Up next in 10
On this episode of the Tavern Watch Podcast, we're talking about the return to Strixhaven (where their undergraduates can now prepare spells like D&D Wizards), some of our upcoming favorite crowdfunding projects -- among them the multiplayer expansion to Ion Heart, Austin Walker's debut game Realis, and the genre-straddling Cypher System megadungeon Jewel in the Sky -- and also how when you leave fans alone with high-quality free products they'll do things like convert the core rules of Ars Magica into the easy to read and use Markdown format. Plus there's a four-part Ravenloft comic coming soon with some big names attached to it; which cover is your favorite? (Team TWP is pretty solidly fans of the Hammer movie poster vibe of Cover C, just for the record.) The D&D cartoon from the 80s is up for you to check out on YouTube for free (and I'll be watching it too, since somehow it bypassed me in the 80s); are you or were you a fan?
We also tackle a pretty interesting reader question that delves into the line between tabletop RPG history and missing your favorite properties, which can be summed up as: where's Dragonlance?
Music from this episode is "Midnight Tale" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com), licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 License.
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Show More Show Less View Video Transcript
0:29
Well Bet traveler, welcome to the
0:32
tavern.
0:33
Did you know that this magical place is
0:35
where more than half of history's
0:37
greatest adventures have begun?
0:40
Before those adventurers took their
0:42
first steps, they watched and calculated
0:44
who would join their party.
0:47
See that barbarian over there? He hails
0:50
from the frozen lands. Strong, mighty,
0:52
and full of wisdom. I've closed many a
0:55
nights with that one. They call
0:58
themselves Matt Rossy.
1:00
>> To the right over there, that woman
1:02
working on her tinkers and mechanical
1:04
devices, an artificer of great skill.
1:08
She is cunning and quick, and I've seen
1:10
her bounce a fair share of narrative
1:11
wells out of here before I could even
1:13
step out from behind the bar. She's
1:15
known as Liz Harper.
1:18
And that gentleman by the hearth with a
1:20
pile of tomes. Rumor has it that he is a
1:23
powerful wizard full of arcane secrets.
1:26
But around here, most just call him the
1:27
professor. Me? I know them to be Phil
1:30
Orch.
1:32
Oh, me. I'm Joe Perez. I'll be your
1:36
tavern keeper. Welcome to Tavern Watch.
1:41
Hello and welcome to Tavern Watch. I'm
1:44
your host, Joe Perez, one of several
1:47
members of this adventuring party, and I
1:49
am joined this week by two very, well,
1:54
stalwart companions. Uh, Liz Harper, our
1:57
editor-inchief. How you doing today,
1:58
Liz?
1:59
>> Hello. It's a beautiful sunny day.
2:02
>> It really is.
2:03
>> And I'm inside talking to you.
2:07
>> Okay, I should say also pretty great.
2:11
>> I feel like I should have rolled
2:12
initiative before that.
2:15
cuz I sure as heck just got attacked.
2:18
>> I think we just started conflict. Jeez.
2:22
>> And then
2:22
>> it's a beautiful
2:24
>> a beautiful sunny day and we're all
2:26
inside playing tabletop games which is
2:28
exactly how I suspect all of us like it.
2:32
>> I'm not trying to be I'm not trying to
2:34
be inflammatory here. I'm really not.
2:37
>> We're just going to roll with it. And
2:38
also joining us as always is uh uh Phil
2:41
Olri. How you doing, Phil?
2:43
>> Wow. Oh, well, I'm not going to come out
2:44
swinging like that. It's a beautiful
2:45
sunny day, and I'm very happy to be
2:47
talking to you nerds.
2:51
Oh, well, yeah, we're here with another
2:53
wonderful edition of our Tavern Watch
2:55
where we've got uh a little bit of
2:56
tabletop news for you and uh some some
2:59
other items that I'm sure we're going to
3:00
have uh to to bring up and and talk
3:03
about. And I guess we'll start with the
3:05
the what I like to do every time, which
3:08
is what are you reading? What are you
3:10
playing? And what are you looking
3:11
forward to? We'll start with Phil. Um, I
3:14
have not been reading much new other
3:16
than the Shadow Run sixth edition rules
3:19
because we are uh we had our session
3:22
zero a week or two ago and I believe
3:23
we're having our first session in a week
3:26
and a half. So, that's exciting. Um, I
3:30
am playing the party face, something I
3:32
don't usually do, so we'll see how this
3:34
works out.
3:35
>> Excellent.
3:35
>> Uh, yes. uh still uh still playing Fabul
3:39
Ultima every couple of weeks, which is
3:42
fun. Um and outside of that, uh as far
3:46
as tabletop stuff goes, I've been going
3:48
hard on uh Magic the Gathering stuff,
3:51
like just just learning about the game
3:54
and everything that's changed in the
3:55
last 30 years.
3:56
>> Excellent.
3:58
>> Uh yeah, like I've got we got a couple
4:00
decks slewed up. My wife and I played a
4:02
couple uh experimental games now, so
4:05
>> Excellent. Yeah.
4:07
>> What about you, Liz?
4:08
>> I do not have any regular games going
4:10
and therefore my life is terrible and
4:13
empty. Uh but I have been reading uh the
4:15
Fallout book is new, but uh I haven't I
4:18
haven't gone through the whole thing cuz
4:20
we're going to be playing that for
4:21
Blizzard watch soon. And one thing I
4:25
really like about it is just how much of
4:28
the how much of the game of the video
4:31
game the book captures. It just has the
4:34
attitude is totally right. And it helps
4:36
that Fallout already has that RPG, you
4:40
know, it's an RPG video game and it
4:42
plays really heavily into stats with its
4:45
special system. So, I can see where that
4:48
was uh that part was an easy
4:51
translation, but I I enjoy how well the
4:53
book captures the vibes and the general
4:57
weirdness of Fallout, and I look forward
4:59
to trying it out.
5:02
Yeah, it's uh a really interesting
5:05
system. I'm looking forward to playing
5:06
it. Uh I've been wanting to play it for
5:08
a while. Uh there was a point in time
5:10
when it released in I want to say it was
5:13
2021. Uh where they did a special vault
5:16
uh edition of it that came out with all
5:19
the books, a bunch of actual bottle caps
5:21
and dice and everything else. Uh, and I
5:24
really wanted to play it, but I had
5:25
nobody to play with because nobody up
5:27
here was into like they all wanted to
5:29
play D and D and they only wanted to
5:31
play D and D.
5:32
>> Um, yeah,
5:33
>> which was a problem.
5:35
>> So, I'm looking forward to actually uh
5:37
getting into this one and and and you
5:40
know, spending a few hours uh
5:41
collaborating with everybody cuz I
5:43
agree. I think they really leaned into
5:45
the uh RPG aspects of the video games
5:48
really well. Lends itself really well to
5:50
tabletop. Uh, and I'm looking forward to
5:52
everybody getting to see my character
5:54
for the first time. Uh, because it is
5:56
going to be decidedly weird. Um, in only
6:00
the way that Matt's brain, uh, and my
6:03
brain can collaborate on something. So,
6:05
should be very, very fun. It It was
6:07
funny cuz we were sitting there and I'm
6:09
I'm making my character. My character
6:10
was made and Matt messages me and he
6:13
says, "Hey, what about this?" And it was
6:15
essentially the same thing that I had
6:17
just made uh, with like a little bit of
6:19
a different flavor. And I was just like,
6:20
well, I guess I guess that's the the
6:22
blessing that I was going to ask for, so
6:24
let's go. Um, but also like Phil, I've
6:27
been spending a lot of time uh with
6:29
Magic lately. Not just because I play a
6:32
lot of Magic cuz well I do. Um, but also
6:36
because
6:37
this coming weekend or the weekend of uh
6:40
April 17th and 18th is the Stricks
6:45
Haven, the new set cuz we're going back
6:47
to Archival. We're going back to Stricks
6:48
Haven. It's the pre-release and Stricks
6:51
Haven was one of my favorite settings
6:52
and it's relevant here not just because
6:54
it's a magic set, but also it was one of
6:57
my favorite settings for D and D when it
6:59
was released. I really love the source
7:02
book for it. I think it's really cool. I
7:03
like the incorporation of going to class
7:06
and and how they they worked that in and
7:08
uh how they preserve the identity of all
7:11
of the different specializations and uh
7:13
schools of magic that are in archivos.
