Author: upturnedtable_sx8obi

The Weekly LIVE 144 – Mantic Boardgames, Backerkit Launches, Troll Trader Statement and Saudi Arabia Embrace

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Mantic Games has announced that they will launch a new Boardgames Division. This will focus on family-friendly and licensed-IP games. They want to be able to create projects that will be crowd-funded on Gamefound and will be one and done including expansions that are funded. The idea is to free them from one the wargaming space and also to make games that will lead players to the existing Mantic IPs.

BackerKit posts a surprise announcement that they are in beta as a full-fledged crowdfunding platform. They will officially launch in 2023 and already have over 30 companies committed to the platform. This includes Cephalofair Games, creator of the popular Gloomhaven and Frosthaven games. Isaac Childres, owner of Cephalofair, stated concerns over the announcement by Kickstarter to embrace blockchain technology that precipitated the move. BackerKit tools will still be available to Kickstarter campaigns.

We were contacted by Louis Simspon, managing director of Troll Trader, telling us that our discussion of the circumstances of the closure of Secret Weapon Miniatures was completely incorrect. He referred us to a statement posted by his company and the details when compared to the Secret Weapon Kickstarter update posted by Justin McCoy, nothing matches up. The truth lies somewhere in between. We under no circumstances want to damage the reputation of Troll Trader by our discussion. They are a company I have personally bought from in the past. The details are quite interesting so we will discuss them.

Following up on last week’s announcement, we get a statement from the CEO of Embracer Group explaining why Saudi Arabia is a good business partner and how they discussed difficult topics prior to this investment. So we have nothing to worry about and money is money so keep feeding that machine. Just remember to wipe off the blood and human rights abuses!
#manticgames #trolltrader #embracergroup

Interview with Ronnie Renton of Mantic:
https://youtu.be/SrPPn_TAFNs

TTCombat Statement about Secret Weapon Miniatures:
https://community.ttcombat.com/2022/06/10/secret-weapon-statement/

Support Us by Shopping on DTRPG (afilliate link):
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Intro song is “Chips” by KokoroNoMe
https://kokoronome.bandcamp.com/

 

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The Weekly LIVE 143 – Secret Weapon Minis Closes, Teberu Still Coming, Cypher System OGL and Saudi Arabia Invests in Embracer Group

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Secret Weapon Miniatures announced they will be closing back in August 2021. Now we have more details. It seems Trolltrader/TT Combat (TTC) has claimed claimed IP on their HD Bases Kickstarter Campaign, making it impossible for them to get the project sent out. SWM say the claims are false. This has caused the company to default on their lons with USBank who no owns their IP. Justin McCoy posted an update on the Kickstarter page regarding the status of the company. This is a sad end to a company that mande some great looking bases, paints and dungeon tiles.

Teberu by the Italian company Xplored had a successful Kickstarter that is still working on hitting its fulfillment date of April 2023. There is also still the option to pledge late. IT still looks like the success of the technology will rely on partnerships with board game publishers and tabletop companies to get players to give it a shot. The system relies on an interactive tablet, bases for miniatures wirth sensors and LEDs and wireless dice. Because rolling dice with wires usually breaks the immersion.

Monte Cook Games has announced plans to release an open licence for the company’s popular Cypher System that will allow independent artists to create their own titles within its rule set. The Kansas-based publisher, which handles the fantastical Numenera and Invisible Sun setting along with The Strange and kids-focused No Thank You, Evil! Series, outlined its plans in a June 7th blog post to its website. The Cypher System Open Licence will launch sometime this summer and allow designers to “freely create and market tabletop roleplaying games compatible with” the Cypher System, according to the post.

The kingdom of Saudi Arabia has made another major investment in the videogame industry, investing more than $1 billion to acquire an 8.1% stake in Swedish gaming behemoth Embracer Group. The shares will be issued to Savvy Gaming Group, a games and esports-focused subsidiary of the country’s Public Investment Fund. Saudi Arabia has made a number of major moves into the game space in 2022, through both the Public Investment Fund and the Electronic Gaming Development Company, which between them have made significant investments in Capcom(opens in new tab), Nexon, Nintendo, ESL Gaming, and SNK prior to the Embracer deal.
#secretweaponminis #teberu #cyphersystem #embracergroup

Secret Weapon Miniatures Website:
https://www.secretweaponminiatures.com/index.php?main_page=index

Teberu Website:
https://www.teburu.net/

Support Us by Shopping on DTRPG (afilliate link):
https://www.drivethrurpg.com?affiliate_id=2081746

