Hello everyone, Darryl here with this week’s gaming news! News from the first day of Gen Con, more previews of the D&D adventure The Wilds Beyond the Witchlight, Paizo launches new community content program for Pathfinder and Starfinder, and more!
Don’t forget, you can get all the news every week with Morrus’ Unofficial Tabletop RPG Talk! This week, Morrus and Peter are joined by Peter Martin to talk about Multiclass Feats from Purple Martin Press.
In case you missed it elsewhere on EN World this week:
With the imminent release of The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, more previews have trickled out across the internet. Last week, D&D Beyond provided full stats for the Jabberwock while Syfy had a preview of the fairytale swampland of Hither and Polygon revealed previews for fairies and the harengon. with D&D Beyond later providing full stats for the rabbitfolk harengon. Rob Wieland got an advance look at the book and gave his five favorite things from the book (which includes a displacer beast kitten). The full table of contents has been released with all five chapters (one on the Witchlight Carnival, one on the Palace of Heart’s Desire, and one each for the realms of Hither, Thither, and Yon) and five appendices (covering magic items, factions, creatures, roleplaying cards, and stagefight’s lines). Gale Force Nine also got in on the previews by showing off their custom DM Screen and map sets for the adventure. The hardcover of The Wild Beyond the Witchlight will be available for a retail price of $49.95 this coming Tuesday, September 21.
Paizo live-streamed the keynote speech from Erik Mona from Gen Con with information about the publisher’s future plans. The biggest announcement from the keynote was the launch of Pathfinder Infinite in partnership with DriveThruRPG. This system allows content creators greater access to the intellectual property of both Pathfinder and Starfinder to create their own adventures, supplements, and other products. The program functions similar to the DMs Guild from Wizards of the Coast and similar storefronts for Call of Cthulhu and World of Darkness where creators receive 50% of the proceeds and must agree to certain licensing terms. The new program will start on October 13.
Darker Hue Studios announced that their supernatural western game Haunted West is currently at the printers for imminent release. Kickstarter backers should be receiving their digital rewards shortly and the game will be available on DriveThruRPG on Tuesday, September 21. The hardcover can also be pre-ordered from the link above directly from Darker Hue with a retail price of $84.95 including the digital version, while the PDF is available for $39.95. In case that sounds like a lot to you for a rulebook, this book is eight hundred pages and packed with game rules and history. You can also purchase accessories like metal grit tokens, specially designed dice, additional scenarios, and more.
Catalyst Game Labs had two big Shadowrun announcements at Gen Con. The Shadowrun Sixth World Core Rulebook received a big update for the third printing. In addition to integration of errata and other corrections, the book has a new sixteen pages of additional information about Seattle following the events of the Cutting Black plot book. This section features updated profiles of the newly independent Seattle, a short story by RJ Thomas, new contacts, several new player character Qualities based on the different neighborhoods of the Seattle Sprawl, and a selection of brief plot seeds for adventures in Seattle. This will be included in the third printing and later versions of the core rulebook, while those who purchased the digital versions can upgrade now.
The other new product is Double Clutch, the core sourcebook that covers vehicle and drone rigging. Riggers are characters that use a piece of cyberware known as a control rig to directly control mechanical devices with their brains, from cars to tanks to boats to planes along with remote drones from tiny spy drones to massive remote gun platforms. The sourcebook will feature new character options and qualities, new cyberware, and a host of new vehicles and drones plus rules for custom vehicle and drone creation. The book is available at Gen Con now and in stores soon with a retail price of $44.99, and the digital version is due so soon it might be out between me writing this and you reading it.
Modiphius released more previews for The Shackleton Expanse campaign setting for Star Trek Adventures. The 320-page sourcebook features the first original material for the Star Trek licensed game that isn’t based on a previous television show or film from the franchise. The Shackleton Expanse is a region of space on the far side of the Romulan Star Empire and borders with Federation and Klingon space near Starbase 364. The table of contents lists ten chapters including an overview of the area, the factions working in the area, new lifepath options and gear for characters, an overview of the Tilikaal (a new alien species in the Expanse) including rules for creating Tilikaal characters, and a ten-part adventure path that spans from the TOS era to the TNG era. The book will be available for pre-order in hardcover and digital formats later today.
Gen Con is going on this weekend and some have raised concerns about the health and safety standards at the event. ICv2 interviewed a spokesperson for the convention about their protocols, specifically why there was not a vaccine mandate.
The interview continues with information about the universal mask mandate and enforcement efforts on behalf of the staff. However, some have indicated that aside from a lower attendance, crowd management appears the same as every other year, with designer Mike Selinker commenting on a picture by Green Ronin’s Chris Pramas of the opening of the exhibition hall “This is terrible crowd management in a pandemic. Too many folks in one place, no rope discipline, and no separated walkways.” Selinker is not in attendance at the convention as he previously stated he is in self-isolation following PAX. Others attending the convention have responded in reply to Selinker’s tweet that the crowds were only for the hall opening and have thinned out considerably since then.
The Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA) announced the results of their Special Board Election. The elections will bring the total number of Directors to six, one each for the segments that GAMA represents. The Director for Creator/Creatives is Grace Collins (Snowbright Studio), Media & Events is Monica Rasso (Game Con HQ), Production/Manufacturers is Eric Price (Meiji Games Factory), and Publishers is Stephan Brissaud (Iello), Retailers is Kylie Prymus (Games Unlimited). There was a tie between Beau Heath (Southern Hobbies) and Shaw Mead (Golden Distribution) for the Director of Wholesale, with a runoff election originally scheduled before Mead withdrew, citing “time commitments”. The newly elected directors will take office during the September 26 board meeting.
Asmodee and Luma Imports became the first game companies to announce price increases due to the shipping and research shortages affecting manufacturing around the world. Prices will increase for Luma Imports products effective immediately, while price increases for Asmodee USA and their subsidiaries Atomic Mass and Fantasy Flight will go into effect October 1. The wholesale prices for these companies will increase between $2 to $10 per item, around a 10% increase over previous costs. It’s expected that similar price increases are on the way from most tabletop companies and from roleplaying companies due to shipping issues across the world and lumbar shortages resulting in increasing costs of nearly 20% for both paper and cardboard. It’s estimated that these issues will continue into at least 2022 and may last until 2023.
Humble Bundle partnered with the Black Library for a bundle of Warhammer audio books and audio dramas. This bundle features nineteen titles from Warhammer 40,000 and Warhammer: Age of Sigmar for $18 including titles from Justin D. Hill, Guy Haley, Darius Hinks, Chris Wraight, and more. At just the $1 level, you can get four titles for Age of Sigmar – Beastgrave, The Imprecations of Daemons, Realmslayer, and Ghoulslayer – along with a sampler from the Black Library. This bundle benefits the EveryLibrary Institute and runs until Thursday, October 7.
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 are joined by Peter Martin to talk about Multiclass Feats from Purple Martin Press.
In case you missed it elsewhere on EN World this week:
- EN Publishing released a new trailer for Level Up: Advanced 5e describing the Exploration Pillar and a preview of the updated version of the tarrasque. Get notified when the Kickstarter goes live!
- EN5ider #412 features a collection of Diabolical Diseases with expanded options for diseases and how to treat them, and EN5ider #413 is the conclusion of the To Smite a Fiend adventure series with “To Smite a Fiend” for 10th to 13th level.
- An interview with Dungeons & Dragons star Justice Smith describes the film as “action-packed, thrilling, funny as hell”.
- Rob Wieland reviewed the Mythos-inspired Powered by the Apocalypse mystery game Brindlewood Bay.
- Egg Embry interviewed Tony Vasinda about the minimalist old school system Down We Go currently on the crowdfunding platform GameFound.
- Charles Dunwoody reviewed the Delta Green campaign involving the Carcosa and King in Yellow, Impossible Landscapes.
- The schedule has been released for the D&D Celebration stream next weekend from September 23-26 including a D&D musical.
- Savage Worlds provided us with a preview of the new Super Powers Companion for Savage Worlds Adventure Edition.
- Morrus found an interesting game on Kickstarter, How to RPG with Your Cat, which uses your cat’s actions to replace the dice to determine results of your actions.
- EN World continues its explanations of the more complex rules systems of 5e as Will Gawned breaks down the surprise rules.
- Lewis Pulsipher’s newest Worlds of Design column is about strategems and the difference between direct and indirect warfare.
- Mike Myler returns to the world of Wonderland with this week’s Epic Monsters to give us 5e stats for the seemingly always tardy White Rabbit.
- 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.
With the imminent release of The Wild Beyond the Witchlight, more previews have trickled out across the internet. Last week, D&D Beyond provided full stats for the Jabberwock while Syfy had a preview of the fairytale swampland of Hither and Polygon revealed previews for fairies and the harengon. with D&D Beyond later providing full stats for the rabbitfolk harengon. Rob Wieland got an advance look at the book and gave his five favorite things from the book (which includes a displacer beast kitten). The full table of contents has been released with all five chapters (one on the Witchlight Carnival, one on the Palace of Heart’s Desire, and one each for the realms of Hither, Thither, and Yon) and five appendices (covering magic items, factions, creatures, roleplaying cards, and stagefight’s lines). Gale Force Nine also got in on the previews by showing off their custom DM Screen and map sets for the adventure. The hardcover of The Wild Beyond the Witchlight will be available for a retail price of $49.95 this coming Tuesday, September 21.
Paizo live-streamed the keynote speech from Erik Mona from Gen Con with information about the publisher’s future plans. The biggest announcement from the keynote was the launch of Pathfinder Infinite in partnership with DriveThruRPG. This system allows content creators greater access to the intellectual property of both Pathfinder and Starfinder to create their own adventures, supplements, and other products. The program functions similar to the DMs Guild from Wizards of the Coast and similar storefronts for Call of Cthulhu and World of Darkness where creators receive 50% of the proceeds and must agree to certain licensing terms. The new program will start on October 13.
