The RPG news summary of summaries, first! This week;
- The Lord of the Rings official RPG got a solo mode
- DriveThruRPG launched their first game designers jam
- There’s a big bundle fo Paizocon and more for Pride
Everything is slightly weird here in the UK. It’s as if a quest giver has sent every PC or NPC off on similar and interwoven missions, but only some are actually listening.
What’s up? The 70th Jubilee for Queen Elizabeth II.
It just so happens that this RPG news summary is being written up a bit earlier. Not because of Jubilee parties, but because of the 1st birthday of a local microbrewery. So, yours truly is heading down in the docks of Leith, besides where a house of ill repute used to be and smugglers operated from. Will be there many royalists around or XP rewards for reaching the destination?
It is also the start of the month which means a new RPG Publisher Spotlight for patrons. Is that you? You’re great and can vote at this private link.
For July, the five nominees are;
June spotlight is BRW Games.
I know you’re here for the RPG news and not UK domestic politics; okay, let’s get cracking!
RPG news from Geek Native
- Wizards of the Coast’s latest D&D playtest lets you use hurl Halflings and has other giant rules.
- Free League Publishing and Ironsworn’s Shawn Tomkin have made it possible for you to explore Middle-earth by yourself with The One Ring solo Strider Mode.
- DriveThruRPG announce their first game design jam and a series known as PocketQuests.
- CMON released a free download quickstart for the Zombie Chronicles RPG.
- The Priestess of Spiders invites you to name your own price for the RPG Delvers in Dark Places.
- RTG adds 15 new cyberdecks to Cyberpunk RED.
- The Bundle of Holding has some classic 3rd-party Traveller RPG material on offer in Gamelords.
- Also in the BoH are three complete RPGs for the Traveller retro-clone Cepheus.
- With hundreds of games on offer, including tabletop RPGs, The Queer Games Bundle returns to Itch.
Spotlight: BRW Games
RPG news from around the web
- Gavin Sheehan covers the news that Critical Role’s Darrington Press will be supporting Free RPG Day with a one-page A Familiar Problem.
- ICv2 reports that Wizards has a D&D Icons of the Realms: Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse – Neothelid model.
- Geek Tyrant’s Anna Williams notes Houston, We Have A Problem In New STARFINDER DRIFT CRISIS Rulebook.
- PEG confirm the 4th printing of Savage Worlds Adventure Edition.
- Perhaps inspired by Stranger Things, Mars Garrett recaps The Satanic Panic: Beyond Dungeons & Dragons.
- Being brutally honest, Owen Stephens and Darrin Drader cancelled the Reign of Discordia Kickstarter due to ill-health rather than take money. Why is this so rare? Update: Here’s the relaunch.
- R. Talsorian Games has new DLC for The Witcher TTRPG.
- Scott Baird suggests D&D: A Primordial Book Could Be In Development.
- Dragon Turtle Games are donating profits of Carbon 2185: A Cyberpunk RPG during the Queen’s 70th Jubilee to foodbanks to highlight the growing wealth inequality in the UK.
RPG reviews and interviews from around the web
- At EN World, Rob Wieland looks at Loke Battlemats.
- Jared Rascher reviews The One Ring Strider Mode.
- Geek Dad’s Paul Benson opines No Dungeons but Plenty of Dragons in Beadle and Grimm’s Silver Edition of ‘Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons’ .
- At RPG.net, Schwartzwald writes up a review of Battlelords of the 23rd Century 7e.
- Reviews from R’lyeth takes a look at Root: The Roleplaying Game.
- Seed of Worlds has a review of the AD&D Spelljammer.
- Refereeing and Reflection gets to The Reading Canary: Fighting Fantasy (Part 10).
- Charles Dunwoody writes up Monsters of Feyland 2: An Interview with Cawood Publishing.
- Dicebreaker’s Chase Carter opines FLCL-inspired tabletop RPG Empty Cycle is all small towns, big robots and bigger angst.
- Bleeding Cool gets Chatting With Modiphius About Star Trek Adventures.
- Hank Whitson interviews Author and Designer Kieron Gillen Talks Trauma, Metafiction, and Thematic Depth In DIE TTRPG and also DIE Collaborator Grant Howitt Details Mechanics and Philosophy Behind Kickstarter TTRPG.
RPG new releases
- Nightfall Games and Andrew Gaska release the official The Terminator RPG.
- Rookie Jet Studio have released a Name Your Own Price but is still in development teen anime RPG Empty Cycle.
- JVC Parry, the best seller, has released the action-packed Shadow Under Hardflint Hall.
- Jason Bradley Thompson has a DMsGuild release wherein you can play as 5e Dungeon Babies.
RPG bundle deals
- Save $85.42 (77%) with the Pathfinder Infinite Paizocon Infinite Community Megabundle.
- Save $71.45 (86%) with Seafoot Games’ Patreon Maps & Adventures September 2021 and $90.89 (88%) for August 2021 bundles.
