Morrus’ Unofficial Tabletop RPG Talk
317 | Free D&D adventure based on 1980s cartoon | PHB fastest selling D&D book ever, Mork Borg video game, and more!
Sat, 28 Sep 2024
This week, Morrus, PJ, and Jessica talk about all the week’s tabletop RPG news including a free Dungeons & Dragons adventure based on the 1980s cartoon, the D&D Players Handbook is the fastest selling D&D Book ever, Mork Borg getting a video game, and more! -------------------- News [2:52] 2024 Players Handbook Fastest Selling D&D Book Ever https://www.enworld.org/threads/2024-player%E2%80%99s-handbook-is-%E2%80%98fastest-selling-d-d-book-ever%E2%80%99.706875/ [10:29] TTRPGs for Accessible Gaming Charity Bundle on Itch.io https://itch.io/b/2623/ttrpgs-for-accessible-gaming-charity-bundle [12:53] Dungeon Master’s Guide Previews Start October 1sthttps://www.enworld.org/threads/dungeon-masters-guide-previews-start-october-1st.706881/ [15:01] Wizards of the Coast is hiring a new Brand Publicity Manager https://www.enworld.org/threads/d-d-is-hiring-a-new-brand-publicity-manager.706855/ [16:46] Conspiracy and Reality on Itch.io https://ksandra.itch.io/conspiracy-and-reality [18:23] Dungeons & Dragons 50th Anniversary Double Vinyl Album themed on Forgotten Realms coming https://www.enworld.org/threads/dungeons-dragons-to-release-50th-anniversary-double-vinyl-record.706894/ [22:29] The Collaborative Worldbuilder’s Guide on Itch.io https://brookletgames.itch.io/the-collaborative-worldbuilders-guide [23:47] D&D Beyond releases free adventure featuring 1980s cartoon characters https://www.enworld.org/threads/d-d-beyond-releases-new-free-d-d-adventure-featuring-1980s-cartoon-characters.706878/ Official 5e stats for the 1980s D&D cartoon characters https://www.enworld.org/threads/heres-the-d-d-cartoon-characters-stats.706882/ [26:04] Image Comics releasing 5e campaign as part of graphic novel release for The Swords of the Wintersea https://www.enworld.org/threads/image-comics-to-release-the-swords-of-the-wintersea-graphic-novel-includes-5e-campaign.706862/ [27:06] Alien RPG 2nd Edition maps revealed https://www.enworld.org/threads/alien-rpg-2nd-edition-maps-revealed.706931/ [29:27] Cult of Jai’crodah for Level Up: Advanced 5e from Anthony Alipio on DriveThruRPG https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/495402/the-cult-of-jai-crodah-a5e?affiliate_id=36142 [31:43] Beadle & Grimm revealed what maps will appear in the 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide https://www.enworld.org/threads/map-list-for-2024-dungeon-masters-guide-revealed.706917/ [34:55] Impending Longshoreman Union strike could affect UK and EU games shipments to the USA https://www.enworld.org/threads/longshoreman-union-strike-could-affect-eu-uk-games-shipping-to-usa.706930/ [41:20] How the Discworld TTRPG works https://www.enworld.org/threads/how-the-discworld-ttrpg-works.706903/ Download the free Quickstart for Terry Pratchett’s Discworld: Adventures in Ankh-Morpork https://modiphius.net/en-us/collections/new-arrivals/products/discworld-quickstart-guide-pdf [52:19] Mork Borg video game Heresy Supreme coming to Steam https://www.enworld.org/threads/m%C3%B6rk-borg-is-getting-a-video-game.706879/ [53:05] Fantasy AGE 2e gets Cthulhu Mythos sourcebook https://www.enworld.org/threads/fantasy-age-2e-gets-cthulhu-mythos-sourcebook.706929/ [56:53] Titmouse announces Drunkards, Druggies, & Delinquents, a TTRPG party game https://www.enworld.org/threads/titmouse-announces-drunkards-druggies-delinquents-new-ttrpg-party-game.706846/ [59:43] Level Up Gateway dev update from September https://www.levelup5e.com/news/level-up-gateway-september-dev-update -------------------- Please support us on Patreon at http://patreon.com/morrus Don’t forget to join the Morrus’ Unofficial Tabletop RPG Talk Facebook group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/1033145023517295/ and join us on Discord at https://discord.gg/VAuxX8M Ask your Listener Question on Twitter, email [email protected], or contact us on TikTok at TikTok -------------------- Hosts: Russ “Morrus” Morrissey, PJ Coffey, and Jessica Hancock Editing and post-production: Darryl Mott Theme Song: Steve Arnott Malach the Maleficent played by Darren Morrissey Check out all the media content from EN World at http://enliverpg.com
I'm Keith Baker, creator of Eberron, and you're listening to Morse's Unofficial Tabletop RPG Talk.
This week, Morse, PJ, and Jessica talk about all the week's tabletop RPG news, including a free Dungeons & Dragons adventure based on the 1980s cartoon, the D&D Players Handbook for 2024 is the fastest-selling D&D book ever, Mork Borg is getting a video game, and more! This week on Morse's Unofficial Tabletop RPG Talk!
Thank you. Earspoons? That's not a real thing, is it? Ridiculous. What is this nonsense, anyway? I can't believe I'm reduced to flogging this low-class commoner tat to pay my rent. Anyway, go to Brandestocks for pointy sticks.
All the table top are outplaying news. We aim to amuse and we aim to enthuse. Morris is unofficial. Table top RPG talk.
hello hello hello and welcome to morris's unofficial tabletop rpg talk i am russ aka morris or morris aka russ and with me this week is pj coffee from the southampton guild of role players uh well sorry sam not 100 this week but i can do my duty as the at-height person in charge of letting you know that joining us also
baby called way podcast to act as a ministering angel of mercy it's the one it's the only it's it's me jessica from em publishing and yes as we're pre-recording my partner is way doing a lovely emergency dentist appointment and my dog is having a week with his ongoing conditions so i am both other members of my household are having a time so i am i am on call for various
medical things as they may occur we'll have to call you Florence when you say doing an emergency dentist appointment you don't mean performing it but being subjected to it well from what I understand he won't be performing it on himself but I didn't I actually didn't ask to clarify so did he leave the house with a big pair of pliers I didn't check you know well I guess we just have to wait is he a qualified dentist
No, but, you know, when does being qualified for something stop you doing it? Much like this podcast. That's true.
That's true. All right, let's do some news, shall we?
Yeah, some news. A D&D tabletop RPG and various global shipping crisis news is the news that I've seen.
Right then, okay. So, quite D&D-ish this week because... There was a big old announcement that the 2024 Players Handbook is apparently the fastest selling D&D book ever in the 50 years of D&D.
Oh, there we go.
Yeah. There's a lot of people out there who want their D&D. Yeah.
So the previous record holder was Tasha's Cauldron of Everything.
Oh.
