The virus continues to dominate the news, hitting conventions, crowdfunding campaigns and businesses. But we’re also seeing support coming from all over as gamers go online to stand together and play together.
News is otherwise a little scant this week: a smattering of reports, a few new product launches, very few new crowdfunding campaigns. It feels like the industry is hunkering down to get through this.
Admittedly, so are we. James & I are still here, still okay, still gaming. We have been fortunate enough that we can continue to work from home, so our days are in that uncanny valley of normal-but-not. But we are okay.
We hope you’re staying safe out there. Drop us a line! Tell us your quarantine coping mechanisms. Are you making a sourdough starter? Reading a bucket-list book? Bingeing an old favourite?
Look after each other, friends. — Amy
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ICv2 reports a 23% growth in RPG industry sales in 2019.
Chaosium releases a System Reference Document and announces an Open Game License for Basic Roleplaying.
Explorer’s Guide to Wildemount hits no. 1 on the Publishers Weekly Best-Sellers list for Hardcover Nonfiction, and on the Wall Street Journal Best-Sellers list for Non-Fiction.
Coronavirus
The Impact
Onyx Path cancels the Legendlore Kickstarter in the light of the Pandemic.
Wizards of the Coast has suspended all In-Store play for Dungeons & Dragons and Magic the Gathering.
Alliance Game Distributors is shutting down until further notice.
Asmodee is delaying all new releases until at least May 1st.
Paizo has cancelled PaizoCon 2020.
Support
Contessa offers a list of safety tools for games played online.
Rolling for Initiative looks at what retailers can do to weather the pandemic.
Japanime Games will give 50% of online purchases to brick & mortar stores.
Folks are reading the Dungeon Master’s Guide out loud on Twitter.
New & Upcoming Releases
Chaosium releases the second edition of Chris Spivey’s Harlem Unbound.
I have been dying for this one! — Amy
Modiphius releases Dishonored: The Roleplaying Game in PDF.
The Gauntlet releases Brindlewood Bay in PDF on DriveThruRPG.
Goodman Games announces Dungeon Crawl Classics: Dying Earth, a sourcebook for the Dying Earth novels by Jack Vance.
Bundles & Deals
Goodman Games is running a sale on its products on virtual tabletop, Fantasy Grounds.
Onyx Path is running a sale on several product lines.
Dungeon Masters Guild is offering bundles of D&D titles in aid of Doctors Without Borders.
Bundle of Holding is offering a bundle of Solo RPGs.
Paizo is offering 25% off on PDFs.
Pinnacle Entertainment is offering a free bundle of Deadlands books.
Crowdfunding
A quiet week, with very few projects launching during the pandemic. It will be interesting to see if this continues or if projects start to creep back over the coming weeks.
Closing Soon
Vampire: The Masquerade – Vendetta has currently raised €170,000 from 3,700 backers, putting it well behind last month’s VtM – Chapters (which raised over $1 million from 6,000 backers). These are still strong numbers nevertheless. Ends April 1st.
Beam Saber has currently raised 67,000CAD ($48,000) from 1,300 backers. A Gundam-inspired setting, the project uses the Forged in the Dark system which was first developed for Blades in the Dark but seems to have quite a few innovations of its own. Ends April 1st.
5e & Pathfinder
Fate of the Oracle: A Greek myth-inspired 5e adventure for levels 1 to 5, by Arcana Games (The Frost Papers, Arkadia) — April 2nd
The Complete Illustrated Book of Evocation: An illustrated book of Evocation spells for 5e, by Phil Stone (The Complete Illustrated Book of Conjuration, The Complete Illustrated Book of Divination, The Complete Illustrated Book of Necromancy) — April 13th
Accessories
Deadlands Audio Collection: A collection of background audio loops and music for weird west games, by Wes Otis (Professional MP3 Background Loops for Role-Playing Games, Pro Tabletop Gaming Audio Collection, The Midgard Audio Collection) — March 31st
This update was made possible by Eric, Keenan Collett, and the rest of our Patreon supporters.
I work at one of the few 24/7 veterinary hospitals in NYC and coming to work has been an increasing challenge. One silver lining is that since everyone on the subway trains is spread out, I can now play my Nintendo 3DS with the sound on and no one is sitting next to me to complain about the volume disturbing them 🙂
Hah! Nice. What have you been playing?