Routinely Itemised: RPGs #195

We’re well into March, and this week’s RPG news has taken a few hours to condense into a few minutes for you. It’s time travelling!

The summary of RPG news summaries;

• There’s an impressive and worthy Memorial bundle for Jonathan M Thompson.
• Humble raises millions for Earthquake relief with Starfinder and game goodies.
• Starfinder evolves.
• Cubicle 7 is one of Europe’s fasted growing companies.

What’s going on with Geek Native’s Instagram?

Thanks for asking! I’m months (really) behind with old-school grid posts, but almost every day I post a story of the latest articles on the site with a link to them. That’s getting pretty popular, which is nice.

I’ll catch up, I hope, with the grid posts.

As for TikTok? I could and perhaps should claim ethical concerns, but I suspect if I could make it work without busting even more of my day, I would.

Certainly open to ideas!

Meanwhile, Mastodon slowly grows.

Now, the RPG news!

Support: Patron.

RPG news from Geek Native

• Following the sad news of Battlefield’s Jonathan M Thompson’s passing, there’s now a low-cost and high-value way to support the Memorial with a value RPG bundle.
• Good news or bad? Necrotic Gnome shelves plans for a revised Old-School Essentials.
• MmApps had/has a bundle of quirky battle maps like The White House on offer for GM’s Day.
• It’s kinda RPG related as Hasbro’s Forgotten Realms NERF blasters have flown across the pond.
• At the Bundle of Holding there’s a double GURPS deal and a flash sale on Mystical Throne Guides.
• There are RPGs in the impressive Humble Earthquake relief bundle.

Spotlight: Of Gods and Gamemasters

RPG news from around the web

• Tabletop Gaming News covers “Starfinder Enhanced” – A Major Expansion to the Popular Science Fantasy RPG.
• D&D released a big update to D&D Beyond’s T&Cs with first-party authentication, meaning you can use your WotC account to log in.
• Dan Arndt reviews the RPG cultural moment and notes Zine Quest and Zine Month took tabletop RPGs in weird new directions.
• Polygon’s Charlie Hall argues that Worlds Beyond Number is the next big breakout actual play podcast.
• Finance site Marketplace’s Matt Levin pens Wizards, druids and open game licenses: The fight over the unique Dungeons & Dragons economy.
• On the pulse, Christian Hoffer reveals Two Kings Entertainment and Becca Scott’s tabletop news show.
• Monte Cook Games announced The Magnus Archives.
• Green Ronin has shared a preview of Fantasy Age 2e.
• Wargamer’s RPG expert Mollie Russell has Wizards creates free 5e stat blocks for DnD movie characters.
• Newt Newport shares an update on d101 and the OGL.
• If you can pass the paywall (sorry, Gandalf), Rob Wieland has a look inside the digital tools of the Pathfinder Nexus.
• Boss editor Matt Jarvis interviews Michael Sands ‘If I was designing Monster of the Week now it would be very different’ .
• Kansas City’s The Pitch goes Zweihander as Daniel D. Fox talks the power of parenting through D&D and the new YouTube series with his son.
• The Rhyl Journal has nice local news with Rhyl’s Spencer Wilding to star in new Dungeons & Dragons film.
• Impressively, Cubicle 7 is ranked in the top 200 in the FT’s top 1000 growing European Companies.
• Role, the challenger digital suite, lands Trophy.

