Hello and welcome to this week’s edition of StartPlaying tabletop RPG news. We’ve rounded up the biggest announcements and happenings in the TTRPG world so you can catch up quick and get back to preparing spells for the boss fight.
In this week’s TTRPG news, Amazon includes DnD in a video game anthology show, BG3 shows off its new evil endings, DnD hints at cartoon character magic items, and Shin Megami Tensei sets its release date.
D&D Beyond Tells Users To Homebrew Old Spell Versions Or Adopt New Ones
D&D Beyond released a changelog explaining how the 2024 rules update will be handled. The question of backwards compatibility with the 2014 rules has been answered, and it’s a mixed bag. D&D Beyond will be defaulting to the new rules for the most part, such as in terminology and basic game mechanics. Users can still build characters using the older classes and subclasses, but all spells will now become their updated 2024 versions.
The spell thing is big news, as the new spells will automatically replace old ones on your character sheet. The changelog itself tells users that the only way to use 2014 versions of spells is to create a homebrew version. Reaction has been very heated on social media, but we’ll have to wait until the 2024 Player’s Handbook reaches the public to see how it affects adoption of the new rules.
Amazon Secret Level Series Features Dungeons & Dragons Episode
Amazon Prime showed a teaser trailer for its upcoming anthology series Secret Level. The show will be a 3D animated collection of stories set in video game worlds. The trailer features characters from God of War, Mega Man, Armored Core, and several others that will make up its 15 episodes.
The five-headed dragon Tiamat makes a brief but notable appearance alongside another dragon, confirming that DnD will be one of the featured titles. It’s an interesting inclusion that further shows how much the brand has evolved beyond a tabletop game. While there have been very successful DnD video games, it’s probably not the first medium one thinks of when they hear the name Dungeons & Dragons. Secret Level will air exclusively on Prime Video on December 10.
Baldur's Gate 3 Upcoming Evil Endings Tease Fun Things For Durge
BG3 Patch 7 is almost here, and Larian is starting to tease the promised evil endings. The new patch is going to be the last big update for the game and will bring with it new endings for evil characters. If you’re keen for spoilers, you can find preview videos on tabletop site Bell of Lost Souls. They get pretty brutal, which is probably just what Dark Urge players are looking for. You’ll be able to inflict these horrors yourself when Baldur’s Gate 3 Path 7 comes out in September.
August 27 DnD Direct Hints At Cartoon Weapons
Wizards of the Coast announced a D&D Direct set for 9am PST on August 27. The teaser video seems to focus on the upcoming Dungeon Master’s Guide and Monster Manual. At one point, there’s a page from the magic items section of the Dungeon Master’s Guide shown. Hank the Ranger from the 80s DnD cartoon is pictured drawing his energy bow, complete with descriptive text pointing to the weapon.
A later tweet on the official DnD account featured Hank and friends again, this time as grown ups with more detailed art. It looks like the DnD cartoon kids will be major figures in the new DnD edition, and they’ll likely be bringing their magic items with them.
Shin Megami Tensei TTRPG Gets November Release Date
LionWing Publishing announced a release date for the Western release of Shin Megami Tensei - The Roleplaying Game: Tokyo Conception. November 5 has been marked as launch date for this translated version. The system has been around in Japan for some time, expanding on the world of Shin Megami Tensei 3 as opposed to the Persona subseries that’s popular with American fans. Fans can learn more and see the game in action via an actual play by visiting the new official @smtrpg account.
That’s all we got for this week! Thanks for reading, and may your dice be kind.
