Bert Ballast

D&D: Monster Spotlight – Kobolds

5 years ago Bert Ballast

We know they’re only a threat in groups, but kobolds think of themselves as dragons, and that’s sort of sweet.

Kobolds are the best. Spiteful, petty, thieving creatures with a meta-knowledge that their place in the world is firmly under the boot of someone bigger, stronger, or smarter, kobolds are the world’s cannon fodder.
But they endure it all because they believe, deep down, that they are the descendants from dragons. They certainly have the greed and pride of one. You can even see it in their appearance. I just hope nobody tells them about Dragonborn. Or Half-dragons. Or Dragonkin (if you’re playing in Krynn). Man, dragons really get around.
So do Kobolds, for that matter. They’ve been around since before 1st edition. Like the Tarrasque, kobolds also have their origins in real-world mythology. The “historic” kobold was a Germanic sprite, kind of like a house elf, but less servile and more…playful. So long as they were appeased.

They would quickly turn malicious as soon as they felt neglected. Much like their scaly counterparts, kobolds could be petty and vengeful when they felt turned on, playing harmless pranks like squeezing toad blood into a bishop’s dinner, beating servants, or strangling and dismembering the body of someone who refused to chastise a supposed “tormentor.”
You know, the standard Germanic folklore chart toppers.
There were famous kobolds as well. That strangling and dismembering incident got around and was attributed to the kobold Hödekin. Another one, Hinzelmann (whom you might recognize from American Gods) would demand respect, and once threatened a holy man who refused to accept Hinzelmann’s protests that he was Christian.
But all it’d take to earn their respect was a little bit of food (they loved gruel, in particular). You can see where the bloody-mindedness that informs our scaly little friends comes from.

From that guy, right there.
Granted, that kobold looks a little more like a terrifying nightmare goblin, you can still kind of see where their look came from.
First Edition

Pointy ears, check. Stylish clothing, double check. Alright, we’re good guys.
From their mythological origins as mischievous sprites, we get the scaly little pack monsters everyone knows and loathes. They weren’t super tough, as you can see, they had only 1d4 hit points, just like a wizard.
While they weren’t very formidable on their own, you’d never run into just one. I mean look at the number appearing entry up there 40-400. That’s not nothing. Mind you that number comes from 1st edition, when monsters had a more ecological survey kind of feel to their entries, and you’d run into noncombatants (including children). In those early days, Kobolds had more of the murdering parts of their mythological counterparts.

And it is out of these 1st edition kobolds that we get one of my favorite pieces of gaming ephemera, Tucker’s Kobolds. Originally an editorial from Dragon 127, Tucker’s Kobolds helped shape many a growing GM’s encounter philosophy:

The kobolds caught us about 60′ into the dungeon and locked the door behind us and barred it. Then they set the corridor on fire, while we were still in it.
“NOOOOOO!!!” screamed the party leader. “It’s THEM! Run!!!”
Thus encouraged, our party scrambled down a side passage, only to be ambushed by more kobolds firing with light crossbows through murder holes in the walls and ceilings. Kobolds with metal armor and shields flung Molotov cocktails at us from the other sides of huge piles of flaming debris, which other kobolds pushed ahead of their formation using long metal poles like broomsticks. There was no mistake about it. These kobolds were bad.
Yup. You may have heard a version of this story around your gaming table, but essentially it shows how you can make just about anything a threat if you use it right. The core philosophy is all about “the small things used well.” It’s a real interesting read, and it gives you a good example of how you can keep things fresh and exciting during fights. Every future iteration of the kobolds gets influenced by this.
Second Edition

They said choose your weapon, I said scorpion-on-a-stick, they said what?! I said GET ‘EM BITEY!
I mean he’s just waiting to use that scorpion on a stick. That scorpion is one hundred percent on board too. In 2nd Edition, Kobolds remained largely unchained. Worth a whole 7xp, they are described as a little more dog-like this go round. Their language sounds “like dogs yapping” and they smell of “damp dogs and stagnant water.” If you’ve ever played Kobolds Ate My Baby, their take on the monster seems to be based on 2E more than other editions.
The Kobold hatred of gnomes remains, but they became less likely to attack anything bigger unless they outnumber them. And that wasn’t just flavor text–this was back when monsters had to make morale checks, so if you managed to reduce them to a 3:2 ratio, they’d have to make a morale check or flee for their cowardly lives.
2nd Edition also introduced the first variant Kobold: the Urd–a tougher, winged kobold that flew and dropped rock bombs. These variants had actual hit dice, and had shamans and appeared in swarms large enough to justify any GM’s cry of “rocks fall, everyone dies.”
Third Edition

Third Edition and Pathfinder put the idea of variant kobolds through their engine, and spat out all manner of variants. Though they didn’t appear in the monster manuals, the published adventures were full of kobold sorcerers, rogues, fighters, and the like.
That was the beauty of those editions–you could pretty easily make any creature more of a threat, or at least to make encounters a little more dynamic. You could have a kobold rogue/assassin who went around sneak attacking and hiding in shadows, and after escaping from the party for the 4th time, took levels in monk and sorcerer too–provided you were willing to do all that work. Every time. But that’s another matter entirely, back to Kobolds.
The transition to 3rd had a few more changes as well. Kobolds shrank from 3′ to 2-2.5. They gained a racial proficiency with trapmaking and mining, reflecting their expert tunneling ability and tendency to spend their time fortifying their lands with traps and other mechanical annoyances, in a much more direct reference to Tucker’s Kobolds.
It’s even in their combat tactics– mean ideas like setting up ambushes near trapped areas, or trying to drive their enemies into other kobolds laying in wait with flaming oil or poisonous vermin ready to go. Add to that a few PC levels and the plethora of traps you could find in the DM’s guide and you had a recipe for victory. Petty, ankle-biting victory.
Fourth Edition

We leveled up in this edition.
4th Edition took that philosophy and ran with it, with an entry full of Kobold Dragonshields, Slingers, Wyrmpriests, Scale Singers, Scent-Mongers, Fishcaptains, and Slyblades. Because 4th edition was more modular (most of your attacks were powers or special entries) the mechanics were able to bring out some of the personality hinted at in earlier editions.
Kobolds all became Shifty, which let them escape combat or get a little extra movement as needed, as well as gaining trap sense. Some Kobolds even gained an ability called Mob Tactics which really reinforced the idea of attacking in a kobold wave by providing a +1 bonus per kobold ally adjacent to the target.
4th edition made kobold encounters feel a little more dynamic. In one fight you could face a spellcaster, some bodyguards, and a few skirmishers–and they all fought differently, but felt like they were made to work in unison. Small things used well, right?
Fifth Edition

5th Edition includes a section entitled The Lost God which details why they hate gnomes in this edition–in the distant past, the gnomes’ god tricked the kobold’s god, Kurtulmak, into being locked in a maze forever. Because of that, the kobolds hate gnomes and pranks forever. Previous versions of this legend have the gnomes’ god collapsing Kurtulmak’s cave on him for various reasons.
Volo’s Guide to Monsters expands on this even more, characterizing Kurtulmak (and also kobolds) as arrogant and prone to gloating, with a tendency to carry grudges that end in revenge plots. In addition to devious trapmakers and expert tunnelers, Kobolds have become scavengers and cowards and it is the best thing ever:

Thanks to their lack of physical prowess and their small size, kobolds are rarely in a position to dominate other creatures, so they usually don’t have minions. Even when the opportunity presents itself, kobolds would rather not try to enslave or hire any intelligent creatures because they can’t trust such creatures to not turn on them.

Kobold characters get an ability called Grovel, Cower, and Beg, which gives your allies advantage on attack rolls against enemies within 10 feet of you while you simper and distract them. And in 5th edition all kobolds have Pack Tactics, which gives advantage on attack rolls if at least one ally is within 5 feet of the target.

Bitey?! Is that you?
Variant kobolds are present in this edition as well. Including winged kobolds (urds) and many of the ones mentioned before. There’s one in particular I’d like to highlight: the Kobold Inventor. To me, it’s the epitome of the kobolds’ spiteful ingenuity. The Kobold Inventor carries around a pack full of “inventions” which it can use once per day:

A flask of acid.
A flask of alchemist’s fire.
A basket of centipedes–this one is great, it’s a weaponized swarm of centipedes.
A pot full of green slime. (Did you want to take 1d10 acid damage a round or maybe have your weapon/armor destroyed?)
A pot full of rot grubs. (Oh man, time for those disease saves!)
SCORPION ON A STICK 2 – THE LEGEND OF BITEY’S GOLD: Poison your foes for fun and profit!
A skunk in a cage–because not everyone needs to be a spellcaster to cast stinking cloud.
A wasp nest in a bag. These wasps are very angry.

I’ll be honest, even though it’s not the toughest variant, this is probably my favorite kobold of any edition.

There’s just something about their never-say-die…well…about their always-say-die-but-it-doesn’t-matter-we’re-awesome attitude that is kind of endearing. They capture the imagination and can make for some much needed comic relief. And they’re a stark change of pace from fighting off rampaging hordes of gnolls or draculas or whatever. I love that they can be threatening without needing to be grim.
Do you want to terrorize your party with traps? How about get caught up in a civil war over a pig? Or are you just looking for a way to turn the most minor slight into a campaign of petty revenge? You need look no further than the gnome-hating, tenacious kobolds.
Have kobolds been a thorn in your side? Your ticket to greatness? Let us know in the comments.

D&D: Five Hidden Gems Worth Uncovering

5 years ago Bert Ballast

D&D is all about finding treasure and magic items. Sometimes the treasure itself is magic! Here are five D&D hidden gems worth uncovering.

Sometimes, adventuring is its own reward, and the real treasure is the friends you made along the way. But most of the time, especially in D&D, it turns out that the treasure is the real treasure. Especially when the treasure itself is a powerful magic item that can bestow imaginable power upon the wielder. I say imaginable power because someone did imagine it. And you can too. Use these magical D&D hidden gems in your games and watch as your players decide whether to keep or sell these hidden gems.
Cindergem

Cindergems are like baby Infinity Stones. You won’t be collecting all of them onto a gauntlet, but they do come in a variety of colors and give their bearers access to a variety of powers:

Orange: Gain the AC and flying abilities of an ancient silver dragon
Yellow: Gain the ability to shoot beams of light, Cyclops-style, that blind opponents at a distance (and deal damage up close)
Green: Gain temperature power, creating cones of extreme heat or cold at-will
Blue: Create a ghostly skull that flies around you and bites your enemies and is immune to normal attacks
Indigo: Gain the flying ability and immunities of a ghost or spectre, as well as the ability to drain life from your foes
Violet: Become the mightiest warrior, hitting for max damage on all die rolls +2 extra, and making two more attacks per round

No one knows what happened to the Red Cindergem, but these are worth a kingdom in the right hands.
Gem of Foresight

With this gem, you gain the ability to see the future of everyone within 10 feet of you. As you concentrate, you can see different possible futures around you with fairly vivid details, so much so that you experience the future as though living through it–but the more you use it, the more you risk becoming depressed because every living being’s path eventually leads to their doom.
Ionian Gem
An Ionian Gem is one of six hidden gems created centuries ago by a powerful wizard. What is it with people and sets of magic gems? These are all uniform, though. They grant the bearers the ability to speak telepathically with each other, as well as the ability to cast the spell Telepathy and Heal once per day, they also turn spells as a ring of spell turning does. So, powerful, compact, and great to find in a treasure hoard.
Gem of Life

The Gem of Life is a powerful magic item that originally hails from the world of Lankhmar. Its touch can restore life to a dead body, bringing the departed soul back to its home, and healing the affected character for 25% of their hit points. But… if the gem is broken, chaos can break out. This D&D hidden gem might explode dealing damage–but that’s the most boring option. It might embed itself into your skin, charging you with healing energy so that all your attacks heal their intended targets instead of damaging them. Or you might become overcharged with life energy as your body tries to “regenerate” itself and become a giant.
Handy, but delicate.
Purple Gem of the Vesve Forest

This purple hidden gem, set in a silver bracelet, is the epitome of elven-ness. This gem allows its bearer to summon an elven army for a single declared purpose. The user may call upon a number of elves equal to their age–so elves, who often take an “extended gap year” and aren’t considered adults until they’re well into their first century, will call on a lot of folks indeed. But if you’re a cool teen adventurer, you only get a paltry handful of elves. Assuming your hand can hold more than 12 elves.
They will gather in a week, and will follow the bearer, who also gains seven special aides (two wizards, two priests, and three rangers) all 1d3 levels lower than the user’s level. Finally, a benefit to playing that grumpy dad who became an adventurer.
Happy Adventuring!

Warhammer’s hilarious fantasy football game Blood Bowl makes failure half the fun

5 years ago Bert Ballast

The quarterback has sprinted three-quarters of the way across the pitch. They reach the touchdown line, only to slip and fall flat on their arse. The ball goes flying, tumbling across the pitch straight into the open hands of a waiting opponent, only for them to fumble it and send it bouncing in yet another direction. It shouldn’t be funny, but it’s impossible not to laugh – especially when the players in question are a ratperson and a beefy armour-clad warrior.

Such is the nature of things in Blood Bowl, Games Workshop’s long-running fantasy football spin-off – with particular emphasis on the fantasy – from its Warhammer universe. Blood Bowl is a sports game where you can be about to score a pivotal goal one moment, carting your deceased star player off the next. It’s macabre, ridiculous, unfair – and absolutely brilliant.

Part of what makes Blood Bowl so entertaining versus the likes of Warhammer: Age of Sigmar and Warhammer 40,000 is its complete embrace of failure. Like those miniatures games, players (called coaches to distinguish from the plastic players they control) roll six-sided dice to determine how successful their units’ actions are. Here, though, it’s for things like throwing, catching and tackling instead of blasting a Space Marine in half or chainswording your way through a Tyranid’s guts.

Like many traditional miniatures games – not to mention combat-centric tabletop RPGs such as Dungeons & Dragons – Age of Sigmar and Warhammer 40,000 often suffer from a deflating sense of anticlimax when you fail a roll. Swinging your sword at a skeleton warrior or lining up a blaster shot across the battlefield at an enemy commander can instantly go from the excitement of executing your careful strategy to a disappointing “nothing happens”. Sometimes even success can be underwhelming, as armour deflects most of an attack or two models spend half an hour chipping away each other’s health like a glorified game of slaps.

In Blood Bowl, failure doesn’t just lead to something happening – it’s ramped up to the very extreme. Pushing for an extra space of movement can result in a player falling over, as if a banana peel had been planted in their way. Tackling can end up with the attacker knocked out instead, or even a double KO. In the most extreme cases, taking down a rival player can lead to injury – and, if the injury roll is high enough, their sudden demise. Fouls aren’t just possible, they’re encouraged – if the ref doesn’t see anything

It’s a darkly hilarious mixture of slapstick comedy and sports satire, made funnier by the OTT nature of the players themselves – ranging from hulking Chaos Warriors and orcs to the rodent Skaven and unfortunately fleshy humans. A terrifying armoured death machine can stomp a decaying Nurgle Rotter into pulp or shoulder-barge a rival off the pitch to be torn apart by the crowd, only to suddenly trip over their own feet and eat turf.

Blood Bowl can be played in standalone matches or in an ongoing league – just don’t get too attached to your star players. Image: Games Workshop

Because the stakes are so heightened and both players are playing by the same rules, it’s hard to ever feel frustrated by bad luck. The random scatter of the ball’s bounce and difficulty in simply picking up the blasted thing from the floor – presumably it’s smeared in blood, which may as well be butter for all my players’ failed attempts – results in hilarious, unpredictable moments that add to the chaos. It often resembles less of a professional sports match than a circus performance of pratfalls and mishaps, dressed up in high-fantasy cosplay. With the risk of turning control over to your opponent with a flubbed roll, deciding which players to move first before going for broke gives every turn a dramatic arc.

That’s not to say that skillful play doesn’t have a place in Blood Bowl. As the game’s thriving community and tournament play attest, there’s plenty of room to win through careful risk-management and knowing when to push your luck. At the same time, half the fun is in knowing that even the brightest star player could suddenly be turned into dog food by the sole of an ogre’s boot. Like the greatest sports matches, a peppy, unproven newcomer can stand a chance against a veteran side and cause a memorable upset. Making every match fun to watch becomes a secondary layer of the experience – putting Blood Bowl closer to the realm of wrestling’s “sports entertainment” than the pure athleticism of actual American football.

Blood Bowl understands why people watch sports, and why people play games – and in finding the best of both in its no-holds-barred, extreme portrayal of fantasy football, it creates one of the most entertaining spectacles on the tabletop. Whether you win or lose isn’t the point – seeing the failure unfold is half the fun.

D&D: Pre-Order Unpainted Tiamat ‘Miniature’ That’s Actually Gargantuan

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Want another massive Tiamat “mini” on your tabletop? WizKids has unveiled an unpainted Tiamat miniature, and she’s an absolute unit.

If you missed out on WizKids’ giant Tiamat statue/mini then you didn’t get one of the biggest figures WizKids has ever put together. Bigger than a boat. Bigger than a tavern. The Tiamat “miniature” is large and in charge.

Now, she’s unpainted. And up for pre-order, according to WizKids. The newly unveiled unpainted Tiamat miniature is just as big as the painted version. Only this one is white, waiting for you to decide what kind of paint scheme to give the dragon goddess.
The unpainted Tiamat miniature is due for release in Q1 of 2022, and will deliver “soon after release.” So if you want to get in on the biggest dragon, and want to watch your players’ expressions when you thunk this absolute chungus down on your table, get in now.
D&D Nolzur’s Marvelous Miniatures: Unpainted Gargantuan Tiamat – $367.94

This is a Pre-Order item and will NOT ship until the product release date.
Pre-Order release dates always subjected to change.
If you include a Pre-Order item in your order, the whole order will be held until the pre-order is available.
You may have your non pre-order items shipped separately for an additional cost. Please select the shipping option with “(Multiple Shipments)” in the title at checkout to enable this option.

Dungeons & Dragons Nolzur’s Marvelous Miniatures come with highly-detailed figures, primed and ready to paint out of the box. These fantastic miniatures include deep cuts for easier painting. The packaging displays these miniatures in a clear and visible format, so customers know exactly what they are getting.
Happy Adventuring!

General

Introducing Players to Roleplaying Games: Creative Character Creation

5 years ago Bert Ballast

There are so many options when making a character that it can be overwhelming, and this can lead to frustration for new players. So instead of deluging players with all the options in the rulebooks, invite them instead to imagine a character and then help them learn to use the rules to flesh out those ideas.

The only limitation to character creation should really be whether the character concept fits into the setting and genre of the game world.

“What character are you going to create for our grim medieval world?”“My character is a plucky green alien monkey who uses their bounty hunter training to help the poor.”“Umm…”

So maybe it’s possible that the character concept doesn’t mesh with your vision of the game setting. Still, sometimes this clash of ideas brings up interesting new possibilities for storytelling. Consider how this seemingly strange character concept might fit into your world. Sure, your world doesn’t have any alien influences. But are there other planets in your universe? Is it possible that an alien could have landed on your world? Try to work with the player to find a compromise that works for everyone. Perhaps, instead of a green monkey, the character is a humanoid bounty hunter who escaped their employer by hiding out on this previously uncharted world.

Now that you’ve got a character concept, you need to help the new player adapt that concept to the rules. You don’t want to stray too far from those rules though because they’ve been balanced and playtested to maintain a fair game for all players. So you don’t need to write an entire new race for this character and can just make modifications to an existing race when necessary. Find which race is closest to what the player envisions, perhaps human, half-elf, or half-orc. Use minor modifications, such as a swim speed, and avoid potential game-breaking abilities. You can add things that will help adapt the alien to your world. Maybe the alien is able to disguise themself as a human or half-elf, but they can’t change their body shape or likeness to a great extent. Adjust the ability score modifications, but stay within reason, keeping the sum total ability modifications the same as the base race. Of course, this modified alien race need not really be related to an orc or whatever race you use; you’ve simply used those statistics as a template.

At this point, before deciding on a class, you should look at the background for this character. Deciding on a background will let the player answer some questions about why and how the character got to this world and region, helping to determine which class best fits the character concept. We know they are a bounty hunter, but what made them good at it? Were they a survivor who could live in any environment? (Perhaps a hermit.) Were they abandoned as a child and forced to live the bounty hunting life? (Perhaps an urchin.) Get the player to talk about who the character was in their youth, and a background will likely emerge. As with race above, you won’t need to stray far from the rules. The medicine and herbalism the character learned, for instance, may have been from another world’s environment, but they will soon adapt it to this new home.

All this should help decide what class best fits this character. As a bounty hunter, the character could fit into many character types. What skills did they learn in their early background? What skills did they survive on as a bounty hunter? Did they learn to use subterfuge to survive? (Perhaps a rogue.) Were they able to track down their bounty in any environment or situation? (Perhaps a ranger.) Did they survive by being tougher than their environs? (Perhaps a barbarian.) To reiterate, you should stick to the rules as much as possible, only adjusting where necessary. Use the character’s story to explain their skills, making a complete character and backstory at the same time. If the character’s class has enhanced skills when combatting a particular type of monster, it could be that this monster type is similar to a creature they were familiar with on their home world. If the character can do additional damage when flying into a rage, then this could be due to something about this new world’s atmosphere. You can use the exiting skills by simply modifying the story about how the character acquired them.

Learning all of the rules of a new game is not always fun, and that includes the many options in character creation. But playing the game should be fun. Letting the creation of a character’s story define their character’s statistics is a great way to make the character creation process fun rather than a chore. New players will end up learning the rules as they create an exciting story.

Astral Projections – Force Wizard’s Got Talents

5 years ago Bert Ballast

So, as I’ve promised, (threatened?) in the past, this year the Force Wizard is sharing their wisdom (and strong opinions) about the Force talents in the FFG Star Wars RPG lines. This time I am starting off by a short discussion of Force Talents in general plus how I am setting up each installment.
What are Force talents (FTs)? In the rulebooks they are simply talents defined as being usable only by characters with a Force Rating of one or more. There are no specific mechanics associated with all FTs and many of the benefits are similar to those granted by other talents, such as a unique ability or adding narrative dice to a pool.
A variant of the latter is “Committing a Force die,” where the player dedicates 1+ Force dice to a given effect, so that the dice aren’t usable to trigger other Force abilities. The effect lasts until the wielder ends it by “un-committing” the dice. Example: A Force Rating 3 Consular/Healer commits a Force die to use the Healing Trance talent. Next round, they want to activate the Move Force power, but may only roll two Force dice, not the usual three — unless they end the Healing Trance (and almost certainly lose the talent’s benefit).
It can be important to know which talents are FTs as there are mechanics that affect these. For example, the Suppress Force power’s Mastery upgrade immediately shuts down the target’s active FTs if they require committing 1+ Force dice (among other effects).
In the rulebooks, FTs are visually distinguished in talent trees by the upper left corner of the talent box having a little sunburst or explosion:
Age of Rebellion, p. 293, © and ™ LucasFilm Ltd.
Some FTs are “Conflict talents.” Once you buy the talent, at the beginning of each game session, your PC increases their Conflict score by one. Narratively, this can mean merely possessing the knowledge of how to use that talent creates conflict in your heart and mind, which brings you closer to the Dark Side. Perhaps you are often tempted to use this “Quick and Easy” but brutal way talent to solve your problems – and that scares you. Maybe you are lying to yourself and others about this knowledge, out of shame or for some other reason. Maybe the source of that knowledge is just plain evil. These talents also have a symbol in the tree, placed in the upper right border of the talent box:
Collapse of the Republic, p. 26 © and ™ LucasFilm Ltd.
Each Force Wizard’s Got Talent will cover several FTs. I plan to go in order of first appearance in the lines. This means I will start off with the Force-Sensitive Exile and Force-Sensitive Emergent universal specializations (specs) from Edge of the Empire and Age of Rebellion respectively. Later articles will be combined by Career and/or Specialization. The exception is that Improved/Supreme versions of “base” talents (E.g., Saber Throw/Improved Saber Throw) will be presented together. The number of talents per article may vary but I think most will feature four to six FTs. The specs have widely varying numbers of Force talents, many of which will be duplicates, especially in the case of specs published much later. (And the Force Wizard may even point out a few cool non-Force talents once in a while!)
Each talent entry will include the cost in XP, whether it is ranked or unranked, a list of all specs where it appears, and the book where it first appears. I am considering including an index at the end of each installment, possibly with links, much as I did with the Force powers series, but this may not happen depending on how complex it turns out to be.
I hope you find this latest Force Wizard series both enjoyable and useful. May the Force be with you always, Padawans and Disciples.
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Linda WhitsonContributing Writer & Copy Editor at D20 Radio

D&D: ‘Tal’dorei Reborn’s Moon Domain Cleric Decoded

5 years ago Bert Ballast

From a few screenshots on the Darrington Press website, a team of Redditors has decoded a brand new subclass: the moon domain Cleric.

In the name of the moon, a new subclass has been unearthed: the Moon Domain Cleric. Although technically it’s in the name of two moons: Catha and Ruidus, the moons of Critical Role’s world of Exandria.

A video encapsulating the work of a team of redditors reveals the Moon Domain Cleric out of the upcoming Tal’dorei Campaign Setting Reborn. With work going back to screenshots that surfaced in December, these redditors have “decoded” the Moon Domain Cleric and have figured out what exactly it can do.
How, you ask? Well the answe can be found in the video from Wintry Wyvern:

The folks at Critical Role bring us one of many subclasses from their soon-to-release Taldorei Reborn book! Did we squint a little too hard for this one? Probably.
According to the video, this is the work of u/RoboDonaldUpgrade and u/bluecrowne who “deciphered most of the subclass found in one of Darrington Press’s screenshots.” The rest of the information fills out a picture of a powerful, moon-influenced class.
So get out your Heart Moon Brooch, Crystal Star, or Holy Moon Chalice and get ready to fight evil by midnight, we’re looking at the Moon Domain Cleric.
Moon Domain Cleric Breakdown

First up, an overview of the subclass itself. These Clerics venerate the Moonweaver and the two Moons of Exandria, Catha and Ruidus. Catha is the moon you probably think of–influences the tides, messes with lycanthropes. Ruidus, on the other hand, is a mysterious, more magical moon.

The Domain grants you access to some fairly thematic spells, as well as some of the more interesting powers we’ve seen. Starting at 1st level, you gain Clarity of Catha, which lets you “shine light upon the mind’s most dire moments.”
A Moon Domain Cleric can use their reaction to grant a creature advantage on a Wisdom saving throw. Sure, you can only use it up to your proficiency bonus times per day, but it’s awful handy.

They also gain two Channel Divinity options that are both quite potent. The Moon Domain Cleric can grant a willing creature heightened senses and speed, or it can give pack tactics to one ally.

Although the ability that’s going to really shake things up is Mind of Two Moons. No, it’s not a wolf t-shirt. It’s the ability to concentrate on two different spells at once, starting at 6th level. There are a few caveats: you can only concentrate on two Moon Domain spells, and that’s pretty tightly controlled. So it may not be as broken as you think.

Finally the Moon Domain Cleric caps out with an ability called Eclipse of Ill Omen, but at your table you’ll probably call it Total Eclipse of the Moon. It lets you stop hit point regain in a wide area, as well as pins down enemies.
And that’s the Moon Domain Cleric out of Tal’dorei Campaign Setting Reborn, due out on the 18th.

Dungeons & Dragons 5E combat has a lot of problems – here’s how to fix them

5 years ago Bert Ballast

With such a long and storied past, it’s innevitable that some of the systems in Dungeons & Dragons have become a little dusty and out of date over the years — chief among them being the D&D combat system. It’s one of the most prevalent sections of the rulebook, taking up a huge percentage of the text to explain grappling rules and attacks of opportunity, and yet there’s a massive amount of D&D players the world over that avoid it like the plague.
So why is it that the thing this game is seemingly built upon and encourages at every turn has players like myself wishing they could just skip it all together?
Today I’m joined by D&D afficionado Liv to go over what we think are the root causes of the problem and to dicuss some of the ways you can improve your combat experience whilst also looking for inspiration from other TTRPGs that we think do it better, including games like: Blades in the Dark, AGON, and Lancer.

General

Rolling for Initiative — Three Practices Publishers Should Adopt

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Rolling for Initiative is a weekly column by Scott Thorne, PhD, owner of Castle Perilous Games & Books in Carbondale, Illinois and instructor in marketing at Southeast Missouri State University. This week, Thorne offers up three practices that he would like to see publishers adopt in 2022.It is early in the year, so here are a few practices that I would like to see publishers incorporate into their businesses for 2022:Remember your older games. When I last checked, the U.S. had somewhere in excess of 330 million people. Not all of them have bought your older games. Given that I see publishers touting that their game has sold 50,000 copies or 100,000 copies or 250,000 copies or even a million copies, that still leaves over 300 million people who have not purchased it. Monopoly, still around since the mid-30s, sells around 2 million copies per year.While it is certainly more enjoyable to promote your new game and watch it climb BoardGameGeek’s The Hotness chart, those games that you started out publishing, if they are good, still sell. Ticket to Ride still sells; Boss Monster still sells; heck, the basic Munchkin game still outsells any of the variations Steve Jackson Games has put out over the past two decades. Come out with new games, but spend time and effort promoting the games that got you started and which customers still want. There are still over 300 million people in the U.S. that do not own a copy.Tell us what you want done with your promo items. About once a month, we get a package of promotional items, sometimes from Wizards of the Coast, sometimes Konami, sometimes another publisher. However, all we get is promo items in a package. There is rarely indication as to what you want us to do with these items. Are we supposed to give it away with purchase, run an event, hand them out for free?Yes, you probably sent me an email or posted some information about the promotion on your website. Unfortunately, we likely received that email before the item arrived. We also may not look at your website regularly (sorry, I’ll try to do better), or the person who received the shipment may not be the same one who checks the email. Our store receives about 300-400 emails every day and I know of stores receiving far more. There is a pretty good chance that your email got overlooked, deleted, or noted and forgotten.So, “please, please, please” include a note with your item with instructions regarding how you want us to use it. We then have the information right with the item and can act upon it. Also, if you send several items, include a packing list. This way we know what to expect and can notify you if something is missing.Include invoices. Somewhat similar to the previously mentioned suggestion, include an invoice, or at the very least a packing slip telling us what is in the box. I know that Games Workshop likes to email invoices and for a good while, did not include a paper copy with the shipment. However, as noted above, the person who gets the email is often not the same person that processes the shipment. Downloading and printing off the invoice adds time and inconvenience to processing the shipment. A packing slip with only the items included listed means stores must take extra time to look up the items on the publisher’s or distributor’s website to find out cost. Including as much information as possible with the shipment makes it quicker to process the order and get it out.What other things could publishers do to make retailers lives easier without much effort on their part? Post in the comments or email me at castleperilousgames@gmail.com.The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.

Wheel of Time, 40K’s New Rules, MTG Spoilers, D&D Level Up for FREE!

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Can Wheel of Time be saved by Season 2? Check out 40K’s upcoming new rules, MTG’s Kamigawa spoilers, and D&D’s Level Up for FREE!

via Amazon
Amazon’s ‘The Wheel Of Time’: Can Season 2 Save A Troubled Show
Viewers of The Wheel of Time can look forward to season 2, but can it rescue a show in danger of failure?
D&D: ‘Level Up’ Is Free On Foundry VTT
Level Up, the Advanced 5th Edition ruleset, is available now for free on the Foundry virtual tabletop platform.
Warhammer 40K: The Next Codex After T’au
We’re still waiting on an official announcement/road map but we all know who’s getting the next codex after T’au, right?
Cosplay: Kida from Disney’s Atlantis Saves her People
This Disney Princess is a warrior able to conquer hostility and win our hearts. Check out these Kida Cosplays!
MTG: Some Kamigawa – Neon Dynasty Spoilers To Start Your Weekend
It won’t be long now. Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty is right around the corner. And a new batch of spoilers has us all excited.
‘Scream’ Review – One of Us
Check out The One of Us crew’s Scream review before you head to the theater this weekend. Spoiler: we liked it.
Age of Sigmar: Fury of the Deep Unboxed
How good is the new Fury of the Deep boxed set? It’s packed with some really impressive models and new rules!
via HBOMax
‘Raised by Wolves’ Season 2 Introduces New Dangers to The Colony
The battle over faith and the survival of humanity continues with much higher stakes in Raised by Wolves Season 2.
Warhammer 40K Next Week – New Chapter Approved And Kill Team Starter Set
Strap in folks, next week we see a new Chapter Approved and a new Kill Team set. It’s getting competitive.

Taking Up The Battle

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Esoteric Orders In this week’s blog, we continue or delve into the terrifying secrets hidden…

D&D Accessories: Tropical Accessories To Distract You From The Cold

5 years ago Bert Ballast

It may be cold outside, but we can make our D&D sessions into a paradise with these tropical D&D accessories.

I don’t know about you, but where I live it’s getting too darn cold. Winter is fun and all, but I can’t be the only one dreaming about warm weather and tropical getaways. Let’s all pretend to be somewhere the weather is a little less brutal with these tropical D&D accessories.

Sea Turtle and Coral Dice

For me coral reefs and sea creatures are synonymous with the tropics. Pools are great, but I love the ocean and could go snorkeling all day long. These dice feature a green-blue tinted clear resin with a design inside that looks like ocean plans and coral with a small sea turtle where the 20 should be on the d20. It’s a little low-key and definitely table friendly year round, but definitely very on brand for your tropical D&D getaway.

D&D Ampersand Hawaiian Shirt

This one could almost pass for not-D&D related if you’re hanging out with a less fantasy minded crowd. Hibiscus flowers hide the D&D ampersand logo for a tropical Hawaiian style shirt that will match your style and let observant nerds know what your favorite pass time is. Are you going to a Jimmy Buffett concert or your next D&D session? With this shirt, maybe both!

Mystic Pool Mini

If it’s hard for you to get away right now, why not live vicariously through your character and have them go somewhere warm? It can’t all be beach episodes and this mystic pool has tons of potential to kick off a tropical story arc in your campaign. With a ton of options for painting and terrain, this piece of scenery has almost endless potential in all settings, tropical or not.

Tropical Tiki Dice Tray

Dice trays are all that stand between me and losing my favorite dice to my cats forever. I love dice trays. This wood and neoprene tray features a fun tiki style pattern that makes me want to sip some umbrella drinks during our tropical D&D adventures. It will brighten up your game table, keep your dice safe, and with high quality parts will last for many campaigns to come.

Tropical D20 Sticker

Stickers are one of the D&D accessories that you don’t need at the table, but they really do spruce every session up. Whether you use a laptop, tablet or paper notebook, there’s always a way to make it a little bit more obvious that this is where your D&D notes live. This sticker has a wooden d20 with a coconut and lots of tropical flowers to make your session a little more colorful and warm. Will it work? Who knows. But it’s worth a try.

Do you have any tropical D&D accessories? Have any of our picks made it onto your wish list? Do you like the cold weather or are you counting down the days until it’s warm again? Let us know in the comments!
Happy Adventuring!

D&D: Adventurer’s Guide To Zariel, Archdevil of Avernus

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Zariel, the ruler of Avernus is an angel who would rather reign in hell than serve in heaven. So let’s go meet her!

Baldur’s Gate 3 takes place 100 years after the events in Baldur’s Gate: Descent into Avernus. And one of the key background features of that setting is the ever raging Blood War–which if you haven’t been playing D&D forever, is the cosmic battle between Demons and Devils or Tanar’ri vs. Baatezu. These two evil forces battle it out for dominion of the lower planes, claiming evil souls as their own. And amidst this cosmic conflict, mercenary demons, devils, cambions, tieflings, and many a hapless adventurer find profit, destiny, and doom.
And one of the key players in that never-ending battle is Zariel who was detailed in Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes. She also gets a shout out in the game, but we’re not going to go into detail about that. Instead we’re going to focus Zariel’s info provided from Mordenkainen so lets dive in.

Dread Lore
Zariel represents the upper tier of the beings you’ll find involved with the Blood War. She’s the ruler of Avernus, the first layer of the Nine Hells. She is charged with protecting the planes where the river Styx runs through it and is in command of the armies of the Blood War. Zariel is also a fallen angel who became corrupted by the hellish influences of the lower planes.

But more than that, Zariel represents the maneuvering and political scheming of the Blood War as well. Demons and Devils play for keeps, manipulating and scheming to take power for themselves. And Zariel recently ousted Bel to gain control of Avernus. Now she schemes against Asmodeus, though none know of her secret plans (except I bet Asmodeus totally does). At any rate, as you’ll see, Zariel packs a powerful punch.

