Hello everyone, Darryl here with this week’s gaming news! Did anyone here mention the ENnie Nominations were announced yet? The 2018 Judge Applications are open as well! There’s also news for another Magic: The Gathering/Dungeons & Dragons crossover, Cubicle 7’s loss is Why Not Games’s gain, Dresden Files Accelerated damaged units will be replaced, Emerald City’s volunteer lawsuit settled, and much more!
I’m sure it’s been mentioned a few places around, but just in case, the 2017 ENnie Award Nominees were announced. This year, the ENnies will have a booth at Gen Con at #266 and the Award Ceremony itself will be at Union Station on August 18 starting at 8:00 PM. If you want to be a judge in for the 2018 ENnie Awards, applications are open until 11:45PM Central tomorrow, July 7. You’ve also got the same deadline to get in your nominations in for 2017 Fan Favorite Publisher. Congratulations to all the nominees and Judges’ Spotlight Winners!
The Magic: The Gathering team at Wizards of the Coast got together with James Wyatt of the Dungeons & Dragons team to create Plane Shift: Amonkhet, a Dungeons & Dragons supplement for the current Magic: The Gathering expansion block. The Egyptian-themed free supplement includes forty pages of new races, monsters, and backgrounds along with cleric domains for each of the five gods and Trials of the Five Gods. These rules are considered the same as material from Unearthed Arcana and is not usable in D&D Adventure League or other organized play, and should be considered in the “playtest” stage.
Cubicle 7 announced last week that licenses for several of their games were expiring. Rocket Age, Qin: The Warring States, Kuro, Yggsdrasill, and Keltia all went “out of print” effective June 30. The rights for the latter four games are reverting to their original French publisher 7eme Cercle, who has been releasing English localizations for their other titles through sister company AKA Games and may announce new translations on their own. Rocket Age reverted to its original designer, Ken Spencer, who announced that the game line will be reprinted through his new company, Why Not Games, along with new material to be announced in the future. Why Not Games will also be at Gen Con running demos of Rocket Age and others.
Dresden Files Accelerated reached the hands of many fans, but not without issues. Due to a printing error, many copies of the book contained torn pages, usually between pages 140-160. Evil Hat Productions is aware of the issue and is offering a no-cost replacement for any customers who have received a copy. The official Twitter account for Evil Hat denied rumors that this was due to packing and said that the copies were received damaged from the printer. From the official statement:
Do you have a print copy of Dresden Files Accelerated for your home, store, wizard’s lair, or other assorted location? Do you plan on getting a copy? If the answer to either of these questions is yes, we want to tell you a thing! An important thing, even.
It’s been brought to our attention that about one in five copies has a print defect somewhere around the page 140-160 mark. If you have a print copy and haven’t yet cracked it open because you are too busy saving the world from chlorofiends (and thank you, if that’s the case), please check it out. If you find ripped pages–the most commonly reported error, although we’ve had a few others pop up–here’s what to do:
Email us at feedback@evilhat.com. Include one picture of the defect and your mailing address. We will send you a replacement copy.
Simple.
If you’re planning on ordering a copy and haven’t gotten it yet, this problem likely won’t apply to you, although we still encourage you to check once you have the book in hand. But the fine folks at Alliance Distribution have been going through each copy one-by-one to make sure that any defective copies that aren’t already out in the wild won’t make it there. It’s painstaking work, and Kari and her crew have done a terrific job getting through them quickly.
Emerald City Comicon settled the class action lawsuit over unpaid work by volunteers for a reported $493,227.84. The lawsuit was filed in May 2016 against the convention stating that volunteers were not paid for their work. The distinction between Emerald City and most other conventions is that Emerald City, during the years 2014-2015 covered by the lawsuit, was run for-profit by Eitane Emerald Corp while most conventions are registered non-profits. In 2015, another for-profit company, ReedPOP, purchased Emerald City Comicon and took over operations in 2016. In a statement when the original lawsuit was filed, Senior Vice President Lance Fendsterman said that all conventions run by ReedPOP paid their “volunteers” legal wages and the name “volunteer” only stuck out of tradition. ReedPOP was not named as a defendant in the lawsuit. According to ICv2, the defendants, Eitane Emerald and the Demonakos family members, do not admit wrongdoing or legal liability in the settlement. Of the settlement money, $123,300 will go to attorneys for the plaintiffs, $5000 to the original plaintiff, and the remaining $364,927.84 divided among all volunteers based on their hours worked for the convention. If you volunteered for Emerald City Comicon at the 2014 or 2015 conventions, for once the email or social media message about a lawsuit settlement may not be a scam.
Avalon Hill celebrates its 50th anniversary this year and, to mark the occasion, a special edition of Axis & Allies will be released on September 22 to hobby outlets. The version will be based on the 2008 Anniversary Edition of the game which had a larger board and new units. The game will include more than 650 plastic minis with storage boxes for each country, dice, game tokens, and plastic markers available for an MSRP of $100.00. Mainstream outlets will release the game on November 1.