- Save $54.90 (85%) with Original Frontiers’ All Original Frontiers Products bundle.
- Save $27.71 (74%) with the DMsGuilds’ Martial Magic Items bundle.
- Save €8.59 (21%) with Nightfall Games’ The Terminator RPG Starter bundle.
RPG ideas, tips and discoveries
- Ben and the Genre Police look at some times of NPC villains in Unstoppable Evil.
- Born in the Barn has made an upgrade to their handmade wooden dice spinner.
- Reminding us why they’re worth supporting, RPG Research publishes How To Use Knowledge of Role-Playing Game Play Styles to Optimize the RPG Experience.
- NME’s Lucy Orr offers up Watched ‘Stranger Things’? Here’s how you can start playing ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ .
RPG Crowdfunding
You can see those Kickstarters and other crowdfunding campaigns that caught GeekNative’ss attention over at Kickstarter watch. Here are some industry projects worth a mention;
- Sine Nomine Publishing/Kevin Crawford is trusted, popular, and back on Kickstarter with a Worlds WIthout Number gazetteer and The Atlas of the Latter Earth.
- Red Oaks Creative found success second time lucky with Halcyon Daze : Motorcycle Knights Story Telling RPG.
- Rafael Moreno Dominguez is offering pre-supported NPC and props as 3D Printable Fantasy NPCs.
- Galaad has a 5e adventure and lots of designs on offer with Into the Dungeon – 3D Printable Adventure.
- Tyler Crumrine and Possible World Games are expanding their map-labelling RPG and worldbuilding tool with Beak, Feather, & Bone: Claw Atlas.
- Tim James-Hammond has a big ask of the community to fun a game where you are in a dystopian world. It’s DAWN of ROKU, an ‘alternate universe’ adventure. Solo RPG
- Ian McG’s quarterly RPG Zine is back with FANTASTIC GEOGRAPHIC ISSUE 2.
- Fez Inkwright is inspired by folklore, mythology and herblore for Herbarium: A Botanical 5e Supplement.
- Johnny Rook Games has revised and hopes to re-release the acclaimed OSRIC/1e/2e adventure Watchtower on the Hill.
- Natasja van Gestel has a “Halloween-y” encounter for 5th level characters with The Haunted Woods: a D&D 5e adventure.
- Feral Druid Games are funding a 3d printable Outpost Tower and Ruin STL.
- The Grinning Frog has a 5e adventure for 3rd to 5th level characters but is also recommended only for experienced DMs. It’s The Ballad of Sir Redmayne
- Todd returns to Kickstarter for a sewn-binding version of Basilisk Hills Hexcrawl Offset Printing.
- Josselin Loizeau has funded a print-and-play for Quest in the solo RPG roguelike Deathly Thrones.
- Darrin Drader has launched the second attempt for Reign of Discordia 2nd Edition.
- Tom has funded sharp edge starlight Sharp Edges&Classic Dice, Unique handmade resin.
- Andrea Scholer is funding a 5e mystery adventure with The Lost Message (5E).
- Lunar Games will have you explore Endless Realms: Creature Compendium 5E
- Thom Wilson offers evocative art and the challenge of A Growing Menace – a Mork Borg Adventure in Hardcover.
- Mad Jay is developing a Cortex game with superpowers. It’s Lifted Vol 1: Indomitable RPG.
- Alan Tucker is a graphic designer and writer who has funded art-inspired Incredible Items.
- Marc Tassin and Mechanical Muse are working on a fantasy setting, NPCs, classic archetypes and Guardians of Agthor—5E RPG Adventure Location for Aetaltis.
- Headless Hydra Press have smashed targets on a 5e campaign where player absence is built into the story. Are they on to something? Adventurer’s Agency
- Black Blossom Games are opening portals, making books, STL files and exploring Incredible Realms: Alliance – Nulan & Tinjan.
- Zan’s Adventures have the story of a ghost of a child, her supernatural powers and a disturbing life-sized dollhouse. It’s Nellie’s Nursery – a 5E DnD Adventure Module.
- Brittannia Game Designs and Steve Turner have funded a setting guide and a four-book campaign with Eorldom of Gar.
- Andrew May has smashed goals with a new collection of minis based on Folk Horrors by Ana Polanšćak
- Rising Miniatures have 3d printable terrain and minis in ASGARD RISING: Horde of the Goblin King.
- Josh Dunham has vehicle combat and chases rules in CY_Borg: Too Fast to Live, Too Young to Die.
- Jamie Loft has funded a face-off between Heroes of the Oldeworld & The Undead Court of the Dwarf Lord.
- Black Oak Workshop has also slaughtered their funding aspiration for a new line of Dungeon Dice Bags.
- Chamomile Has a Project has another zine-sized success for the 5e The Traveler’s Guide to the Rogue City of Drachzee.
If there’s a source or news you think is worth monitoring, please get in touch or leave a comment below.
