In this week's Tavern Watch Podcast, we dig into the disaster of Diamond Comic Distributors, which filed for bankruptcy in January and is now trying to claim books in its inventory are its property, to be sold to pay off creditors. This includes comics and books it was holding on consignment, to distribute for companies that aren't paid until the books are sold in retail stores — and the loss could be crushing for small press publishers who could lose hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of books. Green Ronin Publishing is crowdfunding to cover legal fees to fight the move, which it calls "a dire financial threat to our company." Let's hope small press can score a victory here.

In brighter news, we discuss the recent trend of "rules light" games, the delay to D&D's upcoming Eberron book, and Evil Hat continuing to work on a Tomb Raider-style game after parting ways with Crystal Dynamics. Add that to the list of games we're looking forward to playing (which is already pretty long).

If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free!

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This week we continue our adventure of Daggerheart, as our crew becomes the first to enter the towering spire that is the Motherboard. While it's forbidden by the church, delving into these untouched halls may be the only way to save the Motherboard — and perhaps the entire Echo Vale. Let's see how it goes, shall we?

Join GM Liz Harper as I attempt to guide a motley crew of adventurers through the Echo Vale! Here's our cast of characters:

• Joan as Lithyen of Redcanyon (Rogue), a faun who lost her family at the hands of cultists obsessed with technology. She now travels alongside those who rescued her.
• Matt as Ishvit (Brawler playtest), a young giant, raised in isolated ruins. She's looking for her way in the world after losing her dwarven foster family.
• Nick as Tavin (Seraph), a human priest who has pledged himself to the Motherboard, but his faith was shaken when he met a supposed worshipper who used the faith to steal and kill.
• Phil as Laplace Cadmus (Warlock playtest), an elf who narrowly survived an attack on his group of pilgrims with the help of a mysterious voice in the network (and also Tavin).

This is the last in a three-part game of a Daggerheart game in the Motherboard setting! If you haven't, start by listening to the first episode and second episode of this game. Look for new episodes every Monday — next week we'll be covering the latest tabletop news, and then we'll be starting another game!

Daggerheart is the latest game from Darrington Press and the team at Critical Role — we're all still learning the rules of this game, so please apologize our mistakes! Increasing the chaos, two of our party were trying out playtest classes: Brawler for Matt and Warlock for Phil. You can find details on these classes (and more playtest content) on Daggerheart'swebsite. If you want to follow along and/or see where we went wrong, you can read all of the rules in the completely free SRD. The print book is sold out (though check with your FLGS if you're interested in a copy), but if you enjoyed our game you can buy Daggerheart digital copies from Demiplane and DriveThruRPG.

This product includes materials from the Daggerheart System Reference Document 1.0, © Critical Role, LLC. under the terms of the Darrington Press Community Gaming (DPCGL) License. More information can be found at https://www.daggerheart.com. There are no previous modifications by others.

If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free!

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This week we continue our adventure of Daggerheart, as our crew walks away from the settlement surrounding the Motherboard and into a not entirely unexpected ambush. Or maybe it's a reverse ambush? Well, you'll have to listen to see all of that works out, as our party searches for a way into the hidden heart of the Motherboard herself.

Join GM Liz Harper as I attempt to guide a motley crew of adventurers through this adventure! Here's our cast of characters:

• Joan as Lithyen of Redcanyon (Rogue), a faun who lost her family at the hands of cultists obsessed with technology. She now travels alongside those who rescued her.
• Matt as Ishvit (Brawler playtest), a young giant, raised in isolated ruins. She's looking for her way in the world after losing her dwarven foster family.
• Nick as Tavin (Seraph), a human priest who has pledged himself to the Motherboard, but his faith was shaken when he met a supposed worshipper who used the faith to steal and kill.
• Phil as Laplace Cadmus (Warlock playtest), an elf who narrowly survived an attack on his group of pilgrims with the help of a mysterious voice in the network (and also Tavin).

This is the second in a three-part game of a Daggerheart game in the Motherboard setting! If you haven't, start by listening to the first episode of this game. Look for new episodes every Monday.

