Routinely Itemised: RPGs #193

It’s another busy week of RPG news; unfortunately, some of it is rather grim this time.

The summary of RPG news summaries;

• Can you help? Battlefield Press boss Jonathan Tompson passed away, and his family need help.
• Wyrmwood apologise after a tone-deaf response to sexual abuse claims
• Geek Native’s data shows that TTRPG Kickstarter has never been busier
• Mongoose release the Viking-cyberpunk war of Shield Maidens
• D&D paused plans to introduce Ardlings

Just before the end of the month, the RPG Publisher Spotlight lit up on Random Rambling Press.

Here in the UK, Keys from the Golden Vault is due out in March. There are enough reviews online to pull out a whole section for the D&D supplement.

Try as I might, once again, I’ve not completed this Friday’s round-up. If you’re reading this GMT early Saturday, then it’s incomplete, but refresh the page, and you’ll be fine. I was minutes behind.

Now, the RPG news!

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RPG news from Geek Native

• It’s a horrible mess as Wyrmwood’s reaction to claims of sexual abuse provokes condemnation.
• It’s been busy Geek Native tracks the hottest RPG week on Kickstarter since records began.
• Was the OGL drama that bad for WotC sales? There’s a sliver of data from Roll20 (but not much).
• D&D burlesque? Yep! Cherry Pitz and the Girls from the Home for Wayward Girls and Fallen Women.
• It’s shiny new Viking-cyberpunk IP from Mongoose as the RPG publisher unleash the Shield Maidens.
• In the Bundle of Holding, we’ve a Kevin Crawford deal for Godbound and Numenera 5e with Arcana of the Ancients.

Spotlight: Random Rambling Press

RPG news from around the web

• In terrible news, Battlefield Press International boss and designer Jonathan M. Thompson passed away. His family needs help.
• Eric Laws notices that Dungeons and Dragons Teases Big Change Coming to the Druid Class.
• Meanwhile, DualShockers’ Antony Ngugi covers Dungeons And Dragons To Remove The Ardlings Species (for now).
• It’s huge! Paizo sells more than 100,000 bundles with the So You Wanna Try Out Pathfinder bundle, as the deal extends a few more days.
• At TechRaptor, Tyler Chancey notes Nameless Horrors Returns to Call of Cthulhu.
• Goodman Games shares A Video Preview of Monsters & Magic of Lankhmar.
• In These Times’ Rohan Montgomery explains how D&D fans forced WotC to change OGL plans with Slaying the Gold-Hungry Dragon.
• ScreenRant lists Every D&D Book Releasing In 2023.
• The Mary Sue has Everything We Know About the Dungeons and Dragons Live-Action TV Series So Far.
• While Giant Freakin Robot’s Lyndon Nicholas adds Dungeons & Dragons Movie Was Inspired By The Greatest Comedy Group Ever.
• Toybook’s James Zahn explains Hasbro’s Dungeons & Dragons goes mainstream
• Tabletop Gaming News covers New Pathfinder and Starfinder Rulebooks Released Today!.
• Modiphius shares New Fallout RPG Factions: Beatniks, Big Tops, Traveling Casinos, and Sisters of Mechanical Worship
• R. Talsorian Games shares News of All Sorts! and a Black Chrome Sneak Peek Mark 6.
• The official PlayStation’s blog Gustav Stenmark, who is a producer for Resolution Games, explains How Demeo is a PS VR2 tabletop RPG for people intimidated of tabletop RPGs.
• MovieWeb shares the latest with Joe Manganiello Is Developing a Dungeons & Dragons TV Show.
• Fronteras’s Jill Ryan writes up How Dungeons & Dragons inspires new academic techniques — and almost redefined copyright law.
• Denver’s Westworld writes up Dungeons & Dragons Plays a Pivotal Role at Transgender Center of the Rockies.

Keys from the Golden Vault

Yep, it’s a whole section for the rush of news on Wizards of the Coast’s Keys from the Golden Vault, the latest D&D book.

