Salutations, reader, and welcome to a new edition of StartPlaying tabletop RPG news! This week’s stories paint an interesting picture of the state of TTRPG business.
On one hand, publishing platform DriveThruRPG is the first to raise prices seemingly in response to US tariff woes. On the other, Shadowdark claimed another place in the million dollar Kickstarter club showing that the hobby is still going strong. Meanwhile, Star Trek and Critical Role prepare for new releases. Let’s start with DriveThruRPG’s unfortunate news.
DriveThruRPG Print-On-Demand Prices Rising In US
DriveThruRPG is about to raise its print-on-demand costs by some large amounts due to increasing supply costs. The online platform mostly deals in PDFs of various TTRPGs and third-party expansions, but some creators can opt for print-on-demand services. It's an especially popular option for Kickstarter fulfillment and DnD modules written by notable designers. Those creators were notified that new pricing will go into effect on April 1. Black & white hardcover and softcover book printing could raise as much as 50%, while color will go up around 12%.
Shadowdark Western Reaches Kickstarter Breaks $1M
A new setting guide for Shadowdark is the next big thing to hit Kickstarter, its campaign breaking $1 Million in less than 12 hours. The content contains new player’s and game master’s guides for the new Western Reaches Shadowdark setting along with three new Cursed Scroll zines. This amounts to several new character classes, ancestries, items, and spells for players alongside a massive setting map tailored to a hexcrawl-style campaign. The campaign still has almost a month left to go, and now sits in a prestigious club of TTRPG Kickstarters such as Avatar, Discworld, and MCDM
Star Trek Adventures Technical Manual Gives More Gear
An upcoming sourcebook for Modiphius’ Star Trek Adventures brings more ships, weapons and equipment to your table. This Technical Manual is set to release this June and cost $46.20. Aside from combat-oriented gear, the book will also include iconic tools such as tricorders, universal translators, and medical enhancements like cybernetics. There’s also more direct player options in the form of 10 new career events, six new character talents, five new starship service records, and 10 new starship talents. Technical Manual is up for pre-order now.
Critical Role On The Verge Of Video Game Announcement
According to a recent interview with Business Insider, Critical Role could be announcing a video game “any day” now. The full interview goes more into the group’s plans for the future while they celebrate their 10th anniversary. On the subject of the video game, Travis Willingham commented that players will be “controlling the outcome of the story” while they explore Exandria.
With that exciting tease, we’re done for the week! Thanks for reading, and may your dice be kind.