Chris social media:
https://hyvemynd.itch.io/​​
https://twitter.com/hyvemynd​​
https://twitter.com/ConanSalaryman​​

Abusecartoons Weekly Cartoons:
http://www.abusecartoons.com/​​
https://www.twitch.tv/abusecartoons
​​https://twitter.com/abusecartoons

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Intro song is “Chips” by KokoroNoMe
https://kokoronome.bandcamp.com/

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The Weekly LIVE 142 – Warzone Eternal Cancelled, Caverns of Thracia, Embracer Preservation and Arkham Horror Audiobooks

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Res Nova has decided to order a tactical retreat and cancel the Warzone Eternal Kickstarter campaign regardless of the fact that they hit their funding goal on the first day. In an update posted on crowdfunding page they point to a slowdown of funding growth and complaints varying from the high price of unit boxes to the lack of painted models in the campaign page. We really hope to see a triumphant return of this game to crowdfunding or however else they want to proceed. Everyone’s heart seemed to be in the right place. It may just be that the company’s vision for the game and the fans’ expectations just didn’t line up.

Goodman Games Announces Caverns of Thracia for 5E and DCC RPG. Continuing in the tradition of bringing classic adventures to new life for the next generation of fans of role-playing games, Goodman Games is proud to announce the acquisition of the acclaimed adventure The Caverns of Thracia from Judges Guild and will republish it in fully converted 5E and DCC RPG editions with a targeted release date of 2023. Coming on the heels of the acquisition of Dark Tower, The Caverns of Thracia is the second acclaimed adventure from designer Jennell Jaquays to join the Goodman Games stable. Both were originally published by Judges Guild.

Several popular tabletop franchises are getting a full radio drama experience. Earlier this month, Aconyte Games, a publishing house owned by board game maker Asmodee, announced an audiobook partnership with Graphic Audio. Under the partnership Graphic Audio will produce twelve of Aconyte’s novels into dramatized audiobook adaptations, with sound effects, cinematic music, and a full cast. The first of these books – Wrath of N’Kai” by Josh Reynolds – was released on May 16th. Five other Arkham Horror books, three Twilight Imperium novels, and three Zombicide books will also get adapted into cinematic audiobooks.

The Embracer Group has announced its preservationist Embracer Games Archive. So far collected “50,000 videogames, consoles, and accessories” in its vault in Karlstad, Sweden. A team consisting of a CEO, archivist, assistant, technical engineer, and supply manager runs the archive. Is this a good thing or does Embracer just have trouble keeping its tentacles off of everything?
#warzone #goodmangames #arkhamhorror #embracergroup

KokoroNoMe on Bandcamp:
https://kokoronome.bandcamp.com/

KokoroNoMe “Izumi” Video:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H_K-3QCauQo

Graphic Audio Arkham Offerings on Website:
https://www.graphicaudiointernational.net/our-productions/series/arkham-horror.html

Goodman Games Dark Tower Kickstarter:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/devillich/original-adventures-reincarnated-7-the-dark-tower

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The Weekly LIVE 141 – Marvel Loses Conan, Free Quest RPG, More Batman and Thirsty Sword Lesbians Wins Nebula Award

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Marvel Comics is losing the publishing rights to Conan the Barbarian. This may not be a bad thing as Conan was most recently introduced into the main Avengers continuity and teamed up with Wolverine and Venom to fight ninjas. He is also a member of the Savage Avengers. No thanks. Marvel first published the character in 1969 in their anthology comics and had a successful series that was true to the original series pulp stories that ran from 1970-1977. Darkhorse Comics also published a series between 2003 and 2017. Hopefully, now out of Marvel’s grasp the character will get some decent treatment. After surviving a never-made Amazon series and Jason Mamoa it can only be up from here.

Batman Gotham City Chronicles is back for a third season of the successful boardgame by Monolith Games on Kickstarter. In addition there will also be a role-playing game with the same setting as the board game. There will be a solo and a cooperative mode for the board game enabling you to play all your existing adventures, an extension with a campaign mode and of course more miniatures. Why an IP as big as Batman would need Kickstarter is anybody’s guess. The character is the only title with decent sales at DC Comics. I think he could go straight to retail. But the fact that you can play the entire game in French may make a few players think twice.

Quest RPG by the Adventure Guild, the rules light beginner friendly fantasy TTRPG, is now completely free in digital form on the publishers website. This may get me to finally read the rules. They have also announced a scifi setting for the same system. Is this a sign of confidence or desperation? Why do we keep talking about this game?

