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This is Audio EXP for October 19th, and the episode title is “Zombie Greyhawk”
[The following is a transcript of Audio EXP: #258]
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Steve Hatherley won the RPG Publisher Spotlight this month.
I’ve got my questions to Steve, but late, and I know you’re not surprised. Nevertheless, we still have time to get the spotlight up and live this month.
The tabletop gaming news I’m going to start with this week was a story we linked to in Friday’s Routinely Itemised rather than found time to cover ourselves. Chris Perkins won’t be D&D’s Product Lead after the 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide.
However, he doesn’t seem to be leaving the company and WotC doesn’t seem to be answering questions about it. A promotion? A sideways move? Perkins is probably the most familiar face of the D&D team with fans.
I wonder if we’ll get “D&D is more than a game” narrative, which I don’t like, back from WotC if and when they announce what’s going on here.
One last piece of D&D news before we move on and that’s The World of Greyhawk getting a Community Content program on the Dungeon Master’s Guild.
That means you and I can write Greyhawk content, sell it, and make money.
Greyhawk was the setting early D&D fans associated with the game because it’s the first to be published with it. Technically, it’s the second with Blackmoor being the first.
Greyhawk is, I think, just a location on the world of Oerth and the setting gave us Vecna. However, I’m not sure how popular the Community Content will be because Wizards of the Coast has let the setting fade from memory with their pivot to the Forgotten Realms. We’ve a mention of a zombie game coming up and that made me wonder whether WotC have accidentally crafted the Zombie Greyhawk setting here.
News that I like from the RPG industry this week is Atlas Games’ successful crowdfunder for Ars Magica which has made the game Open Source.
The success is birthing more success and certainly changes. There’s a Spanish publisher, and apologies my pronunciation is so bad that won’t even attempt he, who was responsible for a Spanish language and themed Ars Magica setting that wants to get out of books. Now, with Ars Magica open source, the designers of the Spaniards Finis Terrae setting have set up a new company called Blagdaross to inherit it.
In other words, open source Ars Magica has allowed a setting to change hands, continue and receive new support.
This week, I also pointed Bronwen at Warhorn the site that lets conventions organise their gaming sessions and that sort of thing. The headline news is that the Organised Play Foundation is sponsoring Warhorn.
However, those headlines don’t tell the full story. What we think is actually happening is that Organised Play Foundation is taking over Warhorn. They have already committed to keeping the platform neutral.
The last time I wrote about the Organised Play Foundation was the twin story that they had become a tax-exempt non-profit organisation in the US and entered into partnership with Evil Genius Games. Evil Genius has been shrouded in controversy since.
I noted then that the old Organised Play Foundation site redirected to a dodgy gambling site. It still does. They have a new domain. I can’t see any mention of Evil Genius on it.
This week has had a bit of a shopping theme. I am so broke.
Bronwen did some heavy lifting with a big geeky Halloween board game round-up. The idea is to do that now so there’s time to buy the games ahead of any Halloween night in you have planned.
I like the inclusion of Munchkin Zombies Deluxe because you can’t go wrong with any Munchkin game. I note it’s also 30% off at Zatu right now. However, Bronwen did also include Beetlejuice Monopoly, and you’ll have to work hard to persuade me to play any Monopoly game again. In this version, Community Chest and Chance cards are now Haunting and Occurrence cards.
Meanwhile, I’ve been playing a PC game called Barheim. Sorry, you’ll have to wait until after Steam’s Next Fest to play but you can wishlist it now.
Essentially, this is a Tower Defense game where you need to think ahead and manage your time while you and your trusty beer canon attempt to splat pints at thirsty Vikings to keep them happy. I even videoed myself trying a level.
We also played a tile strategy called Zensu. The tiles move around the board in four directions, and your goal is to sneak past your opponent and get to the end zone.
It’s super easy to learn, but, boy, the complexities of the strategy quickly come to the surface. I think it makes you look clever and sophisticated when playing it in the local gaming cafe.
Without any accompanying review but easily listed in the “cool finds” category, Bronwen noticed a C-3P0 head. It has glowing red eyes; the twist is that you can crack it open, rewrite it, and have the poor droid start to spill Sith secrets.
It’s a limited edition of a few thousand units.
In contrast, I found the much less intellectual Squig blanket hoodie.
Squigs are tusked beasts from the Ork armies of Warhammer 40K, and this boldly red hoodie has horns on the top and a gaping jaw on the chest. It looks very warm.
Lastly, and tell me this isn’t timed for Halloween, in bundles, Chaosium has launched a Call of Cthulhu Encore at Humble.
On that note, retail therapy has its place, and see you next week.
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