Catch your breath? Not as we rock from SDCC to Gen Con and August. It’s been a busy week.
Here’s the latest RPG news summaries of the summaries are;
- Wizards of the Coast boss John Hight is stepping down
- Vampire: The Masquerade 6th edition has been announced
- D&D will do a Warcraft game, a Star Wars game, an 18+ Dark Sun game and partner with other publishers for more content
- Monte Cook Games has announced the Cypher System open license
- R. Talsorian Games has announced the Fossilized Violence TTRPG
- Free League is launching a new digital reader
There’s a lot! This is the week for lots of TTRPG news. Last week we saw a boom in Kickstarter Heat, but much of that was due to the return of The Guild, and this week we’re calming down.
We’re gearing up for Festival season here in Edinburgh, which means Geek Native slows down a touch. I also mentioned months ago a giant list of publishers I’ve been working on since the start of the year! It’s not an abandoned project, but it’s a manual (no AI) project, so it’s taking a lifetime and much hairpulling. I don’t have much hair left.
What do you think the biggest news out of Gen Con is?
On with the TTRPG news!
Spotlight: Menagerie Press.
RPG news from Geek Native
- Wizards of the Coast’s boss, John Hight, is stepping down after two years. Hight says D&D is stronger than ever. Is he right?
- Jess Lanzillo and White Wolf announce Vampire: The Masquerade 6th edition.
- Gearing up for Gen Con, we started with the preview Tabletop studios prepare for Gen Con 2026 with new roleplaying games and memorials.
- At Gen Con, Cyberpunk publisher R. Talsorian Games launched Fossilized Violence.
- Also at Gen Con, Free League Publishing has released Invinicble TTRPG and their new digital reader.
- Wizards of the Coast announced an 18+ Dark Sun.
- In a busy Gen Con session, WotC also confirmed D&D Star Wars.
- We’re halfway through Gen Con and so I popped summaries of other TTRPG news into Daggerheart Expansion, D&D Icons, and 13 Omens.
- We’d interviewed designer Christopher Pickett earlier and so it’s good to get a review of Danse Macabre in quickstart form.
- I took a look at the quickstart for the sci-fi TTRPG Within Cold Stars.
- Egg Embry shares a guest interview with the Lazy Gamemaster on worldbuilding.
- In crowdfunding news, there are solo RPGs for Christmas with Black Armada, and there’s more of the dangerous Wildsea with Sourdown.
- Fanatical has a huge Twilight: 2000 / 2300AD offer on.
Support: Patreon.
RPG news from around the web
- Charles Ryan pens Announcing the Cypher Open License.
- Over at EN World, you’ll find Christian Hoffer discussing Plotweaver RPG announces new partnerships and a setting contest.
- Over on EN World, Morrus unpacks The One Ring is getting a new edition and a hardcover bestiary.
- Vice’s Denny Connolly pens Dungeons and Dragons – Greyhawk: Crown of the Witch Queen Revealed.
- Dungeons and Dragons Fanatics recently posted New D&D Icons Line to Publish Content from Legendary Creators.
- The folks at Rascal pens a piece on Modiphius Delays Wolfenstein RPG Amid Swaths Of Microsoft Layoffs.
- The folks at Bell of Lost Souls notes Monte Cook Games Announces New ‘Between Earth And Sky’ RPG.
- Dungeons and Dragons Fanatics pens a piece on D&D Beyond Rolls Out New Group-Finding Features.
- CBR’s Scott Baird notes that Dungeons & Dragons Officially Adding Brand-New Character Class in 2027.
- Over at D&D Beyond, the team writes up Organized Play Update: Arcana Unleashed.
- The team at ICv2 discusses Sirius Dice Announces ‘D&D Red Box Basic Set Minis’.
- Over at Bleeding Cool, you’ll find Gavin Sheehan discussing Demeo x Dungeons & Dragons: Battlemarked Is Coming To Xbox.
- Tabletop Sentinel has published a piece on Felicia Day and Wil Wheaton Team Up For New Board Game Series – CONLUDO.
- Writing for Bleeding Cool, Kaitlyn Booth delivers a breakdown of Dungeons & Dragons Sequel Probably Won’t Happen Because Of Finances.
- Writing for Wargamer, Gab Hernandez writes about Pulpy TTRPG adventures await you in this retro horror anthology.
- Local press, TMJ4 covers Lake Geneva historian exhibits local legacy of Dungeons & Dragons creator Gary Gygax.
Support: Fight the Algorithm.
RPG reviews and interviews from around the web
- Read the new review of Drink Deep from the River of my Hate published by Reviews from R’lyeh. Also, a review of The Black Tide and Feed the Many.
- The Kind DM evaluates Mutants of the Vast Swamp.
- Signals from Delta Pavonis reviews Gallows Corner – A Peasants’ Revolt RPG.
- Jason Campbell at Shadomain interviews Mike Shea.
- Over at ComicBook.com, the team covers The Justice League Unlimited Roleplaying Game Team Reveals Biggest Changes From Other Superhero RPGs, Teases Powers, Crisis Events, And More (Exclusive).