• Geek Girl Authority’s Julia Roth writes up Pull Off the Greatest Heists With Keys from the Golden Vault Adventure.
• Wargamer’s Mollie Russel concludes DnD Keys from the Golden Vault review – tarnished gold.
• At Forbes, Rob Wieland shares A Look Inside Keys From The Golden Vault For Dungeons & Dragons.
• Bell of Lost Souls notes that ‘Keys From The Golden Vault’ Introduces Nefarious New Villains and ‘Keys From The Golden Vault’ Makes Treasures Worth Stealing.
• Tabletop Gaming News goes with Keys from the Golden Vault: New D&D Book Promises High Stakes and Thrills with Heist Adventures.
• Beth Rimmels has an in-depth review.
• Incredibly, Jared Rascher’s thorough look at the book continues with a part ten, a part eleven and a part twelve.
• The official voice of Chris Tulach speaks at WotC’s Yawning Portal with a Keys from the Golden Vault update.

RPG reviews and interviews from around the web

• The TTRPG Factory reviewed the hilarious RPG from Wanderer’s Tome which is Flabbergasted.
• At Grognardia, James shared a retrospective on GDW’s Challenge.
• Dicebreaker’s Alex Meehan pens What We Do in the Shadows and Russian Doll inspired this trio of comedic Jewish RPGs.
• Halfway Station 3.0 shares a review of Pathfinder 2nd Edition Core Rulebook and Bestiary.
• Throat Punch Games has a ring side report review of Chaosium’s Call of Cthulhu Starter Set.
• Always busy, Jared also wrote up first impressions of Arcadia Issue 25 and Court of Blades.
• MRJ RPG reviews the Call of Cthulhu Grindhouse The Crimson King.
• CrossPlanes puts the spotlight on Gargoyle 74 by Stellagama Publishing.
• Rob Wieland conducts An Interview With Charles Ryan About Adventures In The Cypher System.
• GamesRadar’s Benjamin Abbot opines Broken Weave is D&D Dark Souls, but with a key difference – hope.
• Age of Dusk pens a review of Beholder #18; Harnmaxxing.
• Reviews from R’lyeh has a look at D&D’s Warriors of the Gray Queen, the quickstart for Pendragon.
• At EN World, Raddu talks The Future of D&D Adventures League: AL on Roll20 and Greg Marks’ Interview.
• As the Fifth Season RPG’s crowdfunder wraps, Green Ronin publishes an interview with N.K. JemisonM.
• Egg Embry talks about the sombre fantasy Broken Weave with An Interview With Cubicle 7 Games’ Elaine Lithgow

RPG new releases

• Grim Press, Ed Greenwood, M.T. Black, et al. publish the Roll20 Elminster’s Candlekeep Companion.
• Super Dead Games invite you to pay what you want for The Super Dead System.
• Kindly, Graeme Davis offers you a free Vaesen: A Scandinavian Bibliography.
• Goblins and Gargoyles have published their Master Rulebook.
• Catalyst Game Labs as a copper bestseller already in Shadowrun: Astral Ways.
• Good Luck Press has released an RPG about two people in a community who does not want them. It’s the tarot based Black Mass.
• Piscostrix Press has a 5e supplement filled with Witches of the Sea.
• There’s loads of Golden Vault content on DMsGuild including the collab Beyind the Golden Vault.
• These are pre-orders, but it’s a get-it-while you-can on the special edition of Paizo’s Pathfinder: Lost Omens: Monsters Of Myth and Parable Games’ Shiver Gothic: Secrets Of Spireholm Expansion: Special Edition.
• There’s a wee discount on the physical copy of Modiphius’ Fallout: The Roleplaying Game (Starter Set).

RPG bundle deals

• Save $25.99 (37%) with Basic Action Games’ Honor + Intrigue bundle.
• Save $1393 (39%) with the Relentless Fiction Magic School Cool bundle.
• Save $13.72 (41%) in this multi-author Echoes Around The World – Classic-Era Call of Cthulhu Outside The USA bundle.
• Save $9.83 (20%) with Lion Banner Games’ 5e Tomb of the Colossus Gods + Battlemaps bundle.
• Save $1 (24%) with Atelier Clandestin’s Settlement Generators.

