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:

https://rpg-trader.com/

Roll Big or Go Home Bundle:

https://humblebundleinc.sjv.io/k49Mnd

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:

https://humblebundleinc.sjv.io/4aym3o

over 106 ebooks and PDFs

Cyberpunk RED: Ready-to-Run Essentials Bundle:

https://humblebundleinc.sjv.io/rEOrdG

Free League BundleRPG Collection:

https://humblebundleinc.sjv.io/zzrGdm

Warmachine on MyMiniFactory:

https://mmf.io/upturned

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https://companion.manticgames.com/

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The Weekly Podcast no.331 – Feywyn RPG, Draw Steel VTT, Groupfinder Data and Breathless: Frightmare Edition

Posted on April 11, 2026 by upturnedtable

Feywyn RPG, a new fantasy setting and game from RiotMinds, is an Arthurian-inspired dark fantasy tabletop RPG that blends Celtic myth with mist-shrouded folklore. Set in a land where the boundary between the mortal and spirit realms is thin, the game challenges players to resist the encroaching Mist and fight supernatural threats. The core mechanic involves rolling a d20 and adding an attribute to meet a Challenge Value, with character consequences accumulating through Wounds (physical danger) and Fear (supernatural terror). A beta version of the Feywyn Digital Companion has also been released, providing a VTT, character creation tools, a dice roller, and a bestiary.

The Draw Steel Codex VTT is a new online tool and virtual tabletop for Draw Steel, the action-oriented fantasy RPG from MCDM, which prioritizes “heroic action over complex mechanics”. Available in Early Access for $19.99, the Codex includes all core rules from Draw Steel: Heroes and Draw Steel: Monsters, as well as “The Delian Tomb – Start Here Adventure” to help parties begin playing quickly. Key features of the VTT include tools for building or importing custom maps with dynamic lighting and multiple levels, along with the ability for each player to create custom characters, profile icons, and battle soundtracks. The VTT is designed to be suitable for both new and seasoned players, optimally supporting a Director with 3–6 players, and requires a 64-bit processor and 8 GB of RAM.

Rascal News looked at Groupfinder Data, which analyzes the current looking-for-group (LFG) landscape in the TTRPG community. The data from April 2026 confirms that Dungeons & Dragons remains the industry behemoth, accounting for approximately 60% of groups and 90% of player posts on the platform. However, when D&D data is excluded, a varied and thriving ecosystem of alternative systems is visible. The most popular non-D&D systems listed are Pathfinder, Daggerheart, Call of Cthulhu, Vampire: The Masquerade, and Cyberpunk RED.

Breathless: Frightmare Edition is a major update and expansion of the original 2022 two-page zombie survival TTRPG written by Rene-Pier Deshaies, now published by Mythworks. The original game gained notoriety for its mechanics that used diminishing dice to reflect tension and scarcity in a zombie-infested world, with over 350 other games or hacks using its core rules. This updated version is being released as part of Mythworks’ new STORYPAK line, which aims to lower the barrier to entry for TTRPGs by creating games that are simple and lightweight. Designed with a 90s slasher-horror/VHS aesthetic, Frightmare Edition is packaged in a cassette container holding 12 pamphlets, which include updated rules, tools for generating zombie dangers, and four adventures, allowing the game to be run as one-shots or longer 6-12 session campaigns

#feywyn #drawsteel #groupfinder #breathlessrpg

Feywyn RPG website:

https://www.feywyn.com/

Groupfinder:

https://groupfinder.eu/library/is-dnd-still-king-a-deep-dive-into-groupfinders-2026-matchmaking-data

Breathless: Frightmare Edition:

https://www.kickstarter.com/projects/mythworks/breathless-frightmare-edition

Warmachine on MyMiniFactory:

https://mmf.io/upturned

Mantic Companion App:

https://companion.manticgames.com/

Use our Referral code: MCTXEE