August Newsletter: Goblins and Growlers Gazette

⚡ (Total read time: 3.6 minutes) ⚡

I finished grad school, but then I got COVID as a graduation present, so I didn’t get this written as early as I’d hoped! Anyway, lots of D&D stuff because of D&D Direct, a cool worldbuilding game, and Josh explains just how tired GenCon made him. Sorry, this one is slightly longer — I just got to typin’.

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In this month’s newsletter:

🗞️ 3 must-know gaming news nuggets
❤️ 1 awesome indie game you need to try
🔥 2.5 hot takes from The Goblins and Growlers Podcast
🧭 Goblins in the wild: Upcoming events

🗞️ 3 must-know gaming news nuggets

Editor’s Note: First thing’s first (I’m the realest), I make no bones about this being D&D-focused this month, but D&D Direct was the other day and there was a bunch of stuff coming out of it.

• 🏰 A peek at the new Dungeon Master’s Guide  (Dig Deeper)

  • Supposed to be a “top to bottom rewrite” of the 2014 tome.

  • They say it’ll have lots of worldbuilding and adventure-creation guidance, which makes it seem like it’s going to be a more utility-oriented book than the previous edition.

  • I’d love it if it could include more GM mentorship essays and guides for new GMs. I think that’s a lot more valuable than just magic item lists.
    

• 🗡️🚫 Two new Forgotten Realms setting books coming in 2025. (Dig Deeper)

  • While I would have liked something not-Forgotten Realms, it’s nice that we’re getting stuff outside The Sword Coast like The Dalelands and Calimshan.

  • One will be a player’s guide and the other a campaign guide.

  • While I’ll keep hoping for a boxset like my 1990s FR set, I hope they at least release these in a fancy slipcover like Planescape and Spelljammer.

• 😱 D&D Beyond Backtracks Rules Plans (Dig Deeper)

  • They had said you’d have to homebrew the “old” (read 2014 5E) rules on the platform if you didn’t want to switch to the new 2024 rules.

  • This would nerf a lot of functionality for folks not using the new rules

  • People did not like that and said so.

  • WotC quickly retreated from the plan with a statement.

🪨 If Ya Smell What “A Perfect Rock” Is Cookin’.

🪐 Planetary Exploration Rocks. Worldbuilding/storytelling games are a kick that I’ve been on lately. At some point last year, I started working on a journaling game for star system construction, but then I got busy with school and it went by the wayside. “A Perfect Rock” from Deep Dark Games is sort of a zoomed-in version of what I was going for but focused on planet exploration rather than a star system. You’re on a generation ship on its last legs and you have to find a planet to settle soon. With some help from randomizing dice rolls, you explore all the planets in a system, determine what aspects of the planet you want to explore, what their essences are, and how/if you’re going to be able to survive there. It’s GM-less, two pages long, and pay what you want. Check it out here on itch.io and bust out that rock collection.

🎧 2.5 hot takes from The Goblins and Growlers Podcast

• 🦖 Nomventures. We had a great chat with the folks from Nomnivore Games. They were talking about their new kids’ RPG, Nomventure! It’s statless and emphasizes teaching emotional awareness. As you read this, it’s in the final days of its Kickstarter, so check it out and take a look at the free rules primer and intro adventure. (YouTube, Audio)

• 🎲🚙 The GenCon Trip Report. As promised, Josh gave us a thorough report on his trip to GenCon. But he’s not just some yokel who bought a badge and wandered around. No, he had invites to some industry events and got to have some cool conversations not only with content creators but also folks like WotC’s Head of Dungeons and Dragons and the COO of Kobold Press. (YouTube, Audio)

• 🙏 A note about Patreon. We’re putting some attention and effort back into the Patreon and the first step in that is introducing “GGP Deep Dives.” Sometimes we have so much to talk about during an episode recording that we can’t fit it all in or it’s a little bit of a tangent to the main topic. We’ve started recording these as shorter, Patreon-exclusive episodes and releasing them on video and audio. Check them out!

🧭 Goblins in the wild: Where to find us.

• 🧝 BurgQuest. As things stand right at this moment, we’re planning to be at BurgQuest on Sept. 20, 21, and 22. BurgQuest is a new tabletop convention in Williamsburg, Va., so we’re looking forward to a fun time just down the road from us. We’re planning on doing panels and running a booth.

👓 There’s time now.

For months I was so excited for “City of Six Moons.” I tried to buy it as soon as it went on sale. Then it was out of stock. Weeks and weeks later it was back in stock. I bought it. It’s here on my desk. Still in the shrink wrap. Alain and I have been wanting to sit down and try it but work and/or school has gotten in the way. Maybe, finally, I can play it in September.

Have a good one!
Brandon