Nov. 1: Spooky Scary Strahd

In This Edition

• Wizards of the Coast

• Major Publishers (Paizo and Co)

• Crowdfunding

• TTRPG Tech

• Actual Play and Content Creators

• Did you ever want to make your own D&D map? The man behind Sushi Go has partnered with WizKids to publish Edge of the Realm: Fields of Faerun, a tile-based game that has players combining classic images to make their own maps in the Forgotten Realms setting.

• Astarion, Wyll, Lae’zel, and Karlach of the Baldur’s Gate Crew played a one-shot at MCMCon London where they enter the Shadow-cursed lands, a familiar region from Act 2 of BG3. It is now available on YouTube for your viewing pleasure. I’m sure it’s equally silly as the GenCon game.

• New D&D Funko Pops are coming. RA Salvatore’s Drizzt will be featured alongside his spirit panther. Players can also buy the Lady of Pain (my beloved) and the white dragon Icingdeath some time in January. As someone who is currently DMing a Planescape campaign, I NEED my own Lady of Pain.

• Ravenloft: Heir of Strahd is a new novel written by Delilah Dawson that features everyone’s favorite vampire lord, Strahd von Zarovich. The cover has earned some derision from older fans who think the book doesn’t reflect the initial gothic vibes and designs that the original Ravenloft campaigns attempted to present. Personally, I think the book’s summary reads like a classic Curse of Strahd campaign from the last decade, where a bunch of adventurers are asked to fight off Strahd in his domain, whether they be half-elf, human or kobold. Most CoS games I’ve played rarely adhere to the human-centric setting that the world has established, and this book reflects the exact same vibe. At the same time, I’m also a big believe in “don’t judge a book by its cover.” So I’d wait and see before becoming smarmy critics online.

• Chaosium launched the updated version of ElfQuest on Kickstarter and successfully funded it in 10 minutes. The game is based on an old 1980s comic and is a re-issue of the game from that same time period. The game is built upon Chaosium’s BRP system and should feel familiar to any CoC or Runequest fans.

• A new trailer for Vampire the Masquerade: Bloodlines 2 was released as the last part of the Month of Darkness. I understand some are skeptical, and the long delay is not in its favor. But it is a sequel to perhaps one of the most visible representations of the VTM/World of Darkness setting for video game players to date.

• Modiphius released a trifecta of scenarios for its WWII Cthulhu game Achtung Cthulhu on Halloween, with each scenario offering a variety of monstrous options to consider or take on.

• Vaesen, a gothic horror game printed by Free League Publishing, is currently raising funds on Kickstarter to publish two new expansions and a starter kit. First, City of My Nightmares tells the story of monstrous threats to our adventuring investigators in Stockholm, Sweden. Mythic Carpathia, in contrast, offers expanded lore for a variety of iconic Eurocentric monsters, including vampires and Baba Yaga. It is also publishing a starter kit which will help players begin to explore the investigatory setting.

• This is a smaller project compared to most I cover, but I can’t help but respect the idea and want to get more eyes on it. A designer from the Netherlands has made a dress-up collection for certain classes in D&D. On its face, these are fairly cheap art alternatives but I see it as a really nice addition to the internet, since it offers players an alternative option for designing their D&D OC rather than using an AI-generated art or stealing someone else’s.

• SHIVER Classified is a conspiracy/government agency-focused TTRPG whose art design reminds me of Hellboy. The mechanics are interesting, in that they rely on rolling symbols related to certain skills over numbers and it explores a number of different story themes (from slashers to Cthulhu Mythos). I’m personally a sucker for monster hunting TTRPGs, so this is up my alley.

TTRPG Technology

AI will forever be a divisive matter where some players and authors will be okay using it to illustrate and supplement their work while others find it abhorrent. Allowing consumers to know about its usage and make an appropriate decision is the best approach some clients can take. One major vendor took a big step toward improving a consumer’s ability to do that. DriveThruRPG, the leading seller of TTRPG PDFs online, has added a filter to its search box, which will allow users to filter out content that was completely generated by AI. It won’t stop all content partly because creators may not tag it appropriately and some may just use it to create some images. But allowing players to choose if they see such content is a healthy and reasonable design choice if you ask me.

The miniature printing service Eldritch Foundry has launched a Kickstarter to fund a new process for creating color-printed custom-designed miniatures. I don’t use miniatures a lot, but having options like this are lovely for DMs seeking options to customize their resin-printed character tokens.

Tales of Fablecraft is coming to iPad, making the simple TTRPG much more accessible. It’s also releasing it’s next set of five adventures.

Actual Play and Content Creation

VTM: LA By Night fans can now own a plush doll of Jason Carl the Storyteller as well as the Nosferatu Jasper. I hope they don’t bite you while you sleep.