Is it still Christmas in July? Yes, but only just.
Don’t let the slim pickings of RPG news on Geek Native fool you. That’s because of the demons of “Real” and “Life”; the industry is busy in the run-up to Gen Con. Let’s do the summary of summaries!
- Podcast hosts Rusty Quill and Monte Cook Games team up for the spooky The Magnus Archives RPG.
- Mongoose are running an open poll to determine the plot of Traveller.
- D&D is getting a WEBTOON and might get a second movie.
- Tabletop Lights & Magic GmbH skew the Kickstarter Heat this week with a half-a-million campaign target.
- Mirrorscape’s AR VTT launches to mainstream tech coverage.
I might be foreshadowing the chaos of Edinburgh in the festival seasons rather too much, but next month we’re into August, and team Geek Native will be flat out on other projects.
However, at the end of the month, Girdy will be at Tabletop Scotland. Going? Pelgrane Press, Nightfall Games, UK Games Expo, and All Rolled Up are also among many names. Let us know!
The, yes, still in soft launch, Discord server is a good place to coordinate meet-ups.
Right! Let’s see what the news looks like at the end of July.
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RPG news from Geek Native
- Handiwork Games and Morgan Davie will subvert the expectations of 5e with the RPG FiveEvil.
- Mirrorscape launches its AR VTT RPG app. Acronyms, ahoy!
- Humble has physical books as a top tier in the bundle of Swords and Sorcery TTRPGs.
Spotlight: The Grinning Frog
RPG news from around the web
- Charles Ryan at Monte Cook Games announces the Magnus Archives RPG, a partnership with Rusty Quill and the podcast.
- Wizards of the Coast’s Gen Con feature includes A Giant-Sized Adventure featuring Brennan Lee Mulligan, Erika Ishii, Gabe Hicks, Dael Kingsmill, Luis Carazo and Jeremy Crawford. They’ve published their Gen Con schedule as a whole.
- Mongoose Publishing is running a poll to see who will win Traveller’s Fifth War (with a (not) surprising leader so far…)
- Dicebreaker previews the RPG of women saving themselves in Perils & Princesses.
- Pazio and TabletopTown announce a partnership to bring Pathfinder and Starfinder to the start-up’s text-based open beta.
- Offering ideas for any game, Monte Cook and team offer news of Pathfinder Remaster preview sheds light on sacked schools of magic.
- Dario Hunt on Living Life Fearless notes Blade Runner’s two expansions.
- IGN’s Adele Ankers-Range writes up Dungeons & Dragons Movie Sequel Could Happen on a Lower Budget, Says Paramount Boss.
- AIPT has the news that ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ webcomic’ Brie and the Borrowed Blade’ coming to WEBTOON.
- Dicebreaker’s Chase Carter covers Dimension 20’s new Mentopolis series is a noir-flavoured RPG mind romp featuring Hank Green and Freddie Wong.
- The world-famous Le Monde has a series with Dungeons & Dragons: From a midwestern town to a global role-playing sensation.
RPG reviews and interviews from around the web
- James Malisewski reviews the Ultimate Chaos Edition of Black Sword Hack.
- Reviews from R’lyeh explore The Sorcerer’s Enclave, Everyday Heroes’ The Crow adventure, D&D’s 2023 Annual and the 5e The Lords of the Rings RPG.
- The Alexandrian reviews the Gumshoe System’s Night’s Black Agents.
- Tribality and Brandes Stoddard continue their breakdown of the Urban Arcana D&D playtest.
- Signals from Delta Pavonis write up first impressions of Well of Frogs and In the Shadow of the City-God.
- Wargamer’s Mollie Russell reviews Paizo’s Pathfinder Rage of Elements.
- With an NSFW warning, Blood, Death, Satan & Metal dig into the OSR Book of the Black Wizards.
- Alone in the Labyrinth reviews Cthulhu Dark.
- Jared Rascher shares a first impression of Starfleet Academy.
- OnTableTop shows us inside Loke BattleMats’ Calendar of Many Adventures 2024.
- Julia Roth interviews TOM of Homie and the Dude.
- Alone in the Labyrinth interviews Eco Mofo’s David Blandy in Portrait of the Artist as an Eco Mofo…..
RPG new releases
- Siegebreaker Games publishes the 5e magic & technology post-apocalyptic Shattered Worlds GM Guide.
- It’s free to download as Measured Descent Games offer a quick start on Torment of the Old Gods.
- Chaosium has the Roll20 module for Pendragon Starter Set (and the original PDF DTRPG download).
- Harald Smith has published the RuneQuest (and silver best seller already) Nochet: Queen of Cities.
- Art of the Genre has released FAST RPG Compendium Volume 1.
- Awfully Queer Heroes have published Rescue Rainbow City supplement for 5e.
- Deeply Dapper Games release the Mothership 1e module Station Xeno.
- In physical releases and at high street shops like Forbidden Planet, there are pre-orders on Stacy King and Jim Zub’s Dungeons & Dragons: A Young Adventurer’s Guide: Places & Portals. There’s an early placeholder for Fallout’s Winter of Atom too.
RPG bundle deals
- Save $80.75 (61%) on the Gallant Knight Games’ Lost Oath Knights Spotlight bundle.
- Save $34.97 (90%) with Skirmisher Publishing’s Christmas in July Megabundle – some titles are non-English.
- Save $16.47 (56%0 with JonnyDM’s Everything bundle.