RPG ideas, tips and discoveries

• What are the best RPG podcasts of 2022? EN World has the results of a vast vote.
• Ben and the Genre Police help you keep your RPG session together with The Road Winds Ever Onwards.
• Mixed Signals digs into the OGL ripples with an article about Universal Gaming.
• Meanwhile, Axel Cushing on GameLuster shared After The Tempest: An Old Gamer’s Perspective On The “D&D” Crisis.
• D&D Beyond’s Riley Silverman put together How to be a Dungeon Master.
• Chaosium’s Michael O’Brien does a 2023 con spotlight on Community Content Programming and a Meet the Chaosium Community Ambassadors.
• I’m late to the series, but Tower of Zenopus has been doing a roundup of superhero RPGs with The Multiverse of Superhero RPGs.
• Robin Valentine at PCGamer shares I’ve been playing tabletop RPGs for 20 years, and these are the D&D alternatives I recommend.
• Tales of the Grotesque and Dungeoneque has The OSR as Afternoon Culture.

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;

• a 5e wedding one shot adventure | Marriage of Dimethro from Adventure Delivered raises funds for “A monthly one-shot adventure series from CBK_Studio”
• Aetherian Legends: The Black Raven Curse (Zine Quest) from Josef Vaccaro pitches “A fun mini campaign that takes place in a magical world. When a curse is upon the lands, it is up to the party to stop it in this Zine.”
• The Village of Omelette a DuckQuest Adventure – Zine Quest 5 from Darcy Perry nominates “The Village of Omelette is an homage to the legendary EGG. A duckly humorous adventure set in the wondrous, wacky world of AquaLoonia.”
• Akeroth: Campaign Setting Sourcebook (5e & PF2e compatible) from Crossed Paths introduces “A comprehensive guide to the mystical realms of Akeroth. Packed with new locations, a pantheon of broken gods & secrets of the realm.”
• Accessible Gaming Quarterly, Year 4 from Jacob Wood pitches “A zine about accessibility and inclusion in tabletop RPGs. Now entering its 4th year.”
• Blood for the Khan 5e Fantasy RPG Adventure & Campaign from Gooey Cube suggests “Level up your Game Mastery with this mysterious and fearful adventure for characters of levels 2 – 4. Begins Feb 23 at 6pm MT!!”
• Trading architecture and props from Oksana Klingel offers “Trading architecture and 3D printing props for board games and RPGs. STL files (28 mm).”
• Zilight Fantasy – Medieval Zombie Survival Game from The Grinning Frog introduces “Grab your sword and your bow and see if you can survive the zombie uprising in 666 AD!”
• BREAKDOWN ·67°0′N· from Number B Studio introduces “· Go to the light, it’s probably warm there · URBAN QUEST | SOLO GAME”
• Game Tiles: Chromatic Edition from Dog Might Games nominates “Flexible Organization for Board Games and TTRPGs.”
• Frostbite from Rinaldo Agostini submits “A cold and ruthless Mörk Borg adventure.”
• Beyond Cy | A CY_BORG Supplement ++Zine Quest from Christian Eichhorn crowdfunds “Travel beyond the city limits in search of adventure. New classes, new PSALMS, oddities, and monsters.”
• Critical Codex from Jerry Joe Seltzer pitches “Cinematic Successes & Failures to Intensify your Game”
• First Self-Loading Skull Dice Tower from Dennis Graf kickstarts “First Self-Loading Dice Tower for Dungeons & Dragons, Tabletop- and Boardgames.”
• Mekas – 3D STL printable dungeon tiles for Tabletop games from Dungeons Factory introduces “3D Printable STL tiles. OpenLOCK Compatible. Terrain suitable for for SteamPunk & Science Fantasy TTRPG, wargames and boardgames .”
• Band of the Black Wolf from S. John Bateman offers “a setting and adventure for OSR games #zinequest5”
• Zam! Pow! Spork! from Robert Turk raises funds for “A silly role-playing game about super-powered sidekicks. (Zine Quest 2023)”
• Live Edge & Resin Dice Vaults By Ravenwood from Ravenwood Woodworks raises funds for “Black walnut live edge & epoxy resin meet our HEX , TITAN & our new SENTINEL dice vaults. Every vault is a one-of-a-kind work of art.”
