Hello everyone, Darryl here with this week’s gaming news! Paizo has a marathon stream to promote their new charity Humble Bundle, Ogre comes to PCs, teases for new WOIN System products, Dice Tower’s Tom Vasel draws ire for remarks on local game stores, and more!
In case you missed it last year, Paizo teamed up with Dynamite Entertainment to create a new line of comics called Pathfinder Worldscape. The series is about classic (read: public domain) pulp adventure and fantasy characters finding their way into Golarion and vice-versa via the Pathfinder cosmic multiverse. The two have partnered with Humble Bundle to create the Pathfinder Worldscape Ultimate Crossover Book Bundle. To launch this bundle, Paizo held a live stream marathon on the Twitch channel on Wednesday, October 11. If you missed EN World’s announcement yesterday morning, the entire eight hour, twenty-seven minute marathon is available on Paizo’s Twitch Channel Video on Demand. It includes Erik Mona GMing a game including Paizo staff playing Tarzan, Red Sonja, and John Carter of Mars; a Q&A with Erik Mona and Christopher Paul Carey (one of the writers on the Pathfinder Worldscape line along with Mona); a Starfinder game run by Owen K.C. Stephens featuring Paizo staff; a Starfinder Q&A with Stephens; and a final Pathfinder Society game set in the Year of the Risen Rune.
The Pathfinder Worldscape Ultimate Crossover Book Bundle is available until Wednesday, October 25 and is another tiered bundle, similar to the one I discussed for the Warhammer roleplaying game last month. The $1 tier includes the Pathfinder Core Rulebook, Pathfinder Digital Beginner Box, Player Character Folio, a Pathfinder Society adventure titled The Cost of Enlightenment, the Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild Guide, two map sets which include nine total maps, the first full volume of the Pathfinder comic including all twelve issues, the first three issues of Pathfinder Worldscape, and just to sweeten things, a crossover comic of Army of Darkness and Reanimator as well as the first eleven issues of the reboot of Vampirella from Dynamite Comics. Again, that’s just the $1 level. The $8 level adds on six more game books including the Pathfinder Strategy Guide, Pathfinder Bestiary, and GameMastery Guide, twenty-two more comics, and three more maps. The $15 level adds nine game books, twenty-nine comics, and four maps. The $25 level adds on the entire 26 adventure Year of the Risen Rune adventure pack for Pathfinder Society, Pathfinder Chronicles: Classic Treasures Revisited, six more maps, and twenty-seven comics. Finally, the $45 level is the only one with physical rewards which include the four one-shot comics for Pathfinder Worldscape for Vampirella, Reanimator, Swords of Sorrow, and Dejah Thoris as well as five miniatures from Ninja Division including Red Sonja, John Carter of Mars, Tarzan, Tars Tarkas, and an additional Stafinder Masterclass Kickstarter miniature. A customizable portion of the proceeds from this Bundle goes to Camden’s Concert, a charity organization for Cystic Fibrosis research.
Steve Jackson Games and Auroch Digital officially launched the video game version of Ogre for PC to help mark the 40th anniversary of the original tabletop game’s launch. The game features single-player skirmish, tutorial mode, a campaign mode, and both online and local multiplayer based on the rules from the tabletop sci-fi tank wargame. The video game version even attempts to emulate the look and feel of the tabletop game by using hex-maps and color-coded models for units. The game is available now for an MSRP of $24.99.
According to an article from Variety, Sony Pictures is in negotiations for the rights to turn Settles of Catan into a feature film. If you read the article, it may seem confusing as the headline talks about negotiating to acquire the rights but talks about the negotiations as if they’re done, and the short version is film rights are complicated and there are multiple companies involved in any one film (for example, the film will be produced at Columbia but distributed by Sony Pictures, if this deal goes through). Executive producer Gail Katz, who is probably best known for the films The Perfect Storm, Outbreak, and Air Force One, currently holds the film rights to the game and will remain on board. Sony is also looking to bring on board Dan Lin (who produced Sherlock Holmes, The Lego Movie, and the currently-in-theaters version of It) and Jonathan Eirich (who produced the live-action Death Note for Netflix). There are no director or actor(s) attached at this time, but screenwriter Blaise Hemingway is attached to write. To quote the Variety article, “Hemingway’s credits include the untitled Playmobil movie and Ugly Dolls.”
