Hello everyone, Darryl here with this week’s gaming news! Warhammer for kids, more pre-PaizoCon Pathfinder 2 previews, Evil Hat gets a new Senior Art Director and Fate Line Developer, new GURPS releases, and more!
The internet has been abuzz since the announcement of Warhammer Adventures, a new fiction line from Games Workshop. The new line features two banners, one for Warhammer 40,000 and one for Warhammer: Age of Sigmar, targeted at a YA audience. The response online has been…interesting to say the least, as the two Warhammer properties are best known as helping coin the term “grimdark” and questions of how it could be adapted for the target eight-to-twelve year old audience, or even if it should. Many Warhammer fans are also upset that the fiction represents a betrayal of the “edgy” nature of the settings. However, this appears to be part of a push by Games Workshop to more easily introduce new players to the game and the setting, including low priced introductory single-army boxed sets and making the core rules available online for free. They’ve also tapped bestselling authors with experience in YA licensed fiction to write the first entries, Cavan Scott for Warped Galaxies: Attack of the Necron and Tom Huddleston for Realm Quest: City of Lifestone. No release date has been announced yet.
Several recent blog posts from Paizo highlight the new design philosophy in Pathfinder 2nd Edition for monsters and their stat blocks. The first post talks about building monsters and how mechanical changes lead to specific thematic differences in how the monster feels while playing while using the new mechanics. The second post takes a look at the monster stat blocks and how they will be presented in the future for a streamlined and easy-to-read format. It also gives us a sneak peek at the Redcap and Ogre. Finally, we got our last update before PaizoCon this weekend, a look at the Wizard class along with arcane spellcasting, class-specific feats, and a couple of spells (Phantasmal Killer and Magic Missile). There will most likely be a flood of new information following PaizoCon, so be sure to check EN World’s Pathfinder 2nd Edition feed for all the breaking stories.
Evil Hat announced some big changes to their creative team. First, Brian Patterson has been promoted to Senior Art Director for the company. You probably know Patterson’s work on his webcomic, D20Monkey (or have seen some of the comics posted on social media). Patterson previously served as Art Director for several of Evil Hat’s titles as well as producing art himself. In addition, Sophie Lagacé will take over as Fate Line Developer. Lagacé has previously served as a project manager on the Fate line and will be taking over the position from Leonard Balsera. Balsera, who is also the COO for John Wick Presents, will be stepping back in his long-time role at Evil Hat but will continue working on projects for Fate, Fate Core, and others.
Steve Jackson Games updated their On Demand program with several new products for GURPS, showing that they still have plans for the classic roleplaying game that put them on the map. The three classic third edition setting books are part of the new initiative through Amazon to bring long out-of-print books back into print and easily available for fans. Reign of Steel is a science fiction setting where bands of human rebels fight against their ruthless mechanical overlords, drawing influence from the Terminator franchise among others. Technomancer is an urban fantasy series in an alternate world where the first atomic bomb tests accidentally completed an ancient necromantic ritual and returned magic to the world by creating the Hellstorm. Voodoo: The Shadow War is a dark urban fantasy setting that dives into the myths of Voudoun and Santeria as the players attempt to protect the world from supernatural evil. Also, two brand new products were released through their Warehouse 23 store, a new setting for GURPS Dungeon Fantasy by Sean Punch called Caverntown and the newest issue of Pyramid focusing on “Mind Over Magic”.
Betrayal at House on the Hill is a beloved game from Avalon Hill but, unfortunately, some of the components can be easily damaged (particularly, the player tracker and its perpetually loose or broken clips). WizKids, through its board game license with Wizards of the Coast, is coming to the rescue with an official component upgrade kit for the game. The kit comes with brand new dice and upgraded player trackers. The new trackers feature actual component wheels that don’t need to be clipped on and brand new character art for all characters. The new kit will be available in September (and is available for pre-order now) for a retail price of $14.99.
One of the new monsters in Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes comes not from any of the Wizards of the Coast designers, but was inspired by Nolan Whale with help from the Make-a-Wish Foundation. The Oblex, an experimentation from mind flayers that creates an intelligent slime that drains the thoughts and memories of those it hunts, came out of Whale’s day spent at Wizards of the Coast last year as part of the Make-a-Wish program where he got a tour of the offices and talked with the designers of the game. And keep an eye out in the artwork for a tattooed, mohawked dwarf, based on Whale’s old character. You can read the full interview with Jeremy Crawford on the DNDBeyond website.
