Howdy, it’s well past the witching hour and into the weekend here in Scotland. However, no fear, here’s the weekly summary of RPG news.
As usual, we start with the summary of summaries!
- Geek Native interviews the Torchbearer RPG comic book team.
- Zweihander changes hands.
- There are layoffs and promotions at Wizards of the Coast.
- The Discworld TTRPG Kickstarter breaks £1.3m and tweaks pledge levels
Are you ready for Halloween? It’ll be All Saints Day when we next have a TTRPG news round-up, and we can find out whether you made it through the haunted night.
Does your GM do anything special for Halloween? In at least one of my adventures, the PCs routinely have a spooky time!
As it’s the end of the month here’s a reminder of whom Patreons can for in into the Spotlight.
You can do that using this private link.
On with the news!
Competition: Red Dwarf – Discovering the TV Series.
RPG news from Geek Native
- Geek Native has an interview with D. Koch and Thor Olavsrud about the Torchbearer RPG comic book.
- Organised by Lucca Comic and Games the new exhibition ‘Gateway to Adventure: 50 Years of D&D Art’ will launch tomorrow.
- New owners but old names as Zweihander is bought by SLLSWRD Games.
- Evil Genius Games shares some details on the Intergalactic Heroes TTRPG.
- For Thanksgiving, Travis McElroy will join the Twenty-Sided Tavern.
- The initial dates are out for the Critical Role 2025 tour.
- We noted there’s a free quickstart of the forthcoming Conan RPG.
- Modiphius make changes to the Kickstarter for Terry Pratchett’s Discworld RPG: Adventures in Ankh-Morpork.
- The Bundle of Holding has a deal on Fate of Cthulhu and Weird Frontiers.
- Help an RPG designer out with the Chuck Rice Broke(ish) Heart Charity Bundle.
Spotlight: Steve Hatherley
RPG news from around the web
- At CBR, Jenny Melzer notes Dungeons & Dragons: Bardic Inspiration Album’s First Single Pays Homage To an Iconic DnD Monster.
- Tabletop Gaming News writes up Hasbro’s Q3 Report Shows Decline in D&D Revenue Despite 2024 Launch.
- EN World notes that Hasbro Hit With Layoffs, Wizards of the Coast Impacted.
- However, there’s also D&D’s Christopher Perkins Promoted to Creative Director.
- Bell of Lost Souls covers D&D: WotC Reveals New 50th Anniversary DM’s Screen.
- Wargamer’s Matt Bassil has DnD 2024 Monster Manual promises “terrifying, gruesome body horror” .
- J.R. Zambrano notes that Campaign Building In The New’ Dungeon Master’s Guide’ .
- Goodman Games shares Event Highlights for Planet of the Cyclops Con!.
RPG reviews and interviews from around the web
- Jared Rascher reviews Call of Cthulhu: No Time to Scream. It’s just been released.
- Jared also shares first impressions on Discworld and a Patreon-enabled Stars Without Number Wizard of the Citadel Playtest.
- Ill Met by Morrselieb reviews WRFP’s Dwarf Player’s Guide.
- The Other Side pens a review of Children of the Night Vampires and D&D’s Ravenloft’s Carnival as well as Masque of the Red Death d20.
- Reviews from R’lyeh loos into Mercy on the Day of the Eel.
- Grognardia reflects on playing with Allen Hammack’s The Ghost Tower of Inverness.
- On Paizo and for War of the Immortals, the publisher has released a Meet the Authors.
- On EN World and with Christian Hoffer, Chris Perkins and James Wyatt Answer Burning Questions About the 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide.
- In Variety, Nick Vivarelli has a great piece on Lucca Comics Chief on Why the Medieval Town Named a Street After ‘Dungeons & Dragons’ Co-Creators Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson.
RPG new releases
- Chaosium offers three short adventures in the new Call of Cthulhu: No Time to Scream.
- Osprey Games has a Gumshoe RPG out with The Terror Beneath: An Investigative Roleplaying Game of Weird Folk Horror.
- Troll Lord Games has published the Amazing Adventures Players Handbook.
- M.T. Black Games has released a clash of magic and machine with World War Weird.
- OptimisticNIL has released an OSR cosmic horror adventure Tengoku Station.
- Total Party Skills has published LESBiAN NOiR Pulp RPG.
- Darrin Drader Designers has released Space Opera Rules: Starships (5E).
- Name Your Own Price in McNab Games’ Morgalad Fantasy RPG Starter Book.
- It’s the same offer for Sparrowhawk’s Intellect and heart.