Like A Boss (Fight)
This is how you do a final boss–she’s incredibly powerful and has the resources to hold her own against a party of adventurers. Her attacks are damaging enough to matter, which is good, because sometimes monsters have nothing once their spells have been spent, which is hardly where you’d want to find a being in charge of one of the layers of the Nine Hells. Her innate powers are incredible as well–Fireball, Wall of Fire and a 3/day each of Finger of Death and Blade Barrier means she can throw a party for a loop.
That’s before we get to her special actions, which are interchangeably useful. She’s an excellent skirmisher, and with an AC of 21 and 580 hit points, she can brawl very well–of course if you want to make the fight deadly, you’ll give her a few other devilish bodyguards.
Whatever the case, she’ll be one powerful foe–or a tempting ally if you should come across her in your run through of Baldur’s Gate 3.

Happy Adventuring!

Games Workshop Pre-Orders: ‘Pricing & Links’ – Fury of the Deep Weekend

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Fyreslayers vs Idoneth Deepkin? It’s time for Fury of the Deep! Plus some more Blood Bowl goodies from Games Workshop.

via Games Workshop
Fury of the Deep $170

The great magmahold of Ryftmar stands upon the precipice of disaster, ravaged by centuries of war and battered by the acidic tides of the Vitriol Sea. With every passing day, it seems closer to collapsing into the hungry waves. Sensing blood in the water, a great host of Idoneth Deepkin rise from the ocean depths, the aelves determined to harvest the souls of Ryftmar’s doomed for their own ends. The wrathful Fyreslayers, staunch warrior-sons of Grimnir, will not allow their flame to be quenched so easily.
Whether you’re eager to reap the soul harvest or determined to kindle the embers of your dying home back into a roaring fire, you will find a sizeable force in this box to suit your needs, as well as two brand new miniatures. Bolster your existing army with reinforcements or choose a side in the battle for Ryftmar and start a new fighting force.
Inside, you’ll find 43 plastic Citadel miniatures, including:– 1x Auric Flamekeeper– 5x Auric Hearthguard, also able to be built as Hearthguard Berzerkers– 5x Hearthguard Berzerkers, also able to be built as Auric Hearthguard– 10x Vulkite Berzerkers
– 1x Akhelian Thrallmaster– 1x Akhellian Allopex– 10x Namarti Reavers– 10x Namarti Thralls
You’ll also find:– A 56-page Warhammer Age of Sigmar Core Rules book– A 40-page Fury of the Deep booklet– 9 Warscroll Cards– 1 Token Board– 27 Tokens– 2 Range Rulers (9”)
The Fury of the Deep booklet outlines the narrative of the battle for Ryftmar in Aqshy, where the Idoneth Deepkin rise from the Vitriol Sea to reap the souls of the furious Fyreslayers. Learn more about the Realm of Fire, and discover a new spell, a Realm Command, Realmscape Features, and three new battleplans to be used in open and narrative play.
You will also find a copy of the core rules in this box. This book contains a Conquest Unbound section featuring rules for more unusual types of battles in the Mortal Realms including Siege Warfare, Tunnel Fighting, and Triumph and Treachery multiplayer games for three or more factions.
The above units are supplied with 45x 32mm Citadel round base and 1x 90×52.5mm oval base.
These miniatures are supplied unpainted and require assembly – we recommend using Citadel Plastic Glue and Citadel paints.
Warhammer Underworlds: Harrowdeep – Blackpowder’s Buccaneers $40

The Ogor Maneater Gorlok Blackpowder and his motley crew found themselves washed up in Harrowdeep after being sucked down from the Penumbral Sea by a whirlpool. They soon realised the ancient labyrinth offered a chance to seize a great wealth of treasure. While the Maneater sought out worthy adversaries to add to his boasting-tally, his crew proceeded to loot everything they could get their hands, claws, or beak on.
Blackpowder’s Buccaneers are as aggressive as you’d expect of a warband led by an ogor. As Blackpowder delivers devastating blows against his enemies, his followers work together to hamper the foe whilst securing the treasure they desire. This set also features universal cards useable by any warband in Warhammer Underworlds.
This set contains:
– 5x push-fit Blackpowder’s Buccaneers miniatures – no glue required to assemble– 5x fighter cards, one for each warrior in the warband – Gorlok Blackpowder, Kagey, Peggz, Shreek, and Mange– A further 65 cards to enhance your fighters and provide new tactics and challenges for your games of Warhammer Underworlds: Harrowdeep, including:– 12x Blackpowder’s Buccaneers objective cards– 10x Blackpowder’s Buccaneers upgrade cards– 10x Blackpowder’s Buccaneers gambit ploy cards– 6x Universal objective cards, usable by any warband– 7x Universal upgrade cards, usable by any warband– 7x Universal gambit cards, usable by any warband– 12x Grand Alliance cards, usable by any warband belonging to the specified Grand Alliance– 1x Blackpowder’s Buccaneers Warband Background / Rivals Deck Card
Miniatures in this box are supplied unpainted and require assembly – we recommend using Citadel Plastic Glue and Citadel paints.
Illusory Might Universal Deck $18

Get stuck in to Warhammer Underworlds with the first ever Rivals deck for the new format. Rivals requires both players to use a pre-made deck, pitting them against each other in a test of pure skill. These cards are usable as a standalone deck in Rivals, or they can be used to enhance an existing deck. Each card is brand new to the game and themed around Harrowdeep’s illusionary powers and abilities.
This set contains 32 universal cards, consisting of:– 12x objective cards– 10x gambit cards– 10x upgrade cards
Please note – you’ll need a Warhammer Underworlds Core Set to use the contents of this expansion.
Aeronautica Imperialis – Companion $25

Aeronautica Imperialis – Companion is an expansion book for Aeronautica Imperialis games.
The perfect addition to any Aeronautica collection, it contains new rules, aircraft, and factions for games of Aeronautica Imperialis, as well as collating previously published content from White Dwarf magazine into one handy volume.
Inside you will find:– Rules for fielding a Necrons force in games of Aeronautica Imperialis, including three aircraft profiles, along with upgrades and Ace Abilities– Rules for fielding the full force of the Asuryani in games of Aeronautica Imperialis, including four all-new aircraft profiles: Vampire Raider; Vampire Hunter; Nightshade Interceptor, and Hemlock Wraithfighter.– Rules for fielding all four Adeptus Astartes aircraft, collated in print for the first time– A collection of aircraft profiles for existing factions not previously available in print, including the Marauder Pathfinder, Marauder Colossus, as well as rules for Looted aircraft for the Orks Air Waaagh! and Gue’Vesa Auxiliary aircraft rules for your T’au Air Caste– New and exciting ways to play, including expanded damage rules, allowing for more detailed air combat, new Ace Abilities, Limited Ammunition rules and a dedicated set of matched play scenarios– A suite of campaign rules allowing players to track the progress of their squadron over a series of games from rookies through to highly skilled Aces.
Please note that you will need a copy of the Aeronautica Imperialis rules in order to fully use the contents of this book.
Blood Bowl Nurgle Team Dice Set $18

It may only be possible to roll a seven on one of these dice, but the discerning Nurgle coach won’t be caught without their lucky set. Decorated with light green swirls and orange ink, each of these dice features the symbol of Nurgle in place of the six, offering up the next best thing to the God of Plagues.
This set contains all of the dice you need to play. It includes:– 3 Blood Bowl Block dice– 2 6-sided dice with the Nurgle team icon in place of the ‘6’– 1 8-sided Blood Bowl Scatter dice– 1 16-sided die
Blood Bowl Nurgle Team Card Pack $27

Redesigned for the Second Season ruleset, this deck of 44 cards will help you keep track of stats and profiles for your team, positions, and Star Players – plus Special Play cards exclusively for use with Nurgle teams.
This set includes:
– 1x How to Use card– 4x Nurgle reference cards for Rotter Lineman, Pestigor, Bloater, and Rotspawn– 3x Star Player cards for Glart Smashrip, Lord Borak the Despoiler, and Morg ‘n’ Thorg– 8x Dirty Tricks Special Play cards– 8x Heroic Feats Special Play cards– 20x blank Positional cards, to fill in for each player on your team: 11x Rotter Lineman, 4x Pestigor, 4x Bloater, and 1x Rotspawn
You’ll need a copy of Blood Bowl – The Official Rules to make full use of these cards.
Nurgle Pitch – Double-sided Pitch and Dugouts Set $47

Grandfather Nurgle is a god of fecundity. Wherever his followers travel, a gruesome flourishing of fresh life follows, be it squirming maggoty worms or the vigorous growth of strange flora from the swelling earth. Stadia dedicated to Nurgle are particularly worrisome, for even as the walls and stands rot and decay, the sacred pitch writhes with life, the soil churning and bulging as peculiar vegetation bursts forth before vanishing almost instantly, consumed by tiny creatures that themselves live for mere moments before expiring to feed fresh growth once more.
One side of this pitch is a hibernating garden filled with rotting vegetation and filthy waters, and a symbol of Nurgle emblazoned in the middle. The other side depicts the same pitch in bloom as deadly fauna spawn, with tentacles and creatures squirming from the water and maggots sprouting from the blighted icon.
You’ll also find a pair of matching double-sided dugouts to complete the theme. Redesigned for the latest edition of the game, each dugout features score, turn, and re-roll trackers, plus Reserves, Knocked-out, and Casualty boxes. Rules to use each side of the pitch are included.

D&D: An Adventurer’s Guide To Drizzt Do’Urden

5 years ago Bert Ballast

In all of Dungeons & Dragons, one name has come to represent two swords and a pocketful of memes: the brooding drow that is Drizzt Do’Urden.

Drizzt Do’Urden is a rather renowned figure throughout the northern parts of the Forgotten Realms. But where does this dervish-like drow come from and what has he done? Let’s take a look.

Drizzt Do’Urden has lived a life of unexpected mercies. It all begins when was born in the Underdark in the city of Menzoberranzan. Like many, his family was swept up in the backstabbing, intrigue, and politics of the city. In fact, he owes his life to the byzantine machinations of House politics–the second son of house Do’Urden, Dinin Do’Urden, murdered the eldest brother Nalfein Do’Urden the night that Drizzt was born, sparing the youngest Do’Urden son from being sacrificed to Lolth.
This should give you an idea of the difficulties that Drizzt Do’Urden went through growing up in Menzoberranzan. But it wasn’t all horrible tragedy. While growing up and learning to fight, Drizzt befriended a magical panther named Guenhwyvar, which would end up saving his life when drow assassins came after him and tried to use Guenhwyvar to kill him.
At one point, he refused to kill a moon elf child and Drizzt’s father was sacrificed to Lolth to regain the Queen of Spider’s favor. After discovering this, Drizzt realized he needed to escape Menzoberranzan, but even that wasn’t enough. Vengeful drow had reanimated the corpse of his father and had sent him to kill his son. After destroying his father’s corpse in acid, Drizzt realized that the Underdark had nothing left for him, and he escaped to the surface.

Once on the surface, Drizzt met with all sorts of misadventure, learned to become a ranger and met with his bravest battle companions: Cattie-brie, Bruenor Battlehammer,Wulfgar, and Regis. The companions found themselves wrapped up in intrigue in Icewind Dale. After becoming a respected hero there, his past came calling once more. Drizzt’s sister, Vierna Do’Urden kidpanned the drow, and killed Wulfgar in an attempt to regain Lolth’s favor.
Drizzt returned once more to the Underdark to deal with the figurative and metaphorical demons of his past, where he was captured and tortued, but eventually escaped, fighting in the midst of a war between the Underdark and the Surface.

Of course that’s just the start of his adventures. Over the course of the years, Drizzt’s companions would all die–the Spellplague took the lives of Catti-brie and Regis, Bruenor died in the battle for Gauntlgrym, and even Guenhwyvar disappeared into the Shadowfell during the battle of Neverwinter, and Drizzt himself was mortally wounded in battle against some of his former allies from Icewind Dale. As Drizzt lay dying, his companions, returned to life by the goddess Mielikki, came to his aid and healed his wounds, reunited once more.
And that’s just the main story.

D&D: Five Mounts For Adventurers Who Are Smol But Mighty

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Their size might be small, but their hearts are medium–and so are their mounts. Here are five special mounts for the small adventurers in your life.

Adventurers come in all shapes and sizes. And with recent leaks, it looks like they specifically come in two sizes, S and M. This stands for small and medium and absolutely nothing else. And when it comes to S and M, we all know, there are a lot of weird rules interactions you have to be mindful of.
For one, you can move through a creature whose size is two sizes larger than yours. In other words, if you’re small, you can pass through large or bigger creatures. If you’re a halfling you can duck through even a medium-sized creature’s square.

But one of the most interesting interactions is that small creatures can use medium sized creatures as mounts.
And now that Monsters of the Multiverse throws the doors wide open for creatures being able to be small OR medium, there’s gonna be a lot more smol heroes. That’s just how the internet works.
What does that mean? It means it’s time to think creatively about medium sized mounts. Let’s take a look at five excellent creatures to use as mounts on your poor, unsuspecting DM.
Kruthik

Start things off right with with a monster that comes complete with both a burrow and a climb speed, for maximum mobility. Sure, it’s normally a voracious, hive-minded creature that’s as interested in burrowing under a dungeon and feasting on whatever passes by as carrying you into battle–but that’s what Handle Animal is for, right?
And if you can tame one, you can take advantage of their Pack Tactics, giving your mount advantage on its attacks, both ranged and melee, which you don’t often get with a mount.
Blink Dog

Gnomes riding dogs is already canon. Mastiffs are great mounts, but why not go further and get yourself one that can teleport? The best boys are blink boys and everyone knows it. Now, can they teleport you with them? That all depends on whether your DM counts you as part of the “equipment they’re wearing or carrying.” Either way, they have advantage on perception checks and can appear to you suddenly, ready to go.
Perhaps you could convince your DM to let you teach them to teleport under you, leaving you saddled up and ready to br a Cavalier at a moment’s notice.
Ambush Drake

The ambush drake, out of House of the Dragon Queen, has an incredible name. But it’s also the perfect mount for a rogue, or anyone else stealthy who wants to scout ahead. Halfling assassin? You and your drake can creep into position and benefit from surprise attack.
Make your Beastmaster jealous with your ‘technically a dragon’ sneak pal.
Metal Wasp

Flying mounts are where it’s at. And these flying creatures, out of Dungeon of the Mad Mage, are perfect candidates if you can manage to wrest control of one. Not only do they have a 50ft. fly speed, but they also deliver a poison that, if it reduces a creature’s hit points to 0, doesn’t kill them, but leaves them paralyzed for an hour, even if they regain hp.
Useful, and you’re flying on a robot wasp. What more do you want?
Panther

Okay this one might seem a little more cliche by comparison. But imagine a society of gnomes or halflings that worked out a close relationship with panthers, and suddenly you get a different picture of their society.
It even works with kobolds. Panthers add a certain element of danger and the sense that you might see them being ridden into battle airbrushed on the side of a van that’s basically the epitome of D&D.
Bonus: Arkhan the Cruel

I’m not saying that you *would* convince Arkhan the Cruel to wear a battle platform and carry you into battle while wielding the hand of Vecna. Only that you potentially *could*.

Nominees Announced For 25th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards

5 years ago Bert Ballast

This week, the Academy of Interactive Arts & Sciences (AIAS) revealed their complete list of nominees for the 25th Annual D.I.C.E. Awards. The event, which at the moment is still being held in person in Las Vegas at the Mandalay Bay Resort, will serve as the culmination of the 2022 D.I.C.E. Summit. We have the full list of nominees for you here as the awards will take place on February 24th, 2022.Credit: D.I.C.E. Awards

Outstanding Achievement in Animation
Call of Duty: Vanguard
Deathloop
Kena: Bridge of Spirits
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
Resident Evil Village

Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction
Call of Duty: Vanguard
Deathloop
Kena: Bridge of Spirits
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
Resident Evil Village

Outstanding Achievement in Character
Deathloop – Colt Vahn
Kena: Bridge of Spirits – Kena
Life is Strange: True Colors – Alex Chen
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart – Rivet
Resident Evil Village – Lady Dimitrescu

Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition
Deathloop
It Takes Two
Kena: Bridge of Spirits
Psychonauts 2
Returnal

Outstanding Achievement in Audio Design
Forza Horizon 5
Halo Infinite
It Takes Two
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
Returnal

Outstanding Achievement in Story
Before Your Eyes
Inscryption
MARVEL’s Guardians of the Galaxy
Psychonauts 2
The Forgotten City

Outstanding Technical Achievement
Battlefield™ 2042
Forza Horizon 5
Moncage
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
Returnal

Action Game of the Year
Deathloop
Halo Infinite
Metroid Dread
Returnal
The Ascent

Adventure Game of the Year
Death’s Door
It Takes Two
MARVEL’s Guardians of the Galaxy
Psychonauts 2
Resident Evil Village
Family Game of the Year
Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Happy Home Paradise
Cozy Grove
Mario Party Superstars
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
Warioware: Get it Together
Fighting Game of the Year
GUILTY GEAR -STRIVE-
Melty Blood: Type Lumina
Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl
Racing Game of the Year
F1 2021
Forza Horizon 5
Hot Wheels Unleashed
Role-Playing Game of the Year
Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker
Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous
Shin Megami Tensei V
Tales of Arise
Wildermyth

Sports Game of the Year
EA SPORTS FIFA 22
Mario Golf: Super Rush
NBA 2k22
Riders Republic
The Climb 2
Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year
Age of Empires IV
Gloomhaven
Griftlands
Inscryption
Loop Hero
Immersive Reality Technical Achievement
Lone Echo II
Puzzling Places
Resident Evil 4 VR
Song in the Smoke
YUKI
Immersive Reality Game of the Year
Demeo
I Expect You To Die 2
Lone Echo II
Resident Evil 4 VR
Song in the Smoke
D.I.C.E. Awards Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game
Death’s Door
Inscryption
Loop Hero
Sable
Unpacking
Mobile Game of the Year
Behind the Frame
Fantasian
League of Legends: Wild Rift
Moncage
Pokémon UNITE
Online Game of the Year
Back 4 Blood
Call of Duty: Vanguard
Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker
Halo Infinite
Knockout City
Outstanding Achievement in Game Design
Deathloop
Inscryption
It Takes Two
Loop Hero
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction
Deathloop
Inscryption
It Takes Two
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
The Artful Escape

D.I.C.E. Awards Game of the Year
Deathloop
Inscryption
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Dungeons & Dragons

What Is the Far Realm? A Timeless Land of Writhing Flesh and Elder Evils

5 years ago Bert Ballast

http://www.dndbeyond.com/posts/1145-what-is-the-far-realm-a-timeless-land-of-writhing

GW, Warhammer, 40K & Fantasy Minis Trivia Challenge

5 years ago Bert Ballast

It’s Friday! Kick-off your weekend with this retro challenge for the old-schoolers out there.
What ancient Games Workshop, 40K, and Warhammer minis are these?

Everyone loves a trivia challenge, and Games Workshop has been cranking them out since the 1970s. Over the decade’s GW has been making miniatures for everything from Dungeons & Dragons, to Star Trek, Judge Dredd, Lord of the Rings, to all the flavors of Warhammer, and too many others to count. So take a minute to go over some samples from the days of yore, and see if you can figure out:

What System is is from?
What Miniature is it?
What Year did it come out?

Oh yeah, most importantly… HAVE FUN!

~Let’s see who the minis loremaster really is. Have a great weekend everybody!
Last week’s minis (L to R): Bonnie & Clyde (Gangsters), Troll (Blood Bowl), Chaos Snakemen (WFB)

On the Next Paizo LIVE: Moons and Magic!

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Paizo LIVE is our near-monthly, 2-hour live Twitch show featuring the Paizo staff and guests talking about upcoming Pathfinder and Starfinder releases. Join us for Episode 8 of Paizo LIVE from 4 to 6 p.m. Pacific next Friday, January 21. Catch past episodes on YouTube.

I’ll show off all our January Releases! Here are the featured products and scheduled guests:

This episode, the three questions I will ask are:

What story does this product help tell?
What rules does this product use most or what innovations does it bring to Pathfinder or Starfinder?
Is there an insider or behind-the-scenes story of the product’s creation you would like to share? A challenge or joy you found?

And then the conversation will unfold from there. In terms of images, we will showcase the final covers, tables of contents, and chapter header art. Finally, when signing off, I will ask each guest for a Paizo LIVE Spoiler. This can be about any announced future product!

Have questions for the guests? Ask them here! Then we’ll see you on Friday, January 21, for Paizo LIVE at twitch.tv/officialpaizo!

Have questions? Ask them here! Then we’ll see you on Friday, December 10, for Paizo LIVE at twitch.tv/officialpaizo!

Adventures Ahead!

Aaron Shanks,Marketing and Media Manager

Outside the Box – January 14th

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Here we go again, this week with news from Corvus Belli, Wargame Exclusive, Artel W Miniatures, Wargames Atlantic, Hardcore Miniatures and more!Corvus Belli announced new Infinity releases: – > More Corvus Belli News
The Greater Good Traitor is now available from Wargame Exclusive:– > More Wargame Exclusive News
Atomic Mass Games released a new Marvel Crisis Protocol set: – > More Atomic Mass Games News
The next Cool Mini or Not Kickstarter launches soon:– > More Cool Mini or Not News
Artel W Miniatures presents a new previews: – > More Artel W Miniatures News
A new teaser picture has been published by Para Bellum Wargames:– > More Para Bellum Wargames News
Wargames Atlantic published a new preview of their plastic New Kingdom Egyptians:– > More Wargames Atlantic News
New previews have been published by Warlord Games:– > More Warlord Games News
Hardcore Miniatures presents new Space Dwarves: – > More Hardcore Miniatures News
And Rubicon Models presents a new preview: – > More Rubicon Models News

And here are the new Kickstarter campaigns:
Red Box Games – Warbands of the Cold North VIAstland – Statue of Warden Priest 3d printable stl/miniatureBunch-O-Minis – Battle MaidensFrostforge Gaming – Battlebinder modular map tiles for DnD & Tabletop roleplayOld School Miniatures – OSM Presents Trouble in the Kitchen or Never trust an OgreMatagot – YucatanAusten – The Medieval Barons HouseFoxy Models – Anissa, Duel Wielding Assassin STL’sEpoch Possibilities – Epoch Tiles | Magnetic, Flippable TTRPG Tiles and TerrainRogue Sculpts – Snow Rest For The WickedTabletop Modellbau Joerg Cappel – 3D printable bridge stl files. 3 pieces.Mor Milo – Milo’s Amazing DiceCoastal Creations 3D – Spray Stick P.W.Y.WMaria de Jesus – Meloona Queen Fanart 3d Printable stlPete Ruttman – Make 100: Tabletop Gaming TokensBrother Ming Games – FE Metal DiceKiril Tchangov – Paper Miniature Graveyard SetAdmiral Apocalypse – 💀Necropolis set, the Cursed Area👻Medusa Miniatures – Flesh, Clay, Stone, and Iron GOLEMS Pre-Supported STL filesKeith Karnage – Paladin | Heroes of the Realm #1andArchon Studio – Rampart: budget-friendly Wargaming Terrain
And if you want to stay up to date, head over to the Tableto

‘Power Rangers’ & ‘Transformers’ RPGs Up For Pre-Order, PDFs Out Now

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Both the Power Rangers and Transformers RPGs are available for pre-order now from Renegade Games. But you won’t have to wait to start playing.

Do you want to bathe in 90s nostalgia? Tired of rummaging through the t-shirt section of a department store and seeing Seinfeld, the Simpsons, and Friends staring out at you? Ah, the vacuous cultural repetition that saw cool Looney Tunes on every backpack in every American middle school.
Well, then you’re in luck. Two RPGs steeped in nostalgia but bristling with modern design promise a wild time.
In the wake of the massive success of D&D, Hasbro has turned its eye towards the other IP in its wheelhouse. And while there’s no news yet of a Peppa Pig tabletop game, it’s only a matter of time. But leading the charge are the Mighty Morphin’ Power Rangers and Transformers. Through the brilliant design team at Renegade Games, we’ll get a chance to explore these worlds firsthand on your tabletop. Both of the RPGs are available now for pre-order, but you don’t have to wait to play them. When you pre-order a physical copy, you get a PDF immediately. What are you waiting for?

Power Rangers Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook – $55

Pre-order now for a January 26 release! Orders received now may not arrive before the release date of January 26. And order the Power Rangers Roleplaying Game Core book today and get early access to the PDF!
For a limited time, pre-orders will come with a PDF copy of the Power Rangers Roleplaying Game at no additional cost. Any order cancellation involving a free PDF will only refund the price of the physical book minus the price of the PDF.
Become a Power Ranger and protect […] the Earth against the evil forces of Rita Repulsa, Lord Zedd, Master Vile, and more! Whether you interrupt Rita’s monster attacks in her attempt of world domination or defeat the forces of the Machine Empire from invading Earth, there is no limit to the heroic stories you will tell.
In the Power Rangers Roleplaying Game, create your ultimate Power Ranger persona. [Combine] personal traits, childhood influences, and your chosen Ranger color to make a hero worthy of the Power!
This book contains everything you need to create your own Power Rangers character and play the game[.] Just add dice, some friends, and your imagination:

Complete rules for players and Game Masters focused on fun storytelling and epic combat
Character creation tools, weapons, equipment, Zords, and more from the Zordon era
Combat and exploration information, detailed locations in Angel Grove, and tools to get your campaign started
An introductory adventure for 1st-level characters that is ready to play with your new character

Transformers Roleplaying Game Core Rulebook – $55

Pre-Order now for a March 2022 release!
For a limited time, pre-orders will come with a PDF copy of the Transformers Roleplaying Game at no additional cost. Any order cancellation involving a free PDF will only refund the price of the physical book minus the price of the PDF.
In the Transformers Roleplaying game, create your own Autobot character[.] [W]age your battle to destroy the evil forces of the Decepticons! Whether defending Earth against Megatron’s plans of attack, searching for elusive stores of Energon, or protecting innocent humans and Cybertronians alike, your game is only limited by the stories you create!
This book contains everything you need to create your own Transformers robot character and play the game[.] [J]ust add dice, some friends, and your imagination:

Complete rules for players and Game Masters focused on fun storytelling and epic combat
Character creation tools, weapons, equipment, vehicles, and villain dossiers
Combat and exploration information, details of secret bases and special equipment, and tools to get your campaign started
An introductory adventure for 1st-level characters that is ready to play with your new character

General

The Song Undying: Magic

5 years ago Bert Ballast

These spells were developed by Salamondre and the cult, harnessing the power of the Song Undying and the Thrice-Cursed Heart. These spells can be used by any suitable NPCs or creatures associated with the Song Undying. Also provided is a more detailed description of the ritual used by the cult to create their undead minions.

Lullaby

Enchantment cantripCasting Time: 1 actionRange: 30 feetComponents: VDuration: 1 minute

You sing a lullaby to a target within range. If the target fails a Wisdom saving throw, it has disadvantage on saving throws against spells and effects that cause sleep for the duration of the spell.

Luring Melody

2nd-level enchantment (bard, sorcerer)Casting Time: 1 actionRange: 60 feetComponents: V, SDuration: Concentration, up to 10 minutes

You use a hypnotic melody to compel creatures to follow you. Choose a specific type of creature (such as goblins, rats, and so on) to be affected by the spell. Once you have a specific type of creature, you can be as specific or general as you like (such as all goblins or only white rats). All creatures of the chosen type within range of the spell must succeed at a Wisdom saving throw or be charmed until the spell ends. As a bonus action on your subsequent turns for the duration, you can continue the melody. You can stop at any time and end the spell.

While charmed by the spell, a creature is incapacitated. If a charmed creature is more than 5 feet away from you, it must move on its turn toward you by the most direct route. The charmed creature will avoid any obvious dangers, such as hostile creatures or dangerous terrain. If a charmed creature takes damage, it can repeat the saving throw. A charmed target can also repeat the saving throw at the end of each of its turns. If the saving throw is successful, the effect ends on it.

Note of Discord

2nd-level evocation (bard, sorcerer)Casting Time: 1 actionRange: 30 feetComponents: VDuration: Instantaneous

You sing out a discordant note that assaults the senses of the listener, unbalancing them. Enemy creatures within a 30-foot-radius sphere centered on you must succeed on a Dexterity saving throw when you cast this spell or be affected by it.

An affected creature has disadvantage on attack rolls and on Dexterity checks and saving throws until the beginning of your next turn. If a creature fails its save by 5 or more, it is incapacitated until the beginning of your next turn.

Note of Harmony

3rd-level enchantment (bard, sorcerer)Casting Time: 1 actionRange: 30 feetComponents: VDuration: Instantaneous

You sing a magical note that harmonizes your allies, increasing your chances of success. All allies within 30 feet of you when you cast this spell gain advantage on attacks, saving throws, and skill checks made until the beginning of your next turn.

RITUAL OF REJUVENATION

This ritual is used in one of two ways. First, it can be used to return the dead to seeming life (actually unlife), restoring the body and reinstating the soul back into the restored body. Second, it can be used to rejuvenate a living creature, restoring it physically and removing any harmful diseases or poisons: this process converts the living creature into an undead creature, though one that resembles the living version of the creature, at least physically.

Salamondre, who has mastered the Song Undying, or so he claims, leads the ritual. He is typically accompanied by higher-ranking members of the cult known as the Greater Choir. Most of these are living cultists, though occasionally some of the reborn join in. The ritual is also supported by the Lesser Choir, a group of hollow ones who provide additional voices and thus more power to the magic of the ritual. Occasionally, Salamondre will perform the ritual with only the Lesser Choir, either due to members of the Greater Choir being preoccupied elsewhere or simply because he is testing himself, working to improve his command over the Heart and his mastery of the Song Undying.

For the ritual, the Thrice-Cursed Heart is brought forth from the locked iron box in the cult’s reliquary and installed within a great crystal chandelier that hangs in the cult’s central shrine. The light from the Heart makes an enchanting display when it shines through the crystal of the chandelier. This fixture also serves a second purpose: it enhances the music that emanates from the Heart: the crystals hum and reverberate with the music, providing another layer of sound that is woven into the ritual. The Lesser Choir is installed on choral risers in an adjacent area while the Greater Choir, if present, joins Salamondre in a circle within the shrine, around the central area where the Heart is suspended. The subject of the ritual lies at the room’s center, beneath the chandelier. The Song Undying is then sung, its wordless vocals manipulating matter and energy, restoring flesh to dry bone or restoring a withered body to its prime. A single ritual session takes 4 hours and is taxing upon its participants. Living creatures involved in the ritual each receive a level of exhaustion as the ritual draws upon their life energies to fuel the magic. In this time, skeletal remains can rise as a hollow one, or a hollow one can become a reborn, though it cannot pass as fully living without at least one more ritual performed upon it, sometimes two or three, depending on the individual. A living creature subjected to the ritual becomes a reborn after three ritual sessions.

Finder’s Archives – Cathedral of Serra

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Hi everyone, and welcome back to the Finder’s Archives.
In this column, we take some of the lands from Magic: The Gathering and turn them into something you can use for your fantasy games.
The stats given in each entry assumes that you’re using Pathfinder or 5e for your games, but they can easily be converted over into any fantasy system. This week we find celestial refuge at the Cathedral of Serra.

Cathedral of Serra
The Cathedral of Serra is located atop a single carved mountaintop peak. It’s taken the people who live here hundreds of years of unceasing work to carve the mountain top into a semblance of what they’d find on their home among the celestial planes. The cathedral is devoted to an unbelievably powerful magic-user (though no one is quite sure what type of magic she wielded) named Serra — she was powerful enough that not only did she create a home among the celestial planes, but she ascended to demi-godhood before mysteriously vanishing. The people living at the Cathedral hope and pray that one day she will return to them, but until then they will rigorously try to live up to her ideals.
Those who come here often seek knowledge from the Cathedral’s vast library on planar travel and the various traits of different planes. Some come here though, simply to serve Serra in doing as much good as they can.
Lay of the Land
The Cathedral of Serra sits atop a single mountain peak where a gigantic staircase with more than 10,000 steps has been carved into it. It is therefore relatively easy, though exhausting, to ascend from the bottom of the mountain and up to the Cathedral at the top. Above the Cathedral float several towers, that are turned upside down, from where angels and magic users can survey and protect the Cathedral and the lands around it.
The levitating towers are made in the image of the plane that Serra created. There, floating buildings are common, though the upside-down part of them is supposed to serve as a reflection of the fact that they’re no longer a part of the celestial planes or world. This serves the spellcasters just fine, though the angels seem to have a bit of an issue with it. Avians and other flying creatures are easily confused around the towers, especially if they have wings, as each tower has its own gravitational pull, forcing those around it to align with it so that the rest of the world becomes upside down in comparison.
DangersAside from the gravitic pull that each tower exudes, the lands near the Cathedral of Serra are safe, IF you come here with good intentions. If you come here with evil in your heart or with bad intentions of causing harm to others, you’ll find yourself beset by a squad of celestials (typically devas (PF2 / 5e ) but occasionally more powerful creatures will emerge. These will question the intruder in question and will banish them if they do not find their answer to their liking. If the intruders cause more trouble than the devas are able to handle, they’ll call upon “The Illuminated One,” a solar (PF2 / 5e) said to serve Serra directly.
And that concludes the Cathedral of Serra. See you next week? 😊
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Kim Frandsen

D&D: ‘Level Up’ Is Free On Foundry VTT

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Level Up, the Advanced 5th Edition ruleset, is available now for free on the Foundry virtual tabletop platform.

Fans of Level Up, the Advanced 5th Edition ruleset, will find it easier to play their games online now. The Level Up ruleset is out on Foundry.

According to a release from EN World, the beta release is available. The initial release is a roll-out of everything you need to play the game, but there are even more new features rolling out over the coming weeks.
Here’s a look at what’s in the beta package, via EN World.

We’re excited to present the beta release of the Foundry VTT Level Up system! The system is game-ready, but this release is only the beginning: you can expect plenty of new features over the coming weeks.
The core sheets provide handy automation features, from roll buttons to automatic resource tracking, as well as rich filtering to help keep your sheet organised.
While we packed a lot into this first release, some major features are yet to come. These include an interface to manage Active Effects and a suite of system compendiums containing all the great monsters, equipment, spells, and features from the Level Up system.
If you’re looking to give Level Up a chance, this is a great way to do exactly that. Since its release, Level Up has had an eye on online play. With a perfect starter adventure and character sheet on Roll20, and an eye towards other VTT, it’ll be easier than ever to jump into Level Up‘s 5th Edition crunchiness on the internet.
Happy Adventuring!

BoLS PRIME: People Have Been Putting Bunnies In Games Since The Dawn Of RPGs

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Roleplaying games’ history is full of dungeons and also dragons. But gaming is just as full of fluffy bunnies, often carrying swords.
What is it about rabbits and roleplaying? There’s a sort of evolutionary cycle to fantasy adventure. It starts with fairly serious stuff. Grim warriors wielding magic swords. And then not long after come the animals. Rabbits, mice, talking critters of all stripes take up adorable swords and adventure. The same holds true for roleplaying games.
Sure, they had their origins in Dungeons & Dragons, but not long after, during the elder days of gaming, came the bunnies. And not Bugs Bunny either–though Toon is probably worth its own place in history. But actual bunnies. The year is 1976 and the game is Bunnies & Burrows.Bunnies & Burrows At Fantasy Games Unlimited
Bunnies & Burrows was one of the earliest RPGs. Released two short years after Dungeons & Dragons, the game was published by a company known as Fantasy Games Unlimited. They made a name for themselves in the early days as a war/board games company. But after D&D came along, it became apparent that roleplaying games were on the rise. And FGU sought to capture that energy. Their first few releases were all about giving gamers who sought more than just dungeons & dragons a place to root around. With games like Chivalry & Sorcery and Psi Wor…

7 Wonders creator and D&D writer headline adventure collection for Dungeon Fighter RPG One More Quest

5 years ago Bert Ballast

One More Quest, the upcoming RPG spin-off from dexterity game Dungeon Fighter, will receive an adventure collection featuring familiar names from the worlds of tabletop gaming, video games, comics and more, Dicebreaker can reveal.

The Adventures Mixtape will feature scenarios from over a dozen writers spanning tabletop RPGs, board games, video games, comic books and animated series. The book will be separate to One More Quest’s core rules, which sees the very literal dice-throwing of Dungeon Fighter resolve various tests and encounters. Depending on the situations their characters find themselves in, players may need to aim at the target with extra challenges such as throwing from under the table or dancing as they chuck.

Among the 14 creators contributing to the supplement will be board game designer Antoine Bauza, creator of 7 Wonders, Hanabi and Takenoko. Also on the list is Sarah Madsen, an author and game designer with credits on books including last year’s Dungeons & Dragons 5E release Candlekeep Mysteries – to which she contributed haunted mining-town mystery A Deep and Creeping Darkness – and an adventure for Warhammer: Age of Sigmar RPG Soulbound.

