Yesterday WotC announced the first D&D book to hit the shelves both virtual and physical next year (if we don’t count the gift set that lands in January), Call of the Netherdeep. Which will be its second book in collaboration with the Critical Role folks, and due to arrive in March.
For me the announcement is a bit of a dud. Which is fine. I’m not a Critical Role fan. It’s not aimed at me. Not everything WotC release for D&D has to be.
Just like out of the three books that make up the last third of this year, only one has me excited and will see me parting with scarce pennies. A big hint to which is dragons.
Am I complaining about the ones I’m not interested in? Nope. Although I would have preferred WotC chosen a different MtG plane to do than Strixhaven. But I appreciate there are some misguided folks out there that like it!
Which reminds me that given Mark Rosenberg has said WotC see Ixalan as a major failure recently. I’m very unlikely to see a return to Ixalan both in MtG and D&D. So if I want to play in Ixalan I’ll have to make do with the Plane Shift pdf that was done, and the art book.
Also announced by WotC in the last week was that Fizban’s Treasury of Dragons has had its release put back by about a week. Which is a nothing delay in this day of shipping chaos. I can wait until I throw money at them for it. Oh wait I just told you which book I’m excited about.
The last day or two has seen more prominent D&D content creators picking up on a comment from the closing panel of last weekends D&D Celebration 2021, that D&D will get a major update in 2024.
But before I share with the world my thoughts about this, let’s look at a summary of the other snippets mentioned in the Future of D&D panel (YouTube video embedded below).
The D&D Celebration 2021 panel The Future of D&D
First up 2022 will see the arrival of the two remaining classic D&D settings that were mentioned last year. To further add to the mystery they will be published in formats that WotC have never published in before! Plus there will be hints/cameo of another classic setting plus there will be a fourth classic setting out in 2023. Whether that is the same setting that makes the cameo who knows?
There will be more adventure anthologies coming. Think along the lines of Candlekeep Mysteries.
2024 is the 50th Anniversary of D&D. Part of that celebration will see an update to D&D or the next evolution as it’s being currently pushed as. WotC started work earlier in the year on this. Which is why there were a couple of player surveys put out to gather feedback. The key part to pick out is that whatever this new version is called, it will be compatible with current 5e books. But as expected more details about this evolution of the core rules next year. And my guess is it will be about this time next year.
There was also an almost throw away line about new D&D digital stuff being worked on. We will have to be patient to find out what this is.
Arriving January (they did give a specific date, but I’m not holding them to that, after all shipping etc is a mess) is a new gift set of D&D rule books. That will be made up of an updated Xanathar’s Guide to Everything, Tasha’s Cauldron of Everything, and a new book Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse.
Monsters of the Multiverse collects over 250creatures from previous D&D books into one place and updated! These updates will be our first clue/look as to how things might be in the 2024 evolved rulebooks. Plus there are over 30 setting agnostic playable races in the book. Go watch the video for some examples from this new tome.
Mordenkainen Presents Monsters of the Multiverse will also be available separately at a later date (I assume to help push sales of the gift set for those that absolutely must have it at the earliest possible opportunity).
We also learnt that currently in development are two brand new D&D settings. Which may or may not see the light of day.
Next month we will see news of a new product for 2022 that apparently we’ve never been to before and is terrifying!
Boo! a sketch of a proposed alt cover for unnamed product
Plus a mystery product that sees the return of Boo. Which I’m assuming means Minsc won’t be too far away from him.
Let’s circle back to the new core rulebooks coming in 2024. There has been some discussion about will people be expected to buy everything again and throw out the old? No. As pointed out above all our 5e books will be compatible with the new edition of rules. So at worst you only need to replace the core rulebooks IF you want to.
There is nothing stopping you from playing what you currently have if that is what you are happy with. People are playing older editions now because that is what they prefer.
So when the new rules come out don’t feel pressured to buy them. You don’t need to buy them if you are happy with the stuff you already have.
I’m pretty sure this will need repeating again nearer the time.
The end of last week saw EN Publishing release the latest major Judge Dredd story arc supplement for the Judge Dredd and the Worlds of 2000 A.D. RPG, The Apocalypse War.
The cover!
So what is contained inside the 114 pages that make up this supplement?
Contents page
“The Apocalypse War supplement includes:
New origins, species, careers and Judge options
Expanded equipment and rules for Sov Block items
Three new scenarios plus guidance campaigns set in the Apocalypse War
A timeline and gazeteer of the Sov Block”
What I like about buying directly from EN Publishing is if you buy the physical copy you get the pdf included. Which is available instantly after you complete the purchase. So you can be reading the supplement while you wait for the physical copy to arrive. I know one or two other publishers also do this. I wish more did.
In other news there is a new Kickstarter that went live yesterday from the legendary Sly Flourish for his latest book The Lazy DM’s Companion.