7:16
And we're getting to go back in Magic,
7:18
which is really, really cool. And
7:20
they're doing something. Um, this is a
7:23
little bit newsworthy, so I guess we'll
7:24
kind of transition into just a little
7:26
bit of news. So, Magic has this thing
7:28
called the reserve list. And the reserve
7:31
list are a bunch of cards printed in
7:34
1994 essentially that can never be
7:36
printed again. Um, these are like the
7:40
Moxes and and stuff like that. Um, so
7:45
now with this they're functionally
7:48
reprinting them in a very interesting
7:49
way in leaning into the school aspect of
7:54
the setting where creatures also have
7:57
the ability to prepare spells like
7:59
wizards in D and D. But those spells
8:03
>> Go ahead.
8:04
>> I love this. The second I saw this, I
8:06
instantly clummed it. Like it instantly
8:08
clicked with me as a table as a tabletop
8:10
player first new to Magic. like I got it
8:12
immediately. I was like, I get it. These
8:14
wizards can prepare spells.
8:16
>> Yeah. Which is which is really really
8:18
cool. And then it it it also then allows
8:20
them to um bring back some of like the
8:24
more powerful cards that are not allowed
8:26
to be reprinted. So like Ancestral
8:28
Recall, which was a one mana spell that
8:31
allowed any player to draw three cards.
8:33
Um which if you've played Magic at any
8:35
point in time is very very powerful.
8:37
Well, you have to go through a whole uh
8:40
series of things to make the character
8:41
prepared or the the card prepared to do
8:43
this, but then they you can cast the
8:46
spell, which is really kind of cool.
8:48
Something that a lot of players are
8:50
never going to get cuz I tell you the
8:52
number of people that have a real
8:54
ancestral recall is very, very limited.
8:56
And ones that are willing to play it in
8:58
a deck are almost non-existent uh unless
9:02
they're playing like old school 94 or
9:03
something like that. So, it's really
9:04
cool to give players that wouldn't
9:06
interact with this normally an
9:08
opportunity to see why these cards were
9:10
so good, just in a different form, like
9:13
a different flavor, which I think is
9:14
really neat. Um, and they're all
9:16
different effects. They're all different
9:17
ways to do stuff, which I thought was
9:19
really nice. Um, and it's just a nice
9:22
way to sort of encapsulate that that
9:24
yes, these are students going through a
9:26
mystical archive of a school that sits
9:29
at the nexus point of all realities.
9:32
So, they have access to everything if
9:34
they study hard enough. And I thought
9:36
that was really neat. So, yeah, I wanted
9:38
to mention that anyway because I'm
9:40
really excited and I'm always excited
9:42
about Magic cards, let's be honest.
9:45
>> But yeah,
9:46
>> I really I really enjoyed Stricks Haven
9:48
when it came out as a D&D setting. I
9:50
thought it was really fun to have that
9:51
magical school setting. Obviously, there
9:53
are lots of magical school settings out
9:55
there, but I it had a really good flavor
9:58
and it was fun to play.
9:59
>> Yeah. And I I like the schools. I think
10:02
were some of the coolest things because
10:04
>> we've all
10:06
regardless of how you feel about Harry
10:08
Potter these days, the the concept of it
10:10
was very striking. It caught a lot of
10:13
people. the idea of going to a magical
10:15
campus and, you know, living this
10:17
adventurous life and then having
10:20
something that took the essence of D and
10:22
D and that and magic and blended it
10:25
together so well and then presented it
10:27
in a D and D book uh was really neat and
10:30
I I just I really enjoyed it. I'm hoping
10:33
that we get more stuff like that. We we
10:34
talked about it before. Um Magic and D
10:38
and D being a part of the same company
10:39
has not always meant that they've
10:41
crossed over. And it wasn't really until
10:44
uh Ravndica uh City of Guilds which
10:48
releases a book um this
10:53
um before they released that we didn't
10:55
really have a big crossover. and then
10:57
literally D and D crossed over into
10:59
Magic as a core set in 22 21 22 um where
11:05
the main set was Adventures in the
11:07
Forgotten Realms. So like it was
11:09
interesting to see that and see how well
11:11
it went for a lot of people. So but yeah
11:13
uh I think we're enough of talking about
11:14
Magic uh for now because I'm sure a lot
11:17
of folks are already checking out.
11:18
Um, I guess let's start with some of the
11:20
crowdfunding roundups because one of the
11:23
things we always talk about is what
11:24
we're looking forward to or what's
11:25
interesting and y'all found a lot of
11:27
them. So, I'm going to turn this over to
11:29
you and see if there's if there's
11:31
anything you you want to start with.
11:33
Liz, go ahead.
11:34
>> Oh, me. We're starting with me. Okay.
11:36
Um, one of Well, there's just a lot
11:40
going on there. Uh, Phil, did you add
11:43
Realis?
11:44
>> I did. Realis is currently at the top of
11:48
my uh list of g games. It it's it sits
11:52
in the center of vendar games of games I
11:54
would love to get to a table and games I
11:55
will never get to a table. Um but it has
11:58
existed in an ash can format for a year
12:00
or two. Um and now we are finally
12:03
getting a beautiful hardcover edition.
12:06
Uh realis is a science fantasy role
12:09
playing game by the uh the uh Austin
12:12
Walker who among other things worked at
12:14
Waypoint. He's was the GM for uh still
12:17
is for Friends at the Table. Um he's
12:19
just been all over the video game and
12:20
tabletop industry. And this is a science
12:24
fantasy game of a it is a diceless role
12:27
playing game um where you are basic
12:30
where your your characters and
12:32
everything else are built up of
12:34
sentences.
12:35
And one of the primary uh uh one of the
12:39
reasons caught my attention was one of
12:40
the primary inspirations for this is the
12:42
manga Berserk. Not for the reason most
12:44
people pick up on Berserk as a uh as a
12:47
source, but because it's uh um they were
12:50
interested in how Guts starts out as
12:52
almost like this myth of a person and
12:54
over time you see him whittleled into
12:56
something more real over time. And
12:58
that's one of the core mechanics of
13:00
Realis. Um it's just a really cool
13:03
setting. And like I said, I uh this is
13:05
one that I may uh pitch for Tavern Watch
13:09
at some point, but it may be a little
13:10
too weird for Tavern Watch. I know Liz
13:12
is looking at her dice going, "But can't
13:13
use math rocks. Why?" Uh,
13:17
>> I'm I'm just sitting here thinking, "How
13:19
weird is too weird? Is there a too
13:21
weird? Where is the threshold?"
13:24
>> As anybody who has listened to the most
13:26
recent uh Tavern Watch uh Tavern Watch
13:29
plays knows there's only a certain there
13:31
there there's no limit to the weirdness.
13:33
Um but anyway, it it closes at the on
13:36
the 1 of May and it has already
13:38
quadrupled its funding goal. Um, this is
13:40
uh the person writing this is also is
13:43
Tyler Crumb from Possible World Games.
13:45
And one of the things that they do is
13:47
they really do not do stretch goals.
13:50
It's uh you you get what you get and
13:52
that's it. So like in this case, it's uh
13:57
you know, I'm sure some of this extra
13:58
money that they're making will be used
13:59
to offset shipping costs, etc. But uh
14:02
yeah, it's just no collector's editions
14:03
or stretch goals. It's a printer PDF of
14:05
a single high quality product. So really
14:07
cool looking book. lot of really really
14:10
nice art for this edition too. Like if
14:12
there is an artist you like on social
14:14
media, they are probably in here and
14:16
I've seen some amazing work. So yeah,
14:19
very excited about this. Uh really
14:21
really hoping I can get to play it. So
14:23
>> uh another one that I had seen was Jewel
14:25
in the Sky, which is a Monty Cook game
14:28
and uh on Cipher System. I am not
14:31
familiar with Cipher System at all
14:32
except I know it exists. And uh Jewel
14:36
and Sky is a just a big mega dungeon.
14:39
And what I think is really interesting
14:41
about it, besides the fact that Monty
14:42
Cook is making it, is that it's it's
14:46
uh sort of a space that combines fantasy
14:50
and science fiction in the same place.
14:52
So it's this cool science fantasy hybrid
14:56
and you could use it in a campaign
14:57
that's all fantasy and lean it in that
14:59
direction or use it in a campaign that's
15:00
all science fiction and lean it in that
15:02
direction. Or you can play with all of
15:04
the weird intersections where the two
15:06
things meet up and is it magic? Is it
15:10
advanced technology? How does it work?
