Against the Slave Lords Excerpts; 2nd Doctor Pre-order; and an Awakened Anthology!

[h=3]EN World News[/h]

• TO SLAY A DRAGON will finally be released... imminently. We're just doing a last proofreading pass. Expect a news article about it soon! 140 pages of goodness!
• This week in Pretty Darn Fun (a look at new PDFs) we have a wide range of game systems with new PDF products. They include, BRP, Savage Worlds, Shadowrun, Cyberpunk, Pathfinder, the OSR, and a couple of unique systems. They also run the gamut of genres from Mecha, fantasy, cyberpunk, modern-day, martial arts, westerns to cartoons. Dyson's Delves gets our spotlight of the week. What PDFs have caught your eye this week? [threadcm]http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?337333-Pretty-Darn-Fun-(a-look-at-new-PDFs)[/threadcm]
• More than Pen and Paper -- In its simplest form, D&D is a pen-and-paper game. Very few of us, however, play with just pen and paper. We all have our favorite accessories that make the game easier, more enjoyable, more memorable, and a “better” gaming experience. What gaming accoutrements can you not live without? How have you repurposed items from other games for your RPGs? What recommendations do you have for gaming accessories on a budget? [threadcm]http://www.enworld.org/forum/showthread.php?337321-3G-More-than-Pen-and-Paper[/threadcm]

[video=youtube;LYYTWQTigc4]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LYYTWQTigc4[/video]

[video=youtube;XnF5AP5AcDo]http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=XnF5AP5AcDo[/video]
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[h=3]Dungeons & Dragons News[/h]

• Against the Slave Lords Excerpts: A3 -- The adventurers last encountered and defeated one of the Slave Lords managing the operation in Highport. As a result of their victory, the party obtained records of slaver activities and a map of their caravan route...

[h=3]Pathfinder RPG News[/h]

• Ryan Macklin takes a look at some of the new Pathfinder awesomeness coming out later this year.

[h=3]Kickstarter Anthology with Piratecat goodness![/h]
Five days left and the The Awakened Anthology is almost over, if you pledge for a physical copy you will recive a bookplate signed by all 16 authors! Help support indie publishers and get a great book all set in a new exciting setting. Artists Greg Opalinski (Paizo) and Tony Szczudlo (Birthright, Greyhawk) bring to life a story of epic proportions, written by some of the literary world’s veterans and best up and comers. Come see the vision of Hal Greenberg’s ‘Awakened’ setting, and read the fantastic stories weaved by the likes of: Eric Scott die Bie, Clinton Boomer, Steve Creech, Torah Cottrill, Darrin Drader, Hal Greenberg, Ed Greenwood, Doug Herring, Jaleigh Johnson, Rosemary Jones, Ty Johnston, Kevin Kulp, Colin McComb, Darren W Pearce, Richard Redman and Rai Smith.

[h=3]Roleplaying Games News[/h]

• The Second Doctor Sourcebook is now available for pre-order at the c7 webstore.

[h=3]Community News[/h]

• Check out this article on teaching D&D to kids.
• Martin Tideswell reports on UK Games Expo 2013.
• Kobold Press has posted the enigmatic mage paragon path features needed to round out the clockwork and glyph magic schools in Defenders of Midgard.
• 13th Age:
  • homebrew Paladin abilities
  • Plus an automated stablock generator and encounter builder
  • And a new monster, the Caller.
• Critical Hits has an article called Hollywood Halaster’s All-You-Can-Eat Buffet And Love Fortress - "[a] collection of stuff that doesn’t work the same on the big screen as it does at your gaming table".

[h=3]Boardgaming News[/h]

• Sprocket Games announces their brand new release: FrogFlip by Jason Kotarski.
• BattleTech Coming Releases page has been updated.
• Dreadball is a miniatures sports game. This fast-paced, futuristic sport is full of non-stop action and you’ll have to capitalize on each of your possessions to win.
• Fantasy Flight Games has released the full rule set for the upcoming expansion for Unseen Forces, an expansion to their Elder Sign game. They are available for download from the web site.
• Easy mode for the notoriously challenging Lord of the Rings: The Card Game gets an overview and explanation courtesy of Matt Newman. In the article, Matt talks about the development of easy mode as well as plans for its future.
• Jonny Nexus explains his bewilderment over an 8-year old Monopoly article suddenly going viral.
• Joanna and Kaja have a new Starlit Citadel review up on YouTube. This time they take a look at Goblins, Inc, a robot construction and fighting game with goblins:

[video=youtube;tCZA7DAT3Lc]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tCZA7DAT3Lc[/video]
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[delericho]

Cracked had an article about game rules about a week ago, the first of which was about the Free Parking rule in Monopoly. That immediately reminded me of the Critical Miss article. I wonder if there's a connection there?

Edit: evidently not - JN notes that the Penny Arcade article was dated the 16th, white Cracked's is dated the 23rd.

 

[Whizbang Dustyboots]

I doubt it. Between the Monopoly documentary (which is pretty popular on Netflix streaming) and other sources (many of the articles associated with the retirement of one of the game pieces last year), there's been a fair amount of Monopoly reeducation campaign that's been going on in recent years, talking about how the house rules (money in Free Parking and not auctioning any space landed on and not purchased immediately) are a large part of why people thinks Monopoly sucks -- because they slowed it down and dumped a bunch of random chance into it, instead of making it much more negotiations and trading-based instead.

I think the Monopoly owners figured out that the boardgaming folks had been running the game down, and are pushing back -- at least they should hate the game as written, as opposed to the game as it's often played. (It's a much better game as written; when I play that way, games rarely last more than an hour, and are very bloody knuckled affairs.)

 

[Fiddleback]

This is one of the major problems with Monopoly, as I may have pointed out elsewhere. Everyone plays by the rules they think they know rather than as written. And try telling some folks what the rules actually are and you'll wind up wanting to shoot someone. Or them you. Not for nothing do I call my column Do Not Pass Go.