Product release day is always fun. It’s an excuse to visit your local gaming store (my recommendations are Wizards Keep Games in Renton, Shane’s Cards and Games in Renton, Tacoma Games, Mox Boarding House in Seattle/Bellevue/Portland, Book & Game in Walla Walla). Yes, it costs a bit more. But frankly, I enjoy talking to other nerds, seeing a few dice, and helping these stores survived the covid-19 pandemic is important to me. Amazon won’t fail, but my neighbors might.
Plus, you get a better cover.
On Tuesdays Lore Collage focuses on the D&D game of dice and paper.
Previewing Van Richten’s Guide to Ravenloft
The official intro to the full book includes thoughts from the designers.
Remember, the whole goal of playing games in Ravenloft is to make fear fun.
More Ravenloft previews
- Brimmels at ENWorld with an in-depth look at the book
- Hall at Polygon calls it the best book of 5e
- Whitbrook at iO9 focuses on magical disasters
- Hoffer at Comcbook’s overview
- Hoffer’s more focused look at the expansion of curses
Here’s even more previews from two weeks ago.
G4 and D&D are a perfect match
They’re pairing up for D&D Live ’21, and it sounds like the partnership will be more than that. G4 used to be about video game culture and bizarre-for-America TV shows. The new G4 is about that and the overlapping cultures of video games, tabletop gaming, anime, wrestling, and frankly the geek culture that’s pushing into the mainstream. Plus, they do cool stuff for vets (like me).
Twin Cities Rapper Nur-D and D&D
While it isn’t the focus of the story, I’m a sucker for mainstream mentions of the game. NPR’s Morning Edition talked to the rapper, and it starts with D&D.
As a rapper, the Twin Cities-based artist Matt Allen goes by Nur-D – and the name kind of fits. “It’s something embedded into my soul,” Allen tells Morning Edition. “Comics, Dungeons & Dragons, professional wrestling….”
Full Moon Storytelling 