Hello everyone, Darryl here with this week’s gaming news! Foreign language editions of Dungeons & Dragons announced, Paizo is going a bit diabolic, Ponies are coming very soon, a dinosaur runs a D&D game for science, and a lot more!
Wizards of the Coast has taken a very interesting approach to common issues or complaints about Dungeons & Dragons. They don’t respond in any way, shape, or form officially until they make a big announcement just before they fix whatever the concern is. First it was online content which was announced the day of launching DM’s Guild, second was digital tools when they announced D&D Beyond a few days before a public beta launch. Now, it’s foreign language material.
Wizards of the Coast announced a licensing deal with Gale Force Nine for official translations of the core rulebooks and Starter Set into French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, Polish, and Portuguese with other languages to follow. The initial release will begin this summer with a staged roll-out to local markets over a three month period. Pricing or specific release details haven’t been made yet, but Wizards of the Coast is directing those curious to the Gale Force 9 website for announcements as that information becomes available.
Paizo announced Book of the Damned for Pathfinder, a new edition collecting the three previously published and out-of-print volumes describing demons, devils, and other creatures of the Outer Planes. The previous volumes published under the Pathfinder Chronicles line – Princes of Darkness, Lords of Chaos, and Horsemen of the Apocalypse – will be reprinted in full with updated information along with over 100 pages of new material including game rules for various creatures and cults, new magic items and artifacts, and in-universe lore written from the perspective of Pathfinder characters. The 288 page hardback will be available in September with a retail price of $44.99 and is available for pre-order from the Paizo website.
Tales of Equestria, the officially licensed My Little Pony roleplaying game, is starting to trickle onto store shelves and Tabletop Gaming News has a detailed review of the game. The system is a step-die system from d4 to d20 with a critical fail mechanic and a boost by rolling double the target number. And the book manages to explain what that means to people who have barely even heard of an RPG before without scaring them away. Character creation is a simple process that gives players a lot of flexibility, choosing between Earth Pony, Pegasus, or Unicorn for their pony. Earth ponies are physically stronger, Pegasi can fly, and Unicorns have telekinesis. Players then make a few other simple choices that let them further customize their character including choosing Talents, Quirks, and other options. The book is written for the target audience of the show, but taking a cue from the style of the show, doesn’t talk down to the reader either making it accessible for children but not a boring slog for adults. And if you’re curious how it compares to the unlicensed Ponyfinder, Tabletop Gaming News also does a bit of compare and contrast there as well. Tales of Equestria will be in all mainstream retail outlets on April 14.
Sue the T-Rex, known to many as the necromantic mount of Harry Dresden in the Dresden Files novel Dead Beat, is also the largest and most complete fossilized remains recovered of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. They also has a Twitter account, which they used for the first two weeks of March to run a long Dungeons & Dragons campaign with their followers. Back on March 3, @SUEtheTrex tweeted the message “When a hadrosaur plays Dungeons and Dragons, what class do they play? A ‘Dino-sorcerer’ Ugh, no one will get- [Send Tweet]”. The campaign had a lot of twists and turns, but ended on March 13 with a call for people to join the Chicago Field Museum’s Citizen Science initiative to help analyze and identify new species from microplants. The tweetstorm was so severe with increased interest both in Sue themselves and in Dungeons & Dragons that it blew blogger SlyFlourish’s normal analysis of social media traffic for D&D. The outpouring of support for the campaign is still going strong, as Sue is only promising they’ll be doing something new (though a bit more controlled) soon.
Brotherwise, the publisher of the successful card game Boss Monster, have announced their second game. Unearth is dice-based tile placement game themed around a far-future Earth where each player commands a tribe exploring the ruins of humanity. Each tribe consists of 3d6, 1d4, and 1d8, rolled and placed to claim ruins and construct wonders to compete for victory points. The game will be launched this August, but will not be crowdfunded unlike their previous efforts. Brotherwise isn’t neglecting the 8-bit favorite Boss Monster, though, as they have two expansions planned for release, Implements of Destruction and Crash Landing.
SCOTT PILGRIM! I am Ramona’s first…okay, enough of that. Renegade Games is releasing Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Card Game, based off the graphic novel series by Bryan Lee O’Malley. The deckbuilder has unique decks for different characters from the series and gives you two choices to solve tasks needed to win – Hard work and empathy like a grown-up, or through 16-bit video game inspired violence. The game is being designed by veteran Keith Baker (Eberron, Gloom, Phoenix: Dawn Command) with art by O’Malley (though it’s unclear at this time if any of the art will be original or if it will all be repurposed from the graphic novels). The game releases this summer with an MSRP of $45.
