RPG & WARGAME NEWSLETTER #101
March 17, 2025
Greetings, Gamers!
I’ve just made a huge change to my gaming channel that focuses (mostly) on solo gaming, and this last week was just non-stop shooting of videos of gameplay. The change involves moving from Patreon to a YouTube membership model, and my hope is it will help cover the time I spend playing and editing and posting. This newsletter will always be free, but if you want to support the newsletter and/or my game channel, I’d love to have you as a member over at The Tabletop Engineer Plays YouTube channel. Just $0.99 a month gets you access to all my private gameplay videos, and there’s going to be a LOT of them coming out. For more info, visit my channel at http://www.youtube.com/@thetabletopengineerplays
Now, let’s get to the fun stuff.
RPGs
I’m still on the fence about backing the upcoming 2nd edition of ALIEN RPG. I have all the first edition material and love it, so just not sure yet. The KS will launch on March 25 and they announced the following:
Today, Free League unveiled the early pledge bonus in the Kickstarter: an exclusive cloth crew patch for the USCSS Fidanza, the starfreighter featured in Rapture Protocol, the new cinematic adventure to be released alongside the Evolved Edition.
I’m going to do a bit of venting here regarding an RPG crowdsourcing that I was actually interested in backing but… not any more. The game is Terraforming Mars: The RPG with an expected fulfillment date of June 2026. Over a year away. That alone is enough for me to say no thank you. As much as the game and setting is of interest to me, I want to talk about crowdsourcing bloat a bit when it comes to RPGs.
Now, when this was announced, the image shown was the single core rulebook, but since the BackerKit project was released? Well, take a look here.
Six books. SIX! Now, this isn’t anything out of the ordinary for an existing RPG that has had some time for players to test the game and grow the community of players, but coming OUT OF THE GATE with six books plus a whole bunch of other stuff that completionists will feel obligated to buy now? Where do I start?
First, let’s start with the digital option. $31US for the PDF of the core rulebook. Not out of line for a 200 page book. And $59 for a hardback core isn’t unrealistic either. (Although, to be fair, most hardback core rulebooks at my local gaming store are $60 retail, so I’m surprised there isn’t a price break here.) But here’s my gripe - $545US for the All-in that includes Print and PDF books. Look… if I buy the print copies, I expect to get the PDFs for free. At most, for 7 seven books (the all in, not counting the dice, dice tray, etc), the cost should be $60 x 7 or $420US AND include PDFs for free.
Second, the Wave 1 and Wave 2 thing. They’re offering up the additional books with no expected delivery date (that I can find) but you can pay now with the All-In. With just 8 days left in the fundraising (at the time I write this), they’ve only got 185 backers at the All-In level. (That’s NOT enough IMO to grow a community of players.) And, as with many crowdsourcing projects, I absolutely HATE projects with vapor-books… books that are mocked up but have not been developed yet. As someone who has worked on collaborative book writing projects, one writer can cause severe delays in a project, and I do NOT like to back vapor-projects. I am confident that some or all of these Wave 2 books haven’t even been developed yet. I could be wrong, but I suspect not.
Next, let’s talk about the swag stuff. Dice, dice tray, enamel pins, and journal book. This all screams cash-grab. Look - if you’re releasing a new RPG, you’ve got to test the waters to see if the game is even any good. In addition to all the books, now you’ve got items that really aren’t necessary to bump up the All-in price. Sticker book? Is that really necessary? A slipcase box for some books that (probably) aren’t even written yet?
And finally… the bad news. Shipping costs added LATER. This isn’t a surprise as most crowdsourcing projects are going this way where you get a second email later when a project is ready to ship expecting more money. (Anyone remember when KS started and your pledge included shipping costs?) The shipping estimates are likely to increase - right now, estimated $36 for US shipping of the All-In project but remember… 4x Wave 2 books NOT shipping with Wave 1, so expect another shipping bill.
