Welcome home.

This is Audio EXP for the 10th of June, 2023, and the episode title is “It’s not a political statement to be a gay geek”

[The following is a transcript of Audio EXP: #199]

[Also on Stitcher | Spotify | Apple | Google]

Lone Colossus Games is in the Spotlight this month, as voted for by Patreons.

Contact has been made, and the ball is in my court, so we should get a feature interview live this month.

This is the first Geek Native Audio EXP podcast, a highlight show, in June since I was at UK Games Expo last week. That means I’ll highlight some news from there but first run through the candidates for July’s RPG Publisher Spotlight.

If you’re a site or podcast patron, thank you, and you can vote for;

• Lost Spheres Publishing
• RPGGamer
• Starry Knight Press
• Grey Desert Studio
• The Grinning Frog

Since I’ve been away, Apple has released their mixed reality Vision Pro. That’s a three-and-a-half grand headset with a two-hour battery life, but Apple in this market will surely mean innovation and progression.

It’s also the same week that gamers found dents in their heads and likely through wearing their headphones for so long. That’s a health hazard I didn’t have a decade ago.

Both those stories were picked up by Bronwen Winter Phoenix, who, I hope, we’ll be seeing a lot more on the blog. A second pair of eyes and a bigger brain are good things for Geek Native to develop.

It’s not the first week of June, but it is the week that KiwiRPG Week, kicks off. I won’t try and pronounce the actual name of the indie celebration of tabletop RPGs from New Zealand.

Instead, I suggest checking it out as there are deals, freebies and news.

It’s also the week that we have the nominations for the Origins Awards announced. You can find the full list on the blog, but here’s the RPG highlights.

RPG Core   

• Blackbirds by Andrews McMeel Publishing
• Bladerunner the Roleplaying Game by Free League Publishing
• Coyote & Crow by Coyote & Crow
• Teatime Adventures by Snowbright Studio
• The One Ring by Free League Publishing  

RPG Supplements

• Agents of Dune by Modiphius
• Blade Runner Starter Box by Free League Publishing
• Fallout Starter Box by Modiphius Entertainment
• Warhammer Fantasy: Enemy Within Volume 5 by Cubicle 7 Entertainment
• Zweihander Starter Box by Andrews McMeel Publishing 

Accessory

• Call to Adventure Art Decks by Brotherwise Games
• Deluxe Board Game Train Sets by Little Plastic Train Co.
• Power Rangers Zordon Dice Tower & GM’s Screen by Renegade Game Studios
• The Deck of Many Animated Conditions by Hit Point Press
• The Deck of Many Animated Illusions by Hit Point Press  

So, what was UK Games Expo like? It was jam-packed, with over 50,000 people in attendance. I know that’s not US comic con level, but my local tabletop convention, compulsion, might get a few hundred.

I saw just how diverse the geek community is, struggled to cover the event properly which I suspected was the case but surprised to get home to discover there had been a drama.

UK Games Expo have apologised for this but one of the volunteers helping with the RPG demos had been refusing to allow queer-themed RPGs.

It was a mistake, and UK Games Expo has had a disastrous situation in the past which resulted in, rightly, a GM being thrown out for running a sexual assault scene.

I suspect that incident was why the guidelines are for no sexual content in RPG sessions at the convention. The thing is, which UK Games Expo agree with, it’s not ‘sexual’ content in a game if the heroes are straight white men who go on an adventure. Equally, it’s not sexual content if the heroes are lesbian green goblins who go on an adventure.

Both groups of characters could engage in all sorts of sexual adventures, which would cross the UK Games Expo guidelines, but the orientation of the characters does not make the game sexual.

Nor, of course, does the sexual preference of players or their characters make the game a political statement. That gay people exist is not a point for politicians to debate. It’s a fact of life.

Sound obvious? It should be but the ‘no politics’ rule was the attempted defense of the moderators of the BatteTech sub-reddit when they were caught deleting every mention of the BattleTech Pride Anthology. That’s a BattleTech fanzine written by queer authors.

Pleasingly, those homophobic moderators have been removed.

Catalyst Games, who make the game, actual BattleTech authors and the original founder of the sub-Reddit have all stepped up and stepped in to make it clear; BattleTech is for everyone.

There was, I’m also pleased to say, plenty of good news from UK Games Expo 2023.

Some highlights for me include Don’t Play This Game which Parable will Kickstart later and for which you can get a free quickstart right now.

Don’t Play This Game is a solo RPG in a chain-letter style, which means you can pass it on. If you survive and want, you’ll finish the game with a weird journal that you can give to someone else who disregards the advice not to play the game.

I scribbled furiously during Cubicle 7’s session, well the one the striking train situation here in the UK allowed me to attend, and I can report that after the Inquisition supplement for the Warhammer 40K RPG Imperium Maledictum that the next one will be the Adeptus Mechanicus.

