StartPlaying is back at it again with tabletop gaming news! The holiday season is in sight, so tabletop companies are looking to release their last big products and offer tempting sales. With this, news is mostly split between the effects of major releases and what 2025 may hold.
The big stories of this week: The 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide advises DMs to say no to wild rule hacks, Discworld RPG wrapped up its Kickstarter, a huge Tabletop Game Jobs board is working on a physical job fair, and WizKids offers exclusive bundles through Walmart.
2024 DMG Kills Peasant Railgun Shenanigans
DnD fans all over social media have been praising a particular part of the 2024 Dungeon Master’s Guide. In Chapter 1: The Basics, there’s a section called “Respect for the DM.” Within that section is a “Players Exploiting the Rules” heading that makes reference to a few specific instances of players abusing rules wordings to achieve outrageous results. One entry reads:
“Don’t let players argue that a bucket brigade of ordinary people can accelerate a spear to light speed by all using the Ready action to pass the spear to the next person in line. The Ready action facilitates heroic action; it doesn’t define the physical limitations of what can happen in a 6-second combat round.”
This references the famous “Peasant Railgun” trick that argues a line of peasants could basically launch ammunition like a rocket. Many readers are praising the book’s authors for including an official rules statement arguing against such bad faith rules interpretations.
Discworld RPG Ends Kickstarter Campaign Just Under $3 Million
The Discworld TTRPG Kickstarter ended its run this week, although late pledges are still being accepted. The campaign finished with an impressive $2.9 million raised. The record holder for TTRPG Kickstarters is currently Brandon Sanderson’s Cosmere RPG based on Stormlight Archive and Mistborn, which raised over $10 million. Before that, the record belonged to the Avatar RPG that earned around $9.5 million. While Discworld RPG didn’t reach those heights, it’s still considered massively successful and will no doubt lead to expansions after the launch.
Tabletop Game Jobs Planning A Physical Event For 2025
The 20,000-person strong Tabletop Game Jobs Facebook group is working on a live event, reports Board Game Wire. While it’s still very much in the discussion stage with an “as-yet unnamed” organization, the goal is for a 2025 event. The group began out of the realization that the tabletop industry doesn’t really have a dedicated jobs board. The need for such a thing has only grown in the wake of multimillion dollar Kickstarter campaigns and layoffs in the video game industry bringing over new talent. A live event makes sense, assuming that the industry continues to see growth.
Walmart Sells Exclusive DnD Miniature Bundles
WizKids and Walmart are teaming up to expand the TTRPG mini presence within the retail giant. This comes in the form of two online bundles featuring convention exclusive minis. The first is a “Starter Miniatures Bundle” including the D&D Icons of the Realms: Starter Set and a Sandcastle Mimic for $19.99. The Starter Set contains six minis of archetypal DnD player characters while the Sandcastle mimic has been a convention/online exclusive.
The $29.99 Miniatures Booster Bundle comes with four items. There’s one booster box from D&D Icons of the Realms: Quests from the Infinite Staircase and one from Baldur’s Gate: Descent Into Avernus. This one has two promo figures, Minsc & Boo and the 50th anniversary Birthday Cake Mimic. These promos have also been convention/online exclusive until now. Both sets are purchasable through Walmart.com.
With bundles like these coming out, it really is the start of the holiday shopping season! Stay tuned to StartPlaying for upcoming news on the best tabletop gifts and happenings in the industry as a new year approaches.
