They Really Want 80,000 People At Gen Con? Book of Blades Review - Boards & Swords #291
That's....a lot of people. And I'm talking about the 74,000 that were at Gen Con this year, not the 80,000 the convention wants to get to. Also, if you loved the 2nd edition of Arkham Horror, you'll have another shot at getting it. And I take a look at the "Book of Blades" by Kobold Press, an expansion to their Tales of the Valiant RPG.
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News
When is a convention too big? Apparently for Gen Con, 74,000 people isn't the answer. That's the record setting number of people that attended this year's convention, but officials are already saying that with the new expansions in hotel/event space in downtown Indianapolis, they are hoping to reach 80,000 people some day. My opinion? Maybe let the already packed downtown fill up the new areas instead of using it to shove even more people into the area.
Trio of board game industry veterans launch full-service agency Best in Play (from Board Game Wire)
One problem that we see over and over again in tabletop gaming is people that have an idea, but suck at logistics and other business areas. Several industry veterans are hoping to change that with Best in Play - a new consulting firm for board games. Now, if you've got an idea, concept, or even an IP you want to make a game out of, you can use this company to help find the right people to help make said ideas a reality.
Arkham Horror: 2nd Edition Remastered Coming To Gamefound (from Bell of Lost Souls)
Not a fan of the latest editions of Arkham Horror? Really wish you could go back to the 2nd edition of Arkham Horror? Now you can - Fantasy Flight Games announced that the 2nd edition will be coming to Gamefound as the first game in their new "Vault" series. Featuring new artwork and components, the company hopes to breathe new life into a version of the game many people consider the "original" version of the game.
RPG: Paizo’s Entire Catalog Is Coming To DriveThruRPG (from Bell of Lost Souls)
Tired of going to 5 different websites to get your TTRPG PDFs? Now, you can visit one less site! Paizo announced that all of its content is now available for purchase on DriveThruRPG. What's even better than that, is that soon you'll be able to link your Paizo account and have access to the content you've already purchased on DriveThruRPG as well! Given all the print on demand options that DriveThru offers, this is a real win/win for consumers!
The Executive Producers on D&D was asked a bunch of questions at Gen Con about the upcoming Dark Sun sourcebook and how other companies making official content for D&D will work. Most of it is....exactly what you would think. Honestly, I don't always have a lot of faith in the D&D management, but this interview lowered the bar even further. When you spout out basic level marketing ideas that the company should always be doing and then pass them off as new original concepts you've come up with...it's really quite sad.
Main Topic
Review - Book of Blades (Tales of the Valiant) by Kobold Press
https://koboldpress.com/kpstore/product/book-of-blades-tov/
https://amzn.to/4gA5n6v (Amazon Affiliate Link)
Tired of all the magic users getting abilities that let them do cool actions in combat? Pick up "Book of Blades" from Kobold Press and you'll get access to subclasses, items, and mechanics that will give your "martial" characters in Tales of the Valiant (OR D&D5e) some meaningful choices other than "I hit it with my weapon". Even out of combat, there are topics in this book that give characters narrative things to do to enrich their characters!
Ask A Dirtbag GM
Good sources of free to use images without AI (from reddit.com/r/DMAcademy)
Any image is a good image if you believe in yourself! Honestly, where should you go for free to use non-AI generated images for your games? (Easy answer - any image is free to use if you aren't making money off of the game.)
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