Hello everyone, Darryl here with this week’s gaming news. A new book about Critical Role, a new Dungeons & Dragons board game, a preview of Strontium Dog for Judge Dredd & The Worlds of 2000AD, a free Pathfinder 2e PDF from Paizo, and more!
Don’t forget you can catch up on all the week’s gaming news with the Morrus’ Unofficial Tabletop RPG Talk podcast. This week’s episode features Morrus and guest co-host Shane Stacks counting down the Top 10 Most Anticipated RPGs of 2020.
In case you missed it elsewhere on EN World this week:
Matt Mercer has updated his custom 5e class of the Bloodhunter on DM’s Guild. Originally created for the one-shot game with Vin Diesel for the promotion of the film The Last Witchhunter, the class has been given a full overhaul shifting it to an Intelligence-based martial class rather than the original Wisdom. The PDF is currently priced at $8.00, but Mercer stated this was due to the requirement of having a set price to be included in the current charity bundle for Australian wildfire relief (which is priced at $9.99) and will be returned to “Pay What You Want” following that promotion’s conclusion. However, those interested in the original version of the class don’t have to worry as it’s still available on DM’s Guild.
Speaking of Critical Role, Penguin Random House announced a new book based on the stream, The World of Critical Role. Written by Liz Marsham “and the Cast of Critical Role”, this book covers the history of the Critical Role livestreams from the home campaign to their debut on Geek & Sundry all the way to the massive Kickstarter campaign complete with never-before-seen illustrations and photos. From the product description:
“Discover dazzling new illustrations and richly written insights into the locations, characters, and adventures featured in the hundreds of episodes across Critical Role’s two campaigns, Vox Machina and the Mighty Nein. Go behind the scenes with archival photos and exclusive interviews with Dungeon Master Matt Mercer and the entire Critical Role cast as they explore their characters’ most triumphant moments and darkest hours. And celebrate the massive community of Critters who support and expand the show’s world through a highlighted tour of the crafts, cosplay, and art they create every day. Featuring a foreword from the cast, lush illustrations, and the inside story you won’t find anywhere else, this book is your indispensable guide to Critical Role. The adventure begins!”
The 288-page hardcover book is due for release on September 15, 2020, with a retail price of $35.00 and Kindle for $14.99.
Paizo has two final previews with the imminent release of Lost Omens: Gods & Magic for Pathfinder 2nd Edition…well, not technically previews, but…you’ll see. The first is actually a piece of content that couldn’t quite make it into the book, a ten-page section on Divine Intercessions (you know, miracles) and how to use them in your game made available as a free PDF download. Additionally, Paizo wanted to make sure we all know who is behind our favorite games by profiling each creator who worked on Lost Omens: Gods & Magic (along with a look at the Table of Contents). The Lost Omens: Gods & Magic is due…well, at this point pretty much as soon as it can ship to hobby stores Amazon warehouses with a retail price of $34.99.
EN Publishing’s Judge Dredd & The Worlds of 2000AD has seemed a bit of a mouthful of a title, but I knew the importance of it – There’s far more to the 2000AD comics than just the Judges. This week, we got a look at one of those with a sneak peek at the Strontium Dog supplement for Judge Dredd & The Worlds of 2000AD. Created by writer John Wagner and artist Carlos Ezquerra, Strontium Dog ran in 2000AD from 1980 to 2018 featuring the mutant bounty hunter Johnny Alpha. Alpha has the ability to see through walls with his mutated eyes along with the power to read minds which, along with his vast array of imaginative gadgets and weapons. There’s no release date yet for the sourcebook, but you can get ahead by picking up the Judge Dredd & The Worlds of 2000AD core rules now in PDF or hardcover.
Hasbro Gaming announced a new Dungeons & Dragons board game at the Toy Fair Trade Show in London, though there’s some discrepancy about the title. The mock-up featured in Asmodee UK’s booth lists the title of “Dungeons & Dragons: Adventurer’s Gate” while Asmodee’s catalog for retail stores lists it as “Dungeons & Dragons: Adventure Begins”. This may be two separate products, but it’s more likely that a name and cover art change has taken place at some point as neither are listed as finalized and share multiple art elements (the box mockup features the same art as the catalog but with an additional character along with the different title and tagline). Either way, the game appears to be a new cooperative board game for two to four players meant as a gateway game for new D&D players. This appears separate from the previous licensed board games from WizKids using the Adventure System rules. No release date or pricing has been announced at this time.