Usually, a game called Fetch Quest wouldn’t be that appealing…unless it’s a new deckbuilding game for Realms of Pugmire. The game is for three to six players and takes about an hour to 90 minutes where each player takes on the role of a dog adventurer to accomplish quests. You can get a print-and-play version in PDF for $10, the game plus all stretch goals for $30, add on a Pugmire digital bundle for $40, or get a set of exclusive Pugmire pins instead for $50 (though this level is limited). This project funded in its first day (as Onyx Path projects tend to do) and will keep unlocking stretch goals until Thursday, June 21.
Endless Realms is a new roleplaying game system set in the world of Lumis, a crossroads between an infinite number of different realms and their populations along with the fragile balance both in power and politics. The system involves rolling two ten-sided dice, one rolled by the player and one by the gamemaster with modifiers applied to either side. You can get the digital version for CA$20 (about US$16), add on the Creature Compendium for CA$40 (about US$31), get the hardcover of your choice of rulebooks for CA$65 (about US$51), or both for CA$115 (about US$90). This Kickstarter is fully funded and has some stretch goals left to unlock until it ends on Tuesday, May 29.
Archives of the Sky is a science fiction GMless roleplaying game slash tabletop storygame set millions of years in the future where humanity has colonized vast areas of the galaxy. The game draws influence from games like Fiasco and starts by creating a deck of words in order to create a House, one of the ruling powers of the galaxy and start weaving a story around them. The random twist in this game is the “Archives”, a stack of player-created single-word cards that can add twists and turns to every scene. The playtest version of the rules is linked in the Kickstarter if you’re curious how the rules work. The PDF is available for a $10 pledge, a $25 pledge gets you the hardcopy book added on for US and Canada, and a special $10 pledge level exists for those outside US/Canada that includes a code to purchase an at-cost version after the product releases. This Kickstarter is fully funded and runs until Thursday, May 31.
That’s all from me for this week! Find more gaming crowdfunding news by following our Kickstarter news tag, and don’t forget to support our Patreon to bring you 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'm still obsessed with the BattleTech video game which I'm still live streaming on my Twitch channel (and I’ll be doing a late-night stream tonight), follow Gamer’s Tavern on YouTube featuring videos on gaming history and gaming 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.
The internet has been abuzz since the announcement of Warhammer Adventures, a new fiction line from Games Workshop. The new line features two banners, one for Warhammer 40,000 and one for Warhammer: Age of Sigmar, targeted at a YA audience. The response online has been…interesting to say the least, as the two Warhammer properties are best known as helping coin the term “grimdark” and questions of how it could be adapted for the target eight-to-twelve year old audience, or even if it should. Many Warhammer fans are also upset that the fiction represents a betrayal of the “edgy” nature of the settings. However, this appears to be part of a push by Games Workshop to more easily introduce new players to the game and the setting, including low priced introductory single-army boxed sets and making the core rules available online for free. They’ve also tapped bestselling authors with experience in YA licensed fiction to write the first entries, Cavan Scott for Warped Galaxies: Attack of the Necron and Tom Huddleston for Realm Quest: City of Lifestone. No release date has been announced yet.
Several recent blog posts from Paizo highlight the new design philosophy in Pathfinder 2nd Edition for monsters and their stat blocks. The first post talks about building monsters and how mechanical changes lead to specific thematic differences in how the monster feels while playing while using the new mechanics. The second post takes a look at the monster stat blocks and how they will be presented in the future for a streamlined and easy-to-read format. It also gives us a sneak peek at the Redcap and Ogre. Finally, we got our last update before PaizoCon this weekend, a look at the Wizard class along with arcane spellcasting, class-specific feats, and a couple of spells (Phantasmal Killer and Magic Missile). There will most likely be a flood of new information following PaizoCon, so be sure to check EN World’s Pathfinder 2nd Edition feed for all the breaking stories.
Evil Hat announced some big changes to their creative team. First, Brian Patterson has been promoted to Senior Art Director for the company. You probably know Patterson’s work on his webcomic, D20Monkey (or have seen some of the comics posted on social media). Patterson previously served as Art Director for several of Evil Hat’s titles as well as producing art himself. In addition, Sophie Lagacé will take over as Fate Line Developer. Lagacé has previously served as a project manager on the Fate line and will be taking over the position from Leonard Balsera. Balsera, who is also the COO for John Wick Presents, will be stepping back in his long-time role at Evil Hat but will continue working on projects for Fate, Fate Core, and others.