Bauza’s contribution to The Adventures Mixtape is described as “a hella funny ghost story” following a dandy prince in search of a joke’s punchline cut short by the joke-teller’s untimely demise, with the players’ adventurers sent on a quest to summon the spirit of the comic to discover its ending.

Maden, meanwhile, has penned “a wonderfully camp scenario” about rescuing a princess from a cursed party that requires its unfortunate attendees to dance until the music stops or they expire from exhaustion. A Horrible Guild representative told Dicebreaker that the adventure is set in a castle that “looks like a late-90s Hot Topic threw up all over it”.

Bauza and Madsen will be the first of 14 contributors to be revealed over the course of One More Quest’s upcoming Kickstarter campaign, with Horrible Guild teasing “some big and some crazy names” among those yet to be revealed. The anthology will comprise 14 different scenarios – one from each writer given “total freedom” in their adventure – that fit with One More Quest’s wider lore and fantasy setting of Middlewhere.

One More Quest is due to launch on Kickstarter on January 25th. A free set of quickstart rules is already available.

Bundle of Holding Encore!

5 years ago Bert Ballast

The books may have come to their conclusion, but you can keep the story going at your own game table with The Expanse RPG available now for an amazing deal at the Bundle of Holding!Check it out Right Here!In case you missed it when this bundle was previously available at the end of 2020, it’s back for an encore!From the Bundle of Holding page:For just US$19.95 you get all six titles in this revived offer’s Modern Collection (retail value $84) as DRM-free ebooks, including the complete Modern AGE Basic Rulebook and the Modern AGE Companion; the cross-dimensional campaign setting Threefold; Enemies & Allies for Threefold and other Modern AGE games; the adventure Missions: Warflower; and the Modern AGE Game Master’s Kit.And if you pay more than the threshold price of $31.60, you’ll level up and also get this revival’s entire Expanse Collection with four more titles — the entire Expanse RPG line to date, worth an additional $60 — including The Expanse RPG standalone core rulebook and Game Master’s Kit, the full-length six-scenario campaign Abzu’s Bounty, and the short adventure Salvage Op.And that’s not all!Ten percent of your payment (after gateway fees) will be donated to this offer’s pandemic-related charity, Direct Relief. Direct Relief sends protective gear and critical care medications to health workers, with emergency deliveries to medical facilities across the US and Canada and to regional response agencies around the world.Evan (he/him) got his start in tabletop games in 1995, as a co-founder of Rubicon Games. Among other games, he has worked on Cranium, Cranium Hullabaloo, and the Pokémon trading card game. RPGs he has edited for include Everway, Ork! The Roleplaying Game, Spaceship Zero, Warhammer Fantasy second edition, the d20 System, A Song of Ice and Fire, Mutants & Masterminds, Dragon Age, Fantasy AGE, Modern AGE, Blue Rose, Pathfinder, and Critical Role (5e). He has been managing our web sites since about 2002. He co-designed Walk the Plank, our card game of piratical trick taking, currently available in print-on-demand format via DriveThruCards.com.

Dungeons & Dragons

Putting the Fur in Firbolg: The Evolution of a Character Race

5 years ago Bert Ballast

http://www.dndbeyond.com/posts/287-putting-the-fur-in-firbolg-the-evolution-of-a

General

'Questlings RPG' Heads to Retail

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Leitman Games will release Questlings RPG into retail on January 26, 2022.
In Questlings RPG, players take on the roles of two characters. The first character is the player as their kid form, and the other is them as their Inner Hero that kid form wants to be. This game sends each players’ two characters off on an adventure that is driven by a map and a storybook. This game is designed by Banana Chan and Tim Devine, and is aimed at family audiences.Questlings RPG is for two to five players, ages 6 and up, and plays in 40-120 minutes. It will retail for $19.99.

General

Marvel's 'Eternals: The 500 Year War' Coming to Webtoon

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Marvel will place its first comic on the Webtoon platform on January 20, when it launches the seven-part series Eternals: The 500-Year War. The series went live on the Marvel Unlimited app on January 12.
Eternals: The 500-Year War was produced in Marvel’s “Infinity Comics” vertical-scroll format, which is similar to that used by Webtoon. The story features the Eternals fighting the Deviants at various times and places around the world, with each episode spotlighting a different culture and featuring a different creative team. The creators for the project include writers Dan Abnett, Aki Yanagi, Jongmin Shin, Ju-Yeon Park, David Macho, Rafael Scavone, and Yifan Jiang, artists Geoffo, Rickie Yagawa, Do Gyun Kim, Magda Price, Marcio Fiorito, and Gunji, and colorists Matt Milla, Carlos Macias, Fernando Sifuentes, Pete Pantazis, and Felipe Sobreiro.This is Marvel’s first comic to run on Webtoon, and it ties in with the recent film The Eternals (see “‘Eternals’ Crosses $100 Million”). DC announced its collaboration with the platform last year (see “DC Universe Characters Are Coming to Webtoon”).
Click Gallery to see covers!

D&D: The Five Best Paladin Subclasses

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Whether you’re fighting or smiting, being a Paladin is pretty great. Here are the five best Paladin subclasses.

Paladins are a class of special bean unto themselves. Where Fighters rely on strength of arms, and magic-users relied on spells, Paladins get to blend both. And in 5th Edition, one of the best things you can be is a Paladin. In fact overall, Paladins are one of the stronger classes. Not overpowered, but they’re good enough that subclass almost doesn’t matter. Even so, the right subclass can take you even further.

With an array of Oaths that you can swear to follow and uphold what should you pick? Do you Devote yourself to healing the needy? Do you swear an Oath of Vengeance? For our money, these are the five best fighter subclasses in 5th Edition.
Oath of Watchers

Oath of the Watchers Paladins are one of the new Paladin subclasses introduced in Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything. They’re dedicated to protecting the mortal realm from extraplanar threats, and if that sounds rad? Congratulations, you’ve got good taste.
They’re also one of the better Paladin subclasses out there. Just being a Paladin gets you so much good stuff it’s hard to stand out, even the weakest Paladin subclasses have a lot going for them. But, the Oath of the Watchers gets you some pretty spicy bonus spells, most notably Counterspell, so you can shut down spellcasters. And at level 7 you get to give everyone within 10 feet of you that you choose your proficiency bonus to their initiative. Which is huge.
Oath of Glory

Oath of Glory Paladins are great. They’re charged with heading out to kick butt in the name of adventure and greatness. They’re also able to use their Channel Divinity to give their allies temporary hit points at a rate that scales extremely well with level.
Alongside all of this, you get to be a Paladin. And you get to be a Paladin that can cast Haste. And Heroism. Sure, it has its flaws: the Aura of Alacrity is one of the worst auras you can get. But it’s not enough to deny the utility of this Paladin flavor, or to give it a place of honor among the top five.
Oath of Vengeance

The Oath of Vengeance Paladin is all about pursuing evil and making sure justice is meted out. Usually at the point of a sword. But hey, this is D&D. Most things are meted out at swordpoint.
Like the Oath of Glory you get some amazing spells on your list with this subclass. Only it’s even better. Not only do you get Haste, you get Misty Step at 5th level, which is amazing for anyone, especially a Paladin. On top of that, you can use your Channel Divinity to frighten one creature for a full minute, or to halve the speed of your target even if they save.
This lets you shut down or at least severely inconvenience a foe. Or you can Channel Divinity to give yourself advantage against one creature until you drop it. And at 7th level, your Aura is a fantastic ability that won’t always come up, but will feel great whenever it does. You get to move as part of your opportunity attacks.
Oath of Devotion

Probably the most classic Paladin, and consequently one of the strongest. The Oath of Devotion is the one to take if you want to feel the most like a Paladin. It’s also one of the best ones you can pick up.
You get decent spells and your Channel Divinity lets you add your Charisma modifier to your attack rolls, ensuring that you can hit a target even harder. Of course, you’ll want to make sure you don’t use it on a trivial fight–it lasts a minute but if you shut the enemy down after two rounds, was it worth it?
Even so, this Paladin gets Dispel Magic and Lesser Restoration, making it even Paladin-ier.
Oath of Conquest

The only thing better is probably the Oath of Conquest. Which is one of the least Paladin-y Paladins. But people love it, and it’s not hard to see why.
This is the Paladin all about fear and loathing (and not just in Las Vegas). You get Command and Spiritual Weapon, which can help you in a fight. As well you get Fear, which as a spell plays extremely well with your Subclass.
The whole subclass fits together. Every element feeds into the rest. Your Channel Divinity options either make you hit real hard, turning a miss into a hit OR you can frighten each target you choose within 30 feet. And you want to do that, because when you do, you start damaging your enemies.
At 7th level your Aura of Conquest immobilizes and damages any creature within 10 feet of you that is frightened of you. It’s the gift that keeps on giving.
What are your picks for best D&D Paladin Subclass? Let us know in the comments!

Dungeons & Dragons

Level Up Is Now On Foundry

5 years ago Bert Ballast

We’re excited to present the beta release of the Foundry VTT Level Up system! The system is game-ready, but this release is only the beginning: you can expect plenty of new features over the coming weeks.The core sheets provide handy automation features, from roll buttons to automatic resource tracking, as well as rich filtering to help keep your sheet organised.While we packed a lot into this first release, some major features are yet to come. These include an interface to manage Active Effects and a suite of system compendiums containing all the great monsters, equipment, spells, and features from the Level Up system.We hope you enjoy playing Level Up on Foundry!If you have any feedback or want to report an issue, you can get help here.

D&D: The Worst People On Oerth

5 years ago Bert Ballast

When it comes to Greyhawk, the world is populated by some truly horrendous folks… and these are five of the worst people on Oerth.

Greyhawk, as a setting, might live in the shadow of its younger sibling, Forgotten Realms, or its cooler cousins, Dark Sun, Planescape, and even Spelljammer (Spelljammer is definitely the setting most likely to be either on a skateboard or wearing sunglasses but eating comically in a 90s movie). But it is full of many of D&D’s most iconic figures.
If you’ve cast a spell with someone’s name in it, odds are good they’re from here. Greyhawk is one of the original settings, and today we’re looking at some of the worst people in that world.
Acererak

Okay when it comes to being terrible, Acererak (pronounced “Ah-sair-ack”) is one of the best places to start. He is the original evil wizard that did it. Acererak built the legendary Tomb of Horrors, which is about as casually cruel as you can get.
But beyond that, he’s also the son of a balor, so he’s literally an evil wizard and a demon. Acererak has done all kinds of pretty monstrous things and loves to play with Spheres of Annihilation, leaving them where an adventurer can just stick their head inside and that’s the end of that.
He was an apprentice of Vecna, which brings us to…
Vecna

That’s right, Vecna, god of undeath and secrets or possibly just really powerful at being a lich, he is probably one of the iconic evil wizards out of Greyhawk. Powerful enough to have two separate artifacts in the book, there is nothing pleasant about Vecna.
He wrote a significant chunk of the Book of Vile Darkness, a literal evil book that your character might find–nothing good can come from finding anything even remotely associated with Vecna. Not to mention the atrocities that he’s borne out on people in Greyhawk. He destroyed the city of Fleeth, slaughtering the entire population.
And that’s before he became a god, maybe, or is trapped in Ravenloft, depending on what edition you’re playing in.
Iggwilv

Iggwilv, who also wrote an evil book, the Demonomicon of Iggwilv, is another of Greyhawk’s evil mages. She is unimaginatively the daughter of Baba Yaga, yes, that Baba Yaga. Once she slips out into the world, Iggwilv is responsible for a whole number of terrible things.
Not the least of which is summoning and imprisoning multiple demon lords, including Graz’zt and Fraz-Urb’luu, from whom she stole many secrets.
Zagyg

Zagyg Yragerne is E. Gary Gygax spelled backwards. Zagyg is the god of Humor, Eccentricity, Occult Lore, and Unpredictability in Greyhawk. Gygax was a very subtle man who decided his self-insert character should be a literal god in his own world.
It does cast a disturbing light on the “scandalous apprenticeship” of Iggwilv (because Zagyg took her as an apprentice). And for the most part, Zagyg goes around just imprisoning beings at the behest of Boccob.
He famously “promotes enlightened neutrality and uncertain humor”. He also delights in “imposing his jokes on all he meets, preferably in a way that leaves them wondering for some time afterwards,” which is all you need to know.
Mordenkainen

Mordenkainen, on the other hand, is probably the worst person on Oerth. He’s the head of a vast circle of “enlightened mages” who consider themselves above it all known as the 8. And is fanatically devoted to neutrality, to the point where he will go out of his way to destroy powerful evil beings as well as powerful good beings just to keep things balanced. He’s the king of “well I’m comfortable where I am, so I must fight to maintain my status quo.”
Mordenkainen is the sort of wizard who just wants to know what’s so great about good. And what’s so bad, really, about evil? He’s just asking, just wanting to promote discussion. But if you’re not going to answer him, that just proves his point.
Mordenkainen is the That Guy of That Guys, is what I’m saying.
Who would you say are the worst people on Oerth?

Critical Role animated series gets new trailer, premiere airs later this month

5 years ago Bert Ballast

The latest trailer for the animated series based on the first Critical Role campaign, The Legend of Vox Machina, has been released.
A new trailer for the upcoming animated show adapted from campaign one of Critical Role has been launched, ahead of the series premiere taking place later this month. Posted via the official YouTube account for Amazon Prime Video – the studio responsible for producing the show – The Legend of Vox Machina Official Trailer depicts the ragtag adventuring party, portrayed by the likes of actors Laura Bailey (Vex), Sam Riegal (Scanlen), Ashley Johnson (Pike) and Marisha Ray (Keyleth), being chosen to set out on a quest to save a fantasy world.
Over the course of a two minute trailer, the members of Vox Machina are seen casting classic spells from Dungeons & Dragons – including Scanlen’s iconic use of Mage Hand – fighting off monsters, brawling in bars and meeting with various characters, including someone that could be long-running side-character and merchant Shaun Gilmore. The trailer’s tone is a mixture of bawdy humour, with plenty of swearwords and middle-fingers, and the foreshadowing of foreboding plot-points, indicating that the series seems to be entirely geared to older audiences.

The Legend of Vox Machina is an animated series that was crowdfunded via a Kickstarter campaign which ran during Spring 2019, with the campaign successfully collecting over $11 million (£8 million). Each character in The Legend of Vox Machina has been voiced by the actor who initially portrayed them in the Critical Role actual play series, with Dungeon Master and world-builder Matthew Mercer – also an actor, known for voicing Cole Cassidy in Overwatch – playing multiple roles in the show.
Critical Role is a series that sees a group of actors coming together to play the fantasy roleplaying game Dungeons & Dragons 5E for a live audience on Twitch, before each episode is uploaded onto YouTube. The first campaign of the show focused on the characters of Vox Machina, a mercenary party made up of a bard called Scanlen, a druid called Keyleth, a barbarian called Grog, a ranger called Vex and her rogue brother Vax, as well as a cleric called Pike and a fighter named Percy. After campaign one, a second campaign featuring an adventuring party called The Mighty Nein aired, before a third campaign was launched late last year.

Besides an animated series, Critical Role has also been the basis of several board games – a version of the party game Munchkin to an original title called Uk’otoa – and official sourcebooks for the RPG Dungeons & Dragons, including an upcoming campaign book called Call of the Netherdeep.
The Legend of Vox Machina animated series is set to air on Amazon Prime Video on January 28th.

Jack into a dirty and demonic alternate reality in upcoming RPG Cybermetal 2012

5 years ago Bert Ballast

The gates of Hell opened after world-renowned metal band Death Agent ritually sacrificed Ronald Reagan on stage in 1986, ultimately resulting in the creation of the demon-infested Pentagram City. This is how the currently crowdfunding tabletop RPG Cybermetal 2012 sets stage and tone for its demon-infested, weirdo world.

Created by Adam Vass of World Champ Game Co. (Babes in the Woods, Necronautilus, Campfire), Cybermetal 2012 leans heavily into an aesthetic of gnashing maws, twisted forms and jagged colours. The world of Pentagram City is a fundamentally broken one that still manages to hold the capacity for life and culture, of a sort.

Ruled by the demons the ritual unleashed, the city is cut off from the rest of the world, and its one law is “do what thou wilt”. But resistance clings to the dark corners and jagged edges – a lo-fi cyberpunk awakening among the underclasses that plans to use the drugs, technology and ritualistic power of their oppressor to fuel something bigger and better.

Players of Cyberpunk 2012 will not be at the center of this revolution. Those are not the kinds of stories this game was built to tell. Instead, they will be gutterpunks and burnouts barely clinging to life one day at a time but still doing everything in their power to get by. As Vass writes on the description page: “ You’re an 8-track tape, good for a couple of plays before your broken shell is tossed under the wheels of confusion like worthless trash. You won’t climb the ranks of this city, but you will do what you can to make life better for yourself and other citizens while avoiding the Fuckers out there who want to rip your soul from your body and upload it to the hardwired web.”

The mechanical foundation of the game is fairly simple and will be familiar to those who have played Mothership and Blades in the Dark. Any action that falls outside the ordinary relies on a 100-sided die (often called a d-percentile, or d100) where players want to roll below the appropriate skill threshold. An accompanying ten-sided die rolls each for damage and Fallout – how the situation worsens or improves for the crew.

Player characters can be humans, demons, the animalistic Vermin or the hollowed-out Husks. Hardware installed in and on the body will augment abilities, while the Operating System determines that character’s role (think class in other RPGs). Optional and swappable software further augments these baseline capabilities, providing access to advanced combat moves, social manoeuvres and otherwise unavailable contract work.

Cybermetal 2012 calls itself a “sandbox RPG”, unchaining groups within Pentagram City with no agenda beyond the one they feel compelled to pursue. Players can attempt to destroy or usurp the Powers That Be, or they can record themselves pulling stunts, doing drugs and playing music. Those interested in tasting the game can grab Y2K, a freely available demo for one gamemaster and one player that acts as an introduction to both the setting and rules.

Vass has decided to use Gamefound to crowdfund Cybermetal 2012 and is one of only a few other RPGs to take advantage of the Kickstarter alternative – Down We Go being the other notable project. The platform usually hosts board games, especially big ones full of miniatures, but might become home to more tabletop creators in the wake of Kickstarter’s recent reveal that the company would pursue blockchain technology research, which led to many disavowing its future use.

Cybermetal 2012’s Gamefound campaign runs until February 5th and is currently about halfway to its funding goal. Backers can secure a physical copy for $40 (£29), which also comes with a digital copy redeemable on Itch.io. Vass estimates fulfillment will begin in June of this year.

Upcoming RPGs 2022: 10 tabletop RPG releases you should play

5 years ago Bert Ballast

2022 is shaping up to be one of the biggest years for tabletop roleplaying releases yet. There are a bevy of big releases set to land this year, many of which have been hotly anticipated for a good while now. Though licensed RPGs have been dominating Kickstarter and the retail market recently, with 2022 certainly being no exception, we also wanted to highlight many of the original upcoming RPGs set to hit store shelves – or, in many cases, backers’ hands – over the next 12 months.
Avatar Legends
Yazeba’s Bed and Breakfast
One More Quest
Exquisite Crime
Cy_Borg
Cowboy Bebop RPG
DIE RPG
Fight with Spirit
Flabbergasted
Blade Runner RPG
From adaptations of beloved cartoon series and films to cyberpunk-inspired affairs from talented creators, there’s undoubtedly an RPG for everyone coming out in 2022. It’s incredibly exciting to see the kind of licences being chosen for roleplaying games, alongside the unique mechanics being implemented in the original titles. We’re going to be seeing perhaps one of the most unusual years for RPG releases that we’ve ever witnessed, which only means that the medium is set to be pushed that much further.
Stay abreast of all the best and most brilliant tabletop roleplaying games coming out over 2022 with our list of the upcoming RPGs to play this year.

1. Avatar Legends
Will the biggest TRPG Kickstarter yet be the biggest RPG of 2022?
Release date: Summer 2022

The Kickstarter campaign for Avatar Legends became the most successful crowdfunding campaign for a TRPG on the platform.

The idea of roleplaying in the world of Avatar: The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra sounds great, doesn’t it? As it turns out, we’re far from the only people to feel that way, as the upcoming RPG based on the animated series, Avatar Legends, quickly became the highest-funded tabletop RPG of all time on Kickstarter last summer.
Avatar Legends brings the teenage drama and element-bending action of both ATLA and Korra to the tabletop in faithful fashion, using the Powered by the Apocalypse system also seen in publisher Magpie Games’ roleplaying adaptation of board game Root to capture the feeling of controlling earth, water, fire and air while characters attempt to also maintain personal balance in their emotions and philosophies.
The upcoming RPG doesn’t just stick to the timeframe seen in the TV shows, with the option to play before, during or after the Hundred Year War that precedes the original series, as well as the modernised future of Korra’s era.
Avatar Legends’ full rulebook will see a release this summer following a delay from its planned release in February. Before then, you can get an early taste of the game and explore the Four Nations through its free quickstart.

2. Yazeba’s Bed and Breakfast
Wanderhome’s creators serve up a whimsical mix of Ghibli and Moomins
Kickstarter date: March 2022

Expect plenty of wholesomeness from this next RPG from Possum Creek Games.

Wanderhome was one of the most delightful RPG surprises of last year, serving up a wholesome slice of pastoral fantasy in its pacifist’s paradise of hard-working animals.
The next upcoming RPG from Wanderhome designer Jay Dragon – joined here by co-creator M Veselak – and publisher Possum Creek Games looks to offer up another whimsical wonder. Like Wanderhome, Yazeba’s Bed & Breakfast is a GM-less RPG that veers away from the combat of many traditional fantasy RPGs as it trades D&D for B&B.
Players control permanent residents of the titular guest house, who interact with their fellow long-term inhabitants and NPC guests. Both the players’ characters and visitors are looking for something, inviting players to discover more about each individual and the world over the course of each session and the game’s ongoing campaign. Think the bathhouse staffing of Studio Ghibli classic Spirited Away meets the friendly-neighbour interactions of Animal Crossing and you’re somewhere close.
Marking Yazeba’s departure from the familiar structure of conventional roleplaying games is its deliberately episodic format, inspired by series such as Moomins and Foster’s Home For Imaginary Friends. Each tailormade chapter follows a particular inhabitant of the bed and breakfast, introducing variations on the game’s central gameplay to reflect a distinct mood.
In practice, the game works like a mix of tabletop RPG and legacy board game, which players able to unlock new guests and chapters – tracked via sticker ‘mementos’ – as they play through earlier chapters. The end result is a unique journal of the group’s time together and their experiences with the varied visitors to the bed and breakfast.
Yazeba’s Bed & Breakfast already stands out as one of the most original upcoming RPGs releasing in 2022, and the promise of more secrets and surprises to discover as we play through has us excited to nestle into a comfy chair, sip a warm cup of coffee and crack open its pages.

3. One More Quest
The Dungeon Fighter board game series gets its own RPG spin-off

Kickstarter date: Q1 2022

The world of One More Quest certainly has some strange creatures.

If you’d asked me which board game series would be getting its own roleplaying spin-off game, the Dungeon Fighter franchise wouldn’t exactly be my first guess. A series of excellent dexterity games that have players venturing through dangerous locales as a party of classic fantasy archetypes, whose abilities are triggered via players successfully hitting a target using a set of dice, Dungeon Fighter always occupied its own weird and wonderful place in the tabletop industry – but wasn’t exactly the pinnacle of world-building and characterisation.
However, One More Quest, the spin-off RPG set in the same world as Dungeon Fighter, may just be exactly what the roleplaying doctor ordered. Whilst the setting isn’t anything to write home about – though there is some fun Monty Python-esque humour in there – the mechanics behind One More Quest certainly help it to stand apart from its roleplaying contemporaries. Rather than rolling dice, whenever players want their character to perform an action they must attempt to hit a bullseye target using a die. The closer a player’s die lands to the target, the better the resulting action will be.
Similarly to the board game series the RPG spin-off is based on, players may be given a ridiculous handicap when performing their throw depending on the situation their character finds themselves in. For example, should a player character be attempting to avoid another character’s notice, the player will need to throw their die from underneath the table. Applying fun and unique mechanics to the basic roleplaying structure may ensure that One More Quest stands out from the crowd.

4. Exquisite Crime
Solve a mystery with scribbles in Jiangshi designers’ latest RPG
Release date: June 2022 (digital), December 2022 (boxed)

Players draw their own suspects using each other’s suggestions.

Banana Chan and Sen Foong-Lim became the indie RPG designers of the moment in 2021 with the Kickstarter for Jiangshi: Blood in the Banquet Hall, their RPG that puts players in the roles of a Chinese-American family looking to run a restaurant business by day and fend off the legendary hopping vampires by night.
The designers are back in 2022 with another brilliantly inventive roleplaying game that combines player-driven storytelling with highly original gameplay mechanics. This time, players should prepare to grab a pen and paper.
Exquisite Crime blends together a horror-tinged murder-mystery in need of solving with the traditional drawing game Exquisite Corpse, in which players collaboratively draw a person without seeing their fellow artists’ contributions – leading to often surreal creations.
Players draw vision cards to inspire details about the suspect, victim, location of the crime and witnesses, before describing what they see to another player who draws their interpretation. The process – which recalls deduction board games such as Dixit and Mysterium, only in reverse – is repeated by each player to gradually form the complete depiction of the crime, which is revealed to the group.
Players also have the opportunity to create their detectives investigating each mystery, using Zener cards – repurposed from the debunked 1930s test for extrasensory abilities – in an inventive character creation process.
Exquisite Crime looks set to continue Chan and Foong-Lim’s penchant for groundbreaking roleplaying and storytelling established in Jiangshi and take it in a brand new direction. With its blend of surrealist art creation, player-driven mystery-generation and the comedy-horror of unleashing your friends’ unconscious inspiration, it promises to be something very special.

5. Cy_Borg
Mörk Borg gets a cyberpunk twist in a sci-fi and industrial music inspired spin-off game
Release date: June 2022

As to be expected, technology is a central theme of this dysopian sci-fi RPG.

Released in 2020, Mörk Borg immediately captured the attention of roleplaying game enthusiasts across the industry and community. With it’s striking art-style, dark themes and unusual layout, Mörk Borg was exceptionally hard to ignore. Several Ennie Awards later – those are essentially the highest award an RPG can win – and the heavy metal inspired roleplaying game is already getting its first spin-off in the form of Cy_Borg, whose title is both the most obvious and absolutely genius creative choice ever made.
Taking place in a cyberpunk setting where the consequences of uncontrolled capitalism have fully come home to roost, Cy_Borg sees players becoming misfits fighting back against the corporate systems and policing departments seeking to oppress the people. Whilst Cy_Borg will feature many of the kinds of topics that we’re used to cyberpunk narratives dealing with – capitalism, transhumanism and technology – it’s bound to do it in a way that we’ve likely never seen before, if Mörk Borg is anything to go by.
Having more RPGs be inspired by genres of music is a fantastic thing because it’s a concept that makes so much sense considering how immersive music can make roleplaying. Cy_Borg will be taking inspiration from the industrial and underground hip hop music of the 1990s, which I may have little-to-no knowledge of but that doesn’t mean I’m not excited by the prospect.

5. Cowboy Bebop RPG
The anime RPG prepares to jam
Kickstarter date: H1 2022

The Cowboy Bebop RPG will feature some very recognisable characters.

When it comes to animated series with buckets of style, character and action, few shows match the jazzy sci-fi universe of ‘90s anime Cowboy Bebop. Director Shinichirō Watanabe’s anthology of bounty hunters scouting the solar system for their next paycheck – while also trying to outrun their own past – has been lavished with praise over the last two decades and gone on to inspire countless other series, stories and games.
Even so, it was still a surprise to hear the announcement of an upcoming RPG based on Cowboy Bebop when it landed last year, ahead of its planned Kickstarter and release in 2022. Even more surprising is the fact that fans will be able to continue the adventures of Spike, Jet, Faye and Ed by roleplaying as the characters from the series. In what may be considered good news, the Cowboy Bebop RPG will stick to the original series, without delving into the movie spin-off or short-lived live-action Netflix remake.
While yet another licensed RPG based on a beloved franchise may have you rolling your eyes – you’re certainly not alone in being sceptical – the upcoming RPG’s creators say that it will go beyond just being another D&D reskin, with the promise that the gameplay will have a “jazzy” feel to suit the series’ musical energy. Driving things will be a modified version of Not the End, the acclaimed RPG from Italian design studio Fumble GDR built on a hex-grid traits system and multicoloured dice – here, used in homage to Spike’s heterochromia.
We’ll discover what else Cowboy Bebop: The Roleplaying Game has in store when it launches on Kickstarter in the first half of 2022. Could it be the next massive animated adaptation after Avatar?

7. DIE RPG
A comic book about a tabletop RPG becomes… a tabletop RPG
Kickstarter date: Spring 2022

The concept of the DIE RPG is certainly a unique one, considering it’s an adaptation of a story about roleplaying.

What do you get if you combine a pair of acclaimed comic creators with a beloved group of indie RPG designers? You get DIE RPG, a tabletop RPG based on the tabletop RPG based on the comic book… about a tabletop RPG. Stay with me on this.
DIE RPG adapts the comic book by writer Kieron Gillen and artist Stephanie Hans, which tells the Jumanji-like tale of a group of friends who are sucked into the fantasy world-made-real of a Dungeons & Dragons-esque tabletop roleplaying game. They emerge two years later traumatised and unable to tell the wider world of their ordeal, only to venture back into the meta-world – comprised of a twenty-sided planet in the shape of a d20 – decades later.
Having already adapted DIE into a tabletop RPG freely available as a work-in-progress version for a few years, Gillen and Hans have now joined forces with indie roleplaying darlings Rowan, Rook and Deckard to publish an official DIE RPG. The full release will clean up Gillen’s existing beta ruleset – now dubbed DIE Core – introduce support for longer campaigns and expand the overall gameplay and lore offering.
Originally scheduled to launch on Kickstarter last autumn, the DIE RPG campaign slipped into 2022 due to the ongoing worldwide paper shortage and shipping crisis. The upcoming RPG is now expected to land something this spring, with its fascinating source material and the combined acclaim and talents of its creator supergroup set to make it one of the most promising upcoming RPGs of the next 12 months.

8. Fight with Spirit
The sports anime-inspired roleplaying game of all our dreams is finally arriving
Release date: December 2022

Players will have access to lots of tools to help them to tell their sports team stories.

I may not be an expert on sports anime – or any anime of any kind, really – that’s very much a position held by our beloved Matt Jarvis, but what I do know about is the 2000 classic teen sports comedy film Bring it On!. So, when I heard there was going to be a tabletop RPG inspired by said 2000 classic teen sports comedy coming out in 2022, I was immediately interested in hearing more.
Fight with Spirit is a TRPG that looks to help games masters and players tell their own stories about underdog basketball teams overcoming the odds, or ice hockey players setting aside their differences to band together and win the big tournament. What’s so great about Fight with Spirit is that it seems to be setting out to pay as much attention to the drama side of things, as much as the sports. Depending on the ambitions, traits and type of team that the players choose from, they’ll have their own unique journey through the trials and tribulations of competitive sporting.
In Fight with Spirit, players won’t just be forming bonds and relationships with their fellow teammates, but will also have the opportunity to establish relationships – even romantic ones – with characters from rival teams as well, which is sure to make for some pretty engaging storylines. The creators behind Fight with Spirit have already proven their ability to make some brilliant RPGs, such as the Jane Austin inspired Good Society, but the premise alone should be enough to get people interested in Fight with Spirit.

9. Flabbergasted
Blunder your way through high society in a comedy RPG inspired by Fawlty Towers
Release date: August 2022

Flabbergasted’s art-style does an amazing job of communicating the game’s lighthearted tone.

It kind of feels like Flabbergasted was designed for me, Alex Meehan. When I was younger, I used to watch a show called Jeeves and Wooster with my mum, and if that was ever made into a roleplaying game it would be Flabbergasted. In the TRPG, players become aspiring members of the upper-classes of the early 20th century. But rather than feeling yucky and disingenuous like an RPG centred around the wealthy might feel, it comes across as self-aware and charming.
Instead of having players live out fantasy lives in the luxuries of wealth, Flabbergasted depicts the world of the rich socialites as being utterly ridiculous and irresistibly mockable. Players are encouraged to create characters who do not fit in with the upper-classes or otherwise fully embody the worst traits of the Bright Young Things. Even though the focus of Flabbergasted is on the wealthy, players are allowed to make characters from a variety of classes, thereby making the perfect setup for classic British comedy – afterall, the UK is obsessed with class. Players can expect to encounter various ludicrous scenarios across the fictional city of Peccadilo, with some characters wanting to avoid embarrassment as much as possible and others actively seeking it out.
It’s just fantastic to see more roleplaying games being made that aren’t wholly centred around combat. Flabbergasted is the kind of TRPG that I was born to play and one that I cannot wait to devise an accent for.

10. Blade Runner RPG
The world of Ridley Scott’s classic science fiction film is brought to life in its first RPG adaptation
Release date: 2022

In the world of Blade Runner, the streets of Los Angeles become a battleground between humans and androids.

There are a lot of licensed roleplaying games set to be released in 2022, but aside from the already hotly anticipated Avatar RPG, the Blade Runner TRPG might be the one I’m most excited about. Both the original Blade Runner and its amazing sequel, Blade Runner 2049, are some of my favourite films of all time, so it’s definitely a licence that I’m passionate about. I’ve already written quite a bit on why I think Blade Runner could make for an amazing setting for a roleplaying game, purely on account of the way the initial film treats its world and environments. But there’s even more to the excitement than that.
Firstly, the publisher, Free League Publishing, has already proven that it can create fantastic and faithful RPG adaptations of Scott’s films with the Alien RPG, which accurately translates the tense atmosphere of the 1979 horror masterpiece. Secondly, the game’s setting doesn’t seem to be entirely piggy-backing off the films, as the RPG is set to take place in the time between the first and second movies. This means that Free League is, well, free to establish aspects of the setting we might not have seen before and make its own creative mark. Whilst players will be blade runners – the policing force tasked with finding and destroying illegal androids – there’s still so much about the premise for games masters and players to explore narratively, morally and emotionally.
The artwork revealed for the Blade Runner RPG is already so evocative of the spirit of the films that it makes me physically shake in excitement. The murky time frame between the original Blade Runner and 2049 offers plenty of opportunities for GMs and players to tell their own narratives, which are sure to stay true to many of the amazing themes that the franchise is known for – from the corruption of the police force to the nature of humanity itself.

