The official Wallace & Gromit news feed has fallen conspicuously silent. While the last major entry on the duo’s home page dates back to a November 2025 festive collaboration with Barbour, the gears of the Bristol-based animation giant have not stopped turning. Behind the scenes, a quiet revolution in the studio’s £100-million licensing empire is taking place, led by a silent, flightless criminal.

The release of the Feathers McGraw Wanted Tea Towel by Half Moon Bay, now appearing via Bristol-based retailer TruffleShuffle, is more than a nostalgia trip for fans of the 1993 classic The Wrong Trousers. It is a tangible result of Aardman’s 2025 Environmental & Sustainability Charter, which mandated that the studio achieve Net Zero by the end of 2026.

The Bristol Connection

The geography of this release is remarkably tight. Aardman Animations, TruffleShuffle, and the logistical heart of the UK’s “Claymation” heritage are all anchored in the Bristol area. While the official blog remains static, still promoting the 2025 Barbour scarf collection, the local economy is busy fulfilling Aardman’s modern “Green Clause” licensing strategy.

This tea towel, constructed from 100% recycled cotton, represents another wave of sustainable merchandise. Under the direction of the studio’s commercial leadership, Aardman has begun auditing its “Scope 3” emissions, the indirect carbon footprint created by third-party merchandise. By shifting legacy partners like Half Moon Bay toward recycled materials, the studio is cleaning up its supply chain ahead of the 50th-anniversary celebrations expected later this year.

The Return of the Villain

The timing of the “Wanted” poster merchandise is no coincidence. Following the successful 2024 release of Vengeance Most Fowl, directed by Nick Park and Merlin Crossingham, Feathers McGraw has been repositioned as the central figure of the franchise’s “antagonist brand.”

The domestic irony is hard to miss: a tea towel featuring a “Wanted” poster for a character who famously infiltrated Wallace’s home. It suggests that while the official site may be quiet, the studio is betting on the “suspicious lodger” to drive the next era of ethical consumerism.

Aardman Animations, in their official Environmental & Sustainability Charter, stated:

To echo the values of our brands we strive to reduce, reuse and recycle as much as possible… [and] ensure environmental, including climate change, criteria are taken into account as a standard requirement as part of the procurement of goods and services.”

Quick Links

• TruffleShuffle: Have You Seen This Chicken?

Hello and welcome home. This is Audio EXP, the weekly podcast from Geek Native. I am your host, Girdy, and it is the first weekend of April 2026. This week, we are unpacking the fallout from April Fools’ Day, a massive 5e conversion for a classic science fiction universe, and some significant changes in the tabletop retail landscape. Let us get right into the news.

[The following is a transcript of Audio EXP: #328]

[Also on Stitcher | Spotify | Apple | YouTube]

As it is the start of a new month, we begin with the results of our community vote. I am thrilled to announce that Mythmere Games has won the April Roleplaying Game Publisher Spotlight. They have a fantastic catalogue of old-school renaissance titles, and I will now begin the monthly quest of trying to get in touch with them to arrange an interview. We also need to look ahead to next month. Thank you to all the patrons for continuing to support the site. Your candidates for the May spotlight are:

• NDVmaps
• Fights And Fancy
• YS Games
• The Arcverse
• Deep Light Games

You can head over to the Patreon page right now to cast your vote.

Now, we cannot talk about the first week of April without acknowledging the absolute chaos that descends upon the internet. We had a bit of fun on the site with a couple of April Fools’ jokes this week. First, we ran a satirical piece claiming that Ticketmaster was planning to monetise the tabletop industry with a new QuestMaster Core integration. The joke suggested a future where Game Masters would have to deal with dynamic surge pricing just to book a table at their local game store.

While it was entirely fictional, we do fear it serves as a slightly too accurate commentary on the highly monetised digital future some corporations might envision for Dungeons and Dragons. We also took part in a coordinated prank with the looking-for-group site StartPlaying. They released an announcement claiming they had accidentally launched a Shadowdark mode after an engineering typo, rather than a standard dark mode, plunging users into a highly lethal, torch-lit interface.

In between pranks and news, Italian studio Gamers Hunter Edizioni did not launch 2220 Cyberpunk RPG. They say the April 1st date was a joke, but the launch is coming soon. Set in a highly corporate, dystopian future, this game promises a fresh take on the genre, featuring a proprietary d100 system that emphasises narrative consequences and lethal combat.

Moving on to the real news, Stockholm-based publisher Free League has expanded its open roleplaying game licenses to cover five core titles. This move officially opens up the mechanical engines for games like Mutant Year Zero, Coriolis, and Dragonbane, allowing third-party creators to publish their own compatible content. The announcement included details on multiple supported languages. Interestingly, there was some pushback in the comments from a Russian user criticising the company for not including a Russian translation. While publishers frequently omit languages based on market logistics and printing costs, the broader inclusion of Ukrainian in modern international licensing agreements is likely to trigger this kind of geopolitical friction online. Regardless, this open license is a massive win for independent creators looking to build within Free League’s award-winning mechanical frameworks.

In what might be one of the biggest crossover events of the year, Traveller, the classic science fiction roleplaying game, is getting an official 5e conversion. The World’s Largest RPGs and Mongoose Publishing are bringing the sprawling, star-faring universe of the Third Imperium to the world’s most popular ruleset. This is a monumental shift. For decades, Traveller has been defined by its highly lethal, skill-based 2d6 system and its infamous character generation minigame where you could potentially die before the campaign even started. Adapting that gritty, trade-focused space opera into the heroic, class-based mechanics of 5e is a massive design challenge. It will be fascinating to see how they balance the high fantasy power curve of 5e with the grounded, hard science fiction roots of the Traveller universe.

