Well! There’s so much going on that yours truly was not even able to publish the full RPG news summary before 6pm (which is when the daily digest gets emailed.
If you’re reading this, then you’re reading (at least) edit two of this week’s news round-up. And it’s not as if this was left to the last minute to compile.
Zine Quest over at Kickstarter is partly to “thank” for this. This week Geek Native tracked over 120 launches for RPG and related campaigns. That’s more than last week!
It’s not even the final week of the month, and yet the latest RPG publisher spotlight with Russ Morrissey of EN Publishing is live. See, it’s not all disorganised here.
Sorry for the weird newsletter, and thanks for putting up the shenanigans. At least, this week, there’s a big thank you for Patreons in the form of a free copy of the cyberpunk RPG Entromancy.
Now, on with the RPG news!
Win Pew Pew! Bounty Hunters in Space | Bahamas
RPG news from Geek Native
- Grant Howitt released the free to download one-page Once Upon A Crime RPG.
- Handiwork Games launched the duet-play D&D game Beowulf: Age of Heroes.
- Graham Gibson reviewed Green Ronin’s The Expanse RPG.
- The award-winning Shadows of Esteren will produce the new Story Arc System and power the newly announced Posthuman Saga RPG.
- Geek Native look a look at the DMs Guild supplement The Lovers – A Warlock patron.
- Geek Native also looked at the free to download Project O.L.Y.M.P.U.S. RPG.
- CrazyFuton released the impressively detailed homebrew D&D class The Trainer.
- David Garret released the free and kid-friendly rule-set Heroic Tales.
- TorTheVic released the pay what you want Vampires & Claymores RPG.
- The match-making for RPG groups site Mindflayer.io launched.
- Paizo announced PaizoCon 2021.
- Geek Native interviewed Amazing Tales designer Martin Lloyd about Amazing Heroes.
- Geek Native looked at the Renegade Studios and Roll20 partnership and asked what does it mean?
- Hasbro is enabling Comic Relief to raffle tickets for two nights of D&D in Warwick castle with Mark Hulmes of High Rollers.
- The Bundle of Holding has a host of deals in the Old School Cool collection.
- The Fallout RPG and STL files are going cheap at Humble Bundle.
Publisher Spotlight: EN Publishing
RPG news from around the web
- Video Games Uncovered shared a preview of the tabletop supplement Soulbound Champions of Order
- Roll20 have shared their 2020 Q3 stats that makes D&D the most popular game and puts CoC in second place.
- There’s more D&D movie casting news with Rege-Jean Page from Bridgerton joining the team.
- RPG Research shared how their volunteers made lives better worldwide. Thank you.
- Obsidian Portal is open to Vote for Campaign of the Year – 2020.
- Uncanny Spheres shared A Year in RPG Self Publishing: Year 1.
- Cubicle 7 gave us an update on the Death on the Reik Collector’s Edition.
- R. Talsorian Games gave us an update on The Witcher RPG.
- Pelgrane Press shared news for February and their struggles with Brexit.
- Chris Pramas gave us a look ahead to Green Ronin Publishing in 2021.
- For EN Publishing, Larc Langworthy looked at Apocalyptic Careers in Judge Dredd & The Worlds of 2000 AD with Red or Blue.
- Dicebreaker noted that the Horror RPG Call of Cthulhu is bigger than D&D in Japan.
RPG reviews and interviews from around the web
- Over at RPG.net, Antonios S has posted reviews for Liminal, Mysteries of the Empire I, Encyclopaedia Arcana, Aegyptus: The Sands of Time and Gold.
- Meanwhile, Cedric Chin looked at Add-on Scenery for RPG Battle Maps.
- Tribality took a good look inside Arcadia issue #2
- CBR’s Alexander Sowa suggested The Dragon Prince RPG is Smart, But Too Complex for a Licensed Game.
- Reviews from R’lyeh looked at Savage Sherwood.
- Chaosium interviewed their own Mike Mason about the Malleus Monstrorum.
RPG new releases
- Earl of Fife Games have published an adventure for Mythras called The Darkling Legacy
- CobblePath Games have released the mystery and horror RPG Locus.
