Hello everyone, Darryl here with this week’s gaming news! Even more Dragon Heist products announced, Pathfinder 2nd Ed playtest update, new SRDs for Pathfinder and Starfinder, a new RPG-themed horror comic series from Image, Fortnite coming to tabletop, and more!
Everyone’s talking about Waterdeep: Dragon Heist following its release to hobby stores (with mass-market outlets like Amazon releasing this Tuesday, September 18) including this week’s episode of Morrus’ Unofficial Tabletop RPG Talk, so why should I be any different? More accessories have been announced from Gale Force Nine, the first being a line of unpainted miniatures of Vajra Safahr, Manshoon, Laeral Silverhand, Black Viper, Mirt the Moneylender, Jarlaxle, Aurinax, and Xanathar. The human-sized miniatures will retail for $10, while Xanathar will be $20 and the dragon-form Aurinax will be $90. There will also be a DM’s screen for $15 specifically created for the adventure with information to help flesh out Waterdeep including a chart for items found while pickpocketing and a list of sensory details for various districts including sounds and smells. Finally, there are two options for large vinyl maps of Waterdeep, a 20 x 40 inch map of the entire city for $30 and a map set of seven different maps of each individual district separately for $50. All of these products release on September 30.
The Waterdeep: Dragon Heist adventure is available on Roll20 as well, which is actually a package of the core adventure with four seasonal packs for each of the four seasons. If you’re not sure what that’s significant, each season in the module is associated with one of the four key antagonist NPCs and the events of the adventure change based on which one you choose. There are also 73 named NPCs with character sheets and tokens, 118 creatures and monsters, 64 magic items with art handouts, and over 20 maps all pre-set up with dynamic lighting and support for Roll20’s Advanced Fog of War. The package is available for $49.95.
And, of course, as previously reported, the book itself is available for a retail price of $49.95 along with a special dice set and a line of miniatures from WizKids and the Endless Quest series and the new R. A. Salvatore novel Timeless: A Drizzt Novel and oh, hang on I think my wallet started crying…
Paizo has a lot of announcements for Pathfinder and Starfinder fans so they don’t feel left out. The next stage of the Pathfinder 2nd Edition playtest for Pathfinder Society has started with the release of Affair at Sombrefell Hall, which is the third adventure in the playtest adventure path which includes The Lost Star and In Pale Mountain’s Shadow. This adventure is for characters of 7th level, and will be followed up by four more adventures culminating with When the Stars Go Dark available on November 5. There have been changes to the rules, so if you haven’t checked out the playtest yet, it may be a good time to check out the newest download for free. The new update released September 10th removes the “signature skills” restriction entirely and makes changes to pretty much the entire skills system to remove it (particularly for class skill advancement and prerequisites for other abilities), a revamp of the death and dying rules, and several other line-item changes to game text.
Paizo also announced a new official SRD for both Pathfinder and Starfinder games. The Pathfinder SRD will be available at PFRD.info and the Starfinder SRD at SFRD.info, both managed by Blake Davis from the Archives of Nethys. Following the official release of Pathfinder 2nd Edition, management of the PFRD will also transfer to AON (though the playtest will still be managed by Paizo). According to the official announcement, the change came because of issues maintaining, hosting, and updating the internal SRD with the newest rules changes and products, creating a lag between these resources being available for third-party publishers and fans, and freeing up those resources internally allows Paizo to shift its focus in terms of web development. While Archives of Nethys does have a Patreon, the site and its SRD resources (including non-OGL “product identity” material for Golarion and Pact Worlds specific rules and content) will remain free.
Image Comics will launch a new ongoing series called DIE from writer Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans pitched as “Jumanji as horror” with a connection to roleplaying games. The premise is that six teenagers sat down to play a roleplaying game in 1991, reappearing two years later in a forest fifty miles away, refusing to talk about what happened. Twenty-five years later and now adults, “they are about to discover…no one escapes”. Gillen stated he’s designed a full roleplaying game from the ground-up for the comic and originally planned to release it alongside the first issue, but has since decided to push the game release back to the release of the first trade paperback to avoid spoilers. The first issue comes out this December and will be available in comic stores as well as digitally.
Hasbro and Epic Games have entered into a licensing agreement for Fortnite. The first two products will be a series of NERF products and a themed version of Monopoly. The new Monopoly Fortnite will include cardboard pawns with different character skins, fifteen Storm cards, sixteen location cards, eight wall cards, a special action die, 110 health point chips, and…lootboxes. The game will also feature special rules such as avoiding the Storm to prevent HP loss when passing Go. The board game will release October 1, with the NERF line launching in spring of next year.