If you prefer your games firmly rooted in fantasy but want a departure from traditional elves and dwarves, a new project called Mythomachus is bringing deadly Greek folklore to 5e. I’m describing this as The Witcher meets Highlander, as setting drops players into a mythic world where they take on the roles of immortal warriors hunting down terrifying creatures from ancient Hellenic myths. The supplement introduces new subclasses, a unique immortality mechanic, and a deep focus on tactical monster hunting.

Over in the digital tabletop space, the Daggerheart Core Set has officially arrived on Fantasy Grounds just as physical stock dwindles. Darrington Press’s highly anticipated roleplaying game is seeing massive demand. With the physical rulebooks flying off the shelves at retail, the timely integration into the Fantasy Grounds virtual tabletop platform ensures that groups can continue to adopt the system online without having to wait for the next printing run.

We also have a significant business closure to report this week. Amigo Games has closed its doors, marking the end of an eight-year American experiment. The German board game giant originally opened its North American branch to bring highly successful European card games like Saboteur directly to the US market. However, following a series of logistical challenges and shifting retail landscapes, the company has decided to shutter the US office and revert to its previous model of licensing its catalogue to independent American distributors.

On a more hopeful business note, there is a plan in motion to save Infinite Black through lost artefacts and family ties. The tabletop accessory company, known for its incredible cosmic horror dice and Elder Dice collections, recently faced severe hardship after its stock disappeared from a warehouse. Now, the family are rallying the community with a special campaign, unearthing rare, vaulted inventory to generate the capital needed. There’s even a crowdfunding campaign called Doomsday.

In streaming news, Apple TV has officially added Crunchyroll to its roster ahead of the One Piece return. This integration allows Apple TV subscribers to access the massive anime library directly through the platform’s unified interface. It is a highly strategic move by Sony to increase Crunchyroll’s mainstream visibility just in time for the highly anticipated new season of the pirate epic.

Finally, we wrap up this week with an absolutely colossal bundle deal. The Magpie Games Megabundle gathers 25 Powered by the Apocalypse roleplaying games into one massive collection on the Bundle of Holding. This includes critically acclaimed titles like Masks and Bluebeard’s Bride. If you have ever wanted to explore the narrative-first mechanics that have completely reshaped the independent tabletop scene over the last decade, this is the perfect opportunity to stock your digital library for a fraction of the retail price.

That is it for this week. Thanks for listening to Audio EXP. For all the links and full stories, head over to Geek Native. Until next week, stay geeky.

The Glorantha fan community has been a hive of debate this week following accusations that Chaosium Inc. is adopting a “DLC” business model for its flagship roleplaying game, RuneQuest. The dispute, which began as an open letter from fan advocate Filip Bobiński, has forced a rare, transparent response from Chaosium Vice President Michael O’Brien, revealing a significant shift in the company’s publishing strategy.

The controversy centres on the recent release of three standalone PDF scenarios: The Hunt for the Storm Calf, Stealing the Eye, and A Darkness in Runegate. Filip Bobiński argued that partitioning what would normally be a scenario collection into individual digital downloads felt akin to the “frowned upon” practices of video game developers, urging fans to “vote with their wallets” until a physical book is released.

The “Bridge-Gap” Strategy

Responding to the concerns in an official Chaosium statement, Michael O’Brien (known to fans as MOB) clarified that the company is not intentionally “cutting a book to pieces.” Instead, he revealed that the final product, a compiled scenario collection, does not yet exist in its entirety.

To be clear, we’re not “dividing the product into small parts to be sold separately”. There’s nothing to divide. The final product – a collection of one shot scenarios – doesn’t fully exist yet… Simply put, the alternative to this would be we’d not be releasing anything until then.”

Michael O’Brien admitted that the rate of RuneQuest: Roleplaying in Glorantha releases had slowed to “barely one a year,” and the PDF releases are a “temporary situation” designed to maintain momentum while the company pivots back to playable content rather than dense reference tomes.

The Stealth Reveal: A Revised Core Rulebook

Buried within the defence of the PDF model was a major revelation for the line’s future: Chaosium is working on a Revised Core Rulebook. According to Michael O’Brien, the game needs a “revised rulebook that is easier to use for newcomers” to grow and prosper.

Insiders suggest this revised edition will be significantly more streamlined, reportedly around 60% of the size of the original 2018 core book, and will incorporate combat rule clean-ups and a built-in Bestiary. The move appears aimed at lowering the high barrier to entry that has defined the current edition, which many newcomers found overwhelming due to its encyclopaedic density.

Looking Toward Sartar

The production bottleneck appears to be clearing as the company moves toward the release of Lands of RuneQuest: Sartar. This upcoming title is expected to kick off a regular release cycle of print titles, eventually including a physical compilation of the controversial PDF scenarios, plus at least one exclusive adventure that will not be released in PDF beforehand.

For now, the friction appears to have eased. Filip Bobiński noted he was “satisfied” with the explanation, provided this “bridge-gap” solution remains an exception rather than a permanent shift toward micro-transactional publishing.

Athens-based publisher Edge of Mythos has launched a fully funded Kickstarter campaign for Mythomachus. This new campaign setting and rule system brings the award-winning Greek graphic novel to the 5e tabletop roleplaying game engine. Set against the backdrop of 1800s Greece during the Ottoman occupation, players navigate a dark historical fantasy in which fairies steal children in the night and folklore beasts stalk the starving countryside.

