The Weekly Podcast no.348 – Diamond Inventory, TTGDA Wants Credits, Legends of Avantris and Dark Conspiracy: The Unseen War

Posted on August 16, 2026August 17, 2026 by upturnedtable

After months of legal battles following Diamond Comic Distributors’ 2025 bankruptcy, a settlement has finally been reached, allowing publishers like Paizo to retrieve their sequestered inventory from a Mississippi warehouse. Meanwhile, the Tabletop Game Designers Association (TTGDA) is actively campaigning for more equitable industry standards, urging publishers, award curators, and retailers to accurately attribute game authorship to individual designers rather than exclusively crediting publishing entities.Crowdfunding Successes and Resurrections1

The TTRPG crowdfunding space continues to show robust growth, headlined by the record-breaking $16 million Neon Odyssey campaign from Legends of Avantris. This project leveraged nostalgia and a desire for premium, immersive gaming experiences to achieve massive success, even amidst uncertain economic times. Additionally, classic horror returns with Mongoose Publishing’s revival of Dark Conspiracy: The Unseen War, which updates the 1991 cult classic using the familiar Traveller rules engine, now live on Backerkit.Creative Approaches to Roleplaying1

Beyond current industry news, the landscape of tabletop gaming is enriched by creative tools and settings that emphasize deep narrative play. Deephold, a 5e-compatible setting guide from Mammoth Factory, provides a complex subterranean environment focused on survival, eldritch horror, and political maneuvering within the impoverished “Low Town”. These materials highlight that effective campaign design relies on immersive world-building and high-stakes narrative arcs that challenge players’ moral and tactical limits.Humor and Treason in Alpha Complex2

The Paranoia RPG continues to offer a unique, satirical take on the hobby through resources like The Big Book of Conspiracies, which compiles 30 “treasonous” plot lines derived from real-world headlines. By blending slapstick comedy with dark themes of systemic failure and institutional paranoia, these adventures provide game masters with immediate, low-preparation content that encourages the backstabbing and bureaucratic absurdity that defines the Paranoia experience.

#paizo #ttgda #neonodyssey #darkconspiracy

Dark Conspiracy on Backerkit:

https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/mongoose-publishing/dark-conspiracy-a-horror-rpg-in-the-modern-age

Sword World RPG Landing Page:

https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/mugen-gaming/sword-world/pre-launch

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The Weekly Podcast no.342 – D&D Encyclopedia, Backerkit X DriveThruRPG, CMON Layoffs and Our Lives, Our Fortunes

Posted on July 5, 2026 by upturnedtable

Set for an October 2026 release, this 320-page volume is authored by industry experts such as Matt Forbeck and Jon Peterson, covering multiple campaign settings and lore for $60.

Hasbro and Wizards of the Coast face significant challenges finding a developer for “Baldur’s Gate 4” following the departure of Larian Studios. Developers like Archetype Entertainment have declined the project, noting the overwhelming difficulty of following up the massive success of “Baldur’s Gate 3”.

BackerKit has partnered with DriveThruRPG to streamline the distribution of digital content for TTRPG crowdfunding campaigns. This integration allows for the automatic delivery of digital rewards to backers as soon as they pledge, improving the experience for both creators and supporters.

The board game publisher CMON has undergone staff reductions, including the departure of long-time director of design and development Michael Shinall. These layoffs follow a difficult 2025 for the company, which recorded $20 million in losses and prompted the sale of several key IPs to stabilize its finances.1

“Our Lives, Our Fortunes” is a crowdfunding campaign on BackerKit, which runs until July 5, 2026. This supernatural horror TTRPG presents an alternate history of the American Revolution where the war is won not by traditional historical figures, but by witches, werewolves, and necromancers. Published by Wet Ink Games, the title utilizes the “+One System,” which relies on D6 dice pools for skills and a deck of playing cards to manage supernatural abilities, offering a unique narrative experience centered on the struggle for equality.

#dnd #wetink #cmon #baldursgates4

Our Lives, Our Fortunes on Backerkit:

https://www.backerkit.com/c/projects/wet-ink-games/our-lives-our-fortunes

Roll Big or Go Home Bundle:

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Doctor Who and Warhammer to Cthulhu, Transformers, and even My Little Pony! Return to Dark Tower Household and Visigoths vs. Mall Goths! over 50 TTRPG books! $5.50 – $44

Dungeon Crawl Classics Essentials Bundle:

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https://substack.com/@matthewrobinson3

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The Weekly Podcast no.340 – Vampire 5.5E, Valiant Mutants & Masterminds, Rise of the Lazy Dungeon master and Rpg Trader

Posted on June 21, 2026 by upturnedtable

Vampire: The Masquerade is expanding its presence on D&D Beyond with a new 5.5E crossover product titled Bound by Blood, published by Ghostfire Gaming and featuring a new Kindred class and adventure. This move follows similar partnerships with other publishers, indicating a trend of rival games embracing the 5.5E ruleset. In a related shift, Renegade Games has announced it will discontinue its bespoke Essence20 system for new editions of its licensed properties like Transformers, GI Joe, and Power Rangers, transitioning instead to a modified version of Dungeons & Dragons 5.5E to reach a broader player base.

Green Ronin Publishing has officially released Valiant Adventures, a new TTRPG setting supplement for the Mutants & Masterminds third edition system. Based on the Valiant Universe, a shared world featuring characters like Bloodshot and X-O Manowa, the release includes two main volumes: the Hero’s Handbook and the Worlds of Valiant sourcebook. These supplements provide updated combat mechanics, a new “Hero Point” economy, and extensive lore, allowing players to explore this gritty and morally complex comic universe without requiring additional source material.

Award-winning designer Mike Shea, known as Sly Flourish, has announced Rise of the Lazy Gamemaster, a new 160-page resource designed to complement his previous Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master series. Unlike his earlier works that focused primarily on D&D 5E, this upcoming book will be system-agnostic, offering tools, tips, and adventure outlines adaptable to various systems including Shadowdark, Daggerheart, and Dragonbane. Shea aims to provide practical advice to speed up preparation and enhance interactivity, with a crowdfunding campaign for the project scheduled to launch in early July.

The independent TTRPG market has a new competitor with the launch of RPG Trader, a marketplace created by Ten Acre Games founder Hugh Lashbrooke to support indie creators. Designed as a specific alternative to larger platforms like DriveThruRPG and Itch.io, RPG Trader focuses on discoverability and flexible publishing tools, offering creators an 80% share of sales revenue. The platform distinguishes itself with a zero-tolerance policy for AI-generated content, an integrated print-on-demand service through Lulu, and a detailed taxonomy system to help players find games based on specific play styles and themes.

#vapirerpg #valiantcomics #lazydungeonmaster #rpgtrader

Valiant Adventures for Mutans and Masterminds:

https://www.drivethrurpg.com/en/product/567952/valiant-adventures-worlds-of-valiant?affiliate_id=2081746

RPG Trader:

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Roll Big or Go Home Bundle:

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Doctor Who and Warhammer to Cthulhu, Transformers, and even My Little Pony! Return to Dark Tower Household and Visigoths vs. Mall Goths! over 50 TTRPG books!

Dungeon Crawl Classics Essentials Bundle:

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over 106 ebooks and PDFs

Cyberpunk RED: Ready-to-Run Essentials Bundle:

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