An international network of researchers into all aspects of role-playing games

David Millians, Editor

Paideia School, 1509 Ponce de Leon Avenue, Atlanta, Georgia 30307 USA

millians.david@paideiaschool.org

LETTER FROM THE CHAIR

And we’re back! The school year has started for my kids in August and in the southern United States, even earlier. This is the first summer when I can state that we used up every weekend having fun traveling, visiting friends and family, and camping. In fact, we were so busy that it was hard to focus on my favorite hobby, tabletop role-playing games, but I managed to squeeze some gaming time in nonetheless.

My son is just about to begin his project for Eagle Scouts, which involves building a bridge for the Audubon Society. Fundraising for that project and assembling the bridge will keep us busy throughout the next two months, and it certainly has changed my perspective on what it means to build (and walk over!) a bridge in RPGs.

Inspired by our recent visit to Scotland, I managed to squeeze in work on a massive monster supplement for Fifth Edition Dungeons & Dragons, 5E Foes: Celtic Bestiary. It combines monsters from Brittany, Cornwall, Ireland, Isle of Man, Scotland, and Wales. It’s been a journey for sure as I’ve delved deep into the folklore of each of the regions and their rich mythology. I’ll be following up with 5E RPG: Celtic Adventures, a player supplement for playing in the same campaign.

The latest chapter in my own D&D campaign is winding to a close—when we were able to find time to play, that is—with just a few sessions left before we start on the next adventure. That adventure will be published as the Dr. Seuss-inspired, gnome-centered, murder/gameshow, 5E Quest: Clockwork Carillon.

And of course, we’ve been busy recording episodes of our new podcast, 50 Date Night Screams. In each episode we discuss a thriller movie in the public domain and then adapt a villain from the movie to D&D.

We’ll be meeting a little earlier than usual in the month in September because of our busy schedules. I’m looking forward to interviewing Matt Madsen of Dungeon Learning on September 7. Look for the invite in your mailbox.

I hope you had a great summer. By all accounts tabletop gaming is back in a big way, and with the arrival of the latest edition of Dungeons & Dragons coming next year, it’s going to be a wild ride for all tabletop RPGs and for the CAR-PGA. Buckle up!

Sincerely,

Mike Tresca

CAR-PGA Committee Chair

The SPIEL ´22 in Essen Part One

The Game Fair during the Corona Pandemic: The Journey to Essen and my first Impressions

The Corona pandemic has ended, but we will surely remember it for a long time. Perhaps the pandemic and the current Ukraine War will influence the further development of the 21st century like the First World War did it for the 20th century. The news about a dangerous virus from China, the quarantine measures, the obligation to wear protective masks, the distance rules between people in the everyday life, or the often weeks-long closure of offices, shops and companies are some of our experiences since 2020.

The quarantine measures were also a restriction for the RPG community. GMs and players could no longer meet to play, while conventions often had to be cancelled at short notice for the same reason. Our community is based on the personal contact at the gaming table, but how can we preserve these relationships during a strict quarantine?

Online-meetings were often a solution for this problem, when groups used the internet to communicate and play. This replacement for the traditional way of gaming, where GMs and players gather around a table, lacks the direct personal contact, but you could get used to that. The online-meetings also opened up new ways for the RPG-community, because they also allow play when the members of a group are in different cities or even countries.

One event that had to be cancelled due to the pandemic was the German game-fair SPIEL ´20, which should have taken place in Essen from October 22nd to 25th, 2020. Its organizer, the Friedrich Merz-Verlag, offered as replacement, the SPIEL.digital 2020, a digital fair with live streams in different languages, game simulations, presentations of new games, and online-game-rounds. Game experts and journalists were satisfied with this solution, in spite of the sometimes slow access of the website. Overall, the SPIEL.digital 2020 was a success and perhaps a model for future events of the game and RPG community.