MACE 25 – Attendee Reactions To North Carolina’s Legendary Tabletop Gaming Convention

5 years ago Bert Ballast

MACE 25 ran from November 12 to 14, 2021 at the Hilton Charlotte University Place in Charlotte, North Carolina. As the 25th anniversary show for this regional tabletop gaming convention, it marked a milestone in its history, a major milestone for one of the better known gaming couples in attendance at the con, and a return from the 2020 Covid hiatus. I attended the show as a publisher offering copies of my RPG zines and other books from my RPG library. As I do with most conventions I attend, I asked some of the attendees what they thought of the show. In this article, I talk to Jeff Smith, the convention’s owner, Jodi and Clint Black of Pinnacle Entertainment Group and Carolina Game Tables, and Christina Stiles of Christina Stiles Presents and Misfit Studios about MACE 25, how the convention felt after a year off, and why they keep returning to this show.
Egg Embry and Jodi Black (Right) at MACE 25
Jodi Black, COO for Pinnacle Entertainment Group and President of Carolina Game Tables, attended along with Clint Black, Savage Worlds Core Rules Brand Manager for Pinnacle Entertainment Group and co-owner of Carolina Game Tables. She shared her thoughts on the show and its meaning to them.
“Clint and I attended MACE as attendees so we could simply play games and celebrate our 25th wedding anniversary (it was also MACE’s 25th anniversary). There’s always a heavy emphasis on RPGs, and player slots fill up quickly. GMs get free or reduced price badges depending on the number of games they run, but there was a shortage of GMs this year due to Covid. Plenty of players, though! I think people are ready to game again.
“MACE has been our FAVORITE game convention for years now and here’s why:
“It’s local. You don’t need to make epic journeys to find people to play games with. Find a local con and build your gamer relationships. You’ll have a greater pool of gamers to build your home groups with, and they are your support network in bad times.
“They have a great selection of diverse RPGs and board games. We’ve seen a few ‘monoculture’ gaming cons. Having the chance to try new games is part of the fun. But if you only want Organized Play you can scratch that itch, too. We won’t judge.
“It’s ONLY for face-to-face games. No costume contest, karaoke, anime screenings, etc. We love those things too but there are plenty of conventions who try to do everything to cover everyone. By focusing on tabletop for card, board, LARP (usually one but not this year that we saw), and RPG you know you’re going to meet people who are really into the same things you are!
Egg Embry Publishing’s MACE 25 Dealer Table
“It’s the best organized gaming convention we’ve ever seen. I don’t want to throw shade at other systems out there, but MACE has their own tabletop game registration system AND your schedule is printed on the back of your badge. You never forget when you’re playing and where! You can still find a pickup game (in a normal year) or waitlist for a full game, but people show up for these games. The busiest gaming room we were in this year was at 9am on Sunday. SUNDAY, people!
“Built-in meal breaks. They don’t schedule games around lunch and dinner. You don’t have to choose to skip a game session just to eat a real meal. And in a normal year the Grinning Goblin will take your dinner order ahead of time, have it ready for pickup at the start of the dinner slot, and have even been known to deliver to the game table if there are enough helpers. Now that’s what I call service, and it’s not just for VIPS, it’s what they do for everyone. I recommend tipping.
“No badge required for the Vendor Hall. As a vendor, that’s amazing. Word gets around, locally. Even if you don’t have time to game, gamers will still come to the con to shop the vendors. Why don’t more cons do that? Why buy a badge just to be able to spend money? That was the con philosophy way back when, and I wish more cons adopted it.
“It’s not too big. By doing all the above they probably have never gone above 1000 badged attendees (not including those who show up just to shop). GMs are required to check that everyone has a badge before beginning the game, that’s it. It’s cozy but you aren’t seeing the same 20-50 people either.
“It’s very family friendly. Over the years we’ve brought our daughters to lots of game conventions and let them run free as they grew older. The big cons are where they have to keep their guard up. As one of our girls said, “No one messes with me. I walk as though I’m an unpaid intern on my way to pick up 5 coffees, STAT, and I need to keep remembering the orders.” LOL! (That fast walker-slightly pissed off countenance does wonders). At MACE, they’ve been GMs, goofed off with friends, led their middle school game club friends and now college friends around, and relaxed. They made lasting friendships. Part of the safety net is our fellow attendees have watched our girls grow up and feel like aunts and uncles. But it’s also purpose-driven by the staff. There are few, if any, “after dark” activities, the online game system notes age suitability, and even then the LARPS falling on the gray side of that line are fully clothed, stick to the designated areas, and aren’t screaming obscenities. No one organizes room parties that I’m aware of, and you can get a quiet night’s rest.
Egg Embry and Clint Black (Right) at MACE 25
“It’s also very game designer friendly. While MACE doesn’t typically have any game design panels, they very much support designers coming to run and showcase their games. There are games we wouldn’t have known about if it wasn’t for MACE (like the awesome party game, I Drank What?), and on a personal note, they’ve been super supportive of our games. Besides the usual Savage Worlds games offered, MACE has hosted a Savage Saturday Night (a room with homebrew, third party, and official setting games) every year since the tradition began. This year was no different with one game of players facing pirates in Oz to another where all the heroes were incarnations of iconic Kurt Russell characters!
“Is that enough to convince you to join us for MACE West in Asheville, North Carolina in March 2022? I hope so! [AUTHOR’S NOTE: MACE West is also put on by Just Us Productions as is MACE.]
“As game publishers and game table manufacturers we’ve been to so many conventions, large and small, from ChupacabraCon in Austin, TX (also a great tabletop-focused con) to gamer-meccas Gen Con and Origins and PAXes South/East/Unplugged. We love cons, full stop, and always seriously consider every invite we get. But we keep returning to MACE for the above reasons. These are our people. Come meet them and game with us.”
After Jodi and Clint’s ringing endorsement, I spoke to Jeff Smith, owner of Just Us Productions, MACE, and MACE West (you can see their Facebook group here). We talked the attendance figures for the convention and how he felt MACE 25 went after the 2020 break due to the pandemic.
“We are still doing the paper work, but I think 425-450 is a good estimate for now. We might have been a little higher, maybe 475, but I do not have all the data yet. In 2019, we had around 710. I was very happy with it. In my mind, 300 would have been a great number. So getting more than that was fantastic. Plus there seemed to be some great energy going on. People were ready to get together, see old friends, and do some gaming.
“In some ways it exceeded some of the prior events. As I mentioned there was an energy that was being released after two years of staying inside. While we did not meet the previous numbers, as long as people are having fun nothing else really matters. But, in general, it was a typical MACE. Except for the 25th anniversary thing.
“I look at MACE as a family event. I have known many of these guys and gals for 25 years. Some even longer since they attended some of the earlier events I was involved with. I have grown up with them and their children. It is like a homecoming or a reunion when we get together. We also work to keep it relaxed. I do not want MACE to become one of these megacons where a person can get lost. By staying mid-sized, I think we can offer each gamer a more enjoyable weekend.”
Beyond the convention, I asked Jeff about the charity drives that occurred at MACE 25.
“We have done a charity auction since the beginning. I currently raise money for the NC Zoo. In the past, we have helped with a wide variety of non-profits from the American Heart Association to a local literacy group. This year will be a little smaller than previous years, but not drastically. We also have another group who comes in and does a raffle for charity. They raised $3,000 this year which is phenomenal. They work with a variety of veteran organizations.”
To round out the conversation, I talked to Christina Stiles of Christina Stiles Presents and Misfit Studios, who I interviewed for the JordanCon 2020 that never happened. She shared her perspective on why MACE and MACE West are worth seeking out.
“I’ve attended many MACE conventions in Charlotte, NC, over the years, and the 25th anniversary con proved smaller than pre-Covid days, but it was no less fun by any means. Jeff Smith and Ron McClung [MACE’s organizers] have always put a great deal of effort into their events, and it shows! I enjoy MACE so much because it is dedicated to gaming, is relatively close to home for me (I’m in upper South Carolina), and the hotel (University Hilton) is always clean and has friendly staff. The con boasts a lot of regulars, so I’ve gotten to know many people over the years who attend. It’s like gaming with a great many friends – new and old. Additionally, Jodi and Clint Black of Pinnacle Entertainment Group are usually present, as are the occasional small publishers like myself and a few freelancers.
“All in all, it was a wonderful gaming weekend, and I had a blast playing Savage Worlds and Hero sessions! I participated in the charity auction this year and won Descent 2nd Edition.
“MACE is worth attending because Just Us Productions knows how to host a gaming convention. These guys (Jeff Smith and Ron McClung) have 25 years experience with this con, and they have worked gaming in many others, including the spinoff con, MACE West. They are gamers and GMs themselves! In fact, I’m a player in Ron’s Savage Worlds game of Star Frontiers, and got to playtest two of the games he ran at the con with him and his family and our other friends. Basically, these are down-to-earth, knowledgeable gamers and great people to get to know. I hope others will come out and become a part of the MACE family at the upcoming MACE West in Asheville, NC, in March of 2022. I’ve met so many great friends over a cool game at a convention gaming table, and I plan to meet many more the same way.”
LINKS

MACE in Charlotte, NC

MACE West in Asheville, NC

Egg Embry participates in the OneBookShelf Affiliate Program, Noble Knight Games’ Affiliate Program, and is an Amazon Associate. These programs provide advertising fees by linking to DriveThruRPG, Noble Knight Games, and Amazon.
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D&D: Here’s A List Of Every Monster In ‘Monsters Of The Multiverse’

5 years ago Bert Ballast

A day after the table of contents leaked, an intrepid YouTuber has determined almost all 260 monsters in Monsters of the Multiverse.

The release of the Rules Expansion Gift Set and the accompanying Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse is just under two weeks away, and the internet is abuzz with leaks.
Yesterday it was every player race in the tome. Today, YouTuber Bob World Builder has analyzed the previous leaks. He’s used that to determine EVERY MONSTER in Monsters of the Multiverse! Or so he claims in the video.

Honestly it’s pretty impressive to take a blurry potato-phone screenshot:

And turn it into a pretty comprehensive list:

How did Bob World Builder manage this? By compiling a list of every monster in Volo’s Guide to Monsters and Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes. The upshot is a comprehensive list of everything expected to be in the book.
Here’s a list of every monster in Monsters of the Multiverse.
Monsters of the Multiverse Revealed

Abishai– Black, Blue, Green, Red, & White
Alhoon
Alkilith
Allip
Amnizu
Annis Hag
Archdruid
Archer
Armanite
Astral Deadnought
Babau
Bael
Balhannoth
Banderhobb
Baphomet
Bard
Barghest
Berbalang
Bheur Hag
Blackguard
Bodak
Boggle
Boneclaw
Bulezau
Cadaver Collector
Canoloth
Catoblepas
Cattle– Aurochs, Deep Rothe, Ox, & Stench Kow
Cave Fisher
Champion
Chitine
Choker
Choldrith
Clockwork– Bronze Scout, Iron Cobra, Oaken Bolter, & Stone Defender
Cloud Giant Smiling One
Corpse Flower
Cranium Rat, Swarm of Cranium Rat
Darkling
Darkling Elder
Death Kiss
Deathlock, Deathlock Mastermind, & Deathlock Wight
Deep Scion
Demogorgon
Derro
Derro Savant
Devourer
Dhergoloth
Dinosaurs– Brontosaurus, Deinonychus, Dimetrodon, Hadrosaurus, Quetzalcoatlus, Stegosaurus, & Velociraptor
Dolphin
Dolphin D____ (possibly Dolphin Devilglaive?)
Draegloth
Drow Arachnomancer, Drow Favored Consort, Drow House Captain, Drow Inquisitor, Drow Matron Mother, & Drow Shadowblade
Duergar Despot, Duergar Hammerer, Duergar Kavalrachni, Duergar Mind Master, Duergar Screamer, Duergar Soulblade, Duergar Stone Guard, Duergar Warlord, & Duergar Xarrorn,
Dybbuk
Eidolon
Eladrin– Autumn, Spring, Summer, & Winter
Elder Brain
Elder Tempest
Elemental Myrmidon– Air, Earth, Fire, & Water
Fire Giant Dreadnought
Firenewt Warlock of Inix
Firenewt Warrior
Flail Snail
Flind
Fraz-Urb’luu
Froghemoth
Frost Giant Everlasting One
Frost Salamander
Gauth
Gazer
Geryon
Giant Strider
Giff
Girallon
Githyanki Gish, Githyanki Kith’rak, Githyanki Supreme Commander, Githyanki Anarch, & Githyanki Enlightened
Gnoll– Flesh Gnawer, Gnoll Hunter, & Gnoll Witherling
Gray Render
Grazz’t
Grung Elite Warrior
Grung Wildling
Guard Drake
Hellfire Engine
Hobgoblin Devastator
Hobgoblin Iron Shadow
Howler
Hutijin
Hydroloth
Juiblex
Ki-Rin
Kobold– Dragonshield, Inventor, & Scale Sorcerer
Korred
Kraken Priest
Kruthik– Hive Lord, Adult, & Young
Leucrotta
Leviathan
Martial Arts Adept
Marut
Master Thief
Maurezhi
Maw Demon
Meazel
Meenlock
Merregon
Merrenoloth
Mindwitness
Moloch
Molydeus
Morkoth
Mouth of Grolantor
Nabassu
Nagpa
Narzugon
Neogi, Neogi Hatchling, & Neogi Master
Neothelid
Nightwalker
Nilbog
Nupperibo
Oblex– Spawn, Adult, & Elder
Ogre– Battering Ram, Bolt Launcher, Chain Brute, & Howdah
Oinoloth
Orcus
Orthon
Phoenix
Quickling
Redcap
Retriever
Rutterkin
Sea Spawn
Shadar Kai– Gloom Weaver, Shadow Dancer, & Soul Monger
Shadow Mastiff
Shadow Mastiff Alpha
Shoosuva
Sibriex
Skulk
Skull Lord
Slithering Tracker
Sorrowsworn– The Angry, The Hungry, The Lonely, The Lost, & The Wretched
Spawn of Kyuss
Star Spawn– Grue, Hulk, Larva Mage, Mangler, & Seer
Steeder– Female & Male
Steel Predator
Stone Cursed
Stone Giant– Dreamwalker & Quintessent
Swarm of Rot Grubs
Swachbuckler
Sword Wraith– Commander & Warrior
Tanarukk
Titivilus
Tlincalli
Tortle
Turtle Druid
Trapper
Troll– Dire, Rot, Spirit, & Venom
Ulitharid
Vampiric Mist
Vargouille
Vegepygmy, Vegepygmy Chief, Vegepygmy Thorny
War Priest
Warlock of the Archfey, Warlock of the Fiend, & Warlock of the Great Old One
Warlord
Wastrilith
Wizard– Apprentice, Abjurer, Conjure, Diviner, Enchanter, Evoker, Illusionist, Necromancer, & Transmuter
Wood Woad
Xvart
Xvart Warlock of Raxivort
Yagnoloth
Yeenoghu
Yeah Hound
Yuan-ti– Anathema, Broodguard, Mind Whisperer, Nightmare Speaker, & Pit Master
Zaratan
Zariel
Zuggtmoy

Happy Adventuring!

General

Exploding Kittens Has New President

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Exploding Kittens, Inc. has a new president via an internal promotion to the newly created position, the company announced. Carly McGinnis, who has held a series of management roles at the company, most recently Head of Production, Sales, and Logistics, has been appointed as the new President of the company. Elan Lee remains the company’s Chief Executive Officer.Lawrence’s role in building the company’s sales to over 18 million tabletop games sold to date, and in maintaining inventory at major retailers during the pandemic was cited in the announcement of her appointment.Exploding Kittens recently took a strategic investment from Asmodee Group (see “Asmodee Invests in Exploding Kittens”).

ComicBooks for Kids Sent 600 Packages and 20 pallets of Comics to Medical Facilities in 2021

5 years ago Bert Ballast

ComicBooks for Kids sent out 600 packages at 8,0000 pounds, plus 20 pallets of free comics in 2021, according to founder and President Mark Weiss, including 30 boxes of comics, valued at $9,000, to Los Angeles Children’s Hospital.
Sister charity ComicBooks for Troops delivered around 87,000 comics to the military. “In this, just our fourth year, we are now the largest charity in North America for comic books and pop culture items,” Weiss said in an e-mail.ComicBooks for Kids was founded in 2017 with the goal of providing kid-friendly comics to hospitals and other medical centers; in 2020 they formed ComicBooks for Troops to send comics for older readers to members of the military (see “ComicBooks for Kids! Expands to Troops”).
The charity has received a grant from the Eisner Foundation for the past two years and also partners with publishers, distributors, and retailers, including Diamond, Lunar, Archie, BOOM!, Dark Horse, IDW, Image, Oni Press, Titan, Valiant, and Zenescope, as well as Funko, Pez, and Paizo. The Pennsylvania retailer Hooked on Comics has a weekly auction to benefit them as well.
Publishers or retailers who are interested in donating can find information for both organizations at ComicBooks for Kids.

Iconic Encounter: The Taste of Time

5 years ago Bert Ballast

For the second time today, Ciravel found herself exceedingly grateful for seatbelts and stabilizers.

The first moment of gratitude was during Iseph’s dizzying, looping, headlong dash toward Daimalko’s surface—a flight where they showed both their skill at threading the space between the enormous meteoroids that surrounded the planet and their delight at making Ciravel shut her eyes despite herself. Ciravel ran and reran the possibilities in her mind, certain that this was the course that resulted in a safe arrival to a canyon on the planet’s surface, and yet she still found herself clutching her armrests and putting just enough tension against the straps holding her in to make sure that they would, in fact, hold.

The second moment came thanks to the radiation drake who clamped its crystalline jaws around her hoverchair and shook its head back and forth as if in virulent disagreement with Ciravel’s very existence—an action which, without the negation of the stabilizers, would be excruciating, since the surface of this portion of Daimalko unexpectedly lacked many things, including plant life, water, and, much to the chagrin of Ciravel’s various joints, consistent gravity. Iseph had anchored themself to one of the rocks which floated above the planet’s surface and was locked in combat with a second drake.

“You could have warned me—”

“—about the radiation? The drakes? The battlefield ruins? The asteroids? Did you—oof!—notice the radiation buffers that you were so reluctant to—ow!—pick up this morning? ‘But I don’t breathe!’ Honestly—your head would fall off if I didn’t remind you to bring a wrench! YOU could have warned me that you fly like a drunken moldstorm!”

“Can we discuss this when we’re not—” Iseph ducked as their drake snapped its jaws shut, barely missing the android and a sending a soft crystalline ring echoing through the canyon, “—about to be turned into scrapyard bits?”

Ciravel closed her eyes and focused her power, channeling it through her extended hand. The possibilities for the drake’s next action unfolded before her like cards laid out on a table. She knew what she had to do.

“Iseph, count to ten.”

Wait for it…

“Ciravel, this hardly seems the ideal time for numerical calculation—”

Ciravel shifted her weight, angling her chair slightly as the drake clamped its jaws higher, sending the pistol in her side holster careening toward the rocky ruins below. One more good bite and it would have her.

…Wait…

“…Make that seven.”

The drake’s jaws opened momentarily as it repositioned its bite once more. In the precise moment where the drake’s gullet was perfectly aligned, Ciravel turned her thrusters on full-force—right down the drake’s throat. Its spine glowed with the intense blue flame before it gasped in pain and tumbled to the ground, releasing Ciravel’s chair. Moments later, a rocky thud echoed through the canyon.

Thank goodness for seat belts, Ciravel thought once again as her chair careened wildly until the thrusters reoriented it.

“Three…two…”

She could see the drake’s spine begin to glow again as it readied another beam. She was too far away. She needed more time.

Ciravel blinked her eyes, holding the battlefield in stasis as she bolted toward Iseph.

“…one.”

Iseph startled slightly at the voice that was suddenly right next to him. Ciravel grabbed the blaster pistol from Iseph’s belt and winked. She lifted her chair up and away from Iseph, aiming the pistol directly at the drake, trying to catch its attention and spin it away from Iseph, exposing a heavily wounded flank to their blade. The drake turned, lifting its wing, preparing to follow Ciravel. This time, she looped time into a knot, immediately making the drake forget her presence and leaving it distracted long enough for Iseph to drive their searing blade directly into its wounded gut.

She knew it would cost her later—the exhaustion from this last effort would be brutal—but Ciravel dug deep and twisted time once more, calibrating the trajectory and moment that Iseph’s blade entered the drake’s thorax, ensuring that it hit every vital organ it could on the way in. The drake collapsed and tumbled to the ground below.

“My pistol?” Iseph outstretched their arm.

“Ah, the ‘thanks for saving my circuits, Ciravel’ must be a different time thread…” Ciravel maneuvered back toward the rock where Iseph had themselves anchored and winced slightly in pain as she handed back the weapon, stretching her neck. “I think maybe I’ll drive home? But let’s get our repairs done quickly…I’m sure the Recollectors aren’t too far behind us, if they aren’t already here.”

“Ciravel, perhaps we have sailed the canal that was left.”

“The left canal, Iseph. The saying is that you’ve sailed down the right canal when things go to plan, or the left canal when you cannot locate what you need. But yes, it certainly looks like we might have sailed quite far down the left canal, unfortunately.”

She reached into one of the bags attached to the side of her hoverchair and pulled out a handle—which extended into a cane with a press of a button—and a tool kit, then released the safety belts attaching her to the chair. Activating the grav anchors on her boots and retracting the stabilizers, Ciravel stepped onto the hovering rock, and, leaning heavily on her cane, surveyed the damage to the chair. Not too bad, considering the jaws…

Iseph pulled a medical kit from a belt pouch and began doing their own repairs to patch up their wounds—a cut here, a re-soldered circuit there. As Ciravel tightened bolts and reattached anything that had come loose from her chair in the fight, something gnawed at the back of her mind, but she brushed it away. The Recollectors were on their trail and they hadn’t found any real clues to the cause of The Awakening, the cataclysm that decimated life on Daimalko. No hint to whether it was a natural event or an apocalyptic weapon used in the bitter war that used to rage on the planet. All Ciravel knew was that when she last held a fragment of rock that originated here, a specimen back in the xenobiology lab in Sovyrian, she tasted time—the only way she could describe the strange way that she suddenly smelled salt and citrus and tasted spiced honey whenever she encountered items from far in the past—a strange sensory activation that tied to her only childhood memory. A memory from the Gap.

There hadn’t been a whiff of anything other than sulfur and ozone since they arrived on Daimalko. But the way that rock had hummed in her ears…the song she had heard…what she’d heard…what didn’t I hear?

“…Iseph, did you hear the impact of the second drake landing in the canyon?”

“An impact? No…I heard an echo of jaws clashing and ringing, your weapon falling, the flames of your chair, the pistol firing, the screams…everything echoed back. But I did not hear a second impact of a drake on the canyon floor.”

In that moment, time unfolded for Ciravel as she registered three things. First: the air, which had reeked only of sulfur and centuries of decay, suddenly smelled of salt and citrus. The smell of Time, of the Gap. Second: the sudden darkness that fell when it had, only moments before, been glaringly bright. Night should have been nearly 30 hours away. And finally: the meaning of the absent sound of the drake’s impact. Ciravel ran through the possibilities in a split second, and realization made her eyes go wide.

“Um…Iseph?”

“When I have finished repairing, Ciravel, I will assist you. It is already nightfall? We cannot waste our time tonight.”

“Iseph…look up. We’ll make some extra time.”

The android glanced up from the wire they were reconnecting and then continued looking up, and up, and up the exoskeleton, watching in near-wonder as tendrils passed the drake corpse up…and up…and up…far higher than Ciravel’s chair could reach on a day when it hadn’t been rattled around in the jaws of a drake, past gargantuan claws and tusks.

As her own eyes met the four beady ones of the Kyokor, Ciravel tasted spiced honey.

She stared at the colossus, steadied herself back into her hoverchair, and activated the thrusters. She glided next to Iseph and looked over at them from beneath the creature’s shadow, smiling.

“Well, what do you know? Perhaps we sailed the right canal after all.”

About the Author
Jennifer Kretchmer is a Diana Jones Emerging Game Designer Award finalist, TV produce and performer, author (D&D’s Candlekeep Mysteries, Haunted West), streamer, and disability consultant (Skybound Games: The Walking Dead, MCDM) who has been playing TTRPGs for more than 20 years. She appears on several actual play streams including Vampire: The Nightlife (Renegade) and Heroes of the Planes (Demiplane), where her character, Alyndra, is a playable champion in Idle Champions of the Forgotten Realms. Jen is a Jasper’s Game Day Ambassador and is the creator of the Accessibility in Gaming Resource Guide.

Twitter/Instagram: @dreamwispTwitch: twitch.tv/dreamwispjenLinktree: linktr.ee/dreamwisp

About Iconic Encounters
Iconic Encounters is a series of web-based flash fiction set in the worlds of Pathfinder and Starfinder. Each short story provides a glimpse into the life and personality of one of the games’ iconic characters, showing the myriad stories of adventure and excitement players can tell with the Pathfinder and Starfinder roleplaying games.

Kickstarter Round-Up: Viscounts of the West Kingdom, RPG Adevntures, Sci-Fi STLS, and More

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Come check out this week’s batch of Kickstarter and crowdfunding highlights!

Blazon

The widespread use of armorial bearings in the Middle Ages gave rise to a new occupation of herald. These heralds had the responsibility of learning and maintaining the rules and protocols governing the design and description, or blazoning of arms.
Blazon allows you to become a herald, carefully selecting the right elements for your shield board, and earning distinctions through shrewd play. Earn your rank through the accumulation of prestige as you blazon your shield to distinguish yourself among your peers and be crowned the King of Arms.
Pledges start at $35 for the standard edition.

Ida’s Guide – 5e

Ida’s Guide to Worlds Beyond Our Own is a two-part book. First, it reimagines existing races and ancestries into a new context offering variants to the existing Dungeons and Dragons races, many new player options including additional Lineages, and a handful of new Subclasses and spells. Second, it is an adventure from levels 8–16 that dives deeper into these variants.
The book explores each through an occult-themed trail of assassins in which the players find themselves locked in a game of kill-or-be-killed, all at the whims of a mysterious drake Drakul for the chance to earn his favor and win his singular prize: A wish.
Pledges start at $30 for a PDF.

Mimics – For Fantasy RPGs

Welcome to Mimics, An Unnecessary Work. Designed as a completely worthless collection of ideas that gamemasters may turn to when tossing a mimic into their next dungeon, this title was created because I felt like jotting down some useless words that are likely as unnecessary as anything I have ever written.
If you foolishly throw a handful of coins in my direction in exchange for this document, I apologize in advance. Though, to be fair, I did try to steer you away from spending your money on this creative effort: the name alone is a warning to all who might be tempted to buy this.

Pledges start at $2 for a PDF.

Gates of Gold & Keeper of Keys

– In Viscounts of the West Kingdom: Gates of Gold, people from near and far have come to see the splendor of our great city. While most are traders and labourers, eager to make a home for themselves, others seem to have more devious intentions. Can we really trust those who once attacked our walls? Do they truly desire peace? The King has sent his orders, but we will decide who may stay and who must go.
– In Viscounts of the West Kingdom: Keeper of Keys, tensions continue to rise in the King’s court. Some choose to plot in secret, forging alliances with like-minded officials. Others seek out treasures and secrets hidden deep within the castle walls. Will you remain loyal to the very end, or take your future into your own hands?
(This week’s featured image is from this campaign.)
Pledges start at $26 for The Keeper of Keys OR Gates of Gold.

22Wargames Heads – STL

22 human heads
Adapted for figures from 25 mm up to a large scale of 1:6 (300 mm)
High detail
Warriors with different expressions, different types of hairstyles and beards
Print the ones that best suit your figures

Pledges start at $12 for a set of files.

Cyber Library of 3D Models – STL

You can print our 3D models up to 40 cm in height and get a high degree of quality. All files are optimized for different scales. You can reduce or increase any of our 3D models by 900% without any damage to the quality. We recommend printers with a bed size of nearly 200 x 200 mm (as Prusa, Ultimaker or Clones have. Also Makerbot & Clones 225 x 150mm will work).
Pledges start at $79 for the core files – 176 models.

~Which Of These Campaigns Caught Your Attention?

Mark Seifter Joins Roll For Combat Team

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Paizo veteran Mark Seifter will join Roll for Combat as the Director of Game Design overseeing the Battlezoo product line. His tenure will begin on January 24.
Seifter’s credits cover more than 100 role playing game titles, including contributions to numerous Pathfinder books for the first and second editions (see “Paizo Kicks Off ‘Pathfinder 2E’”) and Starfinder as well as the Battlezoo Bestiary and Battlezoo Ancestries: Dragons. Expressing his thoughts about the switch in a press release, Seifter stated “I am extremely excited to work on the Battlezoo line as Director of Game Design. I’ll be sad to leave Paizo, but I’ll be staying in touch with my friends and colleagues at Paizo for further freelance work, and directing the Battlezoo line was just too exciting an opportunity to pass up.”
His responsibilities will include directing the development of new titles for the Battlezoo line that will be compatible with Pathfinder and 5e: “We have so many amazing ideas in store for you at Battlezoo,” he continued, “Monster parts and dragon ancestry are just the tip of the iceberg! Other than Battlezoo Bestiary: Strange and Unusual, which will draw from RPG Superstar 2021, the rest is top secret for now, but I’ll be telling you more about it soon!”
Battlezoo Bestiary: Strange and Unusual is scheduled for release later this year. The project will be helmed by Seifter.
In addition to work on Battlezoo, Seifter will oversee the RPG Superstar contest as Head Judge. The competition invites prospective designers to submit ideas for inclusion in future Battlezoo books.
Roll for Combat launched the Battlezoo line following a successful Kickstarter campaign in August, 2021 that attracted $301,808 from 3,190 backers (an average of $94.61 per backer). The company has also produced a role playing focused podcast since 2017 and re-launched the RPG Superstar contest in 2020.

Let’s Play D&D With Attack On Titan

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Attack on Titan is back for its final season, but if you’re not ready to say goodbye to these characters, you can always invite them to D&D.
Attack on Titan is back and crashing streaming services. Fans of the show everywhere have been waiting to see where this bonkers series has been building since day one. But for those of us with an outlet like D&D, there are little ways to add more of this long-awaited series back into our lives. This is how I’d keep my personal favorite character around forever by playing D&D with Hanji Zoe.

Hanji is a scientist, so my immediate thought for them was Artificer. But from there the question became how do I make this feel like an Attack on Titan character as well?
Unfortunately, there aren’t a ton of great ways that I found to do that in in D&D. The show has a very specific feel and the characters have a specific, weird skill set. And ‘spider-manning around town’ isn’t really in the player’s handbook. So I faked it with feats, spells, and infusions, another benefit of the Artificer class!
I made sure Hanji was loaded up items, spells, and infusions that would give them extra dexterity, jump, and speed. This should more more less capture the movement style in Attack on Titan enough for your average D&D session.
Choosing Battle Smith Artificer also gave me access to a Steel Defender. On top of being generally useful companions in game, this allowed me to give a nod to Hanji’s long suffering assistant, Moblit. Was he much smarter than the Steel Defender?
Yes. But he has a history in Attack on Titan of deserving better so why mess with the theme?

For their weapons, I gave Hanji blades that I based on Short Swords for the sake of playability and ease. But you may notice a surprise addition to their weapons list.
That’s right, I added a bazooka to the character sheet with Bad News stats. This is, of course, a silly thing to add and a little outside of both the D&D and Attack on Titan universes, but hear me out. Remember the live action movie that we all try to forget? Live action Hanji sure does.
I don’t even know what the actual name of this monstrosity was. I just remember my friend group referring to it as “that weird bazooka.”

Feats finished round out Hanji’s abilities with Acrobat and Mobile to give them an additional movement boost. And of course being highly trained with monster killing weaponry is a huge part of any character from this series. So Weapons Master is always a solid addition.
The cast of Attack on Titan is huge, though, with a bunch still remaining. While I think this would be a D&D friendly version of Hanji, any of the other characters would probably look much different at the table and we’d love to see what you think those would look like.
How would you make Hanji, or any other Attack on Titan character for D&D? Are you watching season four? What show, comic, or video game would you like to see sheets from next?
Happy Adventuring!

General

Unified Space – Transmission Five

5 years ago Bert Ballast

by Ivan Sorensen
BEGIN TRANSMISSION/…
Welcome to transmissions from Unified Space.
In these transmissions you will find snippets of data, current events and psionic overflow usable in your games of Five Parsecs From Home.
600 billion people that all eat steamed Krasht for breakfast?
A galactic sized polity is vast. Extremely vast. So vast in fact that it is often difficult to accurately assess the actual size of the population. The Soulless probably have it easier as they can assess the number of run-times within the network but even they must account for disconnected units. For species that rely on more mundane methods of communication, any population figure can only be an estimate.
The Engineers are typically considered the least populous of the galactic powers and are estimated at nearly 50 billion individuals with the larger such as the K’Erin and humanity being estimated at 6-700 billion (the latter using a somewhat more conservative definition of human, if human derivatives and legally recognized human sub-types are included, the figure could be double). This may seem small for civilizations that encompass huge sectors of space, but many colony worlds are extremely thinly populated and technologically advanced populations tend to have low rates of reproduction.
Across a population of this size, virtually any combination of skills, motivations and inclinations can be found, with local conditions often being a larger influence than the origin of a given individual. Despite their reputations, there are pacifist K’Erin, nature loving Engineers and crass Precursors everywhere. Of course political entities also try to emphasize desirable cultural traits in their citizens with degrees of influence: Unity social engineering programs are vast and generally quite efficient, while the semi-psychic minds of the Precursors tend to form consensus beliefs quickly and across large populations.
Only the Soulless have an iron-clad central culture due to their network, but this culture is rooted in machine-pragmatism rather than cultural affectations. Soulless traveling among other cultures will adjust their personalities to smooth over any social challenges they may encounter.
Adventurers, freelancers and other outcasts are ironically more likely to exhibit the stereotypical reputation of their species: As most stereotypes relate to a field of proficiency, K’Erin adventurers that emphasize their martial prowess have a much easier time finding employment than ones that advertise a knack for L-Sat reactor realignment.
There is also a tendency for travelers far from home to embody the assumed traits of their home culture, occasionally to an exaggerated degree. No K’Erin is more likely to challenge you to an honor duel than a mercenary drifter who has not set foot on the home worlds for a decade.
Another factor is galactic commerce which often emphasizes species traits for the sake of marketability. As an example Precursor food is extremely varied ranging from complex dishes taking hours to prepare to “naturalistic” cuisines based on consuming raw animal matter. However, because the expectation of Precursor culture is a high level of ritualized refinement, almost every Precursor corporation selling food related goods will focus on high class items, often requiring elaborate preparations.
This in turn exerts social pressure on Precursor populations, allowing the stereotype to often become common culture.

The Legend of Vox Machina Wants to “Fk St Up” in Red Band Trailer

5 years ago Bert Ballast

So when we last checked in with Amazon Prime Video & Critical Role’s highly-anticipated The Legend of Vox Machina, fans who have been eagerly anticipating the series received an early holiday present with the news that the animated series would be arriving early. That’s right, you can kill February 4 from your calendars and make that January 28. On Thursday, the streaming service offered folks a better (and since we’re only posting red band trailer) & grittier look at the adventures ahead.The Legend of Vox Machina (Screencap)
Starring Critical Role founders and cast members Laura Bailey (The Last of Us: Part II), Taliesin Jaffe (Final Fantasy XIV), Ashley Johnson (The Last of Us), Liam O’Brien (Star Wars: The Bad Batch), Matthew Mercer (Overwatch), Marisha Ray (Final Fantasy XV), Sam Riegel (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles), and Travis Willingham (Marvel’s Avengers), here’s a look at what we’re assuming is a NSFW look at The Legend of Vox Machina; following that, we have the series overview as well as a look at the opening title sequence, and cast live-read of a scene from the first episode:

Based on the beloved characters and adventures of Critical Role’s first live-streamed tabletop role-playing game (RPG) campaign, The Legend of Vox Machina is an animated fantasy-adventure series for adults that follows Vox Machina, a band of misfits with a fondness for boozing and brawling. In a desperate attempt to pay off their mounting bar tab, these unlikely heroes end up on a quest to save the realm of Exandria from dark magical forces. From a sinister necromancer to a powerful curse, the group confronts a variety of obstacles that not only test their skills but also the strength of their bond.

The Legend of Vox Machina is a production of Amazon Studios, Critical Role, and Titmouse for Amazon Prime Video. The Critical Role cast also serves as executive producers alongside Brandon Auman (Star Wars: Resistance) and Chris Prynoski (Metalocalypse).

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Tales from the Loop board game brings cooperative sci-fi investigation to retail in February

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Nostalgic science fiction art book-turned-RPG-turned-board game Tales from the Loop hits retail on February 8th. The cooperative title leans into investigative gameplay as a group of children attempt to unravel mysteries centered in their Scandinavian town in the shadow of a secretive research facility.

Tales from the Loop: the Board Games successfully funded via Kickstarter in 2020 – raising over $3778,000 – but ran headlong into production and fulfillment issues as the COVID-19 pandemic gummed up nearly every aspect of global shipping. Despite that, publisher Free League seems confident that the board game will be readily available in brick and mortar retail alongside online stores.

The board game adapts the rough structure of its tabletop RPG sibling by putting players in the role of children and teens living in the town surrounding a high-tech facility known colloquially as The Loop. Most of the adults of the Nordic suburb work in or for The Loop, and its presence causes all manner of strange occurrences and effects. Lumbering robots and hovering freight ships are a common sight, but temporal anomalies and displaced aliens… not so much.

Sessions are broken down into a series of days that start at school but bleed into free time before the kids need to make it home by curfew. During those hours, the team of one to five players can work together to gather clues, explore the islands and chase down leads. Actions are planned the day before so that everyone can make best use of their kid’s particular strengths – and cover for their weaknesses. It can also be played solo by controlling two kids in concert.

As kids, each player will also have certain obligations they need to complete during the week. Chores and homework might take a backseat in the mind of a teen hunting a rogue dinosaur or malfunctioning robot – represented by six included miniatures – but their parents won’t see it that way. Neglecting responsibilities means running the risk of losing privileges such as a later curfew, the use of the family sedan or even being grounding.

Because all of the kids work as a team, there are no turns – actions and their consequences can play out simultaneously. Individuals are only limited by the amount of time they have before curfew, which might be extended by crossing the not-fun home duties off their to-do list early. The box will come with eight prewritten scenarios that will lead groups through a branching mystery that each takes around one and half hours to complete, but a freeform sandbox mode extends its playability.

Many of the scenarios will include group challenges along the way that require the kids to pool their efforts and evidence in order to overcome. This might be a physical threat, some esoteric puzzle or a test of agility and teamwork to outsmart their foe. Combining items scavenged from the wilderness and The Loop’s facilities may unlock strange, new abilities that provide a critical edge just when they need it most.