Well. That’s the plan.

Plans change.

A much less famous, in fact, a totally unknown because it was under wraps until being revealed at UK Games Expo is Breaking Infinity.

The tabletop RPG from BaffleBox Games accompanies the indie sci-fi movie of the same name. Breaking Infinity will stream on Amazon Prime, Netflix and other platforms later this year.

Drama and news haven’t been restricted to UK Games Expo, though.

There’s been an essential update from Battlefield Press.

The company boss, Jonathan Thompson, sadly passed away near the start of the year. He was the engine that kept Battlefield running.

His brother, Adam, has stepped up, but getting access to company details and computers has been a battle. This month, Adam finally got access to Kickstarter, where he discovered various unfilled campaigns.

Fans have been asked to wait while Adam tries to steady the finances and the company. This loyal brother is determined to do right and get gamers their product while saving Jonathan’s legacy.

There’s also a fight in the collectable trading card space over the likely-to-be-a-big-hit Disney Lorcana.

Lorcana is from Ravensburger, who makes other Disney games, but Upper Deck are suing.

Upper Deck say Lorcana has been stolen, and a designer who left them to join Ravensburger is involved.

If you do buy Lorcana here in the UK, or perhaps a Warhammer game from a British retailer, then your parcel might come with Warhammer stamps.

The 520-year old Royal Mail has issued an official set of Warhammer stamps to celebrate things British.

In the theme of old-things-are-geeky, Bronwen also penned an epic 18 vintage reproductions brands rated and reviewed. In this case, those vintage brands are dresses and just the sort of stylish attire you could wear to a gaming convention. Perhaps if you buy one of those online from a UK company, it might also arrive in a package decorated with Warhammer stamps.

As we hurry to the usual outro of bundles, let’s first tuck in one more free game and one which needs no postage at all.

WrightWerx has released a free starter edition to download of Mecha vs Kaiju 202x for 5e. It’s available from their DriveThruRPG store or by clicking handy links on Geek Native.

Right, those bundles are all on the Bundle of Holding and the first one is the 2nd edition of Lex Arcana. You have until the 26th to join the legions of a supernatural Roman empire.

Another, technically two separate ones, but let’s bundle the bundles, is from Goodman Games and for Dungeon Crawl Classics Lankhmar. How badly did I pronounce that?

Lastly, there’s one from Aether Nexus for the evil world of Dragongrin. That’s a flash sale and you’ve only until the 14th to get it.

And on that note, let’s wrap up there; let people be themselves, and I’ll see you next week.

Hoison crispy owl! Fluffy ruffs! Pints o’ cream! Bon BON bon bons!

If you’re looking for something silly to occupy a bit of time on hump day, we’re here to deliver, with the Brian Butterfield soundboard!

Thanks to the B3ta newsletter (yes, it’s still going strong, and we’re on issue 863 now), we learned that you can now hear Brian Butterfield say ‘bon bon bon bons’ as many times as your heart desires!

You can access the Brian Butterfield soundboard right here, and let me tell you, it is a thing of beauty.

To refresh your memory, or if you’re never heard of Brian Butterfield before, check out this video. And thank me later.

Lone Colossus Games has won the Patron vote for the RPG Publisher Spotlight this month.

That means voting for July is open!

If you can vote, thank you, it means you’re supporting Geek Native’s Patreon, designed to put money back into the RPG ecosystem and commission art and articles. It also means you’ve taken the time to help out.

The candidates for July are;

• Lost Spheres Publishing
• RPGGamer
• Starry Knight Press
• Grey Desert Studio
• The Grinning Frog

Patreons can vote here.

You can see previous winners on the Spotlight page.

If you know of a publisher to promote or a creator to celebrate, drop us an email or via one of the social channels such as Discord.

Welcome home.

This is Audio EXP for the 27th of May, 2023, and the episode title is “Tomb Raider, D&D prices and UK Games Expo”

[The following is a transcript of Audio EXP: #198]

[Also on Stitcher | Spotify | Apple | Google]

Zotiquest Games is in the Spotlight this month, as voted for by Patreons.

Last week I made the quirky decision to announce that I’d given up on Zotiquest Games ever responding to my outreach. I shared my gut feeling that we’d have to push on with an indie RPG feature without them.

Well. What do I know?

It’s never over while there’s still food on the table, and Roberto Bisceglie, founder and solo author at the Italian publisher, got back in touch.

We discussed solo RPGs, Italy’s tabletop gaming scene, and creepypasta. You can find the feature on Geek Native, and links to that are in the show notes of this podcast.

Last week I also invited people to howl, “No, don’t do it!” at me on the idea that I write up potentially controversial thoughts about Steamforged Games and Kickstarter’s new partnership.

No one did. So, I did.

