News Digest: Empyrea Canceled, New Stranger Things Game, Warhammer 40K Comics, and more!

Hello, Darryl here with this week’s gaming news. The Empyrea Kickstarter has been canceled amid controversy, statistical analysis of what we're playing on D&D, Stranger Things gets a card game, a new Warhammer 40K comic book, and more!

Hello, Darryl here with this week’s gaming news. The Empyrea Kickstarter has been canceled amid controversy, statistical analysis of what we're playing on D&D, Stranger Things gets a card game, a new Warhammer 40K comic book, and more!


First, a correction. Last week I reported on a controversy involving comments from The Dice Tower founder Tom Vasel. I wrote that The Dice Tower shares ownership with online retailer Cool Stuff Inc. This is inaccurate. Cool Stuff Inc. only shares ownership with the yearly convention Dice Tower Con and is a sponsor, not an owner, of The Dice Tower podcasts and video shows. I apologize for the error.


Late on the evening of October 18, the third update was posted to Frank Mentzer’s Empyrea Fantasy Setting Kickstarter announcing its cancellation. The full update is available in the link, and while there are no specific reasons given for the cancellation, the post speaks of many issues frequently brought up with Kickstarters and crowdfunding in the tabletop game industry. From support for local game stores to variety of content to vague talk of “hostilities” regarding different game systems, the post comments on much but doesn’t give a definitive answer to why the project is being cancelled outside the statement “Thus, I will not use crowdfunding to circumvent the hobby for my personal benefit.”

However, at the time of cancellation, the project only managed to raise $61,887 of a $250,000. To be so far from a base funding goal in such a large campaign is usually a sign to pull the plug and it’s frequent for many companies to cancel campaigns rather than risk them completing without funding due to the time and cost to promote a crowdfunding campaign and the “bad look” of a failed campaign. Usually, such campaigns are repackaged and reworked with either a lower funding goal (especially with projects as ambitious as the Empyrea project) or the projects move forward with different revenue streams if at all.

The cancellation also comes shortly after former Paizo Project Manager and Gen Con Industry Insider Jessica Price posted a Twitter thread speaking of Frank Mentzer’s 2015 interactions with her and an unnamed friend. The thread describes and has screenshots of Mentzer’s “gross” interactions on Facebook following a convention and a later interaction where he reportedly blamed the victim of a sexual assault for her own attack, describing her as “sick” and needing to “get help”. After blocking Mentzer on Facebook, he made a vague public post referencing the interaction with “an established industry professional” blocking him, further stating, “Be sure your Great Cause is worth it. If you’re going to slam and lock a door, be sure you’re never going to need it again.” After this thread was posted, several members of the Empyrea team resigned, including designer Ted Fauster (who wrote a long blog post about his resignation), crowdfunding engineer Mike Myler, and Kevin Wilson (who was credited on the Kickstarter page only as “Business”)

Update: Mike Myler resigned from the Empyrea project before Jessica Price's posts for unrelated reasons. This is the statement from his website: All of my campaign settings are the result of crowdfunded projects and I’m 6/6 (thank you awesome backers!!!) There was one hiccup that people are probably going to be curious about–I am (despite requests from before launch and afterwards) credited as “Crowdfunding Engineer” for the Empyrea Kickstarter. This is not accurate. It would be unseemly for me to speak on it at length but I will share this small snippet of my contract because its intent was clear: I knew that decisions beyond my power to control or influence had fatally flawed the project, with such a high level of confidence that I demanded an amendment to my contract specifically detailing the primary element I knew was the biggest problem. I sent my resignation letter the morning of October 17th and wish them the very best of luck.

There is no announced timeframe for when or even if the Empyrea campaign setting will relaunch, either through crowdfunding or through traditional funding methods.