Thirsty Sword Lesbians by April Kit Walsh, Whitney Delagio, Dominique Dickey, Jonaya Kemper, Alexis Sara, and Rae Nedjadi published by Evil Hat Productions won the awrd for Best Game Writing in 2021. It was competing against Coyote & Crow, Granma’s Hand, Wanderhome and Wildermyth nominated in the same category. Is this a good thing for role-playing games or would a Nebula Award Winner sticker not make you look twice at a tabletop game?
#marvel #conan #questrpg #thirstyswordlesbians

Batman Season 3 Kickstater and RPG:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/806316071/batmantm-gotham-city-chronicles-season-3-and-rpg

Quest RPG Digital for FREE: https://www.adventure.game/store/digital-edition/

Thirsty Sword Lesbians at DTRPG (affiliate link):
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/348096/Thirsty-Sword-Lesbians

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The Weekly LIVE 140 – QUARANTINE SPECIAL – Kickstarters with Guest Host Matt Robinson

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WARNING: The audio quality this week was not ideal for Matt’s remote audio. Apologies for the difficult listening. We will find a better solution for next time.

We just have one topic today – KICKSTARTERS

A few examples of current crowdfunding campaigns. Warzone Eternal by Res Nova, Blade Runner by Free League and Household RPG by 2LM and CMON. We discussing generally what is good about the platform and how this recent boom may be drawing attention away from small projects that need Kickstarter attention the most.

My guest host this week is Matt Robinson.
http://twitter.com/haargald

#2LM #bladerunner #freeleague #householdrpg

Friend or Foe for Twilight 2000 by Matt Robinson (affiliate link): https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/387584/Friend-or-Foe?affiliate_id=2081746

Blade Runner RPG by Free League:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1192053011/blade-runner-the-roleplaying-game

Warzone Eternal Kickstarter:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/resnova/warzone-eternal/

Household RPG website:
https://twolittlemice.net/household/

DriveThruRPG’s ‘RPGs For Reproductive Justice’ Bundle (affiliate link): https://www.drivethrurpg.com/m/product/395890?affiliate_id=2081746

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The Weekly LIVE 139 – The Last Prospector for Stargrave, D&D Beyond Handover, Role Players Doc and Reproductive Rights Bundle

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The Last Prospector is a new campaign supplement for the sci-fi tabletop miniatures game Stargrave by creator Joseph McCullough. In this clever approach to a two-player campaign, the ten scenarios are not played in a narrative sequence, but are chosen by the winner of the previous scenario. There is also a Faction Standing mechanic where crews need to have a positive standing with one or more of the six factions in the supplement to receive faction bonuses. This supplement follows the previous Quarantine 37. Stargrave is the scifi sibling to the fantasy-themed Frostgrave. Both games are miniatures agnostic and d20 based. If you like miniatures skirmish games, this is a good as it gets.

WotC takes control of D&D Beyond next week.There will be a request to update permissions and the WotC Terms of Service and they also clarified what will happen to homebrew and other user-generated content. This follows the WotC buyout of D&D beyond earlier this year, but the official transfer of ownership takes place next week. If you have an account, you might notice a few changes. In related news, D&D Beyond will be permanently removing Volo’s Guide to Monsters and Mordenkainen’s Tome of Foes on May 17th in favor of the upcoming Monsters of the Multiverse book.

Global documentary studio XTR is working on a brand new documentary about the tabletop RPG Dungeons & Dragons. Inspired by the spike in popularity the game has experienced since its release of Fifth Edition in the Summer of 2014. This is the first full-fledged film on the subject. The documentary is being called Role Players and will cover everything about the seminal fantasy game from its beginnings to present day. This kind of attention can only add to the current popularity or turn off prospective players by how the community is portrayed.

