Hello everyone, Darryl here with this week’s gaming news! Starfinder announcements plus an update to Paizo’s organized play, The Lost Citadel coming to gaming, Modiphius’s Conan RPG released, Adventures in Middle Earth Loremaster’s Guide comes out, PETA butts heads with Games Workshop, and more!
A plethora of Starfinder news came out this past week, fully covered by EN World here. The core rulebook will be 560 pages long and has a pre-order price of $59.99 for the hardcover for an August 2017 release. A sixteen page preview titled First Contact will be available on Free RPG Day of June 17 which gives you a preview of the monsters, aliens, and NPCs in the setting with Pathfinder conversion information. The first adventure path for Starfinder will be called Dead Suns, starting with the adventure Incident at Absalom Station, also available for pre-order at the link above for $22.99 released at the same time as the Core Ruelbook. This will be the first of six parts of this Adventure Path. Other products available at launch will be a Gamemaster’s Screen at $19.99, a Character Folio at $9.99, two different flipmats for $14.99, and a set of cardboard pawns for $24.99. Paizo also confirmed their commitment to a thriving third-party product market by releasing a Compatibility License.
Paizo also announced a further commitment to brick and mortar game stores holding events for their products, this time for the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game. The program works similarly to the program launched last year for Pathfinder Society that rewards players with in-game benefits for purchases made in stores. Upon showing a receipt of at least $10.00 in purchases from the store, the entire table receives two benefits. The first, “Harder to Kill”, is an ongoing benefit for the entire table that allows a player to reset his or her hand as if the hand size were one lower (or two lower if the ability is enhanced). In addition, each player will receive and individual, single-use power-up between “Cheaper Boons”, “Recover from Wounds”, or “Bonus Wealth”. These benefits are legal for all official Pathfinder Adventure Card Game events and are granted by the event coordinator on site.
Green Ronin announced the acquisition of the license for The Lost Citadel. The Lost citadel is a shared world setting from creators Ari Marmell, C.A. Suleiman, and Jayme Gates that crosses media between fiction, art, music, and more finally coming to gaming through Fifth Edition rules published by Green Ronin. C.A. Suleiman on board to help design the game. In The Lost Citadel, a low magic fantasy world finds itself in the middle of an undead apocalypse. A fiction anthology funded on Kickstarter this past summer with print copies delivered to backers last month. In comments on the EN World thread, Ari Marmell announced that a retail release of the anthology was forthcoming. Current plans are for the game setting book to release in early 2018.
Cubicle 7 released the second half of their Middle Earth books for Fifth Edition rules, Adventures in Middle Earth Loremaster’s Guide, and is currently the top-selling item on Drive Thru (for the second best selling item, see below). The Table of Contents was released as a preview, letting you know exactly what you’re getting. The book includes information on multiple areas of Middle Earth, group character generation, sample NPCs with a guide to creating more, a Wilderland bestiary, monster generation rules, more magic options, treasure rules for magic items and weapons, and more. The book is 160 pages long and available for $19.99.
Robert E. Howard’s Conan: Adventures in an Age Undreamed Of is officially here. After its third straight year on EN World’s 10 Most Anticipated RPGs, The 432 page core rulebook is available in PDF format for $24.99 right now with a hardcover release coming soon. The book contains complete rules for Modiphius's 2d20 System rules for the Conan world as well as details large portions of the world of Conan including Aquilonia, Cimmeria, Stygia, Khitai, and more. The setting was also designed in close contact with many of the foremost Conan and Robert E. Howard scholars and utilizes art from many of the biggest artists working in the genre. A set of adventures for the system, Conan: Jeweled Thrones of the Earth, was also released including six complete adventures plus a dozen adventure seeds to use on their own or building off events from those adventures.
While the release has been highly anticipated, it was not without controversy as it came at the same time as the video game Conan Exiles. Conan Exiles received criticism for its inclusion of a completely nude game mode with a “slider” for the “endowment” for the character which defaulted to a larger position on darker skinned races, drawing criticisms of sexism, sensationalistic sexual content, and racism. Despite the fact that there is no relation whatsoever between Conan Exile and either Modiphius or Conan: Adventures in an Age Undreamed Of other than a shared licensed property, some of this negative criticism has splashed over onto the tabletop game.
In more news of manufactured outrage that seems like it should be an Onion story, PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an animal rights political group) has set its sights on Games Workshop, demanding that the company ban fur from its miniatures for all Warhammer characters. I wish I were kidding. The press release mentions the “Warhammer” property extensively yet talks about “the year 40,000”, meaning that PETA is unaware or unconcerned that there are two franchises under the Warhammer banner, Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000. Games Workshop has not commented at the time of publication.
This may be because Games Workshop is busy finalizing a licensing deal with game publisher Cubicle 7 for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. Publisher Grim and Perilous originally reported the deal from a conversation with Games Workshop’s licensing department. It was later confirmed through a specific denial from Cubicle 7 of “We couldn’t possibly comment on such grim and perilous rumours” and later when the DriveThru pages for the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay books updated to Cubicle 7 Entertainment Ltd. Still, no official announcement has been made at this time involving the license or when products will become available for this line.
