Phew! Speaking for myself, what a busy week this has been and I’m glad to make it to the weekend.
The highlight of the week is, of course, the write up of all the RPG news on Geek Native and a few highlights from around the web in this Routinely Itemised: RPGs article.
In a curveball but impressive movie, UK retailer Zavvi, the great adapter has signed a deal with Hasbro to take part in the HeroQuest crowdfunding project.
Hasbro’s platform is only open to people in the US or Canada, but it looks now as if Zavvi are collecting pre-orders from people and putting them through as a mass pledge in coordination with Hasbro. No doubt the bulk deal makes logistics easier for Zavvi. If it works, we might see more of this sort of thing from tabletop publishers.
Meanwhile, the Kickstarter season has surged into life as publishers line up projects to overlap with Halloween.
Origins didn’t happen this year, but the Origins Awards did, and the tabletop RPG that took home the grand prize wasn’t a 5e one. It was Renegade’s Teens in Space.
Ready for the RPG news bullets? Here they come!
RPG news from Geek Native
- Renegade Game Studios’ wins Best RPG at the Origins Awards 2020 with Teens in Space.
- Onyx Path will broaden the scope of community content allowed for the Scarred Lands with Frostlands of Fenrilik.
- You can check out a free and early edition of Sad Press’ The Shrike RPG.
- Geek Native checked out the unofficial homebrew of The Comprehensive Guide to Collecting & Crafting.
- The Wildsea gets a Kickstarter, a publisher and a new free to download version of the RPG.
- MZ4250’s 3d-printing Patreon gives Icewind Dale fans a way to have a 3 kobolds in a coat mini.
- Rise Up Comus has a new RPG about “hobbits” trying not to have adventures called Under Hill, By Water.
- WizKids opened a new D&D models and accessories online store.
- Monte Cook Games announced a new Cypher System fantasy RPG with Godforsaken.
- It began life as a free download to demo the upcoming Beowulf duet play rules but did so well that The Hermit’s Sanctuary is now available in print.
- Chaosium has released a free pack of digital Harlem Unbound assets.
- Peril Planet released a new and free download edition of the beta Freeform Universal RPG.
- It’s never over until it is over as, in a surprise move, Zavvi strikes a deal with Hasbro to bring the UK into the new HeroQuest project.
RPG news from around the web
- LoreSmyth are hiring writers and a junior social media support manager.
- Mongoose Publishing are looking for writers for the Travellers’ Aid Society.
- R. Talsorian Games reveals what’s inside the Cyberpunk RED full RPG.
- Green Ronin shared more information on the 5e powered Blue Rose Adventurer’s Guide.
- HeroForge launches the colour version of its mini making service.
- A GPT-3 powered fantasy RPG content generator LitRPG Adventures went live.
- Monte Cook Games co-founder Shanna Germain will talk about Consent in Gaming at Save Against Fear.
- GMS Magazine interviews Andrew Gronosky about Magonomia.
- Charles Dunwoody interviews Clarence Redd, Creator of M-Space and discusses sci-fi, Aliens and RPGs.
- Booknest interviews Matt McElroy and Matthew Dawkins about World of Darkness: Ghost Hunters.
- Egg Embry explored the Diamond Throne in an interview with Ilaria Gaia Russo.
- Elisa Teague lands Renegade role leading Clank!, Kids on Bikes and Overlight RPGs and with interview at Dicebreaker.
- Matthew Gault at Vice says ‘Baldur’s Gate 3’ Is a Brilliant Crash Course in ‘Dungeons & Dragons’.
- The D&D 5.1 powered computer RPG will have a free demo during The Steam Game Festival and available as Early Access from October 20.
- Cubicle 7 have published an update to the WFRP Death on the Reik Companion and looked into Folk and Folklore of the North.
- American politician Andrew Yang will play D&D as a fundraiser.