Cubicle 7 announced the imminent release of the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Gamemaster’s Screen. The four-panel screen looks brand-new but features an old-school design with the classic portrait orientation of the panels rather than the more modern landscape version. The panel will also include a 32-page booklet with “practical tips, clever tricks and optional rules, and indispensable articles for GMs both new and old”. Because it gets confusing with Cubicle 7 releasing three product lines based on the Games Workshop license, this is for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition based on the classic roleplaying game based on the original world of the Warhammer miniature wargame, not Warhammer: Age of Sigmar: Soulbound which is a new roleplaying game based on the current Warhammer world nor Warhammer 40K: Wrath & Glory which is based on the Warhammer 40K science-fantasy wargame.
Chaosium resurrected the classic zine Wyrms Footnote originally published from 1976 to 1982 for a digital release. The zine focused on Greg Stafford’s Glorantha setting for the RuneQuest roleplaying game and gives a glimpse into the earliest days of tabletop roleplaying. The set isn’t just a scan, but a complete recreation with OCR text for ease of reading and the ability to search with a completely new layout specially crafted to match the original. You can purchase each issue individually from Chaosium’s website for $2.49 each or get the entire fourteen issue run as a bundle for $24.99.
Humble has two interesting fiction bundles going at the moment. The first is the Tales of Warhammer 2020 Bundle from the Black Library featuring a dozen and a half DRM-free ebooks set in the Warhammer 40K universe with each book available in three different languages for the first time in a bundle: English, French, and German. Even at the top level pledge of $18, that’s only $1 per book, each available in all three languages. This Bundle runs until Wednesday, February 12. Not to be outdone, IDW released the Star Trek 2020 Bundle full of comics set in the Star Trek universe. The comics span from almost every era of Star Trek from the original series to Next Generation to Deep Space Nine to Voyager to Discovery and the Kelvin Timeline films including stories about original characters as well as two crossovers, Planet of the Apes, Green Lantern, and Transformers. This bundle runs until Wednesday, February 19.
The award-winning Capers RPG is looking to create a new deluxe edition hardcover of the core rulebook. Capers is a cross-genre roleplaying game placing superpowered characters in the height of the gangster-driven prohibition era of the American 1920s as you take on the role of extraordinarily gifted gangsters banded together as you struggle for control of the criminal underworld (and the prying eyes of the cops). The brand new hardcover edition is available for a $40 pledge or you can add on a PDF for $45, while the PDF alone for brand-new players of the system is available for $12, plus there are other levels and add-ons to get more books in the Capers game line. This Kickstarter is fully funded and runs until Thursday, February 8.
You’ve probably heard of Vast Kaviya, the sword and sorcery campaign setting from EN World’s Mike Myler. Following a successful IndieGoGo campaign [Edit: The original campaign was on GameOnTabletop], it’s now available on Kickstarter in the lead-up to its release. The setting takes inspiration from sword and sorcery works old and new like Conan the Barbarian, Red Sonja, Tarzan, Xena Warrior Princess, Thundarr, and more, taking place on a massive Earth-like planet many times the size of our own where technology is barely into the bronze age and very little magic ruled by a series of warlords who fiercely control their territory. The Vast Kaviya Adventurer’s Handbook is available in PDF for $10 and softcover for $25, the Vast Kaviya Campaign Setting for in PDF for $15 and hardcover for $45, both in PDF for $25, and both in printed format for $65. This project is not just fully-funded but it’s ready to fulfill directly after the campaign closes on Tuesday, February 4.
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 finishing up my corporate playthrough of Outer Worlds, 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 catch up on all the week’s gaming news with the Morrus’ Unofficial Tabletop RPG Talk podcast. This week’s episode features Morrus and guest co-host Shane Stacks counting down the Top 10 Most Anticipated RPGs of 2020.
In case you missed it elsewhere on EN World this week:
- EN5ider #314 features a new mini-adventure for 5e, “Cold Love”, which sets the party investigating what caused a winter that has gone on far beyond when spring should have started.
- Michael Tresca takes a look at speculation that the beloved sci-fi series Firefly may have been based on a sourcebook for Traveller.
