Routinely Itemised: RPGs #250

This weekend, I’ll be at Conpulsion and Creative Director Bronwen has her solo debut at Granton:Hub. It made local news!

Here’s the summary of the RPG news summaries!

• D&D confirms Vecna is in focus for the 50th birthday because of Stranger Things.
• Larian Studios, however, is finished with D&D.
• Osprey released When Nightmares Come.

Here in the UK, the clocks go forward in the morning. It’s a historic tradition from back before we had electric lights. It means one less hour in bed, but the tabletop gaming of Compulsion, which has moved to the Pleasance this year, starts sooner.

Note. Ahem. The clocks shift on Saturday, so it’s Sunday morning that we feel the change.

Is there even a fantasy RPG with a world so messed up that the timekeeping system of the world changes as the year progresses?

Also tomorrow, at 8pm, tickets for Tabletop Scotland open.

Oh, and looks, I know I’ve spent the whole intro to Routinely Itemised plugging local RPG and tabletop game conventions, but we’ve all got to support the community.

That said, let’s get on with the big long list of RPG news.

Support: Patron.

RPG news from Geek Native

• D&D’s 50th means Converse is releasing a limited edition Dungeons & Dragons collection.
• The World Anvil released the free to download RUIN.
• We also covered, Skavenloft’s impressive freebie R3volution.
• In the Bundle of Holding we’ve the Goodman Games d20 Monster Guides and the John Carter offers. More? Yes! There’s also the Ruins of Symbaroum.

Spotlight: LunarShadow Designs

RPG news from around the web

• At IGN, Eric Francisco pens Dungeons & Dragons Publisher Reveals How Stranger Things and the MCU Influenced Their New Campaign.
• GamesRadar’s Abigail Shannon helpfully sums up New D&D rulebooks have 96% new artwork, and everything else we found out at Gary Con.
• Bell of Lost Souls puts together D&D: Take A Look Inside ‘Quests From The Infinite Staircase’ In A New Sneak Peek.
• Dextero’s Noelle Corbett notes D&D 2024 rules revision explained: Player’s Handbook, DMG & Monster Manual.
• J.R. Zambrano pens Pathfinder’s Remastered ‘Monster Core’ Features All New Dragons For Golarion’s Dungeons.
• Michigan Daily’s Lin Yang makes the hobby look great in Dungeons and Dragons and the magic of friendship.
• Atlas Obscura isn’t a source we cite often, but this year is special, and Tea Krulos has written up Dungeons & Dragons All Started In This Tiny Wisconsin Town.
• The Argus Leader has the story of How a Harrisburg middle school teacher is using Dungeons & Dragons in the classroom.
• In computer game news, Larian Studios is done with D&D.
• In theatre news, yes, we get to do that now; GamingTrend’s Richard Allen covers The cast has been announced for the upcoming Dungeons & Dragons the Twenty-Sided Tavern live theatrical experience.

RPG reviews and interviews from around the web

• Chase Carter looks at Kickstarter and writes up Mystic Punks RPG’s half weird magic and half grungy counter culture vibes get an official book. Then, over at BackerKit, Chase gives us Sci-fi RPG Substratum Protocol channels the “deep delving mystery” of Subnautica and In Other Waters.
• The Indie Game Reading Club has a Deep Dive into Cowboy Bebop.
• Reviews from R’lyeh digs into Call of Cthulhu: Arkham, a fanzine focus on Crawling Under a Broken Moon and the 2016 Troika!
• Grognardia gives us a flashback to Polyhedron issue 19.
• With very thorough tagging, Arthur at Refereeing and Reflection reviews Monsters, Aliens, and Holes in the Ground.
• The Other Side reviews the 1999 Gary Gygax’s Legendary Adventure and the 2000 Gary Gygax’s Lejend Master’s Lore and Beast of Lejend.
• At RPG.net, we’ve a review of the Cloud Empress rulebook.
• Tribality gives us Where Evil Lives – MCDM Lairs Book Review.
• Dicebreaker’s Hal Hewlett decides Critical Role’s D&D rival Daggerheart plays tabletop RPGs’ greatest hits well, but struggles to be more than a covers band.
• Jared Rascher reviews Mutants & Masterminds 3e’s Astonishing Adventures: The Lost Library and One Bad Apple for Shadow of the Weird Wizard.
• Over at Gnome Stew, Jared also shares a Girl by Moonlight review.
• Beth Rimmels pens Dungeons & Dragons: The Fallbacks: Bound for Ruin Review.
• Cleveland’s FreshWater interviews Deckard Manne in Another world: Local creator releases Myrwoods D&D campaign setting book.