15:12
So I think this this liinal space in
15:16
between these genres that this is
15:18
occupying is really cool and it looks
15:20
like a really interesting one.
15:21
>> I will say uh quick plug for Cipher is
15:23
that this is also kind of an add-on to
15:25
their new they just recently did a
15:28
Kickstarter for the second edition of
15:29
the Cipher uh system. The first one was
15:32
kind of a it's kind of a low crunch
15:35
D20based system, but then like the the
15:38
original version had some weirdly mathy
15:40
like pain points when you were trying to
15:42
actually play it that slowed it down.
15:44
Um, a lot of that sounds like it's
15:45
getting cleared up and you can actually
15:47
add the core rule books for Cipher 2.0
15:50
to this if you pledge to it, which is
15:52
cool.
15:52
>> I did think that was interesting when I
15:54
was looking at because I'm like this
15:55
looks interesting but I don't know
15:56
anything about cipher but you can
15:57
actually get discounted cipher books
15:59
here. So that that does also have an
16:03
additional appeal. And then I would have
16:05
another set of of tabletop books to read
16:08
that I may never get to play because
16:10
that's its own hobby. Uh then we talked
16:13
about this one a while ago, but
16:15
Traveler, which is that classic sci-fi
16:18
game, is up on Backer Kit with a
16:21
Traveler 5e edition, which obviously
16:25
using the D&D 5e rules, which I I am all
16:28
for more sci-fi. I I is this something
16:32
that needed to move to 5e? What do you
16:34
guys think?
16:35
>> This feels like such a weird fit for 5e
16:39
because Traveler is like the iconic
16:41
example of a classless system. Like
16:44
>> you you do your life path to create your
16:47
character and you come out of it as a
16:48
bundle of skills, not like a class and a
16:50
species. And like this is the exact
16:54
opposite. Like to the point where they
16:55
they have a class, they have new
16:57
subclasses, they have backgrounds. It is
17:00
they are all in on 5D compatibility, but
17:02
it feels like 5e compatible sci-fi is
17:04
having kind of a moment right now
17:06
>> um between Traveler and the and the ones
17:09
we've talked about in previous episodes.
17:11
>> See, I I love sci-fi, so I'm always glad
17:14
to see more sci-fi. It just it seems
17:16
like a weird a weird transition to me.
17:19
It's it for all the things that Phil
17:22
said, I I kind of just echo them. It
17:26
feels weird, but also we're kind of in a
17:29
world where,
17:30
>> and we've talked about this before,
17:33
getting people to try a new game is
17:35
hard. getting people to try a game that
17:39
is classless or is looser on the rules
17:42
or is a little more fluid
17:45
>> is even more difficult uh to try to
17:48
introduce them to if all they know is D
17:50
and D fifth edition.
17:52
>> So
17:53
>> with sci-fi having this sort of like
17:55
resurgence, which I'm a-okay with. I
17:58
love it. um
18:00
>> and trying to transition people or get
18:03
their attention who have all they know
18:06
is fifth edition. It makes sense. I
18:08
don't necessarily care for it because of
18:11
that because I think it sort of it
18:13
becomes a game that isn't Traveler to
18:15
me. Um but also I understand that I'm
18:18
old and stuck in my ways. I'm not going
18:20
to, you know, I understand why I think
18:22
it'll be a good thing. It's just not
18:24
something that I will
18:26
>> I do want to call this one out though
18:27
for being one of the most expensive
18:30
tabletop Kickstarters I have ever seen.
18:33
>> The entrylevel bundle for just one core
18:36
rule book and the PDF is $100 USD.
18:40
>> Yeah. Which is
18:42
169 only gets you digital copies. You
18:45
are looking at $350
18:48
to get the full core rule books. Of
18:50
course. Then I went and looked at what
18:51
that costs in the current version of
18:53
Traveler and it's the same cost.
18:55
>> Yeah.
18:56
>> So, uh that's another obstacle in
18:58
getting people into Travelers. It costs
19:00
too much money.
19:02
>> Yeah. And I mean that also part of that
19:05
though is also because Traveler doesn't
19:07
tend to
19:09
so it is expensive but it kind of also
19:12
makes a little bit of sense because when
19:14
you purchase those books you're done.
19:17
You don't necessarily
19:19
see constant releases for Traveler. Not
19:24
the same that you see like modules for D
19:25
and D.
19:26
>> You don't. But for 350, I really got to
19:28
love the system and almost guarantee
19:30
it's going to a table.
19:31
>> I I agree. I I'm not I'm not disagreeing
19:33
with you, but it's it's it's a
19:35
mentality, right? And we've talked about
19:37
this with like video game price point
19:38
and and everything else. Um, one cost of
19:43
production is going up for printed
19:44
material. That's just unfortunately the
19:46
way it is now. Um so book prices are
19:49
increasing.
19:50
>> Two, if you're not producing a
19:53
consistent product that um keeps, you
19:57
know, every year, two years, 3 years
20:00
releases a new a new book, then your
20:03
company doesn't have a revenue pipeline,
20:06
right? It doesn't make sense. So you try
20:09
to maximize it. Again, I agree with you.
20:12
I'm not paying $350 for something uh
20:14
that I know isn't uh guaranteed to go
20:17
into play and that I'm not absolutely in
20:19
love with, but I can understand where
20:20
they're coming from.
20:21
>> Well, it is nice to have options. I
20:23
mean, that's the thing that the tabletop
20:25
gaming community is huge. It is varied.
20:27
There's a ton of different stuff out
20:29
there. And that's one of the things that
20:31
Kickstart and crowdfunding gives us is
20:34
letting people making games make more
20:36
games and sell them to people directly
20:38
instead of having to go through a giant
20:42
corporate entity.
20:44
Um, so there is one interesting one that
20:48
uh Matt called out called Ion Heart,
20:51
which is it's it's you know, it's that
20:54
classic story of you and your robot
20:57
buddy exploring the universe together
20:59
and having adventures. We all know this
21:01
classic story.
21:03
>> Of course, seen anime. It's exactly.
21:07
It's already available as a singleplayer
21:10
game, just a kind of a journaling based
21:12
storytelling game, but it's currently on
21:16
backer kit for a multiplayer expansion
21:19
designed to make it a full-on, you know,
21:22
play it at the table with all of your
21:23
friends kind of tabletop game. So, I I
21:26
love the vibes cuz it's, you know, it's
21:29
like you you think of the mech thing and
21:31
you think, you know, hard edges, lots of
21:33
combat, but this is a game that's not
21:35
like that. It's uh, you know, you could
21:38
go and solve things by going and
21:40
fighting or you could be diplomatic. You
21:42
can think you can you can go in all
21:45
sorts of different directions as the
21:46
game is designed and certainly as the
21:48
single player version is. Uh, so I do I
21:51
do wonder how that'll translate to
21:52
multiplayer, how that'll turn out. But I
21:56
love the vibes. It's it's kind of a cozy
21:58
robot game where you and your robot best
22:00
friend are, you know, traveling around
22:02
solving problems, maybe causing
22:04
problems. I don't know. I I am into this
22:07
one. I I am into this one. The the the
22:10
boy and robot genre.
22:13
>> I was peripherilally aware of Iron Hart
22:16
because I get ads for it on social
22:17
media. I don't think I realized until I
22:19
saw this Kickstarter that the original
22:21
Iron Heart was a solo game.
22:23
>> Yeah.
22:23
>> Yeah.
22:24
>> Uh this is kind of cool because you
22:25
don't usually see a lot of games go in
22:26
this direction. You see like solo
22:28
add-ons for multiplayer games. You don't
22:30
usually see a lot of of solo games get a
22:33
uh I will add that the the the moniker
22:35
they use is a lowfi mech game which ties
22:37
into their art aesthetic too. So, it's
22:39
kind of cool.
22:40
>> I do find it interesting that one of the
22:42
the things at least in the Becker kit is
22:45
uh a series of miniatures on hex
22:47
platforms with a hex map and a bunch of
22:50
status tokens and uh looks like mob
22:53
tokens as well or or and you know
22:56
antagonist tokens, protagonist um which
22:58
I think is really really interesting
23:00
because it gave me shades of a lighter
23:05
almost battlety vibe. Uh, not and it's
23:08
not a bad thing. Um, it's just something
23:10
that I I thought was very very
23:12
interesting. Uh, if nothing else, what I
23:15
did want from this is that tote bag
23:17
looks amazing. I want that tote bag very
23:19
very badly. It'll fit so many books in
23:21
it.