RPG reviews and interviews from around the web

• James Maliszewski writes yet another insightful retrospective, and this time on Dangers at Dunwater.
• Halfway Station 3.0 has a review of Five Leagues from the Borderlands.
• At Fandomentals Dan Arndt suggests ‘Blade Runner: The Roleplaying Game’ Offers Us The Neo-Noir Cyberpunk We Need.
• Reviews from R’lyeh look into Keep on the Borderlands: The Expansion, BEX-1 Descent Into The Caves of the Unknown, and the quick start for Aegean. Impressively, there’s also a review of the GM’s Day special Fifth Edition Fantasy: Ambush at Dragon’s Cove.
• The TTRPG reviewed the indie-smash Lancer.
• Ben Bishop at CBR writes up Interstitial as a combination of D&D with Kingdom Hearts.
• Detailed reviewer Jared Rascher shares first impressions on Unearthed Arcana: Druid & Paladin and with a part two.
• At Gnome Stew, guess who? Jared Rascher reviews Demigods.
• MJR RPG reviews Scott Doward’s Unland (Clown trigger).
• The Indie Game Reading Club offers us a Deep Dive on A|State.
• At EN World, Rob Wieland toured The Imperial Zoo for WFRP.
• Geek Girl Authority talks to poet Rae from Average Adventuring Party (podcast) about TTRPG things.

RPG new releases

• Chaosium has released the second edition of Call of Cthulhu’s Nameless Horrors.
• On a BRP roll, Chaosium also has back in print the big gold Basic Roleplaying tome.
• Blacklist Games and Mark Latham have published a cooperative RPG-style tabletop miniatures game for 1-5 players called Lasting Tales.
• Terrable Games gets to the point with an RPG called Don’t Die.
• Now on DTRPG, Ashley Warren offers up the Uncaged Volume 1 for Roll20.
• In print (pre-order or new) there’s the alternative gold cover of Dungeons & Dragons: Keys From The Golden Vault, Renegade’s Transformers: Roleplaying Game: The Time Is Now: Adventure Book and Chaosium’s Pendragon: Starter Set.

RPG bundle deals

• Save $9.21 (42%) with the DMsGuild Untold Subclasses: Collected Vol 1 bundle.
• Save $9.00 (47%) with the DMsGuild’s Thrilling Tales & Treasure bundle.
• Save $3.50 (26%) with Luna Publishing’s Savage Shapeshifters bundle.

RPG ideas, tips and discoveries

• Charles expands Year Zero Worldbuilding to look at Ruins of Symbaroum Call of the Dark.
• Power, not money, D&D historian Ben Riggs investigates Why Did Wizards of the Coast Try to Cancel the OGL.
• Tyler Chancey shares The Culture Shock of Moving From D&D to Pathfinder.
• Rob Bodine’s Play What You Want resurfaced the Cat Mimic.
• Marcia at Traverse Fantasy has some good points in their Thoughts on RPG Reviews.
• WorldAnvil’s Roc Humet writes up How to create an RPG system from scratch.

