Routinely Itemised: RPGs #181

It’s not been that busy on Kickstarter, perhaps because this week, everyone has been busy publishing their previously Kickstarted books.

Even curating the week’s incoming TTRPGs has been a giant project. You’ll be able to see the long list below.

The summary of RPG news?

• D&D won’t use the word “race” once One D&D is out
• You can pre-order the first D&D of 2023, too with Keys From the Golden Vault
• Nightfall Games are now working on the Hellboy RPG
• The digital suite Role is expanding
• The Blade Runner RPG has a release date

It’s also a new month, the last of the year, and that means Patrons can vote in the Publisher Spotlight. The five candidates are;

• Grim Press
• The Knotty-Works
• The Red Room
• Open Ended Games, Inc.
• Catilus

Who won the last Spotlight of 2022? The honour goes to Handiwork Games.

Now, the RPG news!

Competition: D&D dice pendant necklace | The After RPG | Zweihander Fantasy Horror RPG Starter Kit

RPG news from Geek Native

• Tabletop and RPG retailer Noble Knight Games has voluntarily recognised their workers’ union.
• One D&D will drop the term Race for Species, probably.
• Nightfall Games is now producing the official Hellboy RPG.
• Sore losers or valid points? D&D’s proposed LEGO sets upset some fans.
• The reviews are out already, but for shoppers, maybe the alternative hardcover D&D: Dragonlance Shadow of the Dragon Queen might beat the regular book to the shelf.
• Amazon is also listing some D&D licenses for 2024 and late 2023.
• Rowan, Rook & Decard published Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans’ DIE RPG.
• Magpie Games released a new free quickstart for the Root RPG with Talon Hill.
• Paizo has released a free to download Starfinder supplement with the Drift Hackers Players Guide.
• The Bundle of Holding as a mega-bundle for Shadowrun classics and a flash sale on DCC-compatible Tales From the Magician’s Skull.
• On Itch, there’s a long night celebrating Solstice Fantasy bundle.

Spotlight: Handiwork Games

RPG news from around the web

• The Tabletop Awards 2022 from Dicebreaker have been announced, and among the categories, Best Roleplaying Game goes to Coyote & Crow.
• There’s free content from R. Talsorian Games with Cyberpunk RED’s Spinning Your Wheels and The Witcher RPG’s A Book of Tales Token and Maps.
• Bleeding Cool and others cover the news that Free League’s Blade Runner RPG is due on the 13th.
• You can now pre-order the first D&D book of 2023, Keys From the Golden Vault.
• Morrus notes that WotC On One D&D Playtest Survey Results: Nearly Everything Scored 80%+.
• Forbes covers the news that Role Expands Partnerships In The Virtual Tabletop Space.
• Dicebreaker’s Chase Carter directs our attention to the One-page tabletop RPG Cosmic Latte raises funds for Starbucks unions.
• The not-for-profit Bodhana Group is behind a new study suggests tabletop games reduce stress & anxiety, while, at Inc.com, Jessica Stillman covers that Therapists Are Prescribing Dungeons and Dragons Now.

RPG reviews and interviews from around the web

• Jared Rascher writes a three-part first impression of Shadow of the Dragon Queen, and you can get to part one, part two and then part three.
• More! Jared also shared first impressions on Arcadia #22.
• More? More! Jared also offers a Midnight Legacy of Darkness review.
• Newbie DM also writes up a review of Dragonlace: Shadow of the Dragon Queen.
• Beth Rimmels takes a look at both Shadow of the Dragon Queen & Warriors of Krynn.
• Tribality is also among those reviewers with a copy of the Dragonlance adventure.
• Also at EN World, Rob Wieland reviews Monte Cook Games’ Stealing Stories for the Devil.
• Messages From The Far Havens looks at the beta version of Free League’s Dragonbane.
• Grognardia reviews Mork Borg’s Heretic and the GM Screen.
• Aaron T Huss reviews Mork Borg.
• Reviews from R’lyeh shares thoughts on Odd Jobs: RPG Micro Settings Vol 1.
• GeekDad’s Rory Bristol pens and out-of-this-world Spelljammer: Adventures in Space review.
• Halfway Station 3.0 reviews the SWADE micro-setting Sharp Knives and Dark Streets.
• Save vs Total Party Kill investigates Mothership Warden’s Manual.
• Technical RPG writes up Kobold Press’ Tome of Beasts III.
• The weirdly dressed Chris Neill and friends say We Put On Our Robes And Wizard Hats To Try The New D&D Starter Set.
• Gavin Sheehan talks to Jim Zub and Stacy King about D&D’s Dragons & Treasures book.

