Routinely Itemised: RPGs #200

Oh, it’s the 200th Routinely Itemised RPG news summary. Why did no one send me a cake?

So, that bundle of RPG news summaries!

• One to highlight is that cancer-suffering Owen K.C. Stephens is raising medical fees with Bundle #1 (saving $723.24 – 95%) and Bundle #2 (saving $728.95 – 95%) (as usual Geek Native will donate in addition to any affiliate fees earned).
• There’s a Star Trek: Lower Decks Campaign Guide RPG coming.
• Holostreets opened on DrivethruRPG for third-party publishers to sell Shadowrunk content.
• There’s still some confusion over what Wizards of the Coast is planning to do with mix-parentage in the next (but no longer One) D&D.

There’s no Geek Native podcast tomorrow, as I’ll be at Edinburgh’s local TTRPG gaming convention – Compulsion.

Watch the blog’s social media for the likely photograph and video spam, sorry, content that I’ll produce. Compared to your big American conventions, though, Compulsion is quaint (and often lovely).

It’s been a week of hard graft from RPG publishers, with Paizo and Kobold pushing ahead with their D&D-not-D&D projects and indies being busy. Kickstarter has had a few cancelled projects, a few big ones, and while that’s spicer than usual, there’s not been much volume.

On the other hand, this news-centric blog rarely gets many blog comments as people read and go, but this week, as you can see in the chat portal, there’s been a few more. That’s always neat to see.

On with the RPG news!

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RPG news from Geek Native

• Modiphius secured the license to produce the Star Trek: Lower Decks Campaign Guide.
• Catalyst Game Labs and DrivethruRPG launched their community commons program for Shadowrun with Holostreets.
• Popular Italian RPG publishing studio Two Little Mice released their quickstart for Outgunned.
• ATypicalFaux has published the free to download VERSE quickstart.
• Geek Native got a first look at Lion Banner’s Multiverse BattleMap Books.
• At the Bundle of Holding, there’s a Mongoose d20 offer and a Pelgrane/Robin D. Laws deal on Hillfolk.
• On Humble, the next-gen TTRPG One More Multiverse has a deal.

Spotlight: High Level Games

RPG news from around the web

• Alphastream put together a helpful The Future of the D&D VTT at the Creator Summit.
• On a similar note, Gareth Branwyn compiled Making sense of Wizards of the Coast’s recent and somewhat bewildering Creator Summit.
• It’s not a straightforward news story, but Dexterto reports that Dungeons & Dragons reworks Half-Species due to “inherent racism” .
• Gizmodo gets into Paizo Releases First Draft for Its Universal RPG License to the Public.
• Chaosium’s own Michael O’Brien pens a really useful Basic Roleplaying: Universal Game Engine—7 changes in the new edition.
• Brian Child’s article for Fortune went everywhere and it’s I’ve been my friends’ favorite DungeonMaster for 2 years now and I gave ChatGPT-fueled Dungeons & Dragons a try. I’m not threatened.
• Bleeding Cool has the Dungeons & Dragons Producer Reveals Which Popular Character Was Cut.
• CNN has a video feature on Solo Dungeons & Dragons adventures.
• We know this already, but The Straits Times notes At nearly 50 years old, Dungeons & Dragons is more popular than ever.
• Tabletop Gaming News covers that Wizards of the Coast Unveils New Anime-Style ‘Iconic Party’ for Japanese Release of D&D.
• Christian Hoffer is swift with the news that a New Dungeons & Dragons Game Announced (boo, autoplay video).
• Kobold Press gets into what some official “Project Blag Flag” (should they still use that old codename>) partners are up to with Project Black Flag Friday: Partners at the Table.
• Paizo is busy Introducing the Stolen Fate Player’s Guide.
• Six Pence Games is putting together an RPG charity zine called Killing for a Cause.

RPG reviews and interviews from around the web

• Reviews from R’lyeh’s output is impressive, again, with a fanzine focus on CY_OPS Issue.one, Never Mind The Dice Rolls, Love Letters From The Baker House Band, Polaris Issue 1, Bronx Beasts Volume 1: Games Rules and the Best of… White Dwarf Articles.
• Egg Embry writes up Black Chrome: A Tech & Style Guide [& REVIEW] For Cyberpunk RED.
• Linda Whitson at d20Radio also offers an Astral Review – Black Chrome (Cyberpunk RED).
• MRJ RPG has a Children of Chaac Review – Seeds of Terror (Call of Cthulhu).
• Katy Mauerman at CBR notes D&D Beyond’s Before the Storm Is the Perfect Introduction for New Players.
• Roleplayers Chronicle does a Review: Wizards of the Coast – Keys From the Golden Vault (Dungeons & Dragons).
• Over at Grognardia, there’s a Retrospective: Gamma World (Second Edition).
• Cannibal Halfling Games’ Aaron Marks reviews the new ORC Basic Roleplaying edition.
• Wargamer’s Timothy Linward covers We played as tax auditors in the new Warhammer 40k RPG.
• Julia Roth at Geek Girls Authority talks to actress Kelly Holden Bashar about TTRPGs

