Shane Stacks

Shane Plays

Recent & Upcoming Releases

July 16 2024

Quests From The Infinite Staircase

(Dungeons & Dragons)
Adventure anthology for character levels 1 to 13.
Replies (266)
September 17 2024

D&D Player’s Handbook (2024)

(Dungeons & Dragons)
Revised 2024 Player's Handbook.
Replies (156)
September 26 2024

Dungeon Master's Screen (2024)

(Dungeons & Dragons)
4-panel screen revised for the 2024 rules.
Replies (55)
October 1 2024

Monstrous Menagerie II

(Level Up: Advanced 5th Edition)
The sequel to the acclaimed monster book!
Replies (51)
November 12 2024

D&D Dungeon Master’s Guide (2024)

(Dungeons & Dragons)
Revised 2024 Dungeon Master's Guide.
Replies (120)
February 18 2025

D&D Monster Manual (2025)

(Dungeons & Dragons)
Revised 2025 Monster Manual.
Replies (89)

Shane is a hopeless grognard -- er -- veteran tabletop RPG player, having first rolled the dice in the early 80s with Traveller, Villains & Vigilantes, Middle-Earth Role Playing, WEG Star Wars, Paranoia, Top Secret, Star Frontiers, Marvel Super Heroes, DC Heroes, Dungeons & Dragons and more.

He's an equal opportunity geek who loves a variety of interests and fandoms, including tabletop games, video games, comics books, sci-fi, fantasy, retro computers and more.

Shane is the host of Shane Plays Geek Talk, a terrestrial radio geek talk show and podcast, as well as the co-author of Dungeons & Desktops: The History of Computer Role-Playing Games 2nd Edition. Bree-yark!

THE FUMBLE: Leading RPG Publisher Schedules Announcement On Whether It Has An Announcement Or Not, Will Confirm In Even Later Announcement

Olympia, WA-based Warlocks of the Shore, publisher of the industry-leading Barrows & Bearowls tabletop RPG, announced today that it's scheduling an announcement later this week to share whether it has an actual announcement to share at a later date or not. "To be more precise," B&B Lead Designer Rocko "Rocko" Johnson shared, "the forthcoming scheduled event doesn't actually revolve around a...

Jul 2, 2020 7

The Fumble: Game Master Secretly Plotting Against Online Players Who Don't Use Their Mute Button

Cleveland, OH area BM (Barrow Master) Robert Sumner recently converted his weekly tabletop Barrows & Bearowls game to an online format due to the social complications of the current global pandemic. It's a change hundreds if not thousands of gaming groups are making to keep their games going until they can return to face-to-face gaming. The new opportunity isn't without its challenges...

Apr 28, 2020 31

The Fumble: Seasoned Warrior Laments Difficulty of Adventure-Life Balance

Barak Strongblade, a renowned local adventurer and one of the party of beloved heroes that saved Three Oaks Village ten years ago from the goblin invasion has encountered a new, unexpected foe. "I just can't make it all work anymore," Barak says, his eyes haggard and his shoulders slumping at the local tavern. "Time was when it was no problem. Off to the forest, or the caves, or a nice...

Jan 21, 2020 4

The Fumble: Major Newspaper Surprised By How Often It's Been Surprised By Renewed Popularity of RPGs

As part of its 2019 retrospective series, the Peoria Times-Mail-Picayune recently featured a surprising article expressing surprise at how often it's been surprised over the past year by the surprising resurgence in popularity of tabletop role-playing games. "One of the biggest stories of the year is how often we've expressed surprise, in print no less, at the truly remarkable popularity and...

Dec 31, 2019 20

The Fumble: Veteran RPG Player Suddenly Feels Insecure

Local tabletop RPG veteran Lionel Huntsworth recently shared that he has begun experiencing feelings of insecurity around his fellow players. This reporter met with him in person to learn more. "I've been playing tabletop RPGs since pretty much the beginning," Lionel says over a cup of coffee. "I mean, I was practically there when it started. I played the original Barrows & Bearowls in the...

Dec 10, 2019 8

The Fumble: World's Most Popular Tabletop RPG Offers Exciting New Player Freedom

Olympia, WA-based game publisher Warlocks of the Shore has announced that effectively immediately, there are no actual rules for Barrows & Bearowls (B&B), their massively popular tabletop RPG game. "That's correct", B&B Lead Designer Rocko "Rocko" Johnson said. "The B&B Team is boldly continuing our almost fifty-year history of tabletop RPG pioneering and innovation. In a dramatic move to...

Nov 28, 2019 9

The Fumble: RPG Publisher MoreDiceForUs Acquires RPG Publisher MoreDiceForUs

Continuing its trend of massive growth through acquiring licenses and publishing internal projects and third-party products, British games company MoreDiceForUs Entertainment Ltd. announced yesterday it has successfully completed the process of acquiring itself. With a new license announced every seven minutes, MoreDiceForUs, known for publishing RPG and tabletop games, novels and...