- Speaking of Traveller, Charles Dunwoody has a review of the new edition of the Traveller Core Rules from Mongoose Publishing.
- Ed Greenwood brings more insight into the formation of the Forgotten Realms with the region of Rethmar and how to fill in blank parts of a map with adventure hooks.
- Jonathan Tweet talks about the development of Dungeons & Dragons 3rd Edition and the reasoning behind why the cleric class was intentionally unbalanced.
- Mike Myler’s Mythological Figures series finally brings the archetypical adventurer of Western mythology, Hercules, to 5e.
- Egg Embry took time with Danny O’Neill of Hammerdog Games to talk about their new campaign setting, Chronicles of Denoa currently on Kickstarter.
- Charles Dunwoody also took a look at the new Call of Cthulhu Starter Set from Chaosium Games to let you know if this is the introduction to Call of Cthulhu 7th Edition for you.
- And finally, Egg Embry rounds up all the roleplaying related crowdfunding projects ending soon with his weekly RPG Crowdfunding News.
Matt Mercer has updated his custom 5e class of the Bloodhunter on DM’s Guild. Originally created for the one-shot game with Vin Diesel for the promotion of the film The Last Witchhunter, the class has been given a full overhaul shifting it to an Intelligence-based martial class rather than the original Wisdom. The PDF is currently priced at $8.00, but Mercer stated this was due to the requirement of having a set price to be included in the current charity bundle for Australian wildfire relief (which is priced at $9.99) and will be returned to “Pay What You Want” following that promotion’s conclusion. However, those interested in the original version of the class don’t have to worry as it’s still available on DM’s Guild.
Speaking of Critical Role, Penguin Random House announced a new book based on the stream, The World of Critical Role. Written by Liz Marsham “and the Cast of Critical Role”, this book covers the history of the Critical Role livestreams from the home campaign to their debut on Geek & Sundry all the way to the massive Kickstarter campaign complete with never-before-seen illustrations and photos. From the product description:
“Discover dazzling new illustrations and richly written insights into the locations, characters, and adventures featured in the hundreds of episodes across Critical Role’s two campaigns, Vox Machina and the Mighty Nein. Go behind the scenes with archival photos and exclusive interviews with Dungeon Master Matt Mercer and the entire Critical Role cast as they explore their characters’ most triumphant moments and darkest hours. And celebrate the massive community of Critters who support and expand the show’s world through a highlighted tour of the crafts, cosplay, and art they create every day. Featuring a foreword from the cast, lush illustrations, and the inside story you won’t find anywhere else, this book is your indispensable guide to Critical Role. The adventure begins!”
The 288-page hardcover book is due for release on September 15, 2020, with a retail price of $35.00 and Kindle for $14.99.
Paizo has two final previews with the imminent release of Lost Omens: Gods & Magic for Pathfinder 2nd Edition…well, not technically previews, but…you’ll see. The first is actually a piece of content that couldn’t quite make it into the book, a ten-page section on Divine Intercessions (you know, miracles) and how to use them in your game made available as a free PDF download. Additionally, Paizo wanted to make sure we all know who is behind our favorite games by profiling each creator who worked on Lost Omens: Gods & Magic (along with a look at the Table of Contents). The Lost Omens: Gods & Magic is due…well, at this point pretty much as soon as it can ship to hobby stores Amazon warehouses with a retail price of $34.99.
EN Publishing’s Judge Dredd & The Worlds of 2000AD has seemed a bit of a mouthful of a title, but I knew the importance of it – There’s far more to the 2000AD comics than just the Judges. This week, we got a look at one of those with a sneak peek at the Strontium Dog supplement for Judge Dredd & The Worlds of 2000AD. Created by writer John Wagner and artist Carlos Ezquerra, Strontium Dog ran in 2000AD from 1980 to 2018 featuring the mutant bounty hunter Johnny Alpha. Alpha has the ability to see through walls with his mutated eyes along with the power to read minds which, along with his vast array of imaginative gadgets and weapons. There’s no release date yet for the sourcebook, but you can get ahead by picking up the Judge Dredd & The Worlds of 2000AD core rules now in PDF or hardcover.
