TTRPG News Roundup
Cool things other folks are saying and doing
Hi everyone (and welcome to all the new followers).
I want to take time out from writing about Lazy Wolf Studios to call attention to some interesting and worthwhile conversations and offerings happening elsewhere that you might enjoy.
To begin, Melestrua’s Musings has started an interesting series titled “The Evolution of D&D 5th Edition” in which they look at the 2014 DnD rules, the forthcoming 2024 edition of those rules (based on what is currently public), EnWorld’s Level Up! Advanced 5th Edition Adventurer’s Guide ( A5E for short), and Kobold Press’s recently released Tales of the Valiant Player’s Guide (ToV for short). The series is going to stick to these 5th edition Dungeons & Dragons derivative systems, and see how each of them compares to the 2014 and to each other.
In this first article, they look at character origins, examining how different systems have altered DnD’s classic race and background and where ability score bonuses come from. So for instance, in 2014 D&D, your character has a race, which grants ability bonuses, and a background, which grants additional languages, determines starting equipment, etc… In the 2024 edition, race is now called Species, and it is Background that grants ability bonuses. By contrast, A5E has Heritage (here meaning genetics), Culture (here meaning upbringing), and Background, with Background granting ability bonuses. And ToV has Lineage (here meaning genetics), Heritage (here meaning upbringing), and Background. In ToV, ability bonuses are applied at character creation independent of any of these, with the three categories providing other traits, proficiencies, languages, etc….
A bit to take in? Don’t worry. The best thing about Melestrua’s article is the handy chart at the end, which breaks this out in a very easily digestible information chunk! I found it quite helpful. I’m enjoying the read and look forward to more installments, and you might like it too.
Next up, Kobold Press CEO Wolfgang Baur was interviewed earlier last month on EnWorld. He answered a few questions about Tales of the Valiant’s recent releases and forthcoming products. And he does call out Lazy Wolf Studios (thank you, Wolfgang!). But what impressed me most was the latter half of the interview, where he talks about lessons learned in Kobold’s 18 years (know what your audience wants), the state of the industry (we are in a golden age), and gives a shout out to a lot of other publishers and game systems (very cool). The interview is short and worth your time.
Finally Mike Shea, the genius behind The Return of the Lazy Dungeon Master and co-author of The Lazy DM’s Forge of Foes), is launching a Kickstarter on August 8th for The City of Arches. Described as a high fantasy 5e city sourcebook, the City of Arches is a sort of nexus-space that is both a richly detailed campaign setting with lots of things to explore and adventure through, as well as a hub for adventurers that allows quick access to anywhere in the multiverse they might want to go. In this way, it’s a bit like Sigil or the Radiant Citadel. Lately I’ve been thinking a lot about these sort of “multiversal hubs.” Because this dovetails with my own interests, and because I love Mike’s work, I’ll be backing on day one. If it sounds like something you’re interested in, check it out and consider helping make it as big as it can be.
And that’s it. But they’ll be more soon, including (I’m hopeful) some very fun announcements. Until then!