23:21
>> Absolutely. Uh, also add that this this
23:24
is not just a multiplayer add-on. This
23:26
also is set up to it can be a GMless
23:29
multiplayer game. So, that's kind of
23:31
cool.
23:31
>> Yeah. Yeah. And apparently if you back
23:32
the campaign, you get immediate access
23:34
to the uh the quick start rules for the
23:36
core uh the core of the gameplay, which
23:38
I think is
23:39
>> which I think is really interesting. And
23:41
again, like you said, that lowfi the art
23:42
style is actually really neat. Very very
23:44
minimalistic as far as uh colors go.
23:46
Very simple geometries, but it's got a
23:49
lot of heart to it. It reminds me a lot
23:50
of like 90 late 80s early 90s uh
23:54
tabletop books actually. Yeah, it's like
23:56
if you think of like the the typical
23:57
like vapor wave aesthetic and then like
23:59
pitch it a little more towards red. So
24:02
like lots of like lots of reds, uh,
24:04
beige backgrounds, lots of light blues,
24:07
lots of oranges and peaches. It's a very
24:09
cool very cool look.
24:10
>> So yeah, that's that's all I've got. I
24:13
know there are a few more here. Does
24:14
anyone have anything else on the list
24:16
they want to talk about? I mean, there's
24:18
a bunch of other ones that I think we're
24:19
we're interested in seeing, which I
24:21
Paragons, the role playing game, is
24:23
actually one that's on was on my radar.
24:25
Uh, it's
24:27
>> uh, again, the description that is is
24:30
given is probably the best way to to do
24:32
it is what if anime and manga was
24:35
smashed up with Western superheroes and
24:37
you threw in a sprinkling of uh,
24:39
paranormal and superhuman uh, like
24:42
antagonism in there. And it's meant to
24:45
be very fast-paced with uh a very combat
24:50
oriented uh as far as gameplay. And the
24:54
whole idea of it is it's supposed to
24:56
mimic uh the fluidity of action movies
25:00
like Spider-Man or my or anime like My
25:04
Hero Academia or Justice League like
25:07
things like that which I think is very
25:08
very interesting because one of the
25:09
things we talk about a lot is combat in
25:13
role playing games tends to take up a
25:17
lot of time. Even in streamline systems
25:20
it takes a lot of time. Um, and so
25:24
anything that you can do to make it more
25:25
fluid, um, and more engaging to multiple
25:29
people as they're sitting around waiting
25:30
for their turn to act, uh, definitely
25:32
catches my attention. And that's the
25:34
claim that they're making. Um, so I am
25:38
going to try to get my hands on uh, the
25:41
PDF for it and see if I can read through
25:43
it.
25:44
>> Uh, because I do think that it has
25:46
potential to be very, very interesting.
25:49
And with again, we've talked about some
25:50
other superhero books that are are
25:52
coming out very very soon. Um like the
25:56
uh wow, I can't even think of the name
25:58
now. My brain is just absolutely fried.
26:01
Um yeah, like like outgun coming out.
26:03
Like superheroes are still a thing even
26:05
though they may be a little more uh
26:08
maybe played out for a bunch of folks.
26:10
So we've been definitely oversaturated
26:12
with them as of late. But I think things
26:14
that look at streamlining the game and
26:17
maybe using that as their set dressing,
26:19
making the game more engaging are
26:22
potentially very interesting. So again,
26:24
something I'll be looking forward to uh
26:26
getting trying to get my hand. So yeah,
26:28
I think that unless there's anything
26:29
else uh from the Kickstarter stuff, we
26:31
can move on to our next one, which is uh
26:34
one that Phil beat me to uh putting the
26:37
notes in here. Uh literally was on my
26:39
list to throw in there and then Phil got
26:41
it there first. So, I'll kick it over to
26:43
Phil.
26:44
>> Uh, gotcha. Because I have more uh hours
26:47
in the day to randomly add things to our
26:49
topic list. Um, I was able to add that
26:52
uh Square Enix and Darkhorse Books are
26:54
teaming up to bring the Octopath
26:56
Traveler uh tabletop role playing game
26:58
to English-speaking audiences.
27:02
Uh this game is uh it's been available
27:04
in Japanese for a while and there have
27:06
been a couple fan translations, but this
27:08
is the first official uh release of the
27:11
game system in English. And it is
27:13
bringing the games official uh the the
27:16
setting of I think we're up to three
27:17
games now between 1, two, and zero.
27:19
>> Yep.
27:20
>> Uh uh bringing Orstera and a 2d6based
27:24
rules system uh to the west. And it is
27:29
uh it offers both character creation and
27:31
also uh pre-built characters. So now you
27:33
can see how uh characters from the first
27:36
two games that have been stacked out
27:37
into the system. We don't have a lot of
27:39
details right now. Um but uh it's 328
27:45
pages and set to be priced at 60 bucks.
27:47
Should be out in October of this year.
27:49
Hopefully we'll have more out from
27:50
Darkhorse this year.
27:51
>> Yeah, I'm really really really excited
27:54
about it. Uh Darkhorse tends to move
27:55
pretty quickly. Uh, so if they're doing
27:57
the translation and everything now, I
28:00
would not be surprised to see it before
28:03
the end of the year. I'm not obviously
28:05
we don't know. Um, but I wouldn't be
28:08
surprised. And again, the art looks like
28:10
it's exactly like you would expect from
28:11
the game. It's gorgeous with that
28:13
watercolor
28:15
uh sort of handketched aesthetic. Uh,
28:18
it's going to be an absolutely beautiful
28:20
book. Uh, and I'm I cannot wait for
28:23
this. I am I am so so on board for um I
28:29
think that they're saying theoretically
28:30
that it's going to be available I think
28:32
Darkhorse is targeting October of this
28:34
year.
28:35
>> Um and I think it's what 60 USD is their
28:38
targeted MSRP.
28:39
>> Mhm. So uh if anybody is wondering what
28:42
to get me for my birthday this year,
28:43
which is also constantly in October now
28:45
you know.
28:46
>> Uh Yep. Yep. Yep. I'm waiting for our
28:48
distributors to have it so I can order
28:50
some for the shop and one specifically
28:51
for me.
28:53
Yeah. Uh, I don't know if you have any
28:56
passing interest in that at all, Liz.
28:58
>> I mean, I haven't played Octopath
29:00
Traveler, so I'm kind of
29:02
>> Fair enough.
29:02
>> I I have I'm I'm neither interested nor
29:05
disinterested.
29:06
>> That's fair. Uh, something that might
29:08
interest you, maybe. I don't know. We'll
29:11
see. Uh, the RS Magic 5e core rules are
29:14
now available for free in Markdown
29:16
format. Uh, Phil, would you like to
29:19
explain what this is? Yeah, I didn't
29:22
know about the origin of this until this
29:24
week. Um, so apparently at some point
29:27
Atlas Games made the entirety of Arts
29:29
Magic of Fifth Edition, all 53 books of
29:32
it, available under the Creative Commons
29:34
license.
29:35
>> Yeah.
29:35
>> Um, and then someone has been
29:37
transferring it uh from whatever format
29:40
they're using, which I believe might
29:41
just be Word documents into Markdown for
29:44
your choice. Uh, you know, you can bring
29:45
it into a text editor, you can use it in
29:47
something like Obsidian. Um, just a
29:50
really nice like easy to read, easy to
29:53
abuse across multiple devices and it's
29:55
text so it's fairly lightweight um uh
29:58
format but somebody yeah somebody has
30:01
ported the core rules of uh from the
30:04
from their original word document format
30:06
here to uh text. So yeah, there's
30:11
this is just really cool cuz RS Magika
30:13
is just like RS Magika is one of those
30:16
games where uh it it may not be like one
30:18
of the most mainstream names, but it's
30:20
such a huge role playing game in terms
30:22
of what it's like. It brought things
30:24
like the idea of troop play where you're
30:26
not playing the same character at all
30:27
times. It's brought the uh one of the
30:29
coolest magic systems. Um, like
30:33
obviously since you're playing primarily
30:35
wizards uh in an alternate medieval
30:37
Europe, you obviously want to, you know,
30:39
a magic system that's flexible and
30:40
interesting and like this combines a
30:43
noun verb system to give you very very
30:46
broad control over what kind of like
30:48
over what you can do with magic as you
30:50
would expect for, you know, extremely
30:51
powerful wizards. Um, yeah, and it's
30:56
just, this is a really, ours Magica is a
30:59
really cool game, and I'm really glad to
31:00
see it distributed in formats that make
31:02
it easier for more people to get,
31:03
especially for free. Um, kind of the
31:06
flip side of what we were talking about
31:07
with the Traveler. This is this is a
31:08
whole game that you can just go and grab
31:10
and start playing today. So,
31:12
>> turns out when people are fans of a game
31:15
and are left to their own devices and
31:17
nothing new is coming out for that game,
31:19
they will go out of their way to make
31:20
sure that it happens. Uh
31:24
yeah, and I I believe this person is in
31:26
the process of converting the other 52
31:28
books now, but the uh the core rules are
31:31
definitely in there. Um the definitive
31:33
edition core book is 582 pages. I
31:36
mentioned that it was lightweight. It's
31:37
actually too big for GitHub to render
31:39
it, which is where they're storing it
31:40
all online.