International Tabletop Day will come this year on Saturday, April 29 at retailers worldwide. The event, sponsored by Geek & Sundry, celebrates tabletop board and card games by holding events in stores throughout the world with exclusive promotional material provided to draw in players to try new games. Previous years had promotional materials ranging from small expansions such as additional cards or pieces for games to full board games given away as door prizes. However, this has changed for 2017 as Geek & Sundry will no longer be providing full board games and focus on smaller expansions and micro-games. They will also allow stores to purchase the materials a la carte so that stores can purchase items for their expected crowds rather than a one-size-fits-all box. No details have been announced about the expansions, but several companies will be involved including Fireside Games, Japanime Games, Renegade Game Studios, Stronghold Games, and Grey Fox Games.
Midgard Campaign Setting is the newest project from Kobold Press, a full campaign setting for both Pathfinder and Fifth Edition. From designers Wolfgang Baur, Jeff Grubb, and Brandon Hodge, the setting takes place in a world cut off from the shadow realms for an age, until dark forces began rebuilding them to invade the world. Fey are demanding their overdue tribute, giants preparing for Ragnarock, goblins growing restless, and more threats await players as they forge new paths to heroism. The project includes three books: Hero’s Handbook (Fifth Edition), Player’s Guide (Pathfinder), and Campaign Setting (GM rules for both rulesets). The first two books are available each in PDF for $19 or print for $40 while the campaign setting in PDF for $25 or print for $50 with bundles of the Campaign Setting and one other book in PDF for $50 or print for $80, and all three books in PDF for $65 or print for $130. This campaign is fully funded and unlocking stretch goals at breakneck speed until the campaign finishes on Friday, February 24.
Tortuga 1667 is a pirate themed board game for four to nine players where each player has a secret loyalty to one of four different nations and you have to deduce who is on your side and who is your enemy before you’re stabbed in the back and forced to walk the plank. Aside from the gameplay, one main draw for this game is the box, which is a “faux book” that contains all the components of the game and looks very well crafted. The game is available for a $23 pledge with a PDF print-and-play version available for $10. This Kickstarter is fully funded and runs until Thursday, February 16.
Delve is a dungeon building and dungeon crawl game built into one. Each player takes on the role of an adventurer as you build the dungeon you’re exploring tile by tile, overcoming the challenges with the group to share the treasure among all, or splitting the party to keep more of the loot for yourself but without the support of your allies. The winner, as you might guess, is the player who gets the most gold and treasure at the end of the game. However, the balance between facing challenges alone to gain an advantage over your party or working together but giving your allies-slash-opponents some of the treasure for a greater chance of overcoming the challenges of a room adds depth to the game. The game is available on its own for $38 with an option to include all unlocked stretch goals for $45. This project from Indie Boards & Cards is working its way through those stretch goals until Wednesday, February 15.
That’s all from me for 2016! Find more gaming news at the EN World News Network 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’ve been lamenting my inability to play Shadowrun for…reasons…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 and/or DriveThru may contain affiliate links with the proceeds going to the author of this column.
A plethora of Starfinder news came out this past week, fully covered by EN World here. The core rulebook will be 560 pages long and has a pre-order price of $59.99 for the hardcover for an August 2017 release. A sixteen page preview titled First Contact will be available on Free RPG Day of June 17 which gives you a preview of the monsters, aliens, and NPCs in the setting with Pathfinder conversion information. The first adventure path for Starfinder will be called Dead Suns, starting with the adventure Incident at Absalom Station, also available for pre-order at the link above for $22.99 released at the same time as the Core Ruelbook. This will be the first of six parts of this Adventure Path. Other products available at launch will be a Gamemaster’s Screen at $19.99, a Character Folio at $9.99, two different flipmats for $14.99, and a set of cardboard pawns for $24.99. Paizo also confirmed their commitment to a thriving third-party product market by releasing a Compatibility License.
Paizo also announced a further commitment to brick and mortar game stores holding events for their products, this time for the Pathfinder Adventure Card Game. The program works similarly to the program launched last year for Pathfinder Society that rewards players with in-game benefits for purchases made in stores. Upon showing a receipt of at least $10.00 in purchases from the store, the entire table receives two benefits. The first, “Harder to Kill”, is an ongoing benefit for the entire table that allows a player to reset his or her hand as if the hand size were one lower (or two lower if the ability is enhanced). In addition, each player will receive and individual, single-use power-up between “Cheaper Boons”, “Recover from Wounds”, or “Bonus Wealth”. These benefits are legal for all official Pathfinder Adventure Card Game events and are granted by the event coordinator on site.
Green Ronin announced the acquisition of the license for The Lost Citadel. The Lost citadel is a shared world setting from creators Ari Marmell, C.A. Suleiman, and Jayme Gates that crosses media between fiction, art, music, and more finally coming to gaming through Fifth Edition rules published by Green Ronin. C.A. Suleiman on board to help design the game. In The Lost Citadel, a low magic fantasy world finds itself in the middle of an undead apocalypse. A fiction anthology funded on Kickstarter this past summer with print copies delivered to backers last month. In comments on the EN World thread, Ari Marmell announced that a retail release of the anthology was forthcoming. Current plans are for the game setting book to release in early 2018.