- Black Jackal Studios publishes The Complete McCaigue Creature Compendium Vol. 1.
- Relentless Friction has released the ‘superpunk’ Modern Mythology.
- In physical, you can buy Dungeons & Dragons: Icons Of The Realms: Return Of The Dragons (Booster) and in pre-orders, you can now secure Dungeons & Dragons: Adventurer #65.
RPG bundle deals
- Save $198.95 (89%) in the multi-publisher Chuck Rice Broke(ish) Heart Charity Bundle.
- Save $19.62 (48%) in the Miskatonic Repository Halloween 2024 Collection Part 1 bundle.
- Save $2/57 (30%) with Joshua Ohmer’s Spooky Species bundle.
RPG ideas, tips and discoveries
- Kobold boss Wolfgang Baur scribes Breaking into Professional Game Design, a How-To.
- Kiki Kwassa guest posts for Flames Rising with We Can Make Them Look Like Anything – Violet Core RPG.
- Sly Flourish Mike opines Use Physical Tools for Online Games.
- The Alexandrian pulls no punches in Mothership: Thinking About Combat.
- Bleeding Cool covers New Holland Brewing Reveals Two Dungeons & Dragons-Themed Drinks.
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 mentioning;
- Titans of Fallen Earth: A Kaiju vs. Mecha Roleplaying Game from Greg Lambert proposes “A new post-apocalyptic, retro-themed, kaiju versus mecha tabletop roleplaying game built with a new system. Inspired by the classics!”
- The Magic Portal: Your Adventure, Your Way from François (Frank) Gilbert is working on “An adventure to play with DnD 5e or a new friendly gameplay system. Will you unveil the ancient mysteries hidden within Lumitaïa?”
- Prismatic Radiance: Dice of Light and Wonder from Cinder submits “Each roll is a dance of color and light, transforming your gameplay into a dazzling display of magical radiance that will captivate you”
- Rooms in a Rush from Adventure Squared proposes “A collection of supplements designed to help GMs and solo TTRPG players to quickly generate unique and detailed rooms.”
- Modular Leather DM Screens from The Speechless Bard raises funds for “Custom-made, lightweight, suitable for various TTRPGs and table sizes.”
- PREDIETOR, a d1980 Action-Movie-Inspired Adventure from Hangry Dwarf Press proposes “A TTRPG adventure for 5e / 5.5e / OSR inspired by the 1987 action movie classic Predator.”
- Roll with Madness: Eldritch Relics to Empower Your Roll from Kadath Collectibles crowdfunds “Transform Your Game with Unique, Lovecraftian TTRPG Accessories Crafted by the Incredible George Tsougkouzidis.”
- 100 Unique Puzzles for D&D 5e Volume 2! from Paws for Effect nominates “The 2nd installment of this DnD Supplement, containing 100+ Brain-Bending Challenges for your TTRPG needs!”
- It Fell From the Sky – A Low-level Shadowdark RPG Adventure from Thom Wilson introduces “What would your players’ characters do if aliens crash-landed in your campaign? This adventure just may answer that question!”
- Ashes of Code: A Post-Apocalyptic Roleplaying Game from David suggests “Rebuild humanity or submit to the AI: A deep lore-rich tabletop RPG filled with tactical gameplay and storytelling”
- Halloween Special: Witch Encounters for 5E from PetDM kickstarts “Arm yourself with 7 witches’ stat blocks and encounters, ready to plug into any campaign! Lead your players to the gathering coven!”
- NUNA: The Roleplaying Game of Inuit & Iceships! from Tedankhamen is working on “Nuna (The Land), is a world where ice entombs the old cities of humanity, mystical beasts stalk the tundra, & Inuit master the land.”
- The Widow’s Web: Trials of the Drow – A Competitive 5e Mode from Eight-Legged Entertainment proposes “A trilogy of competitive 5e adventures where evil drow compete in a Hunger Games-like tournament to rule the undercity of Karik’Marz!”
- Monster Adventure Terrain Villages & Dungeons 5E DnD Builder from Monster Gaming suggests “First Modular 3D Dungeons and Dragons Gaming Terrain Set for Tabletop RPG Games, Miniatures, Mini Figures, D&D, Warhammer”
- Brotherhood of the Catacombs – 5e D&D French Gothic from Anthony David crowdfunds “A 5e Gothic Horror Adventure Set in Revolutionary Paris”
- Horror at Yishusu Landing: Mesoamerican Horror for 5e from Vasilie Crisan nominates “Unearth secrets you were never meant to learn: The new world awaits in this 300+ page Lovecraft horror campaign for 5e (levels 1-13).”