31:42
But uh another nice version of it being
31:44
markdown is you can view it in a in you
31:46
know editors that will render it as like
31:48
like a web page which means you also get
31:50
like clickable links and all those nice
31:51
things that we usually associate with
31:53
like you know high-end fully produced
31:54
PDFs but like this is like a reference
31:56
document with interlinking that you
31:58
could use more easily to play the game.
32:00
So
32:01
>> yeah which fans
32:02
>> very very very very neat. Um yeah I
32:05
thought that might be interesting for
32:07
some of those some folks out there. Uh,
32:09
and then another one that I thought was
32:10
interesting or at least newsworthy, uh,
32:13
Daggerheart the core set is now
32:15
available on Fantasy Grounds. Uh, if you
32:17
don't know Fantasy Grounds, but you know
32:19
what Roll 20 is, uh, it is essentially
32:22
an alternative to Roll 20. Um, it is,
32:26
you know, a virtual tabletop system that
32:28
a lot of of nonD games have embraced.
32:33
Uh, and this just happens to be the
32:35
latest one of them. So, with the corset
32:38
of Dagger Heart now available on Fantasy
32:40
Grounds, you can now run it with all of
32:42
the mechanics intact, uh, which I think
32:45
is really, really neat. And I believe
32:46
Fantasy Grounds does integrate with, uh,
32:49
Demilane,
32:50
uh, which means that your characters
32:52
that you create there and the data you
32:53
have there is now fully this virtual
32:55
table. So, I think that's really neat.
32:58
Um, and Fantasy Grounds is one of those.
33:00
It It's a very cool virtual tabletop.
33:04
Lot of flexible tools. Um, it has one of
33:07
the largest libraries of licensed game
33:11
content that isn't D and D. Um, which is
33:15
really cool and a lot of integrated
33:16
stuff like audio and like uh things for
33:19
setting the mood like uh for for like
33:21
getting audio playing for your players.
33:23
A bunch of really cool stuff. So, if
33:25
you're interested in Daggerheart and
33:26
you're looking to play with people that
33:28
are maybe not next to you in the same
33:30
room, uh maybe they're a little bit far
33:32
away, maybe consider looking at Fantasy
33:34
Grounds in the future, might might have
33:36
exactly what you need. Uh the other
33:38
thing that I found that I thought was
33:40
also interesting, we we had talked about
33:42
this a couple episodes ago where there
33:45
seemed to be more horror adjacent
33:48
content coming for
33:50
>> uh Wizards of the Coast. Turns out it's
33:53
not a source book, or at least not one
33:55
of them is not a source book. Um, there
33:57
is a four-part Ravenloft comic incoming,
34:01
uh, which I found through work, uh,
34:04
because of course I did, uh, because we
34:07
got solicited for it now for people that
34:09
want issue one. And in August of this
34:13
year, the first issue in conjunction
34:16
with Darkhorse Comics uh will be the
34:20
first trip, first foray into the Dread
34:22
Domains of Ravenloft in fully beautiful
34:26
colorized version. Um and it's got some
34:29
decent names associated with it, too. Uh
34:31
the first issue has or at least all of
34:34
them. You have Amy, Aurelia, Cristian,
34:36
uh Christristantina.
34:39
Words are hard, folks. uh Araf Prianto
34:41
and Haley Ros Leon who have uh done a
34:44
lot of the other I think believe they
34:45
were associated with I want to say it
34:47
was the Castlevania stuff at one point
34:49
when you can see a lot of that influence
34:50
here. Um yeah, I'm I'm super here for
34:54
and I also think it's cool that they
34:55
showed us all the covers available for
34:57
the first issue which is always great
35:00
for me because I like alternate art and
35:02
I can already see one that I need to get
35:04
my hands.
35:06
I'm also really excited that this is an
35:09
in-depth look at a part of Ravenloft
35:11
that we haven't gotten to see in the
35:13
fifth edition stuff which has been
35:14
primarily concentrated on Strod and on
35:17
Bovia and on his little corner of the
35:19
dark realms but this one specifically
35:22
like you know there was info about the
35:24
other ones but that it's Ravenloft is
35:26
primarily the Ravenloft product line is
35:28
primarily focused on Bovia um but like
35:32
this one is straight up uh set in
35:35
Mortnut in in Lamortia, the home of Dark
35:39
Lord Victor Mortenheim.
35:42
>> Uh, this is this is cool. This is cool
35:44
getting to see something something
35:45
that's not Strod for a while. Let him go
35:47
bird in his castle for a bit. We got we
35:49
got other stuff going on.
35:51
>> I mean, isn't that just what he does
35:53
full-time?
35:54
>> Yeah, pretty much. He's a professional.
35:55
>> That's part of the job. Exactly.
35:58
>> Yeah, but I think that's I think
36:00
>> Go ahead, Liz.
36:01
>> I just building weird rooms in his
36:03
castle to confuse people.
36:05
>> Yeah.
36:06
I I think it's you're right on the money
36:08
there though too, Phil. It's one of the
36:10
things that I think a lot of people have
36:11
forgotten over the years is that
36:13
Ravenloft is a rather expansive
36:16
setting. It's not just Strad and Bovia.
36:19
There's a lot of other stuff, a lot of
36:21
other areas because at least in the the
36:24
old books, and I haven't really gone
36:25
through the new D and D stuff, like the
36:27
domains of Dread are right against the
36:29
the essentially the the Shadowlands,
36:31
right? or
36:33
>> um they're this in between demil
36:36
essentially state where the living and
36:39
the dead coexist. Um and it reads all or
36:43
breeds all sorts of interesting and
36:44
weird storytelling uh that isn't just
36:47
here's a vampire in his castle. Like
36:49
there's so many other cool things. Um Go
36:53
ahead.
36:53
>> No, I was gonna say there's, you know,
36:55
there's stuff with like weird
36:56
constructs. There's
36:58
>> very cool stuff like in certain realms
37:00
with uh like you know hag covens doing
37:03
weird stuff and seeming seeming
37:05
benevolent in the way that a hag can do.
37:07
>> Uh there's one that I always like to
37:09
talk about that is the entire realm is
37:11
just a blasted lightning struck meteoric
37:14
wasteland. Um but if you go underground
37:17
to the caves that you know tunnel
37:19
through it it's nothing but feral
37:21
ilithids down there. So, like there's a
37:24
lot of stuff under the Ravenloft banner
37:26
because they the dark powers
37:28
historically would kind of pull in
37:30
anyone
37:31
uh I guess evil enough and like build a
37:34
realm around them.
37:36
>> And that's that's always been kind of a
37:38
cool mythos. And and beyond that too,
37:41
like from a real world standpoint,
37:43
Ravenloft when it was first conceived uh
37:46
generally became almost like the
37:48
universal movie monster living space for
37:50
D and D
37:51
>> where like you had your your your Victor
37:54
Frankenstein and the Frankenstein
37:56
monster
37:57
>> um equivalent. You had the mummy
37:59
equivalent. That's there's a whole uh
38:01
the tomb of Cyclops. Uh this the
38:04
Cyclopian mummy tomb, I think is what it
38:06
was. I still have that box somewhere.
38:09
Um, like they went through like all of
38:11
the movie monsters from Universal, all
38:13
the classic stuff and made realms around
38:15
them.
38:16
>> Uh, which I thought was always
38:17
interesting. And all we ever hear about
38:19
is Strod, who is basically Dracula with
38:21
the serial numbers file.