Hasbro Gaming announced a new Dungeons & Dragons board game at the Toy Fair Trade Show in London, though there’s some discrepancy about the title. The mock-up featured in Asmodee UK’s booth lists the title of “Dungeons & Dragons: Adventurer’s Gate” while Asmodee’s catalog for retail stores lists it as “Dungeons & Dragons: Adventure Begins”. This may be two separate products, but it’s more likely that a name and cover art change has taken place at some point as neither are listed as finalized and share multiple art elements (the box mockup features the same art as the catalog but with an additional character along with the different title and tagline). Either way, the game appears to be a new cooperative board game for two to four players meant as a gateway game for new D&D players. This appears separate from the previous licensed board games from WizKids using the Adventure System rules. No release date or pricing has been announced at this time.
Cubicle 7 announced the imminent release of the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Gamemaster’s Screen. The four-panel screen looks brand-new but features an old-school design with the classic portrait orientation of the panels rather than the more modern landscape version. The panel will also include a 32-page booklet with “practical tips, clever tricks and optional rules, and indispensable articles for GMs both new and old”. Because it gets confusing with Cubicle 7 releasing three product lines based on the Games Workshop license, this is for Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay 4th Edition based on the classic roleplaying game based on the original world of the Warhammer miniature wargame, not Warhammer: Age of Sigmar: Soulbound which is a new roleplaying game based on the current Warhammer world nor Warhammer 40K: Wrath & Glory which is based on the Warhammer 40K science-fantasy wargame.
Chaosium resurrected the classic zine Wyrms Footnote originally published from 1976 to 1982 for a digital release. The zine focused on Greg Stafford’s Glorantha setting for the RuneQuest roleplaying game and gives a glimpse into the earliest days of tabletop roleplaying. The set isn’t just a scan, but a complete recreation with OCR text for ease of reading and the ability to search with a completely new layout specially crafted to match the original. You can purchase each issue individually from Chaosium’s website for $2.49 each or get the entire fourteen issue run as a bundle for $24.99.
Humble has two interesting fiction bundles going at the moment. The first is the Tales of Warhammer 2020 Bundle from the Black Library featuring a dozen and a half DRM-free ebooks set in the Warhammer 40K universe with each book available in three different languages for the first time in a bundle: English, French, and German. Even at the top level pledge of $18, that’s only $1 per book, each available in all three languages. This Bundle runs until Wednesday, February 12. Not to be outdone, IDW released the Star Trek 2020 Bundle full of comics set in the Star Trek universe. The comics span from almost every era of Star Trek from the original series to Next Generation to Deep Space Nine to Voyager to Discovery and the Kelvin Timeline films including stories about original characters as well as two crossovers, Planet of the Apes, Green Lantern, and Transformers. This bundle runs until Wednesday, February 19.
The award-winning Capers RPG is looking to create a new deluxe edition hardcover of the core rulebook. Capers is a cross-genre roleplaying game placing superpowered characters in the height of the gangster-driven prohibition era of the American 1920s as you take on the role of extraordinarily gifted gangsters banded together as you struggle for control of the criminal underworld (and the prying eyes of the cops). The brand new hardcover edition is available for a $40 pledge or you can add on a PDF for $45, while the PDF alone for brand-new players of the system is available for $12, plus there are other levels and add-ons to get more books in the Capers game line. This Kickstarter is fully funded and runs until Thursday, February 8.
You’ve probably heard of Vast Kaviya, the sword and sorcery campaign setting from EN World’s Mike Myler. Following a successful IndieGoGo campaign [Edit: The original campaign was on GameOnTabletop], it’s now available on Kickstarter in the lead-up to its release. The setting takes inspiration from sword and sorcery works old and new like Conan the Barbarian, Red Sonja, Tarzan, Xena Warrior Princess, Thundarr, and more, taking place on a massive Earth-like planet many times the size of our own where technology is barely into the bronze age and very little magic ruled by a series of warlords who fiercely control their territory. The Vast Kaviya Adventurer’s Handbook is available in PDF for $10 and softcover for $25, the Vast Kaviya Campaign Setting for in PDF for $15 and hardcover for $45, both in PDF for $25, and both in printed format for $65. This project is not just fully-funded but it’s ready to fulfill directly after the campaign closes on Tuesday, February 4.
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 finishing up my corporate playthrough of Outer Worlds, 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.