That means I’ve written down that conflict between Kickstarter being neutral and a platform of equals for publishers and now having some skin in the game with Steamforged.

As it turns out, it hasn’t proven to be controversial at all. There’s my gut instinct turning out to be rubbish again.

However, I imagine Steamforged Games might be at UK Games Expo next weekend. I’ll be there too, so if I get bopped in the nose, then I guess they did mind.

Speaking of UK Games Expo, a huge tabletop games convention down in England, it means no Geek Native podcast next week. I’m unsure how I’ll do the Routinely Itemised RPG news summary or the start of the month vote for Geek Native Patreons.

I’d better figure that out.

But I know I will be a smartphone horror while I’m there. That means taking lots of photographs and videos while trying not to spam social media and Geek Native’s Discord with them.

I predict lots of montage videos and collage photographs.

There’s no shortage of news in the meantime, though. Kobold launched their Wizards of the Coast free 5e-based Tales of the Valiant. This is the tabletop game that’s come from Project Black Flag.

It’s on Kickstarter and soared through the half-a-million Dollars mark in funding with ease. There are tiers of limited editions and collector options, which is commercially wise by Kobold, a chance for true fans to show their fandom but also expensive.

That said, there is a free-to-download Tales of the Valiant preview now on DriveThruRPG. That’s not expensive at all and an excellent chance to sample before offering Kobold your cash.

Also free on DriveThruRPG right now is the Candela Obscura quickstart from Darrington Press.

Darrington Press is the tabletop games company set up by Critical Role. Like Tales of the Valiant, the origins of Candela Obscura start with Wizards of the Coast trying to mess with OGL and injecting commercial uncertainty into businesses based around 5e.

In Candela Obscura, players are occult investors who must confront horrors from beyond.

So, Critical Role’s first RPG battle isn’t with Wizards of the Coast for high fantasy and is with Chaosium in horror. Candela Obscura feels closer to Call of Cthulhu than D&D.

The rules engine is the Illuminated Worlds System, and the complete RPG is due out later this year.

There is the sense that the tabletop business model is changing, but, mind you so is the world. Embracer had a tough week when a secret $2bn deal fell through, despite them getting control of Tomb Raider back this month.

$2bn is a lot of money to be disappointed on, but at least they’ve dozens of computer game studios to keep the cash flow trickling in. How much do you expect to pay for a computer game these days? A triple A game could easily be $70, right?

What about D&D?

Currently, D&D hardbacks are around $50, but as GameRant reports, Wizards of the Coast have announced that the next wave will cost $60. That’s 20% more.

However, that’s only the pre-order price, and once that window closes, D&D hardbacks will cost $70. That’s a 40% jump.

Yep, the new D&D, once known as One D&D, not yet known as D&D 6e or D&D 5.5e except where it is, will be D&D $70e.

I wonder how much the virtual tabletop edition of the new rules will cost.

But, let’s come back to Embracer and not just because they’re a games giant to rival Hasbro, Wizards of the Coast’s owners. Embracer does have tabletop RPG games in their stable of publishers, including Star Wars, until recently, all through Edge Studios.

Now, Crystal Dynamics, the Embracer company that took back control of games like Tomb Raider from Square Enix, also have a tabletop game.

There’s a free-to-download, official but not canon, Lara Croft’s Tomb Raiders tabletop game.

It’s a ZIP file of core rules, a campaign, handouts and even streamer assets because that’s the sort of attention to detail game makers need to remember these days.

Now, let’s take a look at bundles and other outro news before the twin drama of train strikes and my train trip to UK Games Expo begin.

At the Bundle of Holding, Green Ronin are back with another deal, and this time it’s a flash sale for Freeport with Pathfinder rules.

There’s also a double feature of Girl Genius comics, and I grabbed those. It’s the first time I bashed my head against the 200MB limit on my birthday gift to myself of an Amazon Scribe. That’s the web upload max. Maybe there’s another way to transfer in the file.

There’s also a time-limited but duration unknown Warhammer Skulls festival of computer games on Fanatical in which you can get some Warhammer, 40K and fantasy computer games at some dramatic discounts.

Or, if you’re a Geek Native Patreon at the Questor level, which is $5 a month, then there’s a gift of The Lair of the Leopard Empresses coming your way. That’s a Monsters! Monsters! powered tabletop game of swords and sorcery, jungle heat and death.

Speaking of Patrons, remember you have got a few days left to vote in the June spotlight. The publishers in the shortlist are;

• Lone Colossus Games
• Deep Light Games
• The Scrying Dutchman
• Midnight Owl Games
• dicegeeks

And on that note, let’s wrap up there, rest in peace Tina Turner and good luck to travellers trying to get to UK Games Expo. We’ll catch up in two weeks’ time.