In 2021 the Friedrich Merz-Verlag could finally organize again a traditional game fair, and so the SPIEL ´21 took place in Essen from October 14th to 17th, 2021. Strict quarantine rules demanded that all persons wore protective masks, while they also had either to be vaccinated against Corona, had recovered from the disease, or had been tested with a negative result. Despite these measures (or perhaps as a sign of resistance against the virus), the SPIEL ´21 was a success for the game community, when 620 exhibitors from 41 nations offered over 1000 new games. The number of visitors in 2021 was 93,600 people, smaller when compared to the 205,000 visitors of the SPIEL ´19.

In spite of the Corona pandemic, which continued in 2022, the Friedhelm Merz Verlag reported around 147,000 visitors during the SPIEL ´22. This number was smaller than in 2019, but the company judged this development in a positive way. The enthusiasm for games is unbroken, they said. RPGs were not explicitly mentioned, but my observations at the SPIEL ´22 confirmed this statement for our hobby, too.

Some more statistical facts are also confirmations of the company´s assessment. The exhibition area was expanded by 75 percent, and 980 exhibitors from 56 countries presented a record number of 1800 new games. Numerous large game publishers celebrated their comeback during the SPIEL ´22, after the pandemic had forced them to reduce their activities at fairs and conventions. Many small companies used the game fair to present their products, often for the first time.

For various reasons, I could not visit the SPIEL ´21, but I was determined to will travel to the game-fair in 2022, even if the pandemic still continued. In this article I want to summarize my impressions of the SPIEL ´22. It differs a little bit from my previous reports, but the effects of the pandemic changed many of our old ways. For various reasons, both private and professional, the article was written with a long delay, but I hope, that our readers will get a good overview of the SPIEL ´22, which took place from October 6th to 9th, 2022.

Before the pandemic, I always stayed in Essen for a week, so that I could visit all four days of the game-fair, but also tour the city, but in 2022 private reasons caused me to travel only for one day to Essen. I chose the opening day, which allowed me to avoid the expected rush of visitors at the weekend. As a result, I was able to observe the game fair relatively undisturbed under quarantine conditions.

On October 6th, 2022, I began in the early morning (read: deep in the night) the journey to Essen. Of course, it became nearly at once its own adventure. I had ordered a taxi, which brought me to the central station of my hometown with enough lead time to avoid traffic jams (unlikely before the morning rush hour) and construction sites (very likely in our town). When I arrived at the central station, however, I learned that the regional train to Hamburg was fifteen minutes late. As a result, I would miss the intercity express to Essen, so I must take a later train and lose a complete hour of the tour.

On the way to Hamburg, I was in a bad mood, until an announcement was made that the intercity express to Essen was also delayed. A freight train blocked its route due to a technical defect. Suddenly I was happy again. After arriving at the central station in Hamburg I jumped out of the regional train, hurried to the platform from where the train to Essen started, and jumped into the intercity express. Now the journey continued nearly as planned, and we arrived in Essen just some minutes later.

The first visitors of SPIEL ´22 I met already in the intercity express. On the other side of the aisle, I noticed a man and a girl in her early teens, who were also travelling to Essen. Politely I asked whether they were visiting the game fair. My intuitive assumption was correct: they were father and daughter, both game enthusiasts, on their way to SPIEL ´22. Meeting two like-minded game-fans was surely a sign of good luck!

When the intercity express arrived in Essen, it seemed that the city´s central station was overrun with visitors of the SPIEL ´22. I got a ticket for public transport and looked some moments in a newspaper shop, before I went to the subway station. The platform for the U11, the line to Essen´s fair buildings, was overcrowded, but finally I arrived at the station “Messe Ost” (“Fair Buildings East”). The pandemic distancing rules were completely ignored, of course.

I arrived at the fair buildings around thirty minutes before the SPIEL ´22 opened. A large crowd of people, who were all interested in games, already waited in the large lobby, from where you entered the exhibition halls. Nevertheless, I got an entrance ticket within moments. This is the weak point of the game fair: the tickets are no longer available from the local ticket agencies but must be ordered directly by the Friedrich Merz Verlag or bought at the entrance of the fair-buildings.

