Hello everyone, Darryl here with this week’s gaming news! Starfinder in the wild, Pathfinder Adventures comes to desktop PCs, Fantasy Grounds price drop, Fallout coming to tabletop, Games Workshop gets sued, and more!
After a few pre-order copies made it into the hands of some fans early, Paizo lifted their embargo on Starfinder reviews and EN World’s Christopher Helton was one of the first to get the word out with what to expect from the new sci-fi game.
Starfinder is here, and it is everything that you would expect from a science fantasy hack of Paizo's popular Pathfinder rules. Paizo dropped the embargo on reviews of the game early, so we're going to talk some about the Starfinder game and share some early thoughts on it. The game is an evolution of everything that you've seen to date in the Pathfinder line, cleaned up and consolidated with a cool science fantasy paint job.
You can read the full review here and find out exactly what to expect from Starfinder when it hits Gen Con (and game stores, online pre-orders, and Paizo’s digital store) on August 17.
In other Paizo news, the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game has made it to desktop computers via Steam. Similar to the app and tablet version of the game, Pathfinder Adventure has over a thousand cards from the card game including the base deck, six additional adventure desk, eleven iconic characters, and more. The Obsidian Edition (named after the video game adaptation’s developers, Obsidian Entertainment) also includes several exclusive expansions including three Pillars of Eternity promotional ally cards based on characters from the isometric RPG of the same name. The standard version retails for $24.99 while the Obsidian Edition for $39.99 (though like many Steam games, be sure to check Steam, Humble, and other outlets for periodic sales).
Wizards of the Coast announced a new program as part of the Dungeon Master’s Guild online store, the Guild Adept Program. The program acts as a spotlight on specific creators and designers using DM’s Guild to create licensed Dungeons & Dragons material. The first list of designers included is Lysa Chen, Will Doyle, Claire Hoffman, James Introcaso, Rich Lescouflair, Shawn Merwin, Cindy Moore, Satine Phoenix, Ruty Rutenberg, and Monica Valentinelli. Each of the creators will get a spotlight on the Dungeons & Dragons web page, the Dragon Talk Podcast, and on the official D&D Twitch channel.
In more news from the online gaming space, SmiteWorks announced that they will be lowering prices for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition rulebooks available for purchase in their virtual tabletop software, Fantasy Grounds. In the quote from the press release, SmiteWorks said:
"SmiteWorks is working alongside Wizards of the Coast to significantly lower the cost of entry for Dungeons & Dragons players looking to play online with the Fantasy Grounds virtual tabletop. While the project has been a major success, both partners would like it to be even more successful. The prices for official D&D content for Fantasy Grounds will be reduced on August 15, 2017, as part of an initiative to increase new player adoption. Modules which previously cost $49.99 will now be $29.99. Large adventure modules will now be $24.99. Existing customers will benefit in lower prices on all newly released content."
The prices changes will go into effect in Fantasy Grounds effective August 15 and range from 25% off to 40%, mostly focused on books which duplicate material if you own a copy of the hardcover books from Wizards of the Coast. The full list is available here from EN World.
Fantasy Flight Games gave fans of the Fallout games a minor heart attack when they posted the now iconic “Please Stand By” image on social media accounts with their logo attached. Hopes for a Fallout tabletop roleplaying game were dashed, however, and replaced by anticipation for Fallout: The Board Game. This 1-4 player game draws more on the East Coast end of the Fallout games (Fallout 3 and Fallout 4 rather than the first two games or New Vegas). The game will focus on exploring the modular map of the wastelands in order to defeat the various factions and claim your place (or just get all the caps for yourself). The game is slated for a 2017 Fourth Quarter release and will have an MSRP of $59.99.