And the new D&D Player's Handbook has surpassed that. It's not clear. I mean, it's basically based on the first week sales, I guess, because it became available on the 17th.
Yes, I guess, yeah.
Unless it's counting back the last month it's been in hobby stores in America. I'm not sure. But apparently it sold as many as three times as many as the 2014 Player's Handbook did at launch.
Well, I think the hobby has grown since 2014.
Yeah, they also, because they sent a press release out, and they also claim more than 85 million D&D fans worldwide. It takes quite a long time to count to 85 million. I mean, it takes quite a long time to count to 85, let alone 85 million.
If you had 85 million people, it could be quite quick, though. Yeah. If they each share out the workload.
Yeah. I suppose it depends on how much parallel processing it's like.
Yeah, if they all shouted out their own number simultaneously.
Yeah, then it'd be done.
But then you would have to have handed out 85 million numbers beforehand so that they could do that.
I'm not the numbers person at EM Publishing.
You are the logistics person.
Yeah, I know, but not the numbers. I'll make Zyn do that. That sounds difficult.
All right. So apparently D&D Beyond has over 18 million users. That's quite a lot.
That is a lot.
That's not subscribers. That's not paying users. That's 18 million.
Yeah.
Yeah, because I've got an account, but I've never spent any money on D&D Beyond.
Same Zs.
So, that's interesting. However, there is a little bit of, I want to say controversy, slightly manufactured controversy maybe, that has arisen about this.
Oh?
There's a rumour going round that Wizard of the Coast has only sold 3,700 copies of the Player's Handbook.
I think that's how many they sold. They sold that amount probably at Gen Con. How many did they sell at Gen Con?
They sold 3,000 at Gen Con.
Yeah.
So they sold 3,700? So this rumor comes from a YouTube channel who looked at the BookScan data in the US. Now, BookScan is basically a Nielsen service which kind of takes ISBN sales and compiles them. But that's for the sort of mass market trade, book trade. Right.
Yeah, so that'll be your Barnes & Noble.
Yeah, and your Walmarts and all that sort of stuff. Notably, and that data did say that in the week 16th to 21st of September, 3,700 and something books were sold. Right.
Yeah, well, how often does it update? I think it's... Do you know what I mean?
I think it's quite frequent. But the biggest problem with that is the player's handbook hasn't actually really filtered through to the big main chain stores yet. What it has been selling at in bucket loads is for any local game stores.
Yeah.
And Bookscan does not, like, take into account specialist, you know, bookstores.
Distributors.
Okay.
It wasn't, like, a big deal that we reported on on this very podcast that Wizards of the Coast, Hasbro, weren't going to offer special deals to friendly game stores. And there was no, like, incentive program. They weren't really working with us. They were just treating them like regular consumers.
They did let them have it early. They got them on the 3rd rather than the 17th. So local game stores have had the book for nearly a month. And of course, Bookscan doesn't pick up any of that. Added to that, Amazon reports monthly.
So they haven't had the Amazon report.
So the Amazon figures probably won't be on there. So basically, all Bookscan is reporting is what Walmart and Barnes & Noble and that lot have sold in those six days when the book hasn't really even filtered through to those stores yet.
I mean, I'm questioning why we're talking about this because it's clearly self-evident that it's going to be untrue. I mean, sure, sure. I'm not accusing him of dishonesty, let's be clear. I'm just saying the cherry-picked data is going to look very bad because it's cherry-picked. Yeah, it's just about countering misinformation, really.
Yes. So if you've heard this rumour, the answer is no.
No, Wizards of the Coast has not only sold 3,700 books. That is not the case. It's like, you know, arguing for clicks.
Which, you know, why not, why not? But it's just not how I'd want to make money, you know?
Yeah, it got reported on a YouTube channel, and then I wouldn't say a mainstream tabletop news outlet about sort of the enrolled size picked it up and reported on it. So, you know...
So in-world size, but not in-world. No, no, no. Not in-world in a hat, in a session glasses. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no.
Yeah. Yeah. It was interesting. But three times as many as the 2014 book. I can definitely believe that. I think the hobby's probably grown three times in the last 10 years.
I mean, to me, that actually seems like a low number. if you've only sold three and a half times, because the audience has increased a lot more than that.
Not everyone buys books, and a lot of them have shifted to digital only now, though. A lot of people will also be buying books on D&D Beyond.
And also, a lot of people that already have the Player's Handbooks, maybe this is my circles I know, aren't necessarily buying the new one, because they're like, oh, should we just keep using this for now? Yeah, sure. So...
i haven't i haven't had any of my gaming groups excited and because because the new edition isn't different enough that you're like oh i'm gonna get that and then i can try out this new thing it's not different enough that you're excited to get it immediately yeah i guess that's sort of very much like from the massively wonky space uh with my people in who are the massively wonky rules lawyers and nerds who love that sort of thing they're like
Yeah, I mean, they've improved some things, but other things just seem worse. And it seems kind of anti-DM, bizarrely, in some of the things, like making it harder to run the game, which is not what D&D 5th Edition needs.
No, you need more game masters.
So, you know, it's like, you know, I can see people picking it up out of interest. So, to me, three and a half times, it seems a low number, but, you know, it's just not clearly better.
anyway so there we go well well well done to the sixth edition writers anyway because uh you know they've still sold a lot of books a lot more than 3700 certainly a lot more than that like i reckon at least 3712 at least oh yeah i'm gonna go for 3720 just to no it reminds me of something yeah i'd say maybe 3721
Oh, there's always one.
One of the ship.
Curse you, ship's missed at the sky.
Price is right rules. Oh, speaking of the price being right, I don't know if you're aware, but there's been a TTRPGs for accessible gaming charity rule dropped.
I don't know about this, please tell me more.
Well, allow me to drop a comment. Now, unfortunately, it's only got 24 hours to run. So whilst Daryl is pretty quick, it's maybe historic.
Yeah, the odds on it still being available when people hear this is slim.
Yeah, it's not zero, so it's always worth shouting out.
Hello, your editor Dale here with a quick correction. The TTRPGs for Accessibility Gaming Charity Bundle on itch.io is available for 23 days, not 23 hours.
It appears PJ just misread the label on the timer from when they saw it because most of these bundles run for only a few weeks while this one has been ongoing for a month already and has been featured in my freebie sales and charity bundles column on IanWorld. So you still have plenty of time to jump in on this bundle as it runs until October 20th.
and there's an absolute ton of books coming out 314 items 314 separate games for $10 so I picked that up and was very pleased to do so I'm going to do that as well yeah
so many games yeah i mean you played one of them every day it would still take you nearly a year i you know i love these bundles with stuff like that because you find all these like weird games you wouldn't find otherwise and it's great for not dnd for me discovering smaller more niche games so i love these bundles and sometimes some of the charity at the game i'm like that sounds amazing i go and have a look i'm like
I already own it. Best day. But getting it to the table is a second challenge.
Yes. Oh my goodness. Well, I've just bought it now, so... Oh, there's Glitter Hearts on here.
