This Week's TTRPG News: A Roller Coaster Of Events

After a bit of a holiday vacation, StartPlaying is back with tabletop RPG news of the week! Like any memorable TTRPG session, the past week was a roller coaster of surprises, upheavals, and fun. So grab your favorite warm drink, cozy up by the fire, and let’s get to the big events of December 2022! 

Dungeons & Dragons Cartoon Returns As A Comic Book 

It will soon be 40 years (!) since the Dungeons & Dragons cartoon first graced television screens on Saturday mornings. Even though the characters aren’t particularly active today, the series still remains a building block of many a D&D obsession. To honor this legacy, IDW announced a four-part comic miniseries called Dungeons & Dragons: Saturday Morning Adventures. The story will be a sort of “lost episode” that picks up where the cartoon left off, and will hit comic stores in March 2023. 

Henry Cavill Teams Up With Amazon For Warhammer Series

Amazon is poised to capture the tabletop market again. Just as Vox Machina season 2 got its release date, the company behind the Prime streaming giant closed a deal involving Warhammer 40,000. 

Fans of Henry Cavill and the DC movie-verse got a litany of shocking updates recently. First, Cavill left the Netflix Witcher series, which is planning to enter the new season with Liam Hemsworth playing the titular Geralt. Rumors posit that Cavill was unhappy with the direction the series was headed in, as the showrunner/writers seemed determined to not follow the path set out by the Witcher books or games. He also seemed to have a chance to go all-in on Superman again, as Dwayne Johnson pushed for Cavill to return to DC in the Black Adam movie. Then came James Gunn.

Gunn is the mastermind behind the Guardians of the Galaxy movies, the recent The Suicide Squad, and Peacemaker. His success urged Warner Bros to pen a deal where Gunn heads the DC film universe. One of his first acts was to announce a new direction for Superman, one that unfortunately doesn’t involve Cavill in the role.

With Cavill suddenly unattached to any major franchises, Amazon made its move. Cavill is now said to be in talks to executive produce and star in Warhammer 40k content for Amazon, which could involve both movies and a streaming series. Fans of Cavill know that he is a passionate, mini-painting 40k fan, so his inclusion in a potential series is exciting news. 

Play Warhammer Games On StartPlaying Today! 

One D&D OGL Becomes A Sticking Point

Here’s an update on One D&D’s potential lack of an Open Game License. An alleged leak last month claimed that Wizards of the Coast will forgo the OGL for One D&D, effectively making third-party content illegal. Now, a new Tweet alleges that WotC is sending out invites to special meetings with select content creators to discuss the future of One D&D. While this seems standard, the existence of an NDA has many wondering if WotC is swearing these creators to silence on the possibility of an OGL. 

Furthermore, many wonder if the secrecy around OGL indicates that WotC will move towards some kind of privileged model for One D&D where only a few contracted content creators are allowed to produce third-party content. Or if the new license will be one that the average creator has to pay for. In response, #OpenDnD is trending with calls to not sign NDAs and fight for the continued existence of OGL. 

Critical Role Publisher Announces New Two-Player Game

Now for something more fun! CritRole publishing company Darrington Press announced a new game called Til the Last Gasp. The storytelling-focused board game will put two player characters against one another in a climactic duel. Why they are dueling, and how they feel about this escalation of their relationship, is for the players to suss out with roleplay. Til the Last Gasp can support different genres and custom characters. However, players who purchase through Darrington Press Guild stores can nab exclusive pre-made characters straight from Vox Machina. 

NEXT: Explore Exandria In A New Critical Role Campaign!