Daggerheart is the latest game from Darrington Press and the team at Critical Role — we're all still learning the rules of this game, so please apologize our mistakes! Increasing the chaos, two of our party were trying out playtest classes: Brawler for Matt and Warlock for Phil. You can find details on these classes (and more playtest content) on Daggerheart'swebsite. If you want to follow along and/or see where we went wrong, you can read all of the rules in the completely free SRD. The print book is sold out (though check with your FLGS if you're interested in a copy), but if you enjoyed our game you can buy Daggerheart digital copies from Demiplane and DriveThruRPG.

This product includes materials from the Daggerheart System Reference Document 1.0, © Critical Role, LLC. under the terms of the Darrington Press Community Gaming (DPCGL) License. More information can be found at https://www.daggerheart.com. There are no previous modifications by others.

If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

This week we're playing a game of Daggerheart, largely because I was enchanted by the Motherboard setting in the book — a funny turn of phrase, since the setting has no magic! In the Echo Vale, civilization has been reborn in the ruins of the old world, repurposing the technology of people long gone. But the robotic creatures roaming the valley have been stirred into a wild fury, and the Prophet of the Motherboard thinks our party may be able to help.

Join GM Liz Harper as I attempt to guide a motley crew of adventurers through this adventure! Here's our cast of characters:

• Joan as Lithyen of Redcanyon (Rogue), a faun who lost her family at the hands of cultists obsessed with technology. She now travels alongside those who rescued her.
• Matt as Ishvit (Brawler playtest), a young giant, raised in isolated ruins. She's looking for her way in the world after losing her dwarven foster family.
• Nick as Tavin (Seraph), a human priest who has pledged himself to the Motherboard, but his faith was shaken when he met a supposed worshipper who used the faith to steal and kill.
• Phil as Laplace Cadmus (Warlock playtest), an elf who narrowly survived an attack on his group of pilgrims with the help of a mysterious voice in the network (and also Tavin).

This is the first in a three-part game of Daggerheart! Look for new episodes every Monday.

Daggerheart is the latest game from Darrington Press and the team at Critical Role — we're all still learning the rules of this game, so please apologize our mistakes! Increasing the chaos, two of our party were trying out playtest classes: Brawler for Matt and Warlock for Phil. You can find details on these classes (and more playtest content) on Daggerheart'swebsite. If you want to follow along and/or see where we went wrong, you can read all of the rules in the completely free SRD. The print book is sold out (though check with your FLGS if you're interested in a copy), but if you enjoyed our game you can buy Daggerheart digital copies from Demiplane and DriveThruRPG.

This product includes materials from the Daggerheart System Reference Document 1.0, © Critical Role, LLC. under the terms of the Darrington Press Community Gaming (DPCGL) License. More information can be found at https://www.daggerheart.com. There are no previous modifications by others.

If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's a new week of drama in the TTRPG community, and we're here to dig into the latest news. We talk about the controversy surrounding the game Rebel Scum, a Star Wars-alike that was recently removed from DriveThruRPG after complaints about the game's political messaging. Surprise: Star Wars itself is pretty political, and the game takes it from there in what it calls an "antifascist space opera." (We may be checking the game out ourselves soon!) In other gaming news, Darrington Press continues to make waves by adding both Chris Perkins and Jeremy Crawford to the staff after both left Wizards of the Coast earlier this year. Perkins will serve as the company's Creative Director and Crawford as Game Director, and we may start to see their influence on the continuing development of just-released Daggerheart or new games.

And Daggerheart is certainly continuing to grow: while no new books have been announced, there are four classes, six ancestries, and six backgrounds currently in playtesting, suggesting the team isn't slowing down. But D&D has been releasing a lot of play testing content recently, too, and we discussed seven Arcana-focused subclasses you can currently find as Unearthed Arcana (but I'm still quietly waiting for the revised Eberron book coming out in August). Starfinder 2e is also getting closer to launch, with its tech class playtest wrapping up before the full book comes out at the end of July. Plus, Final Fantasy becomes the best selling Magic: The Gathering set of all time, some of the great 5e compatible games you can play (including some available directly on D&D Beyond), and some great features in the Tales of the Valiant Game Master's Guide from Kobold Press.

If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free!

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This week on Masks, with the tip from Perseus Pyrite, the Mavericks are hot on the tail of -- presumably -- Silver Age villain Mirror Master, back and probably up to no good. But why did Mirror Master want Pyrite's shield, rumored to be able to open portals in time and space? Is he truly operating on his own? Is the past ever truly buried and behind us? Our teenage powerhouses are about to find out those answers -- for better or worse -- in an encounter that will test their mettle as heroes... and as a team. If you like Young Justice, Young Avengers, and Teen Titans, you'll probably like this game.