Yes. Many raised from the charity bundle is going to fund the production of things like Signature Braille RPG dice, which will be the first ever Braille RPG dice available in retail systems worldwide. So, that's like a laugh, isn't it?
Oh, Inspirals is on here as well. I have that one. That is an RPG that teaches you sign language and
american sign language and british sign language you can choose which one depending on that's right which is gonna be more useful to you depending on where you are in the world yeah oh there's lots of nice things here i'll look at that later we should do a podcast sorry i'm just there scrolling through yes yeah yeah oh so um one of our favorite things has happened what are you talking about an announcement
Of an announcement?
Of a teaser, of a trailer.
Ooh, what's the teasing news?
I'm excited now. You told me about it now.
So we have been told that on October the 1st, Wizards of the Coast are going to start doing previews of the Dungeon Master's Guide. October the 1st? October the 1st, which is Monday? Next week? Tuesday. Tuesday.
On a Tuesday? !
Yep. So there's going to be two videos next week. I see. The first one's just like an overview of the Dungeon Master's Guide. And the second one is all about the Bastion system, which is kind of their strongholds system.
I'm intrigued to listen about that. But, as I said, I always loved the idea of a stronghold system, but I never actually use it whenever I have it.
It was in one of the playtests, but I don't know whether it made it through intact or whether it's going to be massively changed or I can barely remember what was in the playtest, to be honest. So it's going to be interesting to see what they do with it.
Yeah, I'll try and watch that one, I think, and then we can discuss it next week.
Yeah. I mean... On a D&D DMG scale, with, say, 4th edition at 10, and 5th edition being, I don't know, 3, it'll be interesting to see where it's coming. Because, like, you know, this DMG is very important because it teaches people how to run your game. And they're going to have to do a slight more than just say, oh, I'll check out all these YouTube. Well, I guess we'll find out. We will. Well.
Next week.
When does it come out? November?
The DMG? Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah, it must be November in time for Christmas. November 12th, there we go. Because we've got the Monster Man coming out next year.
Yeah, yeah. Right, sticking with Dungeons and or Dragons... Oh, yeah.
Oh, no, carry on, yeah.
I was thinking, actually, that maybe that's why... The PHB sales, I feel they're maybe a little bit underperforming because people are waiting for all three books. Maybe.
It seems like they're not underperforming because they're doing very well sales-wise. I was going to do a segue of speaking of, you know, they do an announcement of the announcement for the announcement. If you're like, man, that's an annoying PR way to roll things out. I could do a much better job at that myself.
Well, you could, because Wizards of the Coast is hiring a senior manager for brand publicity. How's that for a segue? Was it good?
Marvellous.
Great. So this is for Dungeons & Dragons, obviously, and also it is Magic the Gathering as well, because it's at Wizards of the Coast, so it's that whole sort of thing. So yes, they're pretty much replacing, it looks like Greg Tito, who we reported, who's left. This is like backfilling that role. So yeah, the job role is up on the website. It's linked on EMworld if you want to find it.
It's on Glassdoor and LinkedIn and all those things as well. So you need to be in Washington, US.
Yeah.
Right, okay.
Yeah, it's not a remote job.
No.
Right. This is Dungeons & Dragons specifically brand. Obviously, Wizards do do Magic the Gathering as well, but this job is specifically the indie.
Oh, this one is?
Yeah. Senior Manager of Brand Publicity for Dungeons & Dragons is what this one is.
Got it.
So, basically, Greg Tito's job since he left for another, a political, for political communication.
If you don't go to Washington DC, you're close enough to be like, Not Washington, D.C., Washington State, Seattle. Washington State. I do make a point. Yes, Seattle. West Coast, yes. Yeah. Northwest Coast of America.
Yeah. Top left corner. Unless you count Alaska, which really is the top left corner, I suppose.
Yeah, yeah.
Top left corner with the big bit. What about Hawaii?
Anyway.
Hawaii's definitely not the top left corner.
Hawaii's kind of... Well, that's pretty interesting. So, you know, being able to keep in touch with reality, which allows me to segue seamlessly into talking about conspiracy and reality.
Ooh.
Yeah. It's a role-playing game about falling for conspiracy theories, becoming obsessed with uncovering the truth, and gradually losing touch with the rest of the world. Let me whack a link in there for you. It's by someone known to me as KSandra. So, yeah. It's a laser and feelings hack.
Oh, it's a nice, simple rule set.
Yeah, very light. I think you might like it. Jessica, it looks pretty interesting. It's by Alexandra Brockman. I'm a little tired today. Not bringing the verve and vigour which this role requires right now. But yeah, I think it looks pretty cool actually. Sort of gives me maybe like a set of X-Files vibe. With like a soup song of unknown armies but a very low technical overhead.
Yeah, I like it. That looks fun. I like this sort of thing.
I've just seen one of the conspiracies, but just due to maybe the resolution on my monitor or the fact that I'm not wearing my reading glasses. Government scientists and industries conspire to hide the fact that the Earth is fat.
It does say flat.
It does say flat. I realise it does say flat, but I cannot see the L.
Yeah, it is there, but it's very... That could also be another conspiracy.
I would have to work out what... But what do you mean?
Do we like music? That's right.
As a general concept, yes.
Do we like Dungeons & Dragons? It's passable. I'm not sure I like the two put together.
I'll play it. In terms of D&D music, I have been listening to the Baldur's Gate 3 soundtrack all week at work.
This is definitely along those lines. This is a double vinyl album.
Okay.
For the 50th anniversary, coming for Dungeons & Dragons, featuring 12 tracks, which are apparently inspired by the Forgotten Realms. It's called Bardic Inspiration, A Musical Journey Through the Forgotten Realms.
Interesting. I don't have the technology to play vinyl.
It's not usually the only way you can get it. That's just kind of it.
For our younger listeners who are confused, we're referring to...
stereophonic sounds being recorded by etching things onto a 12 or more inch disc which then has grooves which can be used with various devices to play sounds I've seen the stereophonics and they definitely weren't doing that yes Russ no worries anyway cool I do like bardcore music so is that what this is I don't know this has a 40 person choir that's about all I know it's composed by Michael Gatt mm-hmm
co-produced by Jeremy Jarvis, visually artistically directed by AJ Haneld. It's coming out fall 2024, so really soon, I guess. Yeah.
Yeah. Please do not mistake my lack of excitement for disinterest in this product. It's me. I don't know if any of those people are the people who are more into the scene who are losing it right now with how exciting this is. I'm excited for you just on the inside.
I might give it a listen if it's on like a streaming. I know I usually listen on Spotify and I know people that are really into their music. I know that's not the best quality for things. But yeah.
I don't care. I probably couldn't tell the difference anyway, to be honest.
I mean, yeah. I mean, that would be the case for me. The main thing is, if I really want to listen to good music, there's nothing like listening to it in person. Like, I really now want to go listen to... They do, like, orchestral performances from the Bald Skate 3 soundtrack, for example. I'd love to go listen to that, because that would be a different elevated experience, I think. Yeah.
