs new heroes after the old ones were killed. Unfortunately, what they’ve got are a bunch ofNecrojerks.
• Marco Serrano as an RPG inspired by Ray Bradbury’s “The Long Rain” that whittles away sanity. It’s a CONSTANT DOWNPOUR, a Retro Sci-Fi RPG ZINE #zinequest3.
• Big Tim Stiles wants your players to have several encounters with tribes of talking apes. Get ready for Gorilla Warfare: Talking Apes for 5E! #ZineQuest3.
• Elliot Baker has funded a zine of additional material for Apocalypse World: Burned Over. It’s Bones to Dust, Dreams to Rust.
• Alex Rinehart has hit the campaign target for Gratitude: A horror game.
• Craig Duffy has funded an RPG about Cold War psychics fighting to prevent the apocalypse. Welcome to Project Cassandra: A ZineQuest 3 RPG.
• Marsgreekgod is funding a mini RPG about being a… SCIENCE KNIGHT.
• Eric Deisen wants to aid your brainstorming with ✏️ 6 ZINES to create YOUR own (RPG) CAMPAIGN 📖 🐉.
• Fraser Gillespie is working on a zine of rapid A.I. development and world domination. Will you E.V.O.L.V.E #ZINEQUEST3?
• Douglas H. Cole of Gaming Ballistic has raised thousands to fund ready-to-play individuals. It’s Character Collections for The Fantasy Trip
• Tor Kjetil Edland is funding a book on how to run a LARP about the queer community living through the AIDS crisis of the 1980s. It’s Just a Little Lovin’ – Larp Script Book.
• David Swann is working on an RPG zine about escape, community, and expression that uses cards, any cards. It’s Colloquial Monsters.
• Jeeyon Shim has a Kickstarter “Project We Love” with a keepsake game about family legend, lineage, and the burden of destiny. It’s The Last Will and Testament of Gideon Blythe.
• Good Ideas… follow up on their IDEAS! project with the FULL COMPENDIUM: IDEAS! Hooks & Plots! | Zine Quest.
• Fabiunes is funding a temporal loop Comics-RPG-Gamebook. It’s Procrastination Day.
• Protagonist Industries are funding an RPG zine about adventures at a summer camp for young heroes-in-training! Welcome to The Heroes of Radness: Camp Tenderpeak.
• The popular JVC Parry has funded a print run of the Drakar expansions. The project is Drakar – Unlocked Expansions.
• Metis Media wants you to listen along, and there’s plenty of music in this project proposal. Check out Musicorum Dei: Custom Soundtracks for your Roleplaying Games.
• Nicholas Tourville is funding a beginner-friendly romcom RPG based on Hallmark movies. It’s Hometown Holiday – TV Romance RPG.
• Ray Chou is working on a one-shot Micro-RPG that examines the horrors of World War I called Pro Patria Mori.
• Michael T Lombardi is offering up 144 system agnostic magic items found in Pentola in A Catalogue Chimerical.
• Mindwork Games are offering high-quality minis and books based on Patrick J. Jones – Worlds Lost in Time.
• Jaime Reyes Mondragon invites you to channel the power of your foes with Arcane Archive I: Masks for 5e.

If there’s a source or news you think is worth monitoring, please get in touch or leave a comment below.