RPG new releases

• 13th Moon Games has published their 2d12 game of witches with Coven & Crucible Core Rulebook.
• Play Kong, Crow, Pacific Rim et al. on Foundry VTT as Evil Genius Games release the module for Everyday Heroes.
• Dead Channel Studios has published The GM’s Toolkit For Random Encounters.
• Wil Brown has released the Clan of Death, the Hecata, Those Who Remain.
• Thux Cruo has released the first edition of the fantasy RPG Mordhark.
• High Metric Games has the community content supplement for Genesys with Just Drive! A Ground Vehicle Supplement.
• In print, retailers have had a big WizKids refresh with D&D’s new Onslaught Game, Critical ROle minis and Pathfinder Battles minis.
• Also, there’s the hardcover preorder for Modiphius Entertainment’s Dune: The Great Game: Houses Of The Landsraad.

RPG bundle deals

• Help well-known RPG designer Owen K.C. Stephens who had a pulmonary embolism and a cancer diagnosis together, pay his medical bills with Bundle #1 (saving $723.24 – 95%) and Bundle #2 (saving $728.95 – 95%).
• Save $113.27 (75%) with the DMsGuild’s Big Bundle of Everything.
• Save $9 (50%) with Orbital Intelligence’s Snake-Wolf bundle.
• Save $5.23 (25%) in Grim Press’ Baba Lysaga’s Nocturnes and Nightmares Map Pack bundle.

RPG ideas, tips and discoveries

• Charles continues his world-building with Year Zero Dragonbane.
• Helpfully, EN World’s Morrus has put together A Basic Guide To Using ORC (Open RPG Creative License).
• Paramount Pictures shares the Honour Among Thieves cast talking about Gelatinous Cubes and other D&D stuff.
• MovieWeb’s Nathan Williams writes up The Great Dungeons & Dragons Panic of 1982, Explained.
• For Hatchet, Ethan Benn wrote Essay: Dungeons & Dragons may be fantasy, but it has taught me about true friendship.
• Derek Garcia opines Why One D&D Is Actually Terrible For The Future Of Dungeons & Dragons.
• World Anvil pens How to turn your TTRPG game into a novel.
• A Knight at the Opera writes up The Genres the OSR Can’t Do.
• Parody site McSweeney’s wonders Are you playing Dungeons & Dragons or doing your taxes?

