The Weekly Podcast no.294 – Chris and Jeremy HIred, Galactic & Going Rogue, Defying the Gods and White Wolf is Back

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The Weekly Podcast no.293 – CMON Sells Zombicide, Warhammer Down, WotC Help Wanted and New Chaosium CEO

Posted on June 15, 2025 by upturnedtable

CMON, already facing financial difficulties exacerbated by import tariffs, has sold its flagship Zombicide IP to Asmodee under the Guillotine Games label. This follows CMON’s earlier sale of three other prominent board game lines (Blood Rage, Rising Sun, and ANKH: Gods of Egypt) to Tabletop Tycoon in May, along with staff layoffs and frozen crowdfunding campaigns. The company’s stocks were delisted from the Hong Kong stock exchange after failing to publish accounts on time, showing substantial losses that drained cash reserves.

Games Workshop took the unusual step of deliberately crashing its entire Warhammer.com webstore to prevent bots from bulk-purchasing the limited special edition of the new Horus Heresy book “Era of Ruin.” The company detected scalpers using bots to bypass normal safeguards in real-time and shut down the site globally, pausing the book’s launch entirely. This drastic measure is uncommon for large-scale web stores and demonstrates GW’s commitment to preventing scalping, even at the cost of lost sales and resources.

Following the departures of prominent D&D figures Jeremy Crawford and Chris Perkins after the launch of revised 5th Edition, Wizards of the Coast is hiring for two high-level positions: a “Principal Game Designer” and a “Head of Game Ecosystem.” These roles, offering $150-200k salaries, represent a corporate, video game-industry-like division of responsibilities where the Principal Game Designer executes product releases while the Head of Game Ecosystem drives long-term vision and rules consistency across all D&D formats.

Chaosium announced significant staff changes, including the appointment of Neil Robinson as CEO and the departure of Executive Producer Mike Mearls to Asmodee after 14 months. Brian Holland has been promoted to Executive Producer for RPGs, while other team members have taken on expanded roles including Jason Durall moving to Basic Roleplaying as creative director and several new hires joining the company. Despite the changes, Mearls will continue working on ongoing projects including the new RuneQuest edition.

#zombicide #siegeofterra #wotc #chaosium

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https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/1192053011/arkand-and-the-book-of-magic-for-the-acclaimed-dragonbane-rpg

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The Weekly Podcast no.292 – New Dragonbane Books, Ironsworn Loadstar, More D&D Videogames and Asmodee Rebrand

Posted on June 8, 2025June 15, 2025 by upturnedtable

Free League Publishing has launched a successful Kickstarter campaign for two new supplements to their award-winning Dragonbane fantasy RPG. The campaign features “Arkand: City of Waves and Flames,” which introduces players to a seaside city setting with over a dozen adventure sites, complete with a full-color map. The second supplement, “Book of Magic,” adds new schools of magic including harmonism, demonology, necromancy, witchcraft, and illusionism, along with additional spells for existing magical schools. The campaign has already raised over $455,000, far exceeding its initial $26,064 goal with 21 days remaining.

A new comprehensive reference guide called “Lodestar” has been released for the popular solo-friendly fantasy RPG Ironsworn. This 99-page streamlined reference includes essential rules, character creation guides, oracle tables, and content from the Delve expansion all in one convenient format. What makes this particularly notable is that players can download the PDF for free or pay what they want, with print-on-demand versions available at cost, making it an accessible resource for both new and existing players of the Powered-by-the-Apocalypse framework game.

Wizards of the Coast has announced a partnership with Giant Skull, a new studio led by former Respawn director Stig Asmussen (known for the Star Wars Jedi series and God of War games). The collaboration will produce a single-player action-adventure game set in the Dungeons & Dragons universe, marking what appears to be a strategic shift away from multiplayer formats following previous disappointments. The game is currently in development for PC and console platforms, with Asmussen promising “immersive storytelling, heroic combat, and exhilarating traversal.”

