Hello everyone, Darryl here with this week’s gaming news! There’s a Dungeons & Dragons movie coming (again…no, again again…I explain), Magic: The Gathering releases a new values statement amid the recent community controversy, a pivotal Warhammer 40K event will be detailed in rules, and more!
As you may have seen around the past couple of days, it was casually mentioned in a larger press release that the new Dungeons & Dragons movie has a release date from Paramount of July 23, 2021. This is actually weird. Back in 2013, there was a huge legal fight between Hasbro and Sweetpea Entertainment. Sweetpea announced a deal with Warner Bros. for a large budget film, while a week later Hasbro announced a deal with Universal. This caused a lawsuit because the film rights to the Dungeons & Dragons intellectual property is kind of a mess.
So Sweetpea Entertainment is the production company owned by Courtney Solomon. Solomon purchased the film rights from TSR and, after many years trying to get a production together, finally started lining up studio funding and distribution through New Line Cinema just as Wizards of the Coast purchased TSR. Which caused a lawsuit over who owned the rights that ended in a settlement with Sweetpea holding onto the rights, but Solomon had to direct and had to use an early draft of the script due to a previous agreement with at-the-time CEO of TSR Lorraine Williams. In order to hold onto the rights, a new film had to be produced with a theatrical release every five years or the rights would revert to Wizards of the Coast. Thus, we’ve had three total Dungeons & Dragons films from Sweetpea Entertainment: Dungeons & Dragons, Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath of the Dragon God, and the SyFy Original Film Dungeons & Dragons: The Book of Vile Darkness. In the lawsuit from 2013, Sweetpea claimed that they made a film every five years as required by the license so they could keep the rights, while Hasbro (who had purchased Wizards of the Coast) claimed the third film did not get a theatrical release and, even if it did, Sweetpea paid the licensing fees as if it was a television film and not a theatrical film, so therefore the rights reverted. This lawsuit also ended with a settlement in 2015 where Sweetpea retained the rights and their deal with Warner Bros.
This announcement (which was part of a larger press release of release dates for other Hasbro licenses including Transformers and GI Joe) means that something has changed with the license. The deal with Warner Bros, according to The Hollywood Reporter, is no longer in place so it is not currently known if Sweetpea Entertainment is still involved or if this will be a completely fresh start for the license. It is also currently known what the status of the Joe Manganiello script announced earlier this year.
Wizards of the Coast announced an update to their values statement for Magic: The Gathering. This follows stripping the certification of an L3 DCI judge in Canada for sexual harassment and the lifetime ban of YouTuber Jeremy Hambly over targeted online harassment. The new statement emphasizes four points, “Put Fun First”, “Welcome Everyone”, “Respect Your Play Environment”, and “Follow the Rules”. This was expanded on in the statement from Wizards of the Coast CEO Chris Cocks:
The statement also included a link to the Wizards of the Coast Code of Conduct.
Games Workshop announced a new rulebook for Warhammer 40K focusing on the Age of Darkness and the events surrounding The Horus Heresy. The books will be released in 2018 with pre-orders opening on December 30. The first campaign book in the series, The Horus Heresy Book One: Betrayal will be £74 (about US$99) while the army list will be £32 (about US$43) each with the first focusing on the Legions. From the post on the official Warhammer Community website:
In addition, the first information has come out for the Warhammer 40K Dice Masters game from the new license with WizKids. The campaign box called Battle for Ultramar will include armies for the Ultramarines and Deathguard, plus basic action dice, sidekick dice, and dice bags. Two Team Pack expansions will also be available at launch for the Orks and Space Wolves factions with sixteen dice and twenty-four cards each. The starter boxed set will retail for $40, while the team packs will be $13 each available in July 2018.
This story isn’t exactly news (since it was on EN World one month ago today), but I’ve seen it popping up and shocking everyone on social media so it appears worthy of repeating. Iron GM Games announced that they are creating a new campaign setting Gimmerspace for the Starfinder system. This horror/sci-fi setting will have Wesley Snipes and Sean Astin as creative directors. Yes, that Wesley Snipes and that Sean Astin. In addition to the heavy-hitting actors, they’re also bringing on gaming industry veterans Richard Pett, Greg Vaughan, Jason Bulmahn, Adam Daigle, Ben McFarland, BJ Hensley, Hal Maclean, and Larry Elmore. The setting will be up on Kickstarter in February, and if you’d like more information, the link above goes to an interview with Iron GM Games’s Rone Barton.
John Kovalic has been a mainstay figure in gaming for a very long time, starting with his iconic comic strip series Dork Tower and continuing into his involvement with games like Munchkin, Apples to Apples, Kobolds Ate My Baby, and a lot more. He made the joke about his timing but recently plunged into Patreon in order to refocus his attention back to the comic strip that made him a name, Dork Tower. The different levels are named after characters from the strip, and get you both digital rewards like early access to strips, access to blog posts and polls for Patreon backers only, exclusive sketches and campaign notes for the in-universe World of Warhamster, PDF strip collections, and even physical rewards like a holiday greeting card and signed trading cards every month.