Finally we have a charity bundle from DriveThruRPG’s ‘RPGs For Reproductive Justice’ Bundle Gets You 57 Games For Only $25. In the wake of the leaked Supreme Court decision, a number of RPG creators have come together to raise money for reproductive justice on DriveThruRPG. One of the best ways you can help is by giving to organizations already doing the work. Which is what the Hydra Cooperative, an indie RPG co-op, is doing with the RPGs for Reproductive Justice Bundle. Get some great games while supporting a good cause. #dndbeyond #stargrave #bundle #wotc

The Last Prospestor for Stargrave on DTRPG (affiliate link): https://www.drivethrurpg.com/product/391955/Stargrave-The-Last-Prospector?affiliate_id=2081746

DriveThruRPG’s ‘RPGs For Reproductive Justice’ Bundle (affiliate link) https://www.drivethrurpg.com/m/product/395890?affiliate_id=2081746

Support Us by Shopping on DTRPG (afilliate link): https://www.drivethrurpg.com?affiliate_id=2081746

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DOWNLOADS – PDFs for Cortex Prime Deathwatch RPG

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DEATHWATCH CHARACTER FILES

INCLUDES:

Brother Vorn – Black Templars Assault Marine
Brother Raelyn – Blood Angels Devastator Marine
Brother Ezekial – Dark Angels Tactical Marine
Brother Magni – Space Wolves Tactical Marine
Brother Alistayr – Storm Wardens Techmarine
Brother Octavius – Ultramarines Apothecary

DOWNLOAD

REBEL CHARACTER FILES

INCLUDES:

Rebel
Rebel Leader
Rebel General

DOWNLOAD

GENESTEALER CHARACTER FILES

INCLUDES:

Genestealer
Genestealer Broodlord

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The Weekly LIVE 138 – Everyday Heroes 5E, Return to Dark Tower RPG, Blade Runner’s First Million and GW Abandons Japan AGAIN

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Evil Genius Productions is bring us the spiritual successor to d20 Modern with its Everyday Heroes RPG headed to Kickstarter on May 17th. Jeff Grub, an original co-creator of d20 Modern is also involved. This time the system will be using 5E D&D instead of 3rd edition and will also include licensed IPs with what they are calling Cinematic Adventures. This will included adventures for Highlander; John Carpenter’s Escape from New York; Roland Emmerich’s Universal Soldier; Rambo: First Blood, First Blood Part 2, and Rambo 3; Paul Verhoeven’s Total Recall; The Crow; Guillermo del Toro’s Pacific Rim; and Kong: Skull Island. Quite a list of fan favorites! Is now the time to bring back this idea and give 5E the out of the dungeon, car chases and gun play that a fantasy setting lacks? Download the Quickstart and the Lookbook of classes on their website.

Restoration Games is working with 9th Level Games to bring us a tabletop RPG of their Return to Dark Tower revival setting. From the amount of work put into the new edition of the boardgame it makes sense to use that material for something else. The game will be focused on procedurally generated dungeon-crawling and the campaigns will be short. The system will be the Mazes- RPG system that involves rolling d4, d6, d8 or d10 and using the actions Books, Boots, Blades or Bones. The artwork and setting for Return to Dark Tower look amazing so this may be a game worth looking at. It will be hitting Kickstarter soon. Just one question, where the heck is my copy of Return to Dark Tower? Nothing has shown up yet.

The Free League Blade Runner RPG campaign is live in the first 48 hours became a million dollar baby. That really isn’t surprising due to the popularity of the IP but as we mentioned before: was crowdfunding really necessary? The campaign looks similar to the One Ring second edition with a core rulebook and starter set bundle. There is also a limited edition faux leather and holographic cover and stretch goals are unlocking a gamemaster screen and other accessories. The Year Zero Engine is used again with adjustments made to fit the setting and investigation heavy mechanics. Will you be able to hold on to your humanity or realize that those unicorn dreams were just B-roll from the movie Legend? Oh, and that you are a replicant.

And finally, further proof that Games Workshop has completely abandoned Japan. This time it is undeniable. Big mistake. Guess the Japanese Yen just isn’t strong enough for them to care.
#darktower #bladerunner #freeleague #everydayheroes #d20Modern

Evil Genius website Everyday Heroes Free Stuff:
https://www.evilgeniusgames.com/free-stuff

Blade Runner RPG:
https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1192053011/blade-runner-the-roleplaying-game/

Kutulu in Swedish on DTRPG (afilliate link):
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/m/product/382400?affiliate_id=2081746

Support Us by Shopping on DTRPG (afilliate link):
https://www.drivethrurpg.com?affiliate_id=2081746

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The Weekly LIVE 137 – WotC Ignores Original Creators, Modiphius Announces Cohors Cthulhu, Warzone Eternal Kickstarter Launch Date and Kutulu Hits Japan

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Wizards of the Coast has announced the return of two popular settings now for 5E. Unfortunately, according to Twitter, Tracy Hickman and Margaret Weis, creators of Dragonlance and Jeff Grubb, creator of Spelljammer, were not involved in the announcement and found out at the same time everyone did during the announcement. We talked previously about the lawsuit involving the new Dragonlance novels. It doesn’t make WotC look great to ignore the original creators of these settings. Is this to emphasize a break from the past or a chance to save some money?