The interesting bit that’s buried in the announcement, however, is this little bit (emphasis added):
So…a Fortnite tabletop roleplaying game should be expected sometime next year.
Speaking of licensing agreements, WizKids and WWE have entered into a licensing agreement for tabletop games. While Dice Tower went with “Can you smell what WizKids is cooking?” and Tabletop Gaming News went with “Are you ready to rumbleeeeeeeeee?!?”, but no one went with the obvious “Devon, get the tabletop!” or “We Want Tabletop *clap clap clapclapclap*”. I’m disappointed. Anyway, the licensing deal will bring WWE Superstars to HeroClix and Dice Masters and includes both current roster superstars such as John Cena, Charlotte Flair, The Undertaker, and Roman Reigns as well as WWE Hall of Famers like Stone Cold Steve Austin, Trish Stratus, and The Rock. (I’ll follow WWE branding guidelines to use “superstars” instead of “wrestlers”, but I’m way too lazy to put the Registered Trademark symbol behind every single one of those names). The license also extends to other products, so there will most likely be other board games on the way as this would be a good chance for WizKids to get more products into big box stores such as Wal-mart and Target. The first releases under this license are expected in 2019.
The Trivia Champion Humble Book Bundle features over $400 of digital books invaluable for research and inspiration for your tabletop games. Even the $1 level has Greek Mythology Explained: A Deeper Look at Classical Greek Lore and Myth, and the higher levels include books on subjects like what it’s really like in space, reference guides to the planets, the history of everyday objects, word origins, the history of anime, technology and morality from science fiction, and a lot more. This bundle benefits the National Coalition Against Censorship and 826 National, and it runs until Wednesday, September 26.
For creators out there (especially aspiring live streamers and video makers), there are two great bundles up now. The Ultimate Creative Design Bundle features software solutions for music creation, image editing, creating 3D titles and logos, webpage design, an easy-to-use video editor, and several other useful programs. There’s also the Humble Unity Bundle that not only includes video games like Torment: Tides of Numenera and Wastelands 2, but also includes assets for use in Unity. But here’s the interesting part: The bundle includes the Universal Sound FX with thousands of sound effect files and the Ultimate Game Music Collection with hundreds of music songs, all of which are licensed for use in any media production (so it’s not just for video games, but also live streams, videos, podcasts, and more). Both bundles benefit Girls Who Code, with the Ultimate Creative Design bundle available until Tuesday, September 25 and the Unity bundle available until Tuesday, September 18.
Mists of Akuma is an Asian-themed fantasy campaign setting for 5e and Shadow of the Demon Lords, and this Kickstarter is for two adventures for the setting. Trade War collects six existing adventures into a single book with exclusive linking material to create an entire campaign, following the players as they travel across Soburin attempting to thwart the efforts of the Pale Master’s servants. Imperial Matchmaker is a brand new adventure attempting to bring together four feuding clans with a focus on political intrigue and subterfuge. The pledge levels are a bit difficult to explain concisely, but you can choose between either or both of the two adventure books in either PDF or hardcopy for either D&D 5e or SotDL along with bundles, and each has its own level. The digital versions start at $15 and the print versions at $19 and vary depending on edition and adventure. This project is fully funded and runs until Tuesday, September 18. (Disclosure: Mike Myler is a paid columnist for EN World and editor for EN Publishing’s En5ider.)
One of the neatest gift products I’ve ever seen for gamers is the Dragon Egg Gift Candles. They’re dragon egg-shaped wax candles that, once they’re burned down completely, reveal a metal D20 inside with the color scheme of the dragon egg it was “born” from. It’s one of those ideas that’s so simple and brilliant that I wish I’d thought of it. You can get a single dragon egg of your choice for a $25 pledge, two for $45, three for $60, and full seven-die dice sets starting at $75. Each tier is limited, so make sure to get in quickly. Also, make sure to get in quickly because this fully-funded project ends this Sunday, September 16.
For those of you who, like me, struggle with creating maps for your dungeons, Atmar’s Cardography random dungeon-building cards is perfect for you. Each deck of cards features rooms and halls to create a dungeon by simply laying out the cards. The only thing missing would be if these were of a size large enough to use as a battle map themselves, but that would make them so large they’d be difficult to shuffle as these rooms tend to be large enough for decent encounters rather than the small 10ft by 20ft “closets”. There’s also adventures and encounters designed to match the rooms available to all backers. A single deck is available for $10, three for $28, and all five for $45. This Kickstarter is fully-funded and runs until Tuesday, September 18.
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.comand 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’ll probably be annoyed about satellite installation scheduling since they’re making me be awake during the day like a normal functioning adult, follow me on Twitch to watch sporadic live streams, subscribe to 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.