38:22
>> Yep. I I remember Tom when you had equal
38:25
chances of hearing Strod or Lord Soth.
38:27
>> Yes.
38:28
>> Yeah.
38:29
>> I've got to say uh the cover art here is
38:32
great and you were talking about the
38:33
variance. Uh, man, I've got to say cover
38:37
C has a big hammer horror movie vibe.
38:40
Like, this could be a hammer horror
38:42
movie poster. And
38:44
>> that is the cover. That's the cover
38:46
vibes here.
38:46
>> That's the cover I've already reserved
38:48
for myself on our polls.
38:50
>> Like, I needed it because I love the old
38:52
Hammer movies and I was like, I saw that
38:54
I was like, yes,
38:55
>> that's 100% the vibe. It looks so cool.
38:58
>> Yeah, I C C and E definitely my
39:00
favorites.
39:00
>> Yeah, highly recommend you take a look
39:02
at them uh if you get a chance. Uh the
39:04
the covers are posted everywhere. Uh I
39:06
recommend looking up the covers on
39:08
League of Comic Geeks, uh which is a
39:11
resource if you are a comic fan that not
39:14
only tells you what comics are coming
39:16
out where, what covers are available for
39:18
those comics, it also lets you set up a
39:20
poll list with your local comic store of
39:23
choice if they are on the application.
39:25
And if they're not, you can recommend
39:27
that they sign up for it. It's free. Uh,
39:29
and then you can do your pull list and
39:30
manage your pull list yourself through
39:33
that app for free, which I can tell you
39:36
as somebody who helps run a comic shop,
39:38
man, it's nice not having to worry about
39:40
8,000 spreadsheets.
39:44
>> You're here. Uh, also in the realm of
39:47
well, forgotten things, uh, the
39:49
Forgotten Realms Guide to the Dale Lands
39:51
has been delayed. Uh, we talked about
39:53
this before. Uh this is uh the source
39:56
book by Ed Greenwood uh for his version
39:59
of the Dale lands which you know he
40:02
essentially helped make a real thing. Um
40:06
and we're waiting for the guide to the
40:08
Dale lands which is a regional source
40:10
book for both DMs and players. It's the
40:12
first book in the series and it has been
40:15
pushed back to quarter two of this year
40:17
and they're hoping to release it in
40:19
June. Hoping. Again, printing and
40:22
shipping is getting weird. It might get
40:24
delayed even later than that. And this
40:26
is the first of four books in the
40:28
series.
40:29
>> Yeah. I I was wondering what the reason
40:31
was and wondering is this a printing a
40:33
distribution issue? Do you think that's
40:34
likely?
40:35
>> Almost assuredly. Um,
40:37
>> yeah.
40:38
>> So, it the the interesting thing for me
40:41
is that it getting delayed
40:43
is also curious because they were going
40:45
to simultaneously release it on the DM's
40:47
Guild and I think they're pushing that
40:50
back as well, which from a marketing
40:52
standpoint makes sense. You want to
40:54
release the PDFs and the books at the
40:56
same time,
40:57
>> especially if you've already paid for
40:59
the printing of said books. Um, but also
41:02
it makes it a little bittersweet because
41:04
uh this is something I absolutely would
41:07
have grabbed in PDF first and then seen
41:08
if I wanted to keep it in uh physical.
41:11
So, but yeah, and then after this one,
41:13
sorry, go ahead, Phil.
41:14
>> Yeah. See, yeah, I guess it's smart.
41:16
They don't really want to cannibalize
41:17
their own sales by having people get the
41:18
PDFs and then just decide maybe they
41:20
don't necessarily want the physical
41:21
version.
41:21
>> Yeah, because you you eat a lot of money
41:23
on shipping when it comes to books like
41:24
this. Like the freight cost alone is
41:26
absolutely insane. And if distributors
41:29
have to sit on them, they will generally
41:31
not do business with you in the future
41:33
uh if that product did not move. Uh but
41:35
after the guide to the Dale lands, we
41:37
have the insights of the Dalelands,
41:38
which will be coming out after that. Uh
41:40
which will be again, as a reminder,
41:42
geared towards social encounters. Um
41:44
it's a big book of not just ins, but
41:47
NPCs, miniames, and social occasions
41:49
like festivals and tournaments. So you
41:51
can have non-combat things to do with
41:53
your players. Something I love doing.
41:56
And this will be an instant purchase
41:57
book for uh just because I need more
41:59
stuff to add to that repertoire. Uh
42:01
Delves of the Dalelands, a collection of
42:03
dangerous locations to service. Fodder
42:05
for adventurers. If you've ever played a
42:07
delve in World of Warcraft, it is a mini
42:09
dungeon. Those are what delves are. Um
42:11
Adventures in the Dales is an anthology
42:13
of adventures for levels 1 to 12, which
42:15
will be the last book in the series uh
42:17
that we'll release, which if you're into
42:19
the module, absolutely fantastic. But
42:21
yeah, uh think that was it from my side.
42:25
And Liz, you had something that you
42:26
added here that I didn't know about. Uh
42:30
>> I I did. I've noticed that just in the
42:32
past month, uh Wizards of the Coast has
42:34
started posting the DND animated series
42:36
to YouTube, which I'm sure you could
42:39
have found it somewhere on YouTube
42:40
before now, but now it's officially
42:42
posting the DND TV series to YouTube. I
42:46
I have never watched this. Have either
42:49
of you watched this in the past?
42:51
>> Yes. like like voraciously consumed it
42:54
every week on Saturday morning
42:58
>> when I was a kid. Um so
43:01
>> whereas this completely missed me when I
43:03
was a kid. I I don't know how but it
43:06
did.
43:06
>> What would you say to someone viewing
43:08
this for the first time in the year
43:10
2026?
43:12
>> Go in with extremely low expectations.
43:15
Um
43:18
>> Um So that tracks
43:20
>> Yeah. So, so it was a weird er era where
43:22
this was created where uh it first aired
43:25
in 1983
43:27
um and only ran 27 episodes from 83 to
43:31
85. So, two seasons essentially. Um and
43:34
the core concept is the bunch of kids go
43:37
to an amusement park. They go on this
43:38
Dungeons and Dragons ride and they're
43:40
transported to the Forgotten Realms
43:41
where they meet this little impish mage
43:43
called the m the uh the game master or
43:45
the dungeon master. Can't remember
43:47
which. I think it might have been
43:48
dungeon master at the time. uh where
43:50
they have to go and and uh essentially
43:52
save the Forgotten Realms. They go on a
43:54
D and D style adventure, but they're
43:56
just kids. Um so it it was very much
44:01
geared towards making it seem less like
44:05
it was coming off the the height of the
44:07
satanic panic essentially and making it
44:10
like this is not evil. Kids are learning
44:13
to be her heroes and adventurers and to
44:16
fight and stand up against evil. Um, a
44:19
lot of the stuff you see referenced in
44:22
the D and D movie that was just recently
44:24
released not too long ago, couple years
44:26
ago at this point, Honor Among Thieves,
44:28
there are a lot of references that
44:29
reference specifically this cartoon.
44:32
>> The other party going into the maze for
44:34
the games is the party from this
44:36
cartoon. Um, they're just older and
44:39
grown up instead of being kids. Um, but
44:43
it's it's fun. It's it's a fun time. Uh,
44:46
but don't go into it expecting like high
44:48
fantasy. It's it's exactly what you
44:51
would expect from an 80s adventure
44:54
cartoon show
44:56
>> with with names like Presto the Magician
44:58
and Eric the Cavalier and Bobby the
45:00
Barbarian. Like these are their
45:02
character names.
45:05
>> I do want to call out a comment on one
45:07
of these on YouTube. One of the top
45:09
comments is, "Please let this be some
45:11
kind of attempt to gauge interest in a
45:13
con uh continuation/sequel
45:16
series for streaming Allah X-Men 97,"
45:19
which
45:20
>> I would absolutely lose my mind if they
45:22
did that because it never got a proper
45:24
ending. Um, also because and I don't
45:27
know that it can happen anymore because
45:29
two of the key voice actors are gone or
45:32
at least not really doing work anymore.
45:34
Um because there are two very very
45:36
distinct voices in here that everybody
45:38
will know. One Frank Welker who was the
45:41
voice of Tiamat in this in this animated
45:44
show.
45:45
>> What a surprise. Frank Welker in an 80s
45:47
cartoon everybody.
45:49
>> Uh and then you had uh prolific.
