We’re here again, folks!
Let’s get the column rolling with a summary of TTRPG news, as usual.
- There’s an impressively large Outright International Roll20Con 2025 this weekend.
- The Diamond bankruptcy has plenty of twists and turns.
- Paizo will wrestle with BigCommerce for the next generation of their store.
- Itch hasn’t been great at paying game publishers.
- For the wealthy, there’s a significant, rare TTRPG auction.
It’s the last few days for the RPG Publisher Spotlight for October’s selection. Have you seen the new Spotlight page? Patrons vote via a private link.
The candidates are:
What’s changed on the Spotlight page? We’ve made the current winner big, bold and used the term ‘Honouree’ rather than ‘winner’ since it sounds more epic! Equally, now we have “Spotlight Alumni”.
And now, the Routinely Itemised TTRPG news.
Spotlight: DMing the World Press.
RPG news from Geek Native
- The saga has all sorts of twists and turns as Marvel and Kodansha back newly independent Diamond UK distributor, while in the States Diamond bankruptcy update: Court intervenes in dispute over publisher-owned stock.
- I was impressed by Tin Star Games’ Five Years After TTRPG.
- Are you rich? There’s an auction for very rare D&D and other early TTRPGs.
- Bravely, Paizo Publishing is moving to BigCommerce, which means the store upgrade will cancel pre-orders and end Foundry VTT bundles.
- Looking at some Asmodee stats, we ask Is digital fatigue driving a board game boom? .
- I write up a lengthy review of The Frontier 2e.
- Interesting podcast news as Dice Legenz announces ‘Dungeon Mastering is Easy.
- 1985 Games announces that Obojima expands its Zelda-like world with a new D&D book and board game.
- In London, Melsonian Arts Council and Iglootree open a store.
- It’s cyber convention season as SmiteWorks sets November dates for its Fantasy Grounds convention.
- There’s a Humble deal in which Wrath & Glory, Soulbound and Fantasy Roleplay feature in one new bundle.
- There’s also a great but short-lived free D&D, Cyberpunk and ALIEN adventures during Roll20Con this weekend.
Support: Patrons
RPG news from around the web
- Polygon explains D&D icon R.A. Salvatore might be done writing Drizzt.
- At GameReactor, Alberto Garrido writes up Jeremy Crawford talks about what inspired his work revolutionising D&D.
- Rascal carries Game Designers Are Experiencing Persistent Payout Issues From Itch.Io.
- D&D Beyond looks at Transport your party to Hawkins.
- Dungeons and Dragons Fanatics shares New D&D “Player’s Workbook of Epic Adventures” Announced.
- Happy 17th Dice Monkey.
RPG reviews and interviews from around the web
- The Other Side pens a review of The Ruins of Myth Drannor.
- EN World’s Alexander Atoz shares The Cosmere Game Review.
- Reviews from R’lyeh pens a review of Fungi of the Far Realms, the introduction to Conspiracy X, Ashes Without Number, the Miskatonic The Hollow Beneath Clapper Tor, and DCC’s The Croaking Fane.
- Throat Punch Games reviews Dinner at Lionlodge.
- Halfway Station reviews Basic Roleplaying Universal Game Engine.
- Grognardia reviews Vikings Campaign Sourcebook.
- GamesRadar’s Katie Wickens reviews Discworld: Adventures in Ankh-Morpork.
- Timothy Linward, at Wargamer, reviews If the DnD Dark Souls RPG left you cold, this indie game might rekindle you.
- Polygon suggests Balance saving the world and personal drama in the Invincible TTRPG. (The quickstart is free.)
- Rascal interviews Chris Spivey And Shane Ivey On Organizing The Future Of Arc Dream.
RPG new releases
- Mongoose Publishing has new Roll20 modules for Robot Handbook and Core Adventure 1: Invasive Species.
- Marvel has given us the Marvel Multiverse RPG Avengers Expansion.
- Cubicle 7 faces some negative reviews with the launch of Warhammer Age of Sigmar Soulbound Champions of Chaos: Core Rulebook.
- Axo Stories has published the Pay What You Want Xeno quickstart.
- Lightspress has released a Night of the Living Dead Roleplaying Sourcebook.
- To support the Kickstarter, Free League has published a free Invincible – Superhero Roleplaying Quickstart.
- Chubby Funster has a positively reviewed Shadowcity: Blood and Neon.
- Heroes of Qalanor has released the Heroes of Qalanor RPG – Daylight.
- Sean Benoit asks what happens when we ray guns with Martian priests in D6 Forge: Sword & Planet – Exotic World Adventures.
- CM Lowry has published the MÖRK ORG Quickstart Rules.
- Slightly Reckless Games has published Blood & Ice.
- Brotherwise Game has been busy with the release of
- Hollow Realms – Worlds of Adventure has a custom system unleashed with Hollow Skies – Basic Starter Set.
- Chaosium has published Call of Cthulhu’s The Sutra of Pale Leaves 2 – Carcosa Manifest.
