Feb. 15: Why Starfinder and New Vegas is in your future

In This Edition

• Wizards of the Coast

• Major Publishers (Paizo and Co)

• Crowdfunding

• TTRPG Tech

• Indie Content and Publishers

• Actual Play and Content Creators

• For those players who DESPERATELY want evil drow in their games, Jeremy Crawford confirmed that they intend to add species-specific stats within setting books like the Forgotten Realms Adventurer’s Guide (which will be released later this year.)

• Netflix is filming its version of The Forgotten Realms, according to Deadline. It’ll be produced by Shawn Levy, best known for his work on Stranger Things and Deadpool and Wolverine. This arrives after the continuation of Honor Among Thieves was canceled by Paramount+. I assume it will be a separate story from the movie (which is a shame cuz I’d love to watch a continuation of that movie’s story), but we will have to see if it actually manifests and releases on the streaming platform.

• During a Twitch broadcast, Paizo detailed its plans for the Starfinder 2nd Edition revamp this year. This includes a GM Core, an Alien Core, the new rulebook, the first novel set in the world and a card game from the universe.

• There’s also the new Pathfinder 2e NPC Core book, which just came out. This includes new rules for romancing NPCs.

  

  Fallout: New Vegas

• Modiphius confirmed that Royal Flush, its long-awaited New Vegas expansion for the Fallout RPG, will be released sometime in 2025. New Vegas is considered one of the most popular video game editions in the post-apocalyptic setting, so this should win over a lot of fans and begin to tell stories away from the East Coast-centric book so far. Modiphius also intends to release a solo adventure titled Lone Wanderer.

• Magpie Games (best known for Avatar the Last Airbender and Root) has launched its campaign for Fallen London, the strangely gothic TTRPG set in London Beneath. The game builds on passions and obsessions while navigating a strange world full of rubber men and sentient rats.

• Streetlights and Shadows is a zine designed to provide a film noir-themed experience for players, whether they’re investigating crime or following the case of the infamous Maltese Falcon in a solo case.

• What happens when 1990s slackers like Jay and Silent Bob encounter supernatural threats? That’s the basis of Askew, a simple game where slackers work to fight off monsters and have a good time.

• AMBR is a series of simple cards that help players identify their action economy in Fifth Edition Dungeons and Dragons through class and species-related cards.

  

  Magnus Archives

• The Magnus Archives, a TTRPG using Monte Cook’s Cypher system to tell a story based on the cult-classic podcast of the same name, is getting an expansion titled Tangled in the Web. It includes three new collections of adventures and horrific manifestations for players to face.

TTRPG Technology

On the crowdfunding side, Kickstarter has added new tools for pledge management and pay-in-installments to its platform in hopes of better supporting creators.

Demiplane officially released Cyberpunk RED’s character generator for those seeking to find some “chooms” and fighting some corporate governments in this chaotic timeline.

Foundry launched its VTT marketplace, allowing people to buy resources and rulesets to import directly into their TTRPG VTT. Paizo, Free League, Chaosium and some third-party 5e supplements

Indie Games

Possum Creek Games, an indie TTRPG publisher known for games like Wanderhome and Yazeba’s Bed and Breakfast, is now an imprint at Steve Jackson Games. It’s an exciting development for PCG’s team as it helps them to focus on making games while it also allows Steve Jackson Games (best known for popular games like Munchkin) to get more into the indie scene.

Actual Play and Content Creation

Daggerheart, Critical Role’s upcoming fantasy TTRPG, will be released on May 20, 2025. It will also include content on new settings for players, including the grimdark “Age of Umbra.”

The long-time TTRPG reviewer Jared Rascher of What Do I Know? announced that he’s no longer reviewing TTRPGs because of the demands of the process. GeekNative interviewed the man about the decision, although even I’ll admit the conversation is a bit inside baseball. However, reviews are a key part of the industry, so it’s a fascinating look at the pressure that some reviewers are experiencing and the pressure they face.