Welcome to Friday, welcome to a week of RPG news, a week in which game designers have rallied to raise money for Ukraine and gamers rushed to give it.
In fights elsewhere, Wizards of the Coast took the trademark battle started by the rival TSR a step forward by naming the individuals involved in a counter-suit update.
Geek Native and Patron’s RPG Publisher Spotlight this month is on Wider Path Games. They just launched a Kickstarter too; for a 5e-setting called Spark Sun.
As a result, there’s a “double-feature” on the blog to help introduce the company, talk about its history, beliefs and also the Spark Sun campaign.
As usual, also in this write-up, you’ll find bundles of bundle deals, free downloads and news from Geek Native and other RPG news sites.
So, with that said, let’s get all that promised RPG news.
Win: #SelfPromoteSaturday coasters
RPG news from Geek Native
- Wizards of the Coast’s lawyers name Justin LaNasa and the Dungeon Hobby Shop Museum in their counter-case in the trademark tussle.
- D&D is ICv2’s best selling RPG in retail in North America for the end of 2021, Call of Cthulhu returns to the top 5 and Fallout lands there too.
- The latest D&D playtest, Unearthed Arcana: Heroes of Krynn, is loaded with Dragonlance rules.
- Sticking with D&D for a bit, their latest senior designer hire points out what a good fit he would be for someone writing Spelljammer 5e.
- There’s also going to be at least one official D&D “advent” calendar.
- American authorities say that MCDM will not get to trademark the phrase Strongholds & Followers.
- Not to be confused with Renegade’s Essence 20 system, Brittannia Games released a free version of Essence Core.
- Mind Weave released a Pay What You Want treasure map example of their Scroll Puzzle generator.
- SoulMuppet avoided Kickstarter and used pre-orders to fund the RPG The Lost and the Jammed.
- Modiphius opens up pre-orders on Geek Gamers’ Solo Game Master’s Guide.
- Always busy, Modiphius also announced the vet/starter set Agents of Dune: Roleplaying Campaign Experience.
- Titan Books and Free League Publishing has teamed up for a shared Alien universe and there will be Andrew Gaska scenarios for the TTRPG in the next set of novels.
- Roleplay Elixir has published a generous and entirely free Carovea Victor demo, a 5e-Roman-fantasy epic.
- Ahead of Avatar launches, Magpie Games has a Bundle of Holding for Masks – A New Generation.
- In time for Buffy’s 25th anniversary, there’s the combo Buffy-Angel RPG bundle.
- D&D fan? Goodman Games fan? The Humble Bundle running should zing your Venn.
- At Itch, thousands of dollars worth of games, including hundreds of tabletop RPGs, is yours for $10. More importantly, impact and the karma of helping out with the Bundle for Ukraine.
Spotlight Wider Path Games
RPG news from around the web
- Gizmodo’s Linda Codega observes As ‘Zine Month’ Wraps Up, Game Designers Ponder a Future With (or Without) Kickstarter.
- Dicebreaker takes us through the tabletop RPGs in the 2022 Nebula Awards.
- Gen Con announced an official partnership with RPGTravel.
- Chaosium announces pre-order perks for the H.P. Lovecraft Historical Society’s Call of Cthulhu Classic Gamer Prop Set.
- Bleeding Cool’s Gavin Sheehan covers the Renegade Game Studios launch of Hunter: The Reckoning 5th edition.
- Mongoose Publishing revealed a little more about Shield Maidens and a 1st of April Kickstarter for it.
- Cubicle 7 annnounced the adventure Up in Arms, what’s next for Wrath & Glory and revealed more of Champions of Destruction.
- Modiphius Entertainment makes a statement on the Ukraine and a charity donation drive.
- Far Horizons co-cop released an SRD for their Brinkwood: The Blood of Tyrants.
- Cthulhu Reborn also made available the SRD for Cthulhu Eternal – Cold War.
RPG reviews and interviews from around the web
- ComicBook has an exclusive look at Critical Role: Call of the Netherdeep.
- James Maliszewski shares a retrospective on the old AD&D Midnight on Dagger Alley.
- Jared Rascher shares first impressions on the Unearthed Arcana playtest of Heroes of Krynn and Swords of the Serpentine.
- At Bones of Contention, Yochai Gai reviews the zine Where the Wheat Grows Tall.
- Refereeing and Reflection reviews Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft.
- Reviews from R’lyeh explored the zombie apocalypse The Dead Are Coming and Loke’s The Wilderness Book of Battle Mats.
- Charles Dunwoody reviewed Soulbound’s Steam and Steel.
- Angel Citadel wrote up a review of Magnus Hansen’s Red Rook Revolt!
- Leicester’s Ramble look at the B/X adventure Comes Chaos.
- Yawning Portal interviewed Ravenloft’s Kat Kruger.
