RPG News, Sneak Peeks, and Deals – DriveThruStockArt?, Geist 1e Deals, and More

I receive, or uncover, a number of tabletop RPG news bites, sneak peaks, and deals (and rumors) through social media, message boards, IMs, and my in-box that are worth reporting on. What follows is a collection of these rumors (take them all with a grain of salt) as well as short hype pieces (sneak peek it and I’ll leak it). From time-to-time I’ll run these notes as a column.

 

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Stock Art from Fat Goblin Games

Rick Hershey of Fat Goblin Games (DriveThruRPG link / Open Gaming Store link) provides tabletop gaming companies with a boatload of the stock art that’s used in their publications. On Facebook, he discussed his desire for OneBookShelf (DriveThruRPG/RPGNow, etc) to create a stock art specific website. Based on his comments, prior to his FB post, Rick “sent the suggestion several times over the last few years. Not sure if it received anyone’s attention or not [at OBS].” As well, Rick noted “the percentages OBS takes on stock art is too high – just saying.”

During the discussion, John Reyst of the Open Gaming Store, a competitor of OBS, expressed interest in discussing this with Rick as did Chris Perrin who is developing a stock art and photography sales site. Alan Bahr of Tiny d6 offered the publisher perspective – “A different site would add extra steps for me and make me less likely to use it.”

Meredith Gerber – “DriveThruRPG Pub Relations” – posted that “I am reaching out to [Rick] right now about it, actually :)” Will Rick’s posting lead to a change for the tabletop stock art industry?

STATUS: Monitoring.

 

Disclosures: I freelance for Open Gaming Network, a subsidiary of John Reyst’s Open Gaming, LLC as is the Open Gaming Store. I use affiliate links to DriveThruRPG. I’ve bought and plan to use stock art from Fat Goblin Games.

 

Below is an abridged collection of screenshots of the discussion.

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Bryce Whitacre of Baker Street fame is actively developing a new game, Gnomes and Gnazis. He sent me an early draft of it and he announced it publicly on his Facebook (reprinted below).

STATUS: Developing.

Egg’s Note: This goes without saying, but I unabashedly condemn the original Nazi movement and it’s Neo-Nazi rebirth.

 

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This week, I had several RPG articles go live across the interwebs on:

  • Open Gaming Network: An interview with Grimtooth of Trapsylvania about his trap… er, Kickstarter, Grimtooth’s Trapsylvania. This is easily one of my favorite interviews and can be read here.
  • EN World: A review of the 7th Sea RPG Explorer’s Society PDF, Thomas G. Harrison’s Bloody Misadventures: Dramatic Battles on the High Seas, a 27-page manual detailing ship-related action sequences. Read it here.
  • Tessera Guild: A look at the OSR Kickstarters for Secrets of the Nethercity, Grimtooth’s Trapsylvania (second article this week), City of Brass, and SURVIVE THIS!! Vigilante City. Read it here.
  • Tessera Guild: Our second sneak peek for Wrath & Glory, Warhammer 40,000 Roleplay Core Rules See the art here.

 

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On Kickstarter, there are DEALS to be had!

 

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PATHFINDER RPG DARK FANTASY ADVENTURES COLLECTED – LVLS 1-14 – Back this campaign for a $1 (the $1-THE GHOUL WELL-PDF backer level) to get a PDF adventure:

THE GHOUL WELL-PDF
15 page Pathfinder adventure for beginning characters. Specially created for 1st level players. Not too easy, not too hard. It is made as a low-risk, short adventure that is designed to get new players hooked onto the Pathfinder RPG system. (this adventure is a complete, standalone adventure with no attachments to the core 7 adventure product)

Ends on . Find the campaign here.

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Neoclassical Geek Revival – Back it for a CA $1 (the NPC backer level) to get an art free PDF of the game, or back it for CA $5 (the Starting adventurer backer level) to get the PDF of the game with art.

Ends on . Find the campaign here.

A trio of books for the Neoclassical Geek Revival Roleplaying Game

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Once Geist: The Sin-Eaters 2nd Edition Kickstarter reaches $87k, the $10 level (the Lemure backer’s level) will nab you 10 Geist: The Sin-Eaters 1st Edition PDFs. For $5 more, you can add the Chronicles of Darkness core rulebook PDF. $15 gets 11 PDFs!

  • Geist: The Sin-Eaters 1st Edition PDF
  • Ready-Made Characters 1E PDF
  • Quickstart – Return of Mr. Monster 1E PDF
  • Through the Ebon Gate 1E PDF
  • World of Darkness: Book of the Dead PDF
  • Nightmare on Hill Manor 1E PDF
  • Dem Bones 1E PDF
  • House Always Wins 1E PDF

At $87,000 in funding – Underworld Reflections Historic Addition – Dark Eras: God’s Own Country PDF (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 1E set in post-WWII New Zealand) and Dark Eras: Three Kingdoms of Darkness PDF (Geist: The Sin-Eaters 1E set in China following the collapse of the Han dynasty) will be added to the Underworld Reflections 1E PDF Bundle.”

Ends on . Find the campaign here.

 

UPDATED [2018-07-14] – They passed the funding stretch goal and have made it official in this update (read it here).

 

 

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Disclosure: This article contains affiliate links.

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

Wanna-Lancer Opportunity – EN World Freelancer

This week, I’m looking at a success – I translated my wanna-lancer credits into a freelance opportunity and you can, too. Become a freelance RPG journalist through the open call on this major RPG news site. Read on for more details.

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EN World – Freelance Columnists Required!

EN World, one of the largest “DUNGEONS & DRAGONS and PATHFINDER RPG news” websites in the world, is looking for new contributors for their community-generated content program. They’re requesting pitches for ongoing 500-word articles examining RPG news, industry coverage, commentary on gaming and the gaming community, gamer-interest profiles, and focused reviews of games. It’s an exciting offer because, if they accept your pitch, it’s freelancer work that grows your RPG profile.

If you want to write about games and be paid for it, you can find their open call for freelance columnists here. Their guidelines and how to contact them are here.

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My favorite piece of art from the FirstFable Guide Book. Art by Charlie Bates

After reading about this opportunity, I pitched several column series ideas, and my wanna-lancer resume, to EN World. A portion of one of the ideas caught the submissions editor’s interest. He asked for a new pitch focusing on reviews for children’s games. I was stoked that he spotted a diamond in the rough. I re-wrote the pitch, he approved it. I wrote my first article, he had only short, helpful notes. I adjusted the article and the review, entitled Gaming at the Kids’ Table: The FirstFable RPG, can be read on EN World here.

My blog series on the Tessera Guild is about buying and building my RPG resume to move from a wanna-lancer to a freelancer. A big piece of the puzzle has been filled in with this freelance column on EN World. Does this mean that wanna-lancing is over? No. One assignment does not a freelancer make. But, it’s a positive step.

I want to thank EN World for offering this opportunity. A big thank you to Submissions Editor Christopher Helton for seeing something worth publishing. I also want to thank the Tessera Guild for letting me write here. Every article exercises the writing gears and helps get me ready for future assignments.

Thank you all!

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Egg Embry, Wanna-lancer™

Wanna-lancer™ Checklist T-shirt available at Cafepress

Interested in being a wanna-lancer? Start with the official Wanna-lancer Checklist t-shirt or wall clock or ice tea glass!

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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. His purchases have been published by: