Routinely Itemised: RPGs #244

There’s no podcast this weekend and Bronwen and I are off at a local charity sci-fi con. I’m insisting on walking all the way there!

Now, on with the RPG new summary of summaries!

• Much of Hasbro’s profit drop is due to ‘Universes Beyond’ and it’s probably coming to D&D.
• D&D 2024’s rollout has been confirmed, with new books and pre-orders open for the Roll20 Edition of Vecna: Eve of Ruin.
• Morrus dug into the Evil Genius Games drama.
• Cubicle 7 has a reality warpingly large Doctor Who RPG bundle.
• CMON has quit Kickstarter in favour of Gamesfound.

We’ll be at Capital Sci-Fi Con 2024 which is a not-for-profit raising money for Children’s Hospices Across Scotland. Can we wee event like this attract any sci-fi stars? There’s David Ajala, Denis Lawson, Paul McGann, Arti Shah, Paul Freeman and James Mackenzie to name just a few.

I hope you navigated the sometimes awkward February dates. This blogger ordered a super-sized “Wagon Wheel” biscuit. It’s taken three days to eat it. Call it mid-life crisis over and done with!

Now, on with the TTRPG news!

Support: Patrons.

RPG news from Geek Native

• Here’s the official timeline for D&D 2024 releases.
• Geek Native took a quick look at the free quickstart for Dark Age of Man.
• We wondered whether Hasbro’s profit collapse makes D&D 6e more or less likely.
• At the Bundle of Holding there’s a deal on the excellent Knock!

Spotlight: Terry Maranda

RPG news from around the web

• The expensive license deals of Magic: The Gathering’s ‘Universes Beyond’ are responsible for Hasbro’s 37% drop in profits, as Matt Bassil at Wargamer and others note. Hasbro will have to make more money from those expensive deals and so when ComicBook notes Chris Cocks is hinting ‘Universes Beyond’ might come to D&D we’re not surprised. There’s been D&D Rick & Morty and D&D Stranger Things tie-up already.
• At EN World, Morrus published an incredibly well-researched and articulate article on The Rise and Fall of Evil Genius Games.
• Paizo has partnered with the musical Michael Ghelfi Studios.
• Roll20 have announced that their clever new tech Jumpgate will soon get a beta for Pro Users. They’ve also confirmed Vecna: Eve of Ruin support and shared plans for D&D 2024.
• Handiwork Games have announced that Maskwitches of Forgotten Doggerland 2e is coming, will contain all human art and if your DTRPG account is set to accept mature content you can download The Naming of Spirits for free.
• Christian Hoffer has the exclusive on Dungeons & Dragons Introduces The Fallbacks With New Novel Excerpt.
• Chaosium’s Community Content program, the Miskatonic Repository, has sold more than 150,000 products.
• Blooloop notes Interactive ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ theatre show to premiere in New York.
• BrickFanatics has Every character in the rumoured LEGO Dungeons & Dragons Collectible Minifigures explained.
• What might this mean for crowdfunding tabletop games? A lot? Nothing? CMON has quit Kickstarter to go all-in with Gamefound.

RPG reviews and interviews from around the web

• Matt Jarvis has had an early look at the Kickstarter for Guillotine: Crown of Blood.
• Reviews from R’lyeh take a look at the quickstart of the fifth edition of Chivlary & Sorcery.
• Master The Dungeon has reviewed Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything.
• Jared Rascher has shared first impressions of the Kobold Guide to Dungeons and RPG Audiobook.
• Throat Punch Games has published a review of the Pathfinder one-shot Head Shot the Rot.
• Tomas Gimenz Rioja has reviewed MCDM’s Flee, Mortals!.

RPG new releases

• Just Crunch Games has released the core rules for their universal RPG Sanction.
• You can pre-order Wizards of the Coast’s Vecna: Eve of Ruin for Roll20
• It’s also possible to pre-order Magpie Games’ Uncle Iroh’s Adventure Guide for Avatar Legends in PDF.
• Ghostfire Gaming has published Dungeons of Drakkenheim for Roll20, PDF download and both together.
• Lightspress Media released the Moonlight Opera: Romance Roleplaying.
• La Lionne Publishing has published Sail the Oceans, a queer TTRPG.
• Red Snapper Studios has an RPG about dreams and fears called Nyx.
• Nightfall Games have published an infestation quickstart for their forthcoming Maggot Machine.

RPG bundle deals

• Save $157.72 (60%) with this chunky Cubicle 7 Doctor Who Sourcebooks bundle.
• Save $62.91 (60%) with Onyx Path Publishing’s Vampire: The Requiem 2E Collection.
• Save $27 (57%) with Machine Age Productions’ iHunt Valentine’s Day Massacre.
• Save $24.96 (29%) in Kobold Press’ Eat Their Heart Out bundle.
• Save $24.55 (35%) in Elven Tower’s Dungeon Vault Magazine – Shadowdark bundle.
• Save $14.94 (50%) with the DMsGuild O.P.S. Adventuring bundle.
• Save $2.00 (9%) with Hunters Entertainment’s Alice is Missing Core + Expansion, the silent RPG.

RPG ideas, tips and discoveries

• Geek Native pondered GMs correcting mistakes.
• Charles’ worldbuilding Troika went to Books Full of Weird and Astonishing Adventures.
• Zenopus Archives discusses the How Dungeons & Dragons Started video teaser.
• Green Ronin’s Steve Kenson discusses Valiant Adventures RPG’s Doctor Mirage.
• Roleplaying Tips offers wisdom on Helping the New Player Fit in.

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;

• Seeds of Discord: a betrayal cyberpunk TTRPG from Luca Magorosso is working on “A card based Tabletop Role-Play Game about young augmented mutant spies at odds, sought by megacorps as the optimal spies. (ENG/ITA)”
• ICE DRAGONS – MINIS TABLETOP RPG from Klaus introduces “PRE-SUPPORTED & UNSUPPORTED – STL FILES FOR 3D PRINTING – 75 mm & 32 mm”
• How to Roleplay: a guide from triex offers “A collection of techniques and tips to tackle the roleplay part of roleplaying games”
• Maleficarum – A Witchhunting Mystery Game from Paul Bamberger nominates “Unmask dark powers plaguing a village in this print & play witchhunting mystery-deduction-roleplaying game for 5-7 players.”
• Epic Heroes Encyclopedia for 5e – Bard from Table Knight Studios submits “Reach beyond limits, unlock hidden potentials, be an epic bard, and advance up to 30th level with this 50 pages of epic content for 5e.”
• Circle of Azure: The Jaywalker from Sylvan Arcanum crowdfunds “A New 5e compatible Druid Subclass”
• B/X-5: New 5e Classes for an Old School Basic game from Raging Owlbear crowdfunds “B/X-5 is a reimagining of 5e Basic classes for a lower power old-school game, including 3 new classes for Elves, Dwarfs, and Halflings.”
• DARKHEIM: The Wandering Chirurgeon from Rocket Pig Games raises funds for “A legendary (5e) monster miniature for tabletop games (3d printable resin STL) and 5e compatible PDF.”
• Bracing for the Storm: A ZiMo TTRPG from Pidj Sorensen nominates “An inventory-management Tabletop Roleplaying Game for 1 or more players.”
• Dice Dragons: a solo-TTRPG for the dice hoarders from Helios Marzocca proposes “Grab all the dice you own and get ready to protect them from the greedy humans who will try to steal your treasure”
• Orcskull from Stephen Joy nominates “Quick, easy and flexible rules. Play how you want want. Create the world you want.”
• Active Time Event!!! a d66 of SFJPRG Backgrounds For Troika! from Wilderwhim kickstarts “The Timescape’s finest heroes get jammed together and blown apart in this Science Fantasy Nonsense Zine for Troika! #zinequest”
• The Cursed Art Pack from Flying Duck Studio Lab kickstarts “A collection of eerie images featuring otherworldly creatures suitable for TTRPGs, zines, books, for both digital and printed media.”
• Kogarashi from Nerdura Games introduces “A TRUE-d6 roleplaying game inspired by fantastical feudal Japan”
• Segone 5 : The Mizukoku Kingdom [+80 to +400 stl hex files] from Stressed_Raccoon pitches “Get 80 to 400 STL files ! Show your players the map of your world with hexagonal tiles [STL] ! Change the way you play your game !”
• Martian Crawl Classics: A Zine Quest Sourcebook for MCC RPG from Sniderman introduces “H.G. Wells’ “War of the Worlds” invades Terra A.D.!”
