White Wolf has launched the Alpha 2.0 public playtest for the upcoming sixth edition of Vampire: The Masquerade, rolling back several major experimental mechanics introduced in the first playtest. The revised files went live on 9 November 2026 across Demiplane, Roll20, and DriveThruRPG alongside an open community survey scheduled to run until 2 December 2026.

The release marks a swift mechanical reversal by lead game designer Diogo and the design team following feedback from more than 1,000 playtesters. Alpha 1.0 attempted to merge Health and Vitae into a single operational gauge, removed Storyteller dice rolls in favour of player-facing target numbers, and introduced modern storygame mechanics like Drama and Quickening. In direct response to widespread criticism that these changes stripped away the dread of blood loss and made characters feel like superheroes, White Wolf has scrapped those systems and reinstated the classic structural chassis of the tabletop roleplaying game.

Health and Vitae split restores blood economy

The core point of friction in Alpha 1.0 was the unified Health and Vitae track. Because vampires lost blood to regenerate physical damage, using Discipline powers actively depleted life support. Players responded by hoarding blood and ignoring their vampiric powers entirely.

Alpha 2.0 decouples the two gauges. Vitae now functions purely as an energy pool for Disciplines, while Health tracks physical trauma. Hunger Dice also return to the table, though without the Rouse Checks familiar from fifth edition. Instead, players add Hunger Dice directly to their pools when they spend Vitae, streamlining resource expenditure without pausing the action for secondary checks.

Traditional Storyteller dice pools and mechanics return

Alpha 1.0 experimented with stripping rolls from Storytellers, shifting all randomisation to player-facing difficulty numbers. The design team has abandoned this approach.

Storytellers now roll for NPCs again, and difficulty levels no longer remove dice from a character’s pool. For tables that prefer rules with less rolling, the Taking Half rule remains available as an optional shortcut for passive challenges such as stealth.

Explaining the retreat from narrative-heavy rules, Diogo, lead game designer at White Wolf, said in a statement:

Drama and Quickening were an attempt to give players more control of the narrative, give Storytellers a tool to justify complications, and make the Storyteller a player, too. But in giving players more agency and trying to lighten the Storyteller’s load, we overcorrected. Horror needs players to lose control sometimes and feel smaller than the things they face. As we said last time, we like our failure with fangs.”

The storygame-style Drama pool is gone. Quickening, which players argued felt too heroic for personal gothic horror, has been replaced by spending Willpower to exceed limits. The Devil’s Bargain concept has shifted to the Beast’s Bargain, with complications offered strictly by the Storyteller as the Beast’s internal push.

Classic Humanity and Paths of Enlightenment

Alpha 1.0 treated the Humanity Scale as a two-directional track that players could manipulate tactically. Alpha 2.0 returns to the classic 10-box tracker representing the slow, inevitable downward slide into degeneration.

For characters seeking alternatives to moral decay, Paths of Enlightenment are back in the core playtest, giving players structured codes of monstrosity rooted in older editions. Social Conflict rules have also been cut back from a boardgame-like subsystem into a brief series of rolls reserved only for high-stakes scenes.

Disciplines, Clan Traits, and the Tzimisce

Alpha 2.0 introduces the Tzimisce clan alongside eight playable bloodlines: Brujah, Gangrel, Lasombra, The Ministry, Nosferatu, Toreador, and Ventrue.

Legacy Protean remains divided: physical shifts aligned with beasts sit in Animalism, while unnatural metamorphic alterations form the core of Vicissitude. Tellurgy also appears as a new Discipline in the packet. Passive Discipline benefits have been relocated entirely to Clan Traits and Merits, keeping Disciplines strictly as activated powers powered by Vitae.

To give Storytellers tangible levers in session play, the packet adds a formal Masquerade Tracker to monitor exposure threats, alongside reworked NPC stat blocks that feature True Faith rules to make mortal antagonists dangerous again.

The revised playtest documents and the introductory scenario Not in My Domain are free to download now. Playtesters have until 2 December to submit their feedback on the survey form.

Quick Links

• Get White Wolf’s playtest material.

Solo gamebooks often struggle to escape the nostalgic gravity of 1980s paperbacks, but independent imprint Hammerforge Chronicles proved there is real contemporary demand when their debut, Legion of the Necromancer, was fully funded within 24 hours in late 2025. Founded by writer James Gill and illustrator James Isaacs, both former editorial staffers at Metal Hammer, the duo has returned to crowdfunding with Tentacles of the Void. Swapping gothic necromancy for the claustrophobic corridors of a derelict starship, their second 400-section solo adventure met its initial £3,000 target in just six hours.

Set aboard the dying research vessel Fedai Alvarez, Tentacles of the Void pulls inspiration from classic Fighting Fantasy, Alien, and Space Hulk. Players wake from cryosleep into a hostile alien infestation, managing dwindling resources, solving structural puzzles, and rolling through tactical combat encounters without a human Game Master to temper the threat. We caught up with Gill and Isaacs to discuss plotting non-linear branching paths in presentation software, the logistics of hand-inked sci-fi illustration, and why modern gamebook design needs fewer arbitrary sudden-death traps.

From twenty-four hours to six, Tentacles of the Void smashed its funding goal in record time compared to Legion of the Necromancer. What specific operational changes or audience momentum shifted between your first campaign and this launch to accelerate that velocity?

James Gill:

I think the key is brand – our reputation – albeit a nascent one. It’s our second book, rather than our first, and the audience now knows us and, more importantly, trusts us. We didn’t necessarily change that much operationally.

If somebody bought Legion of the Necromancer and liked it, then pledging for the next book is a relatively easy decision. Equally, there will have been people who were interested in the first campaign but were perhaps sitting on the fence because we were new and unproven. Well, we’ve now made a book, delivered it and people seem to like it.

There’s also a much greater awareness of Hammerforge Chronicles now. We’ve had a year of selling books, meeting people at conventions, talking to gamebook fans and generally getting ourselves out there. So I think we’re reaching more people.

Of course, there are a lot of unknowns. We’re a year on, we’re making science fiction rather than fantasy, which might appeal to a slightly different audience, and the wider economic and geopolitical situation has changed. Tariffs, elections, consumer confidence and all those things might have an impact, and it’s impossible to isolate them.

We’ve certainly learned things from the first campaign, particularly about where our audience is. But really, I think it comes down to the fact that people know us now. If they liked the first one, it’s much easier to say, “Oh, these guys. I liked their first book. I’m in.”

Moving from the dark fantasy realm of Aelrathia in Legion of the Necromancer to the dying spaceship Fedai Alvarez in Tentacles of the Void is a sharp thematic pivot. How did your writing and design processes need to adapt when transitioning from gothic swords-and-sorcery to claustrophobic sci-fi horror?

James Gill:

The actual writing process didn’t necessarily change, but the tone and language certainly did.

With Legion, I was writing in this sort of Lovecraftian, Tolkienesque universe, where the language wants to feel a little more old-worldly. Whereas sci-fi horror, in my mind, has the tone of the movie Aliens. It’s hard-bitten, hard-boiled, action-oriented, quite military and quite American.

In terms of the design process, Legion was my first gamebook, so I didn’t really know what I was doing! Other than trying to work out what I loved about the original Fighting Fantasy books and make our own version of that. Of course, inspiration strikes and things change, so it wasn’t a straight copy.

With Tentacles, I understood a lot more about plot and structure, about burying the things the player will need later, like codes and information, within the story. I was able to introduce a few more mechanics and make the gameplay a little more intricate, although it’s still fairly straightforward by modern standards.

I think it’s about control. When you do something for the first time, you’re working it out as you go along. Then people play it, respond to it and you start to understand which buttons you’re pushing. You can think, “Oh, OK, I need to lean a bit more into this, or a bit more into that.”

I’m much more narrative-led than mechanics-led. There are still codes, puzzles, items to collect and decisions to make, of course, but I always say to people at events that I want our gamebooks to feel like a novel that you’re steering, rather than a game in a book. That’s really what I’m trying to achieve.

James Isaacs:

For me, the main difference was moving on from a more natural, earthy style of illustration within the fantasy world to a more architectural style of illustration which comes from being inside a spaceship. I basically gorged myself on Akira, trying to find a way to use clean lines and perspective in an exciting way.

Solo gamebooks live or die by their pacing and branching architecture across 400 reference sections. What mapping tools do you use to track dead ends, backtracking fatigue, and resource economy so the player feels tested rather than trapped?

James Gill:

I use Google Slides, which is essentially like PowerPoint, to map everything out.

I’ll usually divide the story into chunks, which might be parts of the mission or different zones, and then build a hierarchy. So there’s the whole story arc, then perhaps an episodic arc within that, then the smaller individual nodes and encounters.

I’ll colour-code the different types of interaction, what’s nestled within another area and how the sections connect. I’ll also use little symbols and arrows to show where a code is needed, where a particular piece of equipment comes into play or how something relates to another part of the story.