Celebrating its 30th anniversary, major tabletop publisher Asmodee has unveiled a comprehensive rebrand featuring a new logo and consumer-focused identity with the tagline “Inspired by Players.” The company, which publishes popular games like Ticket to Ride, CATAN, 7 Wonders, and Star Wars: Unlimited, developed the new branding with Publicis Groupe’s Carré Noir design agency. CEO Thomas Koegler explained that the rebrand aims to make Asmodee more visible and recognizable to players directly, strengthening their relationship with consumers while maintaining their reputation for quality across their portfolio of over 400 intellectual properties and 21 studios.

#dragonbane #ironswornrpg #giantskull #asmodee

New Dragonbane on Kickstarter:

Ironsworn: Loadstar (affiliate link):

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/518952/ironsworn-lodestar-expanded-reference-guide?affiliate_id=2081746

Tomkin Press:

https://tomkinpress.com/products/ironsworn-lodestar-expanded-reference-guide

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https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/scratchpadpublishing/neon-city-outlaws

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The Weekly Podcast no.291 – Catalyst Price Hike, Free RPG Day, Warhammer Oops and Neon City Outlaws

Posted on June 2, 2025June 2, 2025 by upturnedtable

Catalyst Game Labs announced $5 increases on Forcepacks and Box Sets, and $1 increases on Salvage Box products due to tariffs. They paid $240,000 in unexpected import taxes in March, with a 30% tariff requiring 10% MSRP increases. RPG sourcebooks remain unaffected due to a 2024 U.S. Customs ruling classifying RPG books as “books” rather than “games” for tariff purposes.

Games Workshop Legal Action: GW filed a sweeping lawsuit against 280 online sellers for Warhammer trademark infringement, freezing assets and business operations. However, they subsequently admitted mistakes and began dismissing cases against sellers who were incorrectly targeted, sending “oops” apology emails to affected businesses.

Tabletop Tycoon Acquisitions acquired five board games from CMON, including three designed solely by Eric M. Lang (Blood Rage, Rising Sun, ANKH: Gods of Egypt) and two co-designed games (Arcadia Quest, Starcadia Quest).

Free RPG Day 2025 is scheduled for June 21st, featuring offerings from major publishers including Free League, Kobold Press, Chaosium, and others. The event will include D&D cartoon character pins, sample products, new adventures, and materials for various game systems.

Neon City Outlaws designed by Rodney Thompson (Lords of Waterdeep, D&D) is launching a cyberpunk RPG Kickstarter campaign through June 12th, 2025. The game uses his 100AC system and features collaborative world-building, body-swapping mechanics, and both individual heist scenarios and larger “Revolution” gameplay phases. The campaign has raised $32,885 of its $40,000 goal with 14 days remaining.

#catalystgamelabs #freerpgday2025 #warhammer #neoncityoutlaws

Neon City Outlaws:

Neon City Outlaws Print and Play:

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/522165/neon-city-outlaws-print-and-play-preview?affiliate_id=2081746

Free RPG Day:

https://freerpgday.com/

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https://shop.dicethrone.com/pages/fr-slamthrone

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The Weekly LIVE 290 – Whizkids Refunds, Modern AGE May, Slam Throne and Daggerheart New Classes