- Cubicle 7 have published Warhammer Age of Sigmar: Soulbound Champions of Order.
- Arcana pushed a game set in a dark and harsh universe where one old leather breastplate might mean life or death. It’s the Arcana RPG.
- Alicia Furness published the solo journalling game Identity.
- ColBosch published the Wretched & Alone-powered Third World War War Dog.
- Kate Bullock published an RPG in which the hero has saved the land and claimed you as his Prize.
- The Melsonian Arts Council has released a setting for Troika called Very Pretty Paleozoic Pals: Permian Nations.
RPG ideas, tips and discoveries
- Ben and the Genre Police tackled the important tabletop issue of player safety.
- Get a thank you card for your GM before International GM’s Day.
- At Dicebreaker, Sharang Biswas argued that Indie RPGs show roleplaying can – and should – be far more than Dungeons & Dragons.
- RPG historian Jon Peterson asked whether Western Gunfight (1970) was the first RPG.
- Screen Rant shared Fantasy RPG Alternative sto D&D (and their unique strengths).
- Kevin Victor Rae suggested Queer Themes to Incorporate Into Your Campaign.
- Chaosium noticed that the HBO horror show 30 Coins explores evil with the style of an RPG.
- Michael Whelan suggests 5 best solo RPGs you can play by yourself.
- At Sly Flourish, Mike Shea offered advice on Handling Rests in D&D.
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;
- Orcs Unlimited bring a pamphlet-sized RPG to Zine Quest 3 in the form of the ghost hunting 1980s and Phantom Trade.
- J.M. Ward has already funded a project to bring D&D and fantasy art to fashionable t-shirts. Look good with the RPG T-Shirt Collection by Mythic Nation.
- Timothy Watkins had made the campaign target for a fantasy sea-fair RPG designed for solo play and called Ostro.
- Matt Parkinson has also funded a journaling solo sci-fi RPG. Note down the stardate and update the Captain’s Log.
- Dog Might Games are back on Kickstarter for handmade wooden tabletop accessories and The Phoenix Collection.
- Commissions and requests are open with Adam Bell’s #zinequest Mini Zine Bounty Board.
- Saha “TK” De’ath offers d8 supernatural hirings, each with a strange destiny, in EVERY GOD WILL FALL for MÖRK BORG.
- Weird Realms owner Beckett Warren has a system-agnostic adventure workbook with the revised and expanded Halflings and the Hive.
- Chris Perrin as put all the mecha combat you might want into MechaZine: a zine about giant fighty robots.
- It’s a weird fantasy bestiary for Pathfinder 2e in the shape of Fauna of the Luminant Age.
- Laura Hammonds wants to make game nights better with snacks and beverage enhancements. It’s Drinking Dice Buddies.
- Morrus and the EN Publishing team have another success on their hands with One-Page Adventures for D&D 5th Edition.
- Mr. B. Games are on Kickstarter for a good looking but an ambitious project of Attunement Dwarven Dice.
- Paige Connelly offers up 30 new items for fantasy RPGs in the Traveler’s Trunk: Magical Emporium Zine.
- Jack Byers goes noir with Hardboiled: A Private Eye Roleplaying Game.
- Julian Kay (ARBco) has a game inspired by a certain mutant animal game of the 1980s. Are they teenagers? Well, they’re Mutants in the Now: a Modern-Mutant-Animal Zine RPG!.
- Tomi Ann Hill can help you celebrate some of the silly things that happen in tabletop adventures. It’s Dumb Ways to D&Die – Enamel pins & stickers.
- Wooded Meadows Gaming knows how to add some atmosphere to gaming night. They’re offering Fantasy Adventure Candles.
- Diego Pisa Artworks have funded an expansio to D&D 5e and Hexagon with RPG Elements.
- TeaWrex are offering up 50 new magic items to add to your 5e collection in Drok’s Trove of Wonders.
- Coda B is crowdfunding for a 75-page Player’s Journal – Modular Tabletop Journal.
