Kinda tossing all of my blog plans out the window today. I’ll finish the Shadowdark dungeon I started very soon. It’s on my list of things to accomplish sometime before July 4th. I really just want to talk about a lot of random things again today. Let’s do a bullet point roundup of random TTRPG items, shall we? Please remember these are my opinions for the most part. Do as you will. Your mileage may vary.

  • A popular person in the D&D sphere on Twitter was asked what her favorite game was besides D&D and she said, “4E.” And that made me think back to what a couple of other people have been saying lately. All things considered, 4E was not that bad.

    I like 4E Warhammer Fantasy, RPG too, but no one talks much about it. LOL! I’m looking forward to picking up the hardcover eventually and then probably jury rigging a 5E setting or something.

    Seriously, had it not been for the WotC closed game license and desperate attempt to emulate World of Warcraft, which was originally an emulation of Warhammer Fantasy, maybe it would have been okay. The mechanics had a lot of new and innovative ideas that really haven’t been done much since. There were also a couple of truly amazing sourcebooks buried within 4E that I think every player and/or DM would be wise to have copies in their collections. More on that in later articles. These books really stand out if you remember 4E.
  • I might just go right through the screen at a couple of streamers if they continue the whole “I’m not a WotC shill,” facade and then turn right around and shill for WotC. Not to mention I’m really tired of hearing about the fabulous people that work at WotC and how wonderful the trip to Seattle was to the Content Creators’ Summit from people who are totally not shilling for WotC.

    They know who they are. They don’t read my blog, and there’s no sense name dropping them just to end up in a Twitter feud. WotC continues to reward those who are loyal to them. It’s all a big pile of bullsh🦆t.

    What really stinks is we got behind some of these same people for being Content Creators and doing so much for the community during the OGL Debacle of 2023, and now they’ve run right back to WotC for YouTube views and social media clout. It’s kinda disgusting in my opinion.
  • It’s okay, though. There are becoming some noticeable Paizo shills out there in the social media/streaming community, too. Again, not naming any names, but it’s becoming increasingly more apparent with some of these guys. No big deal, but let’s get a better sales pitch beyond, “At least we’re not WotC.”

    What’s great about Pathfinder 2E? Why are we looking forward to dropping another $250-ish dollars on new, revised core books in August/November? What’s cool about the Starfinder update? Yes, Starfinder and Pathfinder are cool, but what makes their game any better than the other 20 D&D clones that will be coming in the next six months to a year?
  • I’m dropping my OSE project for now in favor of some other ideas I want to work with. One, I’m afraid the OSR community is going to reject my ideas outright, which may be based in reality or not. And I’m also afraid maybe it’s all been done before. I dunno. Might come back to it after I do some digging.

    Maybe I’m getting burned out on fantasy again? It happens periodically. I want to maybe do some horror, sci-fi, mecha, and supers stuff before I come back. I’m not against any fantasy system or setting, but just tired of spells and elves currently.
  • Is the TTRPG hobby dying? CW Chanter made an interesting point about this in a recent livestream. If the company isn’t WotC, it’s still very much a cottage industry. Sure, some companies have a larger staff and facilities. They’ll still be around for a long time to come.

    But the rest of us? Tiny companies and individuals dropping an indie publication on Kickstarter just long enough to get hired by a larger company doth not an industry make. When the economy starts getting tighter, those game dollars are going to dry up and then it’s going to be all WotC, Paizo, Chaosium, maybe Modiphius, and a few other companies and then it’s just a quiet, casual hobby.

    Freelance work? Most of the “big” names I see, with little exception, are bouncing back and forth between Paizo and WotC right now. There doesn’t seem to be a whole lot out there for the rest of us that I hear about. Unless you can draw/paint/illustrate somehow. Writers? Not so much in demand as far as I can see.

    I still contend I’ll be playing out of my dead tree editions after they wheel my hoverchair into the old gamer’s home. Is everyone going to go virtual? If WotC’s Unreal VTT revolutionizes the way we play D&D, what’s going to happen to all the dead tree games? And the physical dice?

    The comments about the industry dying really got to me. I’d like to think we’ll still be enjoying TTRPGs 100 years from now. But, given the number of antiques, board games, and so on that we find from a century or two back that no one has ever heard of? Yeah. Maybe TTRPGs are going to become extinct. But not tomorrow. Not next year. I bet we have decades to go before it all ends.
  • I’m toying with an idea here on the blog. What if I put out an open call for interviews? It seems to be working well for another TTRPG blogger I know. I feel like that’s kinda her jam, but it might be fun to try out. Food for thought.
  • With all of the dozens of D&D clones coming between August 2023 and 2024, what’s going to happen to the hobby? Are we going to be able to afford all of the dozens of books that are coming out in the very near future? Daggerheart, Pathfinder Remastered, Shadowdark, Tales of the Valiant, Vagabond, and eventually D&D itself are all coming in the near future. Those are just the ones off the top of my head. How many people decided to design a game back in January?
  • #/brosr is trending again. Not trying to call attention to it. Contrary to popular OSR thought, there are other editions, other games, even other systems that do everything better. Yes, I like old school games. But when other editions and systems do the same thing only a little better? Grognard OSR just seems like a huge step back. No thanks. Not today.
  • Someone recently told me, “Don’t comment on the Unearthed Arcana playtest if you’re not going to buy the books anyway.” They’re absolutely right. Plenty of other projects right now.

    I mean, it does save on watching 5+ hour long livestreams talking about all the D&D changes. However, it is a chance to provide these WotC corporate Mcturds a chance to show them what we think of them, their game, and their nonsense. This “new, not-new” edition is becoming a massive joke. If they’re actually listening to our feedback, then why pass up and excuse to give it? And who knows? Maybe I’ll buy those nostalgic collector’s editions dead tree books.
  • Something to ponder- If the new Glory of the Giants thing is pushing $70 or $80 bucks, why wouldn’t I take the same currency and spend it on Call of Cthulhu or a fairly large heap of indie games on DrivethruRPG.com ?
  • Someone recently retweeted one of my comments about his work. I have to admit, I’ve become all drooling fanboy over this one. But when one of my TTRPG idols actually notices a comment I made? Holy crap. That’s amazing. That still blows my mind to no end. Dang.

    I suppose I should be wrapping things up. Thanks for being here. I couldn’t do it without all of you.