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 Wildsea: Storm & Root from Mythworks kickstarts “The first expansion to The Wildsea, a weird fantasy tabletop roleplaying game set in a rampant ocean of verdant green.”
• D100 chaotic events in a magic store from Alvarowhatsabi crowdfunds “100 Random events and adventure hooks during the visit to the magic store. Compatible with 5E, Pathfinder, 3.5, d&d…”
• Heavy Gear Roleplaying Game Fourth Edition from submits “Project to bring back the Heavy Gear RPG after more than 15 years as a new 4th Edition, compatible with the older 1st and 2nd editions.”
• Infernal Journal & Dwarven Journal for D&D RPG – Notebook 5E from John & Nicole Clark introduces “Level-up your characters with journals from the infernal realm and dwarven mines! (sz: 8.5 x 11) Have cool dice? Get a cool Journal!”
• Stoneburner from Fari RPGs pitches “A Solo-Friendly TTRPG of Demon Hunting and Community Building in a Dwarven Asteroid Mine.”
• D100 Side Quests + Notice Board Asset Pack from Steven Chabotte raises funds for “Create fascinating diversions for your players with 100 simple side quests + build unique handouts with the notice board asset pack.”
• Raven’s Reserve: Arcane Tools and Tokens for Games and Magic from David Savedge raises funds for “A Collection of Hand Forged Magical Artifacts for Tabletop Role Playing Games and Witchcraft!”
• Inevitable: A Doomed Arthurian Western RPG from SoulMuppet Publishing introduces “In this fantasy western roleplaying game, your party of disastrously sad cowboy knights fail to stop the apocalypse.”
• Price of the Dragon: A Role-Playing Game for Couples from Phoenix Grey is working on “TTRPGs and LARPing come together for the next installment in the Lewd Dungeon Adventures series. 5e compatible version available.”
• Folio #30 The Great Maze Adventure! from Scott Taylor crowdfunds “Part 5 of a new AD&D and 5E Mega-Dungeon Adventure Set, The Virgin Mine!”
• Folstavia – Anime 5E RPG World Setting & Monster Expansions from Dyskami Publishing suggests “Six anime role-playing expansions – Folstavia: The Infinite Crossroads setting, monster book, creature cards, background creator & maps”
• Nations & Cannons: The American Crisis for DnD 5E from Flagbearer Games nominates “Experience the American Revolution firsthand with this DnD 5th Edition historical TTRPG sourcebook and campaign guide”
• Why Slay Dragons : When You Could Be FISHING (TTRPG 5e Book) from IO Publishing offers “A comprehensive guide to fishing for your TTRPG World, featuring 100+ fish, compatible with all 5e systems!”
• Dungeons & Lasers ® V: World of Deuslair 5E from Archon Studio pitches “Explore the Deuslair Universe with a 5E-compatible RPG Campaign and Bestiary Supplement, featuring 400+ plastic Miniatures”
• DND/TTRPG Classes | Enamel Pin Set from sleepyrogue kickstarts “A collection of tabletop and DND class inspired enamel pin designs.”
• Borealis-9 Beckons, Who Wants to Live Forever? from Kriegshund Press crowdfunds “A 5E Compatible Table Top Science-Fantasy Game for Adventurous People”
• Amber Mosquito RPG Dice from The Blackstone Bureau nominates “Inspired by the humble mosquito trapped in amber – Dice from when dinosaurs ruled the Earth!”
• The Dark After Dawn TTRPG from Ryan Wright (Rix Writos) suggests “A Rules light/narrative heavy TTRPG, of mystical horror and chaos! Built on a custom Ruleset.”
• Wagham: Original Setting & Supplement for 5e from Paolo Ferrante suggests “Original Setting & Supplement with 500+ pages book for 5e, a new way to play the old way!”
• Adventure Triad | 3 Adventures + Miniatures from Megalithic Prints proposes “Miniatures | 3 Adventures | 3 Settings | 3 Playstyles – across pastoral England, feudal Japan and exploration age Caribbean!”
• Apocrypha Anniversary Hardcover | Mörk Borg from Christian Eichhorn offers “The goat’s rotten corpse stirs. It returns, much improved, to menace once more.”
• Wild & Far Frontiers from Matteo Pastorio suggests “A new original Western Fantasy Campaign Setting for the 5th Edition of the most important RPG ever created.”
• DARKHEIM: Eldritch-One from Rocket Pig Games kickstarts “A legendary (5e) monster miniature for tabletop games (3d printable resin STL) and 5e compatible PDF.”
• Wild Magic Surge Deck for 5E from New Comet Games is working on “A beautiful set of cards to use instead of your Wild Magic Surge rolls for your Sorcerers for 5E”
• Elves, Dwarfs & Orcs – 3D printable terrain sets! from Mujja’s Forge nominates “3D Printable STL Files, Terrain for Tabletop, Role Playing Games, Wargames and RPG”
• 100 Cursed Items for Dnd 5e! from Paws for Effect offers “Unleash the Dark Powers Within: A Collection of 100 Cursed Items for Your Next D&D 5e Campaign”
• Stickman Battlegrounds: a kid-made card-based combat RPG from Bennu Brothers submits “Fight to the end in a world of brutal doodles! Made by a 14-year-old indie game enthusiast from Baltimore.”
• +80 Miniatures Collection STL FILES from Diana Ramírez crowdfunds “+80 ALLS MODELS /WARRIOS /SEXY Models SFW / NSFW MODELS/ only stl files 120 MM /72 MM”
• The Curse of Thayer Hollow: A Gothic D&D 5E Adventure from William Murakami-Brundage introduces “The Curse of Thayer Hollow is a tale of darkness, betrayal, and bitter family ties. A D&D 5E adventure for level 1-4 characters.”
• Infernal Journey: Travels through the Divine Inferno from Alex Darrell kickstarts “A proposed homebrew adventure which will be modeled loosely around the Divine Comedy made playable for 5e roleplaying systems.”
• Unicorn dice 45mm Handmade (Canceled) from MicroToys proposes “Cute Unicorn playing inside the dice.”
• World Well Wasted: Gestalt from Daniel Curbow nominates “WWW: Gestalt is a tabletop role playing game about Gestalts, powerful psychics who also pilot mechs.”
• Viking Saga Miniatures from Chris Abbey @ Sally 4th introduces “Physical(Injection Plastic or White Metal Molded) and Digital(STL) Gaming Miniatures for TTRPG games and Figurines/Display Painting”

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