Hello everyone, Darryl here with this week’s gaming news! Pathfinder 2nd Ed Playtest updated, Harlem Unbound 2nd Edition?!, a playtest for D&D’s Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica, Games Workshop seeking movie/TV deal, and more!
The Pathfinder 2nd Edition playtest has received its first update, just two weeks after release. Paizo broke the updates into two categories, the first being “critical updates” that make changes to rules that affect gameplay and the second, just “updates”, are things that need correcting but typically won’t affect gameplay except in specific circumstances. Some of the playtest surveys are live now, specifically Player, Gamemaster, and Open surveys on the Doomsday Dawn adventure and Player and Gamemaster specific surveys for the three Pathfinder Society scenarios The Rose Street Revenge, Raiders of Shrieking Peak, and Arclord’s Envy. In the blog post, Jason Bulmahn promises at least weekly updates from the design team and live streams of games played by Paizo staff on their official Twitch channel.
Speaking of playtests, Wizards of the Coast released an Unearthed Arcana article of material from the upcoming Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica. This article, Races of Ravnica, features playtest versions of the Loxodon, Simic Hybrid, Vedalken, and Viashino for Dungeons & Dragons. According to the release, a survey will appear on the Dungeons & Dragons website requesting feedback on the races presented. This is surprising as feedback from this survey wouldn’t be received until early September and the book is scheduled for release on November 20, meaning any feedback will need to be integrated into the game just before heading to the printers.
That’s not the only new content out for Dungeons & Dragons, as the Dungeons & Dragons Adventures Outlined coloring book releases next week. Illustrated by Todd James, the coloring book arrived in the studio during the recording of this week’s Morrus’ Unofficial Tabletop RPG Talk podcast. As some of you might know, I do the editing for the podcast and the preview copy Morrus was sent arrived during the recording and the timing was so perfect, I’m planning to pull the raw audio after finishing the Patreon exclusive Deleted Scenes and Outtakes episode just to prove it actually happened.
Speaking of licensed products, Gale Force Nine announced a licensing deal for Dune with Legendary Entertainment and Herbert Properties, LLC, for “Games”. They also announced a sublicense with Modiphius for a Dune roleplaying game. This is somewhat unique as the license comes from both Legendary (the current rights holder for film and television) and from Herbert Properties (the managing body for Frank Herbert’s intellectual property rights), meaning this licensing deal is both for the original novels (and spinoffs from authors like Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson) as well as for the upcoming feature film announced from director Denis Villeneuve. The roleplaying game from Modiphius is expected to beat the film to release, as the RPG is expected in 2019 with the film currently scheduled for release in 2020.
Speaking of film and television licenses, Games Workshop CEO Kevin Rountree announced the company has tasked a small team to seek out licensees for the Warhammer 40,000 and Warhammer: Age of Sigmar properties in television and film with an eye on both live-action and animated properties. According to Tabletop Gaming, Rountree said:
The results of this licensing push wouldn’t be the first time, as a direct-to-DVD animated film Ultramarines: Warhammer was released in 2010 distributed by Anchor Bay starring Terrance Stamp and John Hurt.
Speaking of…surprising new editions? Sorry, I think I ran out of segues. Anyway, the ENnie winning and Diana Jones Award nominated Harlem Unbound roleplaying game is already scheduled for a second edition. The post from Chaosium states they will publish this new edition, which will feature “additional scenarios, new maps, and new art”. So it may be more of an updated and expanded printing of the original rules than what we in the tabletop RPG industry typically mean when we say “new edition”. This announcement comes on the heels of the announcement of Harlem Unbound designer Chris Spivey developing an unnamed science fiction roleplaying game for Chaosium just over a month ago.
