Twas the night before Christmas when all through the net, game companies were silent, their announcement quotas met. But Darryl searched all over for more gaming news stories to inform you on all the RPG categories. So read on for all the updates and product reviews in 2021’s final tabletop gaming news.
Don’t forget, you can get all the news every week with Morrus’ Unofficial Tabletop RPG Talk! This week, Morrus and Peter count down the Top 20 favorite RPG podcasts as voted on by you, EN World readers!
In case you missed it elsewhere on EN World this week:
After many long delays including a lawsuit, we finally have a cover reveal and a release date for the new Dragonlance novel. Listed on the cover as Classic Dragonlance: A Dungeons & Dragons Novel: Dragons of Deceit: Dragonlance Destinies: Volume 1 (because we got to get all the branding in) by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, this new novel in the Dragonlance series will be out on August 9, 2022. From the product description:
The book is available for pre-order on Amazon in hardcover, Kindle ebook, and Audible audio book.
If that’s not enough Dragonlance for you, the Dragonlance Nexus released a free 28-page adventure for 5e, Champions of Krynn. The adventure is inspired by the classic Gold Box video game of the same name from Strategic Simulations, Inc. released in 1990. The adventure is split until four sections, each one taking about an hour to play. And to answer a common question that comes up with the Dragonlance Nexus, they are allowed to create material for the Dragonlance setting by Wizards of the Coast so long as they don’t sell them. Two further chapters are currently in development, which will also be free on the Dragonlance Nexus website.
If you want more free Dungeons & Dragons adventures, Wizards of the Coast have made a preview version of Dragons of Icespire Peak available for free. Dragons of Icespire Peak is the adventure included in the Dungeons & Dragons Essentials Kit, the second of the starter sets released for 5e. The preview includes a quick introduction to the adventure and a dungeon to explore along with a selection of pre-generated characters, monsters, and magic items. For those curious about Dungeons & Dragons but don’t want to spend any money before testing it out, the preview may be a good option before investing in one of the starter sets.
Steamforge Games announced a new tabletop roleplaying game based on the Dark Souls video game franchise. The announcement came through a Twitter post:
The Dark Souls franchise along with its predecessor Demon Souls and sister title Bloodborne inspired the genre of video games known as “Soulslikes” for their difficult combat focusing on strict management of stamina and other resources. The setting is a dark fantasy world where much of humanity suffers from an undead curse causing them to perpetually resurrect after death until they lose their minds. In the game, you explore these cursed lands to defeat various boss monsters in order to either preserve or damn the world. The tweet contained a link to a website where you can sign up for email updates. No further details have been announced at this time.
Edge Studio released a free holiday gift to fans of Legend of the Five Rings, two maps. The two maps are for the territories of the Unicorn and Scorpion clans at a high resolution suitable for printing at 17 x 11 inch ledger size. Edge Studio also teased more map releases before the end of the year.
We also got a tease at the upcoming Embers of the Imperium, the new roleplaying game based on the Twilight Imperium board games from Fantasy Flight. The post includes information about the development of the Keleres and the Agents of the Galactic Council. Embers of the Imperium will be a setting book for the Genesys system core rules and is set for release in 2022.
For those needing some very last-minute gifts, there are several tabletop roleplaying bundles from Humble Bundle available now and all of them can be gifted via email for immediate delivery. Get ready to explore strange new worlds and seek out new life and new civilizations with the Star Trek Adventures Bundle. The top tier of this bundle for $18 features DRM-free digital copies of the Star Trek Adventures Core Rulebook, the three supplements for Operations, Science, and Command divisions, sourcebooks on the Alpha and Beta quadrants, several collections of adventures, map tiles for Starfleet and Klingon ships and outposts, and character sheets for the crews of Star Trek (original series), The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager. This bundle benefits National Park Rescue and runs until Friday, January 7.
Paizo still has two bundles currently live for just a bit longer. The Pathfinder Second Edition Beginners Bundle includes digital copies of the Pathfinder Second Edition Core Rulebook, Pathfinder Second Edition Bestiary, Starfinder Core Rulebook, and a large collection of sourcebooks, setting books, maps, adventures, and more plus a physical copy of the Pathfinder Second Edition Beginner Box (though this option has been so popular that the Beginner Box is currently on back-order so expect a delay in shipping if you choose this tier). This bundle benefits the Trevor Project and Tabletop Gaymers and runs until Saturday, January 1. The other bundle is the Ultimate GM Kit for Pathfinder featuring 29 items for Fantasy Grounds Unity at the top $50 level including a 3-month subscription to Fantasy Grounds Unity Unlimited and a large selection of Pathfinder 1st Edition rulebooks, adventures, map packs, sourcebooks, and more. This bundle benefits Extra Life and also runs until Saturday, January 1. There’s also a deal to pick up both bundles for $100 and receive an additional $10 credit toward purchases on the Humble Store.