The Creature Codex from Kobold Press is a 5th edition compatible monster collection of over 300 monsters with something a bit unique. At any pledge level (minimum $1), you get to suggest a monster for the team to create. You provide an up to 500-word description of what you want for any monster (CR10 or lower, no Legendary creatures, nothing that violates another company or individual’s copyright or trademark, and nothing against the publisher’s “sense of decency”) with professional design and playtesting and with its own illustration. The $1 level lets you submit your own monster for consideration, the $20 level gets a PDF of the finished codex, and $45 adds on a hardcover copy plus many more pledge levels. This Kickstarter has many stretch goals left to unlock before it funds on Friday, January 5.
Masters and Minions is a 5e compatible supplement from Jetpack 7 which focuses on detailed NPCs and their minions. The book includes strategies for using monsters and minions in a campaign, story hooks, strategies and more as well as plug-and-play encounters for level 1-20 that will include complete stat blocks to fill out your dungeon or map complete with lore so you don’t have to go digging to find different monsters and NPCs to fit together. The PDF is available for a $15 pledge, while the hardcopy can be added on at the $35 level. This Kickstarter is fully funded and runs until Friday, December 29.
That’s all from me for this week! Find more gaming crowdfunding news at the EN World RPG Kickstarter News 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’ve posting various polls trying to figure out what people want from a non-gaming podcast I’m starting next year, follow Gamer’s Tavern on YouTube featuring videos on gaming history and Let’s Plays, 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, Humble Store, Humble Bundle, and/or DriveThru may contain affiliate links with the proceeds going to the author of this column.
As you may have seen around the past couple of days, it was casually mentioned in a larger press release that the new Dungeons & Dragons movie has a release date from Paramount of July 23, 2021. This is actually weird. Back in 2013, there was a huge legal fight between Hasbro and Sweetpea Entertainment. Sweetpea announced a deal with Warner Bros. for a large budget film, while a week later Hasbro announced a deal with Universal. This caused a lawsuit because the film rights to the Dungeons & Dragons intellectual property is kind of a mess.
So Sweetpea Entertainment is the production company owned by Courtney Solomon. Solomon purchased the film rights from TSR and, after many years trying to get a production together, finally started lining up studio funding and distribution through New Line Cinema just as Wizards of the Coast purchased TSR. Which caused a lawsuit over who owned the rights that ended in a settlement with Sweetpea holding onto the rights, but Solomon had to direct and had to use an early draft of the script due to a previous agreement with at-the-time CEO of TSR Lorraine Williams. In order to hold onto the rights, a new film had to be produced with a theatrical release every five years or the rights would revert to Wizards of the Coast. Thus, we’ve had three total Dungeons & Dragons films from Sweetpea Entertainment: Dungeons & Dragons, Dungeons & Dragons: Wrath of the Dragon God, and the SyFy Original Film Dungeons & Dragons: The Book of Vile Darkness. In the lawsuit from 2013, Sweetpea claimed that they made a film every five years as required by the license so they could keep the rights, while Hasbro (who had purchased Wizards of the Coast) claimed the third film did not get a theatrical release and, even if it did, Sweetpea paid the licensing fees as if it was a television film and not a theatrical film, so therefore the rights reverted. This lawsuit also ended with a settlement in 2015 where Sweetpea retained the rights and their deal with Warner Bros.
This announcement (which was part of a larger press release of release dates for other Hasbro licenses including Transformers and GI Joe) means that something has changed with the license. The deal with Warner Bros, according to The Hollywood Reporter, is no longer in place so it is not currently known if Sweetpea Entertainment is still involved or if this will be a completely fresh start for the license. It is also currently known what the status of the Joe Manganiello script announced earlier this year.
Wizards of the Coast announced an update to their values statement for Magic: The Gathering. This follows stripping the certification of an L3 DCI judge in Canada for sexual harassment and the lifetime ban of YouTuber Jeremy Hambly over targeted online harassment. The new statement emphasizes four points, “Put Fun First”, “Welcome Everyone”, “Respect Your Play Environment”, and “Follow the Rules”. This was expanded on in the statement from Wizards of the Coast CEO Chris Cocks:
Here's how we hope this commitment will be used.
On our end, we will be working with our partners and stores on how best to roll out, display, and utilize this community commitment. Don't be surprised to see this posted in your local store or on stream with your favorite content creator.
On the community's end, this commitment can be a tool players can point to in order to help keep play spaces fun. This commitment only works if we all want to make a positive, awesome community and we use this as a guiding light.
Should you spot an issue, contact the owner or operator of the store, stream, or play space first. They will hopefully be ready and willing to address any issues locally. However, if you feel the need to escalate the issue, you can contact Wizards of the Coast directly to report any serious issues by getting in touch with Customer Support.