A group of podcasters got together and wrote a LARP gaining some media attention, the When You’re Here, You’re Family Live Action Roleplaying Game. Those of you outside the United States may not recognize the title, which is the slogan for casual dining “Italian” food restaurant chain Olive Garden. Yes, it’s an Olive Garden LARP. The rules from Jeff Stormer (Party of One Podcast) and inspired by James Malloy (Stop, Hack, and Roll Podcast) and Meghan Dornbrock (The One Shot Podcast) are available for free, and focus on building a community between rounds of unlimited soup, salad, and breadsticks. This isn’t the first RPG of this sort, as Flavortown: A Modern Tall Tale from Quinn Wilson is another micro RPG focusing on a part of food pop culture, specifically the cooking shows of celebrity “chef” Guy Fieri.
The Program Your Own Games bundle from Humble Bundle is an interesting mix of game development works and…filmmaking? In addition to books like Introduction to Game Development, Video Game Writing, and Introduction to 3D Game Programming with DirectX 12, there’s a selection of books about filmmaking like Digital Filmmaking: An Introduction, Hollywood Studio Production Techniques, and Storyboarding: Turning Script to Motion among others valuable to any current or aspiring YouTuber or Twitch streamer. This bundle is available until August 20. Of course, if you’re looking for something more in lines to inspire your next game, there’s always the Doctor Who and Torchwood audiobook and audio play bundle (available until August 29) or the Valiant Universe comic bundle (available until August 22).
There’s a lot of high profile Kickstarters getting close to wrapping up that I’ve either previously covered or don’t need much written about them, so let’s get these out of the way:
The Fantasy Trip from Steve Jackson Games is a new edition of the classic fantasy roleplaying game first written by Steve Jackson in 1977. The PDF is available for $25, $30 gets Melee and Wizard boxed sets, and $60 gets the Legacy Edition which includes all previous rewards plus the In the Labyrinth adventure with color maps. This project ends on Friday, August 24.
The Expanse from Green Ronin Games is the AGE-powered licensed roleplaying game from the novel series The Expanse by author James S. A. Corey. The PDF core rulebook is available for $20, the PDF of the core rulebook and GM’s kit is $30, the print version of the core rulebook is $50, and GM’s Kit is added on for $70. This project ends on Wednesday, August 22.
Your Best Game Ever! is a guidebook on playing roleplaying games with tips and essays for everyone, from those brand new to the hobby to long-time veterans. The PDF is available for a $20 pledge and print for $45, with a $40 and $100 version for PDF and Print respectively that also adds on the Cypher System Core Rulebook. This project ends on Friday, August 24.
5th Edition Players Guide to Aihrde is “Fifth Edition Fantasy” setting book based on the Codex of Aihrde. This 128-page book includes both brand new and variant versions of classes, races, spells, magic items, and more for use in the Aihrde setting, a mythology-focused fantasy world with thirty different nations with their own governments, rulers, and economy. The PDF is available for a $10 pledge, the hardcover for $30, and the full set of all four Aihrde books in print and PDF for $75. This project is fully funded and runs until Wednesday, August 22.
Dobbers: Quest for the Key describes itself as an “RPG-style deckbuilding and encounter-building game” . The RPG elements, however, seem more inspired by the video game definition of the genre than the tabletop definition, as each player takes on the role of a hero attempting to recover the Key, a source of great evil in the land. The RPG elements are less about storytelling and more about collecting items to upgrade your character as you also create encounters for your opponents to slow them down as you race to get to the Key first. The game is available for a $39 pledge, while a $64 pledge gets you the game, the comic book the game is based on (by the game’s designer, Darryl Jones), and the 6-player expansion which adds new Adventure and Challenge cards to the game. This project is fully funded and runs until Friday, August 24.
