Hello everyone, Darryl here with this week’s gaming news! Wizards of the Coast spokesperson talks about the behind-the-scenes of the OGL controversy, new details on the Dungeons & Dragons adventure Keys from the Golden Vault, update on the upcoming Fantasy AGE 2nd Edition, a new Critical Role comic book, and more!
For a quick summary of the week’s news, Jessica Hancock will bring you up to speed with EN Live's This Week in TTRPG every Friday.
Don’t forget, you can keep up with all the week’s gaming news in detail with Morrus’ Unofficial Tabletop RPG Talk. This week, Morrus, Peter, and Jessica talk about the apparent conclusion of the Open Game License saga as Dungeons & Dragons rules enter Creative Commons.
In case you missed it elsewhere on EN World this week:
Wizards of the Coast Executive Producer Kyle Brink started doing the tabletop media circuit explaining the company’s point of view of the OGL controversy. Starting with an interview with the YouTube channel 3 Black Halflings on Monday and continuing with Teos Abedia aka Alphastream on Wednesday, Brink provided details about what happened behind the scenes with Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro during the month-long period. According to Brink, the impetus to change the OGL was fear that Facebook would create a “D&D Metaverse” without their involvement and the brand would become associated with adult content (even though this would not be allowed under the OGL v1.0a as it does not give access to D&D branding, logos, or other trademarks). The royalties in OGL v1.1 were intended as a deterrent against large corporations with the $750,000 mark determined as a demarcation line between industry publishers and large corporations outside the TTRPG industry attempting to enter it. Much of the 30-person Dungeons & Dragons team were unaware of the intended changes as the company placed a “wall” between creative staff and executive decisions in order to avoid distracting them. The reason for the lack of comment between the leak of the OGL v1.1 and the official announcement of OGL v1.2 that those within the company felt anything they said would make things worse and wanted to wait until they had the updated OGL available before making an official comment. Now that the SRD has been placed under a Creative Commons license, which Wizards of the Coast admits cannot be undone in any way, the company no longer sees deauthorizing the OGL v1.0a as important. The company is also looking into releasing other SRDs such as the v3.5 (covering the rules for Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 Edition) in the future but must first review the document to ensure they are not accidentally releasing material into Creative Commons they don’t intend to.
Brink also went into detail about the company culture, future plans for One D&D, recent inclusivity policy changes, and virtual tabletops/digital gaming, which you can find more about in the EN World summaries linked above or in the full videos embedded in the articles.
The press push for the upcoming Dungeons & Dragons adventure anthology Keys from the Golden Vault is in full swing now with more information coming out about the book. The adventurers are sent mission briefings from a secret organization called the Golden Vault in the form of magical golden keys inserted into a music box. But instead of a song, the box gives a Mission Impossible style briefing on the heist to be performed. The party is expected to do their own reconnaissance and planning before executing the thirteen included heists. Each adventure also comes with a pair of full-page maps, one for the player (which may be incomplete or have unreliable information) and one for the DM. And who is behind this mysterious Golden Vault? A group of metallic dragons with the motto “Do good, no matter the cost”. The 208-page hardcover Keys from the Golden Vault is due for release on February 21 with a retail price of $49.95.
Dark Horse Comics along with Amazon and Critical Role announced a new prequel series The Legend of Vox Machina: Whitestone Chronicles: Ripley. The series, written by Marieke Nijkamp (Critical Role: Vox Machina Kith and Kin, This Is Where It Ends) with art from Tyler Walpole (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Dresden Files), is a spin-off of the Amazon animated series following Dr. Anna Ripley and the choices she makes after the de Rolo family of Whitestone is taken over by the vicious Briarwoods. A sneak preview of the first issue is available now, while the series will premiere in 2024.
Green Ronin posted an update on the second edition of Fantasy AGE. The blog post from Malcolm Sheppard talks about the new class system which expands from the three classes in the first edition to four. The magic-using Mage, sneaky Rogue, and combat specialist Warrior are all coming back along with The Envoy. This new class is “a master of influence who rallies hearts and acts as the face” with more details available in the link. That doesn’t mean the older classes are staying the same as they’re all getting a tune-up with new class stunts, damage bonuses, specializations starting at first level, and more refinements. The new edition of Fantasy AGE is expected for release this month.
Speaking of new editions, Steve Jackson Games has been a bit coy about a possible fifth edition of GURPS. Back on January 25 during the OGL controversy, GURPS became a trending topic on TikTok with fans speculating about a new edition. The official Steve Jackson Games TikTok account replied to one person requesting a new edition with a video stating:
One release from Steve Jackson Games we can confirm is Calo’s Book of Monsters for Mörk Borg. Originally self-published by Phil Reed, this collection of monsters will now be distributed by Steve Jackson Games, making it more available to a wider audience. The 63-page book features not only 20 all-new monsters, but also tools to add them to your Mörk Borg game such as a d66 table of rumors and a short hexcrawl adventure. Print copies are currently on their way from the printer and will be available for $24.95.