Darker Hue Studios announced that their supernatural western game Haunted West is currently at the printers for imminent release. Kickstarter backers should be receiving their digital rewards shortly and the game will be available on DriveThruRPG on Tuesday, September 21. The hardcover can also be pre-ordered from the link above directly from Darker Hue with a retail price of $84.95 including the digital version, while the PDF is available for $39.95. In case that sounds like a lot to you for a rulebook, this book is eight hundred pages and packed with game rules and history. You can also purchase accessories like metal grit tokens, specially designed dice, additional scenarios, and more.
Catalyst Game Labs had two big Shadowrun announcements at Gen Con. The Shadowrun Sixth World Core Rulebook received a big update for the third printing. In addition to integration of errata and other corrections, the book has a new sixteen pages of additional information about Seattle following the events of the Cutting Black plot book. This section features updated profiles of the newly independent Seattle, a short story by RJ Thomas, new contacts, several new player character Qualities based on the different neighborhoods of the Seattle Sprawl, and a selection of brief plot seeds for adventures in Seattle. This will be included in the third printing and later versions of the core rulebook, while those who purchased the digital versions can upgrade now.
The other new product is Double Clutch, the core sourcebook that covers vehicle and drone rigging. Riggers are characters that use a piece of cyberware known as a control rig to directly control mechanical devices with their brains, from cars to tanks to boats to planes along with remote drones from tiny spy drones to massive remote gun platforms. The sourcebook will feature new character options and qualities, new cyberware, and a host of new vehicles and drones plus rules for custom vehicle and drone creation. The book is available at Gen Con now and in stores soon with a retail price of $44.99, and the digital version is due so soon it might be out between me writing this and you reading it.
Modiphius released more previews for The Shackleton Expanse campaign setting for Star Trek Adventures. The 320-page sourcebook features the first original material for the Star Trek licensed game that isn’t based on a previous television show or film from the franchise. The Shackleton Expanse is a region of space on the far side of the Romulan Star Empire and borders with Federation and Klingon space near Starbase 364. The table of contents lists ten chapters including an overview of the area, the factions working in the area, new lifepath options and gear for characters, an overview of the Tilikaal (a new alien species in the Expanse) including rules for creating Tilikaal characters, and a ten-part adventure path that spans from the TOS era to the TNG era. The book will be available for pre-order in hardcover and digital formats later today.
Gen Con is going on this weekend and some have raised concerns about the health and safety standards at the event. ICv2 interviewed a spokesperson for the convention about their protocols, specifically why there was not a vaccine mandate.
The interview continues with information about the universal mask mandate and enforcement efforts on behalf of the staff. However, some have indicated that aside from a lower attendance, crowd management appears the same as every other year, with designer Mike Selinker commenting on a picture by Green Ronin’s Chris Pramas of the opening of the exhibition hall “This is terrible crowd management in a pandemic. Too many folks in one place, no rope discipline, and no separated walkways.” Selinker is not in attendance at the convention as he previously stated he is in self-isolation following PAX. Others attending the convention have responded in reply to Selinker’s tweet that the crowds were only for the hall opening and have thinned out considerably since then.
The Game Manufacturers Association (GAMA) announced the results of their Special Board Election. The elections will bring the total number of Directors to six, one each for the segments that GAMA represents. The Director for Creator/Creatives is Grace Collins (Snowbright Studio), Media & Events is Monica Rasso (Game Con HQ), Production/Manufacturers is Eric Price (Meiji Games Factory), and Publishers is Stephan Brissaud (Iello), Retailers is Kylie Prymus (Games Unlimited). There was a tie between Beau Heath (Southern Hobbies) and Shaw Mead (Golden Distribution) for the Director of Wholesale, with a runoff election originally scheduled before Mead withdrew, citing “time commitments”. The newly elected directors will take office during the September 26 board meeting.
Asmodee and Luma Imports became the first game companies to announce price increases due to the shipping and research shortages affecting manufacturing around the world. Prices will increase for Luma Imports products effective immediately, while price increases for Asmodee USA and their subsidiaries Atomic Mass and Fantasy Flight will go into effect October 1. The wholesale prices for these companies will increase between $2 to $10 per item, around a 10% increase over previous costs. It’s expected that similar price increases are on the way from most tabletop companies and from roleplaying companies due to shipping issues across the world and lumbar shortages resulting in increasing costs of nearly 20% for both paper and cardboard. It’s estimated that these issues will continue into at least 2022 and may last until 2023.
Humble Bundle partnered with the Black Library for a bundle of Warhammer audio books and audio dramas. This bundle features nineteen titles from Warhammer 40,000 and Warhammer: Age of Sigmar for $18 including titles from Justin D. Hill, Guy Haley, Darius Hinks, Chris Wraight, and more. At just the $1 level, you can get four titles for Age of Sigmar – Beastgrave, The Imprecations of Daemons, Realmslayer, and Ghoulslayer – along with a sampler from the Black Library. This bundle benefits the EveryLibrary Institute and runs until Thursday, October 7.
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.
