The biggest stories of tabletop gaming are back with StartPlaying! Every week, we bring you the most interesting, impactful, and sometimes weird TTRPG in short form. This time, WotC made the surprising move of partnering with third-party content on D&D Beyond. It also assured fans that the likes of Eberron and Dragonlance in 5E aren’t fading away. Outside of WotC, HeroQuest expands, Critical Role previews its fantasy RPG, and Baldur’s Gate 3 brings the difference of video games and tabletop to the forefront of discourse.
Tal’Dorei Reborn Shows Up On D&D Beyond
Wizards of the Coast showed a surprising shift on its attitude towards third-party content today, as Critical Role’s Tal’Dorei Reborn is now available on D&D Beyond. The book contains a setting guide plus player content, like subclasses, and is published in physical form through Darrington Press. While it might be easy to see why WotC would make a deal with Critical Role, it’s still an interesting development after the more exclusive take on third-party content seen earlier this year. Perhaps the door is opening for a third-party marketplace on D&D Beyond.
Current D&D Team Plans To Revisit Settings Like Spelljammer, Eberron
Recent attempts by the current D&D regime to modernize classic settings have not been well received. One of the biggest criticisms is the way the team tries to cram a whole web of ideas into one book and then seems to forget the setting exists. Jeremy Crawford, in a recent interview with Comicbook.com, assures readers that isn’t the case. He says that the new focus on the multiverse primes D&D to keep all settings in mind, and that the creators “look forward to returning to them.” However, they also want to stagger such releases so that players have time to actually use the books in their collection.
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Critical Role’s Daggerheart System Previewed At Gen Con
The anticipated housemade fantasy system from Critical Role’s Darrington Press was previewed in playable form at Gen Con. Coverage at Polygon suggests that Daggerheart tries to meet in the middle of D&D’s mechanics-focused progress and indie games’ lean towards narrative. The result lacks a strong identity according to the writer, even though its emphasis on cards and hope as a gameplay ability have potential. Newcomers will be welcomed by a system that makes things very easy to pick up (thanks to the cards), but campaigns may still end up filling the “medieval-if-you-squint pastiche” that D&D already has a hold on.
HeroQuest Gets Monks In New Expansion
Classic board game RPG HeroQuest is getting a new hero expansion called Path of the Wandering Monk. It’s due out early next year, and will bring martial artists to the game with new abilities. This is the third Hero Collection that adds new player abilities to HeroQuest, showing that the old game has a lot of new life in this second go-round.
Baldur’s Gate 3 Digs Up The Old “Save Scumming” Debate
Baldur’s Gate 3 released last weekend, bringing record numbers of PC gamers to the world of Dungeons & Dragons. The game mostly recreates the mechanics of 5E, along with unpredictable dice rolls to decide important outcomes. Players can stack up proficiencies, spend inspiration, and cast Guidance in a pinch, but sometimes the dice are cruel. Unlike TTRPG campaigns, however, video games can be saved and reloaded as many times as it takes to get the desired outcomes. But is this the right way to play D&D? Is there a “right” way to game? Social media and hobbyist outlets have been hotly debating the act of reloading in Baldur’s Gate 3 to find out.
That brings an eventful week to a close! Now to get back to romancing Shadowheart.