• The Greatest Adventure Ever Told from David Cosby introduces “In this RPG; explore, loot, battle. Then as a Bard, compete against players to see who can tell the most daring tale of their exploits.”
• The Frankenstein Society Meeting Handbook #ZineQuest from AdaPress is working on “Creating monsters in a supportive community of auteur scientists since 1851. A group Party TTRPG for freaks and those who make them.”
• Handcrafted Eternal Love Gemstone Dice from Diving Hippo Studio is working on “Polyhedral dice with gold engraved fantasy love theme & font for collections, dungeons and dragons, board games, rpg and tabletop games”
• Terracava Adventures – A fluffy roguelite RPG from Mirko Biagiotti pitches “Drop into the bowels of the hollow earth, wield powerful soft weapons, cast unlikely spells, die and start again!”
• The Occult Trail from Marvin Cognac introduces “A dark zine-TTRPG set in 1911 in which you must hunt down beasts that spread blight in the swamps.”
• Kagejima, 5e D&D Campaign from Anthony David raises funds for “Dragon’s Twilight”
• Dreadfarer: a Solo Journaling RPG of Eldritch Horror from NeonRot crowdfunds “A journaling tabletop RPG about exploring a strange new continent, finding cursed artefacts, and recording your findings.”
• 6″x6″ Epic scale City Tiles from Nyverdale Tabletop pitches “Welcome to the bustling streets of the miniature metropolis! Introducing our Kickstarter project: 6″x6″ Epic scale City Tiles”
• RPG Gaming Essentials Kit from Erik Bauer nominates “The RPG Gaming Essentials Kit is a comprehensive agnostic gaming kit for any tabletop RPG enthusiast!”
• The Tome of Tombs from James Holloway offers “A worldbuilding RPG zine about crypts, sepulchres, catacombs and more.”
• DnD Character Journal from Michael Wu crowdfunds “A mobile companion app for 5e players to develop your character, organize notes, and play downtime mini games.”
• The Graverobber’s Guide to Games from D G Chapman crowdfunds “A pamphlet zine of in-world tavern games for your fantasy RPG”
• Betwixt & Between from Paul Stefko is working on “A one-to-one mystery adventure zine.”
• The Arena Game Table: Digital TTRPG Table from Game Theory Tables raises funds for “The Future of Gaming – a solid wood game table with a built-in, touch-enabled display, available with a matching dining top!”
• Sands of Time: A 5E Desert Adventure from Tina Glasneck proposes “Will you claim the treasure or succumb to the sands of destiny in this 5e one-shot adventure? Includes two prequel ebooks.”
• Lost Bolts of Hazim STL Miniatures Collection + 5e Adventure from VOID Miniatures offers “3D Printable miniatures and modular Scenery of 32mm. 5e campaing for Role Playing, Tabletop, Wargames & collectibles.Pre-supported STLs”
• The Planar Codex (5e) from Phil Beckwith submits “A Player-Based Sourcebook for D&D 5e taking your characters across the planes. 108 subclasses, 18 playable species, spells and more.”
• Mythic Revolutions TT RPG – “The Beginning” from HyperCosmos Team nominates “An innovative TT RPG about Great Revolutions of human history, based on an easy d6 system. Combining History and Supernatural.”
• Pray the Gods are Listening – 1-6 Player Zine Quest Lite-RPG from Simon Birks suggests “Race against time to lead your village up Mount Variya before the rising waters consume them and save the most souls!”
• Misery, Love, Company: 5 TTRPG Zines from Six Planes Games crowdfunds “Five standalone TTRPG zine projects, some new, some remakes of our previous PDF-only titles. A Zine Quest 2024 project.”
• Metanthropes: Introductory Zine from LEGiTAMiNE Games kickstarts “Embody a Metanthrope – a being of limitless potential. The Zine includes rules, premade chars, 1-shot session & Modules for FoundryVTT”
