The Weekly LIVE 188 – Open Letter to D&D, Hasbro Hires Pinkertons, Hobgoblin Kickstarter and Pathfinder 2E Remaster

Posted on April 30, 2023August 9, 2023 by upturnedtable_sx8obi

D&D historian Ben Riggs offers an open letter to the game’s current publishers with advice for not making the same mistakes twice. Ben Riggs is a D&D historian and author of the book Slaying the Dragon: A Secret History of Dungeons & Dragons.

When Magic: The Gathering cards turned up on YouTube last week, publisher Wizards of the Coast sent private investigators from Pinkerton to retrieve them. The resulting confrontation reportedly frightened one woman to tears, and resulted in the confiscation of nearly two dozen boxes of cards by private investigators. Wizards confirmed the incident to Polygon. Meanwhile, the presenter denies anything illegal occurred.

Mike Hutchinson’s Hobgoblin is a fast-paced and thrilling rank and flank tabletop miniatures wargame set in the fantastical underground world of The Rotvärlden. With simple and adaptable rules, players can collect and field any fantasy army they can imagine and engage in brutal battles that last under two hours. The game features original artwork from graphic artist CROM and encourages players to let their wild imaginations run free as they battle alongside cavern fortresses and underground oceans. Whether you’re a seasoned player of fantasy army wargames or new to the genre, Hobgoblin offers a fresh and exciting take on the fantasy mass battle experience.

Paizo announced an all-new effort this morning with the reveal of the Pathfinder Second Edition Remaster Project happening this year. The company will release four new hardcover rulebooks designed to provide a new entry point for Second Edition, with the first two books being revitalized versions of the Player Core and GM Core books, set to be released this November. Followed by the Monster Core (March 2024) and Player Core 2 (July 2024), completing the remastered presentation of the core rules. The new rulebooks are compatible with existing Second Edition items with improvements, incorporating comprehensive errata and rules updates, as well as being easier-to-access volumes with some of the latest content.

#hasbro #pathfinder2E #hobgoblin #dnd5e

Ben Riggs Open Letter to D&D:
https://gizmodo.com/dungeons-dragons-future-wizards-of-the-coast-letter-1850359605

Hobgoblin on Kickstarter:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/electi-studio/mike-hutchinsons-hobgoblin

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The Weekly LIVE 187 – Iconic Party for Japanese D&D, GW Goes OnlyHands, Heavy Gear RPG 4E and Vagabond TTRPG by Indestructoboy

Posted on April 23, 2023August 9, 2023 by upturnedtable_sx8obi

Wizards of the Coast has announced a new “Iconic Party” for their official Japanese release of Dungeons and Dragons, set to come out later in 2023. The new party was revealed by the official Wizards D&D JP account as part of the localization effort for the D&D Essentials Kit. The party was designed by artist Chomoran, and has already caused excitement within the community.

More and more Games Workshop looks to be trying to remove the individual creators from everything they produce. From codex books and game systems, right down to their presenters and tutorials, identities have become non-existent in Nottingham. It seems like GW has made their painting team even more generic than ever before, as they are taking out any recognition for the artists in their tutorials, and you can only see the creator’s hands

It is with great pride and pleasure that Dream Pod 9 launches our Heavy Gear 4th Edition Roleplaying Game Kickstarter. Writing and basic layout of the Heavy Gear 4th Ed RPG Rulebook is complete with a massive 480 page count. But it still needs tons of new artwork, hence the reason for the Kickstarter. Our goal is to raise the money for new artwork, and pay for the work done so far. Heavy Gear is a science fiction franchise produced by Dream Pod 9. The first edition of the beloved roleplaying game debuted in 1995 and has since expanded to include many other products including the Heavy Gear Blitz tabletop wargame and hundreds of pewter, resin and plastic miniatures for the game.

VAGABOND is a “lean-and-mean” tabletop roleplaying game, laser-focused on practical play with a modern TTRPG feel. Drawing inspiration from Medieval romance, dungeon synth, and the litany of dungeon crawlers to come before it, VAGABOND is a hybrid tabletop roleplaying game that blends old school utility with modern TTRPG character expression and sensibilities. It also takes inspiration from both Eastern and Western influences, with the potential for a Goblin Gunslinger to be delving a mummy’s tomb alongside a Harpy Dancer in search of the fabled Excalibur.

#heavygear #vagabondrpg #onlyhands #dndjapan

Heavy Gear 4E TTRPG:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/heavygearblitz/heavy-gear-roleplaying-game-fourth-edition

Vagabond TTRPG:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/rebelrousergames/development-for-vagabond-ttrpg

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The Weekly LIVE 186 – ORC First Draft, Project Black Flag Named, Pathfinder 2E Beginner Box Days and D&D Hate-based Half-races Backpedal

Posted on April 17, 2023August 9, 2023 by upturnedtable_sx8obi

Pathfinder and Starfinder RPG maker Paizo released the first draft of its Open RPG Creative (ORC) license over the weekend and invited the public to submit their comments. The legal document is months in the work following Wizards of the Coast’s OGL fiasco and subsequent release of their rules into the Creative Commons, but Paizo has decided to blaze a different trail through the thicket of tabletop copyright protection.

Project Black Flag got both an official title and a Kickstarter date this past weekend. Black Flag, if you were unfamiliar, is Kobold Press’ take on “Core Fantasy Gaming” aka their version of the 5th Edition D&D rules, but done independently of WotC and any licensing shenanigans. It was originally announced during the OGL debacle of January 2023.