RPG new releases

• Architects of the Deep have a festive one-shot that uses 5e about Kidnapping in Carolvane.
• Sine Nomine Publishing as a bestseller in less than a week with the Worlds Without Number The Atlas of the Latter Earth.
• Hunters Entertainment has released the Altered Carbon: RPG Dataslate Edition and the accompanying adventure Altered Carbon: Bay City Confidential.
• We Evolve has published their RPG from ancient times and mythic heroes with Aegean.
• Cubicle 7 has unleashed the Starter Set for Warhammer 40 K’s Wrath & Glory.
• Gallant Knight Games and Banana Chan have hit publish on Mecha & Monsters: Evolved.
• Rowan, Rook & Decard have issued the Spire: the City Must Fall supplement Magister’s Guide.
• Osprey Publishing adds to the bronze age fantasy of Jackals with Travellers on the War Road.
• Osprey have also hit publish on Nathan Russell’s Hard City.
• Turtlebun has released the second edition of the game of ill-fated kingdoms with Questlandia.
• Steamforged Games have published Epic Encounters: Lair of the Red Dragon and Shrine of the Kobold Queen.
• FASA expands Earthdawn 4e with Vasgothia.
• FASA also give us book two of The Akkadian Connection for the 1879 RPG Saurids on the Grosvenor Express.
• Black Lantern has published their dark fantasy 5e-powered Soulmist: A Journey from Darkness to Light and the sourcebook Darklands.
• Charles Ferguson-Avery has released the exploration style, system-neutral, The Vast in the Dark – Expanded.
• Weapons Grade Funk updates the current edition of HSD to HC SVNT DRACONES 2.0 Mastered.
• Sacredfire Games’ publishes their d4 system-powered Grand Odyssey.
• James McLellan is helping you crunch the numbers of your RPG design or on-the-fly DM calls with Statistics for Roleplaying.
• A copper bestseller, Catilu has released the fully illustrated Cute Creatures Compendium.

RPG bundle deals

• Save $15.19 (60%) with the Chaosium community content Miskatonic Playhouse Winter Collection 2022 bundle.
• Save $9.44 (40%) with the DMsGuild’s End of Year Sale (The God Trials) bundle.
• Save $0.91 (10%) with Dog House Rules’ Dustbunnies: One Sheets bundle.

RPG ideas, tips and discoveries

• Ben and the Genre Police look at inclusion in RPGs.
• John-Matthew DeFoggi shares wisdom on how a time jump can serve your players and setting.
• Meguey Baker’s Follow the Thread offers A worldbuilding guide>
• Mary Sue’s Samantha Puc writes up Why It Matters That ‘D&D’ Is Replacing the Term ‘Race’ .
• MJR RPG shares some House Rules of Cthulhu.
• At Forbes, Rob Wieland suggests Three Role Playing Games That Tumble Into Greatness.
• The Alexandrian shares another GM Don’t List piece with Fearing the Silence.
• Mike at Sly Flourish answers What Does Challenge Rating Mean in D&D 5e?.
• The Angry GM writes My World Has a Sky… And Yours Should Too.
• The Secret Game asks What’s the difference between Into the Odd and Electric Bastionland?.
• CBR’s Jennifer Melzer opines Why Micro-RPGs Are the Perfect D&D Alternative for Holiday Gatherings.
• Also on CBR, Karen King shares 15 Best D&D Tips For Worldbuilding.