• Perilacrum: Solo TTRPG from Humble Raven Games pitches “The evil Necromancer Morgaborg has laid siege to your village! A simple, solo TTRPG with push-your-luck mechanics.”
• The Lesser Key of the Sandestin – A ZineQuest Double Feature from Andrew D Devenney kickstarts “Two RPG zines for Into the Odd exploring strange corners of the Rainy City: ghastly ghosts and the criminal puppeteer underworld.”
• Realms of Elghrune: Father of Nightmares from Super Bloodmoon Studios is working on “Core and expansion content for the Realms of Elghrune RPG!”
• Dr. Zero Presents: Meriodnali Ghost Run, A Solo RPG for 5E from Two Silver Denarii, LLC suggests “A Wee Bit Twisted, the ‘zine for the casual RPGer”
• HOME – Mech x Kaiju Mapmaking TTRPG from Deep Dark Games kickstarts “Build a mech, map the unknown, fight Kaiju, and save your home. Solo to 4 players.”
• 100% Modern Ghosts from B Marsollier nominates “a humorous horror journaling zine”
• Terra Arcis from Scorched Studio proposes “A captivating solo journaling RPG game, featuring a harrowing trip into Celtic fae-realms long forgotten.”
• Fabled Beginnings: Mechanical Mayhem from Fabled Adventurers Extraordinaire Games kickstarts “D&D 5E High-level play for low-level parties, starring the astral sea”
• DCC Adventure Module: Pilgrims of the Goblin Road from Matt Funk pitches “Legends of Lohre folklore-based roleplay returns for DCC with a Level-1 adventure of secret agendas and twisted challenges.”
• Thrice Fantasy TTRPG from FULL METAL GAMES offers “A light engine TTRPG with a solid structure, using only d³s.”
• Trick ‘R Treat from Louis Hoefer offers “A Dare-Luck Club RPG Zine Adventure”
• ORBITAL HUNT | It’s cold in space, bring some heat. from gabo submits “A bite-size, sci-fi, pick-your-path adventure in a tiny retro package.”
• Dice Tomes Vol 3 from Artefact Games introduces “Dice Tomes, the award-winning RPG dice sets, return with their third collection, each themed on an iconic character class.”
• Snappy Condition Rings & Case (DND & Pathfinder 2) from Minis Monthly nominates “A great redesign from traditional condition rings for DND 5E and Pathfinder 2! STL files available if you have your own 3D printer!”
• Shen Battler Aurora: A 5E-Hybrid Isekai RPG from Johnathan Wright pitches “Narrate your favorite anime deeds with The 5th Engine – a 5E hybrid adding storytelling tools to customize your characters and actions!”
• Slasher: A Horror TTRPG About Dying from Sam Armstrong kickstarts “A zero-prep, one-shot TTRPG designed to evoke brutal horror films.”
• Chrono Slip: Temporal Campaign Setting for Level Up / D&D 5E from Mike Myler kickstarts “A realm repeating inspired by time-tested classics like Chrono Trigger and Zelda! Archetypes, spells, 64 new NPCs/monsters, and more!”
• Songs of the Northlanders: Against the Dark from S. John Bateman proposes “A micro-gazetteer and adventure zine for Old School Essentials.”
• Enter The Dino Knights from John McGuire pitches “A thrilling new adventure where post-apocalyptic vehicles clash with the primal force of dinosaurs.”
• Micro Dungeons XII & Fairy Tales Edition for D&D 5e from Ready to Play offers “Micro Dungeon Crawling adventures inspired on Classic Fairy tales for 5e D&D (5th edition Dungeons and Dragons TTRPG)”
• The Shrike from Joel Hines offers “A dark fantasy sandbox adventure on an extraplanar megastructure imprisoning an impaled god for Old School Essentials RPG.”
• Final Boss from OnePage Creations nominates “16 characters to choose from, Roll&Write, Print&Play, Rpg about character building, dice drafting and dueling for 1-2p with SOLO mode”
• Demon Ninja from Disciple Studios raises funds for “A tabletop role-playing game of horror and redemption in a dark Japan.”