Tales from the Loop is based on the art books of Simon Stålenhag, who also co-authored both the RPG and its darker sequel – Things from the Flood. Free League published the core rulebook in 2017, which went on to win a number of ENnie awards and has since released several supplements and adventures. It was also adapted into a television series by Amazon in 2020, jumping the gun on a number of other tabletop games heading for the small screen such as Dungeons & Dragons and Blades in the Dark.

Tales from the Loop: the Board Game will be available to purchase on February 8th, and while Free League has not provided a sticker price the standard edition was offered to Kickstarter backers for £49/$67 – expect something similar on digital storefronts and the shelves of local game stores.

General

RPG: Solo But Not Alone 2 Bundle – 100+ Games Helping Jasper’s Game Day

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Solo But Not Alone 2 is a bundle of more than 100 solo RPGs, and proceeds benefit Jasper’s Game Day.

Solo But Not Alone 2 is a new bundle of solo tabletop RPGs available now on itch.io. For the low price of $10, you can get more than a hundred new games all while benefitting Jasper’s Game Day.
This is the second round, after last year’s Solo But Not Alone raised more than $30,000 for Jasper’s Game Day, a non-profit organization focused on suicide prevention and awareness:

We are a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization and aim to raise donations for suicide prevention and awareness. Through this, we strive to reduce the stigma around talking about mental health so the world can start to treat it just like physical health. The goal is to prevent suicide before it happens and not just respond to the aftermath. We want to bring the community together and show everyone that they are not alone!
Solo But Not Alone 2 hopes to break their previous record. And to that end, Peach Garden Games have once again collected a spate of games. Solo But Not Alone 2 contains 100+ games from 74 creators, all of which can be played solo. If you’re interested in solo play, this is one of the best jumping in points.
Solo But Not Alone 2 – $10

In the darkest months of the year, it’s time to come together to show our vulnerable friends, loved ones, and community members that we care about them and are willing to fight to keep them.
Solo But Not Alone 2 is a repeat of last year’s Solo But Not Alone bundle supporting Jasper’s Game Day, an organization dedicated to suicide prevention and letting people know “You Are Not A Critical Failure”!
In this bundle you will find a huge pile of games, all of which you can play on your own! There are journaling games and horror games, fantasy games and slice of life games, bright games and dark games.
In short, there’s everything you want in here and more! We’ve included a handy spreadsheet to find just the game you want in this bundle of over 100!
Last year, we raised $31,650,24 for suicide prevention, and this year we’re going to exceed that total! Buy this bundle, which is full of incredible games, and help us save lives!
Happy Adventuring

General

Bards with Class: College of Cuisine

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Not all bards inspire others through their words and song. Bards of the College of Cuisine express themselves through food and drink. These bards hand out mugs of ale, homemade cookies, and flasks of fresh-ground coffee to bolster their allies’ spirits. They are adventuring celebrity chefs, spreading inspiration and comfort with their culinary power. They repeat the motto, “Food is magic.” Those who taste their creations spread the gospel.

Bonus Proficiencies

When you join the College of Cuisine at 3rd level, you gain proficiency in cook’s utensils and brewer’s supplies. You can use either of these tools as your spellcasting focus.

Magical Treats

At 3rd level, you can infuse magic into food and drink. Each day, you can infuse a number of treats equal to your Charisma modifier. Infusing a treat takes an action. When you infuse a treat, spend one use of Bardic Inspiration and choose a spell of 1st or 2nd level that targets a single creature and that takes 1 action to cast. You expend a spell slot of the same level as the spell, placing that spell in the treat. Infused treats lose their magic after 24 hours.

You or another creature can eat a treat as an action, gaining the benefit of the spell for the maximum listed duration. If a creature is incapable of eating a treat due to a condition, including but not limited to being paralyzed, incapacitated, or unconscious, another creature can use their action to feed it to the indisposed creature. No creature can benefit from the effects of more than one treat at the same time.

A creature eating a treat also gains the benefit of your Bardic Inspiration, which they must use before the duration of the infused spell elapses or 10 minutes pass, whichever is greater. Neither you nor the creature eating the treat needs to concentrate on this spell. If the spell can affect more than one creature at higher levels, you can infuse more than one treat when you expend the appropriate spell slot, but each treat you infuse costs you one of your uses of Magical Treats and one use of Bardic Inspiration. If the spell you are infusing into a treat has a material component, you must expend that component. If the spell can affect multiple creatures when you expend a higher-level spell slot and it has a material component, you must expend the component only once, regardless of the number of treats you infuse with the spell.

The level of spell you can infuse into treats increases when you reach certain levels in the class. At 5th level, you can also infuse 3rd-level spells into treats. At 10th level, you can also infuse 4th- and 5th-level spells into treats. At 15th-level, you can also infuse 6th-, 7th-, and 8th-level spells into treats.

Special Treats

At 6th level, your mastery of food magic reaches new heights. Each time you use Magical Treats to infuse food or drink, choose one of the following options. A creature eating that treat then gains the benefit of this new infusion, in addition to all previous benefits:

Gain temporary hit points equal to 1d8 + your Charisma modifier.Spend 1 Hit Dice to regain hit points. At 14th level, the creature can spend up to half their Hit Dice.Increase speed by 10 feet for 10 minutes or for the duration of the spell infused in the treat, whichever is greater. At 14th level, this increases to 20 feet.End one disease affecting the creature.End one of the following conditions affecting the creature: blinded, deafened, poisoned. At 14th level, this also includes charmed and frightened.

Culinary Champion

At 14th level, you become a master of the magical culinary arts. Whenever you infuse a treat using Magical Treats, you can infuse a second treat with the same action. You only expend one spell slot, one use of Bardic Inspiration, and one use of Magical Treats, even though you are infusing two treats. If you are infusing treats with a spell that can affect multiple targets when cast at higher levels and you expend the appropriate spell slot, the first two treats you infuse cost only one use of Bardic Inspiration and one use of Magical Treats.

In addition, when you infuse a treat, you can choose two options from the list of benefits under Special Treats, along with the following new options, applying both to the treat:

Reduce the creature’s exhaustion by one level.End one curse, including that of a cursed magic item.End any reduction to one of the creature’s ability scores.End one effect that reduces the creature’s hit point maximum.

From Cowboy Bebop to Dark Souls, why licensed RPGs need to do better in 2022

5 years ago Bert Ballast

When devising this year’s list of our most anticipated roleplaying game releases, we had to make an active effort to not fill the entire thing with licensed RPGs. With Avatar Legends set to arrive sometime this summer – after the most successful Kickstarter campaign to date for a TRPG – the long awaited Cowboy Bebop RPG on the way and the newly revealed Dark Souls roleplaying game, there’s a lot to look forward to in the coming 12 months.
But despite all the excitement, there’s a lot of trepidation mixed in as well. There might be several franchises that I absolutely love getting the roleplaying game treatment – Avatar and Blade Runner, to name just a couple – but just because the original licence was great, doesn’t necessarily mean that the adaption will be. Several of these intellectual properties have already experienced the darker side of adaptation – that notoriously bad live-action Avatar film and cancelled Cowboy Bebop show both spring to mind – and nobody wants to see that happen again. (Though in today’s climate of endless remakes and spin-offs, it’s bound to.)
Last year, I managed to get my hands on the quickstart for Avatar Legends – the tabletop RPG based on the beloved animated series that I watched for the first time in 2021 – and have had a fantastic time with the game so far. Avatar Legends very much feels like an RPG that understands what made the original series so good, translating that into a playable experience that gives game masters and players the tools they need to make their own episodic stories set within the same universe. Granted, the full version of the rulebook is yet to be released, but I have pretty high hopes.

On the other hand, I’m pretty damn nervous about all the other licensed RPGs that are set to make an appearance in 2022. I’m not a fan of Cowboy Bebop myself (cue horrified gasps), but editor-in-chief Matt Jarvis is and he’s already mentioned his doubts surrounding the decision to enable players to become members of the original’s cast of iconic characters. Though lead designer Michele Paroli’s comments that the RPG will attempt to “translate the jazz part [of the series] into the core system” sound interesting, having players be able to control characters from the series feels like an alarmingly safe move.
Slapping a fresh coat of paint onto an existing roleplaying system is simply not enough.
Herein lies the biggest problem with licensed roleplaying games: it’s too tempting to play it safe. When you have an already incredibly attractive element in place – a recognisable name – why do more to win players over? Roleplaying games that lean too much upon the setting, characters and imagery of a licence risk doing the original property a disservice. Slapping a fresh coat of paint onto an existing roleplaying system is simply not enough to make for a good licensed RPG. I’ve criticised licensed TRPGs for using imperfect systems in the past, because they’ve not been altered enough – or they’re outright unsuitable – to fit with the original property.
Using an existing roleplaying system certainly makes the process of creating an RPG easier (less legwork involved when you’ve already got the foundations laid out), but it doesn’t necessarily make the end product better. Powered by the Apocalypse has the potential to make some fantastic roleplaying games – Avatar Legends included – but creators also have a habit of using the system wholesale, rather than as a basis for something completely unique, which too often leads to a lacklustre experience.

The Cowboy Bebop roleplaying game is set to be released this year.

Adapting a licence shouldn’t just be using a name and recognisable imagery, it should be truly understanding what it good.
Licensed roleplaying games which have been built from the ground-up have a better chance at getting the formula right because they’ve – hopefully – been designed with an adaptation in mind. Artwork, writing and setting are certainly integral to roleplaying games, but they’re not what makes them tick. Gameplay mechanics are the most important part of an RPG and, as such, should be created with the intention to immerse players in whatever world or atmosphere is required. Many setting-agnostic RPGs – roleplaying games where there isn’t a set world – understand this concept incredibly well, such as Ten Candles or Dread, but licensed RPGs could seriously benefit from this approach.
Getting a Blade Runner RPG that doesn’t feature some great gameplay mechanics around devising whether someone is human or a replicant would be such a disappointment. Or seeing a Dark Souls roleplaying game without elements surrounding boss battles and resurrecting at bonfires. Imagine a Cowboy Bebop TRPG that doesn’t include contract jobs and opportunities to dodge your character’s troubled past.

Adapting a licence shouldn’t just be using a name and recognisable imagery, it should be truly understanding what makes a film/TV series/video game good and translating that into a roleplaying game experience. Whilst it is certainly tempting to slap on some artwork, write in various location names and leave it at that, I want creators and publishers to do better with licensed RPGs.
Many of us are largely tired with adaptations that have all the glitz and glamour in the world, but completely miss the mark with what made the original beloved enough to be worth adapting. If studios want their licensed roleplaying games to stand out this year, they’ll need to do a lot more than print out a name.

Monte Cook Games Reveals 'Ptolus GM Screen'

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Monte Cook Games revealed the Ptolus GM Screen, for Ptolus RPG, which will arrive in retail stores on January 26, 2022.
This new GM screen helps gamemasters by condensing some the more useful bits of information from the 672-page Ptolus RPG campaign setting book (see “‘Ptolus RPG'”) down to a four-panel screen. The interior side of this screen focuses on the important details of the setting content and allows easy access to book info. The exterior side of the screen features full panels of Ptolus artwork. This screen is also compatible with the Cypher System as well as 5E.Ptolus GM Screen will retail for $17.99.

General

Wizards of the Coast Announces New 'Magic: The Gathering' 'Challenger Decks'

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Wizards of the Coast announced new Magic: The Gathering Challenger Decks 2022, which will release on April 1, 2022.
There will be four new Challenger Decks revolving around decks for the Standard format. Each box comes with a 60-card ready-to-play deck with a 15-card sideboard and a deck box that can hold 75 sleeved cards. The four decks are as follows: Gruul Stompy, Dimir Control, Mono White Aggro, and Rakados Vampires.Each display of Challenger Decks 2022 comes with 8 decks (two of each type of deck).
For more information on future releases of Magic products, check out ICv2’s 2022 calendar (see “‘Magic: The Gathering’ Release Calendar For 2022/2023”).
Click on Gallery below for full-size images!

General

Rogue Squadron- Jank Tank II

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Welcome to Rogue Squadron, pilot! In this series, we will be looking at different squadrons you can fly in Fantasy Flight Games X-Wing miniatures game. We give you the squad and then give you the lowdown on how best to fly it. Strap in and get ready to fly.

All Wings Report In
(Dropped upgrade and replaced upgrade are highlighted in blue)
Z-95-AF4 Headhunter “Airen Cracken” (40 pts) (I5)
After you perform an attack, you may choose 1 friendly ship at range 1. That ship may perform an action, treating it as red

Ship Ability – None
Modification – Static Discharge Vanes

Before you would gain 1 ion or jam token, if you are not stressed, you may choose another ship at range 0-1 and gain 1 stress token. If you do, the chosen ship gains that ion or jam token instead, then you suffer 1 damage.

Sheathipede Class Shuttle “Ezra Bridger” (47 pts) (I3)
While you defend or perform an attack, if you are stressed, you may spend 1 Force to change up to 2 of your Focus results to Hit/Evade results.

Ship Ability – Comms Shuttle

While you are docked, your carrier ship gains Coordinate. Before your carrier ship activates, it may perform a Coordinate action.

Astromech – R2 Astromech

Charges: 2
After you reveal your dial, you may spend 1 Charge and gain 1 disarm token to recover 1 shield.

Crew – Chopper

During the Perform Action step, you may perform 1 action, even while stressed. After you perform an action while stressed, suffer 1 Hit damage unless you expose 1 of your damage cards.

Force Power – Compassion

Before another friendly ship at range 0-2 would be dealt a faceup Pilot or Crew damage card, you may spend 1 Force. If you do, that damage card is discarded instead, and you are dealt 1 facedown damage card. Then, if you have 2 or more damage cards, recover 2 Force.

Modification – Angled Deflectors

Lose 1 Shield
Adds Reinforce Action

Title – Phantom

You can dock at range 0-1.

A/SF-01 B-Wing “Blue Squadron Pilot” (57 pts) (I2)
None

Ship Ability- None
Cannon – Autoblasters

Attack 2, Range 1-2
If the defender is in your Bullseye, roll 1 additional die. During the Neutralize Results step, if you are not in the defender’s Front Arc, Evade results do not cancel Crit results.

Cannon – Jamming Beam

Attack 3, Range 1-2
If this attack hits, all Hit/Crit results inflict jam tokens instead of damage.

Configuration – Stabilized S-Foils

Closed

Adds Reload, Barrel Roll – > Evade
Before you activate, if you are not critically damaged, you may flip this card.

Open

Adds Barrel Roll – > Lock
After you perform an attack, you may spend your lock on the defender to perform a bonus Cannon attack against that ship using a Cannon upgrade you have not attacked with this turn.
Before you activate, if you are not critically damaged, you may flip this card.

Modification – Munitions Failsafe

While you perform a Missile or Torpedo attack, after rolling attack dice, you may cancel all dice results to recover 1 Charge you spent as a cost for the attack.

Sensor – Collision Detectors

Charges: 2
While you boost or barrel roll, you can move through and overlap obstacles.
After you move through or overlap an obstacle, you may spend 1 to ignore its effects until the end of the round.

Title – B6 Blade Wing Prototype

Adds Gunner Slot

Torpedo – Ion Torpedo

Charges: 2
Attack (Lock) 4, Range 2-3 (munition)
Spend 1 Charge. If this attack hits, spend 1 Hit or Crit result to cause the defender to suffer 1 Hit damage. All remaining Hit/Crit results inflict ion tokens instead of damage.

Z-95-AF4 Headhunter “Bandit Squadron Pilot” (29 pts) (I1)
None

Ship Ability – None
Missile – XX-23 S-Thread Tracers

Charges: 2
Attack (Focus, Calculate, Lock) 3, Range 1-3 (Munition)
Spend 1 Charge. If this attack hits, each friendly ship at range 1-3 of the defender may acquire a lock on the defender. Then cancel all dice results.

Modification – Targeting Computer

Adds Lock action

Z-95-AF4 Headhunter “Bandit Squadron Pilot” (27 pts) (I1)
None

Ship Ability – None
Modification – Static Discharge Vanes

Lock S-Foils in Attack Position
I played in my first online X-Wing event last week, the Jank Tank II. I had avoided playing in online events because of past experience with Table Top Simulator failing to cooperate. But despite vaccinations and some stores beginning to have play again, I haven’t been able to make it to very many events due to conflicting schedules and long drives. So I thought I’d give it a go.
The TTS module has improved dramatically over when I tried it years ago. There is handy automation for list generation, ship movement, range checks, actions. It’s harder to screw everything up because you don’t know what you’re doing. There is a learning curve but it is not severe. The guide videos provided were enough to get me through the door and going.
The idea behind Jank Tank is you are given two randomly generated lists and must pick one to play. You are allowed to drop one upgrade and add one. Some special considerations are taken for truly useless and expensive upgrades (such as a 6pt Trajectory Simulator and no payload slot or a gunner that require a mobile arc on a ship with no mobile arc) but beyond those special cases, you need to play what you get. As you can see from my list above, I had a fair mix of less than ideal upgrades, some of which were literally useless.
My opponent was a god-awful, surly, rude, terrible, no good, very-bad, monster named Tom (that enough of a roasting Tom?). In truth, he was an excellent opponent. Friendly and relaxed which made for a fun game. He had some experience with TTS so was very helpful in getting past the newbie mistakes. Jank Tank runs on a max of 12 turns rather than a 75min timer so our game took a bit longer than normal but it never felt like it was dragging.
Compared to mine, Tom won the Jank Tank lottery with his list, having Rey in the Falcon and a BB-8 Pod with C-3P0. He added GA-97 with his upgrade addition, which allowed BB-8 to coordinate him from anywhere on the board. GA-97 also allowed him “It’s the Resistance!” to bring his Fireball in behind my list at a great time.
But don’t mistake me, his list was not overpowered nor was mine complete garbage. That’s the fun of Jank Tank. Making the best use of what you have. He played well and made excellent use of the pieces he was given. I made more mistakes than I care to admit. Dice certainly played a role, killing a three health Ezra, range three, through a rock when he rolled no evades on those four dice.
Overall, it was a fun game and I wish him luck in the next round. My main disappointment is this is a single elimination event so that’s it for me. I might look into more online events. With omicron spreading like wildfire, I doubt we’ll see an increase in local tournaments in the near future.

Variations
This list, as generated, has 10 points of completely useless upgrades. Targeting Computer on a Z-95 does nothing since it already has the Lock action. R2 Astromech and Angled Deflector cancel each other out. And the Blade Wing Prototype is paying 1pt to gain a Gunner Slot you don’t use. There were a further 22pts of not very good upgrades. Static Discharge Vanes are pretty bad. Munitions Failsafe and Ion Torpedo aren’t particularly valuable, especially on an already expensive B-Wing that wants to fire cannons anyways. Compassion isn’t completely worthless, especially at only 1pt, but its better on a higher hulled ship or pilots with multiple Force.
I opted to change Angled Deflectors to Chopper because that was a 6pt combo of uselessness. Ezra wants to Coordinate as much as possible so he isn’t likely to Reinforce. Chopper gave me the option to Coordinate on turns he takes a red maneuver, which with Ezra’s ability, enhances the value of his Force point. The combo never came up in this one game but it could have.
If you wanted to fly this combo of ships, you’d probably want to move the XX-23 to Cracken since he fires first. Then, with the other 32pts of upgrades, you’re better off getting another Z-95, FCS on the B-Wing, a 1pt Talent on Cracken, and Leia as a crew on the Sheathipede. I had one turn where everyone took red and, if I had had Leia, the whole game might have gone differently.
Barring that, you’re honestly better off taking that 32pts and turning the two Bandits into X-Wings.

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D&D: Someone Leaked All The Player Races In Monsters Of The Multiverse

5 years ago Bert Ballast

A new video reveals leaked screenshots and all the player races from Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse.

A massive bout of leaks shows big changes and all the reimagined player races in an upcoming book. Nerd Immersion received a batch of screenshots from someone who claims to have an early copy of WotC’s upcoming updated monster manual: Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse. In a new video, Nerd Immersion reveals a whole lot about the upcoming book.

You can watch the video below. Read on for a summary of what the changes are.

First things first, big changes are in store for all the races included in this book. Mordenkainen Presents: Monsters of the Multiverse promised more than 30 updated player races we get that. A screenshot from the video reveals the table of contents (partially), including all the new races.
Table of Contents

It’s hard to read but here’s a full list:

Aarakocra
Aasimar
Bugbear
Centaur
Changeling
Deep Gnome
Duergar
Eladrin
Fairy
Firbolg
Genasi-Air
Genasi-Earth
Genasi-Fire
Genasi-Water
Githyanki
Githzerai
Goblin
Goliath
Harengon
Hobgoblin
Kenku
Kobold
Lizardfolk
Minataur
Orc
Satyr
Sea Elf
Shadar-Kai
Shifter
Tabaxi
Tortle
Triton
Yuan-Ti

But these races aren’t just reprinted. They’re updated as well. Monsters of the Multiverse brings all of these PC races in line with recent updates. The Fairy and Harengon out of Wild Beyond the Witchlight are great indicators of what to expect.
Big Changes
We’ve known for a while that ability scores are decoupled from races. Whatever you pick you get to have +2/+1 or +1/+1/+1 to your starting abilities. Also, WotC’s made a number of quality of life updates too. You can see this in the Deep Gnome/Svirfneblin entry.

Much like the Fairy, any race that previously had innate spellcasting has the ability to cast their spells with spell slots, if they’re spellcasters. Which is huge for races that have innate spellcasting. Githzerai, in particular become an attractive choice.

As they get access to Shield at 3rd level, any Githzerai spellcaster can effectively add Shield to their spell list. Clerics, Druids, Paladins– everyone loves Shield. Even if you already get it, that’s one less spell you have to take. But as someone on reddit pointed out:
It’s balanced out by Gigthzerai being ugly tall gremlins with Voldemort noses that almost nobody wants to roleplay as.
Also worth noting, Svirfneblin and Duergar are their own separate races now. Duergar no longer get the dwarven traits, which include removing penalties for heavy armor. They’re their own beings.

Going through the list of changes, weapon proficiencies and skills are removed by and large. Races that previously had innate weapon proficiencies have lost them, in favor of other abilities like resistance to Psychic damage in the case of the Githyanki/zerai.
Lore Updates
The book also updates a lot of the lore of some of these races. A while back, WotC floated the idea that goblins, bugbears, hoblins, and so on were Fey creatures. That seems to be the case in this book. Now goblins and their comrades have Fey Ancestry.

The Genasi got a significant rework. All Genasi have darkvision and can decide what spellcasting ability they have. This lets Genasi be better spellcasters. They all got expanded spell lists as well. And that’s very exciting for spellcasters.
Just A Little Guy

Another big change is actually a small one. Starting with Harengon you could decide whether you were Small or Medium. This option has been extended to more creatures. Genasi can do this, Changelings (largely the same out of Eberron) can do this, as can Tabaxi and Tortles.
So get ready for your games to be filled with lots of little guys. Perhaps the best little guy of all is the Kobold. Kobolds in D&D have been changed in the new book. Now they’re the updated version floated in an earlier Unearthed Arcana.

What’s Missing

Of course some players have spotted that the Tiefling subraces– the ones from Levistus or Dis or one of the other Nine Hells– are missing. Which leaves us wondering if the Tieflings will get a reprint/update/overhaul in the new PHB planned for release in 2024.
Also to that point, the leaked player races also leave out any mention of the “races of the Multiverse” spotted in a recent Unearthed Arcana. The fact that there aren’t any Giff, Hadozi, Plasmoids, or the like can only mean one thing:
It’s that or they’re just going to appear in a different book that’s unrelated to Spelljammer and instead is focused on the Multiverse at large
Happy Adventuring

General

Game Master Storytelling with Aron Jolley-Meers

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Author and game master, Aron Jolley-Meers, joins me on the podcast today. We discuss tons of different ways game masters can tell better stories. If you are feeling stuck as a GM or your RPG campaigns are lacking a bit, then listen to this episode. We talk practical RPG GM advice and how Aron collected his gaming wisdom into a book called My Guide to RPG Storytelling.

Aron’s Guide to RPG Storytelling and Other Books

Check out Aron’s RPG book and more. Up your game as a game master with some awesome storytelling techniques.

D&D’s Mimic monsters take centre stage in RPG supplement

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Find new ways to implement a classic monster from Dungeons & Dragons with Mimics, An Unnecessary Work.
A supplement designed to be used with fantasy roleplaying games such as D&D 5E, Mimics, An Unnecessary Work features a collection of ideas to help dungeon masters and games masters to add the deceptive monsters into their RPG campaigns and one-shots. Rather than just having the classic creature occupy a room in a dungeon, awaiting some poor hapless adventuring party to stumble across it, Mimics, An Unnecessary Work introduces some more creative methods of utilising the iconic monster.
One of these methods is by enabling mimics to use spells and magical abilities, changing up the monster’s usual biting moveset by adding the use of 13 different incantations that it can use against its enemies. Another section of the roleplaying game supplement includes new ideas for what a mimic can imitate or pretend to be. The most recognisable form of mimic is one that disguises itself as a chest, tempting greedy adventures to open up its lid to discover a nasty surprise. However, DMs and GMs are able to mix things up using a 4d6 and 3d6 table that features a variety of other disguises.

On the other side of the Mimics, An Unnecessary Work, readers can find a collection of potential encounters featuring the duplicitous creature called ‘what is that rascally mimic up to now?’. Using a d20, DMs and GMs can find ideas for how players can discover a mimic and what exactly happens when they have the misfortune to. Also on this side of the supplement is a ready-made dungeon featuring the lair of a mimic that can be used to run a straightforward one-shot.
Another supplement available alongside Mimics, An Unnecessary Work, called Jiggles & Wiggles, focuses on the iconic Dungeons & Dragons monster the gelatinous cube. Featuring several sections including ‘what is that damn sliggly cube doing?’ and ‘what’s inside this jiggly cube?’, the Jiggles & Wiggles functions similarly to Mimics, An Unnecessary Work, but for the gelatinous cube.

Mimics, An Unnecessary Work and Jiggles & Wiggles were both created by Philip Reed, a game designer whose previous releases include a tabletop title inspired by shooter video games, called Frag, and Mars Attacks: The Dice Game, a movie board game based on the Tim Burton 1996 film.
The Kickstarter campaign for Mimics, An Unnecessary Work is live until January 27th, with a pledge of $2 (£2) getting backers a PDF of the supplement in May.

Connecting 40K and Age of Sigmar – It’s All One Timeline

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Can we find a direct connection between Warhammer 40K and Age of Sigmar? The clues are all right in front of us.

People have long wondered if both all the main Warhammer Games, Warhammer 40,000, Warhammer Fantasy Battles and Warhammer: Age of Sigmar, are set in the same universe. Its been something people have debated for years. People have also debated where on the overall timelime the various games fall. Lets take a look at the evidence, old and new, and and see if we can reach any conclusions.
Chaos The Great Unifying Force

40K and WFB/AoS share a number of aspects. One of the most obvious is the presence of Chaos and Daemons. These concepts/factions span all game systems and settings. More importantly they exist not simply as similar concepts but as the same Gods and characters. While not every daemon mentioned in present in both setting, a huge number are, including the four main Chaos gods. This is a pretty direct connection between all the major settings. While it is never outright stated that, for instance, the Be’lakor from 40K and the Be’lakor from AoS are the same being, they do share a name, personality and in game models. The presence of all these things is a strong argument in favor of the unified setting theory.

Now Chaos and the Warp are very weird and time flows differently. The presence of daemons in both settings doesn’t give us a 100% clear time lime, but it does offer some additional hints. We know Slaanesh was born roughly around 30,000 CE in the 40K setting. In WFB and AoS Slaanesh has been alive basically the whole time this argues that WFB/AoS would take place after the events of 40K. Again given the nature of time in the warp this is not conclusive evidence.
Old Ones And Slaan

Another major force in settings of both 40K and WFB/AoS are the Old Ones. In 40K the Old Ones are an ancient race, some say the First Race. These beings were extremely powerful starfarers that dominated the Galaxy for untold ages. They created many of the known races, and bound their empire together with Webway portals. They eventual fought the War in Heaven with the Necrontyr, which lead to their downfall.

The Old Ones are also present in Warhammer Fantasy and are described in very similar terms. They were a race of ancient beings that come from outer space on silver ships. They used the warp, and Warpgates, to travel the galaxy and created many races. One interesting note from the early WFB editions, is that the Old Ones would terraform plants to fit a standard pattern, down to the shape of continents. Its likely that both the Old World and Holy Terra had this done to them, which is why they are so similar. In addition the Old Ones worked closely with a race they created, known as the Slaan. The Slaan were also around in the early days of 40k.

Here again we have a strong connection, mainly dating from the early 40K and WFB books, between the settings. The Old Ones are present in both, and while not conclusively the same beings sure seem like they could be. Moreover the Old Ones in WFB were a Spacefaring race clearly putting the Old World in an active galaxy. Now one intresting quirk here is that the Old Ones were said to have visited the Old World around 15,000 years before the birth of Sigmar, or around 17,000 before the End Times. In the 40K setting the fall of the old ones took place some 60 Million years before the current setting. This is a rather hard timeline to make sense of. If the settings are the same it either means that humans were around long before they were thought to evolve on Old Earth, that some Old Ones survived the fall of their Empire and were messing around with stuff (the T’au also maybe?) or that time is just weird.
Albion

Way back in the day GW run a summer campaign for Warhammer Fantasy set on the island of Albion. The Dark Shadows Campaign was a world wide event (check out the old website!), at the end of which the races that did best were given some new items. Among these items were ones clearly meant to be a suit of Space Marine Power Armor, a power fist and a flamer. This was again a nod that just maybe WFB took place after 40K.
Sigmar

To me the biggest link between them in recent years has been Sigmar himself. For the longest time it a was a popular theory that Sigmar was nothing less than a Primarch. When you look at it, his story very closely mirrors that of the known Primarchs. He was born under the sign of a twin tailed comet, which could have easily been a pod or warp disturbance signaling his arrival. He was raised as a normal human, but soon displayed super human powers. He eventually united his people before vanishing one day, with some saying he ascended to the heavens.
This is a fair classic Primarch story, with a sad twist. If Sigmar was a Primarch he would have had to have been one of the two lost ones, meaning that at some point after rejoining the Emperor he died, his potential never fulfilled. Maybe the taint of Chaos on the Old World made him flawed in his father eyes. However the return of Sigmar in the End Times rather put this theory to rest. Since he came back, he couldn’t be a Primarch. Which leaves an interesting thought, what if Sigmar is the Emperor?
Putting It All Together

So here is my unified theory. 40K is chronologically the first setting. The events of 40K happen as we widely know them to. Sometimes around 25,000 CE a small group of surviving Old Ones happen upon a world in a stable part of the Eye of Terror and transform it. The setting progresses to the current day. Now one of the major theories about the Emperor of Mankind is that the Golden Throne is preventing him form regenerating or being reborn. It’s thought that he needs to be killed, so he can be reborn. Lets say at some point in the not so distance future of 40K that happens. Maybe Cypher kills him, maybe Abaddon does. Either way he is killed, but thanks to being a perpetual he is reborn in the flesh far away, in the Old World.

Maybe Drogon melts the throne, who knows anymore!
Newly reborn the Emperor, now known as Sigmar, needs time to remember his powers and who he is. His nature however drives him to fight to unite humanity and battle the warp. He does this forging the Empire. Eventually his memory and powers return and the Master of Mankind returns to the stars to fight the big war. 2,500 years pass. At the end of which a great cataclysm happens. Maybe the Great Rift finally finishes swallowing the galaxy. Maybe the good guys collapse the Eye of Terror. Maybe the Emperor sacrifices the Imperium to reach his full godhood.
Either way the galaxy, not just the Old World collapses in the warp or the Great Aeather. The Emperor, now fully powered returns the to Old World, which explains why Sigmar is far more powerful in later versions, which is now more his home world than Terra for the final act and perseveres some group, thus moving us into the Age of Sigmar.

When you look at it the Emperor and Sigmar share a number of traits. Both are effectively humans that rose to godhood, and are possibly the most powerful beings in exsitance. Both are often described in similar ways. Sigmar manifests clad in golden plate and shining with the light of the stars. The Emperor also wears golden plate and his coming is compared to the coming of the sun, or dawn. Both have some connecting to golden light. Both are powerful warriors with control of “magic”, but who also tend to try to mix silence with their pursuits And of course both are known for creating similar armies of enhanced humans to wage their wars. I think it not too far fetched to think that these two beings are one and the same and tie the whole setting together. Or this could all be a crazy theory placed in my mind by the Changling, we’ll probably never know.
Note: I know I didn’t cover every connection between the settings, there are whole ton of them out there*, so I tried to hit on the major ones.

What do you think, could this theory be true? Let us know down in the comments!

* Such as the Ambull that ended up in an Old World mine (WFRP 1st Ed.), the Skaven hearing an “Elf” voice talking through a “far-squeaker” high-tech machine in a Slann temple in Lustria (End Times), and last but not least, Empire Witchhunters studying Slaanesh receiving visions of the Emperor’s Children (Liber Chaotica).

Neverwinter: Dragonbone Vale Set To Release In February

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Perfect World Entertainment has revealed plans for Neverwinter: Dragonbone Vale, set to be released on PC next month and consoles in March. This brand new addition to the latest expansion in the game will include a new area to explore that has come under siege along the Sword Coast from the Cult of the Dragon, as they look to bring more dragons back into this world to rule over it. It will also market the return of the game’s main antagonist, Valindra Shadowmantle, as she will team up with the cult, because of course she will. You’ll also be getting a new adventure zone, new items, new mechanics, the new grappling hook feature, a new 10-player trial featuring Valindra, new heroic encounters, and more that hasn’t been revealed yet. Enjoy the trailer below and the full rundown as this will release on February 8th for PC and March 8th for consoles.Credit: Perfect World Entertainment

In Neverwinter: Dragonbone Vale, the evil lich Valindra Shadowmantle has returned to threaten the Sword Coast alongside the Cult of the Dragon, who have come to possess an ancient artifact with the potential to amplify their foul rituals of undeath. Under the leadership of famed wizard Elminster Aumar, the brave Heroes of Neverwinter will need to work with the allied factions of Protector’s Enclave, to reclaim the Dragonbone Vale and put a stop to the Cult’s plans. Dragonbone Vale introduces plenty of playable content and exciting updates for PC players to explore:

Dragonbone Vale Adventure Zone & Campaign: In this new adventure zone, Heroes of Neverwinter set out from the encampment of the four allied factions and work their way through four distinct regions of the Sword Mountains: Whetstone Thicket, Quellwater Tarn, Wyrmbone Marrows, and Scaleblight Summit. The adventure zone includes the following unique features:

Grappling Hook Mechanics – For the first time ever in Neverwinter you can grapple around specific, designated spots of the Dragonbone Vale adventure zone with a grappling hook, allowing vertical exploration and new ways to travel the zone. These mechanics won’t be available in other zones outside of Dragonbone Vale at this time.

Faction Reputation System: By completing faction-specific quests, such as heroic encounters, defending supply lines, gathering dragonsight treasures and more, players can build reputation with each of the four factions,which they can use to unlock various rewards and features, including faction cosmetics, companion gear, and more.

The Crown of Keldegonn Trial: A new 10-player trial where Neverwinter heroes confront Valindra and the dracolich Palhavorithyn atop the dwarven ruins of Keldegonn. Players can begin to unlock the trial on January 18.

Scaleblight Mythal (Epic Adventure): The story’s culmination in Sword Mountain’s Scaleblight Summit region. Members of the Shield of the North Alliance assault the location of the great ritual and fight to stop Valindra and the Cult of the Dragon from invoking Rite of the Dracolich to bring undeath to all dragons. Adventurers will have access to this content on PC beginning February 8 and on consoles starting March 8.

Enchantment and Refinement Overhaul: This update brings quality of life improvements to the refinement system and all-new enchantments.

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D&D: Five Famous Wizards

5 years ago Bert Ballast

If you’ve ever cast a spell and wondered why it’s Bigby’s Hand? Or where is the rest of the Bigby? Today we’re looking at five famous wizards.