RPG new releases

• Osprey Publishing has published their solo and cooperative skirmish wargame for investigating the supernatural with When Nightmares Come.
• Mythmere Games has released the Swords & Wizardry White Box Rules.
• Doomed Wizard has published the OSR-compatible Strangeville.
• Heavenly Places releases A New Thing TTRPG campaign.
• Gaming Ballistic has published an A5-formatted Old-School Essentials Sedra Sourcebook.
• In physical books, pre-order the Alternative Hardcover of Wizards of the Coast’s Dungeons & Dragons: 5th Edition: Vecna: Eve Of Ruin.
• Also, Goodman Games has Dark Tower.
• Not books, but dice, as Ultra Pro take pre-orders for their expensive and official Dungeons & Dragons: 50th Anniversary: RPG Dice 7-Pack: Heavy Metal

RPG bundle deals

• Save $24.39 (29%) in the DMsGuild’s Pandora’s Bundle of all Episodes.
• Save $15.95 (69%) in the DMsGuild’s Pat the Buck! Limited Time bundle.
• Save $8.66 (21%) with Epic Mecanix’s Call of Dungeons: Game Components bundle.
• Save $5.00 (20%) with Lightspress Media’s Dark Academia Fantasy bundle.
• Save $1.44 (21%) in the DMsGuild’s Deep Wood Compendium bundle.

RPG ideas, tips and discoveries

• Merchoid has D&D Cartoon models such as Shadow Demons, Dekkion the Skeleton Warrior, Sheila the Thief and Hank the Ranger.
• There are other options too, from different suppliers, such as Forbidden Planet and Neca’s Dungeons & Dragons: 50th Anniversary: Action Figure: Strongheart.
• Michael Tresca, at EN World, shares a thought piece RPG Evolution: Hasbro’s AI Plans. I like the conclusion, and it matches my March 16th suggestion in the Audio EXP Podcast Theories on WotC, D&D and AI.
• At Modiphius, John Houlihan writes up How to create a great character in Achtung! Cthulhu.
• The Angry GM shares thoughts on Personal character quests.
• Giant Freakin’ Robot suggests Dungeons And Dragons Created A New Generation Of Anime Fans.
• At BookRiot, Lucas Maxwell writes up Dungeons & Dragons Art.
• Sly Flourish shares RPG tips on Running Missions and Quest Chains.
• The Furtive Goblin’s Burrow writes up A Boring History Lesson on the Much More Interesting Talislanta, the Game That Won’t Die.
• Deeper in the Game suggests No Session Survives First Contact With Reality.

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;