Well, this isn't the first time that this has happened. In 2022, there was an album called Spell Jams. This came from Hasbro. 2003, there was a Dungeons & Dragons album released by Midnight Syndicate, who were, at the time, the in-house music for a lot of Wizard of the Coast D&D streams. So, it has happened before.
And it will happen again.
It will almost certainly happen again. Very Battlestar Galactica.
Okay. I like music in my games because I think it creates a mood.
Yeah, I don't use it nearly enough.
Yeah.
It's actually something that I really dislike in a game.
Oh, okay.
Well, because, like, whatever with my ears and stuff, I have difficulty hearing people over the music because I can't pick their voices out. So maybe that's all just true process, I don't know. But it's just like... It can be nice, but I find it quite intrusive.
Well, that's the thing with RPGs, isn't it? One person's young because another one's young. I don't often get the chance to do music because often if I'm running at a convention or in a games club, there's other tables and then that would feel a bit rude to be using music and sound effects to do the tables.
But if I'm playing a home game or something or an online game, I tend to do sound effects and music and things.
Yeah.
Because I like it.
You did mention one person's young being a person's young. A way that you may be able to resolve that is through the Collaborative World Builders Guide. It's from Brooklook Games. Again, the things I've mentioned have all exclusively on being on itch.io, so clearly I'm in a super indie mood.
You're in an itchy mood.
Hey, feeling the itch to play some role-playing games. So, yeah, you come together and... creative world it's uh similar i imagine in scope to microscope but uh it's quite focused on hex brawls and so forth and there's uh got artists like evelyn monroe evelyn moreau on it
This is nice. This could be really nice if you know you want to do a session zero, but you're not sure on how to structure that session. I think this just gives you a really nice structure to do that if you've not done it before. So if you're like, I do want this to be a collaborative world building experience, but how do we, you don't just want to sit down and be like, so what do we want to do?
I think this is, yeah, it could be a nice structure.
I think maybe the microscope I've enrolled in is, because Microscope has, like, everything, like in the huge galaxy-spanning beams and so forth, whereas this feels like it's a bit more intimate. I haven't played or run it, so there we go.
Adventures, adventures, adventures. There's a couple of adventures, D&D adventures. One is coming from D&D Beyond. It's a free adventure, and it's starring the 80s cartoon characters.
Oh, yeah, from the D&D cartoon.
Yes, it's called Uni and the Hunt for the Lost Horn. Uni, of course, being the pet barbarian of Bobby the Barbarian.
I would have said it's probably Uni's pet unicorn.
The pet unicorn, sorry, not the pet barbarian.
yeah please proceed got that all the way round Bobby is the pet the pet barbarian if you need the unicorn yes but Bobby is a barbarian and a small child little prefer of Sheila yes or their foot Jessica
Yeah. Yeah. Yeah. So it's free adventure on D&D Beyond. Level four. You can use the pre-made character sheets for the 1980s D&D cartoon characters. They are all adults now. They're not children.
Yeah.
They're grown-up versions of them. So I guess they got stuck there forever, I guess. I guess they never did get home.
Well, home is where the heart is, I guess.
Well, awesome. Could be both, really. It's hard to say. And they've added a new one as well. A seventh character. Niko. N-I-K-O.
Not a cat, then.
A cleric.
A cleric.
Well, they were Lachlan Healer in the Avengers series. Oh, yeah. What were they doing? A hit point, say? What were they doing?
It's a lovely piece of art.
Oh, yeah.
Yeah. With a full-grown Ooni the Unicorn. And all the different heroes ranged around him.
I imagine a full-grown unicorn is going to have a fair bit to their combat power. I guess. Yeah, it's like a lot of insignificant beasts.
It says hunt for the lost horn. Does that mean, because I haven't actually read the adventure, does that mean it's a hornless unicorn?
A white horse, as we like to call it. A horse, yeah. A magic horse. A My Little Pony.
Yeah, it's a My Little Pony.
What have they got? A cutie mark? Well, you can pick that up for free anyway, should you wish to do so.
So you can find out.
That sounds amazing. Anything else in the adventure pipeline? Say again? Anything else in the adventure pipeline?
Yeah, so Image Comics.
Oh, yeah.
There's a new fantasy-themed graphic novel coming out. Oh, yeah. The Swords of the Winter Sea. And alongside it, they're going to be releasing a 5E campaign. Oh, jolly. It's coming out April 2025. It's based off the home D&D campaign of the writer, Matt Hawkins, who's the president of Top Cow, one of Image's comic book imprints. Yeah. It says open source campaign.
I'm not sure what that means exactly, including maps.
open source campaign okay i think what they mean is that my surmise i could be wrong obviously is they're just going to be using stuff that's available in the creative commons rather than like specifically having it be a dnd set that makes sense oh yeah yeah yeah that that would be my intuition only so but there's more i might be wrong well anyway we can pick it up in april 1699 the swords of the winter sea sweet i also have further adventure news
Okay.
Tell us more.
But from a galaxy far, far away. It's not Star Wars. I don't know why I went there. It's space.
You're going to tell us the next Star Trek one, yeah?
No, it's the alien RPG in space.
Oh, man. That's not a galaxy far, far away. No. It's this galaxy.
Do you know what? In a role-playing game, I can make it if I want because the limit is my imagination. Anyway, so Alien RPG second edition is coming out. So Free League is doing a crowdfunder for their Raptor protocol. So there's going to be an adventure. There's going to be a starter set, which is called Hope's Last Day. and they've released the maps for them.
And they've also said that the maps, the way they've designed it, they've got some minis and updated rules, so you could use this as a miniature skirmish game if you wanted as well, as part of your role-playing game, which is cool. I have the Aliens first edition that I have not played yet, so I'm going to play that first before looking at second edition. But the maps look really good.
Yeah, I love the maps. There's an article on EM Worlds, and you could really use this for any sci-fi adventure, really, that matches that sort of genre. You could use this for your mothership adventures or stuff like that. It's like a big ship deck plan and things.
They're not gridded, though, are they? Because I don't think ADN uses a grid.
No, it doesn't have... Is it quite thin? No. Oh, okay. Well, the images I have here are not...
But if you're using them online, all the tabletops can overlay a grid, can't they?
Yeah, if you use it online to overlay it. In fairness, on the big deck plan, the rooms do have squares because I think that's the design of the floors, like metal square sheets. But no, not really. They're not gridded. But yeah, they just look really cool. And I'm used to free leagues, adventures, having nice accessories and nice stuff in. So I kind of expect no less.
If a free league game came out and it wasn't stunning, I'd be like, what happened? Like, they've raised the bar in terms of aesthetics for me quite high.
Absolutely. I really want 3D's Warrior map. That's really nice. I really kind of wish I'd backed the Kickstarter now.
Can you get it outside of Kickstarter?
I don't think you can. I've looked on their website.
Oh, so you can't put it on your Christmas list.