Another Patron gift? Yes, we’ve had a few recently, thanks to generous publishers, and this time it’s Mindjammer Press.

For Geek Quaestor tiers, that’s the $5 tier or anyone who becomes one before the end of Sunday 4th of June (the end of UK Games Expo), there’s a PDF copy of The Lair of the Leopard Empresses.

You can sign up any time before the deadline.

The Lair of the Leopard Empressess is a game and a setting where the Justiciars of a dead warrior queen compete with cannibal leopard-riding elves, where the Kindreds of the Cats fight the return of the Winged Serpent, and you can play as a tiger centaur.

The 399-page PDF contains spells, a bestiary for the Ximurian setting, encounters and rules the Monsters! Monsters! RPG. It’s been out since mid-May, is already a silver bestseller and reviews well.

You don’t need another book to play, and it’s a complete RPG of swords and sorcery fantasy.

It is the fiftieth year since the Sheathing of the Claw. Goblins cross fallen Helwathe, and Lord Crying-Death-on-Wings stands ready to invade. We trust to chance for our saviours – but where are the heroes who will save our land?”

Geek Native uses Patreon money to pay artists and authors when we can commission new creative contributions to the tabletop hobby. Money never goes to admin fees, tech costs, or even the renewed SSL certificate I bought for the site last night.

Quick Links

• Geek Native’s Patreon
• DriveThruRPG: The Lair of the Leopard Empresses

Welcome home.

This is Audio EXP for the 20th of May, 2023, and the episode title is “Deals for good or evil!”

[The following is a transcript of Audio EXP: #197]

[Also on Stitcher | Spotify | Apple | Google]

Zotiquest Games is in the Spotlight this month, as voted for by Patreons.

There are two tiny tweaks to the usual Audio EXP podcast format that I want to do this week. Well, three if you count the addition of the word ‘Podcast’ into the blog post title, which seems like a glaringly obvious error it’s taken nearly 200 episodes to address.

The first of the proper two is to talk about Zotiquest Games. It’s the 20th, two-thirds of the busy month, and I’ve not gotten in touch. Not beep, not a whisper or even a nod from them.

I’m contacting a designer based in Italy and don’t think I’m getting through.

I hope I’m not calling quits too early, but my gut feeling is that we won’t make contact, and I should push on with an RPG Spotlight piece without them.

It’s a shame, but it’s happened before, and there’s usually stuff to say.

It’s not just my gut feeling; next Saturday is the 27th, and then it’s the 3rd of June. There won’t be a podcast on the 3rd because I’ll be at UK Games Expo. Instead, I’ll be putting reels and other videos of the giant even on social, which should be fun, but does eat into the usual schedule.

I’ll get to the second at the end of the podcast but I want to talk about some deals and other geeky news.

The first deal is centres on Evil Genius Productions, who make the 5e modern mashup Everyday Heroes, and who has the license to RPGs like The Crow, Highlander and Escape from New York and others.

Evil Genius are rebooting the d20 supplement Urban Arcana and are hosting a competition as part of that. People have had the chance to submit 200-word pitches for a contemporary fantasy setting, ten winners have now been announced and will be paid to expand on that pitch.

At the end of the process, there’s a cash payout and a contract for the winner to write up their setting for the book.

In a deal, Geek Native’s been able to reveal the ten Urban Arcana semi-finalists. These people will now be paid to expand their idea and progress in the contest.

I won’t list all ten, but if you entered, or know someone who has, visit the blog to find out if you know the finalists.

Also, I won’t read them all out on the podcast, but we do have all ten pitches on the blog as well. They’re a great read, so pop over and let us know what you think.

We did two posts because we didn’t want to link the authors’ names with their pitches, and there’s no connection in the order they’re listed. We gave the pitches nicknames or headlines and put those in alphabetical order.

It’s a bit of an experiment, but it seems to be working well.

Another experiment on the blog this week was a new way to vote on stuff. As usual, I connected Google Polls with Google Sheets and published the results as live graphs.

The proof-of-concept question is which fantasy lineage would brew the most potent beer?

You have three choices; dwarf, halfling or orc. Currently, it’s not a hotly contested vote, but orcs have it.

If you want to see who currently has the lead, pop over, or, better still, cast your vote and let me know what you think of the hacked-together process. But; be kind.

I guess that’s kind of a deal; between Google technologies and the blog.

One absolute deal is that between Free League Publishing and UK Games Expo. That’s the very same Expo that Geek Native will be at so hit us up if you’re going and want to say.

The deal Free League has made is to run the first-ever Alien RPG Master tournament there.

That’s right, competitive Alien RPG play. We’re not talking about card games, board games or wargames but tabletop RPGs.

I guess it could work in cinematic Alien games where it can become a fight to survive. However, there’s a nice catch. The winner of each round at each table is the player their fellow players voted through, and it’s a sort of collaborative competition.

