[h=3]Pathfinder RPG News[/h]
[h=3]Dungeons & Dragons News[/h]
[h=3]RPG News[/h]
[h=3]Community News[/h]
[h=3]Kickstarting EN World, Special Thanks, Cartoons & Monte Cook[/h]
The Rebuilding EN World Kickstarter still continues to blow me away.
Overnight, we passed our latest stretch goal. The total now stands at just over £6000, which means that the "More OGRE POWER!" stretch goal has been unlocked. As a reminder (or for the first time for some!), OGRE is EN World's random generator-generator. It really is quite astonishing in its usefulness (it is to random generators what internet messageboards were to talking online!)
So we have another stretch goal to announce! This one's a little different. In 2012 we produced a cartoon series. It was six episodes long, and featured an adventuring group hanging out at their local tavern, playing an RPG called "REAL LIFE". It's called THE PERTURBED DRAGON, and we are very proud of it.
To raise some more money for a new server upgrade (we have a new one on its way, but we can add stuff to it to make it faster!), we'd like to make a second season, taking everything we learned making the first. This means shorter, snappier, tighter episodes; more animation frames; and guest stars! We even have a guest star lined up - you probably already know who Monte Cook is, but if you don't, he helped design D&D 3rd Edition, Planescape, just finished a half-million dollar Kickstarter for his own RPG called Numenera, and a whole bunch of other things in a long, long list of achievements. Well, Monte has agreed to appear in an episode of The Perturbed Dragon (we're toying with the idea of having him play an artist called Monet Cooke; but he might play himself). Also appearing will be the winner of our BATTLE OF THE BARDS competition, the wonderful singer Mary Crowell who won with the incredibly catchy song "I Put My Low Stat", to sing in it.
That requires a new stretch goal. So that stretch goal is £9000. That's some more money we can spend upgrading the server already en route to us (makingg the site even faster than it was going to be!) and also helps us arrange a server maintenance contract for a year. Please help us!
Additionally - are you going to PAX EAST? If so, would you like to game with Kevin "Piratecat" Kulp? There's a new reward limited to just four backers!
So, does Paizo rock on toast, or what? I read this in their latest newsletter -- I had no idea they were going to do that, and I felt quite emotional when I saw it! Thank you Lisa Stevens, Erik Mona, Ryan Dancey (at Goblinworks) and the rest of the Paizo crew. It's when folks you know, like, and respect do something so unexpected (not unexpected in a bad "I wouldn't expect them to do something nice" way, but in a good "It was a lovely surprise!" way) and kind like this that I'm really reminded how tight our community is - it's not about one site, or one game, or one company; the whole RPG community is a big, lovely, overlapping, splodge of awesomeness!
[h=3]Other News[/h]
- Paizo reports than nearly half a million votes were cast in RPG Superstar Round 1. Although am I reading that right? One person voted over 8000 times? Yikes!
[h=3]Dungeons & Dragons News[/h]
- When Stuff Happens, Leaving a Legacy by Ed Greenwood -- "Great adventurers, like most people, would like to be remembered after they’re gone. Unlike most of us, they often have the fame, the contacts, and the money to create their own legacies. But should they?"
[h=3]RPG News[/h]
- Qin: The Art of War from Cubicle 7 is available in PDF. It's "the essential military supplement for ‘Qin: The Warring States’ dedicated to war, military life and the martial politics of the Zhongguo."
- In Inkwell Ideas' Creature & Encounter RPG Card Decks Kickstarter, they've announced that all 5 54-card decks of creature cards will be done in versions for Pathfinder, Labyrinth Lord (1E Fantasy), Dungeon World, Fate & a System Neutral/Ecology/Knowledge Check information set of decks.
- Stars of Inequity, a supplement for Rogue Trader that presents new opportunities for those brave few who make their livings in the Koronus Expanse, is now available at your local retailer.
- The Endless Blue campaign setting is a Kickstarter for a completely aquatic setting - a self-contained game world set in the ocean!
- Evil Hat has posted a sneak peek at the Magic System Toolkit by Rob Donoghue, which is one of the bonuses in their Fate Core Kickstarter.
[h=3]Community News[/h]
- Some people have asked me what makes me put some things in RPG News and others in Community News. It's a good question, since some stuff from companies is in the latter, while some stuff from individuals is in the former, which could make it confusing. Here's how I see it -- RPG News is about product and company announcements, while Community News is how we (the RPG community) talk about and interact with those products. So a review, article, or interview goes in Community, and a Preview goes in RPG. Does that make sense to anyone but me?
- We have an exclusive chat with Pedro Gil, author of Spanish retroclone RPG "Aventuras En La Marca Del Este", courtesy of Ciro Alessandron Sacco.