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;

• The Year Without a Cinderclaws from Hack Shack Games introduces “A holiday themed 5e adventure, inspired by a fusion of dark medieval folktales and modern holiday nostalgia, for characters level 2-5.”
• The Click Counter from CounterMagic Gaming kickstarts “A Better, Modular Counter System for Tabletop Gaming”
• Summer Woodland Map Set – Expansion from August McDaniel pitches “A summer woodland-themed map set expansion for in-person and online tabletop gaming!”
• Werewolf Coins EXPANSION PACKS 32 New Character Coins from Cobey Pile submits “MORE COINS – MORE ROLES – MORE FUN”
• Light Fantasy Solo from Peter Rudin-Burgess suggests “Solo Roleplaying Rules Compatible with BareBones Fantasy Roleplaying Game”
• Towering Foes: Artisan Dice Towers from Unnatural20Art introduces “Handmade dice towers, rolling trays, and scans for 3D printing!”
• Dungeon of Despair from Crippled God Foundry proposes “A unique collection of 3D Printable Miniatures, props & scatter scenery pieces for your favorite tabletop games!”
• Moirai Dice Rerolled: The chaos generators are back! from Geargrind nominates “Moirai Dice will bring chaos and surprise to your tabletop-roleplaying games. Determine weather, fate, reactions and hitzones!”
• Midwinter Vampires, a blood-sucking D&D 5e campaign from Matthew David crowdfunds “Hunt vampires in this D&D 5e adventure for 3-5 players”
• Enoron Adventures Vol.2 from Dungeon Studios nominates “The unique world of Enoron 5e offers amazing adventures for players to explore plus all the tools the AM “Adventure Master” needs.”
• The Hedron D20 Box set from Magpies and Trinkets pitches “D20 large Jesmonite dice with a base in a D20 box.”
• CAESAR CIPHER & TRANSLATORS for TTRPG GAMES AND PUZZLES from strange arcade is working on “a collection of Caesar cipher wheels with interchangeable faces to build fun interactive cipher puzzles.”
• Bulletbrass Dice – Truly Unique Hand Forged Dice from Anomalia Originals raises funds for “Forged in flame by veteran blacksmiths. Sublime limited run recycled brass dice.”
• Locked Lairs & The Puzzles That Keep Them! [for all TTRPG’s] from THEORYCRAFT introduces “Puzzles & Traps to secure the greatest treasures, deepest knowledge & darkest secrets for all time! Compatible with your TTRPG’s.”
• The Lathspell: Update of the curse-wielding class (PF1/5E) from Orphaned Bookworm Productions LLC offers “A new 1-20 class for Pathfinder 1st edition and 5E based on the martial curse-bound warrior from the 3rd edition of the well-known TRPG”
• Ancient Oriential City -RPG Hex tile from DuDaDa crowdfunds “Modular Hex Tiles for Tabletop Role-Playing Games, Hex Crawl Adventure Supplement, Open World RPG Exploration, or Fantasy Map creation.”
• Dwarven Depths: Virtual Boxed Set from Mario Barbati suggests “A giant, fully mapped and customizable dwarven realm!”
• Ritual Cuts #2 – Gangs, Crews & Criminals from Aeon Cub suggests “Ritual Cuts is an alternative 5e and TTRPG zine”
• Clenderi’s Snow Globe from The Grinning Frog submits “Recommended for experienced Dungeon Masters (who want a fun adventure!)”
• Fantasy Town – Houses and Huts Jars – 3D Printable STL Files from Digital Creative Works suggests “Famous Fantasy D&D, Warhammer Style, High Detailed Houses and Huts Buildings turned into Functional Jars as 3D Printable STL Files”
• The Lord of Lost Souls~ from Vortex Studios raises funds for “Collectible STL Miniatures for Dungeons & Dragons (DnD 5e) and Tabletop gaming.”
• Secret Cracks – Optical crystal RPG dice from Inbreak kickstarts “This set of dice has a mysterious crack, the blackened crack shimmering softly.”
• Villainous Champions of the Shadow Keep for 5E from William Martin crowdfunds “Create your lair, recruit your minions and conquer the kingdom! This is the campaign setting letting you play the bad guys for 5E.”

Do you know of an RPG news source that I don’t? Let me know, or leave a comment below.