For anyone not aware of my position on the Lazy DM approach and books I’m a big fan. I own both the other books in this series Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master and The Lazy DM’s Workbook, and love them.
“Each page of this 64-page book offers useful guidelines, an adventure or campaign generator, or a versatile map within which to build your own adventures.”
On the Kickstarter page is a 17 page sample from the book that can be downloaded, which you can use straight away. It really does contain some really useful/handy information such as info on improvisation during a session, safety tools, building situations, a core adventure generator, to name some of the pages.
Remember if you decide to back this project that VAT and shipping will be added on after the campaign has finished during the backerkit stage. So there is not a massive surprise Mike aka Sly has included some guide costs for this on the page (near the bottom).
In the middle of last night FFG streamed this years In-flight Report from the safety of their headquarters instead of from a hall at GenCon. Which considering the state of things (especially over there) is a wise decision.
Having watched the stream this morning. I have to say I’m pretty glad I didn’t decide to stay up and watch it live.
My overall opinion of the announcements is meh! I was really left feeling underwhelmed.
This In-flight report was all about expansions and repackaging stuff. Apart from Unfathomable, which they are hoping will be out by the end of September (but we all know what a mess shipping is, so that may slide) we are looking at all this stuff coming out sometime in 2022. I know they said Q1 or first half. But let’s be realistic here. Even with such general indications of when stuff will be coming out. I can’t see the shipping problems being resolved that soon, and expect most of 2022 to be much like it is now. Full of good intentions, but lots of delays.
Arkham Horror lcg, Marvel Champions, and Descent Legend of the Dark got the expansion love. There was a brief recap of the Keyforge hiatus announcement from the other day.
The LoTR lcg core set is getting a revision to make it easier for new players to get into this 10 year old game. Which will also see select story arcs from over that period get reprinted using the new expansion format introduced for the Arkham Horror lcg. They are also making the campaign cards in this revised edition available as a print on demand for existing long term players. Plus two scenarios from a limited edition of the game are getting a reprint.
FFG announced that Twilight Imperium celebrates 25 years next year. Which is pretty cool. How are they celebrating this awesome achievement? They have teamed up with CMoN to produce some graphic novels. There will also be some graphic novels set in the Android universe. And these will be coming to Kickstarter at some point. Which going by the latest CMoN Kickstarter means those of us in Europe are screwed.
The other “big” thing FFG announced is their partnership with a company to run web stores selling official FFG swag based on their IP. With the first web stores being for Legend of the Five Rings. Followed by Arkham Horror, then sometime after that Twilight Imperium.
The whole thing was wrapped up with a teaser for a much requested expansion. A fact the teaser played into.
I did like how the teaser was presented. But still it’s another expansion. And we will have wait for further details. Maybe there will be a bit more at Origins in a couple of weeks. One thing we can be sure of this will be a 2022 release.
know they spent 10 minutes talking about their R&D. But I’d prefer if they had spend that time announcing new games or just done a blog post. This was just filler.
This was FFG just treading water. A holding pattern. Resting on their laurels. It felt like FFG are stagnating. A pity they used to be an exciting company.
The weekend saw Portal Games finally release their in-house developed port of their classic board game Neuroshima Hex.
I was wondering how Portal would handle the free update for existing customers. And it appears that when Portal took back the rights to the digital version of their game, they got the iOS dev account for the previous version as well. Which makes life so much easier for this sort of thing.
On a side note it’s no secret what my opinion on board games that rely/require apps to play. I don’t mind companion apps that are not integral to game play, but are optional and enhance the experience. It’s a subject that Ignacy Trzewiczek and I do not see eye to eye on. Why am I bringing it here? Well Ignacy or whoever at his company wrote the app release notes made my point for me!
Before this new version was released players of the app have been in limbo for about 2 years (I think that is correct, it’s definitely over a year). In that time we have seen os updates that have broken it. It has been unplayable. It’s nice for Portal to admit this, and prove one of my points.
I have to say this new version looks beautiful. I really think the game screen pops!
I do have a major criticism of this initial version. There is no in app help. It’d be handy for the iconography used in the Create Game menu option. It’s very much stumble around, trying things to work out what they are.
Plus I’m not too impressed with how to set up an online game via the Create Game screen and the Join the Game menu option.
To play with a friend I need to know their id first. I can’t just set up a private game and have them join. There is no friend list that I can see.
For me setting up an online game isn’t well thought out. Hopefully future updates will remedy this.
I look forward to playing this once more on a regular basis, and getting all the extra armies I had back.
Earlier in the year Edge Studio (new home of the Genesys RPG) and FFG teased/announced the next source book for Genesys, Embers of the Imperium, a Twilight Imperium setting for the system.