- Save $16.42 (52%) with DMSlash’s Everything bundle.
- Save $6.80 (39%) in the Chaosium Community Content Stars Are Right bundle.
RPG ideas, tips and discoveries
- The lead writer on the fantasy Renaissance Italy 5e setting The Straight Way Lost, Melina Sedo, wrote up Making a ‘Real Person’ in an RPG.
- Harvey Randall at PC Gamer notes I love D&D, but I’m so much better at DMing after playing other systems.
- Similarly, Emily Spindler of Kotaku notes D&D Isn’t The Only TTRPG System, And We Shouldn’t Act Like It Is.
- Comic Book Resources’ Friday Creature Creature is on Beholders.
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;
- Garbage & Glory from Wet Ink Games offers “The TTRPG of Dumpster Diving Dungeon Delving!”
- Grab & Go Encounters from Declan Gray introduces “Ready to play encounters for TTRPGs, 5E compatible.”
- Songs of Vulneria from Harbor Games offers “A historically inspired Fantasy TTRPG”
- Wandering’s Call: The Tabletop Roleplay Game from Shaun M Vale suggests “Use the power of your soul to change you and the world around you in this brand-new, easy to pick up, dark tabletop roleplay game”
- 2023 Dice Advent Calendar: 24 New Sets from Robin’s Nerd Supplies is working on “Dice advent calendar with 1 dice per day up to one set a day. All the sets are new for 2023”
- TTRPG Battle Maps, Monster Maps, and More! (2023 Edition) from SideQuest20 pitches “SideQuest20’s best maps from 2023 plus a set of classic minis/tokens, available for print-and-play, Roll20, and Foundry VTT.”
- Adventures in Ingstead: 5 Epic one-shots, Original content from The Flying Goblin offers “5E One-Shots: New Monsters, Magic Items & GM Guide for Minimal Prep Time. Expand your campaign with Adventures in Ingstead. 5 modules.”
- The Giant’s Nose: A Culinary RPG Add-On from TGrejczik crowdfunds “Visit the freshest, oddest Dwarven Tavern Menu + Meal Building roll table + Tavern NPCs – and more!”
- SURVIVE THIS!! Dark Places & Demogorgons – Ultimate Edition from Eric Bloat kickstarts “SURVIVE THIS!! DP&D core rules gets expanded with new art, editing, and layout, in this 8.5 “x11″ Hardcover Collector’s edition.”
- Tabletop Lights & Magic – Spell Effect Markers from Tabletop Lights & Magic GmbH nominates “LED Light Spell Effect Markers – illuminate your D&D Roleplay experience ⚔️✨”
- Badge Quest RPG Campaign Book from David Hamrick offers “A full-length campaign mystery book for Badge Quest for both new and experienced players and gamemasters.”
- The Tiny Tome of the Fireborn from Xacur proposes “A Small Collection of Fire-bond Creatures for the 5th edition D&D for $1USD. (5e DnD) Dungeons and Dragons.”
- Paragons of the Luminant Age from Luminant Age offers “A Collection of Weird Fantasy NPCs and Archetypes for Pathfinder 2nd Edition”
- Landing Zones: sci-fi miniature-scale maps from 0-hr pitches “A pair of 24×36 inch miniature-scale poster maps featuring a pair of planet-side landing bays for Starfinder and other sci-fi RPGs.”
- Vario’s Carts, Carriages & Contraptions from Hack Shack Games introduces “Ride into adventure with this essential guide to land vehicles for fantasy 5E.”
- Return of the Troll God for Mork Borg from Rocket Pig Games proposes “An epic printable/playable monstrous terrain set with a PDF adventure (compatible with Mork Borg) for your table top games!”
- Teranga : The next generation discord bot. from Teranga kickstarts “Unleash your imagination with the powerful no-code editor. Profit of global economy & RPG game system. And much more amazing features.”
- Worlds Collide: 5e & Pathfinder Sci-Fantasy Adventure Module from Paul Malchow offers “With a theatrical playthrough LIVESTREAM and full original SOUNDTRACK”
- Deepstone Depths Mega-Dungeon from August McDaniel is working on “A colorful mega-dungeon for tabletop gaming that you can print at home or upload to your favorite VTT!”
- 50 Guests of the Inn, Systemless Fantasy RPG Cards from Philip Reed is working on “Who do the adventurers meet at the inn? Shuffle and draw one of these 50 cards to spark the next encounter. Designed by Philip Reed.”
- SUPERKALLEIDER from Griffin Eaves raises funds for “A Mind-Altering Table-Top Role-Playing-Game.”
- Song for the Dead – a DnD 5e adventure from greedygorgonpress raises funds for “Revivify killing the mood? Bring back the drama with this 5e adventure, a kind of Weekend at Bernie’s speed run, but with monsters!”
- Marketplace Mystique: A Tour of Fantasy Storefronts from The Monster Directive is working on “From Quirky to Quaint: Explore 30 Unique Shops & Stores in Your Next Town/City Adventure”
- RPG Maps for ALL your Tabletop Needs from Inspiration Maps & Miniatures crowdfunds “20 Handmade, Beautiful Maps that will Inspire and Awe your Players.”
- RUNES – Fantasy RPG Zine from James Floyd Kelly proposes “RUNES is a magazine for GMs and Players of Shadowdark RPG.”
Do you know of an RPG news source that we don’t? Let us know, or leave a comment below.