Steve Jackson Games updated their On Demand program with several new products for GURPS, showing that they still have plans for the classic roleplaying game that put them on the map. The three classic third edition setting books are part of the new initiative through Amazon to bring long out-of-print books back into print and easily available for fans. Reign of Steel is a science fiction setting where bands of human rebels fight against their ruthless mechanical overlords, drawing influence from the Terminator franchise among others. Technomancer is an urban fantasy series in an alternate world where the first atomic bomb tests accidentally completed an ancient necromantic ritual and returned magic to the world by creating the Hellstorm. Voodoo: The Shadow War is a dark urban fantasy setting that dives into the myths of Voudoun and Santeria as the players attempt to protect the world from supernatural evil. Also, two brand new products were released through their Warehouse 23 store, a new setting for GURPS Dungeon Fantasy by Sean Punch called Caverntown and the newest issue of Pyramid focusing on “Mind Over Magic”.
Betrayal at House on the Hill is a beloved game from Avalon Hill but, unfortunately, some of the components can be easily damaged (particularly, the player tracker and its perpetually loose or broken clips). WizKids, through its board game license with Wizards of the Coast, is coming to the rescue with an official component upgrade kit for the game. The kit comes with brand new dice and upgraded player trackers. The new trackers feature actual component wheels that don’t need to be clipped on and brand new character art for all characters. The new kit will be available in September (and is available for pre-order now) for a retail price of $14.99.
One of the new monsters in Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes comes not from any of the Wizards of the Coast designers, but was inspired by Nolan Whale with help from the Make-a-Wish Foundation. The Oblex, an experimentation from mind flayers that creates an intelligent slime that drains the thoughts and memories of those it hunts, came out of Whale’s day spent at Wizards of the Coast last year as part of the Make-a-Wish program where he got a tour of the offices and talked with the designers of the game. And keep an eye out in the artwork for a tattooed, mohawked dwarf, based on Whale’s old character. You can read the full interview with Jeremy Crawford on the DNDBeyond website.
Usually, a game called Fetch Quest wouldn’t be that appealing…unless it’s a new deckbuilding game for Realms of Pugmire. The game is for three to six players and takes about an hour to 90 minutes where each player takes on the role of a dog adventurer to accomplish quests. You can get a print-and-play version in PDF for $10, the game plus all stretch goals for $30, add on a Pugmire digital bundle for $40, or get a set of exclusive Pugmire pins instead for $50 (though this level is limited). This project funded in its first day (as Onyx Path projects tend to do) and will keep unlocking stretch goals until Thursday, June 21.
Endless Realms is a new roleplaying game system set in the world of Lumis, a crossroads between an infinite number of different realms and their populations along with the fragile balance both in power and politics. The system involves rolling two ten-sided dice, one rolled by the player and one by the gamemaster with modifiers applied to either side. You can get the digital version for CA$20 (about US$16), add on the Creature Compendium for CA$40 (about US$31), get the hardcover of your choice of rulebooks for CA$65 (about US$51), or both for CA$115 (about US$90). This Kickstarter is fully funded and has some stretch goals left to unlock until it ends on Tuesday, May 29.
Archives of the Sky is a science fiction GMless roleplaying game slash tabletop storygame set millions of years in the future where humanity has colonized vast areas of the galaxy. The game draws influence from games like Fiasco and starts by creating a deck of words in order to create a House, one of the ruling powers of the galaxy and start weaving a story around them. The random twist in this game is the “Archives”, a stack of player-created single-word cards that can add twists and turns to every scene. The playtest version of the rules is linked in the Kickstarter if you’re curious how the rules work. The PDF is available for a $10 pledge, a $25 pledge gets you the hardcopy book added on for US and Canada, and a special $10 pledge level exists for those outside US/Canada that includes a code to purchase an at-cost version after the product releases. This Kickstarter is fully funded and runs until Thursday, May 31.
That’s all from me for this week! Find more gaming crowdfunding news by following our Kickstarter news tag, and don’t forget to support our Patreon to bring you 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'm still obsessed with the BattleTech video game which I'm still live streaming on my Twitch channel (and I’ll be doing a late-night stream tonight), follow Gamer’s Tavern on YouTube featuring videos on gaming history and gaming 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.
How will the authors possibly find the right tone? You have to have a true good side that fights for the right cause in order to let the young readers identify with that. But there are no good heroes in the WH fiction (or 40k at least). Even the remotely good guys are a terrible, inhumane bunch of faux-Nazis.
