Routinely Itemised: RPG #340

I need to wrap Christmas gifts after this, so let’s get to the summary of RPG news summaries!

Hope the upcoming holiday week is great for you.

• BackerKit are bullish on their collab-funding model.
• Critical Role will come to London for Comic Con.
• Big changes at Wizards of the Coast’s Digital Ventures as James Ohlen moves into a TTRPG consultation role and Paul Della Bitta takes over.
• Steve Jackson Games’ Toon is making a comeback.

We’re up against the clock to get the RPG Publisher Spotlight interview back from Gear Games this month. I hope it happens, but if not, then we’ll publish it in January.

Last week, we asked people to make Geek Native a preferred news source. Thank you if you did! At the time of writing, my account hadn’t had the feature enabled (it had been US-exclusive previously), but now I can, so I imagine it is Europe-wide. It’s a free way to help support an indie news outlet.

There are other ways to help support us, too, such as joining the patreon, buying some ads or becoming an event sponsor. Heck! You can make our day by sending us some exclusive news.

Spotlight: Gear Games.

RPG news from Geek Native

• Geek Native chatted to Maxwell Salzberg, the CEO of BackerKit, about the changing business of RPGs.
• I took an early look at what we know about the surreal tabletop game Silent Laeke.
• Cubicle 7 have released a starter set for Warhammer: The Old World.
• We write up the release of the second edition of 13th Age.
• A therapeutic RPG has been released by The Bodhana Group and Onyx Path called Branch Riders.
• Son of Oak has a charity selecting winter sale.
• Dice with T-Rex fragments in them? They’ll be part of Roll with History.
• The timing for Echoes of Exandia works out and so Critical Role will be at Comic Con London.
• The D&D VR game Battlemarked reimagines solo mode.
• At the Bundle of Holding, there are loads of Forged in the Dark deals.

Support: Become a Patreon

RPG news from around the web

• GameRant pens New Dungeons & Dragons Alternative Has a Clear Target.
• Wizards of the Coast has pulled James Ohlen from digital so he can consult on tabletop games and appointed Paul Della Bitta as the new Digital Ventures boss.
• Aimee Hart, scribes Critical Role just let slip that something big is coming fans’ way.
• At Wargamer, Gab Hernandez carries It’s Looney Tunes meets DnD when this classic TTRPG finally returns from hiatus.
• Rowan, Rook and Decard will (experimentally) crowdfund a DIE RPG megadungeon.
• The Gaming Gang’s Jeff McAleer reports Coriolis: The Great Dark – Flowers of Algorab Adventure Box Set to Arrive in February.
• Polygon carries KPop Demon Hunters D&D Kickstarter pulls inspiration from unexpected places.
• Christopher Hutton’s TTRPG Insider will drop a newsletter (but still have two) due to time and competition in 2026.
• Dark Horse will publish Stranger Things and Dungeons & Dragons Library Edition.
• Noble Knight have published a year in review.

RPG reviews and interviews from around the web

• At Wargamer, Mollie Russell reviews Eberron: Forge of the Artificer.
• Seed of Worlds reviews Green Corridor.
• Metal Earth writes up thoughts on Cthulhu by Gaslight, Keeper’s Guide.
• B/X Blackrazor gets into Why NOT Shadowdark.
• Ill Met by Morrslieb writes upa review of Barony of the Damned (WFRP 2e).
• Sami Yuhas, at The Gaming Gang, reviews Starfinder 2E Alien Core.

RPG new releases

• Green Ronin has just released The Expanse RPG: Transport Union Edition.
• Henry Hugosson has published through the Hero Kids Creator Guild Spore: the role-playing game (Do you remember the computer game?)
• Saftis Games welcomes you to the high fantasy arcanopunk TTRPG Embers of Solithar.
• Arclands Online has released the Mutants & Masterminds’ Yipee-Ki-Yay Nova City!
• Rock Clan Productions has a sale until 2026 for the freshly published Anders Core Rules.
• Exotic World Designs has published the 2nd edition of the Transdimensional core rules.
• Tesseract Engine has published the Prophecy Edition of DELPHI.
• Nameless Designer has released the free to download Heroes of Adventure 2e Players Handbook.
• The Wanderer’s Tome have a low-cost Flabbergasted supplement out now called The Cat’s Meow!
• In physical items, there’s now Dungeons & Dragons Crochet: A Book Of Many Patterns.

RPG bundle deals

• Save $115.20 (84%) with Demons & Dungeoneers Gamebooks’ 2025 Christmas Bundle.
• Save $28.43 (59%) and $27.78 (61%) in the Miskatonic Repository’s Miskatonic Repository Christmas 2025 Collection Part 1 and Part 2 bundles.
• Save $11.88 (33%) with the Goodberry Press bundle.
• Save $9.99 (34%) also with the Miskatonic Repository’s Crawling Chaos Christmas
• Save $3.98 (50%) with Nomadic Delirium Press’ The Battle for Turtle Island bundle.

RPG ideas, tips and discoveries

• Dice Monkey has some excellent notes from Twenty-Five Years Behind the Screen.
• The University of Missouri alumni magazine has a good piece on the mother of Dragonlance.
• At PC Gamer, Harvey Randall reminds us Brennan’s latest trick on Critical Role is actually one he’s done before – breaking with D&D tradition to let players choose when they level up.
• Rise Up Comus has an insightful piece on The Lifecycle of RPG Publishing.
• On Reddit, the first TTRPG in Iraq is looking for advice and connections.

