Welcome brave adventurer, you have made it to Friday and to Geek Native’s weekly RPG news summary.
As we approach the end of the month, we take a look at the RPG Publisher Spotlight for May and In Search of Games. They’re the company responsible for Santa is Dead.
We’ll also catch up with PaizoCon Online 2020 which is a multi-day event run by Pathfinder and Starfinder publisher Paizo to replace their COVID-19 cancelled offline event. It’s been a busy news week, as you would expect, but I’ve called out the freebies that are currently on offer.
In this news round-up, we also include the D&D movie directors talking about their vision for the film. It turns out that they had planned to scout the UK for locations before the lockdown hit but are currently doing casting calls over the internet with actors in Australia. Who do you think that might be?
The first item, though, is the news that D&D’s royal family, the Gygax clan, are in court as a second Will from Gary Gygax has been found and submitted. A battle looms.
That’s the summary. There’s more RPG news detail below in handy bullet-point format.
RPG news from Geek Native
- Yikes! The Gygax family are in court as a second Will from D&D’s co-creator has been found.
- Did we spot this first? D&D “Choose Your Own Adventure” books are coming to Audible. Yes, audiobooks!
- Cubicle 7 has a free to download Wrath & Glory adventure called Graveyard Shift.
- Kobold Press is kindly giving away a bunch of 5e monsters in Boss Monster.
- Studio Agate has a free to download preview artbook of Dark Romanticism.
- The one-time-fee alternative virtual tabletop Foundry launched this week.
- One of the Obsidian Portal developers has bought the company.
- Monte Cook’s The Ninth World setting is coming to 5e in the shape of Beneath the Monolith.
- A DM’s Guild publisher has attempted to recreate Stargate’s Jaffa using Illthid larvea.
- The directors suggest that the D&D movie will be a fantasy-action with comedy moments.
- Free RPG Day moves to July 25th, for 2020.
- Chaosium will distribute the Spanish occult RPG Aquelarre, now available in English.
- The Bundle of Holding has a deal on tabletop industry books.
- The Grimmerspace playtest expanded to include the ARcop.
- The Con of Champions means that Tabletop.Events will continue until the end of the year.
- Roll20, for PaizoCon Online, has free Starfinder and Pathfinder adventures.
- Geek Native launched a Random merchant wagon generator, which does a lot of heavy lifting in the background. Is that a pun?
RPG news from around the web
- PaizoCon Online 2020 is on! Here are some of the headlines: Stream Overlays for Pathfinder 2e and Starfinder, Kingmaker, City of Lost Omens minis, Celebrating Asian Pacific Islander Heritage Month, Starfinder and Organized Play Programs Reveal Year Information.
- Roll20 have added a Compendium Selection to their site.
- R Talsorian Games shared explore clockwork prosthetics further with this free bonus content for Castle Falkenstein.
- Green Ronin Publishing has published Threefold’s Five and Infinity, Chapter 0: The Adventure Generator and the Mutants & Masterminds adventure Assault on the Nerian Nexus.
- Christian Hoffer talked Comic Book.com through Dungeons & Dragons’ Pale Master Gets a Fifth Edition Update.
- Aaron T Huss review’s Starfinder’s The Chimera Mystery.
- Over at The Gaming Gang, Jeff McAleer does video reviews of Monsters of Feyland and Battlelords of the 23rd Century 7th edition.
- Free League Publishing has a Game Master’s Guide for Symbaroum due in June.
- Scott Baird reminds of that time Dungeons & Dragons Had To Change Names Over Satanism Accusations and helped with The Dungeons & Dragons Books For Mature Audiences Explained.
- EN World’s Egg Embry interviewed Nelyhann of Agate Studio about Shadows of Esteren RPG: Dark Romanticism.
- Bell of Lost Soul’s J.R. Zambrano looks into D&D: Massive New Mythic Odysseys Of Theros Rules Previews.
- Keith Baker shares a little more of Eberron with Dragonmarks: Reaching For The Stars.
RPG ideas, tips and discoveries
- Geek Native surfaced an RPG you play only with a deck of playing cards. It’s called 52 Fates.
- Design your own battle map collection with this cheap (sometimes free) tool from The Crafty Dice.
- Stunningly detailed dice jails in the form of Gelatinous Cubes.
- Alternatively, check out these dice and tentacles.
- For Comic Book Resources, Daniel Lindsley writes up Dungeons & Dragons: That Monster CAN Be a Sidekick.
- Joshua Nelson, over at Bleeding Cool, scribes Dastarque: On Dungeons & Dragons Homebrew Worldbuilding
- For Sly Flourish, Mike Shea gets into Running Hordes: The Lazy Way to Run Lots of D&D Monsters.
- Doug Vehovec Gets Pumped for the 5e D&D Muscle Wizard while Nerdarchy co-worker offers Hooked on Adventure – Too Many Gnolls.
- Charles Dunwoody, writing over at EN World, digs into Use Scheming NPCs to Drive Conflict in Your Setting.
- Justin Alexander points out RPGs don’t teach DMs how to design dungeons any more. The article title? The Decline and Fall of D&D Adventures.
- Flames Rising shared a guest design post on Pawlik on Empire of the Ghouls.
RPG Crowdfunding
You can see those Kickstarters and other crowdfunding campaigns that caught Geek Native’s attention over at Kickstarter watch. Here are some industry projects worth a mention;
- Aruzian Publishing has 5e archetypes, backgrounds and magic items on offer in the Age of Antiquity: An Ancient World Setting for D&D.
- Dr Tabletop is Kickstarting this clever “DropTop” for Tamiya Model Paints.
- Tim Krause is collecting funds for a 5e adventure called The Demons of Mingalarbar for Dungeons & Dragons.
- Dungeon Notebook has a specialised notebook for Pathfinder 2e in the shape of the Tome of Delving.
- Frog God Games have raised more than $10K for Cat’s Cradle: A Fantasy Town for 5e and other RPG systems.
- Laura Hammonds thinks you might find a use for The Murder Hobo Coin.
- Betta Games wants you to make your mark on a tale of mystery, monsters and murder called Blood & Anvils.
- Alessandro Damiano has launched their first Kickstarter and a collection of STL printable files with Gothic Graveyard.
- Shawn Michael Hescock has a solo to 6+ player RPG adventure that uses a D6 system called The Skinner’s Sanctum.
- SoulMuppet Publishing is working on a remastered version of the ENnie Award-winning adventure. It’s The Stygian Library: Remastered.
- Drew Cochran has raised thousands for a unique RPG designed for the Pinnacle Immersive Role-Play Experience. it’s The Epic of Dreams RPG: Basilisk Edition.
- Kyle Cheney has an extensive 5e expansion that adds mech and Kaiju combat into a Victorian Science Fantasy World with a project called The Titans Trail.
- Benjamin Krudwig is collecting money to produce an elegant book-shaped character sheet and dice box. It’s the Character Chronicle Kickstarter.
- Meanwhile, Michael Fleege has a hardwood tray called The Tray of Many Options.
- Nine Realms Gaming offer up with tabletop essentials in the form of The Midgard Collection.
- Rock the table with Severed Books’ 51mm Massive Geltinous dice.
- Griffin Ess has new options for you with 5e Urban Developments – Subclasses, Items, Races and Spells.
If there’s a source or news you think is worth monitoring, please get in touch or leave a comment below.
