Twas the week before Gen Con and every publisher and store is busy packing booths for the convention floor. Pallets are filled with brand new books and dice as we prepare the celebration of our favorite vice. Despite the industry’s quiet as they prepare for the week and bags being packed by sixty thousand geeks, there are still news items over which we can muse so this is Darryl with the week’s gaming news!
With a week left to go before release, Paizo has ramped up the previews for Pathfinder 2nd Edition. The one many people have been waiting on, we’ve now got the Pathfinder mascot goblin as a stat block for the Goblin Warrior and Goblin Commando. If you were worried their move to a core PC species would tone down the Gremlins inspired nature of the Pathfinder goblin, fear not as the description notes while some have worked to become “civilized”, most are still the little balls of chaos with a hatred of dogs, fear of horses, and a desire to torment “longshanks”.
Paizo also released two versions of the Pathfinder 2nd Edition character sheet, one in color and one in printer-friendly black-and-white. These are the generic sheets, while the Pathfinder Character Sheet Pack available for a retail price of $14.99 will include twelve customized sheets for each character class. While the Pathfinder Gamemastery Guide 2nd Edition won’t be out until February, there will be a section in the Core Rulebook on running a game, and the Paizo Blog has a preview of that section of the book with tables on GM advice, temperature effects, a general DC guide, and more with a preview of a few of the monsters including the gogiteth, skeleton, gremlins, and more. Finally, The Saga Lands get a preview as well ahead of the release of the Lost Omens World Guide sourcebook.
The entire Pathfinder 2nd Edition product line will be available at Gen Con, in stores, and through mass market outlets such as Amazon on August 1st and the launch line is massive with:
New Dungeons & Dragons products were announced by four different companies. First, Wizards of the Coast are re-releasing the first D&D 5e adventure set Tyranny of Dragons as a single-volume set. Previously published as Hoard of the Dragon Queen and Rise of Tiamat, this new volume will feature a special cover (similar to the limited release cover exclusive to hobby game stores), re-edited with feedback with new art and new material previously only available as online downloads. This book will only be available to hobby game outlets on October 22 with a retail price of $49.95.
D&D partners Gale Force Nine released more pictures of their Of Ships and the Sea Dungeon Master’s screen, which features general DM information as well as random encounter tables, rules, charts, and more specifically themed for aquatic campaigns. No release date’s been set (it’s still listed as a pre-order for “July 2019” but no stores I found show it in stock yet), but the screen will hopefully be available soon for a retail price of $15.00. Update: User Ghost2020 in the comments stated that they have purchased and received the Of Ships and the Sea DM screen from Amazon, so it is apparently available in the wild. At the time of writing this article, Amazon's United States website listed it as out of stock with no estimated date for availability.
WizKids showed off new, detailed pictures of the Infernal War Machine “miniature” that shows off the massive scale of the $69.99. The Mad Max-esque vehicle is over eleven inches long and the new pictures show off the seating for seven PC-scale miniatures. This is part of their Descent Into Avernus line of miniatures which features 45 miniatures from the hellbound adventure due out this August. But of course they’re not going to stop there as they announced an expansion to their D&D Icons of the Realm line of miniatures, Village Raiders. This non-random set features seven miniatures (three goblins, two orcs, and two gnolls) and will be available this October for $24.99.
Finally, Keith Baker announced a new Eberron sourcebook currently called “Project Raptor”. The original creator of the setting will publish via DM’s Guild in both PDF and print-on-demand a new 160-page sourcebook detailing as-yet unexplored areas of the world. Few details are available now, but the book will be available later this year with a design diary available via the KB Presents Facebook group providing updates and previews up until the release.
Catalyst Game Labs announced their release line for Shadowrun Sixth Edition which will be available at Gen Con. Of course, front and center is the Shadowrun Sixth World Core Book with the core rules for the new edition of Shadowrun. Additionally, they will have physical copies of the Shadowrun Sixth World Beginner Box (which I did an unboxing of and a full review of on my YouTube channel), a set of custom Shadowrun dice and Edge tokens (useful as Edge is now a core mechanic of the game), the NPC card deck Rogue’s Gallery, Shadowrun Prime Runners miniatures (featuring an ork street samurai, elf shaman, human decker, dwarf rigger, and troll weapons specialist), the world sourcebook Neo-Anarchist Streetpedia (which is a Wikipedia-influenced sourcebook featuring small entries on corporations, countries, criminal organizations, power-players, events, locations, and more), the gorgeous media and culture sourcebook No Future, and a limited edition (as in limited to only twelve) statues of the ork street samurai Sledge. All of these products will be available in stores shortly after Gen Con (except for the Beginner Box and Neo-Anarchist Streetpedia which are already available).
