Green Ronin has announced plans to launch a new fiction line

Greetings fellow travelers of the Tabletop Multiverse!

A day or so ago I was made aware of a press release from Green Ronin Publishing which details their plans to start work on their new "fiction initiative", as they refer to it.

In the press release we can read:

Green Ronin aims to include novels, anthologies, and both stand-alone and serialized short fiction in their releases, tied to the rich and varied worlds of their many tabletop roleplaying properties. Early releases will include fiction set in the romantic fantasy world of Aldea from the Blue Rose Roleplaying Game and tales of superheroic adventures set in the world of Earth-Prime from Mutants & Masterminds.

As part of this fiction launch, Green Ronin has come to an agreement with author and editor C.A. Suleiman to publish and distribute his previously existing fiction anthology Tales of the Lost Citadel in electronic and deluxe print formats. Tales of the Lost Citadel will be the first release for the new fiction imprint.

Sounds like they have big plans for this, and I admit it will be very interesting to see it all come to fruition. :) Personally, I can't wait to see how they tie it in with their existing worlds.

To help them in this endeavor, they have brought in some experienced help by bringing on board Jaym Gates, who has previously worked on anthologies such as 'Eclipse Phase: After the Fall', 'Vampire the Masquerade: Endless Ages' and the 'Strange California'. She has also written fan fiction and/or setting material for things such as: 'Blue Rose', 'Firefly: Smuggler's guide to the Rim', and many other things.

Green Ronin says:

Leading this effort as Fiction Line Managing Editor will be Jaym Gates, author and editor, whose guiding hand has recently been evident on projects such as the Strange California anthology and Eclipse Phase: After the Fall, among many others.

“I always said that if we started a fiction line, we needed to do it the right way, and that’s precisely why we’ve brought Jaym on board,” says Green Ronin President Chris Pramas. “She has the chops and the experience to make this line sing.”

“I’m excited and honored to work with the Green Ronin team,” says Gates. “I’ve been a fan of their stories for a long time, and look forward to the opportunity to help bring new stories to life in their worlds.”

In Jaym Gates, Green Ronin has found themselves an experienced Fiction Line Managing Editor, who has previously worked with companies such as Paizo Publishing, and 'The Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America'.

All in all it sounds promising, and I have no doubt that Green Ronin will deliver the goods!

Until next time folks!

D&D inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame

Greetings everyone, from somewhere in the Tabletop Multiverse we call home.

It's been a few days since my last post. This has mainly been the result of a very busy IRL schedule and not having the energy to write posts. Hopefully this will turn around shortly.

Today's post will probably be a short one, but it will be a good one. I think. Hope.... I'll just leave that decision to you guys.

Dungeons & Dragons, the tabletop role playing game that we all love, have been inducted into the National Toy Hall of Fame. Yeah, I hadn't heard of the NTHoF before either. Nevertheless, D&D is one of 62 toys inducted this year. It has come a long way since its humble beginnings back in 1974, at the hands of Gary Gygax and Dave Arneson. It has grown quite a bit since then and is today perhaps the most famous and well-known tabletop RPG on the market.

A bit of research (Wikipedia artice) on the National Toy Hall of Fame, tells me that it is based in the U.S. and was established in 1998. The wikipedia article says that:

"...recognizes the contributions of toys and games that have sustained their popularity for many years. Criteria for induction include: icon status (the toy is widely recognized, respected, and remembered); longevity (more than a passing fad); discovery (fosters learning, creativity, or discovery); and innovation (profoundly changed play or toy design)"

I would definitely say that Dungeons & Dragons more than meets all those criteria.

If you haven't checked out D&D yet, I strongly suggest you do so. It might be a bit tricky picking which version to start with, as it is currently on it's 5th edition, but if you are having trouble deciding I would probably suggest starting with 5th edition as it is the latest one and you might have the easiest time getting the books for it, and you are also more likely to find people online who can help you out.

Again, a big contratulations to Wizards of the Coast on the induction of D&D into the National Toy Hall of Fame. It is always nice to see a game that has meant so much to so many people, for such a long time, get a recognition such as that. :)

Until next time!

New expansion for Mutant: Year Zero coming up.

Greetings!

Swedish RPG company Free League Publishing (Fria Ligan in Swedish), who created Mutant: Year Zero, has announced a new expansion for the game, the third one so far, called Mutant: Elysium. They will be launching the Kickstarter for it tomorrow (Thursday). This time it is about non-mutated humans in the post-apocalyptic setting of Mutant: Year Zero.

They haven't released much else in terms of information about it yet, save for a teaser picture which can be found, for example, on their Facebook page. It is only showing a part of the cover image for Mutant: Elysium, with a promise to show more of it once the Kickstarter is up and running. The image was made by Simon Stålenhag.

Personally, I really like Mutant: Year Zero, both the setting and the rule-set for it. So I will definitely check it out once it comes up on Kickstarter. At the time of writing this blog post I still don't know whether the Kickstarter is for the Swedish version only, or whether there will also be an English version. My guess is that there will be one, but I am unsure when.

Until next time!