Greetings, Gamers!
As I write this, I’m sitting in a hotel in Charlotte, NC, the same one that I stay at in Novembers when I attend MACE/MythicCon. This time, however, I’m with my oldest son, and we’re in town to look at nearby colleges. I’ll have a senior in high school this year… crazy how time flies.
Anyway, I’m sitting here wishing November would hurry up and get here because November and MACE/MythicCon is something I look forward to every year. I’m missing Southern Fried Game Expo this year (in Atlanta), and that was a real bummer, but it’s just four months until this hotel is filled with gamers. (Right now, it’s quiet as it can be and the parking lot is near empty compared to November.) If you have a chance to make MythicCon this year (Nov 8-10), I highly encourage you to be here… small con (700ish attendees???), HUGE fan base and lots of gaming. More info here.
Now… on to the fun stuff.
*** Disclaimer: some product links in the newsletter are Amazon affiliate links ***
RPGs
Toby Lancaster has just put PDFs of his new 2D6 Realm book into the hands of backers. I got my copy, and I finally finished reading it. It is going to be AWESOME! I love 2D6 Dungeon (my videos are here), and this book adds the elements of outdoor exploration and land management. I know… sounds strange, but it works. I’m already working on some new gameplay videos. I’m also looking forward to getting my paperback copy of the rules and the supporting game cards.
If you’ve got a moment, go vote for your favorite independent games and their creators for the 2024 ENnies. You can vote here. Only one week left! A list of nominees is here.
I used to use Trello for managing my weekly D&D game, and then I started using it to keep track with my Monster of the Week game. Even though it was useful (especially on my iPad), I started falling away from it slowly… until I was just using a notebook again. But a friend recently pointed me to Obsidian, and I have to say… I’m impressed, especially after watching this video from Mike Shea (The Lazy DM). I’ve been looking for something to help me manage a new Shadowdark campaign because I haven’t been able to get Notion where I want it, and I think I may have found my answer. Any Obsidian users out there for RPGs? I’d love to know your thoughts and tips - send to jimsworkshop@fastmail.com - thanks!
WARGAMING
The This is Not a Test wargame is now available for pre-order by Black Site Studio. This is via BSS’ own private crowdsourcing they call the Backroom. I’ve participated in two BSS Backroom fundraisers in the past, and they delivered. I’m still on the fence about this one - BSS makes some great games and I own a bunch of them - but I’m leaning towards just grabbing the PDF. More info here.
CARD GAMES
I don’t play a lot of card games, but one that I rarely miss is my weekly Marvel Champions game with some local friends. While I tend to favor playing Iron Man or Rocket Raccoon or Colossus, I have to admit there are a few upcoming hero decks that I’m really looking forward to — the main one is Nightcrawler, but Fantasy Flight has just announced that Magneto (hero) is being released in November 2024. I’ve always liked the Magneto character, but being able to play him as a hero is going to be great.
TERRAIN
Woo Hoo! LV427-Designs just announced they’re doing some redesigns of some of their 3D printable terrain. From the announcement: Okay, it's time to make all our fans happy with this announcement. Some of our designs will be getting completely redone and updated. . In fact, they will feel like a new design for you to enjoy. The new revisions will be provided free to those that purchased them.
I’ve already printed some up, and I’m getting ready to go 100% on a bunch of printing. Stay tuned for pictures.
SOLO GAMING
If you’re into solo gaming as much as I am, I encourage you to check out my new Patreon, The Tabletop Engineer’s Gaming Workshop. For almost two years now, I’ve been producing solo playthrough videos for my The Tabletop Engineer Plays YouTube channel, and I’m not stopping! But YouTube is making it harder and harder to make any kind of revenue, and my monthly revenue has dropped to around $100 for 4000+ hours of monthly video content and 28,000+ views. I love making playthrough videos, but it’s been getting harder to justify the amount of time I put into the endeavor. Enter Patreon! Now, I can offer both public videos (on the YouTube channel) and private playthrough videos for my Patrons. Games available to my Patrons will include Frostgrave, Stargrave, D100 Space, HeroQuest, Five Parsecs from Home, and more. I’ve already got some free content posted up there (see my Bug Hunt video below), but videos will begin releasing on August 1, 2024. If you like my videos and are able to do so, I would love to have you as a Patron! Thanks!
CRAFTING
Whether you play HeroQuest or not, you’ve GOT to watch this incredible crafting video for an entry diorama to the new expansion, Jungles of Delthrak. This is a true fan of the game! Some really nice crafting techniques here!
A GREAT video on dry brushing was just released by Midwinter Minis. Covers both vehicles and miniature figures as well as some terrain, and the examples provided are perfect.
LOVECRAFT/MYTHOS
Normally, playing cards are not something of which I give much thought. But Chtulhu playing cards? Yes, please. I do have a couple in my possession, but I’m always on the lookout for more. And that’s why I’m grabbing a Necronomicon copy of this deck… the yellowed paper… the nasty greens. Oh, yeah, no brainer. I don’t need the poker chips or the mat… just those amazing cards.
Now I just need to find a Cthulhu solo game that uses cards instead of dice. Anyone know of one?
GASLANDS VEHICLE OF THE WEEK
This week’s Gaslands vehicle comes from Geoff Burbidge - “You think you hate it now… just wait until you drive it.” The leash! It’s got the broken leash! Edna should be wrapped in a blanket, but I’ll forgive the error.
YOUTUBE
I play WAY TOO MANY wargames, and between tokens, dice, and other game-related items that need to be stored, I’ve been looking at storage boxes at the hardware store. But then… THIS video appeared in my feed, and now I’m hooked on playing with this free Bento app. If you have a 3D printer, check this out - you can design your own custom trays (with lids) for storing your gaming stuff. You can change sizes, lengths, depths, and layout… it’s pretty slick. The video below will show you some of how it works.
LIFE GAMIFICATION
I’m over the COVID I caught a few weeks back, but it REALLY hit me hard in terms of my stamina. I’ve been trying to get back to a normal walking routine each day, but in the Atlanta heat it’s become very difficult. I was ahead in the race, but now I’m 55% with 55% of the time elapsed. I only have 25 days to walk 17 miles… doesn’t sound bad, but even in the evenings, it’s been in the mid to upper 80s (F) and the humidity wears you down. I’m going to finish this 3rd part, though… Mines of Moria will be completed on time, and I’ll be 3/5 of the way to Mordor! More info on the LotR Challenge here.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
I’ve been toying around with an idea for a solo wargame for some time now. I can’t say anything specific, but I’d say I’m about 80% done with it and ready to start testing. This is something new for me… I’ve mostly just written tech books and gaming zines, but this is the first game I’ve ever done. I’ll be providing more info in future newsletters as I can, but I’m quite excited that this project is coming to a close soon.
See you next week.
Jim
You can find my zines and laser-cut terrain at thetabletopengineer.bigcartel.com - 10% off to newsletter readers with code RPGWGNEWS.
Digital copies of all my zines can be found on DrivethruRPG.
My game play-through videos can be found here.
The YouTube Channel name is The Tabletop Engineer Plays
For cards (but not expressly Cthulhu), Exuviae maybe?
Probably time to add the Patreon to the newsletter footer, too. 😁
25 days to walk 17 miles - like, per day or something?