The Weekly LIVE 299 – Warframe Starfinder, Hellfire Club 5E, One Ring Starter and Critical Role Game

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The Weekly LIVE 298 – Dragonbane Minis, Former WotC VP, Diamond Details and New D&D Starter Set

Posted on July 20, 2025 by upturnedtable

Free League Publishing’s Dragonbane TTRPG is getting a new miniatures collection through a Kickstarter campaign by Titan Forge. The Northern Beasts miniatures sets will feature heroes and adversaries from the Dragonbane Core Set and Bestiary, with each set including original mini-adventures. The miniatures are noted for their high detail and quality, with the Demons Set being particularly impressive. Dragonbane itself is a modern re-imagining of the 1982 Scandinavian game Drakar och Demoner, offering a gritty, Nordic fantasy experience with a retro Saturday morning cartoon vibe.

Jess Lanzillo, former VP of franchise and product for D&D, has joined White Wolf as creative director for World of Darkness after leaving Wizards of the Coast. This follows the departure of other senior D&D figures like Chris Perkins and Jeremy Crawford. The exodus from D&D comes amid broader struggles at Hasbro, including massive layoffs, failed product launches, and the loss of key talent who helped make projects like Baldur’s Gate 3 successful.

The Diamond Comic Distributors bankruptcy has revealed a complex auction process filled with controversy. Alliance Entertainment (AENT) initially won the auction with a bid over $70 million, but Diamond rejected them in favor of backup bidders Universal Distribution and Ad Populum for approximately $2.5 million less. Court transcripts reveal the rejection came down to a one-hour delay in resolving a dispute over $4.3 million in prepaid inventory. AENT’s legal team claimed “the fix was in” and that they had agreed to all of Diamond’s demands, but Diamond proceeded with the backup bidders anyway. The situation has resulted in ongoing lawsuits and significant disruption to the comic book distribution industry.

Wizards of the Coast has announced Heroes of the Borderlands, a new Dungeons & Dragons Starter Set launching September 16, 2025, for $49.99. This comprehensive set is designed for the updated 2024-2025 D&D rules and includes everything needed for new players to start playing immediately. The box contains 40-60 hours of gameplay content, including three adventure booklets, over 200 game cards, 18 maps, 200+ tokens, an 11-die set, and guides for both players and Dungeon Masters. The set focuses on four iconic D&D classes (Cleric, Rogue, Wizard, and Fighter) and is being marketed as the biggest D&D starter set ever made.

#dragonbane #wotc #starterset #diamondbankruptcy

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The Weekly Podcast no.297 – Degenesis Cancelled, MAC Attack, McD&D and Dirty Diamond

Posted on July 14, 2025 by upturnedtable

CMON, already struggling financially with a $3 million loss last year, suffered another major setback when its Gamefound campaign for Degenesis: Clan Wars was cancelled due to a legal dispute with IP holder SixMoreVodka. The German design studio terminated its contract with CMON after what began as a collaborative relationship deteriorated into legal battles, with both parties providing conflicting accounts of the breakdown. CMON has promised full refunds to the campaign’s 1,200 backers, though the refund process won’t begin until after legal resolution.

MAC Attack is a sci-fi miniature wargame by by Chris MacDowall where players command Mobile Armour Colossus (MAC) units and auxiliary units (AUs) in tactical combat across diverse terrain types including Open, Rough, Cover, Water, Obstructions, Barriers, and Buildings on a typical 48″x36″ battlefield. The game uses six-sided dice for general actions and specialized dice for Motion, Heat, Jolt, and Rad weapons, with MACs requiring careful Heat management to avoid overheating while maintaining Motion ratings that affect hit probability. Combat unfolds through four phases—Move, Attack, Meltdown, and Cooldown—with a card-based initiative system determining activation order, while players must strategically balance weapon usage (categorized by range, type, and power levels 1-4) against Heat generation. Forces must include at least 3 MACs and up to 1 AU formation per MAC, with AUs serving as supporting infantry or vehicle units that are always Motion 2, class 0, and destroyed by a single hit, while faction selection provides access to special rules and modules for tactical advantage.

Wizards of the Coast has restructured Dungeons & Dragons under a new “franchise model” led by former Halo veteran Dan Ayoub. This organizational change consolidates all D&D-related properties—books, video games, film, and TV—under one roof, promising a more coordinated and well-funded approach to the franchise. The gaming industry continues to navigate these challenges while seeking alternative distribution channels and legal remedies to protect their businesses.

The tabletop gaming industry is facing significant disruption due to Diamond Comic Distributors’ Chapter 11 bankruptcy filing in January 2025. This bankruptcy has severely impacted over 100 independent publishers who relied on Diamond for book trade distribution to major retailers like Barnes & Noble, Amazon, and other bookstores. Diamond is attempting to claim ownership of millions of dollars worth of consigned inventory from publishers through a legal technicality, despite the publishers retaining ownership of unsold stock. Several publishers are taking different approaches to survive the crisis. Green Ronin Publishing has launched a crowdfunding campaign to raise $9,000 for legal defense costs, having already raised over $6,600 from 101 donations. The company faces particular challenges with upcoming Gen Con expenses and the loss of book trade distribution for key licensed games like The Fifth Season and The Expanse RPGs. Meanwhile, Paizo has stopped shipping products to Diamond entirely, meaning their August and September releases won’t be available through major bookstores or Amazon.

#degenesis #CMON #MACattack #diamondbankruptcy

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The Weekly Podcast no.296 – AI Wins, Giantlands Explodes, Rebel Scum Removed and RPG Megabundle

Posted on July 6, 2025 by upturnedtable

Meta’s first significant legal victory in a federal copyright case, where Judge Vince Chhabria ruled that the company did not violate copyright law when training its AI models on 13 authors’ books without permission. While the judge acknowledged that AI training is “transformative” and constitutes fair use, he emphasized that this ruling was narrow and specifically noted that “in many circumstances it will be illegal to copy copyright-protected works to train generative AI models without permission.” The decision followed a similar ruling favoring Anthropic, though legal experts noted Chhabria’s particular focus on market harm as a key factor in determining fair use.

Stephen E. Dinehart IV, founder of Wonderfilled and creator of the tabletop RPG GiantLands. Dinehart engaged in inflammatory rhetoric on social media, attacking Trump supporters and making controversial statements about race and the future of white people. His comments escalated from declaring that GiantLands was set in a future without the USA or white people to more extreme statements like “You’ll just be bred out of existence” directed at white critics. Dinehart admitted his business had been struggling for two years and expressed hostility toward his potential customer base, ultimately disavowing game design entirely.

DriveThruRPG’s delisted “Rebel Scum,” an anti-fascist tabletop RPG published by 9th Level Games. The game, which had been available since 2021, was removed in August 2024 after customer complaints about its politically charged foreword that explicitly promoted violence against “Republicans” and included statements like wanting to “punch a spacenazi right in their stupid, jackbooting, spacenazi face.” DriveThruRPG defended their decision by explaining that while they support anti-fascist content, the game’s foreword crossed their guidelines by promoting real-world violence against a broad political group. The publisher chose to withdraw the title rather than edit the controversial content.

A major Humble Bundle deal featuring 57 tabletop RPGs worth $1,200 for just $40. The “Roll Big or Go Home” bundle includes major titles like Call of Cthulhu, Cyberpunk Red, Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay, and numerous indie RPGs such as Spire, The Wildsea, and Root: The Roleplaying Game. The bundle represents a 97% discount and includes core rulebooks for many popular non-D&D systems, with proceeds supporting Extra Life and Children’s Miracle Network Hospitals.

#ai #giantlands #rebelscum #humblebundle

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