Hello everyone, Darryl here with this week’s gaming news! The Countdown to Pathfinder 2nd Edition starts this week, nominees for the Diana Jones Award announced, voting for the ENnies open, the Alpha Quadrant and Deep Space Nine covered in the new Star Trek Adventures: Alpha Quadrant Sourcebook, and more!
Paizo announced a series of live streams as the Countdown to Pathfinder 2nd Edition starting last Friday, July 12, at 1:00 PM Pacific time with a live stream on Character Creation with Mark Seifter (currently archived). Other streams come every Wednesday and Friday at 1:00 PM covering topics like general gameplay, character advancement, the setting, gamemastering, and more. There’s also a contest attached if the stream manages 500 or more viewers with a swag bag plus a copy of the Pathfinder 2nd Edition Core Rulebook. You can watch the streams on Paizo’s Twitch channel. And if you can’t wait until the live stream covers it, Paizo has also released several overviews of the new rules on their site with the most recent covering leveling up.
The big news for two of tabletop gaming’s biggest honors. First, nominees for the Diana Jones Award were announced this week. This year’s nominees are the D&D artbook Dungeons & Dragons: Art & Arcana, the board game Holding On: The Troubled Life of Billy Kerr, the card game The Mind, and the roleplaying game Star Crossed from Bully Pulpit Games. The Diana Jones Award is named after the corner of a burnt Indiana Jones module destroyed after TSR lost the license that was immortalized in acrylic and is awarded at an industry-only ceremony the evening before Gen Con.
Additionally, voting has begun for the 2019 ENnie Awards. Voting will run until 11:00 PM Eastern Time on July 21. Additionally, the ENnie Dream Date auctions have also begun with a chance to sit at the table of your favorite game company during the ceremony. The award ceremony will take place on Friday, August 2, at Union Station in Indianapolis, IN, and will be live streamed.
The other side of the Federation is finally expanded in the Star Trek Adventures: Alpha Quadrant sourcebook. From the Cardassian Union to the Ferengi Alliance to the Breen Confederacy to the Tholian Assembly to the Tzenkethi Coalition and, of course, Deep Space Nine, this book has everything you need to set a campaign in the Alpha Quadrant. The book includes eleven new playable alien species including Aurelians, Caitians, Edosians, and Ferengi plus detailed information on the history, planets, and political organizations that make up the quadrant. The book is due out on July 25 from the Modiphius webstore and August 1st in other outlets including Amazon.
Games Workshop announced a deal with The Man in the High Castle creator Frank Spotniz to create a television series based on Warhammer 40,000. The series, called Eisenhorn, is based on the series of novels by Dan Abnett which follow the Inquisitor Eisenhorn as he investigates Chaos, getting drawn into a heretical conspiracy. Spotniz had to say about the deal:
So far, there is no network, broadcaster, distributor, actors, writers, budget, or release date announced.
Catalyst Game Labs posted information about the Matrix and decking in the new edition of Shadowrun as well as a trailer for the new storyline. Decking is streamlined (no, for real this time) and set on the same “Game Time” as the rest of the players so it feels less like a separate game. Everyone interacts at the same time scale, so one round in the Matrix is the same as one round in the physical world. This also means that a lot of the actions have been tidied up and reduced so you don’t have to spend as many actions or make as many rolls to accomplish tasks in the Matrix. We also got our first bits of information about technomancers in this edition. As far as the plotline, well…here's the trailer.
An attack website whose NSFW name I have to censor for this column, Your RPG Is S*, closed down abruptly last week after the founder was allegedly identified by a screenshot. The free hosted Wordpress blog focused on attacking “SJWs” in tabletop gaming and frequently featured game “reviews” full of content deemed by many to be racist, sexist, homophobic, and transphobic, and gained large notoriety for modifying the OSR logo into a swastika following the copyright holder of said logo exercising his right to withhold the open license to any games featuring hate speech. The alleged founder and author of the site was discovered after several Twitter users noticed that a screenshot posted to the website taken from Twitter included the logo for the company Awful Good Games in the reply line (indicating the user that is currently logged in), which is owned by David Guyll. Immediately after this information was posted to Twitter, Reddit, Facebook, and other outlets, the site was pulled down and a similar takedown was done to the official Awful Good Games website (also hosted by a free Wordpress.com account) removed all postings from the site. David Guyll has denied that he has any involvement with the Your RPG Is S* website.
Restoration Games are officially in the playtest stages of Return to Dark Tower. The original game from 1981 featured a commercial with Orson Wells advertising the ahead of its time tower by using a computer to determine random events during the game. It’s now become a collector’s item as it’s become increasingly difficult to find still-functional versions of the game. The new edition draws on the same elements as the original to create a narrative-driven cooperative game and, yes, with an electronic tower. According to the Dice Tower review of the playtest, this new version is far more advanced with multiple rotating rings and an interactive app. The new version of the game is due for a full release next year.