In a move that seems very “How was this not already a thing?”, Hasbro has signed a deal with Netflix to produce games based on the television series Stranger Things. Considering the prominent placement of Dungeons & Dragons in the show, it seems a shoe-in of a cross-promotional deal. However, there has not yet been any announcement of a D&D book involving any of the show’s elements. We are getting an Eggo-themed card game featuring Eleven on the cover (pictured above) where each player takes on the role of one of the show’s characters attempting to be the first to discard their entire hand with the various “gimmick” cards themed around the Upside Down and Demogorgon. The game will be available for an MSRP of $15.00 this fall, timed to the release of the second season of the show.

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The statistics website FiveThirtyEight, which rose to prominence during the 2008 and 2012 presidential elections with their predictive algorithms, turned their eye to Dungeons & Dragons data available from the D&D Beyond app for character class and race choices. The dataset includes all race/class combinations from August 15 to September 15, 2017, and showed that the by far most popular race/class combination is the Human Fighter with 4,888 characters created out of every 100,000, with Elf Ranger coming in at second with 3,076. The least popular race/class combination is Aasimar Ranger, which had only 60 characters created per 100,000. The most popular class overall is Fighter and race is Human, while the least popular is Druid and Aasimar.


A new licensed comic series, Warhammer 40K: Deathwatch, is on its way this January from Titan Comics. The four-issue miniseries will be written by Aaron Dembski-Bowden (author of multiple licensed Warhammer 40K novels) and art from Wagner Reis (artist on multiple Dynamite Comics lines including Vampirella, Warlord of Mars, and Red Sonja). The first issue will ship with three variant covers, while the series will focus on a fight between the Deathwatch defending an entire sector from hordes of Orks. The first issue releases January 3.


Speaking of Dynamite Comics and artist Wagner Reis, the Humble RPG Book Pathfinder Worldscape Ultimate Crossover Bundle is still available. This bundle features both game books for Pathfinder as well as comic books from the series and from other Dynamite Comics titles including ones Reis has worked on previously. There are different levels with even the $1 level getting you five game books, six maps, twenty-seven comics, and it goes up from there with more Pathfinder rulebooks, Pathfinder Society adventures, and Dynamite Comics graphic novels and comics. The $45 level has a total retail value of $667 and includes all four physical print comics for the crossovers with The Traveler, Reanimator, Vampirella, and Dejah Thorin set in the Pathfinder world as well as physical unpainted miniatures for Red Sonja, John Carter of Mars, Tarzan, Tars Tarkas, and a Starfinder human envoy miniature. If you want in on this bundle, you’ve got until Wednesday, October 25.


Undead is the third sourcebook for Chill 3rd Edition focusing on ponies. No, I’m kidding, it’s the undead obviously. Lots of undead. Zombies, vampires, liches, and more with enough variations of each to keep them fresh and interesting. And they’ve just broken the stretch goal for a special case written by Steve Kenson, who will be joining Chris Spivey, Sarah Richardson, Morgan A. McLaughlin McFarland, and more working on cases for this project, plus a brand new comic from Leonard O’Grady. The PDF is available for a $15 pledge, while the softcover is added on for $25. If you missed out on Chill 3rd Edition’s release, there’s the $35 level to get the core rulebook and the new Undead sourcebook and the $70 to get both in physical copy as well (Chill is a hardcover while Undead is a softcover printing). This campaign has not yet funded but still has until Halloween, Tuesday, October 31 (fitting for Chill) to hit its $16,000 goal.

Endure the Stars is a science fiction dungeon crawler game where 1-6 players take on the roles of the surviving crew of a planet colonization ship attempting to survive a catastrophe. This is a second printing of the original game listed as a “1.5 edition” that updates and streamlines the rules and upgrades the components. The game itself focuses on tracking down escaped genetic lifeforms meant to assist in planetary colonization that have escaped on the ship, which is represented by a variable game board you explore as the game progresses. The game plus all expansions and stretch goals is available for a £72 pledge (about US$96) while those who already own the game can get the upgrades alone for £28 (about US$37) or the expansions as well for £48 (about US$64). This Kickstarter is fully funded and runs until Tuesday, October 24.