EN Publishing (the roleplaying game publishing arm of EN World) made two big announcements this week, both of them major teases for products coming soon for the WOIN (What’s OLD is NEW) game line. The first of these teases was the first preview from Judge Dredd & The Worlds of 2000 AD pictured above that includes the new career of the Wally Squad, a group of Judges that work undercover in the streets of Mega-City One. Publisher Russ Morrissey (who is also the owner of EN World) confirmed in the comments section on the EN World announcement that the product line will be a stand-alone game that is cross-compatible with other WOIN System books but does not require them to play. Also confirmed that EN Publishing, through its license, has access to all of the comic properties for 2000 AD and access to all art assets from the comics and comic strips for use in the game.
The second announcement…okay, they’re officially my editors and all, but I have to say they’re having more fun than should be allowed with this one. Featured in an announcement that screams “I’m So Meta, Even This Acronym…”, WOIN Studios Presents is a new line of game books for the WOIN system that contains “licensed” games from a movie studio in an alternate dimension that are almost but not quite like the films we have here on our Earth. The game line will focus on pastiches of genre cinema translated into game setting material, starting with Xenomorphs: The Fall of Somerset Landing. The line will later expand to include genre television, adventure serials, and the one I’m most looking forward to, Friday Night Horror which will focus on, well, horror movies. Xenomorphs will have a crowdfunding campaign via Kickstarter sometime in the near future.
The Dice Tower co-founder and host Tom Vasel drew the ire of many in the gaming industry after releasing a video in the show’s Board Game Breakfast series where he spoke about local game stores (the link is to their YouTube video and time-marked to the relevant point of the video). While it’s framed as a commentary on the “Save the Local Game Store Movement”, Vasel attacked arguments in support of local game stores by refuting claims that keeping money in the local economy is important, that game stores act as a community center, that game stores promote games, and that game stores act as a way to introduce people into the hobby of gaming. Of particular note, though, is his refutation of the idea that online sales are damaging to local brick-and-mortar game stores.
I’m going to back up a bit and talk about the section I wrote above regarding EN Publishing and EN World. If it seems odd how many times I mentioned the company names and their connection, it’s because I am writing for EN World as a paid columnist and I am writing about a subject that is relevant to the financial interests of that company. So I made it clear (even if I attempted to make it entertaining to read) that there is a financial relationship in place between the outlet covering the news (EN World) and the company publishing the game being talked about (EN Publishing).
What Vasel does not do in his video is state that The Dice Tower shares ownership with online tabletop game retailer Cool Stuff Inc. and they are a frequent sponsor of The Dice Tower shows with advertisements in nearly every episode. The closest you get to a disclosure is in the show notes section of the YouTube video which states “Buy great games at http://www.coolstuffinc.com” Which, even if his comments are well-intentioned criticisms of activism on behalf of local game stores, casts a shadow on his comments.
GAMA (Game Manufacturers Association), a trade organization for tabletop gaming and the organization behind the annual Origins Game Fair, issued a statement via social media in regard to Vasel’s comments:
Since I’ve already plugged one EN Publishing product, I might as well round things out by talking about the EONS Patreon, the official magazine of the WOIN Roleplaying System. EONS produces careers, races adventures, and more for both NEW and OLD systems. The first two EONS releases, featuring new upgrades for Androids and a fantasy adventure titled “Children of the Earth”, are available for free as a preview for the other 70+ posts of new material for the WOIN System. This is a “per thing” Patreon, so you only donate when a new Patreon-only “thing” is created and you can cap your monthly contributions so, if multiple “things” get released in a month, you’re not suddenly doubling or tripling your normal donation amount.