That’s important because you want a good rhythm of finding things that become useful later on.

In terms of resource economy, pacing and fatigue, I think the most important thing is playtesting.

Our beta readers are absolutely invaluable because, having designed the story, I know exactly where everything is. Even when I try to take a random route through the adventure, I’m still making decisions based on knowledge I already have.

A beta reader doesn’t have that knowledge. So it’s incredibly useful when somebody comes back and says, “Well, I couldn’t get past this bit because I didn’t have enough resources.” And I’m thinking, “Well, you’re supposed to go and get those two meals from over there so you can regenerate your strength.” But they don’t know that! So their insights are essential.

There’s also something interesting about the perceived size of the adventure. Looking at my map, I know it isn’t some vast, sprawling open-world game. There’s a relatively contained structure beneath it, but for the player discovering everything for the first time, it can feel enormous.

My analogy would be that if I blindfolded you, put you in a car and drove you around the same few streets for two hours, you’d probably think you’d travelled miles. But actually you’d just been going around a relatively small area.

I think gamebooks can work a bit like that. You don’t necessarily need an enormous physical footprint to create a convincing sense of exploration.

Tentacles has a central route through the adventure, but there are lots of choices about how you travel along it, what you discover and how you prepare yourself.

That’s where a lot of the enjoyment comes from.

In a traditional roleplaying game, a Game Master calibrates dread, but in a solo gamebook, the mechanics must do all the heavy lifting. How do the dice-based combat and cryosleep resource loops simulate the mechanical dread found in inspirations like Alien and Space Hulk?

James Gill:

I think there’s a particular kind of dread that comes from rolling dice, and that’s true of pretty much every Fighting Fantasy book. The moment something is out of your hands, you’ve introduced another level of tension because now it’s down to luck. But I think the real jeopardy comes from what’s at stake.

If you’re rolling a die to see whether you’ve found something useful on the floor, that’s one level of jeopardy. If you’re rolling against a huge adversary, or you’ve been stabbed by something and you’re trying to find out whether you’ve been poisoned, that’s something else entirely.

Personally, I don’t particularly like too many sudden deaths based purely on dice rolls. I prefer to give the player some agency, or at least a chance to recover from mistakes. Although we all remember keeping a finger in the previous reference when we played Fighting Fantasy, just in case something dreadful happened!

Having said all that, for me the real dread comes from the writing and the story and, of course, James’ art.

If you’re trapped aboard a dying spaceship, surrounded by horrible, Tyranid-like aliens and constantly close to death, then it’s the writing that has to bring that situation to life.

I always felt that some of the original Fighting Fantasy adventures had relatively thin passages, even when something absolutely horrific was happening. The encounter might be brilliant, but you’d sometimes only get a few lines describing it.

I wanted to spend more time on the atmosphere, the characters and the experience of actually being there.

The mechanics create jeopardy, certainly. But I think good writing can create just as much dread.

James Isaacs illustrates everything by hand. How do you maintain a punishing 400-section production schedule without compromising the dense, gothic, and industrial art style that defines the physical books?

James Gill:

Well, it takes about a year!

The first book took us roughly a year and the second has taken a bit longer. But I wouldn’t really describe the schedule as punishing.

We’re both completely obsessed with making these books. I’ll spend long stretches writing at the weekend and try to get a couple of hours in during the week. James does much the same with the illustrations. It’s something we fit around our working lives, and it takes as long as it takes.

James Isaacs:

I don’t think we could make these books any other way. We both really lose ourselves in the process; Gill obviously with the construction of the story, gameplay and cool ways to die, and I obsess over trying to bring the best parts of the adventure to life in ink. It takes me about one full day to complete a single-page illustration, but there’s always a lot of to-and-fro with Gill, checking in on details with simple pencil sketches before I start on the final image.

So yeah, it can be quite time-consuming to make these books, but we never want to compromise on quality in anything we do. And we’ve been very lucky with the success of the books so far, so fingers crossed that we can, in time, devote more of our daily lives to making more. Hopefully more than one a year!

The industry is torn between ultra-budget zines and luxury collector items, as shown by your A5 folio hardbacks with fabric finishes and foil covers. Where does Hammerforge position itself in that debate, and how do material quality choices affect fulfilment logistics for a small team?

James Gill:

For us, it’s not really a moral debate about cheap books versus expensive books.

This is our hobby, and in our day jobs we all have to compromise, work for clients and answer to bosses. Hammerforge is one of the few areas of our lives where we don’t have a boss. We can do exactly what we like, which is to create beautiful, brilliant, fun things that we’d love to own ourselves.

Pretentious as it might sound, that’s our guiding principle. We’re certainly not going to build a second job where we have to compromise and make things we wouldn’t buy ourselves.

We don’t make a great deal of money from Hammerforge, and what money we do make we want to spend on doing really cool things.

Because it’s lovely when somebody comes up to us at an event, or sends an email, and says they absolutely love the illustrations, or the paper stock, or even the free pencil we put in with the books. We’ve had people comment on what a nice pencil it is, with a decent rubber on the end! And I love that.

The production and fulfilment side obviously has to work. We have printing costs, packaging, international postage and all the other practical things involved in producing physical books. We’ve learned quite a lot about those things over the last year.

But creatively, we’re guided by what we’d love to make and own.

And once you’re freed from the pressure of trying to make lots of money, it’s amazing how much more fun you can have, and how many beautiful things you’re prepared to create for people.

Having spent years in the trenches of print music journalism with Metal Hammer, how has the contraction of traditional print media informed your approach to community-funded publishing and physical artefact production?

James Gill:

I wouldn’t say the contraction of print media has particularly influenced our approach. It’s more the experience of working in publishing itself.

James, in particular, is a master print designer and illustrator. He’s spent years working in professional publishing, and that means we’re able to bring a level of production knowledge and visual expertise to the finished books that we’re very fortunate to have.

That sounds like bragging, but it’s simply our background. I’m not a professional game designer, for example. I can’t claim to bring some incredibly complex, innovative system of mechanics to gamebooks. What I can bring is my writing and storytelling experience, and James brings his extraordinary ability to make things look beautiful. So we lean into those strengths.

There’s certainly a nostalgia element to the whole thing, too. We’ve both spent years surrounded by magazines, books, artwork and printed things. And we’ve seen how much that world has changed, with print declining in all sorts of areas.

Perhaps that makes the physical object feel even more special.

But fundamentally, I think it’s our professional experience of making things for print, combined with a love of those things, that’s shaped Hammerforge.

With thousands of tabletop projects fighting for backer attention on Kickstarter every month, what does an independent publisher have to do differently in 2026 to cut through the noise and retain backer trust?

James Gill:

It’s difficult to say, but personally I think it’s about people. They want to know who you are, what’s your story and why you’re doing it. If somebody likes sci-fi gamebooks, then hopefully they’ll be interested in what we’re making. But why choose ours over somebody else’s? Why trust us?

I think James and I try to put ourselves into the mix a bit.

We’re two nerdy, middle-aged blokes making videos, talking to each other about our books, showing people the artwork and generally getting a bit overexcited about the things we’re creating.

We’re real human beings. We’re not bots. There’s no AI involved in creating our books, and I think people appreciate that. They can see the enthusiasm and the work that’s gone into them.

I think people also like feeling part of something.

I’m a huge music fan, and I’ve always loved watching interviews with musicians, seeing them on television or reading about how they made their records. You get to know a little about the people behind the thing you love. So we wanted to do something similar with Hammerforge.

And we’re also very keen on providing genuinely good customer service. We don’t get hundreds of orders coming through the website every day, so when somebody orders a book or sends us an email, it’s usually one of us who replies. There’s no giant customer-service machine or chatbot. You get us.

And, frankly, my fragile little ego loves it when somebody buys a book and I get to send them a message, perhaps saying something completely random.

And, of course, having successfully made and delivered our first book makes it easier for people to trust us with the second.

Early readers praised Legion of the Necromancer for its novel restart-point mechanic and path variety. How do you approach the psychology of failure in a solo gamebook so that dying doesn’t feel like a punishment, but an invitation to explore a different branch?

James Gill:

My starting point is that I never particularly enjoyed sudden deaths in the original Fighting Fantasy books.

Although, like everybody else, I always kept a finger in the previous reference, so it didn’t necessarily matter too much!

Of course, you need the possibility of death. That’s what creates jeopardy and makes you concentrate a bit harder. But I think it’s important to strike a balance. There should be some sort of punishment, if you like, for making a bad decision or having bad luck.

The problem with dying is that the whole thing is over. And that can be incredibly frustrating when you’ve invested a lot of time in your adventure, made all these decisions, collected equipment and worked your way through the story.

For some people, the idea of having to go right back to the beginning means they’ll simply put the book down and think, “Oh, I’ll do that another time.” And then they might never pick it up again.

So I like the idea of giving people a downside or a penalty for getting something wrong, while allowing them to carry on where possible.