Humble has two big bundles currently running, the first a massive library of science fiction and fantasy. The Fantastic Science Fiction & Fantasy Bundle features $139 worth of DRM-free ebooks from authors like Tanya Huff, Erin Lindsey, Jack Campbell, Simon R. Green, Elizabeth Moon, Charlaine Harris, and a lot more. This bundle runs until Wednesday, July 31. If you’re looking to get into game design, there’s also the Learn Game Development bundle with over a thousand dollars of courses on video games design and programing, everything from breaking into the business to creating games in Unity. This bundle also runs until Wednesday, July 31.
A unique documentary is on Kickstarter, Let’s Play: Dungeons & Dragons Behind Bars about the legal battles and the benefits of roleplaying games in prisons. The documentary already has a lot of footage both historical and new interviews with prisoners and social workers talking about the games within prison walls and how it can help with rehabilitation. The big focus though is a California lawsuit between a prisoner named Kevin and the state over his right to be able to play Dungeons & Dragons where Gary Gygax himself appeared as an expert witness. This Kickstarter has just launched so it’s still short of its $60,000 goal for obtaining legal documents, more interviews and filming games within prisons, animation for the games of prisoners, and other production and post-production costs. A $25 pledge gets you a digital copy of the completed documentary, $50 gets you a DVD plus a credit in the film, $75 to donate gaming materials to prisoners, and many other levels of support up to a $10,000 Producer credit. This Kickstarter has until Wednesday, August 14, to make it to its funding goal.
Another just-launched Kickstarter comes from Catalyst Game Labs, which has managed to raise more than half a million dollars in its first twenty-four hours for the new boxed set, BattleTech: Clan Invasion. What makes this Kickstarter so huge? This is the first time in years that BattleTech fans have been able to get several “Unseen” mechs, the BattleMech designs that have been tied up with legal complications until a recent settlement finally ended the legal saga (which I documented on my YouTube channel for those curious). Even without that, the set is packed with high quality plastic and metal miniatures and a campaign play for one of the biggest events in the history of the BattleTech setting, the invasion of the Clans in 3050. There are too many pledge levels to list, as they include the new BattleTech Beginner Box, Clan Invasion Box Set, custom challenge coins, boxed sets of more Clan and Inner Sphere mechs, and a slew of add-ons so you can get exactly what you want. This Kickstarter ran out of its several dozen stretch goals sometime overnight so we’ll see if they have any more to pull out before it funds on Saturday, August 17.
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 be streaming a special version of Fallout: New Vegas that includes content from Fallout 3 plus more Star Trek Online and Surviving Mars to celebrate the Apollo 11 moon landing anniversary, 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.
Paizo announced a series of live streams as the Countdown to Pathfinder 2nd Edition starting last Friday, July 12, at 1:00 PM Pacific time with a live stream on Character Creation with Mark Seifter (currently archived). Other streams come every Wednesday and Friday at 1:00 PM covering topics like general gameplay, character advancement, the setting, gamemastering, and more. There’s also a contest attached if the stream manages 500 or more viewers with a swag bag plus a copy of the Pathfinder 2nd Edition Core Rulebook. You can watch the streams on Paizo’s Twitch channel. And if you can’t wait until the live stream covers it, Paizo has also released several overviews of the new rules on their site with the most recent covering leveling up.
The big news for two of tabletop gaming’s biggest honors. First, nominees for the Diana Jones Award were announced this week. This year’s nominees are the D&D artbook Dungeons & Dragons: Art & Arcana, the board game Holding On: The Troubled Life of Billy Kerr, the card game The Mind, and the roleplaying game Star Crossed from Bully Pulpit Games. The Diana Jones Award is named after the corner of a burnt Indiana Jones module destroyed after TSR lost the license that was immortalized in acrylic and is awarded at an industry-only ceremony the evening before Gen Con.
Additionally, voting has begun for the 2019 ENnie Awards. Voting will run until 11:00 PM Eastern Time on July 21. Additionally, the ENnie Dream Date auctions have also begun with a chance to sit at the table of your favorite game company during the ceremony. The award ceremony will take place on Friday, August 2, at Union Station in Indianapolis, IN, and will be live streamed.
The other side of the Federation is finally expanded in the Star Trek Adventures: Alpha Quadrant sourcebook. From the Cardassian Union to the Ferengi Alliance to the Breen Confederacy to the Tholian Assembly to the Tzenkethi Coalition and, of course, Deep Space Nine, this book has everything you need to set a campaign in the Alpha Quadrant. The book includes eleven new playable alien species including Aurelians, Caitians, Edosians, and Ferengi plus detailed information on the history, planets, and political organizations that make up the quadrant. The book is due out on July 25 from the Modiphius webstore and August 1st in other outlets including Amazon.
Games Workshop announced a deal with The Man in the High Castle creator Frank Spotniz to create a television series based on Warhammer 40,000. The series, called Eisenhorn, is based on the series of novels by Dan Abnett which follow the Inquisitor Eisenhorn as he investigates Chaos, getting drawn into a heretical conspiracy. Spotniz had to say about the deal:
“We are delighted to collaborate with Games Workshop to develop the beloved visionary world of Warhammer 40,000 into a TV series. Warhammer 40,000 is steeped in rich and complex lore, with a myriad of traditions and stories that have accumulated over time in this thrilling and complex world, making it one of the most exciting properties to adapt for television audiences and the franchise’s loyal global fanbase. There is nothing else like it on television, and we are incredibly excited to tap into our own experience creating imaginative, complex and compelling worlds to bring this incredible saga to the screen.”
