Goblins and Growlers Gazette: April Newsletter!

⚡ (Total read time: 3 minutes) ⚡

Boom! Welcome to April’s GGG Newsletter. Double welcome if you’re a new subscriber we met at GalaxyCon or Triad Anime Con! This month we’ve got an indie survival game, the 💀”death”💀 of One D&D, some of the best ways to use AI in your games, and the world’s greatest tattoo.

This month:

🗞️ 3 must-know gaming news nuggets
🏕️ 1 great indie game you need to play
🎧 1 hot take and 2 nuggets from the podcasts

🧭 Goblins in the wild: Our upcoming events

🗞️ 3 must-know gaming news nuggets

1. “One D&D” not a thing anymore. WotC abandoning the branding for next D&D iteration (but keeping it for VTT). Feels more like a marketing change than anything.

   • Attendees learned of change at the change at invite-only creators summit. (Twitter Thread)

   • Pitched as more of a revision to 5e rules but they’re not calling it 5.5. (Go Deeper)

2. First draft of Paizo’s “ORC” License released. It’s Paizo’s free ruleset alternative to D&D’s Open Gaming License. (Learn More)

   • First round of public comment ends on April 21, but they say there’ll be as many as needed until they get it right.

   • With the 5e SRD in Creative Commons there’s less urgency here, but it’s good to have alternatives to not be so reliant on Wizards of the Coast.

3. Minecraft, D&D craft an alliance. 

   • Minecraft getting a “Forgotten Realms” adventure DLC with about 10 hours of narrative RPG play. It’ll include character classes, custom combat rules, and classic monsters. (Learn more)

   • New “Monstrous Compendium Vol. 3” includes official 5E stat blocks for Minecraft mobs. Bring Creepers, Ender Dragons, Endermen and Blazes to your game. Free via D&D Beyond. (Dig Deeper)

🏕️ 1 great indie game you need to play

🚣🏽‍♂️ Cast Away from Afterthought Committee is a survival-focused TTRPG for those of us seeking something less intense than “Sons of the Forest.” It’s Pay What You Want. Channel your inner Les Stroud and survive long enough to effect a rescue in a harsh environment where you deal with the elements more than NPCs. (Go Deeper)

🎧 1 hot take, 2 nuggets from the podcasts

1. 🤖 ChatDnD: AI and Gamemastering. In a two-part “Goblins and Growlers Podcast,” we discuss the best strategies to use AI for running games more efficiently. No, don’t let robots write your adventures for you. (Part 1, Part 2)

   Follow The Goblins and Growlers Podcast

2. 🥈 New story arc on Quid Pro Roll. “A Silver of Hope” just started and it’s the perfect jumping-on point for our actual-play podcast. Here’s a link to the most recent recap ep so you won’t be lost ➡️ (Recap Episode on Spotty, YouTube)

1. ✒️ Quid Pro Roll Tattoo! This is just wild. A QPR listener got a tattoo of Moonsy, the mysterious, faceless shopkeeper NPC known for their questionable discounts. This is the picture of dedication:

🛒 Clearance sale.

Speaking of discounts, just throwing this out there as a community service before it’s public later this week. We’re trying to clear out some space in the Goblin Storage Unit now that convention season has slowed down, so we’re doing a spring sale on our Big Cartel store. Everything is free shipping with code “GRAVYBOAT” and most items are 10% off. It’s a clearance sale, so shirt sizes are limited — sorry about that 😅. We’re planning to retire a few of these designs, so if you like one then you’d better put a ring on it. We’ve also started publishing games from an indie designer who likes to explore what a roleplaying game can be and a few of his books are already up on the store with a bundle option.

🧭 Goblins in the wild: Where to find us.

Where Be Goblins? We’re in the slow part of our convention season but hop onto our Discord for the latest information about our monthly games at Unplugged RVA and Garden Grove Brewery and Urban Winery. It’s all in the #announcements channel.

1. Unplugged RVA: Regular monthly game in Midlothian, VA. Free-but-limited tickets. Join the discord to get information and dibs.

2. Garden Grove Brewery: Regular monthly game in Richmond, VA (Carytown). Free-but-limited tickets. Join the discord for information and dibs.

🔊 Perception check.

That’s all for this month! In the meantime, let us know what you’d like to see in this newsletter. Is monthly too infrequent or just right? Do you want more game recommendations? More news? Let us know.

See you next month!
Brandon