If your tastes spin more toward the near-future, then listen up you primitive screwheads because the Cyberpunk Bundle is back. This bundle features 30 items at the top $18 tier including a library of books for Cyberpunk 2020 including the aforementioned Listen Up You Primitive Screwheads, all four Chromebooks, Solo of Fortune, Night City, and more plus the Jumpstart Kit for Cyberpunk Red. However, you’ll need to kick in your reflex boosters as this bundle only has a few days left until it ends on Monday, December 27.
Finally, there’s the Digital Dungeon Maps, Tokens, & Assets Bundle featuring a large collection of maps, tokens, and more ready for use in your virtual tabletop games. The bundle features not only overland maps, tactical maps, and tokens for both PCs and monsters, but also includes collections of terrain and decoration to customize the maps for your games. The top tier is $30 and features 44 bundles of digital assets ready for use with any virtual tabletop. This bundle benefits the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society and runs until Thursday, January 6.
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@enpublishingrpg.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 to get notifications when I go live, 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.
Don’t forget, you can get all the news every week with Morrus’ Unofficial Tabletop RPG Talk! This week, Morrus and Peter count down the Top 20 favorite RPG podcasts as voted on by you, EN World readers!
In case you missed it elsewhere on EN World this week:
- The Level Up 5e introductory adventure Memories of Holdenshire is now available for Roll20 designed specifically to teach 5e players the new rules and features of EN Publishing’s Level Up 5th Edition.
- EN5ider #430 is a Dangerous Scenario for 4th level “Last Stop” that sends the party to the cursed Last Stop Coaching Inn.
- Rob Weiland reviewed the new DCC-based game Weird Frontiers focusing on a blend of fantasy, horror, and the American Wild West.
- Rob also reviewed the new reprint of the classic World of Darkness lore book, the Book of Nod.
- Egg Embry reviewed Free League’s Vaesen roleplaying game and talks about the Kickstarter for the new setting book for the game, Mythic Britain and Ireland.
- Beth Rimmels looked at the new Critical Role novel Kith & Kin telling the backstory of Vox Machina’s Vex and Vax.
- Charles Dunwoody explores the introductory boxed set RuneQuest Starter Set from Chaosium.
- D&D Historian Ben Riggs talked about the salary history of TSR back at the nadir of the company in 1997.
- Michael Tresca has one more list of potential gifts for the gamers in your life if you need a late gift, a selection of impressive gaming dice.
- Mike Myler’s Mythological Figures gives 5e stats to the man whose invasion literally changed the language of English up to the modern-day, the first Norman King of England, William the Conquerer.
- Don’t miss out on the newest RPG crowdfunding projects ending soon with Egg Embry’s RPG Crowdfunding News and keep up with all the new print RPG releases with Charles Dunwoody’s RPG Print News.
After many long delays including a lawsuit, we finally have a cover reveal and a release date for the new Dragonlance novel. Listed on the cover as Classic Dragonlance: A Dungeons & Dragons Novel: Dragons of Deceit: Dragonlance Destinies: Volume 1 (because we got to get all the branding in) by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, this new novel in the Dragonlance series will be out on August 9, 2022. From the product description:
The book is available for pre-order on Amazon in hardcover, Kindle ebook, and Audible audio book.
If that’s not enough Dragonlance for you, the Dragonlance Nexus released a free 28-page adventure for 5e, Champions of Krynn. The adventure is inspired by the classic Gold Box video game of the same name from Strategic Simulations, Inc. released in 1990. The adventure is split until four sections, each one taking about an hour to play. And to answer a common question that comes up with the Dragonlance Nexus, they are allowed to create material for the Dragonlance setting by Wizards of the Coast so long as they don’t sell them. Two further chapters are currently in development, which will also be free on the Dragonlance Nexus website.