Everyone’s talking about Waterdeep: Dragon Heist following its release to hobby stores (with mass-market outlets like Amazon releasing this Tuesday, September 18) including this week’s episode of Morrus’ Unofficial Tabletop RPG Talk, so why should I be any different? More accessories have been announced from Gale Force Nine, the first being a line of unpainted miniatures of Vajra Safahr, Manshoon, Laeral Silverhand, Black Viper, Mirt the Moneylender, Jarlaxle, Aurinax, and Xanathar. The human-sized miniatures will retail for $10, while Xanathar will be $20 and the dragon-form Aurinax will be $90. There will also be a DM’s screen for $15 specifically created for the adventure with information to help flesh out Waterdeep including a chart for items found while pickpocketing and a list of sensory details for various districts including sounds and smells. Finally, there are two options for large vinyl maps of Waterdeep, a 20 x 40 inch map of the entire city for $30 and a map set of seven different maps of each individual district separately for $50. All of these products release on September 30.
The Waterdeep: Dragon Heist adventure is available on Roll20 as well, which is actually a package of the core adventure with four seasonal packs for each of the four seasons. If you’re not sure what that’s significant, each season in the module is associated with one of the four key antagonist NPCs and the events of the adventure change based on which one you choose. There are also 73 named NPCs with character sheets and tokens, 118 creatures and monsters, 64 magic items with art handouts, and over 20 maps all pre-set up with dynamic lighting and support for Roll20’s Advanced Fog of War. The package is available for $49.95.
And, of course, as previously reported, the book itself is available for a retail price of $49.95 along with a special dice set and a line of miniatures from WizKids and the Endless Quest series and the new R. A. Salvatore novel Timeless: A Drizzt Novel and oh, hang on I think my wallet started crying…
Paizo has a lot of announcements for Pathfinder and Starfinder fans so they don’t feel left out. The next stage of the Pathfinder 2nd Edition playtest for Pathfinder Society has started with the release of Affair at Sombrefell Hall, which is the third adventure in the playtest adventure path which includes The Lost Star and In Pale Mountain’s Shadow. This adventure is for characters of 7th level, and will be followed up by four more adventures culminating with When the Stars Go Dark available on November 5. There have been changes to the rules, so if you haven’t checked out the playtest yet, it may be a good time to check out the newest download for free. The new update released September 10th removes the “signature skills” restriction entirely and makes changes to pretty much the entire skills system to remove it (particularly for class skill advancement and prerequisites for other abilities), a revamp of the death and dying rules, and several other line-item changes to game text.
Paizo also announced a new official SRD for both Pathfinder and Starfinder games. The Pathfinder SRD will be available at PFRD.info and the Starfinder SRD at SFRD.info, both managed by Blake Davis from the Archives of Nethys. Following the official release of Pathfinder 2nd Edition, management of the PFRD will also transfer to AON (though the playtest will still be managed by Paizo). According to the official announcement, the change came because of issues maintaining, hosting, and updating the internal SRD with the newest rules changes and products, creating a lag between these resources being available for third-party publishers and fans, and freeing up those resources internally allows Paizo to shift its focus in terms of web development. While Archives of Nethys does have a Patreon, the site and its SRD resources (including non-OGL “product identity” material for Golarion and Pact Worlds specific rules and content) will remain free.
Image Comics will launch a new ongoing series called DIE from writer Kieron Gillen and Stephanie Hans pitched as “Jumanji as horror” with a connection to roleplaying games. The premise is that six teenagers sat down to play a roleplaying game in 1991, reappearing two years later in a forest fifty miles away, refusing to talk about what happened. Twenty-five years later and now adults, “they are about to discover…no one escapes”. Gillen stated he’s designed a full roleplaying game from the ground-up for the comic and originally planned to release it alongside the first issue, but has since decided to push the game release back to the release of the first trade paperback to avoid spoilers. The first issue comes out this December and will be available in comic stores as well as digitally.
Hasbro and Epic Games have entered into a licensing agreement for Fortnite. The first two products will be a series of NERF products and a themed version of Monopoly. The new Monopoly Fortnite will include cardboard pawns with different character skins, fifteen Storm cards, sixteen location cards, eight wall cards, a special action die, 110 health point chips, and…lootboxes. The game will also feature special rules such as avoiding the Storm to prevent HP loss when passing Go. The board game will release October 1, with the NERF line launching in spring of next year.
The interesting bit that’s buried in the announcement, however, is this little bit (emphasis added):
The battle continues to build with an epic line up of additional licensed games, role play and NERF Fortnite blasters and accessories debuting in 2019.