Dungeons and Dragons is a game with a surprising amount of famous wizards. You can find their marks left across the history of D&D editions, their names remembered throughout the ages in spells like Snilloc’s Snowball Swarm and Rary’s Mnemonic Enhancer. But who are these wizards? Here’s a brief look at five of them.
Leomund

Leomund is a wizard who joined the ranks of Mordenkainen’s Circle of Eight. He was a master transmuter and adept at creating dimensions for his own private use.
Originally created by Lenard Lakofka, one of the early players of D&D, Leomund may still be alive. He’s just waiting to be discovered in a hidden-away pocket dimension.
Bigby

The original success story of Mordenkainen’s magic circle of Eight, Bigby was once an evil wizard. Then Mordenkainen charmed him and made him become his servant.
Over time, Bigby learned the value of balance, and he became the handy wizard we all know and love today. Originally created by Rob Kuntz.
Melf

Originally created by Luke Gygax, Melf (a male elf) was an archmage who was dedicated to dealing with the problems of normal magical spells. When taking on enemy casters, his Acid Arrow would disrupt casting. And Minute Meteors were there to try and get around the close, cramped effects of Fireball (which used to do more damage if it couldn’t expand to fill its entire volume).
Mordenkainen

Mordenkainen is a Gygax original, and of the original archmages. We’ve talked a lot about him before.
He believes in balance above all things. While I can’t claim to know what kind of disgusting force would make a man turn neutral, his powerful spells ensure that balance is kept throughout the cosmos.
Rary

Created by Brian Blume, Rary was a treacherous member of the Circle of Eight. Not that any of the history of TSR’s leadership had any influence on the history. Rary was a wizard known for making spells that affected other spells.
Happy Adventuring!

General

Single-player RPG bundle Solo but Not Alone once again fundraising for suicide prevention

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Solo but Not Alone 2 is the followup to last year’s charity bundle and will once again raise funds from sales on digital platform Itch.io for suicide prevention. Over 100 single-player RPGs from nearly 80 creators are available for $10 (£7.36).

Handled once again by design collective Peach Garden Games, Solo but Not Alone 2 runs through March 9th. All profits will be donated to Jasper’s Game Day, a US-based non-profit organisation with a foot squarely in the tabletop space. Its members provide emergency support, as well as support infrastructure for those in need.

Last year, the bundle managed to raise $31,650.24 and has set its sights on breaking that record. Jasper’s Game Day founder Fenway Jones told Dicebreaker last year that 85% of donations go directly to charities such as the American Association of Suicidology, while 5% covers the administrative costs. The rest is saved for future use and emergency needs.

McDonald said she initially coupled with Jones and Jasper’s Game Day given her own history with mental illness and a desire to provide resources for a vulnerable group that often struggles to connect with people who can help.

Like its predecessor, Solo but Not Alone 2 contains a broad range of experiences for players interested in playing tabletop games solo. Pin Feathers was one of the first games from Field Guide to Memory designer Jeeyon Shim, and the LARP was included on the SFWA’s 2018 Nebula Awards reading list.

Thomas Novosel’s A Greeblin’s Journey chronicles the travels of an outcast Greeblin, whose search for a home where they aren’t reviled is full of meandering and distractions. The dexterity game Lay On Hands tasks players with using a coin to heal an apocalyptic wasteland, and Sigils in the Dark constructs a dark magician’s spell book over the course of play.

There are also several games designed after recent popular trends in the indie tabletop space, such as Chris Bissette’s Wretched & Alone (derived from their own solo RPG The Wretched) and Takuma Okada’s Alone on a Journey.

All of the included titles can be seen on Solo but Not Alone’s Itch.io page, and purchasing grants access to digital versions of every title. More information about Jasper’s Game Day and the charities to which it aids can be found on the organisation’s website.

UK and Ireland: You can contact Samaritans on 116 123 or email jo@samaritans.org. Call PAPYRUS (Prevention of Young Suicide) on 0800 068 4141 or email pat@papyrus-uk.org.

US: Call the National Suicide Prevention Lifeline on 1-800-273-8255 or text 741-741.

For further information on international suicide helplines visit befrienders.org.

General

Heritage Puts Madden's Office-Copy of 'John Madden Football (1990)' on Auction Block

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Imaged by HAHeritage Auctions has put a Wata 9.2 A+ Sealed Copy of John Madden Football (1990) on the auction block in its January 28-29 Video Games Signature Auction.
This rare, high-grade copy of the first console Madden game, made by Electronic Arts for the Sega Genesis, came from the offices of John Madden, as noted by Wata Games. The very first Madden game was released in 1988 for the Apple II. The original game design, by Trip Hawkins, Robin Antonick, and John Madden, was inspired by 1967’s Strat-O-Matic Football tabletop game. However, the first few versions of Madden were made without the NFL or NFLPA licenses, so there were no authentic team names, player names, or stadiums used.The Sega Genesis version came out in 1990, and marked a turning point for the franchise because it was on a 16-bit machine and included 16 teams with city names, colors, and stats based on the 1990 season. John Madden, the legendary coach and commentator graced the cover of the game, and this edition sold about 400,000 units throughout the course of its run. Since then, there have been 40 different editions of the game released through 2021, and the franchise has generated more than $7 billion in revenue. John Madden passed away on December 28, 2021 at the age of 85.
This item is currently sitting at $57,500 in online bidding with 17 days left till the hammer drops.
Heritage Auctions recently announced that they had recorded $1.4 billion dollars in auction sales for 2021 (see “Heritage Auctions Passes Billion-Dollar Sales Mark in 2021”).
Click on Gallery below for full-size images!

What are the most exciting board games and RPGs of 2022? It’s the first Dicebreaker Podcast of the new year!

5 years ago Bert Ballast

It’s the first Dicebreaker Podcast of the new year, and we’re seeing in 2022 with style!

Matt, Liv and Meehan look ahead to 2022’s exciting lineup of board games and RPGs as we discuss our most anticipated tabletop releases of the year ahead.

We also look back on what we played over the holidays, the first big announcements of the year – a Dark Souls RPG! New board games from the creators of Carcassonne and Star Wars: Rebellion! – and give our gaming resolutions for 2022.

Plus, we answer your questions on GMless RPGs and stepping outside of our character comfort zone in tabletop RPGs.

Listen to the Dicebreaker Podcast each week on Spotify, iTunes, Stitcher and Google Podcasts. You can also find the podcast’s RSS feed right here.

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You can catch the team in person every Friday from 2pm GMT as we record the podcast live over on our YouTube channel. Join the chat to let us know what you’re playing, play along with the weekly segment and ask us anything you want!
If you have a question for the team, get in touch! You can email contact@dicebreaker.com, tweet us @joindicebreaker or leave a comment below. We read every message, pick the best questions each week and answer all we can.
Games (and other stuff) discussed:

Dark Souls: The RPG
Voices in My Head
Fire & Stone
Arcs: Collapse and Conflict in the Void
Yazeba’s Bed & Breakfast
Avatar Legends
Racing Demon (Nerts)
Monopoly Deal
Root
Wordle
Avatar Legends
Cats
Descent: Legends of the Dark
Last Bastion
Cyberpunk
The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope and Man of Medan
Camel Up
Spicy
Cockroach Poker
Telestrations: Upside Drawn
Quacks of Quedlinburg
Detective Club
Sparkle Kitty Nights
Encanto

D&D: ‘The Tome Of Beasts 3’ Lurks In The Shadows

5 years ago Bert Ballast

The monstrous compendium gets a beastly new expansion full of new monsters from legendary designers in Tome of Beasts 3!

The Tome of Beasts is one of the most essential books for a good, extended 5th Edition campaign. We’ve talked before about how much we love the works put out by Kobold Press. Whether it’s the indispensable Vault of Magic or their glimpses into other worlds, Kobold Press makes the kind of stuff you didn’t know you needed for 5E.

The Tome of Beasts is no exception. It’s one of the best monster books this side of Level Up’s new Advanced bestiary. And now, a 3rd volume in the series in the works. Tome of Beasts 3 promises to be kickstarting soon with monsters from legendary designers, including Gail Simone, B. Dave Walters, and…you?
That’s right. Backers of Kobold Press may find their monsters in this latest volume. With over 400 monsters ready to fill your tabletop with danger and adventure, this one is not to be missed. Check it out.
via Kobold Press

Something Lurks in the Shadows!
“Coming soon to Kickstarter, with over 400 monsters at your fingertips, Tome of Beasts 3 is sure to challenge, delight, and even terrify your players:

An appendix filled with NPCs
Monsters designed by guest designers, such as B. Dave Walters, Gail Simone, and many more
Monsters designed by our very own backers
Monsters ranging from familiars to coastal environments to towering undead to forest-haunting dragons
Backers can playtest the monsters!

Tome of Beasts 3 Lairs contains 18 mapped adventures, plus any reached stretch-goal adventures, including:

A shipwreck filled with treasure—and danger!
A bakery-owning drake with a spooky problem
A cult hunting a fey that can allow them to travel the planes
A farmer whose prize-winning sheep are disappearing”

Kickstarter moves annual ZineQuest initiative to August, but indie designers have different plans

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Kickstarter has announced that Zinequest’s yearly invitation to crowdfund short, A5 paper-sized tabletop RPGs will fall later in the year. The indie design community has already filled the gap with its own grassroots event called Zine Month 2022.

Zinequest began in February 2019 as a way for the preeminent crowdfunding platform to shine a spotlight on those undertaking the challenge of creating and funding a game within the short span of roughly two weeks. The only real limitations was that the final product should fit in an A5 bound zine format. Kickstarter would slap a Zinequest logo and tag on those projects, boosting searchability and denoting its challenge status to prospective backers.

This immediately popular initiative continued through last year, but as the calendar shifted over into 2022 Kickstarter had yet to promote Zinequest 4. Anya Combs, director of games for Kickstarter, confirmed in a Tweet on January 5th that the company still had plans to host another Zinequest, but it would be moved to August to coincide with this year’s GenCon.

Kickstarter told Dicebreaker in an email that August “historically has been one our strongest for pledges to games projects.” Lining up the event with GenCon 2022 also appears to have been a strategic decision, as the company cited data showing large projects bringing in backers who end up spending more money on other games.

While Kickstarter puts its faith in a rising tide that lifts all ships, indie designers have been less than optimistic. Several reacted to the announcement with dismay that they would have to share consumer attention with large publishers who often use GenCon as a stage to reveal new and upcoming titles.

Others expressed frustration over the last-minute nature of the announcement. It is not uncommon for smaller creators to rely on well-timed Kickstarter projects for their livelihood – introducing a second, later event dilutes both while forcing those who planned to attend the convention to now have to run a crowdfunding campaign in the middle of a business trip.

Hi pals, Anya, Director of Games @ Kickstarter here, excited to announce we’re moving ZineQuest to August to coincide with GenCon 2022! Official dates to come, but if you’re still planning a Zine project for Feb, email games@kickstarter.com for a little extra promotion from us. https://t.co/aaVwxEFyx8— Anya Combs (@AnyaynA) January 5, 2022
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Add on to this the recent backlash against Kickstarter over its announcement that the company would pursue blockchain technology research with the future possibility of baking it into the foundation of the site’s infrastructure. The rise of environmentally disastrous and ethically dubious crypto and NFTs has fomented a wide scale pessimism against any use of the blockchain in its current form.

All of this has apparently animated the creation of Zine Month, a digital event planned during Zinequest’s old time slot and carrying forward its design challenge restrictions. The website for the project, spearheaded by illustrator Charles Ferguson-Avery, states that Zine Month will exist to educate first-time or novice creators with resources and connections, while also democratising the global tabletop scene.

There’s also a loud anti-Kickstarter bent: “Creating additional avenues of how projects are funded and spreading awareness of where projects can be found and financed will create a healthier community. The TTRPG community has always been a vast and inclusive space and it is important that it continues to be so. Reliance on a single funding site jeopardizes what projects receive spotlight and inevitably what creators receive funding,” the site reads.

Submissions for Zine Month 2022 have already opened and will remain so throughout the first part of February. The site is only accepting Kickstarter projects for this year’s showcase, likely for those designers who had already planned on hosting their projects there. The Showcase, which provides information and links to purchase or download each zine, is updated daily and can be viewed on Zine Month’s official website.

D&D Has Rules For That Too!? – Five More D&D Rules You Didn’t Know About

5 years ago Bert Ballast

5th Edition is streamlined and accessible, to the point where you might not have known it D&D has rules for harvesting poison.

One of the best things about D&D 5th Edition is that the rules “get out of the way” when you don’t need them. To the point that you might not even know these D&D rules exist.

There’s a running joke that goes something like: any time you feel like you need to houserule something, check the DMG, it’s already there. By and large it’s true. From harvesting poison to getting half cover, here are five rules you didn’t know were in D&D 5th Edition.
Harvesting Poison (pg. 257-258, DMG)

Did you know you can just get poison sometimes? And you can apply it to your weapon? Sure you have to be proficient with certain things.
But the next time you need to give yourself an edge in battle–say you’re going into a one-on-one death match against this upstart who calls himself Muad’dib and you want just a little bit of poison on your knife for good measure–you can harvest some from a vanquished or incapacitated creature.
“A character can instead attempt to harvest poison from a poisonous creature such as a snake, wyvern, or carrion crawler. The creature must be incapacitated or dead, and the harvesting requires 1d6 minutes followed by a DC 20 Intelligence (Nature) check. (Proficiency with the poisoner’s kit applies to this check if the character doesn’t have proficiency in Nature.) On a successful check, the character harvests enough poison for a single dose. On a failed check, the character is unable to extract any poison. If the character fails the check by 5 or more, the character is subjected to the creature’s poison.”
And furthermore, if you’re proficient with poisoner’s tools, you’re never at risk of poisoning yourself? Now all you have to do is carry around some snakes, wyverns, or carrion crawlers.
Worried about Counterspell? Use A Wand (pg. 141, DMG)

You could also use a scroll, a staff, or any other item that lets you cast a spell.
Counterspelling is one of those annoying arms races. You’re trying to solve a problem with a spell, the enemy spellcaster doesn’t want you to cast it. They counterspell your spell, you counterspell their counterspell, someone else counters your counter.
It’s a cycle that Blue Magic the Gathering players know well. Nobody but those sickos likes it. Fortunately, you can play around counterspell. And one of the easiest ways is to cast a spell through a magic item.
“Some magic items allow the user to cast a spell from the item, often by expending charges from it. The spell is cast at the lowest possible spell and caster level, doesn’t expend any of the user’s spell slots, and requires no components unless the item’s description says otherwise…”
No components means no verbal, somatic, or material components at all. Which, per the counterspell rules referenced through Subtle Spell, and Xanathar’s Guide, means you can’t counter a spell cast through an item.
You Can Run, But You Can’t Hide (From a Ranger) (pg. 253, DMG)

The chase rules are some of the most fun under-utilized rules in D&D. It’s all the thrills, all the chills, all the action of a good fantasy chase. Overturned apple carts, quick dodges down dark alleys–it’s all there. And you can use these rules to have an enemy try and escape. Or even to have your party try and escape.
But even Chase rules have under-utilized rules within them. For instance, did you know you have a much harder time hiding from someone if they are a Ranger? It’s true.
When a creature is attempting to make a stealth check to escape from a chase, it has disadvantage if the lead pursuer is a Ranger or has proficiency in Survival.
If You Cast A Spell – Even A Cantrip You Don’t Rest (pg. 186, PHB, Sage Advice)
Three out of four of the people pictured here are resting.
D&D is full of fantasy adventurers settling down to take a nap. In fact getting rest is important to your adventuring party. A big part of the power fantasy of D&D is that you routinely get 8 hours of sleep and feel refreshed afterwards.
Although, just like in real life, if you want to rest you have to actually, y’know, rest. Page 186 of the PHB says that during a short rest you can do “nothing more strenuous than eating, drinking, reading, and tending to wounds.”
You can’t answer a few fantasy emails, or have a short chat. Reading is great–but anything more than that interrupts your rest, including casting spells. Even if they’re spells to make your rest more restful, you have to do those before you rest. A batch of errata in 2020 made this explicitly clear:

You Can Auto-Succeed On Skill Checks – If You Have The Time (pg. 237, DMG)

In the days of 3rd edition you could, if you weren’t in a hurry, you could “take 10” or even “take 20.” Which basically amounted to ‘if you weren’t under stress or didn’t have any consequence for failure other than the time spent making the attempts, you could take longer than normal to treat the skill check as though you’d rolled a 10 or a 20 on your d20.
That went away in 5th Edition, or so people thought. But, in the DMG it makes it clear that, if all it takes is time–you can just auto-succeed. It’ll take you 10 times as long, but you can do it.
Sometimes a character fails an ability check and wants to try again. In some cases, a character is free to do so; the only real cost is the time it takes. With enough attempts and enough time, a character should eventually succeed at the task. To speed things up, assume that a character spending ten times the normal amount of time needed to complete a task automatically succeeds at that task.
It goes on to say that no amount of time makes an impossible task successful. You can’t eventually pick the lock of a door that’s been barred, for instance. But it helps speed things along. So if you want to “take 10” in 5th Edition, you can–and you’ll auto-succeed. As long as you’re not in a hurry, you’re golden. But sometimes the difference between kicking the door in in 6 seconds vs. 1 minute can mean life or death.
What under-used D&D rules do you use in your game?

The Workshop: There’s An Adventure in That – Something Rotten!

5 years ago Bert Ballast

If you know me, it’s no secret that I’m a fan of musical theater. And I especially love being able to pull plot ideas from these shows for use in your games. And this week we’re going to take a look at a musical about a bard. And not just any bard – we’re talking about THE bard, William Shakespeare.
Or, at least a musical where he’s a major character in the plot. Welcome to Something Rotten! the 2015 show by John O’Farrell and Wayne and Karey Kirkpatrick, a comedic romp through the Renaissance about two brothers Nick and Nigel Bottom who are struggling to make it as playwrights when faced with the competition that is Shakespeare, presented as a literal rock star of the times. In order to get one over on Shakespeare, Nick visits a soothsayer and pays him to look into the future and see what Shakespeare’s next big hit will be so that he can write it first. The rest of the play is a veritable Comedy of Errors as Nick attempts to use faulty information obtained in this process to write the world’s first musical called “Omelette.” Will eventually catches wise to Nick’s plan and decides to infiltrate the rehearsal to hoist Nick by his own petard after lamenting how hard it is to be such a success in a very catchy number. The show is a lot of fun, and if you’re a fan of Shakespeare and musical theater, you should definitely do yourself a favor and give this show a listen.
But you’re not here for my recommendations on shows. (Unless you are, in which case, drop me a line. I’ve got plenty.) You’re here for an adventure that’s somehow based on this madcap musical comedy. And I’m going to give you one, from that small plot point of Shakespeare infiltrating rehearsals to steal his own play that he hasn’t written yet. And while this adventure could be suitable for any genre really, it probably shines best in the trappings of a medieval fantasy setting such as any of the implied settings of Dungeons and Dragons.
This adventure begins with the PCs celebrating a recent victory at the local tavern, having just performed a service for the city. While they are enjoying the free rounds of drinks, they are approached by a local playwright who is absolutely fraught with concern. It turns out that the stars of his upcoming production have gone missing and he suspects foul play from a jealous rival. To make matters worse, he suspects that these rivals are also in the production of the show! But he has no proof of any of these. He pleads with the PCs to help him out by joining the production and doing an investigation from the inside to find out what happened to his actors and who did it. (And if worse comes to worst, he can just capitalize on the PCs recent celebrity to draw in a crowd anyway.)
Now, the actual “whodunnit” portion of the plot really doesn’t matter too much to the fun from this adventure idea. The fun comes from subverting the player’s expectations of what their PCs are going to do during the show. The bard isn’t going to get brought in as a replacement for the leading man. No – he’s the only one who understands theater and the logistics behind it. He’s going to be asked to take on the role of stage manager to ensure that the production still has its needs met while they conduct their investigation. Instead, the lead role is going to the barbarian who can’t read because the role calls for strong physicality (and he believes the barbarian’s physique will sell more tickets). The wizard might have some time to cast some divination magic and gather some clues that way, but only when they can find some free time when they’re not using mending to repair costumes and props. Perhaps the fighter is asked to teach a group of actors who have never held a weapon before how to perform stage combat. The normally stealthy and inconspicuous rogue is asked to handle the marketing and advertising for the show. Really, there’s a lot of fun that you can have here tailoring some roles for the PCs that they are NOT built for during the course of their investigation.
Your PCs probably won’t be starring in the next Hamilton, but it could be worse. They could be asked to dress up as Tabaxi.
Eventually, they should be able to find out what is going on with the actors. Again, the resolution here is probably the least important thing. Maybe there are some jealous rivals that wanted their competition gone and were willing to sabotage their own show to do so. Maybe they just grew tired of the director and skipped town. Maybe there are no missing actors and the director was just desperate for some more talent and decided that the PCs’ new celebrity was better than nothing and spun a story for them about the missing actors to get them on board. The real adventure is putting the PCs into amusing scenarios that they don’t normally find themselves in and watching them figure out how they’re going to deal with them.
This kind of adventure could be an absolute riot for any group as a tension breaker between more serious campaign arcs. And it could be a lot of fun as a convention style one-shot where you as the DM can tailor the pregenerated characters towards the roles you want them tofill within the production. Have some fun with this, and if you ever get your version of this production on stage, please let me know how it goes!
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Ben EricksonContributing Writer for d20 Radio

15 December 2021–10 January 2022: Happy New Year

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Happy New Year! everybody. We’re back with a big update of everything that happened in the industry while we were away.

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Year in Review

Games Workshop founder, Ian Livingstone, was knighted in the 2022 New Years Honours, for his impact on the gaming industry. Games Industry looks at the career of this “first knight of the nerds“.

Indie RPG Pipeline’s Richard Williams releases data on Indie RPG trends in 2021.

Dicebreaker runs down Dungeons & Dragons’ year.

RPG Historian, Shannon Appelcline, looks at 2021 in RPGs.

EN World looks at RPG trends in 2021.

Wired looks at the rise of unions in the gaming industry in 2021.

EN World looks at the most anticipated RPGs of 2022.

Industry

French gaming giant, Asmodee, will be bought by even-bigger gaming giant, Embracer group.

Wizards of the Coast President and CEO, Chris Cocks, has been selected as the new CEO of Hasbro. Cocks takes over from Rich Stoddard, who has been acting CEO since the death of former CEO, Brian Goldner. We can expect an announcement on Cocks’ replacement in coming weeks.

New Tabletop Gaming company, Incredible Dream, raises $2 million to create fantasy games, starting with roleplaying game, The Kinfire Chronicles. The company includes team members from Riot Games, Fantasy Flight Games, and CD Project Red, and is advised by tabletop influencer, Felicia Day.

Dicebreaker talks to tabletop game creators about Kickstarter’s planned (threatened?) move to blockchain. Meanwhile, crowdfunding platform, Gamefound, takes a dig at the decision in its own annual update.

EN World provides a useful (if exhausting) summary of all the TSR nonsense.

Both Wizards of the Coast and Paizo are making changes to remove problematic material from their games: Wizards by making sweeping changes in its latest errata, Paizo by removing references to slavery in its game world.

Wizards of the Coast apologises for omitting Tanya DePass from the credits list of Strixhaven: Curriculum of Chaos.

Virtual tabletop platform, Tabletop Simulator, has come under fire for transphobic & homophobic moderation policies in its global chat. In response, the global chat has been removed entirely.

Polygon looks at independent publishers working towards more sustainable and equitable publishing models.

New & Upcoming

Free League joins with Virtual Tabletop platform makers, Demiplane, to create the Free League Nexus, a digital tool for Free League games. This is just the latest Nexus promised by Demiplane, with World of Darkness and Pathfinder also on the way.

Demiplane is definitely making moves with these partnerships.

Critical Role’s Legend of Vox Machina will premiere on 22 January.

Critical Role announces that the Tal’Dorei Campaign Setting Reborn will launch on January 19th on their stores, and on February 1st everywhere else.

The first book in the new Dragonlance trilogy will launch on August 9th.

It sounds like eOne’s future Dungeons & Dragons films & TV shows will take place in a shared universe.

Steamforged Games announces a Dark Souls tabletop RPG.

Pathfinder returns to some “classic” adventures with Crown of the Kobold King Anniversary Edition.

There there, I know people using “classic” to describe something from 2007 is upsetting. It’ll be okay.

Dungeons & Dragons is getting an officially licensed self-help book.

Bundles & Deals

Humble Bundle is offering a bundle of maps and tokens, a bundle of Star Trek Adventures books, and a bundle of 3d-printable miniatures.

Bundle of Holding is offering a bundle of Mörk Borg books, a bundle of Sigil Stone OSR books, a bundle of Stars Without Number books, and a bundle of Expanse books.

DriveThruRPG is running its New Years sale.

Crowdfunding News

ZineQuest postponed; #ZiMo announced

Kickstarter has announced that ZineQuest has been postponed to August, to coincide with GenCon. However, the recently announced “Zine Month,” independent of Kickstarter, will be going ahead in February, meaning that we will effectively have two Zine crowdfunding promotions this year.

The Kickstarter announcement all seems very last minute and the culmination of two factors: the recent controversy surrounding Kickstarter announcing it is moving to a blockchain-based platform, which many creators have lamented for environmental and ethical reasons, and the debacle last year over The Perfect RPG, a Kickstarter project launched by then Kickstarter Head of Community Luke Crane, which resulted in his resignation from the company. If it had gone ahead, it would have launched under a cloud.Moving ZineQuest to August seems odd, as it is a time when Kickstarter is generally dominated by bigger projects jostling for attention. It is might be drowned out — if it even happens at all.Meanwhile, how well #ZiMo does remains to be seen. — James

Noteworthy New Projects

Hull Breach Vol. 1: An anthology digest for the sci-fi horror RPG, Mothership, by Ian Yusem (The Drain). So far this project has raised $301,000 from 3,900 backers. Ends February 3rd

Unsurprisingly, the biggest project of the year so far is related to one of the big projects of last year (the Mothership Boxed Set raised almost $1.5m).

Dragon Map Maker: An app for quick mapmaking, by Darren Rolmanis (Dragon Maps Ltd). So far this project has raised £36,000 ($49,000) from 1,100 backers. Ends January 13th

This looks like a nice app if it delivers what it promises. Some features are familiar — I wonder if we’ve seen this one before? — Amy

Book of Magical Crystals for 5E: A collection of gem magic items for 5e, by Laura MCL (Deadly Dungeons: Quests for D&D 5E, Assassin Adventures: Quests for 5E, Treasure Hunts: Quests for 5E) — January 16th

Limitless Monsters vol.2: A collection of monsters for 5e, by Limitless Adventures (Limitless Encounters, The Blood Queen’s Defiance, Quickstarter: Limitless NPCs Revision) — January 21st

Limitless Heroics: 5e mechanics for playing characters with disabilities, mental illness and neurodivergence, by Dale Critchley — February 3rd

Mage Forge: A set of magic item cards for 5e, by Nerdarchy (Out of the Box: Encounters for 5th Edition)p — February 4th

The Adventurer’s Guide to the Bible: A 5e campaign and setting based on the Bible, by Red Panda Publishing — February 5th

I’m not against the idea of using the Bible as a source of inspiration for a roleplaying game by any means, but from skimming through this project they do appear to have gone for a very surface level approach. Making Magi wizards (because “magic”) and not, you know, Zoroastrian priests, seems a particularly egregious example. — James

Heroes of WakeSong: A set of subclasses inspired by a variety of cultures, by Secret Garden Games — February 8th

OSR & Retro

Aeon Ancient Greece Volume 2 — “Deeper into the Labyrinth”: An Ancient Greece-inspired zine for Dungeon Crawl Classics, by Sharktopus Games (Aeon: Ancient Greece Vol#1) — January 23rd+

Other & Generic Fantasy

About a World: A handbook for building a fantasy setting, by Ezd — January 13th

Horror

Ghost Club RPG: A paranormal investigation RPG, by Andrew Dowall — January 17th

Sci-Fi/Cyberpunk

Escape Sequence — Xeno: A solo adventure for Death In Space, by Squid Ink Games — January 12th

This update was made possible by Keenan Collett, Robert Carnel, and the rest of our Patreon supporters.

General

As an autistic GM, tabletop RPGs provide a perfect structure for social interaction

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Imagine you’re at a party where everyone is playing a game you don’t understand. You’re trying to parse the game’s apparently fluid rules yourself, but it’s like trying to play through a tutorial in another language. Everyone else seems to have clocked the rules, but you’re struggling to make sense of any of it.

People keep glancing at you strangely when you stumble over a particular boundary and, while you’re too confused to glean exactly how, you can tell you’re making mistakes. Even your newfound hypervigilance about those errors is, itself, an error. The resulting sensation – at least for me – can be politely described as “not pleasant”.

Imagine the relief you might feel when someone finally hauls out a rulebook for another game whose guidelines are less nebulous, slaps it down on the table and says: “This is what we’re playing.”

That’s what it’s like for me when I slip into the game master’s chair for any particular tabletop RPG.

Autism manifests in different ways for different people. For me, my autism transforms even the most basic conversations into trap-filled labyrinths, one missed social cue or ill-understood bit of body language away from disaster.

I don’t pick up very well on hints or subtext, and I know I don’t pick up very well on hints or subtext, so I’m constantly on the hunt for signals that I’ve missed some crucial detail, which exhausts everybody in a given conversation. Did I talk too much? Did I talk too little? What was that look? What is their body language saying? It’s like trying to decipher, on the fly, a language that makes sense to everyone but me.

But then I log in to my virtual tabletop, I send out the Discord mention to get everyone in chat, I pull up the battlemaps, I practise a few variations of Cockney accents and I get to work. Suddenly I’m right where I should be, exactly in my element. I’m not some nervous wreck who can’t get through a conversation without wondering if somebody hates him; I’m the storyteller, I’m the actor, I’m the writer, I’m the physics engine.

Tabletop RPG rules provide a reliable structure and known outcomes to various situations that occur during play, whether it’s combat or spell-casting. Image: JoseManuel/stock.adobe.com

When I’m knee-deep in running a combat encounter, immersed in a culture I understand and love, things are different. The rules are laid out ahead of time: this is what happens when you roll above this number, this is what happens when you don’t. This is what happens when you cast this particular spell, that is what happens when you cast this other spell.

GMing is a situation where “Are you enjoying yourself?” and “Am I doing a good job?” aren’t taboo, strange questions – they’re part and parcel of the process.

A lot of the social contract becomes clearer, too, thanks to agreed-upon, openly discussed norms and expectations during Session Zero. I’m less worried about stepping on someone’s toes because we’re in a situation where I’ve asked that feedback be as immediate and forthcoming as they can manage. A situation, in short, where “Are you enjoying yourself?” and “Am I doing a good job?” aren’t taboo, strange questions – they’re part and parcel of the process.

Playing an RPG together provides me with a framework in how to interact with people. Running the RPG myself gives me an excuse to help build that framework in the first place. It’s much harder to get lost in a maze you helped create.

A good tabletop roleplaying session doesn’t just shore up my weaknesses, though – it exemplifies my strengths. Things that make life difficult for me outside of the game room often make for better sessions in it.

It’s much harder to get lost in a maze you helped create.

My tendency to hyperfocus on things like divinity and magic systems in fictional settings means my own homebrew settings are fleshed-out and fully realised. My constant appraisal of why people are acting the way they do helps me build interesting, deep characters quickly. My habit of practising conversations over and over well before they actually happen translates to an improv game that could shame amateur comedians everywhere.

Playing storyteller for a group of people turns so many of the things that confuse and alarm me into things that delight and surprise my friends. While the practice doesn’t make any of those habits healthy – discussing fantasy fiction with me will always prove a chore for everybody involved, including me – it’s a relief to know that these aspects of my addled brain can be put to good use.

Playing a central role in creating a world can make it much easier to navigate interactions within it. Image: Wizards of the Coast

My autism is always going to be a part of how I interact with the world. Every social encounter, forever, is going to be at least a little confusing, and there’s always going to be an element of anxiety when it comes to interacting with and understanding other people.

But running a tabletop RPG sits at an intersection where all my talents and quirks come together to make me the world’s most engaging physics engine for a few hours a week, and that helps me manage my brain the rest of the time.

Legend of Zelda-style dungeons come to D&D and other tabletop RPGs in puzzle adventure Aberrant Reflections

5 years ago Bert Ballast

A new tabletop roleplaying adventure aims to bring the puzzle-driven dungeons of The Legend of Zelda to the likes of Dungeons & Dragons and other RPGs.

Aberrant Reflections was created by designer directsun as an attempt to make puzzles in tabletop roleplaying games more than an “afterthought”, drawing inspiration from the more complex puzzle-solving seen in the Zelda games and ‘Metroidvania’ genre, named for the Metroid and Castlevania series of video games. The designer previously released puzzley dungeon-crawl The Seers Sanctum, similarly inspired by the Legend of Zelda games.

“When I first started playing adventure games, I was shocked to find that most dungeons were not the polished puzzle boxes that I was used to from The Legend of Zelda games,” directsun said. “Most “puzzles” seemed like an afterthought that involved little more than a wordplay riddle.”

The Aberrant Reflections adventure is built around a number of environmental puzzles, with players uncovering possible solutions as they pick up new items, information and lore about the mirror-themed dungeon. Directsun says that the puzzles are designed to encourage player creativity, with each of the dungeon’s more than 30 locations featuring various elements for characters to discover and experiment with as they explore.

As well as the dungeon and its puzzles, the book includes a variety of magical items and monsters to fill its rooms and corridors, illustrated by Jacob Fleming. The book is described as using a ‘control panel’ layout to help GMs and dungeon masters keep the action moving.

Aberrant Reflections is a system-neutral adventure, allowing it to be used with the ever-popular Dungeons & Dragons 5E or any other tabletop RPG system without extra modification or additional prep.

The adventure will launch a Kickstarter campaign on February 1st, looking to crowdfund both a digital release and a physical book. A release date is yet to be announced.

Rolling for Initiative — I Was One for Three in 2021

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Rolling for Initiative is a weekly column by Scott Thorne, PhD, owner of Castle Perilous Games & Books in Carbondale, Illinois and instructor in marketing at Southeast Missouri State University. This week, Thorne reviews the predictions he made at the start of 2021.No Organized Play Until At Least Third Quarter. I expected that Wizards of the Coast, Konami, and The Pokemon Company would hold off sanctioning in-store organized play until the third quarter, after the epidemic had died down, which I expected to happen during the summer. Unfortunately, cases started an upswing in late fall, but both Konami and WotC did reopen sanctioned in-store play in areas where local regulations would allow it. Pokemon, possibly because its players skew much younger and thus are less likely to have received a vaccination, has not started up in-store organized play and likely will not in the immediate future.No Major Conventions for 2021. I was outright wrong on this one. Multiple convention organizers, including Origins, Gen Con, Pax Unplugged, New York Comic Con, C2E2, and Emerald City Comic Con, as well as the San Diego Comic Con (Special Edition) decided to hold in person as well as virtual conventions this year (see “San Diego’s November Con”). As near as I can tell, they did so without any major outbreaks, so we will likely see a return to a “normal” convention schedule this year.Magic Theme Boosters End. Nope, not yet. If anything, WotC is throwing more Magic: The Gathering into the mix to see what sticks to the shelves, and so far, sales have justified the company continuing its line extensions (see “Are the 90s Back?”). Of course, as I tell my brand marketing students regularly, line extensions generally only cannibalize sales from other products within the brand mix, they do not generate new customers for the brand. There are only three ways to increase sales: increase the size of a sale to your customers, to sell your products more often to your customers, and get new customers. WotC’s current marketing strategy appears, with the increase of chase cards and Secret Lair drops, to adopt option one and make larger sales to its current customers. This works for a while, but every year a company has a certain percentage of its customer abandon it and unless you have a strong recruitment program in place, a company’s customer base will slowly diminish.In the department of “I did not see that coming” the promotion of WotC President Chris Cocks to the position of Hasbro CEO (see “Wizards of the Coast President to Run Hasbro”) took me by surprise, indicating just how important Magic (and D&D) have been to Hasbro’s bottom line. Cocks’ background in the video game industry (of which Hasbro desperately wants a large segment), coupled with WotC delivering 75% of Hasbro’s profits in at least one quarter last year (see “WotC Segment 75% of Hasbro Profits in Q1”) made him highly desirable for the position. Hasbro has wanted to expand its digital footprint over the past decade; it will be interesting to see what happens, especially with M:TG Arena and the physical products.Your thoughts? Post them in comments or email me at castleperilousgames@gmail.com.The opinions expressed in this column are solely those of the writer, and do not necessarily reflect the views of the editorial staff of ICv2.com.

General

Portal Games Will Co-Publish 'Gutenberg' English Edition

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Portal Games will co-publish Gutenberg, a new board game by Granna, which will release into retail in March 2022.
In Gutenberg, players take on the role of the printing pioneer trying to build up their wealth and fame. To accomplish this task, they will need to increase their production capacity and gain the support of patrons. Players will bid on actions such as acquiring new fonts, inks and decorations for their workshop. This game lasts six rounds and the player with the most points after the final round wins.Gutenberg is for one to four players, ages 14 and up, and plays in 60-120 minutes. It will retail for $70.
Portal Games released Dune: House of Secrets, a new tabletop game that uses the Detective system, in Q4 2021. (see ” ‘Dune: House Secrets’ at Portal Con”).