My large travel bag, which I used to transport my purchases back home, I left in a locker. I had already mentioned in my article about the SPIEL ´19 that the storage of bags, suitcases, and backpacks was reorganized successfully, reducing the time for handing in and picking up. Some minutes later the SPIEL ´22 was opened for the public.

When I entered the exhibition halls, I felt, as if I was returning home from a long journey. Six halls full of booths for game publishers, companies, clubs, and associations waited to be explored by the visitors. New products were found everywhere: board games, tabletops, RPGs, books, and computer games. There were also all kinds of accessories, including dice and game figures.

The great interest in Japanese anime and manga was proven by a number of booths, which offered lots of products including DVDs, CDs with soundtracks, miniatures, art books, and posters. At one you could buy original sweets, cookies, cakes, and dishes from Japan. This is an alternative to the stereotypical pizza as food at the gaming table. Immediately I became hungry, but unfortunately most of these treats were real calorie bombs with lots of sugar.

This brings us to a negative observation, which I already noticed at the previous game-fairs: the food. The restaurants at the fair use their position to their advantage by offering the customers a minimum of portions coupled with a maximum of prices. Euro 5 for a half-litre bottle of diet cola – that is really too much. On the other hand, it is easy to keep to a diet with such small portions and such high prices. My advice for visitors: take cookies and something to drink with you, so that you save your money for a better meal in the evening. You also avoid that the cardboard shell, in which you get the Currywurst (the German counterpart to the British Fish-and-Chips or the American Hot Dog) suddenly dissolves, leaving a sticky spot on the table. Believe me: porcelain plates have their advantages.

First, I visited the annual exhibition of the “Europäische Spielesammler-Gilde” (“European Guild of Game Collectors” or ESG). This year the ESG celebrated the birthdays of five well-known game-authors: Alex Randolph (100th birthday), Reinhold Wittig (85th birthday), Wolfgang Kramer (80th birthday), Klaus Teuber (70th birthday) and Rainer Knizia (65th birthday). The exhibition “Jubiläum hoch Fünf” (in the sense of “Five Jubilees”) presented many games, which these five famous authors had developed, among them modern classics such as “Die Siedler von Catan” (“The Settlers of Catan”) by Klaus Teuber. He shall be mentioned here in particular, because on April 1, 2023, he suddenly died after a short illness. Mr. Teuber´s death was widely mentioned in the German media, which proves the fame of his games and his reputation as a game-author in the public. Until the end, he worked on the third volume of his novel trilogy “Catan” about the colonization of this game-world.

The “Europäische Spielesammler-Gilde” also offered literature about games. Here I want to mention “Die Welt als Würfel. 5000 Jahre Glück im Spiel” (“The World as a Die. 5000 Years of Luck in Games”). It is the catalogue of an exhibition with the same name, which was shown by the Stadtgeschichtliches Museum Leipzig, the museum of the history of the city of Leipzig. It documented the history of dice and dice games from ancient Egypt to our modern times. The topics of the exhibition included the rejection of these games in the Middle Ages, their importance during the world wars, the companies in Leipzig which produced dice machines, and the social importance of the dice. For that the museum got support from Jakob Gloger, who has built up an extensive collection about the cultural history of dice. Curiosities like perfume in a die were also part of the exhibition. With numerous photos and illustrations, as well as informative texts in German and English, the catalogue documents the history of dice. For game collectors, who are also looking for literature, this book must be highly recommended! The bibliographic information is: Hartinger, Anselm; Rood, Tim; Gloger, Jakob (publishers): Die Welt als Würfel. 5000 Jahre Glück im Spiel; Leipzig 2022, ISBN 978-3-910034-88-4.