That’s all from me for this week! 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 and you can get more discussion of the week’s news on Morrus’ Unofficial Tabletop RPG Talk every week. You can follow me on Twitter @Abstruse where I’m sure I’ll find something to go on a rant about, follow me on Twitch for notifications of when my next Dragon Age: Origins stream will be (I swear, I’ll finish it soon!), 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 Pathfinder 2nd Edition playtest has received its first update, just two weeks after release. Paizo broke the updates into two categories, the first being “critical updates” that make changes to rules that affect gameplay and the second, just “updates”, are things that need correcting but typically won’t affect gameplay except in specific circumstances. Some of the playtest surveys are live now, specifically Player, Gamemaster, and Open surveys on the Doomsday Dawn adventure and Player and Gamemaster specific surveys for the three Pathfinder Society scenarios The Rose Street Revenge, Raiders of Shrieking Peak, and Arclord’s Envy. In the blog post, Jason Bulmahn promises at least weekly updates from the design team and live streams of games played by Paizo staff on their official Twitch channel.
Speaking of playtests, Wizards of the Coast released an Unearthed Arcana article of material from the upcoming Guildmasters’ Guide to Ravnica. This article, Races of Ravnica, features playtest versions of the Loxodon, Simic Hybrid, Vedalken, and Viashino for Dungeons & Dragons. According to the release, a survey will appear on the Dungeons & Dragons website requesting feedback on the races presented. This is surprising as feedback from this survey wouldn’t be received until early September and the book is scheduled for release on November 20, meaning any feedback will need to be integrated into the game just before heading to the printers.
That’s not the only new content out for Dungeons & Dragons, as the Dungeons & Dragons Adventures Outlined coloring book releases next week. Illustrated by Todd James, the coloring book arrived in the studio during the recording of this week’s Morrus’ Unofficial Tabletop RPG Talk podcast. As some of you might know, I do the editing for the podcast and the preview copy Morrus was sent arrived during the recording and the timing was so perfect, I’m planning to pull the raw audio after finishing the Patreon exclusive Deleted Scenes and Outtakes episode just to prove it actually happened.
Speaking of licensed products, Gale Force Nine announced a licensing deal for Dune with Legendary Entertainment and Herbert Properties, LLC, for “Games”. They also announced a sublicense with Modiphius for a Dune roleplaying game. This is somewhat unique as the license comes from both Legendary (the current rights holder for film and television) and from Herbert Properties (the managing body for Frank Herbert’s intellectual property rights), meaning this licensing deal is both for the original novels (and spinoffs from authors like Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson) as well as for the upcoming feature film announced from director Denis Villeneuve. The roleplaying game from Modiphius is expected to beat the film to release, as the RPG is expected in 2019 with the film currently scheduled for release in 2020.
Speaking of film and television licenses, Games Workshop CEO Kevin Rountree announced the company has tasked a small team to seek out licensees for the Warhammer 40,000 and Warhammer: Age of Sigmar properties in television and film with an eye on both live-action and animated properties. According to Tabletop Gaming, Rountree said:
“We believe our IP to be among the best in the world. The Warhammer settings are incredibly rich and evocative backdrops. They’re populated by more than three decades of fantastical characters and comprise of thousands of exciting narratives. Going forward, we want to make it easier than ever for people to engage with and immerse themselves in our IP.”
The results of this licensing push wouldn’t be the first time, as a direct-to-DVD animated film Ultramarines: Warhammer was released in 2010 distributed by Anchor Bay starring Terrance Stamp and John Hurt.
Speaking of…surprising new editions? Sorry, I think I ran out of segues. Anyway, the ENnie winning and Diana Jones Award nominated Harlem Unbound roleplaying game is already scheduled for a second edition. The post from Chaosium states they will publish this new edition, which will feature “additional scenarios, new maps, and new art”. So it may be more of an updated and expanded printing of the original rules than what we in the tabletop RPG industry typically mean when we say “new edition”. This announcement comes on the heels of the announcement of Harlem Unbound designer Chris Spivey developing an unnamed science fiction roleplaying game for Chaosium just over a month ago.