Posted on May 26, 2025May 26, 2025 by upturnedtable

Wizkids recently released pre-painted miniatures of the Baldur’s Gate 3 characters in partnership with Wizards of the Coast, and the results were catastrophically poor. The miniatures featured severely distorted faces, misplaced features, and in some cases missing parts entirely (one customer reportedly received a headless Shadowheart). The quality was so abysmal that Wizkids issued a public apology and offered full refunds to all customers, acknowledging that the final product “did not meet our expectations or that of our Wizards of the Coast partner.” The controversy highlights broader issues with pre-painted miniatures in the tabletop gaming industry. At $50 for seven figures (roughly $7.10 each), these miniatures were priced at the low end for pre-painted products, making high quality unlikely from the start. Pre-painted miniatures face an inherent trade-off between cost and quality, as skilled painting requires significant time and labor. However, Wizkids particularly drew criticism for misleading promotional materials that showed much higher quality products than what customers actually received.The miniatures disaster represents a broader pattern of Hasbro’s mishandling of Dungeons & Dragons over the past decade. Despite D&D’s massive success, including the acclaimed Baldur’s Gate 3 and growth in popularity, Hasbro has consistently fumbled opportunities. The article points to several failures: the OGL controversy that alienated creators, losing Larian Studios after Baldur’s Gate 3’s success, the underperforming D&D movie despite its quality, the cancellation of Project Sigil, and the minimal innovation in the 2024 rules update. The author argues that Hasbro fundamentally misunderstands its own product and lacks the vision to capitalize on D&D’s unprecedented cultural moment.

Celebrate “Modern AGE May” as part of Green Ronin’s 25th anniversary, highlighting the seven-year journey of the Modern AGE roleplaying game. Developer Malcolm Sheppard reflects on the game’s development since 2017, praising its flexibility and the collaborative efforts with various writers and designers. The company has released a free PDF with core rules updates based on improvements learned over the years, and the game line has influenced other successful titles like The Expanse and Cthulhu Awakens.

The return of 90s nostalgia with “Slam Throne,” a new game that resurrects the concept of Pogs for modern audiences. Players use Hero Slammers to flip health caps in their opponent’s stack, with each slammer having unique passive and catch abilities. The game emphasizes simple, fun mechanics over deep strategy, appealing to gamers who remember the original Pogs phenomenon from the 1990s.

Daggerheart, a Dungeons & Dragons rival from Darrington Press that launched on May 20, 2025. Remarkably, just one day after release, the company introduced playtest material for two new classes: Warlock and Fighter. The Warlock uses a Favor system tied to patron relationships, while the Fighter specializes in melee combat with subclasses like Juggernaut and Martial Artist. This rapid release of additional content demonstrates the company’s commitment to expanding the game system quickly after launch.

#whizkids #modernAGE #SlamThrone #Daggertheart

Slam Throne:

Daggerheart “The Void”:

https://www.daggerheart.com/thevoid/

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Outgunned: Indy Heat 1985 – Actual Play ALL SESSIONS

Posted on May 23, 2025 by upturnedtable

Audio from all sessions of our Outgunned: Indy Heat 1985 actual play

Matt is the Director and Jeremy, Will and Terry are the players.

The setting is an 80s buddy cop movie set in Indianapolis circa 1985.

#outgunnedrpg #actualplay #80smovies #buddycop

From the website:

Outgunned is a cinematic action rpg inspired by the classics of the genre, from Die Hard to True Lies, passing through James Bond, Atomic Blonde, Kingsman, Ocean’s Eleven, Hot Fuzz, and John Wick. In Outgunned, Players take on the role of action Heroes facing terrible odds. They will be constantly surrounded by enemies while trying to carry out their mission, be it robbing a casino or saving the day. Outgunned features a game system called Director’s Cut, a set of mechanics using small pools of six-sided dice to determine the outcome of the Heroes’ actions. When rolling dice, your goal is not to score the highest or lowest possible number, but to roll two-, three-, and four-of-a-kind.

Outgunned RPG – Action Hero Pledge UNBOXING:

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The Weekly LIVE 289 – Tariff Talks, GW Sues Sellers, Riverbank RPG and Mantic Goes Full Kickstarter