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 Game Masters Grimoire: 100 Dungeon Room Descriptions from The Monster Directive offers “100 Dungeon Room Descriptions to unlock the secrets of your world!”
• Attack of the Castle Mimic from Rocket Pig Games nominates “An epic printable/playable monstrous terrain set with a 5e PDF adventure for your table top games!”
• Secrets of the Sylvera Academy: 80 D&D 5E Spells! from Single Step Gaming raises funds for “The Secrets of the Sylvera Academy is a 5E Compatible source for new spells with new art, fiction, & EIGHTY NEW SPELLS levels C to 9”
• Kavlov’s Sanctuary | A Mörk Borg compatible campaign module from The Dungeon’s Key is working on “A Mörk Borg compatible campaign module. Play as one of 5 new classes and explore the 13 dungeons that make up the Dreaded Hills!”
• Luna Uni: A Writing Game for Classroom Use! from Michael Low introduces “Build a near-future world and master writing using the power of role-playing – in the classroom or out of it!”
• Mega-Dungeon 2 Map Set from August McDaniel proposes “A set of big black and white tabletop gaming maps you can print at home or upload for online play.”
• Crystals of Alaria from richard dugan crowdfunds “Crystals of Alaria is a 5e campaign setting and supplement. The campaign setting will include in depth lore and new content for 5e.”
• Roll and Rock from DicePen raises funds for “Roll and write game about your way from garage to the largest stages of the world. Dice placement board game in print and play format.”
• Secrets of Myst: An Anime Inspired 5e Supplement from Zachary Burrell pitches “A D&D fifth edition supplement with an anime twist introducing a new classes, new patron, and mechanics to give your games anime flair.”
• Dystopian Dawn from Tony Garcia raises funds for “The post apocalpse RPG where science & tech meets swords & sorcery.”
• SagaBorn Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook 1.5 from Michael Bielaczyc pitches “The latest version of the SagaBorn Roleplaying Game!”
• Architects of the Deep: One-Shot Adventures from Dren Productions Games submits “Three awesome digital One-Shot Adventures for 5e starting at only $5!”
• THE DEVIL BY YOUR SIDE from Mauro Indini offers “A print and play, roll and write single player game. Venture through the circles of hell and save your soul.”
• You’re In Space And Everything’s Fucked from Dinoberry Press suggests “A terrifying tribute to sci-fi horror in the form of a visceral no-prep TTRPG”
• Carrion of Chaos: Retro Box Set from Brian Jagusak introduces “A Retro Box Set designed to gather players around a table for an epic adventure! For use with Old-School Essentials (OSE)”
• Overlooked Creatures of the Backwoods 5E Monster Supplement from Nat 1 Gaming pitches “A selection of 10+ creatures commonly overlooked by adventurers as they trudge through the forests and backwoods of your world.”
• Vintage Adventures (for OSR systems) from Molten Blast raises funds for “Old School Adventure Modules compatible with any OSR TTRPG, or Dungeons and Dragons 1E, 2E.”
• The Fury of the Northmen: Digital Edition from Jess Nevins suggests “A Kickstarter to fund a digital edition (via DriveThruRpg) of my 5e-compatible Viking roleplaying game, The Fury of the Northmen.”
• Best Supporting Actors: Adversaries and Allies for OSE from Douglas H. Cole is working on “Ready-to-play characters to use as NPCs and PCs for Old-School RPGs.”
• Ars Mechanica – The Labyrinth of Brass – 5 E supplement from Gearwheel Grimoires nominates “Explore the Labyrinth of Brass with your party in this amazing steampunk D&D supplement for any fan of TTRPG like DnD and else !”
• Seeds of Wars: A New Horizon from Seeds of Wars submits “Expansion for Seeds of Wars, the Strategic RPG, that includes a new world, new technologies, new constructions, and advanced warfare.”
• One Dollar One Shot – Tale of the Bog Witch from One Dollar One Shots crowdfunds “A 5e adventure with new monsters, magic items, maps, original art, lore, and more. All for ONLY $1!”
• Benighted Betrothal from Daniel Sell introduces “An old-school fantasy adventure game beyond the fjords. A Viking curse, a Benighted Betrothal.”
• The World of Tyhtara: Epic Miniatures, Magic, & Adventures from Aether and Alchemist nominates “35+ 3D printable miniatures with 5 D&D 5E Adventures, lore, maps, and stat sheets! Digital (STL) & Physical options! Funded in 1 hour!”
• Resin RPG & Spindown Dice by Wielding Magic from Wielding Magic is working on “Wielding Magic Introduces 18 Sharp Edged Resin Dice sets, available in both RPG & Spindown format.”
• Traveler’s Guide to the Forest of the Fey Queen from Chamomile Has A Project raises funds for “A ‘zine-size 5e sourcebook of elves and fey, including a new region of the Creative Commons Weskven setting”
• In the Name of Progress (Savage Worlds: Kunos RPG Adventure) from William Murakami-Brundage submits “A Savage Worlds: Kunos adventure for novice characters. Enter the Pale Vault to recover a long-lost relic, but beware!”
• Sharpeland from Sharpeland_Official is working on “RPG Mafia-like Tabletop Game”
• Kamara: Heart of the Sun – A D&D 5E Campaign Resource Book from Daniel Chan proposes “Kamara: Heart of the Sun is a dnd campaign based on a homebrew world of Etheria by @dungeonmasterdee”

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