If the worst thing that happens in a successful model taking off here is that people try to be a popular player, isn’t that a good thing?

Or, if you’re looking for an anti-deal of sorts, what about Living Nightmares? Alternatively, this is a deal between an RPG publisher and you.

Living Nightmares is published by Gildor Games, behind the Elemental RPG. Gildor already offers many supplements for free, but the twist with the low-cost Living Nightmares, a collection of spooky monsters, is that for each DriveThruRPG ‘bestseller tier’ it achieves, they’ll add to it. That’s possible with digital products.

As a result, if you buy the game now, and presumably, it could be made more expensive later because it’s worth it now, it’ll only get better.

I think this model is called buyfunding, and it could work with an ashcan or beta RPG, which edges towards a final stage with purchases, but Living Nightmares is good to go now; it just promises to get better.

The buyfunding model is a variant I wish both Itch and DriveThruRPG-Roll20 offered better support for. Both those platforms already offer a Pay What You Want model, though.

We did also cover a Pay What You Want RPG on the blog this week, and that was Lost Roads of Lociam. I paid $5 but could have paid nothing and got more than 100 pages of RPG.

Lost Roads of Lociam is a successful Kickstarter set in a world where magic is real but unpredictable, dramatic and dangerous.

Like dinosaurs.

Okay, that’s a bit of a stretch of a connection but I did want to call out we’re at the 30th anniversary of Jurassic Park.

In a merch post, one which some purchases could make Geek Native a few pennies, I listed various Jurassic Park deals at geeky retailers.

Merchoid as a very limited collectors’ edition weekend ticket, LoungeFly is sure to sell out of their dinosaur goodies and RSVLTS has sold out on the “Clever Girl” shirt that costs an arm and a leg I might have bought.

While we’re still on deals, Crunchyroll’s new owners, Sony, seem to be showing their chops as we’ve already seen a slew of partnerships with the month of Ani-May and now one with the language learning app Duolingo.

If you’re a Crunchyroll subscriber, you get some Duolingo Super access for free, and there are anime-inspired phrases. It feels like a sensible partnership to me.

At the start of the podcast, I said there were going to be two small tweaks, and here is the second. I want to talk about breaking news that I’ve not yet covered but am tempted to.

The news is that Steamforge Games and Kickstarter have signed a deal. It’s been covered by ICv2.

Steamforged has promised to be exclusive, and Kickstarter has agreed to help with content.

My thoughts went to dark places, although I can see how Kickstarter helping with inclusive and training content is great. By dark places, I mean this; isn’t Kickstarter supposed to be neutral? Doesn’t Kickstarter help cross-promote campaigns and even approve, or not, campaigns from other publishers competing for the same customers as Steamforged Games?

Is this a balancing act Kickstarter can pull off and convince others they are balancing it successfully? Why can’t Steamforged just do more of this sort of content without signing their next four games to Kickstarter? Why can’t Kickstarter not just help promote this sort of content without asking for an exclusive?

So, my question is this; should I post on this, or do you see Geek Native as more of a place to discover stuff rather than read about thoughts and opinions as I’ve just outlined? If you think I should leave well alone, then please howl.

As usual, there’s the bundle news to cover before we sign off, and this week I’ve picked on. That’s at the Bundle of Holding, now, there’s a site with many partners and deals, and I’ve picked Arc Dream Mythos.

That’s Delta Green and Pagan Publishing content in the form of THe Unspeakable Oath and Dreamlands.

And on that note, let’s wrap up there, I hope to see you at UK Games Expo and, at the very least, next week.

Crunchyroll subscribers can now get 2-months free of Duolingo Super. That’s the infamous app that teaches you languages and expertly nags you until you do.

There’s a special Crunchyroll & Duolingo claim page to visit.

Once on the trailer, Crunchyroll fans have access to the ad-free app, and there are now 50 specially crafted anime-inspired Japanese phrases in the language learning app.

Frankly, I love the promo here.

Terry Li, Senior Vice President of Emerging Business, Crunchyroll, told the press;

Anime is a dynamic medium and we know viewers have a curiosity for learning. Now on Duolingo, fans worldwide can celebrate anime through learning iconic phrases from their favourite series. We also hope anime-curious learners will be intrigued by their Japanese lessons on Duolingo and will explore all that anime has to offer on Crunchyroll.”

George Audi, Senior Director of Business Development at Duolingo, added;

We chose to partner with the leader in anime entertainment, Crunchyroll, to advance our Japanese course because we know watching TV shows and films in the language you’re studying is a great way to learn and we wanted to offer our learners a way to further immerse themselves in the Japanese language through anime. We hope this partnership will be as delightful to anime fans as it was for our Learning, Design and Marketing teams to work on!”

