It’s the end of the week, the month and the year. It is, therefore, time for one last look back at the RPG news from 2021 with Geek Native’s Routinely Itemised: RPGs.
Or, if you’ve been out safely partying in a socially distanced, boost jabbed sort of way, welcome to 2022.
The last RPG Publisher Spotlight of the year was with Forgotten Adventures. There is no interview, but a “mere” 45,000 free map assets from them might make up for that. Help yourself.
There’s no shortage of freebies in the news this week. It’s the giving time of the year. If you worry about missing out, or just prefer to scan things, then the tag free to download is there for that. It even has its own RSS feed.
Other ways to keep up with the site are through Geek Native’s socials. A quick 2021 social media review; got Instagram working, utterly failed on TikTok. The Discord is “stuck” in soft launch while we’re stuck in this weird world of bio-security.
So, with that said, let’s get exploring this week’s RPG news.
Win: Star Trek Discovery – The Book of Grudge | Gears of War scarf
RPG news from Geek Native
- Gallant Knight Games launched GallantFunding and talked to Geek Native about why it is time to move away from Kickstarter.
- Slated for next year and officially licensed, Kat Kruger has penned a book How to Be More D&D – Face Your Dragons, Be More Adventurous, and Live Your Best Geeky Life.
- There’s a free and adult scenario from Helmgast and Red Moon Roleplaying for Kult: Divinity Lost in the shape of Et In Arcadia Ego.
- There’s also a free to download Dragonlance adventure in the shape of the re-created Champions of Kyrnn.
- More, okay! What about a free indie Japanese RPG about emotional damage called Emo-klore?
- EN Publishing also shared some free previews for Level Up.
- The Design Mechanism has made a free preview of their forthcoming Destined Superhero Roleplaying available.
- A free download in PDF or as an audiobook on TTRPG safety is also available with Entreat the Darkness.
- A look through Europe’s largest indie game retailer revealed that many of 2022’s early pre-release allocations had already sold out.
- Geek Native found time, eventually, to review Soulbound: Champions of Order.
- I also took a look at this Pay What You Want The Beginner’s Guide to D&D.
- In the final review of the year, I wanted to chase off the darkness with Light of Winter.
- Need some backing sounds for your scenario? Check out five hours of them with these free Realmwalker Soundscapes for D&D.
- A virtual tabletop that looks like a computer game and Adventure Roll has had an update.
- D&D has its own version of Cluedo, which is the outside of America name for Clue.
- Ginny Di released a Jingle Bells parody A TPK Carol.
- Artist CJ Reynaldo has created illustrations to show how to sidn D&D classes in FSL.
- The popular Stars Without Number has a revised deal on the Bundle of Holding.
- Geek Native has started to curate a list of RPG publishers, creators and actual play troupes with merch sites.
Spotlight Forgotten Adventures
RPG news from around the web
- Paizo, Demiplane and Jasper’s Game Day are campaigning for suicide awareness by Rolling in the New Year.
- Paizo announced a new rulebook due August 2022 called Pathfinder Dark Archive.
- Bleeding Cool’s Gavin Sheehan covers the RealmSmith and Lost Odyssey team up for Dungeons & Dragons To Debut Champions Of The Realm In January.
- ComicBook’s Matthew Aguilar notes The Witcher TTRPG Reveals New Details on The Manticore School in Free DLC.
- Chris Doyle shares his Goodman Games’ 5E year in Review.
- Congratulations to Miskatonic University Podcast, Modern Mythos, Sweden Rolls and Ain’t Slayed Noboby and the other Top Podcasts as voted by the EN World forums.
- EN Publishing also shared a cover reveal of their Awfully Cheerful Engine!.
RPG reviews and interviews from around the web
- CBR’s Joshua Roberts notes The Best Tool for Playing D&D Virtually is an Underrated Gem (Spoiler: It’s FoundryVTT)
- Gundobad Games reviews Warhammer Roleplay: Soulbound.
- The Alexandrian reviews Brindlewood Bay.
- Beyond Fomalhaut reviews the “no artpunk contest” entries Swords & Sewercery and Tower of the Time-Master.
- The Bharat Express looks at the RPG Jiangshi in Save the world and your family restaurant with this new RPG.
- Grognardia looks back with a Retrospective: In the Dungeons of the Slave Lords.
- Sami Yuhas offers Ring It Up!: The One Ring Second Edition Reviewed.
- Stargazer took A look at the Traveller Core Rulebook Update 2022.
- Nerds on Earth reviewed Lost Omens: Absalom, City Of Lost Omens For Pathfinder 2nd Edition.
- On EN World, Egg Embry reviewed Root: The Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook.
- Reviews from R’lyeh looked at the 1991 Amber Diceless Role-Playing, the Desert Moon of Karth, the 1981 Fantasie Scenarios and the odd The Spawn of Fashan
- On Gnome Stew, Jared Rascher reviewed the 5e Islands of Sina Una.
- Cubicle 7 did their own Interview with Soulbound producer Elaine Lithgow.
- Wargamer also chats to Elaine about Champions of Destruction.
RPG new releases
- Texas in August adds some Lovecraftian cosmic horror to Vampire V5 with Hunger from Beyond.
- The new EVERWAY is out, the Silver Anniversary Edition, with Book 1: Players and Book 2: Gamemasters.
- The Dice released a game about trading your soul with Save Our Souls.
- Pagoda Games released their Firefly or Cowboy Bebop inspired Freelancer’s Guide.
- Chapter 12 Press hit the publish button on Anarchy:The RPG set in the No-Future of 1983.
- Adira Slattery’s RPG is set after the sun has exploded. It’s Fever.
- It’s a late Christmas freebie from Dream Realm Storytellers with Saving Yule – A Svilland Adventure.
RPG bundle deals
- Save $218.24 (50%) on PBE Games’ Dungeons in Blue – The Whole Dungeon bundle.
- Save $19.65 (57%) on the DMsGuild’s The Adventure Collection VOL 1 and $42.35 (63%) on Volume II.
- Save $19.42 (50%) on the DMsGuild’s Celebrations bundle.
- Save $5.69 (22%) on Bloodstone Press’ Amazons vs Valkyries 5e Starter Bundle bundle.
RPG ideas, tips and discoveries
- Ben and the Genre Police investigated Parallel Play.
- Meguey Baker of lumpley games wrote a typically genius Ritual in Game Design thought piece.
- At EN World, Michael Tresca took a quick look at 2021’s RPG trends.
- J.R. Zambrano shared D&D: Running Boss Fights Is Hard – Here’s Five Ways To Fix That.
- Sly Flourish wrote up How to Customize Published Campaign Adventures.
- Jared King offered 8 Ways Dungeons & Dragons Helps With Anxiety.
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;
- Oksana Klingel has stylised models for 3d-printing so your RPG or wargames can have Hobbits- Architecture/Interiors/Siege Weapons
If there’s a source or news you think is worth monitoring, please get in touch or leave a comment below.