- At Foundry, Chaosium also published Call of Cthulhu – Core Content.
RPG bundle deals
- Save $219.63 (90%) in DriveThruRPG’s Outright International Roll20Con 2025 bundle.
- Save $5.46 (48%) with Keith DEdinburgh’s Crimson Vestments bundle.
- Save $4.00 (42%) in the Thaloranth Publishing Marisalor: The Complete Series bundle.
- Save $2.01 (13%) in Brotherwise Games’ Cosmere RPG | Speak the Words | Cross-Platform bundle.
RPG ideas, tips and discoveries
- I wrote up some Slavic inspired monsters ready for your TTRPG.
- There’s a D&D 2024 quiz and some excellent photography tucked into this feature on stackable D&D condition rings.
- Charles Dunwoody writes up Tales of Argosa: Crow’s Keep of The Midlands.
- B/X Backrazor opines Why “Light Games” Suck.
- Sly Flourish pens Use Agnostic Tools.
- Apinya Ramakomud, writing for Modiphius, offers Star Trek Adventures thoughts with Planning the Start of a Campaign.
- Ars Ludi writes up The Star-Pattern: A Pitfall of GMing.
- DungeonSolvers gets into What Happens in a D&D Encounter? Let’s Break It Down.
- At Roleplaying Tips, there’s the heavy question Am I Responsible For My Players’ Fun?.
- Talented Clash Bowley, at RPGPub, talks us through Determine Iniative.
- Bat in the Attic nots Game Balance: RPGs Aren’t Games. And That’s the Point.
RPG Crowdfunding
There’s more! You can catch up with the Kickstarter campaign we’ve written up in more detail at Kickstarter watch. Here are some noteworthy industry projects to mention:
- Tales from Whitechapel from Battlefield Press submits “A antholology for the Gaslight Victorian Fantasy RPG”
- Those That Wander: Fantastic Merchants from Robert Cousineau offers “A 5E Friendly supplement zine full of new merchants and content for your home games!”
- KIN from Button-Games suggests “Born of storm and flame. Shaped by Kinship. A 5e companion bestiary where your bond defines their becoming.”
- Medieval Dark Fantasy RPG: Moss, Stone & Steel from Ramsay McGregor proposes “An original medieval dark fantasy TTRPG, with an original system and low magic, sword & sorcery setting”
- Iphigenia at Midnight from Liam Mackey is working on “A narrative campaign and rules supplement for the LANCER TTRPG”
- What’s My Foundation? – Build Your World in TTRPGs from Runic Press offers “A worldbuilding system for tabletop games, novels, and other fictional settings. For D&D, Pathfinder, Daggerheart, and more!”
- Acapellapocalypse! from We Are So Gonna Die is working on “A TTRPG where a Glee Club has to sing, dance and fight through a horde of zombies and other gleeks to survive, and to win Regionals!”
- Spooky Tree Dice Tower (3D Printable STL Files) from Little Dragon Miniatures submits “A chillingly beautiful dice tower for your Halloween adventures!”
- Haunted from Jesse Burneko introduces “A Game About Murder And What Comes After”
- War-Torn Ice Moon from Strange Dooms is working on “A frozen moon erupts into frenzied free-for-all. Suit up and save Europa. The official “Europa War” RPG module, compatible with FIST.”
- Shattered Realms — A Dark Fantasy TTRPG Setting from James crowdfunds “6 Shards. 18 One-Shots. 1 Last Bargain.”
- Driftport: The Wandering City of the Endless Sea from Steven Chabotte pitches “A Mobile Island of Lashed Ships Campaign Setting With New Character Options for 5e”
- Guardians of Overwall: The Harvest from Stick Figures kickstarts “A solo skirmish roleplaying game and a new collection of collectible wooden Stick Figures for TTRPGs and other tabletop games!”
- Shadow Dice-The World’s First Set of Candlestick Dice from MinZerTRPG introduces “7-in-1 Polyhedral Dice|Classical Aesthetics|Magnetic Alignment, Making Every Roll As Precise As a Ritual and As Elegant as Poetry”
- Blessings of the Dark Gods from –, the Ledger of Ends nominates “A fantastic RPG of desperate deals and drawn fate, where things work as expected and Dark Gods are willing to give a hand. Literally.”
- Plug-In Terrain A 5E Toolkit — Make the battlefield matter. from DumbProductions kickstarts “A fast, system-light toolkit for 5E that turns terrain into play. Drop-in hazards and objects with unique interactions.”
- Genshin Dice Collection Volume 2 from Brother Ming Games is working on “A second collection of gorgeous gemstone dice for every element”
- The Eternal Forge: EPIC BATTLE ARSENAL from Mariano Eliceche Miniatures raises funds for “FDM Ready Gaming Arsenal with Dual-Function Dice Storage – Belt Transport & Table-Mount System + Modular Organizers – Support-Free STL”
- Under the Black Flag 5E: A gritty high-seas adventure from Eric Bleney crowdfunds “A level 5th to 8th adventure that plunges characters into a world of swashbuckling pirates and naval battles.”