I also visited the halls, where board and family games were offered. Of special interest was the booth of IGAMES, a game company from the Ukraine. In spite of the war against Russia, this company succeeded in developing a new game and in sending three representatives to the SPIEL ´22. Their journey to the game-fair demanded lots of determination and improvisation, so there was no time for advertisement, while the material for the booth had to be bought in Essen. Among the representatives was the Ukrainian game-author Oleksandr Nevskiy, who presented “Oneironauts,” which was developed by him. It is a funny and family-friendly game, where the players try to get their certificate as “oneironauts,” specialists at diving in dreams. Nevskiy told journalists that previously the war game fairs and conventions were of greatest importance for him, but now he constantly cares for the situation in his homeland. He also expected to be drafted soon by the Ukrainian military.

As a historian, the Kickstarter-project “Dutch Resistance. Orange Shall Overcome!” which is currently developed by Liberation Game Design, got my interest, too. Many games have been published about World War II, but here the players are members of the resistance against the Germans in the Netherlands. A number of scenarios, which can be played with four different levels of difficulty, show the dangerous activities against the occupation. The players expand networks of resistance fighters, hide endangered persons, or smuggle important items and messages along the German controlled roads. At the same time, they must build up an alibi, keep the morale high and avoid raids. For that, the players take on the roles of people from all parts of the society, who actually fought in the Dutch resistance. Among them is Cornelia Glasbergen-Keukenmeester, who hid people the Germans wanted to arrest. She was the grandmother of Marcel Köhler, the author of the game. The police officer Filios Douma destroyed public record files and warned the resistance of raids, while the train operator Josephus “Jo” Lokerman organized secret train rides. Anton de Kom was a native of Suriname, at that time a Dutch colony. As a communist and anti-colonialist writer, he published an underground newspaper for the resistance. Joke Folmer, a teen girl of 17 years when the Germans overran the Netherlands in 1940, smuggled more than 300 persons, among them 120 Allied pilots, to Belgium, from where they were brought to Switzerland or Britain. Selma van de Perre-Velleman was a courier, using a bicycle for long tours through the Netherlands. Her activities were extremely dangerous, because she had also to hide her Jewish ancestry. Altogether “Dutch Resistance. Orange Shall Overcome!” is a promising game, which gives an impression of the life-threatening fights against the German occupation.

An interesting observation for all types of games was the comeback of brochures and flyers as advertising material. In the years before the Corona pandemic, I noticed a decline of this way to advertise products. Instead, publishers and companies concentrated on the internet advertising. It was already assumed, that brochures and flyers would be completely omitted in some years, but at the SPIEL ´22 I found again lots of this advertising material at many booths, from leaflets to catalogues. The reasons for that must still be investigated, but I think, that the game publishers and editors are trying to regain the influence which they lost during the Corona-pandemic due to the cancelling of fairs and conventions. They fell back to material which seemed to be old-fashioned but had proven its worth for decades. If you are interested in the topic of advertising, then you should observe this development.

Game clubs and associations, as well as the organizers of conventions, also begun again to use brochures and flyers as advertising material. One example is the “Verband Deutscher Spieliotheken/Ludotheken” (VDSL; “Association of German Game-Libraries”), an organization of German libraries specializing in games. The VDSL promotes the cultural value of gaming, organizes events, and offers pedagogical consultations. The “Spiele-Autoren-Zunft“ (SAZ; “Game-Authors-Guild“) is an association of game authors. It promotes fair contracts between authors and publishers, forms a network, and supports the authors´ copyrights. The “Bargteheider Spieletreff” (BaST) is a club for board games at the adult education centre in Bargteheide. Here monthly meetings as well as special game events are offered for the enthusiastic players. “Pöppelhoppers Saarn” is a game club of the Evangelical Parish Broich-Saam in Mülheim. This club meets three times every month but also at conventions and on the Reformation Day. The “Spielecafe der Generationen“ (“Game Cafe of the Generations”) is an association of game-enthusiasts of all ages in Hebertsfelden/Linden. Its members focus on promoting cross-generational games, which allow young and old people to play together. For this purpose the association also awards the “Qualitätssiegel Generationenspiel“ (“Quality Seal Generation Game”) for games, that can be played together by different generations. The “H2Ö” (interesting name, isn´t it?) is a citizen district centre in Herne, which also includes a game cafe. Here players can meet twice a month.