RPG new releases
- Catalyst Game Labs has published Wizard Riders: Quick-Start Rules for free download.
- Green Ronin Publishing brings us Mutants & Masterminds 3e Complete Collection.
- Poul Erik Holmelund published for Call of Cthulhu The Horror.
- Highmoon Press published IOUN STAR: Heroic Magitech Adventures.
- Black Mouth Cur Gamecraft has unveiled Candlelight Inquisition: Quickstart.
- Eduardo Camps has hit publish on The Complete Isekai Toolkit.
- Iron Crown Enterprises brings us Rolemaster Character Companion (RMU) (Roll20 VTT).
- Bandicota Collective has released Siluscia: The Sea of Dreams.
- Iron Crown Enterprises brings us Rolemaster Character Companion (RMU) (Roll20 VTT).
- Shawn Guthrie has hit publish on Shards of the Citadel Playtest Rules.
- Jackdaw Roleplaying Games brings us Checkpoint Midnight TTRPG.
- In physical releases and pre-releases, hot off Gen Con, there’s
RPG bundle deals
- Save $9.50 (27%) in Planarink Editions’ Uncle Boggle’s Bestiary: The Third Five Volumes bundle.
- Save $1.50 (25%) in Ulisses Spiele’s Torg: Eternity GM bundle.
RPG ideas, tips and discoveries
- All Dead Generations shares “Jaquays Your Dungeon” – Another OSR Maxim.
- Vince Baker Revisits the Lumpley Prumpley.
- Modiphius celebrates 10 Years of Star Trek Adventures.
- Githyanki Diaspora has a list of GM advice subreddits.
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:
- Midnight Press: Ultimate Detective Noir TTRPG in Newspaper from Step Tranovich kickstarts “📰Vintage newspaper you play as a game 🕵️Play 6 noir archetypes 🎥50+ 1940s slang terms 🎲Learn & setup in <20 minutes 🚫No AI art”
- Stat Block Studios – A DND Studio from Roll From The Hip brings us “A TTRPG and D&D Studio from Roll From The Hip and 12 Sided Studios”
- Parallel Shadows: Volumes 2 & 3 is a project by Parallel Dimension Gaming that is described as “A ‘zine full of gaming goodness for your Shadowdark game.”
- Hamlets & Hearths: Villages, Towns & Local NPCs from TPK Compass shares “Bring the next stop on the road to life with hand-drawn settlement maps, practical roll tables and memorable locals!”
- 20Realms from 20Realms kickstarts “A digital tabletop RPG platform for building characters, running campaigns, creating maps, and sharing homebrew worlds.”
- Lightning Quest- Volume 2 is a project by Adventure Squared that looks at “A fast paced solo RPG/puzzle game, designed to be played in less than 10 minute”
- Fyndovn Virtual Tabletop is a project by Kella Roberts that features “A 3.5e Virtual Tabletop with 3D dice, an SRD character generator, an AI archivist, and an original dark-magitech setting ready to play.”
- STRATIGRAPHY: uncover deep histories in your fantasy worlds from Badly Drawn Dungeons is nominating “System neutral world-building tool that delves downwards, using archaeological concepts to help you generate fantastical deep histories”
- The Streets Are Alive – Fantasy TTRPG City Street Generator is a project by Mellow Golem Games that is described as “Generate a city street rich with story and conflict with a single roll. System agnostic to work with any TTRPG, 5e, OSR, etc.”
- Charmed & Loaded is a project by Altor’s Archives that invites players to explore “50 Modular Weapon Attachments & Upgrades for 5E and 2024”
- Vast Grimm Fiction – A Grimm Takedown by Ashley Hemsath is offering “Zine 2 of the Pirates Trilogy – More shenanigans from our favorite raider faction in the Vast Grimm ‘Verse”
- Little Game Monsters by Randall Hampton is an upcoming supplement for “A supplemental guide of beasts and monsters for use in the ennie nominated ttrpg Little Game Masters.”
- The Alchemy Dice – Color changing dice by Antonio S is a new roleplaying games project for “Just shake them, and watch the colors change. A dice collection that puts magic right in your hands.”
- Exclusive Original Beer Bottle Dice by Bear Dice is currently raising funds for “9-piece dice set | bottle opener-shaped D2 | beer crate storage box | all-metal construction”
- Plate Mail Games TTRPG Audio Collection 2026 by Wes Otis is an upcoming supplement for “We’re creating a huge collection of fantasy, horror, and sci-fi audio for your TTRPGs!”
- Mimic Attack! Dice Tower STL Printable Files is a project by Dragons and Flowers that is described as “Dice Tower STL Printable Files themed with a mimic chest.”
- Hay Fever – DnD 5e ( D&D ) Dark Fantasy adventure + STLs is a project by Secrets of Alexandria Retrogrind that is described as “A Dungeons and Dragons (DnD) 5e compatible RPG adventure incl. VTT tokens, maps & images and 3d printable OpenLOCK terrain & miniatures”
- Further Adventure TTRPG Playtest by Limitless Adventures is offering “Help us create a fantasy TTRPG that is easy to learn, fast-paced, & with encounters that take just minutes to write.”