The project introduces a highly lethal and investigative approach to monster hunting. Rather than relying on standard, predictable stat blocks, creatures like the Empousa or Kalikanjari possess “Folklore Traits.” Game masters secretly decide which local legends are true and which are mere superstition, forcing players to research specific traps, rituals, and incantations before striking.

The Price of Immortality

Upon dealing a killing blow to their first monster, characters face a monumental choice. They can remain mortal heroes progressing through legacy milestones to shape the world around them, or they can ascend to become a Mythomachus.

These immortal champions are paradigms of heroism but suffer a terrible curse. They must continue hunting monsters to sustain their immortality. Should a Mythomachus kill one of their own kind, corrupted Essence overtakes them, turning them into a cannibalistic threat craving the power of other immortals.

Unpredictable Magick

The setting completely overhauls traditional 5e spellcasting. Shapers manipulate the Weave of Magick through a volatile push-your-luck mechanic. Magicks are ranked from one to nine. When casting, players roll a d100. If the result is lower than ten times the magick rank, a devastating calamity occurs. The system demands that players carefully weigh the tactical benefit of a spell against the potential cost to their own lives and the safety of their party.

Players will also have access to era-specific weaponry, choosing between the long range of a kariofili or the close quarters brutality of a kindjal. Those brave enough to delve into underground labyrinths can seek out Relics, powerful artefacts crafted by forgotten deities.

Reward Tiers

The campaign offers a variety of entry points, ranging from digital access to highly limited collaborative design tiers.

• Pledge €20 (approx. £18): Apprentice. A digital PDF copy of the core rulebook.
• Pledge €45 (approx. £40): Warrior. The standard physical hardcover and the PDF.
• Pledge €55 (approx. £48): Hero. The digital and physical Collector’s edition featuring an exclusive alternative art cover.
• Pledge €70 (approx. £62): Champion. The Collector’s physical and digital editions, a Kickstarter exclusive map of Greece, and STL files for two miniatures.
• Pledge €150 (approx. £131): Legend. Everything in the Champion tier, plus a gameplay card deck, a dice set, and a limited edition handcrafted wooden GM screen.
• Pledge €300 (approx. £262): Weaponmaster. Includes the Legend rewards and a matching wooden dice tray. Backers also collaborate with the development team to create and name a unique Relic featured in the final book.
• Pledge €450 (approx. £393): Demigod. Adds a class symbol t-shirt and a personalised digital art piece drawn by creator Yannis Rubus Rubulias, which will be featured in the book.
• Pledge €1,000 (approx. £873): The One. The ultimate tier allows the backer to create a fully statted character with a four-page spread in the lore section.

The project is all-or-nothing and will close on Thursday, April 30th, 2026. Physical delivery is estimated for March 2027.

Quick Links

• Back this Campaign

Did you make it through April Fool’s Day? We pranked ourselves as last year’s joke, which I deactivated weeks ago, fired again! It shows you how long caches persist.

Let’s get going with the summary of the summaries!

• Paradox has wheeled out the big guns and got Brennan Lee Mulligan back to Vampire.
• There’s a crowdfunding campaign to bring Traveller to 5e.
• Paizo has launched Paizo Printables.
• Free League has expanded their open gaming license to more games and languages.

We wrote up our piece on Open Sesame Games and the Acidic Oceans of Ecryme. Since it’s the start of April, there’s a new batch of RPG publishers our patrons can vote for. They are;

• NDVmaps
• Fights And Fancy
• YS Games
• The Arcverse
• Deep Light Games

To cast your vote, visit this patrons-only page.

On with the TTRPG news!

Spotlight: Mythmere Games.

RPG news from Geek Native

• Brennan Lee Mulligan will lead a new Vampire: The Masquerade actual play.
• Paul Hughes has joined MCDM and praises their ethics.
• It’s in beta-ish, but I took an early look and rather liked Dungeoneers.
• Geek Native interviewed Alex Papadakis in Witcher meets Highlander: How Mythomachus brings deadly Greek folklore to 5e.
• We also talked to A Maquina do RPG about the forthcoming melancholic horror of Silent Læke.
• Interviews come in three because we also talked to Johnny Wilson about the superhero TTRPG Teamup.
• Pulling an April Fool’s (or just being late), Gamers Hunter Edizioni reassure us that 2220 Cyberpunk is coming.
• The Resurrection is a plan to save Infinite Black.
• In virtual tabletop news, we noted that Daggerheart core set arrives on Fantasy Grounds as physical stock dwindles.
• Free League flexed some lega muscles and expanded open roleplaying game licenses to five core titles.
• There’s still time to get involved. We took a look at Mana Project’s Runeway.
• We also took a look at the crowdfunding campaign to get Traveller onto 5e.
• We put the spotlight on Open Sesame Games and the Acidic Oceans of Ecryme.
• In bundles, there’s a Magpie Apocalypse mega-deal.

Support Us!: Patreon.

RPG news from around the web

• Wargamer’s Mollie Russell notes Exclusive: D&D rival Pathfinder leads new printable mini range with the mighty Mirage Dragon.
• EN World’s Starmaster delivers a breakdown of D&D General Forgotten Realms cover to “Guide to the Dalelands” revealed, book delayed.
• Over at ComicBook.com, the team covers Netflix’s Dungeons & Dragons Show Can Finally Include the Best Character Cut From the $208M Movie.
• The Popverse has published a piece on Goodbye, D&D 5th Edition. Hello, D&D 5.5 Edition. Here’s why, according to Wizards of the Coast.
• Seed of Worlds writes up Field Report: Vienna Fantasy Gaming & Roleplay Con 2026.
• OnTableTop notes that Taiga Miniatures Bringing Warplands TTRPG Range To Kickstarter Soon!.
• The Times of San Diego carries Comic-Con Museum presents one for the tribe with Dungeons & Dragons play set for the summer.
• KGNU writes up Anxie-D&D: How a mental health clinic is using Dungeons and Dragons as therapy.

