It’s RPG news time! Last week we wondered what the Wizards of the Coast news would be.
Now we know it’s One D&D, the next edition of the game, backwards compatible with D&D 5e and playtesting today.
What else? Here’s the RPG news summary of summaries.
- Wizards also announced
- Q1 2023 – Keys from the Golden Vault
- Q2 2023 – Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants
- Q3 2023 – The Book of Many Things
- Q3 2023 – “Phandelver Campaign”
- Q4 2023 – “Planescape”
- The first wave of Spelljammer reviews are out.
- Lord of the Rings has been bought by a games company
- Wizard Tower Games want to distance themselves from TSR
- The Dragon Awards nominees are out
Geek Native is light on One D&D news, not joining the media or pundit scrum to share first impressions. I’ll write something up if/when there’s time or something to say later. Should we have a Discord chat about Wizards of the Coast’s plans? Let me know.
It’s not all D&D despite One D&D or even Spelljammer, which sailed through some sort of embargo based on the coverage. This week Lord of the Rings changed owners for the first time in 40 years. Who owns it now? The Embracer Group owns Asmodee, Fantasy Flight, Edge, Dark Horse and now Lord of the Rings.
Now, let’s dive in with all that tabletop news!
RPG news from Geek Native
- How did Geek Native cover the One D&D news? By feeding it to a paraphrasing algorithm.
- Before the news was official, there were faked/leaked price hikes and the usual Amazon “leak”.
- Surprisingly no one, D&D tops the latest ICv2 best-seller charts, but Renegade has two of the top five RPGs.
- News that might impact the RPG titles is that Embracer has bought the rights to Lord of the Rings.
- Wizard Tower Games insisted they don’t want to be involved in TSR drama.
- Wymworks release 5e rules for Attention Deficit.
- Modiphius has released the latest free Star Wars Adventures content with First Contacts.
- Riley Ponton has been putting together free Scion Quick Reference Guides.
- Looking for a deal with Infinite Sales.
- The Bundle of Holding has a deal on indie RPGs and Wet Ink Games’ war horror Never Going Home.
Spotlight: Izegrim Creations
RPG news from around the web
- Green Ronin has announced an expansion to, er, The Expanse with Bounty Hunters.
- Modiphius Entertainment writes up the new Utopia Planitia Starfleet Sourcebook.
- Cubicle 7 has announced 5e travel rules coming to Kickstarter with Uncharted Journeys.
- DragonCon’s The Dragon Awards nominees include; The One Ring (Free League Publishing), Thirsty Sword Lesbians (Evil Hat Productions), Root: The RPG (Magpie Games) and Magic: The Gathering Dungeons & Dragons: Adventures in the Forgotten Realms (Wizards of the Coast).
- Publishing Perspective’s Porter Anderson shares Rights Edition: NPD on Netflix and Nostalgia, Licensing for ‘Dungeons & Dragons’.
Spelljammer
A one-off (unless there’s another) section home for the first set of Spelljammer reviews.
- Charlie Hall at Polygon opines The new D&D album rips, and it’s free to play and download
- Samantha Nelson at Polygon likes how luck is managed, observing Spelljammer is for losers.
- Scott Baird of ScreenRant notes Spelljammer Brings Cthulhu Monsters into 5e.
- Brace for pop-up permissions and J.R. Zambrano’s First Impressions.
- Autoplay video and Christian Hoffer’s view as ComicBook publishes Spelljammer Is Gorgeous, But Still Plays It Safe.
- Stalwart Rob Wieland goes with Spelljammer Takes Dungeons & Dragons Into The Final Frontier.
- Beth Rimmels writes up a Spelljammer: Adventures in Space Review.
RPG reviews and interviews from around the web
- Chase Carter at Dicebreaker writes Into the Odd is a far port from conventional tabletop RPGs that is well worth the journey.
- Mixed Signals reviews Starfinder Pact Worlds.
- Jared Rascher shares first impressions of Fables: Pirates of the Aetherial Expanse and Adventurs in Rokugan.
- Grognardia has a retrospective on Steve Jackson’s Sorcery!.
- Andy Slack reviews Zombicide Chronicles.
- Nerds on Earth review Pathfinder’s Dark Archive.
- Throat Punch Games reviews Down Darker Trails.
- Wargamer looks at the DnD Campaign Case: Creatures.
- Signals from Delta Pavonis share first impressions on City of Mist’s Nights of Payne Town.
- Geek Girl Authority’s Tavern Talk Thursday is with Kailey Bray.
- Marketing magazine The Drum interviews The Decemberists’ Chris Funk on creating the first Dungeons & Dragons soundtrack.
- At EN World, Charles Dunwoody talks Trokia! in An Interview with Daniel Sell.
RPG new releases
- Modiphius publish Becky Annison’s Liminal: Werewolves of Britain.
- Top Table Productions has over 160 illustrated crystals in their Book of Magical Crystals.
- House Chaos Games has released their classless Lords of Chaos Core Rules.
- Kris Geusens has published an RPG with a splash of steampunk in the fantasy Asquilla.
- Monte Cook Games designed the horror game to excel online, but they’ve made a print edition of The Darkest House.
- DMsGuild’s mashes up sci-fi in a silver bestseller in Spelljammer’s Guide to the Galaxy.
RPG bundle deals
- Save $34.85 (22%) with Salati Verba Deorum’s Andror Campaign Setting print bundle.