That’s something I’ve tried to do more with Tentacles.

Having said that, I do think sudden deaths have their place. They’re an important part of the jeopardy. And particularly towards the end of the adventure, when you’re approaching the final challenges, the stakes should be getting higher.

That’s where the really horrible consequences belong.

You operate as a strict two-person publishing unit. How do editorial disagreements get resolved when the writer and the illustrator view a scene’s atmosphere through completely different lenses?

James Gill:

We have a collaborative yet compartmentalised decision-making structure. We obviously talk about each other’s work, share ideas and make suggestions. But ultimately James gets to make all the visual decisions and I get to make the writing decisions.

James Isaacs:

I think because both the art and the writing feed off each other, we have this amazing symbiotic thing going on. I always check in with Gill at the start of every illustration, and he runs any big story or gameplay changes past me just so we’re both aware of what’s going on. I think it’s the only way to make a successful book.

Beyond hitting funding targets and clearing fulfilment logistics, what does a genuinely successful gamebook look like to you creatively?

James Gill:

Two things, really.

The first is people saying they love the illustrations. I can’t take any credit for those, obviously, but James’s talent is astonishing.

When we were making the first book, he’d sometimes ask me what needed illustrating next, and I’d say something like, “Well, it’s a sort of Cthulhu statue that’s coming alive. Or is it coming alive?”

And then three days later I’d get this absolutely astonishing piece of artwork appearing in WhatsApp.

That feeling I got when I first saw it? That’s what we want other people to experience.

And when people come up to our stand at events, pick up a book, start leafing through it and become completely entranced by the pen-and-ink drawings, that’s creative success as far as I’m concerned.

The second thing is the story itself.

Of course, it’s lovely when somebody says, “That was a great quest.” That’s always nice to hear. But what I particularly enjoy is when somebody mentions something specific. Perhaps they thought the dialogue was great, or they really liked a particular character. Maybe they found the maze really tricky, or they were genuinely sad when somebody died.

I love hearing those things because I’m a story person first and foremost. When somebody picks up on a little detail, remembers a character or a particular moment from the adventure, that means an enormous amount. That’s what creative success looks like to me.

Now that Tentacles of the Void is out on Kickstarter alongside its companion novelisation, Escape from the Fedai Alvarez, what is next on the horizon for Hammerforge Chronicles, and where can our readers find the campaign to back your work?

James Gill:

Well, I’ve already completed a first draft of book three.

It’s a little more ambitious in terms of the mechanics, the story and how those two things work together, so there’s quite a lot still to do. Balancing everything is going to take some work.

We’re also talking about other gamebooks, some of which would take us back to Aelrathia, the world of Legion of the Necromancer, while others might explore completely different genres.

I think that’s part of the fun for us, really. We love gamebooks and there are so many different worlds, genres and stories you can explore through the format. So we’ll keep thinking about what we’d enjoy making and, hopefully, what other people would enjoy playing.

In the meantime, Tentacles of the Void is live on Kickstarter, along with the companion novel, Escape from the Fedai Alvarez.

We’ve got the standard paperback, a rather lovely green-foil hardback, digital editions and a whole collection of other goodies, including art cards and prints.

And we’d absolutely love people to come and have a look.

If you’re a fan of Fighting Fantasy, Alien, Space Hulk or just the idea of making horrible decisions aboard a dying spaceship, hopefully you’ll find something to enjoy.

And thanks to everyone who’s supported us so far. It’s because of you that we get to keep making these ridiculous things.

The campaign for Tentacles of the Void is currently live on Kickstarter, offering standard paperback and premium foil-embossed hardback editions alongside the companion novella Escape from the Fedai Alvarez. For tabletop hobbyists seeking a solo experience that prioritises hand-drawn craft and fair mechanical tension over cheap instant-death traps, the corridors of the Fedai Alvarez look ready to claim your dice.

Quick Links

• Kickstarter: Tentacles of the Void

Independent game designer Scott Malthouse has launched Curious Quests, a new venture building bespoke analogue storytelling and roleplaying games for museums, galleries, and heritage sites. The service aims to replace passive visitor observation with interactive, screen-free play that combines professional tabletop game design with cultural education.

Malthouse is best known in the tabletop space as the founder of Trollish Delver Games, where he designed accessible, rules-light systems including the letter-writing game Quill, Romance of the Perilous Land, and Unbelievably Simple Roleplaying. Curious Quests represents a commercial pivot from direct-to-consumer indie publishing into business-to-business consulting. This move leverages his established design philosophy of creating highly accessible mechanics alongside his fifteen years of corporate public relations experience with brands like Disney and Waterstones.

The studio operates out of Leeds, a city positioned near major UK tabletop events like AireCon and home to prominent cultural institutions such as the Royal Armouries. This geographic and cultural positioning aligns with Curious Quests’ target audience, which focuses on providing families and groups with collaborative, physical ways to interact with local history and folklore.

Rather than focusing on digital integration or app development, Curious Quests breaks its core offerings into four distinct analogue formats designed for physical venues:

• Print and play games: Short, thematic narrative games distributed at point-of-sale for visitors to take home.
• Immersive gamebooks: Choose-your-own-path style books designed for younger audiences and adults.
• Roleplaying games: Custom tabletop systems that families can learn and play collaboratively.
• Spatial storytelling: Location-based roleplaying experiences that require visitors to physically interact with different areas throughout an attraction.

Scott Malthouse, Founder of Curious Quests, said:

I want to help some of the world’s most exciting cultural attractions tell their stories in new and imaginative ways, creating experiences that visitors can engage with, enjoy and remember.”

Attractions looking to commission bespoke analogue games can find portfolio details and contact information directly at Curious Quests.

Image credit: Liliana Drew.

Dragon Ball: Multiverse Chronicles – TTRPG is an unofficial, fan-made supplement designed to transplant the high-flying martial arts battles of Akira Toriyama’s universe into modern tabletop gaming. The document (Google Doc) sets up a custom setting called Elementaria, providing character sheets, transformation ranks, and campaign outlines for tables looking to recreate the anime’s escalating duels.

While the concept shows promise, the book functions purely as an overlay. Anyone coming to this title expecting a complete game will quickly hit a wall.

System

The supplement is built entirely on the Marvel Multiverse RPG rules engine, meaning you cannot play it on its own. The text makes no attempt whatsoever to explain core resolution mechanics, dice pools, or combat turns. Instead, it assumes total fluency with the official rules and immediately launches into custom adjustments.

The design modifies character Ranks, setting Rank 3 caps for base-form Saiyans while allowing non-transforming races to train up to Rank 6. Saiyan power progression requires juggling distinct character sheets for each transformation, from Oozaru to Super Saiyan and God forms. Focus drain per round acts as the balancing tether for these heightened forms. For stats, the author links directly to character profiles hosted on Demiplane rather than formatting full stat blocks in the text.

Setting and story

The action takes place on Planet Elementaria, a tidally locked world split between four peaceful elemental tribes in the light and a hostile realm known as the Kingdom of the Night. The premise follows Korn, a reincarnated Saiyan secretly harboured by the angel Whis.

Despite five distinct sagas listed across the campaign section, the game presents a setting implied entirely by its characters. The storyline reads as a fixed sequence of tournament bouts, sudden invasions, and escalating battles against rivals like Princess Umbra, Agent Argent, and Goddess Cero. Much like the source anime, there is very little plot or open narrative direction outside the fights. Groups are largely left to stage one duel after another without deeper roleplaying guidance.

Quest Objective: Share Your Take

Roll d6

Tried It On My Radar How It Compares

"I have tried Dragon Ball - Multiverse Chronicles and my verdict is "

Quick-fill: + it shines brightest when... + it is well worth your time if... + watch out for...

► Continue in comment box ↓ Sent to comment box below!

Read the comments ↓ • Live in the Chat Portal

Races and special techniques

Player options centre on Saiyans and Namekians, adapting classic anime abilities into power trees. Saiyans receive innate tails, Great Ape transformations, and Zenkai boosts when recovering from critical injuries. Namekians branch into Warrior and Dragon clans, offering innate regeneration, Namekian fusion, and healing abilities.

Iconic powers receive explicit operational translations. The Spirit Bomb requires uninterrupted focus and scales its damage multiplier based on whether it draws energy from a planet, solar system, or universe. Both Metamoran dance fusions and Potara earrings appear as distinct mechanics, yielding separate fused character sheets with strict time limits or stat sums.

Art style

Visually, the production stands out immediately. The character designs, map illustrations, and transformation splash pages look great, matching the classic Toriyama aesthetic with vibrant colours and clean linework.

The missing element is provenance. No human illustrator credits appear anywhere in the credits or legal notices. Without clear artist attribution, the persistent worry is that the imagery is all generative AI rather than commissioned craft. Knowing that the creator's passion project extended to human-crafted illustrations would make a genuine difference to the final presentation. Itch now demands provenance.