- Christina Moseley Pinckard is a D&D nerd and widowed mother of two out to fund a set of
Choose your Class Dice. - Darla Burrow mixes superpowers and cosmic powers with community in Dear Great Cthulhu, PLEASE Stop Giving Me Superpowers.
- Phill Cameron wants to see if your 4th level D&D 5e adventures can climb out of the belly of a demon. The Devouring Darkness: A Dungeons and Dragons 5e Adventure.
- Asteria Board Game Creation are offering to enhance the looks of your gaming collection with the beauty of the Dragon Bone Gamer Set.
- Sara Jessica is funding a tongue-in-cheek magical gossip magazine for your RPGs called Occultural.
- Sophie Atkinson has funded a solo storytelling game inspired by shows like Warehouse 13 and The Librarians with The Collector – A ZineQuest project.
- George Vuga is working on a tabletop RPG zine about the apocalyptic long 16th century. It’s Kriegsmesser.
- Modern Artifice has a skull-themed set of dice which have hit their funding target. Look forward to tables with Demi-Lich Dice: Hollow Metal RPG Dice Sets.
- Wayne Robert, a gamer and balloongineer, has a way to inject weird psychedelic dieselpunk elements into your RPG with Dungeon Plumbers Vol #1.
- Jerad Mullicane is working on a Player’s Guide to the noir-filled, goblin gambling, post-apocalyptic world. It’s 5e too. It’s The Meadows Player’s Guide.
- The DungeonForge first Kickstarter is to offer resin or STL minis for the Tortles of the River Valley.
- Brian Dalrymple is working on a post-apocalyptic science fantasy RPG ‘zine for 5e. It’s The Void of Thrantar – Zine Quest 3.
- Derrick Long has funded a game set in the dark future with power armour and mutations. It’s Mörk Materia.
- Jason Ripplinger has made a set of elegant overland travel rules and topographic maps for OSR games. The project is Boots Full of Mud.
- Mason Wong has funded a cyberpunk RPG set in a retro-futuristic Hong Kong with mechanics rooted in Trophy. Welcome to the Neon Gutters.
- J. Walton as hit campaign goal for the 1-bit solo thriller of surreal coastal weirdness with The Barrier & the Sound.
- Alex Frentz is working on a card-based universal tabletop engine called the Oracle Roleplaying System.
- Two Silver Denarii have put together a zine for the casual RPGer in the shape of
Dr. Zero Presents: Wee Bit Twisted, Too! (ZineQuest 3). - Austin Cushing will have you sharing your pride at the gaming table with Roll4ItDice Pride Dice.
- Richard Malena-Webber will have you study the mysterious art of cryptoarchaeology in the 5e Twill’s Twist Points: Turn the D&D World to your Advantage.
- Obsolater is offering up a compednium of invertebrates for your RPG adventures in Critters.
- Alex Bocchetto has funded an OSR cyberpunk Cronenberg subversice game called Network 23 RPG.
- Chuck Kranz has a zine that mixes post-apocalypse with humour. Zinequest: DoK presents: Chuck Dies in the End!
- Brian Stauffer has funded a tree crawl and third-party settlement for the Maustritter RPG. It’s The Vitacernis.
- Onslaught Six merges jazz with bounty hunters and sci-fi. Time to say See You, Space Cowboy.
- Michele has smashed funding goals with a micro-setting of the Island of Moth. Come meet the denizens in the Season of the Moth.
- David Lombardo offers a first-hand account of the containment of campaign ending magical items by Bureau for Arcane Neutralization of Esoterics. It’s Not A Place Of Honor.
- Red invites you to The Million Islands of Doom.
- Christian Della Donna (deldon) utters the dread words: The Door Locks Behind You, a Puzzling Dungeon Adventure Game
- Shanice Fagan has penned a zoologist’s field guide to fantasy monsters in Tooth & Claw.
- Dungeons on a Dime has a Kickstarter “Projects We Love” with this 1-2 hour adventure of tiny beasts. Quick, Scurry!