On our end, we will be working with our partners and stores on how best to roll out, display, and utilize this community commitment. Don't be surprised to see this posted in your local store or on stream with your favorite content creator.
On the community's end, this commitment can be a tool players can point to in order to help keep play spaces fun. This commitment only works if we all want to make a positive, awesome community and we use this as a guiding light.
Should you spot an issue, contact the owner or operator of the store, stream, or play space first. They will hopefully be ready and willing to address any issues locally. However, if you feel the need to escalate the issue, you can contact Wizards of the Coast directly to report any serious issues by getting in touch with Customer Support.
The statement also included a link to the Wizards of the Coast Code of Conduct.
Games Workshop announced a new rulebook for Warhammer 40K focusing on the Age of Darkness and the events surrounding The Horus Heresy. The books will be released in 2018 with pre-orders opening on December 30. The first campaign book in the series, The Horus Heresy Book One: Betrayal will be £74 (about US$99) while the army list will be £32 (about US$43) each with the first focusing on the Legions. From the post on the official Warhammer Community website:
Inside, you’ll find rules adapted from the previous edition of Warhammer 40,000, updated based on player feedback and frequently asked questions. There’s also a plethora of reference material, including missions, weapon profiles and special rules aimed at making the lives of Horus Heresy gamers a bit easier. The book also features rules, formatting and styling consistent with that of Forge World’s other Horus Heresy volumes, meaning it’ll look right at home on the shelves alongside both your army lists and your campaign books.
In addition, the first information has come out for the Warhammer 40K Dice Masters game from the new license with WizKids. The campaign box called Battle for Ultramar will include armies for the Ultramarines and Deathguard, plus basic action dice, sidekick dice, and dice bags. Two Team Pack expansions will also be available at launch for the Orks and Space Wolves factions with sixteen dice and twenty-four cards each. The starter boxed set will retail for $40, while the team packs will be $13 each available in July 2018.
This story isn’t exactly news (since it was on EN World one month ago today), but I’ve seen it popping up and shocking everyone on social media so it appears worthy of repeating. Iron GM Games announced that they are creating a new campaign setting Gimmerspace for the Starfinder system. This horror/sci-fi setting will have Wesley Snipes and Sean Astin as creative directors. Yes, that Wesley Snipes and that Sean Astin. In addition to the heavy-hitting actors, they’re also bringing on gaming industry veterans Richard Pett, Greg Vaughan, Jason Bulmahn, Adam Daigle, Ben McFarland, BJ Hensley, Hal Maclean, and Larry Elmore. The setting will be up on Kickstarter in February, and if you’d like more information, the link above goes to an interview with Iron GM Games’s Rone Barton.
John Kovalic has been a mainstay figure in gaming for a very long time, starting with his iconic comic strip series Dork Tower and continuing into his involvement with games like Munchkin, Apples to Apples, Kobolds Ate My Baby, and a lot more. He made the joke about his timing but recently plunged into Patreon in order to refocus his attention back to the comic strip that made him a name, Dork Tower. The different levels are named after characters from the strip, and get you both digital rewards like early access to strips, access to blog posts and polls for Patreon backers only, exclusive sketches and campaign notes for the in-universe World of Warhamster, PDF strip collections, and even physical rewards like a holiday greeting card and signed trading cards every month.
The Creature Codex from Kobold Press is a 5th edition compatible monster collection of over 300 monsters with something a bit unique. At any pledge level (minimum $1), you get to suggest a monster for the team to create. You provide an up to 500-word description of what you want for any monster (CR10 or lower, no Legendary creatures, nothing that violates another company or individual’s copyright or trademark, and nothing against the publisher’s “sense of decency”) with professional design and playtesting and with its own illustration. The $1 level lets you submit your own monster for consideration, the $20 level gets a PDF of the finished codex, and $45 adds on a hardcover copy plus many more pledge levels. This Kickstarter has many stretch goals left to unlock before it funds on Friday, January 5.
Masters and Minions is a 5e compatible supplement from Jetpack 7 which focuses on detailed NPCs and their minions. The book includes strategies for using monsters and minions in a campaign, story hooks, strategies and more as well as plug-and-play encounters for level 1-20 that will include complete stat blocks to fill out your dungeon or map complete with lore so you don’t have to go digging to find different monsters and NPCs to fit together. The PDF is available for a $15 pledge, while the hardcopy can be added on at the $35 level. This Kickstarter is fully funded and runs until Friday, December 29.
That’s all from me for this week! Find more gaming crowdfunding news at the EN World RPG Kickstarter News 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’ve posting various polls trying to figure out what people want from a non-gaming podcast I’m starting next year, follow Gamer’s Tavern on YouTube featuring videos on gaming history and Let’s Plays, 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, Humble Store, Humble Bundle, and/or DriveThru may contain affiliate links with the proceeds going to the author of this column.