A narrative cooperative board game themed around 1940s noir mystery? I am at a loss for how much this presses my buttons. But yes, Detective: City of Angels actually is a thing no matter how much I pinch myself to make sure I’m not dreaming. Each of the 1-5 players takes on the role of a LAPD police detective trying to crack the case by interviewing witnesses and gathering evidence all over the city of Los Angeles. While this is not a Flying Frog game, you can see the clear influence as well as the works of Raymond Chandler, James Elroy, and the video game L.A. Noire. You can get the game alone for a $64 pledge, or add on the first expansion Bullets Over Hollywood with a $89 pledge. This project is at four times its funding goal and I couldn’t be more thrilled to see a genre of gaming I’ve felt is far too neglected getting this much attention, and hopefully gets even more until it closes on Thursday, November 2.

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 will be posting polls for what to cover next in my videos because I am far too indecisive, 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, and/or DriveThru may contain affiliate links with the proceeds going to the author of this column.
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Darryl Mott

Darryl Mott

Yaarel

🇮🇱He-Mage
Mentzer stands accused of losing his cool in a Twitter/Facebook argument.

Anyone who is trying to make it more than this, is doing less good.



Also, it is important to refrain from cyberbullying against Mentzer.

Mentzer is an elder. Technically, in the US, depending on the state, the crime of cyberbullying against an elder, is a form of elderly abuse. It is a felony, a serious crime, with one or more years of prison if convicted.
 

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Flexor the Mighty!

18/100 Strength!
Mentzer stands accused of losing his cool in a Twitter/Facebook argument.

Anyone who is trying to make it more than this, is doing less good.



Also, it is important to refrain from cyberbullying against Mentzer.

Mentzer is an elder. Technically, in the US, depending on the state, the crime of cyberbullying against an elder, is a form of elderly abuse. It is a felony, a serious crime, with one or more years of prison if convicted.

Well considering Frank implied he could cut someone off from buying gaming stuff on-line I should be worried. He has vast powers. Apparently his actions are a big reason why his KS fell apart as his talent left him. Fair game for this thread.

Frank did the B/E set I grew up with but he also had a hand in Cyborg Commando...
 

S

Sunseeker

Guest
Well considering Frank implied he could cut someone off from buying gaming stuff on-line I should be worried. He has vast powers. Apparently his actions are a big reason why his KS fell apart as his talent left him. Fair game for this thread.

Frank did the B/E set I grew up with but he also had a hand in Cyborg Commando...

Somehow I suspect that is the exact sort of bravado that landed him in the situation he's in today.
 

Flexor the Mighty!

18/100 Strength!
Somehow I suspect that is the exact sort of bravado that landed him in the situation he's in today.

Yeah its nuts and I don't wan to overly malign him, if he's a bit of a dick or maybe he had a bad day....well days. But this thread where the DF stuff and other incidents are begin discussed don't help.

http://knights-n-knaves.com/phpbb3/viewtopic.php?f=2&t=14851

Anyway thanks to FM for putting out my first edition of D&D, at worst he's a jerk and that doesn't invalidate any of his work. Hope he manages to get this out.
 

Abstruse

Legend
But things like this don't help her avoid that characterization:

View attachment 90033
Let's unpack this particular bit because it's something I know a lot about from years of covering the game industry and as a podcaster. This podcaster sent a private message requesting to "hear both sides" of an issue. This issue was a woman who claims she was sexually harassed by a man in the industry she worked in. The only Google results for his podcast was a scheduled Q&A with the person she says harassed her and threatened her career. After she declines and points him to her public statements, but he continues to try to convince her to be on with vague threats of "not having her side" otherwise. She declines a SECOND time. And he keeps pestering her. I repeat, a woman who just went public about her story of sexual harassment.

No means no, even when it's "No comment". You ask once, get an answer, say "Thank you for responding, have a good day." And you move on with what information you have. I have no idea how the podcaster in question seems to think he "can't do the story" without talking directly to Price because I managed to cover it just fine using public sources.
 