Posted on May 18, 2025 by upturnedtable

The United States and China have reached an agreement to reduce their additional tariffs on each other’s imports. China will cut its extra levies on American goods from 125% to 10%, while the US will reduce its additional tariffs on Chinese products from 145% to 30%. Some of these reduced tariffs will be suspended for 90 days while the two countries continue negotiations, with import duties set at 30% during this period. US Treasury Secretary Scott Bessent expressed a desire for more balanced trade and increased Chinese openness to American goods. The agreement aims to end the escalating trade conflict between the world’s two largest economies.In a separate development, President Trump fired Shira Perlmutter, the head of the U.S. Copyright Office, shortly after her office released a report suggesting that Big Tech companies’ use of copyrighted materials to train AI systems constitutes copyright infringement. The report acknowledged that some AI training uses might be “transformative” but stated that commercial use of copyrighted works that competes with original content “goes beyond established fair use boundaries.” Critics have called the firing an “unprecedented power grab,” while noting that tech companies are seeking copyright exceptions they’re unlikely to get through Congress. Some suggest Elon Musk’s influence in the White House may have contributed to the swift dismissal.

Games Workshop has initiated a massive legal action against approximately 280 online sellers worldwide, freezing their assets and accounts in a sweeping crackdown on alleged counterfeits and trademark infringements. While many targeted sellers were producing knockoffs, some legitimate businesses were caught in the crossfire for minor infractions like mentioning “Warhammer” in product descriptions or using the word “Citadel” for brush holders. The company posted a $10,000 bond per seller (potentially $2.8 million total) to cover damages for wrongful actions, with a preliminary injunction hearing scheduled for May 27, 2025.

Kobold Press is launching a new cozy roleplaying game called RiverBank, which offers a stark contrast to traditional combat-focused games like Dungeons & Dragons. Written by award-winning author Kij Johnson, this “tea, poetry and total disaster” game features anthropomorphic animals in a peaceful riverside setting and will begin crowdfunding in April 2025, catering to a growing trend of cottagecore tabletop experiences.

Mantic Games has announced an exclusive partnership with Kickstarter through 2026, making the platform their sole crowdfunding venue for upcoming projects. The UK-based studio, known for games like Worms: The Board Game and Hellboy: The Board Game, has already revealed plans for Assassin’s Creed: Animus – The Board Game and DreadBall All Stars, a reboot of their sci-fi sports miniatures game. This partnership allows Mantic to focus on game development while leveraging Kickstarter’s established community.

#tariffs #warhammer #koboldpress #riverbankRPG #mantic

Riverbank RPG:

https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/kobold-press/riverbank-a-cozy-rpg-of-elegant-animals-chaos-whimsy

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https://jump-over-the-age.itch.io/citizen-sleeper-spindlejack

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The Weekly Podcast no.288 – Tariff Wars, Citizen Sleeper: Spindlejack, Gamefound RPG Party and Liquid Steel

Posted on May 11, 2025 by upturnedtable

Denver-based game creator Luke Stratton, a former concert lighting designer, developed a pirate-themed tabletop RPG called “Pirate Borg” during the pandemic. However, his business is now facing significant challenges due to new import tariffs that have more than doubled the cost of manufacturing game components in China from $50,000 to $125,000. With limited alternatives, Stratton may need to seek additional investment or increase the game’s price.

The TTRPG industry is experiencing shifts in convention attendance, as UK publisher Rowan, Rook, and Decard announced they won’t attend Gen Con this year due to safety concerns related to the U.S. political climate. While their booth will be operated by U.S. representatives, there will be no UK staff presence for events or meetings, following a trend of international creators canceling U.S. appearances.

New game releases continue to generate excitement, including “Citizen Sleeper: Spindlejack,” a free solo tabletop RPG adaptation of the popular indie video game where players use dice to survive as an airbike courier on a space station.

The crowdfunding platform GameFound has partnered with DriveThruRPG and publishers like Magpie Games and Chaosium to launch “RPG Party,” an initiative supporting independent TTRPG creators with resources, mentorship, and marketing assistance.

The Melsonian Arts Council is crowdfunding “Liquid Steel,” a project that translates Eduardo Mazzitelli and Enrique Alcatena’s classic Argentinian science-fantasy comic series into English for the first time, alongside a tabletop RPG adaptation compatible with the TROIKA! gaming system. The campaign offers both books separately or together, with manufacturing planned in Europe to avoid U.S. tariff complications for American customers, and estimated delivery by October 2025.