D&D Monster Spotlight: Shoosuvas Are The Undead Demon Hyenas From Your Nightmares

5 years ago Bert Ballast

What happens when the demon god of the gnolls decides he needs a giant hyena-like demon to help with Material Plane errands; The Shoosuva.

The Shoosuva is a very rare monster, both in and out of the D&D setting. Your character isn’t likely to encounter one, partially because the monster manual has them listed as “very rare,” but mostly because your DM may not even know about them. Shoosuvas aren’t as well known or popular as some of Dungeons and Dragon’s other demons, making their first two appearances in magazines and then most recently in Volo’s Guide to Monsters. But if you remember to include them in your next mission your party will be in for a treat. Or whatever the opposite of a treat is.
First Edition
Draw me like your French gnolls.
A collector of D&D magazines may remember the Shoosuva’s first appearance from Dragon Magazine #63. Yeenoghu, the demon prince of gnolls, created a creature to act as a guard and intermediary between him and his shamans, and thus Shoovusas were born. Quite rare to encounter on the Prime Material Plane (but much more common on Yeenoghu’s home plane of the Abyss), a Shoosuva will generally appear on their own as opposed to in a pair or pack. That said, the huge hyena-like monster with phosphorescent yellow eyes can summon any gnoll within a hundred and twenty feet to it to join in on the fight and can inflict paralysis on its victims with a bite. So, y’know, maybe more than one isn’t really necessary.

Third Edition

Similarly to the First Edition Shoosuva, Third edition’s version only appears in Dungeon Magazine #112. The already terrifying look of a giant, demonic hyena is made worse with bony back ridges, mottled skin, and the added horror of being one of the undead. Powerful gnoll spellcasters can conjure Shoosuvas, but even to the gnolls they are larger than life monsters, believed to be the spirits of Yeenoghu’s greatest shamans. Since it’s undead and unafraid, in a fight the Shoosuva is most likely to lunge at you and engage in melee, often implementing its bite attack. Still, their Improved Evasion lets them easily dodge attacks against them or take half damage on failed saves.

Fifth Edition

5E Shoosuvas manifest shortly after great war victories in a billowing cloud of smoke. Now with the added terror of a poisonous, scorpion-like stinger, they can easily render multiple victims immobilized and therefore easy prey for any nearby gnolls. Each Shoosuva is bonded to a specific gnoll who the creature works alongside and treats as its master, making both the gnolls and Shoosuva a little more scary this time around. With an armor class of 14 and only a hundred hit points, Shoosuvas shouldn’t be that difficult for an accomplished adventurer to beat in battle, but when reduced to zero hit points they can use Rampage to take a bonus action and move up to twenty feet to take one last bite.

Has your party encountered a Shoosuva in your adventurers? Which is your favorite of D&D’s demons? Does the Shoosuva make you respect gnolls less or more? Let us know in the comments!
Happy Adventuring!

D&D: Dust To Dust – Five Magic Dusts

5 years ago Bert Ballast

They say that all we are is dust in the wind. But, you can prove them wrong by scattering handfuls of these five magic dusts in your wake.

Magic dusts are a weird concept. It’s like seasonings, but for magical effects. It’s one of those magic items that existed in D&D 1st Edition because someone had to come up with a magic item and thought, “I dunno, magic dust maybe?” Probably deriving it from Pixie Dust. At any rate, in the ensuing editions, Magic Dusts multiplied, though now there are fewer. That’s why we’re here to show you some D&D magic dusts that would be easy to bring back to 5E.
Dust of Decoy

This magic dust takes the shape of a “snake monster” when you pour it out. Its sole purpose is to draw attention and make attacks (that do no damage) until someone realizes that it’s harmless. Well. Mostly harmless.
Unless you’re using a bite attack. In which case this dust is lethal. If you hit it with a bite attack, you make a saving throw or DIE IN ONE ROUND choked by the dust. Other regular attacks make it seem like the creature has taken damage, even though it hasn’t.
Leech Dust

Leech dust, as you might have guessed from the name, is magical dust that has the ability to absorb blood, leeching it out of a victim’s flesh, veins, and even bone marrow. When you throw it, it explodes into a cloudkill like effect, but it immediately weakens your enemies, worsening round by round–first it’s half strength and dexterity, then you become unable to take actions other than moving, then you are paralyzed, and after four rounds, you die.
Dust of Fertilization
Just be careful what kind of tree you fertilize with it
This isn’t just fertilizer. It’s magical fertilizer, so presumably you have to harvest it from like Unicorns or Pegasi or something, because when you sprinkle this dust on any plant, it gains a year’s growth in a single week. Sprinkle this on a field and you’ve got enough to feed a town. More and you can start ruining economies.
Dust of Dullness

This dust attacks the senses of a living, humanoid creature. Depending on what you roll you might affect sight, taste, hearing, touch, smell, or the sixth sense. You can pretty much guess what the regular senses do, but with the sixth sense dulled by the dust, you become immune to psionic powers for a while.
Rust Dust

Rust dust, besides having an extremely fun name to say, is also good for attacking the metallic items of your enemies. It’s basically concentrated rust monster powder–you hurl it onto an enemy and any non-precious metallic materials within the area of effect become useless scrap after one round. Magic items are resistant to this effect, but not immune.
And there you have it. A whole empire of dust.

RPG: Hull Breach Launches For Mothership, Hits Almost 3000 Percent Funded In Under A Week

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Hull Breach is a new anthology for horror sci-fi game Mothership 1E. And it’ll show you why in space, nobody can hear you scream.

2022 is hitting the ground running. And this year it looks like people are moving into existential dread and sci-fi horror. For obvious reasons. After two years of an uncaring society just spinning itself into the ground, the idea of being horribly disemboweled by a terror found in the void of space sounds… rather relaxing, actually. At least it’d make sense, you know?

Perhaps that’s why Hull Breach is doing so well on Kickstarter right now. That and Mothership 1E is a phenomenal RPG. If you like sci-fi horror, you should definitely check it out. It will make you wish you had a pulse rifle in a cramped air duct.
And Hull Breach looks like a promising example of what you can do with the system. It’s a sci-fi horror anthology, collecting “new, eclectic terrors from 20 independent authors.” Which is more than 200 pages of all new content. You’ll get dozens of new modules, new bestiaries, new rules for equipment and hacks. There’s a lot here, and it really expands on Mothership.

If you’re interested in taking a step outside of the 5E pool this year, Mothership and Hull Breach are a great chance to do exactly that.
Check out Hull Breach on Kickstarter
Hull Breach is a massive adventure and supplement anthology with over 200 pages of all new content for the Mothership Sci-Fi Horror RPG, brought to you by an international team of 3rd party Mothership authors, designers and artists.
The first hardcover book for Mothership, Hull Breach contains dozens of brand new modules, bestiaries, equipment expansions, Warden advice, system-hacks, toolkits, tables and much more from 20 unique authors! It’s all the content you’ll need to run Mothership for years to come.

Tome of Beasts 3

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Something Lurks in the Shadows!

Coming soon to Kickstarter, with over 400 monsters at your fingertips, Tome of Beasts 3 is sure to challenge, delight, and even terrify your players:

An appendix filled with NPCsMonsters designed by guest designers, such as B. Dave Walters, Gail Simone, and many moreMonsters designed by our very own backersMonsters ranging from familiars to coastal environments to towering undead to forest-haunting dragonsBackers can playtest the monsters!

Tome of Beasts 3 Lairs contains 18 mapped adventures, plus any reached stretch-goal adventures, including:

A shipwreck filled with treasure—and danger!A bakery-owning drake with a spooky problemA cult hunting a fey that can allow them to travel the planesA farmer whose prize-winning sheep are disappearing

Be notified on launch!

General

CMON Will Release Two 'A Song of Ice and Fire' Starter Sets into Retail

5 years ago Bert Ballast

CMON will release the Stark Starter Set and Lannister Starter Set, for A Song of Fire and Ice: Tabletop Miniatures Game, into retail on February 18, 2022.
The Stark Starter Set comes with everything players need to build a Stark army and play. This boxed set features Stark Sworn Swords, Umber Berserkers, and Karstark Spearmen for units as well as main characters like Robb Stark, Greatjon Umber, and Greywind. On the other side of the battelfield, the Lannister Starter Set comes with Lannister Guardsmen and Halberdiers as troops and showcases premier characters like Jaime, Cersei, Tyrion Lannister, and “The Mountain that Rides” Gregor Clegane. This game supports two or more players, ages 14 and up, and plays in 45-60 minutes. The box sets will retail for $99.99 apiece.
CMON released A Song of Ice & Fire: Greyjoy Starter Set in 2021 (see “‘A Song of Ice & Fire: Greyjoy Starter Set'”).
Click on Gallery below for full-size images!

General

Wizards of the Coast Announces 'Magic: The Gathering' 'Kamigawa' AR Experience

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Wizards of the Coast announced that customers of WPN stores will be offered an in-store, web-based augmented reality experience to accompany the release of Magic: The Gathering’s Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty booster set.
Beginning January 21, players can scan a QR code with their mobile devices to activate an AR experience in participating WPN stores. The QR code will allow them to step into a bustling market street in Kamigawa, and gain access to animated previews of cards. This AR activation event runs for nearly four full weeks with new content being released as the event goes on.The hot pink QR code sticker or flyers will ship separately from other Kamigawa: Neon Dynasty retailer promotional materials. They are scheduled to arrive beginning January 17.
Wizards of the Coast also released more details on the upcoming Magic Game Day events, scheduled for March 5-6 (see “‘Magic Game Day'”).

Upcoming board games 2022: 11 board game releases you should play this year

5 years ago Bert Ballast

2022 looks to be an especially exciting year for board game releases. After a number of delays last year due to the COVID-19 pandemic and the ongoing shipping crisis, a number of upcoming board games found their release dates sliding into 2022 – meaning this year should finally see them hit tabletops.
That’s even before you dive into the number of major Kickstarter projects and other crowdfunded campaigns due to deliver this year, including the highest-funded board game Kickstarter to date in Gloomhaven’s much-anticipated sequel Frosthaven.
Upcoming board games 2022

Of course, we’ll also see some exciting board games hit Kickstarter in 2022 that could even find their way into backers’ hands by the end of the year – we’ve included some of the campaigns you won’t want to miss in our round-up of unmissable upcoming board games.
From sequels to beloved board games such as King of Tokyo and Risk Legacy, through to tabletop adaptations of beloved series such as Jurassic Park and Lord of the Rings, as well as completely original board game releases set to make their debut in 2022, the next 12 months are shaping up to be some of the best yet for the world of board games.
Let’s get stuck in with 11 of the hottest upcoming board games in 2022, including their expected release dates and why you should consider picking them up.

1. Frosthaven
Gloomhaven’s long-awaited sequel finally crawls out of the dungeon
Release date: Expected Summer 2022

After much anticipation – and several setbacks – Frosthaven is set to finally arrive this summer.

Isaac Childres’ board game opus Gloomhaven was as big as it was brilliant, packing dozens of hours of tactical dungeon-crawling and evocative storytelling into a cardboard-crammed box the size of a footstool.
Somehow, its upcoming sequel Frosthaven is already shaping up to be even bigger and better, blowing past its predecessor’s crowdfunding success to become the highest-funded board game of all time on Kickstarter – with almost $13 million raised – in the spring of 2020.
Two years on and Frosthaven is almost ready to send players on another adventure spanning dozens of unique scenarios, tied together into an epic ongoing campaign similar to a roleplaying game and brought to life by the permanently evolving world created by Frosthaven’s legacy board game elements.
New to Gloomhaven’s returning card-powered combat is the need to gather resources and gradually rebuild the titular settlement of Frosthaven, as well as the effect that changing seasons will have on the world, with colder months bringing tougher enemies to encounter.
Gloomhaven has quickly become a modern classic for fans of fantasy adventure, crunchy combat and players looking for a hefty RPG-in-a-box. By building on top of that sturdy foundation, Frosthaven promises to be not only the biggest board game release of 2022, but potentially one of the very best, too.

2. Arcs: Collapse and Conflict in the Void
Space strategy from the mind behind Root and Oath
Kickstarter date: H1 2022

Cole Wehrle has once again teamed up with artist Kyle Ferrin in Arcs.

Cole Wehrle has become one of board gaming’s most talked-about designers in recent years, with an impressive catalogue of games under his belt, from the historical depth of Pax Pamir and John Company to the woodland warfare of Root and the groundbreaking storytelling of last year’s not-quite-a-legacy-game Oath: Chronicles of Empire and Exile.
Wehrle’s next project looks to continue his trend of ambitious, complex tabletop experiences. Currently known as Arcs: Collapse and Conflict in the Void – though that name could well change before launch – the upcoming board game was described by the designer as emerging from “all sorts of odd ideas that didn’t fit into [Oath]”.
Set in a sci-fi universe brought to life by the artwork of Root and Oath illustrator Kyle Ferrin, Arcs draws from the likes of roguelike video games in offering players short campaigns that are designed to be heavily replayable. Each three to five-hour campaign – broken into hour-long sessions called episodes – aims to provide a self-contained story created by the players as they play.
Because each campaign has its own beginning, middle and end – compared to Oath’s constantly evolving world – Arcs promises to let players get much more wild in the universe, wreaking havoc and ending up in significantly different positions from where they begin.
It might sound highly ambitious, but Wehrle also insists that Arc will be easier to learn and play than both Root and Oath, allowing even more players into what sounds like another fascinating sandbox for memorable stories. With Oath one of the best board games of last year, and Root ranking as one of the tabletop’s top titles to date, this is definitely one to keep an eye on.

3. Skull Canyon: Ski Fest
SSX: The Board Game?
Release date: April 13th 2022

Making it down the mountain with the most points is the goal of Skull Canyon.

Take the satisfying A-to-Z route-claiming competition of train board game Ticket to Ride, combine it with the downhill tricks of beloved snowboarding video game series SSX and top with a name that sounds like a superhero villain’s lair. The result? Skull Canyon: Ski Fest, the upcoming board game about racking up points as you cruise down snowy slopes.
The latest release from veteran Dinosaur Island and Machi Koro publisher Pandasaurus and major debut from newcomer designers Jason Klinke and Kip Noschese sees players completing runs down the titular mountain to score big.
Gameplay follows in the mould of Ticket to Ride’s familiar card-based set-collection, with players looking to search for cards that will help them to claim routes down the mountain ahead of their competitors, with tougher runs requiring more cards but rewarding greater point hauls.
As well as rival skiers and boarders, players will need to watch out for avalanches triggered by using too many yeti cards, which will force them down the slopes. The yeti doesn’t appear in name only, either – the Abominable Snowman itself will roam the mountain, cutting off areas and causing extra complications for players as they travel via lift in search of the biggest runs.
There’s also the option to gear up in the local village with resources and equipment, before heading back out onto the slopes. With a seriously cool theme and competition hot enough to melt the ice, Skull Canyon: Ski Fest looks to offer a thrilling downhill race from the comfort of your gaming table.

4. Jurassic World: The Legacy of Isla Nublar
Build your own park and pray the dinosaurs don’t eat your visitors
Kickstarter date: March 22nd

Players can expect to encounter several iconic dinosaurs in this Jurassic World game.

Many of us have dreamt of creating our very own prehistoric amusement parks. Jurassic World: The Legacy of Isla Nublar, a board game based on the series that began with the 1993 classic Jurassic Park, looks to fulfil that particular dream. Set to be developed by Prospero Hall, the studio behind fantastic licensed board games such as Disney Villainous and Horrified, Legacy of Isla Nublar is a legacy game that will loosely follow the events of the Jurassic World franchise, but with the players in the driving seat.
Players will be able to begin the game as one of several iconic characters – from Ellie Sattler to Dr John Hammond – who will have to survive the events of each of the five films in the franchise, before they can get to the building-a-dinosaur-park bit. Featuring a total of 12 adventures, which will each take about two hours to complete, the entire campaign will see players encountering a roster of dinos, from the gentle Brachiosaurus to the ferocious Tyrannosaurus Rex, and even breeding their own.
Fans of the franchise are sure to get their kicks with Legacy of Isla Nublar and board gamers can rest assured that the creators at Prospero Hall have the pedigree to pull this off. Welcome to your next big legacy game.

5. Horseless Carriage
Take the roads by storm with an automobile empire in the newest game from Food Chain Magnate studio
Release date: Summer 2022

The winner of Horseless Carriage is whoever manages to grow the largest automobile empire.

Splotter Spellen, the publisher behind the upcoming Horseless Carriage, has acquired a reputation for releasing board games designed for aspiring business moguls. The company’s most recognisable release is Food Chain Magnate, which sees players competing to dominate the food fast industry – with eye-catching 1950s-inspired imagery included – and it looks like the studio isn’t swerving away from its comfort zone anytime soon.
Horseless Carriage, which was revealed late last year, has players becoming business tycoons of the 19th century. The invention of the horseless carriage – or, as most of us know it, the car – may have been a revolutionary step for engineering progress, but most of the general public was extremely wary of this new vehicle. As the owners of an automotive company, the players will need to do everything in their power to overcome people’s uncertainties in order to sell as many cars as they can. The more cars players manage to sell, the more money they’ll earn and the more potential rival businesses they’ll be able to scoop up into their growing empire.
Players who enjoy Food Chain Magnate, similar business-building board games or even have a passion for automotive history may want to pay attention to Horseless Carriage.

6. Untitled King of… Game
After tearing up Tokyo and New York, the monster board game series heads… somewhere
Release date: October 2022

The monsters in this King of Game are already looking very unique.

Revealed at last year’s Essen Spiel board game convention, the next entry in the ‘King of’ series after King of Tokyo and King of New York is due to make a monster impression when it releases at this year’s Essen Spiel event this autumn.
While we don’t know loads about the upcoming board game just yet (even its full name remains a mystery for now!), we have seen hints that it will involve a new coastal setting – teased by a new sea creature monster shown in a sandy setting next to a volcano and palm trees. The monster itself looks to be a new addition to King of Tokyo and New York’s roster of Godzilla-like kaiju, featuring fins, a sea snail shell and crab-like claws, as well as appearing next to smaller monster tokens.
Created by Richard Garfield – the mind behind Magic: The Gathering and Android: Netrunner – the ‘King of’ games see players throwing down in famous cities as enormous creatures. Players roll dice to score points, deal damage to their opponents, heal up and perform powerful special abilities. They also have the option to claim a space on the city board for bonus points, but with the risk of attracting their rivals’ attacks.
Last year marked a decade since King of Tokyo’s debut, with eight years having passed since King of New York’s release – making a full sequel one of the biggest board game releases of 2022.

7. Familiar Tales
If you thought saving the world from an evil sorcerer was tough, try raising a child
Release date: January 2022

Chalk is one of four playable characters in Familiar Tales.

After Plaid Hat Games went independent, we were worried it wouldn’t be making any more of the larger, narrative-driven co-op games the studio was best known for – such as Dead of Winter and Mice and Mystics . Of course, these fears were quickly assuaged by the release of the pirate-themed Forgotten Waters and the announcement of Familiar Tales, the next board game from Jerry Hawthorne, the creator of the beloved Mice and Mystics and Stuffed Fables.
Releasing alongside an app featuring voice acting from the likes of Justin McElroy and ProZD, Familiar Tales sees players working together as a quartet of unusual allies as they protect a child princess from the sorcerer who usurped her throne. Besides deckbuilding elements that will enable players to improve their individual decks and level-up their characters, the upcoming board game will have players making narrative decisions that could affect how their young charge develops and eventually acts when she takes back her crown.
Hawthorne has certainly proven that they can design a great fantasy-inspired co-op game, but the parental aspects are really what make Familiar Tales stand-out from the crowd. Players will have to wait and see whether the upcoming board game manages to pull off its grand ideas.

8. Wayfarers of the South Tigris
The next trilogy of board games from the Raiders of the North Sea studio kicks off this year
Kickstarter date: Spring 2022

Wayfarers of the South Tigris features illustrations from Mihajlo Dimitrievski, the artist behind the previous two Garphill Games trilogies.

Beginning with Shipwrights of the North Sea in 2014, Garphill Games has released two trilogies of board games, each based on a significantly different period and place of history. Whilst the North Sea trilogy focused on the Viking empire of Norway, the West Kingdom series took inspiration from central Europe during the Middle Ages. It looks like the publisher is time-travelling once again with its newest set of historical board games, which will transport players to Baghdad during the Abbasid Caliphate and Golden Age of Islam.
Called Wayfarers of South Tigris, the upcoming board game will feature mechanics centred around a traditional d6, with players taking the role of explorers, cartographers and astronomers who must chart their way throughout the seas and land surrounding Baghdad. During their journeys, the players must carefully manage and upgrade their respective caravans to ensure that they can keep going and send their findings back to the guilds of Baghdad. Whoever successfully impresses the nobles and Caliph the most is the winner of Wayfarers of South Tigris.
Whilst there are several reasons why Garphill Games has acquired such a pedigree in the board game industry and community, the North Sea and West Kingdom trilogies are a big part of it. Here’s hoping that Wayfarers of South Tigris continues this particular trend.

9. Risk: Shadow Forces
After 10 years of waiting, Risk Legacy – the game that birthed an entire genre – is getting a sequel
Release date: Autumn 2022

Risk: Shadow Forces takes place in the near-future of 2050.

Pandemic Legacy: Season 1 might be the more recognisable legacy board game, but it’s not the original. The 2011 release of Risk Legacy marked the birth of an entirely new genre of board game, one that had players deliberately doing the unthinkable – tearing their components apart. A decade and several other legacy games later, and it looks like the original Risk Legacy is finally getting a follow-up in the form of Risk: Shadow Forces, an upcoming board game taking place in the not-so-distant future of 2050.
Rather than the classic national factions found in the original Risk Legacy, Shadow Forces features several rival factions that are more closely inspired by modern corporations and organisations. Players take control of a specific warlord, each of whom have their own abilities and agendas, and can combine them with one of the various factions. With their chosen faction and leader, players can decide whether to embark on global battles – which operate in a similar fashion to the original Risk Legacy – or covert missions, which are smaller-scale skirmish encounters whose outcome will have a direct impact on the game’s map.
As players progress through the game, they’ll open sealed envelopes which will give them access to new elements and mechanics. You can also expect lots of ripping up of components as well. With Risk Legacy playing a major part in board game history, you’d be remiss to not try out its follow-up.

10. The Dark Quarter
Experience New Orleans during the 1980s in this 18+ horror board game
Crowdfunding date: Q1 2022

The Dark Quarter continues to remain very mysterious, very little known about the upcoming game.

Lucky Duck Games is a studio that’s perhaps best known for the Chronicles of Crime series, board games in which the players become detectives searching for the answers to several unsolved cases. With its hybrid tabletop and augmented reality design, Chronicles of Crime proved that apps could do more in a board game than just record player scores, but could offer an entirely fresh experience that allowed players to get stuck into a deeper narrative than you’d usually expect.
The publisher looks to be doubling-down on this style of board game with this year’s spate of releases, including an intriguing looking horror game called The Dark Quarter. Taking place in New Orleans during the 1980s – a setting that we’ve yet to see featured in a board game – The Dark Quarter will reportedly include an open world that players will be able to explore, much like one of Lucky Duck’s previous games, Destinies. Also like Destinies, The Dark Quarter will have a heavy focus on narrative and character progression, with players able to become engrossed in a story inspired by the Creole heritage and communities that New Orleans is known for.
Though its exact use has not yet been confirmed, The Dark Quarter will be released alongside a companion app that will have players interacting with digital elements as well as the game’s physical components. With its 18+ age rating, The Dark Quarter is looking to be a horror board game that fright-fans won’t want to skip.

11. War of the Ring: The Card Game
The Lord of the Rings board game gets a faster, smaller – but no less epic – spin-off
Release date: Expected H2 2022

The artwork for The War of the Ring board game is very evocative of Tolkien’s original book series.

Middle-earth is one of the most popular fantasy worlds on the tabletop, with Lord of the Rings board games ranging from RPG-like adventures to tactical co-op card games and even its own Warhammer spin-off. Even so, amongst the many board games based on JRR Tolkien’s world of elves, dwarves and hobbits, War of the Ring stands out as the very best.
Recreating the whole of the book trilogy, from Fellowship of the Ring through to Return of the King, War of the Ring puts players in control of the assembled Free Peoples – as well as the Fellowship making their way to Mordor – and the forces of Sauron and Saruman opposing them. It’s a fittingly epic experience, offering a truly faithful adaptation of the intense battle for Middle-earth that plays out over a number of hours – all of them well spent.
Like the original board game, the upcoming War of the Ring: The Card Game will squeeze the entire saga of Frodo and the Fellowship into a single session. What’s new is that the board game’s dice have been swapped for cards, and the rules have been simplified to allow for an easier, faster experience without sacrificing the immersion and depth that made War of the Ring so beloved.
Once again, players will face off as the assembled factions of Middle-earth – Rohan, Gondor, elves, dwarves and more on one side, against the orcs, Uruk-Hai and other denizens of Mordor and Isengard on the other. Players will take turns to play a single card from their hand and discard another, either helping the Ring-bearer in his journey to Mount Doom or attempting to seek him out and take back the One Ring.
After a delay from its planned release last year, War of the Ring: The Card Game will now see a direct retail release, currently expected in the second half of 2022. It will be followed by an expansion that increases the original four player count up to six people, with a release date for that yet to be confirmed.

Astral Projections – Kazuhiko “Kaze” Wyvern (Nomad for Cyberpunk RED)

5 years ago Bert Ballast

If there’s any place Kaze (“wind” in Japanese and pronounced “Cah-zee”) is more comfortable than astride a nimble motorcycle, it’s the cockpit of a good air vehicle — like the AV4s he flies for Trauma Team. Kaze is part of the Nomad Wyvern Pack, a small pack that specializes in air cargo transport. The pack is mostly Native American (Navaho/Diné and Hopi) with Japanese and some North American blood in the mix. Kaze himself had a full Japanese mother, who had married into the Wyverns, who gave him the name Kazuhiko.
Kaze is one of several young adults being considered for leadership positions in the Wyverns, including Pack Head, in the future. It’s a little because he is a grandson of the current Head and that he has a knack for reading people. Mostly however, it’s because Kaze, at a young age, stepped up and took responsibility for a “debt” even the elders agreed he didn’t have to.
When Kaze was about 15, his parents (the son and daughter-in-law of the current Head and her predecessor) died within hours of each other due to injuries in a road vehicle accident. They had just completed a deal that was to have gotten the Wyverns a second aerozep. A few days later, pack leaders setting the couple’s affairs in order, realized that the deal was a subtle scam that left Wyvern Pack on the hook for many Eddies with no new vehicle to show for it.
Although no one else had detected the scam, and there was no evidence Kaze’s parents were anything but victims, the youth had insisted on paying his pack back. At first he took on extra work for the Wyverns and odd jobs for others. When he was older, Kaze became a Trauma Team pilot, a skilled and high-risk job that pays accordingly.

Design & Play Notes: Kaze is one of the earliest PC concepts I created for Cyberpunk RED. Recently, Kaze made his debut as an NPC in a play-by-post CPRED game I am in, as both a regular player and a sometime GM. The NPC version doesn’t have formal stats, as he appears during downtime between gigs. But the NPC version (who probably has a Role rank above 4) inspired me to write up the Nomad 4 stats.
The original concept was the pilot for a Trauma Team centered game. Kaze can work in a variety of CPRED campaigns, however. A Nomad-centered game is obvious, but a typical Night City crew, or a corporate team are others. For some, you may want to change the Family Vehicles Kaze is allowed to use.I find the purely descriptive parts of the LifePaths (e.g. Personality, Hair, Clothing Styles, etc.) too limiting, so I often mix a couple things up. Kaze is serious, as you’d expect for someone who took on a large debt as a teen, but he’s also outgoing. Indeed, he’s popular with women, and he enjoys their company as well. Take a ride above – or on – Night City’s streets with Kaze!
RTG-CPR- Kaze Nomad PC
Disclaimer: “Kazuhiko ‘Kaze’ Wyvern (Nomad for Cyberpunk RED)” is unofficial content provided under the Homebrew Content Policy of R. Talsorian Games and is not approved or endorsed by RTG. This content references materials that are the property of R. Talsorian Games and its licensees.
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Linda WhitsonContributing Writer & Copy Editor at D20 Radio

D&D: Original Wizard-Head Artist Says ‘No’ To Controversial TSR

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Darlene, the original designer of the Wizard-head logo for TSR announced publicly that she has refused usage to the new TSR.

The strange saga of copyright allegations, Wizards of the Coast, and a company that now calls itself TSR continues. Last year, the company went through no small amount of controversy in social media. After removing the individual involved, the company endured a heated separation with their licensee Wonderfilled Games. TSR popped up again towards the tail end of the year, this time with a crowdfunding campaign aimed at trying to take on WotC in a legal battle.

Wizards of the Coast filed their own motions in court. And while we await the results, it seems one of the people in question has come forward. The artist Darlene, whose work breathed life into many early D&D works at TSR, came forward to say she denied the new TSR permission to use the Wizard-head logo.
The Wizard-head logo is one of seven different marks that new TSR is hoping to dispute in court. According to an email from WotC’s legal counsel (made public in the court case that new TSR hoped to bring to WotC), they started “unlawful use of and applications to register seven TSR logos and wordmarks.”

With Darlene’s declaration, it seems that there’s some definitive proof that the new TSR doesn’t have permission to use that logo. As Darlene said on Facebook:

Powerful words indeed.

Mage Knight studio’s next game features 10 unique factions

5 years ago Bert Ballast

The next upcoming board game from the studio behind Mage Knight, Wizkids, will include 10 unique factions for players to choose from.
Called Free Radicals, the sci-fi board game takes place in Sphere City, an interconnected series of communities that find themselves competing against one another to lead society into the future. Built atop The Sphere, a technological marvel that has caused humanity to achieve advancement far faster than anticipated, Sphere City is home to 10 vastly different factions – each one of them believing that they can lead society into the next stage.
A board game for two to five players, Free Radicals sees players choosing between the different available factions and attempting to gain enough resources, data, credits, knowledge and favour in order to prove that they are the group to take charge. Each faction will have its own unique set of mechanics for players to learn, as well as goals to achieve and challenges to overcome. Free Radicals’ available factions include the Farmers – whose agricultural methods involve players placing domino-style tiles to grow crops – Couriers, a faction that uses drones to deliver the city’s packages, and a faction that creates beautiful hardlight constructs called the Artisans.

Depending on whichever faction a player chooses, they’ll have a certain set of goals to complete that are unique to them, as well as shared research tracks to move along. Besides pushing their own agendas, each faction can also attempt to assist another’s research into the mysterious Sphere in order to earn more favour and additional rewards. However, players will need to be careful not to help out their rivals too much, or else risk giving their opponents a leg-up. By gathering favour, resources and advancing on the research tracks, players can collect victory points and win the game.
Free Radicals was designed by Nathan Woll, whose previous releases include Treasure Cats, a board game in which players become cats trying to find valuable items in different locations in order to score victory points.

Apart from Mage Knight and Free Radicals, Wizkids is best known for publishing the horror board game Fury of Dracula (Fourth Edition) – a title in which one group of players attempt to hunt down Dracula, who is controlled by another character – as well as the party game Dungeons & Dragons: Rock Paper Wizard.
Free Radicals is set to be released in February for a retail release price of $60 (£44).

40K T’au Drones Rules, D&D’s Invisibility, Witcher Cosplay, Wheel of Time Review

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Check out new T’au Empire Drone Rules, a closer look at D&D Invisibility, an awesome pair of ‘The Witcher’ cosplays, and ‘Wheel of Time’ review.

Warhammer 40K: What the Grimdark Used to Look Like
Take a look back through the glorious retro battle scenes that inspired thousands of gamers 30 years ago. Come and see some 40K Retro Battles!
D&D: Invisibility Doesn’t Work The Way You Think It Does
Invisibility is a powerful combat advantage. But it doesn’t work the way you think it does. Let’s unravel invisibility in 5th Edition.
via Bethesda
‘Fallout’ Becoming a Live-Action Series on Amazon with Jonathan Nolan
Fallout has taken over hundreds of hours of players’ time and now the iconic video game is being adapted for the small screen.
These ‘Witcher’ Cosplays Slay Monsters
This father-daughter duo is here to save the world, one potion at a time. Check out these bewitching Witcher cosplays.
Total War: Warhammer 2 – The Book Of Grudges Isn’t Big Enough For The Makers Of The Beardless Dwarves Mod
This may be the single most deeply cursed and hilarious mod yet. Thorgrim Grudgebearer is going to have his work (and beard) cut out for him.
‘The Wheel of Time’ Review – One of Us
The One of Us crew reviews Amazon’s adaptation of The Wheel of Time.
D&D: An Adventurer’s Guide To Moradin
If you’ve ever played a D&D video game, you’ve heard a dwarf’s heavily brogued voice yell “by Moradin’s [beard/hammer/axe].” But just who is Moradin?
Warhammer 40K BREAKING: Updated T’au Drones Confirmed
The T’au Empire’s Drones are back with an updated set of rules for 9th edition. Take a look.
Star Wars: They Actually Sent A Medical Frigate To Fight The Death Star- The Nebulon-B Breakdown
It’s ugly, and messy, and its one of our favorite ships. The Nebulon-B is probably the only “medical frigate” to face the Death Star.

D&D Accessories: Play Your Next Session In A Winter Wonderland

5 years ago Bert Ballast

It’s gotten cold outside, so why not bring your D&D characters to a winter wonderland of their own with these icy accessories.

I don’t know about you, but where I live we just got a ton of snow. Despite it being cold, heavy, and sometimes difficult to drive in and annoying to shovel, it’s hard not to love something as pretty as snow at least a little bit. Historically a great season and setting for fantasy stories, there’s always a reason to take your Dungeons and Dragons players to a winter wonderland. And when you do, be sure to use some of these snowy winter wonderland accessories.
Snow And Ice Dice

Translucent resin dice with white snowflakes, glitter, and white lettering looks like watching a snow storm through your bedroom window. Beautiful, icy, and a little disorienting, this set is gorgeously on brand. Usually the white on white would be hard to read, but these dice look thoughtfully made and easy to work with. Immediately transport yourself into a snow storm with these sparkly icy dice.

WizKids Icewind Dale Paper Town

If you’re taking your adventures to a small town to a small town in a snowy part of the world, the buildings are going to be covered in snow. Sure, you can just tell your players and not use any snow lodged minis, but why not go for it when WizKids it making it so easy? This papercraft town is right out of Rime of the Frostmaiden, so you know it’s lightweight, easy to set up, and icy cool.

Ugly D&D Snowflake Sweater

You don’t need to wait for a holiday party to rock an ugly themed sweater. In fact, this one is sure to be a hit at every D&D gathering you’ll be attending all winter. Both the little snowmen and the giant snowflakes feature D&D dice in a pattern that won’t be obvious to everyone, but will be to anyone in your party.

Frost Giant Skeleton Mini

Let your players know that they’re in for trouble when they see this skeletal frost giant appear on the map. Gale Force 9 makes this resin monster with loads of realistic little details for you to paint and then display or inflict upon your party. Or both! I vote for both.

Snow And Ice Dice Tower

I love the simplicity of this dice tower. The rectangular clear plastic tower and tray are easy for use and transportation between sessions, complete with a felt lining and top shelf for keeping your dice organized before rolls. The snowflake pattern is etched in, making the clear tower look like it’s actually full of snow. Meanwhile the base is etched to look like cracked ice for an effect that’s as chilling and dire as the encounter you’re in the middle of.

What’s your favorite cold Dungeon and Dragons setting? Have you encountered a lot of frozen monsters? Have any of our picks made it onto your with list? Let us know in the comments!
Happy Adventuring!

Beyond Comprehension

5 years ago Bert Ballast

The Ultimate Battle In our most recent blog – the final one of 2021 –…

D&D: An Adventurer’s Guide To The Multiverse

5 years ago Bert Ballast

There are many ways of representing the cosmology of D&D. But one of the most popular is the “Great Wheel.” See how the multiverse turns.

The world is vast and full of mystery. And magic. Especially if we’re talking about Dungeons & Dragons’ many layered world. It’s an ogre, onion, cake, or parfait of magical planes, alternate realities, whole other worlds that exist in their own time and space.
You can catch a glimpse of this cosmology in various books. In Dungeon of the Mad Mage, you’ll find a reference to a strange place called Earth.

Sages have long marveled at how the multiverse might be constructed. Through the centuries the multiverse has been compared to a tree, a cloud, a central node orbited by others–but most sages can agree to work with a single theory: the Great Wheel.
The Great Wheel is a cosmological model that was originated either on Oerth, Krynn, or Toril, depending on whom you ask. Whatever the origins, this model of cosmology describes the “geography” of the planes of existence.