Games Workshop is involved in a possibly frivolous lawsuit. As the Defendants. I’m going to be honest, I always link to the legal documents and court filings whenever possible when I write up these legal actions just in case you want to read them, but I never expect any of you to actually do it. Because reading legal documents is about as boring as you can get. Unless they’re like this one. The action is for “Fraud, Price Fixing, Tortious Interference, Violations of Anti-Trust Act, RICO, et al”. It then goes on from there to read to me less like a lawsuit filing and more like a ranting blog post complete with random bolding, underlining, italicizing, and even all caps. The lawsuit is asking for $2.5 million in damages, $10 million in punitive damages, all of Games Workshop’s trademarks, and a $50 million fund so that the plaintiff can oversee these trademarks for a period of ten years before reverting them to the public domain. But wait, there’s more! An affidavit was filed the same day as the lawsuit, which is just as entertaining. The lawsuit was filed on May 31 in Fort Lauderdale, FL, and has not yet been dismissed.
John Kovalic is once again embarking on his charity bicycle marathon with a duck on his head. This will be the fifth year that the writer/artist of Dork Tower, artist of Munchkin, Kobolds Ate My Baby, and Apples to Apples, and designer of ROFL! and Double Feature participated in the Bike the Barns fundraiser that helps local farmers and in-need families. Various donation levels exist with rewards including exclusive Dork Tower material, promotional material from Munchkin including original card art, and a guest-starring role in a Dork Tower strip about a subject you choose (with the option to use it as promotional material for your store, product, or company). The charity promotion will run for 28 more days and, once the $12,500 goal is reached, stretch goals will kick in, which in previous years ranged from more signed material from names like Neil Gaiman, Patrick Rothfuss, and others to John wearing even more ridiculous things while riding a bicycle in a marathon. There are rumors that one of this year’s stretch goals will include forcing John to ride with two ducks on his head!
Stars Without Numbers is an OSR-style science fiction system set in the year 3200, long after the fall of mankind’s empire and the collapse of the Jump Gates that sent them to other worlds. This revised edition is looking to update and streamline the rules while still maintaining backward compatibility with previously published materials. They’re also expanding the rules to include transhuman technology, artificial intelligence, mechs, and more. The PDF is available for a $20 pledge, while the print version is $55 (with a $35 at-cost print-on-demand version for those where that is a cheaper option than paying increased international shipping). Not only has this project funded, but it’s run completely out of stretch goals (as the publisher made a rare decision to cut off stretch goals to prevent over-promising). This Kickstarter runs until Wednesday, August 30.
Cthulhu Wars Onslaught 3 is an expansion for the asymmetric strategy game Cthulhu Wars, which pits two to four players (up to eight with expansions) against one another as agents of Great Old Ones looking to carve up their piece of Earth as the planet is in its death throes. Honestly, I’m not sure what else I can tell you about this one because either the concept of a Lovecraftian strategy game where you take on a faction of evil to fight for control of the world sells you on the game or puts you off entirely. The four new armies are available for a $149 pledge, the entire new expansion for $199, or you can get the core game plus one expansion for $200. This project is fully funded and closes this Monday, August 14.
Binwin’s Minions Volume 1 collects the adventures from the first season of the Binwin’s Minions webcomic into a single book. A spin-off of both the Table Titans webcomic and the character of Binwin Bronzebottom from Acquisitions Inc, this comic follows the adventures of Binwin’s followers as they attempt to assist the dwarf by mitigating the chaos he leaves in his wake (or causing plenty of their own). The comic features concepts developed by PvP’s Scott Kurtz and is created by Tavis Maiden and Cory Casoni. A digital copy of the book is available for a $10 pledge, while a $30 pledge gets you the hardcover edition, and many other pledge levels and add-ons exist for more memorabilia. At the time of writing, this Kickstarter still has a way to go as they’ve managed just over $7500 of their $30,000 goal, but they’ve got plenty of time to get there before the campaign ends on Friday, September 8.
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 as I grumble about the problems of trying to reproduce the audiovisual quality of a television studio using fifty bucks worth of stuff off Amazon, 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, and/or DriveThru may contain affiliate links with the proceeds going to the author of this column.