During the D&D Direct announcement last week, Modiphius Entertainment had a strange announcement of their own. In an attempt to possible distract from WotC, Modiphius had an hour long livestream announcement that was just a torchlit wall that eventually crumbles after a very long wait with only some slight change in lighting. They revealed their new TTRPG Cohors Cthulhu set in ancient Rome, a spinoff of Against the God Themselves, set in the same universe as Achtung! Cthulhu. I guess they were following the old adage “if you can’t beat ‘em, just be boring and confusing” or something like that.

We finally have a date for the Kickstarter campaign for Warzone Eternal. It will be launching May 17th, but be sure to listen to the entire livestream to make sure that date is correct. We talked with Alex Kanous from Res Nova Games previously about the new game and crowdfunding campaign. This should be a fun game to follow and hopefully a big success on Kickstarter. Hopefully with either the Cardinal’s blessing or the influence of the Dark Symmetry we will see the return of wargaming in the Mutant Chronicles universe.

Finally, there is a new release in Japan a a Swedish TTRPG, Kutulu by Mikael Bergström. Call of Cthulhu is the most popular tabletop roleplaying game in Japan. This is a much more rules light and streamlined d6 system. The insanity mechanic especially stands out as a great innovation to the Lovecraft setting. The Swedish language PDF is available as pay-what-you-want PDF on DriveThruRPG. With a little language software translation magic you can get an idea of how this system works. Hopefully we will see an English language release. Free League are you listening?

Modiphius website for Cohors Cthulhu:
https://www.modiphius.net/pages/cohors-cthulhu

Kutulu in Swedish on DTRPG (afilliate link):
https://www.drivethrurpg.com/m/product/382400?affiliate_id=2081746

Support Us by Shopping on DTRPG (afilliate link):
https://www.drivethrurpg.com?affiliate_id=2081746

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The Weekly LIVE 136 – Dark Souls TTRPG, Asmodee Unbox Now, Million Dollar Babies and Not the Best

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Support the stream: https://streamlabs.com/upturnedtabletop

The Dark Souls TTRPG by Steamforged Games is being reprinted due to printing and rules errors. Customers that ordered the $95 Collector’s Edition or preordered the Standard Edition will be sent a replacement. This is unfortunate and will probably create reluctance to try this system. Was this a simple version or editing error or something caused by a short production schedule?

We may be seeing the first effects of the Embracer Group owning Asmodee. Asmodee has launched Unbox Now, a service that provides benefits from a loyalty program and access to a digital platform for their 11 most popular games. Customers enter codes on their website from the purchase of physical boardgames. Some of the titles in the program include Catan, Rivals of Catan, Pandemic, Ticket to Ride, 7 Wonders, and Splendor. Not much is explained on their website except for listing the titles included in the program. Hopefully the games themselves include documentation of what the benefits exactly are or there will be plenty of confusion for people trying to take advantage of the program. Feel the embrace!

There are already two Kickstarter campaigns that have generated over one million dollars in support. Old Gods of Appalachia Roleplaying Game from Monte Cook Games and “Flee, Mortals!” – The MCDM Monster Book for 5e from Matt Colville are both almost at a million and a half dollars and still have several days left for their campaigns. Is Kickstarter going to set another record in funds raised this year? With big projects like the Blade Runner RPG still to launch it may be possible. Why is the tabletop so dominate on crowdfunding platforms?

Our new segment, “Not the Best” focuses on the biggest competitor to the World’s Greatest Roleplaying Game. Pathfinder, now with a second edition, has fallen to a distant second after being the only alternative for people that wanted an active system for fantasy roleplaying that wasn’t Dungeons and Dragons fourth edition. There is a Pathfinder Beginner’s Box Day this weekend (April 23-24th) organized by r/Pathfinder2e. This will give new players a chance to play a level one character with experienced GMs and if they are new, try the system. The irony of the decline of Pathfinder is that Critical Role originally played Pathfinder before becoming a web based actual play. Does Paizo deserve more love than their 4.6% share of the active campaigns on Roll20 represents? Will the release of Pathfinder Adventure Paths for 5E seal the systems fate?

#pathfinder2e #unboxnow #montecookgames #oldgodsofappalachia

Unbox Now website:
https://www.unboxnow.com/

Support Us by Shopping on DTRPG (afilliate link):
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