September Newsletter: Goblins and Growlers Gazette

⚡ (Total read time: 3.3 minutes) ⚡

Did we meet you at BurgQuest in September? If we did, then hello! We had a great time at this new and wholesome convention in Williamsburg. If you missed it this year, I encourage you to check it out next year when it’ll be even bigger and better.

Let us know what you’d like to see in this newsletter. We’ve been doing these monthly for about a year and want to continue giving you want you want. Hit us up at [email protected]. Or, you know, Discord.

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

In this month’s newsletter:

🗞️ 2 good-to-know gaming news nuggets
❤️ 1 awesome indie game you need to try
🔥 2 hot takes and a preview from The Goblins and Growlers Podcast

🗞️ 2 good-to-know gaming news nuggets

• 🤖 Kobold Press “No AI” pledge  (Dig Deeper)

  • Gaming legend and Kobold Press CEO Wolfgang Baur calls AI “snake oil”

  • Commits to not using it in art or game design.

  • But that seems to leave the door open for it aiding or enhancing utility, though he does seem against using it to run games, too.

  • Chaosium, too.
    

• 💸 Free D&D Adventure (Dig Deeper)

  • Are you old like me? Then you might enjoy this free official one-shot set in the world of the 1980s Dungeons and Dragons cartoon with the original characters.

📰 1 awesome indie game you need to try

🌆 Stop the presses. I make no secret of my love for worldbuilding games like “The Quiet Year,” so I always like to take a look at anything on that end of the gaming spectrum. “Deadline” intrigued me both because I love the genre and my many years working as a journalist in the newspaper industry.

So you create your city, determine its details and specifics, and discover/manipulate its news items and developments from d6-based charts. It’s Quiet Year with maybe a little harder edge and mixes industrial revolution aesthetics with low-magic settings. I not only pledged to it on Backerkit (which you can do until 1 a.m. ET on Oct 2) but I also reached out to the publishers and got an early review copy of the game. I dig it. We’ll probably do a review or actual-play video in the near future.

In the meantime, check out their BackerKit — it has loads of information and should give you an idea if it’s your thing or not.

🎧 2 hot takes from The Goblins and Growlers Podcast

• 🕵️ We Analyze the 2024 PHB. New hotness versus old and busted. Inver joins us for a rundown of some of the changes from the initial 2014 5e rules. Is it a useful update that positively adds to the gaming experience, or a cash grab meant to prolong the product cycle? (Two things can be true). The Deep Dive episodes for this start dropping on the Patreon today; another next week. (YouTube, Audio)

• 🗂️ D&D Direct Debrief. We dig into the announcements from D&D Direct, including some musings on ethical AI use in gaming. Admittedly, some of this episode was obsolesced by the 2024 PHB episode but, hey, why am I talking you out of listening to this? There were some fun discussions here! (YouTube, Audio)

🤖 Coming next episode (10/7): Just how is Wizards of the Coast going to integrate AI into D&D? The CEO of parent company Hasbro says everyone he plays D&D with is using it, so they’re gonna do it, too. We discuss what that could look like and where it’s appropriate. This episode will be available early for patrons (10/4) — our editor literally just sent it to me.

🙏 Support us on Patreon (https://patreon.com/goblinsgrowlers) for early access to the podcast and exclusive Deep Dive discussions with each release.

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

🤠 Quid Pro Roll Soundtrack

🎹 This one time, on Bandcamp, Gabe released a six-track album of original compositions for Quid Pro Roll’s Bronze Relic arc. Check it out and consider supporting an indie composer with a digital purchase. Oh, and listen to Quid Pro Roll — here’s a fan-made Spotify playlist of recap episodes to get caught up.

🍂 Fall into Fall.

I’m grateful that things are slowing down for me a little bit. That’s not the case with work, but everything else is a little more chill and I’ve had a chance to catch up on some seasons of non-UK Taskmaster.

Freed from the pressures of school, I now wander the house looking for something to do. I’ll remember what my hobbies were eventually.

Enjoy the cooler weather and don’t waste this nice window between blazing summer and chilly winter. Your time starts now.

Have a good one!
Brandon