Routinely Itemised: RPGs #198

It’s nearly the end of the month, and I’ve not yet seen D&D: Honour Among Thieves (spelt with a U in the UK, officially). Why haven’t I? It’s only just come out. ~G

Now, let’s do the RPG news summary of RPG news summaries!

• D&D: Honour Among Thieves is getting good reviews
• Daniel D. Fox returns to RPGs with Adam Rose to launch a new SLLSWRD company.
• Wizards of the Coast have been showing off their new virtual tabletop.
• Nightfall Games expand their The Terminator license.

Yep, this week’s Routinely Itemised has a special Honour Among Thieves section highlighting D&D movie coverage. We could find a lot more!

As it happens, that’s not the only big screen news as Nightfall Games have secured permission to expand The Terminator RPG into big screen titles – like T2, the sequel – they didn’t have before.

Geek Native has some exclusive content. That’s the good news. The bad news is that some users might have had an unpleasant experience with f.txt trying to download itself. It was a harmless but spooky file from Google. Experts tell me it was a code glitch from Google, but a WordPress plugin provider with ad-blocking sensitivities (which the site does not use) fessed up. Either way! Sorry.

Let’s pop some more good news in as I’ll note the grey bars this week are a little less grey. Why? Improved accessibility with colour contrast.

Amazingly, I seem to be writing this summary a good few midnights before The Witching Hour! How unlike recent columns.

Now, racing towards April’s Fools’ Day and on with the RPG news!

Support: Patron.

RPG news from Geek Native

• There’s a new RPG publishing studio as Adam Rose and Daniel D. Fox team up to launch SLLSWRD.
• Geek Native has an exclusive preview of the dangerous 5e Darklands.
• Geek Native also has an exclusive video on Handiwork Games and Wayne Reynolds’ RPG Saints Sketchbook.
• The winners of the 2022 BAMFSIES have been announced.
• Geek Native rushed out a summary of this week’s D&D Direct.
• Updated Fearsome Wilderness quickstart is a Year Zero Engine RPG that’s free to download.
• Meanwhile, Monte Cook Games are also in the free preview zone with one of Planar Character Options for the Cypher System.
• Nightfall Games expand their The Terminator RPG license with Terminator player characters and T2.
• At the Bundle of Holding there’s a cartography craze of science fiction maps and loads of sci-fi RPG with Clement Sector 3e.
• At the Humble there’s a Maps Bonanza bundle.

Spotlight: Of Gods and Gamemasters

RPG news from around the web

• ICv2 covers Wizards of the Coast offers up first look at D&D Virtual Tabletop and PC Gamer’s Russell Adderson says The official D&D Virtual Tabletop is looking pretty slick.
• Kobold Press has started a countdown to the reveal of Project Black Flag’s final name.
• At Dicebreaker, Chase Carter notes Critical Role’s new space-western podcast, Midst, started as a tabletop RPG setting.
• BoLS digs into ‘Fablecraft’ Is An RPG Meant To Be Played Virtually – A VTTRPG.
• Green Ronin share another preview of Fantasy AGE 2 with Stunts!
• Matt Bassil at Wargamer says Dungeons and Dragons wants to be a multiverse now too.
• Gamereactor’s Ben Lyons notices that There is now official Dungeons & Dragons coffee.
• Free League Publishing give us their two Free Tabletop Licenses.

D&D: Honour Among Thieves

• D&D Beyond’s Mike Bernier put together Your Primer for Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.
• The New York Times has even published A Beginner’s Guide to Dungeons & Dragons.
• Variety’s Jordan Moreau notes Box Office: ‘Dungeons and Dragons’ Rolls $5.6 Million in Previews.
• NPR’s Glen Weldon suggests Rollicking’ Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves’ scores a critical hit.
• Empire’s John Nugent opines How Dungeons & Dragons Went Mainstream.
• Not missing out, at EN World Rob Wieland did Another Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves Review.
• Seen it? Might be safe to read Dextero’s Best D&D Easter Eggs in Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves.
• Bloomberg UK (account needed) suggests Dungeons & Dragons’ Epic Quest to Finally Make Money.
• Cinemablend and Dirk Libbey published Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves Review: A Critical Hit For The Table Top Game’s Return To The Big Screen.
• MovieWeb has an article with Chris McKay Explains the Reason Behind His Dungeons & Dragons Departure.
• Clothing specialist Trespass is giving away a D&D Honour Among Thieves adventure day.
• Geek Native (because of course I did ~G) that there’s a Honour Among Thieves beer (because of there is ~G).
• D&D: Honour Among Thieves tickets from Fandango.