Outbreak: Undead is the second edition of the zombie horror survival roleplaying game with the tagline “Your Zombie Survival Plan Will Fail”. Designed to be a sandbox settingless game that allows you to place your zombie apocalypse anywhere you want, Outbreak: Undead actively encourages you to bring the horror home so you can set the game in your hometown and even create yourselves as player-characters by taking the “SPEW-AI” personality test that translates your answers to a thirty-question online test into game stats. Also, if you’ve never seen any of the Hunters Books products before, they are some of the most gorgeous game books you will ever see in terms of art, layout, and overall production. You can get digital copies of the Survivor’s Guide and Gamemaster’s Guide (plus unlocked stretch goals) for a $35 pledge, $50 to add on the hardcover of the Survivor’s Guide, and $100 to add the hardcover of the Gamemaster’s Guide plus several other levels for premium add-ons of your choice. This campaign is fully funded and runs until Monday, November 13.
You know how sometimes things sneak up on you and you don’t notice they’re big things until they’re really, really huge things? The second printing of The 7th Continent was like that for me as they’re currently sitting at $4.1 million. This cooperative exploration game for 1-4 players is set in 1907 during the Age of Exploration as you race to uncover the hidden wonders of the last unexplored continent of Antarctica and the hidden secret lands within. Inspired by pulp authors of the era with their tales of lost worlds and hidden tropical lands time and civilization forgot, the game features several interesting mechanics that allow you to explore a different world each time with different characters and a wide variety of actions. The base game is available for $80, while $129 adds on all current stretch goals, expansions, and a “leather”-bound card binder, while owners of the game’s first printing can purchase the binder and all missing cards/expansions for $49. This project runs until Thursday, October 19.
That’s all from me for this week! Find more gaming crowdfunding news at the EN World RPG Kickstarter News website, and don’t forget to support our Patreon to bring you even more gaming news content. If you have any news to submit, email us at news@enworldnews.com. You can follow me on Twitter @Abstruse where I grumble about how big 1080P video files get, follow Gamer’s Tavern on YouTube featuring videos on gaming history and 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, and/or DriveThru may contain affiliate links with the proceeds going to the author of this column.
In case you missed it last year, Paizo teamed up with Dynamite Entertainment to create a new line of comics called Pathfinder Worldscape. The series is about classic (read: public domain) pulp adventure and fantasy characters finding their way into Golarion and vice-versa via the Pathfinder cosmic multiverse. The two have partnered with Humble Bundle to create the Pathfinder Worldscape Ultimate Crossover Book Bundle. To launch this bundle, Paizo held a live stream marathon on the Twitch channel on Wednesday, October 11. If you missed EN World’s announcement yesterday morning, the entire eight hour, twenty-seven minute marathon is available on Paizo’s Twitch Channel Video on Demand. It includes Erik Mona GMing a game including Paizo staff playing Tarzan, Red Sonja, and John Carter of Mars; a Q&A with Erik Mona and Christopher Paul Carey (one of the writers on the Pathfinder Worldscape line along with Mona); a Starfinder game run by Owen K.C. Stephens featuring Paizo staff; a Starfinder Q&A with Stephens; and a final Pathfinder Society game set in the Year of the Risen Rune.
The Pathfinder Worldscape Ultimate Crossover Book Bundle is available until Wednesday, October 25 and is another tiered bundle, similar to the one I discussed for the Warhammer roleplaying game last month. The $1 tier includes the Pathfinder Core Rulebook, Pathfinder Digital Beginner Box, Player Character Folio, a Pathfinder Society adventure titled The Cost of Enlightenment, the Pathfinder Society Roleplaying Guild Guide, two map sets which include nine total maps, the first full volume of the Pathfinder comic including all twelve issues, the first three issues of Pathfinder Worldscape, and just to sweeten things, a crossover comic of Army of Darkness and Reanimator as well as the first eleven issues of the reboot of Vampirella from Dynamite Comics. Again, that’s just the $1 level. The $8 level adds on six more game books including the Pathfinder Strategy Guide, Pathfinder Bestiary, and GameMastery Guide, twenty-two more comics, and three more maps. The $15 level adds nine game books, twenty-nine comics, and four maps. The $25 level adds on the entire 26 adventure Year of the Risen Rune adventure pack for Pathfinder Society, Pathfinder Chronicles: Classic Treasures Revisited, six more maps, and twenty-seven comics. Finally, the $45 level is the only one with physical rewards which include the four one-shot comics for Pathfinder Worldscape for Vampirella, Reanimator, Swords of Sorrow, and Dejah Thoris as well as five miniatures from Ninja Division including Red Sonja, John Carter of Mars, Tarzan, Tars Tarkas, and an additional Stafinder Masterclass Kickstarter miniature. A customizable portion of the proceeds from this Bundle goes to Camden’s Concert, a charity organization for Cystic Fibrosis research.