Crunchyroll is also offering a limited-time AVOD roundup of series with simple, everyday vocabulary to encourage language learners to try anime, including “Bananya,” a cute kitty who lives in a banana, “Free! – Iwatobi Swim Club,” a sports anime about a high school swim team, “Laid-Back Camp,” a slice of life series, and “Nichijou – My Ordinary Life,” a surreal comedy following three everyday girls.

Can you learn Japanese by watching anime?

It all begs the question, “Can you learn Japanese by watching anime?” (and not using Duolingo). Well. It’ll be much more challenging, but they could complement one another.

However, it is essential to note that anime is not a substitute for formal language instruction. It would help to supplement your anime watching with other learning activities, such as taking a Japanese class, using a language learning app, or reading Japanese books and articles.
Here are some tips for using anime to learn Japanese:

• Watch anime with Japanese subtitles. This will help you to learn the correct pronunciation of words and phrases.
• Pause the anime frequently to look up words and phrases you do not understand.
• Try to imitate the Japanese pronunciation of words and phrases.
• Watch anime with friends or family who are also learning Japanese. This can help you to stay motivated and to learn from each other.
• By following these tips, you can use anime to learn Japanese in a fun and effective way.

Here are some additional tips:

• Pay attention to the context of the dialogue. This will help you understand the meaning of words and phrases you do not know.
• Look for patterns in the language. This will help you to learn new vocabulary and grammar structures more quickly.
• Don’t be afraid to make mistakes. Everyone makes mistakes when they are learning a new language. The important thing is to keep practising.

Quick Links

• Crunchyroll & Duolingo claim page.
• Crunchyroll.
• Duolingo.

Welcome home.

This is Audio EXP for the 13th of May, 2023, and the episode title is “Oops; bundle me good!”

[The following is a transcript of Audio EXP: #196]

[Also on Stitcher | Spotify | Apple | Google]

Zotiquest Games is in the Spotlight this month, as voted for by Patreons.

Oops. Moments ago, I discovered I hadn’t published last week’s RPG news podcast transcript to the blog. It was all written but sitting in drafts all this time.

I’ve published it now, which means that while the podcast platforms will be none the wiser, readers will be, and there will be two back-to-back transcripts.

I write up the transcript with accessibility in mind and to be as transmedia as possible. I won’t call it a theme, but other transmedia projects are coming up later in the show.

The first story is about an RPG business deal that came out of the blue. Tunnels & Trolls has been bought. In fact, I think all of Flying Buffalo’s RPG line and brand have been bought. I’ve asked for clarity but am still waiting.

Tunnels & Trolls is the RPG that followed behind D&D in response to D&D, making it the world’s second-oldest tabletop RPG.

Who’s the new owner? Rebellion Unplugged is the tabletop arm of Rebellion, the comic book and games publisher based in the UK.

They’ve been dabbling with RPGs and have a board game, but it’s the comic book properties of Rebellion that make them world famous; they publish Judge Dredd and the other 2000 AD titles.

So, will we have a new Judge Dredd RPG with a Tunnels & Trolls engine? Maybe!

We know that old Flying Buffalo RPGs will still be available, but future books, and I think there will be quite a few, will be published by Rebellion Unplugged.

Another deal we’re covering is between World of Darkness, the horror game franchise that Paradox governs at arm’s length, and an interactive book publisher called Choice of Games.

If you’re a bit of a programmer, you might be interested to know that Choice of Games makes ChoiceScript, their script language, available to the public. They’re a text-based publisher, just online, so that stories can be interactive.

Choice of Games has worked with the World of Darkness before and has now landed a two-year deal. Two interactive stories are coming;

• Werewolf: The Apocalypse – The Book of Hungry Names
• Hunter: The Reckoning – The Beast of Glendkildove

Aaand, I suppose we’re all used to Modiphius landing deals. The latest is for a BrikWars.

I know the game a little and thought it might lend itself to a board or skirmish game, but Modiphius is doing an RPG. Maybe it’s a case of watching this space.

Geek Native also managed to do a deal with Roleplay Elixir to warm readers up a bit for their forthcoming 5e Kickstarter for Kings & Dragons.

What did we get? A free-to-download demo. You see, this is why I write up the transcript because you can find the link to that in the transcript, which I’ll definitely publish this time.

Kings & Dragons may now be on your to-watch list, and perhaps RoleRoster is too.

RoleRoster is a free website, currently in beta, which promises to take some of the pain out of organising game night. It doesn’t just work out when people are free but handles the reminders and calendar.

RoleRoster’s likely plans would be to expand that one-stop-shop approach into other areas but have the challenging task of recruiting enough people first.

Sliding away from RPGs, just for one story, there’s the first look at the new Conan the Barbarian comic book series.

That’s been penned by Jim Zub, who gamers will definitely be familiar. I think it’s the first bit of Conan news since Cabinet shuffled the license holders.