GM Phil Ulrich helps our young heroes find their footing in Halcyon City, as the newly named superhero team The Mavericks takes on an old threat with mysterious means and motives. Here's our team:

• Joan as Vida, aka Little Marvel (Beacon). At just five inches tall, you could miss Vida entirely (or only see her service dog Lobo), but she's determined to prove that she can be a hero despite her size.
• Joe as Alex and T.L.O.N., aka Talons (The Host/ed). After a lab accident, Alex found themself merged with T.L.O.N., the Tailored Living Organism Neuropathic-Connection. Living with T.L.O.N. is sometimes complicated, but Alex is committed to using his new powers to help others.
• Matt as Arvana, aka Shrike (Scion). The daughter of interdimensional conqueror Nabasu the Annihilation, Shrike led her father's armies to earth. But, impressed by the heroes of Halcyon City, she decided work with these heroes and turn against Nabasu.
• Liz as Charlie, aka Jade X (Delinquent). Charlie has a habit of getting into (and usually out of) trouble using her power to create illusions. But when she finally got caught, one of the agents of A.E.G.I.S. saw her potential and assigned her to a team of young heroes for training.

This is the third in a three-part game of Masks: A New Generation by Magpie Games. Be sure to listen to the first episodeand the second episode if you haven't yet! If you like our game, you can pick it up for yourself from Magpie or DriveThruRPG. It's a Powered by the Apocalypse game, so characters are based on playbooks, and there are some great fan-made playbooks that expand on the official options. Joe played with a custom playbook called The Host/ed, which you can find here if you're interested.

Music for this game is "Hero Stuff," written and performed by Joseph Perez/Mad Shaman Studios. 

If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free!

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This week on Masks, our new superhero team comes together to defeat a new threat: paralyzing hero worship as they meet famed Silver Age hero Perseus Pyrite. Could the team be on the trail of a Silver Age villain come back to haunt the city? It's time to make plans (and maybe make friends). If you like Young Justice, Young Avengers, and Teen Titans, you'll probably like this game.

GM Phil Ulrich helps our young heroes find their footing in Halcyon City, as the newly named superhero team The Mavericks takes on a new (or possibly old) threat. Here's our team:

• Joan as Vida, aka Little Marvel (Beacon). At just five inches tall, you could miss Vida entirely (or only see her service dog Lobo), but she's determined to prove that she can be a hero despite her size.
• Joe as Alex and T.L.O.N., aka Talons (The Host/ed). After a lab accident, Alex found themself merged with T.L.O.N., the Tailored Living Organism Neuropathic-Connection. Living with T.L.O.N. is sometimes complicated, but Alex is committed to using his new powers to help others.
• Matt as Arvana, aka Shrike (Scion). The daughter of interdimensional conqueror Nabasu the Annihilation, Shrike led her father's armies to earth. But, impressed by the heroes of Halcyon City, she decided work with these heroes and turn against Nabasu.
• Liz as Charlie, aka Jade X (Delinquent). Charlie has a habit of getting into (and usually out of) trouble using her power to create illusions. But when she finally got caught, one of the agents of A.E.G.I.S. saw her potential and assigned her to a team of young heroes for training.

This is the second in a three-part game of Masks: A New Generation by Magpie Games. Be sure to listen to the first episode if you haven't yet! If you like our game, you can pick it up for yourself from Magpie or DriveThruRPG. It's a Powered by the Apocalypse game, so characters are based on playbooks, and there are some great fan-made playbooks that expand on the official options. Joe played with a custom playbook called The Host/ed, which you can find here if you're interested.

Music for this game is "Hero Stuff," written and performed by Joseph Perez/Mad Shaman Studios. (Hey! We know that guy!)

If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

It's time for some superhero action as the team dives into Masks, where we find out just how tough it is to pull a superhero team together. (The name. You've gotta have a name.) If you like Young Justice, Young Avengers, and Teen Titans, you'll probably like this game. (And I happen to think we came up with a pretty good superhero group.)