I don't think you can get the map itself. I'll find it somewhere. I will have that map. I will have that map.
Yeah.
Yeah. Oh, there's an adventure that's come out for Level Up Advanced 5th Edition. Yeah. Yeah. Oh. That genius in his volcanic super layer, Anthony Alipio, has produced The Cult of Jai Krodar, which is, let me whack it in the show notes for you, it's all about goblins, kobolds, and a giant crocodile. Oh, how did I miss this? Well, what can I say? I've read it. It's not a massive adventure.
It's like coming at 32 pages, but it's for fish level, which is pretty cool. Obviously, you can run this with like
fifth edition rules and so forth the games are not that dissimilar but it's got combat social exploration challenges one of the things i've very much enjoyed about it when i was reading it was how easy it's going to be for me to run it's like it just really feels like i mean i know there are some people if you're the sort of person who enjoys like getting adventures of reading them for the stories because they don't like story you're probably not going to like this as much if you want to actually run a game you're going to have a good time just very nicely laid out
It's got a two-page spread version for tablet and landscape viewing. Yeah, fresh new monsters. And just, yeah, it starts off in media res, which basically means in the middle of the action. And I'm like just reading through it. If I can get it now, I know exactly how to do this. This is brilliant. So for me personally, this was an amazing stuff.
So thank you, Anthony, for drawing this to my attention. This is an excellent piece of work. Yeah. That's interesting. You know I don't say things I don't hold with, but this just makes it happen. And also I quite like the cover as well. It's got like a sort of an Aztec vibe to it on the front, which is pretty cool.
lots to be said it's all oh and the inn is there's goblinoid cultists offering living sacrifices to voracious gods while adventurers explore the ancestral copper mines of a hermetically dwarf so yeah I feel this is this is a lot of things that I want for a one shot adventure and this looks like a good one that sounds like a cool adventure I like that
Yeah, I was delighted to have that pop up for me. Good time.
Do we have any other adventure news whilst we're going, as we're on the topic?
I've got some news about maps. Maps from the Dungeon Master's Guide.
Oh, yeah.
So because, you know, Beadle and Grimm do their kind of premium versions of things.
They do a super fancy version.
Yes.
For the discerning.
So the Dungeon Master's Guide apparently has quite a lot of maps in it. And included in those maps are about 30 battle maps. Oh, okay. They are in the appendix of the DMG. And they are... In the DMG, they're black and white, apparently. But Beedle and Grimm are producing a full-colour physical set, premium map collection set, of those 30 maps.
Wow.
And also including two canvas maps showing the city of Greyhawk and eastern Urik. Urik? O-E-R-I-K. A place. Wow. Yeah, but 30 battle maps, I mean, that looks like a really useful thing to put in the DMG.
I mean, I guess. They're kind of generic.
They're sort of like Barrow Crypt and Dragon's Lair and Mine and Roadside Inn and Spooky House and Volcanic Caves and things like that.
Yeah, yeah. I mean, yeah, sure, why not? I mean, it's generous. They've got them kicking around. Why not have them event? You could probably spring together a little adventure or maybe a small campaign based off of it.
Yeah, yeah.
yeah i mean premium collection is going to cost you 144 dollars yeah but it sounds like you're getting a lot of stuff i imagine there's usual tokens dice and apparently this is just about my map collection this one oh because it's not like it's an adventure like when they do their premium versions of adventures there's all this stuff to put in there this is just a map collection of the appendix of the dmg 30 four color maps
And two canvas area maps. Right. Oh, and a DM screen as well. There we go. Also in the box.
Yeah, yeah. That'll generally set you back about $20, $30.
So, okay.
I mean, it's a lot of stuff, so not greedy prices, I feel.
Hmm.
Yeah. That was an excellent offering from Beadle and Grimm. They are reliably good.
I've never actually seen a Beadle and Grimm box set in person.
No, actually, neither have I. I've never seen one. You're clearly not moving in the right circles, Russ. Clearly not.
Malek the Maleficent here. If, like me, you're enjoying this podcast, please consider subscribing on Patreon for exclusive bonus content every week and the warm, fuzzy feeling of knowing you are helping to keep the show going. Subscribe at patreon.com slash morris at me like that now? The things I do. All right. All right. Don't forget. Patreon.com slash Morris. Can I go now?
I've done a few bits of news in a row. Anyone else got a bit of news? There's quite a bit left to go through.
I've got a non-fun bit of news, really.
A non-fun one?
Well, I'm not going to find it fun anyway. As you mentioned, as the person that does a lot of the logistics and operations for an RPG publisher based in the UK. So, there is a longshoreman union strike which could affect shipping in the UK to the EU for games going to the USA. So... Pretty much.
The International Longshoremen's Association has threatened to strike if they can't make a deal about their current contract. And their contract expires at midnight on September 30th. And as of the time of recording, there is no deal secured currently.
So this means that 14 major ports in the Atlantic coast, all the way from Texas to Massachusetts, they would have a walkout, which is like 45,000 workers going on strike.
Basically half of the East Coast.
yes and this is the first east this would be the first east coast dock strike since 1944 so it is it will be a big deal this will cause shipping chaos because with shipping you can't accept inbound ships until the ones there have been unloaded emptied moved on it means that it's it and also the it'll increase prices from other parts of the world because the way shipping containers work is
it depends on a constant circulation of the containers moving globally around. That was part of the issues during COVID is things weren't moving around. So it has impacts on price, delays, loads of stuff. So what this means, so for me, as somebody who works in this, I'm like, oh no, because I had to deal with all this. This could cost us money.
But for you as a listener, if you're not a publisher, this could impact you getting your goods and rewards back. So I'm saying if you are supporting crowdfunding campaigns from UK or European publishers and there's a delay and you're getting your games, please be nice to your publisher because they did not want to order this. So for us, I just saw this today.
and this might potentially impact the Planes Riders journal film we've got coming up.
Because we ship into Florida, that's right, isn't it?
We do, yes.
And that is one of the ports affected.
That is absolutely correct. So that is one of the ports affected. So I might need to see if we need to... have it go to a different port, which could impact the timeline.
I think most of the ones on the East Coast are... So that's the problem. If you're coming from China, you go across the Pacific and you'd be hitting the West Coast of America.
Yes.
Which would be easier. But if people are shipping from the UK or the EU and they're printing in the UK or the EU and shipping to America, you're going to be going across the Atlantic and you're going to be hitting the East Coast.
And that is exactly what we're doing. So... I mean, if you're waiting for a crowdfunding campaign, I'd wait to hear from your publisher if they're shipping from that part of the world, depending on what they manufacture. But this will also could impact other shipping things globally as well, because that's how it works. That number of ports closing down will impact the prices globally.
of shipping freight around globally.
Well, it might not happen. I mean, there's still till midnight Monday. I mean, it's not a lot of time, but last minute deals do get done.
