Phil Ulrich

On this episode of the Tavern Watch Podcast, the team gets a win -- a win in naming things, it turns out, as Wizards of the Coast (in addition to finally announcing some products for 2026) also has started referring to the 2024 revision of D&D as "D&D 5.5e." Considering it ended up being more a balance update than the massive revolution in tabletop gaming that we were originally sold, we're all of the opinion this is for the better (and is easier to say, to boot).

This little guy might be the highlight of the weekly events for me. Hunting down wayward Magisters and Thornspeakers for a weirdo with a suffering fixation? Holding fancy parties in the woods? Defending a black hole in the Voidstorm? No thanks. I’ll take this little rat loa, his big booming voice, and his pachinko machine world event. Though maybe doing it sixteen times last week by using eight shards from early access and eight more from week one was a lot.

No, your eyes do not deceive you: it’s a brand new Queue author! But if there’s one thing I know how to do, it’s authoritatively answering questions like I know what I’m talking about, so let’s get into it; you’ve got questions, we’ve got answers.

The team of adventurers-turned-detectives in our playthrough of Starfinder's Murder in Metal City has the body of Tier-99-Professor on their hands and the assumed murderer hot in their trail for getting too close -- but does anyone think they're really going to stop before they get answers about what happened?

With a lead in their hot little hands freshly pried from the storage of a hijacked murder-drone, our crew of Starfinder adventurers -- brought together first to meet their friend Tier-99-Professor, then by happenstance to investigate his murder -- dive into the back alleys and data storage centers of Striving to see if they can pin down any clues as to why someone would want the good Professor dead.

In the weeks leading up to the launch of World of Warcraft's newest expansion, Midnight, we've gotten a peek into the trials and tribulations of some of the important characters we know play a role in the expansion -- first Xal'atath, the instigator of the whole expansion, then Lady Liadrin, the very first character we see in Midnight's cinematic.

A group of strangers gather in a dimly lit bar in the mechanical megalopolis of Striving at the behest of one Tier-99-Professor, who promised them some incredible news.

Every February, publishers both accomplished and new take to their favorite crowdfunding platforms to release their newest zines as part of (the event formerly known just as) Zine Quest.

Last week, we got to take a look at the origins (maybe) of Midnight's baddie supreme, Xal'atath, in "Supremacy." This week, we got a look at the past of another important figure in World of Warcraft, and one who's on our side this time: Lady Liadrin, the iconic Blood Elf Paladin, in "All That Is Sacred." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CoJgQA4Uhks We also get to see someone new in this animation: High Priest Vandellor, Liadrin's adoptive father who took her in after her parents were slain by Amani trolls, and who first inspired her faith and awe for the light -- in fact, she would eventually follow in his path as High Priestess Liadrin (which you get to see if you're a Blood Elf pursuing your heritage armor, or during the Lorewalking chapter on Elves).

Folks who'd been hoping for a new World of Warcraft animation like the Harbingers and Warbringers series that predated Legion and Battle for Azeroth respectively finally got a little something today to whet their appetites: a Xal'atath-focused animation, subtitled "Supremecy." Seemingly set sometime between the end of the Manaforge Omega raid and the beginning of Midnight, this animation shows Xal'atath winning over "loyal, tractable" servant Nexus-King Salhadaar by wielding something very unusual for her: the truth.

Keeping things tense and exciting in tabletop games without just resorting to throwing the players into a fight is a central part of our discussion today on Tavern Watch -- we're talking torches burning down in Shadowdark or Crows, using the spotlight like a TV show director to keep things tense in Monster of the Week, or the Chaos mechanic in Triangle Agency that makes every roll a balancing act.