Yaarel

🇮🇱He-Mage
Well considering Frank implied he could cut someone off from buying gaming stuff on-line I should be worried. He has vast powers. Apparently his actions are a big reason why his KS fell apart as his talent left him. Fair game for this thread.

Frank did the B/E set I grew up with but he also had a hand in Cyborg Commando...

Threatening someones career is indefensible. He lost is cool. In hindsight, I hope he regrets having said that. Yet I do see a fair share of blame all around, including blame going to systemic Twitter/Facebook culture generally.

My impression is. Price disliked the opinion she was hearing from Mentzer. Became reactively intolerant. Felt that it was her internet space, and asked him to leave. Mentzer considered the space public space, where having a right to speak ones voice is fundamental. She lost her cool and blocked him. He felt offended, probably perceiving her as rude, and lost his cool even worse.

Part of problem is the way internet confuses private space and public space. Heated arguments between acquaintances and public professional image, get all mixed up. Now she is worried about her career, and he is worried about his business and reputation.

And really, both of them seem like decent people.
 
Last edited by a moderator:

VL Darling

First Post
Threatening someones career is indefensible. He lost is cool. In hindsight, I hope he regrets having said that. Yet I do see a fair share of blame all around, including blame going to systemic Twitter/Facebook culture generally.

My impression is. Price disliked the opinion she was hearing from Mentzer. Became reactively intolerant. Felt that it was her internet space, and asked him to leave. Mentzer considered the space public space, where having a right to speak ones voice is fundamental. She lost her cool and blocked him. He felt offended, probably perceiving her as rude, and lost his cool even worse.

Part of problem is the way internet confuses private space and public space. Heated arguments between acquaintances and public professional image, get all mixed up. Now she is worried about her career, and he is worried about is business and reputation.

And really, both of them seem like decent people.

She's not though - and has stated that clearly. And Mentzer set the tone with his 'flirting' which, look, I know it can be hard for people who are not women in professional environments to understand this, but this kind of 'flirting' is unwelcome, obnoxious, and it demands you play nice or you end up getting raged at for being unfriendly. I have dealt with it from my first job right up until my current one. Mentzer is neither harmlessly flirting not complimenting, he is using age, gender, and his position as a TTRPG elder to force niceness out of someone.

Or at least he tried, except obnoxiously being cruel to survivors and backseat driving their trauma is a line most people don't cross.

Add into that patronising statements about 'shutting doors' and you've got a situation that is primed for abuse. It is a system that disadvantages women because no matter what we do - be nice/be quiet/block/argue - we are wrong and dudes are 'just flirting' and 'mistaken' and somehow it becomes about not liking his 'opinion' rather than him being wrong, socially inappropriate, and harmful to the industry as a whole.

I don't want to spend my meetings and networking with other writers fending off ham-handed 'don't worry I'm safe' style flirting, or biting my tongue in half because they are egregiously wrong about a thing they have no experience in. I don't want the industry to be founded on women having to spend half their time on that, or guarding against it, or waiting for it, before they can do the solid awesome work they came to do. Or just looking at the workload of that and saying 'nah I have better stuff to do' (note: I did the latter).
 

Yaarel

🇮🇱He-Mage
The argument where feelings hardened is now removed. Based on hearsay, the argument centered on a reallife incident where a woman was groped on a bus. The sexual aggression was clearly unwanted, but she didnt know how to respond, and froze up.

The debate seems to have polarized. Both seeming to take extreme positions. Mentzer ended up in the position of actually saying it was her fault that she failed to defend herself. In other words, blaming the victim.

Yet the opposite extreme is equally idiotic.

Is Price actually arguing that women are incapable of thinking for themselves, and that men must take all responsibility and make all decisions about women, on behalf of women, because women are delicate, helpless, hapless creatures?

Obviously women are capable, and can make decisions for themselves and assert their own interests.

Women, like men, are fully capable. And a self-defense class or two wouldnt hurt.

The truth is somewhere between the extremes.




