Holla! How’s the RPG news cycle this close to the end of the year?
Let’s find out, starting with the RPG news summary of summaries!
- Respected publisher Raging Swan Press is offering 90% off a 2021 OSR megabundle, and Rising Phoenix has 85% off the RPG Advent Calendar.
- Chaosium released a Limited Edition Keeper Rulebook.
- MCDM RPG smashed $1m on its opening day and $2m soon after.
- Marvel released a Jim Zub-penned RPG adventure set in Murderworld.
- There are now official D&D US stamps.
Ergo, I conclude we’re winding up a bit for the year.
I’ve just jinxed it, haven’t I? Some big D&D 2024 release will leak, an RPG celeb will get drunk at a Christmas party and swing for another, or there will be an unexpected merger! If so, let’s hope it doesn’t happen at my Christmas party.
What we might expect, though, is Kickstarter trailing off towards hibernation, although I’ve never actually seen it flatline. I predict that we’ll still get plenty of bundle deals.
Rightyo, let’s roll with the RPG news!
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RPG news from Geek Native
- Chaosium has released two 40th Anniversary Call of Cthulhu books, including a Limited Edition Keeper Rulebook.
- Revealed at PAX Unplugged is a new 500-page Making of Original Dungeons & Dragons.
- Catalyst Game Labs will reprint the first edition of Shadowrun for the first time in thirty-five years.
- Geek Native talks to Free League’s Tomas Härenstam about The Electric State.
- Marvel released the RPG sourcebook The Murderworld That Time Forgot.
- The US Postal Service has a “Forever” set of D&D 50th birthday stamps.
- A NZ murder trial looks at whether Dungeons & Dragons was a character flaw.
- In the Bundle of Holding, there’s a new Blades in the Dark deal.
Spotlight: DR Games
RPG news from around the web
- The MCDM RPG has broken $2m on Backerkit, and the name Matt Coville doesn’t appear once. (‘Matt’ appears once).
- Goodman Game reveal the webinar lineup for the Indie RPG Creator Summit.
- Inclusive publisher Gehenna Gaming announces the horror RPG Eldritch Automata.
- The Escapist Magazine runs Here’s What’s Coming for D&D 50th Anniversary in 2024.
- ICv2 notes that Renegade Game Studios will release the My Little Pony RPG sourcebook Story of the Seasons.
- Burgschneider has released an official D&D fashion range called Dungeons & Dragons Call to Arms.
RPG reviews and interviews from around the web
- J.R. Zambrano opines ‘Avatar Legends’ RPG Is The Perfect Gift For The A:TLA Fan On Your List.
- Also on the Bell of Lost Souls, Meaghan Colleran reviews a golden oldie with Live Out All Of Your Anime Dreams With The ‘Sailor Moon’ RPG System.
- Harvey Randall at PC Gamer notes that D&D’s new free introductory adventure is a cute, functional taster session that lacks teeth—and I’m worried it teaches some bad habits.
- Reviews from R’lyeh writes up Blasphemy & Larceny in Lankhmar.
RPG new releases
- Valeur RPG has released celestial horrors for PDF and Roll20 with the Heretic’s Guide to Devotion & Divinity.
- With a pretty dramatic cover, Lucid Eye Publications launches the mature The Sleeping Tower: The Saga Of Ulthrane And The Skeglings for Elfking The Immortal Roleplaying Game.
- ProZeidon has released the fantasy RPG Asteria.
- Knight Errant Media released the PDF and VTT combo for Titan Effect RPG: Declassified.
- Dec 13th is the cut-off date for UK mainland orders from many bricks’n’clicks retailers. In retail, Forbidden Planet has pre-orders open for Cults of RuneQuest: The Lunar Way.
RPG bundle deals
- Save £180.40 (90%) with Raging Swan Press’ 2021 OSR Megabundle.
- Save $135.84 (85%) with Rising Phoenix Games’ The RPG Advent Calendar – 24 books for $24 bundle.
- Save $37 (51%) with Stroh Hammer’s Gravity Age MEGA bundle.
- Save $22.51 (35%) with Earl of Fife Games’ December Grimdark RPGs bundle.
- Save $10.45 (41%) with the DMsGuild’s Pandora’s Adventures of Many Stories bundle.
RPG ideas, tips and discoveries
- Charles continues his worldbuilding with The One Ring in Tales from the Lone-lands.
- Ben and the Genre Police return to tricky tropes with What’s For Who.
- In his typical style, Jared Rascher writes down What do I know about marketing games?.
- Written for Medicial Express by Claire Goudreau there’s a look at an Innovative approach to counseling with Dungeons & Dragons therapy group.