Cubicle 7 released the second half of their Middle Earth books for Fifth Edition rules, Adventures in Middle Earth Loremaster’s Guide, and is currently the top-selling item on Drive Thru (for the second best selling item, see below). The Table of Contents was released as a preview, letting you know exactly what you’re getting. The book includes information on multiple areas of Middle Earth, group character generation, sample NPCs with a guide to creating more, a Wilderland bestiary, monster generation rules, more magic options, treasure rules for magic items and weapons, and more. The book is 160 pages long and available for $19.99.
While the release has been highly anticipated, it was not without controversy as it came at the same time as the video game Conan Exiles. Conan Exiles received criticism for its inclusion of a completely nude game mode with a “slider” for the “endowment” for the character which defaulted to a larger position on darker skinned races, drawing criticisms of sexism, sensationalistic sexual content, and racism. Despite the fact that there is no relation whatsoever between Conan Exile and either Modiphius or Conan: Adventures in an Age Undreamed Of other than a shared licensed property, some of this negative criticism has splashed over onto the tabletop game.
In more news of manufactured outrage that seems like it should be an Onion story, PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals, an animal rights political group) has set its sights on Games Workshop, demanding that the company ban fur from its miniatures for all Warhammer characters. I wish I were kidding. The press release mentions the “Warhammer” property extensively yet talks about “the year 40,000”, meaning that PETA is unaware or unconcerned that there are two franchises under the Warhammer banner, Warhammer Fantasy and Warhammer 40,000. Games Workshop has not commented at the time of publication.
This may be because Games Workshop is busy finalizing a licensing deal with game publisher Cubicle 7 for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. Publisher Grim and Perilous originally reported the deal from a conversation with Games Workshop’s licensing department. It was later confirmed through a specific denial from Cubicle 7 of “We couldn’t possibly comment on such grim and perilous rumours” and later when the DriveThru pages for the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay books updated to Cubicle 7 Entertainment Ltd. Still, no official announcement has been made at this time involving the license or when products will become available for this line.
International Tabletop Day will come this year on Saturday, April 29 at retailers worldwide. The event, sponsored by Geek & Sundry, celebrates tabletop board and card games by holding events in stores throughout the world with exclusive promotional material provided to draw in players to try new games. Previous years had promotional materials ranging from small expansions such as additional cards or pieces for games to full board games given away as door prizes. However, this has changed for 2017 as Geek & Sundry will no longer be providing full board games and focus on smaller expansions and micro-games. They will also allow stores to purchase the materials a la carte so that stores can purchase items for their expected crowds rather than a one-size-fits-all box. No details have been announced about the expansions, but several companies will be involved including Fireside Games, Japanime Games, Renegade Game Studios, Stronghold Games, and Grey Fox Games.
Midgard Campaign Setting is the newest project from Kobold Press, a full campaign setting for both Pathfinder and Fifth Edition. From designers Wolfgang Baur, Jeff Grubb, and Brandon Hodge, the setting takes place in a world cut off from the shadow realms for an age, until dark forces began rebuilding them to invade the world. Fey are demanding their overdue tribute, giants preparing for Ragnarock, goblins growing restless, and more threats await players as they forge new paths to heroism. The project includes three books: Hero’s Handbook (Fifth Edition), Player’s Guide (Pathfinder), and Campaign Setting (GM rules for both rulesets). The first two books are available each in PDF for $19 or print for $40 while the campaign setting in PDF for $25 or print for $50 with bundles of the Campaign Setting and one other book in PDF for $50 or print for $80, and all three books in PDF for $65 or print for $130. This campaign is fully funded and unlocking stretch goals at breakneck speed until the campaign finishes on Friday, February 24.
Tortuga 1667 is a pirate themed board game for four to nine players where each player has a secret loyalty to one of four different nations and you have to deduce who is on your side and who is your enemy before you’re stabbed in the back and forced to walk the plank. Aside from the gameplay, one main draw for this game is the box, which is a “faux book” that contains all the components of the game and looks very well crafted. The game is available for a $23 pledge with a PDF print-and-play version available for $10. This Kickstarter is fully funded and runs until Thursday, February 16.
Delve is a dungeon building and dungeon crawl game built into one. Each player takes on the role of an adventurer as you build the dungeon you’re exploring tile by tile, overcoming the challenges with the group to share the treasure among all, or splitting the party to keep more of the loot for yourself but without the support of your allies. The winner, as you might guess, is the player who gets the most gold and treasure at the end of the game. However, the balance between facing challenges alone to gain an advantage over your party or working together but giving your allies-slash-opponents some of the treasure for a greater chance of overcoming the challenges of a room adds depth to the game. The game is available on its own for $38 with an option to include all unlocked stretch goals for $45. This project from Indie Boards & Cards is working its way through those stretch goals until Wednesday, February 15.
That’s all from me for 2016! Find more gaming news at the EN World News Network 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’ve been lamenting my inability to play Shadowrun for…reasons…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 and/or DriveThru may contain affiliate links with the proceeds going to the author of this column.