I am a man. By my personality I dont really flirt. By I have friends who flirt, I envy them, and they make the world a more beautiful fun place. I like it when people flirt with me − heh, both women and men − as long as it is light and fun, it is flattering. But the trick to flirting is knowing when it isnt working. When it isnt working, its not working. A few times in my life, someone crossed lines. And I have to say, I froze. So I get why that woman on the bus froze. On the one hand, I honestly didnt want to hurt the feelings of the person doing it. On the other hand, the advance was viscerally unwanted. Fortunately, in my case, these persons realized the pass was unreciprocated and relented. And their feelings got hurt anyway. In hindsight, I can look back on the situation with some sympathy and amusement. But only because they stopped. I dont know what I would do if they had failed to stop. So, I froze. Yet, I am also a capable person. It wouldnt hurt if I learned a trick or two to deal with this kind of situation.

Heh, and I am including one time I was out of town, and went to a religious service there − and a woman there was aggressively, publicly, was trying to get me to meet and marry her daughter. The truth is, this elderly woman was intelligent and elegant, and if the daughter was anything like her, I might be interested. But when it is not working, it is not working. And no, means, no.
 

Is Price actually arguing that women are incapable of thinking for themselves, and that men must take all responsibility and make all decisions about women, on behalf of women, because women are delicate, helpless, hapless creatures?

Obviously women are capable, and can make decisions for themselves and assert their own interests.

Women, like men, are fully capable. And a self-defense class or two wouldnt hurt.

The truth is somewhere between the extremes.

No Price is not actually arguing that. She has never said that and no one involved with that conversation has ever insinuated sh said that. This isn’t about two differing opinions. This is about when a rape survivor speaks up and says “Frank, I’m a rape survivor, and this is a real response.” (As you even mention.) No decent person tells her “No, you’re wrong.” Repeatedly. After being asked to stop by many people.

It’s not about women needing self defense classes or needing “to assert themselves.” This is about being awful to someone who suffered something horribly traumatic and then disregarding repeated requests to stop and actually listen. It’s a prime example of not respecting people and their boundaries to argue with a rape survivor about her own experience despite people repeatedly telling you to stop - including the person hosting the discussion on their private FB page.

A milder example is like arguing with Morrus or moderators on these boards about their moderation. It’s their space. It’s not respecting boundaries if you will not relent in trying to point out how wrong they are after being repeatedly told to stop. When someone says they have a boundary, you respect it.

(And NOT insinuating to rape survivors that it’s their fault and they should get therapy so that they don’t get raped again should go without saying.)
 

VL Darling

First Post
The argument where feelings hardened is now removed. Based on hearsay, the argument centered on a reallife incident where a woman was groped on a bus. The sexual aggression was clearly unwanted, but she didnt know how to respond, and froze up.

The debate seems to have polarized. Both seeming to take extreme positions. Mentzer ended up in the position of actually saying it was her fault that she failed to defend herself. In other words, blaming the victim.

Yet the opposite extreme is equally idiotic.

Is Price actually arguing that women are incapable of thinking for themselves, and that men must take all responsibility and make all decisions about women, on behalf of women, because women are delicate, helpless, hapless creatures?

Obviously women are capable, and can make decisions for themselves and assert their own interests.

Women, like men, are fully capable. And a self-defense class or two wouldnt hurt.

The truth is somewhere between the extremes.

Price is not arguing anything anywhere near that. It is disingenuous to even paraphrase what she and others have said about responses to trauma as anything like that.

It takes weeks and months of training to get something into muscle memory rather than relying on your adrenalinised response. And it takes a HUGE amount of courage to physically defend yourself against a loved one crossing a line, or to do so in public, when your adrenal response is 'freeze' or 'fawn' AND the aggressor has set it up for those responses with emotional/social aggression prior.

Yes we could all do with some defence training. Using it against a friend is an entirely different situation to using it in public, and if you add in any other complicating factors - like, say, not being entirely sure anyone will support you because you've done that before and been told you're making a big deal out of nothing - it is way past unkind and well into maliciously stupid to tell a survivor of violence what they should have done better in your opinion as someone who wasn't there and hasn't been in that situation.
 

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