Russell Zimmerman is a long-time freelance designer whose work you probably know from Shadowrun including the novels Neat and Shaken (No Job Too Small). His Patreon campaign focuses on his fiction writing, essays on roleplaying game design, and game content along with some gaming-focused historical notes (Russell is a Historian by education and spent many years in academe teaching history at the collegiate level). Pledge levels on the Patreon campaign feature access to unpublished material for Shadowrun, Warmachine, and more along with short stories and gaming content, plus a Google Hangouts, physical rewards, and even the chance to influence or commission fiction.
The Yellow King is the new game from Robin D. Laws using the GUMSHOE rules system. This is actually kind of a four-in-one thing as game focuses on four different settings influenced by the reality-altering play The King in Yellow which, by its very existence, invites madness and acts as a conduit to things that should not be in our world. From turn-of-the-century France to the modern day, to alternate realities of a seeming everlasting World War in 1947 to that world’s version of 2017. The core book only (featuring the Paris setting and core roles alone) is available in PDF for a £10 (about US$13) pledge, the full four-book set in PDF for £25 (about US$32), or in hardcover for £60 (about US$76) with many more pledge options to get exactly what you want. This Kickstarter still has a couple of stretch goals left to beat before it ends on Friday, July 21.
Tabletop Gaymers has worked for many years to support equality and acceptance for all people through outreach and other activities over the years. One of the most popular things they do are badge ribbons at Gen Con for “GAYMER” and “ALLY” alike. Originally sponsored by Cards Against Humanity, this year they’re looking to stand on their own by collecting donations from the gaming community directly through Go Fund Me. So far, they have managed to raise more than $6000 which will support them for the 2017 year and are now working to cover costs for extra ribbons to cover increased demand or for future years. And for more information about Tabletop Gaymers themselves, you can check out their official website.
Top Secret: New World Order is the all-new game of secret agents and pulp spy thrillers designed by the man behind the TSR original, Merle M. Rasmussen. Your team are elite agents of ICON (International Covert Operatives Network) tasked with secret missions that no other agency can handle. Just like the original, this roleplaying game is coming in a boxed set with everything you need to play including the rulebook, a GM screen, player mats, vehicle and character sheets, tokens, an introductory module, and a set of dice. The boxed set is available for a $50 pledge, or you can get a personalized ICON ID badge and a limited edition copy for a $100 pledge. This project is fully funded and runs until Thursday, July 27.
That’s all from me for this week! Find more gaming crowdfunding news at the EN World RPG Kickstarter News 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’ll be complaining about trying to play and record a 30 year old video game (no not that one...yes, maybe that one), or you can listen to the archives of the Gamer’s Tavern podcast. Until next time, may all your hits be crits!
I’m sure it’s been mentioned a few places around, but just in case, the 2017 ENnie Award Nominees were announced. This year, the ENnies will have a booth at Gen Con at #266 and the Award Ceremony itself will be at Union Station on August 18 starting at 8:00 PM. If you want to be a judge in for the 2018 ENnie Awards, applications are open until 11:45PM Central tomorrow, July 7. You’ve also got the same deadline to get in your nominations in for 2017 Fan Favorite Publisher. Congratulations to all the nominees and Judges’ Spotlight Winners!
The Magic: The Gathering team at Wizards of the Coast got together with James Wyatt of the Dungeons & Dragons team to create Plane Shift: Amonkhet, a Dungeons & Dragons supplement for the current Magic: The Gathering expansion block. The Egyptian-themed free supplement includes forty pages of new races, monsters, and backgrounds along with cleric domains for each of the five gods and Trials of the Five Gods. These rules are considered the same as material from Unearthed Arcana and is not usable in D&D Adventure League or other organized play, and should be considered in the “playtest” stage.
Cubicle 7 announced last week that licenses for several of their games were expiring. Rocket Age, Qin: The Warring States, Kuro, Yggsdrasill, and Keltia all went “out of print” effective June 30. The rights for the latter four games are reverting to their original French publisher 7eme Cercle, who has been releasing English localizations for their other titles through sister company AKA Games and may announce new translations on their own. Rocket Age reverted to its original designer, Ken Spencer, who announced that the game line will be reprinted through his new company, Why Not Games, along with new material to be announced in the future. Why Not Games will also be at Gen Con running demos of Rocket Age and others.
Dresden Files Accelerated reached the hands of many fans, but not without issues. Due to a printing error, many copies of the book contained torn pages, usually between pages 140-160. Evil Hat Productions is aware of the issue and is offering a no-cost replacement for any customers who have received a copy. The official Twitter account for Evil Hat denied rumors that this was due to packing and said that the copies were received damaged from the printer. From the official statement:
Do you have a print copy of Dresden Files Accelerated for your home, store, wizard’s lair, or other assorted location? Do you plan on getting a copy? If the answer to either of these questions is yes, we want to tell you a thing! An important thing, even.
