Welcome home.
This is Audio EXP for August 23rd, and the episode title is “Pathfinder, J-TTRPGs and media empires”.
[The following is a transcript of Audio EXP: #298]
[Also on Stitcher | Spotify | Apple | YouTube]
We’re back after one week off to deal with Edinburgh Fringe chaos. For the second year in a row, Chaosium came, and I failed to join their actual play in the library, but I’ve seen and reviewed about sixty shows, which have involved late nights, early mornings, and combinations of go-go or sleepy-bye drinks.
Since we spoke last, Luke Gygax has been in the hospital to get his shoulder repaired. Thankfully, he’s also posted a follow-up to social media to say that the operation went well.
Unfortunately, Liverpool-based TTRPG creator and reviewer Bud Baird has passed away after a short illness.
Infinite Reimagine won the RPG Publisher Spotlight this month, and I have managed to interview Michael Sayre.
If you’re a Pathfinder fan you might recognise the name as Michael led the effort to remaster Pathfinder into the second edition. Now, with Infinite Reimagine he’s working on JRPG-inspired tabletop roleplaying games.
That, as we find out in the interview, does not mean he’s leaving Pathfinder behind. Infinite Reimagine’s games will be built on a torn down and remade Pathfinder 2e system. However, he’s also keen to leave some D&Disms behind. I asked about that and he said;
So, one big thing right out of the gate is that we don’t have spell slots or anything resembling Vancian casting. Our signature “spellcaster”, the sage, has a variety of spellforms they can use at-will and modify with the Aspects that they learn to master.
You can read the full interview on the blog.
This week, the news I heard people I didn’t know were into actual plays or D&D talking about was that Brennan Lee Mulligan being appointed the GM for the 4th season of Critical Role.
On one level this might just be about giving Matthew Mercer a break, although he is still playing.
I think it’s more than that, though. Critical Role are trying to build a stable company here and hoping that enough of the team can always gather for interesting actual play adventures on schedule is a risk.
Furthermore, they’ve media commitments such as we’ve seen with Amazon and more with Darrington Press, especially with Daggerheart doing well.
Matthew and the rest of the team have other responsibilities and the company has to be more than just a side project or way to handle the taxes. They’ve made promises to people who have bought Darrington Press products and I imagine they’ll want keep them.
But finding a way for the perma-popular Matthew Mercer to step out of the limelight, or just a little bit to the left, would be very hard. Getting their biggest rival, which Dropouts are, on board and Brennan Lee Mulligan into the GM chair is a great way to do it. I call it a strategic masterstroke and discuss it on the blog.
We saw yet another rival launch this week, but not in the actual play space, in the fantasy tabletop space, as Son of Oak Game Studios brought out Legend in the Mist.
This is a fantasy TTRPG that uses words to describe characters rather than numbers, and the system has proven itself in other genres already.
I noticed on ICv2 that Glass Cannon Unplugged and Genuine Entertainment have announced the Diablo TTRPG. This is the tabletop of the popular computer game. It’s not impossible, but it will be a surprise if this one eschews stats and dungeon crawling.
Those are new games, but last week we also had news of new challenges for new games and gaming publishers. The USA has removed the De Minimus exceptions on some tariffs. Simply put, the old tariffs made Americans pay more for what companies imported into the USA in bulk. De Minimus gave an exception to small things like books or board games. Oddly, it’s not just the removal of that loophole but that the shipping companies are struggling to cope with the extra faff. There are costs that both importers and exporters have to pay for that extra paperwork and it all adds up to an impossible but hopefully temporary situation.
No wonder publishers like Infinite Reimagine are going digital first as a rule.
Last week, I spoke to Alex and Nick of Liminal Artifact as they crowdfund Dreadnought: War of the Heretic King. This will be the third and final book in the Exquisite Corpse series. Those have been well received and look great.
Bronwen has not been idle, not only has she been braving the crowds of the Edinburgh festival streets, but she’s been watching Alien: Earth while nursing a miniature monster of her own.
I’m pleased to say that the monitor lizard is doing better and that her dragon mother, Bronwen, seems to be enjoying Alien: Earth. Timothy Olyphant gets the ‘standout’ actor nod as Kirsh. If I pronounced that wrong it’s the giveaway you needed to prove that I’ve not yet found time to watch the show.
I will make time in a few weeks to attend the UK’s largest D&D convention. That’s Tabletop Scotland, and by D&D convention, I mean one running the most Adventurers League games. I’m going for all three days of the event, so I might be one of the people who get a free dragonfolk mini from Bifrost.
I think conventions are a great way to get into tabletop gaming. You do need to be brave enough to sign on to play a game, but once you do that, you’ll get experience and an introduction to gamers.
In an article I prepared for August, anticipating our busy schedule, I argued that there’s an epidemic of loneliness, particularly among men, and that tabletop RPGs offer a viable solution for some. I figured that’s all well and good to say, but not practically helpful unless I also include ways to get started in the hobby, and events like Tabletop Scotland are one.
There’s one bundle to talk about and it fits the theme as the Bundle of Holding has lots of Ironsworn to offer you. Not only is Ironsworn a popular TTRPG, but it also has a great solo mode.
That’s a wrap, keep safe, remember that the Cyberpunk 2.0.2.0. has whole sections about defeating ICE. See you next week.