If you want more free Dungeons & Dragons adventures, Wizards of the Coast have made a preview version of Dragons of Icespire Peak available for free. Dragons of Icespire Peak is the adventure included in the Dungeons & Dragons Essentials Kit, the second of the starter sets released for 5e. The preview includes a quick introduction to the adventure and a dungeon to explore along with a selection of pre-generated characters, monsters, and magic items. For those curious about Dungeons & Dragons but don’t want to spend any money before testing it out, the preview may be a good option before investing in one of the starter sets.
Steamforge Games announced a new tabletop roleplaying game based on the Dark Souls video game franchise. The announcement came through a Twitter post:
The Dark Souls franchise along with its predecessor Demon Souls and sister title Bloodborne inspired the genre of video games known as “Soulslikes” for their difficult combat focusing on strict management of stamina and other resources. The setting is a dark fantasy world where much of humanity suffers from an undead curse causing them to perpetually resurrect after death until they lose their minds. In the game, you explore these cursed lands to defeat various boss monsters in order to either preserve or damn the world. The tweet contained a link to a website where you can sign up for email updates. No further details have been announced at this time.
Edge Studio released a free holiday gift to fans of Legend of the Five Rings, two maps. The two maps are for the territories of the Unicorn and Scorpion clans at a high resolution suitable for printing at 17 x 11 inch ledger size. Edge Studio also teased more map releases before the end of the year.
We also got a tease at the upcoming Embers of the Imperium, the new roleplaying game based on the Twilight Imperium board games from Fantasy Flight. The post includes information about the development of the Keleres and the Agents of the Galactic Council. Embers of the Imperium will be a setting book for the Genesys system core rules and is set for release in 2022.
For those needing some very last-minute gifts, there are several tabletop roleplaying bundles from Humble Bundle available now and all of them can be gifted via email for immediate delivery. Get ready to explore strange new worlds and seek out new life and new civilizations with the Star Trek Adventures Bundle. The top tier of this bundle for $18 features DRM-free digital copies of the Star Trek Adventures Core Rulebook, the three supplements for Operations, Science, and Command divisions, sourcebooks on the Alpha and Beta quadrants, several collections of adventures, map tiles for Starfleet and Klingon ships and outposts, and character sheets for the crews of Star Trek (original series), The Next Generation, Deep Space Nine, and Voyager. This bundle benefits National Park Rescue and runs until Friday, January 7.
Paizo still has two bundles currently live for just a bit longer. The Pathfinder Second Edition Beginners Bundle includes digital copies of the Pathfinder Second Edition Core Rulebook, Pathfinder Second Edition Bestiary, Starfinder Core Rulebook, and a large collection of sourcebooks, setting books, maps, adventures, and more plus a physical copy of the Pathfinder Second Edition Beginner Box (though this option has been so popular that the Beginner Box is currently on back-order so expect a delay in shipping if you choose this tier). This bundle benefits the Trevor Project and Tabletop Gaymers and runs until Saturday, January 1. The other bundle is the Ultimate GM Kit for Pathfinder featuring 29 items for Fantasy Grounds Unity at the top $50 level including a 3-month subscription to Fantasy Grounds Unity Unlimited and a large selection of Pathfinder 1st Edition rulebooks, adventures, map packs, sourcebooks, and more. This bundle benefits Extra Life and also runs until Saturday, January 1. There’s also a deal to pick up both bundles for $100 and receive an additional $10 credit toward purchases on the Humble Store.
If your tastes spin more toward the near-future, then listen up you primitive screwheads because the Cyberpunk Bundle is back. This bundle features 30 items at the top $18 tier including a library of books for Cyberpunk 2020 including the aforementioned Listen Up You Primitive Screwheads, all four Chromebooks, Solo of Fortune, Night City, and more plus the Jumpstart Kit for Cyberpunk Red. However, you’ll need to kick in your reflex boosters as this bundle only has a few days left until it ends on Monday, December 27.
Finally, there’s the Digital Dungeon Maps, Tokens, & Assets Bundle featuring a large collection of maps, tokens, and more ready for use in your virtual tabletop games. The bundle features not only overland maps, tactical maps, and tokens for both PCs and monsters, but also includes collections of terrain and decoration to customize the maps for your games. The top tier is $30 and features 44 bundles of digital assets ready for use with any virtual tabletop. This bundle benefits the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society and runs until Thursday, January 6.
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@enpublishingrpg.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 to get notifications when I go live, 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.