It’s been brought to our attention that about one in five copies has a print defect somewhere around the page 140-160 mark. If you have a print copy and haven’t yet cracked it open because you are too busy saving the world from chlorofiends (and thank you, if that’s the case), please check it out. If you find ripped pages–the most commonly reported error, although we’ve had a few others pop up–here’s what to do:
Email us at feedback@evilhat.com. Include one picture of the defect and your mailing address. We will send you a replacement copy.
Simple.
If you’re planning on ordering a copy and haven’t gotten it yet, this problem likely won’t apply to you, although we still encourage you to check once you have the book in hand. But the fine folks at Alliance Distribution have been going through each copy one-by-one to make sure that any defective copies that aren’t already out in the wild won’t make it there. It’s painstaking work, and Kari and her crew have done a terrific job getting through them quickly.
Emerald City Comicon settled the class action lawsuit over unpaid work by volunteers for a reported $493,227.84. The lawsuit was filed in May 2016 against the convention stating that volunteers were not paid for their work. The distinction between Emerald City and most other conventions is that Emerald City, during the years 2014-2015 covered by the lawsuit, was run for-profit by Eitane Emerald Corp while most conventions are registered non-profits. In 2015, another for-profit company, ReedPOP, purchased Emerald City Comicon and took over operations in 2016. In a statement when the original lawsuit was filed, Senior Vice President Lance Fendsterman said that all conventions run by ReedPOP paid their “volunteers” legal wages and the name “volunteer” only stuck out of tradition. ReedPOP was not named as a defendant in the lawsuit. According to ICv2, the defendants, Eitane Emerald and the Demonakos family members, do not admit wrongdoing or legal liability in the settlement. Of the settlement money, $123,300 will go to attorneys for the plaintiffs, $5000 to the original plaintiff, and the remaining $364,927.84 divided among all volunteers based on their hours worked for the convention. If you volunteered for Emerald City Comicon at the 2014 or 2015 conventions, for once the email or social media message about a lawsuit settlement may not be a scam.
Avalon Hill celebrates its 50th anniversary this year and, to mark the occasion, a special edition of Axis & Allies will be released on September 22 to hobby outlets. The version will be based on the 2008 Anniversary Edition of the game which had a larger board and new units. The game will include more than 650 plastic minis with storage boxes for each country, dice, game tokens, and plastic markers available for an MSRP of $100.00. Mainstream outlets will release the game on November 1.
Russell Zimmerman is a long-time freelance designer whose work you probably know from Shadowrun including the novels Neat and Shaken (No Job Too Small). His Patreon campaign focuses on his fiction writing, essays on roleplaying game design, and game content along with some gaming-focused historical notes (Russell is a Historian by education and spent many years in academe teaching history at the collegiate level). Pledge levels on the Patreon campaign feature access to unpublished material for Shadowrun, Warmachine, and more along with short stories and gaming content, plus a Google Hangouts, physical rewards, and even the chance to influence or commission fiction.
The Yellow King is the new game from Robin D. Laws using the GUMSHOE rules system. This is actually kind of a four-in-one thing as game focuses on four different settings influenced by the reality-altering play The King in Yellow which, by its very existence, invites madness and acts as a conduit to things that should not be in our world. From turn-of-the-century France to the modern day, to alternate realities of a seeming everlasting World War in 1947 to that world’s version of 2017. The core book only (featuring the Paris setting and core roles alone) is available in PDF for a £10 (about US$13) pledge, the full four-book set in PDF for £25 (about US$32), or in hardcover for £60 (about US$76) with many more pledge options to get exactly what you want. This Kickstarter still has a couple of stretch goals left to beat before it ends on Friday, July 21.
Tabletop Gaymers has worked for many years to support equality and acceptance for all people through outreach and other activities over the years. One of the most popular things they do are badge ribbons at Gen Con for “GAYMER” and “ALLY” alike. Originally sponsored by Cards Against Humanity, this year they’re looking to stand on their own by collecting donations from the gaming community directly through Go Fund Me. So far, they have managed to raise more than $6000 which will support them for the 2017 year and are now working to cover costs for extra ribbons to cover increased demand or for future years. And for more information about Tabletop Gaymers themselves, you can check out their official website.
Top Secret: New World Order is the all-new game of secret agents and pulp spy thrillers designed by the man behind the TSR original, Merle M. Rasmussen. Your team are elite agents of ICON (International Covert Operatives Network) tasked with secret missions that no other agency can handle. Just like the original, this roleplaying game is coming in a boxed set with everything you need to play including the rulebook, a GM screen, player mats, vehicle and character sheets, tokens, an introductory module, and a set of dice. The boxed set is available for a $50 pledge, or you can get a personalized ICON ID badge and a limited edition copy for a $100 pledge. This project is fully funded and runs until Thursday, July 27.
That’s all from me for this week! Find more gaming crowdfunding news at the EN World RPG Kickstarter News 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’ll be complaining about trying to play and record a 30 year old video game (no not that one...yes, maybe that one), or you can listen to the archives of the Gamer’s Tavern podcast. Until next time, may all your hits be crits!