Yesterday Edge Studio broke news that Embers of the Imperium would not be making the planned release of by the end of the Summer. Various reasons were given to why there is a delay to the release, such as development backlogs and the process of setting up the company.
Edge Studio have set a new target date of hopefully having the Embers of the Imperium finished and released by the end of the year.
The delay to Embers of the Imperium must have been known for a while. So why wait until days before the supposed release date to announce the delay? Were they hoping for a miracle? This should have been communicated to the community much earlier.
However frustrating this delay is, the companies lack of communication and interacting with the Genesys community is even more frustrating. They still don’t have a functioning website, it’s just a holding page.
In the same announcement about the delay, Edge Studio also teased another upcoming Genesys book, “Embers of the Imperium is not the only Genesys book we’re working on right now. We’re not quite at the point where we’re ready to release details about it, but we can confirm that the manuscript is written and is being playtested.” I’m hoping it’s a Tannhauser source book or more Android. But everyone will have their own preference to what they hope this will be.
Finally in the Edge Studio they announced that they are participating in the Free RPG Day by producing a free Genesys adventure set in the Twilight Imperium universe called Ashes of Power.
“This 40-page-booklet contains a simplified set of rules for Genesys, a full adventure by veteran writers Max Brooke and Michael Gernes, and four pre-generated characters (and there will be two additional pre-gens available for download on Free RPG Day). That, combined with the now free Genesys Dice Roller app, means you can try out Genesys without spending a single cent.”
Unlike previous free adventures for the Genesys RPG that were produced for the first two source books to demo the game at cons. This one sounds more like the free starter kit adventures some other RPGs have released such as the Judge Dredd and the Worlds of 2000 A.D. one, with the cut down core rules includedm. This makes the adventure a great taster for players and GMs alike.
I like that they have made the Genesys Dice Roller app free. That’s a great step in helping people play the game. The custom physical dice currently go for £17 on Amazon.
Edge Studio also confirmed that Ashes of Power is “a preview of Embers of the Imperium. Both are set in the sprawling space opera epic of Twilight Imperium, a far future where various powerful factions vie for the vacant imperial throne and right to rule the galaxy. You take on the role of a team of Keleres who are sent to a recently rediscovered planet to track down a missing Keleres informant. Of course once you get there, you’ll need to navigate a unique culture comprised of three very different species, and survive when you inevitably run into a group of very unpleasant individuals with a vested interest in seeing you dead. After all, there are ancient secrets lurking on Herool’s Truce…”
I have asked Edge Studio whether Ashes of Power will be available to download for those of us that don’t have a participating LGS near by. However the post I asked this on was deleted when they updated it! And the question unanswered and lost. Although I have re-asked the question this morning and awaiting a response. The Free RPG Day takes place on 16th October.
The app version of the tile set collection board game Spirits of the Forest is “finally live on both Google Play and iOS App store and it’s free for everyone to download and play in both solitaire and multiplayer.”
Here are the all important links.
My username is surprise, surprise, whitespider1066 if you want to hit me up for a game or two.
Before you know it over a week has passed since the last post.
Not much has happened to share on here. Obviously world events are still putting a dampener on things like playing board games in person. Plus there hasn’t been much online gaming using apps (outside of Star Realms and Epic the Card Game) either.
My “secret” project is going slowly. I’m not sure what folks will make of it. It is a departure for me and this blog. Which I hope folks will like.
On the Kickstarter side of things Vampire the Masquerade: Rivals finally landed (after it hit retailers).
Naturally I’ve sleeved it all up with the official sleeves that came as part of the Kickstarter. I’ve even used a couple of the Stonemaier token containers to surprisingly store the tokens for the game.
From a recent Renegade live stream it was revealed what the next expansion will be after the first expansion Blood & Alchemy comes out. It will be called The Wolf and The Rat. But it was also revealed they have a third expansion that has finished production and a fourth currently being worked on. Both of them currently remain unnamed.
And yes for the record I have pre-ordered Blood & Alchemy. The bonus for doing so are a couple of alt art vampire cards, one for each clan.
Vampire the Masquerade: Rivals first 3 OP kits
Another big reveal from the stream were the contents of the first three OP kits for Vampire Wednesdays. These will be available for your FLGS to order, or for those that can’t get their local store interested, or get to a store to participate you can order direct from Renegade. These OP kits introduce three new vampires that will eventually be available on the Renegade website to purchase.
I got the season 0 OP kit as part of my Kickstarter and plan to get these as well. These will form part of my attempt to kick off a Rivals scene in Wisbech once Fenland Gamers starts up gaming sessions again. Although my track record in doing that sort of thing is pretty poor.
Which brings me nicely onto the news that Jonathan and I have had chats between ourselves and also with our hosts The Luxe about when and how we will start gaming sessions back. Taking into account current world events we are eyeing September as our target month for once more holding meet ups.