RPG reviews and interviews from around the web

• Over at Reviews from R’lyeh, the Pookie reviews Cursed Scroll #1, Traveller’s Ashfall III: Into the Crust, Numenera’s Slaves of the Machine God and the scenario Hulda’s Last Song.
• The Kind DM looks at The Festival of Spring Eggs.
• Patchwork Paladin reviews the Merry Mushmen’s Dungeon Inc.
• Over at TechRaptor, Andrew Stretch reviews Dwarven Forge.
• Meanwhile, at Tabletop Bookshelf, the team reviews A Perfect Rock.
• The folks at The Popverse have an interview! Chris Perkins is enjoying being free from the “50 Year Legacy” of D&D as he works on Critical Role’s Daggerheart.
• And writing from PAX East, Popverse add Matt Mercer is aware of (and humbled by) Critical Role’s place in D&D history.
• TTRPG Insider talked to Adam Hancock TWELVE REALMS Brings a New Twist to Adventuring.
• RPG Drop talks to Amit Moshe How Son of Oak Turned Community into Kickstarter Success.

RPG new releases

• Tactical Gaming and Simulations has released the adventure RPG Iron and Dice Roleplaying Game Core Rules.
• Bloat Games has a system-agnostic solo RPG with Vigilante City for 5e – Core Rules.
• Underground Oracle Publishing has hit publish on Harrow: The Blighted Plane Player’s Primer.
• Mongoose has released Traveller Core Rulebook Update 2022 | Demiplane NEXUS.
• Trollish Delver Games has released the adventure RPG Merlin’s Miscellany (Romance of the Perilous Land).
• Iron Crown Enterprises has published HARP Steampunk.
• Chaosium has published the RuneQuest: A Darkness at Runegate.
• We now have Porcupine Publishing’s Vampire Republic.
• Wolfe & Crowe Productions has published Legends of Talam: Annwyre Worldbook.
• Derrick Schwartz published The World of Qualin.
• Fights And Fancy published Notes In The Twilight – A Solo TTRPG.
• Kodi Gonzaga has hit publish on Extra Ordinary 2e.
• North Road RPG has released a dark Easter horror one-shot called The Grove of the Forgotten.
• Exotic World Designs has released Apocalypse Essentials – 2nd Edition.
• Highmoon Press published the Champions/HERO system THE IOUN CODEX: A Sourcebook for Fantasy Role-Playing Games + Appendix.
• Wet Ink Games is supporting their Kickstarter with the free to download Precious Things – QUICKSTART.

RPG bundle deals

• Save £70 in the Fanatical-hosted Realms of Pugmire bundle. (The page should convert to your local currency)
• Save $26.65 (30%) with TrueTop Tokens’ The Ultimate DM Collection.
• Save $19.48 (50%) with Onyx Path Publishing’s Victorian Age Mage Collection.
• Save $12.97 (50%) with Onyx Path Publishing’s World of Darkness: Ghost Hunters Collection.
• Save $5.50 (46%) in the DMsGuild’s Whaling and Horror bundle.
• Save $2.00 (3% – wow) with Lizuren Games’ Uncharted Dungeons (Advanced Game Systems) bundle.

RPG ideas, tips and discoveries

• Ben and the Genre Police explained issues with commitment and asked what’s in a name?.
• The RPG Gazette explains The TTRPG as Oral Literature: Storytelling, Memory, and the Ephemeral campaign. Sebran Ionita also noted How Dragonlance Invented the TTRPG Novel and What That Cost The Hobby .
• You can read about The Social Contract Is the Real Rulebook over on Dice Monkey.
• Sly Flourish’s Mike notes Because of X, You Know Y.
• EN World’s Michael Tresca discusses RPG Evolution: taking the initiative.
• At Dice Scroller, Maxime Bonnin, writes up 2d10 vs 1d20: How Dice Systems Change the Feel of D&D.
• Roll20 takes a look at D&D Homebrew Features You Need to Try on Roll20.
• CBC’s Michelle Villagracia puts together Level up your next Dungeons and Dragons adventure with these creative makers.

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:

• Precious Things from Wet Ink Games is nominating “A tabletop RPG of tiny dragons and their cozy treasures.”
• Flames Beneath the Keep a D&D 5E OSE compatible adventure by Chris Ballauf is touted as “A one shot Dungeons and Dragons adventure for low to mid level players”
• THE EXECUTIONER’S AFFLICTION from Crooked Lines Comics is launching “A Single Player Role Playing Game. Choose your own Adventure Style”
• Innsmouth Lighthouse Keeper by B.P. Laverock is an upcoming supplement for “A Solo Narrative Horror RPG of Isolation and Encroaching Darkness, with Hand-Sculpted Collectibles from George Tsougkouzidis”
• Japanese Subclasses & Monsters for DnD 5e / 5.5e by Fool’s Hand Studio is offering “Two mythic subclasses and five monsters inspired by Japanese folklore and Yokai legends, bringing ancient spirits to your table.”
• PYRAMID OF IAK’M: GM Workbook & Connected Maps DnD 5e OSR by Laidback Dungeon Master is currently raising funds for “Workbook with 16 Hand Drawn Connected Old School Maps for YOU to Stock Your Mega-Dungeon! DnD 5e Shadowdark Pathfinder Dragonbane OSR”
• Manera’s Guide to Taming the Wild is a project by Fat Unicorn Games that invites players to explore “A guide to taming any Beast or Monster and converting it to a fully fledged character for your party.”
• Forgotten Lore: Celtic One-Shots by Forgotten Lore is an upcoming supplement for “Ready-to-Play D&D 5e One-Page One-Shots Inspired by Ancient Ireland”
• The Hobgoblin Warlord – OSRIC 3.0 by Karla Adder is touted as “A classic dungeon crawl adventure for OSRIC 3.0 and the OSR!”
• URWizards: World-Famous Landmark Themed Dice by URWizards is touted as “A Dice Set from Earth’s Extremes : Iceland’s Fagradalsfjall | Monument Valley | White Cliffs of Dover | Geirangerfjord”
• RPG Maps — 400+ Ancient Rome Maps is a project by Gergely Papp that is described as “Fight for honor! 400+ Roman maps featuring grand colosseums, fortified camps, and golden villas. The gods are watching! ”
• The Chaotic GM Decks by The Chaotic GM is currently raising funds for “Two 75-card decks built to rescue stalled TTRPG sessions – fast”
• Epic Props: Legendary Treasure chests from Mojibake has introduced “Epic fantasy treasure chests with keys, locks, and modular storage. Gridfinity compatible, ideal for dice, cards, minis, and ttrpg gear”
• The Oracle RPG App – Monster Mania! NO AI! from Nord Games seeks funding for “One App: Hundreds of monsters from your favorite publishers! Content Generators, RPG Tools, Campaign Builder, and more!”
• The Undying Pharaoh for D&D 5e from Hidden Hoard shares “Trespass into a sacred pyramid, defy an ancient covenant, and face a Pharaoh’s wrath in this one-shot fully compatible with DnD 5e.”
• RIFTS®: PHASE WORLD® by Star Anvil Studios is touted as “A Rifts® Dimension Savage Setting”
• The Fairy Tale Compendium for 5E is a project by A4 Play that promises “Heroes, Monsters, and Spirits”
• Epic Heroes Encyclopedia for 5e – Wizard is a project by Table Knight Studios that invites players to explore “Let’s change 5E for the better. Get ready to expand your games to the 30th level. Be an epic wizard.”
• Draco Dice – Etched Dragons in Metal Dice from Sorensen’s Precision Diceworks proposes “Unleash your inner RPG dragon with our amazing metal dice collection featuring intricate dragon etching.”
• What the Forest Remembers is a project by CozyRPG that looks at “A Collection of RPG Encounters for the Soulful Table”
• Final Cut: A Cinematic Horror RPG by Robert Smith is currently raising funds for “Survive your own horror movie. This campaign funds professional human-made artwork, quality printing, and future expansions.”
• Evolution Was Not Gentle: 100 Evolving Race Options 5e/5.5 from Allister is crowdfunding “100 Uniquely Twisted & Beautiful 5e Race Options That Evolve With Play”
• They All Think They’re Right: 100 Evolving Factions 5e/5.5 from DM-FLYNN is launching “100 Evolving Factions With World Ending Opinions”
• Tales of Ambergrove: New Editions of Novels and TTRPG Books by H. T. Martineau is touted as “Enhance your adventures in Ambergrove with new illustrated rereleases of the previously published novels and the TTRPG companion books.”
• The DM’s Toolbox – Resource Book for D&D 5e is a project by The Dungeon’s Loot that is described as “Hooks, Magic Items, Monsters and Other Tools for Your Homebrew Tabletop Games made for Dungeons & Dragons 5e”
• Horror at Devil’s Run: A ShadowDark RPG Adventure from Jeff Stevens proposes “A 4th-level adventure for the Shadowdark RPG, designed to be played over 2–4 hours.”
• Realis is a project by Tyler Crumrine that is described as “A new tabletop roleplaying game by Austin Walker”
• CREATURES. Heroes & Villains 3D Printables is a project by Javier Tejedor that is described as “Collection of CREATURES for all your RPG Adventures and Tabletop games. (Pre-supported STL Files)”
• Champions of Blodoran from Christopher Vella presents “A system-flexible RPG where factions rise or fall by your choices. No resets. The world remembers everything.”
• A Very B.E.A.R System from Wesleigh Mori-Caruso has introduced “A Boundless, Expressive, Adaptable, Roleplaying game that keeps narrative, rather than rules, at the centre of the table.”
• Into the Crucible: A Solo 5E Adventure by Limitless Adventures is now live, described as “Lead forces in battle and bring glory to the realm in this 5E solo quest for 4th Level.”
• Shadows of the 1930s: 450+ RPG Battle Maps by Agnieszka Polanowska is offering “Collection of 450+ atmospheric battlemaps for investigators, gangsters, and keepers of mystery.”
• Hell of an Escape – a 5e and 5.5e compatible adventure by Natwenny is a new roleplaying games project for “Fight your way out of Hell itself in this small adventure module for dead characters who want to keep the story going!”
• Mythos Motors – Drive the Madness from Kore Aeronautics seeks funding for “A range of 1920’s & 1930’s era vehicles leaning heavily into Mythos, History, Pulp and Gangster era tabletop gaming. With added Mythos.”
• Holy Rollers Productions from Devin presents “A faith based manufacturing project for Dice sets and props for DnD or Cosplay.”
• Pine Shallows from Jimmy Shelter is nominating “Strange things keep happening in town. It’s up to you meddlesome kids to get to the bottom of things.”
• The Rising of the Moon is a project by Frog God Games that promises “Book 4 – The Lost Lore of The Lost Lands – “For the Pikes must be together.””
• Populated Hexes Monthly Issue 56 is a project by Todd that invites players to explore “The Fungal Fortress”
• Clans of Chayil is a project by Jessica that looks at “Unleash your inner hero as you embark on a ground breaking RPG D6 tabletop game adventure in the land of Chayil.”
• Gods of Pleasure: Carnal Deities for D&D 5e from Mobinet Games introduces “A Divine 5e Supplement of Passion, Ecstasy and Myth. New wonders, relics, spells and quests + random tables for solo games. 150+ pages.”
• Adventurer Aboard: DnD Plate Frame stl for 3D Print is a project by Ani that promises “A set of original fantasy-themed 3D printable license plate frame files for adventurers, roleplay fans, and makers.”
• Breath of Life – The Geomancer (Pathfinder 1st Edition) by Orphaned Bookworm Productions LLC is now live, described as “A 1-20 East-Asian-influenced class for Pathfinder 1st edition”
• A Load of Kobolds from Midlam Miniatures brings us “11 Kobold Miniatures for all of your fantasy games.”
• Gaming Notebook Dice Tray – Halloween Fabric Covered Journal by BoardGameSolutions is now live, described as “An A5 Notebook with a Dice Rolling Tray built into the cover, ideal for D&D RPG Players, Solo Board Gamers, Family Game night and more!”
• The Return of the Necromancer: 3D STL RPG Set is a project by Phantom Forge Studios that promises “Full RPG campaign + 32mm & 75mm STL minis, boss, monsters, magic item cards, real-scale props & campaign manager software”