#pirateborg #citizensleeper #gamefound #liquidsteel

Citizen Sleeper: Spinlejack

Gamefound RPG Party Application:

https://forms.office.com/e/FwS2T832iH

Liquid Steel on Backerkit:

https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/melsonian-arts-council/liquid-steel

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The Weekly Podcast no.287 – Tariffs Lawsuit, Warmachine Mk4, Roll20 & Demiplane and Halo App

Posted on May 4, 2025 by upturnedtable

The Pacific Legal Foundation has filed a lawsuit on behalf of Stonemaier Games and other small business plaintiffs challenging the legality of recently applied tariffs on Chinese imports. The lawsuit, detailed in an April 30, 2025 article, argues that President Biden’s use of the International Emergency Economic Powers Act (IEEPA) to impose these tariffs exceeds presidential authority, as the 1977 law makes no mention of tariffs and has historically been used only for economic sanctions. The plaintiffs, including tabletop game publisher Stonemaier Games, children’s clothing company Princess Awesome & Boy Wonder, art gallery Quent Cordair Fine Art, and metal treatment company 300 Below, seek refunds for tariffs already paid and aim to “restore the proper limits of presidential authority” by reasserting that tariff authority is constitutionally granted exclusively to Congress, not the executive branch.

Steamforged Games is rejuvenating the Warmachine franchise, which previously competed closely with Warhammer 40K in the miniature wargaming sector. Following a challenging period, Warmachine is set to make a strong comeback in 2025, and to generate excitement, the senior team at Steamforged will host a live Ask Me Anything (AMA) session on Discord. Scheduled for May 8, 2025, this event will feature key figures from the company who will address questions about the game’s revival, new model releases, and future plans, creating direct engagement opportunities for fans. The AMA will not only provide insights into the development of the Warmachine universe but also includes promotions such as giveaways of starter sets for beginners, designed to help newcomers engage with the game. Attendees will have the chance to interact via video and chat, making this a dynamic platform for community building. Additionally, ongoing support for the game will be featured, including updates on expansions and exclusive content available through the Warmachine app.

Roll20, which acquired the Demiplane rules compendium platform in June 2024, has launched a public beta integrating the two systems. This integration allows users to seamlessly link their Demiplane characters to Roll20 campaigns without exporting or rebuilding, with both platforms now offering cross-platform sync and shared subscription benefits active since February. The public beta currently supports character sheets for six game systems (Alien: RPG, Candela Obscura, Cyberpunk RED, Marvel Multiverse Role-Playing Game, Pathfinder 2e, and Vampire the Masquerade 5e), with over 2,000 data fields available for use in Modscripts and Macros. This integration represents another step in Roll20’s strategy to become a comprehensive tabletop gaming platform, following previous acquisitions of DriveThruRPG and Dungeon Scrawl.

Mantic Games has launched the Halo: Flashpoint app to facilitate gameplay and event management for players. This app will provide users with access to full rules, gameplay content, and a free list-building feature, enabling players to create their army lists conveniently. The app supports both free and subscription-based functionalities, allowing for organized play and the ability to run tournaments. Covering a range of features, the app aims to enhance the gaming experience for Halo: Flashpoint fans, making it a comprehensive tool for both casual and competitive play.

Andrew Clayton, creator of Foundry Virtual Tabletop (VTT), has taken a strong stance against the use of generative AI in the tabletop roleplaying game (TTRPG) industry, calling it a “betrayal” of the artists, writers, and designers who built the space. In a recent interview, Clayton described AI-generated content as “soulless and derivative,” arguing that it exploits creative work without consent. This view sharply contrasts with Hasbro CEO Chris Cocks, who has openly embraced AI for Dungeons & Dragons development. While Foundry as a company opposes AI integration, some user-created modules do include AI tools, but Clayton emphasizes that Foundry itself will not support AI, now or in the future. This puts Foundry at odds with Hasbro’s vision, despite its official partnership with D&D.