RPG reviews and interviews from around the web

• MJR RPG pens Al-Azif Unearthed: The Unraveling Review – Call of Cthulhu.
• Reviews from R’lyeh writes again for The Other OSR with The Black Hack: Classic Monsters, goes Delving into Doctor Who and pens a A Love Letter to Lankhmar.
• Grognardia offers up a review retrospective on Cthulhu Now.
• AIPT Comics takes a look at TTRPG comicbooks with ‘Dungeons & Dragons: Saturday Morning Adventures’ #1 feels like a lost episode of the show.
• Cubicle 7 is interviewed by the Irish Times and Ed Power in ‘I love coming in to work’: Meet the big players in Ireland’s growing tabletop gaming industry.
• Charles Dunwoody talks about Everyday Arcana in an interview with Evil Genius Dave Scott.
• On Undead Walking, Renee Hansen has an Interview with creators of The Walking Dead Universe RPG. Then, at EN World, Egg Embry also goes Walking Dead with an interview with Mattias Johnsson Haake and Joe LeFavi.

RPG new releases

• After a successful crowdfunder, Snowbright Studios has now published the ghostly RPG ink.
• Ghostfire Gaming releases their 5e campaign, 300 pages of adventure to take characters from level 1 to 20 in the Sunken Isles.
• It’s old school; it’s Tim Sattley Gaming’s Bada$$ Bunnies!
• Taylor Seely-Wright hits publish on Rad World Deluxe Edition – compatible with Shadowdark RPG.
• In physical pre-orders, you can line up for Warhammer’s Sea of Claws.

RPG bundle deals

• Save $5.91 (37%) with the DMsGuild’s The “Evil” Classes bundle.
• Save $2.74 (25%) in Shilka Publishing’s The Epiphany Club: Novel plus RPG campaign.
• Save $2.50 (25%) with Midnight Owl Games’ Token Mega bundle 1.
• Save $2.00 (29%) with the DMsGuild’s Magic is Chaos bundle.

RPG ideas, tips and discoveries

• Fast Company’s Max Ufberg proposes that The $1 billion company behind ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ is coming out of the basement.
• Jared Rascher writes up what they know about Core Competencies, One D&D, and Project Black Flag.
• Den of Geek’s Matthew Byrd opines Dungeons and Dragons’ Most Popular Class Isn’t As “Boring” As It Seems.
• Bleeding Cool’s Tyler Roberts covers the Dungeons & Dragons Mimic and More Beasts Debut for Hasbro’s Dicelings.
• /Film and Matthew Monagle get into the spirit of things with Cardboard Cinema: RPG Adaptations For Famous Movies And Movie Adaptations For Famous RPGs.
• There’s coverage from the BBC as well with a feature on The enduring appeal of Dungeons and Dragons.
• Mental Floss shares See How People Reacted to ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ in the 1980s.
• Gen Con’s blog publishes Jeffrey Roth’s “7 Life Lessons I Learned From Playing Dungeons & Dragons in the 7th Grade” .
• Animated Views puts together a great An Animated History of Dungeons & Dragons Adaptations.
• Those D&D: Golden Archive figures announced this week are already available at stores like Forbidden Planet like his Owlbear pre-order. It’s nearly £50!

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;