If you already own the necessary core books and enjoy anime combat, the digital character files give you immediate arena fighters. For tabletop groups needing actual plot structure or standalone rules, it remains an incomplete toolkit.

To run this supplement, players must pick up the official rules via the Marvel Multiverse RPG Core Rule Book. Digital character templates are available to inspect on the official Demiplane Character Sheet. Alternatively, if you're in the market for free anime melee, there's always the equally unofficial Naruto 5e/Shinobi Handbook.

Quick Links

• Dragon Ball: Multiverse Chronicles

Florida studio Restoration Games and UK publisher Games Workshop have signed a multi-year licensing agreement to restore and adapt three out-of-print board games: Chaos in the Old World, Space Hulk: Death Angel – The Card Game, and Warrior Knights. Announced on 5 November 2026, the deal moves all three games into Gravemarch, an original high-fantasy world created exclusively for Games Workshop’s expanding Talisman Realm brand.

The project begins with Devastation in the Dread World, a complete overhaul of Eric Lang’s 2009 area control title Chaos in the Old World. Crowdfunding launches in early 2027, followed by a standard hobby retail release. The remaining two games, Dungeons of Gravemarch: The Card Game and Warrior Knights, are tentatively scheduled for 2028.

The Gravemarch setting and the Talisman Realm expansion

The move severs these classic rules from the Warhammer Old World and Warhammer 40,000 continuities that originally framed them. Games Workshop previously allowed its licensing agreement with Fantasy Flight Games to expire in February 2017, taking several celebrated titles out of print. Rather than returning Chaos in the Old World to its original Warhammer setting, Games Workshop has placed the mechanical engine into Gravemarch.

Gravemarch is a grim, high-fantasy pocket where rival malevolent factions fight for dominance over humanity’s remnants. The world forms a core part of the wider Talisman Realm brand, which builds outwards from the classic fantasy world established by designer Bob Harris in 1983. Games Workshop plans to use the brand to link several restored heritage games, including upcoming plans for Fury of Dracula, Curse of the Mummy’s Tomb, and Chainsaw Warrior.

System mechanics in Devastation in the Dread World

Original designer Eric Lang has joined the Restoration Games development team, working alongside Chief Restoration Officer Rob Daviau. The core area control, asymmetric faction abilities, and threat dials from the 2009 original return, but the surrounding procedures receive major structural alterations.

The central mechanical change removes the random Old World event deck. In the 2009 release, that deck served as a timer and collective board threat that could defeat all players simultaneously. In Devastation in the Dread World, the team replaces this unpredictable deck with structured, scenario-based play. This shift allows specific board states, varied victory conditions, and tailored setup parameters across repeated sessions.

Eric Lang, Original Designer at Restoration Games, said in a statement:

I think Chaos in the Old World is my most requested reprint from the most dedicated fans. Restoration is the perfect match to bring this game into 2026. I started this project excited, now I’m beyond thrilled.”

Heritage titles and release schedule

Dungeons of Gravemarch: The Card Game converts the squad-level tactical survival of Space Hulk: Death Angel into a cooperative dungeon expedition. Players guide the last human heroes through crumbling ruins to recover relics and repel encroaching monsters.

Warrior Knights adapts the 1985 classic designed by Derek Carver, which Fantasy Flight Games previously redeveloped in 2006. In the Gravemarch timeline, humanity has temporarily reclaimed the region, shifting the game into a political civil war where rival barons contest a vacant crown.

Justin D. Jacobson, Owner of Restoration Games, said in a statement:

Since I started the company, the idea of working with Games Workshop has been a goal I could not have imagined was possible. These games have that signature spice that only a Games Workshop setting can offer. Gritty, grungy, brutal, and explosively fun. Getting to work on them now is a dream come true.”

Under the terms of the multi-year deal, additional games set within Gravemarch or other regions of the Talisman Realm remain possible following the initial three titles.

Welcome home. This is Audio EXP, the weekly podcast from Geek Native. I am your host, Girdy, and today is Saturday the 7th of November, 2026. This week, we examine platform policy changes exposing private tabletop chat logs to automated web crawlers, track indie storefronts purging AI slop, dive into mutual aid and post-war sci-fi mechanics, and celebrate our slumbering dragon roasting tens of thousands of unlucky thieves.

[The following is a transcript of Audio EXP: #355]

[Also on Stitcher | Spotify | Apple | YouTube]

Before diving into the news, we have a community milestone. Our patron ballot has officially closed, and Arcane Brewery has taken the win as our celebrated honouree for the November RPG Publisher Spotlight! We are beginning our outreach to the team to line up our deep-dive discussion later this month. In tandem, the nomination poll is already active for our next round on our December RPG Publisher Spotlight ballot. The five independent studios seeking your backing this month are:

• Armored Storyteller Publishing
• Weird Adventures by Martin A. Cubas
• The Obsidian Die
• Mindplaces
• The Northern Realm Inc.

Over on Geek Native’s live fake webcam, our slumbering beast has had a ferocious weekend. We have rolled out fresh chapter progress tracking to our live diorama, and the Wyrm Watch dragon webcam has officially incinerated over 47,000 greedy adventurers. The automated rogue keeps testing the beast’s perception every couple of minutes, and while a few lucky thieves manage to escape with pocketfuls of treasure, the casualty count continues to climb. Pop over to the site, inspect the live ledger, and watch the d20 stealth rolls play out in real time.

Our lead story this week exposes an acute privacy dilemma unfolding across tabletop social networks. A major Discord discoverability change will expose tabletop RPG chat archives to automated AI scraping and public search engines. Discord is rolling out public web discoverability for non-adult servers with over 1,000 members, allowing external search crawlers to index message histories. While individual users can toggle an account-level opt-out, the setting is strictly forward-looking; it does not retroactively scrub years of historical messages, worldbuilding notes, or informal playtest discussions already posted in major hubs like the official D&D or Pathfinder servers. Unless users manually delete individual past messages, backlogged community conversations remain vulnerable to commercial crawler extraction. In other words, your chat will become training data.

In contrast to backlogged chat exposure, independent distribution platforms are taking aggressive countermeasures against synthetic floods. Itch.io has deleted terabytes of AI-generated spam while enforcing mandatory generative AI disclosures across all tabletop roleplaying game listings. The digital storefront introduced mandatory disclosure flags across physical games, comics, and books, purging vast quantities of low-effort algorithmic shovelware. By pairing mandatory metadata with search-level filtering, the platform is protecting discoverability for genuine human designers who rely on the portal for small-press sales.

Turning to mutual aid within the creative community, we sat down for an essential conversation with the charity supporting creators in crisis. We published an extensive interview with Hal Greenberg and Connor Bates on how the RPG Creators Relief Fund manages hardship reserves and freelance precarity. Greenberg and Bates explained how the non-profit vets emergency medical and financial grants for tabletop freelancers, pointing out that because many independent writers lack statutory safety nets, regular bundle contributions and dedicated reserve funds are critical to keeping creators afloat during sudden emergencies.

In game design deep dives, we continued exploring post-alien survival rules. We caught up with designer Julien Frid to break down the intuitive d6 mechanics and post-war setting of the Sine TTRPG. Frid detailed how the system intentionally steps back from tactical bean-counting like tracking rations or individual bullets, opting for a cinematic resolution curve that leaves combat veterans room for social reconstruction, trade negotiations, and quieter character moments. Furthermore, you can find a video of that interview over on TikTok or Instagram.

On the corporate and retail front, a pioneer of geek chic fashion faces major uncertainty. Australian apparel label BlackMilk Clothing has entered voluntary administration after seventeen years of trading. Renowned for its printed nylon leggings and official licensed collaborations spanning Dungeons & Dragons, Star Wars, and The Lord of the Rings, the brand remains operational while administrators evaluate financial restructuring options. Bronwen is upset, but let us not count BlackMilk out yet.

In multimedia horror acquisitions, comic storytelling is moving straight to the silver screen. Blumhouse Atomic has signed a first-look deal with James Tynion IV’s production banner Tiny Onion to adapt horror comics including Exquisite Corpses. The partnership deepens ties between the prolific creator and the horror production house, establishing a direct pipeline for independent horror adaptations.

For theatrical stage oddities, festive pantomime is taking an adult, sci-fi twist. Doctor Who icon Sophie Aldred is narrating an adult London pantomime titled It’s Behind Who, lending her classic Ace credentials to an irreverent, late-night seasonal spoof.

We’re not going to London, but this month Scotland Loves Anime will do, and then the anime festival will return to Edinburgh. As we did last year, we’re running SLA-ed, an unofficial competition for the best anime to air in the Edinburgh leg. Unlike the official vote in our poll, you can vote for any of the anime that airs during the Edinburgh week.

