The upcoming release of “The Lord of the Rings: Fate of the Fellowship”, a cooperative tabletop game by Matt Leacock and Z-Man Games, brings the world of Middle-earth to life this June. Players will work together as heroes to protect Middle-earth’s havens from advancing enemies while helping Frodo evade the Nazgûl on his journey to destroy the One Ring. With gameplay designed for 1-5 players, the game features 13 characters, 14 event cards, and 24 objectives, alongside stunning artwork and a detailed 11-inch replica of Barad-dûr as the game’s centerpiece. Leacock adapts the system from his renowned Pandemic board game, which has already been reimagined in various settings, such as Star Wars and the Cthulhu mythos. This new game holds special significance for Leacock, as his cooperative game design journey began with Reiner Knizia’s “The Lord of the Rings” in 2000. Now, 25 years later, Leacock shares his personal take on Tolkien’s epic tale. He will be providing design insights leading up to the game’s release and signing early copies at the U.K. Games Expo in May.

Joseph McCullough’s 2025 releases from Osprey Games include a mix of fun, imaginative, and adventurous titles. “Hairfoot Jousting,” a whimsical game about tournament competition, focuses on humor and sportsmanship. The “Stargrave: Death Vector” expansion introduces cyberpunk hacking mechanics and deadly cyborg enemies in a campaign set within the Outlaw Technology Sector. “Frostgrave: Advanced Spellcraft” adds critical spellcasting mechanics and a competitive campaign to celebrate the game’s 10th anniversary, while “The Silver Bayonet: Britain – Bones of Albion” expands its supernatural battles to the British Isles with a full campaign and undead enemies.

Evil Genius Games (EGG), publisher of the Everyday Heroes tabletop roleplaying game, has been under scrutiny for its business practices and leadership issues, as detailed in investigative articles published in 2024. These articles, based on court documents, internal communications, and interviews with former employees, revealed ethical concerns and alleged retaliation against staff who spoke out. Recently, EGG’s CEO, Dave Scott, contacted a Reddit user, asking them to remove a link to one such article, claiming it was harming the company. This request backfired, reviving interest in the article and invoking the “Streisand Effect.” Despite financial backing and recent product launches, including the digital platform “Sidekick,” EGG has faced criticism for its previous use of controversial Web3 technologies and its treatment of employees. Critics argue the company’s struggles stem from leadership decisions rather than external commentary.

Finally, “Bitter Chalice,” a Soulslike fantasy TTRPG, offers players a dark and immersive journey through the cursed Blighted Lands. Inspired by games like Bloodborne and Elden Ring, the game is structured as a meticulously crafted campaign with unique classes, areas to explore, and a dynamic map. Aimed at delivering a challenging yet narrative-driven experience, it avoids the repetitive death mechanics typical of Soulslike video games. The game’s launch promises early bird bonuses and exclusive content for backers.

#pandemic #frostgrave #evilgeniusgames #bitterchalice 

ENWorld’s reporting on Evil Genius Games:

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Evil Genius Games is suing Netflix for allegedly backing out of a deal to create a tabletop role-playing game (TTRPG) based on Zack Snyder’s Rebel Moon movie. Evil Genius Games claims they delivered the game and related materials but Netflix canceled the contract and asserted ownership of the intellectual property without fair compensation.

BackerKit, a crowdfunding platform, announced a policy against AI-generated content on its platform, citing concerns about fair compensation and permission issues. The policy will restrict solely AI-generated content, but AI-assisted tools in editing and refinement will still be allowed. Essen Spiel, the world’s largest board game expo, admitted to using AI-generated artwork in promotional material for its 2023 event. The admission follows public criticism of other companies using AI-generated art, such as FryxGames and Stronghold Games for Terraforming Mars.

Osprey Games announced a new entry in the Undaunted board game series called “Undaunted 2200: Callisto,” moving away from World War II settings to sci-fi mech battles on Jupiter’s moon Callisto.

Penguin Random House will cease distributing Dungeons & Dragons products in mainstream bookstores from 2024. The distribution responsibility will shift to other distributors like Alliance, Diamond, and GTS.

Johan Nohr, the artist behind MÖRK BORG, launched a Kickstarter campaign for an art book containing over 300 illustrations, annotations, and behind-the-scenes content. The book will showcase Nohr’s artwork since the release of MÖRK BORG in 2019 and will be a large coffee table book with high-quality printing.

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The Fifth Season Roleplaying Game is designed for you to play out adventures and stories set in the world described in the Broken Earth trilogy of novels by N.K. Jemisin—a world where constant and unstable tectonic and volcanic activity threaten all life; a world whose peoples have learned to adapt in order to survive. It is a world where everyone learns that Father Earth hates his children and is always trying to kill them, where metal rusts and even stone crumbles, and the best you can do is be prepared for the next disaster.

Over the course of the last week, more than 1,500 tabletop RPG publishers, from household names going back to the dawn of the hobby to single proprietors just starting out with their first digital release, have joined together to pledge their support for the development of a universal system-neutral open license that provides a legal “safe harbor” for sharing rules mechanics and encourages innovation and collaboration in the tabletop gaming space.

Foundry VTT reacts to WotC OGL VTT policy:
“Yesterday, Wizards of the Coast shared a post Starting the OGL “Playtest” which introduces draft terms of a new Open Gaming License Version 1.2 (hereafter called OGL 1.2). This new license is intended to replace the prior Open Gaming License version 1.0a (OGL 1.0a) which has served and empowered the tabletop gaming industry since 2000. These new license terms are shared for public discussion after several false starts. “OGL Version 1.1” was a far more restrictive license – to the extent of not being an open license at all. A FAQ which circulated regarding “OGL Version 2.0″ maintained many of the objectionable restrictions in version 1.1 that prompted community outrage. This latest version (OGL 1.2) is a constructive step, doing away with many of the most dangerous clauses of version 1.1, but it is still regressive compared to the original OGL 1.0a.”

Osprey Games has announces four new game expansions created by veteran designer Joseph A. McCullough (Frostgrave, Stargrave), including two titles for Stargrave, a new sourcebook for The Silver Bayonet, and a new Frostgrave supplement.

#fifthseason # ORC #foundryVTT #frostgrave # frostgrave

Paizo ORC blog post:
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Astral virtual tabletop has been shutdown. Nathan at Arkenstone has written a wonderful post mortem/ obituary for the platform. It is a shame that no open source agreement for the code could be reached. This leaves the hope that some of the best features from Astral may find their way into Roll20, since that is where OneBookShefl has their deal now and probably where the sold the code. We ran two excellent campaigns using Astral and the easy of use and excellent features will be missed. Obviously it is not the best technology and community that wins.

Everyone’s favorite Drow is coming to Webtoon. ALong with Breezy, Drizzt will be featured in an official Dungeons and Dragons Webtoon in 2023. It will be written by Suitor Armor creator Purpah and illustrator Ryan LeCount.with the character’s creator R.A. Salvatore “involved”. This deal was official struck with Wizards of the Coast and all we need to know now is… what’s a Webtoon?

A new expansion for Frostgrave called Fireheart is coming soon from Osprey Games. North Star Military Figures is also producing new miniatures including a female enchanter and apprentice, new construct miniatures as well as a box of hard plastic female barbarians. If it is anything likfke the previous expansions it will be worth picking up for the new adventures and soldier types. If you never played Frostgrave before it is one of the best miniatures skirmish games out there. You don’t have to buy the official miniatures. The game is completely miniatures agnostic. Our first campaign was exclusively with LEGO mini figs. Not really a moneysaver, but great fun!

Dark Souls: The Board Game is releasing a pair of of new expansions. The Tomb of the Giants and Painted World of Ariamis boxes will be standalone expansions and might signal a new chapter for tabletop adaptation of From Software’s popular video game. Steamforged Games, the next two releases will act as standalone core sets for the six-year-old series. New players will be able to pick up either the Tomb of the Giants or Painted World of Ariamis and enjoy the full intended experience. This breaks from all of the past expansions that have required the base Dark Souls Board Game in order to properly function. After the stumble of the Dark Souls RPG which the miniatures from the boardgame would be useful, we will see if these new expansions get more people into this strategy combat game.

A newly discovered letters reveals D&D’s co-creator asked to be put in Charge of D&D in 1997. The letter from D&D co-creator Dave Arneson to Wizards of the Coast CEO Peter Adkiso In the letter, Arneson begged to be put in charge of Dungeons & Dragons. This letter and several other interesting artifacts from this time were used in writing the book Slaying the Dragon: A Secret History of Dungeons & Dragons, written By Ben Riggs, tells the never-before-heard true story of how D&D almost died in the 90s and was saved by its bitterest rival.

Disney has partnered with Ravensburger, a 139-year-old game publisher. The new joint effort is called Disney Lorcana, a family-friendly collectible trading card game. The first sets are expected in the latter half of 2023. This game is expected to enter the lucrative market created by the PokemonTrading Card Game and Magic: the Gathering. Is this something that anyone will be interested in aside from the rabid Disney-anything collectors?
#astralvtt #dnd #frostgrave #darksouls #davearneson

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