Before the bundles, let’s talk about Leyline Press as the RPG publisher had an encounter with disgruntled culture war folks. What happened? Without naming anyone, Leyline Press had a problem with an editor. This person had been working on RPGs that have received widespread concern for cashing in on bigotry and other unpleasantness.

Understandably, I think, Leyline Press didn’t want to be associated with any of that and felt some guilt for having worked with the person in the first place.

They broke the news with an apology, said they wouldn’t work with that editor again and would not publish their name on the Salvage Union, their current project.

What happened next was entirely predictable. Those who don’t cope so well with difference raced in two criticise Leyline for trying to navigate a no-win situation. My main conclusion was what a pejorative Twitter’s blue tick has become.

In bundles and on the Bundle of Holding, there’s swashbuckling action from Basic Action Games with an Honor + Intrigue and one timed for the Into the Deep Wild Kickstarter from Privateer Press called Iron Kingdoms: Requiem.

Lastly and raising for the heroes of The Trevor Project, people who work to stop LGBTQ-folk committing suicide, is the Starfinder Solidarity bundle.

Paizo has physical products here, so a great deal, but watch for shipping fees.

And on that note, let’s wrap up there; remember to finish what you started, and I’ll see you next week.

Welcome home.

This is Audio EXP for the 6th of May, 2023, and the episode title is “It’s Coronation Day; let’s talk about voting”.

[The following is a transcript of Audio EXP: #194]

[Also on Stitcher | Spotify | Apple | Google]

Zotiquest Games is in the Spotlight this month, as voted for by Patreons.

True to tradition, it’s the very start, sort of, of the month, and I’ve not told Zotiquest Games about their victory in this unsolicited battle royale of votes yet.

I will, though. I’ve got a day off this week, so I’ve got a little more time. I’ve that extra day as here in the UK it’s a rare event; a Coronation.

King Charles III has taken the throne, and Queen Camilla has broken with tradition and is recycling a crown from history, not getting a new one made for her. Jewellers around London will be heartbroken, and Camilla will wear the crown made for Mary of Tek.

Mary of Tek, of course, Queen Mary was the wife of King George V, and the crown has not been worn in public for over 70 years, and it’s been on display in the Tower of London.

However, Mary of Tek’s crown won’t have the Kohinoor Diamond. That’s one of the world’s largest cut diamonds, a gift to Queen Victoria in 1850.

The problem with the Kohinoor Diamond? The British nicked it from India during the painful era of the East India Company. But enough of all this reality; let us get back to geeking and gaming! Although, let me say it’s good of Camilla not to demand a new crown and, at least, not to flaunt the Kohinoor Diamond.

Imagine this, your party of adventurers trudge into town, start to unpack their wagon, hoping to trade loot from the dungeon with local merchants, and they’re confronted by the local militia.

The militia point to some of the groups’ gear and protest at the coils of rope they have. The problem? The heroes could use those ropes to tie themselves to doors, stables and fences and block the area with their own bodies. An illegal disruption. All it takes is for the militia to suspect the adventurers might do this, and they have the legal authority to arrest them.

Imagine that. Your players will boggle at the dystopia of the weird little fantasy town.

Except… sorry to do this to you… I’ve not moved on at all. I’m still talking about the coronation. That happened in London today as anti-Monarchy protesters were arrested for having, what the police say, are devices that could be used to fasten people to things and that protesters were thinking of doing that.

Crazy.

Right, really, for real, let’s talk voting. Let me tell you who the candidates for June’s RPG Publisher Spotlight are;

• Lone Colossus Games
• Deep Light Games
• The Scrying Dutchman
• Midnight Owl Games
• dicegeeks

Furthermore, if you’re tempted to vote, then let me tell you about The Curse of Er’Mah’Gerd.

If you’re a patron before the 23rd, you’ll get The Curse of Er’Mah’Gerd, which is good.

The Curse of Er’Mah’Gerd is D&D with humour, and thanks to the success of the D&D movie, many people, like me, are now convinced that it can work.

Thanks to David Michael Williams and One Million Words, we’ve an art preview on the site and copies of the 200-page 5e light parody to give to patrons.

But, as we know, Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast don’t always get everything right. Last week we had Pinkerton raids, and this week when Egg Embry came to me with a story pitch, it was one we knew needed to be carefully spotted.

Egg was aware that iconic artist Jeff Easley had told Facebook followers about his disappointment that his signature had been airbrushed out of a D&D Honour Among Thieves promo poster he had done.

Egg’s write-up was great, but we were worried about making life for Jeff difficult by getting fans riled up. Sometimes angry people do the wrong thing.

If you’ve just listened to me sniping about politics and royals in the UK, you won’t be surprised to know that I ran the story. We added a note from yours truly to ask fans to be good.