Finally, we close out the show with two exceptional digital bundles:

• Grim voidfarers can scrounge, survive, and suffer with the Death in Space bundle on Bundle of Holding, picking up Free League’s gritty, low-tech space survival game and supplements.
• Old World veterans can grab forty years of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay in a massive Cubicle 7 collection on Humble, securing an enormous digital archive of grim and perilous adventure modules at a steep discount.

That is it for this week. Thanks for listening to Audio EXP. For all the links, interview transcripts, and live dragon updates, head over to Geek Native. Until next week, stay geeky.

Cubicle 7 is marking the 40th anniversary of Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay with a comprehensive digital bundle on Humble Bundle, gathering Fourth Edition rulebooks, sprawling regional supplements, and classic adventure compilations. The full tier delivers US$389 worth of digital roleplaying game material for £18.62 ($25), with redemptions handled via DriveThruRPG.

Every title in the collection is supplied DRM-free as a PDF. Cubicle 7 has also confirmed that all Fourth Edition material in this collection remains forward-compatible with the upcoming Fifth Edition rules, making this an ideal entry point for gaming groups wanting to explore the Empire before the next edition arrives.

Starter Collection – £5.96

The entry tier costs £5.96 (US$8) and delivers £67.14 ($89.94) in retail value:

• Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Starter Set
• Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Enemy Within Campaign – Volume 1: Enemy in Shadows
• Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Enemy Within Campaign – Volume 1: Enemy in Shadows Companion
• Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: One Shots of the Reikland
• Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Patrons of the Old World
• Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Shrines of Sigmar
• 25% discount voucher for the Cubicle 7 web shop (valid on full-price items, excluding pre-orders and new releases)

Core & Cities Tier – £11.17

The mid tier costs £11.17 (US$15), adding the core rulebook and three extensive urban sourcebooks:

• Everything in the Starter Collection
• Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: 4th Edition Core Rulebook
• Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Altdorf – Crown of the Empire
• Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Middenheim – City of the White Wolf
• Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Salzenmund – City of Salt and Silver

Complete 40th Anniversary Collection – £18.62

The top tier costs £18.62 (US$25) and unlocks the entire 24-item library, representing £290.63 ($389) in total retail value:

• Everything in the £5.96 and £11.17 tiers
• Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Enemy Within Campaign – Volume 2: Death on the Reik
• Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Enemy Within Campaign – Volume 2: Death on the Reik Companion
• Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Enemy Within Campaign – Volume 3: Power Behind the Throne
• Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Enemy Within Campaign – Volume 3: Power Behind the Throne Companion
• Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Ubersreik Adventures
• Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Ubersreik Adventures II
• Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Ubersreik Adventures III
• Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: The Imperial Zoo
• Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Tribes and Tribulations
• Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Deft Steps Light Fingers
• Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Reikland Miscellanea
• Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Buildings of the Reikland
• Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay: Monuments of the Reikland

Warhammer Fantasy Roleplay Fourth Edition runs on a percentile d100 roll-under engine anchored by Success Levels. Characters test their characteristics and skills against target numbers, with degrees of success or failure directly informing outcomes. Combat is brutal, tactical, and decisive, incorporating opposed rolls and an Advantage mechanic that swings momentum dramatically in battle. Rather than heroic demigods, players portray rat catchers, grave robbers, river wardens, and hedge wizards, each progressing through a sprawling career path while struggling against severe critical wounds, weapon traits, and sudden miscasts.

The setting is the Old World at its mud-splattered best. It balances satirical black humour with gothic horror, investigative urban dread, and Chaos’s insidious corruption. Beyond simple dungeon delves, campaigns hinge on social friction, local politics, and dark cults operating behind respectable civic facades. Included sourcebooks like Altdorf: Crown of the Empire and Middenheim: City of the White Wolf provide hundreds of pages of neighbourhood maps, NPC motivations, and plot threads, offering ready-made sandboxes for GM preparation.

Adventures form the core of this bundle. The headline offering is the revised Director’s Cut of The Enemy Within by legendary designer Graeme Davis, accompanied by its Companion volumes. Spanning Enemy in Shadows, Death on the Reik, and Power Behind the Throne, the sequence stands among the most celebrated campaigns in tabletop gaming history. Alongside these sprawling investigations, the Ubersreik Adventures trilogies and modular plug-in supplements like Buildings of the Reikland give tables flexible options for both quick one-shots and sustained play.

The bundle supports Children’s Health Foundation, funding paediatric healthcare equipment and medical research across Children’s Health Ireland hospitals. The offer runs until 19:00 GMT on Friday, 27 November 2026. All PDF rulebooks, supplements, and adventures are DRM-free and redeemable via DriveThruRPG.

Quick Links

• Humble: Warhammer FRP 40th anniversary

Resin and filament 3D printers have dominated tabletop games and cosplay workshops for the last decade. While printing excels at producing lots of miniatures, it falters when a project demands many terrain types, architectural accuracy, or lightweight armour panels. Laser cutters process flat stock, including plywood, leather, acrylic, and high-density EVA foam in seconds rather than hours, delivering crisp edges and structural repeatability that additive manufacturing cannot match.

Hardware has traditionally forced makers to navigate awkward compromises between workshop footprint, safety clearances, and restrictive software ecosystems. Recent developments in enclosed desktop units, hybrid multi-laser modules, and native vector imports suggest laser cutting is maturing into a practical domestic companion for the hobby bench. Geek Native asked xTool to examine how their technology might work for the average gamer or occasional cosplayer, including the practical realities of crafting inside a modest flat.

Interview: xTool on tabletop making and cosplay crafting

Many tabletop creators instinctively default to resin 3D printers for scenery and miniatures, which can leave laser cutters undervalued. How is xTool working to bridge that awareness gap and show makers what a laser cutter can do that a 3D printer cannot?

3D printers and laser cutters actually solve different problems, and the best workshops use both. Where a 3D printer builds up volume slowly, a laser cuts and engraves flat sheet materials – plywood, acrylic, EVA foam, leather, card, fabric – in seconds, with clean edges and fine surface detail a printer cannot match. For tabletop and cosplay makers that means fast, repeatable terrain tiles, layered scenery, stencils, appliqués and engraved detailing in a fraction of the time per part. We bridge the awareness gap less by talking and more by showing: real community projects, step-by-step content in our learning resources and Creative Space software, and partnerships with maker communities, so people can see exactly what a laser offers alongside their printer.

You recently released the 60kg X1 multi-laser cutter, which is a significant piece of hardware. What specific design problems does this new release solve for crafters that previous desktop models struggled with?

Previous desktop lasers forced makers to choose between things that shouldn’t be a trade-off. Gantry machines gave you a large work area but engraved slowly; galvo machines were fast but worked on a small bed; and covering different materials meant buying separate diode, CO2, fibre or UV machines – each with its own footprint, budget and upgrade path that dead-ended.

X1 solves this with three ideas. Hybrid Motion pairs gantry-scale travel with a high-speed galvo, so you get up to 6,000 mm/s engraving across a 615 × 320 mm work area – speed and scale in one machine instead of one or the other. Laser Swap starts from a 55W CO2 plus a 20W blue-diode galvo head and lets you add 5W UV, 30W fibre and 60W MOPA modules later, so one machine covers wood, acrylic, metal, glass and more – the maker grows it, instead of buying a new machine. And it is built for where cosplayers and tabletop makers actually work: a 4,000-ton one-piece die-cast frame keeps high-speed motion stable and repeatable, while Class 1 fully-enclosed safety with 12 sensors; flame detection in under a second, temperature, water-cooling and lid-open monitoring is designed for home studios and small shops, not just industrial workshops.

In a September 2026 YouTube interview (watch the full discussion), CEO Jasen Wang spoke about the company’s commitment to listening to user feedback. What are the most common questions or feature requests you receive from cosplayers and miniature makers, and how has that altered the development path of your hardware?

Listening to makers is central to how we build. The themes we hear most from cosplayers and miniature makers are: make it easier to go from idea to finished part, make the software do more of the thinking, handle a wider range of materials safely, and keep machines compact enough for a home studio. That feedback consistently pushes our roadmap toward smarter software, better material handling and safety, and modular hardware that grows with the maker rather than forcing an upgrade.

For those of us crafting in typical UK flats, rather than US-style homes where space is less of a premium, how much physical clearance and ventilation room does a desktop model actually require to operate safely?

The short answer: no dedicated laser room required, but plan for a sturdy surface and one fume strategy. The X1 itself is 1,000 × 580 × 420 mm and around 60 kg, so it needs a solid, load-bearing worktop plus enough room to open the lid, load material and reach it for maintenance – if you use the pass-through feeder, leave clearance front and back for long stock. Because it is Class 1 fully enclosed, there is no special laser room or laser-glass requirement – it is designed for homes, workshops and classrooms.

What you do need is smoke management, because every laser cut produces fumes. Two options work in a flat: vent out of a window (the X1 has a dedicated exhaust connection for an inline fan or window kit), or run a purifier, the SafetyPro AP2’s seven-stage filtration is positioned as the X1’s companion and makes even acrylic cutting virtually odour-free. Rule of thumb: light engraving and occasional small cuts are fine with a purifier; regular cutting should vent to a window. And the general safety basics still apply: keep the room ventilated, nothing flammable stacked near the machine, and never run it unattended.