- Dragon Peak Publishing bring interdimensional merchants and their item to Mutant Crawl Classics. Meet the Merchants of the Multiverse.
- It’s sombre news from Ginger with a GMless RPG. The Gardener is Dead
- Soft Chaos has funded a storytelling game for two about love and literature. Denial & Yearning: A Trashy Lesbian Romance Novel Game
- Explore Prism, a gemstone city adrift in a sea of wax, in this system-agnostic setting. It’s Wax & Wane.
- Tomas Herbertson takes you to magical school to play games, pick fights and encounter Arcane Academia.
- Taradiddle suggest you play a game where you control players playing a game in A LITTLE MOBA.
- The Department of Whimsical Printings have on offer a quick to learn, word ad-libbing, roleplaying, destructible game for up to 5 players, packed into a haunted western zine with DUMP Quest 2.
- Victoria Sierra has 35mm acrylic D&D class themed pins featuring a rubber backing in Dungeons and Dragons Acrylic Class Pins.
- Depths Unknown Publishing has a Dungeon Crawl Classics module in the shape of Farmyard Fatalities.
- Max Lander has funded vis-a-visage – a 2 player, competetive, face swapping ttrpg!
- Ryan Cagle’s first Kickstarter is a solo RPG about madness and the multiverse. It’s Project Terminus.
- Adira Slattery has designed and funded a queer cat and mouse romp for two three players. Welcome to Tension.
- Spiel Wood Gaming are crowdfunding a great looking way to keep your tabletop stash together. Dice Stash & Omnibox | Your organizer for dice and game deck
- Devin Hemgren game has players in a basketball team trying to win the championship while romance and rivalry is going on. It’s Alley-Oop!
- Mark Finn offers up civilized goblins for your uncivilized worlds with Gobsmack! #Zinequest3
- Help fund a gaming club with an assortment of games, articles and art. Please note: Geek Native is a contributor to this project. Raise a pledge for the Edinburgh Indie Gamers 🦄 #ZineQuest3
- Lucille Lillian Blumire has funded some random weapon generators and rebalanced weapons for Old-School Essentials with Fresh from the Forge.
- Luca Sabatucci wants you to experience the fantastic adventures of light-hearted bands of thieves with Most Wanted a #Zinequest3 RPG.
- The Laidback Dungeon Master is back with another popular SHOTGLASS ROUNDS: Round 2 – More PDF Adventures for 5e.
- DW Dagon has funded a filthy Mörk Borg inspired, system-agnostic zine of vile bounty hunting and gory rewards. You Repugnant Hunters.
- Mahar Abrera Mangashas has 20 different 1-page dungeons for a busy GM. Dungeons? Score!!! (ZineQuest 3 Edition).
- Newyear Studios have funded a Mork Borg compatible 30+ page scenario focused on the city of Grift and a Shadowy God of Death. It’s The Box of Shadows: A MÖRK BORG scenario set in Grift.
- Derek Kinsman suggests you explore as small forest creatures, a world reclaimed by nature In the Light of a Faded World.
- Crumbling Keep has a gritty Old School inspired dungeon delve with Marching Order – A Solo or Co-op Dark Dungeon Delving Zine.
- Density Media has funded a LARP experience called I Remember When All This Was Trees: A Zine Quest 3 Project.
- STONEworks Gaming knows that something calls to you from within the shuttered manor. A harrowing tale from the Dreadlands in the form of The Lights of Winthrop Manor 5E.
- Laser Llama Designs will use their skills and technology to carve out Adventurers Tavern RPG Coasters.
- Derek M. Koch has plenty of random generation in a zine called Harsch Tables, Volume 1.
- Jason Boulton has funded a short form RPG in which you’re an octopus running a prison break. Cephalopod: Ocean Home
- Kobold Co-op has Kickstarted a high-flying setting of airships and elements for D&D 5e or OSR play. It’s the Skies of Hyperborea – Airships and Odysseys for #Zinequest3
- Horrors of the Sepulchre [Zine Quest]
- Playable vampires, ghouls and new powers can be found in the fully funded Natalia’s Guide to Necromancy.