Cubicle 7 announced that the Warhammer 40K roleplaying game Wrath and Glory is getting a new revised edition “soon”. This is not a full new edition and the version published by Ulisses Spiele will be fully compatible with this revised rulebook, including all dice and card decks and the two published adventures, Blessings Unheralded and Dark Tides. Cubicle 7 also now has the full product line available on their Drive Thru page and, while the original product line is available, it’s unsure whether they will be updated when the revised edition is published. It’s also unknown if the original design team of Wrath and Glory will return for the revised edition.
Slipping away to the other big tabletop gaming convention, the winners of the 2019 Spiel des Jahres Award were announced. The Spiel des Jahres (Game of the Year) winner is Just One from designers Ludovic Roudy and Bruno Sautter. The Kinderspiel des Jahres (Children’s Game of the Year) winner is Valley of the Vikings designed by Marie and Wilfried Fort, and Kennerspiele des Jahres (Connoisseur/Enthusiast Game of the Year) winner is Wingspan from designer Elizabeth Hargrave.
Lone Shark Games partnered with Humble Bundle to offer the Puzzles, Puzzles, and Games Bundle, but don’t let the title fool you as this is heavier on the games than the puzzles. In addition to books on crosswords, logic puzzles, and more, it also features several tabletop games and roleplaying/storytelling games. The $1 level includes the base game of Apocrypha, a campaign adventure card game for one to six people designed by Mike Selinker with writing from Patrick Rothfuss and Matt Forbeck. The $8 level includes two expansions for Apocrypha plus Hastur Horta Hodor Mordor, a memory tongue-twister card game from Mike Selinker and John Kovalic. The highest level of $15 includes the award-winning Unspeakable Words, a word game similar to Scrabble but with a Lovecraftian twist featured on Wil Wheaton’s Tabletop. This bundle runs until Monday, August 5.
Additionally, the Fantastic Science Fiction & Fantasy Bundle with over twenty DRM-free ebooks is still available until Wednesday, July 31 as is the Learn Game Development Bundle with lessons on Unity game creation and the Dynamite Comics bundle featuring the full twelve-volumes run of Garth Ennis’s The Boys (soon to be a television series from Amazon) along with many other comics.
The first Chivalry & Sorcery was one of the first tabletop roleplaying games originally published in 1977 by Fantasy Games Unlimited. Now, a brand-new edition of the classic game with updated mechanics is up on Kickstarter. This 500-page hardback features all the rules you need to run a game and craft a campaign setting perfect for you, with tools to adjust the level of magic and technology available so you can play anything from historical simulationist all the way to high fantasy. You can get the core rulebook in PDF for £20 (about US$25) or in color hardback for £40 (about US$50), with levels £10 higher for each to get stretch goals. This Kickstarter is fully-funded and runs until Wednesday, July 31.
There’s been a slew of 5e-compatible adventures, but I’m not sure I’ve seen one quite like Blood Queen’s Defiance for pretty much one reason: It doesn’t require a DM. This set features three linked adventures to take characters from 1st to 4th level as the party defends the sleepy village of Oakvale from the forces of the mysterious Blood Queen. Instead of printing encounters in a book, though, the adventure has each encounter printed on cards (81 total for each adventure) to be divided among the players in order to craft the session’s adventure, with non-random cards for important plot encounters including the intro and ending encounters. A print-and-play version is available for $20, while the printed version is available for $40. This Kickstarter is fully funded and runs until Wednesday, July 31.
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 Twitch where I’ll continue streaming A Tale of Two Wastelands, a full conversion mod that merges Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas into a single game, 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.