[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.

One of the most unforgettable horror films of 2025, Weapons, is getting a prequel simply titled Gladys – and it’s now been confirmed that Godzilla writer Zach Shields will be joining the team to co-write the script with Weapons director Zach Cregger.

Gladys will focus on the most interesting part of the original movie; the unnerving and quirky evil Aunt Gladys (played by Amy Madigan) who causes all of the carnage and confusion. But, what happened to her in the first place to make her this way? Hopefully we’re about to find out!

It was an Oscar-winning performance for Madigan, who ate and left no crumbs, scooping the Academy Award for Best Supporting Actress.

On the topic of Gladys, Cregger had previously stated, “I was ready. I had it kind of in my pocket before the movie came out.”

I bet. This movie seems like such a no-brainer, and I’m 100% here for it – despite there being no plot details on offer quite yet. Will we get an origin story that answers some of the questions around how Gladys got her powers, and how her strange spells even work?

One thing we do know is that Shields is a big name in the world of monsters, and will possibly bring some much needed creature feature flair and spookiness to the production.

There’s no release date or further details, so all we can do right now is speculate, and get excited.

What do you think of the news regarding the Weapons sequel, Gladys? Excited to see what the Zachs will come up with? Comment below!

Yazkin Yamakala has released the beta version of Dungeoneers, a project that successfully translates the high-stakes tropes of fantasy anime to the tabletop.

While the project is currently a work in progress, the lead designer has already completed the foundational mechanics and comprehensive skill lists. It is a fully playable experience right now, designed for players who want to form a party and climb the professional hierarchy of an Adventurer’s Guild.

The Adventurer’s Guild and Rank Progression

The setting of Dungeoneers centres on the kingdom of Saevarus, a land still recovering from a Great Calamity. Central to the experience is the Adventurer’s Guild, an independent organisation with outposts in nearly every major city. Players are registered as official members and progress through a structured hierarchy.

Progression is tied to a party’s reputation. As the group completes quests, they earn reputation points that move them through five distinct metal ranks: Bronze, Silver, Gold, Platinum, and finally Diamond. Higher ranks unlock tougher mission tiers, ranging from simple D-tier escort errands to S-tier high-risk relic recoveries. This system provides a clear sense of growth; Diamond-rank parties eventually gain the prestige to own houses paid for by the guild or even open their own branch.

Ancestries and the Oozling Factor

Character generation involves selecting an ancestry that defines innate skills. Traditional choices like Humans and Dwarves are joined by the plant-like Arborians and the animal-featured Faunians. A notable inclusion for fans of modern fantasy anime is the Oozling.

These peaceful beings learn by observing and mimicking the races they encounter. The core appeal lies in the Formless ability, which allows a character to shift their appearance to match any Small or Medium humanoid by using 1 Action Point. Beyond social disguise, the Ooze Form skill allows the adventurer to revert to their natural gelatinous state to navigate through narrow gaps such as cage bars or the space beneath a door.

To overcome the limitation of losing equipment during this process, Yazkin Yamakala added the optional Gear Merge skill. This allows an Oozling to merge their weapons and armour directly into their liquid body, ensuring their gear is not lost when squeezing into tight spaces.

The 2d12 System and Tactical Combat

In a departure from standard d20 fare, Dungeoneers employs a 2d12-based roll-under system. Whenever a player is asked to make a roll, they must result in a total that is less than or equal to their relevant stat or Talent.

Regarding the streamlined skill system, Yazkin Yamakala explains the shift away from complex math:

Originally, Dungeoneers used a point-buy system similar to GURPS, with each skill having a unique cost depending on how much it could do. But as I tested the game, I found it tedious mathing out how many points you have left, and often any remaining points would feel wasted until the next level. Because I wanted the game to feel approachable and easy to pick up for anyone new or old to roleplaying games, I decided to go with single points.”

Combat is governed by an Action Point system. Every player receives 3 Action Points at the start of their turn to spend on movement, attacks, or activating skills. Successes on meaningful challenges also grant Talent Marks. These act as a meta-currency that players can save between sessions and spend to trigger spectacular narrative outcomes.