GM Phil Ulrich helps our young heroes find their footing in Halcyon City, with a crew of misfits (and maybe heroes?). Here's our team:

• Joan as Vida, aka Little Marvel (Beacon). At just five inches tall, you could miss Vida entirely (or only see her service dog Lobo), but she's determined to prove that she can be a hero despite her size.
• Joe as Alex and T.L.O.N., aka Talons (The Host/ed). After a lab accident, Alex found themself merged with T.L.O.N., the Tailored Living Organism Neuropathic-Connection. Living with T.L.O.N. is sometimes complicated, but Alex is committed to using his new powers to help others.
• Matt as Arvana, aka Shrike (Scion). The daughter of interdimensional conqueror Nabasu the Annihilation, Shrike led her father's armies to earth. But, impressed by the heroes of Halcyon City, she decided work with these heroes and turn against Nabasu.
• Liz as Charlie, aka Jade X (Delinquent). Charlie has a habit of getting into (and usually out of) trouble using her power to create illusions. But when she finally got caught, one of the agents of A.E.G.I.S. saw her potential and assigned her to a team of young heroes for training.

This is the first in a three-part game of Masks: A New Generation by Magpie Games. If you like our game, you can pick it up for yourself from Magpie or DriveThruRPG. It's a Powered by the Apocalypse game, so characters are based on playbooks, and there are some great fan-made playbooks that expand on the official options. Joe played with a custom playbook called The Host/ed, which you can find here if you're interested.

Music for this game is "Hero Stuff," written and performed by Joseph Perez/Mad Shaman Studios. 

If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free!

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Daggerheart has just launched, so in this episode we talk about our first impressions of this new game, which seems poised to take on D&D. It's a game that encourages worldbuilding and storytelling, and it's flexible enough to tell different sorts of stories (and comes with several diverse campaign settings) — but not all of us love this new game from the creators of Critical Role.

Fortunately, there are a lot of other games coming out, many of them crowdfunded: we talk about Blades in the Dark: Deep Cuts, a rules expansion for this supernatural criminal TTRPG; Paizo's Pathfinder dating sim card game (yes, you read that right); the Outgunned Superheroes expansion, currently on Backerkit (including a free 70-page quickstart guide); Astra Arcanum, a fascinating new sci-fi TTRPG now on Kickstarter; and a Monty Python TTRPG from Exalted Funeral(yes, this is a real thing and you can buy it right now). It's a great time to be a gamer, because there are so many great tabletop games to play right now.

And, of course, if you prefer D&D to all the rest, the revised Eberron book (including Artificers) is coming in August and Wizards of the Coast is playtesting some interesting new horror-themed subclasses.

If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free!

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n our third and final game of Legend in the Mist, our little group of friends may be on their way to becoming proper heroes as they track the undead that attacked their village back to its source. (To protect the village, but also to make sure one of their own doesn't turn into a zombie after being poisoned in the attack. One undead zombie was bad enough.) But the sunken, abandoned watchtower they find has secrets of its own. And, knowing their luck, these secrets will have teeth.

To see how this party of neophytes is faring, join GM Phil Ulrich along with our crew of would-be adventurers:

• Chris as Dunny, the local blacksmith, whose father's old sword may be more than it seems. He's been poisoned by the undead, and has to find a cure — but he's hung on this long without becoming a zombie of some kind himself, so it's probably fine.
• Nick as Frye, a hardworking cook at the local tavern, who dreams of becoming a great chef (but mostly finds himself working for ruthless overseers in the kitchen). Fortunately the rest of the group is so caught up in the adventure that they haven't noticed he has special powers of her own.
• Liz as Lyssa, who works at the ferry running people and cargo across the river, but thinks there has to be more to life than this. But after some run-ins with creatures of myth, the outside world is looking a little scary.

This is the last of a three-game series of Legend in the Mist, a game that's designed for fantasy storytelling that scales from our small town heroes to folk heroes of legend. It's a different flavor of fantasy TTRPG, with a vibe that feels quite like The Hobbit, where ordinary folk may find themselves in extraordinary adventures. It has a narrative-centric focus and flexible character creation so you can make the hero you want and play them the way you want. We enjoyed it a lot, and you can pick up a book for yourself from Son of Oak. And if you haven't, start by listening to the first episode and second episode before you tackle this one.

If you enjoy the show, please support us on Patreon, where you can get these episodes early and ad-free!

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