- Save $22.95 (53%) in Lamplight & Lasers’ PocketQuest 22 Flashlight bundle.
- Save $8.00 (44%) on Hideous Hiss’ Volume 2 bundle.
RPG ideas, tips and discoveries
- Ben and the Genre Police offer RPG tips on fictional tournaments with Contenders, Ready.
- RPG designer Martin J Lloyd writes up DnD World Building – Part 1: Ground rules and demography.
- James Morgan of CBR offers D&D tips ins How to Plan a Linear Campaign Without Railroading Players.
- The Alexandrian shares a Random GM Tip: Long-Term Scenario Hooks.
- There are many write-ups and retrospectives of Gen Con but let’s pick one as a hero article. Let’s pick R Talsorian Games.
- Lucas Maxwell at Bookriot writes up The Mental Health Benefits of Playing Dungeons & Dragons.
- Liber Ludorum shares an Introduction to Publishing Contracts for Indie RPG Writers.
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;
- Seeds of Wars return with ambitious projects and Silly Monsters.
- Bryce Taylor is funding a system agnostic fantasy adventure called Hobgoblin House Heist.
- Victoria Lamb easily met the funding goals for Halfling Snipers. Plastic Miniatures and .STL Files.
- Frater Setnakh is, filed in the tabletop games section, funding talisman coins for health, wealth and love with THE 7 ARCHANGELS of THE DIVINE GLORY + VOL.1 – Collection
- Oikos Dizajn has funded Pay What You Want: Sci-Fi Sanctuary 3D Printable STLs.
- Severed Books has a living cafe as a potential familiar with Darkest Rock – Mork Borg Module / OSR RPG.
- Jean Bherer-Simard has an RPG about damaged individuals fighting nightmares. It’s Sleepless RPG: Beyond sanity
- Velvet Fang has a system for 5e travel and exploration in the Deck of Possibilities.
- Hamish Cameron quickly hit the target for a one-shot about an action hero. It’s The David Web: a game of chase movie cinematography
- Lily Price has a ZineQuest game that uses cards and Sonnets from Another Dimension.
- Steve Conley has funded a guide on the mystic arts with Intoximancy: A boozy wizard subclass for 5e.
- Shardstone is funding a 5e expansion for exploring alien dimensions in Scavenger: Crimson Catalyst.
- Timothy Lewis is funding a game based in the World of Synn setting with Isle of Coral 5e Adventure.
- Resin Project is offering pre-supported and non-supported STL files for minis of Beduk, and the Forgotten Dragons.
- Sharktopus Games welcomes you to the Underworld and AEON: Ancient Greece Volume 4: The Halls of Hades.
- Adventurer’s Woodworks has well over a hundred people too Save the Dragons! – Polyhedral Dnd 5e Dice Sets
- It’s a success for the Odyssey Dice Debut Collection.
- Paddy Finn crossed the £100,000 funded line with WayStar – An Epic DnD 5e SciFi Conversion!
- Edaureen Muhamad Nor has funded a Carta-based RPG called Honey Hex: A Game Of Exploration For 1+ Players
- Mimic Publishing Collection (are they what they say) are working on a solo roll and write game. It’s MIRU: An analog adventure game.
- Seedling Games have funded a forest adventure for Cairn and OSR systems in A Gathering Storm.
- Long Tail Games are funding an RPG about the woods changing us and how we change the woods. Welcome to Sunderwald: A legacy TTRPG #ZineQuest.
- James Hanna has lured hundreds to death in a procedurally generated derelict crawl for Mothership 1e. This Ship Is a Tomb.
- Joel Salda is funding a tabletop RPG about an Action Figure Rescue Squad – The TTRPG about Being Toys!
- Matthew J. Hanson explores a sea of corpses in the astral plane. It’s the Graveyard of the Gods – D&D 5e and Pathfinder 2e
- Aaron Hedegaard delves into a spell-scared city in the OSR adventure By the Light of the Whispering Flame
- Matthew David merges Voodoo and gothic horror for Marie Laveau’s Army, a D&D 5e Adventure.
- Eric Alsandor has funded Galaxy of Death vol I: Adventure Bundle for Mothership TTRPG.
- Newt Newport is funding another issue of the dark fantasy fanzine for Crypts and Things. It’s From the Shroud Issue 3.
- Ted Gilbert is offering a pair of extracurricular activities with the big kids only RPG Fireworks & Funky Smells.
- Dungeon Dudes have a Kickstarter loved and $500,000 plus campaign with Sebastian Crowe’s Guide to Drakkenheim.
- Goblin Archives are funding a miniseries of pamphlet adventures in Tales from the Void: A Liminal Horror Anthology.
- Alexei Vella have funded a demonic solo RPG and WE ARE LEGION #ZineQuest4.
- Nerdua Games easily met campaign goals for One-shot Dungeons for 5E – Vol.2 – 1€.
- Lenora McRoberts is working on an Americana-inspired 5e mini-setting zine with folklore and legend from The Shrouded Coast.
- Onslaught Six has a city-planet setting in their zine CERES: THE PLANET THAT NEVER SLEEPS
- Octopus Apocalypse explores dungeons, devils and the 80s with Satanic Panic: The Role-Playing Game.
- Hosein is offering up a six-session adventure complete with maps and characters and The Last Three Witches (D&D Adventure).
- Nicole has launched a crowdfunder for a solo gamer’s dream with Cordale.
If there’s a source or news you think is worth monitoring, please get in touch or leave a comment below.