Steve Jackson Games and Auroch Digital officially launched the video game version of Ogre for PC to help mark the 40th anniversary of the original tabletop game’s launch. The game features single-player skirmish, tutorial mode, a campaign mode, and both online and local multiplayer based on the rules from the tabletop sci-fi tank wargame. The video game version even attempts to emulate the look and feel of the tabletop game by using hex-maps and color-coded models for units. The game is available now for an MSRP of $24.99.
According to an article from Variety, Sony Pictures is in negotiations for the rights to turn Settles of Catan into a feature film. If you read the article, it may seem confusing as the headline talks about negotiating to acquire the rights but talks about the negotiations as if they’re done, and the short version is film rights are complicated and there are multiple companies involved in any one film (for example, the film will be produced at Columbia but distributed by Sony Pictures, if this deal goes through). Executive producer Gail Katz, who is probably best known for the films The Perfect Storm, Outbreak, and Air Force One, currently holds the film rights to the game and will remain on board. Sony is also looking to bring on board Dan Lin (who produced Sherlock Holmes, The Lego Movie, and the currently-in-theaters version of It) and Jonathan Eirich (who produced the live-action Death Note for Netflix). There are no director or actor(s) attached at this time, but screenwriter Blaise Hemingway is attached to write. To quote the Variety article, “Hemingway’s credits include the untitled Playmobil movie and Ugly Dolls.”
EN Publishing (the roleplaying game publishing arm of EN World) made two big announcements this week, both of them major teases for products coming soon for the WOIN (What’s OLD is NEW) game line. The first of these teases was the first preview from Judge Dredd & The Worlds of 2000 AD pictured above that includes the new career of the Wally Squad, a group of Judges that work undercover in the streets of Mega-City One. Publisher Russ Morrissey (who is also the owner of EN World) confirmed in the comments section on the EN World announcement that the product line will be a stand-alone game that is cross-compatible with other WOIN System books but does not require them to play. Also confirmed that EN Publishing, through its license, has access to all of the comic properties for 2000 AD and access to all art assets from the comics and comic strips for use in the game.
The second announcement…okay, they’re officially my editors and all, but I have to say they’re having more fun than should be allowed with this one. Featured in an announcement that screams “I’m So Meta, Even This Acronym…”, WOIN Studios Presents is a new line of game books for the WOIN system that contains “licensed” games from a movie studio in an alternate dimension that are almost but not quite like the films we have here on our Earth. The game line will focus on pastiches of genre cinema translated into game setting material, starting with Xenomorphs: The Fall of Somerset Landing. The line will later expand to include genre television, adventure serials, and the one I’m most looking forward to, Friday Night Horror which will focus on, well, horror movies. Xenomorphs will have a crowdfunding campaign via Kickstarter sometime in the near future.
The Dice Tower co-founder and host Tom Vasel drew the ire of many in the gaming industry after releasing a video in the show’s Board Game Breakfast series where he spoke about local game stores (the link is to their YouTube video and time-marked to the relevant point of the video). While it’s framed as a commentary on the “Save the Local Game Store Movement”, Vasel attacked arguments in support of local game stores by refuting claims that keeping money in the local economy is important, that game stores act as a community center, that game stores promote games, and that game stores act as a way to introduce people into the hobby of gaming. Of particular note, though, is his refutation of the idea that online sales are damaging to local brick-and-mortar game stores.
I’m going to back up a bit and talk about the section I wrote above regarding EN Publishing and EN World. If it seems odd how many times I mentioned the company names and their connection, it’s because I am writing for EN World as a paid columnist and I am writing about a subject that is relevant to the financial interests of that company. So I made it clear (even if I attempted to make it entertaining to read) that there is a financial relationship in place between the outlet covering the news (EN World) and the company publishing the game being talked about (EN Publishing).