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:

• BX Advanced Bestiary, Vol. 3 from Todd crowdfunds “The third volume in the series, covering monsters L-R in the Basic rulebook.”
• REAPER — Guardians of Souls from Gi&Gi raises funds for “New Class for D&D 2024 with 3 Subclasses: Cinerophant – Ravenous – Death Incarnate”
• The Order of the Forgotten Seats: A D&D 5E Campaign from KingOfGames offers “Explore corrupt kingdoms, cursed islands, factions, and secrets in a fully illustrated, ready-to-run D&D 5E world filled with danger”
• Wrath of the Dracolich for D&D 5e from Hidden Hoard offers “Survive hostile wilderness, unravel dark rituals, and face a rising threat in this one-shot fully compatible with D&D 5e.”
• Song of the King: Cosmic Music-Horror Roleplaying from Sam Smith kickstarts “A TTRPG system that brings forth a world of Musicians, Maestros, and monsters from the void. Balance mentality as you grow your career.”
• 5e – 50 Short Adventures: “Atlas of Adventures” from NorlysTabletopStudio suggests “A collection of adventures to breathe life into any campaign”
• Isis/Nut Class-ified – 2 D&D Original Classes! from DiceQuest kickstarts “Two DnD 5e Classes Inspired by the Gods of Egyptian Mythology: Isis and Nut.”
• GameKeep Shelfcase + $499 Ironside HEX Game Table from BoxKing Gaming suggests “Expandable, MODULAR game storage | Fits ANY game | GROWS with your collection | Affordable HEXAGON game tables with real wood toppers”
• Adventures in the Mist – a Land of Mist Gazetteer & Campaign from Joseph Quinn proposes “Gazetteer and adventures set in Land of Mist for Old-School Essentials. Compatible with OSE & other B/X OSR TTRPG (Tabletop RPG).”
• 🗺️ RPG Maps – 86 Editable Locations, 166 Total Maps 🔥🎲 from LFirefly raises funds for “Customize your maps: High-resolution, detailed map pack created with traditional tools, around which you can easily build a story.”
• Tomb of the Ancient Moor King from Orange Cat Games introduces “An adventuring bard knows the location for a long forgotten ancient tomb’s location. You keep what you find- there’s just one catch…”
• Enchanted Trinkets Complete: 500+ Magic Items for D&D 5E from Morrus nominates “The 500+ enchanted trinkets within this complete collection will spice up and add color to a magical world without overpowering it.”
• Chicken Rebellion: the witch’s curse in D&D 5E from Ana the halfling submits “Transform into chickens and battle a witch’s curse in this D&D 5E campaign. Break the chains of fate, one feather at a time”
• Epic Skull & Bones Dice STL – Gothic 3D Printable RPG Set from The 4th Quest Games crowdfunds “Summon gothic dice STL files—print skull & bones RPG dice for epic tabletop adventures.”
• SHIMMERDOWN CAVERNS: GM Workbook & Connected Maps DnD 5e OSR from Laidback Dungeon Master nominates “Workbook with 16 Hand Drawn Connected Old School Maps for YOU to Stock Your Mega-Dungeon! DnD 5e Shadowdark Pathfinder Dragonbane OSR”
• The Island of the Whispering God DCC from Jeffrey Jones suggests “A sword–and–sorcery adventure for low-level characters”
• Mysteries of the Rowdy Dragon Inn for 1E OSR & 5E D&D from Mark Taormino raises funds for “A 64 PAGE SOFT COVER + PDF for 1E & 5E RPGS! Tavern & Dungeon Adventure – ALL LEVELS + 50 PDFS for FREE with ANY reward of $20 or more!”
• 🎲 Fuck You or Fuck Me? Let the Dice Decide from Tamira Luna pitches “A bold liquid core dice set where natural 20s and 1s finally say it out loud.”
• Land of Tales – Season of Hunger: A Daggerheart Adventure from Schachtelbox – Blackbox nominates “A Daggerheart Adventure Zine, with pre-written Characters and a table-ready guide for a Twisted Fairytale, Horror one-shot.”
• Widow’s Blade – 5e One-shot from Dark Eagle Games submits “When the zealots moves to end a holy rite, the heroes’ courage must stave the day—fourth in the 5e D&D Pilgrim’s Quest series.”
• The Worldheart Codex A Geographic and Metaphysical Compendiu from Lee Reedy submits “A fantasy setting where balance is dangerous, perfection is the villain, and choice matters—even when no one is watching.”
• The Curse of Brinewatch: D&D 5e RPG Campaign & 3D print STLs from DeepArk Games raises funds for “RPG Adventure & 3D printable minis and terrain for Resin & FDM. Kraken, Heroes, Dungeons and Dragons, DND, scenery, monsters, STL files”
• The Kingdom of Thaldrok from Arre Miniatures kickstarts “3D Printable STL Files, Terrain for Tabletop in 28mm and 32mm scale, Role Playing Games and Wargames”
• Narradoria: Unlimited AI Dungeon Master RPG from Arif crowdfunds “Embark on endless adventures with AI — no tokens, no limits, just pure storytelling magic.”