RPG News, Press Releases, and Conventions – Wraith 5th Ed, Conan Lawsuit, The Fantasy Trip OGL, AetherCon VII, and more

RPG news is delivered in small bites and press releases throughout the week and, as best I can, I filter through them to focus on the under-reported odds and the ends. From White Wolf to Etsy, from upcoming conventions to legal rulings, this week there’s a lot to talk about.

 

NEWS BITES

  • At Gen Con, I had the opportunity to talk with both White Wolf and Onyx Path. While they White Wolf September as the month for a major Werewolf: The Apocalypse announcement, they preceded it on Facebook with a different revelation, Wraith: The Oblivion 5th Edition is on their agenda. What makes the announcement intriguing is Onyx Path’s Wraith: The Oblivion 20th Anniversary Edition (licensed from White Wolf) was Kickstarted and funded in January, 2015 with the PDFs of the core book available as of February, 2018 and the deluxe edition of WtO 20th being printed now. While it’s logical that, with the success of Vampire: The Masquerade 5th Edition White Wolf will move forward with their other major games, it’s aggressive to announce a new one is coming before the current edition has completed its roll out.

NOTE – There are several White Wolf press releases with even more information about Vampire: The Masquerade games linked below.

Status: Coming Soon!

  • Conan Properties International LLC has successfully sued artist Richardo Jove Sanchez over his unlicensed Conan miniatures. From Amanda Ottaway with Courthouse News Service, “Cracking down on the unauthorized sale of miniature Conan the Barbarian figurines, a federal judge hit a Spanish artist on Wednesday with a $21,000 copyright judgment.” The key point pulled from this is: “Senior U.S. District Judge Frederic Block called it erroneous Wednesday to treat “characters as separate and distinct copyright subject matter, divorced from the works in which they are embodied.”” While I’m not a lawyer and I may be misreading the tea leaves, this ruling could have consequences for “homage” projects or projects that use characters whose founding works are in the public domain, but whose later works are not.

Conan Properties entered a screenshot of this post into evidence to support its copyright claims over figurines of its character, Conan the Barbarian.”

Read the full article on Courthouse News Service here.

Status: Case Closed

Status: Funding

  • On ENWorld, I share a few freelance RPG and fiction writing jobs. Do you want to write superhero fiction or design anthropromorphic adventures, and get paid? Read it all here.

Status: Hiring

Status: Coming Soon From You!

  • Can’t wait until 2019 to create a game? Venger Satanis (Kort’thalis Publishing) announced he is “officially opening up my neo-quasi O5Rish rules-light vampire RPG [Blood Dark Thirst] to those interested in licensing that shit for FREE!!! Yes, you can write, publish, and reap all the rewards for your very own Blood Dark Thirst supplement, sourcebook, or scenario from now until January 1st of 2020.” I’ve spoken to at least one creator that is interested in producing a down and dirty product related to BDT. If you’re interested, you can read the full announcement here.

Status: Venger Satanis-ing

  • On Esty, OddForge is selling a dice tower that clips to your GM screen and can handle or two dice at a time. It’s a 3D printed product, economically sized and ready for your gaming table or a convention.

Status: I like dice towers

  • I’m a part of the CREATE YOUR OWN FANTASY RPG ADVENTURE – RPG RESOURCES BOOKS Kickstarter. Its creator, Matthew A. Bogdan, gave me a glowing write-up on the fifth update for the campaign. I’m humbled and inspired by his praise. Join the whole wide world and read all about me, me, ME! here.

FEMALE HALFLING ROGUE

FEMALE HALFLING ROGUE

Status: I’m proud to be a part of this project!

 

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EGG’S MUSINGS

  • I’ve been reading about the end of the Buffy, the Vampire Slayer license at Dark Horse Comics. It reminded me of Eden Studio’s BtVS and Angel RPGs. It’s interesting that they ceased to be in-print in 2006 but are still available as PDFs at commercial sites. I’ve wondered why this license has not been picked back up, then I see that the original RPG is still available and I wonder, with the BtVS reboot on the horizon, will another company pick up this game?

 

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CONVENTION NEWS BITES

  • Online convention, AetherCon VII, is recruiting publishing companies and GMs for their November 9th to the 11th, 2018 con. It’s online, it’s free, you run games, you *may* win swag.

 

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DEAL

  • Cubicle 7’s The One Ring – Tolkien done right in an RPG! – is on Humble Bundle for $15 for 20ish books and maps and a coupon. This is an unbelievable deal! Go, get it here!
    • The game’s awards include:
      • Lucca Games and Comics Fair 2012 – Best in Show
      • Golden Geek 2012 – Best Art and Presentation
      • Origins Awards 2012 Nomination for Best RPG
      • ENnie Awards 2012 – Silver – Best Production Values
      • ENnie Awards 2012 – Gold – Best Art
      • Golden Geeks 2012 – Best Art and Presentation Nominee

One does not simply skip this deal.

 

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PRESS RELEASES

 

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CREATE YOUR OWN FANTASY RPG ADVENTURE – RPG RESOURCES BOOKS by Dark by Dezign (DriveThruRPG or Open Gaming Store)
Ends on Fri, September 14 2018 2:00 PM EDT.

Disclaimer: I am a creator on this project.
“Contributing authors James Ward, Lenard Lakofka and more share some of their pro tips on how to create your first fantasy RPG adventure”
Looking for advice on how to create your tabletop RPG along with stock art to get you going? Learn from ” industry greats and legends James M. Ward, Lenard Lakofka, as well as exceptional talents such as Johnn Four, Rick Hershey, Lucus Palosaari, Kevin Watson, Bobby Nash and Egg Embry.” I’m excited to be a part of this project and offer my insights into the world of crowdfunding!

You can see examples of their work at DriveThruRPG here or at the OpenGamingStore here.

You can support this Kickstarter campaign here.

 

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Disclosures: This article contains affiliate links.

Egg Embry, Wanna-lancer™
Freelancer for EN WorldKnights of the Dinner TableOpen Gaming Network, and the Tessera Guild.
Want your RPG Kickstarter reviewed? Want to share news? Press releases? Rumors? Sneak peeks? Deals? Have some RPG wanna-lancer thoughts to share? Contact me here or on Facebook (Egg Embry) or on Google Plus (+Egg Embry).

About Egg Embry

Egg Embry wrote comic book short stories, edited comic book series, wrote and drew a webcomic, and contributed to comic book journalism across the 2000s. Now, he buys the opportunity to write for a variety of tabletop role-playing games in the tradition of vanity press. NOTE: Articles may includes affiliate links. As a DriveThruRPG Affiliate/Amazon Associate/Humble Partner I earn from qualifying purchases.
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2 Comments

  1. As a contemporary of H.P. Lovecraft, shouldn’t Robert E. Howard’s Conan be in the public domain by now?

    Anyway, thanks for the shout-out regarding Blood Dark Thirst! I know of at least 3 eager content creators who’re interested in publishing their own material for the game.

    • Happy to share the news! I’m curious to see what the other BDT creators produce!

      Howard created Conan in 1932 and the public domain cutoff is (generally) 1923. Since he’s a corporately owned character, he’ll likely never be PD, which hurts us all. I mean, Dracula is PD and there are many stories of his…

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