• D666: 6-Dungeon Zine For 5e #ZineQuest from One-Eyed Werebear Gaming offers “6 Dungeons, 6 Rooms, 6 New Monsters – Drop Into Your Campaign or Run On Their Own”
• LoadOut: An Ampersand RPG Zine from AMPERSAND RPG raises funds for “Fresh Content + Skirmish for our Fans and Friends”
• The Deck of Many Things…Illustrated by Phil Stone from Phil Stone introduces “The Deck of Many Things, for 5e, illustrated by Phil Stone”
• HELLSITE from [email protected] submits “A Zine Quest TTRPG powered by your social media feed”
• Owe My Soul to the Company Store from Archon’s Court Games submits “A transhumanist social adventure for the Mothership sci-fi roleplaying game.”
• Hexagram #12, an Old-School RPG Zine for The Fantasy Trip from Steve Jackson Games submits “A retro-style collection of articles for Steve Jackson’s “The Fantasy Trip” roleplaying game.”
• Teenage Oddyssey from Cannon Otter Studio nominates “A 90’s thrill ride based on Chris McDowall’s, Mark of the Odd! Launching on 2-14-2024!”
• Against the Gloom from Scryptid Games pitches “Our Flag Means Death Metal. A dice-based role-playlist-building game about music’s furious resistance to despair.”
• Sands of Fate: A Moon Gate Exploration Co. TTRPG from NamaStacy submits “An Explosive, Tomb Raiding, DnD 5E Desert Campaign for Characters of 1-10th Level”
• Biotrophication from Darling Demon Eclipse introduces “A zine-game of alien horror and weird romance for two players.”
• Revengers Disassembled from WatcherDM nominates “Cinematic Adventure for Troika! All our heroes have become our villains as they consolidate power and disenfranchise the oppressed!”
• Temperamental Upgrades: Take your PVNKS to the edge from Conlin Durbin suggests “An expansive Cy_borg zine with new locations, classes, enemies and more!”
• ShadowSpark Treasures, Designed for Use with ShadowDark RPG from Philip Reed submits “A deck of 52 treasure cards for use with the ShadowDark RPG. Created by Philip Reed.”
• Dungeons and Divas from Shaun Fenton nominates “A Forged in the Dark TTRPG Set In The Realm of Messy Reality Television #zinequest”
• A Riddle in Brass: The Spiral Keep A D&D 5e Module from MythTTRPG crowdfunds “Fight off strange constructs and uncover the secrets of a labyrinthine tower in this steampunk 5e adventure.”
• Rise of Carneos – TTRPG Adventure, Dark Fantasy Novel & STL from Fleshcraft Studio kickstarts “Get ready to defend Cairnsvale from the Invasion of Fleshy horrors! A Sandbox TTRPG Adventure, a Dark Fantasy Novel, and Miniatures.”
• SHOTGLASS ADVENTURES One-Shots: 4 FOR 5! from Laidback Dungeon Master raises funds for “4 Shotglass Adventure PDF Oneshots for 5 Bucks (AU)! DnD 5e & OSR adventure, Gridded & Ungridded Maps, 5e/1e Monsters & Magic Items!”
• OSE The Crippled Snake / Il Verme Monco from DiegoZap offers “A 64-page adventure module for Old School systems, for expert level groups (5-8)”
• Echoes of the Eyeless Lady from Michele Toscan nominates “A system-neutral (5E) solo-friendly scenario featuring characters, places and lore of Italian history with a grimweird fantasy twist.”
• Into The Depths: A Fiendish Monsters Zine For 5e/PF2e from Snowy’s Maps introduces “A zine containing 10 RPG fiendish monsters for PF2e and DnD5e (Pathfinder/5e/D&D). Available as a PDF, FoundryVTT module, and in print.”
• Castaways & Conspiracies from Steve Johnson is working on “A QAGS adventure about hidden agendas.”
• Endiced, The Mystic Gems Dice: “The Jewelry Collection” from Adrian Salgueiro Balsa suggests “Together, lapidary artisans and dice crafters bring inlaid authentic 24k Gold and high-end carved gemstones in a exclusive jewelry box.”
• Shrines: Sites of Reverence & Power from Empty Mountain (Nothing Can Die) raises funds for “A riso-printed worldbuilding zine about sacred architecture”

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