These stories have been rounded up from all over the internet but many of them come from GamingReport which, as a partner site, remains GameWyrd’s number one choice for industry news. Direct quotes from GamingReport appear in blue text.
- Topics
- New Dragonlance novels and RPG.
- … and will Vin Diesel star in a Dragonlance movie?
- Buffy RPG released; season 7 fine. Lord of the Rings RPG released; movies fine. Farscape RPG released; series cancelled.
- Wizards cut 115 jobs
- … Cheapass Games cut 2 jobs (and hire a cardboard monkey)
- Dragon #300’s “vile content” causes stir
- 70,000 Jedi Knights annoy government
Lord of the Rings
RPG publishers Decipher described their new Lord of the Rings RPG with the enthusiasm you would expect.
“Live out the greatest fantasy adventure of all time! This 304-page full-color Core Roleplaying Book introduces Decipher’s new The Lord of the Rings Roleplaying Game. Built upon Decipher’s “Coda” System, the Core Book features a magic system that perfectly captures the flavor of Tolkien’s Middle-earth.
Beautifully illustrated with images from The Fellowship of the Ring film, the Core Book’s player and narrator sections contain full guidelines for creating player characters, a wealth of background information about the lands and peoples of Middle-earth, and complete gameplay rules.
In GameWyrd’s review section you’ll see a less bias view of the book.
Decipher got their timing spot on. The RPG sprang onto shop shelves while the first editions DVDs of Fellowship of the Ring were still playing around the world. If you can’t decide which version of the DVD to buy then here’s some advice from PvP.
In a fluke of distrubution many stores where putting new RPGs of popular TV shows up for sale at the same time. Yes, Lord of the Rings is a book, but getting the Lord of the Rings RPG, Farscape RPG and Buffy RPG all on the same week here in the UK was a little weird.
Buffy RPG
Publisher Eden Studio are the lucky souls with the Buffy RPG license. They’ve set up the www.btvsrpg.com website for all things related to the game. It’s a good place to watch if you’re going to try and snap up one of the gorgeous, limited edition, hardback copies. They’ve just announced the Slayer’s Handbook limited edition. Rather strangely, though, they don’t seem to have burried Amazon with copies of the basic set.
Fansite Buffy Guide has the US premier for season 7 scheduled for Tuesday, September 24th.
Farscape RPG
The Jim Henson Company‘s Farscape has not been so lucky though. The Sci-Fi company decided not to renew their agreement to show the series. All is not lost though; there’s a film in the works and rumours of an anime series. If you want to read a transcript of an internet chat between fans and key Henson people then you can do so here.
Fortunately (if you’re a fan) none of this drama has gotten in the way of AEG‘s Farscape game. The game itself spends a full third of its page total explaining the Farscape world before getting into the game rules. Farscape uses the d20 system with a fair degree of modification. It’s one of those rare RPGs that has no entry for humans among the races. AEG’s website lists these features:
- Comprehensive coverage of the first two seasons of the television show, including
information on all the major characters. - Thorough background on a dozen PC races: Baniks, Delvians, Hynerians, Ilanics, Luxans, Nebari, Scarrans, Sebaceans, Sheyangs, Tavleks, Vorcarians, and Zenetans.
- New feats and skills, mystic powers, and character classes unique to the Uncharted Territories.
- Ship creation rules, starship combat, and details on the vessels of major spacefaring races, including the majestic Leviathans and their symbiotic Pilots.