Another way of advertising to find potential business partners for a cooperation, which I observed at the SPIEL ´22, was the classic business card. As a colourful example “Enjoy Puzzle” shall be mentioned here, a producer for jigsaw puzzles, which stand out due to their bright colors. These cards include a QR-code, that enables you to get more information about the company. In this way a traditional and a modern form of advertising are combined.

The publishers of Trading Card Games tried to attract the interest of the visitors by distributing free cards for their games. They also tried to win back customers, whom they lost during the Corona pandemic. One example for that is “Shadowfist,” published by Venusta Games. As a result, fans of this game were able to expand easily their collection of cards with these promotional merchandise products.

Free or very inexpensive games and game expansions were another type of advertising material. Two interesting examples of that I picked up at the booth of the German game-magazine “Spielerei”. In “Zeit der Zünfte” (“Time of the Guilds”), written by Tobias Thulke, two to four players compete as craft masters in a competition of the guilds. This way they can win the most profitable contracts. Three to five players try in “Gondoliere,” developed by Michael Schacht, to transport as many tourists as possible in their gondolas, which allows them to make a healthy profit. Both games are suitable for all ages and for families, while the short playing time of ten to twenty minutes allows several fast games in succession.

A sweet merchandise product were small bags with sugar, which were distributed by www.spielmaterial.de, a German company, which sells material for games like dice, figures, cards, or models. Some of their products are also useful for RPGs, and the website of this company can be recommended, in spite of the fact that sugar is also a calorie bomb.

To be continued….

NEW MATERIAL

This is a compilation of articles and other resources that have come to the editor’s attention over the last month. Everyone is welcome to send bibliographic information about anything you discover that fits the mission of CAR-PGa and this newsletter.

Abstruse (2023 Aug 25) Beadle & Grimm’s Matthew Lillard Launcges D&D-themed Bourbon. https://www.enworld.org/threads/beadle-grimms-matthew-lillard-launches-d-d-themed-bourbon.699454. Partnership with Blue Run Spirits.

Andersson, Mikael (2023 Aug 7) Games as Moral Stories. https://clockworkstories.net/games-as-moral-stories-ba9debb6bd1a. A discussion of extrinsic and intrinsic rewards and pr-social learning in video games and directly applicable to RPGs.

Blakinger, Keri (2023 Aug 31) The Dungeons & Dragons Players of Death Row. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/08/31/magazine/dungeons-dragons-death-row.html. Loss and life for condemned men in Texas – a powerful story of imagination and survival.

Campbell, Steph (2023 Jul 31) The “Good Enough” session. https://www.ttrpgkids.com/2023/07/31/kicking-off-a-good-enough-ttrpg-for-kids. Smaller goals and lower expectations for more fun and actual pay off.

Campbell, Steph (2023 Aug 3) Review of Time Tails RPG (and Cozy Companion magazine). https://www.ttrpgkids.com/2023/08/03/review-of-time-tails-rpg-and-cozy-companion-magazine. Time-traveling anthropomorphic cats with minds of their own in a universe full of learning opportunities.

Campbell, Steph (2023 Aug 5) TTRPGkids has won a silver ENnie in Best Online Content. https://www.ttrpgkids.com/2023/08/05/ttrpgkids-has-won-a-silver-ennie-in-best-online-content. Congratulations to Steph for well-earned recognition.

Campbell, Steph (2023 Aug 7) TTRPGkids at GenCon Indy and GenCon Online Recap (aka XP share). https://www.ttrpgkids.com/2023/08/07/ttrpgkids-at-gencon-indy-and-gencon-online-recap-talk-audio. Presentations, panels, people, work, and fun.