Exceeding Limitations with Overdrive

The most explicit nod to anime “limit breaks” is the Overdrive! mechanic. Once per session, an adventurer can spend 5 Talent Marks to seize control of the scene and perform feats that exceed the normal rules. Regarding the balance of this powerful tool, Yazkin says:

I wanted players to feel like they didn’t need to worry too much when it comes to the drawback after using it, but still be impactful enough to let other players feel like they can take the chance at the spotlight in the next scene.”

These drawbacks represent the recovery phase common in the genre. As the creator notes:

It emulates a lot of anime where the protagonist exceeds their limits and then falls over or is in a weakened state for an episode (or in this case, just a few minutes until the next event finishes).”

Rivals and the Heat Mechanic

Every good fantasy story needs a rival, and Dungeoneers codifies this through the Heat system. A rival can be a friendly competitor, a treasure hunter, or a personal nemesis. As the party earns reputation, the GM accumulates Heat points to trigger Rival Acts like sabotage or hired ambushes.

Yazkin suggests that Heat can also serve as a dynamic balancing tool:

Did you add too many monsters to the dungeon and players are burned out? Have the friendly rival help out during the encounter or courier useful supplies like potions if the party is running low. Are they breezing through this dungeon and getting too close to the big baddie at the end? Surprise! Your nemesis got word they’d be here, and he rigged up the hallway full of magical glyph traps.”

Visual Direction and Beta Credits

The internal art by Quetzal Pali and Granizo captures the intended aesthetic perfectly, featuring expressive characters and imaginative monster designs, such as the Swallowmanther. The layout and graphic design by Ryan Main ensure the information is scannable and clear. While Dungeoneers remains in progress, it offers a polished, high-energy alternative for groups who want to replicate the feel of their favourite animated series.

Quick Links

• Dungeoneers

World’s Largest RPGs has launched a massive BackerKit campaign to bring Traveller, the hugely influential 1977 science-fiction roleplaying game, to the world’s most popular 5e ruleset. Led by veteran game designer Timothy Brown in full coordination with Mongoose Publishing, the project translates decades of hard sci-fi interstellar trading, mercenary contracts, and exploration into a familiar mechanical framework. The campaign is live now and steadily unlocking stretch goals ahead of its May 2026 deadline.

The crowdfunding campaign arrives during a major digital expansion for the wider franchise. Mongoose Publishing recently partnered with Demiplane and Roll20 to launch the official Traveller NEXUS. This new digital companion features full cross-platform syncing, allowing players who own the classic 2022 Core Rulebook or 2024 Companion on Roll20 to access them freely on Demiplane, complete with a brand new character builder and digital compendiums.

Lifepaths and Lethal Creation

Traveller 5E retains the iconic lifepath character generation that defined the original game, including the infamous possibility of your character dying before the campaign even begins.

The original characteristics have been adapted into standard 5e ability scores, with both rolled and package-based creation options available. Every classic skill has been converted into a proficiency or feat. The system offers all 14 original careers as backgrounds and introduces nine new spacefarer subclasses, such as the xenobiologist and hacker. It also features a brand new Psion class built specifically for the 5e engine.

A Four-Book Galaxy

The BackerKit campaign is funding a comprehensive library split across four hardcover books:

• Core Rules: Covers basic play, character creation, and core mechanics.
• Gear and Robots: Includes extensive equipment lists and rules for constructing custom robots, androids, cyborgs, and clones, which can also be used as player characters.
• Starships: Features over 65 starships and 20 small craft with reference deck plans. It details the complete ship-creation rules and adapts space combat to include vector movement options.
• Worlds and Vehicles: Provides tools for planetary surface exploration, featuring over 45 illustrated alien animals and 85 vehicles, alongside robust creation rules for generating exotic new worlds.

Every pledge also includes the CivX Primer PDF, a brand new Traveller 5E setting that explores the fate of ancient, slower-than-light human colonies.

Reward Tiers

The campaign offers a wide array of entry points, ranging from digital access to massive collector’s bundles featuring special edition covers and miniatures. Backers pledging $150 or more also have the option to pay in four monthly instalments via BackerKit.

• Pledge $29 (approx. £22): Core Rules PDF. Digital copies of the Core Rules and the CivX Primer.
• Pledge $79 (approx. £59): Core Rules Hardcover. The regular edition hardcover Core Rules and its PDF, plus the CivX Primer.
• Pledge $99 (approx. £74): Starter Bundle. The Core Rules hardcover and PDF, the CivX Primer, and a metal dice set.
• Pledge $169 (approx. £126): Low Passage Bundle. An all-digital tier featuring PDFs of all four core books, Deck Plans Volume One, the Roll20 VTT files, and all miniature STLs.
• Pledge $349 (approx. £259): Jump Drive Bundle. Physical regular editions of all four books in a metal slipcase, Deck Plans Volume One, a metal dice set, and all corresponding PDFs.
• Pledge $599 (approx. £445): High Passage Bundle. Special Edition hardcovers of all four books in a metal slipcase, Deck Plans Volume One, a metal dice set, a magnetic referee screen, Roll20 VTT files, miniature STLs, and all PDFs.
• Pledge $799 (approx. £594): Starship Beowulf Bundle. Everything in the High Passage Bundle, plus four void dice sets, a galaxy dice bag, dice tray, mammoth singularity die, mystery bag, metal dice box, and a patch pack.
• Pledge $999 (approx. £743): All-In. The ultimate tier featuring everything in the Beowulf Bundle, plus all six miniature bundles (Army, Navy, Marine, Starport Security, and Player Miniatures), incentive items, and all unlocked stretch goals.

The project is all-or-nothing and will only be funded if it reaches its goal by Friday, May 15th, 2026. Delivery is estimated for October 2027.