The catch? While Hasbro’s eOne made the movie and all the creative control was with the company, the giant didn’t do everything. Paramount Pictures handled distribution, that important job of putting it into cinemas.

Of all the emails promos about D&D Honour Among Thieves that I’ve had, not one that, at least that I can find, came from Paramount. Still, we couldn’t be sure, so we updated the article.

Geek Native’s transparent in our updates and correction. If there’s a change after an article goes live, we explain so in a big box on the article itself, and there’s a corrections and updates page linked to in the footer which details every such change.

Despite all the drama, Dungeons & Dragons seems to weather the brand storm. The latest extension to the merch empire and is an official Build-a-Bear plushie dragon.

And, as ever, it’s not all about D&D and the major players. There are challengers. In the VTT space, One More Multiverse is a challenger, and they’ve progressed this week.

It’s a VTT that supports a few systems, has community standards and blends JRPG pixel art with storytelling and more traditional VTT features. It’s left public beta, so it’s an official on-the-shelf product now. The welcomed catch? It’s still free.

Nor is it all about RPGs here at Geek Native; there’s loads of anime too. Or, this month, perhaps that should be Ani-May. Crunchyroll, now part of Sony, has branded May Ani-May and signed some international deals.

Here in the UK, HMV is a partner and have  Attack on Titan, JUJUTSU KAISEN, My Hero Academia, and Toilet Bound Hanako-kun goodies in more than 100 stores. I was hoping for Jujutsu Kaisen fingerless gloves or Attack on Titan chewable Scout Corp jelly babies but I don’t think we’re going to get those.

Nevertheless, it’s great to see both anime and tabletop RPGs so well known these days.

Speaking of May, May the 4th is Star Wars Day. That’s when so many brands and blogs jump on the space-bandwagon and do something.

Geek Natie asked What one clever thing should you do for Star Wars Day?

The answer was to watch Curious Refuge’s Wes Anderson-inspired trailer. It’s awesome.

Then I packed it with Star Wars Day deals such as 15% off Sideshow Collectibles, deals and discounts at Just Geek and even new  Star Wars socks from Stance, and that’s where I get mine. I would recommend the site, but I didn’t get any more socks.

Sadly, sometimes it comes back to D&D and as we know, it’s not always good news.

Keith Baker, the guy who came up with the D&D campaign setting of Eberron and has been publishing Eberron material through the DMs Guild through the studio KB Presents, not Wizards of the Coast, has announced the studio will close.

The last book they’ll make is Frontiers of Eberron: Quickstone.

Visionary Production and Design will pick up four established titles and keep them on sale. They are;

• Exploring Eberron
• Chronicles of Eberron
• Dread Metrol
• Eberron Confidential

You can still follow the team on social media, with Keith Baker being part of Twogether Studios, producer Wayne Chang still on the Adventuring Zone Facebook page, editor Laura Hirsbrunner available via their Carrd site and the space plasma physicist, Manifest Zone co-host and adamantine bestseller Imogen Gingell on Twitter and at the website imogen.space.

There are also some bundles before we go. Atlas Games has an incredible DrivethruRPG hosted deal reduced by 70% with savings of nearly $200 for Ars Magica 4e. If you want to try not-D&D, then Ars Magica is very firmly in the camp of not-D&D.

Early FASA Traveller sci-fi RPG products are at the Bundle of Holding but you will need a copy of Traveller old enough to use them.

And on that note, let’s wrap up there, and we’ll catch up next week. Until then, don’t wear stolen bling, and fight on.

What’s the biggest monster in any RPG?

That’s a good question, and it’s the one RoleRoster asks and suggests an answer to on its homepage.

You’ve guessed it.

The biggest monster, the most challenging enemy, is the schedule.

RoleRoster’s pitch is that they do the logistics so you can focus on the fun stuff, and it’s compatible with everything. Right now, the solution is in Beta, which means you can sign up, and the site is more finished than not, but still not complete.

In essence, RoleRoster seems to be a looking-for-group site, and you start by telling it when you can play and who you want to play with. It then sorts out availability and delivers calendar invites. RoleRoster then reminds people they have got a game coming up.

If it’s a looking-for-group marketplace site that finds people you don’t already know, it faces the usual challenges of scale. No one will use it until many people use it and have an excellent chance to find a group.

The good news is that at least one Instagram post highlights it’s free. The same post also says;

RoleRoster is a free, automated, scheduling system made specifically for the needs of tabletop roleplaying games.

The system automatically coordinates availability, finalizes game time with the GM and all players, and then communicates with everyone based on their preferred method (email, discord, text, etc). After your game session, it’ll automatically share the recap and GM feedback.

Oh, and it doesn’t matter what, where, or how you play…

A week-old post says the site will launch in June.

Quick Links

• RoleRoster.