That means on Monday... I mean, if I was them, I'd be wanting to find a deal because this would cost them... Yeah, because this strike will impact 55% of all imports in the United States. This isn't just tabletop RPG. This will impact tabletop RPG, obviously, but...
Oh, yeah, it's going to affect everything, yeah. We're just a tiny, tiny part of this.
The estimated cost of this would be $5 billion per day. They don't resolve this. So I think, but yeah, there's information in like the Guardian, CBS News and all the other big places.
Oh, yeah, it's proper mainstream news. This is big.
In terms of tabletop, this could mean delays with your crowdfunding, and potentially, if this goes on for a long time, could mean shipping costs increase as well for things like that. Yeah.
It looks like they've got a point. So apparently, on the East Coast, they earn $39 an hour.
Okay.
On the West Coast, they currently earn $54 an hour, and that's actually going up to $60.
Wow.
So on the West Coast, they're significantly higher paid.
Why is that?
I don't know why it is.
Yeah, Russ, why are you doing that? I said it to you like you caused this, you did this.
Yeah, sorry.
Yeah, Russ, why are you setting the prices?
But it seems like
Oh, yeah.
Unequal pay for equal work, so... Yeah. It feels like there's some space, you know?
Yeah, that does feel a little bit... I would have questions, too.
Well, we'll be keeping an eye on this because, you know, it's going to affect us. It's going to affect a lot of people we know in the industry, you know, so...
And yeah, that's not me saying people shouldn't strike or things like that, just to be clear. This is just me saying this is what it will mean.
This might happen, so some Kickstarters might be late.
And if you're planning on launching a crowdfunding campaign, it might be worth holding off and checking your shipping prices or... saying you'll do shipping prices later or something, because this could change drastically, and if you've got a small campaign, that can make or break your campaign. If suddenly it costs an extra $5 per parcel to send, that can be a thing.
It depends, though, because if you're fulfilling through Drive4RPG, they've got Lightning over in the United States.
Oh, yeah, it depends how you're doing it, but if you were offset printing something.
Yeah, if you've got an offset printer, then. this is going to be a problem.
It might be.
I think also fulfilling your European and UK orders, say.
Yes. But anyway, so there's some news for you.
Well, we're not on Tuesday for sure because it's midnight Monday's the deadline, so midnight Monday US time, so basically Tuesday morning.
I'll keep you updated.
We should wake up and know what's going on.
I'll keep you updated next week on the podcast because I'm, yeah, I'm interested.
Well, yeah, it's going to directly affect what you do, so yeah. Yeah.
Anyway.
We don't know yet. We'll find out. We'll find out. Hopefully, fingers crossed, they'll come to some kind of agreement before then. Yeah. And everyone will be happy.
Anything else in the news, Ross?
Oh, yes. Yes, yes, yes. Discworld. Yes. The world that is a disc. upon some elephants, upon a very large turtle. Great Tatooine. The turtle that swims between the stars. Which is scientifically accurate in exactly how space works.
Would you describe that earth as a fat earth?
No, it's a flat one. Not a flat one, but the turtle looks quite chunky. He's a bit of a chunky boy.
Fat earthen.
Body shame the turtle.
He's got a cow in his hand rolled on his back.
Exactly.
And four elephants. And four elephants.
Yeah.
Yeah. That's a lot. That's a lot to put in the back of the turtle.
Yeah. So we know that the Kickstarter is coming very soon from Modiphius. We've been talking about that the last couple of weeks. But what we didn't really know was what system it was using, other than we knew that it wasn't using 2D20. That's correct. Which was unusual for Modiphius, because nearly everything they do uses their in-house system.
Oh, and now we know.
And now we know. So this is a new system from Modiphius.
Oh, I'm kind of intrigued.
It's called the Narrativium game system. Nice. Basically, it's a rules-like system.
Yep, I'm down.
Yep, there are no stats. You just have traits which kind of lean on... It's one of those games where you call on a trait and you have to say why that trait is relevant in this situation. Yeah. One of those games.
Yep, black GM, all good.
So what happens is, when you try to do something, the player either calls on a trait or it doesn't, if the trait's relevant. Then the GM decides how relevant, how well they've justified that trait, and assigns them a die to roll, from a d4 up to a, I believe a d12, goes 4 to 12, I believe. Okay, yep. And then the GM always rolls a d8. So what happens is...
If the GM's assigned you a D6, you're obviously at a disadvantage. If he assigns you a D12, you're at advantage. D10 or D12, you're at advantage. Yeah. Okay. Yeah. So, yeah. And it's just then an opposed role against the GM's D8. And that's kind of the system. So I'm kind of like, it feels to me a little arbitrary, that.
Because in a way, the GM is almost pretty much just deciding in advance whether or not it's going to work based on the die that they've given you. Like, every single thing they're applying a modifier to, whereas in something like D&D, most things have pre-described modifiers or target numbers. Some things don't.
Obviously, the GM can assign them, but on this, it looks like the GM is completely just deciding between 4 and 12 based on what the player says.
Right. Are traits added on to this, would you say?
So the trait, as I understand it, say you're climbing a cliff.
Yes.
And the person comes along and says, oh, yeah, I'm going to climb the cliff and I've got the horse riding trait. The GM will say, that's a very poor justification. You're going to run a D4 against my D8. Or someone else might come along and say, oh, I've got the Spider-Man trait. That's good. I'm making these up completely, obviously. And the GM will go, that's an excellent justification.
You can run a D12. So I think that's basically pretty much how it works, as far as I can make out.
Yeah.
Okay. So it seems very fast and loose, very vibes.
Yeah.
I don't mind that.
It's also got a meta currency called luck, which the GM can hand out and you can spend that luck to help you a bit or...
I'm intrigued. I'll take a look.
There's no hit points. There's no combat system. Well, no.
I mean, like, it's this world. Yeah. Why are you fighting things? I mean, you could, like, I'm struggling to think of any fights that, I mean, there's a couple where they're very short, just, like, really skipped over.
That's not the thing in the story, is it? No. You don't go to Discord for epic combat.
Yeah, I mean, you might have Captain Carrot standing there, holding a door, swinging it along slowly and threatening to black people away, but he's not actually fighting people. Yeah. Or anything else that does happen is very one-sided. Yeah, I mean, there's a couple of fights, but nothing major.
This doesn't feel like it's going to be... You couldn't, for example, create a character that is so good at something that they succeed most of the time with this. Because even if you're rolling a D12 versus a D8, which looks like the best you can roll, which would imply that that's as good as you can be at that thing... You're not going to succeed most of the time against a D8.
You're going to succeed more often than not, but you can't be someone who is just so good at something.
Sorry.
This, like, running Discworld is, conceptually, is extremely challenging because you're trying to do something funny. Yeah, well, that's... And being as funny as Terry Pratchett.
Yeah, that's the problem with the Monty Python game as well, isn't it?
It's like, I mean, but whilst also capturing the emotions, the heartfelt power of the writing, what, in a live tabletop game? Wow, okay. No pressure. Yeah. And you've got to have, like, everyone on board as well. Like, because if someone creates, like, a joke character because they think it's funny, it's like, you can create a character that is quite funny.