In order to keep myself sane sorting through the hundreds of crowdfunding projects out there, I’ve developed some search terms to streamline things and make sure nothing falls through the cracks. However, sometimes stuff still manages to fall through the cracks. Dinosaur Island is one of those. Designed by Jon Gilmour (Dead of Winter) and Brian Lewis (Titans of Industry), the game is for one to four players as each player attempts to gather dinosaur DNA, resequence the genetic code, and clone their own dinosaurs. The worker placement game has a scalable game length so that you can decide before you start whether you want a fast-paced game that takes about an hour or a deeper experience lasting up to three hours without changing the player count. You can get the game in the standard edition for $60 or a deluxe edition for $80 if you HURRY because this fully-funded project ends Friday, March 24.
I’m not sure if everyone’s talking about this Kickstarter or if I just follow everyone who’s ever worked at White Wolf or Onyx Path on social media. Either way, Prince’s Gambit from Justin Achilli is a casual card game set in the World of Darkness where you take on the role of a power-hungry Kindred. You represent one of the eight clans and vie for Prestige Points in an attempt to resolve Intrigue and stabilize the city. However, the Camarilla isn’t the only faction as the Sabbat has infiltrated and is attempting to undermine the Camarilla where they can. Like most social deduction games, the Sabbat infiltrators know who their co-conspirators are but the Camarilla have to guess which of their number are traitors undermining their efforts. $19 gets you the game with price breaks for multiple copies and an add-on for the Vampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary PDF. The project is already fully funded and added the Followers of Set to the playable Clans as a stretch goal with Giovanni on deck as the next goal with many more to go until the project ends on Thursday, April 20.
AEG is bringing back Mike Elliott’s deckbuilding game Thunderstone Quest. Two to four players command a party of adventurers as you compete to score the most victory points by defeating monsters, recovering treasures, and completing quests. The Quests, in fact, are the focus of this updated version of the bestselling game as you can combine village, dungeon, and quest cards to create a unique adventure for each playthrough of the game. This new edition will play familiar with fans of the original Thunderstone, but please note that this is a new edition and the cards are not compatible between editions. You can pick up the basic game for a $60 pledge or the Champion package which includes all expansions and stretch goals (of which there are many) unlocked for $100. This is another one you have to HURRY for as the campaign ends TOMORROW, Friday, March 24 at 7PM Central.
That’s all from me for this week! Find more gaming news at the EN World News Network website, and don’t forget to support our Patreon to bring you even more gaming news content. If you have any news to submit, email us at news@enworldnews.com. You can follow me on Twitter @Abstruse where I know I know I’ve teased big announcements before but I really really mean it this time I swear, or you can listen to the archives of the Gamer’s Tavern podcast. Until next time, may all your hits be crits! Note: Links to Amazon and/or DriveThru may contain affiliate links with the proceeds going to the author of this column.
Wizards of the Coast has taken a very interesting approach to common issues or complaints about Dungeons & Dragons. They don’t respond in any way, shape, or form officially until they make a big announcement just before they fix whatever the concern is. First it was online content which was announced the day of launching DM’s Guild, second was digital tools when they announced D&D Beyond a few days before a public beta launch. Now, it’s foreign language material.
Wizards of the Coast announced a licensing deal with Gale Force Nine for official translations of the core rulebooks and Starter Set into French, German, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, Polish, and Portuguese with other languages to follow. The initial release will begin this summer with a staged roll-out to local markets over a three month period. Pricing or specific release details haven’t been made yet, but Wizards of the Coast is directing those curious to the Gale Force 9 website for announcements as that information becomes available.
Paizo announced Book of the Damned for Pathfinder, a new edition collecting the three previously published and out-of-print volumes describing demons, devils, and other creatures of the Outer Planes. The previous volumes published under the Pathfinder Chronicles line – Princes of Darkness, Lords of Chaos, and Horsemen of the Apocalypse – will be reprinted in full with updated information along with over 100 pages of new material including game rules for various creatures and cults, new magic items and artifacts, and in-universe lore written from the perspective of Pathfinder characters. The 288 page hardback will be available in September with a retail price of $44.99 and is available for pre-order from the Paizo website.
Tales of Equestria, the officially licensed My Little Pony roleplaying game, is starting to trickle onto store shelves and Tabletop Gaming News has a detailed review of the game. The system is a step-die system from d4 to d20 with a critical fail mechanic and a boost by rolling double the target number. And the book manages to explain what that means to people who have barely even heard of an RPG before without scaring them away. Character creation is a simple process that gives players a lot of flexibility, choosing between Earth Pony, Pegasus, or Unicorn for their pony. Earth ponies are physically stronger, Pegasi can fly, and Unicorns have telekinesis. Players then make a few other simple choices that let them further customize their character including choosing Talents, Quirks, and other options. The book is written for the target audience of the show, but taking a cue from the style of the show, doesn’t talk down to the reader either making it accessible for children but not a boring slog for adults. And if you’re curious how it compares to the unlicensed Ponyfinder, Tabletop Gaming News also does a bit of compare and contrast there as well. Tales of Equestria will be in all mainstream retail outlets on April 14.