With a week left to go before release, Paizo has ramped up the previews for Pathfinder 2nd Edition. The one many people have been waiting on, we’ve now got the Pathfinder mascot goblin as a stat block for the Goblin Warrior and Goblin Commando. If you were worried their move to a core PC species would tone down the Gremlins inspired nature of the Pathfinder goblin, fear not as the description notes while some have worked to become “civilized”, most are still the little balls of chaos with a hatred of dogs, fear of horses, and a desire to torment “longshanks”.
Paizo also released two versions of the Pathfinder 2nd Edition character sheet, one in color and one in printer-friendly black-and-white. These are the generic sheets, while the Pathfinder Character Sheet Pack available for a retail price of $14.99 will include twelve customized sheets for each character class. While the Pathfinder Gamemastery Guide 2nd Edition won’t be out until February, there will be a section in the Core Rulebook on running a game, and the Paizo Blog has a preview of that section of the book with tables on GM advice, temperature effects, a general DC guide, and more with a preview of a few of the monsters including the gogiteth, skeleton, gremlins, and more. Finally, The Saga Lands get a preview as well ahead of the release of the Lost Omens World Guide sourcebook.
The entire Pathfinder 2nd Edition product line will be available at Gen Con, in stores, and through mass market outlets such as Amazon on August 1st and the launch line is massive with:
- Pathfinder Core Rulebook for $59.99
- With Limited Edition for $79.99
- Pathfinder Bestiary for $49.99
- With Limited Edition for $69.99
- GM Screen for $19.99
- Stand-alone adventure for 1st level The Fall of Plaguestone for $22.99
- With wet/dry erase flip mat for $14.99
- Age of Ashes Adventure Path #1 Hellknight Hill for $24.99
- Lost Omens World Guide for $36.99
- Magnetic wet/dry erase Combat Pad for $24.99
- Condition Cards for $22.99
- Pathfinder Character Sheet Pack for $14.99
New Dungeons & Dragons products were announced by four different companies. First, Wizards of the Coast are re-releasing the first D&D 5e adventure set Tyranny of Dragons as a single-volume set. Previously published as Hoard of the Dragon Queen and Rise of Tiamat, this new volume will feature a special cover (similar to the limited release cover exclusive to hobby game stores), re-edited with feedback with new art and new material previously only available as online downloads. This book will only be available to hobby game outlets on October 22 with a retail price of $49.95.
D&D partners Gale Force Nine released more pictures of their Of Ships and the Sea Dungeon Master’s screen, which features general DM information as well as random encounter tables, rules, charts, and more specifically themed for aquatic campaigns. No release date’s been set (it’s still listed as a pre-order for “July 2019” but no stores I found show it in stock yet), but the screen will hopefully be available soon for a retail price of $15.00. Update: User Ghost2020 in the comments stated that they have purchased and received the Of Ships and the Sea DM screen from Amazon, so it is apparently available in the wild. At the time of writing this article, Amazon's United States website listed it as out of stock with no estimated date for availability.
WizKids showed off new, detailed pictures of the Infernal War Machine “miniature” that shows off the massive scale of the $69.99. The Mad Max-esque vehicle is over eleven inches long and the new pictures show off the seating for seven PC-scale miniatures. This is part of their Descent Into Avernus line of miniatures which features 45 miniatures from the hellbound adventure due out this August. But of course they’re not going to stop there as they announced an expansion to their D&D Icons of the Realm line of miniatures, Village Raiders. This non-random set features seven miniatures (three goblins, two orcs, and two gnolls) and will be available this October for $24.99.
Finally, Keith Baker announced a new Eberron sourcebook currently called “Project Raptor”. The original creator of the setting will publish via DM’s Guild in both PDF and print-on-demand a new 160-page sourcebook detailing as-yet unexplored areas of the world. Few details are available now, but the book will be available later this year with a design diary available via the KB Presents Facebook group providing updates and previews up until the release.