I love the board game for Terraforming Mars, but what started out as excitement for a new RPG has really become a disappointment. I may be missing out on one AMAZING RPG, but I’m not willing to gamble $500+ on books that won’t ship in Wave 1. I’m not willing to pay for both Print AND PDFs when the PDFs should come free with all those books. And I’m not willing to wait over a year for Wave 1 stuff (and we all know how ship dates slip) for a game that isn’t even 100% finished right now. Let’s say the core rulebook was ready to go and you could get the PDF immediately after funding ends? That might convince me to give the game a try, but with everything I’ve written above… I’m going to pass. I wish the team luck as I believe the world needs more RPGs, but I guess I’ll be staying put on Earth and skipping Mars.
Players of Modiphius’ Star Trek Adventures RPG can pre-order the Technical Manual now. From the announcement: The Technical Manual is essential reading for any casual Star Trek fan or hardcore gamer interested in learning more about the wondrous technologies, ships, and weapons available to Starfleet personnel as well as members of many other species inhabiting the Star Trek universe, including the Klingons, Romulans, and Orions.
The pre-order also comes with a free PDF that delivers immediately. More info here.
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BOOKS
Look for a short review of this new book in an upcoming newsletter. If you’re not familiar with the lore of Polybius, click here. I can’t recall when I first heard about this arcade game, but I think it was in the early 2000s. As a kid of the arcade era, this game (or the rumor of it) always grabbed me. Gallery Books offered me an ARC (Advanced Reader Copy) of Polybius by Collin Armstrong, and I couldn’t say no. Pre-order here. Book releases on April 29, 2025.
In 5th grade, I was not a great reader. I didn’t enjoy it at all. But once a quarter, the Scholastic Book Bus came to our school and allowed us to go “shopping” inside for books that we might read. My parents sent me to school with $5 (a fortune at the time) and I came out of the bus with something recommended by the lady on the bus… but I didn’t quite understand. I bought it anyway because it sounded cool (a cave that allows you to time travel) and started to read it. I was hooked. My parents were so thrilled they bought me the next five books in the series, but the true work was done… I became an avid reader and could not be stopped. I just found out that the Cave of Time is being re-released, the very first Choose Your Own Adventure book! If you’ve got a kid who doesn’t like to read, I can’t guarantee this will work, but I can say it did for me. More info here. (And I still have my copy.)
YOUTUBE
Crooked Staff Terrain has a great video showing you how to create its papercraft shuttle. The full-color PDF file is available here for $1.29US.
LOVECRAFT/MYTHOS
Some 3D printable vehicles for any Lovecraft-style game? Yes, please. These look awesome… not sure if they’re meant for resin or FDM or both, but they are certainly something we don’t see much of in the 3D printable area. More info here.
If you’re new to Arkham Horror the Card Game (or considering trying it out), you might be interested in this well-done article introducing the concepts of deck building with respect to the card game. To be honest, an entire book could be written on the tactics, logic, play styles, and theories of the game, but this isn’t a bad start (hint, hint, Fantasy Flight Games).
Find the Arkham Horror TCG Core Game here.
WARGAMING
While I patiently (not really) wait for the solo rules for Battletech to release later this year, this mech game has caught my eye. Modular mechs that go together (with what looks likemagnets), a 60+ hour campaign, and cards and dice. Sounds awesome. More info here.
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CLOSING THOUGHTS
I’m completely blown away by the latest Kickstarter for the two-volume addition to Shadowdark. Kelsey Dionne, the game’s creator, has raised (at the time I write this) almost $1.5M (million!) for her indie fantasy RPG, and I not only want to say congratulations to her, but I also want to tell everyone who can listen just how great this game is — old school D&D mixed with newer rules mechanics plus some unique stuff to Shadowdark. Honestly, if you’re into fantasy RPGs, you really need to give this one a shot. This isn’t a paid endorsement or anything like that… I just love the game, and I love running it for my own players. It’s just an incredible set of rules that are simple and fast to get to the table. You can download the free starter kit if you want to check it out - click here.
Congrats, Kelsie, and well done!
See you next week!
Jim, The Tabletop Engineer
TO MY SUBSCRIBERS
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The YouTube Channel name is The Tabletop Engineer Plays
Sadly I have stopped backing overseas Kickstarters. The shipping is ridiculous. Polybus looks like a great book! Going on my TBR list! Keep the great newsletters and suggestions coming!