Campbell, Steph (2023 Aug 9) Meet Steph from TTRPGkids. https://www.ttrpgkids.com/2023/08/09/meet-steph-from-ttrpgkids. Creator introduces herself and her projects.

Campbell, Steph (2023 Aug 10) Review of Super City, a quick and easy to learn TTRPG for kids. https://www.ttrpgkids.com/2023/08/10/review-of-super-city-a-quick-and-easy-to-learn-ttrpg-for-kids. Kid heroes saving Super City.

Campbell, Steph (2023 Aug 14) Using TTRPGs to teach resilience in life and school. https://www.ttrpgkids.com/2023/08/14/using-ttrpgs-to-teach-resilience-in-life-and-in-school. Safe risk-taking, support, and examples for real life.

Campbell, Steph (2023 Aug 21) Helpful tools for tabletop RPGs and D&D for kids. https://www.ttrpgkids.com/2023/08/21/helpful-tools-for-tabletop-rpgs-and-dd-for-kids. Growing curated list of everything from character sheets to short guides to minis and VTT elements.

Campbell, Steph (2023 Aug 23) Review of Tabletop Role-Playing Therapy: A Guide for the Clinician Game Master. https://www.ttrpgkids.com/2023/08/24/review-of-tabletop-role-playing-therapy-a-guide-for-the-clinician-game-master. Insightful and supportive ideas for clinical and casual players.

Campbell, Steph (2023 Aug 28) Tips and Tricks: Non-violent TTRPG environmental challenge ideas. https://www.ttrpgkids.com/2023/08/28/tips-and-tricks-non-violent-ttrpg-environmental-challenge-ideas. Action other than violence.

Campbell, Steph (2023 Aug 28) TTRPGkids on Ludology Podcast Episode 3: Using TTRPG safety tools with kids. https://www.ttrpgkids.com/2023/08/28/ttrpgkids-on-ludology-podcast-episode-3-using-ttrpg-safety-tools-with-kids. Importance of good implementation.

Campbell, Steph (2023 Aug 29) TTRPGkids on Ludology Podcast, Episode 4: Creating an engaging TTRPG settting that kids will enjoy. https://www.ttrpgkids.com/2023/08/29/ttrpgkids-on-ludology-podcast-episode-4-creating-an-engaging-ttrpg-setting-that-kids-will-enjoy. Exploring kids’ own interests and preferences in order to have successful games.

Campbell, Steph (2023 Aug 31) Review of Cozy Companion vol 3: All Things Nautical. https://www.ttrpgkids.com/2023/08/31/review-for-cozy-companion-vol-3-all-things-nautical. Family-friendly fun in and on the water.

Carter, Chase (2023 Jul 29) Tabletop creators struggle to plot their future amidst Twitter’s still-burning ashes. https://www.dicebreaker.com/companies/twitter/feature/tabletop-creators-talk-future-after-twitter. Networking in digital limbo.

Carter, Chase (2023 Jul 31) Card Kingdom Union approves contract between employees and upper management of TCG seller. https://www.dicebreaker.com/companies/card-kingdom/news/card-kingdom-union-contract-approved-july. Organizing and professionalization of gaming.

Carter, Chase (2023 Jul 31) TCGPlayer Union slams eVay with Unfair Labour Practice action for allegedly stalling negotiations. https://www.dicebreaker.com/topics/unions/news/tcgplayer-union-alleges-ebay-unfair-labour-practice-action. Not everyone wants to play along.

Carter, Chase (2023 Aug 1) IGDN’s 2023 Groundbreaker winners include a 90-pound butter heist, reality-spanning stickers and dinos in cars. https://www.dicebreaker.com/topics/awards/news/igdn-indie-groundbreaker-awards-2023. Spotlighting creativity.

Carter, Chase (2023 Aug 11) Werewolf: the Apocalypse 5E writer alleges racist and belittling treatment by White Wolf staff. https://www.dicebreaker.com/games/werewolf-the-apocalypse-5e/news/werewolf-the-apocalypse-5e-workplace-racism-allegation. Nazi lycanthropes.