• Agents of Fate from Joseph Fredrick Richardson is working on “A collaborative action movie where everyone at the table gets a turn to perform AND direct!”
• Blood Cradle of the Snake Monks from Adventure Squared introduces “A system neutral mini adventure module for tabletop RPGs”
• Twilight of Agnium: Crimson Tree Temple from Konstantin Velikikh proposes “3d printable tabletop terrain for DnD, Pathfinder, wargames, RPG and more. Fantasy scenery, Agnium series”
• The Complete Virgin Mine AD&D/5E Mega-Dungeon! from Scott Taylor proposes “Classic ‘Orange Spine’ 1980s Inspired Mega-Dungeon Hardcover in both classic AD&D and 5E mechanics.”
• Da Vinci’s War – 5e D&D Adventure from Anthony David pitches “The Battle of Venice”
• Monsters of Drakkenheim – 5E Monsters with Lore Lairs & Loot from Dungeon Dudes suggests “150+ New 5e monsters inspired by Eldritch Horrors. Harvest felled foes to craft loot. Engage epic bosses. Explore forbidden lairs.”
• WE DIE YOUNG – Supernatural Retro Roleplaying in the 1990s from Eric Bloat kickstarts “Tabletop RPG for Old-School Essentials and Ultimate SURVIVE THIS!! game systems”
• Hymn of the DragonFlower from Mr.Tarrasque raises funds for “A bittercold adventure for 5th edition and Tales of the Valiant”
• Codex Bestiarum: A Tome of Creatures [5e], by Yellowbyte from Yellowbyte Studios introduces “Prepare to confront the most extraordinary monsters! This 300+ pages bestiary is a collection of more than 150 creatures for DnD 5e.”
• Pickpocketing Expanded: A $2 D&D 5e Ruleset Expansion from Dumb Cane Games proposes “Enhance your games with new rules, approaches, and consequences for pickpocketing! Includes 7 unique d100 loot tables of varying wealth”
• Fine-Tuned Dice Sets: Optimized Numbering and New Hex d4! from Flying Horseduck suggests “Mathematically balanced numbering and new d4 shape! Sharp edge resin or semi-precious stone, elegant cases included.”
• Towns, Taverns, & Tales: A Traveller’s Guide from Will Neeb Jr. is working on “20+ Unique Fantasy Villages, Towns, and Cities for the TTRPG adventurer! Fully compatible with Dungeons and Dragons 5th Edition!”
• COLLATERAL from SPACEBUTCHER proposes “COLLATERAL: Roll and write – adventure – print and play game. Manage your tribe, explore the 5 regions and defeat the Collateral!”
• Character Backstory Cards, Designed for the 5E Ampersand RPG from Philip Reed is working on “50 backstories to add flavor and game benefits to your characters. Available as a deck of cards or as a book.”
• $1 Marvelous 5e Reference Materials: Weapons, Armor, & Items from Wild Magic Life suggests “Organize your CUSTOM 5e Loot-a-Palooza”
• The Arcane Index Vol 3 – Locations from The Arcane Muse offers “48 Fantasy locations that can be used in any RPG game system”
• Labyrinth & Lyre rulebook + adventure book (for D&D 5e) from Jason C Lira pitches “Experience the world’s greatest roleplaying game in ancient Greece.”
• Dyrmo and Torte’s Deal of Adversaries: Howling Goblins from Mindfire Studios proposes “A 5e Sourcebook about forests, goblins and howling horrors by the hand of a couple of little devils willing to make a bargain.”
• RPG Immersion Pack – #1 from Misc 3D Creations kickstarts “RPG imagery designed to augment immersion in fantastic worlds, in and out of the gaming session!”
• Operation Stealth Water – A Taleweaver DnD 5e Adventure from Leo & Fox offers “Money Heist meets Once Upon a Time in this DnD one shot based on the Mirror and Realm novel series”
• Beneath the Ghoul Lair from Johnny Rook Games, LLC introduces “An expanded re-release of this popular D&D fantasy role-playing adventure game for OSRIC, 1e/2e AD&D, BECMI, and now for OSE!”
• Wizzard’s Roll Dice Tower – Pay What You Want Vol.7 from Fantasy3DTabletop nominates “3D printable fantasy dice towers for Board Games and Tabletop RPGs. Optimized for supportless 3D printing on FDM printers.”
• Ancient City of The Great Pharaohs from AYA SON kickstarts “3D Printable STL Files, Terrain for Tabletop, Miniature, Role Playing Games, Wargames and RPG’s”

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