Audio EXP Podcast: #198 – Tomb Raider, D&D prices and UK Games Expo

Welcome home.

This is Audio EXP for the 27th of May, 2023, and the episode title is “Tomb Raider, D&D prices and UK Games Expo”

[The following is a transcript of Audio EXP: #198]

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Zotiquest Games is in the Spotlight this month, as voted for by Patreons.

Last week I made the quirky decision to announce that I’d given up on Zotiquest Games ever responding to my outreach. I shared my gut feeling that we’d have to push on with an indie RPG feature without them.

Well. What do I know?

It’s never over while there’s still food on the table, and Roberto Bisceglie, founder and solo author at the Italian publisher, got back in touch.

We discussed solo RPGs, Italy’s tabletop gaming scene, and creepypasta. You can find the feature on Geek Native, and links to that are in the show notes of this podcast.

Last week I also invited people to howl, “No, don’t do it!” at me on the idea that I write up potentially controversial thoughts about Steamforged Games and Kickstarter’s new partnership.

No one did. So, I did.

That means I’ve written down that conflict between Kickstarter being neutral and a platform of equals for publishers and now having some skin in the game with Steamforged.

As it turns out, it hasn’t proven to be controversial at all. There’s my gut instinct turning out to be rubbish again.

However, I imagine Steamforged Games might be at UK Games Expo next weekend. I’ll be there too, so if I get bopped in the nose, then I guess they did mind.

Speaking of UK Games Expo, a huge tabletop games convention down in England, it means no Geek Native podcast next week. I’m unsure how I’ll do the Routinely Itemised RPG news summary or the start of the month vote for Geek Native Patreons.

I’d better figure that out.

But I know I will be a smartphone horror while I’m there. That means taking lots of photographs and videos while trying not to spam social media and Geek Native’s Discord with them.

I predict lots of montage videos and collage photographs.

There’s no shortage of news in the meantime, though. Kobold launched their Wizards of the Coast free 5e-based Tales of the Valiant. This is the tabletop game that’s come from Project Black Flag.

It’s on Kickstarter and soared through the half-a-million Dollars mark in funding with ease. There are tiers of limited editions and collector options, which is commercially wise by Kobold, a chance for true fans to show their fandom but also expensive.

That said, there is a free-to-download Tales of the Valiant preview now on DriveThruRPG. That’s not expensive at all and an excellent chance to sample before offering Kobold your cash.

Also free on DriveThruRPG right now is the Candela Obscura quickstart from Darrington Press.

Darrington Press is the tabletop games company set up by Critical Role. Like Tales of the Valiant, the origins of Candela Obscura start with Wizards of the Coast trying to mess with OGL and injecting commercial uncertainty into businesses based around 5e.

In Candela Obscura, players are occult investors who must confront horrors from beyond.

So, Critical Role’s first RPG battle isn’t with Wizards of the Coast for high fantasy and is with Chaosium in horror. Candela Obscura feels closer to Call of Cthulhu than D&D.

The rules engine is the Illuminated Worlds System, and the complete RPG is due out later this year.

There is the sense that the tabletop business model is changing, but, mind you so is the world. Embracer had a tough week when a secret $2bn deal fell through, despite them getting control of Tomb Raider back this month.

$2bn is a lot of money to be disappointed on, but at least they’ve dozens of computer game studios to keep the cash flow trickling in. How much do you expect to pay for a computer game these days? A triple A game could easily be $70, right?

What about D&D?

Currently, D&D hardbacks are around $50, but as GameRant reports, Wizards of the Coast have announced that the next wave will cost $60. That’s 20% more.

However, that’s only the pre-order price, and once that window closes, D&D hardbacks will cost $70. That’s a 40% jump.

Yep, the new D&D, once known as One D&D, not yet known as D&D 6e or D&D 5.5e except where it is, will be D&D $70e.

I wonder how much the virtual tabletop edition of the new rules will cost.

But, let’s come back to Embracer and not just because they’re a games giant to rival Hasbro, Wizards of the Coast’s owners. Embracer does have tabletop RPG games in their stable of publishers, including Star Wars, until recently, all through Edge Studios.

Now, Crystal Dynamics, the Embracer company that took back control of games like Tomb Raider from Square Enix, also have a tabletop game.

There’s a free-to-download, official but not canon, Lara Croft’s Tomb Raiders tabletop game.

It’s a ZIP file of core rules, a campaign, handouts and even streamer assets because that’s the sort of attention to detail game makers need to remember these days.

Now, let’s take a look at bundles and other outro news before the twin drama of train strikes and my train trip to UK Games Expo begin.

At the Bundle of Holding, Green Ronin are back with another deal, and this time it’s a flash sale for Freeport with Pathfinder rules.

There’s also a double feature of Girl Genius comics, and I grabbed those. It’s the first time I bashed my head against the 200MB limit on my birthday gift to myself of an Amazon Scribe. That’s the web upload max. Maybe there’s another way to transfer in the file.

There’s also a time-limited but duration unknown Warhammer Skulls festival of computer games on Fanatical in which you can get some Warhammer, 40K and fantasy computer games at some dramatic discounts.

Or, if you’re a Geek Native Patreon at the Questor level, which is $5 a month, then there’s a gift of The Lair of the Leopard Empresses coming your way. That’s a Monsters! Monsters! powered tabletop game of swords and sorcery, jungle heat and death.

Speaking of Patrons, remember you have got a few days left to vote in the June spotlight. The publishers in the shortlist are;

• Lone Colossus Games
• Deep Light Games
• The Scrying Dutchman
• Midnight Owl Games
• dicegeeks

And on that note, let’s wrap up there, rest in peace Tina Turner and good luck to travellers trying to get to UK Games Expo. We’ll catch up in two weeks’ time.