• For A Kitten from Dark Eagle Games raises funds for “A 5e adventure outline. With optional materials to expand as needed. It is the first chapter of an epic adventure.”
• Kenea: The New Star from Gabriele Tomaselli raises funds for “Sci-fi Role Playing Game with a sandbox system for creation of planets and races”
• Titanium Edgeroll Dice: Geometric shaped metal dice from AAG GAMES nominates “Rolling with Style: Elevate Your Gaming Experience with These Sleek and Unique Metal Dice with Geometric Designs.”
• Torrents of Gyre (Savage Worlds Fantasy RPG Adventure) from William Murakami-Brundage nominates “Gyre’s ruler is offering a reward for whoever stops a monster that is killing and draining the city’s sorcerous adepts.”
• The Paragon Project from Fool’s Moon Entertainment, Inc. is working on “A 5e-compatible narrative supplement featuring over 200 new feats, 15 new backgrounds, and GM tools; Be more than a hero. Be a Paragon.”
• The Blood Moon Festival One Shot Adventure from Tina Glasneck kickstarts “A 5e adventure with new monsters, magic items, maps, awesome art, lore, and more. Plus, The Legend of the Wolf ebook. All for ONLY $1!”
• 3D Printable CondiCirclets for Tabletop Games from Stratation Design nominates “Condition rings for tabletops games miniature figures, the perfect accessory to enhance your gameplay experience!”
• Subterranea: Empire of Wrath A SAVAGE REALMS GAMEBOOK from Savage Realms Gamebooks is working on “From Mark Lain, the critically-acclaimed author/creator of the Destiny’s Role gamebook series, comes a new and truly epic adventure…”
• Tableau: Twilight Road & Gate Watch Playsets (Quickstarter) from Christopher Allen pitches “A collaborative cinematic storytelling TTRPG game for 2-5 players, using poker-sized cards.”
• The Light of Mount Horrid from Ghost in the Forest Games introduces “Spill blood and ink to save a secluded writing retreat in this 5th level adventure module for the 5th edition”
• Monster & Character Encounters from James Shields raises funds for “A zine of 50 new monsters, their traps, and treasures. These aren’t your daddy’s dragons.”
• Tavern Tales – 3D Printable set for Storytelling from Safehold pitches “High Quality STL ‘s for FDM & Resin 3D Printers. Miniatures, 32mm & 10mm. Modular set for DnD, Wargames, Painting etc.”
• Curious Encounters – Forest for 5E from GMs Atelier nominates “A collection of 10 short scenarios with which to surprise your players as they traverse the wilderness.”
• Curse and Wishes – Diamonds, Dice, Shiny Math Rocks from DH Gaming Workshop raises funds for “Very Shiny Polyhedral Metal Dice Sets for Dungeons and Dragons, DnD, Pathfinder, Call of Cthulhu, and TTRPG.”
• The Riddle of Rotwood Bog: Fantasy Miniatures & 5e One-Shot from Dragon’s Forge Miniatures pitches “28mm-32mm dragonkin and fantasy hero miniature STLs for your tabletop roleplaying games. Includes D&D 5e compatible one-shot!”
• Black Pudding Issue 7 and the Black Pudding Journal from Peter Regan suggests “Black Pudding Issue 7 Zine in Print. PLUS A special Black Pudding Themed Journal.”
• D100 Dungeon Hooks, Fantasy RPG Encounters by Philip Reed from Philip Reed suggests “These 100 encounter hooks were created for use with fantasy roleplaying games. Each hook includes enough info to inspire the GM.”
• Hellrunners from Jim McGarva offers “An RPG about breaking metaphysics the way speedrunners break games.”
• Choose Cthulhu – Solitaire Gamebooks by Steve Jackson Games from Warehouse 23 offers “Six solo adventures based on the Mythos of H. P. Lovecraft. Experience these classics in the first person! Can you survive?”
• Counterblast for Savage Worlds RPG from Bombshell Miniatures kickstarts “A setting guide sourcebook for pulp sci-fi adventures with the Savage Worlds RPG.”
• The Curse of Corpsewood Forest: A DnD 5e Adventure from Enchanted Emporium is working on “A 5e one shot, free resource drops and stretch goals! Embark on a thrilling adventure through a perilous realm of magic and monsters!”
• D20 Box from Magpies and Trinkets pitches “This is a truly one-of-a-kind addition to your dice goblin hoard collection, especially if you love Heavy D20 dice.”
• Shotglass Adventures: TWO MORE $1 ONE-SHOTS! from Laidback Dungeon Master suggests “Two More All-On-A-Page One-Shot PDFs for DnD 5e & OSE / OSR TTRPGs, With 5e/1e Monster Stats & Grid/Grid-less Maps! 8 DAYS ONLY!”
• The Gem of Life 5E from Eric Bleney crowdfunds “Set off on a gripping journey to retrieve the Gem of Life in this action-packed, one-shot adventure for characters level 3-5.”
• SideQuests 9: Easy Adventures For Fifth Edition from Dominic M. is working on “The ninth collection of easy adventures for Fifth Edition and fantasy tabletop roleplaying games.”
• Into the Dung-eon: an Adventure for 5E, Pathfinder 1, & O5R from John R Davis nominates “The City of Graygale once boasted a most amazing sewer system. Now something has gone wrong and your PCs are perfect to fix the ‘job’.”
• Wetrunner: Cyberpunk Fishing Heist Action from Paul “Ettin” Matijevic introduces “A cyberpunk TTRPG about stealing fish from the wealthy in a post-climate-collapse world.”
• Mythic Space from Peter LaCara nominates “A science fiction tabletop RPG inspired by Halo, Mass Effect, and Cowboy Bebop”
• SURVIVE THIS!! The Dead West – Tabletop Roleplaying Game from Eric Bloat offers “The Wild West goes straight to Hell!”
• RPG Squeeze Plush – Soft & Cuddly Dungeon Crawl Critters (Canceled) from Creature Curation nominates “Classic dungeon crawl monsters in the form of plushies featuring the Gelatinous Cube, Strixbear, Black Ooze, Hellhound, and Eyegors”
• Dretelia Campaign Setting for D&D 5e from Drew Wale submits “A dangerous world of nature! New locations, races, subclasses, monsters, and more for Dungeons and Dragons 5e!”
• Tide World of Mani from Joel Hines pitches “A sandbox module in the eternal twilight of a revolution wracked ocean world. For Mothership RPG.”
• Cthulhu Dreamt: RPG and Accompanying Soundtrack from Action Fiction offers “An original near-future Sci-Fi tabletop RPG where players embark on a dark and twisted rescue mission. Learn more at CthulhuDreamt.com”
• L’Arsene’s Ledger of Treasures and Trinkets – A DnD 5e Tome from Loot Tavern is working on “400+ pages of Heliana-compatible craftable magic items that grow with your players! Fuel your hoarding addiction!”
• Ember Dice! Premium, Handcrafted Metal Dice! from Ember Forge kickstarts “The fires of the Ember Forge are lit! Premium, handcrafted dice made by the hands of professional jewelers and lifelong dedicated geeks”
• Magical Kitties Noir from Atlas Games submits “The new Kitty Noir hometown adds intrigue to your game, and the handy Game Master Kit upgrades your experience!”
• The Arcane Index – a collection of detailed fantasy NPCs from The Arcane Muse nominates “Suitable for all game systems, designed with the Games Master in mind”

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