- Roll Essence RPG is a project by Diego Pisa Artworks that invites players to explore “Mix traits to create characters in minutes with this easy to learn Fantasy RPG system.”
- Whispers from the Abyss from John is nominating “A cosmic horror adventure for D&D 5e”
- 100 Unique Big Bads for D&D 5e! by Realms of Wonder is currently raising funds for “A D&D 5E Tome packed with Epic Bosses, Villains, Legendary Lairs; 250 pages of content for your Campaign or Adventure!”
- AD&D Toolkit: Character Profile Images is a project by adndtoolkit that promises “Human produced, hand-drawn and digital images of Character Classes to be used on Digital Character Sheets.”
- Varakesh: Ironbound Primalists by Skylark Minis is offering “Discover the first original playable species of Arcane Worlds in an STL miniature collection set among the dangerous Ironbound I”
- Tales of Aurelion – 32mm Fantasy RPG STL Pack minis from IzuCraft kickstarts “Miniatures – STL Files for 3D Printing, Presupported Minis in 32mm scale for RPG, Tabletop, Terrains, Wargames, D&D, Battlefield”
- The Missing Miller’s Daughter — a 5E One-Shot by Eric Bleney is touted as “A rescue-mission one-shot for 5E where the deadline pressures the villain as hard as the heroes. Level 1, 2–3 hours.”
- Living Bestiary II: 100 Evolving Whimsical Horrors D&D 5e by Allister is an upcoming supplement for “From the creator of Living Bestiary pt1 a pt2 5e monster book of fairy tale horrors and evolving bosses that grow up to CR 30+”
- No Such Thing as a Minor Character: 100 Evolving NPCs DnD 5e is a project by DM-FLYNN that features “100 unforgettable NPCs with evolving stories, hidden truths, signature weapons, and party changing consequences. (CR 1-30) (DND 5E)”
- Season of the Witch: DnD Folk Horror from Robin Thorne kickstarts “The stars know the hour of a witch’s death. Made for humans by humans for 5e and 5.5e DnD.”
- The Continental Cryptid Compendium is a project by Josh Arnolde that is “A 5th edition RPG supplement containing 300+ pages of folklore, cryptids & legends with original art from all 50 of the United States.”
- 🎲🫵 Fuck You or Fuck Me? Let the Dice Decide – Vol. 3 is a project by Tamira Luna that is “Our best-selling NSFW dice are back… this time with a floating liquid core inside a massive 30mm CHONK D20”
- Perdition – A Southern Gothic Inferno | 5e/5.5e Compatible is a project by K.J. Pothoof that looks at “D&D module for levels 16-20. Sail down the river Styx before the realm of Asmodeus corrupts your soul…”
- The Sixth Seal: 18(6,6,6) Forbidden Cults for D&D 5E & TTRPG by Ravenora is offering “18 Fully Developed Cults With Fully Hand-Painted Art, Available In 3 layers: General, Satanic, And Forbidden Desires (18+)”
- Complete Collection of NPCs by Evil Pigeon Games is touted as “A massive collection of NPCs, suitable for any fantasy TTRPG.”
- DICE PARK – Adventure Awaits by Desiree Stovall is currently raising funds for “Discover Seven Legendary Prehistoric Dice Sets Every roll begins a new adventure.”
- Folk Horror Tales by Black Crab Art & Meridian Miniatures is a project by Andrew May that is described as “A new set of miniatures for tabletop games, collectors and painters.”
- Embroidered Dice Bags- Forest and Farm by BoardGameSolutions is offering “Embroidered animal dice bags for D&D, Board Games and tabletop RPGs for storing dice, tokens, coins, tiles, counters and more”
- Battleforged TTRPG & Wargame by Chris Fox is currently raising funds for “Tactical wargaming with space and mecha battles set in the Magitech Chronicles universe, compatible with the Magitech Chronicles RPG”
- V6 Engine Dice is a project by goobetter that features “6-in-1 Metal Rotating Dice I Engine appearance I metal texture I RPG(roles play games)”
- Celtic dice from LunaDice is launching “Unique set of d6 dice in aluminum and brass for collectors, geeks, dnd, tabletop games and for all who love dice.”
- Bardic Inspiration Dice: d6, d8, d10 & d12 from Rook Robot has introduced “Real Physical Dice for Bards to Give Players For Bardic Inspiration Reminders and Rolls”
- WATCHKEEPER: Alien Invasion TTRPG (VTT + Soundtrack) is a project by Spilled Ink Studios that invites players to explore “An original tabletop roleplaying game set during an alien occupation of earth. Lead humanity’s resistance.”
[What’s this chart? We use Kickstarter Heat to measure how busy the crowdfunding season is.]
Do you know of any RPG news sources we might not know? If so, please let us know or leave a comment below.