Catalyst Game Labs announced their release line for Shadowrun Sixth Edition which will be available at Gen Con. Of course, front and center is the Shadowrun Sixth World Core Book with the core rules for the new edition of Shadowrun. Additionally, they will have physical copies of the Shadowrun Sixth World Beginner Box (which I did an unboxing of and a full review of on my YouTube channel), a set of custom Shadowrun dice and Edge tokens (useful as Edge is now a core mechanic of the game), the NPC card deck Rogue’s Gallery, Shadowrun Prime Runners miniatures (featuring an ork street samurai, elf shaman, human decker, dwarf rigger, and troll weapons specialist), the world sourcebook Neo-Anarchist Streetpedia (which is a Wikipedia-influenced sourcebook featuring small entries on corporations, countries, criminal organizations, power-players, events, locations, and more), the gorgeous media and culture sourcebook No Future, and a limited edition (as in limited to only twelve) statues of the ork street samurai Sledge. All of these products will be available in stores shortly after Gen Con (except for the Beginner Box and Neo-Anarchist Streetpedia which are already available).
Cubicle 7 announced that the Warhammer 40K roleplaying game Wrath and Glory is getting a new revised edition “soon”. This is not a full new edition and the version published by Ulisses Spiele will be fully compatible with this revised rulebook, including all dice and card decks and the two published adventures, Blessings Unheralded and Dark Tides. Cubicle 7 also now has the full product line available on their Drive Thru page and, while the original product line is available, it’s unsure whether they will be updated when the revised edition is published. It’s also unknown if the original design team of Wrath and Glory will return for the revised edition.
Slipping away to the other big tabletop gaming convention, the winners of the 2019 Spiel des Jahres Award were announced. The Spiel des Jahres (Game of the Year) winner is Just One from designers Ludovic Roudy and Bruno Sautter. The Kinderspiel des Jahres (Children’s Game of the Year) winner is Valley of the Vikings designed by Marie and Wilfried Fort, and Kennerspiele des Jahres (Connoisseur/Enthusiast Game of the Year) winner is Wingspan from designer Elizabeth Hargrave.
Lone Shark Games partnered with Humble Bundle to offer the Puzzles, Puzzles, and Games Bundle, but don’t let the title fool you as this is heavier on the games than the puzzles. In addition to books on crosswords, logic puzzles, and more, it also features several tabletop games and roleplaying/storytelling games. The $1 level includes the base game of Apocrypha, a campaign adventure card game for one to six people designed by Mike Selinker with writing from Patrick Rothfuss and Matt Forbeck. The $8 level includes two expansions for Apocrypha plus Hastur Horta Hodor Mordor, a memory tongue-twister card game from Mike Selinker and John Kovalic. The highest level of $15 includes the award-winning Unspeakable Words, a word game similar to Scrabble but with a Lovecraftian twist featured on Wil Wheaton’s Tabletop. This bundle runs until Monday, August 5.
Additionally, the Fantastic Science Fiction & Fantasy Bundle with over twenty DRM-free ebooks is still available until Wednesday, July 31 as is the Learn Game Development Bundle with lessons on Unity game creation and the Dynamite Comics bundle featuring the full twelve-volumes run of Garth Ennis’s The Boys (soon to be a television series from Amazon) along with many other comics.
The first Chivalry & Sorcery was one of the first tabletop roleplaying games originally published in 1977 by Fantasy Games Unlimited. Now, a brand-new edition of the classic game with updated mechanics is up on Kickstarter. This 500-page hardback features all the rules you need to run a game and craft a campaign setting perfect for you, with tools to adjust the level of magic and technology available so you can play anything from historical simulationist all the way to high fantasy. You can get the core rulebook in PDF for £20 (about US$25) or in color hardback for £40 (about US$50), with levels £10 higher for each to get stretch goals. This Kickstarter is fully-funded and runs until Wednesday, July 31.
There’s been a slew of 5e-compatible adventures, but I’m not sure I’ve seen one quite like Blood Queen’s Defiance for pretty much one reason: It doesn’t require a DM. This set features three linked adventures to take characters from 1st to 4th level as the party defends the sleepy village of Oakvale from the forces of the mysterious Blood Queen. Instead of printing encounters in a book, though, the adventure has each encounter printed on cards (81 total for each adventure) to be divided among the players in order to craft the session’s adventure, with non-random cards for important plot encounters including the intro and ending encounters. A print-and-play version is available for $20, while the printed version is available for $40. This Kickstarter is fully funded and runs until Wednesday, July 31.
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 Twitch where I’ll continue streaming A Tale of Two Wastelands, a full conversion mod that merges Fallout 3 and Fallout New Vegas into a single game, 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.
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