• Kendo Koala and Friends from Chris’ Shep’ Shepperson submits “A mini tabletop RPG about saving the valley from great evil. Part of Zine Quest 5.”
• Hexagram #11, an Old-School RPG Zine for The Fantasy Trip from Warehouse 23 offers “A retro-style collection of articles for Steve Jackson’s “The Fantasy Trip” roleplaying game.”
• BIND: The Open Source RPG from kickstarts “When the source files are open, there will never be house rules”
• Mini Dungeons – Volume #1 from Daniel James submits “Zinequest: A collection of small, easy-to-use dungeons to throw into your 5e games!”
• Crystals of Alaria from richard dugan pitches “Crystals of Alaria is a 5e campaign setting and supplement. The campaign setting will include in depth lore and new content for 5e.”
• Grimoire of Many Things, Volume 2 from Imagination Forge 3D pitches “Dice Box, with Spell slot tracker and Build in Dice Tower! SLT files with Comercial Rights option!”
• Corvaxian Codex 2: A DCC Compatible Zine for #ZineQuest5 from Jeremy Shuman introduces “The sequel to last year’s successful Corvaxian Codex, Corvaxian Codex 2 promises to expand on the themes, and add an adventure!”
• Emlearal, Lands of Adventure from World of Emlearal proposes “A 5e Compatible Campaign Setting of high fantasy, intrigue, adventure, invasion and war.”
• Roll&Meow : The Cat Burglars from Radek Ignatów proposes “A unique roll&write game about cat burglars breaking into mage’s mansions.”
• Aelx’s Bombastic Oddities from Justin Handlin submits “A captivating catalog of TTRPG resources hand crafted with accessibility at its heart.”
• Black Bag, a Weird Spy Zine RPG from Arbitrio Games crowdfunds “”Mission: Impossible” by way of “Everything, Everywhere, All At Once”. Neutralize threats from mirror dimensions. #zinequest”
• The Great Campaign Adventure Book from Triple Ace Games Ltd introduces “An epic campaign for Leagues of Adventure that begins with a dastardly murder and ends in an exciting and exotic locale.”
• Broken & Sleeping Hearts: System Neutral TTRPG Adventures from Cloud Curio crowdfunds “Broken Heart of the Castle and Sleeping Heart of the Garden are system-neutral adventures by Cloud Curio. Part of Zine Quest 5.”
• Book of Easy Maker, creative modules for D&D from Bradley Horton nominates “A book of 5 Useful Modules for creating your preparation and in the middle of your DND section, Roll and Create”
• The Maidens of Gnurr – A Tabletop Adventure from TimewarpVortex Games proposes “A grim-dark fantasy adult-oriented one-shot adventure that pushes the envelope between what’s heroic and what’s necessary.”
• The Silence. A system neutral TTRPG adventure! Zine Quest from The Board Hoard kickstarts “Behind the peaceful facade of Echoes End lurks a dark secret, a creature so unearthly that it defies comprehension. Dare you join us?”
• Nightmare at Sea: The Crews! from Robert crowdfunds “3D Printable STL Files, Terrain for Tabletop, Role Playing Games, Wargames and RPG”
• Frost Bound Dice – Cracked Glass Dice Sets for RPG Gaming from Dice Dungeons offers “Unique “ice glass” dice. Beautifully designed collectible dice for DND, pathfinder, and other rpg and tabletop games.”
• DestinyQuest: The Wrath of Ragnarok from Michael J Ward crowdfunds “Book 2 in ‘The Sands of Time’ trilogy – an epic solo role-playing experience that takes gamebooks to the next level.”
• If I Were a Lich, Man: 3 Jewish Games by Lucian Kahn from Hit Point Press pitches “A trilogy of funny Jewish roleplaying games about creative resistance against authoritarianism.”
• Mork Corp from Wannabe Games suggests “Your life it over. Time to get a job. (Zine Quest 2023)”
• CURSE OF HEXENHOF: An Epic Fantasy Adventure for 5e D&D from Wyrm Works Games raises funds for “Unlock the Secrets of the Cursed Village and Explore the Dark Wood of Wudu in this 5e D&D Adventure”
• Fear Within: A Vessel Roleplaying System Zine – [Zinequest] from Desks and Dorks proposes “Fear Within is a roleplaying game where players take on the roles of both children and the monsters that live inside them.”