So…a Fortnite tabletop roleplaying game should be expected sometime next year.
Speaking of licensing agreements, WizKids and WWE have entered into a licensing agreement for tabletop games. While Dice Tower went with “Can you smell what WizKids is cooking?” and Tabletop Gaming News went with “Are you ready to rumbleeeeeeeeee?!?”, but no one went with the obvious “Devon, get the tabletop!” or “We Want Tabletop *clap clap clapclapclap*”. I’m disappointed. Anyway, the licensing deal will bring WWE Superstars to HeroClix and Dice Masters and includes both current roster superstars such as John Cena, Charlotte Flair, The Undertaker, and Roman Reigns as well as WWE Hall of Famers like Stone Cold Steve Austin, Trish Stratus, and The Rock. (I’ll follow WWE branding guidelines to use “superstars” instead of “wrestlers”, but I’m way too lazy to put the Registered Trademark symbol behind every single one of those names). The license also extends to other products, so there will most likely be other board games on the way as this would be a good chance for WizKids to get more products into big box stores such as Wal-mart and Target. The first releases under this license are expected in 2019.
The Trivia Champion Humble Book Bundle features over $400 of digital books invaluable for research and inspiration for your tabletop games. Even the $1 level has Greek Mythology Explained: A Deeper Look at Classical Greek Lore and Myth, and the higher levels include books on subjects like what it’s really like in space, reference guides to the planets, the history of everyday objects, word origins, the history of anime, technology and morality from science fiction, and a lot more. This bundle benefits the National Coalition Against Censorship and 826 National, and it runs until Wednesday, September 26.
For creators out there (especially aspiring live streamers and video makers), there are two great bundles up now. The Ultimate Creative Design Bundle features software solutions for music creation, image editing, creating 3D titles and logos, webpage design, an easy-to-use video editor, and several other useful programs. There’s also the Humble Unity Bundle that not only includes video games like Torment: Tides of Numenera and Wastelands 2, but also includes assets for use in Unity. But here’s the interesting part: The bundle includes the Universal Sound FX with thousands of sound effect files and the Ultimate Game Music Collection with hundreds of music songs, all of which are licensed for use in any media production (so it’s not just for video games, but also live streams, videos, podcasts, and more). Both bundles benefit Girls Who Code, with the Ultimate Creative Design bundle available until Tuesday, September 25 and the Unity bundle available until Tuesday, September 18.
Mists of Akuma is an Asian-themed fantasy campaign setting for 5e and Shadow of the Demon Lords, and this Kickstarter is for two adventures for the setting. Trade War collects six existing adventures into a single book with exclusive linking material to create an entire campaign, following the players as they travel across Soburin attempting to thwart the efforts of the Pale Master’s servants. Imperial Matchmaker is a brand new adventure attempting to bring together four feuding clans with a focus on political intrigue and subterfuge. The pledge levels are a bit difficult to explain concisely, but you can choose between either or both of the two adventure books in either PDF or hardcopy for either D&D 5e or SotDL along with bundles, and each has its own level. The digital versions start at $15 and the print versions at $19 and vary depending on edition and adventure. This project is fully funded and runs until Tuesday, September 18. (Disclosure: Mike Myler is a paid columnist for EN World and editor for EN Publishing’s En5ider.)
One of the neatest gift products I’ve ever seen for gamers is the Dragon Egg Gift Candles. They’re dragon egg-shaped wax candles that, once they’re burned down completely, reveal a metal D20 inside with the color scheme of the dragon egg it was “born” from. It’s one of those ideas that’s so simple and brilliant that I wish I’d thought of it. You can get a single dragon egg of your choice for a $25 pledge, two for $45, three for $60, and full seven-die dice sets starting at $75. Each tier is limited, so make sure to get in quickly. Also, make sure to get in quickly because this fully-funded project ends this Sunday, September 16.
For those of you who, like me, struggle with creating maps for your dungeons, Atmar’s Cardography random dungeon-building cards is perfect for you. Each deck of cards features rooms and halls to create a dungeon by simply laying out the cards. The only thing missing would be if these were of a size large enough to use as a battle map themselves, but that would make them so large they’d be difficult to shuffle as these rooms tend to be large enough for decent encounters rather than the small 10ft by 20ft “closets”. There’s also adventures and encounters designed to match the rooms available to all backers. A single deck is available for $10, three for $28, and all five for $45. This Kickstarter is fully-funded and runs until Tuesday, September 18.
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.comand 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’ll probably be annoyed about satellite installation scheduling since they’re making me be awake during the day like a normal functioning adult, follow me on Twitch to watch sporadic live streams, subscribe to 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.
