Oct. 18: A Dungeon Master's Guide to Discworld and D20s

In This Edition

• Wizards of the Coast

• Major Publishers (Paizo and Co)

• Crowdfunding

• TTRPG Tech

• Actual Play/Content Creation

• Indie Games

• A lot of news about the Dungeon Master’s Guide came out earlier this week. This included coverage of Greyhawk’s future by yours truly and the fact that several popular pro DMs helped write the book. Early reviews appear positive and have praised its organization, although whether it brings new value to new or old DMs will be tested over time.

• It was also revealed that Chris Perkins, a constant face in many recent 5e books, will no longer serve as Project Lead on D&D books. We don’t know what he’ll be doing next, but it seems likely that he will still be working with Wizards of the Coast in the future.

• D&D and Discord are teaming up. First up is a free one-shot that will use the built-in Roll20 interface to allow players to try the system out. Discord users can also buy little token decorations and animations for their profiles.

• Modiphius’ Discworld: Adventures in Ankh-Morpork launched this week. The game, based on Terry Pratchett’s fantasy world, runs on its unique system, known as the “Narrativium” system. It also involves puns as a mechanic. The game raised nearly 500k on the first day and hit $1 million in the first week. I’m not expecting Cosmere fundraising levels, but I think it has a good chance of big money in the next term or so.

• Renegade Studios is publishing In Memoriam, a Vampire the Masquerade book that will allow players to create older vampires (known as Ancillae) and help them navigate the game's lengthy history. The current version focuses on younger Kindred, so this is a lovely addition as a storyteller (or I hope it will be.)

• Free League is expanding its Nordic Horror storytelling platform with two new expansions for Vaesen.  Mythic Carpathia will explore the cities of Prague while City of My Nightmares is more focused on Stockholm in the 1800s.

• Games Workshop, the people behind Warhammer 40k and Age of Sigmar, is hiring a lore nerd to help with the “development and approval of the next big Warhammer licensed role-playing game, card game, or board game.” If you’re a 40k fan and are hoping for more games like Wrath & Glory and Imperium Maledictum, then it seems likely that more RPGs will be in the future.

• Steve Jackson Games, the minds behind Munchkin, has teamed up with the UK-based Fighting Fantasy Books to bring its series of “solo choose-your-own-adventure style gamebooks” to the United States. I don’t know much about these books, but I am curious to learn more.

• Ars Magica, A Euro-centric TTRPG focused on a classical view of mages and magic, launched the deluxe version of 2nd Edition on Monday. The game, which tells a story of those in a more historical Europe inundated with magic like the fey or classic witchcraft, will have a lot of its content condensed into this volume for players to enjoy. It also will receive an Open License, which will allow others to make content with its rules in the future.

• Trail of Cthulhu, Pelgrane Games’ take on the Lovecraft Mythos, launched its second edition this week. The game draws on similar tropes as Call of Cthulhu but relies on the GUMSHOE system, an open-source roleplaying ruleset designed explicitly for investigation over combat or other encounters. The original version was well-reviewed so I’m curious what the new version will be like.

• The Howl of the Chimeras is a Regency-focused Call of Cthulhu scenario set in Victorian England. It features a group of criminals eager to steal treasure, only to find more than they bargained for in the home of a local English lord. Shadowlands Games published the CoC scenario.

• Evil Hat Productions is raising funds on Backerkit for two new books in the Monster of the Week ruleset. The two books, Slayer’s Survival Kit and Hunter’s Journal, offer new playbooks, rules, and team settings for players who enjoy the Scooby-Doo-esque antics of the game.

• The Publishing Goblin is taking a big step out with its first Backerkit campaign for Confluence: The Living Archive. The game, described as a “genre-blending TTRPG of fantasy, sci-fi, and horror,” builds its game around a blend of colorful species and characters living in the region of Ajurea and uses a D6 system. The game relies on a lot of bonkers concepts from fiction and may offer a number of storytelling opportunities.

• Released in conjunction with Confluence, Fatebound presents players with a diceless tarot-powered TTRPG about witches attending an academy to become the enforcers of their local leadership.

• Paizo is hiring a Community & Social Media Specialist for their marketing team.

TTRPG Technology

Hedron, whose founder I interviewed for Critical Hit months ago, has launched a new marketplace allowing homebrewers and third parties to sell their content on the homebrew-focused VTT. It’s unclear who or what content will be sold there initially, so we’ll see if it becomes a significant player.

Actual Play and Content Creation

Dimension 20 will have a lengthy tour of live shows in the future. Dropout announced that they will have three shows in 2025 on the West Coast, including performances at the Hollywood Bowl, Seattle’s Climate Pledge Bride and the MGM Grand Garden Arena in Las Vegas. Nothing’s been said about pricing, which was a controversy with the NYC D20 show earlier this year.

Hundreds of game developers and creators in the TTRPG space have signed a letter urging their fans to support Vice President Kamala Harris in the 2024 elections. The latest count I’ve seen estimates around 650 game-makers have signed on, which seems quite significant in the greater scheme of the industry. Some of the more conservative fans have complained about this, but it’s a curious if unsurprising gesture in this rather intense political cycle.

Indie Games

Mothership, an indie sci-fi RPG that has a substantial fanbase, will launch a collab-funding campaign on Backerkit later this month. Players can back an assortment of independent Mothership games in November. Mothership has long approached game creation in a way that encourages third parties to use its system and produce smaller adventures for fans. A few samples of the games are available on Backerkit, offering a bit of everything for those willing to provide the writers their time.