45:51
>> And then you had Peter Cullen as Wenger
45:53
uh who you know of course cuz Peter
45:55
Cullen um but yeah just just absolute
45:59
great like distillation of 80s cartoons.
46:02
So, if they're releasing it for free on
46:04
YouTube, highly recommend if you like D
46:06
and D, give it a shot. Like, just don't
46:09
go in expecting anything too crazy. It's
46:11
again, if you've seen like Thunder the
46:14
Barbarian or uh Space Ghost or anything
46:17
like that, it's very much in that same
46:18
vein of animation.
46:20
>> Yeah, there are 11 episodes up right now
46:23
uh on
46:23
>> 16 to go.
46:27
I'm actually really surprised I got the
46:28
rights back because CBS owned the rights
46:30
to that for a very very long time and
46:31
we're not letting go of it. Um, but
46:34
yeah, I think that's it for our news
46:35
topics this week unless there's anything
46:37
else you guys want to add in there.
46:38
>> All right. Well, it's going to bring us
46:41
to a listener question cuz yes, folks,
46:43
we got one.
46:44
>> Uh, and I do want to remind you that if
46:46
you have questions for this or any of
46:48
our podcasts, you can go ahead and send
46:49
those in podcastwatch.com.
46:52
specify the show that it is for in the
46:53
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46:55
pronunciation of your name. Uh you can
46:57
also hit us up on the discord. We have
47:00
the Q and podcast channel which or yeah
47:03
wow Q and podcast questions channel
47:05
which is open for everybody. Same rules
47:07
apply. And if you are a Patreon
47:08
subscriber, we have the patron Q and
47:10
podcast questions channel where we tend
47:12
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47:13
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47:15
And on that reminder, Blizzard Watch is
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47:19
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47:20
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47:22
Your continued support means that this
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47:25
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47:28
supporters exclusive benefits like early
47:30
access to all of our podcast, a better
47:32
chance to have your question answered on
47:33
our podcast, and it adds free site
47:35
experience. So, without further ado, uh
47:39
this one comes from Kevin. Thank you,
47:41
Kevin. What's the story with Dragon
47:43
Lance fading into the background? It may
47:45
just be my confirmation bias, but I
47:48
would argue that Dragon Lance was the
47:49
flagship D and D property through the
47:51
mid 80s to 90s. It got several gold box
47:54
game treatments, and at one point, I
47:56
think I had around 15 books on my shelf
47:58
from that world setting. It had a
48:00
cartoon movie, too. And then it seems
48:02
like it went all the way around the time
48:03
Balders's Gate, uh, at the time of
48:05
Balders Gate and hasn't really been
48:07
since. I remember y'all discussing a
48:09
source book coming for 5e maybe last
48:11
year, but it seems more of a footnote
48:12
than anything else. Is there any
48:14
particular reason why Dragon Lance
48:15
disappeared from the mainstream? I'd
48:17
love to hear your thoughts. Um, there's
48:20
an actual answer and then a cultural
48:22
answer. Um, and feel free to jump in,
48:25
Phil. You might know about this stuff,
48:26
too. But first, it was a rights issue.
48:28
So, the original creators of Dragon
48:30
Lance, uh, they were they owned
48:34
everything. Uh so this was Tracy Hickman
48:36
and Margaret Margaret Weiss. Uh so in uh
48:40
1982 while they had joined TSR um the
48:45
world of Crin, which is the world that
48:48
Dragon Lance takes place in was theirs.
48:50
They had the rights of it. And so when
48:52
TSR folded and was bought out by Wizards
48:55
of the Coast, um they didn't get rights
48:59
to Dragon Lance. And so when this
49:02
happened around the time of third
49:04
edition, give or take three 3.5, you'll
49:07
notice that there are dragon books that
49:09
did release during that time frame, but
49:11
none of them were Dragon Lance because
49:12
uh Hickman and Weiss would not give
49:14
rights to Wizards for it. Um
49:18
>> uh there was there was one Dragon Lance
49:20
book released fairly late in third
49:23
edition before the move to 3.5 because I
49:25
had it.
49:27
Uh, and I think that was also was that
49:29
third party though?
49:30
>> Uh, I think so. I think that was uh I
49:33
think it was segment of mice going
49:34
through somebody else, not through
49:35
Watsi.
49:35
>> Yeah, I want to say because it was the
49:36
Dragon War, which is uh I think that was
49:39
what it was. Um, but I think it was a
49:42
third party publishing under the SRD.
49:44
Um, so yay. Um, then they reached an
49:50
agreement. They did not reach an
49:51
agreement for fourth edition. they
49:52
wanted to release a Dragon Lance uh book
49:56
for fourth edition, but the way that the
49:58
game was being presented, there was this
50:01
prevailing thought from a lot of the
50:02
people that owned rights to some of the
50:04
the more um involved campaign settings
50:08
that it wasn't a good fit and they
50:10
didn't want to essentially be associated
50:12
with it. So again, we see Hickman and
50:15
Weiss not giving the rights for it and
50:18
not publishing a third party book during
50:20
this time. Um then fifth edition
50:22
releases. Fifth edition takes everything
50:24
by storm. Um it's wildly successful. Uh
50:28
combines a lot of good elements of third
50:30
edition and second edition. Like uh
50:32
subasses are essentially player kits
50:34
from second edition just made to not be
50:37
as confusing. Still confusing just not
50:39
as confusing. Um and they had released a
50:43
bunch of dragon supporting books or
50:45
books that involve dragons. your first
50:47
campaign actually involves like the the
50:50
very introductory one ultimately t lines
50:52
up like involving like a green dragon
50:54
your classic stereotype. Um Hickman and
50:56
Wise then reach an agreement with
50:58
Wizards of the Coast uh because during
51:00
this time frame Wizards wants to just or
51:02
Hasbro in this particular case just
51:04
wants to buy the rights. They don't want
51:06
to license the rights. They want to own
51:08
Dragon Lance. And if you own that IP of
51:12
what you have so very accurately
51:14
portrayed as a poster child for high
51:17
sorcery and and and high adventure magic
51:20
in the fantasy genre of the 80s to the
51:23
'9s, you're not going to sell that and
51:26
you're not going to sell it to a mega
51:27
corporation that's not either a going to
51:29
give you enough money for to to matter
51:32
and b if they're going to produce it,
51:34
they're going to make way more money
51:35
than you ever did uh off of your own
51:38
blood, sweat, and tears and then they
51:40
get to do whatever they want with it.
51:43
Cannibalize it, cut it apart, put it
51:46
into other pieces. Um, which we had seen
51:49
Hasbro and Wizards doing over the course
51:52
of years with other books, but they
51:54
reached an agreement where Hickman and
51:56
Wise still had the rights to it and
51:58
essentially license it as a book through
52:02
publication with Wizards and fifth
52:04
edition. And the reason that you didn't
52:07
hear a lot about it, and this is the
52:10
cultural one, is because Hasbro can be
52:15
incredibly petty. There was no
52:17
advertising or push for this book
52:19
whatsoever.
52:20
So, while the agreement was reached and
52:22
the book got produced, nobody heard
52:25
about it unless you were really, really
52:27
deep into the weeds or follow Hickman
52:30
and Weiss. And I know that at our shop,
52:34
we had a lot of people ask about it
52:36
because they were all in the same age
52:38
bracket to be of that mindset of
52:40
remembering Dragon Lance during the
52:42
glory days of the 80s and '90s when it
52:45
was the defining fantasy genre like
52:49
setting and so many of the other ideas
52:52
that we saw and some of the like even
52:54
Balders's Gate. A lot of that stuff was
52:56
was sort of cribbed from Dragon Lance to
52:59
begin with. it was what it was built of.
53:01
So, it's not necessarily that it's a
53:03
footnote. It's and and again, this seems
53:06
maybe hypercritical
53:08
and maybe it's earned. Hasbro doesn't
53:11
quite understand the fact that they
53:13
produce games and at the end of the day,
53:18
it's not going to make them a ton of
53:19
money. They're going to ignore it.
53:21
they're not going to give it additional
53:22
printings or and if they do, they're
53:24
going to hold to the letter of whatever
53:25
contract or agreement they and because
53:27
they can't cannibalize it, you're
53:29
probably only going to never get that
53:30
one printing of the book or whatever the
53:32
contract states that they have to print
53:33
it for. It might be like three or five
53:35
years. Um, that said, it's available.