- Michael Grayson S is offering individually illustrated and detailed chamber for the The Palace of 1001 Rooms, Chapters 3, 4 and 5.
- Luke Earl suggests you harvest the energy of a disintegrating universe in Coiled.Spæce.
- Marx Shepherd has funded a tabletop roleplaying game about temporary hearing loss and isolation. It’s a loud noise in a quiet place.
- Benjamin Wenham has hit the campaign target for the Troika zine The City of the Red Pox [Zine Quest].
- Chris Sellers has funded a narrative GMless RPG for 3 to 6 players in which you loot suburban homes. It’s Raccoon Sky Pirates – Zine Quest.
- Wythe Marschall offers rules for the nanite warlock Blooder class from the new grimdark superfuture postcapitalist sci-fi RPG Stillfleet. It’s Subtle Fluid.
- Phillip Knapp is funding split-second gunfights and wild magic on a strange and lawless new frontier. Welcome to The High Summer: A Fantasy Western RPG Zine.
- Freelancing Roleplayers’ Press is working on a zine that provides linguistic and language-related tools for players and game masters alike. It’s The Journal of Fantastic Linguistics.
- Ava Islam has hit their campaign goals for a rules-light, procedure-heavy RPG in the old school tradition called Errant.
- Bloody Sword Miniatures have raised many thousands for Wukong, Journey to the West collection, a 5E Adventure!
- J & J Lyons offer you maladies both mundane and magical in the zine Dreaded Diseases & Amusing Afflictions.
- Shawn McCarthy has funded a handmade zine with a low prep, long-form roleplaying engine and sample campaign. Time for The Well – An Immersive, Narrative RPG in #Zinequest form.
- Steve Hampson has designed a solo quest with more twists than a barrel of pretzels, with characters, maps, NPCs and secret inventory codes.This is Spacebase A solo adventure for Zine Quest 3
- Josephine Yanasak-Leszczynski is writing about kaiju in a project called Crush! Two micro Zine Quest RPGs in one!
- Shyloh Wideman is helming a multi-session, time-travelling horror adventure by Daniel Bishop. It’s The Inn in the Forest – DCC RPG Zine & VTT Pack (Zine Quest)
- Mad Jay has hit campaign goals for a Champions Now setting. It’s Lifted – Vault 01.
- Enjoy two absurd sci-fi tabletop roleplaying games in one bizarre book with Universe Ball Anthology: Absurd SciFi TTRPG.
- Nacho Disk has funded a bone-crushing and blood-soaked tournament of death. It’s the solo RPG of MÖRKAL KOMBORG: A Tournament of Death for MÖRK BORG RPG.
- Cody Lestelle has designed a crystal sword intergalactic space opera game of world-building refuges. Welcome to the CrySword SAGA RPG.
- A bold Kickstarter project to bring a whole new concept dice to market. It’s the Peradice – The real game changer.
- Tildros Games are working on a 5e PDF supplement with rules for drinking, drunkenness and beverages. It’s Melkim’s “The Art of Drinking”.
- Cody Barr suggests you deliver packages across a dangerous landscape while building your reputation in Courier – a solo RPG zine.
- Evocatus Miniature have some hungry and angry critters on their hands. Want some? Kingdom of the Rats: Pre-supported STL files.
- Paddy Finn has funded a stunning D&D 5e magazine. It’s called the Mag of Holding for 5e.
- Max Hervieux has hit the campaign goal for an unofficial supplement for Blades in the Dark about revolutionary Skovlanders in Doskvol still fighting the Unity War. It’s the Fractured Unity.
- Aven McConnaughey is penning a multi-path, slice of life solo game about taking care of yourself when you are fat. The zine is Fat Self Care: Volume 1.
- Dan Barker is funding custom laser cut Custom Dice Towers + Trays for D&D, Warhammer, and More.
- Studio Mothmen have launched a project about holding back the apocalypse in a world where unfulfilled emotional needs spawn bizarre supernatural disasters. It’s Fever Dreams.
If there’s a source or news you think is worth monitoring, please get in touch or leave a comment below.
