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The VOIDRUNNER'S CODEX is coming! Explore new worlds, fight oppressive empires, fend off fearsome aliens, and wield deadly psionics with this comprehensive boxed set expansion for 5E and A5E!
Michael Tresca
Recent & Upcoming Releases
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May 31 2024 -
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June 18 2024 -
July 16 2024 -
September 17 2024 -
October 1 2024 -
November 12 2024 -
February 18 2025
ESPN Calls Role-playing "Bad Fantasy"
The parallels between fantasy sports and fantasy role-playing games have long been noted by both geeks and jocks (mostly geeks). So it may come as a surprise to some that ESPN decided to draw a sharp distinction between the two with a commercial that casts fantasy role-play in a negative light.
RPG Crate Unboxing: Mythoard #29
For a while there, it felt like Mythoard was slipping into obscurity, but with this installment they came roaring back with what they call a "double crate." This video is also where I rant about making it clear in the packaging what RPG is for what system -- it's like trying to unlock a puzzle every time I read through one of these books.
Can Hobby Stores Make Their Saving Throw?
We've talked before about geek culture taking over the world, from movies to conventions, but another trend is accelerating that may affect hobby gaming: the death of the retail store. Can geek culture save it?
May 2017 Mythoard RPG Crate Review
This video is my unboxing of the May 2017 Mythoard RPG crate. Mythoard 28 is a much-improved collection of RPG accessories over previous installments. It's clear that the Mythoard gang has gotten the message that subscribers want more accessories and less books, and that change is evident in the latest Mythoard.
D&D's Lineage: The Top 100 RPGs
Game Informer's recent issue featured a new ranking, the Top 100 RPGs, but the list was really about role-playing video games. Tabletop gamers know that there's at least one game that should be #1.
Netflix Chooses Its Own Adventure
The concept of a solo adventure -- in which the player chooses their own path throughout a narrative -- has been around since the 1960s, expressed in print and later audio form. It's now getting an update for modern audiences, thanks to Netflix's new series for kids.
The Modern History of the Fantasy Fireball
The fireball is a staple of Dungeons & Dragons-style magic that clearly distinguishes its modern wargaming roots from the fantasy dress it adopted. As such, the history of the fireball spell is a history of D&D itself. The Fireball Fantasy Where did the concept of a fireball come from? The fireball has little grounding in fantasy literature, particularly J.R.R. Tolkien's or Jack Vance's...
RPG Crate Unboxing: Mythoard - April 2017
April's Mythoard came with little fanfare and not much communication. Is this the calm before the storm or a bad sign for Mythoard?
Is Tabletop Gaming D&D's "Sideshow"?
Recent struggles with Marvel's comics brand have made it clear that Marvel's properties are more valuable to as a multimedia franchise than the comics that spawned them. Could that happen with Hasbro and the Dungeons & Dragons brand? Marvel's Template Marvel's comic woes have come recently into the spotlight thanks to controversy over diverse superhero comics struggling to make sales. Asher...
Gamers vs. Reality: Who Wins?
Economists have once again pointed a finger at escapist fantasy as the potential downfall of civilization -- with video games the most recent scapegoat -- due to young people supposedly finding their increasingly realistic escapism more appealing than work. And yet tabletop role-playing games are even more engaging than video games...so why haven't they heralded the end of the world as we know it?
When D&D Campaigns Become Franchises
We've previously discussed how the seeds of a failed Dungeons & Dragons campaign was the inspiration for several video game franchises like Doom and Quake, but there's another D&D campaign that is more popular than both of them combined. Setting the Record StraightDocumenting a campaign to an audience is now commonplace thanks the abundance of diverse media available to enterprising game...
RPG Evolution: The Road Trip That Changed a World
TSR's legacy of publishing fantasy worlds is well-known, but only one of them came about through a couple's adventurous car ride across the country in search of a new career: Dragonlance. Desperation Dragonlance's origins begin at a difficult time in Tracy and Laura Hickman's lives. Tracy explained in an interview with Matthew Peterson: Well, Dragonlance came about out of a lot of...
Meet a Professional Game Master
I've written about the mythical professional game master before, but for the first time I got an opportunity to interview one at length. Meet Timothy James Woods (Timm) who currently has a Master's degree in English literature and is working towards his PhD in the same (with a focus on games and learning). 2017 is the first year that he will be relying on RPGs for his income full-time, having locked down four regular games and two afterschool programs.
RPG Crate Unboxing: Mythoard - March 2017
This is the latest unboxing of the March 2017 Mythoard RPG crate. Mythoard is starting to look a lot like the geek crate that inspired it (Loot Crate), with dice, miniatures, and terrain included as well as other printed and digital products. And that's not necessarily a bad thing.
When RPGs Are Included in Kids' Meals
We previously discussed how hobby games have gone mainstream, and as further evidence look no further than Wendy's, fast-food chain in the U.S. that has included a very basic form of role-play in its kid meals as part of its "Creative Revolution." Welcome to the Creative Revolution Wendy's Creative Revolution for kids goes back at least two years to 2015, in which kids' meals included...
The Curious Case of the Violent Rabbit
The Dread Killer Rabbit of Caerbannog from Monty Python and the Holy Grail is legendary among tabletop gamers. It turns out that the diabolical rabbit has precedent in medieval manuscripts before it was finally imported to tabletop role-playing games.
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