Howdy, geeks.
Once again, we find ourselves at a Friday, which means time for a routinely itemised RPG news summary.
First out of the gates is news of the first Geek Native round table, and it’ll be about inhospitable settings. If you’re on the community Discord, then you can join the audience.
Secondly, and in an even softer launch than the Discord server is the Kickstarter Heat section of the site. Well. Ahem. It’s one page right now, but the plan is to expand it.
Since I spend hours every week curated RPG and RPG-related Kickstarters, I started putting the headlines into a spreadsheet. That means I can process the data.
Did you know that Tuesdays are, by far, the most popular day for RPG Kickstarters to launch? I asked some publishers about it, and it’s apparently perceived wisdom that Tuesdays are best.
Right now, here’s the rest of the RPG news!
Win The After RPG | Professor Elemental
RPG news from Geek Native
- Luke Crane’s The Burning Wheel was the fastest-growing RPG system on Roll20.
- R. Talsorian Games and Cody Pondsmith have announced that the next The Witcher RPG supplement will be A Tome of Chaos.
- Studio Agate will do an English version of the Vermin RPG.
- Chaosium has Astral Tabletop modules, including a free one, for Call of Cthulhu 7e.
- The indie RPG system LUMEN now has an SRD, is being supported by an Itch Jam and all after the designer was hit by a toxic fan backlash.
- Ackerly Green release the FATE powered Briarverse RPG.
- Mongoose has released Project Infinite Hole Paranoia.
- Wizards of the Coast are taking control of some D&D translations.
- Wizards of the Coast launched a new D&D adventure with Ravenloft: Mist Hunters.
- The latest D&D Unearthed Arcana gives kobold and Dragonborn alternatives.
- Paramount’s schedule reshuffle moves the Dungeons & Dragons movie back a few months.
- Typographically bold, and free to download, it’s the sci-fi RPG FinalHorizon.
- Paizo has released a free to download Pathfinder Fists of the Ruby Phoenix Player’s Guide.
- One More Multiverse will soon launch a new type of virtual tabletop that goes further into full-on computer game mode, complete with Twitch integration.
- In the UK, you can win £1,000 in cash just by rocking up at your local gaming store.
- The Bundle of Holding has a collection of 0one Blueprint battlemaps.
- Humble Bundle has a deal on D&D comic books and Warhammer 40K novels.
Spotlight: LPJ Design
RPG news from around the web
- Ulisses Spiele published a frank and open update on the challenge of making release dates during the pandemic. They say Production & Pandemic – The new, nerve-wracking, role-playing game.
- Havard’s Blackmoor blog notes that Jeff Grubb’s Lost Mystara Sourcebook To Be Released to the Fans at Pandius
- Morrus wrote up The Biggest TTRPG Kickstarter Creators with Free League at the top.
- Osprey Games have released an errata for Romance of the Perilous Lands.
- Level Up Dice and Alex Abrate publically responded to the use of Chinese factories.
- Dicebreaker digs into The challenges facing tabletop gaming conventions after lockdown.
- The heavyweight site also shines the spotlight on Disability-focused Dungeons & Dragons supplements raise funds for Bristol Children’s Hospital Play Team.
- Pinnacle Entertainment Group have announced that Deadlands is now available on Foundry VTT.
- Modiphius shared more Dune: Adventures in the Imperium insight with Faction Characters: The Fremen.
- Warchief shares the first development update for Auroborus with a look at the Mark of the Serpent.
RPG reviews and interviews from around the web
- Polygon said The new Fallout tabletop RPG makes wasteland combat fun again.
- Strange Assembly reviewed Bestiary 3 for Pathfinder 2e.
- Thilo Graf reviews Files for Everybody: Nashi for Pathfinder 2e.
- Life and Times of a Philippine Gamer shares a Let’s Study on Fallout The Roleplaying Game, Part 1: Introduction and Core Rules.
- Signals from Delta Pavonis share First Impressions – Warlock! Three’s Company.
- Forbes’ Rob Wieland opines Starfinder Is More Than D&D in Space.
- Refereeing and Reflections reviewed The Sword of the Bastard Elf.
- Sami Yuhas wrote up Should You Book a Trip to Arrakis?: Dune – Adventures in The Imperium RPG Reviewed.
- Sami also wrote up the second part of the Abomination Vaults AP with Deeper into the Megadungeon: Pathfinder – Hands of the Devil Review.
- Tim Knight reviewed Martin Lloyd’s Amazing Heroes.
- Aaron T. Huss reviewed the Brexit RPG Shadow of Mogg.
- TechnicalRPG reviewed the Humblewood 5e campaign setting.
- Egg Embry interviews Alan Bahr of Gallant Knight Games and Jeff Barber of Biohazard Games about Blue Planet: Recontact.