So far, there is no network, broadcaster, distributor, actors, writers, budget, or release date announced.
Catalyst Game Labs posted information about the Matrix and decking in the new edition of Shadowrun as well as a trailer for the new storyline. Decking is streamlined (no, for real this time) and set on the same “Game Time” as the rest of the players so it feels less like a separate game. Everyone interacts at the same time scale, so one round in the Matrix is the same as one round in the physical world. This also means that a lot of the actions have been tidied up and reduced so you don’t have to spend as many actions or make as many rolls to accomplish tasks in the Matrix. We also got our first bits of information about technomancers in this edition. As far as the plotline, well…here's the trailer.
An attack website whose NSFW name I have to censor for this column, Your RPG Is S*, closed down abruptly last week after the founder was allegedly identified by a screenshot. The free hosted Wordpress blog focused on attacking “SJWs” in tabletop gaming and frequently featured game “reviews” full of content deemed by many to be racist, sexist, homophobic, and transphobic, and gained large notoriety for modifying the OSR logo into a swastika following the copyright holder of said logo exercising his right to withhold the open license to any games featuring hate speech. The alleged founder and author of the site was discovered after several Twitter users noticed that a screenshot posted to the website taken from Twitter included the logo for the company Awful Good Games in the reply line (indicating the user that is currently logged in), which is owned by David Guyll. Immediately after this information was posted to Twitter, Reddit, Facebook, and other outlets, the site was pulled down and a similar takedown was done to the official Awful Good Games website (also hosted by a free Wordpress.com account) removed all postings from the site. David Guyll has denied that he has any involvement with the Your RPG Is S* website.
Restoration Games are officially in the playtest stages of Return to Dark Tower. The original game from 1981 featured a commercial with Orson Wells advertising the ahead of its time tower by using a computer to determine random events during the game. It’s now become a collector’s item as it’s become increasingly difficult to find still-functional versions of the game. The new edition draws on the same elements as the original to create a narrative-driven cooperative game and, yes, with an electronic tower. According to the Dice Tower review of the playtest, this new version is far more advanced with multiple rotating rings and an interactive app. The new version of the game is due for a full release next year.
Humble has two big bundles currently running, the first a massive library of science fiction and fantasy. The Fantastic Science Fiction & Fantasy Bundle features $139 worth of DRM-free ebooks from authors like Tanya Huff, Erin Lindsey, Jack Campbell, Simon R. Green, Elizabeth Moon, Charlaine Harris, and a lot more. This bundle runs until Wednesday, July 31. If you’re looking to get into game design, there’s also the Learn Game Development bundle with over a thousand dollars of courses on video games design and programing, everything from breaking into the business to creating games in Unity. This bundle also runs until Wednesday, July 31.
A unique documentary is on Kickstarter, Let’s Play: Dungeons & Dragons Behind Bars about the legal battles and the benefits of roleplaying games in prisons. The documentary already has a lot of footage both historical and new interviews with prisoners and social workers talking about the games within prison walls and how it can help with rehabilitation. The big focus though is a California lawsuit between a prisoner named Kevin and the state over his right to be able to play Dungeons & Dragons where Gary Gygax himself appeared as an expert witness. This Kickstarter has just launched so it’s still short of its $60,000 goal for obtaining legal documents, more interviews and filming games within prisons, animation for the games of prisoners, and other production and post-production costs. A $25 pledge gets you a digital copy of the completed documentary, $50 gets you a DVD plus a credit in the film, $75 to donate gaming materials to prisoners, and many other levels of support up to a $10,000 Producer credit. This Kickstarter has until Wednesday, August 14, to make it to its funding goal.
Another just-launched Kickstarter comes from Catalyst Game Labs, which has managed to raise more than half a million dollars in its first twenty-four hours for the new boxed set, BattleTech: Clan Invasion. What makes this Kickstarter so huge? This is the first time in years that BattleTech fans have been able to get several “Unseen” mechs, the BattleMech designs that have been tied up with legal complications until a recent settlement finally ended the legal saga (which I documented on my YouTube channel for those curious). Even without that, the set is packed with high quality plastic and metal miniatures and a campaign play for one of the biggest events in the history of the BattleTech setting, the invasion of the Clans in 3050. There are too many pledge levels to list, as they include the new BattleTech Beginner Box, Clan Invasion Box Set, custom challenge coins, boxed sets of more Clan and Inner Sphere mechs, and a slew of add-ons so you can get exactly what you want. This Kickstarter ran out of its several dozen stretch goals sometime overnight so we’ll see if they have any more to pull out before it funds on Saturday, August 17.
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 be streaming a special version of Fallout: New Vegas that includes content from Fallout 3 plus more Star Trek Online and Surviving Mars to celebrate the Apollo 11 moon landing anniversary, 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.