What Vasel does not do in his video is state that The Dice Tower shares ownership with online tabletop game retailer Cool Stuff Inc. and they are a frequent sponsor of The Dice Tower shows with advertisements in nearly every episode. The closest you get to a disclosure is in the show notes section of the YouTube video which states “Buy great games at http://www.coolstuffinc.com” Which, even if his comments are well-intentioned criticisms of activism on behalf of local game stores, casts a shadow on his comments.
GAMA (Game Manufacturers Association), a trade organization for tabletop gaming and the organization behind the annual Origins Game Fair, issued a statement via social media in regard to Vasel’s comments:
Hello GAMA members,
Last week there was a video released through social media that highlights unsupportive messaging toward retail and does not align with GAMA’s mission. This sparked concern throughout membership and must be addressed.
GAMA was very disappointed. We do not condone these types of negative remarks and stand by our retail membership. It is crucial that GAMA members work together to continue the advancement of hobby gaming. To quote the mission statement, “The Game Manufacturers Association serves to promote its member’s common interest—to increase the adoption and engagement with hobby games.” We encourage you, as a community, to support the industry and uphold this mission.
Last week there was a video released through social media that highlights unsupportive messaging toward retail and does not align with GAMA’s mission. This sparked concern throughout membership and must be addressed.
GAMA was very disappointed. We do not condone these types of negative remarks and stand by our retail membership. It is crucial that GAMA members work together to continue the advancement of hobby gaming. To quote the mission statement, “The Game Manufacturers Association serves to promote its member’s common interest—to increase the adoption and engagement with hobby games.” We encourage you, as a community, to support the industry and uphold this mission.
Since I’ve already plugged one EN Publishing product, I might as well round things out by talking about the EONS Patreon, the official magazine of the WOIN Roleplaying System. EONS produces careers, races adventures, and more for both NEW and OLD systems. The first two EONS releases, featuring new upgrades for Androids and a fantasy adventure titled “Children of the Earth”, are available for free as a preview for the other 70+ posts of new material for the WOIN System. This is a “per thing” Patreon, so you only donate when a new Patreon-only “thing” is created and you can cap your monthly contributions so, if multiple “things” get released in a month, you’re not suddenly doubling or tripling your normal donation amount.
Outbreak: Undead is the second edition of the zombie horror survival roleplaying game with the tagline “Your Zombie Survival Plan Will Fail”. Designed to be a sandbox settingless game that allows you to place your zombie apocalypse anywhere you want, Outbreak: Undead actively encourages you to bring the horror home so you can set the game in your hometown and even create yourselves as player-characters by taking the “SPEW-AI” personality test that translates your answers to a thirty-question online test into game stats. Also, if you’ve never seen any of the Hunters Books products before, they are some of the most gorgeous game books you will ever see in terms of art, layout, and overall production. You can get digital copies of the Survivor’s Guide and Gamemaster’s Guide (plus unlocked stretch goals) for a $35 pledge, $50 to add on the hardcover of the Survivor’s Guide, and $100 to add the hardcover of the Gamemaster’s Guide plus several other levels for premium add-ons of your choice. This campaign is fully funded and runs until Monday, November 13.
You know how sometimes things sneak up on you and you don’t notice they’re big things until they’re really, really huge things? The second printing of The 7th Continent was like that for me as they’re currently sitting at $4.1 million. This cooperative exploration game for 1-4 players is set in 1907 during the Age of Exploration as you race to uncover the hidden wonders of the last unexplored continent of Antarctica and the hidden secret lands within. Inspired by pulp authors of the era with their tales of lost worlds and hidden tropical lands time and civilization forgot, the game features several interesting mechanics that allow you to explore a different world each time with different characters and a wide variety of actions. The base game is available for $80, while $129 adds on all current stretch goals, expansions, and a “leather”-bound card binder, while owners of the game’s first printing can purchase the binder and all missing cards/expansions for $49. This project runs until Thursday, October 19.
That’s all from me for this week! Find more gaming crowdfunding news at the EN World RPG Kickstarter News website, and don’t forget to support our Patreon to bring you even more gaming news content. If you have any news to submit, email us at news@enworldnews.com. You can follow me on Twitter @Abstruse where I grumble about how big 1080P video files get, follow Gamer’s Tavern on YouTube featuring videos on gaming history and 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, and/or DriveThru may contain affiliate links with the proceeds going to the author of this column.