#warmachine #roll20 #demiplane #halo #foundryvtt

Warmachine on MyMiniFactory:

https://discord.gg/yhMQJwWfCt

Wargamer.com Discord:

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https://haloflashpoint.manticgames.com/the-app/

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https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/lmpublishing/heroes-of-might-and-magic-ttrpg

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The Weekly Podcast no.286 – Stonemaier Games Sues, Deep Cuts in Print, Heroes of Might & Magic and WTF Kickstarter

Posted on April 27, 2025May 1, 2025 by upturnedtable

Stonemaier Games, a major US-based tabletop game publisher known for hits like Wingspan and Scythe, has joined a lawsuit against former President Donald Trump in response to new US tariffs on Chinese imports. These tariffs, which have soared to 145%, are dramatically impacting the board game industry, which heavily relies on Chinese manufacturing. Stonemaier’s president, Jamey Stegmaier, explained that the company faces nearly $1.5 million in upcoming tariff costs on pre-produced inventory. With no grace period for goods already in production, the publisher is now storing stock in China and selectively shipping to the US to avoid unsustainable costs, while also encouraging other affected companies to join the lawsuit.

The tariffs have already led to significant disruptions within the industry, including layoffs and halted operations. Greater Than Games, another respected publisher behind Spirit Island and Sentinels of the Multiverse, has been forced to reduce staff and suspend all new projects due to the rising costs. Parent company Flat River Group cited “economic pressures” as the reason, and although in-stock products remain available, the company’s future projects—many crowdfunded and long-awaited—are now uncertain. Industry insiders warn that these tariffs could deal a blow worse than COVID-19, threatening the survival of small publishers and disrupting supply chains across the US tabletop gaming community.

Evil Hat Productions has announced the launch of a crowdfunding campaign to produce a print edition of Blades in the Dark: Deep Cuts, an expansion to the popular indie tabletop RPG created by John Harper. Previously released in digital form, Deep Cuts introduces a wealth of new material to enrich the game’s setting, Doskvol. It features 27 new factions, over 100 background and heritage packages, technological innovations, and the introduction of “Catalysts”—campaign-altering events. It also updates core mechanics, offering a streamlined advancement system, alternative action mechanics, and new rules for downtime and harm, making it a robust “director’s cut” of the original game.

The Heroes of Might and Magic TTRPG distinguishes itself in the crowded fantasy RPG space by focusing on epic, large-scale battles where players act as commanders of armies. Set in the iconic world of Enroth, the game adapts the 2d20 system and includes dramatic campaigns like “The Restoration of Erathia.”

Kickstarter recently suspended Don Simpson’s crowdfunding campaign for Megaton Man: Multimensions, a 214-page comic anthology, due to the inclusion of four pages by Iranian artist Milo Trent—sparking outrage from creators and supporters. Simpson, a veteran of the indie comics scene, refused to remove Trent’s work, criticizing Kickstarter’s vague and unaccountable policies, which appeared to reject the project based solely on Trent’s nationality. Despite the project’s diverse and celebrated lineup, which includes major names like Alan Davis and Stephen Bissette, and its readiness for publication through Cosmic Lion, Kickstarter cited “safety and trust” concerns without clear guidance or opportunity for appeal. Contributors and colleagues have condemned the decision as censorship and discrimination, with many rallying behind Simpson and seeking alternative funding platforms. The incident highlights growing concerns about algorithmic overreach and opaque decision-making by major crowdfunding platforms.

#heroesofmightandmagic #stonemaier #deepcuts #megatonman

Deep Cuts PDF:
https://johnharper.itch.io/deep-cuts

Heroes fo Might and MagiKckstarter:

Heroes of Might and Magic Quickstart:

https://modiphius.net/pages/heroes-of-might-and-magic-rpg?srsltid=AfmBOoohwAL1AZms9DWOw0CL0NLnFtwE2h5DvaOWwkaMVHgD9L8oCAzX#quickstart

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