53:38
You go walk into a local game store, I
53:40
guarantee you they have at least one or
53:42
two copies on the shelf. I have three.
53:45
Uh, I have two of the fancy cover and
53:47
one of the regular cover. Uh, and you
53:50
know that's after selling through
53:52
probably two or three cases of them. Um,
53:55
so like they're there. They're available
53:57
and if you're something you're very
53:59
interested in, I highly recommend you
54:01
picking it up, especially because once
54:03
it's gone and once that term of contract
54:04
for print is done, it's probably not
54:06
going to be printed. At least not until
54:08
either they do it themselves, which is a
54:10
possibility once whatever contract they
54:13
signed is over because I'm also sure
54:14
that that's a factor as well. um where
54:17
they can produce that content again for
54:19
Dragon Lance on their own. You'll
54:22
probably see just like we see with a
54:24
bunch of these other 5e compatible
54:25
Kickstarters and backer kits. I would
54:28
not be surprised if they throw something
54:29
up and we get a uh Dragon Lance 55 or uh
54:36
a Dragon Lance definitive edition where
54:38
it gives you all the SRD compatible
54:40
rules uh or the o open gaming license
54:43
rules, whatever you want to call it
54:44
these days. uh with that campaign
54:46
setting for you. Uh Peruse, I think I
54:49
got everything. Did I miss anything
54:51
else?
54:52
>> No. Although I am gonna correct
54:53
something I said earlier. Uh the Dragon
54:55
Lance campaign setting was published by
54:57
Watsy, but Tracy Hickman was actually
54:59
not involved. This was in 2003. Uh
55:02
Margaret Weiss was the primary author
55:03
and Don Perin was the uh co-author. Uh,
55:07
and this was actually it was actually
55:09
Dragon Lance prior to the War of the
55:11
Lance even because then they published
55:14
three uh three setting books.
55:17
>> One for the Age of Mortals, one for the
55:19
War of the Lance and one that was
55:20
specifically focused on the Majir Twins.
55:22
And then they actually had a whole like
55:25
>> uh a three-part campaign uh by
55:28
Christopher Coyle and Cam Banks that was
55:30
just the Age of Mortals. So that's fun.
55:34
>> Yeah.
55:34
>> Um Yeah. But then that kind of I
55:37
remember being so excited but yeah but
55:39
then it the last one was in 2006 with a
55:42
tasselhoff focused accessory and then we
55:45
didn't get a thing again until 2022. I
55:48
remember being so excited for Shadow of
55:49
the Dragon Queen that I rew reread
55:51
Dragon Lance Chronicles
55:53
>> which just reminded me that Tannis Elvin
55:55
sucks.
55:58
>> He's just the worst protagonist.
56:03
But uh yeah, I would I'd say the other
56:06
reason is because like like Hasbro
56:08
really wants to focus entirely on one
56:10
setting. They've spent all of 5e
56:12
pretending that literally everything in
56:13
the D&D multiverse is connected to the
56:15
realms and like strongarming it into
56:17
that and kind of pretending nothing else
56:19
exists. Um yeah, which is why we're just
56:22
now starting to see like Joe was talking
56:24
about Raven Loft getting connected to
56:26
the Shadow Fell. Raven Loft was never
56:27
connected to anything before. That was
56:28
part of the reason it was so hard to get
56:29
in or get out. So,
56:31
>> you know, that's part of that's another
56:33
part of the reason they didn't want to
56:34
focus on something like Dragon Lance is
56:35
because it's an entirely separate
56:37
campaign world that they can't tie back
56:38
to their existing Forgotten
56:40
Realmscentric products.
56:42
>> Yeah. And and I would also like to point
56:44
out too that uh I believe the Dragon
56:47
Lance novels are still either being
56:49
republished or still going. Um because I
56:53
think there was one released I think it
56:55
was the Dragons of Eternity was just
56:57
released as recently as 2024. doesn't
57:00
sound recent uh because of the year
57:01
we're in, but I guarantee you um that's
57:06
pretty recent for a book in a
57:08
longstanding series.
57:10
>> Yep. That came that was book three in
57:13
Dragon Lance Destinies, whatever that
57:15
is. And it was a trilogy in August of
57:17
2024.
57:18
>> Yeah, cuz they started releasing only
57:20
trilogies of Dragon Lance books in 2000.
57:23
um with the War of the Souls trilogy,
57:25
then you have the Dark Disciple trilogy,
57:26
then you have the Destiny's trilogy, uh
57:29
which I believe was Dragons of Deceit,
57:30
Dragons of Fate, and then uh uh yeah,
57:33
the Dragons of the Eternity. So, like
57:35
they're still making content for it.
57:37
It's still there.
57:38
>> Yeah. Let me tell you, if you want some
57:39
content though, folks, and you never
57:40
read it, for about 20 bucks, you can get
57:43
a hardcover copy of The Dragon Lance
57:44
Chronicles featuring uh Dragons of
57:46
Autumn Twilight, Dragons of Winter
57:48
Night, and Dragons of Spring Dawning. Go
57:50
read it. do yourself a favor because
57:51
it's such a cool it's such a cool
57:54
product of its time because these were
57:56
being written at the same time that the
57:58
adventure modules were being written and
58:00
it kind of shows if you go back and read
58:02
the original Dragon Lance products from
58:03
like the 80s but it's it was one of the
58:06
first times that they ever attempted to
58:07
have like this cool like m it it's what
58:10
we would know as like it's a multimedia
58:12
franchise now. You got books, you got
58:14
you had games coming out. I'm sure if
58:16
they had, you know, the budget to make a
58:18
TV show that was better than the uh the
58:20
the um the cartoon, they probably would
58:22
have made that too at the same time. Um
58:25
it's still a really entertaining read,
58:27
even if Tannis Hell even sucks. Um and
58:30
it's just a really fun I it's really fun
58:33
fantasy. It's it's a fantasy series that
58:35
still stands up, which is not something
58:37
you can say about a lot of products from
58:38
their time.
58:39
>> I I will agree with that. I also say
58:41
that if you don't want to read them, um,
58:44
they are available on audiobook, they
58:46
were transcribed, I want to say it was
58:48
like 2012, 2013, something like this.
58:51
So, they're a little bit older. Um, but
58:53
they're likely available at your local
58:55
library as well, cuz don't forget your
58:57
local libraries have gaming books. Um,
59:00
they have they have PDFs of this stuff
59:02
for for loan. They also have audio books
59:05
for loan. Uh, so you can load up Libby
59:08
and uh get your hands on the Dragon
59:10
Lance Chronicles because I can almost
59:11
guarantee you it's not checked out. Um,
59:14
it's but I but I echo Phil. Uh, I would
59:19
highly recommend if you're into that the
59:20
fantasy stuff, if you're into sort of
59:22
like that era of fantasy, highly
59:25
recommend the original trilogy. Um, it's
59:28
like Game of Thrones but in my opinion
59:30
better. And I will I I will say that
59:33
>> without without like the dark creepy
59:35
crap. Uh it's it's
59:37
>> a little bit of dark.
59:38
>> It's a little bit not in the same way
59:40
that uh Ice and Fire gets, but you know,
59:43
you've got like you've got you've got a
59:45
war that's looming. You've got heroes
59:47
who are not necessarily heroes. They're,
59:50
you know, just people that happen to be
59:52
in the right place at the right time,
59:53
and some of them just uh get out of
59:55
there, Raceland. Um
59:59
um it's got some of the most iconic
1:00:01
fantasy characters uh that D&D has ever
1:00:03
produced and it's yeah it's it's well
1:00:06
worth at least reading those. Maybe if
1:00:07
you really want to, you can check out
1:00:08
some of their products on the DM Guild
1:00:10
as part of them putting up literally
1:00:12
everything from their past. Although I
1:00:14
will note that some of the Dragon Lance
1:00:16
products, the maps got scanned absurdly
1:00:20
when they were putting them over to the
1:00:21
PDF format and are probably not worth
1:00:23
it. But um yeah, just a really fun line
1:00:26
to check out and I yeah
1:00:28
>> yeah,
1:00:29
>> thanks for taking us down this little
1:00:30
nostalgic road there, Kevin.
1:00:31
>> Definitely appreciate it. Thank you very
1:00:33
much for that question, Kevin. And uh
1:00:35
yeah, I think that's going to do it for
1:00:38
us today, friends. Uh we appreciate you
1:00:40
joining us on this journey and we will
1:00:43
catch you next time.