- Swords and Stitchery penned Review & Commentary On The TSAO: Signal 99 Adventure By Richard Hazlewood From Stellagama Publishing For The Cepheus Engine RPG & The Classic Traveller RPG.
- Third Coast Review opined Destroyer of Worlds Is an Expansive Addition to Alien The Roleplaying Game.
- GeekDad wrote up Get a Taste of Classic Roleplaying Games With ‘Dungeons and Dragons: Adventure Begins’ .
- Antonios S, at RPG.net, reviews the Vaesen RPG Bundle.
RPG new releases
- Kobold Press has published Warlock Grimoire 2 for 5th Edition.
- Matthew Tyler-Jones published a Vaesen adventure; Summer in December.
- Livres de l’Ours has published a Black Hack based RPG inspired by Michael Moorcock’s Stormbringer. It’s the Black Sword Hack.
- Earl of Fife Games (who I discovered aren’t in Fife at all) has published Coast of Thrall – Adventure for Mythras.
- Already a Silver best seller, Ian C.H. Hogan, Rachel Judd et al. have released Vampire: The Wild West.
RPG ideas, tips and discoveries
- Meet the Draxolotl.
- Charles Dunwoody gave us a dose of advanced world-building with the Tower-Faced Demon Castle Adventure.
- Is it time to plan festive shopping already? You might already be too late to get this dice advent calendar.
- Lewis Pulsipher writes up Worlds of Design: How RPG Tools Have Changed.
- Jonathan Hicks publishes the next article in the Those Dark Places designer’s blog.
- Chris Brown wrote up How To Publish D&D Content (And Remain Lawful Good).
- D&D Beyond wrote up How to Play Icewind Dale’s Mid-Game Boss like a Magical Superweapon.
- Alex Meehan of Dicebreaker shared 10 best horror tabletop RPGs for telling spooky stories.
- Kevin Victor Rae wrote up How to Run a Tutorial One-Shot.
- CBR’s James Hanna noted Powered by the Apocalypse: How an Indie RPG Is Still Changing the Industry
- ScreenRant’s Laura Gray asked How Many Types Of Actual Dragons There Are In Dungeons & Dragons.
- Mikey Zee notes Virtual Tabletop ‘Role’ Enters Early Access: Can It Beat Roll20 and D&D Beyond?.
- On RPGPub, TristramEvans put together this superb Flickering Lights – A History of Silver Screen Licenses in RPGs.
- Sea of Star RPGs penned NEw Beastkind for D&D 5e – Ypisarian Serpentfolk.
- Johnn at RoleplayingTip’s suggested How to Stop Campaigns From Fizzling Out.
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;
- Jonathan Wojcik has as an original RPG in Mortasheen.
- Deep Dungeon Games is remaking gods in Seven of Seven: Pantheon of the Chain Reforged
- K.D. Graves has a haunted house mystery with The Haunt of Lockwood Manor.
- Fraser Simons has an RPG about explorers of a magical land being transformed as they go with Yonder: A Fantasy Tabletop RPG.
- AAminis has a supplement for Pathfinder 2e and D&D 5e with The Ooze And You!.
- Paul Cat’s 260-page sci-fi core book is Weirdspace – A Darkly Comic Tabletop RPG.
- Jay Merritt is working on a sourcebook of micro-settings and tools with Realm Fables.
- FASA is expanding 1879 with the Player’s and Game Master’s Companions.
- Doc’s Mad Lab Games has a 5e campaign in the form of Savage Jungles of Threshen.
- Joel J. is working to add MechWarrior and Battletech Character Sheets to Roll20.
- Anne Gregersen is re-printing the 5e setting Aaralyn’s Stolen Notes to Velea.
- Infinium Game Studios has a gothic horror setting for D&D and Pathfinder called Dark Harbor.
- Paul Moore is expanding the SINS RPG with SINS: Manifest Destiny.
If there’s a source or news you think is worth monitoring, please get in touch or leave a comment below.