Carter, Chase (2023 Aug 11) Dimension 20 resumes production of RPG actual play series after SAG-AFTRA contract clarification. https://www.dicebreaker.com/topics/dimension-20/news/dimension-20-resumes-production-amid-sagaftra-wga-strike. Back to laughs and rolling dice.

Colwill, Tim (2023 Jun) Satire Without Purpose Will Wander In Dark Places. https://timcolwill.com/40K.html. Satire, fascism, and the shifting appeal of Warhammer 40K.

darjr (2023 Aug 28) Luke Gygax Brings Back Gary Gygax’s Castle Zagyg. https://www.enworld.org/threads/luke-gygax-brings-back-gary-gygaxs-castle-zagyg.699482. Renewing works of an elder.

Embry, Egg (2023 Aug 31) RPG Holidays Part Twp – July to September. https://www.enworld.org/threads/rpg-holidays-part-two-%E2%80%93-july-to-december.698833. Overview and discussion of special days in the calendar.

Girdwood, Andrew (2023 Aug 25) Handiwork Games hit by thieves and respond with Free to Download: King Beowulf – Of Kingdoms and Ring-Givers. https://www.geeknative.com/160479/handiwork-games-hit-by-thieves-and-respond-with-free-to-download-king-beowulf-of-kingdoms-and-ring-givers. Responding to crime with generosity.

Griepp, Milton (2023 Aug 2) Hobby Sales Up 7% in 2022. https://icv2.com/articles/markets/view/54762/hobby-game-sales-up-7-2022. RPGs with the fastest growth rate and more trends and analysis.

Griepp, Milton (2023 Aug 7) WOTC and Digital Gaming Down in Q2. https://icv2.com/articles/news/view/54787/wotc-digital-gaming-down-q2. Weak sales of Magic carda and tickets to Dungeons & Dragons movie.

Griepp, Milton (2023 Aug 9) OGL Mis-Step Shakes Up RPG Business. https://icv2.com/articles/markets/view/54819/ogl-mis-step-shakes-up-rpg-business. As expected by many.

Hyde, Marion (2023 Jul 28) Dragon Con reps say that despite the SAG-AFTRA strike, the show will go on. https://www.wabe.org/dragon-con-strikes-idea-that-sag-aftra-will-affect-attendance-and-major-festivities. Planning for a modified line0up of guests and appearances.

Jarvis, Matt (2023 Aug 5) $300,000 worth of TCG cards stolen from Gen Con 2023 ahead of Disney Lorcana launch. https://www.dicebreaker.com/events/gen-con-2023/news/gen-con-2023-card-theft. Convention security will undoubtedly increase. And now recovered!

Meehan, Alex (2023 Aug 8) Gen Con 2023 breaks event attendance record with over 70,000 visitors. https://www.dicebreaker.com/events/gen-con-2023/news/gen-con-2023-attendance-record-broken. In Indianapolis since 2003 and planning to continue there until at least 2030.

Meehan, Alex (2023 Aug 16) Baldur’s Gate 3 narrator “can’t wait” for people to discover S&S thanks to video game. https://www.dicebreaker.com/games/dungeons-and-dragons-5e/news/bg3-narrator-dnd-players. Another direct entry to RPGs.

Meehan, Alex (2023 Aug 30) Baldur’s Gate 3 allows D&D players to live out their horny fantasies without making anyone uncomfortable. https://www.dicebreaker.com/games/dungeons-and-dragons-5e/opinion/baldurs-gate-3-sex-romance. Larian Studios designs game with degrees of romantic interaction, which players can select.

Meehan, Alex (2023 Aug 31) Almost 40% people are playing more tabletop games since before the lockdown, with interest in D&D increasing to 85%. https://www.dicebreaker.com/topics/tabletop-games/news/more-people-playing-tabletop-games. Merchoid survey of various interests and activities.