Beginners often get confused about laser types. Why might a prop maker choose a diode laser over a CO2 laser when working on mixed-media costume builds?

It comes down to what is in the build. A blue diode laser is the approachable workhorse for the soft goods in most costume work – it cuts and engraves wood, leather, paper, felt, MDF and dark opaque acrylic cleanly, and shines at fine relief detail. But blue light passes through clear and light-coloured materials, so a diode cannot cut clear acrylic, and it is less effective on white paint, certain blues and clear acrylics, which matters if a build includes a visor, lens or clear canopy.

A CO2 laser cuts through clear and coloured acrylic and denser sheet materials cleanly and far faster (roughly 500% faster than a diode on comparable jobs), with less edge blackening – the standard for crisp, structural parts. So for a mixed-media prop build, the honest answer is that most makers eventually want both – which is exactly why the X1 pairs a 55W CO2 for cutting with a 20W blue-diode galvo head for high-speed, fine engraving in one machine, with fibre, UV, and MOPA modules available later for metal accents.

Safety and finish are top priorities for prop makers working with high-density EVA foam and thermoplastics, which are notorious for releasing toxic fumes and melting unevenly. Given those material challenges, how do your diode and CO2 lasers handle edge melting and fume extraction?

EVA foam is one of the most laser-friendly prop materials; both CO2 and diode lasers can cut and engrave it, and the software’s material library ships recommended presets (power, speed, passes) so makers do not have to guess. Two things keep edges clean: correct speed/power and air assist. Cutting at higher speed with the right power minimises melted edges, with CO2, moderate power at higher speed produces clean, deep cuts; with a diode, dark EVA gives the best results, while lighter colours may need multiple passes. The Material Test Array in the software automates a test grid so you can find the sweet spot for your exact sheet in minutes.

For thermoplastics like acrylic, CO2 is the workhorse; it cuts clear and coloured sheet with clean edges, something a blue diode cannot do. On fumes: any foam or plastic cut produces smoke, so extraction is non-negotiable. X1 is Class 1 enclosed with flame detection and fire suppression activating in under a second, and you pair it with either window exhaust or the AP2’s seven-stage filtration for odour-free indoor work, and makers should always cut from the approved material library rather than experimenting with unknown plastics.

In your CES 2025 interview with Podfeet Podcasts (listen to the coverage), the ability to cut multi-layered wood scenes was highlighted. When crafters are designing intricate, multi-level terrain for roleplaying games, how does your software handle kerf to ensure pieces snap together tightly without gaps?

Kerf is the width of the cut itself; a laser beam is tiny, but it does have a width, which makes cut parts come out a fraction smaller than the design. That is exactly what makes interlocking terrain tiles wobble. xTool Creative Space (and xTool Studio) includes a dedicated Kerf Offset function for precision-critical work like inlays and joining pieces: you enter the measured kerf for your material, the setting range is -1 to +1 mm, adjustable to two decimal places, and a positive value moves the beam outward so the piece cuts slightly larger, while a negative value moves it inward. It applies to closed shapes, and importantly, your design stays untouched on the canvas; the compensation is applied at processing time, so what you designed is what you see. For multi-layer terrain, the workflow is simple: measure the kerf once on your material, dial it in, and slots and tabs come out sized to snap together tightly.

In what ways does xTool Creative Space support open SVG files or integration with standard design software used by indie creators making assets for roleplaying games?

Open files are core to the workflow. xTool Creative Space imports SVG natively, alongside DXF, JPG, PNG, BMP and more, so assets designed in Inkscape, Illustrator, CorelDRAW or Photoshop drop straight in; vector paths stay vector, and you assign cut versus engrave per layer or colour. There is no proprietary file lock-in, and the software runs on Windows and macOS. Makers who prefer third-party control also have options: several models work with LightBurn, and newer machines run xTool Studio with the same open SVG/DXF import. For tabletop creators making modular assets fast, xTool’s free design platform Atomm also produces clean, laser-ready SVGs that import straight into the software ready to process.

Many freelance prop makers look to monetise their craft through platforms like Etsy, where production efficiency directly impacts their bottom line. How do your machines help independent creators balance the economics of fast, reliable production without the high cost of entry for industrial-grade tools?

For independent creators the economics come down to speed, reliability and low cost of entry; and that is exactly where a desktop laser earns its place. Instead of outsourcing or investing in industrial equipment, a maker can produce finished, repeatable products in-house, on demand, with consistent quality. That shortens turnaround, removes minimum order quantities, and lets creators test new designs cheaply before scaling. Our aim is to make professional-grade capability accessible at a desktop price point, so a side-hustle on Etsy can run on the same tools a small business would use.

The environmental impact of hardware manufacturing and consumable acrylics is an ongoing concern. How is xTool addressing sustainability and waste reduction in both your machine construction and the materials you supply?

Sustainability matters to our community, so it matters to us. On the product side, we design machines to be durable and upgradable rather than disposable, and our modular approach lets makers extend a machine’s life instead of replacing it. On materials, laser cutting is inherently efficient: you cut exactly the parts you need from flat stock, with nesting to minimise waste, and we continue to expand more responsible material options. We also run our “1% for the Maker” programme and initiatives like “Made for Good”, supporting community and charitable projects with equipment and proceeds.

When you look at the props and terrain your community shares online, is there a specific technique or material combination that still surprises your engineering team?

Every team has a “wait, that works?” favourite, ours tends to involve fragile, food-adjacent things. Laser-engraved eggshells are a perennial crowd-stopper: makers empty real eggs and laser intricate lace-like patterns of holes across the shell. One Atomm tutorial even rubs the egg with butter or cooking oil first – deliberately kitchen-grade prep for a laser job – to get a dark, high-contrast engraving on such a delicate surface.

For a cosplayer who is intimidated by the learning curve of digital fabrication, what is the single most forgiving material and technique you recommend for their first project?

For a first project, plywood or basswood is the most forgiving place to start: it cuts and engraves cleanly, it is inexpensive, easy to source, and mistakes are low stakes. Pair it with a simple engrave-and-cut project, a layered keyring, a nameplate or a small piece of terrain, and you get a finished, satisfying result in minutes while learning the core workflow. From there, foam and acrylic open up once you are comfortable.

Finally, where can the tabletop and cosplay community find your best beginner resources, and are there any creator-led causes or community projects xTool is currently championing?

The best starting point is our design software, Creative Space, together with our learning resources, guided projects, tutorials and templates that take you from your first cut to more ambitious builds, plus an active maker community sharing projects and settings. On the causes side, we run “1% for the Maker”, through which we support community and educational projects with equipment, including ongoing work with heritage-restoration and community-making organisations, and the “Made for Good” initiative, where pieces made at our events are sold for charity. We are always keen to hear about community-led projects we can support.

For tabletop builders and costume fabricators, the modern laser cutter is no longer an industrial outlier requiring dedicated workshop space. By combining dialled-in software kerf offsets and modular multi-laser heads, makers can transition between dense EVA armour pieces and interlocking terrain tiles without sacrificing domestic safety or living room floor space.

Photo by yogurt on Unsplash.

Tiny Onion has secured a first-look deal with Blumhouse Atomic to develop intellectual property across film, television, and animation. Announced by James Tynion IV via his independent production house, the partnership expands upon existing development for the bestselling Image Comics series Exquisite Corpses and BOOM! Studios’ Something Is Killing the Children.

Under the agreement, James Tynion IV will work alongside Blumhouse Atomic and Lyrical Media to adapt Exquisite Corpses into both feature film and animation formats. Co-created by James Tynion IV and artist Michael Walsh, the dark Halloween-themed thriller has surpassed one million sales in its first eighteen months since publication. This builds on the previously announced live-action film and adult animated series adaptations of Something Is Killing the Children, which is heading into production next year with director Craig Zobel attached.

“From the moment I first stepped into the Blumhouse offices, it felt like coming home,” James Tynion IV, founder of Tiny Onion, said in a statement, “Every person in that building, and every filmmaker on their roster is dedicated to making great horror, and I’m thrilled to stand by their side and help bring these terrifying stories to life.”

The collaboration deepens ties between the independent comic creator and major horror producers. Jason Blum, CEO and Founder of Blumhouse Atomic, commented, “James has been a valued partner on Something Is Killing The Children, which is why we wanted to expand our relationship. He has great storytelling instincts with a passion for the horror genre. As we look to develop more IP, this felt like a great fit, and we’re happy to take the next step with him and Tiny Onion.”

The slate also includes development on Room Service, a short film and one-shot comic by James Tynion IV. The overarching transmedia expansion covers television, film, and tabletop gaming, following the successful Kickstarter launch of Exquisite Corpses: The Game. James Tynion IV is represented by United Talent Agency, Brillstein Entertainment Partners, and TroyGould.