Free League announced two new adventure modules for the 5e-powered Ruins of Symbaroum RPG. The Adventure Compendium features seven full-length adventures ranging from level 1 to 8 with thirteen mystical artifacts, three settlements to explore, and an introduction to the pantheon of the Young Gods. The 224-page PDF is available now on DriveThruRPG for $19.99 while the hardcover is available from Free League’s store for $38.42. The second release is Call of the Dark, a pair of full-length adventures taking place in the Alberian barony of Sarli and the city of Kurun with full-color maps and dozens of locations to explore. The first adventure places the party in the service of a lowborn noble seeking to prove the status of her family, while the second is a search for a missing person that has serious consequences for the relationship between the peoples of the Davokar region. The 104-page PDF is available now on DriveThruRPG for $14.99 while the hardcover is available from Free League’s webstore for $28.77.
Steamforged Games announced the upcoming release of the new Dark Souls monster book The Tome of Strange Beings. The book contains 80 new monsters with 5e-compatible stat blocks and lore for each ranging from basic enemies to punishing bosses like Ornstein and Smough, Nito, and Lord Gwyn. The announcement features previews of the Bell Gargoyle and the Smough half of Ornstein and Smough. The release is accompanied by Wave 3 of the miniatures featuring several of the monsters and bosses detailed within. The 120-page hardcover is available for pre-order from Steamforged for $29.95 with an anticipated release on August 31, 2023.
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@enpublishingrpg.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 Twitch to get notifications when I go live, follow me on Mastodon for RPG chat and general nonsense, subscribe to Gamer’s Tavern on YouTube for videos on gaming history, RPG reviews, 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.
For a quick summary of the week’s news, Jessica Hancock will bring you up to speed with EN Live's This Week in TTRPG every Friday.
Don’t forget, you can keep up with all the week’s gaming news in detail with Morrus’ Unofficial Tabletop RPG Talk. This week, Morrus, Peter, and Jessica talk about the apparent conclusion of the Open Game License saga as Dungeons & Dragons rules enter Creative Commons.
In case you missed it elsewhere on EN World this week:
- EN5ider #497 is a new Intriguing Organization about the people who create all the dungeons that adventurers run across, the Dungeon Builders.
- The fifth episode of the Level Up: Advanced 5e live stream Against the Dragonlords is live playing through the iconic Dragonlance adventure DL1: Dragons of Deceit.
- Find out about the Paizo bundle on Humble Bundle available now called So You Wanna Try Out Pathfinder 2nd Edition with a portion of the proceeds going to Code for America.
- Andrews McMeel Publishing has exited the RPG industry, leaving Into the Motherlands without a publisher.
- Egg Embry interviewed Green Ronin CEO Chris Pramis about Fifth Season, their new RPG based on N.K. Jeminsin’s Broken Earth Trilogy.
- Rob Weiland talks about how to get your group to try out a new game system by answering the question “How Do I Escape D&D?”
- Michael Tresca discusses the 800 lb gorilla in the room and how much influence Wizards of the Coast has over the entire TTRPG industry.
- M.T. Black continues his journey through RPG periodicals past with Dragon Reflections #64 covering the August 1982 issue of Dragon.
- Mike Myler’s newest ENterplanetary DimENsion takes us to the plane that brings the animal out in you (literally), Veskrollo.
- Don’t miss out on the newest RPG crowdfunding projects ending soon with Egg Embry’s RPG Crowdfunding News.
- Keep up with all the new print RPG releases with Charles Dunwoody’s RPG Print News.
- Find the big TTRPG sales, bundles, and charity fundraisers with the RPG Bundles, Freebies, and Sales News.
Wizards of the Coast Executive Producer Kyle Brink started doing the tabletop media circuit explaining the company’s point of view of the OGL controversy. Starting with an interview with the YouTube channel 3 Black Halflings on Monday and continuing with Teos Abedia aka Alphastream on Wednesday, Brink provided details about what happened behind the scenes with Wizards of the Coast and Hasbro during the month-long period. According to Brink, the impetus to change the OGL was fear that Facebook would create a “D&D Metaverse” without their involvement and the brand would become associated with adult content (even though this would not be allowed under the OGL v1.0a as it does not give access to D&D branding, logos, or other trademarks). The royalties in OGL v1.1 were intended as a deterrent against large corporations with the $750,000 mark determined as a demarcation line between industry publishers and large corporations outside the TTRPG industry attempting to enter it. Much of the 30-person Dungeons & Dragons team were unaware of the intended changes as the company placed a “wall” between creative staff and executive decisions in order to avoid distracting them. The reason for the lack of comment between the leak of the OGL v1.1 and the official announcement of OGL v1.2 that those within the company felt anything they said would make things worse and wanted to wait until they had the updated OGL available before making an official comment. Now that the SRD has been placed under a Creative Commons license, which Wizards of the Coast admits cannot be undone in any way, the company no longer sees deauthorizing the OGL v1.0a as important. The company is also looking into releasing other SRDs such as the v3.5 (covering the rules for Dungeons & Dragons 3.5 Edition) in the future but must first review the document to ensure they are not accidentally releasing material into Creative Commons they don’t intend to.