Sue the T-Rex, known to many as the necromantic mount of Harry Dresden in the Dresden Files novel Dead Beat, is also the largest and most complete fossilized remains recovered of a Tyrannosaurus Rex. They also has a Twitter account, which they used for the first two weeks of March to run a long Dungeons & Dragons campaign with their followers. Back on March 3, @SUEtheTrex tweeted the message “When a hadrosaur plays Dungeons and Dragons, what class do they play? A ‘Dino-sorcerer’ Ugh, no one will get- [Send Tweet]”. The campaign had a lot of twists and turns, but ended on March 13 with a call for people to join the Chicago Field Museum’s Citizen Science initiative to help analyze and identify new species from microplants. The tweetstorm was so severe with increased interest both in Sue themselves and in Dungeons & Dragons that it blew blogger SlyFlourish’s normal analysis of social media traffic for D&D. The outpouring of support for the campaign is still going strong, as Sue is only promising they’ll be doing something new (though a bit more controlled) soon.
Brotherwise, the publisher of the successful card game Boss Monster, have announced their second game. Unearth is dice-based tile placement game themed around a far-future Earth where each player commands a tribe exploring the ruins of humanity. Each tribe consists of 3d6, 1d4, and 1d8, rolled and placed to claim ruins and construct wonders to compete for victory points. The game will be launched this August, but will not be crowdfunded unlike their previous efforts. Brotherwise isn’t neglecting the 8-bit favorite Boss Monster, though, as they have two expansions planned for release, Implements of Destruction and Crash Landing.
SCOTT PILGRIM! I am Ramona’s first…okay, enough of that. Renegade Games is releasing Scott Pilgrim’s Precious Little Card Game, based off the graphic novel series by Bryan Lee O’Malley. The deckbuilder has unique decks for different characters from the series and gives you two choices to solve tasks needed to win – Hard work and empathy like a grown-up, or through 16-bit video game inspired violence. The game is being designed by veteran Keith Baker (Eberron, Gloom, Phoenix: Dawn Command) with art by O’Malley (though it’s unclear at this time if any of the art will be original or if it will all be repurposed from the graphic novels). The game releases this summer with an MSRP of $45.
In order to keep myself sane sorting through the hundreds of crowdfunding projects out there, I’ve developed some search terms to streamline things and make sure nothing falls through the cracks. However, sometimes stuff still manages to fall through the cracks. Dinosaur Island is one of those. Designed by Jon Gilmour (Dead of Winter) and Brian Lewis (Titans of Industry), the game is for one to four players as each player attempts to gather dinosaur DNA, resequence the genetic code, and clone their own dinosaurs. The worker placement game has a scalable game length so that you can decide before you start whether you want a fast-paced game that takes about an hour or a deeper experience lasting up to three hours without changing the player count. You can get the game in the standard edition for $60 or a deluxe edition for $80 if you HURRY because this fully-funded project ends Friday, March 24.
I’m not sure if everyone’s talking about this Kickstarter or if I just follow everyone who’s ever worked at White Wolf or Onyx Path on social media. Either way, Prince’s Gambit from Justin Achilli is a casual card game set in the World of Darkness where you take on the role of a power-hungry Kindred. You represent one of the eight clans and vie for Prestige Points in an attempt to resolve Intrigue and stabilize the city. However, the Camarilla isn’t the only faction as the Sabbat has infiltrated and is attempting to undermine the Camarilla where they can. Like most social deduction games, the Sabbat infiltrators know who their co-conspirators are but the Camarilla have to guess which of their number are traitors undermining their efforts. $19 gets you the game with price breaks for multiple copies and an add-on for the Vampire: The Masquerade 20th Anniversary PDF. The project is already fully funded and added the Followers of Set to the playable Clans as a stretch goal with Giovanni on deck as the next goal with many more to go until the project ends on Thursday, April 20.
AEG is bringing back Mike Elliott’s deckbuilding game Thunderstone Quest. Two to four players command a party of adventurers as you compete to score the most victory points by defeating monsters, recovering treasures, and completing quests. The Quests, in fact, are the focus of this updated version of the bestselling game as you can combine village, dungeon, and quest cards to create a unique adventure for each playthrough of the game. This new edition will play familiar with fans of the original Thunderstone, but please note that this is a new edition and the cards are not compatible between editions. You can pick up the basic game for a $60 pledge or the Champion package which includes all expansions and stretch goals (of which there are many) unlocked for $100. This is another one you have to HURRY for as the campaign ends TOMORROW, Friday, March 24 at 7PM Central.
That’s all from me for this week! Find more gaming news at the EN World News Network website, and don’t forget to support our Patreon to bring you even more gaming news content. If you have any news to submit, email us at news@enworldnews.com. You can follow me on Twitter @Abstruse where I know I know I’ve teased big announcements before but I really really mean it this time I swear, or you can listen to the archives of the Gamer’s Tavern podcast. Until next time, may all your hits be crits! Note: Links to Amazon and/or DriveThru may contain affiliate links with the proceeds going to the author of this column.