If you have ever wanted to try out Pathfinder Second Edition, the mod team at r/Pathfinder2e has a perfect opportunity for you! During the last week of April, dozens of GMs and hundreds of players will be gaming with the Pathfinder Beginner Box during Beginner Box Days! From April 22-30th, new players curious to try Pathfinder can join experienced Game Masters as they play through the Pathfinder Beginner Box adventure: “Menace Under Otari”! This two-session adventure is designed to guide players through combat, exploration, skills, and even puzzles! The upper level teaches the basics of Pathfinder gameplay, while the lower dungeon puts them in advanced practice.

Dungeons & Dragons is not getting rid of half-elves, despite messaging coming out of a Content Creator’s Summit held at Wizards of the Coast headquarters this week. Today, Wizards of the Coast released a brief statement addressing a “controversy” involving the intention to move away from mechanics that singled out characters with mixed parentages of different species, such as half-elves and half-orcs. “Options for creating characters descended from more than one species are not being removed from Dungeons & Dragons,” said a brief statement posted on Twitter. “Proposed adjustments to character origins have been open to the community since August 2022 and will be revised further.”

ORC First Draft:
https://downloads.paizo.com/ORC_License_DRAFT.pdf
https://downloads.paizo.com/ORC_AxE_DRAFT.pdf

Signup for a Pathfinder Beginner Box Days:
http://www.BEGINPF2.com

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The Weekly LIVE 185 – Wyrmwood Accusations, Creator Summit, Zombicide: White Death and OMM VTT Bundle

Posted on April 10, 2023August 9, 2023 by upturnedtable_sx8obi

Luxury gaming table manufacturer Wyrmwood Gaming has been accused of creating a “dangerous” environment for its workers in a new report from technology website Gizmodo. Reporter Linda Codega spoke with around 50 current and former employees to uncover a what they describe as a culture of sexual harassment, workplace misconduct, and sexism — led by co-founder and CEO Doug Costella, who is at the forefront of several allegations.

This past weekend, the D&D Creator Summit saw content creators/influences and publishers from across the community attend WotC’s influencer event. According to play-by-plays of folks attending, one of the continuing refrains at play was that One D&D was definitely not a new edition. Instead, the term refers to a new Player’s Handbook that’s coming out in 2024. And, sure, it will completely reimagine the core classes of the game. And yes, multiple core rules will be updated. Fundamental things about the way the game plays are going to be altered or updated.But it’s not a new Edition. It’s not even 5.5.

The long-awaited sequel to Zombicide: Black Plague and Green Horde has finally arrived! Zombicide: White Death is taking the medieval fantasy setting out into the cold, to the icy lands of a city known as Wintergrad. In addition to the new environment, Zombies, and Survivors, this new installment also brings updated rules and new thrilling mechanics that will send a chill up our spines!

And one of the more exciting VTTs out there is One More Multiverse. This is an online tabletop that supports all-in-one-playing. You can play, share, and stream RPGs all from the same platform, using an imaginative pixel-style world that evokes the glory days of RPG video games. If you’ve never taken OMM for a spin, this is the perfect opportunity with the Intro to Virtual Tabletop Roleplaying Humble Bundle. Animated pixel art is only $1!

Zombicide:White Death
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cmon/zombicide-white-death

OMM: Intro to VTT Roleplaying:
https://www.humblebundle.com/software/one-more-multiverse-bundle-software?partner=upturnedtable

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The Weekly LIVE 184 – BattleTech Mercenaries Hits $4.6 Million, Joe Manganiello’s Dragonlance, Year Zero Licenses Released and Terminator 2 Sourcebook

Posted on April 1, 2023August 9, 2023 by upturnedtable_sx8obi

The next chapter of BattleTech’s titanic resurgence is the Mercenaries Kickstarter campaign and has hit $4.6 million as of this writing. The new campaign introduces more than 50 new designs, including ’Mechs, armored and support vehicles, a VTOL, additional battle armor, and a new aerospace fighter–all to the same high-quality standards and is ready to play right out of the box.

During the recent D&D Direct, Manganiello offered a brief update on the documentary he’s filming for Wizards of the Coast to celebrate Dungeons & Dragons’ 50th Anniversary. Before diving into it, he took a moment to acknowledge how the game had informed his love of stories. Then, Manganiello revealed that it led to his working with Wizards of the Coast on a live-action television adaptation of the Dragonlance novels, which he loves. The Dragonlance novels were initially written by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, though many other authors have written stories for the series since.

Free League Publishing today officially released their two new open game licenses for community creators: a Free Tabletop License (FTL) for the Year Zero Engine and a third-party license for their upcoming fantasy RPG Dragonbane. The Year Zero Engine FTL comes with an updated Standard Reference Document (SRD). All three documents are now available for creators to use.

The Terminator 2: Judgment Day sourcebook for the Terminator RPG adds stats for the liquid metal T-1000, as well as allowing players to play as reprogrammed T-800 models on the side of the human resistance – similar to Arnold Schwarzenegger’s heroic android. As in the original Terminator RPG and its campaign book based on the first movie, players can also just play as bog-standard humans faced with the threat of robotic terminators. Those resistance troops now include an elite force of Time Displacement Commandos who hop between the game’s settings of the 1980s, 1990s and the Future War in an attempt to bring down Skynet.

#balttletech #dragonlance #freeleague #terminatorrpg

BattleTech Mercenaries:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/cgl/battletech-mercenaries

The YZE FTL can be found here:
https://freeleaguepublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/Year-Zero-Engine-License-Agreement.pdf?mc_cid=73ab3ad2dc&mc_eid=311aacd06e

YZE SRD (version 1.0) can be accessed here:

https://freeleaguepublishing.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/YZE-Standard-Reference-Document.pdf?mc_cid=73ab3ad2dc&mc_eid=311aacd06e

Terminator RPG T2: Judgement Day:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/nightfall/the-terminator-rpg-t2-judgement-day?ref=nav_search&result=project&term=terminator

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