TTRPG Bullet Point Hot Takes.

It’s been a relatively quiet month.

Here are some of my observations from the TTRPG community this September:

Disclaimer: Statements expressed in this article are strictly my opinion. If you disagree or have a different opinion, that’s okay. I’m not an expert on everything. I’m not always right. I’m just writing from my experience as I know it. Your mileage may vary.

Could this meme be the new Planescape 5E cover?

There have been two really outstanding Anime inspired TTRPG releases on Kickstarter this month. One was Obojima: Tales from the Tall Grass for 5E. The other is from Will at DnD Shorts on YouTube and it’s called Ryoko’s Guide to the Yokai Realms also for 5E.
There are just some OSR and D&D YouTubers that should probably be avoided. I urge everyone to use their discernment when it comes to choosing who to hear quality content from. I know this seems strange to mention, but we’re still kinda recovering from the August-September dust-up among Old School and newer D&D players over the use of Safety Tools in TTTRPGs.
The Fabula Ultima Atlas: High Fantasy actually released in August, but it has become quite popular on DriveThruRPG since its release. I’m holding out for the print version. A lot of reviews have commented that this is not a traditional “atlas” with maps, etc. It’s more of a roadmap for running High Fantasy gameplay in Fabula Ultima. It reminds me of Record of the Lodoss War and Final Fantasy rolled into one. I’m excited to see what the author did.
Fryxgames, a primarily boardgame company, had come out in favor of using mostly AI artwork. This has caused a major uproar in the gaming community. Dungeons and Discourse covered it artfully in this video. The CEO of Fryxgames rolled back that statement as of September 21 and said they won’t be using AI art in More Terraforming Mars. I applaud them for listening to the fans and changing their approach.
Speaking of AI Art, Bigby Presents: Glory of the Giants has come and gone. As far as I can tell, it looks like Wizards of the Coast went straight into promoting the next product as quickly as they could. Is it selling? I’m not sure.
Phandelver and Below: The Shattered Obelisk came out with a loud uproar over Safety Tools this month. Some of us thought the warning should have come earlier in the book. Others not at all. I think it’s all a ruse to distract us from God-knows-what they’re doing behind the scenes.
That brings me to a point I will cover more completely elsewhere: WotC should sack the whole tabletop D&D design and editing team. They should start over with new talent, fresh ideas, different artwork, a new setting, and better editing.
Baldur’s Gate 3 continues being crammed down our throats continuously by YouTubers and social media content creators who used to cover tabletop roleplaying. Please come back to us. Please? Seriously. It’s getting old. Remember how Pathfinder 2E was becoming a thing?
I might get in trouble for this one, but speaking of PF2E– Has anyone else noticed they were pretty quick to announce not one, but FOUR new remastered core books after selling out of multiple print runs of PF2E core following the OGL debacle? Oh, and Starfinder Remastered followed by Starfinder 2E coming down the road. I’m not opposed to it, but talk about milking the cash cow.
Goodman Games has been promoting a new Grimtooth’s Traps product for Dungeon Crawl Classics coming “soon.” I’ve been holding my breath for this announcement for years. I’m a huge fan of the series from the old, original days up through 3^rd Edition D&D. I love traps.
Content Creator Mel of Agrimoor has been talking up Castles & Crusades from Troll Lord games a great deal on social media. The game is very reminiscent of AD&D 2^nd Ed in terms of gameplay. I enjoy C&C and I sincerely hope Mel keeps doing a good job with it. Her efforts are definitely one of the highlights of the OSR right now.
WotC will be releasing their new version of Planescape for 5E soon. Will it be the veritable wet fart that Spelljammer was or the kinda “meh” that Dragonlance managed to achieve? WotC’s pet content creators are already saying it’s the coolest thing since Strixhaven. I guess we’ll find out soon.