After a few pre-order copies made it into the hands of some fans early, Paizo lifted their embargo on Starfinder reviews and EN World’s Christopher Helton was one of the first to get the word out with what to expect from the new sci-fi game.
Starfinder is here, and it is everything that you would expect from a science fantasy hack of Paizo's popular Pathfinder rules. Paizo dropped the embargo on reviews of the game early, so we're going to talk some about the Starfinder game and share some early thoughts on it. The game is an evolution of everything that you've seen to date in the Pathfinder line, cleaned up and consolidated with a cool science fantasy paint job.
You can read the full review here and find out exactly what to expect from Starfinder when it hits Gen Con (and game stores, online pre-orders, and Paizo’s digital store) on August 17.
In other Paizo news, the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game has made it to desktop computers via Steam. Similar to the app and tablet version of the game, Pathfinder Adventure has over a thousand cards from the card game including the base deck, six additional adventure desk, eleven iconic characters, and more. The Obsidian Edition (named after the video game adaptation’s developers, Obsidian Entertainment) also includes several exclusive expansions including three Pillars of Eternity promotional ally cards based on characters from the isometric RPG of the same name. The standard version retails for $24.99 while the Obsidian Edition for $39.99 (though like many Steam games, be sure to check Steam, Humble, and other outlets for periodic sales).
Wizards of the Coast announced a new program as part of the Dungeon Master’s Guild online store, the Guild Adept Program. The program acts as a spotlight on specific creators and designers using DM’s Guild to create licensed Dungeons & Dragons material. The first list of designers included is Lysa Chen, Will Doyle, Claire Hoffman, James Introcaso, Rich Lescouflair, Shawn Merwin, Cindy Moore, Satine Phoenix, Ruty Rutenberg, and Monica Valentinelli. Each of the creators will get a spotlight on the Dungeons & Dragons web page, the Dragon Talk Podcast, and on the official D&D Twitch channel.
In more news from the online gaming space, SmiteWorks announced that they will be lowering prices for Dungeons & Dragons 5th Edition rulebooks available for purchase in their virtual tabletop software, Fantasy Grounds. In the quote from the press release, SmiteWorks said:
"SmiteWorks is working alongside Wizards of the Coast to significantly lower the cost of entry for Dungeons & Dragons players looking to play online with the Fantasy Grounds virtual tabletop. While the project has been a major success, both partners would like it to be even more successful. The prices for official D&D content for Fantasy Grounds will be reduced on August 15, 2017, as part of an initiative to increase new player adoption. Modules which previously cost $49.99 will now be $29.99. Large adventure modules will now be $24.99. Existing customers will benefit in lower prices on all newly released content."
The prices changes will go into effect in Fantasy Grounds effective August 15 and range from 25% off to 40%, mostly focused on books which duplicate material if you own a copy of the hardcover books from Wizards of the Coast. The full list is available here from EN World.
Fantasy Flight Games gave fans of the Fallout games a minor heart attack when they posted the now iconic “Please Stand By” image on social media accounts with their logo attached. Hopes for a Fallout tabletop roleplaying game were dashed, however, and replaced by anticipation for Fallout: The Board Game. This 1-4 player game draws more on the East Coast end of the Fallout games (Fallout 3 and Fallout 4 rather than the first two games or New Vegas). The game will focus on exploring the modular map of the wastelands in order to defeat the various factions and claim your place (or just get all the caps for yourself). The game is slated for a 2017 Fourth Quarter release and will have an MSRP of $59.99.