- Fabled – Roleplaying Without Limits from Fabled proposes “Craft, manage, and play like never before with our next-gen customizable roleplaying engine – unlock your campaigns with Fabled!”
- Argo-0 from Hatchlings submits “Tabletop RPG inspired by Greek Myths, Retro Cartoons, and Classic Anime.”
- 🍄URWizards Mushroom Resin Dice: A Fairy Tale in Your Hand🍄 from URWizards crowdfunds “Discover the Wonders of Nature with Every Roll”
- Monsters & Magic – D&D 5e Supplement from Vortex Sigil nominates “An expansion for D&D 5th Edition, packed with monsters, magical items, and spells, and featuring a brand-new magic item system”
- Red Dragon Dice from Weimiao Games introduces “Where Power Meets Art: The Red Dragon within the Sharp Edge Dice”
- Trouble on the Border Roads: A 5e one shot quest from Ardann Creative offers “Continue your adventures within Tyrelis.”
- Pulp Arcana: D&D 5e Compatible RPG from Pulp Arcana RPG crowdfunds “The new, clear option for comic-book-action-fantasy TTRPGs”
- A Fool’s Errand – A Science Fantasy TTRPG by Planet Arcana from J Strautman kickstarts “Play the Fools, incite Calamity. Dive into a world of tarot & androids, of neon dreams & data divine. Will you deny these jealous gods?”
- Can & Snack Holding Fantasy Dice Towers – 3D Printable STL from Always Sleep In Armor offers “3D printable fantasy dice towers for Tabletop & Board Games, you can print them yourself supportless on a FDM 3D printer, RPG, DnD etc.”
- Flora vs flesh: 5e plant and undead based compendium from NarrativeBlueprinting is working on “A 5E supplement with a large bestiary, subclasses, magic items and spells! All with a plant or an undead theme.”
- Soldier Lune – A Magical Girl Tabletop Role-Playing Game from Dyskami Publishing offers “Unlikely teen heroines fight against dark forces in a TTRPG boxed set homage to the world’s most popular magical girl anime series”
- The Terminator RPG – Limited 40th Anniversary Edition from Nightfall Games introduces “Your chance to get one of only 400 certified limited edition versions of the Terminator RPG core books.”
- Solo Survival: Wasteland from Javier Loustaunau suggests “A physical solo RPG with meaningful choices and a 2d6 PBTA inspired resolution mechanic. Can you survive the deck?”
- Monsters of the Month: Otherworldly Aberrations from Ben Meadows from Periapt Games raises funds for “Planesbeasts, Weirdlings, Treaders, Otherworldly Shells, Rule Eaters, and 50 variant creatures for Fifth Edition D&D!”
- Of Hunger and Lies – A Westgate Adventures! Game Story from Johnny Rook Games, LLC offers “A revised and expanded re-release of this popular fantasy role-playing adventure game for OSRIC, 1e/2e AD&D, BECMI, and now for OSE!”
- The Mystery of Witchhaven: A 5e Solo Adventure from Obvious Mimic submits “Pick your own path to uncover the shadowy origins of Witchhaven’s curse.”
- A Diversity of Divine Domains from LKD Products introduces “25 clerical subclasses for 5E”
- Project Starborne from Andrew R. Hoopii-Taylor kickstarts “A complete DnD 5e supplemental source book for running sci-fi TTRPG experiences on a 5e framework.”
- Dice Bags – Creepy and Cute Mythical Animals from Alice pitches “Standard and Large Handmade Dice Bags With Mythical Designs”
- Cursed by Frost – A Dark Magic Saga (5e Adventure) from Runelore nominates “A thrilling Dungeons & Dragons 5e adventure set in the haunted Shadowfrost Expanse, where players face ancient curses and dark magic”
- Tales of the Kytin Age from KytinousG introduces “An epic fantasy adventure role-playing game set in Earth’s distant future. Swords, shields and giant bugs… oh my!”
- My Father’s Sword from Nordic Skalds is working on “Take a trip down memory lane with My Father’s Sword! An exciting pick-up-and-play fantasy RPG leaning heavily on clichés from the 80’s.”
- The Townsfolk of Midlam from Midlam Miniatures submits “A Collection of 10 everyday Townsfolk & Bystander miniatures with Sleeping/Dead variants.”
- Dicey Decisions: Dueling & Dice Drafting from Adam Pelavin introduces “Dicey Decisions is a bite-sized RPG adventure reminiscent of the younger days when we could be anything our mind could comprehend.”
Do you know of an RPG news source that we don’t? Let us know, or leave a comment below.
