I’ve heard too much about supposed D&D breakers this week.

I’m suffering from fantasy burnout. Not the kind from running or playing in a TTRPG. The kind where I can’t handle hearing about yet another new or revised game coming to Kickstarter or splattered all over YouTube like cheap latex paint.

Fabula Ultima TTJRPG.

5. Fabula Ultima TTJRPG: This game emerged as one of the best TTJRPGs of 2023. They recently came out with the Atlas Techno Fantasy and Game Master’s Toolkit. I said a lot of nice things about this game when I first got into it. It’s a unique blend of Big Eyes, Small Mouth and Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay. I sincerely hope more people discover and get into this game. My review is here.

4. Dungeon Crawl Classics: This game is more beer and pretzels with all kinds of gonzo 1970’s fantasy tropes. I have had a lot of fun with this game in the past and I hope it keeps doing well. The one thing I admire about DCC is the consistency in the product. It does emulate old D&D quite nicely, though. The modules are pretty sweet. This is the link to my review.  

3. Old School Essentials: The full reviews are here for Advanced Player’s Tome and the Advanced Referee’s Tome. I have lots of glowing praise for this Old School Renaissance product. It reminds me of the good old AD&D 1E days. The game itself is fully compatible with Moldvay B/X D&D which a lot of us old codgers really look back on as the golden age of Gygax T$R. OSE is a loving tribute to those thrilling days of yesteryear only cleaned up for a new era.

Shadowdark RPG.

2. Shadowdark RPG by Kelsey Dionne. Link to the Arcane Library. (Side note: I still plan on producing more content for this game over on DriveThruRPG.com.) Shadowdark is the million dollar phoenix that rose from the ashes of The Great D&D Open Game License Debacle of 2023. It is a beautiful amalgam of 5E, Dungeon Crawl Classics, and Basic D&D. It’s no coincidence that this game’s creator played at the table of some of the great names in the TTRPG industry. Honestly, it’s one of my favorite all time fantasy TTRPGs. Link to my review here. Part 1 as well as Part 2.

1 Dragonbane RPG Mirth & Mayhem. I liked this game so much I wrote a six part review. The first part is here. The wonderful people at Free League Publishing (Fria Ligan om du är svensk.) have given us a game that combines Old School style gaming with a clean, crisp, well-tested set of rules. The Core Box, which I can’t stop talking about is on Free League’s site here. And on DriveThruRPG through my Affiliate Link.

Originally titled Drakar och Demoner, released in Sweden, from 1982 and based on Runequest RPG, Dragonbane is one of the most well-tested, well supported, loved TTRPGs on the market today. I’ve been able to find more rabid fans like myself on YouTube doing solo plays, actual plays, and review. I’ve fallen in love with Dragonbane as if it were the original red box counterpart from 1983 USA.

I’ve made a pile of characters for this game and I’m just loving the solo play. I’ve also got a supplement in the works already. The best thing about Dragonbane, system aside, aesthetics aside, history and publisher aside; it’s in our hands right now! We don’t have to wait for hours and hours of playtesting and Kickstarter fulfilment with no date attached.

Dragonbane is a fantasy TTRPG done right!

Dragonbane RPG is a perfect example of how to do a Core boxed set correctly!

Next time we’ll talk about a few games that are conspicuously missing from my list because they are either still in playtesting or just recently on Kickstarter and haven’t actually been produced yet. I also want to talk a little bit about why I’m just not excited about the new/not-new edition of D&D that’s coming in September and why I’ve lost all interest in Pathfinder 2E Remastered.

Thank you for being here today with me. I appreciate you. Please embrace the things that bring you the most joy.