Big news this week in the world of tabletop RPGs! Today’s headlines are short, but the details go deep. Fortunately for you, we’ve summarized the important bits here and provided the necessary links should you want to read further.
This week: Paizo pulls official licensing for Archives of Nethys, WotC gives dates for the next DnD Encounters season, and Roll20 now supports maps with built-in dynamic lighting.
Paizo Ends Licensing Contract With Archives Of Nethys
Players of Paizo RPGs were in for some bad news this week as the publisher announced the end of its licensing relationship with website Archives of Nethys. The website contains all rules for Pathfinder and Starfinder for free, often a selling point when fans try to recruit new players. New content was put on the site as soon as books launched, and official artwork was displayed.
However, with the agreement no longer in place, the official artwork must be taken down. All rules will still stay up for free, but the Archives team announced that they’ll no longer get early access to books for posting rules on release day. They now need to buy the books and add them to the site over time. The decision seems to be an effect of Paizo’s recent money troubles due to the Diamond distribution bankruptcy.
DnD Encounters Season Of Magic Details Revealed
Wizards of the Coast put out the schedule for its next DnD organized play event, Season of Magic. The short storyline takes players from levels 3-5 as they combat the Red Wizards of Thay, running parallel to the events of Arcana Unleashed: Deadfall. Celebration kickoff events begin the season as early as September 4 but can happen anytime that month. Then, weekly play sessions happen through late September and through October. According to ICv2, players get a promo d20 for participating.
Roll20 Now Supports UVTT Files
Roll20 Game Masters can now upload maps in the UVTT format and instantly benefit from their dynamic lighting presets. The platform announced the update this week as part of its new Create Page menu. The new drop-down menu for pages gives options for creating a blank page like before, drawing a map in real time with Dungeon Scrawl, randomly generating a dungeon, and uploading an image file directly to Map Layer.
With this new framework for uploading, Roll20 now supports UVTT files in all their glory without need for mods. Free users will not be able to benefit from dynamic lighting as that feature is reserved for paid tiers. But should they decide to go for a paid subscription, their maps will automatically update to provide the preset lighting features.
Few stories this week but very impactful ones! Thanks for reading, have fun this weekend, and may your dice be kind.
Sergio Solórzano is the best Dungeon Master in the USA (according to an official D&D competition, anyway). He loves minis and terrain but also goes all-in on improv!