Games Workshop is involved in a possibly frivolous lawsuit. As the Defendants. I’m going to be honest, I always link to the legal documents and court filings whenever possible when I write up these legal actions just in case you want to read them, but I never expect any of you to actually do it. Because reading legal documents is about as boring as you can get. Unless they’re like this one. The action is for “Fraud, Price Fixing, Tortious Interference, Violations of Anti-Trust Act, RICO, et al”. It then goes on from there to read to me less like a lawsuit filing and more like a ranting blog post complete with random bolding, underlining, italicizing, and even all caps. The lawsuit is asking for $2.5 million in damages, $10 million in punitive damages, all of Games Workshop’s trademarks, and a $50 million fund so that the plaintiff can oversee these trademarks for a period of ten years before reverting them to the public domain. But wait, there’s more! An affidavit was filed the same day as the lawsuit, which is just as entertaining. The lawsuit was filed on May 31 in Fort Lauderdale, FL, and has not yet been dismissed.
John Kovalic is once again embarking on his charity bicycle marathon with a duck on his head. This will be the fifth year that the writer/artist of Dork Tower, artist of Munchkin, Kobolds Ate My Baby, and Apples to Apples, and designer of ROFL! and Double Feature participated in the Bike the Barns fundraiser that helps local farmers and in-need families. Various donation levels exist with rewards including exclusive Dork Tower material, promotional material from Munchkin including original card art, and a guest-starring role in a Dork Tower strip about a subject you choose (with the option to use it as promotional material for your store, product, or company). The charity promotion will run for 28 more days and, once the $12,500 goal is reached, stretch goals will kick in, which in previous years ranged from more signed material from names like Neil Gaiman, Patrick Rothfuss, and others to John wearing even more ridiculous things while riding a bicycle in a marathon. There are rumors that one of this year’s stretch goals will include forcing John to ride with two ducks on his head!
Stars Without Numbers is an OSR-style science fiction system set in the year 3200, long after the fall of mankind’s empire and the collapse of the Jump Gates that sent them to other worlds. This revised edition is looking to update and streamline the rules while still maintaining backward compatibility with previously published materials. They’re also expanding the rules to include transhuman technology, artificial intelligence, mechs, and more. The PDF is available for a $20 pledge, while the print version is $55 (with a $35 at-cost print-on-demand version for those where that is a cheaper option than paying increased international shipping). Not only has this project funded, but it’s run completely out of stretch goals (as the publisher made a rare decision to cut off stretch goals to prevent over-promising). This Kickstarter runs until Wednesday, August 30.
Cthulhu Wars Onslaught 3 is an expansion for the asymmetric strategy game Cthulhu Wars, which pits two to four players (up to eight with expansions) against one another as agents of Great Old Ones looking to carve up their piece of Earth as the planet is in its death throes. Honestly, I’m not sure what else I can tell you about this one because either the concept of a Lovecraftian strategy game where you take on a faction of evil to fight for control of the world sells you on the game or puts you off entirely. The four new armies are available for a $149 pledge, the entire new expansion for $199, or you can get the core game plus one expansion for $200. This project is fully funded and closes this Monday, August 14.
Binwin’s Minions Volume 1 collects the adventures from the first season of the Binwin’s Minions webcomic into a single book. A spin-off of both the Table Titans webcomic and the character of Binwin Bronzebottom from Acquisitions Inc, this comic follows the adventures of Binwin’s followers as they attempt to assist the dwarf by mitigating the chaos he leaves in his wake (or causing plenty of their own). The comic features concepts developed by PvP’s Scott Kurtz and is created by Tavis Maiden and Cory Casoni. A digital copy of the book is available for a $10 pledge, while a $30 pledge gets you the hardcover edition, and many other pledge levels and add-ons exist for more memorabilia. At the time of writing, this Kickstarter still has a way to go as they’ve managed just over $7500 of their $30,000 goal, but they’ve got plenty of time to get there before the campaign ends on Friday, September 8.
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 as I grumble about the problems of trying to reproduce the audiovisual quality of a television studio using fifty bucks worth of stuff off Amazon, 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, and/or DriveThru may contain affiliate links with the proceeds going to the author of this column.