- Traps & Trials for 5e from Red Sigil Studios is working on “50+ traps, puzzles, and hazards for 5e – instant tools to turn any dungeon into a dangerous, interactive, and memorable adventure”
- Pam’s – A DnD 5e compatible Zombie Horror Survival adventure from Secrets of Alexandria Retrogrind is working on “A cinematic Dungeons and Dragons 5e compatible Horror one shot adventure playing in a motel, in time for Halloween – Pay what you want”
- The Last Caravan: Westward Bound from Ted Bushman pitches “The next installment of “The Last Caravan,” a tabletop roleplaying game about a midwinter road trip in the wake of an alien invasion.”
- Ugly Wyrmling Monster Maker – Shadowdark & 5E from Ugly Wyrmling is working on “A smooth web app that lets you create and transform exciting monster stat blocks for 5E & Shadowdark RPG.”
- The Elven Emissaries from Terry Whisenant raises funds for “A setting and plot-point campaign for Savage Worlds Adventure Edition”
- CARNACKI: BLOOD & AETHER AUDIO DRAMA & TABLETOP RPG from Jonathan Pezza offers “Dive into IMMERSIVE AUDIO DRAMA, SUPERNATURAL HORROR, & GAMING with the multi-award-winning podcast CURIOUS MATTER ANTHOLOGY’S SEASON 4”
- HERRING & INK – A Solo Detective Journaling Game from TuthRaught nominates “Step into the shoes of a detective. Solve the mystery before the trail goes cold.”
- Page Players: Interactive Game Book from Brett Miller nominates “A screen-free story adventure where players collect, explore, and choose their path, just like a video game, but made of paper.”
- Grit and Glory from Joseph Etheridge crowdfunds “Tired of healing potions on every corner and consequence-free combat? Grit and Glory is for you.”
- Dice Storage Relics from Austen suggests “Modular 3D Printable Dice Storage Device”
- 5e Horror Adventure: “The Puppetmaster” from Elven Foundry submits “Explore a town steeped in dread, uncover horrors beyond its walls, and face a performance of nightmares”
- De Aetas Sanctorum: A Grim Wonder Fantasy Setting for 5e from Fleet Save Games nominates “De Aetas Sanctorum – A Gritty 17th‑Century Fantasy Setting for 5E: Navigate fractured Nations, facing moral ambiguity and consequences”
- Guide to Ethelon: A D&D 5e World Building Supplement! from Adventure Ripples suggests “An expansive DnD 5e supplement exploring the islands, people, relics, and monsters of Ethelon.”
- The Dice Bag Expansion Project 2025 from Alice nominates “I have a business which started with dice bags, I’d like it to grow with dice bags”
- You Are… The Kickstarter! from Tracy Barnett is working on “Four solo worldbuilding games in print! You Are the Dungeon, Tavern, Wilds, and the Palace of Dreams (plus play a game as it funds!)”
- Horror in the Cornfield – 5E Adventure from Jeff Stevens raises funds for “A 5E D&D Compatible adventure. Ripe for Fall, Halloween, or spooky gaming sessions. PDF, Roll20, Foundry VTT, or Shard Tabletop.”
- Dark Descent: Infernalism & Blood Magic. A Forbidden 5E Tome from Mammoth Factory kickstarts “400+ pages filled with unholy monsters, subterranean races, forbidden subclasses, dark rituals & blood magic. Launching SEP 25th 2025!”
- Maps for TTRPGs – Witches & Warlocks from RealmCrafters submits “300+ Dark Fantasy Battle Maps for Any TTRPG (such as D&D or Pathfinder) — Rituals, Ruins, and Haunted Wilderness (Grid & Gridless)”
- RPG Maps: 400 + Autumn Collection for VTT & TTRPGs from Agnieszka Polanowska nominates “Autumn-themed battle maps for VTT & TTRPGs, provided in both grid and gridless formats”
- Beyond the Mycelium – A Fungi based adventure for D&D 5e. from Matthew Boutflower is working on “Play as mushroom folk trying to save their home from an ancient monster… Are you brave enough to venture Beyond the Mycelium?”
- Gone Foragin’ – Cozy DnD 5e One-Shot | Pay What You Want from Betta Games offers “Poison or Snack?! Test your party’s foraging skills in this cozy D&D one shot!”
- RPG Maps – 387 Western Interiors for Cowboys & Outlaws from Benjámin Weisz pitches “High-quality Western maps with immersive encounters for gunslingers, outlaws, and frontier explorers.”
- Fantasy Book Themed Dice Tower and Spell Tracker from Fyre&Ashe is working on “Adventure lays just outside your door, but why risk it when you can crack open a book. (It is a dice tower that looks like a book.)”
Do you know of any RPG news sources we might not know? If so, please let us know or leave a comment below.