It outlines a place in which the gods of many worlds and pantheons mingle. Where the beliefs of many faiths and peoples shape planes and afterlives. From the beastlands of Arvandor to the pristine order of the Clockwork Nirvana of Mechanus, there’s a place for almost everything on the Great Wheel.
In the latter years of the 15th Century on Toril, the Great Wheel has come into popularity again, though it includes new planes discovered. Upstart realities like the Feywild and the Shadowfell who didn’t exist before 4th Edition the Spellplague.

The basic structure is that the Great Wheel is a series of more-or-less concentric spheres. In the center of it all is the Prime Material plane, containing life as most mortals know it. Some say that the Prime Material plane exists in a crystal sphere full of phlogiston through which Spelljamming ships can journey. Others say it’s reality and that the other planes are separated by…dimensions.
Whatever the case may be, surrounding the Prime Material plane are the Ethereal and Astral planes. These both touch the Prime, though not each other.

Surrounding all of this is a circle of Outer planes, sometimes called the Planes of Power. These are 16 different planes arranged in a circle. Most are defined by an alignment. All surround a 17th neutral plane known as the Outlands.
Between them and the others are the Inner planes. These are the elemental planes of existence. Fire, Earth, Water, Air, and the Para-and-Quasi-elemental planes as well.

A recent revision to the theory postulates three new planes as well: the Elemental Chaos, which is said to be the farthest extent of the inner planes. It is a hostile, unknown plane where all the elemental forces come together.
Then there are the Feywild and Shadowfell. These are considered to be parallel realities to the Prime Material plane. They can be likened to extreme echoes of the worlds of the Prime. The Feywild is an exuberant reflection of life and vibrant colors and is the realm of the fae. While the Shadowfell is a dark mirror of the Prime it’s attached to. Decay and death and desolation mark its reflection.
All of these are ripe for exploration with the right kind of magic. You’d be surprised to find they aren’t empty–most planes are home to thriving civilizations and strange creatures. Because as perhaps one of the greatest sages once said:
“Life…uh…finds a way.”
Happy Adventuring

Warhammer 40K BREAKING: Updated T’au Drones Confirmed

5 years ago Bert Ballast

The T’au Empire’s Drones are back with an updated set of rules for 9th edition. Take a look.

This image from a miniature assembly guide has been doing the rounds. It appears to be from a new repacked T’au Fire Warrior box. It is all over Reddit, and various forums.
Updated Drones

Some items from the updated statlines& weapons:

Movement changes from 8″ to 10″
Stealth Drone? Hmmm?
Shield Drones Move to W:2

Notes
The drone’s across the board increase speed is always welcome in 9th move movement based playstyle. Anything that will get the T’au army across the board faster is useful. We’ll have to wait and see what’s up with the Stealth Drone, normally used by XV95 Ghostkeels. It’s inclusion in a Fire Warrior boxed set seems like a cut and paste error. Also its stats don’t match the previous MV5 Stealth Drone stats at all.
The big news of course is the 2 wounds on the Shield Drones. That makes them twice as beefy and is an easy way to represent their durability. These assembly rules don’t include all the nit-picky rules, so we will have to wait and see if the Shield drones keep their 4+ invulnerable and the 5++ from the Shield Generator special rule.
Perhaps most importantly, as we sit around awaiting the T’au codex to drop, the CSM players are already howling with outrage and grief that the humble Shield Drone made it to W2 before they did 🙂 Veterans of the Long War indeed…

For the Greater Good!

D&D: An Adventurer’s Guide To Moradin

5 years ago Bert Ballast

If you’ve ever played a D&D video game, you’ve heard a dwarf’s heavily brogued voice yell “by Moradin’s [beard/hammer/axe].” But just who is Moradin?

There is a god for just about everything in D&D. In fact, at one point, you could count on finding a god from any pantheon, and several for each of D&D’s disparate cultures. By and large these have all been distilled down over the years, though 5th Edition does allow for a wider variety by suggesting gods that fit a particular domain instead of concretely saying “only Boccob and Ioun are the gods of Magic.”

And through it all, in one shape or another, Moradin has endured as the creator of the dwarves. He himself, is said to be a soul of creation, with a backstory that reads like something out of a Dark Souls game.
Most dwarven myths claim that Moradin was incarnate from rock, stone, and metal. His soul is an ember of fire, the very spark of life that breathes souls into the first dwarves, forged from metals and gems. He’s also the one that chased the gods of the derro into the depths of the Underdark, depending on which legends you believe.

Moradin is a god of crafting and art. The dwarves who follow him take joy in the art of crafting, in forming strong family and clan bonds, and must balance a drive for perfection with their own temperance. After Moradin forged the first dwarves in his divine workshop, his loyal creations ever since have sought to follow in his footsteps. Through constant, steady work, they strive to emulate the perfect example set by their Creator.
They are driven to apply their own crafting skills to the raw materials around them, in order to unlock the beauty that lies within. But following Moradin means a lifetime of “glorious labor.” Moradin’s ‘perfect craft’ of the dwarves is said to inspire the relentless pursuit of perfection in his charges.
But those who find they cannot measure up, often turn away from Moradin, and this is where the duergar come from. Moradin’s love, while warm like the heat of a forge, was a source of envy for these dwarves, and that led them to delve greedily and deep into the Underdark where they were coopted by a colony of Mind Flayers who experiment upon them and turned them into psionic soldiers in their employ.
So take heed when following Moradin, you might find yourself warmed by his flames, or drawn to them, as a moth.
Happy Adventuring!

D&D: Hunting Wascally Wabbits? Grab Your Spear And One Of These Five Magic Helmets

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Come and take a look at five magic helmets from D&D’s past, that we feel deserve a chance to be in D&D’s present. Now all you need is a spear…

Dungeons & Dragons is full of many magic items that take their inspiration from everywhere. And while these five helmets aren’t necessarily straight out of Looney Tunes, they are all still magical. So there’s that, at least.

Helmet Of Creation

This magical helmet is basically Fortnite Building but you get it in the form of a magical helmet. Despite its name, the helmet only allows you to create illusory stone, wood, or iron constructions such as walls, floors, furniture, doors, and traps. You create something out of illusion magic, it can only affect 1d8+4 beings, but everyone who fails their save treats it as real, meaning walls stop your foes, floors and furniture support your weight (allowing you to run out across an empty chasm, or gain height on an enemy who’s been hiding out all round), though after 1d4 turns your illusions disappear.
There’s no limit to the number of illusions you can have going at once.
Helmet of the Insect

Are you a villain or hero looking for a very strong theme for your costume/brand? If so, the Helmet of the Insect may be for you. It is an insectoid helmet complete with bug eyes and metallic mandibles. While wearing the helmet, you gain 360 degree vision, can understand the speech of insects, can summon swarm once per day, and of course you can bite with those mandibles for all you’re worth–which is exactly 1d4 points of damage.
Skull of Death

If you prefer your helmet to be less subtle, there’s always the Skull of Death, which is a charred and bejewelled dragon skull, that when worn, allows you to mentally control up to 3 hit dice worth of undead at a range of 30 feet. You can also cast finger of death and animate dead, though only one of those powers can be used per ten rounds at a time.
Better still, you regenerate five hit points per day, even if you are killed. As long as you’re wearing that helmet, you’ll come back to life. No word on whether or not it has to be the skull of your draconic mother.
Helmet of Weaponry
The swiss-army knife of helmets, this magical helmet allows you to create any kind of nonmagical, hand held weapon. Well. Sort of. It allows you to create the illusion of any nonmagical weapon–but as long as your target fails their saving throw, the weapon can still be wielded normally.
Helmet of 40 Watt Brilliance

This magical helmet, which someone actually wrote, can only be used when “the DM becomes fed up watching PCs with Intelligence scores in the upper teens ignore the painfully obvious.” It’s a magical helmet that lights up whenever the DM decides they’ve had enough of you not realizing something is an illusion, and allows you to get on with the dungeon crawl. Flickering radiance lights up whenever it’s activated.
Happy Adventuring!

Warhammer 40K: 1987’s Birth of the Grimdark

5 years ago Bert Ballast

In September 1987 Games Workshop rolled out the announcement for an all-new hardback named: Warhammer 40,000 and the Grimdark was born.

In September 1987, White Dwarf 93 hit the shelves. Within its covers were games such as AD&D, Judge Dredd, Rogue Trooper, and a new hardback for something called… Warhammer 40,000 Rogue Trader. Here’s what fledgling GW had to say about their all-new game to explain and sell it to a new world of unfamiliar gamers looking for something new:

Welcome to the Grimdark
Within the magazine was the first introduction to the game with a 6-page article that went through exactly this game was, how it related to the existing Warhammer games and why gamers should give it a try. It was written with the expectation they knew nothing about the universe (how could they), and the language used laid bare a lot of things that would become more opaque or obscured in later years. Let’s go through it:

The now familiar logo with some mysteries along the bottom of the page. Even back then, the sense of mystery and the layout of unexplained lore and plot hooks were underway. As we go through the advertisement, note that the BOLD text is purely product description aimed at the buyer, while the non-bold text is in-universe material.

Right off the bat, you get the description of 40K as Science -Fantasy, a blending of sci-fi and high fantasy. You can play the game with as few as a dozen models, and it uses familiar rules mechanics taken from Warhammer Fantasy to ease new players into it. Note “Warhammer 40,000 takes the Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay background into the galaxy itself.”

Here we get a quick summary of the background of the new game. Note the “almost medieval attitude amongst the human societies” and “common folk see technology as witchcraft – so do the technicians.” We get teasers of both metal and plastic vehicles this early and future supplements being planned.

The Deep Space Combat Floorplans product never actually showed up – perhaps this item morphed over time into Space Hulk. More interesting is this: “The Warhammer 40,000 background is an extension of the Warhammer game series, linking the Warhammer Fantasy Battle and Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay games into a complete background.” Hmm…

Read the 2nd paragraph on the upper left. Remember you, players, with refined sensibilities – the Eldar are for you! Then they go quite a bit into the Slann and how Warhammer players will recognize the race and see its fuller role in the unified Warhammer universe.

On the last page of the preview, we get a direct comparison of the Rogue Trader book to Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, Call of Cthuhlu, and Runequest III, as well as some discussion of the extensive amount of artwork in the book.

It’s interesting to see some of the unvarnished and just a tad anxious descriptions for the product that would grow in 30 years to be a global dominating tabletop game. But it is easy to forget that way back in September 1987, it was just another new gamebook that could have so easily died in obscurity.
Luckily for us all, GW was really onto something. Anything in there that caught your eye?

Monster Spotlight: Lay Siege to Your Enemies With the Horizonback Tortoise!

5 years ago Bert Ballast

To celebrate the coming release of Call of the Netherdeep, Critical Role’s first adventure book, we’re taking a deep dive into Exandria! This world bears the scars of The Calamity, a war fought with and against the gods. No region of Exandria was as badly wounded during The Calamity as what is now known as the wastes of Xhorhas. And it is in this desolate landscape that Call of the Netherdeep kicks off.
We already know a lot about the wastes of Xhorhas thanks to the Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount. Within this sourcebook, we learn about creatures that appear throughout the continent of Wildemount. Among them is the gargantuan-sized horizonback tortoise, atop which mobile villages and siege weapons are built.
Let’s take a close look at the horizonback tortoise and how to bring them into your game.

Monster spotlight: Horizonback tortoise
Horizonback tortoises are native to Eastern Wynandir, where the desolate wastes of Xhorhas are found. Measuring 50 feet in length from nose to tail, these creatures are comparable in size to dragon turtles, though they are less temperamental. In fact, horizonback tortoises will tolerate wastefolk who feed and look after them. In return, they’ll serve as the foundation upon which mobile homesteads or siege weapons are built. A typical horizonback tortoise can carry up to 20,000 pounds.
Goblinkin are among the most common allies to horizonback tortoises. The two are so interlinked in Wildemount that the creatures understand Goblin. But horizonback tortoises aren’t just beasts of burden. They’re omnivorous and in a famine could turn on the very creatures who serve them. In the wild, you’d be hard-pressed to train a hungry horizonback tortoise.
Creatures on the frontlines
The wastes of Xhorhas are fraught with warring tribes and the persistent threat of starvation and attacks by monstrosities and fiends. However, following the Calamity, a sect of drow emerged from the Underdark to establish the Kryn Dynasty and the city of Rosohna. Since then, they’ve sought to unite the people of Xhorhas under the light of the Luxon while grappling with agents of Lolth that seek to destroy them from below as well as the Dwendalian Empire, which seeks to destroy them from the west.
Such conflicts mean that the Kryn Dynasty has had to build a sizeable military. In the process, they’ve made good use of the monsters found in the wastes of Xhorhas. These include moorbounders, which serve as mounts, and horizonback tortoises, which transport soldiers and siege weapons.
Horizonback tortoise statistics
Horizonback tortoises are relatively slow but are hard to hit. And if you find yourself underneath one of these creatures, hope that it doesn’t fall prone.

Playing with horizonback tortoises at your table
Horizonback tortoises can add flair to your setting or act as traps in badlands. If you’re planning a one-shot adventure set in a village, for example, have the village built atop a herd of horizonback tortoises, with structures connected by poorly constructed rope bridges. Or you could have horizonback tortoises act more like ambush predators, lying in wait in the wastes of Xhorhas until a creature is within striking distance. Giving these creatures the False Appearance monster trait would have the characters terrified of every mound and hill they encounter:

False Appearance. While the horizonback tortoise remains motionless, it is indistinguishable from a hill.

A horizonback tortoise can also function as a mobile base for the characters. If you go this route, allow the characters to spend gold on improvements to make their base truly unique. For more ideas on bringing horizonback tortoises to your table, check out the following adventure hook, which can be played on its own or lead up to the events of the Wildemount adventure “Unwelcome Spirits.”
A siege upon reclaimed ruins

You can hear the approach of the mobile settlement of Urzin long before you see it. Comprised of 40 lumbering horizonback tortoises—atop which are built homesteads, Luxon temples, and other structures—Urzin’s approach is marked by a rumbling that shakes the earth. Nearer to the village, you can hear the songs of goblinkin, gnolls, and orcs, and smell their stink.
When you’re spotted, you’re met with weapons before a goblin seer appears at a window atop a temple and shouts, “Put those sticks away, you fools, they’re just the ones to help us!”

The goblin seer is Bol’bara. A highly respected figure, Bol’bara is tasked with protecting Urzin, a mobile village that acts as a military fortress for the Kryn Dynasty. Lately, she’s been dealing with a group of goblins that have deserted the village and established a new settlement in the nearby ruins of a fortress. Bol’bara wants the goblins to return to Urzin, lest their actions inspire more of her people to shirk their duties to the Kryn Dynasty.
The goblins have refortified the damaged walls of the fortress and refuse to negotiate with Bol’bara. The seer knows that the only way to bring the goblins back is by force. However, some of the goblins in Urzin argue that they should be free to leave their posts. Doing so could cause the Kryn Dynasty, which has long provided supplies to Urzin in exchange for service, to retaliate.
To help settle the matter, Bol’bara seeks the help of the characters. Arming the group with a cannon-backed horizonback tortoise, she asks the group to tear down the fortress walls and retrieve her people alive. In exchange for their help, she promises weaponry crafted by the Kryn Dynasty.
Ticket to ride
The fortress is in The Brokenveil Marsh, a land marked by tangled brush, mud pits, and gnarled trees. The horizonback tortoise can be mounted by each of the characters and provides protection from environmental hazards. It travels at a pace of about 5 miles per day and will reach the fortress in two days.
Use the following statistics for the cannon mounted on the creature:

Cannon
Large object
AC: 19Hit Points: 75Damage Immunities: poison, psychicCannon Ball. Ranged Weapon Attack: +6 to hit, range 600/2,400 ft., one target. Hit: 44 (8d10) bludgeoning damage.
Source: Dungeon Master’s Guide

Because The Brokenveil Marsh has seen many skirmishes between the Kryn Dynasty and the Dwendalian Empire, the party may be attacked by undead along their journey.
Attacking the goblin fortress
The walls of the fortress have been damaged with age and shoddily repaired with mud by the goblins. These deserters are holed up inside the fortress with enough stores of food to last them one week. While the fortress walls are up, they refuse any negotiations with the characters, claiming that they are establishing a free nation of their own.
A fortress wall has 100 hit points, immunity to damage from nonmagical weapons excluding siege weapons, and resistance to all other damage. The horizonback tortoise has enough ammunition needed to bring down a fortress wall. When the characters attack the fortress, 1d6 goblins fire arrows at them from above. A goblin will retreat if brought to half of its hit points or fewer.
Just desserts for deserters
When the fortress is breached, the goblins will surrender and agree to follow the characters back to Urzin. There, Bol’bara will reward the characters and announce a suitable punishment for the deserters: six months of scrubbing the hind of the horizonback tortoises’ shells.
An epic adventure awaits
Call of the Netherdeep is Critical Role’s first adventure module set in the world of Exandria. It takes characters from 3rd to 12th level and spans multiple continents. If you’d like to learn more about the world before the book’s release on March 15, check out the Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount. It has everything you need to know about Wildemount, offers player options like subclasses, and has a bestiary and adventures for low-level parties.

Michael Galvis (@michaelgalvis) is a tabletop content producer for D&D Beyond. He is a longtime Dungeon Master who enjoys horror films and all things fantasy and sci-fi. When he isn’t in the DM’s seat or rolling dice as his anxious halfling sorcerer, he’s playing League of Legends and Magic: The Gathering with his husband. They live together in Los Angeles with their adorable dog, Quentin.

GW, Warhammer, 40K & Fantasy Minis Trivia Challenge

5 years ago Bert Ballast

It’s Friday! Kick-off your weekend with this retro challenge for the old-schoolers out there.
What ancient Games Workshop, 40K, and Warhammer minis are these?

What System is is from?
What Miniature is it?
What Year did it come out?

Oh yeah, most importantly… HAVE FUN!

~Let’s see who the minis loremaster really is. Have a great weekend everybody!
Last week’s minis (L to R): Tau XV-15 Stealth Suit (40K), Bretonnian Jules de Jongleur (WFB), Frateris Militia (40K)

Time is running out to grab the Pathfinder Second Edition Beginners Bundle!

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Last month, we launched the Pathfinder Second Edition Beginners Bundle to support The Trevor Project and Tabletop Gaymers. At the time of writing, it’s sold over 6,000 bundles, raising over $30,000 for the charities. Read all the details in our announcement blog. This deal on an epic collection of Pathfinder Second Edition essentials ends Saturday!

This bundle is filled with the books new explorers need to create heroes and set out on their journey in the legendary Pathfinder tabletop RPG universe, including the Core Rulebook, monster-filled Bestiary, and ready-to-play adventures—along with the physical Beginner’s Box at the $50 or more tier. Plus, you choose how much of your purchase supports The Trevor Project and Tabletop Gaymers!

Humble Bundles offer great deals and support great causes. Purchasers can decide how much of their donation goes to each participant in the bundle by expanding the “Adjust Donation” section on the right-hand side of the page, just below the Checkout button.

Thank you for supporting Paizo, The Trevor Project, and Tabletop Gaymers!

About The Trevor ProjectThe mission of The Trevor Project is to end suicide among gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender and questioning young people.

About Tabletop GaymersTabletop Gaymers Inc is a nonprofit organization whose mission is championing the visibility and inclusion of the lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender, queer/questioning, intersex, asexual, and others (LGBTQIA+) community through tabletop gaming. We organize events, educational panels, information booths, and distribute pride swag at gaming conventions like Gen Con, Origins, and PAX Unplugged.

Support Charities with the Pathfinder Second Edition Beginners Bundle!

How To Be More D&D – A Self-Help Book

5 years ago Bert Ballast

A new D&D self-help book wants to give you inspiration in real life. Check out How To Be More D&D coming this August.

In August this year, we’ll get the first official D&D self-help book. It was only a matter of time, really. After all, as the X-Files told us years ago, you don’t spend all those years playing Dungeons & Dragons without learning a little something about courage.

It’s a sign of just how omnipresent D&D is. TV shows, movies (at least one of which might be good), and novels, sure. But we’ve also got a D&D Cookbook, D&D counting/reading books, even guides to art and history. Sure, it’s the art and history of D&D, but still non-fiction and D&D seem to go hand-in-hand at least some of the time.
Which brings us to How to Be More D&D: Face Your Dragons, Be More Adventurous, and Live Your Best Geeky Life. Newly spotted on Amazon, with an August 23, 2022 release date, How to Be More D&D promises playful inspiration.

Only it’s the kind of inspiration aimed at giving you Advantage in real life, not just at the gaming table. You’ll learn how to build your “real world character.” And as far as these things go, that’s pretty good advice. Be intentional about who you are. Take a look at the description on Amazon.
How to Be More D&D: Face Your Dragons, Be More Adventurous, and Live Your Best Geeky Life – $18

Tackle life with advantage with this officially licensed guide to life inspired by the world of Dungeons & Dragons.
This playful, inspirational book invites fantasy lovers and fans of Dungeons & Dragon to celebrate and incorporate different elements of this iconic tabletop game in their lives and help them live their best, geekiest life.
Written by Kat Kruger, the Dungeon Master of the popular Dungeons & Dragons actual play podcast d20 Dames, you’ll learn how to take the skills, knowledge, and sense of adventure from your D&D campaign to help you better understand everything from how you interact with the world around you to facing the random events that life sometimes throws at you.
With advice from classic player classes—like the Fighter, Warlock, Bard, Monk, or Ranger—and ways to take your experiences as a player (or a Dungeon Master) and use them in your day-to-day life, How to Be More D&D also features interactive elements like “Building Your Character” and “Dungeon Master State of Mind,” quizzes like “What is Your D&D Class,” and paired with rich, full-color art from the world of Dungeons & Dragons. Whether it is building your real world “character,” discovering your ideal class and strengths, harnessing the three pillars of play for everyday use, or using roleplaying techniques to your advantage, How to Be More D&D explores how to enjoy the campaign known as life and is a perfect gift for any tabletop gamer or D&D fan.
No word on whether or not there’ll be advice on how often you should search for traps or secret doors. Or what to do when you’re a bard all you can think is “roll to seduce.”
But as D&D becomes more and more mainstream, this is the kind of thing we’ll keep seeing. It’s only a matter of time before someone writes up the executive principles for D&D or like Axebeak Soup for the Tiefling Soul. Until then, this book will have to do.
Happy Adventuring

General

Saints of Midgard: St. Ssesmiyra, the Horned Saint

5 years ago Bert Ballast

The Midgard Worldbook already details a score of saints dedicated to the war god Mavros, but the other deities have their share of saints as well. Saints of Midgard uncovers some of these holy personages, including information on their origins, followers, blessings and miracles, and the relics attributed to them.

Saint Ssesmiyra, the Horned Saint

Origins. Ssesmiyra, the Horned Saint of Hecate, was a minotaur who faithfully served the Bringer of Magic for almost 50 years in the Magocracy of Allain despite being ostracized by many within her church for her monstrous appearance and dark moods.

Said to have been a sight to behold with her slate-colored fur, glyph-inscribed horns, and lean, muscular build, Ssesmiyra was born in the Magocracy at the end of the Mage Wars and grew up in its aftermath when the area was still recovering from the turmoil. Most of the minotaurs of the region had previously been the chattel of mages, but with the end of the war, Ssesmiyra and her family were released and struggled for survival on the fringes of society.

In her late teens, Ssesmiyra joined the priesthood of Hecate. Shortly thereafter, she performed her first miracle in the goddess’s service, calling forth a coiling serpent of living shadow to destroy a fellow priest who had been belittling her.

These miracles continued for the length of Ssesmiyra’s life: the priestess given to sudden and violent prophetic visions, often injuring or even killing those present, and wielding magic the likes of which her fellow priests had only ever heard about from ancient wizened texts. Indeed, Ssesmiyra’s command of Hecate’s mysteries was so potent that many believed her to be one of the Lady of Sighs many secret daughters.

At the age of 63, Ssesmiyra received a vision from Hecate to travel to the Theocracy of Kammae Straboli far to the south and with few belongings embarked on her journey. What became of Ssesmiyra is unknown, for she never reached her destination. Most believe that she perished during her journey, but whatever truly happened remains a mystery.

Followers. Most of Ssesmiyra’s followers are minotaurs who also worship Hecate. She has a few human and demi-human followers, but their numbers are barely noticeable in comparison. The exceptions are oracles and seers, who often keep a small shrine to the Horned Saint somewhere in their lodgings.

Ssesmiyra’s most famous followers include the minotaurs’ High Elder Potnia Adrasta and Queen Kitane of Kyprion, both of whom are known to wear small magical cameos, depicting the Horned Saint’s visage.

Blessings and Miracles. Ssesmiyra sometimes manifests as a snake coiled around a minotaur’s horn or similar object. This is typically accompanied by brief visions of future events, warning the recipient of potential danger. The sudden appearance of a bull with slate-colored fur or an empusa (seeTome of Beasts 2) to defend one of Hecate’s shrines or temples is also seen as a sign of Ssesmiyra’s favor.

The vast majority of Ssesmiyra’s miracles are closely guarded secrets of Hecate’s tight-lipped church. However, she was well known for her sibylline abilities and the strange divine magic she often wielded.

Holy Relics

The relics of the saints are items of renown and power, vitally important to those of the same faith and zealously sought after and guarded.

CAMEO OF THE HORNED SAINT

Wondrous item, very rare (requires attunement)

These protective items appear as small circular disks of polished red chalcedony with Ssesmiyra’s image embedded in pure ivory. They are popular items amongst Ssesmiyra’s faithful.

While you are attuned to this cameo, you gain a +1 bonus to saving throws and can cause a ghostly white minotaur to manifest from the cameo once per day. This minotaur has the same abilities as the guardian of faith spell. The cameo recharges at dawn.

HORN OF SAINT SSESMIYRA

Wondrous item, legendary (requires attunement)

Said to have appeared in the hands of Hecate’s faithful shortly after Ssesmiyra mysteriously vanished on her way to Kammae Straboli, this minotaur horn is etched with spiraling patterns chased in gold and silver, and it bears a short onyx grip where it would be attached to the skull. To attune to the horn, you must place it against your forehead. Doing so causes it to magically merge with your skull until you decide to remove it. If you are already a creature with horns (such as a minotaur), this horn magically replaces one of your own until removed.

While you are attuned to this horn, you gain some of the racial abilities of a minotaur, including darkvision to 60 feet and a minotaur’s Labyrinth Sense (see Midgard Heroes Handbook). If you are already a minotaur, your darkvision increases to 90 feet, and when you make a charge attack, your horns are counted as magical weapons and deal an additional 1d4 necrotic damage.

Once per day, you can also cause the horn to evoke the effects of a maze spell. Any creature caught within the spell has disadvantage on its Intelligence checks to escape. Unlike the standard version of the spell, it can also affect minotaurs and other creatures who would normally automatically succeed against its effects. In this case, however, they do not suffer disadvantage on their Intelligence checks. This power of the horn recharges at dawn.

Finder’s Archives – Castle Vantress

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Castle Vantress
Where other castles defend the surrounding lands, Castle Vantress is different. While they do have a physical presence in the world, that is not their area of concern. Instead, the knights of Castle Vantress are dedicated to protecting mortal lives from forbidden and dangerous knowledge. To that end, they use any and all means, including some that others would consider immoral. To the knights, the dangers of certain forms of knowledge outweigh the need for moral fiber. Others would likely disagree, but Vantress doesn’t care.
Lay of the Land
Castle Ventress sits at the center of lake Lochmere on a small island. The waters of the lake are defended by undine warriors and wizards, but even the waters themselves are magical and capable of animating into the single largest water elemental in existence, which will obliterate any threat to Castle Vantress. In fact, some believe that the elemental is the FIRST water elemental in existence and that the mages of Castle Vantress have somehow (magically or not) coerced the creature into working with them.
Even if an attacker somehow makes it past the waters, the walls of Castle Vantress are thick and strong, and magical forcefields shroud the islanders from harm.
Dangers
Aside from the gigantic water elemental and the undine that inhabit Lochmere, the biggest threat comes from the inhabitants inside Castle Vantress itself. The knights here aren’t the warriors that most other realms would depend on, instead, they’re all magic users of one type or another. Some are full-fledged wizards and sorcerers, some are spellswords or eldritch knights, and still others are alchemists and inventors. Anything that requires an application of brains or knowledge more than it does brawn is welcomed here. Likely the greatest danger of all comes from the Grandmaster of the Knights of Vantress, an ancient lich known simply as the “All-Knowing Father.” Whether the lich founded the knights or not is unknown, though it claims that someone else did, long before it came along. However, as the lich is well over a millennia old, the claim can be somewhat disputed as it has certainly embedded itself in the very bedrock of the belief that holds the knights together. Despite all the scrutiny of its actions though, it doesn’t seem to have the same nefarious purpose as many other liches do and doesn’t seem to hoard the knowledge for itself to use, but simply to keep it away from the mortal races, at least until such a time that they are ready to embrace the knowledge in a safe manner. A young knight once asked the All-Knowing Father why this is, and the lich simply answered with “We tried to keep the secret of gunpowder. Look what happened when It fell into the hands of an unprepared world.”
And that concludes Castle Vantress. See you next week? 😊
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Kim Frandsen

D&D: Invisibility Doesn’t Work The Way You Think It Does

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Invisibility is a powerful combat advantage. But it doesn’t work the way you think it does. Let’s unravel invisibility in 5th Edition.

Invisibility and fantasy adventures go hand-in-hand. Whether you’re an Arthurian Knight who takes being a random jerk to whole new levels, an eleven-year-old boy wearing a piece of the Grim Reaper’s cloak, or a Hobbit using the most powerful magic item in the world to get away from everyone on his birthday, invisibility is a staple of fantasy adventures.
Invisibility is also just a whole mood.
Little wonder then that invisibility is a big part of Dungeons & Dragons. Wizards can vanish from sight with a spell. Gloomstalker Rangers disappear into shadows, becoming one with the night. Even Arcane Tricksters can obfuscate themselves. Add in a Ring of Invisibility and there’s no end to the ways that a creature might turn themselves invisible in D&D.
And being invisible is a great benefit. It lets you sneak around unseen! You can go anywhere and nobody will know you’re there. Well. Sort of. Let’s take a look at what invisibility actually does in 5th Edition.
How It Works

Here’s the condition, as outlined in the Basic Rules/Player’s Handbook:
Invisibility

An invisible creature is impossible to see without the aid of magic or a special sense. For the purpose of hiding, the creature is heavily obscured. The creature’s location can be detected by any noise it makes or any tracks it leaves.
Attack rolls against the creature have disadvantage, and the creature’s attack rolls have advantage.

The fact that being Invisible has two bullet points will be extra important in just a minute. But for now let’s take a look at the first one. You become impossible to see–but not impossible to detect. The noise you make and tracks you leave still give away your location. Meaning that without a silence spell, if you cast invisibility on yourself in combat, everyone still knows exactly where you are and can attack you.
Of course, thanks to the second bullet point, anyone attacking you has disadvantage. But that means you can still be easily included in an area of effect, or the monk can rush across the room to try and stunning fist you.

The other thing worth mentioning is that you are heavily obscured for the purpose of hiding. That’s a mechanical way of representing the fact that you can’t be seen. And more importantly, it means you can hide without having to obscure your position from someone. Normally if you want to hide in combat you have to get out of sight of the creature you’re hiding from. You can’t just be in a corridor and shout stealth check! at your DM. Unless you’re invisible, that is.
This goes for enemies too. If a spellcaster vanishes right in front of you with invisibility? You still know exactly where they are until they make that hide check. Noise, footprints, and the like give them away.
But what if you want to counter that advantage? That’s when invisibility gets real weird. Or as I like to put it:
What do you mean I still have disadvantage? I cast See Invisibility?

Because invisibility isn’t just about not being seen. It’s also about getting advantage and giving your enemies disadvantage on attack rolls in combat. For normal invisibility, it’s most often about the defensive uses of it. It all comes down to that second bullet point. In a big Sage Advice Live panel last year, D&D’s lead rules designer, Jeremy Crawford broke it down:

In a nutshell, even being able to see an invisible creature with magic doesn’t negate the second bullet point. You need a spell like Faerie Fire which specifically says it negates the benefit of being invisible:

Faerie Fire is one of the only spells that does this. See Invisibility doesn’t. Even True Seeing, the most powerful Illusion piercing spell in the game, doesn’t do this. Same goes for creatures and characters that naturally have Blindsight. This leads to the odd occasion of fighting a Gelatinous Cube (which has blindsight) and it still having disadvantage to attack the invisible character, but not the non-invisible person trying to hide next to them.
So to sum up? If you’re invisible you can run and you can hide, but unless you do, everyone knows where you are. But even if they can see you, they still can’t hit you.
Happy Adventuring

BoLS Prime: That Time A D&D Game Trashed Hard Drives Out Of Spite

5 years ago Bert Ballast

With Baldur’s Gate 3 gearing up for release, let’s take a look back at one of the most dangerous D&D games ever made, Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor.
There are games that have bugs, and then there are games that will trash your hard drive. Today we’re taking a look back at one of the latter. One of the most infamous games was Pool of Radiance: Ruins of Myth Drannor. This was to be a return to form for SSI and TSR. It was going to be an homage to the glory days of the gold box games.Gold Box Games Presents Pool of RadianceGold Box games were a legendary series of D&D video games. They helped boost TSR into the forefront of the 90s with classic games like the original Pool of Radiance.
Towards the tail end of TSR’s existence, SSI and TSR teamed up once more to try and bring back the good ol’ days of D&D gaming. Unfortunately, they started work on the game back as TSR was coming to an end. At the same time, WotC took over the reins. Which meant that TSR became Wizards of the Coast’s property and not long after 3rd Edition was on the horizon.
That meant midway through development, the game had to switch over to 3rd Edition rules. In fact the game brought 3rd Edition into the public eye before the new ruleset was released. The announcement came in 1999.Now, over a decade later, SSI and TSR have teamed up again to attempt to recreate the m…

General

Wizards of the Coast Releases More Deets on 'Magic Game Day'

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Wizards of the Coast released more details on the upcoming Magic Game Day events, scheduled for March 5-6.
WotC announced the return of Game Day and the promos that would be handed out in December (see “‘Magic: The Gathering'”). The Game Day events can be run as Standard, Sealed, or Draft format events. These events are timed, Swiss round tournaments with a cut to a top eight, and are designed for competitive REL. Every player registered for this event will receive a Consider promo, and Fateful Absence is the promo intended for players who make the top eight cut. Atsushi, the Blazing Sky is the promo given to the winner of the event.Additionally, WotC announced that each Standard set in 2022 will be supported by a Game Day event following their respective release dates. The Standard sets for 2022 can be found on ICv2’s Magic: The Gathering release calendar (see “‘Magic: The Gathering’ Release Calendar for 2022/2023”).

Tiny Epic Galaxies' designer next solo game is about post-apocalyptic car combat

5 years ago Bert Ballast

Scott Almes, the creator of the space-themed board game Tiny Epic Galaxies, has designed a new solo game called Wreckland Run.
Taking place in a post-apocalyptic world in which people race around in modified death-vehicles, Wreckland Run’s premise certainly bears a striking resemblance to the Mad Max film series – in which a man travels across a barren wasteland encountering various gangs who also happen to be car enthusiasts. In Wreckland Run, players select a vehicle and driver, before attempting to navigate across a dangerous world known as the Wrecklands.

A solo board game, Wreckland Run challenges the player to make their way across the Wrecklands, which are populated by any number of threats and marauder gangs, in order to deliver supplies to the last remaining holdouts of civilisation. Across seven different chapters – all connected into a single campaign – the player will need to overcome new challenges, using the horsepower of their vehicle and wits to survive. As they unlock each new chapter, the player will also gain access to fresh options to improve their chances.
If the player manages to make it through all seven chapters intact, then they win the game. Wreckland Run can be then replayed with different combinations of vehicles and cars.

Alongside Wreckland Run and TIny Epic Galaxies, Almes is responsible for creating the rest of the titles in the Tiny Epic series – such as Tiny Epic Kingdoms and Tiny Epic Pirates – as well as an adventure book style board game called Almanac: The Dragon Road and Warp’s Edge, another solo game that was developed by TC Petty III, who also worked with Almes on Wreckland Run.
Renegade Games Studio is the publisher responsible for releasing Wreckland Run, after previously publishing titles such as deckbuilding board game Clank!, two-player card game Fox in the Forest and several tabletop roleplaying games including Kids on Bikes and Icarus, a TRPG about building and toppling civilisations.
The Kickstarter campaign for Wreckland Run is set to be launched on February 8th, with the pledge amounts and estimated delivery dates yet to be confirmed.

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