- Handiwork interviewed Beowulf: Ages of Heroes adventure author KC Shi.
RPG new releases
- TwoPancakes published the sci-fi one-shot Last Flight of the Pandora.
- Oliviridian released a playtest version of Neon Saber.
- Teeth RPG released the grotesque and standalone Teeth: Blood Cotillion.
- Tortured Earth gave us the second edition of Tortured Earth. DTRPG’s price tag system says it’s usually $45 but is $20 today, although some publishers “use” that to show the PDF markdown from print.
- A2ndChapter published the 7e Call of Cthulhu Horror in the Highlands.
RPG bundle deals
- Save $89.60 (72%) with Loke BattleMats’ Beyond the Blue Nebula Maps bundle.
- Save $51.15 (81%) with McNabb Games’ Creature Ecologies bundle.
- Save $24.70 (45%) with Terry Herc’s The Humbert bundle.
- Save $15 (27%) with Valiant Fox Gaming’s Fading Embers Campaign Set bundle.
- Save $6.27 (11%) with the DMsGuild’s Rise of Tiamat DM Chapter Guides.
- Save $3.60 (20%) with Paradox Games’ Radical High Collection bundle.
RPG ideas, tips and discoveries
- Charles Dunwoody’s Year Zero Worldbuilding went to the Diving Bell Landmark.
- Looking for a group portrait of your fantasy RPG party? Geek Native took a look at the work of Agata Żebrowska.
- Merchoid say that the Fizban dragon models are hot sellers.
- At Green Ronin, Malcolm Sheppard digs into cross-compatibility of Cthulhu Awakens with Modern AGE.
- R. Talsorian Games shine light on the The Mage Lifepath from the forthcoming Tome of Chaos.
- Library of Attnam presents a thoughtful collection of alternative armour rules in d10 Armour Mechanics.
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;
- Westfalia Publishing has funded the official set of multipart resin MÖRK BORG MINIATURES.
- Heresy Miniatures have funded a campaign to make better ghouls. Is this wise? PLASTIC 28mm Undead: GHOULS !
- Megaton Games are working on a new fantasy with many races, classes and monsters. It is the StormRing Fantasy Role-Playing Game.
- Michael Wu has easily funded a set of tools to bring your game world to life with TTRPG Generators: NPCs, Cities, & Adventure.
- Austen has slaughtered a modest target for STL files to 3D-print Fantasy Files Dice Towers – The Triad.
- Apparel Pirate is funding a 5e adenture set in a chaotic world. It’s the All Strings Attached: A 5E D&D Campaign.
- Derik Duley has a game about building tracks and taking part in races with HotRod – a Roll and Write Revolution game.
- Crooked Dice Game Design Studio has a retro sci-fi pack for Pirates of Luna City – 28mm pulp sci-fi miniatures & terrain.
- Undiscovered Gems as an ENnie award-winning RPG author to answer you questions in You Ask, I Write.
- Geeknson Games are approaching £200,000 in funding for an innovative board gaming furniture! Meet The Archie – Modular and Expandable Game Table by Geeknson.
- Euphoriaminiatures are offering physical and digital files for fantasy and historic Ancient Thrones.
- T.A. Gray has a 5e campaign with ghost hunters, monsters and new rules in the shape of Grizelda’s Guide to Ghost Hunting.
- Frog God Games adventure starts with missing chickens and ends with a priest. It’s Splinters of Faith: An Adventure for 5e and OSR games.
- Top Hat Advantage has 10 scenarios in the Adventure Compendium for 5E.
- Four Harts Games has a system to make it easier tracking conditions for different RPGs in Snap & Stack Condition Markers.
- Jade Regina Gofourth has a catalogue of monsters for 5e on offer in the Beastiary of the Omen Goethine.
- Cryptogene has thousands of Board Game Meeple & Tokens, 11045+ STLs.
- The Merciless Merchants return with a level 5 to 7 scenario. It’s Gyllagoon’s Island, an adventure for OSE.
- Matthew Heffelfinger is asking the Kickstarter community to help fund The Haven Games: A place to share passions.
- Black Cube Games are working on a short adventure for 4 to 6 level 2 5e heroes in the Golden Dungeon EP 2- The City of Crime and Wealth.
- Jim Hall has worked with TTRPG community members and artists to produce the Lost Realms Coloring Book.
- Onyx Path have a double feature with a Kickstarter for THEY CAME FROM THE CYCLOPS’S CAVE and [CLASSIFIED].
- Light Collector is funding some sharp-edged Time-stand-still mixed-color resin dice.
- Aces Games invite nights of blood inspired by classic movies. The project? VHS: Very Horror Stories.
If there’s a source or news you think is worth monitoring, please get in touch or leave a comment below.