Yesterday was Guy Fawkes Day, and people set off fireworks without much knowledge of why. Or am I being cynical?

In this TTRPG news summary, we’re all about knowledge, with a weekly roundup from Geek Native and the web. Let’s start with the summary of summaries!

• Itch washed terabytes of AI slop out of its system and now wants tabletop designers to disclose usage.
• Discord will open some servers up to the web (for search and bots).
• Paizo, Green Ronin, et al, will finally get their warehouse hostage games back.
• Chaosium will publish the Folklorists and the Tapestry TTRPGs.
• A Ben 10 TTRPG is on the way.
• There’s a Trigun Stampede TTRPG on the way.

Speaking of Trigun, Scotland Loves Anime is on in Glasgow, and it’ll reach Edinburgh soon. If you go and watch, then why not vote in the unofficial SLA-ed awards.

The Spotlight feature on but without Slithy Tove Games is live. Bil Bass’ imprint is worth looking at.

Speaking of the RPG Publisher Spotlight, Arcane Brewery will be our feature for November. If you’re a patron, you can vote for the December honouree.

Thank you also for using the Spotlight Nominations form. For the first time ever, we had more candidates than we could manage in a month.

The candidates for next RPG Publisher Spotlight are:

• Armored Storyteller Publishing
• Weird Adventures by Martin A. Cubas
• The Obsidian Die
• Mindplaces
• The Northern Realm Inc.

If you follow the daily digest, you’ll notice it’s been a bit erratic in the last two days. For good reasons! We got stuck in a queue helping archive pages for the Wayback Machine. If you want an alternative way to stay laser-focused on Routinely Itemised, then I recommend the RSS feed.

On with the TTRPG news!

Spotlight: Arcane Brewery.

RPG news from Geek Native

• We reported that Discord change will expose tabletop RPG chat to AI scraping.
• Finally, Itch.io deletes terabytes of AI spam and enforces TTRPG disclosures.
• We had an interview with Julien Frid on the d6 mechanics and post-war setting of the Sine TTRPG.
• Geek Native covered Court clears Paizo and Green Ronin inventory in Diamond bankruptcy resolution.
• We went Inside the RPG Creators Relief Fund: Hal Greenberg on hardship, reserves, and freelance precarity.
• Sadly. Rising shipping costs force ANVL to drop resin prints for $5.99 STLs.
• We reported on Hiscox property index features Thistle Tavern as game stores become destinations. I know! A weird mashup of local Edinburgh, TTRPG and finance news!
• In crowdfunding, Geek Native investigated Era: Hydrogen: Keeping dying suns alive with exploding d10s and Grimdark frontier like no other: Feral, the historical fantasy roleplaying game.
• For bundle deals, we had Scrounge, Survive, and Suffer in the Void With the New Death in Space Bundle.

Support: Patreon.

RPG news from around the web

• Rascal features Khee Hoon Chan, who reports on After Grimwild’s creator disappeared, the RPG’s community banded together to design their own free edition.
• Over at Chaosium, the team writes about Chaosium to release Folklorists, a new roleplaying game in mid-2027.
• iXBT.games’s Denis Morporkov has the news (18+) Hell and High Water unveiled — a tabletop roleplaying game set in the Trench Crusade universe.
• EN World features Christian Hoffer, who reports that Ben 10 is getting an TTRPG.
• Tabletop Sentinel features Angus, who reports on Trigun Stampede Tabletop RPG Announced Using the Resistance System – Free Quickstart Released.
• Angus also picks up that there will be Two New Melsonian Arts Council TTRPG Books In Time For Dragonmeet.
• The Gaming Gang features Jeff McAleer, who reports on Chaosium Inc Announce the Tapestry: Age of Conquest Roleplaying Game.
• Dungeons & Dragons Fanatics’s Jason Volk has the news D&D Team Hires Lyla Fujiwara as Senior Game Designer.
• Bruno Yonezawa examines Dungeons & Dragons Unveils Brand-New Species You Can Play For Free for Screen Rant.
• Corentin Choisy explores SKEW 1.0: The Free, Rules-Light RPG System That Puts All Your Dice to Work for Rascal.
• Writing for The Gaming Gang, Jeff McAleer reports on RuneQuest: The Apple Lane Campaign is Now in Stores.
• Over at Gauntlet, the team writes about Dice Will Roll! Celebrating 10 Years of Community at the D&D Club.

Support: Fight the Algorithm

RPG reviews and interviews from around the web

• Brandes Stoddard shares a review of Origins Expanded.
• Writing for CBR, Jennifer Melzer shares a review of Obojima: Tales from Yatamon.
• Dungeons & Dragons Fanatics’s Jason Volk examines Obojima: Tales From Yatamon Lands.
• Thomas Hindmarch at Polygon reviews World of Warcraft’s D&D.
• GamesRadar+’s Benjamin Abbott examines D&D World of Warcraft.
• But Why Tho?’s Adrian Ruiz examine D&D: World Of Warcraft.
• Reviews from R’lyeh shares thoughts on The Hunt for the Storm Calf.
• At The Kind GM, AnastasiosHJW delivers a review of The Rising Knight.
• Over at Halfway Station VI, Andy Slack’s reviews Dune Adventures in the Imperium.
• Timothy S. Brannan examines Witch Girls Adventures 2nd Edition.
• Writing for TTRPG Insider, Christopher Hutton shares an interview on Exploring the Witchy Side of Terry Pratchett’s Discworld in the Lancre and Uberwald Expansion.
• Writing for Ill Met by Morrslieb, Zekiel shares a review of WFRP Buyer’s Guide.
• The team at Shadomain shares an interview on Tales From the Tavern Q&A with Nick from Red River.
• Over at Geeks of Doom, the team reviews A Feast For A Tenday: The Official Cookbook for Baldur’s Gate 3. (Amazon)
• At TTRPG Insider, Christopher Hutton interviews the team behind Biophage.
• In an interview at Tabletop Gaming, we learn about Joe Manganiello: D&D has a new sheriff in town.
• Writing for Polygon, Sam Nelson shares an interview on Brandon Sanderson’s Mistborn TTRPG Lays the Groundwork for His Next Series.

RPG new releases

• Arcane Brewery released Falkenreich – A ShadowDark RPG Setting.
• AxidentalDM brings us Metropolis RPG.
• Magpie Games brings us Urban Shadows: Expanded City Hubs.
• Alan Tucker brings us Fractus, the Broken World.
• R. B. Publisher brings us Topikus – Solo RPG.
• Belazan Games released Heroes Assemble: System Core Rulebook.
• The Department of Unusual Observations expands their catalogue with Commander Cosmic and the Daring Duel of Death.
• MHope released Omerta and Blood Core Rulebook v1.0.
• Xipe Totec Press brings us The Lazarus Archive: A Cosmic Noir TTRPG.
• New from Monkey Business Games is Codex Maleficarum 2nd Edition.
• In physical shops like Forbidden Planet, there is Dark Horse’s D&D Total Party Killer.

RPG bundle deals

• Save $47.97 (25%) in The JonnyDM bundle.
• Save $9.90 (22%) with thiagogomes’s Korog RPG bundle.
• Save $8.55 (32%) in Pelgrane Press’ 13th Age Monsters bundle.
• Save $3.00 (20%) with the The House under the Moondial + Soundtrack bundle from Hexagnome.

RPG ideas, tips and discoveries

• For Halloween, we wrote up Dust and Dice: From Necroscope to Nightlife, the vampire RPGs left in the crypt.
• Writing for ICv2, Rob Salkowitz reports on Con Fragmentation is the Only Way Forward.
• Dom explores Flowers of Algorab for Signals from Delta Pavonis.
• W. F. Smith explores My Dungeon Master Put Me on a PIP for Prismatic Wasteland.
• Writing for Seed of Worlds, Xaosseed reports on Get Going, Keep Going (Player Advice Blogwagon).
• Over at Modiphius, the team writes about A TTRPG Analysis of “Encounter at Farpoint”.
• A shrike for my dreams’s Velocitree has A Guide for new DMs: young player advice.
• Dot at Kobold Press writes up Trade Secrets: The Business of Adventure in Fantasy RPGs.
• Checking in with Sly Flourish, Michael E. Shea investigates Write Down Your Encounter Benchmark.
• Monte Cook opines on RPG Design Theories that smaller is better.