Morrissey, Russ (2023 Aug 4) Coyote & Crow Wins 2023 Diana Jones Award. https://www.enworld.org/threads/coyote-crow-wins-2023-diana-jones-award.699086. Spotlighting non-Western, non-colonial stories. Emerging Designers as well.

Morrissey, Russ (2023 Aug 5) Congratulations to the 2023’s ENnies Award Winners. https://www.enworld.org/threads/congratulations-to-2023s-ennies-award-winners.699128. A complete list from Dicebreaker.

Morrissey, Russ (2023 Aug 7) WpTC: ‘Artists Must Refrain From Using AI Art Generation.’ https://www.enworld.org/threads/wotc-artists-must-refrain-from-using-ai-art-generation.699147. Company Clarifies irs policy after new publication’s art found to contain some AI elements.

Morrissey, Russ (2023 Aug 14) D&D’s Classic Settings Are Not ‘One Shots’. https://www.enworld.org/threads/d-ds-classic-settings-are-not-one-shots.699265. Expanding the old to make something new.

Morrissey, Russ (2023 Aug 25) What Are The Current Freelance Writing Rates In The TTRPG Industry?. https://www.enworld.org/threads/what-are-the-current-freelance-writing-rates-in-the-ttrpg-industry.699085. Over 1000 participants.

Page-Katz, Susannah (2023 Aug 1) Introducing Our AI Policy. https://updates.kickstarter.com/introducing-our-new-ai-policy. Requires transparency about the uses of AI technology in any project. More from Dicebreaker.

Snow (2023 Jul 26) welcome to ttrpg (hell) school. https://nerves.games/2023/07/26/snows-ttrpg-class-reading-list. Some history of experimental games.

Roll20 (2023 Aug 4) We are currently addressing issues…. https://twitter.com/roll20app/status/1687144660945276928. DDoS attack crashes Roll20 services.

Russell, Laurence (2023 Jul 26) Critical Role Lays Out the Next Era of Tabletop Games and Live-Action Role-Play. https://www.wired.com/story/critical-role-future-tabletop-games-live-action-role-play. Expanding their creations and their reach.

Sandro (2023 Aug 30) Children’s Books and Tabletop Games. https://failforwardblog.blogspot.com/2023/08/microblog-childrens-books-and-tabletop.html. Exploring the inspirations and loves of our youth in our games.

Tresca, Mike (2023 Aug 1) ConnectiCon XX Report. https://www.enworld.org/threads/rpg-evolution-connecticon-xx-report.698963. Games, workshops, merch, friends, and wrestling cosplayers.

Tresca, Mike (2023 Aug 10) Terrificon Con Report. https://www.enworld.org/threads/rpg-evolution-terrificon-con-report.699050. Geek fun in a casino setting.

Tresca, Mike (2023 Aug 18) Bad Vibes in Barbieland. https://www.enworld.org/threads/rpg-evolution-bad-vibes-in-barbieland.699058. Expectations and Bleed.

Tresca, Mike (2023 Aug 29) The Fair-Play Whodunnit. https://www.enworld.org/threads/rpg-evolution-the-fair-play-whodunnit.698837. Using writing ideas from a century ago to craft successful mysteries for your games.

© Copyright 2023 by the Committee for the Advancement of Role-Playing Games (CAR-PGa), ISSN 1071 7129. The CAR-PGa Newsletter is a monthly publication. For more information contact David Millians, Editor, Paideia School, 1509 Ponce de Leon Avenue, Atlanta, Georgia 30307 USA, phone (404) 808-1070, fax (404) 377-3491, e-mail millians.david@paideiaschool.org. Back issues are available. Contributions of material from the membership are urged, and the byline is responsible for content. Deadline is the last weekday of the month, email preferred. Permission is granted to copy anything in the Newsletter, provided we get a credit line in the publication copying it, and it doesn’t have someone else’s copyright on it. Information, including details on joining CAR-PGa, can be obtained on the Internet at car-pga.org.