I think for a quiet character, it might be a person. Oh.
It might be difficult, because if the game is kind of reliant on people being funny... Which, it's like, sort of the humour should arise from the real characters in the unreal situation, almost.
Mm-hmm.
like because if they're not it's basically it's an obvious joke character it is someone repeating the same joke actually time after time for like four hours ago which is not a great experience but there is humor to be derived and playing it straight in ridiculous situations so you don't necessarily have to be you know cracking witty jokes completely ridiculous character who takes themselves very very seriously is the way to do it because then the humor comes from them just doing
what they regard as perfect natural well, which everyone else is like, that's stupid. Or even non-ridiculous characters just in ridiculous situations.
Yeah.
Exactly, exactly. Both work.
Or just surrounded by ridiculous people.
Yeah, yeah. Yeah, so it's like possible. I would find it very difficult. I think GURPS has had a GURPS at it first off, haven't they?
Yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. GURPS did it. I've never seen that, but I know it happened. Just to go to the way that mechanic bothers me.
What does it bother you?
So the character's capability varies from T4 to T12. The difficulty of the task is flat. It's D8. So it's the same difficulty to climb an ice wall as is a ladder. It's a D8.
Yes, but, and I would say when you're running more narrative games like that, I wouldn't get you to roll for going up a ladder.
I'm exaggerating. There's no variability in difficulty.
There's a strong incentive to avoid rolling dice. But that's very counter to how a lot of modern games are played.
I mean, I've run a session where nobody made a single dice roll, so...
I have run sessions like that before as well, yeah.
I mean, it's a style of role-playing, I think, which we talked about before about, you know, the amount of rules and things like that, that, you know, some people are not going to like this, some people are going to like this, I think.
Well, I'm going to back this Kickstarter, I know it, because I like this world and it looks gorgeous. You'll have some great art. Yeah. It'll be a nice book to own. I'm sure that this little overview is a very sort of surface level overview of it. I'm sure there's nuance to it that we're not aware of.
Yeah. I'm sure. Yeah. There's probably more to it than what's written there in terms of rules. But I am intrigued.
But there's going to be an actual quick start very soon, like in the next week or so, that you can download.
Well, we can read that and give our opinions on that then, can't we?
Yeah. I'm excited about that, though. I am. I think this world is better than Monty Python for a role-playing game. I think the Monty Python role-playing game, I kind of... I like Monty Python, but I struggle conceptually with it as a role-playing game. Whereas Discworld lends itself more to fantasy gaming, I think.
Like the argument clinic or the cheese drop sketch in Monty Python aren't a role... They're funny, but they're not a role-playing game scenario, really, are they?
It could be a moment in a role-playing game, though.
Yeah, yeah.
But that comes from the character's by-play, really, more than... I don't know. I wouldn't be rushing to run a Discworld...
game because i'd be intimidated about how to create that yeah you might find that you might find that the game comes with excellent tools for you to do that so that you don't have to be witty on the spot because i don't know the adventures themselves are ridiculous and funny enough on their own yeah maybe i don't know you know no i don't know either yeah i mean certainly it's got more potential for a very narrative story and if you're into a narrative story then narrativium sounds like a good
Oh, absolutely. And also, the type of humour in this world is a very specific style of kind of dry-ish surrealism.
It is, but it's got a very intelligent point it's making behind it, generally.
Yeah, and satire. Dry-ish surrealism slash satire.
It seems silly, but it's a metaphor for something.
But the thing is, the characters are very real. It's an emotional heart.
and passion behind it um like yeah strong advocacy for social justice which is what carries it because if it was just like a very nerdy surrealist thing then it wouldn't be as popular because it wouldn't connect to people i don't know pj you'd be surprised at the amount of people that i've said that about and they've been surprised that this world is described that way
really yes some people that yeah i mean some people that they just enjoy it on the surface level in fairness so yeah i know i know because that some of them some of the underlying messages of it to me seemed very obvious but and i sure is to a lot of people but there are some people that have been like what do you mean you're just looking for your agenda in it and i was like no that's that's what the book is about there was a lot of social commentary
that's what their book is about well thank you you have successfully ungeared my brain that's my brain going what yeah I know but in fairness it was on the internet so you know the internet is that kind of place but anyway they probably thought that Tom Morello was angry about the photocopier what can I say
Shall we move on to another piece of news?
Yes, there'll be some news.
So you know that Morkborg tabletop RPG?
Beautiful.
The heavy metal fantasy Morkborg.
The yellow and black one, yes.
Indeed, it's getting a video game.
How exciting.
Morbidware announced Morkborg Heresy Supreme. It's a side-scroller video game and you take control of an adventure battling through monsters and creatures and it's got that same art style. There is a crowdfunder launching on October 1st and next week. And they've got a cool trailer for it. So if you really like the aesthetic and the vibe of that game, this video game might be the thing.
And if you like side-scroller ones, it might be one to check. It's a little indie kind of video game. So, yeah, but it looks quite cool.
Yeah, yeah. You know that there fantasy age from Greed and Running? Yeah.
Oh, I have, yes.
Part of their adventure game engine system, which has a modern age, a fantasy age, and I believe a future age.
I played it once over a decade ago, so I do know it, but I don't recall it.
Okay. Well, there's a second edition out these days as well, so it's probably not the edition you've played. It's not. But they have released a sourcebook, a Cthulhu sourcebook, So what flavours is it?
As a sauce book, so is it like bechamel? Yeah, as a sauce book. Oh, come on, that was a funny joke.
I don't understand the question.
A sauce as in food, a sauce, like ketchup.
Oh, Jesus, oh my God.
The joke's even better when you have to explain it.
That just... An S-A-U-C-E book.
I guess a Cthulhu sauce book would be quite seafood-based, I'd imagine.
I guess so, yeah. It's giving strong calamari. Very calamari, I don't know.
Anyway. I'm really pleased with myself.
Bress will now need a second whilst he regathers his will to live. You know why it took me so long to get that joke?
It's because I can't believe someone would have made it.
What made a book about saucers? There's lots of them. I wonder if a Cthulhu sauce book actually exists.
If you throw them sufficiently hard at stuff, then they become a splatter as well.
There are Cthulhu recipe books. Recipes from the world of H.P. Lovecraft. Cthulhu's cuisine. But they've missed the chance to call it a sauce book.
Someone save me. Someone save me. He knew the risks.
Cooking with Cthulhu.
Anyway, anyway, this Cthulhu ruled book.
I've seen a good one. Sorry, the last one. The Necromunchicon.
Necromunchicon. Nice.
Sorry, carry on. What's the piece of, sorry. Second Age Fantasy Edition. Fantasy Age Second Edition.
Yes, so this is for Fantasy Age 2nd Edition, although obviously compatible with Modern Age as well. But it's basically the Cthulhu Mythos for Fantasy Age. It includes things like deep-blooded and dream-cool ancestries. You can start play with the Mythos in your blood. A lot of new talents, specialisations, rules for alienation and fear.
Eldritch sorcery lots of GM advice and monsters and creatures nice cool I do like a bit of Cthulhu I do and now I'm just thinking about a source book so sorry I sorry I apologise well so you should 64 64 pages PDF PDF I don't believe it's physical it's just PDF I like the piece of art on the front oh yeah it's very nice Yeah, Cthulhu in your fantasy age game. Nice.
Or your modern age game, should you wish to, you know, set it in a more modern age.
Or your space age game. Oh, yeah, yeah. That would be fun. Yeah. I need more recommendations for books with mythos set in near future.
There aren't that many in sci-fi settings, are they? They tend to, modern and not usually, not even usually modern modern, they're usually sort of like recent 20th century modern.
yeah yeah like you can get like military sci-fi like double queen and stuff like that yeah you know that's not niche but no it's not not quite what i'm talking about yeah yeah uh yeah don't really
it's a it's a thing i'm sure it exists yeah cool so we were talking about comic book image comics making an rpg earlier yeah there is also an animation studio that is going to be making a ttrpg so mouse who makes star trek lower decks and the legend of vox machina I see.
Is it an RPG? Or I thought it was a party card game. It's a typical role-playing game. It is? Oh, I misunderstood.
Yeah, themed around satire and counterculture. It's called Drunkards, Druggies and Delinquents. It then goes on to say it's a party game with role-playing elements.
Yeah, I think it's a board game that has... role-playing talk bits. It seems RPG-themed, like, in terms of fantasy, but I wonder if it's something more like Sheriff of Nottingham, where you have a phase where you do something and then you have to talk and convince people.
I mean, they call it a tabletop role-playing game in their press release. That's what they're calling it. What's that?
It's not One Night Werewolf.
Werewolves of Millers Hollow?
No, no, no. Blood on the Clocktower? Yes, thank you.
Blood on the Clocktower I wouldn't call a role-playing game, but it is a...
up and about so the party game element of it is as players take damage they're encouraged to drink smoke or partake in their favourite vice all in good fun as a player as a player oh okay So it's kind of like a drinking game. A drinking role-playing game. What's the role-playing element?
Players take on the roles of rebellious adventurers, fuelled by their drink or substance of choice, and navigate a world where chaos reigns supreme. Players take on quests that challenge not only their wits, but also their tolerance.
Okay. Yes. All right. Yeah, no, I see what they're doing there. Okay. Well, certainly a way to help people partake of stuff is social situation.
I don't know. For me, it's not a new one for me. A lot of my friends are sober for various reasons, and so this wouldn't be the sort of thing I'd play in my social group. But then other groups of friends are not like that, and so maybe this would be fine.
Sure. I've had a beer or two during a game before, but I don't think I've ever played an RPG properly drunk, ever. I don't imagine it would go very well.
You can roleplay whilst very drunk, although it's quite very difficult.
It's actually a skill on my CV.
Good to know.
That's how I got the job at Ian Publishing.
I think we're running out of news now. Hey, you know what I did last night? I don't. I used Level Up Gateway for the first time in a real-life situation.
Oh, really?
Yep. It's the first proper test run in an actual game.
Ooh. Because we're getting close to being able to beta test it. I know we're going to get the original level up backers access. They're going to be the first beta testers, aren't they? Yes.
Yeah. Because I was promised in the Kickstarter at the time.
The OG crew, as they're also known.
Yeah. So I was a player in the game and I had my rogue... Nice. My first level, Elf Rogue, was the character I was running. And I created the character using Level Up Gateway and ran it through the session using Level Up Gateway.
Nice.
And it worked really well. Really well.
Nice.
Love it. I'm technically alpha testing this, but I don't feel like this is an alpha test. This feels pretty slick.
Yeah. The roll 20 character I've had to use.
yeah and this is like I'm saying this and obviously I'm biased but it was just like really intuitive and easy to use
I hope people feel the same way when they try it out.
I really liked it, yeah. I think what we're going to do is my gaming group, we're going to let them give it a try as a pre-tiny, tiny, closed alpha tester group. Just to make sure we hit any sort of major issues with it before we open it up wider.
Yeah, to 6,000 people. I think.
Yeah, yeah. But yeah, I was really super pleased. I mean, it is as slick as D&D Beyond, and I like it a bit more, but I'm biased, admittedly.
Yeah, we're biased.
It is very, very cool.
Well, we'll be finding out where it's meeting the various requirements that people have. I mean, certainly Mike Shea did point out that being able to choose what sources you could draw on to permit people to have a go was pretty important. Yeah.
I mean, at the moment, it's Adventurer's Guide only, so that's not really an issue.
But as more stuff is added. The first bit that goes out is just so you can make something and have it.
Yeah, the Adventurer's Guide, one to five, basically, at first.
For early testing.
Yeah, for beta testing and stuff.
Yeah, over $300. Oh, yeah. It's so cool, though.
That's all going to be in the proper version.
It's so easy to just like roll dice with advantage and how to switch different ability scores and skills and all that sort of stuff that you need to be able to do isn't clunky or unintuitive. It's just like really, really, really easy to do.
What I really liked about it is when I do a long or a short rest, before I do it, it says, okay, when you do this, all these elements will change. And it just reminds you the things that are going to change.
Yeah, there's a long rest and a short rest button on it, yeah.
Yeah, but there's a button to do it, but when you go into that section, it says these are the things in your character sheet that are affected by a long or a short rest, so you can see, and it shows you the amount. So it makes me sometimes go, oh, actually, maybe I don't need a short rest, because I could, you know, actually, I could do, you know... Yeah, I'll play. I like that.
Because it also, it felt like it wasn't making me fully dependent on... on it I still it felt like I could learn how to do a pen and paper one as well because our business model with this is not how we'll make you all do this digital thing and then we'll catch you with microtransactions that's not our plan yeah maybe it should be it would be richer if we did that wouldn't we
We would be richer.
But would we be happy?
Yeah.
But would we be happy? Yeah.
Okay, so I think that's it for the week. We've run out of news. There's no more news. So I think we're going to go and have our weekends. Yes. And we'll catch you all next week with the latest TTRPG news. Yes.
See you next week. Goodbye. Bye. Bye-bye.
Apparently I now have to read this to you. This is the official podcast of Morris' unofficial tabletop RPT news, which you can find at enworld.org. You can find show notes at morris.podbean.com or wherever you found the podcast. If you feel like they deserve it, you can support the show on Patreon. In return, you will receive exclusive bonus content. Just go to patreon.com slash Morris.
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I have a qualification. I have a certificate.
In what?
Doing this podcast.
From whom? Did you make it?
Yes.
Yeah.
Me. That's the person who's qualified to give the certificates. You know how I'm qualified to give the certificates? Because I have a certificate for that.
I don't have one. Do you have one, PJ?
No, but I've got affinity, so... Can't have one imminently.
There we go.