RPG & WARGAME NEWSLETTER #115
June 23, 2025
Greetings, Gamers!
This last weekend was Free-RPG Day; I missed it because I was at the Southern Fried Game Expo. But based on all the emails I got, there were a lot of cool giveaways if you managed to find a participating game store. I’ve included some links below to some PDFs that were given out, so hopefully the links are good beyond the Free-RPG Day.
Southern Fried was fun… and tiring. I have to spend a lot of energy at conventions because I’m really not into crowds. But I managed to get in quite a few games and got to visit with some folks I don’t see all that often. All in all, a good time.
Now, let’s get to the fun stuff.
RPGs
For Free RPG Day, I got some links that I’ll share below for some freebie downloads:
And a very detailed listing of more stuff (mixed in with the print stuff available thru game stores) can be found here (huge thanks to Egg Embry for creating it!).
I’ve been asked quite a bit these last few weeks about my thoughts on Daggerheart. It’s a new fantasy RPG from the crew over at Critical Role. I have to be honest here… I haven’t read a thing about it. I was told there’s a Quick Start guide, but I haven’t had a chance to go hunt it down. I do remember the announcement about it, and I’ve heard that Chris Perkins of WotC/D&D fame has joined the team. I’ve seen advertisements for it and such, but sorry… no thoughts or opinions here. I’ve seen the PDF rulebook for sale on DTRPG for $30 (a bit high, IMO) and I don’t know if the PDF is free for those who buy the print version… should be, so someone please let me know.
My two fantasy RPGs of choice (right now) are Shadowdark and Old-School Essentials. I run a game for each with my playtesters for the adventures I create for my Delver and Runes zines and I’ve been considering running a public game at the FLGS, but I just haven’t found the time to commit yet.
My suggestion to everyone is to find what you enjoy in an RPG… and play it! If you enjoy D&D 5E, play 5E! Pathfinder 1? Go for it! New games are great… old games are great. I can’t tell you whether you’ll enjoy Daggerheart or not… you’ll have to play it and decide for yourself.
If you’re a player of Mörk Borg or OSR games, you can pick up a free scenario for them here. It’s called Black Swamp Water, and here’s the description:
Once a sacred quarry for the builders of Stargazer Keep, Blackwater Swamp now seethes with a forgotten power. Beneath the mire slumbers the Swamp Colossus, a moss-cloaked demi-god bound to both the land and the last living druidess, Myriana. But something foul stirs. The Covenant of Thorns has seized Myriana and plans to twist her pact into a weapon of apocalyptic power. As a rare eclipse darkens the sky, the cult gathers to awaken the Colossus and bind its will to theirs. Will your players stop the ritual? Or drown in the madness rising from beneath the surface?
WARGAMING
More details about the next expansion book for Frostgrave that releases in August 2025: Advanced Spellcraft offers numerous new rules and ideas that bring more spellcasting possibilities to games of Frostgrave. Critical successes and failures for each basic spell are introduced, as are spell-specific flourishes that can be learned to enhance your magic. Create a Furious Quill that leaps from target to target, cast a Draining Word that affects an entire school of magic, or ensnare multiple zombies with Control Undead. Such flourishes take their toll, however, and to even learn such secrets will require you to venture into the Bibliosepulchre itself in a ten-scenario competitive campaign.
With hundreds of new tricks for wizards to learn, Advanced Spellcraft is the largest supplement to date, and is presented in celebration of Frostgrave's 10th anniversary.
TERRAIN
I’ve got a good collection of 3D printed terrain for fantasy games like Frostgrave, but I’m always looking for more. I’m in the middle of printing this new one called Ruined Citadel Gate that I cannot wait to paint up and apply the snow effect. You can find it here. It’s from My Dungeon on MyMiniFactory - take a look at their stuff… it looks great and I’m slowly adding their stuff to my terrain collection.
BOARD GAMES
A new expansion for Battle of the Ancients has been announced! It’s called Ghosts and Robots - you can watch the announcement video below. No release date that I can find, but Battle of the Ancients is such a cool game! I need to break it out and play it some more before the expansion drops. More info on the base game here.