• Vox Link: a Local Tabletop Game Finding Social App from Constantine Greanias offers “Find new tabletop friends, browse events, and stay connected to the tabletop gaming communities you love.”
• Monstrous Heroes | 5e Monster Classes from Esper suggests “Savage characters that go beyond mere humanoids—play as minotaurs, vampires, ogres, dragons, elementals, and more!”
• ManaZine #1-2, Adventures for OSRIC, Mörk Borg, and 5e from Mana Project Studio suggests “Grim Dark Generic Splatter Fantasy Adventures under the aegis of ZineQuest 2023!”
• The Amazing Patent Game Dice Collection from Nachshon Milo crowdfunds “Rolling is believing. Introducing D-100, D-500, D-1000 and more…”
• The Trapper from Andrew Mosher nominates “A zine GM guide on how to run this system agnostic monster used in TTRPGs.”
• Legend of Keepers 5E Reverse Dungeon and STL Miniatures from Scott Taylor pitches “350+ Campaign book, 300+ STL Miniatures & Terrain and three ways to play 5E (traditional, evil and PvP).”
• One Dollar One Shot – The Black Rabbit from One Dollar One Shots raises funds for “A 5e adventure with new monsters, magic items, maps, original art, lore, and more. All for ONLY $1!”
• Warriors & Writings from Nice @ Dice offers “A print & play, roll & write, competitive, fantasy dungeon crawler. For 1 – 4 adventurers.”
• MIRU 2: An Analog Horror Game from Mimic Publishing Collective raises funds for “A terrifying god hunts you down in this nightmare hexcrawl solo-first adventure game!”
• The Hard Light Dynamic | A CY_BORG Zine from Joshua Harper introduces “A descent into the acid-horror playground of a doomed AI as it slowly breaks reality down around itself.”
• Ghost Dungeon from K’s Art and Games raises funds for “A simple cooperative Roll and Write game in which you draw ways to your goals #Zinequest”
• The Infernal Book from Zäta Doe nominates “A serial journal role-playing game chronicling a decent into madness.”
• Daughter of Frankenstein from Beth the Bard introduces “A 5E compatible, narrative TTRPG adventure of mystery, classic body horror, supernatural science, & industrial disaster.”
• An Overview of Gloriana from Joe proposes “A Campaign setting and GM/Players guide. This is designed to work with the D&D (Dungeons and Dragons) 5E ruleset”
• FANTAZOOR from SeaHorse3D is working on “Pre-Supported High Quality 3D Printable Fantasy Miniature for 3D Enthusiast (STL Files).”
• Space Killing Beta from Septha nominates “Hardcore combat-focused TTRPG set in space.”
• Xenos Environment – Vol II – STL Files from Dani Amengual suggests “3D Printable STL Files for Terrain Tabletop, Scenery for Wargames, DnD, Roleplay, Diorama building… Or whatever you want!”
• The Pocketful of Wonders from The Monster Directive is working on “100 Fantastic Treasures Discovered in Unassuming Pouches or Pockets”
• Tabletop RPG, Wargamers, and 3D Printing Hobbyists United from Solgood Creations raises funds for “3D printable fantasy, post-apocalyptic, and modern dioramas, miniatures, and terrain for RPGers, Wargamers, or Hobbyists of all types!”
• Viva la QueerBar [ENG + DE] from Andrea Rick kickstarts “A slice-of-life story game about a queer bar and its team. // Ein slice-of-life Erzählspiel über eine Queerbar und ihr Team.”
• The Elves of Blackmoss Woods – 3D Print-ready Adventure from 3DRogue offers “All-in-one .STL collection and 5e adventure”
• Aventuria – Stories & Legends from Ulisses Spiele is working on “Two new major expansions for Aventuria – Kickstarter is funded now, thank you! Continue your support to unlock awesome stretch goals!”
• Psychonaut: A Zine Devoted to Psionics for 5th Edition Games from Scott Gable nominates “New classes and monsters. New power. New rules. An ongoing series of psionics RPG options for 5E for both GMs and players. #ZineQuest”

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