Quick Links

• Back this Campaign
• Traveller NEXUS

MCDM Productions has solidified its long-term development roadmap for Draw Steel by appointing Paul Hughes, the analytical force behind the Blog of Holding, as the project’s dedicated line developer. The appointment, which follows James Introcaso’s transition to the studio’s upcoming survival-horror title Crows, signals a shift from the game’s “foundational” phase to a robust, multi-line publishing era.

Hughes is a figure of considerable repute within the roleplaying games industry, primarily for his ability to translate complex design philosophies into functional mechanics. He famously condensed the entire mathematical architecture of the Dungeons & Dragons Monster Manual onto a single business card, a feat of reverse-engineering that has made his Blog of Holding an essential resource for professional designers. Now, he brings that “math-first” rigour to Draw Steel as it approaches its critical 2026 production milestones.

The move is strategically timed. As MCDM expands its portfolio, the studio is moving away from the “single-lead” model common in independent publishing. While James Introcaso, who remains a central pillar of the company, focuses on the “brutal and classless” world of Crows, Hughes has been tasked with maintaining the tactical integrity of Draw Steel. This separation of powers suggests that MCDM is positioning itself as a permanent, multi-IP fixture in the Irvine gaming corridor, rather than a transient, crowdfunding-led operation.

Beyond the technical requirements of the role, Hughes has highlighted a specific cultural motivation for his move to a full-time role. Paul Hughes said in a blog post:

MCDM is an exemplar of ethical conduct in the hobby space, which is tremendously important to me. And everyone who works there (myself excluded) are geniuses: the more I work with each of them, the more awed I am. I’m lucky to land here, and excited to invent a lot of crazy new stuff together.”

This emphasis on ethics is significant in a year where the tabletop industry has been rocked by debates over generative AI and creator compensation. By securing a designer known for his transparency and community-driven data, MCDM is effectively building a defensive front against the industry’s “automated” trends. The studio’s commitment to human-centric art and “above-market” freelancer rates appears to be the “ethical” bedrock Hughes cited as a primary draw for his transition from the freelance world.

His challenge will be to balance the “heroic tactical fantasy” of the core Draw Steel engine with the increasing demands for non-combat systems – a frequent point of discussion in recent playtest feedback. With the “Math Whisperer” now officially on the payroll, MCDM is betting that rigorous balance and ethical transparency will be the keys to surviving a volatile gaming market.

Magpie Games has opened a massive archive of its critically acclaimed catalogue on Bundle of Holding. The Magpie Apocalypse Megabundle collects 25 tabletop roleplaying games and supplements, all driven by the narrative-forward Powered by the Apocalypse engine. Running until Tuesday, 21 April, the offer spans an enormous variety of genres, from the record-breaking Avatar Legends to the brutal Mexican drug wars of Cartel.

The collection highlights the sheer mechanical versatility of the Apocalypse Engine. Originally developed by Meguey and Vincent Baker, the system eschews traditional character classes, hit points, and initiative trackers. Instead, it relies on playbook archetypes and a 2d6 resolution mechanic where every dice roll drives the story forward, often introducing complications even on a success.

Starter Collection – $17.95

For $17.95 (retail value $139), players receive the base tier of DRM-free digital rulebooks. This collection provides the core rules for several distinct settings.

• Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game Starter Set
• Root: The Roleplaying Game
• Masks: A New Generation
• Bluebeard’s Bride
• Pasión de las Pasiones
• Epyllion: A Dragon Epic
• Undying
• Crossroads Carnival (Ashcan Edition)
• Passing (Ashcan Edition)

Bonus Collection

Those who pay more than the threshold price (currently around $39.96) level up to receive an additional 15 titles worth $283.

• Avatar Legends: The Roleplaying Game (The complete 306-page core rulebook)
• Avatar Legends Guides (Republic City, Uncle Iroh’s Adventure Guide, and Wan Shi Tong’s Adventure Guide)
• Cartel (The complete rulebook for Mexican narcofiction)
• Root RPG Supplements (Clearing Booklet and Travelers & Outsiders)
• Masks Supplements (Halcyon City Herald, Secrets of AEGIS, and Unbound)
• Bluebeard’s Bride Sourcebooks (Book of Lore, Book of Mirrors, Book of Rooms, Booklet of Keepsakes, and the Tarot of Servants Companion)
• Epyllion Supplement (Encyclopedia Draconica)

Magpie Games has built a reputation for tailoring the Apocalypse Engine to highly specific emotional and cinematic experiences. Rather than offering a generic ruleset, each game in this bundle rewrites the core mechanics to enforce its particular genre.

In Masks: A New Generation, players take on the roles of teenage superheroes. The mechanics do not measure physical strength; they measure how the characters view themselves and how adult mentors influence their volatile identities. Bluebeard’s Bride delivers investigative feminine horror, in which players collaboratively control different aspects of a single woman’s psyche as she explores a nightmarish mansion.

Pasión de las Pasiones perfectly captures the escalating melodrama of scandalous telenovelas, providing rules for dramatic reveals and cheating death. Meanwhile, Root translates the beloved board game into a tabletop roleplaying game about woodland insurgency, where vagabond animals navigate a brutal war between the Marquise de Cat and the Eyrie Dynasties.

The crown jewel for many will be the inclusion of the Avatar Legends line. Funded by the largest roleplaying game Kickstarter campaign in history, the game allows players to master the elements and navigate the complex politics of the Four Nations across five different historical eras.

This comprehensive library of narrative roleplaying games closes at midnight Pacific time on Tuesday, 21 April.

Quick Links

• Magpie Mega