- At d20Radio, Egg also interviews Matthew Yarro of Home Brewed Games about Druids: Secrets of the Primal Circle.
RPG new releases
- JLHB Polytechnic released in print and PDF a Dungeon Crawl Classics sci-fi setting book inspired by comic book artist Fletcher Hank. It’s Leopard Women of Venus.
- Farsight Games published the first adventure of Osprey’s grim sci-fi Those Dark Places, with Jonathan Hicks’ own The Ana-Sin-Emid Report.
- Medium Quality Products released the Old-School Essentials adventure The Bleak Holdfast of the Heartless Queen.
- Dungeon Age Adventures published the low-level D&D and OSR adventure Witches of Frostwyck.
- Monte Cook Games publish, with a free preview available, Numenera’s Where the Machines Wait.
- Chaos Factory Books published 5e Manual of Amrs: Armor & Shields.
- Blackberry & Holly reviewed the RPG about youth Our Stormy Present.
- Diner Elf Games released the pay-what-you-want lighthearted fantasy RPG Fable Voyages.
- P0rthos47 released the optimistic and PBTA-style low-prep sci-fi Space Aces.
- Cubicle 7 released Soulbound: Refuges of the Realms.
RPG ideas, tips and discoveries
- Charles continued his Warhammer worldbuilding with the City of Anvilgard.
- Geek Native loved this plug for Dirty Vortex’s My First Little Sacrifice and Solemn Vale.
- Pelgrane Press’ Kevin Kulp shared Serpentine Plot Hooks: Rebellious Factions Part 1.
- Tribality’s Tomas Gimenez Rioja looks at The Illrigger – An MCDM Class for D&D 5e – Breakthrough.
- Roll20 shared 9 Tips For Upping Your Roll20 Game.
- Roleplaying Tips offered up Keep Players Intensely Engaged With the 3 Conflicts.
- Coleman Gailloreto suggested When Tabletop GMs Should (& Shouldn’t) Ask Players To Roll Dice.
- The Indie Game Reading Club’s Paul Beakley got into The Many Utilities of Rules.
- The Nine and Thirty Kingdoms offered some tips for dealing with Monsters in Large Numbers.
- Scott Malthouse offered 10 quest hooks for Romance of the Perilous Land, the RPG he wrote.
- At D&D Beyond, John Roy suggested Making Your D&D Sessions Immersive Without Being Boring.
- At EN World, Snarf looked into The Dual Wielding Ranger: How Aragorn, Drizzt, and Dual-Wielding Led to the Ranger’s Loss of Identity.
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;
- Leah Frampton wants to put cats in your dice, and Kickstarter loves it. It’s a 7-piece dice set with 9 lives. Purryhedrals – Kitty Cat Polyhedral Dice
- August McDaniel has funded Jiiboni Bush Jungle-Themed Map Set.
- Kyx has an ambitious target to hit with the D&D supplement Magician’s Guide to the Three Worlds.
- Escape Plan Games has success on its hands with a circus-themed adventure. It’s the Tavern Tales: A 5e DnD Supplement Book
- Nathaly Aupin has funded 22 high-definition Map Alchemists’ HD Outdoor Battlemaps with Stunning 3D Views.
- Mike Bertolini’s game lets you play as a human or variant human in a supernatural world. It’s a detective-style HAWTHORN Horror RPG
- Derik Duley’s game challenges one to six players to create a boom in a Western town. Welcome to Wild, Wild West – Roll and Write Revolution
- Mason’s clever clip system transforms Magnetic DND Condition Rings.
- Past Adventures has funded a historical adventure set on the evil of war with 1937: The Abyssinia Affair.
- Steve Jackson Games and Warehouse 23 have a retro-style collection of articles in Hexagram #7, an Old-School RPG Zine for The Fantasy Trip.
- Victoria Sierra has a set of 100% recycled and great looking 35mm D&D Class Themed Acrylic Pins.
- Phillipp Preiser has smashed funding targets for a tome of tutorials, inspiration and templates. It’s Hardcover Book: Miniature Terrain Making.
- Derek A. Kamal has funded a solitaire innkeeping RPG with The Broken Cask.
- Chamomile Has a Project with a zine-sized 5e sourcebook called Bianca’s Guide to Golems.
- Laura Hammonds is raising funds for a collection of RPG dice themed accessories inspired by staking and skateboarding. It’s the Rolling Dice Buddies.
- William Murakami-Brundage has an epic tier Menagerie Press adventure about a Bed, Bath, & Behemoth: An Epic D&D 5e Adventure.
- The Geeknson Team are back on Kickstarter with a highly customisable and modular The Geeknson Bristol Board Game Table.
- OffHand are have launched their first Kickstarter to produce their OffHand GM reference cards.
If there’s a source or news you think is worth monitoring, please get in touch or leave a comment below.
