This was another eventful week for tabletop RPGs, both the good and the bad. While Wizards of the Coast teased exciting updates for Dungeons & Dragons 5.5e/2024, another publisher had to cut back on a big opportunity due to the current political situation in America.
Eberron 2024 previews, potential Ravenloft DnD 2024 subclasses, a UK publisher drops out of Gen Con due to concerns around crossing into the US, and a Wuxia RPG hits Kickstarter in this week’s news.
Eberron: Forge Of The Artificer Alt Cover Art, Contents Revealed
New details on Eberron: Forge of the Artificer were revealed as part of WotC’s pre-order push. First of all, the book’s price is confirmed at $29.99 physical and $19.99 digital. This price seems to fuel ideas that the book will have shorter page count like those of 3.5e splatbooks. It’s likely that rather than being a full sourcebook, it will be more of an Eberron primer with focus on bringing the Artificer and Dragonmarks into 2024 rules. As per D&D Beyond, these are the Eberron: Forge of the Artificer details:
- 4 revised Artificer subclasses and 1 new subclass: the Cartographer
- 5 revised species, 17 backgrounds, and 28 feats (mostly relating to Dragonmarks)
- New spells, bastions, and magic items
- 3 distinct, genre-based campaign templates for building fantasy noir, political thriller, and pulp adventure campaigns in the world of Eberron
- Over 20 new monsters, each inspired by a campaign model
Horror-Themed DnD Subclasses Shamble Into 2025 Unearthed Arcana
Again supporting the splatbook theory, the DnD team seems to be preparing a Ravenloft release for 2024 rules. This comes from the sudden drop of a new Horror Subclass Unearthed Arcana. Inside are updated versions of the College of Spirits Bard, Grave Domain Cleric, Phantom Rogue, Shadow Sorcerer, and two Warlocks subclasses in Hexblade and Undead Patron. Two new subclasses also make their debut: the Reanimator Artificer that brings an exploding servant to life and a Hollow Warden Ranger that draws power from cryptid creatures.
Rowan Rook, & Decard To Skip Gen Con 2025 Over USA Travel Concerns
UK-based TTRPG publisher Rowan Rook, & Decard announced that they will skip Gen Con this year as they don’t feel safe crossing the US border. "We aren't the first to make this decision; we suspect we won’t be the last, either; the political climate is only getting worse," the company said in a statement.
They admit that they know the odds of getting stopped at the border are low, they still want to avoid the risk of losing critical convention staff because they got detained or deported. Instead, their booth will be solely manned by US staff. This still allows them to sell products but means their better known members won’t be around for events like panels or business meetings.
Wuxia TTRPG Wandering Blades Hits Kickstarter
Another hit in the making is now fundable and already fully covered on Kickstarter. Wandering Blades comes from Daniel Kwan, co-host of the Asians Represent! Podcast and designer on projects like Candlekeep Mysteries and Avatar Legends. Reviews from playtests praise the game’s fast combat system, OSR-style challenge, and character progression. You can find the Kickstarter here and a Quickstart demo here.
With that final strike, we’re done for this week. Thanks for reading, and may your dice be kind!
Sergio Sólorzano is the best Dungeon Master in the USA (according to a Wizards of the Coast competition, anyway). He loves minis and terrain but also goes all-in on improv!
