December Newsletter: Goblins and Growlers Gazette

⚡ (Total read time: 2.8 minutes) ⚡

Happy New Year, folks. Goblins and Growlers has some plans for 2025 — regularly publishing adventure books again, our biggest convention schedule yet, and more streams. I also want to revamp this newsletter a little bit seeing as we’re coming up on its two-year anniversary. Let me know what you’d like to see going forward!

Hit us up at [email protected]. Or, you know, Discord. And consider supporting us on Patreon.

(And if you haven’t, please subscribe to the GG YouTube channel 📺 )

In this month’s newsletter:
🗞️ 2 interesting things/items
❤️ 1 high-flying indie game you need to try
🔥 2 hot takes from The Goblins and Growlers Podcast

🗞️ 2 interesting news nuggets things/items

🤖 Commentary: D&D’s digital strategy gonna cause problems (Dig Deeper)

• I’ve talked about D&D’s AI plans and the statements from Hasbro’s CEO, Chris Cocks, but Wargamer’s Mollie Russell has written a nice year-end piece that encapsulates most of my thoughts about it. It’s worth a read.

🗳️ Vote for 2025’s most anticipated TTRPGs (Dig Deeper)

• ENWorld’s annual poll is open through Jan. 2. You can vote for up to 3!

• I had no idea there was a Voltron TTRPG coming out in 2025?!?!

• Maybe throw a vote to Loren Small’s “Born from Ice.”

🛩️ Come Fly with Me

🇬🇧 Let’s Fly! While we were at a PAX Unplugged networking event this month, I was lucky enough to be introduced to Tim Roberts of Critical Kit, a UK-based TTRPG writer and publisher. Turns out we know some of the same people, so we got to talking about folks like Cezar Capacle and Jerome Mioso. The next day, I swung by Tim’s booth and grabbed Jerome’s “Aces over the Adriatic,” a solo game where you play as a seaplane pilot and touts itself as being in no way a historically or geographically accurate representation of the Interwar Period in Europe. It’s based on Cezar Capacle’s “Push” system, so it’s low stats, high storytelling. It’s inspired by “Porco Rosso” for all you Ghibli fans. I love solo-plays and period pieces, so this is my jam. Check it out! You can get the PDF for a mere $8 from Critical Kit.

And, no joke, if you happen to live near Biscarrosse, France, showing a physical copy of the game gets reduced entry for adults and free entry for minors at the Musée de l'Hydraviation, which helped Jerome while making the game.

🎧 2 hot takes from The Goblins and Growlers Podcast

• 👀 Did anything really happen in 2024? We did a look-back/look-ahead and got to thinking: Aside from the 2024 D&D rules update, did anything really happen in TTRPGs this year? And what are we looking forward to/what are our plans for 2025? (Watch, Listen)

• 🚗 Our full trip report from PAX Unplugged. We trucked all the way up to Philly for this awesome meeting of the tabletop gaming minds. We were able to talk with a bunch of creators, see some really cool stuff, and snag some cool indie games. Look for some of those creators to show up on the podcast in 2025! (Watch, Listen)

• Also, ignore that I used the same images of me and Inver in both thumbnails! I’ve only got so much time!

• ⚗️ Here’s an unboxing video of “Potion Slingers,” which I picked up there:

🙏 Join us on Patreon (https://patreon.com/goblinsgrowlers) for early access to both the audio and video versions of the podcast plus Patreon-exclusive “Deep Dive” bonus episodes, world-building and behind-the-scenes stuff, and adventures and one-page dungeons.

And don’t forget: Telephone, Telegraph, Tell a Friend about The Goblins and Growlers Podcast.

🌞 Looking ahead.

Holidays are always too stressful for me. I don’t like wishing away time, but I typically welcome January because it means I can get back to my routine and enjoy some mental and emotional relaxation. I’ve got a lot more responsibilities heading into the new year, but I’m trying to look at it as an opportunity to be better than I was the year before. I hope you’re all in as good of a place as you can be. Let’s look after each other next year.

Brandon