- Take a look at two new reviews for Dias Ex Machina's Ultramodern4 - one on Tumblr, and the other on YouTube.
- Campaign Mastery takes a look at Top-Down Design, Domino Theory, and Iteration: The Magic Bullets of Creation -- three tricks that Mike considers vital when designing adventures, characters, races, and more.
- There's a review of Catalyst Game Labs retro-futuristic roleplaying game Cosmic Patrol over at Critical Hits.
- Game Knight Reviews has interviewed Mark Hoge, founder of Rennaissance Adventures.
- Geeks Dream Girl discusses Building an Elder God. Like you do. it's a game about building monsters before your friends do.
- Gnome Stew's Phil Vecchione has written article about using Story Forge Cards to to create the background of an NPC using four cards.
- Kobold Press' Gauntlet Witch variant series continues with the Wasteland Gauntlet Witch Racial Archetype.
- Check out this detailed review of Kobold Press' Midgard Campaign Setting.
[h=3]Kickstarting EN World, Special Thanks, Cartoons & Monte Cook[/h]
The Rebuilding EN World Kickstarter still continues to blow me away.
Overnight, we passed our latest stretch goal. The total now stands at just over £6000, which means that the "More OGRE POWER!" stretch goal has been unlocked. As a reminder (or for the first time for some!), OGRE is EN World's random generator-generator. It really is quite astonishing in its usefulness (it is to random generators what internet messageboards were to talking online!)
So we have another stretch goal to announce! This one's a little different. In 2012 we produced a cartoon series. It was six episodes long, and featured an adventuring group hanging out at their local tavern, playing an RPG called "REAL LIFE". It's called THE PERTURBED DRAGON, and we are very proud of it.
To raise some more money for a new server upgrade (we have a new one on its way, but we can add stuff to it to make it faster!), we'd like to make a second season, taking everything we learned making the first. This means shorter, snappier, tighter episodes; more animation frames; and guest stars! We even have a guest star lined up - you probably already know who Monte Cook is, but if you don't, he helped design D&D 3rd Edition, Planescape, just finished a half-million dollar Kickstarter for his own RPG called Numenera, and a whole bunch of other things in a long, long list of achievements. Well, Monte has agreed to appear in an episode of The Perturbed Dragon (we're toying with the idea of having him play an artist called Monet Cooke; but he might play himself). Also appearing will be the winner of our BATTLE OF THE BARDS competition, the wonderful singer Mary Crowell who won with the incredibly catchy song "I Put My Low Stat", to sing in it.
That requires a new stretch goal. So that stretch goal is £9000. That's some more money we can spend upgrading the server already en route to us (makingg the site even faster than it was going to be!) and also helps us arrange a server maintenance contract for a year. Please help us!
Additionally - are you going to PAX EAST? If so, would you like to game with Kevin "Piratecat" Kulp? There's a new reward limited to just four backers!
So, does Paizo rock on toast, or what? I read this in their latest newsletter -- I had no idea they were going to do that, and I felt quite emotional when I saw it! Thank you Lisa Stevens, Erik Mona, Ryan Dancey (at Goblinworks) and the rest of the Paizo crew. It's when folks you know, like, and respect do something so unexpected (not unexpected in a bad "I wouldn't expect them to do something nice" way, but in a good "It was a lovely surprise!" way) and kind like this that I'm really reminded how tight our community is - it's not about one site, or one game, or one company; the whole RPG community is a big, lovely, overlapping, splodge of awesomeness!
"Also, while I have your attention, I wanted to let you know about a very worthy Kickstarter that has nothing directly to do with Paizo or Goblinworks. Our friend Morrus, who owns and runs ENWorld, has a Kickstarter running right now to help him rebuild ENWorld. Last month, EN World was attacked by some sophisticated hackers who destroyed much of what Morrus and the gaming community have built over the last decade. Since EN World isn't funded by a large company but rather by Morrus's own pocketbook plus contributions from his community, the economic hill of paying for the restoration of EN World almost brought this RPG gaming website to its knees. But instead of giving in, Morrus is fighting back, and this Kickstarter is a way for those of us who believe in the benefits that EN World brings to our favorite hobby to give a little back. If you can, please help Morrus ; every little bit will help him bring ENWorld further from the brink of death."
[h=3]Other News[/h]
- There's a new Order of the Stick up - Complex Math!
- The BBC has a news article about the battle against sexist sci-fi and fantasy book covers.
- I don't know if Settlers of Catan drinking rules are a good idea or not, but here they are.
- There's a new episode of Wil Wheaton's Tabletop - Chez Geek with Paul Sabourin, Storm DiCostanzo, and Andrew Hackard.