RPG Crowdfunding

There’s more! You can catch up with the Kickstarter campaign we’ve written up in more detail at Kickstarter watch. Here are some noteworthy industry projects to mention:

• Doom Falls on Darkmoor, now crowdfunding from Third Castle Games, is described as “A new sword & sorcery role-playing adventure.”
• Our Quiet Little Town from Will Brall steps up to crowdfund, promising “A Silly Paranormal Campaign Setting for Any System. Small-town cozy horror about everyday people trying to cope with the supernatural.”
• Veilfall: The Devil’s Vow — A Dark Urban Fantasy TTRPG, which Steven has brought to Kickstarter, is described as “Investigate occult crimes, navigate ancient vampire factions, and uncover the locked Gate beneath Ironward.”
• Tahlvaen by John Eisenberg is seeking backers. In their words: “A heart-forward dark fantasy world for 5e, where rare magic, eldritch dread, hope fights the dark, and human courage shape every fate.”
• Crimson Marksmen: Rise of Spurwing the Cruel, a new project from Sohrab Rezvan, is summarised as “An Arsenal Football Club-themed D&D adventure for football/soccer lovers. A complete adventure with original creatures, maps, & puzzles.”
• Beavers or Bandits – Quest for Shadowdark RPG by Fireball Studios steps up to crowdfund, pitching “A dam is being built upstream of a village. They call for heroes to investigate this inconvenience.”
• Attack at the Sunset Festival: D&D 5e One-Shot Adventure from DungeonDane is funding now, promising “An easy-to-run D&D 5e one-shot featuring ready-to-play halfling characters, a charming village festival, and a thrilling goblin raid.”
• King in Yellow RPG Dice Set, which Greenwich House Hobbies has brought to Kickstarter, invites backers to: “Bring the King from Carcosa into your RPG with the King in Yellow RPG Dice Set.”
• Dungeon Domains: Mordengandr Den, which Bart Wynants has brought to Kickstarter, promises “An endlessly expandable dungeon for Shadowdark, 5e, Mörk Borg, Pathfinder, Forbidden Lands & other fantasy tabletop role-playing games.”
• D100 SIDEQUEST IDEAS FOR DND 5E, a new project from Loots & Dragons, is billed as “100+ rumors and sidequests, organized by environments and biomes, to create a living world and save DM prep time.”
• ScrollForge 3D Printable Modular Dice Tower from Stratation Design is funding now, summarised as “A customizable dice tower, scroll case, and dice storage system for your TTRPG adventures. Digital STL files only.”
• 100 Fantasy Ships for D&D 5e is a new Kickstarter by Dungeon Scroll Games pitching “A supplement with 100+ unique fantasy ships, each designed to drop into your D&D 5e campaigns or any TTRPG.”
• Pilgrim’ TTRPG from Dungeon Mayhem Syndicate is funding now, summarised as “A Daggerheart Space‑Western Campaign Frame.”
• One Thousand Rats Devour a City by Ravensridge Press has gone live, promising “A boardgame TTRPG of murine vengeance in a victorian gothic city.”
• 5 Dreams: a Dungeons and Dragons 5E and 5.5E campaign is a new Kickstarter by Brian C pitching “Compete against other heroes, challenge monsters and endeavor to win the title of Heroes of the Kingdom in this D&D 5E & 5.5E campaign.”
• Forestwalker is a Kickstarter project from John promising “A cyberpunk-fantasy TTRPG where people channel divine power from ancient technology to lightning strike their enemies.”
• The Gilded Court: 20 Wicked Noble Houses For D&D 5E (no AI) from Ravenora steps up to crowdfund, billed as “20 wicked noble houses across 200+ pages of dark secrets, rivalries, NPCs & adventure hooks, ready for your D&D campaigns.”
• The WitchGirls Inc RPG Campaign Sourcebook is a crowdfunding campaign from Dennis Mallonee billed as “It’s a detective agency run by witches! And they’re looking to hire new associates to solve occult mystery and expose occult fraud.”
• Runes and Golden Keys: A deck of quests for RPG by Scenic Japanese has gone live, pitching “An innovative deck which incorporates both quests and items for any TTRPG such as D&D DnD 5e 5.5e Starfinder Daggerheart and many more.”
• 13 Queer Villains, pitched by Ever After Print, is described as “To diversify your roleplaying games.”
• Adventurer’s Journal: all you need for your D&D character, now crowdfunding from Irene Cabrejas, is summarised as “No more getting lost in piles of random papers. Character sheet, spellbook, session trackers, quick guides and more. All in one place.”
• Shadowrun: Anarchy 2.0 – Over The Edge by Black Book Editions seeks funding, billed as “New Character Options, Advanced Rules & Adventures for the Alternative Shadowrun Cyberpunk-Fantasy Ruleset.”
• Eclipse at Xoltepec: A D&D 5E Beastiary of the Professor, now crowdfunding from Professor Dudley Proose, promises “A 123-page D&D 5E bestiary with 50 creatures, seven temple floors, field notes, tribute, and a descent under eclipse.”
• The Kidding Season – A Folk Horror Adventure for D&D 5E, now crowdfunding from Sumida, is billed as “42 pregnant goats, seven nights of strange births, and one terrible secret. A 56-page D&D 5E horror adventure for levels 1–20.”
• OSR The Bride of Blood / La Sposa di Sangue from DiegoZap is rallying backers, billed as “A 180 pages horror adventure module for all the Old School systems (D&D, AD&D, OSE etc), for expert level groups (3-5).”
• Thirteen Haunted Houses: Drop-In Hauntings for D&D 5e by Laurie is rallying support. The pitch: “Thirteen haunted houses, each playable in a single night. Drop one into any campaign and watch your players refuse to go upstairs.”
• Seven Sinners – Goetia: A Demon Bestiary for 5E & OSRIC, a new project from Grim Moon Studio, is billed as “Summon the demons of the Ars Goetia in your 5E or OSRIC campaigns: monsters, pacts, seals & adventures from an ENnie-winning series.”
• The Ninja – A New Class Compatible with DnD 5e/5.5e from ChronicleMaker has gone live, billed as “Master secret jutsu passed down through generations. Unlock the mysteries of your Densho and forge your legend in the shadows.”
• Towers of the Mist by Xykit is seeking backers. The pitch: “Dice Tower Blocks – Build your own mix & match dice towers! Modular Themed Tabletop Dice Towers in .STL & .3MF format.”
• 100 Weaknesses for Dragonbane by Cakebread & Walton has gone live. The campaign reads: “100 Weaknesses and how to use them. Designed for Dragonbane; useful for other fantasy tabletop rpg systems.”
• Moonlit Mayhem – Cave Goblins Dice Collection from Forge T2 has launched on Kickstarter. The campaign reads: “Original fantasy football dice featuring mischievous goblin artwork, striking marbled colours and community-chosen designs.”
• Tales from Windheim/Sagor från Windheim from Nordic Skalds has launched on Kickstarter, billed as “A collection of fantasy short stories set in the city of Foamsvale/Brusdala.”
• DUNGEON BUILDERS: Crypts, Tombs & Mausoleums, 5e by Anthony David has gone live. The campaign reads: “Every tomb tells two stories.”
• Legions of the Iron Dominion: A D&D 5e codex of the orc army by Meda Kilam is rallying backers, billed as “Fifty warriors of an iron empire, fully illustrated and ready for battle — a complete orc army for your DnD 5th Edition adventures.”
• NPCFolk: The Docks – 3D Printable NPC Miniatures for TTRPGs is a new Kickstarter from aMini3DWorld making the call: “Bring your harbour to life with quirky pirates and townsfolk. Pre-supported 28/32mm STL NPC miniatures for fantasy tabletop RPGs.”
• Worldbuilding Blueprints Volume 2 from Starving Writer Studio is rallying backers, billed as “Urban Design.”
• RPG Adventure Stamps: Icelands Set by Jorrit Schlüter steps up to crowdfund, summarised as “3D-printable stamps & tools set to quickly create playable TTRPG adventures, including maps & tokens for characters, monsters & more.”
• 2D6 Dungeon Goblins – A solo player dungeon crawler by Toby Lancaster is now live, billed as “A new ten level goblin dungeon to explore.”
• Hunting Season: Three Monster Hunt 5e One-Shots by Elven Foundry is now live, touted as “Three 5e compatible one-shots with lair battlemaps, creature stat blocks, and magic items for characters of levels 2–7.”
• TTRPG Battle Maps and More (2026 Edition) by SideQuest20 is rallying support. The campaign reads: “Hundreds of PNP and VTT battle maps and more — just in time for your holiday adventures.”
• Dungeon Realms: Three Worlds, Endless Adventures is a crowdfunding campaign from MakerMan3D Terrain touted as “36 Modular Tiles, 3 Environments, and Countless Layouts For D&D and TTRPGs.”

The Night Run: A Solo Fantasy Adventure Gamebook is a new Kickstarter from Roll & Choose Gamebooks pitching “A replayable solo RPG gamebook for one player and a few dice. One sealed box, one long night, and six ways it can end.”

Cursed Lands, a new project from Robert James, promises “50 Cursed Lands: Zero-Prep Dark Fantasy Exploration for D&D 5E & 5.5E.”

[What’s this chart? We use Kickstarter Heat to measure how busy the crowdfunding season is.]

Do you know of any RPG news sources we might not know? If so, please let us know or leave a comment below.