Brink also went into detail about the company culture, future plans for One D&D, recent inclusivity policy changes, and virtual tabletops/digital gaming, which you can find more about in the EN World summaries linked above or in the full videos embedded in the articles.
The press push for the upcoming Dungeons & Dragons adventure anthology Keys from the Golden Vault is in full swing now with more information coming out about the book. The adventurers are sent mission briefings from a secret organization called the Golden Vault in the form of magical golden keys inserted into a music box. But instead of a song, the box gives a Mission Impossible style briefing on the heist to be performed. The party is expected to do their own reconnaissance and planning before executing the thirteen included heists. Each adventure also comes with a pair of full-page maps, one for the player (which may be incomplete or have unreliable information) and one for the DM. And who is behind this mysterious Golden Vault? A group of metallic dragons with the motto “Do good, no matter the cost”. The 208-page hardcover Keys from the Golden Vault is due for release on February 21 with a retail price of $49.95.
Dark Horse Comics along with Amazon and Critical Role announced a new prequel series The Legend of Vox Machina: Whitestone Chronicles: Ripley. The series, written by Marieke Nijkamp (Critical Role: Vox Machina Kith and Kin, This Is Where It Ends) with art from Tyler Walpole (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, Dresden Files), is a spin-off of the Amazon animated series following Dr. Anna Ripley and the choices she makes after the de Rolo family of Whitestone is taken over by the vicious Briarwoods. A sneak preview of the first issue is available now, while the series will premiere in 2024.
Green Ronin posted an update on the second edition of Fantasy AGE. The blog post from Malcolm Sheppard talks about the new class system which expands from the three classes in the first edition to four. The magic-using Mage, sneaky Rogue, and combat specialist Warrior are all coming back along with The Envoy. This new class is “a master of influence who rallies hearts and acts as the face” with more details available in the link. That doesn’t mean the older classes are staying the same as they’re all getting a tune-up with new class stunts, damage bonuses, specializations starting at first level, and more refinements. The new edition of Fantasy AGE is expected for release this month.
Speaking of new editions, Steve Jackson Games has been a bit coy about a possible fifth edition of GURPS. Back on January 25 during the OGL controversy, GURPS became a trending topic on TikTok with fans speculating about a new edition. The official Steve Jackson Games TikTok account replied to one person requesting a new edition with a video stating:
The blog post on the SJG website made clear this was a hypothetical new edition, but this past Sunday there was another blog post from none other than CEO Phil Reed highlighting a discussion thread on RPGnet speculating about new features. There’s still no official confirmation that a new edition of the Generic Universal Role Play System is under development, but it has been almost twenty years since the last major update with GURPS 4th Edition came out. Whether the company is simply testing the waters for interest or if this is an attempt to build interest in anticipation of an announcement, we’ll have to wait and see.
One release from Steve Jackson Games we can confirm is Calo’s Book of Monsters for Mörk Borg. Originally self-published by Phil Reed, this collection of monsters will now be distributed by Steve Jackson Games, making it more available to a wider audience. The 63-page book features not only 20 all-new monsters, but also tools to add them to your Mörk Borg game such as a d66 table of rumors and a short hexcrawl adventure. Print copies are currently on their way from the printer and will be available for $24.95.
Free League announced two new adventure modules for the 5e-powered Ruins of Symbaroum RPG. The Adventure Compendium features seven full-length adventures ranging from level 1 to 8 with thirteen mystical artifacts, three settlements to explore, and an introduction to the pantheon of the Young Gods. The 224-page PDF is available now on DriveThruRPG for $19.99 while the hardcover is available from Free League’s store for $38.42. The second release is Call of the Dark, a pair of full-length adventures taking place in the Alberian barony of Sarli and the city of Kurun with full-color maps and dozens of locations to explore. The first adventure places the party in the service of a lowborn noble seeking to prove the status of her family, while the second is a search for a missing person that has serious consequences for the relationship between the peoples of the Davokar region. The 104-page PDF is available now on DriveThruRPG for $14.99 while the hardcover is available from Free League’s webstore for $28.77.
Steamforged Games announced the upcoming release of the new Dark Souls monster book The Tome of Strange Beings. The book contains 80 new monsters with 5e-compatible stat blocks and lore for each ranging from basic enemies to punishing bosses like Ornstein and Smough, Nito, and Lord Gwyn. The announcement features previews of the Bell Gargoyle and the Smough half of Ornstein and Smough. The release is accompanied by Wave 3 of the miniatures featuring several of the monsters and bosses detailed within. The 120-page hardcover is available for pre-order from Steamforged for $29.95 with an anticipated release on August 31, 2023.
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@enpublishingrpg.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 Twitch to get notifications when I go live, follow me on Mastodon for RPG chat and general nonsense, subscribe to Gamer’s Tavern on YouTube for videos on gaming history, RPG reviews, 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.