A group of podcasters got together and wrote a LARP gaining some media attention, the When You’re Here, You’re Family Live Action Roleplaying Game. Those of you outside the United States may not recognize the title, which is the slogan for casual dining “Italian” food restaurant chain Olive Garden. Yes, it’s an Olive Garden LARP. The rules from Jeff Stormer (Party of One Podcast) and inspired by James Malloy (Stop, Hack, and Roll Podcast) and Meghan Dornbrock (The One Shot Podcast) are available for free, and focus on building a community between rounds of unlimited soup, salad, and breadsticks. This isn’t the first RPG of this sort, as Flavortown: A Modern Tall Tale from Quinn Wilson is another micro RPG focusing on a part of food pop culture, specifically the cooking shows of celebrity “chef” Guy Fieri.
The Program Your Own Games bundle from Humble Bundle is an interesting mix of game development works and…filmmaking? In addition to books like Introduction to Game Development, Video Game Writing, and Introduction to 3D Game Programming with DirectX 12, there’s a selection of books about filmmaking like Digital Filmmaking: An Introduction, Hollywood Studio Production Techniques, and Storyboarding: Turning Script to Motion among others valuable to any current or aspiring YouTuber or Twitch streamer. This bundle is available until August 20. Of course, if you’re looking for something more in lines to inspire your next game, there’s always the Doctor Who and Torchwood audiobook and audio play bundle (available until August 29) or the Valiant Universe comic bundle (available until August 22).
There’s a lot of high profile Kickstarters getting close to wrapping up that I’ve either previously covered or don’t need much written about them, so let’s get these out of the way:
The Fantasy Trip from Steve Jackson Games is a new edition of the classic fantasy roleplaying game first written by Steve Jackson in 1977. The PDF is available for $25, $30 gets Melee and Wizard boxed sets, and $60 gets the Legacy Edition which includes all previous rewards plus the In the Labyrinth adventure with color maps. This project ends on Friday, August 24.
The Expanse from Green Ronin Games is the AGE-powered licensed roleplaying game from the novel series The Expanse by author James S. A. Corey. The PDF core rulebook is available for $20, the PDF of the core rulebook and GM’s kit is $30, the print version of the core rulebook is $50, and GM’s Kit is added on for $70. This project ends on Wednesday, August 22.
Your Best Game Ever! is a guidebook on playing roleplaying games with tips and essays for everyone, from those brand new to the hobby to long-time veterans. The PDF is available for a $20 pledge and print for $45, with a $40 and $100 version for PDF and Print respectively that also adds on the Cypher System Core Rulebook. This project ends on Friday, August 24.
5th Edition Players Guide to Aihrde is “Fifth Edition Fantasy” setting book based on the Codex of Aihrde. This 128-page book includes both brand new and variant versions of classes, races, spells, magic items, and more for use in the Aihrde setting, a mythology-focused fantasy world with thirty different nations with their own governments, rulers, and economy. The PDF is available for a $10 pledge, the hardcover for $30, and the full set of all four Aihrde books in print and PDF for $75. This project is fully funded and runs until Wednesday, August 22.
Dobbers: Quest for the Key describes itself as an “RPG-style deckbuilding and encounter-building game” . The RPG elements, however, seem more inspired by the video game definition of the genre than the tabletop definition, as each player takes on the role of a hero attempting to recover the Key, a source of great evil in the land. The RPG elements are less about storytelling and more about collecting items to upgrade your character as you also create encounters for your opponents to slow them down as you race to get to the Key first. The game is available for a $39 pledge, while a $64 pledge gets you the game, the comic book the game is based on (by the game’s designer, Darryl Jones), and the 6-player expansion which adds new Adventure and Challenge cards to the game. This project is fully funded and runs until Friday, August 24.
That’s all from me for this week! 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 and you can get more discussion of the week’s news on Morrus’ Unofficial Tabletop RPG Talk every week. You can follow me on Twitter @Abstruse where I’m sure I’ll find something to go on a rant about, follow me on Twitch for notifications of when my next Dragon Age: Origins stream will be (I swear, I’ll finish it soon!), 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.