Hopefully in the meantime those corrupt, lying bullies in charge of running our country will not screw things up (although history is not on their side on that front) and we will indeed be able to safely once more gather to roll dice, shuffle cards and move pieces of plastic around a board.
On the D&D news front apparently next week (Tuesday) instead of releasing stories setting up the next MtG set, because that set is a D&D/MtG standalone crossover set, WotC will be releasing five free D&D adventures for players to download. These 15 to 20 page adventures are aimed at tier 2 characters, specifically levels 8 – 10.
Hopefully the next thing you read on here is the “secret” project. But you know me!
Yesterday saw the start a week long “celebration” of all things D&D by WotC with their “Week of Legend Lore”.
I’d like to say yesterday’s announcement of the next campaign book “The Wild Beyond The Witchlight” was a big surprise. But it wasn’t. A couple of days earlier a leak on Amazon happened giving brief details about this book and one other.
The two covers for The Wild Beyond The Witchlight
The Wild Beyond The Witchlight takes players and DM’s to the Feywild for the first time.
WotC are pushing D&D Live 2021 on July 16 and 17 for the reveal of more details including new characters, monsters, mechanics, and story hooks. The book itself is due out on 21st September.
Next up is the other D&D book that was leaked early. On 16th November the third MtG crossover with D&D will drop called “Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos”.
I’m expecting “Strixhaven: A Curriculum of Chaos” to be similar in format to the other two crossover books. So new character options, world info, adventure hooks and a sample adventure, plus new monsters and npc’s.
With its 5 schools of magic, and wizard world theme Strixhaven has been compared to a certain intellectual property featuring wizards. And it is this that WotC are hoping will appeal to young players, and attract them to the game. So there will apparently be advice included on running a campaign that appeals to all age groups included.
We getting our first sneak at this new books contents when some stuff to test drops on Unearthed Arcana later today. But also expect a bit more info to be forth coming at D&D Live 2021.
I’m not sure when this dropped last week, but on the 17th August WotC release a new DM’s Screen called the Dungeon Kit. Similar to the Wilderness one last year, this new kit will be aimed at dungeon delving.
“The Dungeon Master’s screen features a painting of a fantastic vista that plunges into the deep reaches of a mountain. Useful rules references cover the screen’s interior, with an emphasis on dungeon-delving.”
“DM screen specially designed for dungeon delving, with tables for encountering monsters and exploring ruins and dungeons
Features 36 punch out dungeon geomorph cards with pathway connection points, perfect for planning a dungeon during game preparation or for coming up with a map in the middle of play
Customizable double sided dry-erase sheet offers unlimited versatility for tactical game play. Numbered grid for sketching maps on one side, and summary of the main actions a character can take in combat on the other
18 illustrated punch out condition cards, including mold and slime cards for dungeon encounters
9 punch out numbered and illustrated initiative cards to easily track the turn order for players, monsters, and nonplayer characters”
I think I’m most excited about the geomorph cards. I like my Deck of Many Dungeons and Map & Dice Playing Cards for generating random dungeons. Whether it’s in advance acting as inspiration for writing/prepping an adventure or using to create a dungeon on the fly during a session, they are damn useful.
And oh joy my third set of initiative cards! But more condition cards are always welcome. They are very handy.
Hopefully with such a strong start to the week WotC will be able to keep the momentum and interest levels up.
[said in the voice of The Rock] Finally! Genesys gets a new source book!
Announced yesterday by FFG and Edge Studios on pages 4 and 5 of the Twilight Codex issue 2 that they released was the news that the next source book for the Genesys RPG system will be a TI4 setting.
Pages 4 and 5 from Twilight Codex issue 2
The Twilight Codex is a web-based publication (basically a pdf you can download) that highlights rules updates and showcases new content for Twilight Imperium: Fourth Edition and its Prophecy of Kings expansion.
So it’s the natural place for FFG and Edge Studios (who are now the guardians of the RPGs that belonged to FFG) to announce a sourcebook set in the Twilight Imperium Universe.
We can get a hint of things to come by looking at Chapter 6: Space Opera of the core rulebook. This chapter looks at the setting Space Opera and uses Twilight Imperium as its example. I am looking for psionics to be expanded much in the same way netrunning rules were in Shadow of the Beanstalk.
Hopefully we will also get adversary cards to go along with source book.
I would say this announcement has been long over due by Edge Studios. Whose silence over upcoming Genesys related stuff has been infuriating and given the impression that the system may be deceased.
The new Genesys setting was not the only announcement within the pages of the Codex. There were also details of two novels set in the Twilight Imperium universe.
Twilight Codex page with book details.
It would appear that FFG are giving Twilight Imperium the Android treatment. It’s a shame Android isn’t getting some more love. But I’ll take the Twilight Imperium stuff gladly.