I’ve recently restarted playing HeroQuest… I love the nostalgia of it, but also there have been a large number of expansions for it that can keep the game going and interesting. While I’m fine playing on the standard game board, I’ve been toying with the idea of creating a 3D board. Plenty of players have 3D printed a replacement game board with walls and such… and while I could do that with the board STL files from Dragon’s Rest or other providers, I’ve got another idea and I’m going to try and document it here as it develops. What is it? I have a laser cutter, and I’m leaning towards creating my own custom board from cut plywood. More details to come in future newsletters, but below is an image of how I am starting the project.
It begins with creating a simple SVG image. I’ll later add in colored lines - red for cutting, blue for a shallow line-cut, and pink/violet (not shown) for a deeper engrave. The walls will be (I think) about half an inch tall and will be tabbed and glued into the board. Doors will be made to slide down over the walls. I’ll likely trace the board graphics for the different floor patterns that will be engraved into the wood and then I’ll paint the individual rooms to match the original game board’s color schemes.
YOUTUBE
I grinned HUGE while backing this new game — We Played God from Black Site Studios. On a 100% completely different island a 100% completely different billionaire has revived dinosaurs… but they have 100% gotten out of control. Below is a video playthrough… this thing is gonna be FUN!
MINIATURES
Osprey Games and North Star Military Figures are releasing a new box of miniatures for Frostgrave called Cultists III. I mean, you can never have enough cultists in Frostgrave, right? Honestly, these boxes of sprues are some of my favorite products out there because you can mix and match the bodies, heads, weapons, and accessories to create really unique minis - and the sculpts for this box have been changed to create a more diverse selection for players. No release date yet.
Years ago, I backed a collection of fantasy minis called Fantasy Series 1 from Blacklist Games. It came with a TON of minis, 5x each of various enemies, too. Blacklist Games did its backers wrong when it failed to deliver on the Fantasy Series 2 Kickstarter (a REAL fiasco). They sold off the molds to another company (Wildspire) and the collection disappeared. Until now.
Wildspire has now released the minis as the Classic Encounters collection in three kits (one with all 125 and two kits split 65 in one and 60 in the other). Most of the creatures in the kit now comes with just 4x each, not 5x. But it’s the exact same collection of creatures from years ago, and I’m seriously considering buying the updated set because I'd always like to have more orcs, wolves, and such. You can find the first set here and the second set here. Well worth having in your collection!
(You can also get the two kits combined here for a lower price $80 versus $91 for Set 1 and Set 2.)
I continue to work on my miniatures for the Guards of Traitor’s Toll game. I’ve also glued up over half of the 24 townsfolk that will be needed to populate the play area of the game. I’ll share some photos next week of the various townsfolk in random stages of completion. In the game, you control a group of guards in the city of Traitor’s Toll looking for thieves, arsonists, and more.
LOVECRAFT/MYTHOS
WOO! The next installment in Aconyte’s Carl Sanford story is releasing on July 22! It’s called Twilight Magus and picks up right after the end of Herald of Ruin. From the book’s description:
Carl Sanford, once the Silver Twilight Lodge’s great leader and now presumed dead, lives in anonymity in Spain, plotting revenge against those who betrayed him. Alone, he calculates his first move to achieve power abroad is by being initiated into the mysterious ancient society called the Red Coterie to secretly take it over. Despite Sanford’s reputation, the Red Coterie demands proof of his occult prowess, sending him on a quest to vanquish The Blood Moon, a reclusive blood magus manipulating humans and monsters alike to achieve their own ends. As Sanford uses every scrap of cunning he possesses to outwit his enemies and prove his worth, old foes from Arkham have discovered his existence and are coming to finish him off once and for all.
CARD GAMES (FREEBIE)
This week’s custom card for Star Realms is the Nebula Mercs Corvette. You can download the PDF here.
CLOSING THOUGHTS
If you’re in the South Carolina area in late July, you might be interested in attending CoastalCon. It runs from July 25-26 in Beaufort, SC and my good friend, Mac, is the showrunner. It’s a small convention, but that’s what I loved about the times I was able to attend… just great fun and lots of good conversation and game play. I can’t attend this year, unfortunately, but it’s on my list for next year. More info here. Have a great convention, Mac!
See you next week!
Jim, The Tabletop Engineer
TO MY SUBSCRIBERS
If you know of a local and/or independent gaming convention, email me at jimsworkshop@fastmail.com to get it listed.
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Digital copies of all my zines can be found on DrivethruRPG.
My game play-through videos can be found here.
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