- At World Anvil, Kat French writes up 2 player role playing games for us.
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 mentioning;
- DoriDice from David Fitzgerald offers “A free-spinning double dice that can be endlessly customised”
- Silicone Tray for Boardgame Resource & Dice from Subtle Games kickstarts “Your attentive partner in board game resource organization”
- Old-School Setting: The Isle of Sedra from Douglas H. Cole suggests “Setting Sourcebook and two supporting adventures for Old-School Essentials”
- The Tower of Fools 5E from Eric Bleney raises funds for “Eilram’s mind fractured, leading him to erect the Tower of Fools—a literal manifestation of his broken psyche.”
- Meta Domain: A fourth-wall-bending cleric subclass for 5E from Steve Conley raises funds for “Clerics who think this all might be a game! A fun, powerful, and playable subclass plus new spells, items, and creatures!”
- Way of the Samurai – Roll and Write by Alone Editions from Ÿøssef Fårhi suggests “Play Way of the samurai game in a Roll and Write version !”
- Dead Skin Masks from Michele Toscan proposes “A D&D adventure set in a warped world of twisted horror based on events and characters from historical Italy with notes.”
- Frostbite Valley : VOLUME TWO from Mia Kay kickstarts “Full expansion to my 2021 Frostbite Valley collection”
- Multi-Faceted Bicone Dice Set from Black Unicorn offers “The multi-faceted bicone is another naturally shaped form that caters to the needs of dice games, crafted using gemstones.”
- The Dragon’s Heir, a draconic D&D 5e Adventure from Matthew David pitches “Legacy of Fire and Fate: The Dragon’s Heir Adventure”
- Rabid Dogs Zine Vol. 2 from Nick Baran crowdfunds “A DCC RPG-compatible zine full of new classes, equipment, and other rule variants.”
- Enlightened: A tabletop role-playing game from D9Games LLC offers “A rules light book featuring “The Twilight of Fae” play setting”
- The Giants’ Blessing: An icy undead one-shot adventure from TGrejczik crowdfunds “One-Shot Adventure about faith, charity, and hope of defeating a horde of icy undead invasion! Designed for 5e”
- Endeavor Universal Role Playing Game from Nick Callaghan nominates “A brand new general roleplaying game telling the tale of heroes of your own creation in any setting you can think of!”
- 12 Days of Christmas D&D Item Pack from Mizo Games introduces “Add some festive magic to your sessions with Christmas themed items, weapons, locations, monsters and more!”
- GM Free DMD – A Dungeons and Dragons ( D&D 5e ) based game from Peter Lauser crowdfunds “For when someone is missing or no one wants to GM. A dungeon crawling DnD Board game.”
- Wild & Far Frontiers – A 5e setting from Matteo Pastorio offers “A new original Western Fantasy Campaign Setting for the 5th Edition of the most important RPG ever created.”
- Pactum Aeternum from DakkaDakka.Store introduces “250+ 3D Printable Original Bits for RPG, 32mm Tabletop Wargame Miniatures | Pre-supported STL Files | Perfect for conversions”
- Tales of Eurisia: Baba Yaga from Abyssoul Fantasy Projects kickstarts “Resin miniatures and STL that comes with free 5e supplements and free painting tutorials, all in one pack.”
- Grimfel: Echoes Of Frost – a D&D 5e adventure from Adam Frank proposes “A Grimdark D&D campaign set in an endless winter”
- ORACLE DICE – Through the Glass Gem’s Glow, the Gods Speak from Boxtic suggests “With the Oracle Dice, Guided by the Glass’s Radiance, Heed the Gods and Forge Ahead!”
- Natural Elements – Dice Set with Sharp Edges from XIU pitches “These dice represent life, water, sunlight, soul, and earth, respectively.”
- How to be an undead in D&D 5E from RebelRune kickstarts “Step beyond the grave with this guide: Infuse your favourite TTRPG DnD saga with bone-rattling fun and sinister new undead abilities”
- Ars Mechanica – The Frozen Enigma – 5 E supplement from Gearwheel Grimoires raises funds for “Adventurers, Victorians and dice rollers: Welcome to this steampunk D&D RPG supplement for any fan of TTRPG settings like DnD and else!”
- Micro Dungeons Winter Edition 2023 from Ready to Play proposes “Micro Dungeon Crawling adventures with Winter/Christmas themes for 5e D&D (5th edition Dungeons and Dragons TTRPG)”
- Our Fantasy Town from Adam Hancock nominates “A backer-publisher co-op project to build a fantasy settlement for any tabletop RPG system”
Do you know of an RPG news source that we don’t? Let us know, or leave a comment below.
